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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2167-h.zip b/2167-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb2a10f --- /dev/null +++ b/2167-h.zip diff --git a/2167-h/2167-h.htm b/2167-h/2167-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b860e22 --- /dev/null +++ b/2167-h/2167-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6840 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Volume 1 (of 4) + by Lord Macaulay + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of +Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4), by Thomas Babington Macaulay + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4) + Contibutions to Knight's Quarterly Magazine] + +Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay + +Release Date: June 14, 2008 [EBook #2167] +Last Updated: January 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + + + + +Produced by Mike Alder, Sue Asscher, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAY. + </h1> + <h2> + CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE + </h2> + <h2> + By By Thomas Babington Macaulay + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + VOLUME I. + </h3> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + Lord Macaulay always looked forward to a publication of his miscellaneous + works, either by himself or by those who should represent him after his + death. And latterly he expressly reserved, whenever the arrangements as to + copyright made it necessary, the right of such publication. + </p> + <p> + The collection which is now published comprehends some of the earliest and + some of the latest works which he composed. He was born on 25th October, + 1800; commenced residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, in October, 1818; + was elected Craven University Scholar in 1821; graduated as B.A. in 1822; + was elected fellow of the college in October, 1824; was called to the bar + in February, 1826, when he joined the Northern Circuit; and was elected + member for Calne in 1830. After this last event, he did not long continue + to practise at the bar. He went to India in 1834, whence he returned in + June, 1838. He was elected member for Edinburgh, in 1839, and lost this + seat in July, 1847; and this (though he was afterwards again elected for + that city in July, 1852, without being a candidate) may be considered as + the last instance of his taking an active part in the contests of public + life. These few dates are mentioned for the purpose of enabling the reader + to assign the articles, now and previously published, to the principal + periods into which the author's life may be divided. + </p> + <p> + The admirers of his later works will probably be interested by watching + the gradual formation of his style, and will notice in his earlier + productions, vigorous and clear as their language always was, the + occurrence of faults against which he afterwards most anxiously guarded + himself. A much greater interest will undoubtedly be felt in tracing the + date and development of his opinions. + </p> + <p> + The articles published in Knight's Quarterly Magazine were composed during + the author's residence at college, as B.A. It may be remarked that the + first two of these exhibit the earnestness with which he already + endeavoured to represent to himself and to others the scenes and persons + of past times as in actual existence. Of the Dialogue between Milton and + Cowley he spoke, many years after its publication, as that one of his + works which he remembered with most satisfaction. The article on Mitford's + Greece he did not himself value so highly as others thought it deserved. + This article, at any rate, contains the first distinct enunciation of his + views, as to the office of an historian, views afterwards more fully set + forth in his Essay, upon History, in the Edinburgh Review. From the + protest, in the last mentioned essay, against the conventional notions + respecting the majesty of history might perhaps have been anticipated + something like the third chapter of the History of England. It may be + amusing to notice that in the article on Mitford, appears the first sketch + of the New Zealander, afterwards filled up in a passage in the review of + Mrs Austin's translation of Ranke, a passage which at one time was the + subject of allusion, two or three times a week, in speeches and leading + articles. In this, too, appear, perhaps for the first time, the author's + views on the representative system. These he retained to the very last; + they are brought forward repeatedly in the articles published in this + collection and elsewhere, and in his speeches in parliament; and they + coincide with the opinions expressed in the letter to an American + correspondent, which was so often cited in the late debate on the Reform + Bill. + </p> + <p> + Some explanation appears to be necessary as to the publication of the + three articles "Mill on Government," "Westminster Reviewer's Defence of + Mill" and "Utilitarian Theory of Government." + </p> + <p> + In 1828 Mr James Mill, the author of the History of British India, + reprinted some essays which he had contributed to the Supplement to the + Encyclopaedia Britannica; and among these was an Essay on Government. The + method of inquiry and reasoning adopted in this essay appeared to Macaulay + to be essentially wrong. He entertained a very strong conviction that the + only sound foundation for a theory of Government must be laid in careful + and copious historical induction; and he believed that Mr Mill's work + rested upon a vicious reasoning a priori. Upon this point he felt the more + earnestly, owing to his own passion for historical research, and to his + devout admiration of Bacon, whose works he was at that time studying with + intense attention. There can, however, be little doubt that he was also + provoked by the pretensions of some members of a sect which then commonly + went by the name of Benthamites, or Utilitarians. This sect included many + of his contemporaries, who had quitted Cambridge at about the same time + with him. It had succeeded, in some measure, to the sect of the Byronians, + whom he has described in the review of Moore's Life of Lord Byron, who + discarded their neckcloths, and fixed little models of skulls on the + sand-glasses by which they regulated the boiling of their eggs for + breakfast. The members of these sects, and of many others that have + succeeded, have probably long ago learned to smile at the temporary + humours. But Macaulay, himself a sincere admirer of Bentham, was irritated + by what he considered the unwarranted tone assumed by several of the class + of Utilitarians. "We apprehend," he said, "that many of them are persons + who, having read little or nothing, are delighted to be rescued from the + sense of their own inferiority by some teacher who assures them that the + studies which they have neglected are of no value, puts five or six + phrases into their mouths, lends them an odd number of the Westminster + Review, and in a month transforms them into philosophers;" and he spoke of + them as "smatterers, whose attainments just suffice to elevate them from + the insignificance of dunces to the dignity of bores, and to spread dismay + among their pious aunts and grand mothers." The sect, of course, like + other sects, comprehended some pretenders, and these the most arrogant and + intolerant among its members. He, however, went so far as to apply the + following language to the majority:—"As to the greater part of the + sect, it is, we apprehend, of little consequence what they study or under + whom. It would be more amusing, to be sure, and more reputable, if they + would take up the old republican cant and declaim about Brutus and + Timoleon, the duty of killing tyrants and the blessedness of dying for + liberty. But, on the whole, they might have chosen worse. They may as well + be Utilitarians as jockeys or dandies. And, though quibbling about + self-interest and motives, and objects of desire, and the greatest + happiness of the greatest number, is but a poor employment for a grown + man, it certainly hurts the health less than hard drinking and the fortune + less than high play; it is not much more laughable than phrenology, and is + immeasurably more humane than cock-fighting." + </p> + <p> + Macaulay inserted in the Edinburgh Review of March, 1829, an article upon + Mr Mill's Essay. He attacked the method with much vehemence; and, to the + end of his life, he never saw any ground for believing that in this he had + gone too far. But before long he felt that he had not spoken of the author + of the Essay with the respect due to so eminent a man. In 1833, he + described Mr mill, during the debate on the India Bill of that year, as a + "gentleman extremely well acquainted with the affairs of our Eastern + Empire, a most valuable servant of the Company, and the author of a + history of India, which, though certainly not free from faults, is, I + think, on the whole, the greatest historical work which has appeared in + our language since that of Gibbon." + </p> + <p> + Almost immediately upon the appearance of the article in the Edinburgh + Review, an answer was published in the Westminster Review. It was untruly + attributed, in the newspapers of the day, to Mr Bentham himself. + Macaulay's answer to this appeared in the Edinburgh Review, June, 1829. He + wrote the answer under the belief that he was answering Mr Bentham, and + was undeceived in time only to add the postscript. The author of the + article in the Westminster Review had not perceived that the question + raised was not as to the truth or falsehood of the result at which Mr Mill + had arrived, but as to the soundness or unsoundness of the method which he + pursued; a misunderstanding at which Macaulay, while he supposed the + article to be the work of Mr Bentham, expressed much surprise. The + controversy soon became principally a dispute as to the theory which was + commonly known by the name of The Greatest Happiness Principle. Another + article in the Westminster Review followed; and a surrejoinder by Macaulay + in the Edinburgh Review of October, 1829. Macaulay was irritated at what + he conceived to be either extreme dullness or gross unfairness on the part + of his unknown antagonist, and struck as hard as he could; and he struck + very hard indeed. + </p> + <p> + The ethical question thus raised was afterwards discussed by Sir James + Mackintosh, in the Dissertation contributed by him to the seventh edition + of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 284-313 (Whewell's Edition). Sir + James Mackintosh notices the part taken in the controversy by Macaulay, in + the following words: "A writer of consummate ability, who has failed in + little but the respect due to the abilities and character of his + opponents, has given too much countenance to the abuse and confusion of + language exemplified in the well-known verse of Pope, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Modes of self-love the Passions we may call.' +</pre> + <p> + 'We know,' says he, 'no universal proposition respecting human nature + which is true but one—that men always act from self-interest.'" "It + is manifest from the sequel, that the writer is not the dupe of the + confusion; but many of his readers may be so. If, indeed, the word + "self-interest" could with propriety be used for the gratification of + every prevalent desire, he has clearly shown that this change in the + signification of terms would be of no advantage to the doctrine which he + controverts. It would make as many sorts of self-interest as there are + appetites, and it is irreconcilably at variance with the system of + association proposed by Mr Mill." "The admirable writer whose language has + occasioned this illustration, who at an early age has mastered every + species of composition, will doubtless hold fast to simplicity, which + survives all the fashions of deviation from it, and which a man of genius + so fertile has few temptations to for sake." + </p> + <p> + When Macaulay selected for publication certain articles of the Edinburgh + Review, he resolved not to publish any of the three essays in question; + for which he assigned the following reason:— + </p> + <p> + "The author has been strongly urged to insert three papers on the + Utilitarian Philosophy, which, when they first appeared, attracted some + notice, but which are not in the American editions. He has however + determined to omit these papers, not because he is disposed to retract a + single doctrine which they contain, but because he is unwilling to offer + what might be regarded as an affront to the memory of one from whose + opinions he still widely dissents, but to whose talents and virtues he + admits that he formerly did not do justice. Serious as are the faults of + the Essay on Government, a critic, while noticing those faults, should + have abstained from using contemptuous language respecting the historian + of British India. It ought to be known that Mr Mill had the generosity, + not only to forgive, but to forget the unbecoming acrimony with which he + had been assailed, and was, when his valuable life closed, on terms of + cordial friendship with his assailant." + </p> + <p> + Under these circumstances, considerable doubt has been felt as to the + propriety of republishing the three Essays in the present collection. But + it has been determined, not without much hesitation, that they should + appear. It is felt that no disrespect is shown to the memory of Mr Mill, + when the publication is accompanied by so full an apology for the tone + adopted towards him; and Mr Mill himself would have been the last to wish + for the suppression of opinions on the ground that they were in express + antagonism to his own. The grave has now closed upon the assailant as well + as the assailed. On the other hand, it cannot but be desirable that + opinions which the author retained to the last, on important questions in + politics and morals, should be before the public. + </p> + <p> + Some of the poems now collected have already appeared in print; others are + supplied by the recollection of friends. The first two are published on + account of their having been composed in the author's childhood. In the + poems, as well as in the prose works, will be occasionally found thoughts + and expressions which have afterwards been adopted in later productions. + </p> + <p> + No alteration whatever has been made from the form in which the author + left the several articles, with the exception of some changes in + punctuation, and the correction of one or two obvious misprints. + </p> + <p> + T.F.E. London, June 1860. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> FRAGMENTS OF A ROMAN TALE. (June 1823.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. (June + 1823.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> SCENES FROM "ATHENIAN REVELS." (January 1824.) + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> No. I. DANTE. (January 1824.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> No. II. PETRARCH. (April 1824.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT LAWSUIT BETWEEN THE + PARISHES OF ST DENNIS AND ST GEORGE IN THE WATER. (April 1824.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR ABRAHAM COWLEY AND + MR JOHN MILTON, TOUCHING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> ON THE ATHENIAN ORATORS. (August 1824.) </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> A PROPHETIC ACCOUNT OF A GRAND NATIONAL EPIC + POEM, TO BE ENTITLED "THE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> ON MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE. (November + 1824.) </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FRAGMENTS OF A ROMAN TALE. (June 1823.) + </h2> + <p> + It was an hour after noon. Ligarius was returning from the Campus Martius. + He strolled through one of the streets which led to the Forum, settling + his gown, and calculating the odds on the gladiators who were to fence at + the approaching Saturnalia. While thus occupied, he overtook Flaminius, + who, with a heavy step and a melancholy face, was sauntering in the same + direction. The light-hearted young man plucked him by the sleeve. + </p> + <p> + "Good-day, Flaminius. Are you to be of Catiline's party this evening?" + </p> + <p> + "Not I." + </p> + <p> + "Why so? Your little Tarentine girl will break her heart." + </p> + <p> + "No matter. Catiline has the best cooks and the finest wine in Rome. There + are charming women at his parties. But the twelve-line board and the + dice-box pay for all. The Gods confound me if I did not lose two millions + of sesterces last night. My villa at Tibur, and all the statues that my + father the praetor brought from Ephesus, must go to the auctioneer. That + is a high price, you will acknowledge, even for Phoenicopters, Chian, and + Callinice." + </p> + <p> + "High indeed, by Pollux." + </p> + <p> + "And that is not the worst. I saw several of the leading senators this + morning. Strange things are whispered in the higher political circles." + </p> + <p> + "The Gods confound the political circles. I have hated the name of + politician ever since Sylla's proscription, when I was within a moment of + having my throat cut by a politician, who took me for another politician. + While there is a cask of Falernian in Campania, or a girl in the Suburra, + I shall be too well employed to think on the subject." + </p> + <p> + "You will do well," said Flaminius gravely, "to bestow some little + consideration upon it at present. Otherwise, I fear, you will soon renew + your acquaintance with politicians, in a manner quite as unpleasant as + that to which you allude." + </p> + <p> + "Averting Gods! what do you mean?" + </p> + <p> + "I will tell you. There are rumours of conspiracy. The order of things + established by Lucius Sylla has excited the disgust of the people, and of + a large party of the nobles. Some violent convulsion is expected." + </p> + <p> + "What is that to me? I suppose that they will hardly proscribe the + vintners and gladiators, or pass a law compelling every citizen to take a + wife." + </p> + <p> + "You do not understand. Catiline is supposed to be the author of the + revolutionary schemes. You must have heard bold opinions at his table + repeatedly." + </p> + <p> + "I never listen to any opinions upon such subjects, bold or timid." + </p> + <p> + "Look to it. Your name has been mentioned." + </p> + <p> + "Mine! good Gods! I call Heaven to witness that I never so much as + mentioned Senate, Consul, or Comitia, in Catiline's house." + </p> + <p> + "Nobody suspects you of any participation in the inmost counsels of the + party. But our great men surmise that you are among those whom he has + bribed so high with beauty, or entangled so deeply in distress, that they + are no longer their own masters. I shall never set foot within his + threshold again. I have been solemnly warned by men who understand public + affairs; and I advise you to be cautious." + </p> + <p> + The friends had now turned into the Forum, which was thronged with the gay + and elegant youth of Rome. "I can tell you more," continued Flaminius; + "somebody was remarking to the Consul yesterday how loosely a certain + acquaintance of ours tied his girdle. 'Let him look to himself;' said + Cicero, 'or the state may find a tighter girdle for his neck.'" + </p> + <p> + "Good Gods! who is it? You cannot surely mean"— + </p> + <p> + "There he is." + </p> + <p> + Flaminius pointed to a man who was pacing up and down the Forum at a + little distance from them. He was in the prime of manhood. His personal + advantages were extremely striking, and were displayed with an extravagant + but not ungraceful foppery. His gown waved in loose folds; his long dark + curls were dressed with exquisite art, and shone and steamed with odours; + his step and gesture exhibited an elegant and commanding figure in every + posture of polite languor. But his countenance formed a singular contrast + to the general appearance of his person. The high and imperial brow, the + keen aquiline features, the compressed mouth; the penetrating eye, + indicated the highest degree of ability and decision. He seemed absorbed + in intense meditation. With eyes fixed on the ground, and lips working in + thought, he sauntered round the area, apparently unconscious how many of + the young gallants of Rome were envying the taste of his dress, and the + ease of his fashionable stagger. + </p> + <p> + "Good Heaven!" said Ligarius, "Caius Caesar is as unlikely to be in a plot + as I am." + </p> + <p> + "Not at all." + </p> + <p> + "He does nothing but game; feast, intrigue, read Greek, and write verses." + </p> + <p> + "You know nothing of Caesar. Though he rarely addresses the Senate, he is + considered as the finest speaker there, after the Consul. His influence + with the multitude is immense. He will serve his rivals in public life as + he served me last night at Catiline's. We were playing at the twelve + lines. (Duodecim scripta, a game of mixed chance and skill, which seems to + have been very fashionable in the higher circles of Rome. The famous + lawyer Mucius was renowned for his skill in it.—"Cic. Orat." i. 50.)—Immense + stakes. He laughed all the time, chatted with Valeria over his shoulder, + kissed her hand between every two moves, and scarcely looked at the board. + I thought that I had him. All at once I found my counters driven into the + corner. Not a piece to move, by Hercules. It cost me two millions of + sesterces. All the Gods and Goddesses confound him for it!" + </p> + <p> + "As to Valeria," said Ligarius, "I forgot to ask whether you have heard + the news." + </p> + <p> + "Not a word. What?" + </p> + <p> + "I was told at the baths to-day that Caesar escorted the lady home. + Unfortunately old Quintus Lutatius had come back from his villa in + Campania, in a whim of jealousy. He was not expected for three days. There + was a fine tumult. The old fool called for his sword and his slaves, + cursed his wife, and swore that he would cut Caesar's throat." + </p> + <p> + "And Caesar?" + </p> + <p> + "He laughed, quoted Anacreon, trussed his gown round his left arm, closed + with Quintus, flung him down, twisted his sword out of his hand, burst + through the attendants, ran a freed-man through the shoulder, and was in + the street in an instant." + </p> + <p> + "Well done! Here he comes. Good-day, Caius." + </p> + <p> + Caesar lifted his head at the salutation. His air of deep abstraction + vanished; and he extended a hand to each of the friends. + </p> + <p> + "How are you after your last night's exploit?" + </p> + <p> + "As well as possible," said Caesar, laughing. + </p> + <p> + "In truth we should rather ask how Quintus Lutatius is." + </p> + <p> + "He, I understand, is as well as can be expected of a man with a faithless + spouse and a broken head. His freed-man is most seriously hurt. Poor + fellow! he shall have half of whatever I win to-night. Flaminius, you + shall have your revenge at Catiline's." + </p> + <p> + "You are very kind. I do not intend to be at Catiline's till I wish to + part with my town-house. My villa is gone already." + </p> + <p> + "Not at Catiline's, base spirit! You are not of his mind, my gallant + Ligarius. Dice, Chian, and the loveliest Greek singing girl that was ever + seen. Think of that, Ligarius. By Venus, she almost made me adore her, by + telling me that I talked Greek with the most Attic accent that she had + heard in Italy." + </p> + <p> + "I doubt she will not say the same of me," replied Ligarius. "I am just as + able to decipher an obelisk as to read a line of Homer." + </p> + <p> + "You barbarous Scythian, who had the care of your education?" + </p> + <p> + "An old fool,—a Greek pedant,—a Stoic. He told me that pain + was no evil, and flogged me as if he thought so. At last one day, in the + middle of a lecture, I set fire to his enormous filthy beard, singed his + face, and sent him roaring out of the house. There ended my studies. From + that time to this I have had as little to do with Greece as the wine that + your poor old friend Lutatius calls his delicious Samian." + </p> + <p> + "Well done, Ligarius. I hate a Stoic. I wish Marcus Cato had a beard that + you might singe it for him. The fool talked his two hours in the Senate + yesterday, without changing a muscle of his face. He looked as savage and + as motionless as the mask in which Roscius acted Alecto. I detest + everything connected with him." + </p> + <p> + "Except his sister, Servilia." + </p> + <p> + "True. She is a lovely woman." + </p> + <p> + "They say that you have told her so, Caius" + </p> + <p> + "So I have." + </p> + <p> + "And that she was not angry." + </p> + <p> + "What woman is?" + </p> + <p> + "Aye—but they say"— + </p> + <p> + "No matter what they say. Common fame lies like a Greek rhetorician. You + might know so much, Ligarius, without reading the philosophers. But come, + I will introduce you to little dark-eyed Zoe." + </p> + <p> + "I tell you I can speak no Greek." + </p> + <p> + "More shame for you. It is high time that you should begin. You will never + have such a charming instructress. Of what was your father thinking when + he sent for an old Stoic with a long beard to teach you? There is no + language-mistress like a handsome woman. When I was at Athens, I learnt + more Greek from a pretty flower-girl in the Peiraeus than from all the + Portico and the Academy. She was no Stoic, Heaven knows. But come along to + Zoe. I will be your interpreter. Woo her in honest Latin, and I will turn + it into elegant Greek between the throws of dice. I can make love and mind + my game at once, as Flaminius can tell you. + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, to be plain, Caesar, Flaminius has been talking to me about + plots, and suspicions, and politicians. I never plagued myself with such + things since Sylla's and Marius's days; and then I never could see much + difference between the parties. All that I am sure of is, that those who + meddle with such affairs are generally stabbed or strangled. And, though I + like Greek wine and handsome women, I do not wish to risk my neck for + them. Now, tell me as a friend, Caius—is there no danger?" + </p> + <p> + "Danger!" repeated Caesar, with a short, fierce, disdainful laugh: "what + danger do you apprehend?" + </p> + <p> + "That you should best know," said Flaminius; "you are far more intimate + with Catiline than I. But I advise you to be cautious. The leading men + entertain strong suspicions." + </p> + <p> + Caesar drew up his figure from its ordinary state of graceful relaxation + into an attitude of commanding dignity, and replied in a voice of which + the deep and impassioned melody formed a strange contrast to the humorous + and affected tone of his ordinary conversation. "Let them suspect. They + suspect because they know what they have deserved. What have they done for + Rome?—What for mankind? Ask the citizens—ask the provinces. + Have they had any other object than to perpetuate their own exclusive + power, and to keep us under the yoke of an oligarchical tyranny, which + unites in itself the worst evils of every other system, and combines more + than Athenian turbulence with more than Persian despotism?" + </p> + <p> + "Good Gods! Caesar. It is not safe for you to speak, or for us to listen + to, such things, at such a crisis." + </p> + <p> + "Judge for yourselves what you will hear. I will judge for myself what I + will speak. I was not twenty years old when I defied Lucius Sylla, + surrounded by the spears of legionaries and the daggers of assassins. Do + you suppose that I stand in awe of his paltry successors, who have + inherited a power which they never could have acquired; who would imitate + his proscriptions, though they have never equalled his conquests?" + </p> + <p> + "Pompey is almost as little to be trifled with as Sylla. I heard a + consular senator say that, in consequence of the present alarming state of + affairs, he would probably be recalled from the command assigned to him by + the Manilian law." + </p> + <p> + "Let him come,—the pupil of Sylla's butcheries,—the gleaner of + Lucullus's trophies,—the thief-taker of the Senate." + </p> + <p> + "For Heaven's sake, Caius!—if you knew what the Consul said"— + </p> + <p> + "Something about himself, no doubt. Pity that such talents should be + coupled with such cowardice and coxcombry. He is the finest speaker + living,—infinitely superior to what Hortensius was, in his best + days;—a charming companion, except when he tells over for the + twentieth time all the jokes that he made at Verres's trial. But he is the + despicable tool of a despicable party." + </p> + <p> + "Your language, Caius, convinces me that the reports which have been + circulated are not without foundation. I will venture to prophesy that + within a few months the republic will pass through a whole Odyssey of + strange adventures." + </p> + <p> + "I believe so; an Odyssey, of which Pompey will be the Polyphemus, and + Cicero the Siren. I would have the state imitate Ulysses: show no mercy to + the former; but contrive, if it can be done, to listen to the enchanting + voice of the other, without being seduced by it to destruction." + </p> + <p> + "But whom can your party produce as rivals to these two famous leaders?" + </p> + <p> + "Time will show. I would hope that there may arise a man, whose genius to + conquer, to conciliate, and to govern, may unite in one cause an oppressed + and divided people;—may do all that Sylla should have done, and + exhibit the magnificent spectacle of a great nation directed by a great + mind." + </p> + <p> + "And where is such a man to be found?" + </p> + <p> + "Perhaps where you would least expect to find him. Perhaps he may be one + whose powers have hitherto been concealed in domestic or literary + retirement. Perhaps he may be one, who, while waiting for some adequate + excitement, for some worthy opportunity, squanders on trifles a genius + before which may yet be humbled the sword of Pompey and the gown of + Cicero. Perhaps he may now be disputing with a sophist; perhaps prattling + with a mistress; perhaps" and, as he spoke, he turned away, and resumed + his lounge, "strolling in the Forum." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + It was almost midnight. The party had separated. Catiline and Cethegus + were still conferring in the supper-room, which was, as usual, the highest + apartment of the house. It formed a cupola, from which windows opened on + the flat roof that surrounded it. To this terrace Zoe had retired. With + eyes dimmed with fond and melancholy tears, she leaned over the + balustrade, to catch the last glimpse of the departing form of Caesar, as + it grew more and more indistinct in the moonlight. Had he any thought of + her? Any love for her? He, the favourite of the high-born beauties of + Rome, the most splendid, the most graceful, the most eloquent of its + nobles? It could not be. His voice had, indeed, been touchingly soft + whenever he addressed her. There had been a fascinating tenderness even in + the vivacity of his look and conversation. But such were always the + manners of Caesar towards women. He had wreathed a sprig of myrtle in her + hair as she was singing. She took it from her dark ringlets, and kissed + it, and wept over it, and thought of the sweet legends of her own dear + Greece,—of youths and girls, who, pining away in hopeless love, had + been transformed into flowers by the compassion of the Gods; and she + wished to become a flower, which Caesar might sometimes touch, though he + should touch it only to weave a crown for some prouder and happier + mistress. + </p> + <p> + She was roused from her musings by the loud step and voice of Cethegus, + who was pacing furiously up and down the supper-room. + </p> + <p> + "May all the Gods confound me, if Caesar be not the deepest traitor, or + the most miserable idiot, that ever intermeddled with a plot!" + </p> + <p> + Zoe shuddered. She drew nearer to the window. She stood concealed from + observation by the curtain of fine network which hung over the aperture, + to exclude the annoying insects of the climate. + </p> + <p> + "And you too!" continued Cethegus, turning fiercely on his accomplice; + "you to take his part against me!—you, who proposed the scheme + yourself!" + </p> + <p> + "My dear Caius Cethegus, you will not understand me. I proposed the + scheme; and I will join in executing it. But policy is as necessary to our + plans as boldness. I did not wish to startle Caesar—to lose his + co-operation—perhaps to send him off with an information against us + to Cicero and Catulus. He was so indignant at your suggestion that all my + dissimulation was scarcely sufficient to prevent a total rupture." + </p> + <p> + "Indignant! The Gods confound him!—He prated about humanity, and + generosity, and moderation. By Hercules, I have not heard such a lecture + since I was with Xenochares at Rhodes." + </p> + <p> + "Caesar is made up of inconsistencies. He has boundless ambition, + unquestioned courage, admirable sagacity. Yet I have frequently observed + in him a womanish weakness at the sight of pain. I remember that once one + of his slaves was taken ill while carrying his litter. He alighted, put + the fellow in his place and walked home in a fall of snow. I wonder that + you could be so ill-advised as to talk to him of massacre, and pillage, + and conflagration. You might have foreseen that such propositions would + disgust a man of his temper." + </p> + <p> + "I do not know. I have not your self-command, Lucius. I hate such + conspirators. What is the use of them? We must have blood—blood,—hacking + and tearing work—bloody work!" + </p> + <p> + "Do not grind your teeth, my dear Caius; and lay down the carving-knife. + By Hercules, you have cut up all the stuffing of the couch." + </p> + <p> + "No matter; we shall have couches enough soon,—and down to stuff + them with,—and purple to cover them,—and pretty women to loll + on them,—unless this fool, and such as he, spoil our plans. I had + something else to say. The essenced fop wishes to seduce Zoe from me." + </p> + <p> + "Impossible! You misconstrue the ordinary gallantries which he is in the + habit of paying to every handsome face." + </p> + <p> + "Curse on his ordinary gallantries, and his verses, and his compliments, + and his sprigs of myrtle! If Caesar should dare—by Hercules, I will + tear him to pieces in the middle of the Forum." + </p> + <p> + "Trust his destruction to me. We must use his talents and influence—thrust + him upon every danger—make him our instrument while we are + contending—our peace-offering to the Senate if we fail—our + first victim if we succeed." + </p> + <p> + "Hark! what noise was that?" + </p> + <p> + "Somebody in the terrace—lend me your dagger." + </p> + <p> + Catiline rushed to the window. Zoe was standing in the shade. He stepped + out. She darted into the room—passed like a flash of lightning by + the startled Cethegus—flew down the stairs—through the court—through + the vestibule—through the street. Steps, voices, lights, came fast + and confusedly behind her; but with the speed of love and terror she + gained upon her pursuers. She fled through the wilderness of unknown and + dusky streets, till she found herself, breathless and exhausted, in the + midst of a crowd of gallants, who, with chaplets on their heads and + torches in their hands, were reeling from the portico of a stately + mansion. + </p> + <p> + The foremost of the throng was a youth whose slender figure and beautiful + countenance seemed hardly consistent with his sex. But the feminine + delicacy of his features rendered more frightful the mingled sensuality + and ferocity of their expression. The libertine audacity of his stare, and + the grotesque foppery of his apparel, seemed to indicate at least a + partial insanity. Flinging one arm round Zoe, and tearing away her veil + with the other, he disclosed to the gaze of his thronging companions the + regular features and large dark eyes which characterise Athenian beauty. + </p> + <p> + "Clodius has all the luck to-night," cried Ligarius. + </p> + <p> + "Not so, by Hercules," said Marcus Coelius; "the girl is fairly our common + prize: we will fling dice for her. The Venus (Venus was the Roman term for + the highest throw of the dice.) throw, as it ought to do, shall decide." + </p> + <p> + "Let me go—let me go, for Heaven's sake," cried Zoe, struggling with + Clodius. + </p> + <p> + "What a charming Greek accent she has! Come into the house, my little + Athenian nightingale." + </p> + <p> + "Oh! what will become of me? If you have mothers—if you have + sisters"— + </p> + <p> + "Clodius has a sister," muttered Ligarius, "or he is much belied." + </p> + <p> + "By Heaven, she is weeping," said Clodius. + </p> + <p> + "If she were not evidently a Greek," said Coelius, "I should take her for + a vestal virgin." + </p> + <p> + "And if she were a vestal virgin," cried Clodius fiercely, "it should not + deter me. This way;—no struggling—no screaming." + </p> + <p> + "Struggling! screaming!" exclaimed a gay and commanding voice; "You are + making very ungentle love, Clodius." + </p> + <p> + The whole party started. Caesar had mingled with them unperceived. + </p> + <p> + The sound of his voice thrilled through the very heart of Zoe. With a + convulsive effort she burst from the grasp of her insolent admirer, flung + herself at the feet of Caesar, and clasped his knees. The moon shone full + on her agitated and imploring face: her lips moved; but she uttered no + sound. He gazed at her for an instant—raised her—clasped her + to his bosom. "Fear nothing, my sweet Zoe." Then, with folded arms, and a + smile of placid defiance, he placed himself between her and Clodius. + </p> + <p> + Clodius staggered forward, flushed with wine and rage, and uttering + alternately a curse and a hiccup. + </p> + <p> + "By Pollux, this passes a jest. Caesar, how dare you insult me thus?" + </p> + <p> + "A jest! I am as serious as a Jew on the Sabbath. Insult you; for such a + pair of eyes I would insult the whole consular bench, or I should be as + insensible as King Psammis's mummy." + </p> + <p> + "Good Gods, Caesar!" said Marcus Coelius, interposing; "you cannot think + it worth while to get into a brawl for a little Greek girl!" + </p> + <p> + "Why not? The Greek girls have used me as well as those of Rome. Besides, + the whole reputation of my gallantry is at stake. Give up such a lovely + woman to that drunken boy! My character would be gone for ever. No more + perfumed tablets, full of vows and raptures. No more toying with fingers + at the circus. No more evening walks along the Tiber. No more hiding in + chests or jumping from windows. I, the favoured suitor of half the white + stoles in Rome, could never again aspire above a freed-woman. You a man of + gallantry, and think of such a thing! For shame, my dear Coelius! Do not + let Clodia hear of it." + </p> + <p> + While Caesar spoke he had been engaged in keeping Clodius at arm's-length. + The rage of the frantic libertine increased as the struggle continued. + "Stand back, as you value your life," he cried; "I will pass." + </p> + <p> + "Not this way, sweet Clodius. I have too much regard for you to suffer you + to make love at such disadvantage. You smell too much of Falernian at + present. Would you stifle your mistress? By Hercules, you are fit to kiss + nobody now, except old Piso, when he is tumbling home in the morning from + the vintners." + </p> + <p> + Clodius plunged his hand into his bosom and drew a little dagger, the + faithful companion of many desperate adventures. + </p> + <p> + "Oh, Gods! he will be murdered!" cried Zoe. + </p> + <p> + The whole throng of revellers was in agitation. The street fluctuated with + torches and lifted hands. It was but for a moment. Caesar watched with a + steady eye the descending hand of Clodius, arrested the blow, seized his + antagonist by the throat, and flung him against one of the pillars of the + portico with such violence, that he rolled, stunned and senseless, on the + ground. + </p> + <p> + "He is killed," cried several voices. + </p> + <p> + "Fair self-defence, by Hercules!" said Marcus Coelius. "Bear witness, you + all saw him draw his dagger." + </p> + <p> + "He is not dead—he breathes," said Ligarius. "Carry him into the + house; he is dreadfully bruised." + </p> + <p> + The rest of the party retired with Clodius. Coelius turned to Caesar. + </p> + <p> + "By all the Gods, Caius! you have won your lady fairly. A splendid + victory! You deserve a triumph." + </p> + <p> + "What a madman Clodius has become!" + </p> + <p> + "Intolerable. But come and sup with me on the Nones. You have no objection + to meet the Consul?" + </p> + <p> + "Cicero? None at all. We need not talk politics. Our old dispute about + Plato and Epicurus will furnish us with plenty of conversation. So reckon + upon me, my dear Marcus, and farewell." + </p> + <p> + Caesar and Zoe turned away. As soon as they were beyond hearing, she began + in great agitation:— + </p> + <p> + "Caesar, you are in danger. I know all. I overheard Catiline and Cethegus. + You are engaged in a project which must lead to certain destruction." + </p> + <p> + "My beautiful Zoe, I live only for glory and pleasure. For these I have + never hesitated to hazard an existence which they alone render valuable to + me. In the present case, I can assure you that our scheme presents the + fairest hopes of success." + </p> + <p> + "So much the worse. You do not know—you do not understand me. I + speak not of open peril, but of secret treachery. Catiline hates you;—Cethegus + hates you;—your destruction is resolved. If you survive the contest, + you perish in the first hour of victory. They detest you for your + moderation; they are eager for blood and plunder. I have risked my life to + bring you this warning; but that is of little moment. Farewell!—Be + happy." + </p> + <p> + Caesar stopped her. "Do you fly from my thanks, dear Zoe?" + </p> + <p> + "I wish not for your thanks, but for your safety;—I desire not to + defraud Valeria or Servilia of one caress, extorted from gratitude or + pity. Be my feelings what they may, I have learnt in a fearful school to + endure and to suppress them. I have been taught to abase a proud spirit to + the claps and hisses of the vulgar;—to smile on suitors who united + the insults of a despicable pride to the endearments of a loathsome + fondness;—to affect sprightliness with an aching head, and eyes from + which tears were ready to gush;—to feign love with curses on my + lips, and madness in my brain. Who feels for me any esteem,—any + tenderness? Who will shed a tear over the nameless grave which will soon + shelter from cruelty and scorn the broken heart of the poor Athenian girl? + But you, who alone have addressed her in her degradation with a voice of + kindness and respect, farewell. Sometimes think of me,—not with + sorrow;—no; I could bear your ingratitude, but not your distress. + Yet, if it will not pain you too much, in distant days, when your lofty + hopes and destinies are accomplished,—on the evening of some mighty + victory,—in the chariot of some magnificent triumph,—think on + one who loved you with that exceeding love which only the miserable can + feel. Think that, wherever her exhausted frame may have sunk beneath the + sensibilities of a tortured spirit,—in whatever hovel or whatever + vault she may have closed her eyes,—whatever strange scenes of + horror and pollution may have surrounded her dying bed, your shape was the + last that swam before her sight—your voice the last sound that was + ringing in her ears. Yet turn your face to me, Caesar. Let me carry away + one last look of those features, and then "—He turned round. He + looked at her. He hid his face on her bosom, and burst into tears. With + sobs long and loud, and convulsive as those of a terrified child, he + poured forth on her bosom the tribute of impetuous and uncontrollable + emotion. He raised his head; but he in vain struggled to restore composure + to the brow which had confronted the frown of Sylla, and the lips which + had rivalled the eloquence of Cicero. He several times attempted to speak, + but in vain; and his voice still faltered with tenderness, when, after a + pause of several minutes, he thus addressed her: + </p> + <p> + "My own dear Zoe, your love has been bestowed on one who, if he cannot + merit, can at least appreciate and adore you. Beings of similar + loveliness, and similar devotedness of affection, mingled, in all my + boyish dreams of greatness, with visions of curule chairs and ivory cars, + marshalled legions and laurelled fasces. Such I have endeavoured to find + in the world; and, in their stead, I have met with selfishness, with + vanity, with frivolity, with falsehood. The life which you have preserved + is a boon less valuable than the affection "— + </p> + <p> + "Oh! Caesar," interrupted the blushing Zoe, "think only on your own + security at present. If you feel as you speak,—but you are only + mocking me,—or perhaps your compassion "— + </p> + <p> + "By Heaven!—by every oath that is binding "— + </p> + <p> + "Alas! alas! Caesar, were not all the same oaths sworn yesterday to + Valeria? But I will trust you, at least so far as to partake your present + dangers. Flight may be necessary:—form your plans. Be they what they + may, there is one who, in exile, in poverty, in peril, asks only to + wander, to beg, to die with you." + </p> + <p> + "My Zoe, I do not anticipate any such necessity. To renounce the + conspiracy without renouncing the principles on which it was originally + undertaken,—to elude the vengeance of the Senate without losing the + confidence of the people,—is, indeed, an arduous, but not an + impossible, task. I owe it to myself and to my country to make the + attempt. There is still ample time for consideration. At present I am too + happy in love to think of ambition or danger." + </p> + <p> + They had reached the door of a stately palace. Caesar struck it. It was + instantly opened by a slave. Zoe found herself in a magnificent hall, + surrounded by pillars of green marble, between which were ranged the + statues of the long line of Julian nobles. + </p> + <p> + "Call Endymion," said Caesar. + </p> + <p> + The confidential freed-man made his appearance, not without a slight + smile, which his patron's good nature emboldened him to hazard, at + perceiving the beautiful Athenian. + </p> + <p> + "Arm my slaves, Endymion; there are reasons for precaution. Let them + relieve each other on guard during the night. Zoe, my love, my preserver, + why are your cheeks so pale? Let me kiss some bloom into them. How you + tremble! Endymion, a flask of Samian and some fruit. Bring them to my + apartments. This way, my sweet Zoe." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. (June 1823.) + </h2> + <p> + This is the age of societies. There is scarcely one Englishman in ten who + has not belonged to some association for distributing books, or for + prosecuting them; for sending invalids to the hospital, or beggars to the + treadmill; for giving plate to the rich, or blankets to the poor. To be + the most absurd institution among so many institutions is no small distinction; + it seems, however, to belong indisputably to the Royal Society of + Literature. At the first establishment of that ridiculous academy, every + sensible man predicted that, in spite of regal patronage and episcopal + management, it would do nothing, or do harm. And it will scarcely be + denied that those expectations have hitherto been fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + I do not attack the founders of the association. Their characters are + respectable; their motives, I am willing to believe, were laudable. But I + feel, and it is the duty of every literary man to feel, a strong jealousy + of their proceedings. Their society can be innocent only while it + continues to be despicable. Should they ever possess the power to + encourage merit, they must also possess the power to depress it. Which + power will be more frequently exercised, let every one who has studied + literary history, let every one who has studied human nature, declare. + </p> + <p> + Envy and faction insinuate themselves into all communities. They often + disturb the peace, and pervert the decisions, of benevolent and scientific + associations. But it is in literary academies that they exert the most + extensive and pernicious influence. In the first place, the principles of + literary criticism, though equally fixed with those on which the chemist + and the surgeon proceed, are by no means equally recognised. Men are + rarely able to assign a reason for their approbation or dislike on + questions of taste; and therefore they willingly submit to any guide who + boldly asserts his claim to superior discernment. It is more difficult to + ascertain and establish the merits of a poem than the powers of a machine + or the benefits of a new remedy. Hence it is in literature, that quackery + is most easily puffed, and excellence most easily decried. + </p> + <p> + In some degree this argument applies to academies of the fine arts; and it + is fully confirmed by all that I have ever heard of that institution which + annually disfigures the walls of Somerset House with an acre of spoiled + canvas. But a literary tribunal is incomparably more dangerous. Other + societies, at least, have no tendency to call forth any opinions on those + subjects which most agitate and inflame the minds of men. The sceptic and + the zealot, the revolutionist and the placeman, meet on common ground in a + gallery of paintings or a laboratory of science. They can praise or + censure without reference to the differences which exist between them. In + a literary body this can never be the case. Literature is, and always must + be, inseparably blended with politics and theology; it is the great engine + which moves the feelings of a people on the most momentous questions. It + is, therefore, impossible that any society can be formed so impartial as + to consider the literary character of an individual abstracted from the + opinions which his writings inculcate. It is not to be hoped, perhaps it + is not to be wished, that the feelings of the man should be so completely + forgotten in the duties of the academician. The consequences are evident. + The honours and censures of this Star Chamber of the Muses will be awarded + according to the prejudices of the particular sect or faction which may at + the time predominate. Whigs would canvass against a Southey, Tories + against a Byron. Those who might at first protest against such conduct as + unjust would soon adopt it on the plea of retaliation; and the general + good of literature, for which the society was professedly instituted, + would be forgotten in the stronger claims of political and religious + partiality. + </p> + <p> + Yet even this is not the worst. Should the institution ever acquire any + influence, it will afford most pernicious facilities to every malignant + coward who may desire to blast a reputation which he envies. It will + furnish a secure ambuscade, behind which the Maroons of literature may + take a certain and deadly aim. The editorial WE has often been fatal to + rising genius; though all the world knows that it is only a form of + speech, very often employed by a single needy blockhead. The academic WE + would have a far greater and more ruinous influence. Numbers, while they + increase the effect, would diminish the shame, of injustice. The + advantages of an open and those of an anonymous attack would be combined; + and the authority of avowal would be united to the security of + concealment. The serpents in Virgil, after they had destroyed Laocoon, + found an asylum from the vengeance of the enraged people behind the shield + of the statue of Minerva. And, in the same manner, everything that is + grovelling and venomous, everything that can hiss, and everything that can + sting, would take sanctuary in the recesses of this new temple of wisdom. + </p> + <p> + The French academy was, of all such associations, the most widely and the + most justly celebrated. It was founded by the greatest of ministers: it + was patronised by successive kings; it numbered in its lists most of the + eminent French writers. Yet what benefit has literature derived from its + labours? What is its history but an uninterrupted record of servile + compliances—of paltry artifices—of deadly quarrels—of + perfidious friendships? Whether governed by the Court, by the Sorbonne, or + by the Philosophers, it was always equally powerful for evil, and equally + impotent for good. I might speak of the attacks by which it attempted to + depress the rising fame of Corneille; I might speak of the reluctance with + which it gave its tardy confirmation to the applauses which the whole + civilised world had bestowed on the genius of Voltaire. I might prove by + overwhelming evidence that, to the latest period of its existence, even + under the superintendence of the all-accomplished D'Alembert, it continued + to be a scene of the fiercest animosities and the basest intrigues. I + might cite Piron's epigrams, and Marmontel's memoirs, and Montesquieu's + letters. But I hasten on to another topic. + </p> + <p> + One of the modes by which our Society proposes to encourage merit is the + distribution of prizes. The munificence of the king has enabled it to + offer an annual premium of a hundred guineas for the best essay in prose, + and another of fifty guineas for the best poem, which may be transmitted + to it. This is very laughable. In the first place the judges may err. + Those imperfections of human intellect to which, as the articles of the + Church tell us, even general councils are subject, may possibly be found + even in the Royal Society of Literature. The French academy, as I have + already said, was the most illustrious assembly of the kind, and numbered + among its associates men much more distinguished than ever will assemble + at Mr Hatchard's to rummage the box of the English Society. Yet this + famous body gave a poetical prize, for which Voltaire was a candidate, to + a fellow who wrote some verses about THE FROZEN AND THE BURNING POLE. + </p> + <p> + Yet, granting that the prizes were always awarded to the best composition, + that composition, I say without hesitation, will always be bad. A prize + poem is like a prize sheep. The object of the competitor for the + agricultural premium is to produce an animal fit, not to be eaten, but to + be weighed. Accordingly he pampers his victim into morbid and unnatural + fatness; and, when it is in such a state that it would be sent away in + disgust from any table, he offers it to the judges. The object of the + poetical candidate, in like manner, is to produce, not a good poem, but a + poem of that exact degree of frigidity or bombast which may appear to his + censors to be correct or sublime. Compositions thus constructed will + always be worthless. The few excellences which they may contain will have + an exotic aspect and flavour. In general, prize sheep are good for nothing + but to make tallow candles, and prize poems are good for nothing but to + light them. + </p> + <p> + The first subject proposed by the Society to the poets of England was + Dartmoor. I thought that they intended a covert sarcasm at their own + projects. Their institution was a literary Dartmoor scheme;—a plan + for forcing into cultivation the waste lands of intellect,—for + raising poetical produce, by means of bounties, from soil too meagre to + have yielded any returns in the natural course of things. The plan for the + cultivation of Dartmoor has, I hear, been abandoned. I hope that this may + be an omen of the fate of the Society. + </p> + <p> + In truth, this seems by no means improbable. They have been offering for + several years the rewards which the king placed at their disposal, and + have not, as far as I can learn, been able to find in their box one + composition which they have deemed worthy of publication. At least no + publication has taken place. The associates may perhaps be astonished at + this. But I will attempt to explain it, after the manner of ancient times, + by means of an apologue. + </p> + <p> + About four hundred years after the Deluge, King Gomer Chephoraod reigned + in Babylon. He united all the characteristics of an excellent sovereign. + He made good laws, won great battles, and white-washed long streets. He + was, in consequence, idolised by his people, and panegyrised by many poets + and orators. A book was then a sermons undertaking. Neither paper nor any + similar material had been invented. Authors were therefore under the + necessity of inscribing their compositions on massive bricks. Some of + these Babylonian records are still preserved in European museums; but the + language in which they are written has never been deciphered. Gomer + Chephoraod was so popular that the clay of all the plains round the + Euphrates could scarcely furnish brick-kilns enough for his eulogists. It + is recorded in particular that Pharonezzar, the Assyrian Pindar, published + a bridge and four walls in his praise. + </p> + <p> + One day the king was going in state from his palace to the temple of + Belus. During this procession it was lawful for any Babylonian to offer + any petition or suggestion to his sovereign. As the chariot passed before + a vintner's shop, a large company, apparently half-drunk, sallied forth + into the street, and one of them thus addressed the king: + </p> + <p> + "Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! It appears to thy servants that of all + the productions of the earth good wine is the best, and bad wine is the + worst. Good wine makes the heart cheerful, the eyes bright, the speech + ready. Bad wine confuses the head, disorders the stomach, makes us + quarrelsome at night, and sick the next morning. Now therefore let my lord + the king take order that thy servants may drink good wine. + </p> + <p> + "And how is this to be done?" said the good-natured prince. + </p> + <p> + "O King," said his monitor, "this is most easy. Let the king make a + decree, and seal it with his royal signet: and let it be proclaimed that + the king will give ten she-asses, and ten slaves, and ten changes of + raiment, every year, unto the man who shall make ten measures of the best + wine. And whosoever wishes for the she-asses, and the slaves, and the + raiment, let him send the ten measures of wine to thy servants, and we + will drink thereof and judge. So shall there be much good wine in + Assyria." + </p> + <p> + The project pleased Gomer Chephoraod. "Be it so," said he. The people + shouted. The petitioners prostrated themselves in gratitude. The same + night heralds were despatched to bear the intelligence to the remotest + districts of Assyria. + </p> + <p> + After a due interval the wines began to come in; and the examiners + assembled to adjudge the prize. The first vessel was unsealed. Its odour + was such that the judges, without tasting it, pronounced unanimous + condemnation. The next was opened: it had a villainous taste of clay. The + third was sour and vapid. They proceeded from one cask of execrable liquor + to another, till at length, in absolute nausea, they gave up the + investigation. + </p> + <p> + The next morning they all assembled at the gate of the king, with pale + faces and aching heads. They owned that they could not recommend any + competitor as worthy of the rewards. They swore that the wine was little + better than poison, and entreated permission to resign the office of + deciding between such detestable potions. + </p> + <p> + "In the name of Belus, how can this have happened?" said the king. + </p> + <p> + Merolchazzar, the high-priest, muttered something about the anger of the + Gods at the toleration shown to a sect of impious heretics who ate pigeons + broiled, "whereas," said he, "our religion commands us to eat them + roasted. Now therefore, O King," continued this respectable divine, "give + command to thy men of war, and let them smite the disobedient people with + the sword, them, and their wives, and their children, and let their + houses, and their flocks, and their herds, be given to thy servants the + priests. Then shall the land yield its increase, and the fruits of the + earth shall be no more blasted by the vengeance of Heaven." + </p> + <p> + "Nay," said the king, "the ground lies under no general curse from Heaven. + The season has been singularly good. The wine which thou didst thyself + drink at the banquet a few nights ago, O venerable Merolchazzar, was of + this year's vintage. Dost thou not remember how thou didst praise it? It + was the same night that thou wast inspired by Belus and didst reel to and + fro, and discourse sacred mysteries. These things are too hard for me. I + comprehend them not. The only wine which is bad is that which is sent to + my judges. Who can expound this to us?" + </p> + <p> + The king scratched his head. Upon which all the courtiers scratched their + heads. + </p> + <p> + He then ordered proclamation to be made that a purple robe and a golden + chain should be given to the man who could solve this difficulty. + </p> + <p> + An old philosopher, who had been observed to smile rather disdainfully + when the prize had first been instituted, came forward and spoke thus:— + </p> + <p> + "Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! Marvel not at that which has happened. + It was no miracle, but a natural event. How could it be otherwise? It is + true that much good wine has been made this year. But who would send it in + for thy rewards? Thou knowest Ascobaruch who hath the great vineyards in + the north, and Cohahiroth who sendeth wine every year from the south over + the Persian Golf. Their wines are so delicious that ten measures thereof + are sold for an hundred talents of silver. Thinkest thou that they will + exchange them for thy slaves and thine asses? What would thy prize profit + any who have vineyards in rich soils?" + </p> + <p> + "Who then," said one of the judges, "are the wretches who sent us this + poison?" + </p> + <p> + "Blame them not," said the sage, "seeing that you have been the authors of + the evil. They are men whose lands are poor, and have never yielded them + any returns equal to the prizes which the king proposed. Wherefore, + knowing that the lords of the fruitful vineyards would not enter into + competition with them they planted vines, some on rocks, and some in light + sandy soil, and some in deep clay. Hence their wines are bad. For no + culture or reward will make barren land bear good vines. Know therefore, + assuredly, that your prizes have increased the quantity of bad but not of + good wine." + </p> + <p> + There was a long silence. At length the king spoke. "Give him the purple + robe and the chain of gold. Throw the wines into the Euphrates; and + proclaim that the Royal Society of Wines is dissolved." + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES FROM "ATHENIAN REVELS." (January 1824.) + </h2> + <h3> + A DRAMA. + </h3> + <p> + I. + </p> + <p> + SCENE—A Street in Athens. + </p> + <p> + Enter CALLIDEMUS and SPEUSIPPUS; + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. So, you young reprobate! You must be a man of wit, forsooth, + and a man of quality! You must spend as if you were as rich as Nicias, and + prate as if you were as wise as Pericles! You must dangle after sophists + and pretty women! And I must pay for all! I must sup on thyme and onions, + while you are swallowing thrushes and hares! I must drink water, that you + may play the cottabus (This game consisted in projecting wine out of cups; + it was a diversion extremely fashionable at Athenian entertainments.) with + Chian wine! I must wander about as ragged as Pauson (Pauson was an + Athenian painter, whose name was synonymous with beggary. See + Aristophanes; Plutus, 602. From his poverty, I am inclined to suppose that + he painted historical pictures.), that you may be as fine as Alcibiades! I + must lie on bare boards, with a stone (See Aristophanes; Plutus, 542.) for + my pillow, and a rotten mat for my coverlid, by the light of a wretched + winking lamp, while you are marching in state, with as many torches as one + sees at the feast of Ceres, to thunder with your hatchet (See Theocritus; + Idyll ii. 128.) at the doors of half the Ionian ladies in Peiraeus. (This + was the most disreputable part of Athens. See Aristophanes: Pax, 165.) + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Why, thou unreasonable old man! Thou most shameless of + fathers!— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Ungrateful wretch; dare you talk so? Are you not afraid of the + thunders of Jupiter? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Jupiter thunder! nonsense! Anaxagoras says, that thunder is + only an explosion produced by— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. He does! Would that it had fallen on his head for his pains! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Nay: talk rationally. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Rationally! You audacious young sophist! I will talk + rationally. Do you know that I am your father? What quibble can you make + upon that? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Do I know that you are my father? Let us take the question to + pieces, as Melesigenes would say. First, then, we must inquire what is + knowledge? Secondly, what is a father? Now, knowledge, as Socrates said + the other day to Theaetetus (See Plato's Theaetetus.)— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Socrates! what! the ragged flat-nosed old dotard, who walks + about all day barefoot, and filches cloaks, and dissects gnats, and shoes + (See Aristophanes; Nubes, 150.) fleas with wax? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. All fiction! All trumped up by Aristophanes! + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. By Pallas, if he is in the habit of putting shoes on his + fleas, he is kinder to them than to himself. But listen to me, boy; if you + go on in this way, you will be ruined. There is an argument for you. Go to + your Socrates and your Melesigenes, and tell them to refute that. Ruined! + Do you hear? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Ruined! + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Ay, by Jupiter! Is such a show as you make to be supported on + nothing? During all the last war, I made not an obol from my farm; the + Peloponnesian locusts came almost as regularly as the Pleiades;—corn + burnt;—olives stripped;—fruit trees cut down;—wells + stopped up;—and, just when peace came, and I hoped that all would + turn out well, you must begin to spend as if you had all the mines of + Thasus at command. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Now, by Neptune, who delights in horses— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. If Neptune delights in horses, he does not resemble me. You + must ride at the Panathenaea on a horse fit for the great king: four acres + of my best vines went for that folly. You must retrench, or you will have + nothing to eat. Does not Anaxagoras mention, among his other discoveries, + that when a man has nothing to eat he dies? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. You are deceived. My friends— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Oh, yes! your friends will notice you, doubtless, when you are + squeezing through the crowd, on a winter's day, to warm yourself at the + fire of the baths;—or when you are fighting with beggars and + beggars' dogs for the scraps of a sacrifice;—or when you are glad to + earn three wretched obols (The stipend of an Athenian juryman.) by + listening all day to lying speeches and crying children. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. There are other means of support. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. What! I suppose you will wander from house to house, like that + wretched buffoon Philippus (Xenophon; Convivium.), and beg everybody who + has asked a supper-party to be so kind as to feed you and laugh at you; or + you will turn sycophant; you will get a bunch of grapes, or a pair of + shoes, now and then, by frightening some rich coward with a mock + prosecution. Well! that is a task for which your studies under the + sophists may have fitted you. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. You are wide of the mark. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Then what, in the name of Juno, is your scheme? Do you intend + to join Orestes (A celebrated highwayman of Attica. See Aristophanes; + Aves, 711; and in several other passages.), and rob on the highway? Take + care; beware of the eleven (The police officers of Athens.); beware of the + hemlock. It may be very pleasant to live at other people's expense; but + not very pleasant, I should think, to hear the pestle give its last bang + against the mortar, when the cold dose is ready. Pah!— + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Hemlock? Orestes! folly!—I aim at nobler objects. What + say you to politics,—the general assembly? + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. You an orator!—oh no! no! Cleon was worth twenty such + fools as you. You have succeeded, I grant, to his impudence, for which, if + there be justice in Tartarus, he is now soaking up to the eyes in his own + tanpickle. But the Paphlagonian had parts. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. And you mean to imply— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Not I. You are a Pericles in embryo, doubtless. Well: and when + are you to make your first speech? O Pallas! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. I thought of speaking, the other day, on the Sicilian + expedition; but Nicias (See Thucydides, vi. 8.) got up before me. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Nicias, poor honest man, might just as well have sate still; + his speaking did but little good. The loss of your oration is, doubtless, + an irreparable public calamity. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Why, not so; I intend to introduce it at the next assembly; it + will suit any subject. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. That is to say, it will suit none. But pray, if it be not too + presumptuous a request, indulge me with a specimen. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Well; suppose the agora crowded;—an important subject + under discussion;—an ambassador from Argos, or from the great king;—the + tributes from the islands;—an impeachment;—in short, anything + you please. The crier makes proclamation.—"Any citizen above fifty + years old may speak—any citizen not disqualified may speak." Then I + rise:—a great murmur of curiosity while I am mounting the stand. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Of curiosity! yes, and of something else too. You will + infallibly be dragged down by main force, like poor Glaucon (See Xenophon + Memorabilia, iii.) last year. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Never fear. I shall begin in this style: "When I consider, + Athenians, the importance of our city;—when I consider the extent of + its power, the wisdom of its laws, the elegance of its decorations;—when + I consider by what names and by what exploits its annals are adorned; when + I think on Harmodius and Aristogiton, on Themistocles and Miltiades, on + Cimon and Pericles;—when I contemplate our pre-eminence in arts and + letters;—when I observe so many flourishing states and islands + compelled to own the dominion, and purchase the protection of the City of + the Violet Crown" (A favourite epithet of Athens. See Aristophanes; + Acharn. 637.)— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. I shall choke with rage. Oh, all ye gods and goddesses, what + sacrilege, what perjury have I ever committed, that I should be singled + out from among all the citizens of Athens to be the father of this fool? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. What now? By Bacchus, old man, I would not advise you to give + way to such fits of passion in the streets. If Aristophanes were to see + you, you would infallibly be in a comedy next spring. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. You have more reason to fear Aristophanes than any fool + living. Oh, that he could but hear you trying to imitate the slang of + Straton (See Aristophanes; Equites, 1375.) and the lisp of Alcibiades! + (See Aristophanes; Vespae, 44.) You would be an inexhaustible subject. You + would console him for the loss of Cleon. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. No, no. I may perhaps figure at the dramatic representations + before long; but in a very different way. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. What do you mean? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. What say you to a tragedy? + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. A tragedy of yours? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Even so. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Oh Hercules! Oh Bacchus! This is too much. Here is an + universal genius; sophist,—orator,—poet. To what a + three-headed monster have I given birth! a perfect Cerberus of intellect! + And pray what may your piece be about? Or will your tragedy, like your + speech, serve equally for any subject? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. I thought of several plots;—Oedipus,—Eteocles and + Polynices,—the war of Troy,—the murder of Agamemnon. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. And what have you chosen? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. You know there is a law which permits any modern poet to + retouch a play of Aeschylus, and bring it forward as his own composition. + And, as there is an absurd prejudice, among the vulgar, in favour of his + extravagant pieces, I have selected one of them, and altered it. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Which of them? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Oh! that mass of barbarous absurdities, the Prometheus. But I + have framed it anew upon the model of Euripides. By Bacchus, I shall make + Sophocles and Agathon look about them. You would not know the play again. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. By Jupiter, I believe not. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. I have omitted the whole of the absurd dialogue between Vulcan + and Strength, at the beginning. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. That may be, on the whole, an improvement. The play will then + open with that grand soliloquy of Prometheus, when he is chained to the + rock. + </p> + <p> + "Oh! ye eternal heavens! ye rushing winds! Ye fountains of great streams! + Ye ocean waves, That in ten thousand sparkling dimples wreathe Your azure + smiles! All-generating earth! All-seeing sun! On you, on you, I call." + (See Aeschylus; Prometheus, 88.) + </p> + <p> + Well, I allow that will be striking; I did not think you capable of that + idea. Why do you laugh? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Do you seriously suppose that one who has studied the plays of + that great man, Euripides, would ever begin a tragedy in such a ranting + style? + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. What, does not your play open with the speech of Prometheus? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. No doubt. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Then what, in the name of Bacchus, do you make him say? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. You shall hear; and, if it be not in the very style of + Euripides, call me a fool. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. That is a liberty which I shall venture to take, whether it be + or no. But go on. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Prometheus begins thus:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Coelus begat Saturn and Briareus + Cottus and Creius and Iapetus, + Gyges and Hyperion, Phoebe, Tethys, + Thea and Rhea and Mnemosyne. + Then Saturn wedded Rhea, and begat + Pluto and Neptune, Jupiter and Juno." +</pre> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Very beautiful, and very natural; and, as you say, very like + Euripides. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. You are sneering. Really, father, you do not understand these + things. You had not those advantages in your youth— + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Which I have been fool enough to let you have. No; in my early + days, lying had not been dignified into a science, nor politics degraded + into a trade. I wrestled, and read Homer's battles, instead of dressing my + hair, and reciting lectures in verse out of Euripides. But I have some + notion of what a play should be; I have seen Phrynichus, and lived with + Aeschylus. I saw the representation of the Persians. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. A wretched play; it may amuse the fools who row the triremes; + but it is utterly unworthy to be read by any man of taste. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. If you had seen it acted;—the whole theatre frantic with + joy, stamping, shouting, laughing, crying. There was Cynaegeirus, the + brother of Aeschylus, who lost both his arms at Marathon, beating the + stumps against his sides with rapture. When the crowd remarked him—But + where are you going? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. To sup with Alcibiades; he sails with the expedition for + Sicily in a few days; this is his farewell entertainment. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. So much the better; I should say, so much the worse. That + cursed Sicilian expedition! And you were one of the young fools (See + Thucydides, vi. 13.) who stood clapping and shouting while he was gulling + the rabble, and who drowned poor Nicias's voice with your uproar. Look to + it; a day of reckoning will come. As to Alcibiades himself— + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. What can you say against him? His enemies themselves + acknowledge his merit. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. They acknowledge that he is clever, and handsome, and that he + was crowned at the Olympic games. And what other merits do his friends + claim for him? A precious assembly you will meet at his house, no doubt. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. The first men in Athens, probably. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. Whom do you mean by the first men in Athens? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Callicles. (Callicles plays a conspicuous part in the Gorgias + of Plato.) + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. A sacrilegious, impious, unfeeling ruffian! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Hippomachus. + </p> + <p> + CALLIDEMUS. A fool, who can talk of nothing but his travels through Persia + and Egypt. Go, go. The gods forbid that I should detain you from such + choice society! + </p> + <p> + [Exeunt severally.] + </p> + <p> + II. + </p> + <p> + SCENE—A Hall in the house of ALCIBIADES. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES, SPEUSIPPUS, CALLICLES, HIPPOMACHUS, CHARICLEA, and others, + seated round a table feasting. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Bring larger cups. This shall be our gayest revel. It is + probably the last—for some of us at least. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. At all events, it will be long before you taste such wine + again, Alcibiades. + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. Nay, there is excellent wine in Sicily. When I was there with + Eurymedon's squadron, I had many a long carouse. You never saw finer + grapes than those of Aetna. + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. The Greeks do not understand the art of making wine. Your + Persian is the man. So rich, so fragrant, so sparkling! I will tell you + what the Satrap of Caria said to me about that when I supped with him. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Nay, sweet Hippomachus; not a word to-night about satraps, or + the great king, or the walls of Babylon, or the Pyramids, or the mummies. + Chariclea, why do you look so sad? + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Can I be cheerful when you are going to leave me, Alcibiades? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. My life, my sweet soul, it is but for a short time. In a year + we conquer Sicily. In another, we humble Carthage. (See Thucydides, vi. + 90.) I will bring back such robes, such necklaces, elephants' teeth by + thousands, ay, and the elephants themselves, if you wish to see them. Nay, + smile, my Chariclea, or I shall talk nonsense to no purpose. + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. The largest elephant that I ever saw was in the grounds of + Teribazus, near Susa. I wish that I had measured him. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. I wish that he had trod upon you. Come, come, Chariclea, we + shall soon return, and then— + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Yes; then indeed. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Yes, then— + Then for revels; then for dances, + Tender whispers, melting glances. + Peasants, pluck your richest fruits: + Minstrels, sound your sweetest flutes: + Come in laughing crowds to greet us, + Dark-eyed daughters of Miletus; + Bring the myrtles, bring the dice, + Floods of Chian, hills of spice. +</pre> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Whose lines are those, Alcibiades? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. My own. Think you, because I do not shut myself up to + meditate, and drink water, and eat herbs, that I cannot write verses? By + Apollo, if I did not spend my days in politics, and my nights in revelry, + I should have made Sophocles tremble. But now I never go beyond a little + song like this, and never invoke any Muse but Chariclea. But come, + Speusippus, sing. You are a professed poet. Let us have some of your + verses. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. My verses! How can you talk so? I a professed poet! + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Oh, content you, sweet Speusippus. We all know your designs + upon the tragic honours. Come, sing. A chorus of your new play. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Nay, nay— + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. When a guest who is asked to sing at a Persian banquet + refuses— + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. In the name of Bacchus— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. I am absolute. Sing. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Well, then, I will sing you a chorus, which, I think, is a + tolerable imitation of Euripides. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Of Euripides?—Not a word. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Why so, sweet Chariclea? + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Would you have me betray my sex? Would you have me forget his + Phaedras and Sthenoboeas? No if I ever suffer any lines of that + woman-hater, or his imitators, to be sung in my presence, may I sell herbs + (The mother of Euripides was a herb-woman. This was a favourite topic of + Aristophanes.) like his mother, and wear rags like his Telephus. (The hero + of one of the lost plays of Euripides, who appears to have been brought + upon the stage in the garb of a beggar. See Aristophanes; Acharn. 430; and + in other places.) + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Then, sweet Chariclea, since you have silenced Speusippus, you + shall sing yourself. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. What shall I sing? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Nay, choose for yourself. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Then I will sing an old Ionian hymn, which is chanted every + spring at the feast of Venus, near Miletus. I used to sing it in my own + country when I was a child; and—ah, Alcibiades! + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Dear Chariclea, you shall sing something else. This distresses + you. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. No hand me the lyre:—no matter. You will hear the song to + disadvantage. But if it were sung as I have heard it sung:—if this + were a beautiful morning in spring, and if we were standing on a woody + promontory, with the sea, and the white sails, and the blue Cyclades + beneath us,—and the portico of a temple peeping through the trees on + a huge peak above our heads,—and thousands of people, with myrtles + in their hands, thronging up the winding path, their gay dresses and + garlands disappearing and emerging by turns as they passed round the + angles of the rock,—then perhaps— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Now, by Venus herself, sweet lady, where you are we shall lack + neither sun, nor flowers, nor spring, nor temple, nor goddess. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. (Sings.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Let this sunny hour be given, + Venus, unto love and mirth: + Smiles like thine are in the heaven; + Bloom like thine is on the earth; + And the tinkling of the fountains, + And the murmurs of the sea, + And the echoes from the mountains, + Speak of youth, and hope, and thee. + + By whate'er of soft expression + Thou hast taught to lovers' eyes, + Faint denial, slow confession, + Glowing cheeks and stifled sighs; + By the pleasure and the pain, + By the follies and the wiles, + Pouting fondness, sweet disdain, + Happy tears and mournful smiles; + + Come with music floating o'er thee; + Come with violets springing round: + Let the Graces dance before thee, + All their golden zones unbound; + Now in sport their faces hiding, + Now, with slender fingers fair, + From their laughing eyes dividing + The long curls of rose-crowned hair. +</pre> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Sweetly sung; but mournfully, Chariclea; for which I would + chide you, but that I am sad myself. More wine there. I wish to all the + gods that I had fairly sailed from Athens. