t Characters of these Vices, so, on the other Hand, he has made
the peculiar Features of one or more of these Vices enter into the
Characters of the other. This is Matter of Fact; and if the Reader
will be at the Pains to compare the _6th_, _9th_, and _11th_,
Chapters, as he will be perswaded of the Truth of what is here
asserted, so will he be convinc'd, at the same Time, that
_Theophrastus_ has not confounded by this Mixture the real Nature
of Things, or transgress'd thereby, in any wise, the Rules of
_Characteristic-Justice_.

Again; Loquacity and an ill-tim'd Behaviour are two very different
Vices in common Conversation; but yet _Theophrastus_ has concluded his
Character of Loquacity, with the same Stroke which begins that of an
ill-tim'd Behaviour; because tho' these Vices are of a different
Nature, yet do they not exclude each other; and the Actions of Men
manifestly prove, that they are frequently to be found in the same
Subject.

The nice Reader therefore, instead of being offended to find the
peculiar Features of one Vice interspers'd in the Character of
another, ought, on the contrary, to admire the Judgment and Accuracy
of _Theophrastus_ in this Respect: For this Mixture does not proceed
from Inaccuracy, but is founded in Nature: And 'tis the Work of a
sagacious Head, as well to discover the near Relations that are
between different things, as to separate those Things, which by
Nature are nearly related, but yet are really distinct.

The Beauty of every Kind of Writing arises from the Conformity
which it bears to Nature; and therefore the Excellency of
_Characteristic-Writings_ must consist in exact Representations of
human Nature.--This Harmony between Art and Nature may be call'd
Justice: And tho' the Boundaries of it may be more extensive in those
Works, in which a greater Range is allow'd to the Imagination, yet
still, Invention and Fiction must be admitted in _Characteristic-
Writings_, when the Characters design'd are of a general Nature;
for then the Writer does not copy from an individual Original, and
all the Extravagances of Nature are natural, when they are well
represented.

It requires, I own, a great deal of Penetration to hit exactly this
Point of Reality: But then it must be confess'd, that as the great
difficulty of _Characteristic-Writing_ consists in this, so does the
main Beauty and Force of it too: For Objects are apt to affect and
move us according to their Presence or Absence; and