Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great

London

Printed for the Author

1743

"As his most powerful and predominant Passion was Ambition, so Nature had with consummate Propriety, adapted all his Faculties to the attaining those glorious Ends, to which this Passion directed him."

Jonathan Wild had every Qualification necessary to form a great Man: As his most powerful and predominant Passion was Ambition, so Nature had with consummate Propriety, adapted all his Faculties to the attaining those glorious Ends, to which this Passion directed him. He was extremely ingenious in inventing Designs; artful in contriving the Means to accomplish his Purposes, and resolute in executing them: For, as the most exquisite Cunning, and most undaunted Boldness qualified him for any Undertaking, so was he not restrained by any of those Weaknesses which disappoint the Views of mean and vulgar Souls, and which are comprehended in one general Term of Honesty, which is a Corruption ofHonosty, a Word derived from what theGreeks call an Ass. He was entirely free from those low Vices of Modesty and Goodnature, which, as he said, implied a total Negative of human Greatness, and were the only Qualities which absolutely rendered a Man incapable of making a considerable Figure in the World. His Lust was inferior only to his Ambition; but, as for what simple People call Love, he knew not what it was. His Avarice was immense; but it was of the rapacious not of the tenacious Kind; his Rapaciousness was indeed so violent, that nothing ever contented him but the whole; for, however considerable the Share was, which his Coadjutors allowed him of a Booty, he was restless in inventing Means to make himself Master of the meanest Pittance reserved by them. He said, Laws were made for the Use ofPrigs only, and to secure their Property; they were never therefore more perverted, than when their Edge was turned against these; but that this generally happened through their Want of sufficient Dexterity. The Character which he most valued himself upon, and which he principally honoured in others, was that of Hypocrisy. His Opinion was, that no one could carry Priggism very far without it; for which Reason, he said, there was little Greatness to be expected in a Man who acknowledged his Vices; but always much to be hoped from him, who professed great Virtues; wherefore, though he would always shun the Person whom he discovered guilty of a good Action, yet he was never deterred by a good Character, which was more commonly the Effect of Profession than of Action: For which Reason, he himself was always very liberal of honest Professions, and had as much Virtue and Goodness in his Mouth as a Saint; never in the least scrupling to swear by his Honour, even to those who knew him the best; nay, tho, he held Good-nature and Modesty in the highest Contempt, he constantly practised the Affectation of both, and recommended it to others, whose welfare, on his own Account, he wished well to. He laid down several Maxims, as the certain Methods of attaining Greatness, to which, in his own Pursuit of it, he constantly adhered.
(IV.xvi, pp. 408-11)

Government::Rule and Subjection::Rule of Passion

Searching HDIS for "predominant passion"

At least 13 entries in ESTC (1743, 1754, 1758, 1763, 1774, 1775, 1782, 1785, 1793, 1795).

Text from Miscellanies, by Henry Fielding, 3 vols. (London: Printed for the Author, 1743). [Jonathan Wild in Vol. 3] <Link to LION>

Ruling Passion

06/05/2004