Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues, Treatise on ethics · Part 9
Of URBANITY.
IN the Opinion of ſome auſtere Men this Ʋrbanity, which we call a Virtue, may be thought to have a more fit place in Eraſmus his Moriae Encomium; becauſe it contains the Doctrine, how we ſhould behave our ſelves in our Paſtimes: Indeed the Life of a Man truly Virtuous doth properly conſiſt in all Seriouſneſs and Gravity; little or no room is left for Jeſting or any kind of Facetiouſneſs. But becauſe Man is a Creature of a weak and frail Conſtitution, eaſily ſubjected to Sadneſs and Melancholy, Facetious Speeches, a pleaſant and jocular Humour,A facetious or pleaſant Humour allowed of by our Religion. have been commended by Philoſophers as virtuous, not diſallowed by Reaſon, commonly affected by Men, often uſed by Wiſe and good Perſons; Theſe things ought to have ſome place in our Converſation, otherwiſe we ſhould think our Religion chargeable with too much ſourneſs. And Ariſtotle believed them ſo neceſſary to ſweeten the practice of the grave and ſerious Virtues, that He brings in Ʋrbanity, like a Fool in a Play, to make Sport, or like the Battel of the Cowards in the Arcadia, after the ſad Story of Argalus and Parthenia.
HE doubts very much, Whether He ſhould ſet it down for a Virtue or no; For in reckoning up the Vices of common Language, He makes them to be Three. Firſt, Stultiloquium, Speaking fooliſhly Secondly, Turpiloquium, Talking lewdly. Thirdly foreign; which in Engliſh we call Jeſting or Face…i…ſs.
BUT ſince for the refreſhing man's Life, and the ſmoother carrying on the more difficult Exerciſes of Virtue, there ſeems to be great need of ſome Mirth and Relaxation; We muſt find out a due temper for them, that we may keep the middle Way even in our Recreations.
NOW if ſuch a Medium can be diſcovered, there will likewiſe be ſeen the two Extremes, betwixt which it paſſes; as Buffoo…ry on one ſide, by Ariſtotle called foreign, which is nothing but Impudent, ſhameleſs, and injurious Scoffing, without any reſpect to Time, or Place, or Perſons. On the other Ruſticity, by Ariſtotle called foreign, which is nothing but a ſtupid Sullenneſs, that makes men appear Ill-bred, and unfit for Company.
WHEREFORE if I can make it out, when Facetious Humours are allowable, and when they are Wicked, and not to be endured; I ſhall be able to ſhew a Man, how to get the Reputation of a Wit, and of one, that is both Good and Wiſe too: 'Tis true, there is nothing,Men differ much in their Opinions about Wit. that men differ more in, than in determining, what Wit is; ſometimes they place it in Words and Phraſes; ſometimes in Appoſite Tales; ſometimes it puts on the dreſs of Similitudes, or is wrap'd up in humorous Expreſſions; ſometimes it is lodged in a ſly Queſtion, or a ſharp Repartee; ſometimes a tart Irony goes for Wit, or a big Hyperbole; In ſhort, No Man can give a reaſonable account of its Ways, becauſe it doth anſwer to all the numberleſs Rovings of men's Fancies, and to all the turns of their Language.
IT will be therefore very hard to ſettle a clear and certain Notion hereof, ſo as to make a Virtue of That, which appears in ſo many ſhapes; that we may as well define the figure of the Air, as tell, what is is. Leaving then this to your Imagination, I ſhall ſhew that the practice of Ʋrbanity or Facetiouſneſs.
Facetiouſneſs breeds good Nature in Mankind.Firſt, IS Lawful, if it doth not touch upon Piety, if it doth not diſturb the peace, if Juſtice and Charity are not entrench'd upon: For Chriſtianity doth allow of thoſe Pleaſures, that ſerve for the innocent eaſe and refreſhment of human Life; And Ʋrbanitas reficit animos, ſaith Quintilian, conduces much to the breeding good Nature among us, whereby our Converſation will be rendred profitable and dear to one another, our cares will be allayed, and our drooping Spirits raiſed: But if we ſhould be tied always to look dumpiſhly, and never to ſhew an ingenuous Chearfulneſs, our value for the Precepts of Chriſt would exceedingly languiſh.
