without any danger of being corrupted by the Contagion of a real
Commerce.

How absolutely necessary a thorough Insight into the Heart and
Passions of Man is to a Writer of Characters, will be more evident by
descending to some Particulars, and pointing out some of those nice
Circumstances, which a Writer of Characters must accurately observe,
and by which his Capacity in this Way may be easily judg’d
of.

It must be observ’d then, that the Heart of Man is frequently actuated
by more Passions than one: And as the same Object does, by its
different Position, afford to the Spectator different Representations,
so does the same Affection of the Mind, by exerting it self after a
different manner, lay a real Foundation for so many distinct
Characters. The under Passions may, by their various Operations, cause
some Diversity in the Colour and Complexion of the Whole, but ’tis the
Master-Passion which must determine the Character.

Since therefore the under Parts of a Character are not essential, they
may or may not be reciprocal. A covetous Man may be impudent, or he
may have some share of Modesty left: On the other Hand, an impudent
Man may be generous, or his Character may be stain’d by Avarice. And
therefore to make the Features of one Virtue or Vice enter, as under
Parts, into the Character of another Virtue or Vice, is so far from
being a Transgression of the Nature of Things, that, on the contrary,
all the Beauty of _Characteristic-Writing_, and all the Beauty which
arises from the Variety of an agreeable Mixture, entirely depends on
_this_. The main Difficulty consists in making the Master-Passion
operate so conspicuously throughout the Whole, as that the Reader may,