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. And from me, Alcibiades? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Yes, from you, dear lady. The days which immediately precede + separation are the most melancholy of our lives. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Except those which immediately follow it. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. No; when I cease to see you, other objects may compel my + attention; but can I be near you without thinking how lovely you are, and + how soon I must leave you? + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. Ay; travelling soon puts such thoughts out of men's heads. + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. A battle is the best remedy for them. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. A battle, I should think, might supply their place with others + as unpleasant. + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. No. The preparations are rather disagreeable to a novice. But + as soon as the fighting begins, by Jupiter, it is a noble time;—men + trampling,—shields clashing,—spears breaking,—and the + poean roaring louder than all. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. But what if you are killed? + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. What indeed? You must ask Speusippus that question. He is a + philosopher. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Yes, and the greatest of philosophers, if he can answer it. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Pythagoras is of opinion— + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. Pythagoras stole that and all his other opinions from Asia + and Egypt. The transmigration of the soul and the vegetable diet are + derived from India. I met a Brachman in Sogdiana— + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. All nonsense! + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. What think you, Alcibiades? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. I think that, if the doctrine be true, your spirit will be + transfused into one of the doves who carry (Homer's Odyssey, xii. 63.) + ambrosia to the gods or verses to the mistresses of poets. Do you remember + Anacreon's lines? How should you like such an office? + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. If I were to be your dove, Alcibiades, and you would treat me + as Anacreon treated his, and let me nestle in your breast and drink from + your cup, I would submit even to carry your love-letters to other ladies. + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. What, in the name of Jupiter, is the use of all these + speculations about death? Socrates once (See the close of Plato's + Gorgias.) lectured me upon it the best part of a day. I have hated the + sight of him ever since. Such things may suit an old sophist when he is + fasting; but in the midst of wine and music— + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. I differ from you. The enlightened Egyptians bring skeletons + into their banquets, in order to remind their guests to make the most of + their life while they have it. + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. I want neither skeleton nor sophist to teach me that lesson. + More wine, I pray you, and less wisdom. If you must believe something + which you never can know, why not be contented with the long stories about + the other world which are told us when we are initiated at the Eleusinian + mysteries? (The scene which follows is founded upon history. Thucydides + tells us, in his sixth book, that about this time Alcibiades was suspected + of having assisted at a mock celebration of these famous mysteries. It was + the opinion of the vulgar among the Athenians that extraordinary + privileges were granted in the other world to alt who had been initiated.) + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. And what are those stories? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Are not you initiated, Chariclea? + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. No; my mother was a Lydian, a barbarian; and therefore— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. I understand. Now the curse of Venus on the fools who made so + hateful a law! Speusippus, does not your friend Euripides (The right of + Euripides to this line is somewhat disputable. See Aristophanes; Plutus, + 1152.) say + </p> + <p> + "The land where thou art prosperous is thy country?" + </p> + <p> + Surely we ought to say to every lady + </p> + <p> + "The land where thou art pretty is thy country." + </p> + <p> + Besides, to exclude foreign beauties from the chorus of the initiated in + the Elysian fields is less cruel to them than to ourselves. Chariclea, you + shall be initiated. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. When? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Now. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Where? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Here. + </p> + <p> + CHARICLEA. Delightful! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. But there must be an interval of a year between the + purification and the initiation. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. We will suppose all that. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. And nine days of rigid mortification of the senses. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. We will suppose that too. I am sure it was supposed, with as + little reason, when I was initiated. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. But you are sworn to secrecy. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. You a sophist, and talk of oaths! You a pupil of Euripides, + and forget his maxims! + </p> + <p> + "My lips have sworn it; but my mind is free." (See Euripides: Hippolytus, + 608. For the jesuitical morality of this line Euripides is bitterly + attacked by the comic poet.) + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. But Alcibiades— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. What! Are you afraid of Ceres and Proserpine? + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. No—but—but—I—that is I—but it is + best to be safe—I mean—Suppose there should be something in + it. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Now, by Mercury, I shall die with laughing. O Speusippus. + Speusippus! Go back to your old father. Dig vineyards, and judge causes, + and be a respectable citizen. But never, while you live; again dream of + being a philosopher. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Nay, I was only— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. A pupil of Gorgias and Melesigenes afraid of Tartarus! In what + region of the infernal world do you expect your domicile to be fixed? + Shall you roll a stone like Sisyphus? Hard exercise, Speusippus! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. In the name of all the gods— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Or shall you sit starved and thirsty in the midst of fruit and + wine like Tantalus? Poor fellow? I think I see your face as you are + springing up to the branches and missing your aim. Oh Bacchus! Oh Mercury! + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Alcibiades! + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Or perhaps you will be food for a vulture, like the huge + fellow who was rude to Latona. + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. Alcibiades! + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Never fear. Minos will not be so cruel. Your eloquence will + triumph over all accusations. The Furies will skulk away like disappointed + sycophants. Only address the judges of hell in the speech which you were + prevented from speaking last assembly. "When I consider"—is not that + the beginning of it? Come, man, do not be angry. Why do you pace up and + down with such long steps? You are not in Tartarus yet. You seem to think + that you are already stalking like poor Achilles, + </p> + <p> + "With stride Majestic through the plain of Asphodel." (See Homer's + Odyssey, xi. 538.) + </p> + <p> + SPEUSIPPUS. How can you talk so, when you know that I believe all that + foolery as little as you do? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Then march. You shall be the crier. Callicles, you shall carry + the torch. Why do you stare? (The crier and torchbearer were important + functionaries at the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries.) + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. I do not much like the frolic. + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Nay, surely you are not taken with a fit of piety. If all be + true that is told of you, you have as little reason to think the gods + vindictive as any man breathing. If you be not belied, a certain golden + goblet which I have seen at your house was once in the temple of Juno at + Corcyra. And men say that there was a priestess at Tarentum— + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. A fig for the gods! I was thinking about the Archons. You will + have an accusation laid against you to-morrow. It is not very pleasant to + be tried before the king. (The name of king was given in the Athenian + democracy to the magistrate who exercised those spiritual functions which + in the monarchical times had belonged to the sovereign. His court took + cognisance of offences against the religion of the state.) + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Never fear: there is not a sycophant in Attica who would dare + to breathe a word against me, for the golden plane-tree of the great king. + (See Herodotus, viii. 28.) + </p> + <p> + HIPPOMACHUS. That plane-tree— + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. Never mind the plane-tree. Come, Callicles, you were not so + timid when you plundered the merchantman off Cape Malea. Take up the torch + and move. Hippomachus, tell one of the slaves to bring a sow. (A sow was + sacrificed to Ceres at the admission to the greater mysteries.) + </p> + <p> + CALLICLES. And what part are you to play? + </p> + <p> + ALCIBIADES. I shall be hierophant. Herald, to your office. Torchbearer, + advance with the lights. Come forward, fair novice. We will celebrate the + rite within. + </p> + <p> + [Exeunt.] + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + No. I. DANTE. (January 1824.) + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, + If better thou belong not to the dawn, + Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn + With thy bright circlet." —Milton. +</pre> + <p> + In a review of Italian literature, Dante has a double claim to precedency. + He was the earliest and the greatest writer of his country. He was the + first man who fully descried and exhibited the powers of his native + dialect. The Latin tongue, which, under the most favourable circumstances, + and in the hands of the greatest masters, had still been poor, feeble, and + singularly unpoetical, and which had, in the age of Dante, been debased by + the admixture of innumerable barbarous words and idioms, was still + cultivated with superstitious veneration, and received, in the last stage + of corruption, more honours than it had deserved in the period of its life + and vigour. It was the language of the cabinet, of the university, of the + church. It was employed by all who aspired to distinction in the higher + walks of poetry. In compassion to the ignorance of his mistress, a + cavalier might now and then proclaim his passion in Tuscan or Provenc'al + rhymes. The vulgar might occasionally be edified by a pious allegory in + the popular jargon. But no writer had conceived it possible that the + dialect of peasants and market-women should possess sufficient energy and + precision for a majestic and durable work. Dante adventured first. He + detected the rich treasures of thought and diction which still lay latent + in their ore. He refined them into purity. He burnished them into + splendour. He fitted them for every purpose of use and magnificence. And + he has thus acquired the glory, not only of producing the finest narrative + poem of modern times but also of creating a language, distinguished by + unrivalled melody, and peculiarly capable of furnishing to lofty and + passionate thoughts their appropriate garb of severe and concise + expression. + </p> + <p> + To many this may appear a singular panegyric on the Italian tongue. Indeed + the great majority of the young gentlemen and young ladies, who, when they + are asked whether they read Italian, answer "yes," never go beyond the + stories at the end of their grammar,—The Pastor Fido,—or an + act of Artaserse. They could as soon read a Babylonian brick as a canto of + Dante. Hence it is a general opinion, among those who know little or + nothing of the subject, that this admirable language is adapted only to + the effeminate cant of sonnetteers, musicians, and connoisseurs. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that Dante and Petrarch have been the Oromasdes and Arimanes + of Italian literature. I wish not to detract from the merits of Petrarch. + No one can doubt that his poems exhibit, amidst some imbecility and more + affectation, much elegance, ingenuity, and tenderness. They present us + with a mixture which can only be compared to the whimsical concert + described by the humorous poet of Modena: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "S'udian gli usignuoli, al primo albore, + Egli asini cantar versi d'amore." + (Tassoni; Secchia Rapita, canto i. stanza 6.) +</pre> + <p> + I am not, however, at present speaking of the intrinsic excellencies of + his writings, which I shall take another opportunity to examine, but of + the effect which they produced on the literature of Italy. The florid and + luxurious charms of his style enticed the poets and the public from the + contemplation of nobler and sterner models. In truth, though a rude state + of society is that in which great original works are most frequently + produced, it is also that in which they are worst appreciated. This may + appear paradoxical; but it is proved by experience, and is consistent with + reason. To be without any received canons of taste is good for the few who + can create, but bad for the many who can only imitate and judge. Great and + active minds cannot remain at rest. In a cultivated age they are too often + contented to move on in the beaten path. But where no path exists they + will make one. Thus the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, appeared in + dark and half barbarous times: and thus of the few original works which + have been produced in more polished ages we owe a large proportion to men + in low stations and of uninformed minds. I will instance, in our own + language, the Pilgrim's Progress and Robinson Crusoe. Of all the prose + works of fiction which we possess, these are, I will not say the best, but + the most peculiar, the most unprecedented, the most inimitable. Had Bunyan + and Defoe been educated gentlemen, they would probably have published + translations and imitations of French romances "by a person of quality." I + am not sure that we should have had Lear if Shakspeare had been able to + read Sophocles. + </p> + <p> + But these circumstances, while they foster genius, are unfavourable to the + science of criticism. Men judge by comparison. They are unable to estimate + the grandeur of an object when there is no standard by which they can + measure it. One of the French philosophers (I beg Gerard's pardon), who + accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, tells us that, when he first visited the + great Pyramid, he was surprised to see it so diminutive. It stood alone in + a boundless plain. There was nothing near it from which he could calculate + its magnitude. But when the camp was pitched beside it, and the tents + appeared like diminutive specks around its base, he then perceived the + immensity of this mightiest work of man. In the same manner, it is not + till a crowd of petty writers has sprung up that the merit of the great + masterspirits of literature is understood. + </p> + <p> + We have indeed ample proof that Dante was highly admired in his own and + the following age. I wish that we had equal proof that he was admired for + his excellencies. But it is a remarkable corroboration of what has been + said, that this great man seems to have been utterly unable to appreciate + himself. In his treatise "De Vulgari Eloquentia" he talks with + satisfaction of what he has done for Italian literature, of the purity and + correctness of his style. "Cependant," says a favourite writer of + mine,(Sismondi, Literature du Midi de l'Europe.) "il n'est ni pur, ni + correct, mais il est createur." Considering the difficulties with which + Dante had to struggle, we may perhaps be more inclined than the French + critic to allow him this praise. Still it is by no means his highest or + most peculiar title to applause. It is scarcely necessary to say that + those qualities which escaped the notice of the poet himself were not + likely to attract the attention of the commentators. The fact is, that, + while the public homage was paid to some absurdities with which his works + may be justly charged, and to many more which were falsely imputed to + them,—while lecturers were paid to expound and eulogise his physics, + his metaphysics, his theology, all bad of their kind—while + annotators laboured to detect allegorical meanings of which the author + never dreamed, the great powers of his imagination, and the incomparable + force of his style, were neither admired nor imitated. Arimanes had + prevailed. The Divine Comedy was to that age what St. Paul's Cathedral was + to Omai. The poor Otaheitean stared listlessly for a moment at the huge + cupola, and ran into a toyshop to play with beads. Italy, too, was charmed + with literary trinkets, and played with them for four centuries. + </p> + <p> + From the time of Petrarch to the appearance of Alfieri's tragedies, we may + trace in almost every page of Italian literature the influence of those + celebrated sonnets which, from the nature both of their beauties and their + faults, were peculiarly unfit to be models for general imitation. Almost + all the poets of that period, however different in the degree and quality + of their talents, are characterised by great exaggeration, and as a + necessary consequence, great coldness of sentiment; by a passion for + frivolous and tawdry ornament; and, above all, by an extreme feebleness + and diffuseness of style. Tasso, Marino, Guarini, Metastasio, and a crowd + of writers of inferior merit and celebrity, were spell-bound in the + enchanted gardens of a gaudy and meretricious Alcina, who concealed + debility and deformity beneath the deceitful semblance of loveliness and + health. Ariosto, the great Ariosto himself, like his own Ruggiero, stooped + for a time to linger amidst the magic flowers and fountains, and to caress + the gay and painted sorceress. But to him, as to his own Ruggiero, had + been given the omnipotent ring and the winged courser, which bore him from + the paradise of deception to the regions of light and nature. + </p> + <p> + The evil of which I speak was not confined to the graver poets. It + infected satire, comedy, burlesque. No person can admire more than I do + the great masterpieces of wit and humour which Italy has produced. Still I + cannot but discern and lament a great deficiency, which is common to them + all. I find in them abundance of ingenuity, of droll naivete, of profound + and just reflection, of happy expression. Manners, characters, opinions, + are treated with "a most learned spirit of human dealing." But something + is still wanting. We read, and we admire, and we yawn. We look in vain for + the bacchanalian fury which inspired the comedy of Athens, for the fierce + and withering scorn which animates the invectives of Juvenal and Dryden, + or even for the compact and pointed diction which adds zest to the verses + of Pope and Boileau. There is no enthusiasm, no energy, no condensation, + nothing which springs from strong feeling, nothing which tends to excite + it. Many fine thoughts and fine expressions reward the toil of reading. + Still it is a toil. The Secchia Rapita, in some points the best poem of + its kind, is painfully diffuse and languid. The Animali Parlanti of Casti + is perfectly intolerable. I admire the dexterity of the plot, and the + liberality of the opinions. I admit that it is impossible to turn to a + page which does not contain something that deserves to be remembered; but + it is at least six times as long as it ought to be. And the garrulous + feebleness of the style is a still greater fault than the length of the + work. + </p> + <p> + It may be thought that I have gone too far in attributing these evils to + the influence of the works and the fame of Petrarch. It cannot, however, + be doubted that they have arisen, in a great measure, from a neglect of + the style of Dante. This is not more proved by the decline of Italian + poetry than by its resuscitation. After the lapse of four hundred and + fifty years, there appeared a man capable of appreciating and imitating + the father of Tuscan literature—Vittorio Alfieri. Like the prince in + the nursery tale, he sought and found the sleeping beauty within the + recesses which had so long concealed her from mankind. The portal was + indeed rusted by time;—the dust of ages had accumulated on the + hangings;—the furniture was of antique fashion;—and the + gorgeous colour of the embroidery had faded. But the living charms which + were well worth all the rest remained in the bloom of eternal youth, and + well rewarded the bold adventurer who roused them from their long slumber. + In every line of the Philip and the Saul, the greatest poems, I think, of + the eighteenth century, we may trace the influence of that mighty genius + which has immortalised the ill-starred love of Francesca, and the paternal + agonies of Ugolino. Alfieri bequeathed the sovereignty of Italian + literature to the author of the Aristodemus—a man of genius scarcely + inferior to his own, and a still more devoted disciple of the great + Florentine. It must be acknowledged that this eminent writer has sometimes + pushed too far his idolatry of Dante. To borrow a sprightly illustration + from Sir John Denham, he has not only imitated his garb, but borrowed his + clothes. He often quotes his phrases; and he has, not very judiciously as + it appears to me, imitated his versification. Nevertheless, he has + displayed many of the higher excellencies of his master; and his works may + justly inspire us with a hope that the Italian language will long flourish + under a new literary dynasty, or rather under the legitimate line, which + has at length been restored to a throne long occupied by specious + usurpers. + </p> + <p> + The man to whom the literature of his country owes its origin and its + revival was born in times singularly adapted to call forth his + extraordinary powers. Religious zeal, chivalrous love and honour, + democratic liberty, are the three most powerful principles that have ever + influenced the character of large masses of men. Each of them singly has + often excited the greatest enthusiasm, and produced the most important + changes. In the time of Dante all the three, often in amalgamation, + generally in conflict, agitated the public mind. The preceding generation + had witnessed the wrongs and the revenge of the brave, the accomplished, + the unfortunate Emperor Frederic the Second,—a poet in an age of + schoolmen,—a philosopher in an age of monks,—a statesman in an + age of crusaders. During the whole life of the poet, Italy was + experiencing the consequences of the memorable struggle which he had + maintained against the Church. The finest works of imagination have always + been produced in times of political convulsion, as the richest vineyards + and the sweetest flowers always grow on the soil which has been fertilised + by the fiery deluge of a volcano. To look no further than the literary + history of our own country, can we doubt that Shakspeare was in a great + measure produced by the Reformation, and Wordsworth by the French + Revolution? Poets often avoid political transactions; they often affect to + despise them. But, whether they perceive it or not, they must be + influenced by them. As long as their minds have any point of contact with + those of their fellow-men, the electric impulse, at whatever distance it + may originate, will be circuitously communicated to them. + </p> + <p> + This will be the case even in large societies, where the division of + labour enables many speculative men to observe the face of nature, or to + analyse their own minds, at a distance from the seat of political + transactions. In the little republic of which Dante was a member the state + of things was very different. These small communities are most + unmercifully abused by most of our modern professors of the science of + government. In such states, they tell us, factions are always most + violent: where both parties are cooped up within a narrow space, political + difference necessarily produces personal malignity. Every man must be a + soldier; every moment may produce a war. No citizen can lie down secure + that he shall not be roused by the alarum-bell, to repel or avenge an + injury. In such petty quarrels Greece squandered the blood which might + have purchased for her the permanent empire of the world, and Italy wasted + the energy and the abilities which would have enabled her to defend her + independence against the Pontiffs and the Caesars. + </p> + <p> + All this is true: yet there is still a compensation. Mankind has not + derived so much benefit from the empire of Rome as from the city of + Athens, nor from the kingdom of France as from the city of Florence. The + violence of party feeling may be an evil; but it calls forth that activity + of mind which in some states of society it is desirable to produce at any + expense. Universal soldiership may be an evil; but where every man is a + soldier there will be no standing army. And is it no evil that one man in + every fifty should be bred to the trade of slaughter; should live only by + destroying and by exposing himself to be destroyed; should fight without + enthusiasm and conquer without glory; be sent to a hospital when wounded, + and rot on a dunghill when old? Such, over more than two-thirds of Europe, + is the fate of soldiers. It was something that the citizen of Milan or + Florence fought, not merely in the vague and rhetorical sense in which the + words are often used, but in sober truth, for his parents, his children, + his lands, his house, his altars. It was something that he marched forth + to battle beneath the Carroccio, which had been the object of his childish + veneration: that his aged father looked down from the battlements on his + exploits; that his friends and his rivals were the witnesses of his glory. + If he fell, he was consigned to no venal or heedless guardians. The same + day saw him conveyed within the walls which he had defended. His wounds + were dressed by his mother; his confession was whispered to the friendly + priest who had heard and absolved the follies of his youth; his last sigh + was breathed upon the lips of the lady of his love. Surely there is no + sword like that which is beaten out of a ploughshare. Surely this state of + things was not unmixedly bad; its evils were alleviated by enthusiasm and + by tenderness; and it will at least be acknowledged that it was well + fitted to nurse poetical genius in an imaginative and observant mind. + </p> + <p> + Nor did the religious spirit of the age tend less to this result than its + political circumstances. Fanaticism is an evil, but it is not the greatest + of evils. It is good that a people should be roused by any means from a + state of utter torpor;—that their minds should be diverted from + objects merely sensual, to meditations, however erroneous, on the + mysteries of the moral and intellectual world; and from interests which + are immediately selfish to those which relate to the past, the future, and + the remote. These effects have sometimes been produced by the worst + superstitions that ever existed; but the Catholic religion, even in the + time of its utmost extravagance and atrocity, never wholly lost the spirit + of the Great Teacher, whose precepts form the noblest code, as His conduct + furnished the purest example, of moral excellence. It is of all religions + the most poetical. The ancient superstitions furnished the fancy with + beautiful images, but took no hold on the heart. The doctrines of the + Reformed Churches have most powerfully influenced the feelings and the + conduct of men, but have not presented them with visions of sensible + beauty and grandeur. The Roman Catholic Church has united to the awful + doctrines of the one that Mr Coleridge calls the "fair humanities" of the + other. It has enriched sculpture and painting with the loveliest and most + majestic forms. To the Phidian Jupiter it can oppose the Moses of Michael + Angelo; and to the voluptuous beauty of the Queen of Cyprus, the serene + and pensive loveliness of the Virgin Mother. The legends of its martyrs + and its saints may vie in ingenuity and interest with the mythological + fables of Greece; its ceremonies and processions were the delight of the + vulgar; the huge fabric of secular power with which it was connected + attracted the admiration of the statesman. At the same time, it never lost + sight of the most solemn and tremendous doctrines of Christianity,—the + incarnate God,—the judgment,—the retribution,—the + eternity of happiness or torment. Thus, while, like the ancient religions, + it received incalculable support from policy and ceremony, it never wholly + became, like those religions, a merely political and ceremonial + institution. + </p> + <p> + The beginning of the thirteenth century was, as Machiavelli has remarked, + the era of a great revival of this extraordinary system. The policy of + Innocent,—the growth of the Inquisition and the mendicant orders,—the + wars against the Albigenses, the Pagans of the East, and the unfortunate + princes of the house of Swabia, agitated Italy during the two following + generations. In this point Dante was completely under the influence of his + age. He was a man of a turbid and melancholy spirit. In early youth he had + entertained a strong and unfortunate passion, which, long after the death + of her whom he loved, continued to haunt him. Dissipation, ambition, + misfortunes had not effaced it. He was not only a sincere, but a + passionate, believer. The crimes and abuses of the Church of Rome were + indeed loathsome to him; but to all its doctrines and all its rites he + adhered with enthusiastic fondness and veneration; and, at length, driven + from his native country, reduced to a situation the most painful to a man + of his disposition, condemned to learn by experience that no food is so + bitter as the bread of dependence + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ("Tu proverai si come sa di sale + Lo pane altrui, e come e duro calle + Lo scendere e'l sa'ir per l'altrui scale." + Paradiso, canto xvii.), +</pre> + <p> + and no ascent so painful as the staircase of a patron,—his wounded + spirit took refuge in visionary devotion. Beatrice, the unforgotten object + of his early tenderness, was invested by his imagination with glorious and + mysterious attributes; she was enthroned among the highest of the + celestial hierarchy: Almighty Wisdom had assigned to her the care of the + sinful and unhappy wanderer who had loved her with such a perfect love. + ("L'amico mio, e non della ventura." Inferno, canto ii.) By a confusion, + like that which often takes place in dreams, he has sometimes lost sight + of her human nature, and even of her personal existence, and seems to + consider her as one of the attributes of the Deity. + </p> + <p> + But those religious hopes which had released the mind of the sublime + enthusiast from the terrors of death had not rendered his speculations on + human life more cheerful. This is an inconsistency which may often be + observed in men of a similar temperament. He hoped for happiness beyond + the grave: but he felt none on earth. It is from this cause, more than + from any other, that his description of Heaven is so far inferior to the + Hell or the Purgatory. With the passions and miseries of the suffering + spirits he feels a strong sympathy. But among the beatified he appears as + one who has nothing in common with them,—as one who is incapable of + comprehending, not only the degree, but the nature of their enjoyment. We + think that we see him standing amidst those smiling and radiant spirits + with that scowl of unutterable misery on his brow, and that curl of bitter + disdain on his lips, which all his portraits have preserved, and which + might furnish Chantrey with hints for the head of his projected Satan. + </p> + <p> + There is no poet whose intellectual and moral character are so closely + connected. The great source, as it appears to me, of the power of the + Divine Comedy is the strong belief with which the story seems to be told. + In this respect, the only books which approach to its excellence are + Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. The solemnity of his + asseverations, the consistency and minuteness of his details, the + earnestness with which he labours to make the reader understand the exact + shape and size of everything that he describes, give an air of reality to + his wildest fictions. I should only weaken this statement by quoting + instances of a feeling which pervades the whole work, and to which it owes + much of its fascination. This is the real justification of the many + passages in his poem which bad critics have condemned as grotesque. I am + concerned to see that Mr Cary, to whom Dante owes more than ever poet owed + to translator, has sanctioned an accusation utterly unworthy of his + abilities. "His solicitude," says that gentleman, "to define all his + images in such a manner as to bring them within the circle of our vision, + and to subject them to the power of the pencil, renders him little better + than grotesque, where Milton has since taught us to expect sublimity." It + is true that Dante has never shrunk from embodying his conceptions in + determinate words, that he has even given measures and numbers, where + Milton would have left his images to float undefined in a gorgeous haze of + language. Both were right. Milton did not profess to have been in heaven + or hell. He might therefore reasonably confine himself to magnificent + generalities. Far different was the office of the lonely traveller, who + had wandered through the nations of the dead. Had he described the abode + of the rejected spirits in language resembling the splendid lines of the + English Poet,—had he told us of— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "An universe of death, which God by curse + Created evil, for evil only good, + Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds + Perverse all monstrous, all prodigious things, + Abominable, unutterable, and worse + Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived, + Gorgons, and hydras, and chimaeras dire"— +</pre> + <p> + this would doubtless have been noble writing. But where would have been + that strong impression of reality, which, in accordance with his plan, it + should have been his great object to produce? It was absolutely necessary + for him to delineate accurately "all monstrous, all prodigious things,"—to + utter what might to others appear "unutterable,"—to relate with the + air of truth what fables had never feigned,—to embody what fear had + never conceived. And I will frankly confess that the vague sublimity of + Milton affects me less than these reviled details of Dante. We read + Milton; and we know that we are reading a great poet. When we read Dante, + the poet vanishes. We are listening to the man who has returned from "the + valley of the dolorous abyss;" ("Lavalle d'abisso doloroso."—Inferno, + cantoiv.)—we seem to see the dilated eye of horror, to hear the + shuddering accents with which he tells his fearful tale. Considered in + this light, the narratives are exactly what they should be,—definite + in themselves, but suggesting to the mind ideas of awful and indefinite + wonder. They are made up of the images of the earth:—they are told + in the language of the earth.—Yet the whole effect is, beyond + expression, wild and unearthly. The fact is, that supernatural beings, as + long as they are considered merely with reference to their own nature, + excite our feelings very feebly. It is when the great gulf which separates + them from us is passed, when we suspect some strange and undefinable + relation between the laws of the visible and the invisible world, that + they rouse, perhaps, the strongest emotions of which our nature is + capable. How many children, and how many men, are afraid of ghosts, who + are not afraid of God! And this, because, though they entertain a much + stronger conviction of the existence of a Deity than of the reality of + apparitions, they have no apprehension that he will manifest himself to + them in any sensible manner. While this is the case, to describe + superhuman beings in the language, and to attribute to them the actions, + of humanity may be grotesque, unphilosophical, inconsistent; but it will + be the only mode of working upon the feelings of men, and, therefore, the + only mode suited for poetry. Shakspeare understood this well, as he + understood everything that belonged to his art. Who does not sympathise + with the rapture of Ariel, flying after sunset on the wings of the bat, or + sucking in the cups of flowers with the bee? Who does not shudder at the + caldron of Macbeth? Where is the philosopher who is not moved when he + thinks of the strange connection between the infernal spirits and "the + sow's blood that hath eaten her nine farrow?" But this difficult task of + representing supernatural beings to our minds, in a manner which shall be + neither unintelligible to our intellects nor wholly inconsistent with our + ideas of their nature, has never been so well performed as by Dante. I + will refer to three instances, which are, perhaps, the most striking:—the + description of the transformations of the serpents and the robbers, in the + twenty-fifth canto of the Inferno,—the passage concerning Nimrod, in + the thirty-first canto of the same part,—and the magnificent + procession in the twenty-ninth canto of the Purgatorio. + </p> + <p> + The metaphors and comparisons of Dante harmonise admirably with that air + of strong reality of which I have spoken. They have a very peculiar + character. He is perhaps the only poet whose writings would become much + less intelligible if all illustrations of this sort were expunged. His + similes are frequently rather those of a traveller than of a poet. He + employs them not to display his ingenuity by fanciful analogies,—not + to delight the reader by affording him a distant and passing glimpse of + beautiful images remote from the path in which he is proceeding, but to + give an exact idea of the objects which he is describing, by comparing + them with others generally known. The boiling pitch in Malebolge was like + that in the Venetian arsenal:—the mound on which he travelled along + the banks of Phlegethon was like that between Ghent and Bruges, but not so + large:—the cavities where the Simoniacal prelates are confined + resemble the Fonts in the Church of John at Florence. Every reader of + Dante will recall many other illustrations of this description, which add + to the appearance of sincerity and earnestness from which the narrative + derives so much of its interest. + </p> + <p> + Many of his comparisons, again, are intended to give an exact idea of his + feelings under particular circumstances. The delicate shades of grief, of + fear, of anger, are rarely discriminated with sufficient accuracy in the + language of the most refined nations. A rude dialect never abounds in nice + distinctions of this kind. Dante therefore employs the most accurate and + infinitely the most poetical mode of marking the precise state of his + mind. Every person who has experienced the bewildering effect of sudden + bad tidings,—the stupefaction,—the vague doubt of the truth of + our own perceptions which they produce,—will understand the + following simile:—"I was as he is who dreameth his own harm,—who, + dreaming, wishes that it may be all a dream, so that he desires that which + is as though it were not." This is only one out of a hundred equally + striking and expressive similitudes. The comparisons of Homer and Milton + are magnificent digressions. It scarcely injures their effect to detach + them from the work. Those of Dante are very different. They derive their + beauty from the context, and reflect beauty upon it. His embroidery cannot + be taken out without spoiling the whole web. I cannot dismiss this part of + the subject without advising every person who can muster sufficient + Italian to read the simile of the sheep, in the third canto of the + Purgatorio. I think it the most perfect passage of the kind in the world, + the most imaginative, the most picturesque, and the most sweetly + expressed. + </p> + <p> + No person can have attended to the Divine Comedy without observing how + little impression the forms of the external world appear to have made on + the mind of Dante. His temper and his situation had led him to fix his + observation almost exclusively on human nature. The exquisite opening of + the eighth* canto of the Purgatorio affords a strong instance of this. (I + cannot help observing that Gray's imitation of that noble line + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Che paia 'lgiorna pianger che si muore,"— +</pre> + <p> + is one of the most striking instances of injudicious plagiarism with which + I am acquainted. Dante did not put this strong personification at the + beginning of his description. The imagination of the reader is so well + prepared for it by the previous lines, that it appears perfectly natural + and pathetic. Placed as Gray has placed it, neither preceded nor followed + by anything that harmonises with it, it becomes a frigid conceit. Woe to + the unskilful rider who ventures on the horses of Achilles!) + </p> + <p> + He leaves to others the earth, the ocean, and the sky. His business is + with man. To other writers, evening may be the season of dews and stars + and radiant clouds. To Dante it is the hour of fond recollection and + passionate devotion,—the hour which melts the heart of the mariner + and kindles the love of the pilgrim,—the hour when the toll of the + bell seems to mourn for another day which is gone and will return no more. + </p> + <p> + The feeling of the present age has taken a direction diametrically + opposite. The magnificence of the physical world, and its influence upon + the human mind, have been the favourite themes of our most eminent poets. + The herd of bluestocking ladies and sonneteering gentlemen seem to + consider a strong sensibility to the "splendour of the grass, the glory of + the flower," as an ingredient absolutely indispensable in the formation of + a poetical mind. They treat with contempt all writers who are + unfortunately + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + nec ponere lucum + Artifices, nec rus saturum laudare. +</pre> + <p> + The orthodox poetical creed is more Catholic. The noblest earthly object + of the contemplation of man is man himself. The universe, and all its fair + and glorious forms, are indeed included in the wide empire of the + imagination; but she has placed her home and her sanctuary amidst the + inexhaustible varieties and the impenetrable mysteries of the mind. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge; + Quivi e la sua cittade, e l'alto seggio. + (Inferno, canto i.) +</pre> + <p> + Othello is perhaps the greatest work in the world. From what does it + derive its power? From the clouds? From the ocean? From the mountains? Or + from love strong as death, and jealousy cruel as the grave? What is it + that we go forth to see in Hamlet? Is it a reed shaken with the wind? A + small celandine? A bed of daffodils? Or is it to contemplate a mighty and + wayward mind laid bare before us to the inmost recesses? It may perhaps be + doubted whether the lakes and the hills are better fitted for the + education of a poet than the dusky streets of a huge capital. Indeed who + is not tired to death with pure description of scenery? Is it not the + fact, that external objects never strongly excite our feelings but when + they are contemplated in reference to man, as illustrating his destiny, or + as influencing his character? The most beautiful object in the world, it + will be allowed, is a beautiful woman. But who that can analyse his + feelings is not sensible that she owes her fascination less to grace of + outline and delicacy of colour, than to a thousand associations which, + often unperceived by ourselves, connect those qualities with the source of + our existence, with the nourishment of our infancy, with the passions of + our youth, with the hopes of our age—with elegance, with vivacity, + with tenderness, with the strongest of natural instincts, with the dearest + of social ties? + </p> + <p> + To those who think thus, the insensibility of the Florentine poet to the + beauties of nature will not appear an unpardonable deficiency. On mankind + no writer, with the exception of Shakspeare, has looked with a more + penetrating eye. I have said that his poetical character had derived a + tinge from his peculiar temper. It is on the sterner and darker passions + that he delights to dwell. All love excepting the half-mystic passion + which he still felt for his buried Beatrice, had palled on the fierce and + restless exile. The sad story of Rimini is almost a single exception. I + know not whether it has been remarked, that, in one point, misanthropy + seems to have affected his mind, as it did that of Swift. Nauseous and + revolting images seem to have had a fascination for his mind; and he + repeatedly places before his readers, with all the energy of his + incomparable style, the most loathsome objects of the sewer and the + dissecting-room. + </p> + <p> + There is another peculiarity in the poem of Dante, which, I think, + deserves notice. Ancient mythology has hardly ever been successfully + interwoven with modern poetry. One class of writers have introduced the + fabulous deities merely as allegorical representatives of love, wine, or + wisdom. This necessarily renders their works tame and cold. We may + sometimes admire their ingenuity; but with what interest can we read of + beings of whose personal existence the writer does not suffer us to + entertain, for a moment, even a conventional belief? Even Spenser's + allegory is scarcely tolerable, till we contrive to forget that Una + signifies innocence, and consider her merely as an oppressed lady under + the protection of a generous knight. + </p> + <p> + Those writers who have, more judiciously, attempted to preserve the + personality of the classical divinities have failed from a different + cause. They have been imitators, and imitators at a disadvantage. + Euripides and Catullus believed in Bacchus and Cybele as little as we do. + But they lived among men who did. Their imaginations, if not their + opinions, took the colour of the age. Hence the glorious inspiration of + the Bacchae and the Atys. Our minds are formed by circumstances: and I do + not believe that it would be in the power of the greatest modern poet to + lash himself up to a degree of enthusiasm adequate to the production of + such works. + </p> + <p> + Dante, alone among the poets of later times, has been, in this respect, + neither an allegorist nor an imitator; and, consequently, he alone has + introduced the ancient fictions with effect. His Minos, his Charon, his + Pluto, are absolutely terrific. Nothing can be more beautiful or original + than the use which he has made of the River of Lethe. He has never + assigned to his mythological characters any functions inconsistent with + the creed of the Catholic Church. He has related nothing concerning them + which a good Christian of that age might not believe possible. On this + account there is nothing in these passages that appears puerile or + pedantic. On the contrary, this singular use of classical names suggests + to the mind a vague and awful idea of some mysterious revelation, anterior + to all recorded history, of which the dispersed fragments might have been + retained amidst the impostures and superstitions of later religions. + Indeed the mythology of the Divine Comedy is of the elder and more + colossal mould. It breathes the spirit of Homer and Aeschylus, not of Ovid + and Claudian. + </p> + <p> + This is the more extraordinary, since Dante seems to have been utterly + ignorant of the Greek language; and his favourite Latin models could only + have served to mislead him. Indeed, it is impossible not to remark his + admiration of writers far inferior to himself; and, in particular, his + idolatry of Virgil, who, elegant and splendid as he is, has no pretensions + to the depth and originality of mind which characterise his Tuscan + worshipper, In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that + good poets are bad critics. Their minds are under the tyranny of ten + thousand associations imperceptible to others. The worst writer may easily + happen to touch a spring which is connected in their minds with a long + succession of beautiful images. They are like the gigantic slaves of + Aladdin, gifted with matchless power, but bound by spells so mighty that + when a child whom they could have crushed touched a talisman, of whose + secret he was ignorant, they immediately became his vassals. It has more + than once happened to me to see minds, graceful and majestic as the + Titania of Shakspeare, bewitched by the charms of an ass's head, bestowing + on it the fondest caresses, and crowning it with the sweetest flowers. I + need only mention the poems attributed to Ossian. They are utterly + worthless, except as an edifying instance of the success of a story + without evidence, and of a book without merit. They are a chaos of words + which present no image, of images which have no archetype:—they are + without form and void; and darkness is upon the face of them. Yet how many + men of genius have panegyrised and imitated them! + </p> + <p> + The style of Dante is, if not his highest, perhaps his most peculiar + excellence. I know nothing with which it can be compared. The noblest + models of Greek composition must yield to it. His words are the fewest and + the best which it is possible to use. The first expression in which he + clothes his thoughts is always so energetic and comprehensive that + amplification would only injure the effect. There is probably no writer in + any language who has presented so many strong pictures to the mind. Yet + there is probably no writer equally concise. This perfection of style is + the principal merit of the Paradiso, which, as I have already remarked, is + by no means equal in other respects to the two preceding parts of the + poem. The force and felicity of the diction, however, irresistibly attract + the reader through the theological lectures and the sketches of + ecclesiastical biography, with which this division of the work too much + abounds. It may seem almost absurd to quote particular specimens of an + excellence which is diffused over all his hundred cantos. I will, however, + instance the third canto of the Inferno, and the sixth of the Purgatorio, + as passages incomparable in their kind. The merit of the latter is, + perhaps, rather oratorical than poetical; nor can I recollect anything in + the great Athenian speeches which equals it in force of invective and + bitterness of sarcasm. I have heard the most eloquent statesman of the age + remark that, next to Demosthenes, Dante is the writer who ought to be most + attentively studied by every man who desires to attain oratorical + eminence. + </p> + <p> + But it is time to close this feeble and rambling critique. I cannot + refrain, however, from saying a few words upon the translations of the + Divine Comedy. Boyd's is as tedious and languid as the original is rapid + and forcible. The strange measure which he has chosen, and, for aught I + know, invented, is most unfit for such a work. Translations ought never to + be written in a verse which requires much command of rhyme. The stanza + becomes a bed of Procrustes; and the thoughts of the unfortunate author + are alternately racked and curtailed to fit their new receptacle. The + abrupt and yet consecutive style of Dante suffers more than that of any + other poet by a version diffuse in style, and divided into paragraphs, for + they deserve no other name, of equal length. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be said in favour of Hayley's attempt, but that it is better + than Boyd's. His mind was a tolerable specimen of filigree work,—rather + elegant, and very feeble. All that can be said for his best works is that + they are neat. All that can be said against his worst is that they are + stupid. He might have translated Metastasio tolerably. But he was utterly + unable to do justice to the + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "rime e aspre e chiocce, + "Come si converrebbe al tristo buco." + (Inferno, canto xxxii.) +</pre> + <p> + I turn with pleasure from these wretched performances to Mr Cary's + translation. It is a work which well deserves a separate discussion, and + on which, if this article were not already too long, I could dwell with + great pleasure. At present I will only say that there is no other version + in the world, as far as I know, so faithful, yet that there is no other + version which so fully proves that the translator is himself a man of + poetical genius. Those who are ignorant of the Italian language should + read it to become acquainted with the Divine Comedy. Those who are most + intimate with Italian literature should read it for its original merits: + and I believe that they will find it difficult to determine whether the + author deserves most praise for his intimacy with the language of Dante, + or for his extraordinary mastery over his own. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. <a name="link2H_4_0009" + id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + No. II. PETRARCH. (April 1824.) + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Et vos, o lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte, + Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores. Virgil. +</pre> + <p> + It would not be easy to name a writer whose celebrity, when both its + extent and its duration are taken into the account, can be considered as + equal to that of Petrarch. Four centuries and a half have elapsed since + his death. Yet still the inhabitants of every nation throughout the + western world are as familiar with his character and his adventures as + with the most illustrious names, and the most recent anecdotes, of their + own literary history. This is indeed a rare distinction. His detractors + must acknowledge that it could not have been acquired by a poet destitute + of merit. His admirers will scarcely maintain that the unassisted merit of + Petrarch could have raised him to that eminence which has not yet been + attained by Shakspeare, Milton, or Dante,—that eminence, of which + perhaps no modern writer, excepting himself and Cervantes, has long + retained possession,—an European reputation. + </p> + <p> + It is not difficult to discover some of the causes to which this great man + has owed a celebrity, which I cannot but think disproportioned to his real + claims on the admiration of mankind. In the first place, he is an egotist. + Egotism in conversation is universally abhorred. Lovers, and, I believe, + lovers alone, pardon it in each other. No services, no talents, no powers + of pleasing, render it endurable. Gratitude, admiration, interest, fear, + scarcely prevent those who are condemned to listen to it from indicating + their disgust and fatigue. The childless uncle, the powerful patron can + scarcely extort this compliance. We leave the inside of the mail in a + storm, and mount the box, rather than hear the history of our companion. + The chaplain bites his lips in the presence of the archbishop. The + midshipman yawns at the table of the First Lord. Yet, from whatever cause, + this practice, the pest of conversation, gives to writing a zest which + nothing else can impart. Rousseau made the boldest experiment of this + kind; and it fully succeeded. In our own time Lord Byron, by a series of + attempts of the same nature, made himself the object of general interest + and admiration. Wordsworth wrote with egotism more intense, but less + obvious; and he has been rewarded with a sect of worshippers, + comparatively small in number, but far more enthusiastic in their + devotion. It is needless to multiply instances. Even now all the walks of + literature are infested with mendicants for fame, who attempt to excite + our interest by exhibiting all the distortions of their intellects, and + stripping the covering from all the putrid sores of their feelings. Nor + are there wanting many who push their imitation of the beggars whom they + resemble a step further, and who find it easier to extort a pittance from + the spectator, by simulating deformity and debility from which they are + exempt, than by such honest labour as their health and strength enable + them to perform. In the meantime the credulous public pities and pampers a + nuisance which requires only the treadmill and the whip. This art, often + successful when employed by dunces, gives irresistible fascination to + works which possess intrinsic merit. We are always desirous to know + something of the character and situation of those whose writings we have + perused with pleasure. The passages in which Milton has alluded to his own + circumstances are perhaps read more frequently, and with more interest, + than any other lines in his poems. It is amusing to observe with what + labour critics have attempted to glean from the poems of Homer, some hints + as to his situation and feelings. According to one hypothesis, he intended + to describe himself under the name of Demodocus. Others maintain that he + was the identical Phemius whose life Ulysses spared. This propensity of + the human mind explains, I think, in a great degree, the extensive + popularity of a poet whose works are little else than the expression of + his personal feelings. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, Petrarch was not only an egotist, but an amatory + egotist. The hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, which he described, + were derived from the passion which of all passions exerts the widest + influence, and which of all passions borrows most from the imagination. He + had also another immense advantage. He was the first eminent amatory poet + who appeared after the great convulsion which had changed, not only the + political, but the moral, state of the world. The Greeks, who, in their + public institutions and their literary tastes, were diametrically opposed + to the oriental nations, bore a considerable resemblance to those nations + in their domestic habits. Like them, they despised the intellects and + immured the persons of their women; and it was among the least of the + frightful evils to which this pernicious system gave birth, that all the + accomplishments of mind, and all the fascinations of manner, which, in a + highly cultivated age, will generally be necessary to attach men to their + female associates, were monopolised by the Phrynes and the Lamais. The + indispensable ingredients of honourable and chivalrous love were nowhere + to be found united. The matrons and their daughters confined in the harem,—insipid, + uneducated, ignorant of all but the mechanical arts, scarcely seen till + they were married,—could rarely excite interest; afterwards their + brilliant rivals, half Graces, half Harpies, elegant and informed, but + fickle and rapacious, could never inspire respect. + </p> + <p> + The state of society in Rome was, in this point, far happier; and the + Latin literature partook of the superiority. The Roman poets have + decidedly surpassed those of Greece in the delineation of the passion of + love. There is no subject which they have treated with so much success. + Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, Horace, and Propertius, in spite of all their + faults, must be allowed to rank high in this department of the art. To + these I would add my favourite Plautus; who, though he took his plots from + Greece, found, I suspect, the originals of his enchanting female + characters at Rome. + </p> + <p> + Still many evils remained: and, in the decline of the great empire, all + that was pernicious in its domestic institutions appeared more strongly. + Under the influence of governments at once dependent and tyrannical, which + purchased, by cringing to their enemies, the power of trampling on their + subjects, the Romans sunk into the lowest state of effeminacy and + debasement. Falsehood, cowardice, sloth, conscious and unrepining + degradation, formed the national character. Such a character is totally + incompatible with the stronger passions. Love, in particular, which, in + the modern sense of the word, implies protection and devotion on the one + side, confidence on the other, respect and fidelity on both, could not + exist among the sluggish and heartless slaves who cringed around the + thrones of Honorius and Augustulus. At this period the great renovation + commenced. The warriors of the north, destitute as they were of knowledge + and humanity, brought with them, from their forests and marshes, those + qualities without which humanity is a weakness and knowledge a curse,—energy—independence—the + dread of shame—the contempt of danger. It would be most interesting + to examine the manner in which the admixture of the savage conquerors and + the effeminate slaves, after many generations of darkness and agitation, + produced the modern European character;—to trace back, from the + first conflict to the final amalgamation, the operation of that mysterious + alchemy which, from hostile and worthless elements, has extracted the pure + gold of human nature—to analyse the mass, and to determine the + proportion in which the ingredients are mingled. But I will confine myself + to the subject to which I have more particularly referred. The nature of + the passion of love had undergone a complete change. It still retained, + indeed, the fanciful and voluptuous character which it had possessed among + the southern nations of antiquity. But it was tinged with the + superstitious veneration with which the northern warriors had been + accustomed to regard women. Devotion and war had imparted to it their most + solemn and animating feelings. It was sanctified by the blessings of the + Church, and decorated with the wreaths of the tournament. Venus, as in the + ancient fable, was again rising above the dark and tempestuous waves which + had so long covered her beauty. But she rose not now, as of old, in + exposed and luxurious loveliness. She still wore the cestus of her ancient + witchcraft; but the diadem of Juno was on her brow, and the aegis of + Pallas in her hand. Love might, in fact, be called a new passion; and it + is not astonishing that the first poet of eminence who wholly devoted his + genius to this theme should have excited an extraordinary sensation. He + may be compared to an adventurer who accidentally lands in a rich and + unknown island; and who, though he may only set up an ill-shaped cross + upon the shore, acquires possession of its treasures, and gives it his + name. The claim of Petrarch was indeed somewhat like that of Amerigo + Vespucci to the continent which should have derived its appellation from + Columbus. The Provencal poets were unquestionably the masters of the + Florentine. But they wrote in an age which could not appreciate their + merits; and their imitator lived at the very period when composition in + the vernacular language began to attract general attention. Petrarch was + in literature what a Valentine is in love. The public preferred him, not + because his merits were of a transcendent order, but because he was the + first person whom they saw after they awoke from their long sleep. + </p> + <p> + Nor did Petrarch gain less by comparison with his immediate successors + than with those who had preceded him. Till more than a century after his + death Italy produced no poet who could be compared to him. This decay of + genius is doubtless to be ascribed, in a great measure, to the influence + which his own works had exercised upon the literature of his country. Yet + it has conduced much to his fame. Nothing is more favourable to the + reputation of a writer than to be succeeded by a race inferior to himself; + and it is an advantage, from obvious causes, much more frequently enjoyed + by those who corrupt the national taste than by those who improve it. + </p> + <p> + Another cause has co-operated with those which I have mentioned to spread + the renown of Petrarch. I mean the interest which is inspired by the + events of his life—an interest which must have been strongly felt by + his contemporaries, since, after an interval of five hundred years, no + critic can be wholly exempt from its influence. Among the great men to + whom we owe the resuscitation of science he deserves the foremost place; + and his enthusiastic attachment to this great cause constitutes his most + just and splendid title to the gratitude of posterity. He was the votary + of literature. He loved it with a perfect love. He worshipped it with an + almost fanatical devotion. He was the missionary, who proclaimed its + discoveries to distant countries—the pilgrim, who travelled far and + wide to collect its reliques—the hermit, who retired to seclusion to + meditate on its beauties—the champion, who fought its battles—the + conqueror, who, in more than a metaphorical sense, led barbarism and + ignorance in triumph, and received in the Capitol the laurel which his + magnificent victory had earned. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be conceived more noble or affecting than that ceremony. The + superb palaces and porticoes, by which had rolled the ivory chariots of + Marius and Caesar, had long mouldered into dust. The laurelled fasces—the + golden eagles—the shouting legions—the captives and the + pictured cities—were indeed wanting to his victorious procession. + The sceptre had passed away from Rome. But she still retained the mightier + influence of an intellectual empire, and was now to confer the prouder + reward of an intellectual triumph. To the man who had extended the + dominion of her ancient language—who had erected the trophies of + philosophy and imagination in the haunts of ignorance and ferocity—whose + captives were the hearts of admiring nations enchained by the influence of + his song—whose spoils were the treasures of ancient genius rescued + from obscurity and decay—the Eternal City offered the just and + glorious tribute of her gratitude. Amidst the ruined monuments of ancient + and the infant erections of modern art, he who had restored the broken + link between the two ages of human civilisation was crowned with the + wreath which he had deserved from the moderns who owed to him their + refinement—from the ancients who owed to him their fame. Never was a + coronation so august witnessed by Westminster or by Rheims. + </p> + <p> + When we turn from this glorious spectacle to the private chamber of the + poet,—when we contemplate the struggle of passion and virtue,—the + eye dimmed, the cheek furrowed, by the tears of sinful and hopeless + desire,—when we reflect on the whole history of his attachment, from + the gay fantasy of his youth to the lingering despair of his age, pity and + affection mingle with our admiration. Even after death had placed the last + seal on his misery, we see him devoting to the cause of the human mind all + the strength and energy which love and sorrow had spared. He lived the + apostle of literature;—he fell its martyr:—he was found dead + with his head reclined on a book. + </p> + <p> + Those who have studied the life and writings of Petrarch with attention, + will perhaps be inclined to make some deductions from this panegyric. It + cannot be denied that his merits were disfigured by a most unpleasant + affectation. His zeal for literature communicated a tinge of pedantry to + all his feelings and opinions. His love was the love of a sonnetteer:—his + patriotism was the patriotism of an antiquarian. The interest with which + we contemplate the works, and study the history, of those who, in former + ages, have occupied our country, arises from the associations which + connect them with the community in which are comprised all the objects of + our affection and our hope. In the mind of Petrarch these feelings were + reversed. He loved Italy, because it abounded with the monuments of the + ancient masters of the world. His native city—the fair and glorious + Florence—the modern Athens, then in all the bloom and strength of + its youth, could not obtain, from the most distinguished of its citizens, + any portion of that passionate homage which he paid to the decrepitude of + Rome. These and many other blemishes, though they must in candour be + acknowledged, can but in a very slight degree diminish the glory of his + career. For my own part, I look upon it with so much fondness and pleasure + that I feel reluctant to turn from it to the consideration of his works, + which I by no means contemplate with equal admiration. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, I think highly of the poetical powers of Petrarch. He did + not possess, indeed, the art of strongly presenting sensible objects to + the imagination;—and this is the more remarkable, because the talent + of which I speak is that which peculiarly distinguishes the Italian poets. + In the Divine Comedy it is displayed in its highest perfection. It + characterises almost every celebrated poem in the language. Perhaps this + is to be attributed to the circumstance, that painting and sculpture had + attained a high degree of excellence in Italy before poetry had been + extensively cultivated. Men were debarred from books, but accustomed from + childhood to contemplate the admirable works of art, which, even in the + thirteenth century, Italy began to produce. Hence their imaginations + received so strong a bias that, even in their writings, a taste for + graphic delineation is discernible. The progress of things in England has + been in all respects different. The consequence is, that English + historical pictures are poems on canvas; while Italian poems are pictures + painted to the mind by means of words. Of this national characteristic the + writings of Petrarch are almost totally destitute. His sonnets indeed, + from their subject and nature, and his Latin Poems, from the restraints + which always shackle one who writes in a dead language, cannot fairly be + received in evidence. But his Triumphs absolutely required the exercise of + this talent, and exhibit no indications of it. + </p> + <p> + Genius, however, he certainly possessed, and genius of a high order. His + ardent, tender, and magnificent turn of thought, his brilliant fancy, his + command of expression, at once forcible and elegant, must be acknowledged. + Nature meant him for the prince of lyric writers. But by one fatal present + she deprived her other gifts of half their value. He would have been a + much greater poet had he been a less clever man. His ingenuity was the + bane of his mind. He abandoned the noble and natural style, in which he + might have excelled, for the conceits which he produced with a facility at + once admirable and disgusting. His muse, like the Roman lady in Livy, was + tempted by gaudy ornaments to betray the fastnesses of her strength, and, + like her, was crushed beneath the glittering bribes which had seduced her. + </p> + <p> + The paucity of his thoughts is very remarkable. It is impossible to look + without amazement on a mind so fertile in combinations, yet so barren of + images. His amatory poetry is wholly made up of a very few topics, + disposed in so many orders, and exhibited in so many lights, that it + reminds us of those arithmetical problems about permutations, which so + much astonish the unlearned. The French cook, who boasted that he could + make fifteen different dishes out of a nettle-top, was not a greater + master of his art. The mind of Petrarch was a kaleidoscope. At every turn + it presents us with new forms, always fantastic, occasionally beautiful; + and we can scarcely believe that all these varieties have been produced by + the same worthless fragments of glass. The sameness of his images is, + indeed, in some degree, to be attributed to the sameness of his subject. + It would be unreasonable to expect perpetual variety from so many hundred + compositions, all of the same length, all in the same measure, and all + addressed to the same insipid and heartless coquette. I cannot but suspect + also that the perverted taste, which is the blemish of his amatory verses, + was to be attributed to the influence of Laura, who, probably, like most + critics of her sex, preferred a gaudy to a majestic style. Be this as it + may, he no sooner changes his subject than he changes his manner. When he + speaks of the wrongs and degradation of Italy, devastated by foreign + invaders, and but feebly defended by her pusillanimous children, the + effeminate lisp of the sonnetteer is exchanged for a cry, wild, and + solemn, and piercing as that which proclaimed "Sleep no more" to the + bloody house of Cawdor. "Italy seems not to feel her sufferings," exclaims + her impassioned poet; "decrepit, sluggish, and languid, will she sleep + forever? Will there be none to awake her? Oh that I had my hands twisted + in her hair!" + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ("Che suoi guai non par che senta; + Vecchia, oziosa, e lenta. + Dormira sempre, e non fia chi la svegli? + Le man l' avess' io avvolte entro e capegli." + Canzone xi.) +</pre> + <p> + Nor is it with less energy that he denounces against the Mahometan Babylon + the vengeance of Europe and of Christ. His magnificent enumeration of the + ancient exploits of the Greeks must always excite admiration, and cannot + be perused without the deepest interest, at a time when the wise and good, + bitterly disappointed in so many other countries, are looking with + breathless anxiety towards the natal land of liberty,—the field of + Marathon,—and the deadly pass where the Lion of Lacedaemon turned to + bay. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ("Maratona, e le mortali strette + Che difese il LEON con poca gente." + Canzone v.) +</pre> + <p> + His poems on religious subjects also deserve the highest commendation. At + the head of these must be placed the Ode to the Virgin. It is, perhaps, + the finest hymn in the world. His devout veneration receives an + exquisitely poetical character from the delicate perception of the sex and + the loveliness of his idol, which we may easily trace throughout the whole + composition. + </p> + <p> + I could dwell with pleasure on these and similar parts of the writings of + Petrarch; but I must return to his amatory poetry: to that he entrusted + his fame; and to that he has principally owed it. + </p> + <p> + The prevailing defect of his best compositions on this subject is the + universal brilliancy with which they are lighted up. The natural language + of the passions is, indeed, often figurative and fantastic; and with none + is this more the case than with that of love. Still there is a limit. The + feelings should, indeed, have their ornamental garb; but, like an elegant + woman, they should be neither muffled nor exposed. The drapery should be + so arranged, as at once to answer the purposes of modest concealment and + judicious display. The decorations should sometimes be employed to hide a + defect, and sometimes to heighten a beauty; but never to conceal, much + less to distort, the charms to which they are subsidiary. The love of + Petrarch, on the contrary, arrays itself like a foppish savage, whose nose + is bored with a golden ring, whose skin is painted with grotesque forms + and dazzling colours, and whose ears are drawn down his shoulders by the + weight of jewels. It is a rule, without any exception, in all kinds of + composition, that the principal idea, the predominant feeling, should + never be confounded with the accompanying decorations. It should generally + be distinguished from them by greater simplicity of expression; as we + recognise Napoleon in the pictures of his battles, amidst a crowd of + embroidered coats and plumes, by his grey cloak and his hat without a + feather. In the verses of Petrarch it is generally impossible to say what + thought is meant to be prominent. All is equally elaborate. The chief + wears the same gorgeous and degrading livery with his retinue, and obtains + only his share of the indifferent stare which we bestow upon them in + common. The poems have no strong lights and shades, no background, no + foreground;—they are like the illuminated figures in an oriental + manuscript,—plenty of rich tints and no perspective. Such are the + faults of the most celebrated of these compositions. Of those which are + universally acknowledged to be bad it is scarcely possible to speak with + patience. Yet they have much in common with their splendid companions. + They differ from them, as a Mayday procession of chimneysweepers differs + from the Field of Cloth of Gold. They have the gaudiness but not the + wealth. His muse belongs to that numerous class of females who have no + objection to be dirty, while they can be tawdry. When his brilliant + conceits are exhausted, he supplies their place with metaphysical + quibbles, forced antitheses, bad puns, and execrable charades. In his + fifth sonnet he may, I think, be said to have sounded the lowest chasm of + the Bathos. Upon the whole, that piece may be safely pronounced to be the + worst attempt at poetry, and the worst attempt at wit, in the world. + </p> + <p> + A strong proof of the truth of these criticisms is, that almost all the + sonnets produce exactly the same effect on the mind of the reader. They + relate to all the various moods of a lover, from joy to despair:—yet + they are perused, as far as my experience and observation have gone, with + exactly the same feeling. The fact is, that in none of them are the + passion and the ingenuity mixed in just proportions. There is not enough + sentiment to dilute the condiments which are employed to season it. The + repast which he sets before us resembles the Spanish entertainment in + Dryden's "Mock Astrologer", at which the relish of all the dishes and + sauces was overpowered by the common flavour of spice. Fish,—flesh,—fowl,—everything + at table tasted of nothing but red pepper. + </p> + <p> + The writings of Petrarch may indeed suffer undeservedly from one cause to + which I must allude. His imitators have so much familiarised the ear of + Italy and of Europe to the favourite topics of amorous flattery and + lamentation, that we can scarcely think them original when we find them in + the first author; and, even when our understandings have convinced us that + they were new to him, they are still old to us. This has been the fate of + many of the finest passages of the most eminent writers. It is melancholy + to trace a noble thought from stage to stage of its profanation; to see it + transferred from the first illustrious wearer to his lacqueys, turned, and + turned again, and at last hung on a scarecrow. Petrarch has really + suffered much from this cause. Yet that he should have so suffered is a + sufficient proof that his excellences were not of the highest order. A + line may be stolen; but the pervading spirit of a great poet is not to be + surreptitiously obtained by a plagiarist. The continued imitation of + twenty-five centuries has left Homer as it found him. If every simile and + every turn of Dante had been copied ten thousand times, the Divine Comedy + would have retained all its freshness. It was easy for the porter in + Farquhar to pass for Beau Clincher, by borrowing his lace and his + pulvilio. It would have been more difficult to enact Sir Harry Wildair. + </p> + <p> + Before I quit this subject I must defend Petrarch from one accusation + which is in the present day frequently brought against him. His sonnets + are pronounced by a large sect of critics not to possess certain qualities + which they maintain to be indispensable to sonnets, with as much + confidence, and as much reason, as their prototypes of old insisted on the + unities of the drama. I am an exoteric—utterly unable to explain the + mysteries of this new poetical faith. I only know that it is a faith, + which except a man do keep pure and undefiled, without doubt he shall be + called a blockhead. I cannot, however, refrain from asking what is the + particular virtue which belongs to fourteen as distinguished from all + other numbers. Does it arise from its being a multiple of seven? Has this + principle any reference to the sabbatical ordinance? Or is it to the order + of rhymes that these singular properties are attached? Unhappily the + sonnets of Shakspeare differ as much in this respect from those of + Petrarch, as from a Spenserian or an octave stanza. Away with this + unmeaning jargon! We have pulled down the old regime of criticism. I trust + that we shall never tolerate the equally pedantic and irrational + despotism, which some of the revolutionary leaders would erect upon its + ruins. We have not dethroned Aristotle and Bossu for this. + </p> + <p> + These sonnet-fanciers would do well to reflect that, though the style of + Petrarch may not suit the standard of perfection which they have chosen, + they lie under great obligations to these very poems,—that, but for + Petrarch the measure, concerning which they legislate so judiciously, + would probably never have attracted notice; and that to him they owe the + pleasure of admiring, and the glory of composing, pieces, which seem to + have been produced by Master Slender, with the assistance of his man + Simple. + </p> + <p> + I cannot conclude these remarks without making a few observations on the + Latin writings of Petrarch. It appears that, both by himself and by his + contemporaries, these were far more highly valued than his compositions in + the vernacular language. Posterity, the supreme court of literary appeal, + has not only reversed the judgment, but, according to its general + practice, reversed it with costs, and condemned the unfortunate works to + pay, not only for their own inferiority, but also for the injustice of + those who had given them an unmerited preference. And it must be owned + that, without making large allowances for the circumstances under which + they were produced, we cannot pronounce a very favourable judgment. They + must be considered as exotics, transplanted to a foreign climate, and + reared in an unfavourable situation; and it would be unreasonable to + expect from them the health and the vigour which we find in the indigenous + plants around them, or which they might themselves have possessed in their + native soil. He has but very imperfectly imitated the style of the Latin + authors, and has not compensated for the deficiency by enriching the + ancient language with the graces of modern poetry. The splendour and + ingenuity, which we admire, even when we condemn it, in his Italian works, + is almost totally wanting, and only illuminates with rare and occasional + glimpses the dreary obscurity of the African. The eclogues have more + animation; but they can only be called poems by courtesy. They have + nothing in common with his writings in his native language, except the + eternal pun about Laura and Daphne. None of these works would have placed + him on a level with Vida or Buchanan. Yet, when we compare him with those + who preceded him, when we consider that he went on the forlorn hope of + literature, that he was the first who perceived, and the first who + attempted to revive, the finer elegancies of the ancient language of the + world, we shall perhaps think more highly of him than of those who could + never have surpassed his beauties if they had not inherited them. + </p> + <p> + He has aspired to emulate the philosophical eloquence of Cicero, as well + as the poetical majesty of Virgil. His essay on the Remedies of Good and + Evil Fortune is a singular work in a colloquial form, and a most + scholastic style. It seems to be framed upon the model of the Tusculan + Questions,—with what success those who have read it may easily + determine. It consists of a series of dialogues: in each of these a person + is introduced who has experienced some happy or some adverse event: he + gravely states his case; and a reasoner, or rather Reason personified, + confutes him; a task not very difficult, since the disciple defends his + position only by pertinaciously repeating it, in almost the same words at + the end of every argument of his antagonist. In this manner Petrarch + solves an immense variety of cases. Indeed, I doubt whether it would be + possible to name any pleasure or any calamity which does not find a place + in this dissertation. He gives excellent advice to a man who is in + expectation of discovering the philosopher's stone;—to another, who + has formed a fine aviary;—to a third, who is delighted with the + tricks of a favourite monkey. His lectures to the unfortunate are equally + singular. He seems to imagine that a precedent in point is a sufficient + consolation for every form of suffering. "Our town is taken," says one + complainant; "So was Troy," replies his comforter. "My wife has eloped," + says another; "If it has happened to you once, it happened to Menelaus + twice." One poor fellow is in great distress at having discovered that his + wife's son is none of his. "It is hard," says he, "that I should have had + the expense of bringing up one who is indifferent to me." "You are a man," + returns his monitor, quoting the famous line of Terence; "and nothing that + belongs to any other man ought to be indifferent to you." The physical + calamities of life are not omitted; and there is in particular a + disquisition on the advantages of having the itch, which, if not + convincing, is certainly very amusing. + </p> + <p> + The invectives on an unfortunate physician, or rather upon the medical + science, have more spirit. Petrarch was thoroughly in earnest on this + subject. And the bitterness of his feelings occasionally produces, in the + midst of his classical and scholastic pedantry, a sentence worthy of the + second Philippic. Swift himself might have envied the chapter on the + causes of the paleness of physicians. + </p> + <p> + Of his Latin works the Epistles are the most generally known and admired. + As compositions they are certainly superior to his essays. But their + excellence is only comparative. From so large a collection of letters, + written by so eminent a man, during so varied and eventful a life, we + should have expected a complete and spirited view of the literature, the + manners, and the politics of the age. A traveller—a poet—a + scholar—a lover—a courtier—a recluse—he might have + perpetuated, in an imperishable record, the form and pressure of the age + and body of the time. Those who read his correspondence, in the hope of + finding such information as this, will be utterly disappointed. It + contains nothing characteristic of the period or of the individual. It is + a series, not of letters, but of themes; and, as it is not generally + known, might be very safely employed at public schools as a magazine of + commonplaces. Whether he write on politics to the Emperor and the Doge, or + send advice and consolation to a private friend, every line is crowded + with examples and quotations, and sounds big with Anaxagoras and Scipio. + Such was the interest excited by the character of Petrarch, and such the + admiration which was felt for his epistolary style, that it was with + difficulty that his letters reached the place of their destination. The + poet describes, with pretended regret and real complacency, the + importunity of the curious, who often opened, and sometimes stole, these + favourite compositions. It is a remarkable fact that, of all his epistles, + the least affected are those which are addressed to the dead and the + unborn. Nothing can be more absurd than his whim of composing grave + letters of expostulation and commendation to Cicero and Seneca; yet these + strange performances are written in a far more natural manner than his + communications to his living correspondents. But of all his Latin works + the preference must be given to the Epistle to Posterity; a simple, noble, + and pathetic composition, most honourable both to his taste and his heart. + If we can make allowance for some of the affected humility of an author, + we shall perhaps think that no literary man has left a more pleasing + memorial of himself. