Character Writings of the 17th Century

Various

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• Publié par: omke
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 100
• Langue: English

Extrait

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Project Gutenberg's Character Writings of the 17th Century, by Various

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Title: Character Writings of the 17th Century

Author: Various

Release Date: January 13, 2004 [EBook #10699]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARACTER WRITINGS ***

Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Sheila Vogtmann and PG Distributed Proofreaders

CHARACTER WRITINGS

OF THE

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

EDITED BY

HENRY MORLEY, LL.D.

EMERITUS PROFESSOR COLLEGE, LONDON

1891

CONTENTS.

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATU RE UNIVERSITY

CHARACTER WRITING BEFORE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

THEOPHRASTUS.

 Stupidity

THOMAS HARMAN'S "Caveat for Cursitors"

 A Ruffler

BEN JONSON'S "Every Man out of his Humour" and "Cynthia's Revels"

 A Traveller  The True Critic.  The Character of the Persons in "Every Man out of his Humour"

CHARACTER WRITINGS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Sir THOMAS OVERBURY

 A Good Woman  A Very Woman  Her Next Part  A Dissembler  A Courtier  A Golden Ass  A Flatterer  An Ignorant Glory-Hunter  A Timist  An Amorist  An Affected Traveller  A Wise Man  A Noble Spirit  An Old Man  A Country Gentleman  A Fine Gentleman  An Elder Brother  A Braggadocio Welshman  A Pedant  A Serving-Man  An Host  An Ostler  The True Character of a Dunce  A Good Wife  A Melancholy Man  A Sailor  A Soldier  A Tailor  A Puritan  A Mere Common Lawyer  A Mere Scholar  A Tinker  An Apparitor  An Almanac-Maker  A Hypocrite  A Chambermaid  A Precisian  An Inns of Court Man  A Mere Fellow of a House

 A Worthy Commander in the Wars  A Vainglorious Coward in Command  A Pirate  An Ordinary Fence  A Puny Clerk  A Footman  A Noble and Retired Housekeeper  An Intruder into Favour  A Fair and Happy Milkmaid  An Arrant Horse-Courser  A Roaring Boy  A Drunken Dutchman resident in England  A Phantastique: An Improvident Young Gallant  A Button-Maker of Amsterdam  A Distaster of the Time  A Mere Fellow of a House  A Mere Pettifogger  An Ingrosser of Corn  A Devilish Usurer  A Waterman  A Reverend Judge  A Virtuous Widow  An Ordinary Widow  A Quack-Salver  A Canting Rogue  A French Cook  A Sexton  A Jesuit  An Excellent Actor  A Franklin  A Rhymer  A Covetous Man  The Proud Man  A Prison  A Prisoner  A Creditor  A Sergeant  His Yeoman  A Common Cruel Jailer  What a Character is  The Character of a Happy Life  An Essay on Valour

JOSEPH HALL

HIS SATIRES--  A Domestic Chaplain  The Witless Gallant

HIS CHARACTERS OF VIRTUES AND VICES I.Virtues--  Character of the Wise Man  Of an Honest Man  Of the Faithful Man

 Of the Humble Man  Of a Valiant Man  Of a Patient Man  Of the True Friend  Of the Truly Noble  Of the Good Magistrate  Of the Penitent  The Happy Man II.Vices--  Character of the Hypocrite  Of the Busybody  Of the Superstitious  Of the Profane  Of the Malcontent  Of the Inconstant  Of the Flatterer  Of the Slothful  Of the Covetous  Of the Vainglorious  Of the Presumptuous  Of the Distrustful  Of the Ambitious  Of the Unthrift  Of the Envious

JOHN STEPHENS

JOHN EARLE

MICROCOSMOGRAPHY----  A Child  A Young Raw Preacher  A Grave Divine  A Mere Dull Physician  An Alderman  A Discontented Man  An Antiquary  A Younger Brother  A Mere Formal Man  A Church-Papist  A Self-Conceited Man  A Too Idly Reserved Man  A Tavern  A Shark  A Carrier  A Young Man  An Old College Butler  An Upstart Country Knight  An Idle Gallant  A Constable  A Downright Scholar  A Plain Country Fellow  A Player  A Detractor

