705 
THE ENQUIRER. No. Ix. 
QUESTION : Oxght Sen/itility to be cherifh- 
ed, or repreged 2? 
@, SWEET SENSIBILITY ! SOUL OF THESOUL! 
ILL PURCHAS’D THE WISDOM THAT THEE 
MUST CONTROUL: 
@F THY KINDLY SPIRIT WHEN ONCE WE'RE 
BEREFT; 
¥N LIFE THERE IS NOTHING WORTH LIVING 
FOR LEEFT.- Dr. Aikin. 
QENSIBILITY, that peculiar ftruc- 
ture, or habitude, of mind, which 
difpofes aman to be eafily moved, and 
owerfully affected, by furrounding ob- 
je&ts and pailing events, is a quality pot- 
feiled in very dilierent degrees, by diffe- 
rent perfons. The organs of fome men 
are formed of fuch coarfe materials, and 
their {pirits- flow in fe fluggith a current, 
that they feem almoft incapable of any other 
fenfations than thofe of animal appetite ; 
fuch perfons, being merely fieth and blood, 
live for no other purpofe than to confume 
the fruits of the earth *: they doze away 
a languid exiftence, without any enjoy- 
ment. fuperior to that of their kindred 
herds in the field and the ftall ; and at 
the end of their days, provided they have 
had enough, and to fpare, lay rheimfelves 
quietly down to reit. Nature, on the 
contrary, has cait others in fo fine a mold, 
and framed them fo fuiceptible of ever 
impreiiion of joy or grief, that fcarcely a 
moment of their lives paffes, without it’s 
pieafures or it’s pains. ‘To fuch minds, 
not only is every real occurrence intereft- 
ing, but imagination itfelf creates innu-- 
merable occaftons ef vexation or delight. 
Between thefe extremes, are many thades 
cf teraper and character, fome approach- 
ing nearer to the one, and fome,to the 
ether. as thev have been, reipectively 
aiverfified by the -hand of nature or of 
education. 
That education, as well as nature, is 
concerned in forming this feature of the 
human mind, appears from faét and ex- 
perience. Vhough fome of ‘the feeds of 
fenfibility are fown in every breaft, fa- 
vourable circumftances are neceflary to 
bring the tender plant to maturity. Chil- 
dren whofe natural difpofitions are, in 
this retpeét, nearly alike, will difcover 
more or lefs of this quality, according to 
the conneétions in which they are placed, 
and in proportion to the degree of cuiture 
which has been beftowed upon their un- 
derftandings and: their hearts. And, at 


* Nos numerus 
pee ie fumes, ef fruges confumere 
gil, OF, - 
The Enquirer. No. IX. ° 
jat prefent, to tend towards t 
mature age, it is found, that fome em- 
ployments and profeffions are more fa- 
vourable to fenfibility than others; and 
that thofe who live in the daily exercife 
of the kind affections which belong to 
domeftic life, commonly difcover a larger 
portion of this quality, than thofe whe. 
feclude themfelves from the world in fo- 
litude and celibacy. 
It is evident, then, that fenfibility ad- 
mits of voluntary diminution or im- 
provement: and a queftion of great im- 
portance in moral difcipline arifes, Whe- 
ther this mental habit fhould be refolutely’ 
reftrained and repreffed, or induftrioufly 
cherifhed and ftrengthened ? 
‘The current of tafte and opinion feems, 
he negative 
fide of this queftion. There was a time, 
when fenfibility was taken uncer the pa- 
tronage of that powerful arbiter of man- 
ners—fafhion. Then, height of breed- 
ing was meafured by delicacy of feeling; 
and no fine lady, or fine gentleman, was 
afhamed to be feen fighing over a pathe- 
tic ftory, or weeping at a deep-wrought 
tragedy. As every thing in fathtonable 
‘life haftens to extremes, the affe@ation 
of refinement produced a degree of foft- 
nefs, which foon became ridiculous > by 
a fudden ftroke of caprice, the polite 
world paffed over to the contrary extreme 
of afeéted infenfibility ; and now it is 
become the mede, to confider every ex- 
pretlion of tendernefs as a mark of yul- 
garity ; in the moft interefting fituations, 
a freezing air of indifference is affumed ; 
thofe delicate tints, which the feeling 
heart would fpread over the cheek of in- 
necence, are concealed ; the involuntar 
tear of fympathy. left it fhould be feen, 
is hafiily wiped away ; in fhort, nature 
is banifhed, to introduce, in it's ftead, a 
ude and vulgar kind of ftoicifm, of which 
Zeno would have been afhamed. 
By a kind of league, which has hither- 
to not been commen, end which is, cer-’ 
tainly, not very natural, philofephy hag 
affeciated herfelf with fathion, to bring 
fenfibility into difrepute. We do ‘not 
often, indeed, from the fages of the pre- 
fent day, hear the rant of the ancient 
floic {chocl, concerning the exclufive 
fufficiency of virtue to happimefs, and, 
the confequent indifference of all external 
circumftances. Weare not tcld, that a 
wife man will raife his mind above all 
foreign impreffions, and will not fuffer 
himfelf to depend for any portion of his- 
happinefs, upon the fenfes or imagination s 
that pain does not belong to the mind, 
and therefore is no evil; and that com--- 
pathon 
[Q&, q 
a 
7 
. 
Os ele 
