C H A
C *99 )
C H A
Characters biV in Medicine, 'Pharmacy, and Chymijlry\ Authors are very redundant, and even fanciful in Phar- maceutical Charatlers : the moft ufual are thefe that fol- low.
E Recipe. £ Sulphur.
ana. Of each alike. ■& Spirit of Wine.
■ $ A — * -$£&$? of
JF A 1" a Fortls - e Silver.
^4t Aqua Regia. 9 Tartar.
M Balneum Maria:. It A Pound, or a Pint.
!£ Calx Viva. § An Ounce.
© Caput Mortuuin. 3 A Drachm.
? Copper. 9 A Scruple.
© Common Salt. g n Grains.
"" Diftil. fs. Half of any thing.
© Gold. Cong. A Gallon.
CC Harts-Horn. Cochl. A Spoonful.
CCC Harts-Horn calcin'd. M. A Handful.
o" Iron. P. A Pugil.
aaa. Amalgamate. p.E, Equal Quantities.
ff.f. Stratum fu per ftratum. g.A. According to Art.
V Jupiter, Tin. q.f. A fufficient Quantity.
6 Lead. N. 8.
5 Mercury. |i. contains Sviii.
u_ . Sublimate. ji. 9iii.
t\ -n ■ • 9i. gr.xx.
¥v- Precipitate. Congi _ |. tW _
(!) Nitre. Cochl. i. is about 5 fs. and
^ Sal Armoniac. A Pugil is the eighth Part
ffl Vitriol. of an Handful.
Characters among the anticnt Lawyers, and in
antient Inscriptions. § Paragrapho. Scto. Scnatnfconfulto.
S. Digcjlis. P.P. Pater Patri<s.
E. extra. C. Code.
S.P.QR. Senatus Popu- CC. Confides. Infque Romania'. T. fitulus, &c.
Characters on Medals ; fee Metjal.
S.V. Sifte Viator, Stay Traveller.
M.S. Memorize Sacrum, Sacred to Memory.
D.M. Diis Manibus.
IHS. Jefus.
A'P. A Character found on antient Monuments, about the meaning whereof Authors arc not agreed. See Ca- tacomb.
Characters inGrammar, Rhetoric, Poetry, &c.
, Character of a Comma. ' Emphafis, or Accent.
5 Semicolon. u Breve.
- Colon. " Dialyjts.
. Period. A Caret, and Circumflex.
! Exclamation. " Quotation.
? Interrogation. f and * References.
( ) parenthefis. % Seclion, or Divifion. See
- Hyphen. Comma, Semicolon, Colon,
' AJ'oJlrophe. Perioo.
L.L.D. Dotlor of Laws, or, 0/ rfe i««i of Laws, i.e. the Civil Law.
S.S.T.D. .SVicj-o ,Sta&? Theologize Dotlor, i. e. Doctor of Divinity.
M.D. Debtor of Phyjic.
V.D.M. Verbi Dei Minijler, Minifter of the Word.
A.M. Artium Magifter, Mafler of Arts.
A.B. Artium Saccalaureus, Barchelor of Ar ts.
F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal Society.
Characters in Commerce.
D° Ditto, the fame. -ft} Pound weight.
N" Numero, or Number. Q. or if)- Hundred weight,
F° Folio, or Page. or Iu p ounc j.
R° R. e ^o. q/\ Quarters.
£ Sterlwg, or * Pounds £_ ^^
St " Un S-.„. ZK Ztaf.
§ Shillings. y j Poflfcript, &c.
,9, Pence, or Demers. '
Character is alfo us'd for a certain Manner, Air, or Aflemblage of Qualities, refulting from feveral particular Marks, which diftinguilh a Thing from any other, fo as it may be known thereby. See Manner, &c.
Thus, we fay, The Character of Achilles ; Generofity and greatneSs of Mind was the Character of the Romans ; Cicero bad a Character of Politenefs, which is wanting in Dcmollhcnes ; Every Pajjion has its peculiar Character.
The Writers of Charatlers are Theophraftus, whofe Fragments are flill extant ; Du Moulin, in his Exemplar Morum ; Pafchal, in Charatleres Virtutum ti? Vitiorum ; M. de la Chambre, in his Charatlers of the PaJJions ; and de la Sruyere, in his Charatlers and Manners of the Age.
Character, in Poetry, efpecially the Epopea and Drama, is the Kefult of the Manners, or that which each
Perfon has proper, and lingular in his Manners, whereby he is dittinguim d from others. See Manners.