 A Young Gentleman of the University  A Weak Man  A Tobacco-Seller  A Pot Poet  A Plausible Man  A Bowl-Alley  The World's Wise Man  A Surgeon  A Contemplative Man  A She Precise Hypocrite  A Sceptic in Religion  An Attorney  A Partial Man  A Trumpeter  A Vulgar-Spirited Man  A Plodding Student  Paul's Walk  A Cook  A Bold Forward Man  A Baker  A Pretender to Learning  A Herald  The Common Singing-Men in Cathedral Churches  A Shopkeeper  A Blunt Man  A Handsome Hostess  A Critic  A Sergeant or Catchpole  A University Dun  A Staid Man  A Modest Man  A Mere Empty Wit  A Drunkard  A Prison  A Serving-Man  An Insolent Man  Acquaintance  A Mere Complimental Man  A Poor Fiddler  A Meddling Man  A Good Old Man  A Flatterer  A High-Spirited Man  A Mere Gull Citizen  A Lascivious Man  A Rash Man  An Affected Man  A Profane Man  A Coward  A Sordid Rich Man  A Mere Great Man  A Poor Man  An Ordinary Honest Man

 A Suspicious or Jealous Man

NICHOLAS BRETON

CHARACTERS UPON ESSAYS, MORAL AND DIVINE  Wisdom  Learning  Knowledge  Practice  Patience  Love  Peace  War  Valour  Resolution  Honour  Truth  Time  Death  Faith  Fear

THE GOOD AND THE BAD.  A Worthy King  An Unworthy King  A Worthy Queen  A Worthy Prince  An Unworthy Prince  A Worthy Privy Councillor  An Unworthy Councillor  A Nobleman  An Unnoble Man  A Worthy Bishop  An Unworthy Bishop  A Worthy Judge  An Unworthy Judge  A Worthy Knight  An Unworthy Knight  A Worthy Gentleman  An Unworthy Gentleman  A Worthy Lawyer  An Unworthy Lawyer  A Worthy Soldier  An Untrained Soldier  A Worthy Physician  An Unworthy Physician  A Worthy Merchant  An Unworthy Merchant  A Good Man  An Atheist or Most Bad Man  A Wise Man  A Fool  An Honest Man.

 A Knave  An Usurer  A Beggar  A Virgin  A Wanton Woman  A Quiet Woman  An Unquiet Woman  A Good Wife  An Effeminate Fool  A Parasite  A Drunkard  A Coward  An Honest Poor Man  A Just Man  A Repentant Sinner  A Reprobate  An Old Man  A Young Man  A Holy Man

GEOFFREY MINSHULL

ESSAYS AND CHARACTERS OF A PRISON AND PRISONERS  A Character of a Prisoner

HENRY PARROTT [?]

 A Scold  A Good Wife

MICROLOGIA, by R. M.

 A Player

WHIMZIES, OR A NEW CAST OF CHARACTERS

 A Corranto-Coiner

JOHN MILTON

 On the University Carrier

WYE SALTONSTALL

PICTURÆ LOQUENTES, OR PICTURES DRAWN FORTH IN CHARACTERS  The Term

DONALD LUPTON

LONDON AND COUNTRY CARBONADOED AND QUARTERED INTO SEVERAL CHARACTERS  The Horse

CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1642 AND 1646, BY SIR FRANCIS WORTLEY, T. FORD, AND OTHERS

 T. Ford's Character of Pamphlets

JOHN CLEVELAND

 The Character of a Country Committee-Man, with the Earmark of a Sequestrator  The Character of a Diurnal-Maker  The Character of a London Diurnal

CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1647 AND 1665

RICHARD FLECKNOE

FIFTY-FIVE ENIGMATICAL CHARACTERS  The Valiant Man

CHARACTERS PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1673 AND 1689

SAMUEL BUTLER

CHARACTERS--  Degenerate Noble, or One that is Proud of his Birth  A Huffing Courtier  A Court Beggar  A Bumpkin or Country  Squire  An Antiquary  A Proud Man  A Small Poet  A Philosopher  A Melancholy Man  A Curious Man  A Herald  A Virtuoso  An Intelligencer  A Quibbler  A Time-Server  A Prater  A Disputant  A Projector  A Complimenter  A Cheat  A Tedious Man  A Pretender  A Newsmonger  A Modern Critic  A Busy Man  A Pedant  A Hunter  An Affected Man  A Medicine-Taker  The Miser  A Swearer  The Luxurious  An Ungrateful Man  A Squire of Dames  An Hypocrite  An Opinionater  A Choleric Man  A Superstitious Man  A Droll

 The Obstinate Man  A Zealot  The Overdoer  The Rash Man  The Affected or Formal  A Flatterer  A Prodigal  The Inconstant  A Glutton  A Ribald  A Modern Politician  A Modern Statesman  A Duke of Bucks  A Fantastic  An Haranguer  A Ranter  An Amorist  An Astrologer  A Lawyer  An Epigrammatist  A Fanatic  A Proselyte  A Clown  A Wooer  An Impudent Man  An Imitator  A Sot  A Juggler  A Romance-Writer  A Libeller  A Factious Member  A Play-Writer  A Mountebank  A Wittol  A Litigious Man  A Humourist  A Leader of a Faction  A Debauched Man  The Seditious Man  The Rude Man  A Rabble  A Knight of the Post  An Undeserving Favourite  A Malicious Man  A Knave

CHARACTER WRITING AFTER THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Character of the Happy Warrior

CHARACTER WRITINGS

OF THE

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

Character writing, as a distinct form of Literature, had its origin more than two thousand years ago in the [Greek: aethichoi Chadaaedes]---Ethic Characters--of Tyrtamus of Lesbos, a disciple of Plato, who gave him for his eloquence the name of Divine Speaker--Theophrastus. Aristotle left him his library and all his MSS., and named him his successor in the schools of the Lyceum. Nicomachus, the son of Aristotle, was among his pupils. He followed in the steps of Aristotle. Diogenes Laertius ascribed to Theophrastus two hundred and twenty books. He founded, by a History of Plants, the science of Botany; and he is now best known by the little contribution to Moral Philosophy, in which he gave twenty-eight short chapters to concise description of twenty-eight differing qualities in men. The description in each chapter was not of a man, but of a quality. The method of Theophrastus, as Casaubon said, was between the philosophical and the poetical. He described a quality, but he described it by personification, and his aim was the amending of men's manners. The twenty-eight chapters that have come down to us are probably no more than a fragment of a larger work. They describe vices, and not all of them. Another part, now lost, may have described the virtues. In a short proem the writer speaks of himself as ninety-nine years old. Probably those two nines were only a poetical suggestion of long experience from which these pictures of the constituents of human life and action had been drawn. He had wondered, he said, before he thought of writing such a book, at the diversities of manners among Greeks all born under one sky and trained alike. For many years he had considered and compared the ways of men; he had lived to be ninety-nine. Our children may be the better for a knowledge of our w ays of daily life, that they may grow into the best. Observe and see whether I describe them rightly. I will begin, he says, with Dissimulation. I will first define the vice, and then describe the quality and manners of the man who dissembles. After that I will endeavour to describe also the other qualities of mind, each in its kind. Then follow the Characters of these twenty-eight qualities: Dissimulation, Adulation, G arrulity, Rusticity, Blandishment, Senselessness, Loquacity, Newsmongering, Impudence, Sordid Parsimony, Impurity, Ill-timed Approach, Inept Sedulity, Stupidity, Contumacy, Superstition, Querulousness, Distrust, Dirtiness, Tediousness, Sordid or Frivolous Desire for Praise, Illiberality, Ostentation, Pride, Timidity, Oligarchy, or the vehement desire for honour, without greed for money, Insolence, and Evil Speaking. One of these Characters may serve as an example of their method, and show their place in the ancestry of Characters as they were written in England in the Seventeenth Century.

STUPIDITY.

