Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues, Treatise on ethics · Part 10
Of MODESTY.
FROM ſuch Virtues as become Men, we muſt now diſcourſe of a Female-Virtue; For all Ages and Nations have made ſome diſtinction between thoſe, that are Maſculine, and others, that are Feminine; And this being ſuch, we muſt in complaiſance allow it to be a Virtue, tho Ariſtotle is ſo ill bred, as not to do it: For according to his way of Arguing, it is not gotten by frequent Actions, therefore it is no Habit, and therefore it is no Virtue; it is rather born with us, runs in our Blood, and is given by Nature as a preſervative againſt too much Boldneſs, or too much Lightneſs, to which Vices Youth are moſt liable.
HENCE it comes to paſs,Why Modeſty looks not well in elder Perſons. that it doth not look well in Elder Perſons; For they through their long experience, and trial of moſt Caſualties in Life, ought to be well aſſured of what they do, and therefore ſhould not bluſh at any thing: For it is a Quality, which of it ſelf will decay through maturity of Years, and it hath this difference from Fear, that ſhame and baſhfulneſs makes us look red; Our Fear makes us look pale; and therefore is certainly a diverſe Paſſion, ariſing from diverſe Cauſes; the one makes the Blood flow into the Face; in the other it ebbs into the Heart.
THIS makes it appear more like a Paſſion, than a Virtue; Now there is a conſiderable difference between one and the other;Paſſions are ſeated in the Blood. For a Paſſion floats in the Blood, riſes and falls with the Ebbs and Tides of our Humours; and it were an eaſie task for any Man, that underſtands the Anatomy of the Brain, the ſtructure of the Spleen and Hypocondria, the divarications of the Nerves, their twiſtings about the Veins and Arteries, and the ſympathy of parts, to give as certain and mechanical an account of all the motions of the Paſſions, as of any vital or animal Function in the Body.
Virtue is ſeated in the Soul.WHEREAS Virtue proceeds from the ſtrength and improvement of our natural Abilities; When the Supreme Faculties of the Underſtanding and Will govern the inferiour Affections, and do keep them within their lawful bounds; the ſame thing is called Grace, as it proceeds from the aſſiſtances and impreſſions of the Spirit of God; upon which it wholly depends, and not upon the motion of the Heart, or the circulation of the Blood.
AND many have laboured to make Modeſty one of theſe Virtues, and to that end they have found out therein an exceſs, which the Greeks name foreign, the Latins, Stupor, which makes a Man overbaſhful in the performance even of honeſt Actions, whereby the Works both of Virtue and Induſtry have been very much hindred: The other extreme is called by the Greeks foreign, Impudency, which is a quality of a quite contrary nature, rendring Men bold and adventurous, let the action they undertake be good or bad: Something like to Aeſop and his fellow-Servant, of which the one profeſſed, he could do all things; the other, that he could do nothing; the one is afraid of every Buſh, the other fears no Colours, but ſets upon all raſh attempts; the Medium betwixt theſe two extremes, is that foreign, verecundia, Modeſty, which in the youthful Age eſpecially is ipſiſſimus virtutis color, the very Complexion of Virtue.
ACCORDING to this account of Modeſty,Modeſty uſeful for the regular guidance of our actions. it may be made very uſeful for the regular guidance of all our Actions; for in humane Nature there is generally, more of the Fool, than of the Wiſe; and therefore thoſe faculties, by which the fooliſh part of mens Minds is taken, are moſt potent. Now overmuch boldneſs is a Child of Ignorance, yet it doth ſtrangely poſſeſs ſome Men, thoſe, that are either ſhallow in Judgment, or weak in Courage: Nay you ſhall ſee an impudent Fellow Act Mahomets part, and make the People believe, he can call a Hill to him; he ſees no dangers and conſiders no inconveniences.
NOW the modeſt Man weighs the difficulties, which he is to encounter; he will not offer at any thing beyond his Strength, nor Mountebank-like, promiſe great Cures when he wants the Grounds of Science. But to fail in any lawful or juſt Enterpriſe, it would put him ſo out of countenance, that he would not be able to bear it: For to do a good and laudable action in ſpite of invidious Men, who grudge at the proſperity of Virtue, he thinks that a piece of dareing Manlineſs, which he may affect without the breach of Modeſty: At the ſame time he Bluſhes at the ſound of an Oath, and is aſhamed of Drinking; he is too baſhful for the Chamber of the Whore, and cannot behold the deteſtable Foreheads of the violent, unjuſt, and debauched Race of Mankind without great confuſion of Face.
IF we conſider Modeſty in theſe Actions, we ſhall find it the moſt indiſpenſible requiſite of a virtuous Man; a thing ſo eſſential to the making him ſo, that every the leaſt declination from it is a proportionable receding from goodneſs; and the total abandoning modeſty in theſe and many other caſes ranks Men among Brutes.