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, we may pronounce that the works of Petrarch were below both + his genius and his celebrity; and that the circumstances under which he + wrote were as adverse to the development of his powers as they were + favourable to the extension of his fame. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT LAWSUIT BETWEEN THE PARISHES OF ST DENNIS AND ST + GEORGE IN THE WATER. (April 1824.) + </h2> + <p> + PART I. + </p> + <p> + The parish of St Dennis is one of the most pleasant parts of the county in + which it is situated. It is fertile, well wooded, well watered, and of an + excellent air. For many generations the manor had been holden in tail-male + by a worshipful family, who have always taken precedence of their + neighbours at the races and the sessions. + </p> + <p> + In ancient times the affairs of this parish were administered by a + Court-Baron, in which the freeholders were judges; and the rates were + levied by select vestries of the inhabitant householders. But at length + these good customs fell into disuse. The Lords of the Manor, indeed, still + held courts for form's sake; but they or their stewards had the whole + management of affairs. They demanded services, duties, and customs to + which they had no just title. Nay, they would often bring actions against + their neighbours for their own private advantage, and then send in the + bill to the parish. No objection was made, during many years, to these + proceedings, so that the rates became heavier and heavier: nor was any + person exempted from these demands, except the footmen and gamekeepers of + the squire and the rector of the parish. They indeed were never checked in + any excess. They would come to an honest labourer's cottage, eat his + pancakes, tuck his fowls into their pockets, and cane the poor man + himself. If he went up to the great house to complain, it was hard to get + the speech of Sir Lewis; and, indeed, his only chance of being righted was + to coax the squire's pretty housekeeper, who could do what she pleased + with her master. If he ventured to intrude upon the Lord of the Manor + without this precaution, he gained nothing by his pains. Sir Lewis, + indeed, would at first receive him with a civil face; for, to give him his + due, he could be a fine gentleman when he pleased. "Good day, my friend," + he would say, "what situation have you in my family?" "Bless your honour!" + says the poor fellow, "I am not one of your honour's servants; I rent a + small piece of ground, your honour." "Then, you dog," quoth the squire, + "what do you mean by coming here? Has a gentleman nothing to do but to + hear the complaints of clowns? Here! Philip, James, Dick, toss this fellow + in a blanket; or duck him, and set him in the stocks to dry." + </p> + <p> + One of these precious Lords of the Manor enclosed a deer-park; and, in + order to stock it, he seized all the pretty pet fawns that his tenants had + brought up, without paying them a farthing, or asking their leave. It was + a sad day for the parish of St Dennis. Indeed, I do not believe that all + his oppressive exactions and long bills enraged the poor tenants so much + as this cruel measure. + </p> + <p> + Yet for a long time, in spite of all these inconveniences, St Dennis's was + a very pleasant place. The people could not refrain from capering if they + heard the sound of a fiddle. And, if they were inclined to be riotous, Sir + Lewis had only to send for Punch, or the dancing dogs, and all was quiet + again. But this could not last forever; they began to think more and more + of their condition; and, at last, a club of foul-mouthed, good-for-nothing + rascals was held at the sign of the Devil, for the purpose of abusing the + squire and the parson. The doctor, to own the truth, was old and indolent, + extremely fat and greedy. He had not preached a tolerable sermon for a + long time. The squire was still worse; so that, partly by truth and partly + by falsehood, the club set the whole parish against their superiors. The + boys scrawled caricatures of the clergyman upon the church-door, and shot + at the landlord with pop-guns as he rode a-hunting. It was even whispered + about that the Lord of the Manor had no right to his estate, and that, if + he were compelled to produce the original title-deeds, it would be found + that he only held the estate in trust for the inhabitants of the parish. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime the squire was pressed more and more for money. The parish + could pay no more. The rector refused to lend a farthing. The Jews were + clamorous for their money; and the landlord had no other resource than to + call together the inhabitants of the parish, and to request their + assistance. They now attacked him furiously about their grievances, and + insisted that he should relinquish his oppressive powers. They insisted + that his footmen should be kept in order, that the parson should pay his + share of the rates, that the children of the parish should be allowed to + fish in the trout-stream, and to gather blackberries in the hedges. They + at last went so far as to demand that he should acknowledge that he held + his estate only in trust for them. His distress compelled him to submit. + They, in return, agreed to set him free from his pecuniary difficulties, + and to suffer him to inhabit the manor-house; and only annoyed him from + time to time by singing impudent ballads under his window. + </p> + <p> + The neighbouring gentlefolks did not look on these proceedings with much + complacency. It is true that Sir Lewis and his ancestors had plagued them + with law-suits, and affronted them at county meetings. Still they + preferred the insolence of a gentleman to that of the rabble, and felt + some uneasiness lest the example should infect their own tenants. + </p> + <p> + A large party of them met at the house of Lord Caesar Germain. Lord Caesar + was the proudest man in the county. His family was very ancient and + illustrious, though not particularly opulent. He had invited most of his + wealthy neighbours. There was Mrs Kitty North, the relict of poor Squire + Peter, respecting whom the coroner's jury had found a verdict of + accidental death, but whose fate had nevertheless excited strange whispers + in the neighbourhood. There was Squire Don, the owner of the great West + Indian property, who was not so rich as he had formerly been, but still + retained his pride, and kept up his customary pomp; so that he had plenty + of plate but no breeches. There was Squire Von Blunderbussen, who had + succeeded to the estates of his uncle, old Colonel Frederic Von + Blunderbussen, of the hussars. The colonel was a very singular old fellow; + he used to learn a page of Chambaud's grammar, and to translate Telemaque, + every morning, and he kept six French masters to teach him to parleyvoo. + Nevertheless he was a shrewd clever man, and improved his estate with so + much care, sometimes by honest and sometimes by dishonest means, that he + left a very pretty property to his nephew. + </p> + <p> + Lord Caesar poured out a glass of Tokay for Mrs Kitty. "Your health, my + dear madam, I never saw you look more charming. Pray, what think you of + these doings at St Dennis's?" + </p> + <p> + "Fine doings, indeed!" interrupted Von Blunderbussen; "I wish that we had + my old uncle alive, he would have had some of them up to the halberts. He + knew how to usa cat-o'-nine-tails. If things go on in this way, a + gentleman will not be able to horsewhip an impudent farmer, or to say a + civil word to a milk-maid." + </p> + <p> + "Indeed, it's very true, Sir," said Mrs Kitty; "their insolence is + intolerable. Look at me, for instance:—a poor lone woman!—My + dear Peter dead! I loved him:—so I did; and, when he died, I was so + hysterical you cannot think. And now I cannot lean on the arm of a decent + footman, or take a walk with a tall grenadier behind me, just to protect + me from audacious vagabonds, but they must have their nauseous suspicions;—odious + creatures!" + </p> + <p> + "This must be stopped," replied Lord Caesar. "We ought to contribute to + support my poor brother-in-law against these rascals. I will write to + Squire Guelf on this subject by this night's post. His name is always at + the head of our county subscriptions." + </p> + <p> + If the people of St Dennis's had been angry before, they were well-nigh + mad when they heard of this conversation. The whole parish ran to the + manor-house. Sir Lewis's Swiss porter shut the door against them; but they + broke in and knocked him on the head for his impudence. They then seized + the Squire, hooted at him, pelted him, ducked him, and carried him to the + watch-house. They turned the rector into the street, burnt his wig and + band, and sold the church-plate by auction. They put up a painted Jezebel + in the pulpit to preach. They scratched out the texts which were written + round the church, and scribbled profane scraps of songs and plays in their + place. They set the organ playing to pot-house tunes. Instead of being + decently asked in church, they were married over a broomstick. But, of all + their whims, the use of the new patent steel-traps was the most + remarkable. + </p> + <p> + This trap was constructed on a completely new principle. It consisted of a + cleaver hung in a frame like a window; when any poor wretch got in, down + it came with a tremendous din, and took off his head in a twinkling. They + got the squire into one of these machines. In order to prevent any of his + partisans from getting footing in the parish, they placed traps at every + corner. It was impossible to walk through the highway at broad noon + without tumbling into one or other of them. No man could go about his + business in security. Yet so great was the hatred which the inhabitants + entertained for the old family, that a few decent, honest people, who + begged them to take down the steel-traps, and to put up humane man-traps + in their room, were very roughly handled for their good nature. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime the neighbouring gentry undertook a suit against the + parish on the behalf of Sir Lewis's heir, and applied to Squire Guelf for + his assistance. + </p> + <p> + Everybody knows that Squire Guelf is more closely tied up than any + gentleman in the shire. He could, therefore, lend them no help; but he + referred them to the Vestry of the Parish of St George in the Water. These + good people had long borne a grudge against their neighbours on the other + side of the stream; and some mutual trespasses had lately occurred which + increased their hostility. + </p> + <p> + There was an honest Irishman, a great favourite among them, who used to + entertain them with raree-shows, and to exhibit a magic lantern to the + children on winter evenings. He had gone quite mad upon this subject. + Sometimes he would call out in the middle of the street—"Take care + of that corner, neighbours; for the love of Heaven, keep clear of that + post, there is a patent steel-trap concealed thereabouts." Sometimes he + would be disturbed by frightful dreams; then he would get up at dead of + night, open his window and cry "fire," till the parish was roused, and the + engines sent for. The pulpit of the Parish of St George seemed likely to + fall; I believe that the only reason was that the parson had grown too fat + and heavy; but nothing would persuade this honest man but that it was a + scheme of the people at St Dennis's, and that they had sawed through the + pillars in order to break the rector's neck. Once he went about with a + knife in his pocket, and told all the persons whom he met that it had been + sharpened by the knife-grinder of the next parish to cut their throats. + These extravagancies had a great effect on the people; and the more so + because they were espoused by Squire Guelf's steward, who was the most + influential person in the parish. He was a very fair-spoken man, very + attentive to the main chance, and the idol of the old women, because he + never played at skittles or danced with the girls; and, indeed, never took + any recreation but that of drinking on Saturday nights with his friend + Harry, the Scotch pedlar. His supporters called him Sweet William; his + enemies the Bottomless Pit. + </p> + <p> + The people of St Dennis's, however, had their advocates. There was Frank, + the richest farmer in the parish, whose great grandfather had been knocked + on the head many years before, in a squabble between the parish and a + former landlord. There was Dick, the merry-andrew, rather light-fingered + and riotous, but a clever droll fellow. Above all, there was Charley, the + publican, a jolly, fat, honest lad, a great favourite with the women, who, + if he had not been rather too fond of ale and chuck-farthing, would have + been the best fellow in the neighbourhood. + </p> + <p> + "My boys," said Charley, "this is exceedingly well for Madam North;—not + that I would speak uncivilly of her; she put up my picture in her best + room, bless her for it! But, I say, this is very well for her, and for + Lord Caesar, and Squire Don, and Colonel Von;—but what affair is it + of yours or mine? It is not to be wondered at, that gentlemen should wish + to keep poor people out of their own. But it is strange indeed that they + should expect the poor themselves to combine against their own interests. + If the folks at St Dennis's should attack us we have the law and our + cudgels to protect us. But why, in the name of wonder, are we to attack + them? When old Sir Charles, who was Lord of the Manor formerly, and the + parson, who was presented by him to the living, tried to bully the vestry, + did not we knock their heads together, and go to meeting to hear Jeremiah + Ringletub preach? And did the Squire Don, or the great Sir Lewis, that + lived at that time, or the Germains, say a word against us for it? Mind + your own business, my lads: law is not to be had for nothing; and we, you + may be sure, shall have to pay the whole bill." + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless the people of St George's were resolved on law. They cried + out most lustily, "Squire Guelf for ever! Sweet William for ever! No steel + traps!" Squire Guelf took all the rascally footmen who had worn old Sir + Lewis's livery into his service. They were fed in the kitchen on the very + best of everything, though they had no settlement. Many people, and the + paupers in particular, grumbled at these proceedings. The steward, + however, devised a way to keep them quiet. + </p> + <p> + There had lived in this parish for many years an old gentleman, named Sir + Habeas Corpus. He was said by some to be of Saxon, by some of Norman, + extraction. Some maintain that he was not born till after the time of Sir + Charles, to whom we have before alluded. Others are of opinion that he was + a legitimate son of old Lady Magna Charta, although he was long concealed + and kept out of his birthright. Certain it is that he was a very + benevolent person. Whenever any poor fellow was taken up on grounds which + he thought insufficient, he used to attend on his behalf and bail him; and + thus he had become so popular, that to take direct measures against him + was out of the question. + </p> + <p> + The steward, accordingly, brought a dozen physicians to examine Sir + Habeas. After consultation, they reported that he was in a very bad way, + and ought not, on any account, to be allowed to stir out for several + months. Fortified with this authority, the parish officers put him to bed, + closed his windows, and barred his doors. They paid him every attention, + and from time to time issued bulletins of his health. The steward never + spoke of him without declaring that he was the best gentleman in the + world; but excellent care was taken that he should never stir out of + doors. + </p> + <p> + When this obstacle was removed, the Squire and the steward kept the parish + in excellent order; flogged this man, sent that man to the stocks, and + pushed forward the law-suit with a noble disregard of expense. They were, + however, wanting either in skill or in fortune. And everything went + against them after their antagonists had begun to employ Solicitor Nap. + </p> + <p> + Who does not know the name of Solicitor Nap? At what alehouse is not his + behaviour discussed? In what print-shop is not his picture seen? Yet how + little truth has been said about him! Some people hold that he used to + give laudanum by pints to his six clerks for his amusement. Others, whose + number has very much increased since he was killed by the gaol distemper, + conceive that he was the very model of honour and good-nature. I shall try + to tell the truth about him. + </p> + <p> + He was assuredly an excellent solicitor. In his way he never was + surpassed. As soon as the parish began to employ him, their cause took a + turn. In a very little time they were successful; and Nap became rich. He + now set up for a gentleman; took possession of the old manor-house; got + into the commission of the peace, and affected to be on a par with the + best of the county. He governed the vestries as absolutely as the old + family had done. Yet, to give him his due, he managed things with far more + discretion than either Sir Lewis or the rioters who had pulled the Lords + of the Manor down. He kept his servants in tolerable order. He removed the + steel traps from the highways and the corners of the streets. He still + left a few indeed in the more exposed parts of his premises; and set up a + board announcing that traps and spring guns were set in his grounds. He + brought the poor parson back to the parish; and, though he did not enable + him to keep a fine house and a coach as formerly, he settled him in a snug + little cottage, and allowed him a pleasant pad-nag. He whitewashed the + church again; and put the stocks, which had been much wanted of late, into + good repair. + </p> + <p> + With the neighbouring gentry, however, he was no favourite. He was crafty + and litigious. He cared nothing for right, if he could raise a point of + law against them. He pounded their cattle, broke their hedges, and seduced + their tenants from them. He almost ruined Lord Caesar with actions, in + every one of which he was successful. Von Blunderbussen went to law with + him for an alleged trespass, but was cast, and almost ruined by the costs + of suit. He next took a fancy to the seat of Squire Don, who was, to say + the truth, little better than an idiot. He asked the poor dupe to dinner, + and then threatened to have him tossed in a blanket unless he would make + over his estates to him. The poor Squire signed and sealed a deed by which + the property was assigned to Joe, a brother of Nap's, in trust for and to + the use of Nap himself. The tenants, however, stood out. They maintained + that the estate was entailed, and refused to pay rents to the new + landlord; and in this refusal they were stoutly supported by the people in + St George's. + </p> + <p> + About the same time Nap took it into his head to match with quality, and + nothing would serve him but one of the Miss Germains. Lord Caesar swore + like a trooper; but there was no help for it. Nap had twice put executions + in his principal residence, and had refused to discharge the latter of the + two till he had extorted a bond from his Lordship which compelled him to + comply. + </p> + <p> + THE END OF THE FIRST PART. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR ABRAHAM COWLEY AND MR JOHN MILTON, TOUCHING + </h2> + <p> + THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. SET DOWN BY A GENTLEMAN OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE. (August + 1824.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Referre sermones Deorum et + Magna modis tenuare parvis."—Horace. +</pre> + <p> + I have thought it good to set down in writing a memorable debate, wherein + I was a listener, and two men of pregnant parts and great reputation + discoursers; hoping that my friends will not be displeased to have a + record both of the strange times through which I have lived, and of the + famous men with whom I have conversed. It chanced in the warm and + beautiful spring of the year 1665, a little before the saddest summer that + ever London saw, that I went to the Bowling Green at Piccadilly, whither, + at that time, the best gentry made continual resorts. There I met Mr + Cowley, who had lately left Barnelms. There was then a house preparing for + him at Chertsey; and till it should be finished, he had come up for a + short time to London, that he might urge a suit to his Grace of Buckingham + touching certain lands of her Majesty's, whereof he requested a lease. I + had the honour to be familiarly acquainted with that worthy gentleman and + most excellent poet, whose death hath been deplored with as general a + consent of all Powers that delight in the woods, or in verse, or in love, + as was of old that of Daphnis or of Callus. + </p> + <p> + After some talk, which it is not material to set down at large, concerning + his suit and his vexations at the court, where indeed his honesty did him + more harm than his parts could do him good, I entreated him to dine with + me at my lodging in the Temple, which he most courteously promised. And, + that so eminent a guest might not lack a better entertainment than cooks + or vintners can provide, I sent to the house of Mr John Milton, in the + Artillery Walk, to beg that he would also be my guest. For, though he had + been secretary, first to the Council of State, and, after that, to the + Protector, and Mr Cowley had held the same post under the Lord St Albans + in his banishment, I hoped, notwithstanding that they would think + themselves rather united by their common art than divided by their + different factions. And so indeed it proved. For, while we sat at table, + they talked freely of many men and things, as well ancient as modern, with + much civility. Nay, Mr Milton, who seldom tasted wine, both because of his + singular temperance and because of his gout, did more than once pledge Mr + Cowley, who was indeed no hermit in diet. At last, being heated, Mr Milton + begged that I would open the windows. "Nay," said I, "if you desire fresh + air and coolness, what should hinder us, as the evening is fair, from + sailing for an hour on the river?" To this they both cheerfully consented; + and forth we walked, Mr Cowley and I leading Mr Milton between us, to the + Temple Stairs. There we took a boat; and thence we were rowed up the + river. + </p> + <p> + The wind was pleasant; the evening fine; the sky, the earth, and the water + beautiful to look upon. But Mr Cowley and I held our peace, and said + nothing of the gay sights around us, lest we should too feelingly remind + Mr Milton of his calamity; whereof, however, he needed no monitor: for + soon he said, sadly, "Ah, Mr Cowley, you are a happy man. What would I now + give but for one more look at the sun, and the waters, and the gardens of + this fair city!" + </p> + <p> + "I know not," said Mr Cowley, "whether we ought not rather to envy you for + that which makes you to envy others: and that specially in this place, + where all eyes which are not closed in blindness ought to become fountains + of tears. What can we look upon which is not a memorial of change and + sorrow, of fair things vanished, and evil things done? When I see the gate + of Whitehall, and the stately pillars of the Banqueting House, I cannot + choose but think of what I have there seen in former days, masques, and + pageants, and dances, and smiles, and the waving of graceful heads, and + the bounding of delicate feet. And then I turn to thoughts of other + things, which even to remember makes me to blush and weep;—of the + great black scaffold, and the axe and block, which were placed before + those very windows; and the voice seems to sound in mine ears, the lawless + and terrible voice, which cried out that the head of a king was the head + of a traitor. There stands Westminster Hall, which who can look upon, and + not tremble to think how time, and change, and death confound the councils + of the wise, and beat down the weapons of the mighty? How have I seen it + surrounded with tens of thousands of petitioners crying for justice and + privilege! How have I heard it shake with fierce and proud words, which + made the hearts of the people burn within them! Then it is blockaded by + dragoons, and cleared by pikemen. And they who have conquered their master + go forth trembling at the word of their servant. And yet a little while, + and the usurper comes forth from it, in his robe of ermine, with the + golden staff in one hand and the Bible in the other, amidst the roaring of + the guns and the shouting of the people. And yet again a little while, and + the doors are thronged with multitudes in black, and the hearse and the + plumes come forth; and the tyrant is borne, in more than royal pomp, to a + royal sepulchre. A few days more, and his head is fixed to rot on the + pinnacles of that very hall where he sat on a throne in his life, and lay + in state after his death. When I think on all these things, to look round + me makes me sad at heart. True it is that God hath restored to us our old + laws, and the rightful line of our kings. Yet, how I know not, but it + seems to me that something is wanting—that our court hath not the + old gravity, nor our people the old loyalty. These evil times, like the + great deluge, have overwhelmed and confused all earthly things. And, even + as those waters, though at last they abated, yet, as the learned write, + destroyed all trace of the garden of Eden, so that its place hath never + since been found, so hath this opening of all the flood-gates of political + evil effaced all marks of the ancient political paradise." + </p> + <p> + "Sir, by your favour," said Mr Milton, "though, from many circumstances + both of body and of fortune, I might plead fairer excuses for despondency + than yourself, I yet look not so sadly either on the past or on the + future. That a deluge hath passed over this our nation, I deny not. But I + hold it not to be such a deluge as that of which you speak; but rather a + blessed flood, like those of the Nile, which in its overflow doth indeed + wash away ancient landmarks, and confound boundaries, and sweep away + dwellings, yea, doth give birth to many foul and dangerous reptiles. Yet + hence is the fulness of the granary, the beauty of the garden, the nurture + of all living things. + </p> + <p> + "I remember well, Mr Cowley, what you have said concerning these things in + your Discourse of the Government of Oliver Cromwell, which my friend + Elwood read to me last year. Truly, for elegance and rhetoric, that essay + is to be compared with the finest tractates of Isocrates and Cicero. But + neither that nor any other book, nor any events, which with most men have, + more than any book, weight and authority, have altered my opinion, that, + of all assemblies that ever were in this world, the best and the most + useful was our Long Parliament. I speak not this as wishing to provoke + debate; which neither yet do I decline." + </p> + <p> + Mr Cowley was, as I could see, a little nettled. Yet, as he was a man of a + kind disposition and a most refined courtesy, he put a force upon himself, + and answered with more vehemence and quickness indeed than was his wont, + yet not uncivilly. "Surely, Mr Milton, you speak not as you think. I am + indeed one of those who believe that God hath reserved to himself the + censure of kings, and that their crimes and oppressions are not to be + resisted by the hands of their subjects. Yet can I easily find excuse for + the violence of such as are stung to madness by grievous tyranny. But what + shall we say for these men? Which of their just demands was not granted? + Which even of their cruel and unreasonable requisitions, so as it were not + inconsistent with all law and order, was refused? Had they not sent + Strafford to the block and Laud to the Tower? Had they not destroyed the + Courts of the High Commission and the Star Chamber? Had they not reversed + the proceedings confirmed by the voices of the judges of England, in the + matter of ship-money? Had they not taken from the king his ancient and + most lawful power touching the order of knighthood? Had they not provided + that, after their dissolution, triennial parliaments should be holden, and + that their own power should continue till of their great condescension + they should be pleased to resign it themselves? What more could they ask? + Was it not enough that they had taken from their king all his oppressive + powers, and many that were most salutary? Was it not enough that they had + filled his council-board with his enemies, and his prisons with his + adherents? Was it not enough that they had raised a furious multitude, to + shout and swagger daily under the very windows of his royal palace? Was it + not enough that they had taken from him the most blessed prerogative of + princely mercy; that, complaining of intolerance themselves, they had + denied all toleration to others; that they had urged, against forms, + scruples childish as those of any formalist; that they had persecuted the + least remnant of the popish rites with the fiercest bitterness of the + popish spirit? Must they besides all this have full power to command his + armies, and to massacre his friends? + </p> + <p> + "For military command, it was never known in any monarchy, nay, in any + well ordered republic, that it was committed to the debates of a large and + unsettled assembly. For their other requisition, that he should give up to + their vengeance all who had defended the rights of his crown, his honour + must have been ruined if he had complied. Is it not therefore plain that + they desired these things only in order that, by refusing, his Majesty + might give them a pretence for war? + </p> + <p> + "Men have often risen up against fraud, against cruelty, against rapine. + But when before was it known that concessions were met with importunities, + graciousness with insults, the open palm of bounty with the clenched fist + of malice? Was it like trusty delegates of the Commons of England, and + faithful stewards of their liberty and their wealth, to engage them for + such causes in civil war, which both to liberty and to wealth is of all + things the most hostile. Evil indeed must be the disease which is not more + tolerable than such a medicine. Those who, even to save a nation from + tyrants, excite it to civil war do in general but minister to it the same + miserable kind of relief wherewith the wizards of Pharaoh mocked the + Egyptian. We read that, when Moses had turned their waters into blood, + those impious magicians, intending, not benefit to the thirsting people, + but vain and emulous ostentation of their own art, did themselves also + change into blood the water which the plague had spared. Such sad comfort + do those who stir up war minister to the oppressed. But here where was the + oppression? What was the favour which had not been granted? What was the + evil which had not been removed? What further could they desire?" + </p> + <p> + "These questions," said Mr Milton, austerely, "have indeed often deceived + the ignorant; but that Mr Cowley should have been so beguiled, I marvel. + You ask what more the Parliament could desire? I will answer you in one + word, security. What are votes, and statutes, and resolutions? They have + no eyes to see, no hands to strike and avenge. They must have some + safeguard from without. Many things, therefore, which in themselves were + peradventure hurtful, was this Parliament constrained to ask, lest + otherwise good laws and precious rights should be without defence. Nor did + they want a great and signal example of this danger. I need not remind you + that, many years before, the two Houses had presented to the king the + Petition of Right, wherein were set down all the most valuable privileges + of the people of this realm. Did not Charles accept it? Did he not declare + it to be law? Was it not as fully enacted as ever were any of those bills + of the Long Parliament concerning which you spoke? And were those + privileges therefore enjoyed more fully by the people? No: the king did + from that time redouble his oppressions as if to avenge himself for the + shame of having been compelled to renounce them. Then were our estates + laid under shameful impositions, our houses ransacked, our bodies + imprisoned. Then was the steel of the hangman blunted with mangling the + ears of harmless men. Then our very minds were fettered, and the iron + entered into our souls. Then we were compelled to hide our hatred, our + sorrow, and our scorn, to laugh with hidden faces at the mummery of Laud, + to curse under our breath the tyranny of Wentworth. Of old time it was + well and nobly said, by one of our kings, that an Englishman ought to be + as free as his thoughts. Our prince reversed the maxim; he strove to make + our thoughts as much slaves as ourselves. To sneer at a Romish pageant, to + miscall a lord's crest, were crimes for which there was no mercy. These + were all the fruits which we gathered from those excellent laws of the + former Parliament, from these solemn promises of the king. Were we to be + deceived again? Were we again to give subsidies, and receive nothing but + promises? Were we again to make wholesome statutes, and then leave them to + be broken daily and hourly, until the oppressor should have squandered + another supply, and should be ready for another perjury? You ask what they + could desire which he had not already granted. Let me ask of you another + question. What pledge could he give which he had not already violated? + From the first year of his reign, whenever he had need of the purses of + his Commons to support the revels of Buckingham or the processions of + Laud, he had assured them that, as he was a gentleman and a king, he would + sacredly preserve their rights. He had pawned those solemn pledges, and + pawned them again and again; but when had he redeemed them? 'Upon my + faith,'—'Upon my sacred word,'—'Upon the honour of a prince,'—came + so easily from his lips, and dwelt so short a time on his mind that they + were as little to be trusted as the 'By the hilts' of an Alsatian dicer. + </p> + <p> + "Therefore it is that I praise this Parliament for what else I might have + condemned. If what he had granted had been granted graciously and readily, + if what he had before promised had been faithfully observed, they could + not be defended. It was because he had never yielded the worst abuse + without a long struggle, and seldom without a large bribe; it was because + he had no sooner disentangled himself from his troubles than he forgot his + promises; and, more like a villainous huckster than a great king, kept + both the prerogative and the large price which had been paid to him to + forego it; it was because of these things that it was necessary and just + to bind with forcible restraints one who could be bound neither by law nor + honour. Nay, even while he was making those very concessions of which you + speak, he betrayed his deadly hatred against the people and their friends. + Not only did he, contrary to all that ever was deemed lawful in England, + order that members of the Commons House of Parliament should be impeached + of high treason at the bar of the Lords; thereby violating both the trial + by jury and the privileges of the House; but, not content with breaking + the law by his ministers, he went himself armed to assail it. In the + birth-place and sanctuary of freedom, in the House itself; nay in the very + chair of the speaker, placed for the protection of free speech and + privilege, he sat, rolling his eyes round the benches, searching for those + whose blood he desired, and singling out his opposers to the slaughter. + This most foul outrage fails. Then again for the old arts. Then come + gracious messages. Then come courteous speeches. Then is again mortgaged + his often forfeited honour. He will never again violate the laws. He will + respect their rights as if they were his own. He pledges the dignity of + his crown; that crown which had been committed to him for the weal of his + people, and which he never named, but that he might the more easily delude + and oppress them. + </p> + <p> + "The power of the sword, I grant you, was not one to be permanently + possessed by Parliament. Neither did that Parliament demand it as a + permanent possession. They asked it only for temporary security. Nor can I + see on what conditions they could safely make peace with that false and + wicked king, save such as would deprive him of all power to injure. + </p> + <p> + "For civil war, that it is an evil I dispute not. But that it is the + greatest of evils, that I stoutly deny. It doth indeed appear to the + misjudging to be a worse calamity than bad government, because its + miseries are collected together within a short space and time, and may + easily at one view be taken in and perceived. But the misfortunes of + nations ruled by tyrants, being distributed over many centuries and many + places, as they are of greater weight and number, so are they of less + display. When the Devil of tyranny hath gone into the body politic he + departs not but with struggles, and foaming, and great convulsions. Shall + he, therefore, vex it for ever, lest, in going out, he for a moment tear + and rend it? Truly this argument touching the evils of war would better + become my friend Elwood, or some other of the people called Quakers, than + a courtier and a cavalier. It applies no more to this war than to all + others, as well foreign as domestic, and, in this war, no more to the + Houses than to the king; nay, not so much, since he by a little sincerity + and moderation might have rendered that needless which their duty to God + and man then enforced them to do." + </p> + <p> + "Pardon me, Mr Milton," said Mr Cowley; "I grieve to hear you speak thus + of that good king. Most unhappy indeed he was, in that he reigned at a + time when the spirit of the then living generation was for freedom, and + the precedents of former ages for prerogative. His case was like to that + of Christopher Columbus, when he sailed forth on an unknown ocean, and + found that the compass, whereby he shaped his course, had shifted from the + north pole whereto before it had constantly pointed. So it was with + Charles. His compass varied; and therefore he could not tack aright. If he + had been an absolute king he would doubtless, like Titus Vespasian, have + been called the delight of the human race. If he had been a Doge of + Venice, or a Stadtholder of Holland, he would never have outstepped the + laws. But he lived when our government had neither clear definitions nor + strong sanctions. Let, therefore, his faults be ascribed to the time. Of + his virtues the praise is his own. + </p> + <p> + "Never was there a more gracious prince, or a more proper gentleman. In + every pleasure he was temperate, in conversation mild and grave, in + friendship constant, to his servants liberal, to his queen faithful and + loving, in battle grave, in sorrow and captivity resolved, in death most + Christian and forgiving. + </p> + <p> + "For his oppressions, let us look at the former history of this realm. + James was never accounted a tyrant. Elizabeth is esteemed to have been the + mother of her people. Were they less arbitrary? Did they never lay hands + on the purses of their subjects but by Act of Parliament? Did they never + confine insolent and disobedient men but in due course of law? Was the + court of Star Chamber less active? Were the ears of libellers more safe? I + pray you, let not king Charles be thus dealt with. It was enough that in + his life he was tried for an alleged breach of laws which none ever heard + named till they were discovered for his destruction. Let not his fame be + treated as was his sacred and anointed body. Let not his memory be tried + by principles found out ex post facto. Let us not judge by the spirit of + one generation a man whose disposition had been formed by the temper and + fashion of another." + </p> + <p> + "Nay, but conceive me, Mr Cowley," said Mr Milton; "inasmuch as, at the + beginning of his reign, he imitated those who had governed before him, I + blame him not. To expect that kings will, of their own free choice, + abridge their prerogative, were argument of but slender wisdom. Whatever, + therefore, lawless, unjust, or cruel, he either did or permitted during + the first years of his reign, I pass by. But for what was done after that + he had solemnly given his consent to the Petition of Right, where shall we + find defence? Let it be supposed, which yet I concede not, that the + tyranny of his father and of Queen Elizabeth had been no less rigorous + than was his. But had his father, had that queen, sworn like him, to + abstain from those rigours? Had they, like him, for good and valuable + consideration, aliened their hurtful prerogatives? Surely not: from + whatever excuse you can plead for him he had wholly excluded himself. The + borders of countries, we know, are mostly the seats of perpetual wars and + tumults. It was the same with the undefined frontiers, which of old + separated privilege and prerogative. They were the debatable land of our + polity. It was no marvel if, both on the one side and on the other, + inroads were often made. But, when treaties have been concluded, spaces + measured, lines drawn, landmarks set up, that which before might pass for + innocent error or just reprisal becomes robbery, perjury, deadly sin. He + knew not, you say, which of his powers were founded on ancient law, and + which only on vicious example. But had he not read the Petition of Right? + Had not proclamation been made from his throne, Soit fait comme il est + desire? + </p> + <p> + "For his private virtues they are beside the question. Remember you not," + and Mr Milton smiled, but somewhat sternly, "what Dr Cauis saith in the + Merry Wives of Shakspeare? 'What shall the honest man do in my closet? + There is no honest man that shall come in my closet.' Even so say I. There + is no good man who shall make us his slaves. If he break his word to his + people, is it a sufficient defence that he keeps it to his companions? If + he oppress and extort all day, shall he be held blameless because he + prayeth at night and morning? If he be insatiable in plunder and revenge, + shall we pass it by because in meat and drink he is temperate? If he have + lived like a tyrant, shall all be forgotten because he hath died like a + martyr? + </p> + <p> + "He was a man, as I think, who had so much semblance of virtues as might + make his vices most dangerous. He was not a tyrant after our wonted + English model. The second Richard, the second and fourth Edwards, and the + eighth Harry, were men profuse, gay, boisterous; lovers of women and of + wine, of no outward sanctity or gravity. Charles was a ruler after the + Italian fashion; grave, demure, of a solemn carriage, and a sober diet; as + constant at prayers as a priest, as heedless of oaths as an atheist." + </p> + <p> + Mr Cowley answered somewhat sharply: "I am sorry, Sir, to hear you speak + thus. I had hoped that the vehemence of spirit which was caused by these + violent times had now abated. Yet, sure, Mr Milton, whatever you may think + of the character of King Charles, you will not still justify his murder?" + </p> + <p> + "Sir," said Mr Milton, "I must have been of a hard and strange nature, if + the vehemence which was imputed to me in my younger days had not been + diminished by the afflictions wherewith it hath pleased Almighty God to + chasten my age. I will not now defend all that I may heretofore have + written. But this I say, that I perceive not wherefore a king should be + exempted from all punishment. Is it just that where most is given least + should be required? Or politic that where there is the greatest power to + injure there should be no danger to restrain? But, you will say, there is + no such law. Such a law there is. There is the law of selfpreservation + written by God himself on our hearts. There is the primal compact and bond + of society, not graven on stone, or sealed with wax, nor put down on + parchment, nor set forth in any express form of words by men when of old + they came together; but implied in the very act that they so came + together, pre-supposed in all subsequent law, not to be repealed by any + authority, nor invalidated by being omitted in any code; inasmuch as from + thence are all codes and all authority. + </p> + <p> + "Neither do I well see wherefore you cavaliers, and, indeed, many of us + whom you merrily call Roundheads, distinguish between those who fought + against King Charles, and specially after the second commission given to + Sir Thomas Fairfax, and those who condemned him to death. Sure, if his + person were inviolable, it was as wicked to lift the sword against it at + Naseby as the axe at Whitehall. If his life might justly be taken, why not + in course of trial as well as by right of war? + </p> + <p> + "Thus much in general as touching the right. But, for the execution of + King Charles in particular, I will not now undertake to defend it. Death + is inflicted, not that the culprit may die, but that the state may be + thereby advantaged. And, from all that I know, I think that the death of + King Charles hath more hindered than advanced the liberties of England. + </p> + <p> + "First, he left an heir. He was in captivity. The heir was in freedom. He + was odious to the Scots. The heir was favoured by them. To kill the + captive therefore, whereby the heir, in the apprehension of all royalists, + became forthwith king—what was it, in truth, but to set their + captive free, and to give him besides other great advantages? + </p> + <p> + "Next, it was a deed most odious to the people, and not only to your + party, but to many among ourselves; and, as it is perilous for any + government to outrage the public opinion, so most was it perilous for a + government which had from that opinion alone its birth, its nurture, and + its defence. + </p> + <p> + "Yet doth not this properly belong to our dispute; nor can these faults be + justly charged upon that most renowned Parliament. For, as you know, the + high court of justice was not established until the House had been purged + of such members as were adverse to the army, and brought wholly under the + control of the chief officers." + </p> + <p> + "And who," said Mr Cowley, "levied that army? Who commissioned those + officers? Was not the fate of the Commons as justly deserved as was that + of Diomedes, who was devoured by those horses whom he had himself taught + to feed on the flesh and blood of men? How could they hope that others + would respect laws which they had themselves insulted; that swords which + had been drawn against the prerogatives of the king would be put up at an + ordinance of the Commons? It was believed, of old, that there were some + devils easily raised but never to be laid; insomuch that, if a magician + called them up, he should be forced to find them always some employment; + for, though they would do all his bidding, yet, if he left them but for + one moment without some work of evil to perform, they would turn their + claws against himself. Such a fiend is an army. They who evoke it cannot + dismiss it. They are at once its masters and its slaves. Let them not fail + to find for it task after task of blood and rapine. Let them not leave it + for a moment in repose, lest it tear them in pieces. + </p> + <p> + "Thus was it with that famous assembly. They formed a force which they + could neither govern nor resist. They made it powerful. They made it + fanatical. As if military insolence were not of itself sufficiently + dangerous, they heightened it with spiritual pride,—they encouraged + their soldiers to rave from the tops of tubs against the men of Belial, + till every trooper thought himself a prophet. They taught them to abuse + popery, till every drummer fancied that he was as infallible as a pope. + </p> + <p> + "Then it was that religion changed her nature. She was no longer the + parent of arts and letters, of wholesome knowledge, of innocent pleasures, + of blessed household smiles. In their place came sour faces, whining + voices, the chattering of fools, the yells of madmen. Then men fasted from + meat and drink, who fasted not from bribes and blood. Then men frowned at + stage-plays, who smiled at massacres. Then men preached against painted + faces, who felt no remorse for their own most painted lives. Religion had + been a pole-star to light and to guide. It was now more like to that + ominous star in the book of the Apocalypse, which fell from heaven upon + the fountains and rivers and changed them into wormwood; for even so did + it descend from its high and celestial dwelling-place to plague this + earth, and to turn into bitterness all that was sweet, and into poison all + that was nourishing. + </p> + <p> + "Therefore it was not strange that such things should follow. They who had + closed the barriers of London against the king could not defend them + against their own creatures. They who had so stoutly cried for privilege, + when that prince, most unadvisedly no doubt, came among them to demand + their members, durst not wag their fingers when Oliver filled their hall + with soldiers, gave their mace to a corporal, put their keys in his + pocket, and drove them forth with base terms, borrowed half from the + conventicle and half from the ale-house. Then were we, like the trees of + the forest in holy writ, given over to the rule of the bramble; then from + the basest of the shrubs came forth the fire which devoured the cedars of + Lebanon. We bowed down before a man of mean birth, of ungraceful + demeanour, of stammering and most vulgar utterance, of scandalous and + notorious hypocrisy. Our laws were made and unmade at his pleasure; the + constitution of our Parliaments changed by his writ and proclamation; our + persons imprisoned; our property plundered; our lands and houses overrun + with soldiers; and the great charter itself was but argument for a + scurrilous jest; and for all this we may thank that Parliament; for never, + unless they had so violently shaken the vessel, could such foul dregs have + risen to the top." + </p> + <p> + Then answered Mr Milton: "What you have now said comprehends so great a + number of subjects, that it would require, not an evening's sail on the + Thames, but rather a voyage to the Indies, accurately to treat of all: + yet, in as few words as I may, I will explain my sense of these matters. + </p> + <p> + "First, as to the army. An army, as you have well set forth, is always a + weapon dangerous to those who use it; yet he who falls among thieves + spares not to fire his musquetoon, because he may be slain if it burst in + his hand. Nor must states refrain from defending themselves, lest their + defenders should at last turn against them. Nevertheless, against this + danger statesmen should carefully provide; and, that they may do so, they + should take especial care that neither the officers nor the soldiers do + forget that they are also citizens. I do believe that the English army + would have continued to obey the parliament with all duty, but for one + act, which, as it was in intention, in seeming, and in immediate effect, + worthy to be compared with the most famous in history, so was it, in its + final consequence, most injurious. I speak of that ordinance called the + "self-denying", and of the new model of the army. By those measures the + Commons gave up the command of their forces into the hands of men who were + not of themselves. Hence, doubtless, derived no small honour to that noble + assembly, which sacrificed to the hope of public good the assurance of + private advantage. And, as to the conduct of the war, the scheme + prospered. Witness the battle of Naseby, and the memorable exploits of + Fairfax in the west. But thereby the Parliament lost that hold on the + soldiers and that power to control them, which they retained while every + regiment was commanded by their own members. Politicians there be, who + would wholly divide the legislative from the executive power. In the + golden age this may have succeeded; in the millennium it may succeed + again. But, where great armies and great taxes are required, there the + executive government must always hold a great authority, which authority, + that it may not oppress and destroy the legislature, must be in some + manner blended with it. The leaders of foreign mercenaries have always + been most dangerous to a country. The officers of native armies, deprived + of the civil privileges of other men, are as much to be feared. This was + the great error of that Parliament: and, though an error it were, it was + an error generous, virtuous, and more to be deplored than censured. + </p> + <p> + "Hence came the power of the army and its leaders, and especially of that + most famous leader, whom both in our conversation to-day, and in that + discourse whereon I before touched, you have, in my poor opinion, far too + roughly handled. Wherefore you speak contemptibly of his parts I know not; + but I suspect that you are not free from the error common to studious and + speculative men. Because Oliver was an ungraceful orator, and never said, + either in public or private, anything memorable, you will have it that he + was of a mean capacity. Sure this is unjust. Many men have there been + ignorant of letters, without wit, without eloquence, who yet had the + wisdom to devise, and the courage to perform, that which they lacked + language to explain. Such men often, in troubled times, have worked out + the deliverance of nations and their own greatness, not by logic, not by + rhetoric, but by wariness in success, by calmness in danger, by fierce and + stubborn resolution in all adversity. The hearts of men are their books; + events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence: and such an + one, in my judgment, was his late Highness, who, if none were to treat his + name scornfully now shook not at the sound of it while he lived, would, by + very few, be mentioned otherwise than with reverence. His own deeds shall + avouch him for a great statesman, a great soldier, a true lover of his + country, a merciful and generous conqueror. + </p> + <p> + "For his faults, let us reflect that they who seem to lead are oftentimes + most constrained to follow. They who will mix with men, and especially + they who will govern them, must in many things obey them. They who will + yield to no such conditions may be hermits, but cannot be generals and + statesmen. If a man will walk straight forward without turning to the + right or the left, he must walk in a desert, and not in Cheapside. Thus + was he enforced to do many things which jumped not with his inclination + nor made for his honour; because the army, on which alone he could depend + for power and life, might not otherwise be contented. And I, for mine own + part, marvel less that he sometimes was fain to indulge their violence + than that he could so often restrain it. + </p> + <p> + "In that he dissolved the Parliament, I praise him. It then was so + diminished in numbers, as well by the death as by the exclusion of + members, that it was no longer the same assembly; and, if at that time it + had made itself perpetual, we should have been governed, not by an English + House of Commons, but by a Venetian Council. + </p> + <p> + "If in his following rule he overstepped the laws, I pity rather than + condemn him. He may be compared to that Maeandrius of Samos, of whom + Herodotus saith, in his Thalia, that, wishing to be of all men the most + just, he was not able; for after the death of Polycrates he offered + freedom to the people; and not till certain of them threatened to call him + to a reckoning for what he had formerly done, did he change his purpose, + and make himself a tyrant, lest he should be treated as a criminal. + </p> + <p> + "Such was the case of Oliver. He gave to his country a form of government + so free and admirable that, in near six thousand years, human wisdom hath + never devised any more excellent contrivance for human happiness. To + himself he reserved so little power that it would scarcely have sufficed + for his safety, and it is a marvel that it could suffice for his ambition. + When, after that, he found that the members of his Parliament disputed his + right even to that small authority which he had kept, when he might have + kept all, then indeed I own that he began to govern by the sword those who + would not suffer him to govern by the law. + </p> + <p> + "But, for the rest, what sovereign was ever more princely in pardoning + injuries, in conquering enemies, in extending the dominions and the renown + of his people? What sea, what shore did he not mark with imperishable + memorials of his friendship or his vengeance? The gold of Spain, the steel + of Sweden, the ten thousand sails of Holland, availed nothing against him. + While every foreign state trembled at our arms, we sat secure from all + assault. War, which often so strangely troubles both husbandry and + commerce, never silenced the song of our reapers, or the sound of our + looms. Justice was equally administered; God was freely worshipped. + </p> + <p> + "Now look at that which we have taken in exchange. With the restored king + have come over to us vices of every sort, and most the basest and most + shameful,—lust without love—servitude without loyalty—foulness + of speech—dishonesty of dealing—grinning contempt of all + things good and generous. The throne is surrounded by men whom the former + Charles would have spurned from his footstool. The altar is served by + slaves whose knees are supple to every being but God. Rhymers, whose books + the hangman should burn, pandars, actors, and buffoons, these drink a + health and throw a main with the King; these have stars on their breasts + and gold sticks in their hands; these shut out from his presence the best + and bravest of those who bled for his house. Even so doth God visit those + who know not how to value freedom. He gives them over to the tyranny which + they have desired, Ina pantes epaurontai basileos." + </p> + <p> + "I will not," said Mr Cowley, "dispute with you on this argument. But, if + it be as you say, how can you maintain that England hath been so greatly + advantaged by the rebellion?" + </p> + <p> + "Understand me rightly, Sir," said Mr Milton. "This nation is not given + over to slavery and vice. We tasted indeed the fruits of liberty before + they had well ripened. Their flavour was harsh and bitter; and we turned + from them with loathing to the sweeter poisons of servitude. This is but + for a time. England is sleeping on the lap of Dalilah, traitorously + chained, but not yet shorn of strength. Let the cry be once heard—the + Philistines be upon thee; and at once that sleep will be broken, and those + chains will be as flax in the fire. The great Parliament hath left behind + it in our hearts and minds a hatred of tyrants, a just knowledge of our + rights, a scorn of vain and deluding names; and that the revellers of + Whitehall shall surely find. The sun is darkened; but it is only for a + moment: it is but an eclipse; though all birds of evil omen have begun to + scream, and all ravenous beasts have gone forth to prey, thinking it to be + midnight. Woe to them if they be abroad when the rays again shine forth! + </p> + <p> + "The king hath judged ill. Had he been wise he would have remembered that + he owed his restoration only to confusions which had wearied us out, and + made us eager for repose. He would have known that the folly and perfidy + of a prince would restore to the good old cause many hearts which had been + alienated thence by the turbulence of factions; for, if I know aught of + history, or of the heart of man, he will soon learn that the last champion + of the people was not destroyed when he murdered Vane, nor seduced when he + beguiled Fairfax." + </p> + <p> + Mr Cowley seemed to me not to take much amiss what Mr Milton had said + touching that thankless court, which had indeed but poorly requited his + own good service. He only said, therefore, "Another rebellion! Alas! alas! + Mr Milton! If there be no choice but between despotism and anarchy, I + prefer despotism." + </p> + <p> + "Many men," said Mr Milton, "have floridly and ingeniously compared + anarchy and despotism; but they who so amuse themselves do but look at + separate parts of that which is truly one great whole. Each is the cause + and the effect of the other; the evils of either are the evils of both. + Thus do states move on in the same eternal cycle, which, from the remotest + point, brings them back again to the same sad starting-post: and, till + both those who govern and those who obey shall learn and mark this great + truth, men can expect little through the future, as they have known little + through the past, save vicissitudes of extreme evils, alternately + producing and produced. + </p> + <p> + "When will rulers learn that, where liberty is not, security end order can + never be? We talk of absolute power; but all power hath limits, which, if + not fixed by the moderation of the governors, will be fixed by the force + of the governed. Sovereigns may send their opposers to dungeons; they may + clear out a senate-house with soldiers; they may enlist armies of spies; + they may hang scores of the disaffected in chains at every cross road; but + what power shall stand in that frightful time when rebellion hath become a + less evil than endurance? Who shall dissolve that terrible tribunal, + which, in the hearts of the oppressed, denounces against the oppressor the + doom of its wild justice? Who shall repeal the law of selfdefence? What + arms or discipline shall resist the strength of famine and despair? How + often were the ancient Caesars dragged from their golden palaces, stripped + of their purple robes, mangled, stoned, defiled with filth, pierced with + hooks, hurled into Tiber? How often have the Eastern Sultans perished by + the sabres of their own janissaries, or the bow-strings of their own + mutes! For no power which is not limited by laws can ever be protected by + them. Small, therefore, is the wisdom of those who would fly to servitude + as if it were a refuge from commotion; for anarchy is the sure consequence + of tyranny. That governments may be safe, nations must be free. Their + passions must have an outlet provided, lest they make one. + </p> + <p> + "When I was at Naples, I went with Signor Manso, a gentleman of excellent + parts and breeding, who had been the familiar friend of that famous poet + Torquato Tasso, to see the burning mountain Vesuvius. I wondered how the + peasants could venture to dwell so fearlessly and cheerfully on its sides, + when the lava was flowing from its summit; but Manso smiled, and told me + that when the fire descends freely they retreat before it without haste or + fear. They can tell how fast it will move, and how far; and they know, + moreover, that, though it may work some little damage, it will soon cover + the fields over which it hath passed with rich vineyards and sweet + flowers. But, when the flames are pent up in the mountain, then it is that + they have reason to fear; then it is that the earth sinks and the sea + swells; then cities are swallowed up; and their place knoweth them no + more. So it is in politics: where the people is most closely restrained, + there it gives the greatest shocks to peace and order; therefore would I + say to all kings, let your demagogues lead crowds, lest they lead armies; + let them bluster, lest they massacre; a little turbulence is, as it were, + the rainbow of the state; it shows indeed that there is a passing shower; + but it is a pledge that there shall be no deluge." + </p> + <p> + "This is true," said Mr Cowley; "yet these admonitions are not less + needful to subjects than to sovereigns." + </p> + <p> + "Surely," said Mr Milton; "and, that I may end this long debate with a few + words in which we shall both agree, I hold that, as freedom is the only + safeguard of governments, so are order and moderation generally necessary + to preserve freedom. Even the vainest opinions of men are not to be + outraged by those who propose to themselves the happiness of men for their + end, and who must work with the passions of men for their means. The blind + reverence for things ancient is indeed so foolish that it might make a + wise man laugh, if it were not also sometimes so mischievous that it would + rather make a good man weep. Yet, since it may not be wholly cured it must + be discreetly indulged; and therefore those who would amend evil laws + should consider rather how much it may be safe to spare, than how much it + may be possible to change. Have you not heard that men who have been shut + up for many years in dungeons shrink if they see the light, and fall down + if their irons be struck off? And so, when nations have long been in the + house of bondage, the chains which have crippled them are necessary to + support them, the darkness which hath weakened their sight is necessary to + preserve it. Therefore release them not too rashly, lest they curse their + freedom and pine for their prison. + </p> + <p> + "I think indeed that the renowned Parliament, of which we have talked so + much, did show, until it became subject to the soldiers, a singular and + admirable moderation, in such times scarcely to be hoped, and most worthy + to be an example to all that shall come after. But on this argument I have + said enough: and I will therefore only pray to Almighty God that those who + shall, in future times stand forth in defence of our liberties, as well + civil as religious, may adorn the good cause by mercy, prudence, and + soberness, to the glory of his name and the happiness and honour of the + English people." + </p> + <p> + And so ended that discourse; and not long after we were set on shore again + at the Temple Gardens, and there parted company: and the same evening I + took notes of what had been said, which I have here more fully set down, + from regard both to the fame of the men, and the importance of the + subject-matter. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON THE ATHENIAN ORATORS. (August 1824.) + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To the famous orators repair, + Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence + Wielded at will that fierce democratie, + Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece + To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." —Milton. +</pre> + <p> + The celebrity of the great classical writers is confined within no limits, + except those which separate civilised from savage man. Their works are the + common property of every polished nation. They have furnished subjects for + the painter, and models for the poet. In the minds of the educated classes + throughout Europe, their names are indissolubly associated with the + endearing recollections of childhood,—the old school-room,—the + dog-eared grammar,—the first prize,—the tears so often shed + and so quickly dried. So great is the veneration with which they are + regarded, that even the editors and commentators who perform the lowest + menial offices to their memory, are considered, like the equerries and + chamberlains of sovereign princes, as entitled to a high rank in the table + of literary precedence. It is, therefore, somewhat singular that their + productions should so rarely have been examined on just and philosophical + principles of criticism. + </p> + <p> + The ancient writers themselves afford us but little assistance. When they + particularise, they are commonly trivial: when they would generalise, they + become indistinct. An exception must, indeed, be made in favour of + Aristotle. Both in analysis and in combination, that great man was without + a rival. No philosopher has ever possessed, in an equal degree, the talent + either of separating established systems into their primary elements, or + of connecting detached phenomena in harmonious systems. He was the great + fashioner of the intellectual chaos; he changed its darkness into light, + and its discord into order. He brought to literary researches the same + vigour and amplitude of mind to which both physical and metaphysical + science are so greatly indebted. His fundamental principles of criticism + are excellent. To cite only a single instance:—the doctrine which he + established, that poetry is an imitative art, when justly understood, is + to the critic what the compass is to the navigator. With it he may venture + upon the most extensive excursions. Without it he must creep cautiously + along the coast, or lose himself in a trackless expanse, and trust, at + best, to the guidance of an occasional star. It is a discovery which + changes a caprice into a science. + </p> + <p> + The general propositions of Aristotle are valuable. But the merit of the + superstructure bears no proportion to that of the foundation. This is + partly to be ascribed to the character of the philosopher, who, though + qualified to do all that could be done by the resolving and combining + powers of the understanding, seems not to have possessed much of + sensibility or imagination. Partly, also, it may be attributed to the + deficiency of materials. The great works of genius which then existed were + not either sufficiently numerous or sufficiently varied to enable any man + to form a perfect code of literature. To require that a critic should + conceive classes of composition which had never existed, and then + investigate their principles, would be as unreasonable as the demand of + Nebuchadnezzar, who expected his magicians first to tell him his dream and + then to interpret it. + </p> + <p> + With all his deficiencies, Aristotle was the most enlightened and profound + critic of antiquity. Dionysius was far from possessing the same exquisite + subtilty, or the same vast comprehension. But he had access to a much + greater number of specimens; and he had devoted himself, as it appears, + more exclusively to the study of elegant literature. His peculiar + judgments are of more value than his general principles. He is only the + historian of literature. Aristotle is its philosopher. + </p> + <p> + Quintilian applied to general literature the same principles by which he + had been accustomed to judge of the declamations of his pupils. He looks + for nothing but rhetoric, and rhetoric not of the highest order. He speaks + coldly of the incomparable works of Aeschylus. He admires, beyond + expression, those inexhaustible mines of common-places, the plays of + Euripides. He bestows a few vague words on the poetical character of + Homer. He then proceeds to consider him merely as an orator. An orator + Homer doubtless was, and a great orator. But surely nothing is more + remarkable, in his admirable works, than the art with which his oratorical + powers are made subservient to the purposes of poetry. Nor can I think + Quintilian a great critic in his own province. Just as are many of his + remarks, beautiful as are many of his illustrations, we can perpetually + detect in his thoughts that flavour which the soil of despotism generally + communicates to all the fruits of genius. Eloquence was, in his time, + little more than a condiment which served to stimulate in a despot the + jaded appetite for panegyric, an amusement for the travelled nobles and + the blue-stocking matrons of Rome. It is, therefore, with him, rather a + sport than a war; it is a contest of foils, not of swords. He appears to + think more of the grace of the attitude than of the direction and vigour + of the thrust. It must be acknowledged, in justice to Quintilian, that + this is an error to which Cicero has too often given the sanction, both of + his precept and of his example. + </p> + <p> + Longinus seems to have had great sensibility, but little discrimination. + He gives us eloquent sentences, but no principles. It was happily said + that Montesquieu ought to have changed the name of his book from "L'Esprit + des Lois" to "L'Esprit sur les Lois". In the same manner the philosopher + of Palmyra ought to have entitled his famous work, not "Longinus on the + Sublime," but "The Sublimities of Longinus." The origin of the sublime is + one of the most curious and interesting subjects of inquiry that can + occupy the attention of a critic. In our own country it has been + discussed, with great ability, and, I think, with very little success, by + Burke and Dugald Stuart. Longinus dispenses himself from all + investigations of this nature, by telling his friend Terentianus that he + already knows everything that can be said upon the question. It is to be + regretted that Terentianus did not impart some of his knowledge to his + instructor: for from Longinus we learn only that sublimity means height—or + elevation. (Akrotes kai exoche tis logon esti ta uoe.) This name, so + commodiously vague, is applied indifferently to the noble prayer of Ajax + in the Iliad, and to a passage of Plato about the human body, as full of + conceits as an ode of Cowley. Having no fixed standard, Longinus is right + only by accident. He is rather a fancier than a critic. + </p> + <p> + Modern writers have been prevented by many causes from supplying the + deficiencies of their classical predecessors. At the time of the revival + of literature, no man could, without great and painful labour, acquire an + accurate and elegant knowledge of the ancient languages. And, + unfortunately, those grammatical and philological studies, without which + it was impossible to understand the great works of Athenian and Roman + genius, have a tendency to contract the views and deaden the sensibility + of those who follow them with extreme assiduity. A powerful mind, which + has been long employed in such studies, may be compared to the gigantic + spirit in the Arabian tale, who was persuaded to contract himself to small + dimensions in order to enter within the enchanted vessel, and, when his + prison had been closed upon him, found himself unable to escape from the + narrow boundaries to the measure of which he had reduced his stature. When + the means have long been the objects of application, they are naturally + substituted for the end. It was said, by Eugene of Savoy, that the + greatest generals have commonly been those who have been at once raised to + command, and introduced to the great operations of war, without being + employed in the petty calculations and manoeuvres which employ the time of + an inferior officer. In literature the principle is equally sound. The + great tactics of criticism will, in general, be best understood by those + who have not had much practice in drilling syllables and particles. + </p> + <p> + I remember to have observed among the French Anas a ludicrous instance of + this. A scholar, doubtless of great learning, recommends the study of some + long Latin treatise, of which I now forget the name, on the religion, + manners, government, and language of the early Greeks. "For there," says + he, "you will learn everything of importance that is contained in the + Iliad and Odyssey, without the trouble of reading two such tedious books." + Alas! it had not occurred to the poor gentleman that all the knowledge to + which he attached so much value was useful only as it illustrated the + great poems which he despised, and would be as worthless for any other + purpose as the mythology of Caffraria, or the vocabulary of Otaheite. + </p> + <p> + Of those scholars who have disdained to confine themselves to verbal + criticism few have been successful. The ancient languages have, generally, + a magical influence on their faculties. They were "fools called into a + circle by Greek invocations." The Iliad and Aeneid were to them not books + but curiosities, or rather reliques. They no more admired those works for + their merits than a good Catholic venerates the house of the Virgin at + Loretto for its architecture. Whatever was classical was good. Homer was a + great poet, and so was Callimachus. The epistles of Cicero were fine, and + so were those of Phalaris. Even with respect to questions of evidence they + fell into the same error. The authority of all narrations, written in + Greek or Latin, was the same with them. It never crossed their minds that + the lapse of five hundred years, or the distance of five hundred leagues, + could affect the accuracy of a narration;—that Livy could be a less + veracious historian than Polybius;—or that Plutarch could know less + about the friends of Xenophon than Xenophon himself. Deceived by the + distance of time, they seem to consider all the Classics as + contemporaries; just as I have known people in England, deceived by the + distance of place, take it for granted that all persons who live in India + are neighbours, and ask an inhabitant of Bombay about the health of an + acquaintance at Calcutta. It is to be hoped that no barbarian deluge will + ever again pass over Europe. But should such a calamity happen, it seems + not improbable that some future Rollin or Gillies will compile a history + of England from Miss Porter's Scottish Chiefs, Miss Lee's Recess, and Sir + Nathaniel Wraxall's Memoirs. + </p> + <p> + It is surely time that ancient literature should be examined in a + different manner, without pedantical prepossessions, but with a just + allowance, at the same time, for the difference of circumstances and + manners. I am far from pretending to the knowledge or ability which such a + task would require. All that I mean to offer is a collection of desultory + remarks upon a most interesting portion of Greek literature. + </p> + <p> + It may be doubted whether any compositions which have ever been produced + in the world are equally perfect in their kind with the great Athenian + orations. Genius is subject to the same laws which regulate the production + of cotton and molasses. The supply adjusts itself to the demand. The + quantity may be diminished by restrictions, and multiplied by bounties. + The singular excellence to which eloquence attained at Athens is to be + mainly attributed to the influence which it exerted there. In turbulent + times, under a constitution purely democratic, among a people educated + exactly to that point at which men are most susceptible of strong and + sudden impressions, acute, but not sound reasoners, warm in their + feelings, unfixed in their principles, and passionate admirers of fine + composition, oratory received such encouragement as it has never since + obtained. + </p> + <p> + The taste and knowledge of the Athenian people was a favourite object of + the contemptuous derision of Samuel Johnson; a man who knew nothing of + Greek literature beyond the common school-books, and who seems to have + brought to what he had read scarcely more than the discernment of a common + school-boy. He used to assert, with that arrogant absurdity which, in + spite of his great abilities and virtues, renders him, perhaps the most + ridiculous character in literary history, that Demosthenes spoke to a + people of brutes;—to a barbarous people;—that there could have + been no civilisation before the invention of printing. Johnson was a keen + but a very narrow-minded observer of mankind. He perpetually confounded + their general nature with their particular circumstances. He knew London + intimately. The sagacity of his remarks on its society is perfectly + astonishing. But Fleet Street was the world to him. He saw that Londoners + who did not read were profoundly ignorant; and he inferred that a Greek, + who had few or no books, must have been as uninformed as one of Mr + Thrale's draymen. + </p> + <p> + There seems to be, on the contrary, every reason to believe, that, in + general intelligence, the Athenian populace far surpassed the lower orders + of any community that has ever existed. It must be considered, that to be + a citizen was to be a legislator,—a soldier,—a judge,—one + upon whose voice might depend the fate of the wealthiest tributary state, + of the most eminent public man. The lowest offices, both of agriculture + and of trade, were, in common, performed by slaves. The commonwealth + supplied its meanest members with the support of life, the opportunity of + leisure, and the means of amusement. Books were indeed few: but they were + excellent; and they were accurately known. It is not by turning over + libraries, but by repeatedly perusing and intently contemplating a few + great models, that the mind is best disciplined. A man of letters must now + read much that he soon forgets, and much from which he learns nothing + worthy to be remembered. The best works employ, in general, but a small + portion of his time. Demosthenes is said to have transcribed six times the + history of Thucydides. If he had been a young politician of the present + age, he might in the same space of time have skimmed innumerable + newspapers and pamphlets. I do not condemn that desultory mode of study + which the state of things, in our day, renders a matter of necessity. But + I may be allowed to doubt whether the changes on which the admirers of + modern institutions delight to dwell have improved our condition so much + in reality as in appearance. Rumford, it is said, proposed to the Elector + of Bavaria a scheme for feeding his soldiers at a much cheaper rate than + formerly. His plan was simply to compel them to masticate their food + thoroughly. A small quantity, thus eaten, would, according to that famous + projector, afford more sustenance than a large meal hastily devoured. I do + not know how Rumford's proposition was received; but to the mind, I + believe, it will be found more nutritious to digest a page than to devour + a volume. + </p> + <p> + Books, however, were the least part of the education of an Athenian + citizen. Let us, for a moment, transport ourselves in thought, to that + glorious city. Let us imagine that we are entering its gates, in the time + of its power and glory. A crowd is assembled round a portico. All are + gazing with delight at the entablature; for Phidias is putting up the + frieze. We turn into another street; a rhapsodist is reciting there: men, + women, children are thronging round him: the tears are running down their + cheeks: their eyes are fixed: their very breath is still; for he is + telling how Priam fell at the feet of Achilles, and kissed those hands,—the + terrible—the murderous,—which had slain so many of his sons. (—kai + kuse cheiras, deinas, anorophonous, ai oi poleas