ns to a
supposed original character in the man himself. I do not mean that we
_talk_ thus; we could not indeed, if we would, explain ourselves in detail
on this head; we can neither account for Impressions and passions, nor
communicate them to others by _words_: Tones and looks will sometimes
convey the _passion_ strangely, but the _Impression_ is incommunicable.
The same causes may produce it indeed at the same time in many, but it is
the separate possession of each, and not in its nature transferable: It is
an imperfect sort of instinct, and proportionably dumb.--We might indeed,
if we chose it, candidly confess to one another that we are greatly swayed
by these feelings, and are by no means so _rational_ in all points as we
could wish; but this would be a betraying of the interests of that high
faculty, the Understanding, which we so value ourselves upon, and which we
more peculiarly call our own. This, we think, must not be; and so we
huddle up the matter, concealing it as much as possible, both from
ourselves and others. In Books indeed, wherein character, motive, and
action, are all alike subjected to the Understanding, it is generally a
very clear case; and we make decisions compounded of them all: And thus we
are willing to approve of _Candide_, tho' he kills my Lord the Inquisitor,
and runs thro' the body the Baron of _Thunder-ten-tronckh_, the son of his
patron, and the brother of his beloved _Cunegonde_: But in real life, I
believe, _my Lords the Judges_ would be apt to inform the _Gentlemen of
the Jury_ that my _Lord the Inquisitor_ was _ill killed_; as _Candide_ did
not proceed on the urgency of the moment, but on the speculation only of
future evil. And indeed this clear perception, in Novels and Plays, of the
union of character and action not seen in nature, is the principal defect
of such compositions, and what renders them but ill pictures of human
life, and wretched guides of conduct.

But if there was _one man_ in the world who could make a more perfect
draught of real nature, and steal such Impressions on his audience,
without their special notice, as should keep their hold in spite of any
error of their Understanding, and should thereupon venture to introduce an
apparent incongruity of character and action, for ends which I shall
presently endeavour to explain; such an imitation would be worth our
nicest curiosity and attention. But in such a case as this, the reader
might expect that he should find