I need make no collection of the Suffrages either of Philoſophers or Divines to prove this matter; it being ſo much an inſtinct of Nature, that tho too many make a ſhift to ſuppreſs it in themſelves, yet they cannot ſo darken the notion in others, but that an immodeſt Perſon is look'd on as a kind of Monſter, a thing diſtorted from its proper Form; as Women are, when they become proſtitutes; who muſt break all the reſtraints of their very Nature,Shameleſs and immodeſt men can do nothing well. before they can be made ſo: Thus it is with ſhameleſs Men; in adventures, where courage is neceſſary, they will not be conſtrained by any prudential conſideration, but will run upon the Mouth of a Cannon to gain the name of bold and daring Heroes; in the fury of their Luſt, they will violate all the obligations of Morality, to fulfil theſe vehement deſires; in common Life, they Laugh at the ties of fair dealing, that they may grow rich, and contemn their poorer Neighbor; in their Politicks, they will betake themſelves to the moſt deſperate Counſels, that they may trample upon others, and force them to draw their Yoke: In their Speculations, they will ſink themſelves into the groſſeſt Hereſies, that they may boaſt of their skill, and wit above the reſt of inferiour Mortals: In their daily Commerce, they will ſtrive to over-reach their unwary Brethren, that they may ſhew themſelves more expert Gameſters at the intricate Cheat of Trading in the World.
THUS if you examine all the ſtations, that the ſeveral Degrees of Men are placed in, we muſt attribute moſt of their deviations from Virtue, to an impudent Humor, that cannot endure any moderation, and is impatient of all thoſe Precepts, that would render every Man an humble and a modeſt Creature.
NOW on the other hand too much ſhamefacedneſs is a clog, and a kind of a dead weight upon Virtue, to ſtop its progreſs, that it may not exert its power with that advantage, which otherwiſe it would do: This makes it look, as if it were too dull a Principle for the Happineſs of Life, which is ever in motion.
INDEED, if we conſider the nature of our Paſſions; they are perhaps the ſtings, without which they ſay, no Honey is made; yet I think all ſorts of men have ever agreed, they ought to be our Servants,Paſſions muſt be kept within due bounds. and not our Maſters; to give us ſome agitation for Entertainment or Exerciſe, but never to throw our Reaſon out of its Seat: Perhaps I would not always ſit ſtill, or would be ſometimes on Horſeback; but I would never ride a Horſe, that galls my Fleſh, or ſhakes my Bones, or runs away with me as He pleaſes, ſo as I can neither ſtop at a River or a Precipice; better no Paſſions at all, than have them too violent, or ſuch alone, as inſtead of heightning our pleaſures, afford us nothing but vexation and pain.
BUT in the caſe of Virtue, we had as good have none at all, as have it too baſhful; For this one bad Quality will bring upon us the juſt Cenſure of being either idle or cowardly in its Warfare; whoſe Exerciſes we muſt undertake with the ſame reſolution and undaunted Spirit,We muſt not be too baſhful in the exerciſe of Virtue. as we ſee ſenſual men to purſue every pleaſure they can ſtart, without regarding the pains of the Chaſe, the wearineſs when it ends, or how little the prize is worth: All the World is perpetually at work about nothing elſe, but only that our wretched Lives ſhould paſs the eaſier and the happier for that little time we poſſeſs them, or elſe end the better, when we loſe them: Upon this occaſion Virtues came to be admired, becauſe they are the beſt means to this End: He therefore muſt bid defiance to mankind, muſt condemn their univerſal Opinions and Deſigns, if inſtead of practiſing theſe Virtues with conſtancy and courage, He ſhall offer to ſneak out of the Field, and by too much baſhfulneſs betray the Fort, that He ſhould maintain againſt the aſſaults of Vice. Not that we are to preſume too much, or think our ſelves ſo ſafe, that we may venture into all ſorts of bad Company without danger of being infected; A man may as well upon confidence of a ſound Conſtitution enter a Peſt-houſe, and converſe with the Plague; whoſe Contagion doth not more ſubtlely inſinuate it ſelf, than the temptations of evil Converſe: Neither muſt we think to ſequeſter our ſelves out of the World, which never can be drawn into uſe, neither will it mend our condition: for if every action, which is good or evil in Man at ripe years, were unavoidable or compelled; What were Virtue but a Name, What praiſe could be then due to well-doing, What commendation to be ſober, juſt, or continent! But God left Adam free, and ſet before him a provoking Object ever almoſt in his Eyes, and herein conſiſted the right of his Reward,No Virtue without freedom to act, or not to act. and the merit of his abſtinence; To what purpoſe did he create Paſſions within him, and Pleaſures round about him, but that theſe rightly temper'd, are the very Ingredients of Virtue: This juſtifies the Providence of God; who though he command us Temperance, Juſtice, Continence; yet He pours out before us (even to a profuſeneſs) all deſireable Things, and gives us Minds that can wander beyond all Limit and Satiety: It is not neceſſary then to affect a Rigour contrary to the manner of God and of Nature, by flying from the Delights or any other Enjoyments of this World, which are freely permitted, both for the trial of Virtue, and the exerciſe of Truth. In the caſe therefore of Converſation in general, and eſpecially of that, which is mixt, Male and Female together, we muſt put on ſuch a Modeſty, as may guard our Virtue againſt the ſtrongeſt perſuaſions to Evil: 'Tis ſaid of Philopaemen, that the Lacedaemonians, finding it their intereſt to corrupt him with Money;Virtue an awful thing. they were yet ſo poſſeſt with the Reverence of his Virtues, that none durſt undertake to attaque him: Such an Authority there is in Virtue, that it will diſcourage the moſt impudent Aſſailant; Such a Sovereignty appears in its very bluſhes, as is able to controul all looſe Deſires.