The Poetical Charatler, Soffu obferves, is not properly any Virtue Of Quality in particular ; but a Compofition of leveral, mix'd, and combin'd in various Degrees, accord- ing to the Occafions of the Fable, and the Unity of the Action. All the limple Qualities that enter this Compound, mult not have the fame Rank, nor be equal to each other : fince, in that Cafe, one prevailing on one Occafion, and another on another, the Charatler will appear changing ; and the Poem, as well as the Hero, animated with feveral Souls.
There mud, therefore, be one to reign over all the reft; and this mult be found in every Parr : juft as the fame He- ro, in leveral Paintings, ffiould have the fame Lines and Features, how different foever his Poftures and Paffions may be. Sec Hero.
This firft Quality, in Homer's Achilles, is Wrath ; in Ulyjfes, Diffimulation ; and in Virgil's JEneas, Mildnefs : Each of which may, by way of eminence, be call'd the Charatler of thole Heroes.
Thefe arc never to go alone, but always to be accompa- ny'd with others, to give them the greater Luftre ; either by hiding their Defects, as in Achilles, whofe Anger is palliated by a world of Courage : or by making them cen- tre in fome folid Virtue, as in Ulyjfes, whofe Diffimulation makes a Part of his Prudence ; and JEneas, whofe Mild- nefs is chiefly employ'd in a Submiffion to the Will of the Gods.
Thefe fecondary Qualities of Courage, Prudence, and Submiffion, make the goodnefs of the Charatlers of thofe Heroes, and even of the Poems.
Soffu adds, that the Quality of Courage muft always have a ffiare in the Charatler of a Hero, to ferve as a Sup- port to the reft : The Heroic Charatler, therefore, he makes a Compound of three Kinds of Qualities. Thofe of the firft kind arc neceffary and effential to the Fable 5 thofe of the fecond are the Supplements, or Embelliihments of the firft ; and Courage, which fuftains the other two, make the third.
The firft, which is the chief, is to be fome univerfal Quality, to have place on all Occcafions, and to diftinguilh the Hero wherever he is found.
For the Unity of Charatler, we have Horace's exprefs Command, Sit quodvis Simplex duntaxat £? unum. Soffit adds, that the Charatler is not lefs the Soul of the Hero and the whole Action, than the Fable is of the Poem ; and of confequence the Unity muft be as exact in the one as the other : which accordingly we find obferv'd both by Ho- mer and Virgil.
The Unity of Charatler is fomewhat different from that of the Manners : in the latter, the Unity or Equality con- fifts in the not giving contrary Sentiments to the lame Per- fon, which is not fufficient to the Unity of Charatler ; but to this muft be added, that the fame Spirit muft always appear on all Occafions, whether contrary or otherwife : Thus, JEneas, fhewing a deal of Goodnefs in the firft Part of the Poem, and a world of Valour in the fecond, but without difcovering any of his former Piety and Gentle- nels ; there had been no Offence againft the Evennefs of the Manners, but to the Unity of the Charatler there had.
So that befides the Qualities which have their particu- lar Place on different Occafions, there muft be one to have place throughout, and to reign over all the others. With- out this there is no Charatler : as would be the Cafe, ftiould a Poet give his Hero the Piety of JEneas, and the Courage of Achilles, without confidering the Severity of the one, and the Mildnefs of the other.
A Hero, 'tis true, may be made as brave as Achilles, as mild or pious as JEneas, and, if one will, as prudent as Ulyjfes ; but 'twould be a mere Chimera to imagine a Hero with the particular Courage of Achilles, the Piety of JE- neas, and the Prudence of Ulyffes at the fame time. See Unit*.
The Unity of Charatler is not only to be kept in the Hero, and the feveral other Peribns of the Piece ; but alfo in that of the Poem it felf : that is, all the Charac- ters, how oppofite foever, muft center and re-unite in that of the Hero ; and be fo fway'd by it, as that this alone may feem to govern throughout the whole. Thus Homer makes Wrath prevail throughout the whole Iliad ; and Artifice and Diffimulation throughout the Odyffee : The Hero's Charatler is perceiv'd every where, has its full fwing, and is fa vour'd by the Similitude of the Charatlers of fome of the other Perfons, Virgil had a great Difficulty to grapple with to preferve this Unity 5 in regard of the direct Oppofition between the Humours of his Hero, and thofe of fome other of his Perfons, as Turnus, Mezentms, Dido, &c. He therefore takes care nor to carry thofe op- pofite Charatlers to their full length, but moderates and reftrains 'em : And as that Moderation could not flow na- turally