Secondly, IT is allowable, when thoſe things, that are in themſelves baſe and ridiculous, are expoſed to Contempt: For where plain and blunt Arguments will not penetrate, there Wit may, which hath a keener edg, ſo may reprove and inſtruct, with ſuch ſharpneſs, as may correct the Stupid, and rouze the Negligent.
Thirdly,It inſtructs or reproves better, than Satyre. IT may be a proper Remedy for ſome Maladies of men's minds, as Salt is for cleanſing ſome Sores; For diverſe Perſons have ſuch a peculiar Genius, as that they will not abide a tart Admonition, but will admit of a free Way of telling them their Faults, and will amend upon it: they love a jolly and gay Humour; in their own Faſhion they may be taught to love ſober Thoughts; they hate the formal Methods of Inſtruction, and call it Pedantry; but Reaſon under the diſguiſe of Wit ſhall bring 'em to a better mind, when in its Native plainneſs its Advices would have been deſpiſed.
Fourthly, RAILERY is the beſt courſe we can take, to confute many Errours; For what ſhall we do elſe with thoſe, that deny the clear Principles of Reaſon; to deal in earneſt with them, will but raiſe more the Conceit they have of themſelves; But there is a Way of Jeſting, that will ſubdue the obſtinacy of the moſt perverſe, daſh the impudence of the moſt petulant, baffle the moſt captious Sophiſter, and confound the moſt wanton Sceptick.
Fifthly,The cauſe of Virtue may be maintained by it. IT is the ſureſt Defence againſt unjuſt Reproaches; And if the Patrons of Vice and Errour have made way for their corrupt Notions by witty Conceits and Elegant Expreſſions; Why may we not undertake the Cauſe of Virtue with the ſame Weapons; eſpecially when downright Reaſon is thought a heavy thing, and men are ſo diſpoſed to Mirth, who by this means may be made to know, that virtuous Men can ſpeak pleaſantly as well as judiciouſly: And if Rhetorical Schemes, Poetical Strains, Allegories, Fables, and Parable may teach, all the merry Fancies of the Facetious and Witty may adorn the Truth by inſtilling good Doctrines into the Head, and moving good Paſſions in the Heart.
THUS we may render Facetiouſneſs a Virtue; but as it is commonly uſed, it is far from being ſo; Sundry Authors, as Tully, Quintilian, and others of a later Stamp, have framed us an Art of Jeſting; which if any one thinks fit to ſtudy, He may learn the Times, Places, and Perſons, where and with whom jeſting is comely: If then a Perſon will keep himſelf from buffoonery, abſurd, or ſcurrilous Jeſting on one hand, and on the other from clowniſh and unhandſom Diſcourſe, they praiſe him for a Wit, and a pleaſant Companion, one, that knows fairly and without offence to entertain; And it is Ariſtotle's greateſt Reaſon to prove Facetiouſneſs to be a Virtue, becauſe it hath two Extremes, the ſcurrilous, and the ruſtical Humour; Whereas both theſe and the medium too may be all vitious; Phyſicians diſcourſing of Feavers, which are called Synochi, continued Feavers, diſtinguiſh them into three kinds; the firſt they call Monotoni, when the Diſeaſe keeps all in one Tenour; the ſecond they call Anabatici, when they grow unruly and encreaſe in harſhneſs; the third they call Paracmaſtici; that is, decreaſing, abating, and coming to ſome mediocrity; Notwithſtanding this diſtinction, more or leſs they are all Feavers ſtill: So it is in the caſe of Ʋrbanity, Scurrility, and Ruſticity, they may be all Vices in common Life; And the Gravity of a well-tempered Man,The uſual way of Jeſting do not become a Chriſtian. much more of a Chriſtian, will own no ſuch Virtue as facetiouſneſs, as it is uſed in daily Converſation; the Jeſter is only foreign, fit to make others laugh; Now Epictetus hath told us, this is foreign, it is a place ſlippery, and eaſily leading us into Idiotiſm and Folly, as it doth, when men think it a mark of a high Spirit, to be an Atheiſt; Gentility and Wit, to droll upon Religion; Whereas I appeal to all the Wiſe and ſober World, whether they that would make Sacred Perſons and Things ridiculous, are not infinitely ſo themſelves? It is true, the World is much taken with this ſort of Ribaldry, and commends the man, who is skill'd in it, as a good Companion; but in ſtrictneſs of Life and Virtue we may not ſo account of it; & nobis alii rarò, & nos aliis nunquam riſum pariamus, is the good Council of Picus Mirandula; and it is given in charge preciſely by the laſt Canon of the third Council of Carthage; ſi quis Clericus aut monachus verba ſcurrilia & joculatoria riſumque moventia loquetur, acerrimè corripiatur.