You may define Stupidity as a slowness of mind in word or deed. But the Stupid Man is one who, sitting at his counters, and having made all his calculations and worked out his sum, asks one who sits by him how much it comes to. When any one has a suit against him, and he has come to the day when the cause must be decided, he forgets it and walks out into his field. Often also when he sits to see a play, the rest go out and he is left, fallen asleep in the theatre. The same man, having eaten too much, will go out in the night to relieve himself, and fall over the neighbour's dog, who bites him. The same man, having hidden away what

he has received, is always searching for it, and never finds it. And when it is announced to him that one of his intimate friends is dead, and he is asked to the funeral, then, with a face set to sadness and tears, he says, "Good luck to it!" When he receives money owing to him he calls in witnesses, and in midwinter he scolds his man for not having gathered cucumbers. To train his boys for wrestling he makes them race till they are tired. Cooking his own lentils in the field, he throws salt twice into the pot and makes them uneatable. When it rains he says, "How sweet I find this water of the stars." And when some one asks, "How many have passed the gates of death?" [proverbial phrase for a great number] answers, "As many, I hope, as will be enough for you and me."

The first and the best sequence of "Characters" in English Literature is the series of sketches of the Pilgrims in the Prologue to Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" The Characters are so varied as to unite in representing the whole character of English life in Chaucer's day; and they are, written upon one plan, each with suggestion of the outward body and its dress as well as of the mind within. But Chaucer owed nothing to Theophrastus. In his Character Writing he drew all from nature with his own good wit. La Bruyère in France translated the characters of Theophrastus, and his own writing of Characters in the seventeenth century followed a fashion that had its origin in admiration of the wit of those Greek Ethical Characters. La Bruyère was born in 1639 and died in 1696. Our Joseph Hall, whose "Characters of Vices and Virtues" were written in 1608, and translated into French twenty years before La Bruyère was born, said, in his Preface to them, "I have done as I could, following that ancient Master of Morality who thought this the fittest task for the ninety-ninth year of his age, and the profitablest Monument that he could leave for a farewell to his Grecians."

There was some aim at short and witty sketches of character in descriptions of the ingenuity of horse- coursers and coney-catchers who used quick wit for beguiling the unwary in those bright days of Elizabeth, when the very tailors and cooks worked fantasies in silk and velvet, sugar and paste. Thomas Harman, whose grandfather had been Clerk of the Crown under Henry VII., and who himself inherited estates in Kent, became greatly interested in the vagrant beggars who came to his door. He made a study of them, came to London to publish his book, and lo dged at Whitefriars, within the Cloister, for convenience of nearness to them, and more thorough knowledge of their ways. He first published his book in 1567 as A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called Vagabonds--"A Caveat or Warening for common cursetors, Vulgarely called Vagabones, set forth by Thomas Harman, Esquiere, for the utilite and proffyt of his naturall Cuntrey" and he dedicated it to Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury. It contained twenty-four character sketches, gave the names of the chief tramps then living in England, and a vocabulary of their cant words. This is Harman's first character:--

A RUFFLER.

The Ruffler, because he is first in degree of this odious order, and is so called in a statute made for the punishment of Vagabonds in the twenty-seventh year of King Henry VIII, late of most famous memory, he shall be first placed as the worthiest of this unruly rabblement. And he is so called when he goeth first abroad. Either he hath served in the wars, or else he hath been a serving-man, and weary of well-doing, shaking off all pain, doth choose him this idle life; and wretchedly wanders about the most shires of this realm, and with stout audacity demandeth, where he thinketh he may be bold, and circumspect enough where he seeth cause, to ask charity ruefully and lamentably, that it would make a flinty heart to relent and pity his miserable estate, how he hath been maimed and bruised in the wars. Peradventure one will show you some outward wound which he got at some drunken fray, either halting of some privy wound festered with a filthy fiery flankard [brand]. For be well assured that the hardiest soldiers be either slain or maimed, either and [or if] they escape all hazards and return home again, if they be without relief of their friends they will surely desperately rob and steal, and either shortly be hanged or miserably die in prison. For they be so much ashamed and disdain to beg or ask charity, that rather they will as desperately fight for to live and