ktanon uias.) + </p> + <p> + We enter the public place; there is a ring of youths, all leaning forward, + with sparkling eyes, and gestures of expectation. Socrates is pitted + against the famous atheist, from Ionia, and has just brought him to a + contradiction in terms. But we are interrupted. The herald is crying—"Room + for the Prytanes." The general assembly is to meet. The people are + swarming in on every side. Proclamation is made—"Who wishes to + speak?" There is a shout, and a clapping of hands: Pericles is mounting + the stand. Then for a play of Sophocles; and away to sup with Aspasia. I + know of no modern university which has so excellent a system of education. + </p> + <p> + Knowledge thus acquired and opinions thus formed were, indeed, likely to + be, in some respects, defective. Propositions which are advanced in + discourse generally result from a partial view of the question, and cannot + be kept under examination long enough to be corrected. Men of great + conversational powers almost universally practise a sort of lively + sophistry and exaggeration, which deceives, for the moment, both + themselves and their auditors. Thus we see doctrines, which cannot bear a + close inspection, triumph perpetually in drawing-rooms, in debating + societies, and even in legislative or judicial assemblies. To the + conversational education of the Athenians I am inclined to attribute the + great looseness of reasoning which is remarkable in most of their + scientific writings. Even the most illogical of modern writers would stand + perfectly aghast at the puerile fallacies which seem to have deluded some + of the greatest men of antiquity. Sir Thomas Lethbridge would stare at the + political economy of Xenophon; and the author of "Soirees de Petersbourg" + would be ashamed of some of the metaphysical arguments of Plato. But the + very circumstances which retarded the growth of science were peculiarly + favourable to the cultivation of eloquence. From the early habit of taking + a share in animated discussion the intelligent student would derive that + readiness of resource, that copiousness of language, and that knowledge of + the temper and understanding of an audience, which are far more valuable + to an orator than the greatest logical powers. + </p> + <p> + Horace has prettily compared poems to those paintings of which the effect + varies as the spectator changes his stand. The same remark applies with at + least equal justice to speeches. They must be read with the temper of + those to whom they were addressed, or they must necessarily appear to + offend against the laws of taste and reason; as the finest picture, seen + in a light different from that for which it was designed, will appear fit + only for a sign. This is perpetually forgotten by those who criticise + oratory. Because they are reading at leisure, pausing at every line, + reconsidering every argument, they forget that the hearers were hurried + from point to point too rapidly to detect the fallacies through which they + were conducted; that they had no time to disentangle sophisms, or to + notice slight inaccuracies of expression; that elaborate excellence, + either of reasoning or of language, would have been absolutely thrown + away. To recur to the analogy of the sister art, these connoisseurs + examine a panorama through a microscope, and quarrel with a scene-painter + because he does not give to his work the exquisite finish of Gerard Dow. + </p> + <p> + Oratory is to be estimated on principles different from those which are + applied to other productions. Truth is the object of philosophy and + history. Truth is the object even of those works which are peculiarly + called works of fiction, but which, in fact, bear the same relation to + history which algebra bears to arithmetic. The merit of poetry, in its + wildest forms, still consists in its truth,—truth conveyed to the + understanding, not directly by the words, but circuitously by means of + imaginative associations, which serve as its conductors. The object of + oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion. The admiration of the + multitude does not make Moore a greater poet than Coleridge, or Beattie a + greater philosopher than Berkeley. But the criterion of eloquence is + different. A speaker who exhausts the whole philosophy of a question, who + displays every grace of style, yet produces no effect on his audience, may + be a great essayist, a great statesman, a great master of composition; but + he is not an orator. If he miss the mark, it makes no difference whether + he have taken aim too high or too low. + </p> + <p> + The effect of the great freedom of the press in England has been, in a + great measure, to destroy this distinction, and to leave among us little + of what I call Oratory Proper. Our legislators, our candidates, on great + occasions even our advocates, address themselves less to the audience than + to the reporters. They think less of the few hearers than of the + innumerable readers. At Athens the case was different; there the only + object of the speaker was immediate conviction and persuasion. He, + therefore, who would justly appreciate the merit of the Grecian orators + should place himself, as nearly as possible, in the situation of their + auditors: he should divest himself of his modern feelings and + acquirements, and make the prejudices and interests of the Athenian + citizen his own. He who studies their works in this spirit will find that + many of those things which, to an English reader, appear to be blemishes,—the + frequent violation of those excellent rules of evidence by which our + courts of law are regulated,—the introduction of extraneous matter,—the + reference to considerations of political expediency in judicial + investigations,—the assertions, without proof,—the passionate + entreaties,—the furious invectives,—are really proofs of the + prudence and address of the speakers. He must not dwell maliciously on + arguments or phrases, but acquiesce in his first impressions. It requires + repeated perusal and reflection to decide rightly on any other portion of + literature. But with respect to works of which the merit depends on their + instantaneous effect the most hasty judgment is likely to be best. + </p> + <p> + The history of eloquence at Athens is remarkable. From a very early period + great speakers had flourished there. Pisistratus and Themistocles are said + to have owed much of their influence to their talents for debate. We + learn, with more certainty, that Pericles was distinguished by + extraordinary oratorical powers. The substance of some of his speeches is + transmitted to us by Thucydides; and that excellent writer has doubtless + faithfully reported the general line of his arguments. But the manner, + which in oratory is of at least as much consequence as the matter, was of + no importance to his narration. It is evident that he has not attempted to + preserve it. Throughout his work, every speech on every subject, whatever + may have been the character of the dialect of the speaker, is in exactly + the same form. The grave king of Sparta, the furious demagogue of Athens, + the general encouraging his army, the captive supplicating for his life, + all are represented as speakers in one unvaried style,—a style + moreover wholly unfit for oratorical purposes. His mode of reasoning is + singularly elliptical,—in reality most consecutive,—yet in + appearance often incoherent. His meaning, in itself sufficiently + perplexing, is compressed into the fewest possible words. His great + fondness for antithetical expression has not a little conduced to this + effect. Every one must have observed how much more the sense is condensed + in the verses of Pope and his imitators, who never ventured to continue + the same clause from couplet to couplet, than in those of poets who allow + themselves that license. Every artificial division, which is strongly + marked, and which frequently recurs, has the same tendency. The natural + and perspicuous expression which spontaneously rises to the mind will + often refuse to accommodate itself to such a form. It is necessary either + to expand it into weakness, or to compress it into almost impenetrable + density. The latter is generally the choice of an able man, and was + assuredly the choice of Thucydides. + </p> + <p> + It is scarcely necessary to say that such speeches could never have been + delivered. They are perhaps among the most difficult passages in the Greek + language, and would probably have been scarcely more intelligible to an + Athenian auditor than to a modern reader. Their obscurity was acknowledged + by Cicero, who was as intimate with the literature and language of Greece + as the most accomplished of its natives, and who seems to have held a + respectable rank among the Greek authors. Their difficulty to a modern + reader lies, not in the words, but in the reasoning. A dictionary is of + far less use in studying them than a clear head and a close attention to + the context. They are valuable to the scholar as displaying, beyond almost + any other compositions, the powers of the finest of languages: they are + valuable to the philosopher as illustrating the morals and manners of a + most interesting age: they abound in just thought and energetic + expression. But they do not enable us to form any accurate opinion on the + merits of the early Greek orators. + </p> + <p> + Though it cannot be doubted that, before the Persian wars, Athens had + produced eminent speakers, yet the period during which eloquence most + flourished among her citizens was by no means that of her greatest power + and glory. It commenced at the close of the Peloponnesian war. In fact, + the steps by which Athenian oratory approached to its finished excellence + seem to have been almost contemporaneous with those by which the Athenian + character and the Athenian empire sunk to degradation. At the time when + the little commonwealth achieved those victories which twenty-five + eventful centuries have left unequalled, eloquence was in its infancy. The + deliverers of Greece became its plunderers and oppressors. Unmeasured + exaction, atrocious vengeance, the madness of the multitude, the tyranny + of the great, filled the Cyclades with tears, and blood, and mourning. The + sword unpeopled whole islands in a day. The plough passed over the ruins + of famous cities. The imperial republic sent forth her children by + thousands to pine in the quarries of Syracuse, or to feed the vultures of + Aegospotami. She was at length reduced by famine and slaughter to humble + herself before her enemies, and to purchase existence by the sacrifice of + her empire and her laws. During these disastrous and gloomy years, oratory + was advancing towards its highest excellence. And it was when the moral, + the political, and the military character of the people was most utterly + degraded, it was when the viceroy of a Macedonian sovereign gave law to + Greece, that the courts of Athens witnessed the most splendid contest of + eloquence that the world has ever known. + </p> + <p> + The causes of this phenomenon it is not, I think, difficult to assign. The + division of labour operates on the productions of the orator as it does on + those of the mechanic. It was remarked by the ancients that the + Pentathlete, who divided his attention between several exercises, though + he could not vie with a boxer in the use of the cestus, or with one who + had confined his attention to running in the contest of the stadium, yet + enjoyed far greater general vigour and health than either. It is the same + with the mind. The superiority in technical skill is often more than + compensated by the inferiority in general intelligence. And this is + peculiarly the case in politics. States have always been best governed by + men who have taken a wide view of public affairs, and who have rather a + general acquaintance with many sciences than a perfect mastery of one. The + union of the political and military departments in Greece contributed not + a little to the splendour of its early history. After their separation + more skilful generals and greater speakers appeared; but the breed of + statesmen dwindled and became almost extinct. Themistocles or Pericles + would have been no match for Demosthenes in the assembly, or for + Iphicrates in the field. But surely they were incomparably better fitted + than either for the supreme direction of affairs. + </p> + <p> + There is indeed a remarkable coincidence between the progress of the art + of war, and that of the art of oratory, among the Greeks. They both + advanced to perfection by contemporaneous steps, and from similar causes. + The early speakers, like the early warriors of Greece, were merely a + militia. It was found that in both employments practice and discipline + gave superiority. (It has often occurred to me, that to the circumstances + mentioned in the text is to be referred one of the most remarkable events + in Grecian history; I mean the silent but rapid downfall of the + Lacedaemonian power. Soon after the termination of the Peloponnesian war, + the strength of Lacedaemon began to decline. Its military discipline, its + social institutions, were the same. Agesilaus, during whose reign the + change took place, was the ablest of its kings. Yet the Spartan armies + were frequently defeated in pitched battles,—an occurrence + considered impossible in the earlier ages of Greece. They are allowed to + have fought most bravely; yet they were no longer attended by the success + to which they had formerly been accustomed. No solution of these + circumstances is offered, as far as I know, by any ancient author. The + real cause, I conceive, was this. The Lacedaemonians, alone among the + Greeks, formed a permanent standing army. While the citizens of other + commonwealths were engaged in agriculture and trade, they had no + employment whatever but the study of military discipline. Hence, during + the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, they had that advantage over their + neighbours which regular troops always possess over militia. This + advantage they lost, when other states began, at a later period, to employ + mercenary forces, who were probably as superior to them in the art of war + as they had hitherto been to their antagonists.) Each pursuit therefore + became first an art, and then a trade. In proportion as the professors of + each became more expert in their particular craft, they became less + respectable in their general character. Their skill had been obtained at + too great expense to be employed only from disinterested views. Thus, the + soldiers forgot that they were citizens, and the orators that they were + statesmen. I know not to what Demosthenes and his famous contemporaries + can be so justly compared as to those mercenary troops who, in their time, + overran Greece; or those who, from similar causes, were some centuries ago + the scourge of the Italian republics,—perfectly acquainted with + every part of their profession, irresistible in the field, powerful to + defend or to destroy, but defending without love, and destroying without + hatred. We may despise the characters of these political Condottieri; but + is impossible to examine the system of their tactics without being amazed + at its perfection. + </p> + <p> + I had intended to proceed to this examination, and to consider separately + the remains of Lysias, of Aeschines, of Demosthenes, and of Isocrates, + who, though strictly speaking he was rather a pamphleteer than an orator, + deserves, on many accounts, a place in such a disquisition. The length of + my prolegomena and digressions compels me to postpone this part of the + subject to another occasion. A Magazine is certainly a delightful + invention for a very idle or a very busy man. He is not compelled to + complete his plan or to adhere to his subject. He may ramble as far as he + is inclined, and stop as soon as he is tired. No one takes the trouble to + recollect his contradictory opinions or his unredeemed pledges. He may be + as superficial, as inconsistent, and as careless as he chooses. Magazines + resemble those little angels, who, according to the pretty Rabbinical + tradition, are generated every morning by the brook which rolls over the + flowers of Paradise,—whose life is a song,—who warble till + sunset, and then sink back without regret into nothingness. Such spirits + have nothing to do with the detecting spear of Ithuriel or the victorious + sword of Michael. It is enough for them to please and be forgotten. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + A PROPHETIC ACCOUNT OF A GRAND NATIONAL EPIC POEM, TO BE ENTITLED "THE + </h2> + <p> + WELLINGTONIAD," AND TO BE PUBLISHED A.D. 2824. (November 1824.) + </p> + <p> + How I became a prophet it is not very important to the reader to know. + Nevertheless I feel all the anxiety which, under similar circumstances, + troubled the sensitive mind of Sidrophel; and, like him, am eager to + vindicate myself from the suspicion of having practised forbidden arts, or + held intercourse with beings of another world. I solemnly declare, + therefore, that I never saw a ghost, like Lord Lyttleton; consulted a + gipsy, like Josephine; or heard my name pronounced by an absent person, + like Dr Johnson. Though it is now almost as usual for gentlemen to appear + at the moment of their death to their friends as to call on them during + their life, none of my acquaintance have been so polite as to pay me that + customary attention. I have derived my knowledge neither from the dead nor + from the living; neither from the lines of a hand, nor from the grounds of + a tea-cup; neither from the stars of the firmament, nor from the fiends of + the abyss. I have never, like the Wesley family, heard "that mighty + leading angel," who "drew after him the third part of heaven's sons," + scratching in my cupboard. I have never been enticed to sign any of those + delusive bonds which have been the ruin of so many poor creatures; and, + having always been an indifferent horse man, I have been careful not to + venture myself on a broomstick. + </p> + <p> + My insight into futurity, like that of George Fox the quaker, and that of + our great and philosophic poet, Lord Byron, is derived from simple + presentiment. This is a far less artificial process than those which are + employed by some others. Yet my predictions will, I believe, be found more + correct than theirs, or, at all events, as Sir Benjamin Back bite says in + the play, "more circumstantial." + </p> + <p> + I prophesy then, that, in the year 2824, according to our present + reckoning, a grand national Epic Poem, worthy to be compared with the + Iliad, the Aeneid, or the Jerusalem, will be published in London. + </p> + <p> + Men naturally take an interest in the adventures of every eminent writer. + I will, therefore, gratify the laudable curiosity, which, on this + occasion, will doubtless be universal, by pre fixing to my account of the + poem a concise memoir of the poet. + </p> + <p> + Richard Quongti will be born at Westminster on the 1st of July, 2786. He + will be the younger son of the younger branch of one of the most + respectable families in England. He will be linearly descended from + Quongti, the famous Chinese liberal, who, after the failure of the heroic + attempt of his party to obtain a constitution from the Emperor Fim Fam, + will take refuge in England, in the twenty-third century. Here his + descendants will obtain considerable note; and one branch of the family + will be raised to the peerage. + </p> + <p> + Richard, however, though destined to exalt his family to distinction far + nobler than any which wealth or titles can bestow, will be born to a very + scanty fortune. He will display in his early youth such striking talents + as will attract the notice of Viscount Quongti, his third cousin, then + secretary of state for the Steam Department. At the expense of this + eminent nobleman, he will be sent to prosecute his studies at the + university of Tombuctoo. To that illustrious seat of the muses all the + ingenuous youth of every country will then be attracted by the high + scientific character of Professor Quashaboo, and the eminent literary + attainments of Professor Kissey Kickey. In spite of this formidable + competition, however, Quongti will acquire the highest honours in every + department of knowledge, and will obtain the esteem of his associates by + his amiable and unaffected manners. The guardians of the young Duke of + Carrington, premier peer of England, and the last remaining scion of the + ancient and illustrious house of Smith, will be desirous to secure so able + an instructor for their ward. With the Duke, Quongti will perform the + grand tour, and visit the polished courts of Sydney and Capetown. After + prevailing on his pupil, with great difficulty, to subdue a violent and + imprudent passion which he had conceived for a Hottentot lady, of great + beauty and accomplishments indeed, but of dubious character, he will + travel with him to the United States of America. But that tremendous war + which will be fatal to American liberty will, at that time, be raging + through the whole federation. At New York the travellers will hear of the + final defeat and death of the illustrious champion of freedom, Jonathon + Higginbottom, and of the elevation of Ebenezer Hogsflesh to the perpetual + Presidency. They will not choose to proceed in a journey which would + expose them to the insults of that brutal soldiery, whose cruelty and + rapacity will have devastated Mexico and Colombia, and now, at length, + enslaved their own country. + </p> + <p> + On their return to England, A.D. 2810, the death of the Duke will compel + his preceptor to seek for a subsistence by literary labours. His fame will + be raised by many small productions of considerable merit; and he will at + last obtain a permanent place in the highest class of writers by his great + epic poem. + </p> + <p> + The celebrated work will become, with unexampled rapidity, a popular + favourite. The sale will be so beneficial to the author that, instead of + going about the dirty streets on his velocipede, he will be enabled to set + up his balloon. + </p> + <p> + The character of this noble poem will be so finely and justly given in the + Tombuctoo Review for April 2825, that I cannot refrain from translating + the passage. The author will be our poet's old preceptor, Professor Kissey + Kickey. + </p> + <p> + "In pathos, in splendour of language, in sweetness of versification, Mr + Quongti has long been considered as unrivalled. In his exquisite poem on + the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus all these qualities are displayed in their + greatest perfection. How exquisitely does that work arrest and embody the + undefined and vague shadows which flit over an imaginative mind. The cold + worldling may not comprehend it; but it will find a response in the bosom + of every youthful poet, of every enthusiastic lover, who has seen an + Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus by moonlight. But we were yet to learn that he + possessed the comprehension, the judgment, and the fertility of mind + indispensable to the epic poet. + </p> + <p> + "It is difficult to conceive a plot more perfect than that of the + 'Wellingtoniad.' It is most faithful to the manners of the age to which it + relates. It preserves exactly all the historical circumstances, and + interweaves them most artfully with all the speciosa miracula of + supernatural agency." + </p> + <p> + Thus far the learned Professor of Humanity in the university of Tombuctoo. + I fear that the critics of our time will form an opinion diametrically + opposite as to these every points. Some will, I fear, be disgusted by the + machinery, which is derived from the mythology of ancient Greece. I can + only say that, in the twenty-ninth century, that machinery will be + universally in use among poets; and that Quongti will use it, partly in + conformity with the general practice, and partly from a veneration, + perhaps excessive, for the great remains of classical antiquity, which + will then, as now, be assiduously read by every man of education; though + Tom Moore's songs will be forgotten, and only three copies of Lord Byron's + works will exist: one in the possession of King George the Nineteenth, one + in the Duke of Carrington's collection, and one in the library of the + British Museum. Finally, should any good people be concerned to hear that + Pagan fictions will so long retain their influence over literature, let + them reflect that, as the Bishop of St David's says, in his "Proofs of the + Inspiration of the Sibylline Verses," read at the last meeting of the + Royal Society of Literature, "at all events, a Pagan is not a Papist." + </p> + <p> + Some readers of the present day may think that Quongti is by no means + entitled to the compliments which his Negro critic pays him on his + adherence to the historical circumstances of the time in which he has + chosen his subject; that, where he introduces any trait of our manners, it + is in the wrong place, and that he confounds the customs of our age with + those of much more remote periods. I can only say that the charge is + infinitely more applicable to Homer, Virgil, and Tasso. If, therefore, the + reader should detect, in the following abstract of the plot, any little + deviation from strict historical accuracy, let him reflect, for a moment, + whether Agamemnon would not have found as much to censure in the Iliad,—Dido + in the Aeneid,—or Godfrey in the Jerusalem. Let him not suffer his + opinions to depend on circumstances which cannot possibly affect the truth + or falsehood of the representation. If it be impossible for a single man + to kill hundreds in battle, the impossibility is not diminished by + distance of time. If it be as certain that Rinaldo never disenchanted a + forest in Palestine as it is that the Duke of Wellington never + disenchanted the forest of Soignies, can we, as rational men, tolerate the + one story and ridicule the other? Of this, at least, I am certain, that + whatever excuse we have for admiring the plots of those famous poems our + children will have for extolling that of the "Wellingtoniad." + </p> + <p> + I shall proceed to give a sketch of the narrative. The subject is "The + Reign of the Hundred Days." + </p> + <p> + BOOK I. + </p> + <p> + The poem commences, in form, with a solemn proposition of the subject. + Then the muse is invoked to give the poet accurate information as to the + causes of so terrible a commotion. The answer to this question, being, it + is to be supposed, the joint production of the poet and the muse, ascribes + the event to circumstances which have hitherto eluded all the research of + political writers, namely, the influence of the god Mars, who, we are + told, had some forty years before usurped the conjugal rights of old Carlo + Buonaparte, and given birth to Napoleon. By his incitement it was that the + emperor with his devoted companions was now on the sea, returning to his + ancient dominions. The gods were at present, fortunately for the + adventurer, feasting with the Ethiopians, whose entertainments, according + to the ancient custom described by Homer, they annually attended, with the + same sort of condescending gluttony which now carries the cabinet to + Guildhall on the 9th of November. Neptune was, in consequence, absent, and + unable to prevent the enemy of his favourite island from crossing his + element. Boreas, however, who had his abode on the banks of the Russian + ocean, and who, like Thetis in the Iliad, was not of sufficient quality to + have an invitation to Ethiopia, resolves to destroy the armament which + brings war and danger to his beloved Alexander. He accordingly raises a + storm which is most powerfully described. Napoleon bewails the inglorious + fate for which he seems to be reserved. "Oh! thrice happy," says he, + "those who were frozen to death at Krasnoi, or slaughtered at Leipsic. Oh, + Kutusoff, bravest of the Russians, wherefore was I not permitted to fall + by thy victorious sword?" He then offers a prayer to Aeolus, and vows to + him a sacrifice of a black ram. In consequence, the god recalls his + turbulent subject; the sea is calmed; and the ship anchors in the port of + Frejus. Napoleon and Bertrand, who is always called the faithful Bertrand, + land to explore the country; Mars meets them disguised as a lancer of the + guard, wearing the cross of the legion of honour. He advises them to apply + for necessaries of all kinds to the governor, shows them the way, and + disappears with a strong smell of gunpowder. Napoleon makes a pathetic + speech, and enters the governor's house. Here he sees hanging up a fine + print of the battle of Austerlitz, himself in the foreground giving his + orders. This puts him in high spirits; he advances and salutes the + governor, who receives him most loyally, gives him an entertainment, and, + according to the usage of all epic hosts, insists after dinner on a full + narration of all that has happened to him since the battle of Leipsic. + </p> + <p> + BOOK II. + </p> + <p> + Napoleon carries his narrative from the battle of Leipsic to his + abdication. But, as we shall have a great quantity of fighting on our + hands, I think it best to omit the details. + </p> + <p> + BOOK III. + </p> + <p> + Napoleon describes his sojourn at Elba, and his return; how he was driven + by stress of weather to Sardinia, and fought with the harpies there; how + he was then carried southward to Sicily, where he generously took on board + an English sailor, whom a man-of-war had unhappily left there, and who was + in imminent danger of being devoured by the Cyclops; how he landed in the + bay of Naples, saw the Sibyl, and descended to Tartarus; how he held a + long and pathetic conversation with Poniatowski, whom he found wandering + unburied on the banks of Styx; how he swore to give him a splendid + funeral; how he had also an affectionate interview with Desaix; how Moreau + and Sir Ralph Abercrombie fled at the sight of him. He relates that he + then re-embarked, and met with nothing of importance till the commencement + of the storm with which the poem opens. + </p> + <p> + BOOK IV. + </p> + <p> + The scene changes to Paris. Fame, in the garb of an express, brings + intelligence of the landing of Napoleon. The king performs a sacrifice: + but the entrails are unfavourable; and the victim is without a heart. He + prepares to encounter the invader. A young captain of the guard,—the + son of Maria Antoinette by Apollo,—in the shape of a fiddler, rushes + in to tell him that Napoleon is approaching with a vast army. The royal + forces are drawn out for battle. Full catalogues are given of the + regiments on both sides; their colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and uniform. + </p> + <p> + BOOK V. + </p> + <p> + The king comes forward and defies Napoleon to single combat. Napoleon + accepts it. Sacrifices are offered. The ground is measured by Ney and + Macdonald. The combatants advance. Louis snaps his pistol in vain. The + bullet of Napoleon, on the contrary, carries off the tip of the king's + ear. Napoleon then rushes on him sword in hand. But Louis snatches up a + stone, such as ten men of those degenerate days will be unable to move, + and hurls it at his antagonist. Mars averts it. Napoleon then seizes + Louis, and is about to strike a fatal blow, when Bacchus intervenes, like + Venus in the third book of the Iliad, bears off the king in a thick cloud, + and seats him in an hotel at Lille, with a bottle of Maraschino and a + basin of soup before him. Both armies instantly proclaim Napoleon emperor. + </p> + <p> + BOOK VI. + </p> + <p> + Neptune, returned from his Ethiopian revels, sees with rage the events + which have taken place in Europe. He flies to the cave of Alecto, and + drags out the fiend, commanding her to excite universal hostility against + Napoleon. The Fury repairs to Lord Castlereagh; and, as, when she visited + Turnus, she assumed the form of an old woman, she here appears in the + kindred shape of Mr Vansittart, and in an impassioned address exhorts his + lordship to war. His lordship, like Turnus, treats this unwonted monitor + with great disrespect, tells him that he is an old doting fool, and + advises him to look after the ways and means, and leave questions of peace + and war to his betters. The Fury then displays all her terrors. The neat + powdered hair bristles up into snakes; the black stockings appear clotted + with blood; and, brandishing a torch, she announces her name and mission. + Lord Castlereagh, seized with fury, flies instantly to the Parliament, and + recommends war with a torrent of eloquent invective. All the members + instantly clamour for vengeance, seize their arms which are hanging round + the walls of the house, and rush forth to prepare for instant hostilities. + </p> + <p> + BOOK VII. + </p> + <p> + In this book intelligence arrives at London of the flight of the Duchess + d'Angouleme from France. It is stated that this heroine, armed from head + to foot, defended Bordeaux against the adherents of Napoleon, and that she + fought hand to hand with Clausel, and beat him down with an enormous + stone. Deserted by her followers, she at last, like Turnus, plunged, armed + as she was, into the Garonne, and swam to an English ship which lay off + the coast. This intelligence yet more inflames the English to war. + </p> + <p> + A yet bolder flight than any which has been mentioned follows. The Duke of + Wellington goes to take leave of the duchess; and a scene passes quite + equal to the famous interview of Hector and Andromache. Lord Douro is + frightened at his father's feather, but begs for his epaulette. + </p> + <p> + BOOK VIII. + </p> + <p> + Neptune, trembling for the event of the war, implores Venus, who, as the + offspring of his element, naturally venerates him, to procure from Vulcan + a deadly sword and a pair of unerring pistols for the Duke. They are + accordingly made, and superbly decorated. The sheath of the sword, like + the shield of Achilles, is carved, in exquisitely fine miniature, with + scenes from the common life of the period; a dance at Almack's a boxing + match at the Fives-court, a lord mayor's procession, and a man hanging. + All these are fully and elegantly described. The Duke thus armed hastens + to Brussels. + </p> + <p> + BOOK IX. + </p> + <p> + The Duke is received at Brussels by the King of the Netherlands with great + magnificence. He is informed of the approach of the armies of all the + confederate kings. The poet, however, with a laudable zeal for the glory + of his country, completely passes over the exploits of the Austrians in + Italy, and the discussions of the congress. England and France, Wellington + and Napoleon, almost exclusively occupy his attention. Several days are + spent at Brussels in revelry. The English heroes astonish their allies by + exhibiting splendid games, similar to those which draw the flower of the + British aristocracy to Newmarket and Moulsey Hurst, and which will be + considered by our descendants with as much veneration as the Olympian and + Isthmian contests by classical students of the present time. In the combat + of the cestus, Shaw, the lifeguardsman, vanquishes the Prince of Orange, + and obtains a bull as a prize. In the horse-race, the Duke of Wellington + and Lord Uxbridge ride against each other; the Duke is victorious, and is + rewarded with twelve opera-girls. On the last day of the festivities, a + splendid dance takes place, at which all the heroes attend. + </p> + <p> + BOOK X. + </p> + <p> + Mars, seeing the English army thus inactive, hastens to rouse Napoleon, + who, conducted by Night and Silence, unexpectedly attacks the Prussians. + The slaughter is immense. Napoleon kills many whose histories and families + are happily particularised. He slays Herman, the craniologist, who dwelt + by the linden-shadowed Elbe, and measured with his eye the skulls of all + who walked through the streets of Berlin. Alas! his own skull is now cleft + by the Corsican sword. Four pupils of the University of Jena advance + together to encounter the Emperor; at four blows he destroys them all. + Blucher rushes to arrest the devastation; Napoleon strikes him to the + ground, and is on the point of killing him, but Gneisenau, Ziethen, Bulow, + and all the other heroes of the Prussian army, gather round him, and bear + the venerable chief to a distance from the field. The slaughter is + continued till night. In the meantime Neptune has despatched Fame to bear + the intelligence to the Duke, who is dancing at Brussels. The whole army + is put in motion. The Duke of Brunswick's horse speaks to admonish him of + his danger, but in vain. + </p> + <p> + BOOK XI. + </p> + <p> + Picton, the Duke of Brunswick, and the Prince of Orange, engage Ney at + Quatre Bras. Ney kills the Duke of Brunswick, and strips him, sending his + belt to Napoleon. The English fall back on Waterloo. Jupiter calls a + council of the gods, and commands that none shall interfere on either + side. Mars and Neptune make very eloquent speeches. The battle of Waterloo + commences. Napoleon kills Picton and Delancy. Ney engages Ponsonby and + kills him. The Prince of Orange is wounded by Soult. Lord Uxbridge flies + to check the carnage. He is severely wounded by Napoleon, and only saved + by the assistance of Lord Hill. In the meantime the Duke makes a + tremendous carnage among the French. He encounters General Duhesme and + vanquishes him, but spares his life. He kills Toubert, who kept the + gaming-house in the Palais Royal, and Maronet, who loved to spend whole + nights in drinking champagne. Clerval, who had been hooted from the stage, + and had then become a captain in the Imperial Guard, wished that he had + still continued to face the more harmless enmity of the Parisian pit. But + Larrey, the son of Esculapius, whom his father had instructed in all the + secrets of his art, and who was surgeon-general of the French army, + embraced the knees of the destroyer, and conjured him not to give death to + one whose office it was to give life. The Duke raised him, and bade him + live. + </p> + <p> + But we must hasten to the close. Napoleon rushes to encounter Wellington. + Both armies stand in mute amaze. The heroes fire their pistols; that of + Napoleon misses, but that of Wellington, formed by the hand of Vulcan, and + primed by the Cyclops, wounds the Emperor in the thigh. He flies, and + takes refuge among his troops. The flight becomes promiscuous. The arrival + of the Prussians, from a motive of patriotism, the poet completely passes + over. + </p> + <p> + BOOK XII. + </p> + <p> + Things are now hastening to the catastrophe. Napoleon flies to London, + and, seating himself on the hearth of the Regent, embraces the household + gods and conjures him, by the venerable age of George III., and by the + opening perfections of the Princess Charlotte, to spare him. The Prince is + inclined to do so; when, looking on his breast, he sees there the belt of + the Duke of Brunswick. He instantly draws his sword, and is about to stab + the destroyer of his kinsman. Piety and hospitality, however, restrain his + hand. He takes a middle course, and condemns Napoleon to be exposed on a + desert island. The King of France re-enters Paris; and the poem concludes. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ON MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE. (November 1824.) + </h2> + <p> + This is a book which enjoys a great and increasing popularity: but, while + it has attracted a considerable share of the public attention, it has been + little noticed by the critics. Mr Mitford has almost succeeded in + mounting, unperceived by those whose office it is to watch such aspirants, + to a high place among historians. He has taken a seat on the dais without + being challenged by a single seneschal. To oppose the progress of his fame + is now almost a hopeless enterprise. Had he been reviewed with candid + severity, when he had published only his first volume, his work would + either have deserved its reputation, or would never have obtained it. + "Then," as Indra says of Kehama, "then was the time to strike." The time + was neglected; and the consequence is that Mr Mitford like Kehama, has + laid his victorious hand on the literary Amreeta, and seems about to taste + the precious elixir of immortality. I shall venture to emulate the courage + of the honest Glendoveer— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When now + He saw the Amreeta in Kehama's hand, + An impulse that defied all self-command, + In that extremity, + Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup, + And dare the Rajah's force in Seeva's sight, + Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray." +</pre> + <p> + In plain words, I shall offer a few considerations, which may tend to + reduce an overpraised writer to his proper level. + </p> + <p> + The principal characteristic of this historian, the origin of his + excellencies and his defects, is a love of singularity. He has no notion + of going with a multitude to do either good or evil. An exploded opinion, + or an unpopular person, has an irresistible charm for him. The same + perverseness may be traced in his diction. His style would never have been + elegant; but it might at least have been manly and perspicuous; and + nothing but the most elaborate care could possibly have made it so bad as + it is. It is distinguished by harsh phrases, strange collocations, + occasional solecisms, frequent obscurity, and, above all, by a peculiar + oddity, which can no more be described than it can be overlooked. Nor is + this all. Mr Mitford piques himself on spelling better than any of his + neighbours; and this not only in ancient names, which he mangles in + defiance both of custom and of reason, but in the most ordinary words of + the English language. It is, in itself, a matter perfectly indifferent + whether we call a foreigner by the name which he bears in his own + language, or by that which corresponds to it in ours; whether we say + Lorenzo de Medici, or Lawrence de Medici, Jean Chauvin, or John Calvin. In + such cases established usage is considered as law by all writers except Mr + Mitford. If he were always consistent with himself, he might be excused + for sometimes disagreeing with his neighbours; but he proceeds on no + principle but that of being unlike the rest of the world. Every child has + heard of Linnaeus; therefore Mr Mitford calls him Linne: Rousseau is known + all over Europe as Jean Jacques; therefore Mr Mitford bestows on him the + strange appellation of John James. + </p> + <p> + Had Mr Mitford undertaken a History of any other country than Greece, this + propensity would have rendered his work useless and absurd. His occasional + remarks on the affairs of ancient Rome and of modern Europe are full of + errors: but he writes of times with respect to which almost every other + writer has been in the wrong; and, therefore, by resolutely deviating from + his predecessors, he is often in the right. + </p> + <p> + Almost all the modern historians of Greece have shown the grossest + ignorance of the most obvious phenomena of human nature. In their + representations the generals and statesmen of antiquity are absolutely + divested of all individuality. They are personifications; they are + passions, talents, opinions, virtues, vices, but not men. Inconsistency is + a thing of which these writers have no notion. That a man may have been + liberal in his youth and avaricious in his age, cruel to one enemy and + merciful to another, is to them utterly inconceivable. If the facts be + undeniable, they suppose some strange and deep design, in order to explain + what, as every one who has observed his own mind knows, needs no + explanation at all. This is a mode of writing very acceptable to the + multitude who have always been accustomed to make gods and daemons out of + men very little better or worse than themselves; but it appears + contemptible to all who have watched the changes of human character—to + all who have observed the influence of time, of circumstances, and of + associates, on mankind—to all who have seen a hero in the gout, a + democrat in the church, a pedant in love, or a philosopher in liquor. This + practice of painting in nothing but black and white is unpardonable even + in the drama. It is the great fault of Alfieri; and how much it injures + the effect of his compositions will be obvious to every one who will + compare his Rosmunda with the Lady Macbeth of Shakspeare. The one is a + wicked woman; the other is a fiend. Her only feeling is hatred; all her + words are curses. We are at once shocked and fatigued by the spectacle of + such raving cruelty, excited by no provocation, repeatedly changing its + object, and constant in nothing but in its in-extinguishable thirst for + blood. + </p> + <p> + In history this error is far more disgraceful. Indeed, there is no fault + which so completely ruins a narrative in the opinion of a judicious + reader. We know that the line of demarcation between good and bad men is + so faintly marked as often to elude the most careful investigation of + those who have the best opportunities for judging. Public men, above all, + are surrounded with so many temptations and difficulties that some doubt + must almost always hang over their real dispositions and intentions. The + lives of Pym, Cromwell, Monk, Clarendon, Marlborough, Burnet, Walpole, are + well known to us. We are acquainted with their actions, their speeches, + their writings; we have abundance of letters and well-authenticated + anecdotes relating to them: yet what candid man will venture very + positively to say which of them were honest and which of them were + dishonest men? It appears easier to pronounce decidedly upon the great + characters of antiquity, not because we have greater means of discovering + truth, but simply because we have less means of detecting error. The + modern historians of Greece have forgotten this. Their heroes and villains + are as consistent in all their sayings and doings as the cardinal virtues + and the deadly sins in an allegory. We should as soon expect a good action + from giant Slay-good in Bunyan as from Dionysius; and a crime of + Epaminondas would seem as incongruous as a faux-pas of the grave and + comely damsel called Discretion, who answered the bell at the door of the + house Beautiful. + </p> + <p> + This error was partly the cause and partly the effect of the high + estimation in which the later ancient writers have been held by modern + scholars. Those French and English authors who have treated of the affairs + of Greece have generally turned with contempt from the simple and natural + narrations of Thucydides and Xenophon to the extravagant representations + of Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius, and other romancers of the same class,—men + who described military operations without ever having handled a sword, and + applied to the seditions of little republics speculations formed by + observation on an empire which covered half the known world. Of liberty + they knew nothing. It was to them a great mystery—a superhuman + enjoyment. They ranted about liberty and patriotism, from the same cause + which leads monks to talk more ardently than other men about love and + women. A wise man values political liberty, because it secures the persons + and the possessions of citizens; because it tends to prevent the + extravagance of rulers, and the corruption of judges; because it gives + birth to useful sciences and elegant arts; because it excites the industry + and increases the comforts of all classes of society. These theorists + imagined that it possessed something eternally and intrinsically good, + distinct from the blessings which it generally produced. They considered + it not as a means but as an end; an end to be attained at any cost. Their + favourite heroes are those who have sacrificed, for the mere name of + freedom, the prosperity—the security—the justice—from + which freedom derives its value. + </p> + <p> + There is another remarkable characteristic of these writers, in which + their modern worshippers have carefully imitated them—a great + fondness for good stories. The most established facts, dates, and + characters are never suffered to come into competition with a splendid + saying, or a romantic exploit. The early historians have left us natural + and simple descriptions of the great events which they witnessed, and the + great men with whom they associated. When we read the account which + Plutarch and Rollin have given of the same period, we scarcely know our + old acquaintance again; we are utterly confounded by the melo-dramatic + effect of the narration, and the sublime coxcombry of the characters. + </p> + <p> + These are the principal errors into which the predecessors of Mr Mitford + have fallen; and from most of these he is free. His faults are of a + completely different description. It is to be hoped that the students of + history may now be saved, like Dorax in Dryden's play, by swallowing two + conflicting poisons, each of which may serve as an antidote to the other. + </p> + <p> + The first and most important difference between Mr Mitford and those who + have preceded him is in his narration. Here the advantage lies, for the + most part, on his side. His principle is to follow the contemporary + historians, to look with doubt on all statements which are not in some + degree confirmed by them, and absolutely to reject all which are + contradicted by them. While he retains the guidance of some writer in whom + he can place confidence, he goes on excellently. When he loses it, he + falls to the level, or perhaps below the level, of the writers whom he so + much despises: he is as absurd as they, and very much duller. It is really + amusing to observe how he proceeds with his narration when he has no + better authority than poor Diodorus. He is compelled to relate something; + yet he believes nothing. He accompanies every fact with a long statement + of objections. His account of the administration of Dionysius is in no + sense a history. It ought to be entitled—"Historic doubts as to + certain events, alleged to have taken place in Sicily." + </p> + <p> + This scepticism, however, like that of some great legal characters almost + as sceptical as himself; vanishes whenever his political partialities + interfere. He is a vehement admirer of tyranny and oligarchy, and + considers no evidence as feeble which can be brought forward in favour of + those forms of government. Democracy he hates with a perfect hatred, a + hatred which, in the first volume of his history, appears only in his + episodes and reflections, but which, in those parts where he has less + reverence for his guides, and can venture to take his own way, completely + distorts even his narration. + </p> + <p> + In taking up these opinions, I have no doubt that Mr Mitford was + influenced by the same love of singularity which led him to spell "island" + without an "s," and to place two dots over the last letter of "idea." In + truth, preceding historians have erred so monstrously on the other side + that even the worst parts of Mr Mitford's book may be useful as a + corrective. For a young gentleman who talks much about his country, + tyrannicide, and Epaminondas, this work, diluted in a sufficient quantity + of Rollin and Berthelemi, may be a very useful remedy. + </p> + <p> + The errors of both parties arise from an ignorance or a neglect of the + fundamental principles of political science. The writers on one side + imagine popular government to be always a blessing; Mr Mitford omits no + opportunity of assuring us that it is always a curse. The fact is, that a + good government, like a good coat, is that which fits the body for which + it is designed. A man who, upon abstract principles, pronounces a + constitution to be good, without an exact knowledge of the people who are + to be governed by it, judges as absurdly as a tailor who should measure + the Belvidere Apollo for the clothes of all his customers. The demagogues + who wished to see Portugal a republic, and the wise critics who revile the + Virginians for not having instituted a peerage, appear equally ridiculous + to all men of sense and candour. + </p> + <p> + That is the best government which desires to make the people happy, and + knows how to make them happy. Neither the inclination nor the knowledge + will suffice alone; and it is difficult to find them together. + </p> + <p> + Pure democracy, and pure democracy alone, satisfies the former condition + of this great problem. That the governors may be solicitous only for the + interests of the governed, it is necessary that the interests of the + governors and the governed should be the same. This cannot be often the + case where power is intrusted to one or to a few. The privileged part of + the community will doubtless derive a certain degree of advantage from the + general prosperity of the state; but they will derive a greater from + oppression and exaction. The king will desire an useless war for his + glory, or a parc-aux-cerfs for his pleasure. The nobles will demand + monopolies and lettres-de-cachet. In proportion as the number of governors + is increased the evil is diminished. There are fewer to contribute, and + more to receive. The dividend which each can obtain of the public plunder + becomes less and less tempting. But the interests of the subjects and the + rulers never absolutely coincide till the subjects themselves become the + rulers, that is, till the government be either immediately or mediately + democratical. + </p> + <p> + But this is not enough. "Will without power," said the sagacious Casimir + to Milor Beefington, "is like children playing at soldiers." The people + will always be desirous to promote their own interests; but it may be + doubted, whether, in any community, they were ever sufficiently educated + to understand them. Even in this island, where the multitude have long + been better informed than in any other part of Europe, the rights of the + many have generally been asserted against themselves by the patriotism of + the few. Free trade, one of the greatest blessings which a government can + confer on a people, is in almost every country unpopular. It may be well + doubted, whether a liberal policy with regard to our commercial relations + would find any support from a parliament elected by universal suffrage. + The republicans on the other side of the Atlantic have recently adopted + regulations of which the consequences will, before long, show us, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "How nations sink, by darling schemes oppressed, + When vengeance listens to the fool's request." +</pre> + <p> + The people are to be governed for their own good; and, that they may be + governed for their own good, they must not be governed by their own + ignorance. There are countries in which it would be as absurd to establish + popular government as to abolish all the restraints in a school, or to + untie all the strait-waistcoats in a madhouse. + </p> + <p> + Hence it may be concluded that the happiest state of society is that in + which supreme power resides in the whole body of a well-informed people. + This is an imaginary, perhaps an unattainable, state of things. Yet, in + some measure, we may approximate to it; and he alone deserves the name of + a great statesman, whose principle it is to extend the power of the people + in proportion to the extent of their knowledge, and to give them every + facility for obtaining such a degree of knowledge as may render it safe to + trust them with absolute power. In the mean time, it is dangerous to + praise or condemn constitutions in the abstract; since, from the despotism + of St Petersburg to the democracy of Washington, there is scarcely a form + of government which might not, at least in some hypothetical case, be the + best possible. + </p> + <p> + If, however, there be any form of government which in all ages and all + nations has always been, and must always be, pernicious, it is certainly + that which Mr Mitford, on his usual principle of being wiser than all the + rest of the world, has taken under his especial patronage—pure + oligarchy. This is closely, and indeed inseparably, connected with another + of his eccentric tastes, a marked partiality for Lacedaemon, and a dislike + of Athens. Mr Mitford's book has, I suspect, rendered these sentiments in + some degree popular; and I shall, therefore, examine them at some length. + </p> + <p> + The shades in the Athenian character strike the eye more rapidly than + those in the Lacedaemonian: not because they are darker, but because they + are on a brighter ground. The law of ostracism is an instance of this. + Nothing can be conceived more odious than the practice of punishing a + citizen, simply and professedly, for his eminence;—and nothing in + the institutions of Athens is more frequently or more justly censured. + Lacedaemon was free from this. And why? Lacedaemon did not need it. + Oligarchy is an ostracism of itself,—an ostracism not occasional, + but permanent,—not dubious, but certain. Her laws prevented the + development of merit instead of attacking its maturity. They did not cut + down the plant in its high and palmy state, but cursed the soil with + eternal sterility. In spite of the law of ostracism, Athens produced, + within a hundred and fifty years, the greatest public men that ever + existed. Whom had Sparta to ostracise? She produced, at most, four eminent + men, Brasidas, Gylippus, Lysander, and Agesilaus. Of these, not one rose + to distinction within her jurisdiction. It was only when they escaped from + the region within which the influence of aristocracy withered everything + good and noble, it was only when they ceased to be Lacedaemonians, that + they became great men. Brasidas, among the cities of Thrace, was strictly + a democratical leader, the favourite minister and general of the people. + The same may be said of Gylippus, at Syracuse. Lysander, in the + Hellespont, and Agesilaus, in Asia, were liberated for a time from the + hateful restraints imposed by the constitution of Lycurgus. Both acquired + fame abroad; and both returned to be watched and depressed at home. This + is not peculiar to Sparta. Oligarchy, wherever it has existed, has always + stunted the growth of genius. Thus it was at Rome, till about a century + before the Christian era: we read of abundance of consuls and dictators + who won battles, and enjoyed triumphs; but we look in vain for a single + man of the first order of intellect,—for a Pericles, a Demosthenes, + or a Hannibal. The Gracchi formed a strong democratical party; Marius + revived it; the foundations of the old aristocracy were shaken; and two + generations fertile in really great men appeared. + </p> + <p> + Venice is a still more remarkable instance: in her history we see nothing + but the state; aristocracy had destroyed every seed of genius and virtue. + Her dominion was like herself, lofty and magnificent, but founded on filth + and weeds. God forbid that there should ever again exist a powerful and + civilised state, which, after existing through thirteen hundred eventful + years, should not bequeath to mankind the memory of one great name or one + generous action. + </p> + <p> + Many writers, and Mr Mitford among the number, have admired the stability + of the Spartan institutions; in fact, there is little to admire, and less + to approve. Oligarchy is the weakest and the most stable of governments; + and it is stable because it is weak. It has a sort of valetudinarian + longevity; it lives in the balance of Sanctorius; it takes no exercise; it + exposes itself to no accident; it is seized with an hypochondriac alarm at + every new sensation; it trembles at every breath; it lets blood for every + inflammation: and thus, without ever enjoying a day of health or pleasure, + drags on its existence to a doting and debilitated old age. + </p> + <p> + The Spartans purchased for their government a prolongation of its + existence by the sacrifice of happiness at home and dignity abroad. They + cringed to the powerful; they trampled on the weak; they massacred their + helots; they betrayed their allies; they contrived to be a day too late + for the battle of Marathon; they attempted to avoid the battle of Salamis; + they suffered the Athenians, to whom they owed their lives and liberties, + to be a second time driven from their country by the Persians, that they + might finish their own fortifications on the Isthmus; they attempted to + take advantage of the distress to which exertions in their cause had + reduced their preservers, in order to make them their slaves; they strove + to prevent those who had abandoned their walls to defend them, from + rebuilding them to defend themselves; they commenced the Peloponnesian war + in violation of their engagements with Athens; they abandoned it in + violation of their engagements with their allies; they gave up to the + sword whole cities which had placed themselves under their protection; + they bartered, for advantages confined to themselves, the interest, the + freedom, and the lives of those who had served them most faithfully; they + took with equal complacency, and equal infamy, the stripes of Elis and the + bribes of Persia; they never showed either resentment or gratitude; they + abstained from no injury, and they revenged none. Above all, they looked + on a citizen who served them well as their deadliest enemy. These are the + arts which protract the existence of government. + </p> + <p> + Nor were the domestic institutions of Lacedaemon less hateful or less + contemptible than her foreign policy. A perpetual interference with every + part of the system of human life, a constant struggle against nature and + reason, characterised all her laws. To violate even prejudices which have + taken deep root in the minds of a people is scarcely expedient; to think + of extirpating natural appetites and passions is frantic: the external + symptoms may be occasionally repressed; but the feeling still exists, and, + debarred from its natural objects, preys on the disordered mind and body + of its victim. Thus it is in convents—-thus it is among ascetic + sects—thus it was among the Lacedaemonians. Hence arose that + madness, or violence approaching to madness, which, in spite of every + external restraint, often appeared among the most distinguished citizens + of Sparta. Cleomenes terminated his career of raving cruelty by cutting + himself to pieces. Pausanias seems to have been absolutely insane; he + formed a hopeless and profligate scheme; he betrayed it by the ostentation + of his behaviour, and the imprudence of his measures; and he alienated, by + his insolence, all who might have served or protected him. Xenophon, a + warm admirer of Lacedaemon, furnishes us with the strongest evidence to + this effect. It is impossible not to observe the brutal and senseless fury + which characterises almost every Spartan with whom he was connected. + Clearchus nearly lost his life by his cruelty. Chirisophus deprived his + army of the services of a faithful guide by his unreasonable and ferocious + severity. But it is needless to multiply instances. Lycurgus, Mr Mitford's + favourite legislator, founded his whole system on a mistaken principle. He + never considered that governments were made for men, and not men for + governments. Instead of adapting the constitution to the people, he + distorted the minds of the people to suit the constitution, a scheme + worthy of the Laputan Academy of Projectors. And this appears to Mr + Mitford to constitute his peculiar title to admiration. Hear himself: + "What to modern eyes most strikingly sets that extraordinary man above all + other legislators is, that in so many circumstances, apparently out of the + reach of law, he controlled and formed to his own mind the wills and + habits of his people." I should suppose that this gentleman had the + advantage of receiving his education under the ferula of Dr Pangloss; for + his metaphysics are clearly those of the castle of Thunder-ten-tronckh: + "Remarquez bien que les nez ont ete faits pour porter des lunettes, aussi + avons nous des lunettes. Les jambes sont visiblement institues pour etre + chaussees, et nous avons des chausses. Les cochons etant faits pour etre + manges, nous mangeons du porc toute l'annee." + </p> + <p> + At Athens the laws did not constantly interfere with the tastes of the + people. The children were not taken from their parents by that universal + step-mother, the state. They were not starved into thieves, or tortured + into bullies; there was no established table at which every one must dine, + no established style in which every one must converse. An Athenian might + eat whatever he could afford to buy, and talk as long as he could find + people to listen. The government did not tell the people what opinions + they were to hold, or what songs they were to sing. Freedom produced + excellence. Thus philosophy took its origin. Thus were produced those + models of poetry, of oratory, and of the arts, which scarcely fall short + of the standard of ideal excellence. Nothing is more conducive to + happiness than the free exercise of the mind in pursuits congenial to it. + This happiness, assuredly, was enjoyed far more at Athens than at Sparta. + The Athenians are acknowledged even by their enemies to have been + distinguished, in private life, by their courteous and amiable demeanour. + Their levity, at least, was better than Spartan sullenness and their + impertinence than Spartan insolence. Even in courage it may be questioned + whether they were inferior to the Lacedaemonians. The great Athenian + historian has reported a remarkable observation of the great Athenian + minister. Pericles maintained that his countrymen, without submitting to + the hardships of a Spartan education, rivalled all the achievements of + Spartan valour, and that therefore the pleasures and amusements which they + enjoyed were to be considered as so much clear gain. The infantry of + Athens was certainly not equal to that of Lacedaemon; but this seems to + have been caused merely by want of practice: the attention of the + Athenians was diverted from the discipline of the phalanx to that of the + trireme. The Lacedaemonians, in spite of all their boasted valour, were, + from the same cause, timid and disorderly in naval action. + </p> + <p> + But we are told that crimes of great enormity were perpetrated by the + Athenian government, and the democracies under its protection. It is true + that Athens too often acted up to the full extent of the laws of war in an + age when those laws had not been mitigated by causes which have operated + in later times. This accusation is, in fact, common to Athens, to + Lacedaemon, to all the states of Greece, and to all states similarly + situated. Where communities are very large, the heavier evils of war are + felt but by few. The ploughboy sings, the spinning-wheel turns round, the + wedding-day is fixed, whether the last battle were lost or won. In little + states it cannot be thus; every man feels in his own property and person + the effect of a war. Every man is a soldier, and a soldier fighting for + his nearest interests. His own trees have been cut down—his own corn + has been burnt—his own house has been pillaged—his own + relations have been killed. How can he entertain towards the enemies of + his country the same feelings with one who has suffered nothing from them, + except perhaps the addition of a small sum to the taxes which he pays? Men + in such circumstances cannot be generous. They have too much at stake. It + is when they are, if I may so express myself, playing for love, it is when + war is a mere game at chess, it is when they are contending for a remote + colony, a frontier town, the honours of a flag, a salute, or a title, that + they can make fine speeches, and do good offices to their enemies. The + Black Prince waited behind the chair of his captive; Villars interchanged + repartees with Eugene; George II. sent congratulations to Louis XV., + during a war, upon occasion of his escape from the attempt of Damien: and + these things are fine and generous, and very gratifying to the author of + the Broad Stone of Honour, and all the other wise men who think, like him, + that God made the world only for the use of gentlemen. But they spring in + general from utter heartlessness. No war ought ever to be undertaken but + under circumstances which render all interchange of courtesy between the + combatants impossible. It is a bad thing that men should hate each other; + but it is far worse that they should contract the habit of cutting one + another's throats without hatred. War is never lenient, but where it is + wanton; when men are compelled to fight in selfdefence, they must hate and + avenge: this may be bad; but it is human nature; it is the clay as it came + from the hand of the potter. + </p> + <p> + It is true that among the dependencies of Athens seditions assumed a + character more ferocious than even in France, during the reign of terror—the + accursed Saturnalia of an accursed bondage. It is true that in Athens + itself, where such convulsions were scarcely known, the condition of the + higher orders was disagreeable; that they were compelled to contribute + large sums for the service or the amusement of the public; and that they + were sometimes harassed by vexatious informers. Whenever such cases occur, + Mr Mitford's scepticism vanishes. The "if," the "but," the "it is said," + the "if we may believe," with which he qualifies every charge against a + tyrant or an aristocracy, are at once abandoned. The blacker the story, + the firmer is his belief, and he never fails to inveigh with hearty + bitterness against democracy as the source of every species of crime. + </p> + <p> + The Athenians, I believe, possessed more liberty than was good for them. + Yet I will venture to assert that, while the splendour, the intelligence, + and the energy of that great people were peculiar to themselves, the + crimes with which they are charged arose from causes which were common to + them with every other state which then existed. The violence of faction in + that age sprung from a cause which has always been fertile in every + political and moral evil, domestic slavery. + </p> + <p> + The effect of slavery is completely to dissolve the connection which + naturally exists between the higher and lower classes of free citizens. + The rich spend their wealth in purchasing and maintaining slaves. There is + no demand for the labour of the poor; the fable of Menenius ceases to be + applicable; the belly communicates no nutriment to the members; there is + an atrophy in the body politic. The two parties, therefore, proceed to + extremities utterly unknown in countries where they have mutually need of + each other. In Rome the oligarchy was too powerful to be subverted by + force; and neither the tribunes nor the popular assemblies, though + constitutionally omnipotent, could maintain a successful contest against + men who possessed the whole property of the state. Hence the necessity for + measures tending to unsettle the whole frame of society, and to take away + every motive of industry; the abolition of debts, and the agrarian laws—propositions + absurdly condemned by men who do not consider the circumstances from which + they sprung. They were the desperate remedies of a desperate disease. In + Greece the oligarchical interest was not in general so deeply rooted as at + Rome. The multitude, therefore, often redressed by force grievances which, + at Rome, were commonly attacked under the forms of the constitution. They + drove out or massacred the rich, and divided their property. If the + superior union or military skill of the rich rendered them victorious, + they took measures equally violent, disarmed all in whom they could not + confide, often slaughtered great numbers, and occasionally expelled the + whole commonalty from the city, and remained, with their slaves, the sole + inhabitants. + </p> + <p> + From such calamities Athens and Lacedaemon alone were almost completely + free. At Athens the purses of the rich were laid under regular + contribution for the support of the poor; and this, rightly considered, + was as much a favour to the givers as to the receivers, since no other + measure could possibly have saved their houses from pillage and their + persons from violence. It is singular that Mr Mitford should perpetually + reprobate a policy which was the best that could be pursued in such a + state of things, and which alone saved Athens from the frightful outrages + which were perpetrated at Corcyra. + </p> + <p> + Lacedaemon, cursed with a system of slavery more odious than has ever + existed in any other country, avoided this evil by almost totally + annihilating private property. Lycurgus began by an agrarian law. He + abolished all professions except that of arms; he made the whole of his + community a standing army, every member of which had a common right to the + services of a crowd of miserable bondmen; he secured the state from + sedition at the expense of the Helots. Of all the parts of his system this + is the most creditable to his head, and the most disgraceful to his heart. + </p> + <p> + These considerations, and many others of equal importance, Mr Mitford has + neglected; but he has yet a heavier charge to answer. He has made not only + illogical inferences, but false statements. While he never states, without + qualifications and objections, the charges which the earliest and best + historians have brought against his favourite tyrants, Pisistratus, + Hippias, and Gelon, he transcribes, without any hesitation, the grossest + abuse of the least authoritative writers against every democracy and every + demagogue. Such an accusation should not be made without being supported; + and I will therefore select one out of many passages which will fully + substantiate the charge, and convict Mr Mitford of wilful + misrepresentation, or of negligence scarcely less culpable. Mr Mitford is + speaking of one of the greatest men that ever lived, Demosthenes, and + comparing him with his rival, Aeschines. Let him speak for himself. + </p> + <p> + "In earliest youth Demosthenes earned an opprobrious nickname by the + effeminacy of his dress and manner." Does Mr Mitford know that Demosthenes + denied this charge, and explained the nickname in a perfectly different + manner? (See the speech of Aeschines against Timarchus.) And, if he knew + it, should he not have stated it? He proceeds thus: "On emerging from + minority, by the Athenian law, at five-and-twenty, he earned another + opprobrious nickname by a prosecution of his guardians, which was + considered as a dishonourable attempt to extort money from them." In the + first place Demosthenes was not five-and-twenty years of age. Mr Mitford + might have learned, from so common a book as the Archaeologia of + Archbishop Potter, that at twenty Athenian citizens were freed from the + control of their guardians, and began to manage their own property. The + very speech of Demosthenes against his guardians proves most + satisfactorily that he was under twenty. In his speech against Midias, he + says that when he undertook that prosecution he was quite a boy. + (Meirakullion on komide.) His youth might, therefore, excuse the step, + even if it had been considered, as Mr Mitford says, a dishonourable + attempt to extort money. But who considered it as such? Not the judges who + condemned the guardians. The Athenian courts of justice were not the + purest in the world; but their decisions were at least as likely to be + just as the abuse of a deadly enemy. Mr Mitford refers for confirmation of + his statement to Aeschines and Plutarch. Aeschines by no means bears him + out; and Plutarch directly contradicts him. "Not long after," says Mr + Mitford, "he took blows publicly in the theater" (I preserve the + orthography, if it can be so called, of this historian) "from a petulant + youth of rank, named Meidias." Here are two disgraceful mistakes. In the + first place, it was long after; eight years at the very least, probably + much more. In the next place the petulant youth, of whom Mr Mitford + speaks, was fifty years old. (Whoever will read the speech of Demosthenes + against Midias will find the statements in the text confirmed, and will + have, moreover, the pleasure of becoming acquainted with one of the finest + compositions in the world.) Really Mr Mitford has less reason to censure + the carelessness of his predecessors than to reform his own. After this + monstrous inaccuracy, with regard to facts, we may be able to judge what + degree of credit ought to be given to the vague abuse of such a writer. + "The cowardice of Demosthenes in the field afterwards became notorious." + Demosthenes was a civil character; war was not his business. In his time + the division between military and political offices was beginning to be + strongly marked; yet the recollection of the days when every citizen was a + soldier was still recent. In such states of society a certain degree of + disrepute always attaches to sedentary men; but that any leader of the + Athenian democracy could have been, as Mr Mitford says of Demosthenes, a + few lines before, remarkable for "an extraordinary deficiency of personal + courage," is absolutely impossible. What mercenary warrior of the time + exposed his life to greater or more constant perils? Was there a single + soldier at Chaeronea who had more cause to tremble for his safety than the + orator, who, in case of defeat, could scarcely hope for mercy from the + people whom he had misled or the prince whom he had opposed? Were not the + ordinary fluctuations of popular feeling enough to deter any coward from + engaging in political conflicts? Isocrates, whom Mr Mitford extols, + because he constantly employed all the flowers of his school-boy rhetoric + to decorate oligarchy and tyranny, avoided the judicial and political + meetings of Athens from mere timidity, and seems to have hated democracy + only because he durst not look a popular assembly in the face. Demosthenes + was a man of a feeble constitution: his nerves were weak, but his spirit + was high; and the energy and enthusiasm of his feelings supported him + through life and in death. + </p> + <p> + So much for Demosthenes. Now for the orator of aristocracy. I do not wish + to abuse Aeschines. He may have been an honest man. He was certainly a + great man; and I feel a reverence, of which Mr Mitford seems to have no + notion, for great men of every party. But, when Mr Mitford says that the + private character of Aeschines was without stain, does he remember what + Aeschines has himself confessed in his speech against Timarchus? I can + make allowances, as well as Mr Mitford, for persons who lived under a + different system of laws and morals; but let them be made impartially. If + Demosthenes is to be attacked on account of some childish improprieties, + proved only by the assertion of an antagonist, what shall we say of those + maturer vices which that antagonist has himself acknowledged? "Against the + private character of Aeschines," says Mr Mitford, "Demosthenes seems not + to have had an insinuation to oppose." Has Mr Mitford ever read the speech + of Demosthenes on the Embassy? Or can he have forgotten, what was never + forgotten by anyone else who ever read it, the story which Demosthenes + relates with such terrible energy of language concerning the drunken + brutality of his rival? True or false, here is something more than an + insinuation; and nothing can vindicate the historian, who has overlooked + it, from the charge of negligence or of partiality. But Aeschines denied + the story. And did not Demosthenes also deny the story respecting his + childish nickname, which Mr Mitford has nevertheless told without any + qualification? But the judges, or some part of them, showed, by their + clamour, their disbelief of the relation of Demosthenes. And did not the + judges, who tried the cause between Demosthenes and his guardians, + indicate, in a much clearer manner, their approbation of the prosecution? + But Demosthenes was a demagogue, and is to be slandered. Aeschines was an + aristocrat, and is to be panegyrised. Is this a history, or a + party-pamphlet? + </p> + <p> + These passages, all selected from a single page of Mr Mitford's work, may + give some notion to those readers, who have not the means of comparing his + statements with the original authorities, of his extreme partiality and + carelessness. Indeed, whenever this historian mentions Demosthenes, he + violates all the laws of candour and even of decency; he weighs no + authorities; he makes no allowances; he forgets the best authenticated + facts in the history of the times, and the most generally recognised + principles of human nature. The opposition of the great orator to the + policy of Philip he represents as neither more nor less than deliberate + villany. I hold almost the same opinion with Mr Mitford respecting the + character and the views of that great and accomplished prince. But am I, + therefore, to pronounce Demosthenes profligate and insincere? Surely not. + Do we not perpetually see men of the greatest talents and the purest + intentions misled by national or factious prejudices? The most respectable + people in England were, little more than forty years ago, in the habit of + uttering the bitterest abuse against Washington and Franklin. It is + certainly to be regretted that men should err so grossly in their estimate + of character. But no person who knows anything of human nature will impute + such errors to depravity. + </p> + <p> + Mr Mitford is not more consistent with himself than with reason. Though he + is the advocate of all oligarchies, he is also a warm admirer of all + kings, and of all citizens who raised themselves to that species of + sovereignty which the Greeks denominated tyranny. If monarchy, as Mr + Mitford holds, be in itself a blessing, democracy must be a better form of + government than aristocracy, which is always opposed to the supremacy, and + even to the eminence, of individuals. On the other hand, it is but one + step that separates the demagogue and the sovereign. + </p> + <p> + If this article had not extended itself to so great a length, I should + offer a few observations on some other peculiarities of this writer,—his + general preference of the Barbarians to the Greeks,—his predilection + for Persians, Carthaginians, Thracians, for all nations, in short, except + that great and enlightened nation of which he is the historian. But I will + confine myself to a single topic. + </p> + <p> + Mr Mitford has remarked, with truth and spirit, that "any history + perfectly written, but especially a Grecian history perfectly written + should be a political institute for all nations." It has not occurred to + him that a Grecian history, perfectly written, should also be a complete + record of the rise and progress of poetry, philosophy, and the arts. Here + his work is extremely deficient. Indeed, though it may seem a strange + thing to say of a gentleman who has published so many quartos, Mr Mitford + seems to entertain a feeling, bordering on contempt, for literary and + speculative pursuits. The talents of action almost exclusively attract his + notice; and he talks with very complacent disdain of "the idle learned." + Homer, indeed, he admires; but principally, I am afraid, because he is + convinced that Homer could neither read nor write. He could not avoid + speaking of Socrates; but he has been far more solicitous to trace his + death to political causes, and to deduce from it consequences unfavourable + to Athens, and to popular governments, than to throw light on the + character and doctrines of the wonderful man, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "From whose mouth issued forth + Mellifluous streams that watered all the schools + Of Academics, old and new, with those + Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect + Epicurean, and the Stoic severe." +</pre> + <p> + He does not seem to be aware that Demosthenes was a great orator; he + represents him sometimes as an aspirant demagogue, sometimes as an adroit + negotiator, and always as a great rogue. But that in which the Athenian + excelled all men of all ages, that irresistible eloquence, which at the + distance of more than two thousand years stirs our blood, and brings tears + into our eyes, he passes by with a few phrases of commonplace + commendation. The origin of the drama, the doctrines of the sophists, the + course of Athenian education, the state of the arts and sciences, the + whole domestic system of the Greeks, he has almost completely neglected. + Yet these things will appear, to a reflecting man, scarcely less worthy of + attention than the taking of Sphacteria or the discipline of the + targeteers of Iphicrates. + </p> + <p> + This, indeed, is a deficiency by no means peculiar to Mr Mitford. Most + people seem to imagine that a detail of public occurrences—the + operations of sieges—-the changes of administrations—the + treaties—the conspiracies—the rebellions—is a complete + history. Differences of definition are logically unimportant; but + practically they sometimes produce the most momentous effects. Thus it has + been in the present case. Historians have, almost without exception, + confined themselves to the public transactions of states, and have left to + the negligent administration of writers of fiction a province at least + equally extensive and valuable. + </p> + <p> + All wise statesmen have agreed to consider the prosperity or adversity of + nations as made up of the happiness or misery of individuals, and to + reject as chimerical all notions of a public interest of the community, + distinct from the interest of the component parts. It is therefore strange + that those whose office it is to supply statesmen with examples and + warnings should omit, as too mean for the dignity of history, + circumstances which exert the most extensive influence on the state of + society. In general, the under current of human life flows steadily on, + unruffled by the storms which agitate the surface. The happiness of the + many commonly depends on causes independent of victories or defeats, of + revolutions or restorations,—causes which can be regulated by no + laws, and which are recorded in no archives. These causes are the things + which it is of main importance to us to know, not how the Lacedaemonian + phalanx was broken at Leuctra,—not whether Alexander died of poison + or by disease. History, without these, is a shell without a kernel; and + such is almost all the history which is extant in the world. Paltry + skirmishes and plots are reported with absurd and useless minuteness; but + improvements the most essential to the comfort of human life extend + themselves over the world, and introduce themselves into every cottage, + before any annalist can condescend, from the dignity of writing about + generals and ambassadors, to take the least notice of them. Thus the + progress of the most salutary inventions and discoveries is buried in + impenetrable mystery; mankind are deprived of a most useful species of + knowledge, and their benefactors of their honest fame. In the meantime + every child knows by heart the dates and adventures of a long line of + barbarian kings. The history of nations, in the sense in which I use the + word, is often best studied in works not professedly historical. + Thucydides, as far as he goes, is an excellent writer; yet he affords us + far less knowledge of the most important particulars relating to Athens + than Plato or Aristophanes. The little treatise of Xenophon on Domestic + Economy contains more historical information than all the seven books of + his Hellenics. The same may be said of the Satires of Horace, of the + Letters of Cicero, of the novels of Le Sage, of the memoirs of Marmontel. + Many others might be mentioned; but these sufficiently illustrate my + meaning. + </p> + <p> + I would hope that there may yet appear a writer who may despise the + present narrow limits, and assert the rights of history over every part of + her natural domain. Should such a writer engage in that enterprise, in + which I cannot but consider Mr Mitford as having failed, he will record, + indeed, all that is interesting and important in military and political + transactions; but he will not think anything too trivial for the gravity + of history which is not too trivial to promote or diminish the happiness + of man. He will portray in vivid colours the domestic society, the + manners, the amusements, the conversation of the Greeks. He will not + disdain to discuss the state of agriculture, of the mechanical arts, and + of the conveniences of life. The progress of painting, of sculpture, and + of architecture, will form an important part of his plan. But, above all, + his attention will be given to the history of that splendid literature + from which has sprung all the strength, the wisdom, the freedom, and the + glory, of the western world. + </p> + <p> + Of the indifference which Mr Mitford shows on this subject I will not + speak; for I cannot speak with fairness. It is a subject on which I love + to forget the accuracy of a judge, in the veneration of a worshipper and + the gratitude of a child. If we consider merely the subtlety of + disquisition, the force of imagination, the perfect energy and elegance of + expression which characterise the great works of Athenian genius, we must + pronounce them intrinsically most valuable; but what shall we say when we + reflect that from hence have sprung directly or indirectly, all the + noblest creations of the human intellect; that from hence were the vast + accomplishments and the brilliant fancy of Cicero; the withering fire of + Juvenal; the plastic imagination of Dante; the humour of Cervantes; the + comprehension of Bacon; the wit of Butler; the supreme and universal + excellence of Shakspeare? All the triumphs of truth and genius over + prejudice and power, in every country and in every age, have been the + triumphs of Athens. Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against + violence and fraud, in the cause of liberty and reason, there has been her + spirit in the midst of them; inspiring, encouraging, consoling;—by + the lonely lamp of Erasmus; by the restless bed of Pascal; in the tribune + of Mirabeau; in the cell of Galileo; on the scaffold of Sidney. But who + shall estimate her influence on private happiness? Who shall say how many + thousands have been made wiser, happier, and better, by those pursuits in + which she has taught mankind to engage: to how many the studies which took + their rise from her have been wealth in poverty,—liberty in bondage,—health + in sickness,—society in solitude? Her power is indeed manifested at + the bar, in the senate, in the field of battle, in the schools of + philosophy. But these are not her glory. Wherever literature consoles + sorrow, or assuages pain,—wherever it brings gladness to eyes which + fail with wakefulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long + sleep,—there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal + influence of Athens. + </p> + <p> + The dervise, in the Arabian tale, did not hesitate to abandon to his + comrade the camels with their load of jewels and gold, while he retained + the casket of that mysterious juice which enabled him to behold at one + glance all the hidden riches of the universe. Surely it is no exaggeration + to say that no external advantage is to be compared with that purification + of the intellectual eye which gives us to contemplate the infinite wealth + of the mental world, all the hoarded treasures of its primeval dynasties, + all the shapeless ore of its yet unexplored mines. This is the gift of + Athens to man. Her freedom and her power have for more than twenty + centuries been annihilated; her people have degenerated into timid slaves; + her language into a barbarous jargon; her temples have been given up to + the successive depredations of Romans, Turks, and Scotchmen; but her + intellectual empire is imperishable. And when those who have rivalled her + greatness shall have shared her fate; when civilisation and knowledge + shall have fixed their abode in distant continents; when the sceptre shall + have passed away from England; when, perhaps, travellers from distant + regions shall in vain labour to decipher on some mouldering pedestal the + name of our proudest chief; shall hear savage hymns chaunted to some + misshapen idol over the ruined dome of our proudest temple; and shall see + a single naked fisherman wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand + masts;—her influence and her glory will still survive,—fresh + in eternal youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the + intellectual principle from which they derived their origin, and over + which they exercise their control. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Miscellaneous Writings and +Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4), by Thomas Babington Macaulay + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + +***** This file should be named 2167-h.htm or 2167-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/6/2167/ + +Produced by Mike Alder, Sue Asscher and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4) + Contibutions to Knight's Quarterly Magazine] + +Author: Thomas Babington Macaulay + +Posting Date: June 14, 2008 [EBook #2167] +Release Date: May, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + + + + +Produced by Mike Alder and Sue Asscher + + + + + +THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF LORD MACAULAY + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE + +By By Thomas Babington Macaulay + +VOLUME I. + + + + +PREFACE. + +Lord Macaulay always looked forward to a publication of his +miscellaneous works, either by himself or by those who should represent +him after his death. And latterly he expressly reserved, whenever +the arrangements as to copyright made it necessary, the right of such +publication. + +The collection which is now published comprehends some of the earliest +and some of the latest works which he composed. He was born on 25th +October, 1800; commenced residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, in +October, 1818; was elected Craven University Scholar in 1821; graduated +as B.A. in 1822; was elected fellow of the college in October, 1824; +was called to the bar in February, 1826, when he joined the Northern +Circuit; and was elected member for Calne in 1830. After this last +event, he did not long continue to practise at the bar. He went to India +in 1834, whence he returned in June, 1838. He was elected member for +Edinburgh, in 1839, and lost this seat in July, 1847; and this (though +he was afterwards again elected for that city in July, 1852, without +being a candidate) may be considered as the last instance of his taking +an active part in the contests of public life. These few dates are +mentioned for the purpose of enabling the reader to assign the articles, +now and previously published, to the principal periods into which the +author's life may be divided. + +The admirers of his later works will probably be interested by watching +the gradual formation of his style, and will notice in his earlier +productions, vigorous and clear as their language always was, the +occurrence of faults against which he afterwards most anxiously guarded +himself. A much greater interest will undoubtedly be felt in tracing the +date and development of his opinions. + +The articles published in Knight's Quarterly Magazine were composed +during the author's residence at college, as B.A. It may be remarked +that the first two of these exhibit the earnestness with which he +already endeavoured to represent to himself and to others the scenes and +persons of past times as in actual existence. Of the Dialogue between +Milton and Cowley he spoke, many years after its publication, as that +one of his works which he remembered with most satisfaction. The article +on Mitford's Greece he did not himself value so highly as others thought +it deserved. This article, at any rate, contains the first distinct +enunciation of his views, as to the office of an historian, views +afterwards more fully set forth in his Essay, upon History, in the +Edinburgh Review. From the protest, in the last mentioned essay, against +the conventional notions respecting the majesty of history might perhaps +have been anticipated something like the third chapter of the History +of England. It may be amusing to notice that in the article on Mitford, +appears the first sketch of the New Zealander, afterwards filled up in +a passage in the review of Mrs Austin's translation of Ranke, a passage +which at one time was the subject of allusion, two or three times a +week, in speeches and leading articles. In this, too, appear, perhaps +for the first time, the author's views on the representative system. +These he retained to the very last; they are brought forward repeatedly +in the articles published in this collection and elsewhere, and in his +speeches in parliament; and they coincide with the opinions expressed in +the letter to an American correspondent, which was so often cited in the +late debate on the Reform Bill. + +Some explanation appears to be necessary as to the publication of the +three articles "Mill on Government," "Westminster Reviewer's Defence of +Mill" and "Utilitarian Theory of Government." + +In 1828 Mr James Mill, the author of the History of British India, +reprinted some essays which he had contributed to the Supplement to the +Encyclopaedia Britannica; and among these was an Essay on Government. +The method of inquiry and reasoning adopted in this essay appeared +to Macaulay to be essentially wrong. He entertained a very strong +conviction that the only sound foundation for a theory of Government +must be laid in careful and copious historical induction; and he +believed that Mr Mill's work rested upon a vicious reasoning a priori. +Upon this point he felt the more earnestly, owing to his own passion for +historical research, and to his devout admiration of Bacon, whose works +he was at that time studying with intense attention. There can, however, +be little doubt that he was also provoked by the pretensions of some +members of a sect which then commonly went by the name of Benthamites, +or Utilitarians. This sect included many of his contemporaries, who had +quitted Cambridge at about the same time with him. It had succeeded, in +some measure, to the sect of the Byronians, whom he has described in the +review of Moore's Life of Lord Byron, who discarded their neckcloths, +and fixed little models of skulls on the sand-glasses by which they +regulated the boiling of their eggs for breakfast. The members of these +sects, and of many others that have succeeded, have probably long ago +learned to smile at the temporary humours. But Macaulay, himself a +sincere admirer of Bentham, was irritated by what he considered the +unwarranted tone assumed by several of the class of Utilitarians. "We +apprehend," he said, "that many of them are persons who, having read +little or nothing, are delighted to be rescued from the sense of their +own inferiority by some teacher who assures them that the studies which +they have neglected are of no value, puts five or six phrases into their +mouths, lends them an odd number of the Westminster Review, and in +a month transforms them into philosophers;" and he spoke of them as +"smatterers, whose attainments just suffice to elevate them from the +insignificance of dunces to the dignity of bores, and to spread dismay +among their pious aunts and grand mothers." The sect, of course, like +other sects, comprehended some pretenders, and these the most arrogant +and intolerant among its members. He, however, went so far as to apply +the following language to the majority:--"As to the greater part of +the sect, it is, we apprehend, of little consequence what they study or +under whom. It would be more amusing, to be sure, and more reputable, if +they would take up the old republican cant and declaim about Brutus and +Timoleon, the duty of killing tyrants and the blessedness of dying for +liberty. But, on the whole, they might have chosen worse. They may as +well be Utilitarians as jockeys or dandies. And, though quibbling about +self-interest and motives, and objects of desire, and the greatest +happiness of the greatest number, is but a poor employment for a grown +man, it certainly hurts the health less than hard drinking and the +fortune less than high play; it is not much more laughable than +phrenology, and is immeasurably more humane than cock-fighting." + +Macaulay inserted in the Edinburgh Review of March, 1829, an article +upon Mr Mill's Essay. He attacked the method with much vehemence; and, +to the end of his life, he never saw any ground for believing that in +this he had gone too far. But before long he felt that he had not spoken +of the author of the Essay with the respect due to so eminent a man. In +1833, he described Mr mill, during the debate on the India Bill of that +year, as a "gentleman extremely well acquainted with the affairs of our +Eastern Empire, a most valuable servant of the Company, and the author +of a history of India, which, though certainly not free from faults, is, +I think, on the whole, the greatest historical work which has appeared +in our language since that of Gibbon." + +Almost immediately upon the appearance of the article in the Edinburgh +Review, an answer was published in the Westminster Review. It was +untruly attributed, in the newspapers of the day, to Mr Bentham himself. +Macaulay's answer to this appeared in the Edinburgh Review, June, 1829. +He wrote the answer under the belief that he was answering Mr Bentham, +and was undeceived in time only to add the postscript. The author of the +article in the Westminster Review had not perceived that the question +raised was not as to the truth or falsehood of the result at which Mr +Mill had arrived, but as to the soundness or unsoundness of the method +which he pursued; a misunderstanding at which Macaulay, while he +supposed the article to be the work of Mr Bentham, expressed much +surprise. The controversy soon became principally a dispute as to the +theory which was commonly known by the name of The Greatest Happiness +Principle. Another article in the Westminster Review followed; and +a surrejoinder by Macaulay in the Edinburgh Review of October, 1829. +Macaulay was irritated at what he conceived to be either extreme +dullness or gross unfairness on the part of his unknown antagonist, and +struck as hard as he could; and he struck very hard indeed. + +The ethical question thus raised was afterwards discussed by Sir James +Mackintosh, in the Dissertation contributed by him to the seventh +edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 284-313 (Whewell's +Edition). Sir James Mackintosh notices the part taken in the controversy +by Macaulay, in the following words: "A writer of consummate ability, +who has failed in little but the respect due to the abilities and +character of his opponents, has given too much countenance to the abuse +and confusion of language exemplified in the well-known verse of Pope, + + 'Modes of self-love the Passions we may call.' + +'We know,' says he, 'no universal proposition respecting human nature +which is true but one--that men always act from self-interest.'" "It +is manifest from the sequel, that the writer is not the dupe of the +confusion; but many of his readers may be so. If, indeed, the word +"self-interest" could with propriety be used for the gratification of +every prevalent desire, he has clearly shown that this change in the +signification of terms would be of no advantage to the doctrine which he +controverts. It would make as many sorts of self-interest as there +are appetites, and it is irreconcilably at variance with the system of +association proposed by Mr Mill." "The admirable writer whose language +has occasioned this illustration, who at an early age has mastered every +species of composition, will doubtless hold fast to simplicity, which +survives all the fashions of deviation from it, and which a man of +genius so fertile has few temptations to for sake." + +When Macaulay selected for publication certain articles of the Edinburgh +Review, he resolved not to publish any of the three essays in question; +for which he assigned the following reason:-- + +"The author has been strongly urged to insert three papers on the +Utilitarian Philosophy, which, when they first appeared, attracted +some notice, but which are not in the American editions. He has however +determined to omit these papers, not because he is disposed to retract a +single doctrine which they contain, but because he is unwilling to offer +what might be regarded as an affront to the memory of one from whose +opinions he still widely dissents, but to whose talents and virtues he +admits that he formerly did not do justice. Serious as are the faults of +the Essay on Government, a critic, while noticing those faults, should +have abstained from using contemptuous language respecting the historian +of British India. It ought to be known that Mr Mill had the generosity, +not only to forgive, but to forget the unbecoming acrimony with which he +had been assailed, and was, when his valuable life closed, on terms of +cordial friendship with his assailant." + +Under these circumstances, considerable doubt has been felt as to the +propriety of republishing the three Essays in the present collection. +But it has been determined, not without much hesitation, that they +should appear. It is felt that no disrespect is shown to the memory of +Mr Mill, when the publication is accompanied by so full an apology for +the tone adopted towards him; and Mr Mill himself would have been the +last to wish for the suppression of opinions on the ground that they +were in express antagonism to his own. The grave has now closed upon the +assailant as well as the assailed. On the other hand, it cannot but +be desirable that opinions which the author retained to the last, on +important questions in politics and morals, should be before the public. + +Some of the poems now collected have already appeared in print; others +are supplied by the recollection of friends. The first two are published +on account of their having been composed in the author's childhood. In +the poems, as well as in the prose works, will be occasionally found +thoughts and expressions which have afterwards been adopted in later +productions. + +No alteration whatever has been made from the form in which the author +left the several articles, with the exception of some changes in +punctuation, and the correction of one or two obvious misprints. + +T.F.E. London, June 1860. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + +Fragments of a Roman Tale. (June 1823.) + +On the Royal Society of Literature. (June 1823.) + +Scenes from "Athenian Revels." (January 1824.) + +Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. I. Dante. (January +1824.) + +Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. II. Petrarch. (April +1824.) + +Some account of the Great Lawsuit between the Parishes of St Dennis and +St George in the Water. (April 1824.) + +A Conversation between Mr Abraham Cowley and Mr John Milton, touching +the Great Civil War. (August 1824.) + +On the Athenian Orators. (August 1824.) + +A Prophetic Account of a Grand National Epic Poem, to be entitled "The +Wellingtoniad," and to be Published A.D. 2824. (November 1824.) + +On Mitford's History of Greece. (November 1824.) + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY. + + + + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + + + + +FRAGMENTS OF A ROMAN TALE. (June 1823.) + + +It was an hour after noon. Ligarius was returning from the Campus +Martius. He strolled through one of the streets which led to the Forum, +settling his gown, and calculating the odds on the gladiators who were +to fence at the approaching Saturnalia. While thus occupied, he overtook +Flaminius, who, with a heavy step and a melancholy face, was sauntering +in the same direction. The light-hearted young man plucked him by the +sleeve. + +"Good-day, Flaminius. Are you to be of Catiline's party this evening?" + +"Not I." + +"Why so? Your little Tarentine girl will break her heart." + +"No matter. Catiline has the best cooks and the finest wine in Rome. +There are charming women at his parties. But the twelve-line board and +the dice-box pay for all. The Gods confound me if I did not lose two +millions of sesterces last night. My villa at Tibur, and all the +statues that my father the praetor brought from Ephesus, must go to +the auctioneer. That is a high price, you will acknowledge, even for +Phoenicopters, Chian, and Callinice." + +"High indeed, by Pollux." + +"And that is not the worst. I saw several of the leading senators this +morning. Strange things are whispered in the higher political circles." + +"The Gods confound the political circles. I have hated the name of +politician ever since Sylla's proscription, when I was within a moment +of having my throat cut by a politician, who took me for another +politician. While there is a cask of Falernian in Campania, or a girl in +the Suburra, I shall be too well employed to think on the subject." + +"You will do well," said Flaminius gravely, "to bestow some little +consideration upon it at present. Otherwise, I fear, you will soon renew +your acquaintance with politicians, in a manner quite as unpleasant as +that to which you allude." + +"Averting Gods! what do you mean?" + +"I will tell you. There are rumours of conspiracy. The order of things +established by Lucius Sylla has excited the disgust of the people, and +of a large party of the nobles. Some violent convulsion is expected." + +"What is that to me? I suppose that they will hardly proscribe the +vintners and gladiators, or pass a law compelling every citizen to take +a wife." + +"You do not understand. Catiline is supposed to be the author of the +revolutionary schemes. You must have heard bold opinions at his table +repeatedly." + +"I never listen to any opinions upon such subjects, bold or timid." + +"Look to it. Your name has been mentioned." + +"Mine! good Gods! I call Heaven to witness that I never so much as +mentioned Senate, Consul, or Comitia, in Catiline's house." + +"Nobody suspects you of any participation in the inmost counsels of the +party. But our great men surmise that you are among those whom he has +bribed so high with beauty, or entangled so deeply in distress, that +they are no longer their own masters. I shall never set foot within +his threshold again. I have been solemnly warned by men who understand +public affairs; and I advise you to be cautious." + +The friends had now turned into the Forum, which was thronged with +the gay and elegant youth of Rome. "I can tell you more," continued +Flaminius; "somebody was remarking to the Consul yesterday how loosely a +certain acquaintance of ours tied his girdle. 'Let him look to himself;' +said Cicero, 'or the state may find a tighter girdle for his neck.'" + +"Good Gods! who is it? You cannot surely mean"-- + +"There he is." + +Flaminius pointed to a man who was pacing up and down the Forum at a +little distance from them. He was in the prime of manhood. His +personal advantages were extremely striking, and were displayed with an +extravagant but not ungraceful foppery. His gown waved in loose folds; +his long dark curls were dressed with exquisite art, and shone and +steamed with odours; his step and gesture exhibited an elegant +and commanding figure in every posture of polite languor. But his +countenance formed a singular contrast to the general appearance of +his person. The high and imperial brow, the keen aquiline features, the +compressed mouth; the penetrating eye, indicated the highest degree of +ability and decision. He seemed absorbed in intense meditation. With +eyes fixed on the ground, and lips working in thought, he sauntered +round the area, apparently unconscious how many of the young gallants +of Rome were envying the taste of his dress, and the ease of his +fashionable stagger. + +"Good Heaven!" said Ligarius, "Caius Caesar is as unlikely to be in a +plot as I am." + +"Not at all." + +"He does nothing but game; feast, intrigue, read Greek, and write +verses." + +"You know nothing of Caesar. Though he rarely addresses the Senate, +he is considered as the finest speaker there, after the Consul. His +influence with the multitude is immense. He will serve his rivals in +public life as he served me last night at Catiline's. We were playing at +the twelve lines. (Duodecim scripta, a game of mixed chance and skill, +which seems to have been very fashionable in the higher circles of +Rome. The famous lawyer Mucius was renowned for his skill in it.--"Cic. +Orat." i. 50.)--Immense stakes. He laughed all the time, chatted with +Valeria over his shoulder, kissed her hand between every two moves, and +scarcely looked at the board. I thought that I had him. All at once +I found my counters driven into the corner. Not a piece to move, +by Hercules. It cost me two millions of sesterces. All the Gods and +Goddesses confound him for it!" + +"As to Valeria," said Ligarius, "I forgot to ask whether you have heard +the news." + +"Not a word. What?" + +"I was told at the baths to-day that Caesar escorted the lady home. +Unfortunately old Quintus Lutatius had come back from his villa in +Campania, in a whim of jealousy. He was not expected for three days. +There was a fine tumult. The old fool called for his sword and his +slaves, cursed his wife, and swore that he would cut Caesar's throat." + +"And Caesar?" + +"He laughed, quoted Anacreon, trussed his gown round his left arm, +closed with Quintus, flung him down, twisted his sword out of his hand, +burst through the attendants, ran a freed-man through the shoulder, and +was in the street in an instant." + +"Well done! Here he comes. Good-day, Caius." + +Caesar lifted his head at the salutation. His air of deep abstraction +vanished; and he extended a hand to each of the friends. + +"How are you after your last night's exploit?" + +"As well as possible," said Caesar, laughing. + +"In truth we should rather ask how Quintus Lutatius is." + +"He, I understand, is as well as can be expected of a man with a +faithless spouse and a broken head. His freed-man is most seriously +hurt. Poor fellow! he shall have half of whatever I win to-night. +Flaminius, you shall have your revenge at Catiline's." + +"You are very kind. I do not intend to be at Catiline's till I wish to +part with my town-house. My villa is gone already." + +"Not at Catiline's, base spirit! You are not of his mind, my gallant +Ligarius. Dice, Chian, and the loveliest Greek singing girl that was +ever seen. Think of that, Ligarius. By Venus, she almost made me adore +her, by telling me that I talked Greek with the most Attic accent that +she had heard in Italy." + +"I doubt she will not say the same of me," replied Ligarius. "I am just +as able to decipher an obelisk as to read a line of Homer." + +"You barbarous Scythian, who had the care of your education?" + +"An old fool,--a Greek pedant,--a Stoic. He told me that pain was no +evil, and flogged me as if he thought so. At last one day, in the middle +of a lecture, I set fire to his enormous filthy beard, singed his face, +and sent him roaring out of the house. There ended my studies. From that +time to this I have had as little to do with Greece as the wine that +your poor old friend Lutatius calls his delicious Samian." + +"Well done, Ligarius. I hate a Stoic. I wish Marcus Cato had a beard +that you might singe it for him. The fool talked his two hours in the +Senate yesterday, without changing a muscle of his face. He looked as +savage and as motionless as the mask in which Roscius acted Alecto. I +detest everything connected with him." + +"Except his sister, Servilia." + +"True. She is a lovely woman." + +"They say that you have told her so, Caius" + +"So I have." + +"And that she was not angry." + +"What woman is?" + +"Aye--but they say"-- + +"No matter what they say. Common fame lies like a Greek rhetorician. +You might know so much, Ligarius, without reading the philosophers. But +come, I will introduce you to little dark-eyed Zoe." + +"I tell you I can speak no Greek." + +"More shame for you. It is high time that you should begin. You will +never have such a charming instructress. Of what was your father +thinking when he sent for an old Stoic with a long beard to teach you? +There is no language-mistress like a handsome woman. When I was at +Athens, I learnt more Greek from a pretty flower-girl in the Peiraeus +than from all the Portico and the Academy. She was no Stoic, Heaven +knows. But come along to Zoe. I will be your interpreter. Woo her in +honest Latin, and I will turn it into elegant Greek between the throws +of dice. I can make love and mind my game at once, as Flaminius can tell +you. + +"Well, then, to be plain, Caesar, Flaminius has been talking to me about +plots, and suspicions, and politicians. I never plagued myself with such +things since Sylla's and Marius's days; and then I never could see much +difference between the parties. All that I am sure of is, that those who +meddle with such affairs are generally stabbed or strangled. And, though +I like Greek wine and handsome women, I do not wish to risk my neck for +them. Now, tell me as a friend, Caius--is there no danger?" + +"Danger!" repeated Caesar, with a short, fierce, disdainful laugh: "what +danger do you apprehend?" + +"That you should best know," said Flaminius; "you are far more intimate +with Catiline than I. But I advise you to be cautious. The leading men +entertain strong suspicions." + +Caesar drew up his figure from its ordinary state of graceful relaxation +into an attitude of commanding dignity, and replied in a voice of +which the deep and impassioned melody formed a strange contrast to +the humorous and affected tone of his ordinary conversation. "Let them +suspect. They suspect because they know what they have deserved. What +have they done for Rome?--What for mankind? Ask the citizens--ask the +provinces. Have they had any other object than to perpetuate their +own exclusive power, and to keep us under the yoke of an oligarchical +tyranny, which unites in itself the worst evils of every other system, +and combines more than Athenian turbulence with more than Persian +despotism?" + +"Good Gods! Caesar. It is not safe for you to speak, or for us to listen +to, such things, at such a crisis." + +"Judge for yourselves what you will hear. I will judge for myself what +I will speak. I was not twenty years old when I defied Lucius Sylla, +surrounded by the spears of legionaries and the daggers of assassins. +Do you suppose that I stand in awe of his paltry successors, who have +inherited a power which they never could have acquired; who would +imitate his proscriptions, though they have never equalled his +conquests?" + +"Pompey is almost as little to be trifled with as Sylla. I heard a +consular senator say that, in consequence of the present alarming state +of affairs, he would probably be recalled from the command assigned to +him by the Manilian law." + +"Let him come,--the pupil of Sylla's butcheries,--the gleaner of +Lucullus's trophies,--the thief-taker of the Senate." + +"For Heaven's sake, Caius!--if you knew what the Consul said"-- + +"Something about himself, no doubt. Pity that such talents should be +coupled with such cowardice and coxcombry. He is the finest speaker +living,--infinitely superior to what Hortensius was, in his best +days;--a charming companion, except when he tells over for the twentieth +time all the jokes that he made at Verres's trial. But he is the +despicable tool of a despicable party." + +"Your language, Caius, convinces me that the reports which have been +circulated are not without foundation. I will venture to prophesy that +within a few months the republic will pass through a whole Odyssey of +strange adventures." + +"I believe so; an Odyssey, of which Pompey will be the Polyphemus, and +Cicero the Siren. I would have the state imitate Ulysses: show no +mercy to the former; but contrive, if it can be done, to listen to +the enchanting voice of the other, without being seduced by it to +destruction." + +"But whom can your party produce as rivals to these two famous leaders?" + +"Time will show. I would hope that there may arise a man, whose genius +to conquer, to conciliate, and to govern, may unite in one cause an +oppressed and divided people;--may do all that Sylla should have done, +and exhibit the magnificent spectacle of a great nation directed by a +great mind." + +"And where is such a man to be found?" + +"Perhaps where you would least expect to find him. Perhaps he may be +one whose powers have hitherto been concealed in domestic or literary +retirement. Perhaps he may be one, who, while waiting for some adequate +excitement, for some worthy opportunity, squanders on trifles a genius +before which may yet be humbled the sword of Pompey and the gown +of Cicero. Perhaps he may now be disputing with a sophist; perhaps +prattling with a mistress; perhaps" and, as he spoke, he turned away, +and resumed his lounge, "strolling in the Forum." + +***** + +It was almost midnight. The party had separated. Catiline and Cethegus +were still conferring in the supper-room, which was, as usual, the +highest apartment of the house. It formed a cupola, from which windows +opened on the flat roof that surrounded it. To this terrace Zoe had +retired. With eyes dimmed with fond and melancholy tears, she leaned +over the balustrade, to catch the last glimpse of the departing form of +Caesar, as it grew more and more indistinct in the moonlight. Had he +any thought of her? Any love for her? He, the favourite of the high-born +beauties of Rome, the most splendid, the most graceful, the most +eloquent of its nobles? It could not be. His voice had, indeed, been +touchingly soft whenever he addressed her. There had been a fascinating +tenderness even in the vivacity of his look and conversation. But such +were always the manners of Caesar towards women. He had wreathed a sprig +of myrtle in her hair as she was singing. She took it from her dark +ringlets, and kissed it, and wept over it, and thought of the sweet +legends of her own dear Greece,--of youths and girls, who, pining away +in hopeless love, had been transformed into flowers by the compassion +of the Gods; and she wished to become a flower, which Caesar might +sometimes touch, though he should touch it only to weave a crown for +some prouder and happier mistress. + +She was roused from her musings by the loud step and voice of Cethegus, +who was pacing furiously up and down the supper-room. + +"May all the Gods confound me, if Caesar be not the deepest traitor, or +the most miserable idiot, that ever intermeddled with a plot!" + +Zoe shuddered. She drew nearer to the window. She stood concealed from +observation by the curtain of fine network which hung over the aperture, +to exclude the annoying insects of the climate. + +"And you too!" continued Cethegus, turning fiercely on his accomplice; +"you to take his part against me!--you, who proposed the scheme +yourself!" + +"My dear Caius Cethegus, you will not understand me. I proposed the +scheme; and I will join in executing it. But policy is as necessary to +our plans as boldness. I did not wish to startle Caesar--to lose his +co-operation--perhaps to send him off with an information against us to +Cicero and Catulus. He was so indignant at your suggestion that all my +dissimulation was scarcely sufficient to prevent a total rupture." + +"Indignant! The Gods confound him!--He prated about humanity, and +generosity, and moderation. By Hercules, I have not heard such a lecture +since I was with Xenochares at Rhodes." + +"Caesar is made up of inconsistencies. He has boundless ambition, +unquestioned courage, admirable sagacity. Yet I have frequently observed +in him a womanish weakness at the sight of pain. I remember that once +one of his slaves was taken ill while carrying his litter. He alighted, +put the fellow in his place and walked home in a fall of snow. I wonder +that you could be so ill-advised as to talk to him of massacre, +and pillage, and conflagration. You might have foreseen that such +propositions would disgust a man of his temper." + +"I do not know. I have not your self-command, Lucius. I hate +such conspirators. What is the use of them? We must have +blood--blood,--hacking and tearing work--bloody work!" + +"Do not grind your teeth, my dear Caius; and lay down the carving-knife. +By Hercules, you have cut up all the stuffing of the couch." + +"No matter; we shall have couches enough soon,--and down to stuff +them with,--and purple to cover them,--and pretty women to loll +on them,--unless this fool, and such as he, spoil our plans. I had +something else to say. The essenced fop wishes to seduce Zoe from me." + +"Impossible! You misconstrue the ordinary gallantries which he is in the +habit of paying to every handsome face." + +"Curse on his ordinary gallantries, and his verses, and his compliments, +and his sprigs of myrtle! If Caesar should dare--by Hercules, I will +tear him to pieces in the middle of the Forum." + +"Trust his destruction to me. We must use his talents and +influence--thrust him upon every danger--make him our instrument while +we are contending--our peace-offering to the Senate if we fail--our +first victim if we succeed." + +"Hark! what noise was that?" + +"Somebody in the terrace--lend me your dagger." + +Catiline rushed to the window. Zoe was standing in the shade. He stepped +out. She darted into the room--passed like a flash of lightning by the +startled Cethegus--flew down the stairs--through the court--through +the vestibule--through the street. Steps, voices, lights, came fast and +confusedly behind her; but with the speed of love and terror she gained +upon her pursuers. She fled through the wilderness of unknown and dusky +streets, till she found herself, breathless and exhausted, in the midst +of a crowd of gallants, who, with chaplets on their heads and torches in +their hands, were reeling from the portico of a stately mansion. + +The foremost of the throng was a youth whose slender figure and +beautiful countenance seemed hardly consistent with his sex. But the +feminine delicacy of his features rendered more frightful the mingled +sensuality and ferocity of their expression. The libertine audacity of +his stare, and the grotesque foppery of his apparel, seemed to indicate +at least a partial insanity. Flinging one arm round Zoe, and tearing +away her veil with the other, he disclosed to the gaze of his thronging +companions the regular features and large dark eyes which characterise +Athenian beauty. + +"Clodius has all the luck to-night," cried Ligarius. + +"Not so, by Hercules," said Marcus Coelius; "the girl is fairly our +common prize: we will fling dice for her. The Venus (Venus was the Roman +term for the highest throw of the dice.) throw, as it ought to do, shall +decide." + +"Let me go--let me go, for Heaven's sake," cried Zoe, struggling with +Clodius. + +"What a charming Greek accent she has! Come into the house, my little +Athenian nightingale." + +"Oh! what will become of me? If you have mothers--if you have sisters"-- + +"Clodius has a sister," muttered Ligarius, "or he is much belied." + +"By Heaven, she is weeping," said Clodius. + +"If she were not evidently a Greek," said Coelius, "I should take her +for a vestal virgin." + +"And if she were a vestal virgin," cried Clodius fiercely, "it should +not deter me. This way;--no struggling--no screaming." + +"Struggling! screaming!" exclaimed a gay and commanding voice; "You are +making very ungentle love, Clodius." + +The whole party started. Caesar had mingled with them unperceived. + +The sound of his voice thrilled through the very heart of Zoe. With +a convulsive effort she burst from the grasp of her insolent admirer, +flung herself at the feet of Caesar, and clasped his knees. The moon +shone full on her agitated and imploring face: her lips moved; but she +uttered no sound. He gazed at her for an instant--raised her--clasped +her to his bosom. "Fear nothing, my sweet Zoe." Then, with folded +arms, and a smile of placid defiance, he placed himself between her and +Clodius. + +Clodius staggered forward, flushed with wine and rage, and uttering +alternately a curse and a hiccup. + +"By Pollux, this passes a jest. Caesar, how dare you insult me thus?" + +"A jest! I am as serious as a Jew on the Sabbath. Insult you; for such a +pair of eyes I would insult the whole consular bench, or I should be as +insensible as King Psammis's mummy." + +"Good Gods, Caesar!" said Marcus Coelius, interposing; "you cannot think +it worth while to get into a brawl for a little Greek girl!" + +"Why not? The Greek girls have used me as well as those of Rome. +Besides, the whole reputation of my gallantry is at stake. Give up such +a lovely woman to that drunken boy! My character would be gone for ever. +No more perfumed tablets, full of vows and raptures. No more toying with +fingers at the circus. No more evening walks along the Tiber. No more +hiding in chests or jumping from windows. I, the favoured suitor of half +the white stoles in Rome, could never again aspire above a freed-woman. +You a man of gallantry, and think of such a thing! For shame, my dear +Coelius! Do not let Clodia hear of it." + +While Caesar spoke he had been engaged in keeping Clodius at +arm's-length. The rage of the frantic libertine increased as the +struggle continued. "Stand back, as you value your life," he cried; "I +will pass." + +"Not this way, sweet Clodius. I have too much regard for you to suffer +you to make love at such disadvantage. You smell too much of Falernian +at present. Would you stifle your mistress? By Hercules, you are fit +to kiss nobody now, except old Piso, when he is tumbling home in the +morning from the vintners." + +Clodius plunged his hand into his bosom and drew a little dagger, the +faithful companion of many desperate adventures. + +"Oh, Gods! he will be murdered!" cried Zoe. + +The whole throng of revellers was in agitation. The street fluctuated +with torches and lifted hands. It was but for a moment. Caesar watched +with a steady eye the descending hand of Clodius, arrested the blow, +seized his antagonist by the throat, and flung him against one of the +pillars of the portico with such violence, that he rolled, stunned and +senseless, on the ground. + +"He is killed," cried several voices. + +"Fair self-defence, by Hercules!" said Marcus Coelius. "Bear witness, +you all saw him draw his dagger." + +"He is not dead--he breathes," said Ligarius. "Carry him into the house; +he is dreadfully bruised." + +The rest of the party retired with Clodius. Coelius turned to Caesar. + +"By all the Gods, Caius! you have won your lady fairly. A splendid +victory! You deserve a triumph." + +"What a madman Clodius has become!" + +"Intolerable. But come and sup with me on the Nones. You have no +objection to meet the Consul?" + +"Cicero? None at all. We need not talk politics. Our old dispute about +Plato and Epicurus will furnish us with plenty of conversation. So +reckon upon me, my dear Marcus, and farewell." + +Caesar and Zoe turned away. As soon as they were beyond hearing, she +began in great agitation:-- + +"Caesar, you are in danger. I know all. I overheard Catiline and +Cethegus. You are engaged in a project which must lead to certain +destruction." + +"My beautiful Zoe, I live only for glory and pleasure. For these I have +never hesitated to hazard an existence which they alone render valuable +to me. In the present case, I can assure you that our scheme presents +the fairest hopes of success." + +"So much the worse. You do not know--you do not understand me. I +speak not of open peril, but of secret treachery. Catiline hates +you;--Cethegus hates you;--your destruction is resolved. If you survive +the contest, you perish in the first hour of victory. They detest you +for your moderation; they are eager for blood and plunder. I have +risked my life to bring you this warning; but that is of little moment. +Farewell!--Be happy." + +Caesar stopped her. "Do you fly from my thanks, dear Zoe?" + +"I wish not for your thanks, but for your safety;--I desire not to +defraud Valeria or Servilia of one caress, extorted from gratitude or +pity. Be my feelings what they may, I have learnt in a fearful school to +endure and to suppress them. I have been taught to abase a proud spirit +to the claps and hisses of the vulgar;--to smile on suitors who united +the insults of a despicable pride to the endearments of a loathsome +fondness;--to affect sprightliness with an aching head, and eyes from +which tears were ready to gush;--to feign love with curses on my lips, +and madness in my brain. Who feels for me any esteem,--any tenderness? +Who will shed a tear over the nameless grave which will soon shelter +from cruelty and scorn the broken heart of the poor Athenian girl? But +you, who alone have addressed her in her degradation with a voice +of kindness and respect, farewell. Sometimes think of me,--not with +sorrow;--no; I could bear your ingratitude, but not your distress. Yet, +if it will not pain you too much, in distant days, when your lofty +hopes and destinies are accomplished,--on the evening of some mighty +victory,--in the chariot of some magnificent triumph,--think on one who +loved you with that exceeding love which only the miserable can feel. +Think that, wherever her exhausted frame may have sunk beneath the +sensibilities of a tortured spirit,--in whatever hovel or whatever vault +she may have closed her eyes,--whatever strange scenes of horror and +pollution may have surrounded her dying bed, your shape was the last +that swam before her sight--your voice the last sound that was ringing +in her ears. Yet turn your face to me, Caesar. Let me carry away one +last look of those features, and then "--He turned round. He looked at +her. He hid his face on her bosom, and burst into tears. With sobs long +and loud, and convulsive as those of a terrified child, he poured forth +on her bosom the tribute of impetuous and uncontrollable emotion. He +raised his head; but he in vain struggled to restore composure to the +brow which had confronted the frown of Sylla, and the lips which had +rivalled the eloquence of Cicero. He several times attempted to speak, +but in vain; and his voice still faltered with tenderness, when, after a +pause of several minutes, he thus addressed her: + +"My own dear Zoe, your love has been bestowed on one who, if he +cannot merit, can at least appreciate and adore you. Beings of similar +loveliness, and similar devotedness of affection, mingled, in all my +boyish dreams of greatness, with visions of curule chairs and ivory +cars, marshalled legions and laurelled fasces. Such I have endeavoured +to find in the world; and, in their stead, I have met with selfishness, +with vanity, with frivolity, with falsehood. The life which you have +preserved is a boon less valuable than the affection "-- + +"Oh! Caesar," interrupted the blushing Zoe, "think only on your own +security at present. If you feel as you speak,--but you are only mocking +me,--or perhaps your compassion "-- + +"By Heaven!--by every oath that is binding "-- + +"Alas! alas! Caesar, were not all the same oaths sworn yesterday to +Valeria? But I will trust you, at least so far as to partake your +present dangers. Flight may be necessary:--form your plans. Be they what +they may, there is one who, in exile, in poverty, in peril, asks only to +wander, to beg, to die with you." + +"My Zoe, I do not anticipate any such necessity. To renounce the +conspiracy without renouncing the principles on which it was originally +undertaken,--to elude the vengeance of the Senate without losing +the confidence of the people,--is, indeed, an arduous, but not an +impossible, task. I owe it to myself and to my country to make the +attempt. There is still ample time for consideration. At present I am +too happy in love to think of ambition or danger." + +They had reached the door of a stately palace. Caesar struck it. It was +instantly opened by a slave. Zoe found herself in a magnificent hall, +surrounded by pillars of green marble, between which were ranged the +statues of the long line of Julian nobles. + +"Call Endymion," said Caesar. + +The confidential freed-man made his appearance, not without a slight +smile, which his patron's good nature emboldened him to hazard, at +perceiving the beautiful Athenian. + +"Arm my slaves, Endymion; there are reasons for precaution. Let +them relieve each other on guard during the night. Zoe, my love, my +preserver, why are your cheeks so pale? Let me kiss some bloom into +them. How you tremble! Endymion, a flask of Samian and some fruit. Bring +them to my apartments. This way, my sweet Zoe." + +***** + + + + +ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. (June 1823.) + +This is the age of societies. There is scarcely one Englishman in ten +who has not belonged to some association for distributing books, or for +prosecuting them; for sending invalids to the hospital, or beggars to +the treadmill; for giving plate to the rich, or blankets to the poor. +To be the most absurd institution among so many institutions is no small +distinction; it seems, however, to belong indisputably to the Royal +Society of Literature. At the first establishment of that ridiculous +academy, every sensible man predicted that, in spite of regal patronage +and episcopal management, it would do nothing, or do harm. And it will +scarcely be denied that those expectations have hitherto been fulfilled. + +I do not attack the founders of the association. Their characters are +respectable; their motives, I am willing to believe, were laudable. +But I feel, and it is the duty of every literary man to feel, a strong +jealousy of their proceedings. Their society can be innocent only while +it continues to be despicable. Should they ever possess the power to +encourage merit, they must also possess the power to depress it. Which +power will be more frequently exercised, let every one who has studied +literary history, let every one who has studied human nature, declare. + +Envy and faction insinuate themselves into all communities. They +often disturb the peace, and pervert the decisions, of benevolent and +scientific associations. But it is in literary academies that they exert +the most extensive and pernicious influence. In the first place, the +principles of literary criticism, though equally fixed with those on +which the chemist and the surgeon proceed, are by no means equally +recognised. Men are rarely able to assign a reason for their approbation +or dislike on questions of taste; and therefore they willingly submit +to any guide who boldly asserts his claim to superior discernment. It is +more difficult to ascertain and establish the merits of a poem than +the powers of a machine or the benefits of a new remedy. Hence it is +in literature, that quackery is most easily puffed, and excellence most +easily decried. + +In some degree this argument applies to academies of the fine arts; and +it is fully confirmed by all that I have ever heard of that institution +which annually disfigures the walls of Somerset House with an acre of +spoiled canvas. But a literary tribunal is incomparably more dangerous. +Other societies, at least, have no tendency to call forth any opinions +on those subjects which most agitate and inflame the minds of men. The +sceptic and the zealot, the revolutionist and the placeman, meet on +common ground in a gallery of paintings or a laboratory of science. They +can praise or censure without reference to the differences which exist +between them. In a literary body this can never be the case. Literature +is, and always must be, inseparably blended with politics and theology; +it is the great engine which moves the feelings of a people on the most +momentous questions. It is, therefore, impossible that any society +can be formed so impartial as to consider the literary character of an +individual abstracted from the opinions which his writings inculcate. It +is not to be hoped, perhaps it is not to be wished, that the feelings +of the man should be so completely forgotten in the duties of the +academician. The consequences are evident. The honours and censures +of this Star Chamber of the Muses will be awarded according to the +prejudices of the particular sect or faction which may at the time +predominate. Whigs would canvass against a Southey, Tories against a +Byron. Those who might at first protest against such conduct as unjust +would soon adopt it on the plea of retaliation; and the general good of +literature, for which the society was professedly instituted, would be +forgotten in the stronger claims of political and religious partiality. + +Yet even this is not the worst. Should the institution ever acquire any +influence, it will afford most pernicious facilities to every malignant +coward who may desire to blast a reputation which he envies. It will +furnish a secure ambuscade, behind which the Maroons of literature may +take a certain and deadly aim. The editorial WE has often been fatal +to rising genius; though all the world knows that it is only a form of +speech, very often employed by a single needy blockhead. The academic WE +would have a far greater and more ruinous influence. Numbers, while +they increase the effect, would diminish the shame, of injustice. +The advantages of an open and those of an anonymous attack would be +combined; and the authority of avowal would be united to the security of +concealment. The serpents in Virgil, after they had destroyed Laocoon, +found an asylum from the vengeance of the enraged people behind the +shield of the statue of Minerva. And, in the same manner, everything +that is grovelling and venomous, everything that can hiss, and +everything that can sting, would take sanctuary in the recesses of this +new temple of wisdom. + +The French academy was, of all such associations, the most widely and +the most justly celebrated. It was founded by the greatest of ministers: +it was patronised by successive kings; it numbered in its lists most of +the eminent French writers. Yet what benefit has literature derived from +its labours? What is its history but an uninterrupted record of servile +compliances--of paltry artifices--of deadly quarrels--of perfidious +friendships? Whether governed by the Court, by the Sorbonne, or by +the Philosophers, it was always equally powerful for evil, and equally +impotent for good. I might speak of the attacks by which it attempted +to depress the rising fame of Corneille; I might speak of the reluctance +with which it gave its tardy confirmation to the applauses which the +whole civilised world had bestowed on the genius of Voltaire. I might +prove by overwhelming evidence that, to the latest period of its +existence, even under the superintendence of the all-accomplished +D'Alembert, it continued to be a scene of the fiercest animosities and +the basest intrigues. I might cite Piron's epigrams, and Marmontel's +memoirs, and Montesquieu's letters. But I hasten on to another topic. + +One of the modes by which our Society proposes to encourage merit is the +distribution of prizes. The munificence of the king has enabled it +to offer an annual premium of a hundred guineas for the best essay in +prose, and another of fifty guineas for the best poem, which may be +transmitted to it. This is very laughable. In the first place the +judges may err. Those imperfections of human intellect to which, as the +articles of the Church tell us, even general councils are subject, may +possibly be found even in the Royal Society of Literature. The French +academy, as I have already said, was the most illustrious assembly of +the kind, and numbered among its associates men much more distinguished +than ever will assemble at Mr Hatchard's to rummage the box of the +English Society. Yet this famous body gave a poetical prize, for which +Voltaire was a candidate, to a fellow who wrote some verses about THE +FROZEN AND THE BURNING POLE. + +Yet, granting that the prizes were always awarded to the best +composition, that composition, I say without hesitation, will always be +bad. A prize poem is like a prize sheep. The object of the competitor +for the agricultural premium is to produce an animal fit, not to be +eaten, but to be weighed. Accordingly he pampers his victim into morbid +and unnatural fatness; and, when it is in such a state that it would +be sent away in disgust from any table, he offers it to the judges. The +object of the poetical candidate, in like manner, is to produce, not a +good poem, but a poem of that exact degree of frigidity or bombast which +may appear to his censors to be correct or sublime. Compositions thus +constructed will always be worthless. The few excellences which they may +contain will have an exotic aspect and flavour. In general, prize sheep +are good for nothing but to make tallow candles, and prize poems are +good for nothing but to light them. + +The first subject proposed by the Society to the poets of England was +Dartmoor. I thought that they intended a covert sarcasm at their own +projects. Their institution was a literary Dartmoor scheme;--a plan +for forcing into cultivation the waste lands of intellect,--for raising +poetical produce, by means of bounties, from soil too meagre to have +yielded any returns in the natural course of things. The plan for the +cultivation of Dartmoor has, I hear, been abandoned. I hope that this +may be an omen of the fate of the Society. + +In truth, this seems by no means improbable. They have been offering for +several years the rewards which the king placed at their disposal, and +have not, as far as I can learn, been able to find in their box one +composition which they have deemed worthy of publication. At least no +publication has taken place. The associates may perhaps be astonished +at this. But I will attempt to explain it, after the manner of ancient +times, by means of an apologue. + +About four hundred years after the Deluge, King Gomer Chephoraod reigned +in Babylon. He united all the characteristics of an excellent sovereign. +He made good laws, won great battles, and white-washed long streets. +He was, in consequence, idolised by his people, and panegyrised by many +poets and orators. A book was then a sermons undertaking. Neither paper +nor any similar material had been invented. Authors were therefore under +the necessity of inscribing their compositions on massive bricks. Some +of these Babylonian records are still preserved in European museums; but +the language in which they are written has never been deciphered. Gomer +Chephoraod was so popular that the clay of all the plains round the +Euphrates could scarcely furnish brick-kilns enough for his eulogists. +It is recorded in particular that Pharonezzar, the Assyrian Pindar, +published a bridge and four walls in his praise. + +One day the king was going in state from his palace to the temple of +Belus. During this procession it was lawful for any Babylonian to offer +any petition or suggestion to his sovereign. As the chariot passed +before a vintner's shop, a large company, apparently half-drunk, sallied +forth into the street, and one of them thus addressed the king: + +"Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! It appears to thy servants that of all +the productions of the earth good wine is the best, and bad wine is the +worst. Good wine makes the heart cheerful, the eyes bright, the speech +ready. Bad wine confuses the head, disorders the stomach, makes us +quarrelsome at night, and sick the next morning. Now therefore let my +lord the king take order that thy servants may drink good wine. + +"And how is this to be done?" said the good-natured prince. + +"O King," said his monitor, "this is most easy. Let the king make a +decree, and seal it with his royal signet: and let it be proclaimed that +the king will give ten she-asses, and ten slaves, and ten changes of +raiment, every year, unto the man who shall make ten measures of the +best wine. And whosoever wishes for the she-asses, and the slaves, and +the raiment, let him send the ten measures of wine to thy servants, and +we will drink thereof and judge. So shall there be much good wine in +Assyria." + +The project pleased Gomer Chephoraod. "Be it so," said he. The people +shouted. The petitioners prostrated themselves in gratitude. The same +night heralds were despatched to bear the intelligence to the remotest +districts of Assyria. + +After a due interval the wines began to come in; and the examiners +assembled to adjudge the prize. The first vessel was unsealed. Its +odour was such that the judges, without tasting it, pronounced unanimous +condemnation. The next was opened: it had a villainous taste of clay. +The third was sour and vapid. They proceeded from one cask of execrable +liquor to another, till at length, in absolute nausea, they gave up the +investigation. + +The next morning they all assembled at the gate of the king, with pale +faces and aching heads. They owned that they could not recommend any +competitor as worthy of the rewards. They swore that the wine was little +better than poison, and entreated permission to resign the office of +deciding between such detestable potions. + +"In the name of Belus, how can this have happened?" said the king. + +Merolchazzar, the high-priest, muttered something about the anger of +the Gods at the toleration shown to a sect of impious heretics who ate +pigeons broiled, "whereas," said he, "our religion commands us to eat +them roasted. Now therefore, O King," continued this respectable divine, +"give command to thy men of war, and let them smite the disobedient +people with the sword, them, and their wives, and their children, and +let their houses, and their flocks, and their herds, be given to thy +servants the priests. Then shall the land yield its increase, and +the fruits of the earth shall be no more blasted by the vengeance of +Heaven." + +"Nay," said the king, "the ground lies under no general curse from +Heaven. The season has been singularly good. The wine which thou didst +thyself drink at the banquet a few nights ago, O venerable Merolchazzar, +was of this year's vintage. Dost thou not remember how thou didst praise +it? It was the same night that thou wast inspired by Belus and didst +reel to and fro, and discourse sacred mysteries. These things are too +hard for me. I comprehend them not. The only wine which is bad is that +which is sent to my judges. Who can expound this to us?" + +The king scratched his head. Upon which all the courtiers scratched +their heads. + +He then ordered proclamation to be made that a purple robe and a golden +chain should be given to the man who could solve this difficulty. + +An old philosopher, who had been observed to smile rather disdainfully +when the prize had first been instituted, came forward and spoke thus:-- + +"Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! Marvel not at that which has happened. +It was no miracle, but a natural event. How could it be otherwise? It is +true that much good wine has been made this year. But who would send it +in for thy rewards? Thou knowest Ascobaruch who hath the great vineyards +in the north, and Cohahiroth who sendeth wine every year from the south +over the Persian Golf. Their wines are so delicious that ten measures +thereof are sold for an hundred talents of silver. Thinkest thou that +they will exchange them for thy slaves and thine asses? What would thy +prize profit any who have vineyards in rich soils?" + +"Who then," said one of the judges, "are the wretches who sent us this +poison?" + +"Blame them not," said the sage, "seeing that you have been the authors +of the evil. They are men whose lands are poor, and have never yielded +them any returns equal to the prizes which the king proposed. Wherefore, +knowing that the lords of the fruitful vineyards would not enter into +competition with them they planted vines, some on rocks, and some in +light sandy soil, and some in deep clay. Hence their wines are bad. +For no culture or reward will make barren land bear good vines. Know +therefore, assuredly, that your prizes have increased the quantity of +bad but not of good wine." + +There was a long silence. At length the king spoke. "Give him the purple +robe and the chain of gold. Throw the wines into the Euphrates; and +proclaim that the Royal Society of Wines is dissolved." + +***** + + + + +SCENES FROM "ATHENIAN REVELS." (January 1824.) + +A DRAMA. + +I. + +SCENE--A Street in Athens. + +Enter CALLIDEMUS and SPEUSIPPUS; + +CALLIDEMUS. So, you young reprobate! You must be a man of wit, forsooth, +and a man of quality! You must spend as if you were as rich as Nicias, +and prate as if you were as wise as Pericles! You must dangle after +sophists and pretty women! And I must pay for all! I must sup on thyme +and onions, while you are swallowing thrushes and hares! I must drink +water, that you may play the cottabus (This game consisted in projecting +wine out of cups; it was a diversion extremely fashionable at Athenian +entertainments.) with Chian wine! I must wander about as ragged as +Pauson (Pauson was an Athenian painter, whose name was synonymous with +beggary. See Aristophanes; Plutus, 602. From his poverty, I am inclined +to suppose that he painted historical pictures.), that you may be +as fine as Alcibiades! I must lie on bare boards, with a stone (See +Aristophanes; Plutus, 542.) for my pillow, and a rotten mat for my +coverlid, by the light of a wretched winking lamp, while you are +marching in state, with as many torches as one sees at the feast of +Ceres, to thunder with your hatchet (See Theocritus; Idyll ii. 128.) +at the doors of half the Ionian ladies in Peiraeus. (This was the most +disreputable part of Athens. See Aristophanes: Pax, 165.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. Why, thou unreasonable old man! Thou most shameless of +fathers!-- + +CALLIDEMUS. Ungrateful wretch; dare you talk so? Are you not afraid of +the thunders of Jupiter? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Jupiter thunder! nonsense! Anaxagoras says, that thunder is +only an explosion produced by-- + +CALLIDEMUS. He does! Would that it had fallen on his head for his pains! + +SPEUSIPPUS. Nay: talk rationally. + +CALLIDEMUS. Rationally! You audacious young sophist! I will talk +rationally. Do you know that I am your father? What quibble can you make +upon that? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Do I know that you are my father? Let us take the question +to pieces, as Melesigenes would say. First, then, we must inquire what +is knowledge? Secondly, what is a father? Now, knowledge, as Socrates +said the other day to Theaetetus (See Plato's Theaetetus.)-- + +CALLIDEMUS. Socrates! what! the ragged flat-nosed old dotard, who walks +about all day barefoot, and filches cloaks, and dissects gnats, and +shoes (See Aristophanes; Nubes, 150.) fleas with wax? + +SPEUSIPPUS. All fiction! All trumped up by Aristophanes! + +CALLIDEMUS. By Pallas, if he is in the habit of putting shoes on his +fleas, he is kinder to them than to himself. But listen to me, boy; if +you go on in this way, you will be ruined. There is an argument for you. +Go to your Socrates and your Melesigenes, and tell them to refute that. +Ruined! Do you hear? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Ruined! + +CALLIDEMUS. Ay, by Jupiter! Is such a show as you make to be supported +on nothing? During all the last war, I made not an obol from my +farm; the Peloponnesian locusts came almost as regularly as the +Pleiades;--corn burnt;--olives stripped;--fruit trees cut down;--wells +stopped up;--and, just when peace came, and I hoped that all would turn +out well, you must begin to spend as if you had all the mines of Thasus +at command. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Now, by Neptune, who delights in horses-- + +CALLIDEMUS. If Neptune delights in horses, he does not resemble me. You +must ride at the Panathenaea on a horse fit for the great king: four +acres of my best vines went for that folly. You must retrench, or you +will have nothing to eat. Does not Anaxagoras mention, among his other +discoveries, that when a man has nothing to eat he dies? + +SPEUSIPPUS. You are deceived. My friends-- + +CALLIDEMUS. Oh, yes! your friends will notice you, doubtless, when you +are squeezing through the crowd, on a winter's day, to warm yourself +at the fire of the baths;--or when you are fighting with beggars and +beggars' dogs for the scraps of a sacrifice;--or when you are glad +to earn three wretched obols (The stipend of an Athenian juryman.) by +listening all day to lying speeches and crying children. + +SPEUSIPPUS. There are other means of support. + +CALLIDEMUS. What! I suppose you will wander from house to house, +like that wretched buffoon Philippus (Xenophon; Convivium.), and beg +everybody who has asked a supper-party to be so kind as to feed you +and laugh at you; or you will turn sycophant; you will get a bunch +of grapes, or a pair of shoes, now and then, by frightening some rich +coward with a mock prosecution. Well! that is a task for which your +studies under the sophists may have fitted you. + +SPEUSIPPUS. You are wide of the mark. + +CALLIDEMUS. Then what, in the name of Juno, is your scheme? Do +you intend to join Orestes (A celebrated highwayman of Attica. See +Aristophanes; Aves, 711; and in several other passages.), and rob on +the highway? Take care; beware of the eleven (The police officers of +Athens.); beware of the hemlock. It may be very pleasant to live at +other people's expense; but not very pleasant, I should think, to hear +the pestle give its last bang against the mortar, when the cold dose is +ready. Pah!-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. Hemlock? Orestes! folly!--I aim at nobler objects. What say +you to politics,--the general assembly? + +CALLIDEMUS. You an orator!--oh no! no! Cleon was worth twenty such fools +as you. You have succeeded, I grant, to his impudence, for which, if +there be justice in Tartarus, he is now soaking up to the eyes in his +own tanpickle. But the Paphlagonian had parts. + +SPEUSIPPUS. And you mean to imply-- + +CALLIDEMUS. Not I. You are a Pericles in embryo, doubtless. Well: and +when are you to make your first speech? O Pallas! + +SPEUSIPPUS. I thought of speaking, the other day, on the Sicilian +expedition; but Nicias (See Thucydides, vi. 8.) got up before me. + +CALLIDEMUS. Nicias, poor honest man, might just as well have sate +still; his speaking did but little good. The loss of your oration is, +doubtless, an irreparable public calamity. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Why, not so; I intend to introduce it at the next assembly; +it will suit any subject. + +CALLIDEMUS. That is to say, it will suit none. But pray, if it be not +too presumptuous a request, indulge me with a specimen. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Well; suppose the agora crowded;--an important subject under +discussion;--an ambassador from Argos, or from the great king;--the +tributes from the islands;--an impeachment;--in short, anything you +please. The crier makes proclamation.--"Any citizen above fifty years +old may speak--any citizen not disqualified may speak." Then I rise:--a +great murmur of curiosity while I am mounting the stand. + +CALLIDEMUS. Of curiosity! yes, and of something else too. You will +infallibly be dragged down by main force, like poor Glaucon (See +Xenophon Memorabilia, iii.) last year. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Never fear. I shall begin in this style: "When I consider, +Athenians, the importance of our city;--when I consider the extent +of its power, the wisdom of its laws, the elegance of its +decorations;--when I consider by what names and by what exploits its +annals are adorned; when I think on Harmodius and Aristogiton, on +Themistocles and Miltiades, on Cimon and Pericles;--when I contemplate +our pre-eminence in arts and letters;--when I observe so many +flourishing states and islands compelled to own the dominion, and +purchase the protection of the City of the Violet Crown" (A favourite +epithet of Athens. See Aristophanes; Acharn. 637.)-- + +CALLIDEMUS. I shall choke with rage. Oh, all ye gods and goddesses, what +sacrilege, what perjury have I ever committed, that I should be singled +out from among all the citizens of Athens to be the father of this fool? + +SPEUSIPPUS. What now? By Bacchus, old man, I would not advise you to +give way to such fits of passion in the streets. If Aristophanes were to +see you, you would infallibly be in a comedy next spring. + +CALLIDEMUS. You have more reason to fear Aristophanes than any fool +living. Oh, that he could but hear you trying to imitate the slang of +Straton (See Aristophanes; Equites, 1375.) and the lisp of Alcibiades! +(See Aristophanes; Vespae, 44.) You would be an inexhaustible subject. +You would console him for the loss of Cleon. + +SPEUSIPPUS. No, no. I may perhaps figure at the dramatic representations +before long; but in a very different way. + +CALLIDEMUS. What do you mean? + +SPEUSIPPUS. What say you to a tragedy? + +CALLIDEMUS. A tragedy of yours? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Even so. + +CALLIDEMUS. Oh Hercules! Oh Bacchus! This is too much. Here is an +universal genius; sophist,--orator,--poet. To what a three-headed +monster have I given birth! a perfect Cerberus of intellect! And pray +what may your piece be about? Or will your tragedy, like your speech, +serve equally for any subject? + +SPEUSIPPUS. I thought of several plots;--Oedipus,--Eteocles and +Polynices,--the war of Troy,--the murder of Agamemnon. + +CALLIDEMUS. And what have you chosen? + +SPEUSIPPUS. You know there is a law which permits any modern poet +to retouch a play of Aeschylus, and bring it forward as his own +composition. And, as there is an absurd prejudice, among the vulgar, +in favour of his extravagant pieces, I have selected one of them, and +altered it. + +CALLIDEMUS. Which of them? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Oh! that mass of barbarous absurdities, the Prometheus. But +I have framed it anew upon the model of Euripides. By Bacchus, I shall +make Sophocles and Agathon look about them. You would not know the play +again. + +CALLIDEMUS. By Jupiter, I believe not. + +SPEUSIPPUS. I have omitted the whole of the absurd dialogue between +Vulcan and Strength, at the beginning. + +CALLIDEMUS. That may be, on the whole, an improvement. The play will +then open with that grand soliloquy of Prometheus, when he is chained to +the rock. + +"Oh! ye eternal heavens! ye rushing winds! Ye fountains of great +streams! Ye ocean waves, That in ten thousand sparkling dimples wreathe +Your azure smiles! All-generating earth! All-seeing sun! On you, on you, +I call." (See Aeschylus; Prometheus, 88.) + +Well, I allow that will be striking; I did not think you capable of that +idea. Why do you laugh? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Do you seriously suppose that one who has studied the plays +of that great man, Euripides, would ever begin a tragedy in such a +ranting style? + +CALLIDEMUS. What, does not your play open with the speech of Prometheus? + +SPEUSIPPUS. No doubt. + +CALLIDEMUS. Then what, in the name of Bacchus, do you make him say? + +SPEUSIPPUS. You shall hear; and, if it be not in the very style of +Euripides, call me a fool. + +CALLIDEMUS. That is a liberty which I shall venture to take, whether it +be or no. But go on. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Prometheus begins thus:-- + + "Coelus begat Saturn and Briareus + Cottus and Creius and Iapetus, + Gyges and Hyperion, Phoebe, Tethys, + Thea and Rhea and Mnemosyne. + Then Saturn wedded Rhea, and begat + Pluto and Neptune, Jupiter and Juno." + +CALLIDEMUS. Very beautiful, and very natural; and, as you say, very like +Euripides. + +SPEUSIPPUS. You are sneering. Really, father, you do not understand +these things. You had not those advantages in your youth-- + +CALLIDEMUS. Which I have been fool enough to let you have. No; in my +early days, lying had not been dignified into a science, nor politics +degraded into a trade. I wrestled, and read Homer's battles, instead of +dressing my hair, and reciting lectures in verse out of Euripides. But +I have some notion of what a play should be; I have seen Phrynichus, and +lived with Aeschylus. I saw the representation of the Persians. + +SPEUSIPPUS. A wretched play; it may amuse the fools who row the +triremes; but it is utterly unworthy to be read by any man of taste. + +CALLIDEMUS. If you had seen it acted;--the whole theatre frantic with +joy, stamping, shouting, laughing, crying. There was Cynaegeirus, the +brother of Aeschylus, who lost both his arms at Marathon, beating the +stumps against his sides with rapture. When the crowd remarked him--But +where are you going? + +SPEUSIPPUS. To sup with Alcibiades; he sails with the expedition for +Sicily in a few days; this is his farewell entertainment. + +CALLIDEMUS. So much the better; I should say, so much the worse. That +cursed Sicilian expedition! And you were one of the young fools (See +Thucydides, vi. 13.) who stood clapping and shouting while he was +gulling the rabble, and who drowned poor Nicias's voice with your +uproar. Look to it; a day of reckoning will come. As to Alcibiades +himself-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. What can you say against him? His enemies themselves +acknowledge his merit. + +CALLIDEMUS. They acknowledge that he is clever, and handsome, and +that he was crowned at the Olympic games. And what other merits do his +friends claim for him? A precious assembly you will meet at his house, +no doubt. + +SPEUSIPPUS. The first men in Athens, probably. + +CALLIDEMUS. Whom do you mean by the first men in Athens? + +SPEUSIPPUS. Callicles. (Callicles plays a conspicuous part in the +Gorgias of Plato.) + +CALLIDEMUS. A sacrilegious, impious, unfeeling ruffian! + +SPEUSIPPUS. Hippomachus. + +CALLIDEMUS. A fool, who can talk of nothing but his travels through +Persia and Egypt. Go, go. The gods forbid that I should detain you from +such choice society! + +[Exeunt severally.] + + +II. + +SCENE--A Hall in the house of ALCIBIADES. + +ALCIBIADES, SPEUSIPPUS, CALLICLES, HIPPOMACHUS, CHARICLEA, and others, +seated round a table feasting. + +ALCIBIADES. Bring larger cups. This shall be our gayest revel. It is +probably the last--for some of us at least. + +SPEUSIPPUS. At all events, it will be long before you taste such wine +again, Alcibiades. + +CALLICLES. Nay, there is excellent wine in Sicily. When I was there with +Eurymedon's squadron, I had many a long carouse. You never saw finer +grapes than those of Aetna. + +HIPPOMACHUS. The Greeks do not understand the art of making wine. Your +Persian is the man. So rich, so fragrant, so sparkling! I will tell you +what the Satrap of Caria said to me about that when I supped with him. + +ALCIBIADES. Nay, sweet Hippomachus; not a word to-night about satraps, +or the great king, or the walls of Babylon, or the Pyramids, or the +mummies. Chariclea, why do you look so sad? + +CHARICLEA. Can I be cheerful when you are going to leave me, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. My life, my sweet soul, it is but for a short time. In a +year we conquer Sicily. In another, we humble Carthage. (See Thucydides, +vi. 90.) I will bring back such robes, such necklaces, elephants' teeth +by thousands, ay, and the elephants themselves, if you wish to see them. +Nay, smile, my Chariclea, or I shall talk nonsense to no purpose. + +HIPPOMACHUS. The largest elephant that I ever saw was in the grounds of +Teribazus, near Susa. I wish that I had measured him. + +ALCIBIADES. I wish that he had trod upon you. Come, come, Chariclea, we +shall soon return, and then-- + +CHARICLEA. Yes; then indeed. + +ALCIBIADES. + + Yes, then-- + Then for revels; then for dances, + Tender whispers, melting glances. + Peasants, pluck your richest fruits: + Minstrels, sound your sweetest flutes: + Come in laughing crowds to greet us, + Dark-eyed daughters of Miletus; + Bring the myrtles, bring the dice, + Floods of Chian, hills of spice. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Whose lines are those, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. My own. Think you, because I do not shut myself up to +meditate, and drink water, and eat herbs, that I cannot write verses? +By Apollo, if I did not spend my days in politics, and my nights in +revelry, I should have made Sophocles tremble. But now I never go beyond +a little song like this, and never invoke any Muse but Chariclea. But +come, Speusippus, sing. You are a professed poet. Let us have some of +your verses. + +SPEUSIPPUS. My verses! How can you talk so? I a professed poet! + +ALCIBIADES. Oh, content you, sweet Speusippus. We all know your designs +upon the tragic honours. Come, sing. A chorus of your new play. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Nay, nay-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. When a guest who is asked to sing at a Persian banquet +refuses-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. In the name of Bacchus-- + +ALCIBIADES. I am absolute. Sing. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Well, then, I will sing you a chorus, which, I think, is a +tolerable imitation of Euripides. + +CHARICLEA. Of Euripides?--Not a word. + +ALCIBIADES. Why so, sweet Chariclea? + +CHARICLEA. Would you have me betray my sex? Would you have me forget +his Phaedras and Sthenoboeas? No if I ever suffer any lines of that +woman-hater, or his imitators, to be sung in my presence, may I sell +herbs (The mother of Euripides was a herb-woman. This was a favourite +topic of Aristophanes.) like his mother, and wear rags like his +Telephus. (The hero of one of the lost plays of Euripides, who appears +to have been brought upon the stage in the garb of a beggar. See +Aristophanes; Acharn. 430; and in other places.) + +ALCIBIADES. Then, sweet Chariclea, since you have silenced Speusippus, +you shall sing yourself. + +CHARICLEA. What shall I sing? + +ALCIBIADES. Nay, choose for yourself. + +CHARICLEA. Then I will sing an old Ionian hymn, which is chanted every +spring at the feast of Venus, near Miletus. I used to sing it in my own +country when I was a child; and--ah, Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. Dear Chariclea, you shall sing something else. This +distresses you. + +CHARICLEA. No hand me the lyre:--no matter. You will hear the song to +disadvantage. But if it were sung as I have heard it sung:--if this +were a beautiful morning in spring, and if we were standing on a woody +promontory, with the sea, and the white sails, and the blue Cyclades +beneath us,--and the portico of a temple peeping through the trees on +a huge peak above our heads,--and thousands of people, with myrtles +in their hands, thronging up the winding path, their gay dresses and +garlands disappearing and emerging by turns as they passed round the +angles of the rock,--then perhaps-- + + +ALCIBIADES. Now, by Venus herself, sweet lady, where you are we shall +lack neither sun, nor flowers, nor spring, nor temple, nor goddess. + +CHARICLEA. (Sings.) + + Let this sunny hour be given, + Venus, unto love and mirth: + Smiles like thine are in the heaven; + Bloom like thine is on the earth; + And the tinkling of the fountains, + And the murmurs of the sea, + And the echoes from the mountains, + Speak of youth, and hope, and thee. + + By whate'er of soft expression + Thou hast taught to lovers' eyes, + Faint denial, slow confession, + Glowing cheeks and stifled sighs; + By the pleasure and the pain, + By the follies and the wiles, + Pouting fondness, sweet disdain, + Happy tears and mournful smiles; + + Come with music floating o'er thee; + Come with violets springing round: + Let the Graces dance before thee, + All their golden zones unbound; + Now in sport their faces hiding, + Now, with slender fingers fair, + From their laughing eyes dividing + The long curls of rose-crowned hair. + +ALCIBIADES. Sweetly sung; but mournfully, Chariclea; for which I would +chide you, but that I am sad myself. More wine there. I wish to all the +gods that I had fairly sailed from Athens. + +CHARICLEA. And from me, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. Yes, from you, dear lady. The days which immediately precede +separation are the most melancholy of our lives. + +CHARICLEA. Except those which immediately follow it. + +ALCIBIADES. No; when I cease to see you, other objects may compel my +attention; but can I be near you without thinking how lovely you are, +and how soon I must leave you? + +HIPPOMACHUS. Ay; travelling soon puts such thoughts out of men's heads. + +CALLICLES. A battle is the best remedy for them. + +CHARICLEA. A battle, I should think, might supply their place with +others as unpleasant. + +CALLICLES. No. The preparations are rather disagreeable to a novice. +But as soon as the fighting begins, by Jupiter, it is a noble time;--men +trampling,--shields clashing,--spears breaking,--and the poean roaring +louder than all. + +CHARICLEA. But what if you are killed? + +CALLICLES. What indeed? You must ask Speusippus that question. He is a +philosopher. + +ALCIBIADES. Yes, and the greatest of philosophers, if he can answer it. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Pythagoras is of opinion-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. Pythagoras stole that and all his other opinions from Asia +and Egypt. The transmigration of the soul and the vegetable diet are +derived from India. I met a Brachman in Sogdiana-- + +CALLICLES. All nonsense! + +CHARICLEA. What think you, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. I think that, if the doctrine be true, your spirit will be +transfused into one of the doves who carry (Homer's Odyssey, xii. +63.) ambrosia to the gods or verses to the mistresses of poets. Do you +remember Anacreon's lines? How should you like such an office? + +CHARICLEA. If I were to be your dove, Alcibiades, and you would treat me +as Anacreon treated his, and let me nestle in your breast and drink +from your cup, I would submit even to carry your love-letters to other +ladies. + +CALLICLES. What, in the name of Jupiter, is the use of all these +speculations about death? Socrates once (See the close of Plato's +Gorgias.) lectured me upon it the best part of a day. I have hated the +sight of him ever since. Such things may suit an old sophist when he is +fasting; but in the midst of wine and music-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. I differ from you. The enlightened Egyptians bring +skeletons into their banquets, in order to remind their guests to make +the most of their life while they have it. + +CALLICLES. I want neither skeleton nor sophist to teach me that lesson. +More wine, I pray you, and less wisdom. If you must believe something +which you never can know, why not be contented with the long stories +about the other world which are told us when we are initiated at the +Eleusinian mysteries? (The scene which follows is founded upon history. +Thucydides tells us, in his sixth book, that about this time Alcibiades +was suspected of having assisted at a mock celebration of these famous +mysteries. It was the opinion of the vulgar among the Athenians that +extraordinary privileges were granted in the other world to alt who had +been initiated.) + +CHARICLEA. And what are those stories? + +ALCIBIADES. Are not you initiated, Chariclea? + +CHARICLEA. No; my mother was a Lydian, a barbarian; and therefore-- + +ALCIBIADES. I understand. Now the curse of Venus on the fools who made +so hateful a law! Speusippus, does not your friend Euripides (The right +of Euripides to this line is somewhat disputable. See Aristophanes; +Plutus, 1152.) say + +"The land where thou art prosperous is thy country?" + +Surely we ought to say to every lady + +"The land where thou art pretty is thy country." + +Besides, to exclude foreign beauties from the chorus of the initiated in +the Elysian fields is less cruel to them than to ourselves. Chariclea, +you shall be initiated. + +CHARICLEA. When? + +ALCIBIADES. Now. + +CHARICLEA. Where? + +ALCIBIADES. Here. + +CHARICLEA. Delightful! + +SPEUSIPPUS. But there must be an interval of a year between the +purification and the initiation. + +ALCIBIADES. We will suppose all that. + +SPEUSIPPUS. And nine days of rigid mortification of the senses. + +ALCIBIADES. We will suppose that too. I am sure it was supposed, with as +little reason, when I was initiated. + +SPEUSIPPUS. But you are sworn to secrecy. + +ALCIBIADES. You a sophist, and talk of oaths! You a pupil of Euripides, +and forget his maxims! + +"My lips have sworn it; but my mind is free." (See Euripides: +Hippolytus, 608. For the jesuitical morality of this line Euripides is +bitterly attacked by the comic poet.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. But Alcibiades-- + +ALCIBIADES. What! Are you afraid of Ceres and Proserpine? + +SPEUSIPPUS. No--but--but--I--that is I--but it is best to be safe--I +mean--Suppose there should be something in it. + +ALCIBIADES. Now, by Mercury, I shall die with laughing. O Speusippus. +Speusippus! Go back to your old father. Dig vineyards, and judge causes, +and be a respectable citizen. But never, while you live; again dream of +being a philosopher. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Nay, I was only-- + +ALCIBIADES. A pupil of Gorgias and Melesigenes afraid of Tartarus! In +what region of the infernal world do you expect your domicile to be +fixed? Shall you roll a stone like Sisyphus? Hard exercise, Speusippus! + +SPEUSIPPUS. In the name of all the gods-- + +ALCIBIADES. Or shall you sit starved and thirsty in the midst of fruit +and wine like Tantalus? Poor fellow? I think I see your face as you +are springing up to the branches and missing your aim. Oh Bacchus! Oh +Mercury! + +SPEUSIPPUS. Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. Or perhaps you will be food for a vulture, like the huge +fellow who was rude to Latona. + +SPEUSIPPUS. Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. Never fear. Minos will not be so cruel. Your eloquence +will triumph over all accusations. The Furies will skulk away like +disappointed sycophants. Only address the judges of hell in the +speech which you were prevented from speaking last assembly. "When I +consider"--is not that the beginning of it? Come, man, do not be +angry. Why do you pace up and down with such long steps? You are not in +Tartarus yet. You seem to think that you are already stalking like poor +Achilles, + +"With stride Majestic through the plain of Asphodel." (See Homer's +Odyssey, xi. 538.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. How can you talk so, when you know that I believe all that +foolery as little as you do? + +ALCIBIADES. Then march. You shall be the crier. Callicles, you shall +carry the torch. Why do you stare? (The crier and torchbearer were +important functionaries at the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries.) + +CALLICLES. I do not much like the frolic. + +ALCIBIADES. Nay, surely you are not taken with a fit of piety. If all +be true that is told of you, you have as little reason to think the gods +vindictive as any man breathing. If you be not belied, a certain golden +goblet which I have seen at your house was once in the temple of Juno at +Corcyra. And men say that there was a priestess at Tarentum-- + +CALLICLES. A fig for the gods! I was thinking about the Archons. You +will have an accusation laid against you to-morrow. It is not very +pleasant to be tried before the king. (The name of king was given in +the Athenian democracy to the magistrate who exercised those spiritual +functions which in the monarchical times had belonged to the sovereign. +His court took cognisance of offences against the religion of the +state.) + +ALCIBIADES. Never fear: there is not a sycophant in Attica who would +dare to breathe a word against me, for the golden plane-tree of the +great king. (See Herodotus, viii. 28.) + +HIPPOMACHUS. That plane-tree-- + +ALCIBIADES. Never mind the plane-tree. Come, Callicles, you were not +so timid when you plundered the merchantman off Cape Malea. Take up the +torch and move. Hippomachus, tell one of the slaves to bring a sow. (A +sow was sacrificed to Ceres at the admission to the greater mysteries.) + +CALLICLES. And what part are you to play? + +ALCIBIADES. I shall be hierophant. Herald, to your office. Torchbearer, +advance with the lights. Come forward, fair novice. We will celebrate +the rite within. + +[Exeunt.] + +***** + + + + +CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + + + + +No. I. DANTE. (January 1824.) + + "Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, + If better thou belong not to the dawn, + Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn + With thy bright circlet." --Milton. + +In a review of Italian literature, Dante has a double claim to +precedency. He was the earliest and the greatest writer of his country. +He was the first man who fully descried and exhibited the powers of +his native dialect. The Latin tongue, which, under the most favourable +circumstances, and in the hands of the greatest masters, had still been +poor, feeble, and singularly unpoetical, and which had, in the age of +Dante, been debased by the admixture of innumerable barbarous words +and idioms, was still cultivated with superstitious veneration, and +received, in the last stage of corruption, more honours than it had +deserved in the period of its life and vigour. It was the language of +the cabinet, of the university, of the church. It was employed by all +who aspired to distinction in the higher walks of poetry. In compassion +to the ignorance of his mistress, a cavalier might now and then proclaim +his passion in Tuscan or Provenc'al rhymes. The vulgar might occasionally +be edified by a pious allegory in the popular jargon. But no writer +had conceived it possible that the dialect of peasants and market-women +should possess sufficient energy and precision for a majestic and +durable work. Dante adventured first. He detected the rich treasures of +thought and diction which still lay latent in their ore. He refined them +into purity. He burnished them into splendour. He fitted them for every +purpose of use and magnificence. And he has thus acquired the glory, not +only of producing the finest narrative poem of modern times but also of +creating a language, distinguished by unrivalled melody, and peculiarly +capable of furnishing to lofty and passionate thoughts their appropriate +garb of severe and concise expression. + +To many this may appear a singular panegyric on the Italian tongue. +Indeed the great majority of the young gentlemen and young ladies, who, +when they are asked whether they read Italian, answer "yes," never go +beyond the stories at the end of their grammar,--The Pastor Fido,--or an +act of Artaserse. They could as soon read a Babylonian brick as a canto +of Dante. Hence it is a general opinion, among those who know little or +nothing of the subject, that this admirable language is adapted only to +the effeminate cant of sonnetteers, musicians, and connoisseurs. + +The fact is that Dante and Petrarch have been the Oromasdes and +Arimanes of Italian literature. I wish not to detract from the merits +of Petrarch. No one can doubt that his poems exhibit, amidst some +imbecility and more affectation, much elegance, ingenuity, and +tenderness. They present us with a mixture which can only be compared to +the whimsical concert described by the humorous poet of Modena: + + "S'udian gli usignuoli, al primo albore, + Egli asini cantar versi d'amore." + (Tassoni; Secchia Rapita, canto i. stanza 6.) + +I am not, however, at present speaking of the intrinsic excellencies of +his writings, which I shall take another opportunity to examine, but of +the effect which they produced on the literature of Italy. The florid +and luxurious charms of his style enticed the poets and the public from +the contemplation of nobler and sterner models. In truth, though a +rude state of society is that in which great original works are +most frequently produced, it is also that in which they are worst +appreciated. This may appear paradoxical; but it is proved by +experience, and is consistent with reason. To be without any received +canons of taste is good for the few who can create, but bad for the many +who can only imitate and judge. Great and active minds cannot remain at +rest. In a cultivated age they are too often contented to move on in +the beaten path. But where no path exists they will make one. Thus +the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, appeared in dark and half +barbarous times: and thus of the few original works which have been +produced in more polished ages we owe a large proportion to men in low +stations and of uninformed minds. I will instance, in our own language, +the Pilgrim's Progress and Robinson Crusoe. Of all the prose works of +fiction which we possess, these are, I will not say the best, but the +most peculiar, the most unprecedented, the most inimitable. Had Bunyan +and Defoe been educated gentlemen, they would probably have published +translations and imitations of French romances "by a person of quality." +I am not sure that we should have had Lear if Shakspeare had been able +to read Sophocles. + +But these circumstances, while they foster genius, are unfavourable to +the science of criticism. Men judge by comparison. They are unable to +estimate the grandeur of an object when there is no standard by which +they can measure it. One of the French philosophers (I beg Gerard's +pardon), who accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, tells us that, when he first +visited the great Pyramid, he was surprised to see it so diminutive. It +stood alone in a boundless plain. There was nothing near it from which +he could calculate its magnitude. But when the camp was pitched beside +it, and the tents appeared like diminutive specks around its base, he +then perceived the immensity of this mightiest work of man. In the same +manner, it is not till a crowd of petty writers has sprung up that the +merit of the great masterspirits of literature is understood. + +We have indeed ample proof that Dante was highly admired in his own and +the following age. I wish that we had equal proof that he was admired +for his excellencies. But it is a remarkable corroboration of what has +been said, that this great man seems to have been utterly unable to +appreciate himself. In his treatise "De Vulgari Eloquentia" he talks +with satisfaction of what he has done for Italian literature, of the +purity and correctness of his style. "Cependant," says a favourite +writer of mine,(Sismondi, Literature du Midi de l'Europe.) "il n'est +ni pur, ni correct, mais il est createur." Considering the difficulties +with which Dante had to struggle, we may perhaps be more inclined than +the French critic to allow him this praise. Still it is by no means his +highest or most peculiar title to applause. It is scarcely necessary to +say that those qualities which escaped the notice of the poet himself +were not likely to attract the attention of the commentators. The fact +is, that, while the public homage was paid to some absurdities with +which his works may be justly charged, and to many more which were +falsely imputed to them,--while lecturers were paid to expound and +eulogise his physics, his metaphysics, his theology, all bad of their +kind--while annotators laboured to detect allegorical meanings of which +the author never dreamed, the great powers of his imagination, and the +incomparable force of his style, were neither admired nor imitated. +Arimanes had prevailed. The Divine Comedy was to that age what St. +Paul's Cathedral was to Omai. The poor Otaheitean stared listlessly for +a moment at the huge cupola, and ran into a toyshop to play with beads. +Italy, too, was charmed with literary trinkets, and played with them for +four centuries. + +From the time of Petrarch to the appearance of Alfieri's tragedies, we +may trace in almost every page of Italian literature the influence of +those celebrated sonnets which, from the nature both of their beauties +and their faults, were peculiarly unfit to be models for general +imitation. Almost all the poets of that period, however different in +the degree and quality of their talents, are characterised by great +exaggeration, and as a necessary consequence, great coldness of +sentiment; by a passion for frivolous and tawdry ornament; and, above +all, by an extreme feebleness and diffuseness of style. Tasso, Marino, +Guarini, Metastasio, and a crowd of writers of inferior merit and +celebrity, were spell-bound in the enchanted gardens of a gaudy and +meretricious Alcina, who concealed debility and deformity beneath the +deceitful semblance of loveliness and health. Ariosto, the great Ariosto +himself, like his own Ruggiero, stooped for a time to linger amidst +the magic flowers and fountains, and to caress the gay and painted +sorceress. But to him, as to his own Ruggiero, had been given the +omnipotent ring and the winged courser, which bore him from the paradise +of deception to the regions of light and nature. + +The evil of which I speak was not confined to the graver poets. It +infected satire, comedy, burlesque. No person can admire more than I do +the great masterpieces of wit and humour which Italy has produced. Still +I cannot but discern and lament a great deficiency, which is common to +them all. I find in them abundance of ingenuity, of droll naivete, of +profound and just reflection, of happy expression. Manners, characters, +opinions, are treated with "a most learned spirit of human dealing." But +something is still wanting. We read, and we admire, and we yawn. We look +in vain for the bacchanalian fury which inspired the comedy of Athens, +for the fierce and withering scorn which animates the invectives of +Juvenal and Dryden, or even for the compact and pointed diction which +adds zest to the verses of Pope and Boileau. There is no enthusiasm, +no energy, no condensation, nothing which springs from strong +feeling, nothing which tends to excite it. Many fine thoughts and fine +expressions reward the toil of reading. Still it is a toil. The Secchia +Rapita, in some points the best poem of its kind, is painfully diffuse +and languid. The Animali Parlanti of Casti is perfectly intolerable. I +admire the dexterity of the plot, and the liberality of the opinions. +I admit that it is impossible to turn to a page which does not contain +something that deserves to be remembered; but it is at least six times +as long as it ought to be. And the garrulous feebleness of the style is +a still greater fault than the length of the work. + +It may be thought that I have gone too far in attributing these evils to +the influence of the works and the fame of Petrarch. It cannot, however, +be doubted that they have arisen, in a great measure, from a neglect of +the style of Dante. This is not more proved by the decline of Italian +poetry than by its resuscitation. After the lapse of four hundred and +fifty years, there appeared a man capable of appreciating and imitating +the father of Tuscan literature--Vittorio Alfieri. Like the prince in +the nursery tale, he sought and found the sleeping beauty within the +recesses which had so long concealed her from mankind. The portal +was indeed rusted by time;--the dust of ages had accumulated on the +hangings;--the furniture was of antique fashion;--and the gorgeous +colour of the embroidery had faded. But the living charms which were +well worth all the rest remained in the bloom of eternal youth, and well +rewarded the bold adventurer who roused them from their long slumber. In +every line of the Philip and the Saul, the greatest poems, I think, of +the eighteenth century, we may trace the influence of that mighty +genius which has immortalised the ill-starred love of Francesca, and +the paternal agonies of Ugolino. Alfieri bequeathed the sovereignty of +Italian literature to the author of the Aristodemus--a man of genius +scarcely inferior to his own, and a still more devoted disciple of the +great Florentine. It must be acknowledged that this eminent writer has +sometimes pushed too far his idolatry of Dante. To borrow a sprightly +illustration from Sir John Denham, he has not only imitated his garb, +but borrowed his clothes. He often quotes his phrases; and he has, +not very judiciously as it appears to me, imitated his versification. +Nevertheless, he has displayed many of the higher excellencies of his +master; and his works may justly inspire us with a hope that the Italian +language will long flourish under a new literary dynasty, or rather +under the legitimate line, which has at length been restored to a throne +long occupied by specious usurpers. + +The man to whom the literature of his country owes its origin and +its revival was born in times singularly adapted to call forth his +extraordinary powers. Religious zeal, chivalrous love and honour, +democratic liberty, are the three most powerful principles that have +ever influenced the character of large masses of men. Each of them +singly has often excited the greatest enthusiasm, and produced the +most important changes. In the time of Dante all the three, often in +amalgamation, generally in conflict, agitated the public mind. The +preceding generation had witnessed the wrongs and the revenge of the +brave, the accomplished, the unfortunate Emperor Frederic the Second,--a +poet in an age of schoolmen,--a philosopher in an age of monks,--a +statesman in an age of crusaders. During the whole life of the poet, +Italy was experiencing the consequences of the memorable struggle which +he had maintained against the Church. The finest works of imagination +have always been produced in times of political convulsion, as the +richest vineyards and the sweetest flowers always grow on the soil which +has been fertilised by the fiery deluge of a volcano. To look no +further than the literary history of our own country, can we doubt +that Shakspeare was in a great measure produced by the Reformation, +and Wordsworth by the French Revolution? Poets often avoid political +transactions; they often affect to despise them. But, whether they +perceive it or not, they must be influenced by them. As long as their +minds have any point of contact with those of their fellow-men, the +electric impulse, at whatever distance it may originate, will be +circuitously communicated to them. + +This will be the case even in large societies, where the division of +labour enables many speculative men to observe the face of nature, or +to analyse their own minds, at a distance from the seat of political +transactions. In the little republic of which Dante was a member the +state of things was very different. These small communities are most +unmercifully abused by most of our modern professors of the science +of government. In such states, they tell us, factions are always +most violent: where both parties are cooped up within a narrow space, +political difference necessarily produces personal malignity. Every man +must be a soldier; every moment may produce a war. No citizen can lie +down secure that he shall not be roused by the alarum-bell, to repel +or avenge an injury. In such petty quarrels Greece squandered the blood +which might have purchased for her the permanent empire of the world, +and Italy wasted the energy and the abilities which would have enabled +her to defend her independence against the Pontiffs and the Caesars. + +All this is true: yet there is still a compensation. Mankind has not +derived so much benefit from the empire of Rome as from the city of +Athens, nor from the kingdom of France as from the city of Florence. +The violence of party feeling may be an evil; but it calls forth that +activity of mind which in some states of society it is desirable to +produce at any expense. Universal soldiership may be an evil; but where +every man is a soldier there will be no standing army. And is it no evil +that one man in every fifty should be bred to the trade of slaughter; +should live only by destroying and by exposing himself to be destroyed; +should fight without enthusiasm and conquer without glory; be sent to a +hospital when wounded, and rot on a dunghill when old? Such, over more +than two-thirds of Europe, is the fate of soldiers. It was something +that the citizen of Milan or Florence fought, not merely in the vague +and rhetorical sense in which the words are often used, but in sober +truth, for his parents, his children, his lands, his house, his altars. +It was something that he marched forth to battle beneath the Carroccio, +which had been the object of his childish veneration: that his aged +father looked down from the battlements on his exploits; that his +friends and his rivals were the witnesses of his glory. If he fell, he +was consigned to no venal or heedless guardians. The same day saw him +conveyed within the walls which he had defended. His wounds were dressed +by his mother; his confession was whispered to the friendly priest +who had heard and absolved the follies of his youth; his last sigh was +breathed upon the lips of the lady of his love. Surely there is no sword +like that which is beaten out of a ploughshare. Surely this state of +things was not unmixedly bad; its evils were alleviated by enthusiasm +and by tenderness; and it will at least be acknowledged that it was well +fitted to nurse poetical genius in an imaginative and observant mind. + +Nor did the religious spirit of the age tend less to this result than +its political circumstances. Fanaticism is an evil, but it is not the +greatest of evils. It is good that a people should be roused by any +means from a state of utter torpor;--that their minds should be diverted +from objects merely sensual, to meditations, however erroneous, on the +mysteries of the moral and intellectual world; and from interests which +are immediately selfish to those which relate to the past, the future, +and the remote. These effects have sometimes been produced by the worst +superstitions that ever existed; but the Catholic religion, even in +the time of its utmost extravagance and atrocity, never wholly lost the +spirit of the Great Teacher, whose precepts form the noblest code, as +His conduct furnished the purest example, of moral excellence. It is of +all religions the most poetical. The ancient superstitions furnished +the fancy with beautiful images, but took no hold on the heart. The +doctrines of the Reformed Churches have most powerfully influenced +the feelings and the conduct of men, but have not presented them with +visions of sensible beauty and grandeur. The Roman Catholic Church has +united to the awful doctrines of the one that Mr Coleridge calls the +"fair humanities" of the other. It has enriched sculpture and painting +with the loveliest and most majestic forms. To the Phidian Jupiter it +can oppose the Moses of Michael Angelo; and to the voluptuous beauty +of the Queen of Cyprus, the serene and pensive loveliness of the Virgin +Mother. The legends of its martyrs and its saints may vie in ingenuity +and interest with the mythological fables of Greece; its ceremonies and +processions were the delight of the vulgar; the huge fabric of secular +power with which it was connected attracted the admiration of the +statesman. At the same time, it never lost sight of the most solemn +and tremendous doctrines of Christianity,--the incarnate God,--the +judgment,--the retribution,--the eternity of happiness or torment. Thus, +while, like the ancient religions, it received incalculable support from +policy and ceremony, it never wholly became, like those religions, a +merely political and ceremonial institution. + +The beginning of the thirteenth century was, as Machiavelli has +remarked, the era of a great revival of this extraordinary system. The +policy of Innocent,--the growth of the Inquisition and the mendicant +orders,--the wars against the Albigenses, the Pagans of the East, and +the unfortunate princes of the house of Swabia, agitated Italy during +the two following generations. In this point Dante was completely +under the influence of his age. He was a man of a turbid and melancholy +spirit. In early youth he had entertained a strong and unfortunate +passion, which, long after the death of her whom he loved, continued to +haunt him. Dissipation, ambition, misfortunes had not effaced it. He was +not only a sincere, but a passionate, believer. The crimes and abuses +of the Church of Rome were indeed loathsome to him; but to all its +doctrines and all its rites he adhered with enthusiastic fondness and +veneration; and, at length, driven from his native country, reduced to +a situation the most painful to a man of his disposition, condemned to +learn by experience that no food is so bitter as the bread of dependence + + ("Tu proverai si come sa di sale + Lo pane altrui, e come e duro calle + Lo scendere e'l sa'ir per l'altrui scale." + Paradiso, canto xvii.), + +and no ascent so painful as the staircase of a patron,--his wounded +spirit took refuge in visionary devotion. Beatrice, the unforgotten +object of his early tenderness, was invested by his imagination with +glorious and mysterious attributes; she was enthroned among the highest +of the celestial hierarchy: Almighty Wisdom had assigned to her the care +of the sinful and unhappy wanderer who had loved her with such a perfect +love. ("L'amico mio, e non della ventura." Inferno, canto ii.) By a +confusion, like that which often takes place in dreams, he has sometimes +lost sight of her human nature, and even of her personal existence, and +seems to consider her as one of the attributes of the Deity. + +But those religious hopes which had released the mind of the sublime +enthusiast from the terrors of death had not rendered his speculations +on human life more cheerful. This is an inconsistency which may often be +observed in men of a similar temperament. He hoped for happiness beyond +the grave: but he felt none on earth. It is from this cause, more than +from any other, that his description of Heaven is so far inferior to the +Hell or the Purgatory. With the passions and miseries of the suffering +spirits he feels a strong sympathy. But among the beatified he appears +as one who has nothing in common with them,--as one who is incapable of +comprehending, not only the degree, but the nature of their enjoyment. +We think that we see him standing amidst those smiling and radiant +spirits with that scowl of unutterable misery on his brow, and that curl +of bitter disdain on his lips, which all his portraits have preserved, +and which might furnish Chantrey with hints for the head of his +projected Satan. + +There is no poet whose intellectual and moral character are so closely +connected. The great source, as it appears to me, of the power of the +Divine Comedy is the strong belief with which the story seems to be +told. In this respect, the only books which approach to its excellence +are Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe. The solemnity of his +asseverations, the consistency and minuteness of his details, the +earnestness with which he labours to make the reader understand the +exact shape and size of everything that he describes, give an air of +reality to his wildest fictions. I should only weaken this statement +by quoting instances of a feeling which pervades the whole work, and to +which it owes much of its fascination. This is the real justification +of the many passages in his poem which bad critics have condemned as +grotesque. I am concerned to see that Mr Cary, to whom Dante owes more +than ever poet owed to translator, has sanctioned an accusation utterly +unworthy of his abilities. "His solicitude," says that gentleman, "to +define all his images in such a manner as to bring them within the +circle of our vision, and to subject them to the power of the pencil, +renders him little better than grotesque, where Milton has since taught +us to expect sublimity." It is true that Dante has never shrunk from +embodying his conceptions in determinate words, that he has even given +measures and numbers, where Milton would have left his images to float +undefined in a gorgeous haze of language. Both were right. Milton +did not profess to have been in heaven or hell. He might therefore +reasonably confine himself to magnificent generalities. Far different +was the office of the lonely traveller, who had wandered through the +nations of the dead. Had he described the abode of the rejected spirits +in language resembling the splendid lines of the English Poet,--had he +told us of-- + + "An universe of death, which God by curse + Created evil, for evil only good, + Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds + Perverse all monstrous, all prodigious things, + Abominable, unutterable, and worse + Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived, + Gorgons, and hydras, and chimaeras dire"-- + +this would doubtless have been noble writing. But where would have been +that strong impression of reality, which, in accordance with his plan, +it should have been his great object to produce? It was absolutely +necessary for him to delineate accurately "all monstrous, all prodigious +things,"--to utter what might to others appear "unutterable,"--to relate +with the air of truth what fables had never feigned,--to embody what +fear had never conceived. And I will frankly confess that the vague +sublimity of Milton affects me less than these reviled details of Dante. +We read Milton; and we know that we are reading a great poet. When +we read Dante, the poet vanishes. We are listening to the man who has +returned from "the valley of the dolorous abyss;" ("Lavalle d'abisso +doloroso."--Inferno, cantoiv.)--we seem to see the dilated eye of +horror, to hear the shuddering accents with which he tells his fearful +tale. Considered in this light, the narratives are exactly what they +should be,--definite in themselves, but suggesting to the mind ideas +of awful and indefinite wonder. They are made up of the images of the +earth:--they are told in the language of the earth.--Yet the whole +effect is, beyond expression, wild and unearthly. The fact is, that +supernatural beings, as long as they are considered merely with +reference to their own nature, excite our feelings very feebly. It is +when the great gulf which separates them from us is passed, when we +suspect some strange and undefinable relation between the laws of the +visible and the invisible world, that they rouse, perhaps, the strongest +emotions of which our nature is capable. How many children, and how many +men, are afraid of ghosts, who are not afraid of God! And this, because, +though they entertain a much stronger conviction of the existence of a +Deity than of the reality of apparitions, they have no apprehension that +he will manifest himself to them in any sensible manner. While this +is the case, to describe superhuman beings in the language, and +to attribute to them the actions, of humanity may be grotesque, +unphilosophical, inconsistent; but it will be the only mode of working +upon the feelings of men, and, therefore, the only mode suited for +poetry. Shakspeare understood this well, as he understood everything +that belonged to his art. Who does not sympathise with the rapture of +Ariel, flying after sunset on the wings of the bat, or sucking in the +cups of flowers with the bee? Who does not shudder at the caldron of +Macbeth? Where is the philosopher who is not moved when he thinks of +the strange connection between the infernal spirits and "the sow's +blood that hath eaten her nine farrow?" But this difficult task of +representing supernatural beings to our minds, in a manner which shall +be neither unintelligible to our intellects nor wholly inconsistent with +our ideas of their nature, has never been so well performed as by +Dante. I will refer to three instances, which are, perhaps, the most +striking:--the description of the transformations of the serpents and +the robbers, in the twenty-fifth canto of the Inferno,--the passage +concerning Nimrod, in the thirty-first canto of the same part,--and the +magnificent procession in the twenty-ninth canto of the Purgatorio. + +The metaphors and comparisons of Dante harmonise admirably with that +air of strong reality of which I have spoken. They have a very peculiar +character. He is perhaps the only poet whose writings would become much +less intelligible if all illustrations of this sort were expunged. His +similes are frequently rather those of a traveller than of a poet. He +employs them not to display his ingenuity by fanciful analogies,--not +to delight the reader by affording him a distant and passing glimpse of +beautiful images remote from the path in which he is proceeding, but to +give an exact idea of the objects which he is describing, by comparing +them with others generally known. The boiling pitch in Malebolge was +like that in the Venetian arsenal:--the mound on which he travelled +along the banks of Phlegethon was like that between Ghent and Bruges, +but not so large:--the cavities where the Simoniacal prelates are +confined resemble the Fonts in the Church of John at Florence. +Every reader of Dante will recall many other illustrations of this +description, which add to the appearance of sincerity and earnestness +from which the narrative derives so much of its interest. + +Many of his comparisons, again, are intended to give an exact idea of +his feelings under particular circumstances. The delicate shades of +grief, of fear, of anger, are rarely discriminated with sufficient +accuracy in the language of the most refined nations. A rude dialect +never abounds in nice distinctions of this kind. Dante therefore employs +the most accurate and infinitely the most poetical mode of marking +the precise state of his mind. Every person who has experienced the +bewildering effect of sudden bad tidings,--the stupefaction,--the vague +doubt of the truth of our own perceptions which they produce,--will +understand the following simile:--"I was as he is who dreameth his own +harm,--who, dreaming, wishes that it may be all a dream, so that he +desires that which is as though it were not." This is only one out of a +hundred equally striking and expressive similitudes. The comparisons of +Homer and Milton are magnificent digressions. It scarcely injures their +effect to detach them from the work. Those of Dante are very different. +They derive their beauty from the context, and reflect beauty upon it. +His embroidery cannot be taken out without spoiling the whole web. I +cannot dismiss this part of the subject without advising every person +who can muster sufficient Italian to read the simile of the sheep, in +the third canto of the Purgatorio. I think it the most perfect passage +of the kind in the world, the most imaginative, the most picturesque, +and the most sweetly expressed. + +No person can have attended to the Divine Comedy without observing how +little impression the forms of the external world appear to have made on +the mind of Dante. His temper and his situation had led him to fix his +observation almost exclusively on human nature. The exquisite opening of +the eighth* canto of the Purgatorio affords a strong instance of this. +(I cannot help observing that Gray's imitation of that noble line + + "Che paia 'lgiorna pianger che si muore,"-- + +is one of the most striking instances of injudicious plagiarism with +which I am acquainted. Dante did not put this strong personification at +the beginning of his description. The imagination of the reader is so +well prepared for it by the previous lines, that it appears perfectly +natural and pathetic. Placed as Gray has placed it, neither preceded +nor followed by anything that harmonises with it, it becomes a frigid +conceit. Woe to the unskilful rider who ventures on the horses of +Achilles!) + +He leaves to others the earth, the ocean, and the sky. His business is +with man. To other writers, evening may be the season of dews and stars +and radiant clouds. To Dante it is the hour of fond recollection and +passionate devotion,--the hour which melts the heart of the mariner and +kindles the love of the pilgrim,--the hour when the toll of the bell +seems to mourn for another day which is gone and will return no more. + +The feeling of the present age has taken a direction diametrically +opposite. The magnificence of the physical world, and its influence +upon the human mind, have been the favourite themes of our most eminent +poets. The herd of bluestocking ladies and sonneteering gentlemen seem +to consider a strong sensibility to the "splendour of the grass, the +glory of the flower," as an ingredient absolutely indispensable in the +formation of a poetical mind. They treat with contempt all writers who +are unfortunately + + nec ponere lucum + Artifices, nec rus saturum laudare. + +The orthodox poetical creed is more Catholic. The noblest earthly object +of the contemplation of man is man himself. The universe, and all its +fair and glorious forms, are indeed included in the wide empire of the +imagination; but she has placed her home and her sanctuary amidst the +inexhaustible varieties and the impenetrable mysteries of the mind. + + In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge; + Quivi e la sua cittade, e l'alto seggio. + (Inferno, canto i.) + +Othello is perhaps the greatest work in the world. From what does it +derive its power? From the clouds? From the ocean? From the mountains? +Or from love strong as death, and jealousy cruel as the grave? What is +it that we go forth to see in Hamlet? Is it a reed shaken with the wind? +A small celandine? A bed of daffodils? Or is it to contemplate a mighty +and wayward mind laid bare before us to the inmost recesses? It may +perhaps be doubted whether the lakes and the hills are better fitted for +the education of a poet than the dusky streets of a huge capital. Indeed +who is not tired to death with pure description of scenery? Is it not +the fact, that external objects never strongly excite our feelings but +when they are contemplated in reference to man, as illustrating his +destiny, or as influencing his character? The most beautiful object in +the world, it will be allowed, is a beautiful woman. But who that can +analyse his feelings is not sensible that she owes her fascination +less to grace of outline and delicacy of colour, than to a thousand +associations which, often unperceived by ourselves, connect those +qualities with the source of our existence, with the nourishment of our +infancy, with the passions of our youth, with the hopes of our age--with +elegance, with vivacity, with tenderness, with the strongest of natural +instincts, with the dearest of social ties? + +To those who think thus, the insensibility of the Florentine poet to +the beauties of nature will not appear an unpardonable deficiency. On +mankind no writer, with the exception of Shakspeare, has looked with +a more penetrating eye. I have said that his poetical character had +derived a tinge from his peculiar temper. It is on the sterner and +darker passions that he delights to dwell. All love excepting the +half-mystic passion which he still felt for his buried Beatrice, had +palled on the fierce and restless exile. The sad story of Rimini is +almost a single exception. I know not whether it has been remarked, +that, in one point, misanthropy seems to have affected his mind, as +it did that of Swift. Nauseous and revolting images seem to have had a +fascination for his mind; and he repeatedly places before his readers, +with all the energy of his incomparable style, the most loathsome +objects of the sewer and the dissecting-room. + +There is another peculiarity in the poem of Dante, which, I think, +deserves notice. Ancient mythology has hardly ever been successfully +interwoven with modern poetry. One class of writers have introduced the +fabulous deities merely as allegorical representatives of love, wine, +or wisdom. This necessarily renders their works tame and cold. We may +sometimes admire their ingenuity; but with what interest can we read +of beings of whose personal existence the writer does not suffer us +to entertain, for a moment, even a conventional belief? Even Spenser's +allegory is scarcely tolerable, till we contrive to forget that Una +signifies innocence, and consider her merely as an oppressed lady under +the protection of a generous knight. + +Those writers who have, more judiciously, attempted to preserve the +personality of the classical divinities have failed from a different +cause. They have been imitators, and imitators at a disadvantage. +Euripides and Catullus believed in Bacchus and Cybele as little as we +do. But they lived among men who did. Their imaginations, if not their +opinions, took the colour of the age. Hence the glorious inspiration of +the Bacchae and the Atys. Our minds are formed by circumstances: and I +do not believe that it would be in the power of the greatest modern poet +to lash himself up to a degree of enthusiasm adequate to the production +of such works. + +Dante, alone among the poets of later times, has been, in this respect, +neither an allegorist nor an imitator; and, consequently, he alone has +introduced the ancient fictions with effect. His Minos, his Charon, +his Pluto, are absolutely terrific. Nothing can be more beautiful or +original than the use which he has made of the River of Lethe. He has +never assigned to his mythological characters any functions inconsistent +with the creed of the Catholic Church. He has related nothing concerning +them which a good Christian of that age might not believe possible. On +this account there is nothing in these passages that appears puerile or +pedantic. On the contrary, this singular use of classical names suggests +to the mind a vague and awful idea of some mysterious revelation, +anterior to all recorded history, of which the dispersed fragments might +have been retained amidst the impostures and superstitions of later +religions. Indeed the mythology of the Divine Comedy is of the elder and +more colossal mould. It breathes the spirit of Homer and Aeschylus, not +of Ovid and Claudian. + +This is the more extraordinary, since Dante seems to have been utterly +ignorant of the Greek language; and his favourite Latin models could +only have served to mislead him. Indeed, it is impossible not to remark +his admiration of writers far inferior to himself; and, in particular, +his idolatry of Virgil, who, elegant and splendid as he is, has no +pretensions to the depth and originality of mind which characterise his +Tuscan worshipper, In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal +rule that good poets are bad critics. Their minds are under the tyranny +of ten thousand associations imperceptible to others. The worst writer +may easily happen to touch a spring which is connected in their minds +with a long succession of beautiful images. They are like the gigantic +slaves of Aladdin, gifted with matchless power, but bound by spells +so mighty that when a child whom they could have crushed touched a +talisman, of whose secret he was ignorant, they immediately became his +vassals. It has more than once happened to me to see minds, graceful +and majestic as the Titania of Shakspeare, bewitched by the charms of an +ass's head, bestowing on it the fondest caresses, and crowning it +with the sweetest flowers. I need only mention the poems attributed to +Ossian. They are utterly worthless, except as an edifying instance of +the success of a story without evidence, and of a book without merit. +They are a chaos of words which present no image, of images which have +no archetype:--they are without form and void; and darkness is upon the +face of them. Yet how many men of genius have panegyrised and imitated +them! + +The style of Dante is, if not his highest, perhaps his most peculiar +excellence. I know nothing with which it can be compared. The noblest +models of Greek composition must yield to it. His words are the fewest +and the best which it is possible to use. The first expression in which +he clothes his thoughts is always so energetic and comprehensive that +amplification would only injure the effect. There is probably no writer +in any language who has presented so many strong pictures to the mind. +Yet there is probably no writer equally concise. This perfection of +style is the principal merit of the Paradiso, which, as I have already +remarked, is by no means equal in other respects to the two preceding +parts of the poem. The force and felicity of the diction, however, +irresistibly attract the reader through the theological lectures and the +sketches of ecclesiastical biography, with which this division of the +work too much abounds. It may seem almost absurd to quote particular +specimens of an excellence which is diffused over all his hundred +cantos. I will, however, instance the third canto of the Inferno, and +the sixth of the Purgatorio, as passages incomparable in their kind. The +merit of the latter is, perhaps, rather oratorical than poetical; nor +can I recollect anything in the great Athenian speeches which equals it +in force of invective and bitterness of sarcasm. I have heard the most +eloquent statesman of the age remark that, next to Demosthenes, Dante +is the writer who ought to be most attentively studied by every man who +desires to attain oratorical eminence. + +But it is time to close this feeble and rambling critique. I cannot +refrain, however, from saying a few words upon the translations of the +Divine Comedy. Boyd's is as tedious and languid as the original is rapid +and forcible. The strange measure which he has chosen, and, for aught I +know, invented, is most unfit for such a work. Translations ought never +to be written in a verse which requires much command of rhyme. The +stanza becomes a bed of Procrustes; and the thoughts of the unfortunate +author are alternately racked and curtailed to fit their new receptacle. +The abrupt and yet consecutive style of Dante suffers more than that +of any other poet by a version diffuse in style, and divided into +paragraphs, for they deserve no other name, of equal length. + +Nothing can be said in favour of Hayley's attempt, but that it is better +than Boyd's. His mind was a tolerable specimen of filigree work,--rather +elegant, and very feeble. All that can be said for his best works is +that they are neat. All that can be said against his worst is that they +are stupid. He might have translated Metastasio tolerably. But he was +utterly unable to do justice to the + + "rime e aspre e chiocce, + "Come si converrebbe al tristo buco." + (Inferno, canto xxxii.) + +I turn with pleasure from these wretched performances to Mr Cary's +translation. It is a work which well deserves a separate discussion, and +on which, if this article were not already too long, I could dwell +with great pleasure. At present I will only say that there is no other +version in the world, as far as I know, so faithful, yet that there is +no other version which so fully proves that the translator is himself a +man of poetical genius. Those who are ignorant of the Italian language +should read it to become acquainted with the Divine Comedy. Those +who are most intimate with Italian literature should read it for its +original merits: and I believe that they will find it difficult to +determine whether the author deserves most praise for his intimacy with +the language of Dante, or for his extraordinary mastery over his own. + +***** + + +CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + + + + +No. II. PETRARCH. (April 1824.) + + Et vos, o lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte, + Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores. Virgil. + +It would not be easy to name a writer whose celebrity, when both its +extent and its duration are taken into the account, can be considered as +equal to that of Petrarch. Four centuries and a half have elapsed since +his death. Yet still the inhabitants of every nation throughout the +western world are as familiar with his character and his adventures as +with the most illustrious names, and the most recent anecdotes, of their +own literary history. This is indeed a rare distinction. His detractors +must acknowledge that it could not have been acquired by a poet +destitute of merit. His admirers will scarcely maintain that the +unassisted merit of Petrarch could have raised him to that eminence +which has not yet been attained by Shakspeare, Milton, or Dante,--that +eminence, of which perhaps no modern writer, excepting himself and +Cervantes, has long retained possession,--an European reputation. + +It is not difficult to discover some of the causes to which this great +man has owed a celebrity, which I cannot but think disproportioned to +his real claims on the admiration of mankind. In the first place, he +is an egotist. Egotism in conversation is universally abhorred. Lovers, +and, I believe, lovers alone, pardon it in each other. No services, +no talents, no powers of pleasing, render it endurable. Gratitude, +admiration, interest, fear, scarcely prevent those who are condemned to +listen to it from indicating their disgust and fatigue. The childless +uncle, the powerful patron can scarcely extort this compliance. We leave +the inside of the mail in a storm, and mount the box, rather than +hear the history of our companion. The chaplain bites his lips in the +presence of the archbishop. The midshipman yawns at the table of +the First Lord. Yet, from whatever cause, this practice, the pest of +conversation, gives to writing a zest which nothing else can impart. +Rousseau made the boldest experiment of this kind; and it fully +succeeded. In our own time Lord Byron, by a series of attempts of the +same nature, made himself the object of general interest and admiration. +Wordsworth wrote with egotism more intense, but less obvious; and he has +been rewarded with a sect of worshippers, comparatively small in number, +but far more enthusiastic in their devotion. It is needless to multiply +instances. Even now all the walks of literature are infested with +mendicants for fame, who attempt to excite our interest by exhibiting +all the distortions of their intellects, and stripping the covering from +all the putrid sores of their feelings. Nor are there wanting many who +push their imitation of the beggars whom they resemble a step further, +and who find it easier to extort a pittance from the spectator, by +simulating deformity and debility from which they are exempt, than by +such honest labour as their health and strength enable them to perform. +In the meantime the credulous public pities and pampers a nuisance which +requires only the treadmill and the whip. This art, often successful +when employed by dunces, gives irresistible fascination to works which +possess intrinsic merit. We are always desirous to know something of +the character and situation of those whose writings we have perused +with pleasure. The passages in which Milton has alluded to his own +circumstances are perhaps read more frequently, and with more interest, +than any other lines in his poems. It is amusing to observe with what +labour critics have attempted to glean from the poems of Homer, some +hints as to his situation and feelings. According to one hypothesis, +he intended to describe himself under the name of Demodocus. Others +maintain that he was the identical Phemius whose life Ulysses spared. +This propensity of the human mind explains, I think, in a great degree, +the extensive popularity of a poet whose works are little else than the +expression of his personal feelings. + +In the second place, Petrarch was not only an egotist, but an amatory +egotist. The hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, which he described, +were derived from the passion which of all passions exerts the widest +influence, and which of all passions borrows most from the imagination. +He had also another immense advantage. He was the first eminent amatory +poet who appeared after the great convulsion which had changed, not only +the political, but the moral, state of the world. The Greeks, who, in +their public institutions and their literary tastes, were diametrically +opposed to the oriental nations, bore a considerable resemblance to +those nations in their domestic habits. Like them, they despised the +intellects and immured the persons of their women; and it was among the +least of the frightful evils to which this pernicious system gave +birth, that all the accomplishments of mind, and all the fascinations of +manner, which, in a highly cultivated age, will generally be necessary +to attach men to their female associates, were monopolised by the +Phrynes and the Lamais. The indispensable ingredients of honourable and +chivalrous love were nowhere to be found united. The matrons and their +daughters confined in the harem,--insipid, uneducated, ignorant of all +but the mechanical arts, scarcely seen till they were married,--could +rarely excite interest; afterwards their brilliant rivals, half Graces, +half Harpies, elegant and informed, but fickle and rapacious, could +never inspire respect. + +The state of society in Rome was, in this point, far happier; and +the Latin literature partook of the superiority. The Roman poets have +decidedly surpassed those of Greece in the delineation of the passion of +love. There is no subject which they have treated with so much success. +Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, Horace, and Propertius, in spite of all their +faults, must be allowed to rank high in this department of the art. To +these I would add my favourite Plautus; who, though he took his plots +from Greece, found, I suspect, the originals of his enchanting female +characters at Rome. + +Still many evils remained: and, in the decline of the great empire, all +that was pernicious in its domestic institutions appeared more strongly. +Under the influence of governments at once dependent and tyrannical, +which purchased, by cringing to their enemies, the power of trampling on +their subjects, the Romans sunk into the lowest state of effeminacy +and debasement. Falsehood, cowardice, sloth, conscious and unrepining +degradation, formed the national character. Such a character is totally +incompatible with the stronger passions. Love, in particular, which, in +the modern sense of the word, implies protection and devotion on the one +side, confidence on the other, respect and fidelity on both, could not +exist among the sluggish and heartless slaves who cringed around the +thrones of Honorius and Augustulus. At this period the great renovation +commenced. The warriors of the north, destitute as they were of +knowledge and humanity, brought with them, from their forests and +marshes, those qualities without which humanity is a weakness and +knowledge a curse,--energy--independence--the dread of shame--the +contempt of danger. It would be most interesting to examine the manner +in which the admixture of the savage conquerors and the effeminate +slaves, after many generations of darkness and agitation, produced the +modern European character;--to trace back, from the first conflict to +the final amalgamation, the operation of that mysterious alchemy which, +from hostile and worthless elements, has extracted the pure gold of +human nature--to analyse the mass, and to determine the proportion in +which the ingredients are mingled. But I will confine myself to the +subject to which I have more particularly referred. The nature of the +passion of love had undergone a complete change. It still retained, +indeed, the fanciful and voluptuous character which it had possessed +among the southern nations of antiquity. But it was tinged with the +superstitious veneration with which the northern warriors had been +accustomed to regard women. Devotion and war had imparted to it their +most solemn and animating feelings. It was sanctified by the blessings +of the Church, and decorated with the wreaths of the tournament. Venus, +as in the ancient fable, was again rising above the dark and tempestuous +waves which had so long covered her beauty. But she rose not now, as of +old, in exposed and luxurious loveliness. She still wore the cestus of +her ancient witchcraft; but the diadem of Juno was on her brow, and +the aegis of Pallas in her hand. Love might, in fact, be called a new +passion; and it is not astonishing that the first poet of eminence +who wholly devoted his genius to this theme should have excited an +extraordinary sensation. He may be compared to an adventurer who +accidentally lands in a rich and unknown island; and who, though he may +only set up an ill-shaped cross upon the shore, acquires possession of +its treasures, and gives it his name. The claim of Petrarch was indeed +somewhat like that of Amerigo Vespucci to the continent which should +have derived its appellation from Columbus. The Provencal poets were +unquestionably the masters of the Florentine. But they wrote in an age +which could not appreciate their merits; and their imitator lived at the +very period when composition in the vernacular language began to attract +general attention. Petrarch was in literature what a Valentine is +in love. The public preferred him, not because his merits were of a +transcendent order, but because he was the first person whom they saw +after they awoke from their long sleep. + +Nor did Petrarch gain less by comparison with his immediate successors +than with those who had preceded him. Till more than a century after his +death Italy produced no poet who could be compared to him. This decay of +genius is doubtless to be ascribed, in a great measure, to the influence +which his own works had exercised upon the literature of his country. +Yet it has conduced much to his fame. Nothing is more favourable to +the reputation of a writer than to be succeeded by a race inferior +to himself; and it is an advantage, from obvious causes, much more +frequently enjoyed by those who corrupt the national taste than by those +who improve it. + +Another cause has co-operated with those which I have mentioned to +spread the renown of Petrarch. I mean the interest which is inspired by +the events of his life--an interest which must have been strongly felt +by his contemporaries, since, after an interval of five hundred years, +no critic can be wholly exempt from its influence. Among the great men +to whom we owe the resuscitation of science he deserves the foremost +place; and his enthusiastic attachment to this great cause constitutes +his most just and splendid title to the gratitude of posterity. He was +the votary of literature. He loved it with a perfect love. He worshipped +it with an almost fanatical devotion. He was the missionary, who +proclaimed its discoveries to distant countries--the pilgrim, who +travelled far and wide to collect its reliques--the hermit, who retired +to seclusion to meditate on its beauties--the champion, who fought its +battles--the conqueror, who, in more than a metaphorical sense, led +barbarism and ignorance in triumph, and received in the Capitol the +laurel which his magnificent victory had earned. + +Nothing can be conceived more noble or affecting than that ceremony. The +superb palaces and porticoes, by which had rolled the ivory chariots +of Marius and Caesar, had long mouldered into dust. The laurelled +fasces--the golden eagles--the shouting legions--the captives and the +pictured cities--were indeed wanting to his victorious procession. The +sceptre had passed away from Rome. But she still retained the mightier +influence of an intellectual empire, and was now to confer the prouder +reward of an intellectual triumph. To the man who had extended the +dominion of her ancient language--who had erected the trophies +of philosophy and imagination in the haunts of ignorance and +ferocity--whose captives were the hearts of admiring nations enchained +by the influence of his song--whose spoils were the treasures of ancient +genius rescued from obscurity and decay--the Eternal City offered the +just and glorious tribute of her gratitude. Amidst the ruined monuments +of ancient and the infant erections of modern art, he who had restored +the broken link between the two ages of human civilisation was crowned +with the wreath which he had deserved from the moderns who owed to him +their refinement--from the ancients who owed to him their fame. Never +was a coronation so august witnessed by Westminster or by Rheims. + +When we turn from this glorious spectacle to the private chamber of the +poet,--when we contemplate the struggle of passion and virtue,--the +eye dimmed, the cheek furrowed, by the tears of sinful and hopeless +desire,--when we reflect on the whole history of his attachment, from +the gay fantasy of his youth to the lingering despair of his age, pity +and affection mingle with our admiration. Even after death had placed +the last seal on his misery, we see him devoting to the cause of the +human mind all the strength and energy which love and sorrow had spared. +He lived the apostle of literature;--he fell its martyr:--he was found +dead with his head reclined on a book. + +Those who have studied the life and writings of Petrarch with attention, +will perhaps be inclined to make some deductions from this panegyric. +It cannot be denied that his merits were disfigured by a most unpleasant +affectation. His zeal for literature communicated a tinge of pedantry +to all his feelings and opinions. His love was the love of a +sonnetteer:--his patriotism was the patriotism of an antiquarian. The +interest with which we contemplate the works, and study the history, of +those who, in former ages, have occupied our country, arises from +the associations which connect them with the community in which are +comprised all the objects of our affection and our hope. In the mind +of Petrarch these feelings were reversed. He loved Italy, because it +abounded with the monuments of the ancient masters of the world. His +native city--the fair and glorious Florence--the modern Athens, then in +all the bloom and strength of its youth, could not obtain, from the most +distinguished of its citizens, any portion of that passionate homage +which he paid to the decrepitude of Rome. These and many other +blemishes, though they must in candour be acknowledged, can but in a +very slight degree diminish the glory of his career. For my own part, I +look upon it with so much fondness and pleasure that I feel reluctant +to turn from it to the consideration of his works, which I by no means +contemplate with equal admiration. + +Nevertheless, I think highly of the poetical powers of Petrarch. He did +not possess, indeed, the art of strongly presenting sensible objects to +the imagination;--and this is the more remarkable, because the talent of +which I speak is that which peculiarly distinguishes the Italian poets. +In the Divine Comedy it is displayed in its highest perfection. It +characterises almost every celebrated poem in the language. Perhaps this +is to be attributed to the circumstance, that painting and sculpture +had attained a high degree of excellence in Italy before poetry had been +extensively cultivated. Men were debarred from books, but accustomed +from childhood to contemplate the admirable works of art, which, even in +the thirteenth century, Italy began to produce. Hence their imaginations +received so strong a bias that, even in their writings, a taste for +graphic delineation is discernible. The progress of things in England +has been in all respects different. The consequence is, that English +historical pictures are poems on canvas; while Italian poems are +pictures painted to the mind by means of words. Of this national +characteristic the writings of Petrarch are almost totally destitute. +His sonnets indeed, from their subject and nature, and his Latin Poems, +from the restraints which always shackle one who writes in a dead +language, cannot fairly be received in evidence. But his Triumphs +absolutely required the exercise of this talent, and exhibit no +indications of it. + +Genius, however, he certainly possessed, and genius of a high order. His +ardent, tender, and magnificent turn of thought, his brilliant fancy, +his command of expression, at once forcible and elegant, must be +acknowledged. Nature meant him for the prince of lyric writers. But by +one fatal present she deprived her other gifts of half their value. He +would have been a much greater poet had he been a less clever man. His +ingenuity was the bane of his mind. He abandoned the noble and natural +style, in which he might have excelled, for the conceits which he +produced with a facility at once admirable and disgusting. His muse, +like the Roman lady in Livy, was tempted by gaudy ornaments to betray +the fastnesses of her strength, and, like her, was crushed beneath the +glittering bribes which had seduced her. + +The paucity of his thoughts is very remarkable. It is impossible to look +without amazement on a mind so fertile in combinations, yet so barren +of images. His amatory poetry is wholly made up of a very few topics, +disposed in so many orders, and exhibited in so many lights, that it +reminds us of those arithmetical problems about permutations, which so +much astonish the unlearned. The French cook, who boasted that he could +make fifteen different dishes out of a nettle-top, was not a greater +master of his art. The mind of Petrarch was a kaleidoscope. At every +turn it presents us with new forms, always fantastic, occasionally +beautiful; and we can scarcely believe that all these varieties have +been produced by the same worthless fragments of glass. The sameness of +his images is, indeed, in some degree, to be attributed to the sameness +of his subject. It would be unreasonable to expect perpetual variety +from so many hundred compositions, all of the same length, all in +the same measure, and all addressed to the same insipid and heartless +coquette. I cannot but suspect also that the perverted taste, which is +the blemish of his amatory verses, was to be attributed to the influence +of Laura, who, probably, like most critics of her sex, preferred a gaudy +to a majestic style. Be this as it may, he no sooner changes his subject +than he changes his manner. When he speaks of the wrongs and degradation +of Italy, devastated by foreign invaders, and but feebly defended by +her pusillanimous children, the effeminate lisp of the sonnetteer +is exchanged for a cry, wild, and solemn, and piercing as that which +proclaimed "Sleep no more" to the bloody house of Cawdor. "Italy seems +not to feel her sufferings," exclaims her impassioned poet; "decrepit, +sluggish, and languid, will she sleep forever? Will there be none to +awake her? Oh that I had my hands twisted in her hair!" + + ("Che suoi guai non par che senta; + Vecchia, oziosa, e lenta. + Dormira sempre, e non fia chi la svegli? + Le man l' avess' io avvolte entro e capegli." + Canzone xi.) + +Nor is it with less energy that he denounces against the Mahometan +Babylon the vengeance of Europe and of Christ. His magnificent +enumeration of the ancient exploits of the Greeks must always excite +admiration, and cannot be perused without the deepest interest, at a +time when the wise and good, bitterly disappointed in so many other +countries, are looking with breathless anxiety towards the natal land of +liberty,--the field of Marathon,--and the deadly pass where the Lion of +Lacedaemon turned to bay. + + ("Maratona, e le mortali strette + Che difese il LEON con poca gente." + Canzone v.) + +His poems on religious subjects also deserve the highest commendation. +At the head of these must be placed the Ode to the Virgin. It is, +perhaps, the finest hymn in the world. His devout veneration receives an +exquisitely poetical character from the delicate perception of the sex +and the loveliness of his idol, which we may easily trace throughout the +whole composition. + +I could dwell with pleasure on these and similar parts of the writings +of Petrarch; but I must return to his amatory poetry: to that he +entrusted his fame; and to that he has principally owed it. + +The prevailing defect of his best compositions on this subject is +the universal brilliancy with which they are lighted up. The natural +language of the passions is, indeed, often figurative and fantastic; and +with none is this more the case than with that of love. Still there is +a limit. The feelings should, indeed, have their ornamental garb; but, +like an elegant woman, they should be neither muffled nor exposed. The +drapery should be so arranged, as at once to answer the purposes +of modest concealment and judicious display. The decorations should +sometimes be employed to hide a defect, and sometimes to heighten a +beauty; but never to conceal, much less to distort, the charms to which +they are subsidiary. The love of Petrarch, on the contrary, arrays +itself like a foppish savage, whose nose is bored with a golden ring, +whose skin is painted with grotesque forms and dazzling colours, and +whose ears are drawn down his shoulders by the weight of jewels. It is +a rule, without any exception, in all kinds of composition, that the +principal idea, the predominant feeling, should never be confounded with +the accompanying decorations. It should generally be distinguished from +them by greater simplicity of expression; as we recognise Napoleon in +the pictures of his battles, amidst a crowd of embroidered coats and +plumes, by his grey cloak and his hat without a feather. In the verses +of Petrarch it is generally impossible to say what thought is meant +to be prominent. All is equally elaborate. The chief wears the same +gorgeous and degrading livery with his retinue, and obtains only his +share of the indifferent stare which we bestow upon them in common. +The poems have no strong lights and shades, no background, no +foreground;--they are like the illuminated figures in an oriental +manuscript,--plenty of rich tints and no perspective. Such are the +faults of the most celebrated of these compositions. Of those which are +universally acknowledged to be bad it is scarcely possible to speak with +patience. Yet they have much in common with their splendid companions. +They differ from them, as a Mayday procession of chimneysweepers differs +from the Field of Cloth of Gold. They have the gaudiness but not the +wealth. His muse belongs to that numerous class of females who have +no objection to be dirty, while they can be tawdry. When his brilliant +conceits are exhausted, he supplies their place with metaphysical +quibbles, forced antitheses, bad puns, and execrable charades. In his +fifth sonnet he may, I think, be said to have sounded the lowest chasm +of the Bathos. Upon the whole, that piece may be safely pronounced to be +the worst attempt at poetry, and the worst attempt at wit, in the world. + +A strong proof of the truth of these criticisms is, that almost all the +sonnets produce exactly the same effect on the mind of the reader. They +relate to all the various moods of a lover, from joy to despair:--yet +they are perused, as far as my experience and observation have gone, +with exactly the same feeling. The fact is, that in none of them are the +passion and the ingenuity mixed in just proportions. There is not enough +sentiment to dilute the condiments which are employed to season it. The +repast which he sets before us resembles the Spanish entertainment in +Dryden's "Mock Astrologer", at which the relish of all the dishes +and sauces was overpowered by the common flavour of spice. +Fish,--flesh,--fowl,--everything at table tasted of nothing but red +pepper. + +The writings of Petrarch may indeed suffer undeservedly from one cause +to which I must allude. His imitators have so much familiarised the ear +of Italy and of Europe to the favourite topics of amorous flattery and +lamentation, that we can scarcely think them original when we find them +in the first author; and, even when our understandings have convinced us +that they were new to him, they are still old to us. This has been the +fate of many of the finest passages of the most eminent writers. It +is melancholy to trace a noble thought from stage to stage of its +profanation; to see it transferred from the first illustrious wearer to +his lacqueys, turned, and turned again, and at last hung on a scarecrow. +Petrarch has really suffered much from this cause. Yet that he should +have so suffered is a sufficient proof that his excellences were not of +the highest order. A line may be stolen; but the pervading spirit of a +great poet is not to be surreptitiously obtained by a plagiarist. The +continued imitation of twenty-five centuries has left Homer as it +found him. If every simile and every turn of Dante had been copied ten +thousand times, the Divine Comedy would have retained all its freshness. +It was easy for the porter in Farquhar to pass for Beau Clincher, by +borrowing his lace and his pulvilio. It would have been more difficult +to enact Sir Harry Wildair. + +Before I quit this subject I must defend Petrarch from one accusation +which is in the present day frequently brought against him. His sonnets +are pronounced by a large sect of critics not to possess certain +qualities which they maintain to be indispensable to sonnets, with as +much confidence, and as much reason, as their prototypes of old insisted +on the unities of the drama. I am an exoteric--utterly unable to explain +the mysteries of this new poetical faith. I only know that it is a +faith, which except a man do keep pure and undefiled, without doubt he +shall be called a blockhead. I cannot, however, refrain from asking what +is the particular virtue which belongs to fourteen as distinguished from +all other numbers. Does it arise from its being a multiple of seven? Has +this principle any reference to the sabbatical ordinance? Or is it +to the order of rhymes that these singular properties are attached? +Unhappily the sonnets of Shakspeare differ as much in this respect from +those of Petrarch, as from a Spenserian or an octave stanza. Away with +this unmeaning jargon! We have pulled down the old regime of criticism. +I trust that we shall never tolerate the equally pedantic and irrational +despotism, which some of the revolutionary leaders would erect upon its +ruins. We have not dethroned Aristotle and Bossu for this. + +These sonnet-fanciers would do well to reflect that, though the style of +Petrarch may not suit the standard of perfection which they have chosen, +they lie under great obligations to these very poems,--that, but for +Petrarch the measure, concerning which they legislate so judiciously, +would probably never have attracted notice; and that to him they owe the +pleasure of admiring, and the glory of composing, pieces, which seem +to have been produced by Master Slender, with the assistance of his man +Simple. + +I cannot conclude these remarks without making a few observations on the +Latin writings of Petrarch. It appears that, both by himself and by his +contemporaries, these were far more highly valued than his compositions +in the vernacular language. Posterity, the supreme court of literary +appeal, has not only reversed the judgment, but, according to its +general practice, reversed it with costs, and condemned the unfortunate +works to pay, not only for their own inferiority, but also for the +injustice of those who had given them an unmerited preference. And +it must be owned that, without making large allowances for the +circumstances under which they were produced, we cannot pronounce a very +favourable judgment. They must be considered as exotics, transplanted to +a foreign climate, and reared in an unfavourable situation; and it would +be unreasonable to expect from them the health and the vigour which +we find in the indigenous plants around them, or which they might +themselves have possessed in their native soil. He has but very +imperfectly imitated the style of the Latin authors, and has not +compensated for the deficiency by enriching the ancient language with +the graces of modern poetry. The splendour and ingenuity, which we +admire, even when we condemn it, in his Italian works, is almost totally +wanting, and only illuminates with rare and occasional glimpses the +dreary obscurity of the African. The eclogues have more animation; but +they can only be called poems by courtesy. They have nothing in common +with his writings in his native language, except the eternal pun about +Laura and Daphne. None of these works would have placed him on a level +with Vida or Buchanan. Yet, when we compare him with those who preceded +him, when we consider that he went on the forlorn hope of literature, +that he was the first who perceived, and the first who attempted to +revive, the finer elegancies of the ancient language of the world, we +shall perhaps think more highly of him than of those who could never +have surpassed his beauties if they had not inherited them. + +He has aspired to emulate the philosophical eloquence of Cicero, as well +as the poetical majesty of Virgil. His essay on the Remedies of Good +and Evil Fortune is a singular work in a colloquial form, and a most +scholastic style. It seems to be framed upon the model of the Tusculan +Questions,--with what success those who have read it may easily +determine. It consists of a series of dialogues: in each of these a +person is introduced who has experienced some happy or some adverse +event: he gravely states his case; and a reasoner, or rather Reason +personified, confutes him; a task not very difficult, since the disciple +defends his position only by pertinaciously repeating it, in almost +the same words at the end of every argument of his antagonist. In this +manner Petrarch solves an immense variety of cases. Indeed, I doubt +whether it would be possible to name any pleasure or any calamity which +does not find a place in this dissertation. He gives excellent advice to +a man who is in expectation of discovering the philosopher's stone;--to +another, who has formed a fine aviary;--to a third, who is delighted +with the tricks of a favourite monkey. His lectures to the unfortunate +are equally singular. He seems to imagine that a precedent in point is a +sufficient consolation for every form of suffering. "Our town is taken," +says one complainant; "So was Troy," replies his comforter. "My wife has +eloped," says another; "If it has happened to you once, it happened +to Menelaus twice." One poor fellow is in great distress at having +discovered that his wife's son is none of his. "It is hard," says +he, "that I should have had the expense of bringing up one who is +indifferent to me." "You are a man," returns his monitor, quoting the +famous line of Terence; "and nothing that belongs to any other man +ought to be indifferent to you." The physical calamities of life are not +omitted; and there is in particular a disquisition on the advantages of +having the itch, which, if not convincing, is certainly very amusing. + +The invectives on an unfortunate physician, or rather upon the medical +science, have more spirit. Petrarch was thoroughly in earnest on this +subject. And the bitterness of his feelings occasionally produces, in +the midst of his classical and scholastic pedantry, a sentence worthy of +the second Philippic. Swift himself might have envied the chapter on the +causes of the paleness of physicians. + +Of his Latin works the Epistles are the most generally known and +admired. As compositions they are certainly superior to his essays. +But their excellence is only comparative. From so large a collection of +letters, written by so eminent a man, during so varied and eventful +a life, we should have expected a complete and spirited view of the +literature, the manners, and the politics of the age. A traveller--a +poet--a scholar--a lover--a courtier--a recluse--he might have +perpetuated, in an imperishable record, the form and pressure of the age +and body of the time. Those who read his correspondence, in the hope +of finding such information as this, will be utterly disappointed. It +contains nothing characteristic of the period or of the individual. It +is a series, not of letters, but of themes; and, as it is not generally +known, might be very safely employed at public schools as a magazine of +commonplaces. Whether he write on politics to the Emperor and the +Doge, or send advice and consolation to a private friend, every line is +crowded with examples and quotations, and sounds big with Anaxagoras and +Scipio. Such was the interest excited by the character of Petrarch, and +such the admiration which was felt for his epistolary style, that it was +with difficulty that his letters reached the place of their destination. +The poet describes, with pretended regret and real complacency, the +importunity of the curious, who often opened, and sometimes stole, +these favourite compositions. It is a remarkable fact that, of all his +epistles, the least affected are those which are addressed to the dead +and the unborn. Nothing can be more absurd than his whim of composing +grave letters of expostulation and commendation to Cicero and Seneca; +yet these strange performances are written in a far more natural manner +than his communications to his living correspondents. But of all his +Latin works the preference must be given to the Epistle to Posterity; +a simple, noble, and pathetic composition, most honourable both to his +taste and his heart. If we can make allowance for some of the affected +humility of an author, we shall perhaps think that no literary man has +left a more pleasing memorial of himself. + +In conclusion, we may pronounce that the works of Petrarch were below +both his genius and his celebrity; and that the circumstances under +which he wrote were as adverse to the development of his powers as they +were favourable to the extension of his fame. + +***** + + + + +SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT LAWSUIT BETWEEN THE PARISHES OF ST DENNIS AND +ST GEORGE IN THE WATER. (April 1824.) + + +PART I. + +The parish of St Dennis is one of the most pleasant parts of the county +in which it is situated. It is fertile, well wooded, well watered, and +of an excellent air. For many generations the manor had been holden in +tail-male by a worshipful family, who have always taken precedence of +their neighbours at the races and the sessions. + +In ancient times the affairs of this parish were administered by a +Court-Baron, in which the freeholders were judges; and the rates were +levied by select vestries of the inhabitant householders. But at length +these good customs fell into disuse. The Lords of the Manor, indeed, +still held courts for form's sake; but they or their stewards had the +whole management of affairs. They demanded services, duties, and customs +to which they had no just title. Nay, they would often bring actions +against their neighbours for their own private advantage, and then send +in the bill to the parish. No objection was made, during many years, to +these proceedings, so that the rates became heavier and heavier: nor +was any person exempted from these demands, except the footmen and +gamekeepers of the squire and the rector of the parish. They indeed were +never checked in any excess. They would come to an honest labourer's +cottage, eat his pancakes, tuck his fowls into their pockets, and cane +the poor man himself. If he went up to the great house to complain, it +was hard to get the speech of Sir Lewis; and, indeed, his only chance of +being righted was to coax the squire's pretty housekeeper, who could +do what she pleased with her master. If he ventured to intrude upon +the Lord of the Manor without this precaution, he gained nothing by his +pains. Sir Lewis, indeed, would at first receive him with a civil face; +for, to give him his due, he could be a fine gentleman when he pleased. +"Good day, my friend," he would say, "what situation have you in my +family?" "Bless your honour!" says the poor fellow, "I am not one of +your honour's servants; I rent a small piece of ground, your honour." +"Then, you dog," quoth the squire, "what do you mean by coming here? Has +a gentleman nothing to do but to hear the complaints of clowns? Here! +Philip, James, Dick, toss this fellow in a blanket; or duck him, and set +him in the stocks to dry." + +One of these precious Lords of the Manor enclosed a deer-park; and, in +order to stock it, he seized all the pretty pet fawns that his tenants +had brought up, without paying them a farthing, or asking their leave. +It was a sad day for the parish of St Dennis. Indeed, I do not believe +that all his oppressive exactions and long bills enraged the poor +tenants so much as this cruel measure. + +Yet for a long time, in spite of all these inconveniences, St Dennis's +was a very pleasant place. The people could not refrain from capering +if they heard the sound of a fiddle. And, if they were inclined to be +riotous, Sir Lewis had only to send for Punch, or the dancing dogs, +and all was quiet again. But this could not last forever; they began +to think more and more of their condition; and, at last, a club of +foul-mouthed, good-for-nothing rascals was held at the sign of the +Devil, for the purpose of abusing the squire and the parson. The doctor, +to own the truth, was old and indolent, extremely fat and greedy. He had +not preached a tolerable sermon for a long time. The squire was still +worse; so that, partly by truth and partly by falsehood, the club set +the whole parish against their superiors. The boys scrawled caricatures +of the clergyman upon the church-door, and shot at the landlord with +pop-guns as he rode a-hunting. It was even whispered about that the Lord +of the Manor had no right to his estate, and that, if he were compelled +to produce the original title-deeds, it would be found that he only held +the estate in trust for the inhabitants of the parish. + +In the meantime the squire was pressed more and more for money. The +parish could pay no more. The rector refused to lend a farthing. The +Jews were clamorous for their money; and the landlord had no other +resource than to call together the inhabitants of the parish, and to +request their assistance. They now attacked him furiously about their +grievances, and insisted that he should relinquish his oppressive +powers. They insisted that his footmen should be kept in order, that +the parson should pay his share of the rates, that the children of the +parish should be allowed to fish in the trout-stream, and to gather +blackberries in the hedges. They at last went so far as to demand that +he should acknowledge that he held his estate only in trust for them. +His distress compelled him to submit. They, in return, agreed to set him +free from his pecuniary difficulties, and to suffer him to inhabit the +manor-house; and only annoyed him from time to time by singing impudent +ballads under his window. + +The neighbouring gentlefolks did not look on these proceedings with much +complacency. It is true that Sir Lewis and his ancestors had plagued +them with law-suits, and affronted them at county meetings. Still they +preferred the insolence of a gentleman to that of the rabble, and felt +some uneasiness lest the example should infect their own tenants. + +A large party of them met at the house of Lord Caesar Germain. Lord +Caesar was the proudest man in the county. His family was very ancient +and illustrious, though not particularly opulent. He had invited most +of his wealthy neighbours. There was Mrs Kitty North, the relict of poor +Squire Peter, respecting whom the coroner's jury had found a verdict +of accidental death, but whose fate had nevertheless excited strange +whispers in the neighbourhood. There was Squire Don, the owner of the +great West Indian property, who was not so rich as he had formerly been, +but still retained his pride, and kept up his customary pomp; so that he +had plenty of plate but no breeches. There was Squire Von Blunderbussen, +who had succeeded to the estates of his uncle, old Colonel Frederic +Von Blunderbussen, of the hussars. The colonel was a very singular old +fellow; he used to learn a page of Chambaud's grammar, and to translate +Telemaque, every morning, and he kept six French masters to teach him +to parleyvoo. Nevertheless he was a shrewd clever man, and improved his +estate with so much care, sometimes by honest and sometimes by dishonest +means, that he left a very pretty property to his nephew. + +Lord Caesar poured out a glass of Tokay for Mrs Kitty. "Your health, my +dear madam, I never saw you look more charming. Pray, what think you of +these doings at St Dennis's?" + +"Fine doings, indeed!" interrupted Von Blunderbussen; "I wish that +we had my old uncle alive, he would have had some of them up to the +halberts. He knew how to usa cat-o'-nine-tails. If things go on in this +way, a gentleman will not be able to horsewhip an impudent farmer, or to +say a civil word to a milk-maid." + +"Indeed, it's very true, Sir," said Mrs Kitty; "their insolence is +intolerable. Look at me, for instance:--a poor lone woman!