WE can afford then no other place to Ʋrbanity in common Life, than what is allowed to officious Lying in the foregoing Chapter; it may be permitted ſometimes for human Infirmity ſake:Religion a chearful thing. And although ſome miſtaken men are pleaſed to paint out Religion in ſad and melancholy Shapes, with ſour and anxious Looks, as an Enemy to all mirth and chearfulneſs; yet there is nothing more noble and generous, more courteous and affable, more ſober and rational, than the Spirit of true Religion is: therefore they are unpardonably baſe and diſingenuous, who would blaſt its Credit with the follies and deformities of Superſtition; as if it delighted in nothing but Sighs, and Groans, and diſcoloured Faces; as if the Principles of true Goodneſs were unworthy the entertainment of a generous Mind; when all this while they have in them all that is amiable and lovely, all that is chearful and ingenuous, all that is uſeful and profitable, and whatever can advance our Content, our Intereſt, our Reputation, or our Pleaſure. Wherefore that Religion, and Reaſon may well agree in the caſe of facetiouſneſs; that it may not tranſgreſs the limits of Sobriety and be conſiſtent with the tenour of a Chriſtian's Duty; that it may not fall under St. Paul's Cenſure of fooliſh talking and jeſting, which are not convenient; We may conclude, that ſuch facetiouſneſs is not unlawful, as affords harmleſs Delight to Converſation; becauſe Chriſtianity is not ſo harſh an Inſtitution, as to forbid mankind wholeſom and uſeful Pleaſures; or ſacrificing to the Graces, as the Ancients call'd it, when it expoſes all wicked and baſe practices to due Contempt, becauſe it is expedient, that Vices ſhould appear ridiculous to the whole World; For ſome Perſons are ſo temper'd, that they are ſooner pleaſed or vexed into better Manners, than they can be prevailed upon by grave and ſevere Reproofs: when it is made uſe of to confute ſuch Diſputers, as diſavow the clear Principles of Reaſon and Senſe;What uſe the Ancients made of Urbanity. therefore the moſt rigid Patrons of Virtue in old time and the great Introducer of moral Wiſdom among the Pagans did make uſe of tart and facetious Sayings to daſh the impudence of the Sophiſter, and to confound the wantonneſs of the Sceptick; for they thought it a diſadvantage to Truth and Virtue, if the defenders thereof ſhould be denied the uſe of this Weapon; ſince it is that eſpecially, whereby the Advocates of Vice and Errour do maintain and propagate them: And there is no doubt, but Chriſtians may claim the ſame priviledg; provided, they do not ſport with holy Things; nor detract from the good Name of their Brethren, to gratifie a Fancy; provided alſo, they do not offend againſt the reputation of Perſons eminent in Dignity or Worth, nor raiſe Animoſities and Feuds in the Neighbourhood: in brief, if without wronging others, or doing any prejudice to our own good behaviour, we can be facetious; then Ʋrbanity may conſiſt well enough with foreign, that fitting Decency and Stately gravity, which ought to be ſeen always in our Converſation.