'Tis not therefore neceffary to fay, that Elijah was fed by Ravens. He was ferved by fome Inhabitants of Oreb, not by Ravens; by Men, not by Birds. How could the Holy Prophet receive his Meat from the Pounces of fuch unclean Animals, contrary to the Law, which he afferted with the greatest Zeal and Intrepidity? How could he know that the unclean Ravens had not rested among Carcaffes and Carrion before they brought him his Meat? How could the Ravens find out the Place where the Prophet lay concealed? Befides, that Holy Man was fupplied with Bread and Flefh, every Morning and Evening, for a whole Year. How can fuch a long and careful Attendance be afcribed to Ravens ?. 'Tis ftrange that Interpreters fhould not perceive that the Prophet was ferved by Men, and not by Birds. Let the Ravens then be for ever confined to their Nefts. As for us, let us admire the Divine Goodness, in providing the holy Prophet with all Neceffaries, in the greatest Danger, by the Ministry of his Fellow-Creatures. 'Tis true, The Interpreters have been generally fatisfied with an obfcure and ill-grounded Tradition. fome, both Jews and Chriftians, though they knew not that there was a Town called Oreb, have boldly declared, that Elijah had been fed not by Ravens, but by Merchants, as they explain the Hebrew Word Orebim, in Ezekiel xxvii. 29. They came nearer the Truth than all other Interpreters; being fenfible, that the Prophet had been fed by Men, not by Birds. This is the Opinion of Kimchi, Abarbanel, and feveral others, who entirely explode the common Opinion. ARTICLE XX. ESSAI fur l'Ufage de la Raillerie & de ΤΗ HE Effay on Wit and Humour, has been esteemed a Mafter-piece in its kind. Purity of Di&tion, Delicacy of Sentiments, and a manly Vein of Reafoning, run through the whole: No wonder then, an ingenious Pen has attempted to reprefent the Beauties of the Original in a Foreign Drefs. The Performance indeed was difficult, but the, greater is the Reputation of his Succefs. Perhaps he has made the Author more intelligible; for befides the Notes, which embellish and explain the Text, he has added a Preface, to lead the Reader into a diftin&t View of the whole Work. "Tis a general Opinion, fays he, in Holland and "France, that Great Britain abounds with Libertines, "who speak and write with great Freedom, against "Opinions the most univerfally established. On this "Account they pafs for real Scepticks; and far from being affronted, they glory in the Character. "they fpare no Party or Profeffion, they find them"felves attack'd from every Quarter, the Pulpit, and "the Prefs, in all Controverfies that come upon the "Stage. And indeed, thefe are the Men chiefly point"ed at in this Effay. But our Author fhews by the "way, that thefe Gentlemen are not fuch Scepticks as "they are fuppofed to be: And when they profefs an "abfolute Scepticifm, 'tis only an Artifice to make "Men patient to hear thofe venerable Doctrines called As "in queftion, which they think inconfiftent with the "real Interefts of Mankind. "To be plain, no great Succefs can be expected "from the Method ufually taken to undeceive them. "How many declaim in general against the Liber“ ty they take to doubt of particular Doctrines? In"ftead of anfwering their Objections calmly, they "cenfure them for publishing their Scruples. To what "Purpose is all this, but only to confirm them in their "Scepticism, and convince them that their Adverfaries "fee no farther than they do? That, though they pre"tend to believe, 'tis the better to make their Court, "and for fear of difobliging the Multitude, who ge"nerally are most zealous for Opinions they leaft un"derftand? They might always thus reply; Well! .66 Gentlemen, Why all this Stir and Tranfport? Is it "in Compaffion to the Imperfection of our Senfe? "Have you clearer or more enlarged Profpects? Why "then fo much Referve? Let us fhare in the Advan66 tages of your Penetration. 'Tis true, we demur "upon fome Articles, which to you appear founded upon the moft irrefiftible Evidence. But then display "your Reafons in their Meridian Light; and pare "thofe Flashes of Intemperature, which fo profufely "fall on those who grope under the Misfortune of be"ing in the Dark. "Our Author was very fenfible of the Reasonable"nefs of fuch an Expoftulation. Far from bullying "these pretended Scepticks with Rant and Raving, he "employs the First Part of his Effay in juttifying the "Freedom they take to examine all manner of Opi"nions, to question the moft generally received Max"imms, and even to bring them to the Teft of Ridicule. "By this means he gains upon their Confidence, and