1801. | 
of Hecla, or fome neighbouring volcano ; 
or that it might have been adventitious, 
and occafioned by the combuttion of fome 
great body that pafled within the {phere of 
the earth’s attraétion; and in this conjec- 
ture a paflage of the Ta/k,. 
‘¢ And fucha flame 
Kindled in heaven that it burns down to 
earth,” 
The Conteft between 
which is in the fecond book, fhortly after 
the allufion noticed by P. may perhaps 
have had its origin. 
Portfea, April 5, 1801. 
aT ae 
Jo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, ‘ 
FIHE difpute on the two principles, 
i has good and the evil fpirits, has ex- 
ercifed the pen of the philofopher, the 
lungs of the divine, and the {word of the 
warrior: but the advantage derived to 
mankind from the ‘fpeculations or a¢tions 
of the rival antagonilts is very problema- 
tical ; and blood, ink, and voice feem to 
have been watted to no purpofe. If I 
claim to myfelf the merit of having difco- 
vered the caufe of this lofs of time and 
wafte of talents, do not accufe me of too 
much arrogance, till you have heard my 
reafons; and I fcruple not to fay, that 
your readers, both of the active and paffive 
clafs, will applaud me for the difcovery, 
and ftill more for my difintereftednefs, in 
thus making it known to the world. Imain- 
tain then, that it was intended from the be- 
ginning, that there fhould be two claffes in 
fociety—the one endowed with active, the 
other with paffive, minds; but, as the 
principles of either, if they had acquired a 
manifeft and total fuperiority,over the 
other, in any part of the world, would en- 
tirely deftroy that traét of country in which 
its influence was exerted, it has been wifely 
ordained, that they fhould aét upon each 
other like pofitive and negative electricity, 
like attraction and repulfion, and thus 
being kept within due bounds, their de- 
ftructive powers can never be exercifed to 
the utmoft, and very agreeable charaéters 
are formed by a cue mixture of the two 
principles. Have you never feen a fine, 
active, enterprifing lad, who fegmed to 
{purn the ground on which he trod, and 
was alive to every enterprife of hardy dan- 
ger? See the fame lad, after he has been 
married three years to one of thofe charm- 
ing, foft, placid, elegant females, the he- 
roines of the Minerva Library, and you 
will find him fober and fedate, capable of 
sliftening ten minutes to a grave conyerfa- 
o ade 
403 
tion, and, except when he is in purfuit of a 
fox, you might fairly fuppofe, that he was 
as devoid of ideas and animation, as the 
charming ftatue which is the admiration — 
of the neighbourhood. Again, take the 
inftance of Placido. If any man was 
formed to fhew the power of mind over 
matter, Placido wasthe man. He was his 
mother’s darling; for he rioted not about 
like fome boys, and was fo eafy and 
good-tempered that nothing could vex him. 
His father was not entirely fatished with 
this eafe, @d fent him to Weftminfter, 
Matter and Mind, 
where he took a flogging and his. tafk 
with the fame eafe, and neither even made 
the leaft impreffion uponhim. At college 
he was equally famous for his material 
powers, and the double chin fhewed him 
qualified to rife in the church. Preferment 
came to him unfought: his relations pro- 
cured every thing for him: and there was 
reafon to expect that he might flumber 
away in happy tranquillity the reft of his 
days on a cathedral cufhion, if, unfortu- 
nately for his repofe, the fame relations, who 
had placed him in the ftall, had not thought 
it incumbent on his dignity to procure an 
heir to the family. Adieu now to cathe- 
dral-repofe. Her ladyfhip’s relations, the 
captain, the colonel, the baronet, drive 
out the minor canons and the prebendary. 
Inftead of the “regular routine—three 
months at my deanery, five months on my 
living, four months in town: he was 
whiiked from Bath to Margate, from 
Brighton to Scarborough, from Weymouth 
to York ; was carried to exhibitions and 
Bond-fireet in the morning, to dinnerg in. 
the afternoon, and to half a dozen routs in 
the evening. Piacido now. learned more 
than all his mafters could ever teach him : 
he knew the liveries and the arms of every 
peer ; became a proficient in the fcience 
of decorum ; was appealed to in difputes 
on an odd trick and the right of prece- 
dency. 
I could enumerate a thoufand inftances 
of the fame kind, but your readers cannot 
be at a lofs for them in every neighbour- 
hood. It is from want of due obferva-~ 
tion, that the faét has not been generally 
acknowledged ; and, inftead of difputing 
about it, examine only the hiftory of the 
world, or the circle of your acquaintance, 
and the proofs are too numerous to be re- 
fifted. Lookvat the Turks at the fiege of 
Conftantinople, and obferve them at the 
-prefent day ; refleck on the ftate of the 
ancient and the modern Greeks: look any 
where but at home; for I am afraid of 
the green bag, and that fome Irifhman 
may pop this into fo convenient a vehicle, 
: and 
