58 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
ment, and which are variously branded as romantic, ultra romantic, 
sentimental, and naturalistic, were part and parcel of English spec¬ 
ulations before the intellectual invasion from abroad; for this the 
reader must look elsewhere.^ Prom what follows it is evident, 
however, that the ideas of Shaftesbury, whatever they were, were 
both popular and potent in the century to which they were given. 
I. 
Forty years after the first collected publications of the essays 
of Shaftesbury under the title of Characteristicks of Men, Manners, 
Opinions, Times (1711), “Estimate” Brown, in reviewing their 
reception and influence, remarked: “It has been the fate of 
Shaftesbury’s Characteristics, beyond that of most books, to be 
idolized by one party, and detested by another. While the first 
regard it as a work of perfect excellence, as containing everything 
that can render mankind wise and happy; the latter are disposed 
to rank it amongst the most pernicious of writings, and brand 
it as. one continued heap of fustian, scurrility, and falsehood. ’ 
So accurately does this represent the varying currents of ap¬ 
probation and disapprobation, that it deserves the place of promi¬ 
nence that it has been given in this study. For it must be kept 
in mind continually that the intellectual initiator is certain to 
have antagonists as well as vindicators, and that the volume of 
discussion that he provokes is likely to be in direct proportion to 
his significance. Mediocrity rarely begets either friends or enemies 
in great numbers. To greatness is reserved the honor of being 
both understood and misinterpreted. 
With half a century more of retrospect than had Brown, Thomas 
Park, continuing and enlarging the Royal and Noble Authors 
of Walpole, gave attest to the same erratic popularity of Shaftes¬ 
bury. “Few writings have attracted more attention, or excited 
more discussion, than the works of this noble author; who has been 
applauded and condemned with equal extravagance . . . . 
For a considerable time he stood in high repute as a polite writer, 
and was regarded by many as the standard of elegant composition ; 
his imitators, as well as his admirers, were numerous, and he was 
* See The Significance of Shaftesbury in English Speculation, by the present writer, 
P. M. L. A., Vol. XXXVIII, 175-195; The Style of Shaftesbury, also by the present 
writer, M. L. N., Vol. XXXVIII, 209-215; Shaftesbury and the Ethical Poets, by C. A. 
Moore, P. M. L. A., Vol. XXXI, 264-325. 
^Essays on the Characteristics, p. 1. 