admiffus circum præcordia ludit. After having fuffer"ed them to laugh at every thing, he rallies them in "his turn, but with fo much Delicacy and Discretion, "they find themselves difarm'd of all Reply. "In the Second Part, he attacks their favourite Prin"ciples, concerning Virtue and Society. This seems to be the main Design of this Work. Thefe new "Scepticks, after the Example of Hobbes, allow of no G 4 "Generous "Generous Paffion, no Social Affection. Our Author "therefore fhews, that thefe Sentiments are implanted "in the Heart of Man; that Hobbes himself could แ not diveft his Soul of thefe Principles; and that his "Followers have irrefiftibly fubmitted to the Power "of the Social Charm. "He carries on the Attack, and confutes their Prin"ciples more directly in the Third Part. After having "proved their Idea of the State of Nature to be altoge"ther chimerical, he determines what that State is, "and fettles it upon the fureit Foundations. He lays down this Principle; That if any thing be natural in "any Creature, or any Kind, 'tis that which is Prefer"vative of the Kind it felf, and conducing to its Welfare "and Support. From hence he overthrows the Do"&trine of Epicurus, Hobbes, and all their Followers, fets off the native Charms of Virtue, and fhews she is not to be won by mean, felf-interested "Views. "In the laft Part, he makes new Efforts to con"vince these Gentlemen of the Beauty of Virtue, and "obliges them to renounce their. Claim to common "Senfe; or elfe to acknowledge, that nothing can be more attracting, than a Conduct of Life regulated "by Wisdom and true Juftice. σε Other It will not be improper, by way of Specimen, to give the Tranflator's Note upon the following Paffage in the Effay on Wit and Humour, pag. 81. "Authors there have been of a yet inferior Kind; a "fort of Distributers and petty Retailers of Wit, who "have run Changes and Divifions, without end, up66 on this Article of Self-love. You have the fame "Thought fpun out a hundred Ways, and drawn into "Motto's and Devices, to fet forth this Riddle; That "act as difinterestedly or generously as you please, Self "Still is at the Bottom, nothing else. "The Author, Says he, points here at the Duke of la Rochefoucault. The Moral Reflections afcribed to him, contain nothing elfe but this Principle, That Self-love is the Foundation of all our Actions. La Bruyere takes notice of this Work in very refpectful Terms; and at the fame time makes this Obfervation: 'Tis the Production, fays he, of a Ge nius improved by Converfation in the World, whofe Delicacy of Wit was equal to his Penetration. The Author having obferved that Self-love is in Man the Gaufe of all bis Weaknesses, attacks it without Refpite, upon all Encounters; and this fingle Thought, diverfified a thousand Ways, by a happy choice of Words and Turns of Expreffion, ftill appears with the graceful Air of Novelty. Dif courfe upon Theophraftus. The Tranflator obferves farther, that this Principle has been confuted by the Journalists of Trevoux. "The Syftem of Self-love, "fay they, owes its Reputation to the Duke of la "Rochefoucault, Author of the Moral Reflections. He "has had the fame Fate with the Inventers of Systems "in Natural Philofophy, who run into Miftakes from an Affectation of reducing every thing to one fingle "Principle. Mankind, 'tis true, is miferably corrupt"ed: Intereft, Self-love, are the ufual Motives of "their Actions; this cannot be well difputed. But "muft we therefore grant, that all the Seeds of Virtue "are quite defaced by a general Corruption; and that "without Grace we can only exchange our Vices? "Could Interest produce the Integrity of Regulus, in "keeping his Word inviolable? Did Self-love prompt "him to return and expofe himself to the most exqui-/ "fite Torments? The Juftice of Lycurgus, who fur"rendred a Crown to a Nephew, when no body effe "knew it was his Right by Birth; the Generofity of "thofe Slaves, who during the Triumvirate, devoted "their Lives for the Safety of their Masters; Could thefe Paffions fpring from the Corruption of Na"ture? They were acted by Vanity, perhaps fome "will fay. Can any thing be more rafh and ridiculous, "than to build a Syftem of Morals upon fuch an airy "Foundation? What Vanity could influence Slaves, " very obfcure, that even their Names were un"known to thofe who took away their Lives? The Marquis of St. Aulaire has alfo confuted the fame Hypothefis, in his Anfwer to an Ode of Mr. de la Motte, inferted in the Journal of Trevoux. Several other Paffages might be produced out of French Authors, to fhew that the Duke of la Roche foucault's |