--My dear +Peter dead! I loved him:--so I did; and, when he died, I was so +hysterical you cannot think. And now I cannot lean on the arm of a +decent footman, or take a walk with a tall grenadier behind me, just to +protect me from audacious vagabonds, but they must have their nauseous +suspicions;--odious creatures!" + +"This must be stopped," replied Lord Caesar. "We ought to contribute to +support my poor brother-in-law against these rascals. I will write to +Squire Guelf on this subject by this night's post. His name is always at +the head of our county subscriptions." + +If the people of St Dennis's had been angry before, they were well-nigh +mad when they heard of this conversation. The whole parish ran to the +manor-house. Sir Lewis's Swiss porter shut the door against them; but +they broke in and knocked him on the head for his impudence. They then +seized the Squire, hooted at him, pelted him, ducked him, and carried +him to the watch-house. They turned the rector into the street, burnt +his wig and band, and sold the church-plate by auction. They put up a +painted Jezebel in the pulpit to preach. They scratched out the texts +which were written round the church, and scribbled profane scraps of +songs and plays in their place. They set the organ playing to pot-house +tunes. Instead of being decently asked in church, they were married +over a broomstick. But, of all their whims, the use of the new patent +steel-traps was the most remarkable. + +This trap was constructed on a completely new principle. It consisted +of a cleaver hung in a frame like a window; when any poor wretch got +in, down it came with a tremendous din, and took off his head in a +twinkling. They got the squire into one of these machines. In order to +prevent any of his partisans from getting footing in the parish, they +placed traps at every corner. It was impossible to walk through the +highway at broad noon without tumbling into one or other of them. No +man could go about his business in security. Yet so great was the hatred +which the inhabitants entertained for the old family, that a few decent, +honest people, who begged them to take down the steel-traps, and to put +up humane man-traps in their room, were very roughly handled for their +good nature. + +In the meantime the neighbouring gentry undertook a suit against the +parish on the behalf of Sir Lewis's heir, and applied to Squire Guelf +for his assistance. + +Everybody knows that Squire Guelf is more closely tied up than any +gentleman in the shire. He could, therefore, lend them no help; but he +referred them to the Vestry of the Parish of St George in the Water. +These good people had long borne a grudge against their neighbours on +the other side of the stream; and some mutual trespasses had lately +occurred which increased their hostility. + +There was an honest Irishman, a great favourite among them, who used to +entertain them with raree-shows, and to exhibit a magic lantern to the +children on winter evenings. He had gone quite mad upon this subject. +Sometimes he would call out in the middle of the street--"Take care +of that corner, neighbours; for the love of Heaven, keep clear of that +post, there is a patent steel-trap concealed thereabouts." Sometimes he +would be disturbed by frightful dreams; then he would get up at dead of +night, open his window and cry "fire," till the parish was roused, +and the engines sent for. The pulpit of the Parish of St George seemed +likely to fall; I believe that the only reason was that the parson had +grown too fat and heavy; but nothing would persuade this honest man but +that it was a scheme of the people at St Dennis's, and that they had +sawed through the pillars in order to break the rector's neck. Once he +went about with a knife in his pocket, and told all the persons whom he +met that it had been sharpened by the knife-grinder of the next parish +to cut their throats. These extravagancies had a great effect on the +people; and the more so because they were espoused by Squire Guelf's +steward, who was the most influential person in the parish. He was a +very fair-spoken man, very attentive to the main chance, and the idol +of the old women, because he never played at skittles or danced with the +girls; and, indeed, never took any recreation but that of drinking on +Saturday nights with his friend Harry, the Scotch pedlar. His supporters +called him Sweet William; his enemies the Bottomless Pit. + +The people of St Dennis's, however, had their advocates. There was +Frank, the richest farmer in the parish, whose great grandfather had +been knocked on the head many years before, in a squabble between the +parish and a former landlord. There was Dick, the merry-andrew, rather +light-fingered and riotous, but a clever droll fellow. Above all, there +was Charley, the publican, a jolly, fat, honest lad, a great favourite +with the women, who, if he had not been rather too fond of ale and +chuck-farthing, would have been the best fellow in the neighbourhood. + +"My boys," said Charley, "this is exceedingly well for Madam North;--not +that I would speak uncivilly of her; she put up my picture in her best +room, bless her for it! But, I say, this is very well for her, and for +Lord Caesar, and Squire Don, and Colonel Von;--but what affair is it of +yours or mine? It is not to be wondered at, that gentlemen should wish +to keep poor people out of their own. But it is strange indeed that +they should expect the poor themselves to combine against their own +interests. If the folks at St Dennis's should attack us we have the law +and our cudgels to protect us. But why, in the name of wonder, are we to +attack them? When old Sir Charles, who was Lord of the Manor formerly, +and the parson, who was presented by him to the living, tried to bully +the vestry, did not we knock their heads together, and go to meeting to +hear Jeremiah Ringletub preach? And did the Squire Don, or the great Sir +Lewis, that lived at that time, or the Germains, say a word against +us for it? Mind your own business, my lads: law is not to be had for +nothing; and we, you may be sure, shall have to pay the whole bill." + +Nevertheless the people of St George's were resolved on law. They cried +out most lustily, "Squire Guelf for ever! Sweet William for ever! No +steel traps!" Squire Guelf took all the rascally footmen who had worn +old Sir Lewis's livery into his service. They were fed in the kitchen on +the very best of everything, though they had no settlement. Many people, +and the paupers in particular, grumbled at these proceedings. The +steward, however, devised a way to keep them quiet. + +There had lived in this parish for many years an old gentleman, named +Sir Habeas Corpus. He was said by some to be of Saxon, by some of +Norman, extraction. Some maintain that he was not born till after the +time of Sir Charles, to whom we have before alluded. Others are of +opinion that he was a legitimate son of old Lady Magna Charta, although +he was long concealed and kept out of his birthright. Certain it is that +he was a very benevolent person. Whenever any poor fellow was taken +up on grounds which he thought insufficient, he used to attend on his +behalf and bail him; and thus he had become so popular, that to take +direct measures against him was out of the question. + +The steward, accordingly, brought a dozen physicians to examine Sir +Habeas. After consultation, they reported that he was in a very bad way, +and ought not, on any account, to be allowed to stir out for several +months. Fortified with this authority, the parish officers put him +to bed, closed his windows, and barred his doors. They paid him every +attention, and from time to time issued bulletins of his health. The +steward never spoke of him without declaring that he was the best +gentleman in the world; but excellent care was taken that he should +never stir out of doors. + +When this obstacle was removed, the Squire and the steward kept the +parish in excellent order; flogged this man, sent that man to the +stocks, and pushed forward the law-suit with a noble disregard of +expense. They were, however, wanting either in skill or in fortune. And +everything went against them after their antagonists had begun to employ +Solicitor Nap. + +Who does not know the name of Solicitor Nap? At what alehouse is not his +behaviour discussed? In what print-shop is not his picture seen? Yet how +little truth has been said about him! Some people hold that he used +to give laudanum by pints to his six clerks for his amusement. Others, +whose number has very much increased since he was killed by the +gaol distemper, conceive that he was the very model of honour and +good-nature. I shall try to tell the truth about him. + +He was assuredly an excellent solicitor. In his way he never was +surpassed. As soon as the parish began to employ him, their cause took +a turn. In a very little time they were successful; and Nap became rich. +He now set up for a gentleman; took possession of the old manor-house; +got into the commission of the peace, and affected to be on a par with +the best of the county. He governed the vestries as absolutely as the +old family had done. Yet, to give him his due, he managed things with +far more discretion than either Sir Lewis or the rioters who had pulled +the Lords of the Manor down. He kept his servants in tolerable order. +He removed the steel traps from the highways and the corners of the +streets. He still left a few indeed in the more exposed parts of his +premises; and set up a board announcing that traps and spring guns were +set in his grounds. He brought the poor parson back to the parish; +and, though he did not enable him to keep a fine house and a coach as +formerly, he settled him in a snug little cottage, and allowed him a +pleasant pad-nag. He whitewashed the church again; and put the stocks, +which had been much wanted of late, into good repair. + +With the neighbouring gentry, however, he was no favourite. He was +crafty and litigious. He cared nothing for right, if he could raise a +point of law against them. He pounded their cattle, broke their hedges, +and seduced their tenants from them. He almost ruined Lord Caesar with +actions, in every one of which he was successful. Von Blunderbussen went +to law with him for an alleged trespass, but was cast, and almost ruined +by the costs of suit. He next took a fancy to the seat of Squire Don, +who was, to say the truth, little better than an idiot. He asked the +poor dupe to dinner, and then threatened to have him tossed in a blanket +unless he would make over his estates to him. The poor Squire signed and +sealed a deed by which the property was assigned to Joe, a brother of +Nap's, in trust for and to the use of Nap himself. The tenants, however, +stood out. They maintained that the estate was entailed, and refused +to pay rents to the new landlord; and in this refusal they were stoutly +supported by the people in St George's. + +About the same time Nap took it into his head to match with quality, and +nothing would serve him but one of the Miss Germains. Lord Caesar +swore like a trooper; but there was no help for it. Nap had twice put +executions in his principal residence, and had refused to discharge the +latter of the two till he had extorted a bond from his Lordship which +compelled him to comply. + +THE END OF THE FIRST PART. + +***** + + + + +A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR ABRAHAM COWLEY AND MR JOHN MILTON, TOUCHING +THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. SET DOWN BY A GENTLEMAN OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE. +(August 1824.) + + "Referre sermones Deorum et + Magna modis tenuare parvis."--Horace. + +I have thought it good to set down in writing a memorable debate, +wherein I was a listener, and two men of pregnant parts and great +reputation discoursers; hoping that my friends will not be displeased to +have a record both of the strange times through which I have lived, and +of the famous men with whom I have conversed. It chanced in the warm and +beautiful spring of the year 1665, a little before the saddest summer +that ever London saw, that I went to the Bowling Green at Piccadilly, +whither, at that time, the best gentry made continual resorts. There +I met Mr Cowley, who had lately left Barnelms. There was then a house +preparing for him at Chertsey; and till it should be finished, he had +come up for a short time to London, that he might urge a suit to his +Grace of Buckingham touching certain lands of her Majesty's, whereof +he requested a lease. I had the honour to be familiarly acquainted with +that worthy gentleman and most excellent poet, whose death hath been +deplored with as general a consent of all Powers that delight in the +woods, or in verse, or in love, as was of old that of Daphnis or of +Callus. + +After some talk, which it is not material to set down at large, +concerning his suit and his vexations at the court, where indeed his +honesty did him more harm than his parts could do him good, I entreated +him to dine with me at my lodging in the Temple, which he most +courteously promised. And, that so eminent a guest might not lack a +better entertainment than cooks or vintners can provide, I sent to the +house of Mr John Milton, in the Artillery Walk, to beg that he would +also be my guest. For, though he had been secretary, first to the +Council of State, and, after that, to the Protector, and Mr Cowley had +held the same post under the Lord St Albans in his banishment, I hoped, +notwithstanding that they would think themselves rather united by their +common art than divided by their different factions. And so indeed it +proved. For, while we sat at table, they talked freely of many men and +things, as well ancient as modern, with much civility. Nay, Mr Milton, +who seldom tasted wine, both because of his singular temperance and +because of his gout, did more than once pledge Mr Cowley, who was indeed +no hermit in diet. At last, being heated, Mr Milton begged that I would +open the windows. "Nay," said I, "if you desire fresh air and coolness, +what should hinder us, as the evening is fair, from sailing for an hour +on the river?" To this they both cheerfully consented; and forth we +walked, Mr Cowley and I leading Mr Milton between us, to the Temple +Stairs. There we took a boat; and thence we were rowed up the river. + +The wind was pleasant; the evening fine; the sky, the earth, and the +water beautiful to look upon. But Mr Cowley and I held our peace, and +said nothing of the gay sights around us, lest we should too feelingly +remind Mr Milton of his calamity; whereof, however, he needed no +monitor: for soon he said, sadly, "Ah, Mr Cowley, you are a happy man. +What would I now give but for one more look at the sun, and the waters, +and the gardens of this fair city!" + +"I know not," said Mr Cowley, "whether we ought not rather to envy you +for that which makes you to envy others: and that specially in this +place, where all eyes which are not closed in blindness ought to become +fountains of tears. What can we look upon which is not a memorial of +change and sorrow, of fair things vanished, and evil things done? When +I see the gate of Whitehall, and the stately pillars of the Banqueting +House, I cannot choose but think of what I have there seen in former +days, masques, and pageants, and dances, and smiles, and the waving of +graceful heads, and the bounding of delicate feet. And then I turn to +thoughts of other things, which even to remember makes me to blush and +weep;--of the great black scaffold, and the axe and block, which were +placed before those very windows; and the voice seems to sound in mine +ears, the lawless and terrible voice, which cried out that the head of a +king was the head of a traitor. There stands Westminster Hall, which who +can look upon, and not tremble to think how time, and change, and death +confound the councils of the wise, and beat down the weapons of +the mighty? How have I seen it surrounded with tens of thousands of +petitioners crying for justice and privilege! How have I heard it shake +with fierce and proud words, which made the hearts of the people burn +within them! Then it is blockaded by dragoons, and cleared by pikemen. +And they who have conquered their master go forth trembling at the word +of their servant. And yet a little while, and the usurper comes forth +from it, in his robe of ermine, with the golden staff in one hand and +the Bible in the other, amidst the roaring of the guns and the shouting +of the people. And yet again a little while, and the doors are thronged +with multitudes in black, and the hearse and the plumes come forth; and +the tyrant is borne, in more than royal pomp, to a royal sepulchre. A +few days more, and his head is fixed to rot on the pinnacles of that +very hall where he sat on a throne in his life, and lay in state after +his death. When I think on all these things, to look round me makes me +sad at heart. True it is that God hath restored to us our old laws, and +the rightful line of our kings. Yet, how I know not, but it seems to me +that something is wanting--that our court hath not the old gravity, nor +our people the old loyalty. These evil times, like the great deluge, +have overwhelmed and confused all earthly things. And, even as those +waters, though at last they abated, yet, as the learned write, destroyed +all trace of the garden of Eden, so that its place hath never since been +found, so hath this opening of all the flood-gates of political evil +effaced all marks of the ancient political paradise." + +"Sir, by your favour," said Mr Milton, "though, from many circumstances +both of body and of fortune, I might plead fairer excuses for +despondency than yourself, I yet look not so sadly either on the past +or on the future. That a deluge hath passed over this our nation, I deny +not. But I hold it not to be such a deluge as that of which you speak; +but rather a blessed flood, like those of the Nile, which in its +overflow doth indeed wash away ancient landmarks, and confound +boundaries, and sweep away dwellings, yea, doth give birth to many foul +and dangerous reptiles. Yet hence is the fulness of the granary, the +beauty of the garden, the nurture of all living things. + +"I remember well, Mr Cowley, what you have said concerning these things +in your Discourse of the Government of Oliver Cromwell, which my friend +Elwood read to me last year. Truly, for elegance and rhetoric, that +essay is to be compared with the finest tractates of Isocrates and +Cicero. But neither that nor any other book, nor any events, which with +most men have, more than any book, weight and authority, have altered my +opinion, that, of all assemblies that ever were in this world, the best +and the most useful was our Long Parliament. I speak not this as wishing +to provoke debate; which neither yet do I decline." + +Mr Cowley was, as I could see, a little nettled. Yet, as he was a man +of a kind disposition and a most refined courtesy, he put a force upon +himself, and answered with more vehemence and quickness indeed than was +his wont, yet not uncivilly. "Surely, Mr Milton, you speak not as you +think. I am indeed one of those who believe that God hath reserved to +himself the censure of kings, and that their crimes and oppressions are +not to be resisted by the hands of their subjects. Yet can I easily +find excuse for the violence of such as are stung to madness by grievous +tyranny. But what shall we say for these men? Which of their just +demands was not granted? Which even of their cruel and unreasonable +requisitions, so as it were not inconsistent with all law and order, was +refused? Had they not sent Strafford to the block and Laud to the Tower? +Had they not destroyed the Courts of the High Commission and the Star +Chamber? Had they not reversed the proceedings confirmed by the voices +of the judges of England, in the matter of ship-money? Had they not +taken from the king his ancient and most lawful power touching the order +of knighthood? Had they not provided that, after their dissolution, +triennial parliaments should be holden, and that their own power should +continue till of their great condescension they should be pleased to +resign it themselves? What more could they ask? Was it not enough that +they had taken from their king all his oppressive powers, and many +that were most salutary? Was it not enough that they had filled his +council-board with his enemies, and his prisons with his adherents? Was +it not enough that they had raised a furious multitude, to shout and +swagger daily under the very windows of his royal palace? Was it not +enough that they had taken from him the most blessed prerogative of +princely mercy; that, complaining of intolerance themselves, they had +denied all toleration to others; that they had urged, against forms, +scruples childish as those of any formalist; that they had persecuted +the least remnant of the popish rites with the fiercest bitterness of +the popish spirit? Must they besides all this have full power to command +his armies, and to massacre his friends? + +"For military command, it was never known in any monarchy, nay, in any +well ordered republic, that it was committed to the debates of a large +and unsettled assembly. For their other requisition, that he should give +up to their vengeance all who had defended the rights of his crown, his +honour must have been ruined if he had complied. Is it not therefore +plain that they desired these things only in order that, by refusing, +his Majesty might give them a pretence for war? + +"Men have often risen up against fraud, against cruelty, against +rapine. But when before was it known that concessions were met with +importunities, graciousness with insults, the open palm of bounty with +the clenched fist of malice? Was it like trusty delegates of the Commons +of England, and faithful stewards of their liberty and their wealth, to +engage them for such causes in civil war, which both to liberty and +to wealth is of all things the most hostile. Evil indeed must be the +disease which is not more tolerable than such a medicine. Those who, +even to save a nation from tyrants, excite it to civil war do in general +but minister to it the same miserable kind of relief wherewith the +wizards of Pharaoh mocked the Egyptian. We read that, when Moses had +turned their waters into blood, those impious magicians, intending, not +benefit to the thirsting people, but vain and emulous ostentation of +their own art, did themselves also change into blood the water which the +plague had spared. Such sad comfort do those who stir up war minister +to the oppressed. But here where was the oppression? What was the +favour which had not been granted? What was the evil which had not been +removed? What further could they desire?" + +"These questions," said Mr Milton, austerely, "have indeed often +deceived the ignorant; but that Mr Cowley should have been so beguiled, +I marvel. You ask what more the Parliament could desire? I will +answer you in one word, security. What are votes, and statutes, and +resolutions? They have no eyes to see, no hands to strike and avenge. +They must have some safeguard from without. Many things, therefore, +which in themselves were peradventure hurtful, was this Parliament +constrained to ask, lest otherwise good laws and precious rights should +be without defence. Nor did they want a great and signal example of this +danger. I need not remind you that, many years before, the two Houses +had presented to the king the Petition of Right, wherein were set down +all the most valuable privileges of the people of this realm. Did not +Charles accept it? Did he not declare it to be law? Was it not as +fully enacted as ever were any of those bills of the Long Parliament +concerning which you spoke? And were those privileges therefore enjoyed +more fully by the people? No: the king did from that time redouble +his oppressions as if to avenge himself for the shame of having been +compelled to renounce them. Then were our estates laid under shameful +impositions, our houses ransacked, our bodies imprisoned. Then was the +steel of the hangman blunted with mangling the ears of harmless men. +Then our very minds were fettered, and the iron entered into our souls. +Then we were compelled to hide our hatred, our sorrow, and our scorn, +to laugh with hidden faces at the mummery of Laud, to curse under our +breath the tyranny of Wentworth. Of old time it was well and nobly +said, by one of our kings, that an Englishman ought to be as free as his +thoughts. Our prince reversed the maxim; he strove to make our thoughts +as much slaves as ourselves. To sneer at a Romish pageant, to miscall a +lord's crest, were crimes for which there was no mercy. These were all +the fruits which we gathered from those excellent laws of the former +Parliament, from these solemn promises of the king. Were we to be +deceived again? Were we again to give subsidies, and receive nothing but +promises? Were we again to make wholesome statutes, and then leave +them to be broken daily and hourly, until the oppressor should have +squandered another supply, and should be ready for another perjury? You +ask what they could desire which he had not already granted. Let me +ask of you another question. What pledge could he give which he had not +already violated? From the first year of his reign, whenever he had need +of the purses of his Commons to support the revels of Buckingham or the +processions of Laud, he had assured them that, as he was a gentleman +and a king, he would sacredly preserve their rights. He had pawned +those solemn pledges, and pawned them again and again; but when had +he redeemed them? 'Upon my faith,'--'Upon my sacred word,'--'Upon the +honour of a prince,'--came so easily from his lips, and dwelt so short +a time on his mind that they were as little to be trusted as the 'By the +hilts' of an Alsatian dicer. + +"Therefore it is that I praise this Parliament for what else I might +have condemned. If what he had granted had been granted graciously and +readily, if what he had before promised had been faithfully observed, +they could not be defended. It was because he had never yielded the +worst abuse without a long struggle, and seldom without a large bribe; +it was because he had no sooner disentangled himself from his troubles +than he forgot his promises; and, more like a villainous huckster than a +great king, kept both the prerogative and the large price which had been +paid to him to forego it; it was because of these things that it was +necessary and just to bind with forcible restraints one who could be +bound neither by law nor honour. Nay, even while he was making those +very concessions of which you speak, he betrayed his deadly hatred +against the people and their friends. Not only did he, contrary to +all that ever was deemed lawful in England, order that members of the +Commons House of Parliament should be impeached of high treason at +the bar of the Lords; thereby violating both the trial by jury and the +privileges of the House; but, not content with breaking the law by his +ministers, he went himself armed to assail it. In the birth-place and +sanctuary of freedom, in the House itself; nay in the very chair of the +speaker, placed for the protection of free speech and privilege, he sat, +rolling his eyes round the benches, searching for those whose blood he +desired, and singling out his opposers to the slaughter. This most foul +outrage fails. Then again for the old arts. Then come gracious messages. +Then come courteous speeches. Then is again mortgaged his often +forfeited honour. He will never again violate the laws. He will respect +their rights as if they were his own. He pledges the dignity of his +crown; that crown which had been committed to him for the weal of his +people, and which he never named, but that he might the more easily +delude and oppress them. + +"The power of the sword, I grant you, was not one to be permanently +possessed by Parliament. Neither did that Parliament demand it as a +permanent possession. They asked it only for temporary security. Nor can +I see on what conditions they could safely make peace with that false +and wicked king, save such as would deprive him of all power to injure. + +"For civil war, that it is an evil I dispute not. But that it is the +greatest of evils, that I stoutly deny. It doth indeed appear to the +misjudging to be a worse calamity than bad government, because its +miseries are collected together within a short space and time, and may +easily at one view be taken in and perceived. But the misfortunes of +nations ruled by tyrants, being distributed over many centuries and many +places, as they are of greater weight and number, so are they of less +display. When the Devil of tyranny hath gone into the body politic he +departs not but with struggles, and foaming, and great convulsions. +Shall he, therefore, vex it for ever, lest, in going out, he for a +moment tear and rend it? Truly this argument touching the evils of war +would better become my friend Elwood, or some other of the people called +Quakers, than a courtier and a cavalier. It applies no more to this war +than to all others, as well foreign as domestic, and, in this war, no +more to the Houses than to the king; nay, not so much, since he by a +little sincerity and moderation might have rendered that needless which +their duty to God and man then enforced them to do." + +"Pardon me, Mr Milton," said Mr Cowley; "I grieve to hear you speak thus +of that good king. Most unhappy indeed he was, in that he reigned at a +time when the spirit of the then living generation was for freedom, and +the precedents of former ages for prerogative. His case was like to that +of Christopher Columbus, when he sailed forth on an unknown ocean, and +found that the compass, whereby he shaped his course, had shifted from +the north pole whereto before it had constantly pointed. So it was with +Charles. His compass varied; and therefore he could not tack aright. If +he had been an absolute king he would doubtless, like Titus Vespasian, +have been called the delight of the human race. If he had been a Doge of +Venice, or a Stadtholder of Holland, he would never have outstepped the +laws. But he lived when our government had neither clear definitions nor +strong sanctions. Let, therefore, his faults be ascribed to the time. Of +his virtues the praise is his own. + +"Never was there a more gracious prince, or a more proper gentleman. +In every pleasure he was temperate, in conversation mild and grave, in +friendship constant, to his servants liberal, to his queen faithful and +loving, in battle grave, in sorrow and captivity resolved, in death most +Christian and forgiving. + +"For his oppressions, let us look at the former history of this realm. +James was never accounted a tyrant. Elizabeth is esteemed to have been +the mother of her people. Were they less arbitrary? Did they never lay +hands on the purses of their subjects but by Act of Parliament? Did they +never confine insolent and disobedient men but in due course of law? Was +the court of Star Chamber less active? Were the ears of libellers more +safe? I pray you, let not king Charles be thus dealt with. It was enough +that in his life he was tried for an alleged breach of laws which none +ever heard named till they were discovered for his destruction. Let not +his fame be treated as was his sacred and anointed body. Let not his +memory be tried by principles found out ex post facto. Let us not judge +by the spirit of one generation a man whose disposition had been formed +by the temper and fashion of another." + +"Nay, but conceive me, Mr Cowley," said Mr Milton; "inasmuch as, at the +beginning of his reign, he imitated those who had governed before him, +I blame him not. To expect that kings will, of their own free choice, +abridge their prerogative, were argument of but slender wisdom. +Whatever, therefore, lawless, unjust, or cruel, he either did or +permitted during the first years of his reign, I pass by. But for what +was done after that he had solemnly given his consent to the Petition +of Right, where shall we find defence? Let it be supposed, which yet I +concede not, that the tyranny of his father and of Queen Elizabeth had +been no less rigorous than was his. But had his father, had that queen, +sworn like him, to abstain from those rigours? Had they, like him, for +good and valuable consideration, aliened their hurtful prerogatives? +Surely not: from whatever excuse you can plead for him he had wholly +excluded himself. The borders of countries, we know, are mostly the +seats of perpetual wars and tumults. It was the same with the undefined +frontiers, which of old separated privilege and prerogative. They were +the debatable land of our polity. It was no marvel if, both on the one +side and on the other, inroads were often made. But, when treaties have +been concluded, spaces measured, lines drawn, landmarks set up, that +which before might pass for innocent error or just reprisal becomes +robbery, perjury, deadly sin. He knew not, you say, which of his powers +were founded on ancient law, and which only on vicious example. But had +he not read the Petition of Right? Had not proclamation been made from +his throne, Soit fait comme il est desire? + +"For his private virtues they are beside the question. Remember you +not," and Mr Milton smiled, but somewhat sternly, "what Dr Cauis saith +in the Merry Wives of Shakspeare? 'What shall the honest man do in my +closet? There is no honest man that shall come in my closet.' Even so +say I. There is no good man who shall make us his slaves. If he break +his word to his people, is it a sufficient defence that he keeps it +to his companions? If he oppress and extort all day, shall he be held +blameless because he prayeth at night and morning? If he be insatiable +in plunder and revenge, shall we pass it by because in meat and drink +he is temperate? If he have lived like a tyrant, shall all be forgotten +because he hath died like a martyr? + +"He was a man, as I think, who had so much semblance of virtues as might +make his vices most dangerous. He was not a tyrant after our wonted +English model. The second Richard, the second and fourth Edwards, and +the eighth Harry, were men profuse, gay, boisterous; lovers of women and +of wine, of no outward sanctity or gravity. Charles was a ruler after +the Italian fashion; grave, demure, of a solemn carriage, and a sober +diet; as constant at prayers as a priest, as heedless of oaths as an +atheist." + +Mr Cowley answered somewhat sharply: "I am sorry, Sir, to hear you speak +thus. I had hoped that the vehemence of spirit which was caused by these +violent times had now abated. Yet, sure, Mr Milton, whatever you may +think of the character of King Charles, you will not still justify his +murder?" + +"Sir," said Mr Milton, "I must have been of a hard and strange nature, +if the vehemence which was imputed to me in my younger days had not been +diminished by the afflictions wherewith it hath pleased Almighty God +to chasten my age. I will not now defend all that I may heretofore have +written. But this I say, that I perceive not wherefore a king should be +exempted from all punishment. Is it just that where most is given least +should be required? Or politic that where there is the greatest power to +injure there should be no danger to restrain? But, you will say, +there is no such law. Such a law there is. There is the law of +selfpreservation written by God himself on our hearts. There is the +primal compact and bond of society, not graven on stone, or sealed with +wax, nor put down on parchment, nor set forth in any express form of +words by men when of old they came together; but implied in the very act +that they so came together, pre-supposed in all subsequent law, not to +be repealed by any authority, nor invalidated by being omitted in any +code; inasmuch as from thence are all codes and all authority. + +"Neither do I well see wherefore you cavaliers, and, indeed, many of us +whom you merrily call Roundheads, distinguish between those who fought +against King Charles, and specially after the second commission given to +Sir Thomas Fairfax, and those who condemned him to death. Sure, if his +person were inviolable, it was as wicked to lift the sword against it at +Naseby as the axe at Whitehall. If his life might justly be taken, why +not in course of trial as well as by right of war? + +"Thus much in general as touching the right. But, for the execution of +King Charles in particular, I will not now undertake to defend it. Death +is inflicted, not that the culprit may die, but that the state may be +thereby advantaged. And, from all that I know, I think that the death of +King Charles hath more hindered than advanced the liberties of England. + +"First, he left an heir. He was in captivity. The heir was in freedom. +He was odious to the Scots. The heir was favoured by them. To kill +the captive therefore, whereby the heir, in the apprehension of all +royalists, became forthwith king--what was it, in truth, but to set +their captive free, and to give him besides other great advantages? + +"Next, it was a deed most odious to the people, and not only to your +party, but to many among ourselves; and, as it is perilous for any +government to outrage the public opinion, so most was it perilous for a +government which had from that opinion alone its birth, its nurture, and +its defence. + +"Yet doth not this properly belong to our dispute; nor can these faults +be justly charged upon that most renowned Parliament. For, as you know, +the high court of justice was not established until the House had been +purged of such members as were adverse to the army, and brought wholly +under the control of the chief officers." + +"And who," said Mr Cowley, "levied that army? Who commissioned those +officers? Was not the fate of the Commons as justly deserved as was that +of Diomedes, who was devoured by those horses whom he had himself taught +to feed on the flesh and blood of men? How could they hope that others +would respect laws which they had themselves insulted; that swords which +had been drawn against the prerogatives of the king would be put up at +an ordinance of the Commons? It was believed, of old, that there were +some devils easily raised but never to be laid; insomuch that, if a +magician called them up, he should be forced to find them always some +employment; for, though they would do all his bidding, yet, if he left +them but for one moment without some work of evil to perform, they would +turn their claws against himself. Such a fiend is an army. They who +evoke it cannot dismiss it. They are at once its masters and its slaves. +Let them not fail to find for it task after task of blood and rapine. +Let them not leave it for a moment in repose, lest it tear them in +pieces. + +"Thus was it with that famous assembly. They formed a force which they +could neither govern nor resist. They made it powerful. They made it +fanatical. As if military insolence were not of itself sufficiently +dangerous, they heightened it with spiritual pride,--they encouraged +their soldiers to rave from the tops of tubs against the men of Belial, +till every trooper thought himself a prophet. They taught them to abuse +popery, till every drummer fancied that he was as infallible as a pope. + +"Then it was that religion changed her nature. She was no longer +the parent of arts and letters, of wholesome knowledge, of innocent +pleasures, of blessed household smiles. In their place came sour faces, +whining voices, the chattering of fools, the yells of madmen. Then men +fasted from meat and drink, who fasted not from bribes and blood. Then +men frowned at stage-plays, who smiled at massacres. Then men preached +against painted faces, who felt no remorse for their own most painted +lives. Religion had been a pole-star to light and to guide. It was now +more like to that ominous star in the book of the Apocalypse, which +fell from heaven upon the fountains and rivers and changed them into +wormwood; for even so did it descend from its high and celestial +dwelling-place to plague this earth, and to turn into bitterness all +that was sweet, and into poison all that was nourishing. + +"Therefore it was not strange that such things should follow. They who +had closed the barriers of London against the king could not defend +them against their own creatures. They who had so stoutly cried for +privilege, when that prince, most unadvisedly no doubt, came among them +to demand their members, durst not wag their fingers when Oliver filled +their hall with soldiers, gave their mace to a corporal, put their keys +in his pocket, and drove them forth with base terms, borrowed half from +the conventicle and half from the ale-house. Then were we, like the +trees of the forest in holy writ, given over to the rule of the bramble; +then from the basest of the shrubs came forth the fire which devoured +the cedars of Lebanon. We bowed down before a man of mean birth, of +ungraceful demeanour, of stammering and most vulgar utterance, of +scandalous and notorious hypocrisy. Our laws were made and unmade at his +pleasure; the constitution of our Parliaments changed by his writ and +proclamation; our persons imprisoned; our property plundered; our lands +and houses overrun with soldiers; and the great charter itself was +but argument for a scurrilous jest; and for all this we may thank that +Parliament; for never, unless they had so violently shaken the vessel, +could such foul dregs have risen to the top." + +Then answered Mr Milton: "What you have now said comprehends so great a +number of subjects, that it would require, not an evening's sail on the +Thames, but rather a voyage to the Indies, accurately to treat of all: +yet, in as few words as I may, I will explain my sense of these matters. + +"First, as to the army. An army, as you have well set forth, is always +a weapon dangerous to those who use it; yet he who falls among thieves +spares not to fire his musquetoon, because he may be slain if it burst +in his hand. Nor must states refrain from defending themselves, lest +their defenders should at last turn against them. Nevertheless, against +this danger statesmen should carefully provide; and, that they may do +so, they should take especial care that neither the officers nor the +soldiers do forget that they are also citizens. I do believe that the +English army would have continued to obey the parliament with all duty, +but for one act, which, as it was in intention, in seeming, and in +immediate effect, worthy to be compared with the most famous in history, +so was it, in its final consequence, most injurious. I speak of that +ordinance called the "self-denying", and of the new model of the army. +By those measures the Commons gave up the command of their forces into +the hands of men who were not of themselves. Hence, doubtless, derived +no small honour to that noble assembly, which sacrificed to the hope of +public good the assurance of private advantage. And, as to the conduct +of the war, the scheme prospered. Witness the battle of Naseby, and the +memorable exploits of Fairfax in the west. But thereby the Parliament +lost that hold on the soldiers and that power to control them, which +they retained while every regiment was commanded by their own members. +Politicians there be, who would wholly divide the legislative from +the executive power. In the golden age this may have succeeded; in the +millennium it may succeed again. But, where great armies and great taxes +are required, there the executive government must always hold a great +authority, which authority, that it may not oppress and destroy the +legislature, must be in some manner blended with it. The leaders of +foreign mercenaries have always been most dangerous to a country. The +officers of native armies, deprived of the civil privileges of other +men, are as much to be feared. This was the great error of that +Parliament: and, though an error it were, it was an error generous, +virtuous, and more to be deplored than censured. + +"Hence came the power of the army and its leaders, and especially of +that most famous leader, whom both in our conversation to-day, and in +that discourse whereon I before touched, you have, in my poor opinion, +far too roughly handled. Wherefore you speak contemptibly of his parts +I know not; but I suspect that you are not free from the error common to +studious and speculative men. Because Oliver was an ungraceful orator, +and never said, either in public or private, anything memorable, you +will have it that he was of a mean capacity. Sure this is unjust. Many +men have there been ignorant of letters, without wit, without eloquence, +who yet had the wisdom to devise, and the courage to perform, that which +they lacked language to explain. Such men often, in troubled times, have +worked out the deliverance of nations and their own greatness, not +by logic, not by rhetoric, but by wariness in success, by calmness in +danger, by fierce and stubborn resolution in all adversity. The hearts +of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their +eloquence: and such an one, in my judgment, was his late Highness, who, +if none were to treat his name scornfully now shook not at the sound of +it while he lived, would, by very few, be mentioned otherwise than with +reverence. His own deeds shall avouch him for a great statesman, a great +soldier, a true lover of his country, a merciful and generous conqueror. + +"For his faults, let us reflect that they who seem to lead are +oftentimes most constrained to follow. They who will mix with men, and +especially they who will govern them, must in many things obey them. +They who will yield to no such conditions may be hermits, but cannot +be generals and statesmen. If a man will walk straight forward without +turning to the right or the left, he must walk in a desert, and not in +Cheapside. Thus was he enforced to do many things which jumped not with +his inclination nor made for his honour; because the army, on which +alone he could depend for power and life, might not otherwise be +contented. And I, for mine own part, marvel less that he sometimes was +fain to indulge their violence than that he could so often restrain it. + +"In that he dissolved the Parliament, I praise him. It then was so +diminished in numbers, as well by the death as by the exclusion of +members, that it was no longer the same assembly; and, if at that time +it had made itself perpetual, we should have been governed, not by an +English House of Commons, but by a Venetian Council. + +"If in his following rule he overstepped the laws, I pity rather than +condemn him. He may be compared to that Maeandrius of Samos, of whom +Herodotus saith, in his Thalia, that, wishing to be of all men the most +just, he was not able; for after the death of Polycrates he offered +freedom to the people; and not till certain of them threatened to call +him to a reckoning for what he had formerly done, did he change his +purpose, and make himself a tyrant, lest he should be treated as a +criminal. + +"Such was the case of Oliver. He gave to his country a form of +government so free and admirable that, in near six thousand years, +human wisdom hath never devised any more excellent contrivance for human +happiness. To himself he reserved so little power that it would scarcely +have sufficed for his safety, and it is a marvel that it could suffice +for his ambition. When, after that, he found that the members of his +Parliament disputed his right even to that small authority which he had +kept, when he might have kept all, then indeed I own that he began to +govern by the sword those who would not suffer him to govern by the law. + +"But, for the rest, what sovereign was ever more princely in pardoning +injuries, in conquering enemies, in extending the dominions and +the renown of his people? What sea, what shore did he not mark with +imperishable memorials of his friendship or his vengeance? The gold of +Spain, the steel of Sweden, the ten thousand sails of Holland, availed +nothing against him. While every foreign state trembled at our arms, we +sat secure from all assault. War, which often so strangely troubles both +husbandry and commerce, never silenced the song of our reapers, or the +sound of our looms. Justice was equally administered; God was freely +worshipped. + +"Now look at that which we have taken in exchange. With the restored +king have come over to us vices of every sort, and most the basest and +most shameful,--lust without love--servitude without loyalty--foulness +of speech--dishonesty of dealing--grinning contempt of all things good +and generous. The throne is surrounded by men whom the former Charles +would have spurned from his footstool. The altar is served by slaves +whose knees are supple to every being but God. Rhymers, whose books the +hangman should burn, pandars, actors, and buffoons, these drink a health +and throw a main with the King; these have stars on their breasts and +gold sticks in their hands; these shut out from his presence the best +and bravest of those who bled for his house. Even so doth God visit +those who know not how to value freedom. He gives them over to the +tyranny which they have desired, Ina pantes epaurontai basileos." + +"I will not," said Mr Cowley, "dispute with you on this argument. But, +if it be as you say, how can you maintain that England hath been so +greatly advantaged by the rebellion?" + +"Understand me rightly, Sir," said Mr Milton. "This nation is not given +over to slavery and vice. We tasted indeed the fruits of liberty before +they had well ripened. Their flavour was harsh and bitter; and we turned +from them with loathing to the sweeter poisons of servitude. This is +but for a time. England is sleeping on the lap of Dalilah, traitorously +chained, but not yet shorn of strength. Let the cry be once heard--the +Philistines be upon thee; and at once that sleep will be broken, and +those chains will be as flax in the fire. The great Parliament hath left +behind it in our hearts and minds a hatred of tyrants, a just knowledge +of our rights, a scorn of vain and deluding names; and that the +revellers of Whitehall shall surely find. The sun is darkened; but it is +only for a moment: it is but an eclipse; though all birds of evil omen +have begun to scream, and all ravenous beasts have gone forth to prey, +thinking it to be midnight. Woe to them if they be abroad when the rays +again shine forth! + +"The king hath judged ill. Had he been wise he would have remembered +that he owed his restoration only to confusions which had wearied us +out, and made us eager for repose. He would have known that the folly +and perfidy of a prince would restore to the good old cause many hearts +which had been alienated thence by the turbulence of factions; for, if +I know aught of history, or of the heart of man, he will soon learn that +the last champion of the people was not destroyed when he murdered Vane, +nor seduced when he beguiled Fairfax." + +Mr Cowley seemed to me not to take much amiss what Mr Milton had said +touching that thankless court, which had indeed but poorly requited his +own good service. He only said, therefore, "Another rebellion! Alas! +alas! Mr Milton! If there be no choice but between despotism and +anarchy, I prefer despotism." + +"Many men," said Mr Milton, "have floridly and ingeniously compared +anarchy and despotism; but they who so amuse themselves do but look at +separate parts of that which is truly one great whole. Each is the cause +and the effect of the other; the evils of either are the evils of +both. Thus do states move on in the same eternal cycle, which, from the +remotest point, brings them back again to the same sad starting-post: +and, till both those who govern and those who obey shall learn and mark +this great truth, men can expect little through the future, as they +have known little through the past, save vicissitudes of extreme evils, +alternately producing and produced. + +"When will rulers learn that, where liberty is not, security end order +can never be? We talk of absolute power; but all power hath limits, +which, if not fixed by the moderation of the governors, will be fixed +by the force of the governed. Sovereigns may send their opposers to +dungeons; they may clear out a senate-house with soldiers; they may +enlist armies of spies; they may hang scores of the disaffected in +chains at every cross road; but what power shall stand in that frightful +time when rebellion hath become a less evil than endurance? Who shall +dissolve that terrible tribunal, which, in the hearts of the oppressed, +denounces against the oppressor the doom of its wild justice? Who shall +repeal the law of selfdefence? What arms or discipline shall resist +the strength of famine and despair? How often were the ancient Caesars +dragged from their golden palaces, stripped of their purple robes, +mangled, stoned, defiled with filth, pierced with hooks, hurled into +Tiber? How often have the Eastern Sultans perished by the sabres of +their own janissaries, or the bow-strings of their own mutes! For no +power which is not limited by laws can ever be protected by them. Small, +therefore, is the wisdom of those who would fly to servitude as if it +were a refuge from commotion; for anarchy is the sure consequence of +tyranny. That governments may be safe, nations must be free. Their +passions must have an outlet provided, lest they make one. + +"When I was at Naples, I went with Signor Manso, a gentleman of +excellent parts and breeding, who had been the familiar friend of that +famous poet Torquato Tasso, to see the burning mountain Vesuvius. I +wondered how the peasants could venture to dwell so fearlessly and +cheerfully on its sides, when the lava was flowing from its summit; +but Manso smiled, and told me that when the fire descends freely they +retreat before it without haste or fear. They can tell how fast it will +move, and how far; and they know, moreover, that, though it may work +some little damage, it will soon cover the fields over which it hath +passed with rich vineyards and sweet flowers. But, when the flames are +pent up in the mountain, then it is that they have reason to fear; then +it is that the earth sinks and the sea swells; then cities are swallowed +up; and their place knoweth them no more. So it is in politics: where +the people is most closely restrained, there it gives the greatest +shocks to peace and order; therefore would I say to all kings, let your +demagogues lead crowds, lest they lead armies; let them bluster, lest +they massacre; a little turbulence is, as it were, the rainbow of the +state; it shows indeed that there is a passing shower; but it is a +pledge that there shall be no deluge." + +"This is true," said Mr Cowley; "yet these admonitions are not less +needful to subjects than to sovereigns." + +"Surely," said Mr Milton; "and, that I may end this long debate with a +few words in which we shall both agree, I hold that, as freedom is the +only safeguard of governments, so are order and moderation generally +necessary to preserve freedom. Even the vainest opinions of men are not +to be outraged by those who propose to themselves the happiness of men +for their end, and who must work with the passions of men for their +means. The blind reverence for things ancient is indeed so foolish +that it might make a wise man laugh, if it were not also sometimes so +mischievous that it would rather make a good man weep. Yet, since it may +not be wholly cured it must be discreetly indulged; and therefore those +who would amend evil laws should consider rather how much it may be safe +to spare, than how much it may be possible to change. Have you not heard +that men who have been shut up for many years in dungeons shrink if they +see the light, and fall down if their irons be struck off? And so, when +nations have long been in the house of bondage, the chains which have +crippled them are necessary to support them, the darkness which hath +weakened their sight is necessary to preserve it. Therefore release them +not too rashly, lest they curse their freedom and pine for their prison. + +"I think indeed that the renowned Parliament, of which we have talked so +much, did show, until it became subject to the soldiers, a singular +and admirable moderation, in such times scarcely to be hoped, and +most worthy to be an example to all that shall come after. But on this +argument I have said enough: and I will therefore only pray to Almighty +God that those who shall, in future times stand forth in defence of +our liberties, as well civil as religious, may adorn the good cause +by mercy, prudence, and soberness, to the glory of his name and the +happiness and honour of the English people." + +And so ended that discourse; and not long after we were set on shore +again at the Temple Gardens, and there parted company: and the same +evening I took notes of what had been said, which I have here more fully +set down, from regard both to the fame of the men, and the importance of +the subject-matter. + +***** + + + + +ON THE ATHENIAN ORATORS. (August 1824.) + + "To the famous orators repair, + Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence + Wielded at will that fierce democratie, + Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece + To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne." --Milton. + +The celebrity of the great classical writers is confined within no +limits, except those which separate civilised from savage man. Their +works are the common property of every polished nation. They have +furnished subjects for the painter, and models for the poet. In the +minds of the educated classes throughout Europe, their names +are indissolubly associated with the endearing recollections of +childhood,--the old school-room,--the dog-eared grammar,--the first +prize,--the tears so often shed and so quickly dried. So great is the +veneration with which they are regarded, that even the editors and +commentators who perform the lowest menial offices to their memory, are +considered, like the equerries and chamberlains of sovereign princes, +as entitled to a high rank in the table of literary precedence. It is, +therefore, somewhat singular that their productions should so rarely +have been examined on just and philosophical principles of criticism. + +The ancient writers themselves afford us but little assistance. +When they particularise, they are commonly trivial: when they would +generalise, they become indistinct. An exception must, indeed, be made +in favour of Aristotle. Both in analysis and in combination, that great +man was without a rival. No philosopher has ever possessed, in an equal +degree, the talent either of separating established systems into their +primary elements, or of connecting detached phenomena in harmonious +systems. He was the great fashioner of the intellectual chaos; he +changed its darkness into light, and its discord into order. He brought +to literary researches the same vigour and amplitude of mind to which +both physical and metaphysical science are so greatly indebted. His +fundamental principles of criticism are excellent. To cite only a +single instance:--the doctrine which he established, that poetry is an +imitative art, when justly understood, is to the critic what the compass +is to the navigator. With it he may venture upon the most extensive +excursions. Without it he must creep cautiously along the coast, or lose +himself in a trackless expanse, and trust, at best, to the guidance of +an occasional star. It is a discovery which changes a caprice into a +science. + +The general propositions of Aristotle are valuable. But the merit of the +superstructure bears no proportion to that of the foundation. This is +partly to be ascribed to the character of the philosopher, who, though +qualified to do all that could be done by the resolving and combining +powers of the understanding, seems not to have possessed much of +sensibility or imagination. Partly, also, it may be attributed to the +deficiency of materials. The great works of genius which then existed +were not either sufficiently numerous or sufficiently varied to enable +any man to form a perfect code of literature. To require that a critic +should conceive classes of composition which had never existed, and then +investigate their principles, would be as unreasonable as the demand of +Nebuchadnezzar, who expected his magicians first to tell him his dream +and then to interpret it. + +With all his deficiencies, Aristotle was the most enlightened and +profound critic of antiquity. Dionysius was far from possessing the same +exquisite subtilty, or the same vast comprehension. But he had access +to a much greater number of specimens; and he had devoted himself, as +it appears, more exclusively to the study of elegant literature. His +peculiar judgments are of more value than his general principles. He is +only the historian of literature. Aristotle is its philosopher. + +Quintilian applied to general literature the same principles by which he +had been accustomed to judge of the declamations of his pupils. He looks +for nothing but rhetoric, and rhetoric not of the highest order. He +speaks coldly of the incomparable works of Aeschylus. He admires, beyond +expression, those inexhaustible mines of common-places, the plays of +Euripides. He bestows a few vague words on the poetical character of +Homer. He then proceeds to consider him merely as an orator. An orator +Homer doubtless was, and a great orator. But surely nothing is more +remarkable, in his admirable works, than the art with which his +oratorical powers are made subservient to the purposes of poetry. Nor +can I think Quintilian a great critic in his own province. Just as are +many of his remarks, beautiful as are many of his illustrations, we +can perpetually detect in his thoughts that flavour which the soil of +despotism generally communicates to all the fruits of genius. Eloquence +was, in his time, little more than a condiment which served to stimulate +in a despot the jaded appetite for panegyric, an amusement for +the travelled nobles and the blue-stocking matrons of Rome. It is, +therefore, with him, rather a sport than a war; it is a contest of +foils, not of swords. He appears to think more of the grace of the +attitude than of the direction and vigour of the thrust. It must be +acknowledged, in justice to Quintilian, that this is an error to which +Cicero has too often given the sanction, both of his precept and of his +example. + +Longinus seems to have had great sensibility, but little discrimination. +He gives us eloquent sentences, but no principles. It was happily +said that Montesquieu ought to have changed the name of his book from +"L'Esprit des Lois" to "L'Esprit sur les Lois". In the same manner +the philosopher of Palmyra ought to have entitled his famous work, not +"Longinus on the Sublime," but "The Sublimities of Longinus." The origin +of the sublime is one of the most curious and interesting subjects of +inquiry that can occupy the attention of a critic. In our own country it +has been discussed, with great ability, and, I think, with very little +success, by Burke and Dugald Stuart. Longinus dispenses himself from all +investigations of this nature, by telling his friend Terentianus that he +already knows everything that can be said upon the question. It is to be +regretted that Terentianus did not impart some of his knowledge to +his instructor: for from Longinus we learn only that sublimity means +height--or elevation. (Akrotes kai exoche tis logon esti ta uoe.) This +name, so commodiously vague, is applied indifferently to the noble +prayer of Ajax in the Iliad, and to a passage of Plato about the human +body, as full of conceits as an ode of Cowley. Having no fixed standard, +Longinus is right only by accident. He is rather a fancier than a +critic. + +Modern writers have been prevented by many causes from supplying the +deficiencies of their classical predecessors. At the time of the revival +of literature, no man could, without great and painful labour, acquire +an accurate and elegant knowledge of the ancient languages. And, +unfortunately, those grammatical and philological studies, without which +it was impossible to understand the great works of Athenian and Roman +genius, have a tendency to contract the views and deaden the sensibility +of those who follow them with extreme assiduity. A powerful mind, which +has been long employed in such studies, may be compared to the gigantic +spirit in the Arabian tale, who was persuaded to contract himself to +small dimensions in order to enter within the enchanted vessel, and, +when his prison had been closed upon him, found himself unable to escape +from the narrow boundaries to the measure of which he had reduced his +stature. When the means have long been the objects of application, they +are naturally substituted for the end. It was said, by Eugene of Savoy, +that the greatest generals have commonly been those who have been at +once raised to command, and introduced to the great operations of war, +without being employed in the petty calculations and manoeuvres which +employ the time of an inferior officer. In literature the principle is +equally sound. The great tactics of criticism will, in general, be best +understood by those who have not had much practice in drilling syllables +and particles. + +I remember to have observed among the French Anas a ludicrous instance +of this. A scholar, doubtless of great learning, recommends the study +of some long Latin treatise, of which I now forget the name, on the +religion, manners, government, and language of the early Greeks. "For +there," says he, "you will learn everything of importance that is +contained in the Iliad and Odyssey, without the trouble of reading two +such tedious books." Alas! it had not occurred to the poor gentleman +that all the knowledge to which he attached so much value was useful +only as it illustrated the great poems which he despised, and would be +as worthless for any other purpose as the mythology of Caffraria, or the +vocabulary of Otaheite. + +Of those scholars who have disdained to confine themselves to verbal +criticism few have been successful. The ancient languages have, +generally, a magical influence on their faculties. They were "fools +called into a circle by Greek invocations." The Iliad and Aeneid were to +them not books but curiosities, or rather reliques. They no more admired +those works for their merits than a good Catholic venerates the house of +the Virgin at Loretto for its architecture. Whatever was classical was +good. Homer was a great poet, and so was Callimachus. The epistles of +Cicero were fine, and so were those of Phalaris. Even with respect to +questions of evidence they fell into the same error. The authority of +all narrations, written in Greek or Latin, was the same with them. It +never crossed their minds that the lapse of five hundred years, or +the distance of five hundred leagues, could affect the accuracy of +a narration;--that Livy could be a less veracious historian than +Polybius;--or that Plutarch could know less about the friends of +Xenophon than Xenophon himself. Deceived by the distance of time, they +seem to consider all the Classics as contemporaries; just as I have +known people in England, deceived by the distance of place, take it for +granted that all persons who live in India are neighbours, and ask an +inhabitant of Bombay about the health of an acquaintance at Calcutta. +It is to be hoped that no barbarian deluge will ever again pass over +Europe. But should such a calamity happen, it seems not improbable that +some future Rollin or Gillies will compile a history of England from +Miss Porter's Scottish Chiefs, Miss Lee's Recess, and Sir Nathaniel +Wraxall's Memoirs. + +It is surely time that ancient literature should be examined in a +different manner, without pedantical prepossessions, but with a just +allowance, at the same time, for the difference of circumstances and +manners. I am far from pretending to the knowledge or ability which +such a task would require. All that I mean to offer is a collection of +desultory remarks upon a most interesting portion of Greek literature. + +It may be doubted whether any compositions which have ever been produced +in the world are equally perfect in their kind with the great Athenian +orations. Genius is subject to the same laws which regulate the +production of cotton and molasses. The supply adjusts itself to the +demand. The quantity may be diminished by restrictions, and multiplied +by bounties. The singular excellence to which eloquence attained at +Athens is to be mainly attributed to the influence which it exerted +there. In turbulent times, under a constitution purely democratic, +among a people educated exactly to that point at which men are most +susceptible of strong and sudden impressions, acute, but not sound +reasoners, warm in their feelings, unfixed in their principles, +and passionate admirers of fine composition, oratory received such +encouragement as it has never since obtained. + +The taste and knowledge of the Athenian people was a favourite object of +the contemptuous derision of Samuel Johnson; a man who knew nothing of +Greek literature beyond the common school-books, and who seems to have +brought to what he had read scarcely more than the discernment of a +common school-boy. He used to assert, with that arrogant absurdity +which, in spite of his great abilities and virtues, renders him, perhaps +the most ridiculous character in literary history, that Demosthenes +spoke to a people of brutes;--to a barbarous people;--that there could +have been no civilisation before the invention of printing. Johnson +was a keen but a very narrow-minded observer of mankind. He perpetually +confounded their general nature with their particular circumstances. He +knew London intimately. The sagacity of his remarks on its society is +perfectly astonishing. But Fleet Street was the world to him. He +saw that Londoners who did not read were profoundly ignorant; and +he inferred that a Greek, who had few or no books, must have been as +uninformed as one of Mr Thrale's draymen. + +There seems to be, on the contrary, every reason to believe, that, in +general intelligence, the Athenian populace far surpassed the lower +orders of any community that has ever existed. It must be considered, +that to be a citizen was to be a legislator,--a soldier,--a judge,--one +upon whose voice might depend the fate of the wealthiest tributary +state, of the most eminent public man. The lowest offices, both of +agriculture and of trade, were, in common, performed by slaves. The +commonwealth supplied its meanest members with the support of life, the +opportunity of leisure, and the means of amusement. Books were indeed +few: but they were excellent; and they were accurately known. It is +not by turning over libraries, but by repeatedly perusing and intently +contemplating a few great models, that the mind is best disciplined. A +man of letters must now read much that he soon forgets, and much from +which he learns nothing worthy to be remembered. The best works employ, +in general, but a small portion of his time. Demosthenes is said to have +transcribed six times the history of Thucydides. If he had been a young +politician of the present age, he might in the same space of time have +skimmed innumerable newspapers and pamphlets. I do not condemn that +desultory mode of study which the state of things, in our day, renders +a matter of necessity. But I may be allowed to doubt whether the changes +on which the admirers of modern institutions delight to dwell have +improved our condition so much in reality as in appearance. Rumford, +it is said, proposed to the Elector of Bavaria a scheme for feeding his +soldiers at a much cheaper rate than formerly. His plan was simply to +compel them to masticate their food thoroughly. A small quantity, thus +eaten, would, according to that famous projector, afford more sustenance +than a large meal hastily devoured. I do not know how Rumford's +proposition was received; but to the mind, I believe, it will be found +more nutritious to digest a page than to devour a volume. + +Books, however, were the least part of the education of an Athenian +citizen. Let us, for a moment, transport ourselves in thought, to that +glorious city. Let us imagine that we are entering its gates, in the +time of its power and glory. A crowd is assembled round a portico. All +are gazing with delight at the entablature; for Phidias is putting up +the frieze. We turn into another street; a rhapsodist is reciting there: +men, women, children are thronging round him: the tears are running down +their cheeks: their eyes are fixed: their very breath is still; for +he is telling how Priam fell at the feet of Achilles, and kissed those +hands,--the terrible--the murderous,--which had slain so many of his +sons. (--kai kuse cheiras, deinas, anorophonous, ai oi poleas ktanon +uias.) + +We enter the public place; there is a ring of youths, all leaning +forward, with sparkling eyes, and gestures of expectation. Socrates is +pitted against the famous atheist, from Ionia, and has just brought +him to a contradiction in terms. But we are interrupted. The herald is +crying--"Room for the Prytanes." The general assembly is to meet. The +people are swarming in on every side. Proclamation is made--"Who wishes +to speak?" There is a shout, and a clapping of hands: Pericles is +mounting the stand. Then for a play of Sophocles; and away to sup with +Aspasia. I know of no modern university which has so excellent a system +of education. + +Knowledge thus acquired and opinions thus formed were, indeed, likely +to be, in some respects, defective. Propositions which are advanced +in discourse generally result from a partial view of the question, and +cannot be kept under examination long enough to be corrected. Men of +great conversational powers almost universally practise a sort of +lively sophistry and exaggeration, which deceives, for the moment, both +themselves and their auditors. Thus we see doctrines, which cannot bear +a close inspection, triumph perpetually in drawing-rooms, in debating +societies, and even in legislative or judicial assemblies. To the +conversational education of the Athenians I am inclined to attribute +the great looseness of reasoning which is remarkable in most of their +scientific writings. Even the most illogical of modern writers would +stand perfectly aghast at the puerile fallacies which seem to have +deluded some of the greatest men of antiquity. Sir Thomas Lethbridge +would stare at the political economy of Xenophon; and the author of +"Soirees de Petersbourg" would be ashamed of some of the metaphysical +arguments of Plato. But the very circumstances which retarded the growth +of science were peculiarly favourable to the cultivation of eloquence. +From the early habit of taking a share in animated discussion the +intelligent student would derive that readiness of resource, that +copiousness of language, and that knowledge of the temper and +understanding of an audience, which are far more valuable to an orator +than the greatest logical powers. + +Horace has prettily compared poems to those paintings of which the +effect varies as the spectator changes his stand. The same remark +applies with at least equal justice to speeches. They must be read +with the temper of those to whom they were addressed, or they must +necessarily appear to offend against the laws of taste and reason; as +the finest picture, seen in a light different from that for which it was +designed, will appear fit only for a sign. This is perpetually forgotten +by those who criticise oratory. Because they are reading at leisure, +pausing at every line, reconsidering every argument, they forget that +the hearers were hurried from point to point too rapidly to detect the +fallacies through which they were conducted; that they had no time to +disentangle sophisms, or to notice slight inaccuracies of expression; +that elaborate excellence, either of reasoning or of language, would +have been absolutely thrown away. To recur to the analogy of the sister +art, these connoisseurs examine a panorama through a microscope, and +quarrel with a scene-painter because he does not give to his work the +exquisite finish of Gerard Dow. + +Oratory is to be estimated on principles different from those which +are applied to other productions. Truth is the object of philosophy and +history. Truth is the object even of those works which are peculiarly +called works of fiction, but which, in fact, bear the same relation to +history which algebra bears to arithmetic. The merit of poetry, in +its wildest forms, still consists in its truth,--truth conveyed to the +understanding, not directly by the words, but circuitously by means of +imaginative associations, which serve as its conductors. The object +of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion. The admiration of the +multitude does not make Moore a greater poet than Coleridge, or Beattie +a greater philosopher than Berkeley. But the criterion of eloquence is +different. A speaker who exhausts the whole philosophy of a question, +who displays every grace of style, yet produces no effect on his +audience, may be a great essayist, a great statesman, a great master of +composition; but he is not an orator. If he miss the mark, it makes no +difference whether he have taken aim too high or too low. + +The effect of the great freedom of the press in England has been, in a +great measure, to destroy this distinction, and to leave among us little +of what I call Oratory Proper. Our legislators, our candidates, on great +occasions even our advocates, address themselves less to the audience +than to the reporters. They think less of the few hearers than of the +innumerable readers. At Athens the case was different; there the only +object of the speaker was immediate conviction and persuasion. He, +therefore, who would justly appreciate the merit of the Grecian orators +should place himself, as nearly as possible, in the situation of +their auditors: he should divest himself of his modern feelings and +acquirements, and make the prejudices and interests of the Athenian +citizen his own. He who studies their works in this spirit will find +that many of those things which, to an English reader, appear to be +blemishes,--the frequent violation of those excellent rules of +evidence by which our courts of law are regulated,--the introduction +of extraneous matter,--the reference to considerations of political +expediency in judicial investigations,--the assertions, without +proof,--the passionate entreaties,--the furious invectives,--are really +proofs of the prudence and address of the speakers. He must not +dwell maliciously on arguments or phrases, but acquiesce in his first +impressions. It requires repeated perusal and reflection to decide +rightly on any other portion of literature. But with respect to works +of which the merit depends on their instantaneous effect the most hasty +judgment is likely to be best. + +The history of eloquence at Athens is remarkable. From a very early +period great speakers had flourished there. Pisistratus and Themistocles +are said to have owed much of their influence to their talents for +debate. We learn, with more certainty, that Pericles was distinguished +by extraordinary oratorical powers. The substance of some of his +speeches is transmitted to us by Thucydides; and that excellent writer +has doubtless faithfully reported the general line of his arguments. But +the manner, which in oratory is of at least as much consequence as the +matter, was of no importance to his narration. It is evident that he has +not attempted to preserve it. Throughout his work, every speech on every +subject, whatever may have been the character of the dialect of the +speaker, is in exactly the same form. The grave king of Sparta, the +furious demagogue of Athens, the general encouraging his army, the +captive supplicating for his life, all are represented as speakers +in one unvaried style,--a style moreover wholly unfit for oratorical +purposes. His mode of reasoning is singularly elliptical,--in reality +most consecutive,--yet in appearance often incoherent. His meaning, in +itself sufficiently perplexing, is compressed into the fewest possible +words. His great fondness for antithetical expression has not a little +conduced to this effect. Every one must have observed how much more the +sense is condensed in the verses of Pope and his imitators, who never +ventured to continue the same clause from couplet to couplet, than +in those of poets who allow themselves that license. Every artificial +division, which is strongly marked, and which frequently recurs, has +the same tendency. The natural and perspicuous expression which +spontaneously rises to the mind will often refuse to accommodate itself +to such a form. It is necessary either to expand it into weakness, or +to compress it into almost impenetrable density. The latter is generally +the choice of an able man, and was assuredly the choice of Thucydides. + +It is scarcely necessary to say that such speeches could never have been +delivered. They are perhaps among the most difficult passages in the +Greek language, and would probably have been scarcely more intelligible +to an Athenian auditor than to a modern reader. Their obscurity was +acknowledged by Cicero, who was as intimate with the literature and +language of Greece as the most accomplished of its natives, and who +seems to have held a respectable rank among the Greek authors. Their +difficulty to a modern reader lies, not in the words, but in the +reasoning. A dictionary is of far less use in studying them than a clear +head and a close attention to the context. They are valuable to the +scholar as displaying, beyond almost any other compositions, the powers +of the finest of languages: they are valuable to the philosopher as +illustrating the morals and manners of a most interesting age: they +abound in just thought and energetic expression. But they do not +enable us to form any accurate opinion on the merits of the early Greek +orators. + +Though it cannot be doubted that, before the Persian wars, Athens had +produced eminent speakers, yet the period during which eloquence most +flourished among her citizens was by no means that of her greatest power +and glory. It commenced at the close of the Peloponnesian war. In +fact, the steps by which Athenian oratory approached to its finished +excellence seem to have been almost contemporaneous with those by which +the Athenian character and the Athenian empire sunk to degradation. At +the time when the little commonwealth achieved those victories which +twenty-five eventful centuries have left unequalled, eloquence was +in its infancy. The deliverers of Greece became its plunderers and +oppressors. Unmeasured exaction, atrocious vengeance, the madness of the +multitude, the tyranny of the great, filled the Cyclades with tears, +and blood, and mourning. The sword unpeopled whole islands in a day. +The plough passed over the ruins of famous cities. The imperial +republic sent forth her children by thousands to pine in the quarries +of Syracuse, or to feed the vultures of Aegospotami. She was at length +reduced by famine and slaughter to humble herself before her enemies, +and to purchase existence by the sacrifice of her empire and her laws. +During these disastrous and gloomy years, oratory was advancing towards +its highest excellence. And it was when the moral, the political, and +the military character of the people was most utterly degraded, it was +when the viceroy of a Macedonian sovereign gave law to Greece, that the +courts of Athens witnessed the most splendid contest of eloquence that +the world has ever known. + +The causes of this phenomenon it is not, I think, difficult to assign. +The division of labour operates on the productions of the orator as it +does on those of the mechanic. It was remarked by the ancients that the +Pentathlete, who divided his attention between several exercises, though +he could not vie with a boxer in the use of the cestus, or with one who +had confined his attention to running in the contest of the stadium, +yet enjoyed far greater general vigour and health than either. It is +the same with the mind. The superiority in technical skill is often more +than compensated by the inferiority in general intelligence. And this is +peculiarly the case in politics. States have always been best governed +by men who have taken a wide view of public affairs, and who have rather +a general acquaintance with many sciences than a perfect mastery of +one. The union of the political and military departments in Greece +contributed not a little to the splendour of its early history. After +their separation more skilful generals and greater speakers appeared; +but the breed of statesmen dwindled and became almost extinct. +Themistocles or Pericles would have been no match for Demosthenes in +the assembly, or for Iphicrates in the field. But surely they were +incomparably better fitted than either for the supreme direction of +affairs. + +There is indeed a remarkable coincidence between the progress of the +art of war, and that of the art of oratory, among the Greeks. They +both advanced to perfection by contemporaneous steps, and from similar +causes. The early speakers, like the early warriors of Greece, were +merely a militia. It was found that in both employments practice and +discipline gave superiority. (It has often occurred to me, that to the +circumstances mentioned in the text is to be referred one of the most +remarkable events in Grecian history; I mean the silent but rapid +downfall of the Lacedaemonian power. Soon after the termination of the +Peloponnesian war, the strength of Lacedaemon began to decline. Its +military discipline, its social institutions, were the same. Agesilaus, +during whose reign the change took place, was the ablest of its kings. +Yet the Spartan armies were frequently defeated in pitched battles,--an +occurrence considered impossible in the earlier ages of Greece. They are +allowed to have fought most bravely; yet they were no longer attended by +the success to which they had formerly been accustomed. No solution of +these circumstances is offered, as far as I know, by any ancient author. +The real cause, I conceive, was this. The Lacedaemonians, alone among +the Greeks, formed a permanent standing army. While the citizens of +other commonwealths were engaged in agriculture and trade, they had no +employment whatever but the study of military discipline. Hence, during +the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, they had that advantage over their +neighbours which regular troops always possess over militia. This +advantage they lost, when other states began, at a later period, to +employ mercenary forces, who were probably as superior to them in the +art of war as they had hitherto been to their antagonists.) Each pursuit +therefore became first an art, and then a trade. In proportion as the +professors of each became more expert in their particular craft, they +became less respectable in their general character. Their skill had been +obtained at too great expense to be employed only from disinterested +views. Thus, the soldiers forgot that they were citizens, and the +orators that they were statesmen. I know not to what Demosthenes and his +famous contemporaries can be so justly compared as to those mercenary +troops who, in their time, overran Greece; or those who, from +similar causes, were some centuries ago the scourge of the Italian +republics,--perfectly acquainted with every part of their profession, +irresistible in the field, powerful to defend or to destroy, but +defending without love, and destroying without hatred. We may despise +the characters of these political Condottieri; but is impossible +to examine the system of their tactics without being amazed at its +perfection. + +I had intended to proceed to this examination, and to consider +separately the remains of Lysias, of Aeschines, of Demosthenes, and of +Isocrates, who, though strictly speaking he was rather a pamphleteer +than an orator, deserves, on many accounts, a place in such a +disquisition. The length of my prolegomena and digressions compels me +to postpone this part of the subject to another occasion. A Magazine is +certainly a delightful invention for a very idle or a very busy man. He +is not compelled to complete his plan or to adhere to his subject. He +may ramble as far as he is inclined, and stop as soon as he is tired. +No one takes the trouble to recollect his contradictory opinions or his +unredeemed pledges. He may be as superficial, as inconsistent, and as +careless as he chooses. Magazines resemble those little angels, who, +according to the pretty Rabbinical tradition, are generated every +morning by the brook which rolls over the flowers of Paradise,--whose +life is a song,--who warble till sunset, and then sink back without +regret into nothingness. Such spirits have nothing to do with the +detecting spear of Ithuriel or the victorious sword of Michael. It is +enough for them to please and be forgotten. + +***** + + + + +A PROPHETIC ACCOUNT OF A GRAND NATIONAL EPIC POEM, TO BE ENTITLED "THE +WELLINGTONIAD," AND TO BE PUBLISHED A.D. 2824. (November 1824.) + +How I became a prophet it is not very important to the reader to know. +Nevertheless I feel all the anxiety which, under similar circumstances, +troubled the sensitive mind of Sidrophel; and, like him, am eager to +vindicate myself from the suspicion of having practised forbidden arts, +or held intercourse with beings of another world. I solemnly declare, +therefore, that I never saw a ghost, like Lord Lyttleton; consulted a +gipsy, like Josephine; or heard my name pronounced by an absent person, +like Dr Johnson. Though it is now almost as usual for gentlemen to +appear at the moment of their death to their friends as to call on them +during their life, none of my acquaintance have been so polite as to pay +me that customary attention. I have derived my knowledge neither from +the dead nor from the living; neither from the lines of a hand, nor from +the grounds of a tea-cup; neither from the stars of the firmament, nor +from the fiends of the abyss. I have never, like the Wesley family, +heard "that mighty leading angel," who "drew after him the third part of +heaven's sons," scratching in my cupboard. I have never been enticed +to sign any of those delusive bonds which have been the ruin of so many +poor creatures; and, having always been an indifferent horse man, I have +been careful not to venture myself on a broomstick. + +My insight into futurity, like that of George Fox the quaker, and that +of our great and philosophic poet, Lord Byron, is derived from simple +presentiment. This is a far less artificial process than those which are +employed by some others. Yet my predictions will, I believe, be found +more correct than theirs, or, at all events, as Sir Benjamin Back bite +says in the play, "more circumstantial." + +I prophesy then, that, in the year 2824, according to our present +reckoning, a grand national Epic Poem, worthy to be compared with the +Iliad, the Aeneid, or the Jerusalem, will be published in London. + +Men naturally take an interest in the adventures of every eminent +writer. I will, therefore, gratify the laudable curiosity, which, on +this occasion, will doubtless be universal, by pre fixing to my account +of the poem a concise memoir of the poet. + +Richard Quongti will be born at Westminster on the 1st of July, 2786. +He will be the younger son of the younger branch of one of the most +respectable families in England. He will be linearly descended from +Quongti, the famous Chinese liberal, who, after the failure of the +heroic attempt of his party to obtain a constitution from the Emperor +Fim Fam, will take refuge in England, in the twenty-third century. Here +his descendants will obtain considerable note; and one branch of the +family will be raised to the peerage. + +Richard, however, though destined to exalt his family to distinction +far nobler than any which wealth or titles can bestow, will be born to +a very scanty fortune. He will display in his early youth such striking +talents as will attract the notice of Viscount Quongti, his third +cousin, then secretary of state for the Steam Department. At the expense +of this eminent nobleman, he will be sent to prosecute his studies at +the university of Tombuctoo. To that illustrious seat of the muses all +the ingenuous youth of every country will then be attracted by the high +scientific character of Professor Quashaboo, and the eminent literary +attainments of Professor Kissey Kickey. In spite of this formidable +competition, however, Quongti will acquire the highest honours in every +department of knowledge, and will obtain the esteem of his associates by +his amiable and unaffected manners. The guardians of the young Duke of +Carrington, premier peer of England, and the last remaining scion of the +ancient and illustrious house of Smith, will be desirous to secure so +able an instructor for their ward. With the Duke, Quongti will perform +the grand tour, and visit the polished courts of Sydney and Capetown. +After prevailing on his pupil, with great difficulty, to subdue a +violent and imprudent passion which he had conceived for a Hottentot +lady, of great beauty and accomplishments indeed, but of dubious +character, he will travel with him to the United States of America. But +that tremendous war which will be fatal to American liberty will, at +that time, be raging through the whole federation. At New York the +travellers will hear of the final defeat and death of the illustrious +champion of freedom, Jonathon Higginbottom, and of the elevation of +Ebenezer Hogsflesh to the perpetual Presidency. They will not choose +to proceed in a journey which would expose them to the insults of that +brutal soldiery, whose cruelty and rapacity will have devastated Mexico +and Colombia, and now, at length, enslaved their own country. + +On their return to England, A.D. 2810, the death of the Duke will compel +his preceptor to seek for a subsistence by literary labours. His fame +will be raised by many small productions of considerable merit; and he +will at last obtain a permanent place in the highest class of writers by +his great epic poem. + +The celebrated work will become, with unexampled rapidity, a popular +favourite. The sale will be so beneficial to the author that, instead of +going about the dirty streets on his velocipede, he will be enabled to +set up his balloon. + +The character of this noble poem will be so finely and justly given +in the Tombuctoo Review for April 2825, that I cannot refrain from +translating the passage. The author will be our poet's old preceptor, +Professor Kissey Kickey. + +"In pathos, in splendour of language, in sweetness of versification, Mr +Quongti has long been considered as unrivalled. In his exquisite poem on +the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus all these qualities are displayed in their +greatest perfection. How exquisitely does that work arrest and embody +the undefined and vague shadows which flit over an imaginative mind. The +cold worldling may not comprehend it; but it will find a response in the +bosom of every youthful poet, of every enthusiastic lover, who has seen +an Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus by moonlight. But we were yet to learn that +he possessed the comprehension, the judgment, and the fertility of mind +indispensable to the epic poet. + +"It is difficult to conceive a plot more perfect than that of the +'Wellingtoniad.' It is most faithful to the manners of the age to which +it relates. It preserves exactly all the historical circumstances, +and interweaves them most artfully with all the speciosa miracula of +supernatural agency." + +Thus far the learned Professor of Humanity in the university of +Tombuctoo. I fear that the critics of our time will form an opinion +diametrically opposite as to these every points. Some will, I fear, +be disgusted by the machinery, which is derived from the mythology of +ancient Greece. I can only say that, in the twenty-ninth century, that +machinery will be universally in use among poets; and that Quongti will +use it, partly in conformity with the general practice, and partly from +a veneration, perhaps excessive, for the great remains of classical +antiquity, which will then, as now, be assiduously read by every man of +education; though Tom Moore's songs will be forgotten, and only three +copies of Lord Byron's works will exist: one in the possession of King +George the Nineteenth, one in the Duke of Carrington's collection, +and one in the library of the British Museum. Finally, should any good +people be concerned to hear that Pagan fictions will so long retain +their influence over literature, let them reflect that, as the Bishop +of St David's says, in his "Proofs of the Inspiration of the Sibylline +Verses," read at the last meeting of the Royal Society of Literature, +"at all events, a Pagan is not a Papist." + +Some readers of the present day may think that Quongti is by no means +entitled to the compliments which his Negro critic pays him on his +adherence to the historical circumstances of the time in which he has +chosen his subject; that, where he introduces any trait of our manners, +it is in the wrong place, and that he confounds the customs of our age +with those of much more remote periods. I can only say that the +charge is infinitely more applicable to Homer, Virgil, and Tasso. If, +therefore, the reader should detect, in the following abstract of the +plot, any little deviation from strict historical accuracy, let him +reflect, for a moment, whether Agamemnon would not have found as much to +censure in the Iliad,--Dido in the Aeneid,--or Godfrey in the Jerusalem. +Let him not suffer his opinions to depend on circumstances which cannot +possibly affect the truth or falsehood of the representation. If it +be impossible for a single man to kill hundreds in battle, the +impossibility is not diminished by distance of time. If it be as certain +that Rinaldo never disenchanted a forest in Palestine as it is that the +Duke of Wellington never disenchanted the forest of Soignies, can we, as +rational men, tolerate the one story and ridicule the other? Of this, at +least, I am certain, that whatever excuse we have for admiring the plots +of those famous poems our children will have for extolling that of the +"Wellingtoniad." + +I shall proceed to give a sketch of the narrative. The subject is "The +Reign of the Hundred Days." + + +BOOK I. + +The poem commences, in form, with a solemn proposition of the subject. +Then the muse is invoked to give the poet accurate information as to the +causes of so terrible a commotion. The answer to this question, being, +it is to be supposed, the joint production of the poet and the muse, +ascribes the event to circumstances which have hitherto eluded all the +research of political writers, namely, the influence of the god Mars, +who, we are told, had some forty years before usurped the conjugal +rights of old Carlo Buonaparte, and given birth to Napoleon. By his +incitement it was that the emperor with his devoted companions was +now on the sea, returning to his ancient dominions. The gods were at +present, fortunately for the adventurer, feasting with the Ethiopians, +whose entertainments, according to the ancient custom described by +Homer, they annually attended, with the same sort of condescending +gluttony which now carries the cabinet to Guildhall on the 9th of +November. Neptune was, in consequence, absent, and unable to prevent +the enemy of his favourite island from crossing his element. Boreas, +however, who had his abode on the banks of the Russian ocean, and who, +like Thetis in the Iliad, was not of sufficient quality to have an +invitation to Ethiopia, resolves to destroy the armament which brings +war and danger to his beloved Alexander. He accordingly raises a storm +which is most powerfully described. Napoleon bewails the inglorious fate +for which he seems to be reserved. "Oh! thrice happy," says he, "those +who were frozen to death at Krasnoi, or slaughtered at Leipsic. Oh, +Kutusoff, bravest of the Russians, wherefore was I not permitted to fall +by thy victorious sword?" He then offers a prayer to Aeolus, and vows +to him a sacrifice of a black ram. In consequence, the god recalls his +turbulent subject; the sea is calmed; and the ship anchors in the port +of Frejus. Napoleon and Bertrand, who is always called the faithful +Bertrand, land to explore the country; Mars meets them disguised as +a lancer of the guard, wearing the cross of the legion of honour. He +advises them to apply for necessaries of all kinds to the governor, +shows them the way, and disappears with a strong smell of gunpowder. +Napoleon makes a pathetic speech, and enters the governor's house. Here +he sees hanging up a fine print of the battle of Austerlitz, himself +in the foreground giving his orders. This puts him in high spirits; he +advances and salutes the governor, who receives him most loyally, gives +him an entertainment, and, according to the usage of all epic hosts, +insists after dinner on a full narration of all that has happened to him +since the battle of Leipsic. + + +BOOK II. + +Napoleon carries his narrative from the battle of Leipsic to his +abdication. But, as we shall have a great quantity of fighting on our +hands, I think it best to omit the details. + + +BOOK III. + +Napoleon describes his sojourn at Elba, and his return; how he was +driven by stress of weather to Sardinia, and fought with the harpies +there; how he was then carried southward to Sicily, where he generously +took on board an English sailor, whom a man-of-war had unhappily left +there, and who was in imminent danger of being devoured by the Cyclops; +how he landed in the bay of Naples, saw the Sibyl, and descended to +Tartarus; how he held a long and pathetic conversation with Poniatowski, +whom he found wandering unburied on the banks of Styx; how he swore to +give him a splendid funeral; how he had also an affectionate interview +with Desaix; how Moreau and Sir Ralph Abercrombie fled at the sight +of him. He relates that he then re-embarked, and met with nothing of +importance till the commencement of the storm with which the poem opens. + + +BOOK IV. + +The scene changes to Paris. Fame, in the garb of an express, brings +intelligence of the landing of Napoleon. The king performs a sacrifice: +but the entrails are unfavourable; and the victim is without a heart. +He prepares to encounter the invader. A young captain of the guard,--the +son of Maria Antoinette by Apollo,--in the shape of a fiddler, rushes +in to tell him that Napoleon is approaching with a vast army. The +royal forces are drawn out for battle. Full catalogues are given of +the regiments on both sides; their colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and +uniform. + + +BOOK V. + +The king comes forward and defies Napoleon to single combat. Napoleon +accepts it. Sacrifices are offered. The ground is measured by Ney and +Macdonald. The combatants advance. Louis snaps his pistol in vain. The +bullet of Napoleon, on the contrary, carries off the tip of the king's +ear. Napoleon then rushes on him sword in hand. But Louis snatches up a +stone, such as ten men of those degenerate days will be unable to move, +and hurls it at his antagonist. Mars averts it. Napoleon then seizes +Louis, and is about to strike a fatal blow, when Bacchus intervenes, +like Venus in the third book of the Iliad, bears off the king in a thick +cloud, and seats him in an hotel at Lille, with a bottle of Maraschino +and a basin of soup before him. Both armies instantly proclaim Napoleon +emperor. + + +BOOK VI. + +Neptune, returned from his Ethiopian revels, sees with rage the events +which have taken place in Europe. He flies to the cave of Alecto, +and drags out the fiend, commanding her to excite universal hostility +against Napoleon. The Fury repairs to Lord Castlereagh; and, as, when +she visited Turnus, she assumed the form of an old woman, she here +appears in the kindred shape of Mr Vansittart, and in an impassioned +address exhorts his lordship to war. His lordship, like Turnus, treats +this unwonted monitor with great disrespect, tells him that he is an old +doting fool, and advises him to look after the ways and means, and leave +questions of peace and war to his betters. The Fury then displays all +her terrors. The neat powdered hair bristles up into snakes; the black +stockings appear clotted with blood; and, brandishing a torch, she +announces her name and mission. Lord Castlereagh, seized with fury, +flies instantly to the Parliament, and recommends war with a torrent +of eloquent invective. All the members instantly clamour for vengeance, +seize their arms which are hanging round the walls of the house, and +rush forth to prepare for instant hostilities. + + +BOOK VII. + +In this book intelligence arrives at London of the flight of the Duchess +d'Angouleme from France. It is stated that this heroine, armed from head +to foot, defended Bordeaux against the adherents of Napoleon, and that +she fought hand to hand with Clausel, and beat him down with an enormous +stone. Deserted by her followers, she at last, like Turnus, plunged, +armed as she was, into the Garonne, and swam to an English ship which +lay off the coast. This intelligence yet more inflames the English to +war. + +A yet bolder flight than any which has been mentioned follows. The Duke +of Wellington goes to take leave of the duchess; and a scene passes +quite equal to the famous interview of Hector and Andromache. Lord Douro +is frightened at his father's feather, but begs for his epaulette. + + +BOOK VIII. + +Neptune, trembling for the event of the war, implores Venus, who, as +the offspring of his element, naturally venerates him, to procure from +Vulcan a deadly sword and a pair of unerring pistols for the Duke. They +are accordingly made, and superbly decorated. The sheath of the sword, +like the shield of Achilles, is carved, in exquisitely fine miniature, +with scenes from the common life of the period; a dance at Almack's a +boxing match at the Fives-court, a lord mayor's procession, and a man +hanging. All these are fully and elegantly described. The Duke thus +armed hastens to Brussels. + + +BOOK IX. + +The Duke is received at Brussels by the King of the Netherlands with +great magnificence. He is informed of the approach of the armies of all +the confederate kings. The poet, however, with a laudable zeal for +the glory of his country, completely passes over the exploits of the +Austrians in Italy, and the discussions of the congress. England +and France, Wellington and Napoleon, almost exclusively occupy his +attention. Several days are spent at Brussels in revelry. The English +heroes astonish their allies by exhibiting splendid games, similar to +those which draw the flower of the British aristocracy to Newmarket and +Moulsey Hurst, and which will be considered by our descendants with +as much veneration as the Olympian and Isthmian contests by classical +students of the present time. In the combat of the cestus, Shaw, the +lifeguardsman, vanquishes the Prince of Orange, and obtains a bull as a +prize. In the horse-race, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Uxbridge ride +against each other; the Duke is victorious, and is rewarded with twelve +opera-girls. On the last day of the festivities, a splendid dance takes +place, at which all the heroes attend. + + +BOOK X. + +Mars, seeing the English army thus inactive, hastens to rouse Napoleon, +who, conducted by Night and Silence, unexpectedly attacks the Prussians. +The slaughter is immense. Napoleon kills many whose histories and +families are happily particularised. He slays Herman, the craniologist, +who dwelt by the linden-shadowed Elbe, and measured with his eye the +skulls of all who walked through the streets of Berlin. Alas! his own +skull is now cleft by the Corsican sword. Four pupils of the University +of Jena advance together to encounter the Emperor; at four blows he +destroys them all. Blucher rushes to arrest the devastation; Napoleon +strikes him to the ground, and is on the point of killing him, but +Gneisenau, Ziethen, Bulow, and all the other heroes of the Prussian +army, gather round him, and bear the venerable chief to a distance +from the field. The slaughter is continued till night. In the meantime +Neptune has despatched Fame to bear the intelligence to the Duke, who +is dancing at Brussels. The whole army is put in motion. The Duke of +Brunswick's horse speaks to admonish him of his danger, but in vain. + + +BOOK XI. + +Picton, the Duke of Brunswick, and the Prince of Orange, engage Ney at +Quatre Bras. Ney kills the Duke of Brunswick, and strips him, sending +his belt to Napoleon. The English fall back on Waterloo. Jupiter calls +a council of the gods, and commands that none shall interfere on either +side. Mars and Neptune make very eloquent speeches. The battle of +Waterloo commences. Napoleon kills Picton and Delancy. Ney engages +Ponsonby and kills him. The Prince of Orange is wounded by Soult. Lord +Uxbridge flies to check the carnage. He is severely wounded by Napoleon, +and only saved by the assistance of Lord Hill. In the meantime the +Duke makes a tremendous carnage among the French. He encounters General +Duhesme and vanquishes him, but spares his life. He kills Toubert, who +kept the gaming-house in the Palais Royal, and Maronet, who loved to +spend whole nights in drinking champagne. Clerval, who had been hooted +from the stage, and had then become a captain in the Imperial Guard, +wished that he had still continued to face the more harmless enmity of +the Parisian pit. But Larrey, the son of Esculapius, whom his father had +instructed in all the secrets of his art, and who was surgeon-general of +the French army, embraced the knees of the destroyer, and conjured him +not to give death to one whose office it was to give life. The Duke +raised him, and bade him live. + +But we must hasten to the close. Napoleon rushes to encounter +Wellington. Both armies stand in mute amaze. The heroes fire their +pistols; that of Napoleon misses, but that of Wellington, formed by the +hand of Vulcan, and primed by the Cyclops, wounds the Emperor in the +thigh. He flies, and takes refuge among his troops. The flight becomes +promiscuous. The arrival of the Prussians, from a motive of patriotism, +the poet completely passes over. + + +BOOK XII. + +Things are now hastening to the catastrophe. Napoleon flies to London, +and, seating himself on the hearth of the Regent, embraces the household +gods and conjures him, by the venerable age of George III., and by the +opening perfections of the Princess Charlotte, to spare him. The Prince +is inclined to do so; when, looking on his breast, he sees there the +belt of the Duke of Brunswick. He instantly draws his sword, and is +about to stab the destroyer of his kinsman. Piety and hospitality, +however, restrain his hand. He takes a middle course, and condemns +Napoleon to be exposed on a desert island. The King of France re-enters +Paris; and the poem concludes. + +***** + + + + +ON MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE. (November 1824.) + +This is a book which enjoys a great and increasing popularity: but, +while it has attracted a considerable share of the public attention, it +has been little noticed by the critics. Mr Mitford has almost succeeded +in mounting, unperceived by those whose office it is to watch such +aspirants, to a high place among historians. He has taken a seat on +the dais without being challenged by a single seneschal. To oppose the +progress of his fame is now almost a hopeless enterprise. Had he been +reviewed with candid severity, when he had published only his first +volume, his work would either have deserved its reputation, or would +never have obtained it. "Then," as Indra says of Kehama, "then was the +time to strike." The time was neglected; and the consequence is that +Mr Mitford like Kehama, has laid his victorious hand on the literary +Amreeta, and seems about to taste the precious elixir of immortality. I +shall venture to emulate the courage of the honest Glendoveer-- + + "When now + He saw the Amreeta in Kehama's hand, + An impulse that defied all self-command, + In that extremity, + Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup, + And dare the Rajah's force in Seeva's sight, + Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray." + +In plain words, I shall offer a few considerations, which may tend to +reduce an overpraised writer to his proper level. + +The principal characteristic of this historian, the origin of his +excellencies and his defects, is a love of singularity. He has no +notion of going with a multitude to do either good or evil. An exploded +opinion, or an unpopular person, has an irresistible charm for him. The +same perverseness may be traced in his diction. His style would +never have been elegant; but it might at least have been manly and +perspicuous; and nothing but the most elaborate care could possibly have +made it so bad as it is. It is distinguished by harsh phrases, strange +collocations, occasional solecisms, frequent obscurity, and, above all, +by a peculiar oddity, which can no more be described than it can be +overlooked. Nor is this all. Mr Mitford piques himself on spelling +better than any of his neighbours; and this not only in ancient names, +which he mangles in defiance both of custom and of reason, but in the +most ordinary words of the English language. It is, in itself, a matter +perfectly indifferent whether we call a foreigner by the name which he +bears in his own language, or by that which corresponds to it in ours; +whether we say Lorenzo de Medici, or Lawrence de Medici, Jean Chauvin, +or John Calvin. In such cases established usage is considered as law +by all writers except Mr Mitford. If he were always consistent with +himself, he might be excused for sometimes disagreeing with his +neighbours; but he proceeds on no principle but that of being unlike +the rest of the world. Every child has heard of Linnaeus; therefore +Mr Mitford calls him Linne: Rousseau is known all over Europe as Jean +Jacques; therefore Mr Mitford bestows on him the strange appellation of +John James. + +Had Mr Mitford undertaken a History of any other country than Greece, +this propensity would have rendered his work useless and absurd. His +occasional remarks on the affairs of ancient Rome and of modern Europe +are full of errors: but he writes of times with respect to which almost +every other writer has been in the wrong; and, therefore, by resolutely +deviating from his predecessors, he is often in the right. + +Almost all the modern historians of Greece have shown the grossest +ignorance of the most obvious phenomena of human nature. In their +representations the generals and statesmen of antiquity are absolutely +divested of all individuality. They are personifications; they are +passions, talents, opinions, virtues, vices, but not men. Inconsistency +is a thing of which these writers have no notion. That a man may have +been liberal in his youth and avaricious in his age, cruel to one enemy +and merciful to another, is to them utterly inconceivable. If the facts +be undeniable, they suppose some strange and deep design, in order to +explain what, as every one who has observed his own mind knows, needs +no explanation at all. This is a mode of writing very acceptable to the +multitude who have always been accustomed to make gods and daemons +out of men very little better or worse than themselves; but it appears +contemptible to all who have watched the changes of human character--to +all who have observed the influence of time, of circumstances, and +of associates, on mankind--to all who have seen a hero in the gout, a +democrat in the church, a pedant in love, or a philosopher in liquor. +This practice of painting in nothing but black and white is unpardonable +even in the drama. It is the great fault of Alfieri; and how much it +injures the effect of his compositions will be obvious to every one who +will compare his Rosmunda with the Lady Macbeth of Shakspeare. The one +is a wicked woman; the other is a fiend. Her only feeling is hatred; +all her words are curses. We are at once shocked and fatigued by the +spectacle of such raving cruelty, excited by no provocation, +repeatedly changing its object, and constant in nothing but in its +in-extinguishable thirst for blood. + +In history this error is far more disgraceful. Indeed, there is no fault +which so completely ruins a narrative in the opinion of a judicious +reader. We know that the line of demarcation between good and bad men +is so faintly marked as often to elude the most careful investigation +of those who have the best opportunities for judging. Public men, above +all, are surrounded with so many temptations and difficulties that +some doubt must almost always hang over their real dispositions and +intentions. The lives of Pym, Cromwell, Monk, Clarendon, Marlborough, +Burnet, Walpole, are well known to us. We are acquainted with their +actions, their speeches, their writings; we have abundance of letters +and well-authenticated anecdotes relating to them: yet what candid man +will venture very positively to say which of them were honest and which +of them were dishonest men? It appears easier to pronounce decidedly +upon the great characters of antiquity, not because we have greater +means of discovering truth, but simply because we have less means of +detecting error. The modern historians of Greece have forgotten this. +Their heroes and villains are as consistent in all their sayings and +doings as the cardinal virtues and the deadly sins in an allegory. We +should as soon expect a good action from giant Slay-good in Bunyan as +from Dionysius; and a crime of Epaminondas would seem as incongruous +as a faux-pas of the grave and comely damsel called Discretion, who +answered the bell at the door of the house Beautiful. + +This error was partly the cause and partly the effect of the high +estimation in which the later ancient writers have been held by modern +scholars. Those French and English authors who have treated of the +affairs of Greece have generally turned with contempt from the simple +and natural narrations of Thucydides and Xenophon to the extravagant +representations of Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius, and other romancers +of the same class,--men who described military operations without ever +having handled a sword, and applied to the seditions of little republics +speculations formed by observation on an empire which covered half +the known world. Of liberty they knew nothing. It was to them a +great mystery--a superhuman enjoyment. They ranted about liberty and +patriotism, from the same cause which leads monks to talk more ardently +than other men about love and women. A wise man values political +liberty, because it secures the persons and the possessions of citizens; +because it tends to prevent the extravagance of rulers, and the +corruption of judges; because it gives birth to useful sciences and +elegant arts; because it excites the industry and increases the comforts +of all classes of society. These theorists imagined that it possessed +something eternally and intrinsically good, distinct from the blessings +which it generally produced. They considered it not as a means but as an +end; an end to be attained at any cost. Their favourite heroes are those +who have sacrificed, for the mere name of freedom, the prosperity--the +security--the justice--from which freedom derives its value. + +There is another remarkable characteristic of these writers, in which +their modern worshippers have carefully imitated them--a great fondness +for good stories. The most established facts, dates, and characters are +never suffered to come into competition with a splendid saying, or a +romantic exploit. The early historians have left us natural and simple +descriptions of the great events which they witnessed, and the great men +with whom they associated. When we read the account which Plutarch +and Rollin have given of the same period, we scarcely know our old +acquaintance again; we are utterly confounded by the melo-dramatic +effect of the narration, and the sublime coxcombry of the characters. + +These are the principal errors into which the predecessors of Mr Mitford +have fallen; and from most of these he is free. His faults are of a +completely different description. It is to be hoped that the students of +history may now be saved, like Dorax in Dryden's play, by swallowing +two conflicting poisons, each of which may serve as an antidote to the +other. + +The first and most important difference between Mr Mitford and those who +have preceded him is in his narration. Here the advantage lies, for +the most part, on his side. His principle is to follow the contemporary +historians, to look with doubt on all statements which are not in +some degree confirmed by them, and absolutely to reject all which are +contradicted by them. While he retains the guidance of some writer in +whom he can place confidence, he goes on excellently. When he loses it, +he falls to the level, or perhaps below the level, of the writers whom +he so much despises: he is as absurd as they, and very much duller. It +is really amusing to observe how he proceeds with his narration when he +has no better authority than poor Diodorus. He is compelled to relate +something; yet he believes nothing. He accompanies every fact with +a long statement of objections. His account of the administration of +Dionysius is in no sense a history. It ought to be entitled--"Historic +doubts as to certain events, alleged to have taken place in Sicily." + +This scepticism, however, like that of some great legal characters +almost as sceptical as himself; vanishes whenever his political +partialities interfere. He is a vehement admirer of tyranny and +oligarchy, and considers no evidence as feeble which can be brought +forward in favour of those forms of government. Democracy he hates with +a perfect hatred, a hatred which, in the first volume of his history, +appears only in his episodes and reflections, but which, in those parts +where he has less reverence for his guides, and can venture to take his +own way, completely distorts even his narration. + +In taking up these opinions, I have no doubt that Mr Mitford was +influenced by the same love of singularity which led him to spell +"island" without an "s," and to place two dots over the last letter of +"idea." In truth, preceding historians have erred so monstrously on the +other side that even the worst parts of Mr Mitford's book may be useful +as a corrective. For a young gentleman who talks much about his country, +tyrannicide, and Epaminondas, this work, diluted in a sufficient +quantity of Rollin and Berthelemi, may be a very useful remedy. + +The errors of both parties arise from an ignorance or a neglect of the +fundamental principles of political science. The writers on one side +imagine popular government to be always a blessing; Mr Mitford omits no +opportunity of assuring us that it is always a curse. The fact is, that +a good government, like a good coat, is that which fits the body for +which it is designed. A man who, upon abstract principles, pronounces +a constitution to be good, without an exact knowledge of the people +who are to be governed by it, judges as absurdly as a tailor who should +measure the Belvidere Apollo for the clothes of all his customers. The +demagogues who wished to see Portugal a republic, and the wise critics +who revile the Virginians for not having instituted a peerage, appear +equally ridiculous to all men of sense and candour. + +That is the best government which desires to make the people happy, and +knows how to make them happy. Neither the inclination nor the knowledge +will suffice alone; and it is difficult to find them together. + +Pure democracy, and pure democracy alone, satisfies the former condition +of this great problem. That the governors may be solicitous only for +the interests of the governed, it is necessary that the interests of the +governors and the governed should be the same. This cannot be often the +case where power is intrusted to one or to a few. The privileged part of +the community will doubtless derive a certain degree of advantage from +the general prosperity of the state; but they will derive a greater from +oppression and exaction. The king will desire an useless war for his +glory, or a parc-aux-cerfs for his pleasure. The nobles will demand +monopolies and lettres-de-cachet. In proportion as the number of +governors is increased the evil is diminished. There are fewer to +contribute, and more to receive. The dividend which each can obtain of +the public plunder becomes less and less tempting. But the interests of +the subjects and the rulers never absolutely coincide till the subjects +themselves become the rulers, that is, till the government be either +immediately or mediately democratical. + +But this is not enough. "Will without power," said the sagacious Casimir +to Milor Beefington, "is like children playing at soldiers." The people +will always be desirous to promote their own interests; but it may be +doubted, whether, in any community, they were ever sufficiently educated +to understand them. Even in this island, where the multitude have long +been better informed than in any other part of Europe, the rights of the +many have generally been asserted against themselves by the patriotism +of the few. Free trade, one of the greatest blessings which a government +can confer on a people, is in almost every country unpopular. It may +be well doubted, whether a liberal policy with regard to our commercial +relations would find any support from a parliament elected by universal +suffrage. The republicans on the other side of the Atlantic have +recently adopted regulations of which the consequences will, before +long, show us, + + "How nations sink, by darling schemes oppressed, + When vengeance listens to the fool's request." + +The people are to be governed for their own good; and, that they may +be governed for their own good, they must not be governed by their +own ignorance. There are countries in which it would be as absurd to +establish popular government as to abolish all the restraints in a +school, or to untie all the strait-waistcoats in a madhouse. + +Hence it may be concluded that the happiest state of society is that in +which supreme power resides in the whole body of a well-informed people. +This is an imaginary, perhaps an unattainable, state of things. Yet, in +some measure, we may approximate to it; and he alone deserves the name +of a great statesman, whose principle it is to extend the power of the +people in proportion to the extent of their knowledge, and to give them +every facility for obtaining such a degree of knowledge as may render +it safe to trust them with absolute power. In the mean time, it is +dangerous to praise or condemn constitutions in the abstract; since, +from the despotism of St Petersburg to the democracy of Washington, +there is scarcely a form of government which might not, at least in some +hypothetical case, be the best possible. + +If, however, there be any form of government which in all ages and all +nations has always been, and must always be, pernicious, it is certainly +that which Mr Mitford, on his usual principle of being wiser than all +the rest of the world, has taken under his especial patronage--pure +oligarchy. This is closely, and indeed inseparably, connected with +another of his eccentric tastes, a marked partiality for Lacedaemon, and +a dislike of Athens. Mr Mitford's book has, I suspect, rendered these +sentiments in some degree popular; and I shall, therefore, examine them +at some length. + +The shades in the Athenian character strike the eye more rapidly than +those in the Lacedaemonian: not because they are darker, but because +they are on a brighter ground. The law of ostracism is an instance +of this. Nothing can be conceived more odious than the practice of +punishing a citizen, simply and professedly, for his eminence;--and +nothing in the institutions of Athens is more frequently or more justly +censured. Lacedaemon was free from this. And why? Lacedaemon did +not need it. Oligarchy is an ostracism of itself,--an ostracism not +occasional, but permanent,--not dubious, but certain. Her laws prevented +the development of merit instead of attacking its maturity. They did not +cut down the plant in its high and palmy state, but cursed the soil with +eternal sterility. In spite of the law of ostracism, Athens produced, +within a hundred and fifty years, the greatest public men that ever +existed. Whom had Sparta to ostracise? She produced, at most, four +eminent men, Brasidas, Gylippus, Lysander, and Agesilaus. Of these, not +one rose to distinction within her jurisdiction. It was only when +they escaped from the region within which the influence of aristocracy +withered everything good and noble, it was only when they ceased to be +Lacedaemonians, that they became great men. Brasidas, among the cities +of Thrace, was strictly a democratical leader, the favourite minister +and general of the people. The same may be said of Gylippus, at +Syracuse. Lysander, in the Hellespont, and Agesilaus, in Asia, were +liberated for a time from the hateful restraints imposed by the +constitution of Lycurgus. Both acquired fame abroad; and both returned +to be watched and depressed at home. This is not peculiar to Sparta. +Oligarchy, wherever it has existed, has always stunted the growth of +genius. Thus it was at Rome, till about a century before the Christian +era: we read of abundance of consuls and dictators who won battles, +and enjoyed triumphs; but we look in vain for a single man of the first +order of intellect,--for a Pericles, a Demosthenes, or a Hannibal. +The Gracchi formed a strong democratical party; Marius revived it; the +foundations of the old aristocracy were shaken; and two generations +fertile in really great men appeared. + +Venice is a still more remarkable instance: in her history we see +nothing but the state; aristocracy had destroyed every seed of genius +and virtue. Her dominion was like herself, lofty and magnificent, but +founded on filth and weeds. God forbid that there should ever again +exist a powerful and civilised state, which, after existing through +thirteen hundred eventful years, should not bequeath to mankind the +memory of one great name or one generous action. + +Many writers, and Mr Mitford among the number, have admired the +stability of the Spartan institutions; in fact, there is little to +admire, and less to approve. Oligarchy is the weakest and the most +stable of governments; and it is stable because it is weak. It has a +sort of valetudinarian longevity; it lives in the balance of Sanctorius; +it takes no exercise; it exposes itself to no accident; it is seized +with an hypochondriac alarm at every new sensation; it trembles at every +breath; it lets blood for every inflammation: and thus, without ever +enjoying a day of health or pleasure, drags on its existence to a doting +and debilitated old age. + +The Spartans purchased for their government a prolongation of its +existence by the sacrifice of happiness at home and dignity abroad. They +cringed to the powerful; they trampled on the weak; they massacred their +helots; they betrayed their allies; they contrived to be a day too +late for the battle of Marathon; they attempted to avoid the battle of +Salamis; they suffered the Athenians, to whom they owed their lives +and liberties, to be a second time driven from their country by the +Persians, that they might finish their own fortifications on the +Isthmus; they attempted to take advantage of the distress to which +exertions in their cause had reduced their preservers, in order to make +them their slaves; they strove to prevent those who had abandoned their +walls to defend them, from rebuilding them to defend themselves; they +commenced the Peloponnesian war in violation of their engagements with +Athens; they abandoned it in violation of their engagements with +their allies; they gave up to the sword whole cities which had placed +themselves under their protection; they bartered, for advantages +confined to themselves, the interest, the freedom, and the lives +of those who had served them most faithfully; they took with equal +complacency, and equal infamy, the stripes of Elis and the bribes of +Persia; they never showed either resentment or gratitude; they abstained +from no injury, and they revenged none. Above all, they looked on a +citizen who served them well as their deadliest enemy. These are the +arts which protract the existence of government. + +Nor were the domestic institutions of Lacedaemon less hateful or less +contemptible than her foreign policy. A perpetual interference with +every part of the system of human life, a constant struggle against +nature and reason, characterised all her laws. To violate even +prejudices which have taken deep root in the minds of a people is +scarcely expedient; to think of extirpating natural appetites and +passions is frantic: the external symptoms may be occasionally +repressed; but the feeling still exists, and, debarred from its natural +objects, preys on the disordered mind and body of its victim. Thus it +is in convents---thus it is among ascetic sects--thus it was among the +Lacedaemonians. Hence arose that madness, or violence approaching to +madness, which, in spite of every external restraint, often appeared +among the most distinguished citizens of Sparta. Cleomenes terminated +his career of raving cruelty by cutting himself to pieces. Pausanias +seems to have been absolutely insane; he formed a hopeless and +profligate scheme; he betrayed it by the ostentation of his behaviour, +and the imprudence of his measures; and he alienated, by his insolence, +all who might have served or protected him. Xenophon, a warm admirer of +Lacedaemon, furnishes us with the strongest evidence to this effect. +It is impossible not to observe the brutal and senseless fury which +characterises almost every Spartan with whom he was connected. Clearchus +nearly lost his life by his cruelty. Chirisophus deprived his army +of the services of a faithful guide by his unreasonable and ferocious +severity. But it is needless to multiply instances. Lycurgus, Mr +Mitford's favourite legislator, founded his whole system on a mistaken +principle. He never considered that governments were made for men, and +not men for governments. Instead of adapting the constitution to the +people, he distorted the minds of the people to suit the constitution, a +scheme worthy of the Laputan Academy of Projectors. And this appears to +Mr Mitford to constitute his peculiar title to admiration. Hear himself: +"What to modern eyes most strikingly sets that extraordinary man above +all other legislators is, that in so many circumstances, apparently out +of the reach of law, he controlled and formed to his own mind the wills +and habits of his people." I should suppose that this gentleman had the +advantage of receiving his education under the ferula of Dr +Pangloss; for his metaphysics are clearly those of the castle of +Thunder-ten-tronckh: "Remarquez bien que les nez ont ete faits pour +porter des lunettes, aussi avons nous des lunettes. Les jambes sont +visiblement institues pour etre chaussees, et nous avons des chausses. +Les cochons etant faits pour etre manges, nous mangeons du porc toute +l'annee." + +At Athens the laws did not constantly interfere with the tastes of the +people. The children were not taken from their parents by that universal +step-mother, the state. They were not starved into thieves, or tortured +into bullies; there was no established table at which every one must +dine, no established style in which every one must converse. An Athenian +might eat whatever he could afford to buy, and talk as long as he could +find people to listen. The government did not tell the people what +opinions they were to hold, or what songs they were to sing. Freedom +produced excellence. Thus philosophy took its origin. Thus were produced +those models of poetry, of oratory, and of the arts, which scarcely fall +short of the standard of ideal excellence. Nothing is more conducive to +happiness than the free exercise of the mind in pursuits congenial to +it. This happiness, assuredly, was enjoyed far more at Athens than at +Sparta. The Athenians are acknowledged even by their enemies to have +been distinguished, in private life, by their courteous and amiable +demeanour. Their levity, at least, was better than Spartan sullenness +and their impertinence than Spartan insolence. Even in courage it may be +questioned whether they were inferior to the Lacedaemonians. The great +Athenian historian has reported a remarkable observation of the great +Athenian minister. Pericles maintained that his countrymen, without +submitting to the hardships of a Spartan education, rivalled all the +achievements of Spartan valour, and that therefore the pleasures and +amusements which they enjoyed were to be considered as so much clear +gain. The infantry of Athens was certainly not equal to that of +Lacedaemon; but this seems to have been caused merely by want of +practice: the attention of the Athenians was diverted from the +discipline of the phalanx to that of the trireme. The Lacedaemonians, in +spite of all their boasted valour, were, from the same cause, timid and +disorderly in naval action. + +But we are told that crimes of great enormity were perpetrated by the +Athenian government, and the democracies under its protection. It is +true that Athens too often acted up to the full extent of the laws of +war in an age when those laws had not been mitigated by causes which +have operated in later times. This accusation is, in fact, common to +Athens, to Lacedaemon, to all the states of Greece, and to all states +similarly situated. Where communities are very large, the heavier evils +of war are felt but by few. The ploughboy sings, the spinning-wheel +turns round, the wedding-day is fixed, whether the last battle were lost +or won. In little states it cannot be thus; every man feels in his own +property and person the effect of a war. Every man is a soldier, and a +soldier fighting for his nearest interests. His own trees have been cut +down--his own corn has been burnt--his own house has been pillaged--his +own relations have been killed. How can he entertain towards the enemies +of his country the same feelings with one who has suffered nothing from +them, except perhaps the addition of a small sum to the taxes which he +pays? Men in such circumstances cannot be generous. They have too much +at stake. It is when they are, if I may so express myself, playing +for love, it is when war is a mere game at chess, it is when they are +contending for a remote colony, a frontier town, the honours of a flag, +a salute, or a title, that they can make fine speeches, and do good +offices to their enemies. The Black Prince waited behind the chair of +his captive; Villars interchanged repartees with Eugene; George II. sent +congratulations to Louis XV., during a war, upon occasion of his escape +from the attempt of Damien: and these things are fine and generous, and +very gratifying to the author of the Broad Stone of Honour, and all the +other wise men who think, like him, that God made the world only for the +use of gentlemen. But they spring in general from utter heartlessness. +No war ought ever to be undertaken but under circumstances which render +all interchange of courtesy between the combatants impossible. It is a +bad thing that men should hate each other; but it is far worse that +they should contract the habit of cutting one another's throats without +hatred. War is never lenient, but where it is wanton; when men are +compelled to fight in selfdefence, they must hate and avenge: this may +be bad; but it is human nature; it is the clay as it came from the hand +of the potter. + +It is true that among the dependencies of Athens seditions assumed +a character more ferocious than even in France, during the reign of +terror--the accursed Saturnalia of an accursed bondage. It is true +that in Athens itself, where such convulsions were scarcely known, +the condition of the higher orders was disagreeable; that they were +compelled to contribute large sums for the service or the amusement +of the public; and that they were sometimes harassed by vexatious +informers. Whenever such cases occur, Mr Mitford's scepticism vanishes. +The "if," the "but," the "it is said," the "if we may believe," with +which he qualifies every charge against a tyrant or an aristocracy, are +at once abandoned. The blacker the story, the firmer is his belief, and +he never fails to inveigh with hearty bitterness against democracy as +the source of every species of crime. + +The Athenians, I believe, possessed more liberty than was good for +them. Yet I will venture to assert that, while the splendour, the +intelligence, and the energy of that great people were peculiar to +themselves, the crimes with which they are charged arose from causes +which were common to them with every other state which then existed. +The violence of faction in that age sprung from a cause which has always +been fertile in every political and moral evil, domestic slavery. + +The effect of slavery is completely to dissolve the connection which +naturally exists between the higher and lower classes of free citizens. +The rich spend their wealth in purchasing and maintaining slaves. There +is no demand for the labour of the poor; the fable of Menenius ceases to +be applicable; the belly communicates no nutriment to the members; there +is an atrophy in the body politic. The two parties, therefore, proceed +to extremities utterly unknown in countries where they have mutually +need of each other. In Rome the oligarchy was too powerful to be +subverted by force; and neither the tribunes nor the popular assemblies, +though constitutionally omnipotent, could maintain a successful contest +against men who possessed the whole property of the state. Hence the +necessity for measures tending to unsettle the whole frame of society, +and to take away every motive of industry; the abolition of debts, and +the agrarian laws--propositions absurdly condemned by men who do +not consider the circumstances from which they sprung. They were the +desperate remedies of a desperate disease. In Greece the oligarchical +interest was not in general so deeply rooted as at Rome. The multitude, +therefore, often redressed by force grievances which, at Rome, were +commonly attacked under the forms of the constitution. They drove out or +massacred the rich, and divided their property. If the superior union or +military skill of the rich rendered them victorious, they took measures +equally violent, disarmed all in whom they could not confide, often +slaughtered great numbers, and occasionally expelled the whole +commonalty from the city, and remained, with their slaves, the sole +inhabitants. + +From such calamities Athens and Lacedaemon alone were almost completely +free. At Athens the purses of the rich were laid under regular +contribution for the support of the poor; and this, rightly considered, +was as much a favour to the givers as to the receivers, since no other +measure could possibly have saved their houses from pillage and their +persons from violence. It is singular that Mr Mitford should perpetually +reprobate a policy which was the best that could be pursued in such +a state of things, and which alone saved Athens from the frightful +outrages which were perpetrated at Corcyra. + +Lacedaemon, cursed with a system of slavery more odious than has ever +existed in any other country, avoided this evil by almost totally +annihilating private property. Lycurgus began by an agrarian law. He +abolished all professions except that of arms; he made the whole of his +community a standing army, every member of which had a common right to +the services of a crowd of miserable bondmen; he secured the state from +sedition at the expense of the Helots. Of all the parts of his system +this is the most creditable to his head, and the most disgraceful to his +heart. + +These considerations, and many others of equal importance, Mr Mitford +has neglected; but he has yet a heavier charge to answer. He has made +not only illogical inferences, but false statements. While he never +states, without qualifications and objections, the charges which the +earliest and best historians have brought against his favourite tyrants, +Pisistratus, Hippias, and Gelon, he transcribes, without any hesitation, +the grossest abuse of the least authoritative writers against every +democracy and every demagogue. Such an accusation should not be made +without being supported; and I will therefore select one out of many +passages which will fully substantiate the charge, and convict Mr +Mitford of wilful misrepresentation, or of negligence scarcely less +culpable. Mr Mitford is speaking of one of the greatest men that ever +lived, Demosthenes, and comparing him with his rival, Aeschines. Let him +speak for himself. + +"In earliest youth Demosthenes earned an opprobrious nickname by +the effeminacy of his dress and manner." Does Mr Mitford know that +Demosthenes denied this charge, and explained the nickname in a +perfectly different manner? (See the speech of Aeschines against +Timarchus.) And, if he knew it, should he not have stated it? He +proceeds thus: "On emerging from minority, by the Athenian law, at +five-and-twenty, he earned another opprobrious nickname by a prosecution +of his guardians, which was considered as a dishonourable attempt +to extort money from them." In the first place Demosthenes was not +five-and-twenty years of age. Mr Mitford might have learned, from so +common a book as the Archaeologia of Archbishop Potter, that at twenty +Athenian citizens were freed from the control of their guardians, and +began to manage their own property. The very speech of Demosthenes +against his guardians proves most satisfactorily that he was under +twenty. In his speech against Midias, he says that when he undertook +that prosecution he was quite a boy. (Meirakullion on komide.) His youth +might, therefore, excuse the step, even if it had been considered, as +Mr Mitford says, a dishonourable attempt to extort money. But who +considered it as such? Not the judges who condemned the guardians. The +Athenian courts of justice were not the purest in the world; but their +decisions were at least as likely to be just as the abuse of a deadly +enemy. Mr Mitford refers for confirmation of his statement to Aeschines +and Plutarch. Aeschines by no means bears him out; and Plutarch directly +contradicts him. "Not long after," says Mr Mitford, "he took blows +publicly in the theater" (I preserve the orthography, if it can be +so called, of this historian) "from a petulant youth of rank, named +Meidias." Here are two disgraceful mistakes. In the first place, it was +long after; eight years at the very least, probably much more. In the +next place the petulant youth, of whom Mr Mitford speaks, was fifty +years old. (Whoever will read the speech of Demosthenes against Midias +will find the statements in the text confirmed, and will have, moreover, +the pleasure of becoming acquainted with one of the finest compositions +in the world.) Really Mr Mitford has less reason to censure the +carelessness of his predecessors than to reform his own. After this +monstrous inaccuracy, with regard to facts, we may be able to judge what +degree of credit ought to be given to the vague abuse of such a writer. +"The cowardice of Demosthenes in the field afterwards became notorious." +Demosthenes was a civil character; war was not his business. In his time +the division between military and political offices was beginning to be +strongly marked; yet the recollection of the days when every citizen was +a soldier was still recent. In such states of society a certain degree +of disrepute always attaches to sedentary men; but that any leader +of the Athenian democracy could have been, as Mr Mitford says of +Demosthenes, a few lines before, remarkable for "an extraordinary +deficiency of personal courage," is absolutely impossible. What +mercenary warrior of the time exposed his life to greater or more +constant perils? Was there a single soldier at Chaeronea who had more +cause to tremble for his safety than the orator, who, in case of defeat, +could scarcely hope for mercy from the people whom he had misled or +the prince whom he had opposed? Were not the ordinary fluctuations of +popular feeling enough to deter any coward from engaging in political +conflicts? Isocrates, whom Mr Mitford extols, because he constantly +employed all the flowers of his school-boy rhetoric to decorate +oligarchy and tyranny, avoided the judicial and political meetings +of Athens from mere timidity, and seems to have hated democracy only +because he durst not look a popular assembly in the face. Demosthenes +was a man of a feeble constitution: his nerves were weak, but his spirit +was high; and the energy and enthusiasm of his feelings supported him +through life and in death. + +So much for Demosthenes. Now for the orator of aristocracy. I do +not wish to abuse Aeschines. He may have been an honest man. He was +certainly a great man; and I feel a reverence, of which Mr Mitford seems +to have no notion, for great men of every party. But, when Mr Mitford +says that the private character of Aeschines was without stain, does +he remember what Aeschines has himself confessed in his speech against +Timarchus? I can make allowances, as well as Mr Mitford, for persons who +lived under a different system of laws and morals; but let them be +made impartially. If Demosthenes is to be attacked on account of some +childish improprieties, proved only by the assertion of an antagonist, +what shall we say of those maturer vices which that antagonist has +himself acknowledged? "Against the private character of Aeschines," +says Mr Mitford, "Demosthenes seems not to have had an insinuation +to oppose." Has Mr Mitford ever read the speech of Demosthenes on the +Embassy? Or can he have forgotten, what was never forgotten by anyone +else who ever read it, the story which Demosthenes relates with such +terrible energy of language concerning the drunken brutality of his +rival? True or false, here is something more than an insinuation; and +nothing can vindicate the historian, who has overlooked it, from the +charge of negligence or of partiality. But Aeschines denied the story. +And did not Demosthenes also deny the story respecting his childish +nickname, which Mr Mitford has nevertheless told without any +qualification? But the judges, or some part of them, showed, by their +clamour, their disbelief of the relation of Demosthenes. And did not +the judges, who tried the cause between Demosthenes and his guardians, +indicate, in a much clearer manner, their approbation of the +prosecution? But Demosthenes was a demagogue, and is to be slandered. +Aeschines was an aristocrat, and is to be panegyrised. Is this a +history, or a party-pamphlet? + +These passages, all selected from a single page of Mr Mitford's work, +may give some notion to those readers, who have not the means of +comparing his statements with the original authorities, of his extreme +partiality and carelessness. Indeed, whenever this historian mentions +Demosthenes, he violates all the laws of candour and even of decency; +he weighs no authorities; he makes no allowances; he forgets the best +authenticated facts in the history of the times, and the most generally +recognised principles of human nature. The opposition of the great +orator to the policy of Philip he represents as neither more nor less +than deliberate villany. I hold almost the same opinion with Mr Mitford +respecting the character and the views of that great and accomplished +prince. But am I, therefore, to pronounce Demosthenes profligate and +insincere? Surely not. Do we not perpetually see men of the greatest +talents and the purest intentions misled by national or factious +prejudices? The most respectable people in England were, little more +than forty years ago, in the habit of uttering the bitterest abuse +against Washington and Franklin. It is certainly to be regretted that +men should err so grossly in their estimate of character. But no person +who knows anything of human nature will impute such errors to depravity. + +Mr Mitford is not more consistent with himself than with reason. Though +he is the advocate of all oligarchies, he is also a warm admirer of +all kings, and of all citizens who raised themselves to that species +of sovereignty which the Greeks denominated tyranny. If monarchy, as Mr +Mitford holds, be in itself a blessing, democracy must be a better +form of government than aristocracy, which is always opposed to the +supremacy, and even to the eminence, of individuals. On the other hand, +it is but one step that separates the demagogue and the sovereign. + +If this article had not extended itself to so great a length, I +should offer a few observations on some other peculiarities of this +writer,--his general preference of the Barbarians to the Greeks,--his +predilection for Persians, Carthaginians, Thracians, for all nations, +in short, except that great and enlightened nation of which he is the +historian. But I will confine myself to a single topic. + +Mr Mitford has remarked, with truth and spirit, that "any history +perfectly written, but especially a Grecian history perfectly written +should be a political institute for all nations." It has not occurred to +him that a Grecian history, perfectly written, should also be a complete +record of the rise and progress of poetry, philosophy, and the arts. +Here his work is extremely deficient. Indeed, though it may seem a +strange thing to say of a gentleman who has published so many quartos, +Mr Mitford seems to entertain a feeling, bordering on contempt, +for literary and speculative pursuits. The talents of action almost +exclusively attract his notice; and he talks with very complacent +disdain of "the idle learned." Homer, indeed, he admires; but +principally, I am afraid, because he is convinced that Homer could +neither read nor write. He could not avoid speaking of Socrates; but he +has been far more solicitous to trace his death to political causes, and +to deduce from it consequences unfavourable to Athens, and to popular +governments, than to throw light on the character and doctrines of the +wonderful man, + + "From whose mouth issued forth + Mellifluous streams that watered all the schools + Of Academics, old and new, with those + Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect + Epicurean, and the Stoic severe." + +He does not seem to be aware that Demosthenes was a great orator; he +represents him sometimes as an aspirant demagogue, sometimes as an +adroit negotiator, and always as a great rogue. But that in which the +Athenian excelled all men of all ages, that irresistible eloquence, +which at the distance of more than two thousand years stirs our blood, +and brings tears into our eyes, he passes by with a few phrases of +commonplace commendation. The origin of the drama, the doctrines of the +sophists, the course of Athenian education, the state of the arts +and sciences, the whole domestic system of the Greeks, he has almost +completely neglected. Yet these things will appear, to a reflecting man, +scarcely less worthy of attention than the taking of Sphacteria or the +discipline of the targeteers of Iphicrates. + +This, indeed, is a deficiency by no means peculiar to Mr Mitford. +Most people seem to imagine that a detail of public occurrences--the +operations of sieges---the changes of administrations--the treaties--the +conspiracies--the rebellions--is a complete history. Differences of +definition are logically unimportant; but practically they sometimes +produce the most momentous effects. Thus it has been in the present +case. Historians have, almost without exception, confined themselves +to the public transactions of states, and have left to the negligent +administration of writers of fiction a province at least equally +extensive and valuable. + +All wise statesmen have agreed to consider the prosperity or adversity +of nations as made up of the happiness or misery of individuals, and to +reject as chimerical all notions of a public interest of the community, +distinct from the interest of the component parts. It is therefore +strange that those whose office it is to supply statesmen with examples +and warnings should omit, as too mean for the dignity of history, +circumstances which exert the most extensive influence on the state of +society. In general, the under current of human life flows steadily on, +unruffled by the storms which agitate the surface. The happiness of the +many commonly depends on causes independent of victories or defeats, of +revolutions or restorations,--causes which can be regulated by no laws, +and which are recorded in no archives. These causes are the things +which it is of main importance to us to know, not how the Lacedaemonian +phalanx was broken at Leuctra,--not whether Alexander died of poison +or by disease. History, without these, is a shell without a kernel; +and such is almost all the history which is extant in the world. Paltry +skirmishes and plots are reported with absurd and useless minuteness; +but improvements the most essential to the comfort of human life extend +themselves over the world, and introduce themselves into every cottage, +before any annalist can condescend, from the dignity of writing about +generals and ambassadors, to take the least notice of them. Thus the +progress of the most salutary inventions and discoveries is buried in +impenetrable mystery; mankind are deprived of a most useful species of +knowledge, and their benefactors of their honest fame. In the meantime +every child knows by heart the dates and adventures of a long line of +barbarian kings. The history of nations, in the sense in which I use +the word, is often best studied in works not professedly historical. +Thucydides, as far as he goes, is an excellent writer; yet he affords us +far less knowledge of the most important particulars relating to Athens +than Plato or Aristophanes. The little treatise of Xenophon on Domestic +Economy contains more historical information than all the seven books +of his Hellenics. The same may be said of the Satires of Horace, of +the Letters of Cicero, of the novels of Le Sage, of the memoirs of +Marmontel. Many others might be mentioned; but these sufficiently +illustrate my meaning. + +I would hope that there may yet appear a writer who may despise the +present narrow limits, and assert the rights of history over every part +of her natural domain. Should such a writer engage in that enterprise, +in which I cannot but consider Mr Mitford as having failed, he will +record, indeed, all that is interesting and important in military and +political transactions; but he will not think anything too trivial for +the gravity of history which is not too trivial to promote or diminish +the happiness of man. He will portray in vivid colours the domestic +society, the manners, the amusements, the conversation of the Greeks. He +will not disdain to discuss the state of agriculture, of the mechanical +arts, and of the conveniences of life. The progress of painting, of +sculpture, and of architecture, will form an important part of his +plan. But, above all, his attention will be given to the history of that +splendid literature from which has sprung all the strength, the wisdom, +the freedom, and the glory, of the western world. + +Of the indifference which Mr Mitford shows on this subject I will not +speak; for I cannot speak with fairness. It is a subject on which I love +to forget the accuracy of a judge, in the veneration of a worshipper +and the gratitude of a child. If we consider merely the subtlety of +disquisition, the force of imagination, the perfect energy and elegance +of expression which characterise the great works of Athenian genius, we +must pronounce them intrinsically most valuable; but what shall we say +when we reflect that from hence have sprung directly or indirectly, all +the noblest creations of the human intellect; that from hence were the +vast accomplishments and the brilliant fancy of Cicero; the withering +fire of Juvenal; the plastic imagination of Dante; the humour of +Cervantes; the comprehension of Bacon; the wit of Butler; the supreme +and universal excellence of Shakspeare? All the triumphs of truth and +genius over prejudice and power, in every country and in every age, +have been the triumphs of Athens. Wherever a few great minds have made +a stand against violence and fraud, in the cause of liberty and reason, +there has been her spirit in the midst of them; inspiring, encouraging, +consoling;--by the lonely lamp of Erasmus; by the restless bed of +Pascal; in the tribune of Mirabeau; in the cell of Galileo; on the +scaffold of Sidney. But who shall estimate her influence on private +happiness? Who shall say how many thousands have been made wiser, +happier, and better, by those pursuits in which she has taught mankind +to engage: to how many the studies which took their rise from her +have been wealth in poverty,--liberty in bondage,--health in +sickness,--society in solitude? Her power is indeed manifested at +the bar, in the senate, in the field of battle, in the schools of +philosophy. But these are not her glory. Wherever literature consoles +sorrow, or assuages pain,--wherever it brings gladness to eyes which +fail with wakefulness and tears, and ache for the dark house and the +long sleep,--there is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal +influence of Athens. + +The dervise, in the Arabian tale, did not hesitate to abandon to his +comrade the camels with their load of jewels and gold, while he retained +the casket of that mysterious juice which enabled him to behold at +one glance all the hidden riches of the universe. Surely it is no +exaggeration to say that no external advantage is to be compared with +that purification of the intellectual eye which gives us to contemplate +the infinite wealth of the mental world, all the hoarded treasures of +its primeval dynasties, all the shapeless ore of its yet unexplored +mines. This is the gift of Athens to man. Her freedom and her power +have for more than twenty centuries been annihilated; her people have +degenerated into timid slaves; her language into a barbarous jargon; +her temples have been given up to the successive depredations of Romans, +Turks, and Scotchmen; but her intellectual empire is imperishable. And +when those who have rivalled her greatness shall have shared her fate; +when civilisation and knowledge shall have fixed their abode in distant +continents; when the sceptre shall have passed away from England; +when, perhaps, travellers from distant regions shall in vain labour to +decipher on some mouldering pedestal the name of our proudest chief; +shall hear savage hymns chaunted to some misshapen idol over the ruined +dome of our proudest temple; and shall see a single naked fisherman wash +his nets in the river of the ten thousand masts;--her influence and +her glory will still survive,--fresh in eternal youth, exempt from +mutability and decay, immortal as the intellectual principle from which +they derived their origin, and over which they exercise their control. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Miscellaneous Writings and +Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Vol. 1 (of 4), by Thomas Babington Macaulay + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY *** + +***** This file should be named 2167.txt or 2167.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/6/2167/ + +Produced by Mike Alder and Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Dr. Mike Alder and Sue Asscher +from the book made available by Dr Mike Alder. + + + + +THE MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS AND SPEECHES + +OF + +LORD MACAULAY. + + + + +VOLUME I. + + +PREFACE. + +Lord Macaulay always looked forward to a publication of his +miscellaneous works, either by himself or by those who should +represent him after his death. And latterly he expressly +reserved, whenever the arrangements as to copyright made it +necessary, the right of such publication. + +The collection which is now published comprehends some of the +earliest and some of the latest works which he composed. He was +born on 25th October, 1800; commenced residence at Trinity +College, Cambridge, in October, 1818; was elected Craven +University Scholar in 1821; graduated as B.A. in 1822; was +elected fellow of the college in October, 1824; was called to the +bar in February, 1826, when he joined the Northern Circuit; and +was elected member for Calne in 1830. After this last event, he +did not long continue to practise at the bar. He went to India +in 1834, whence he returned in June, 1838. He was elected member +for Edinburgh, in 1839, and lost this seat in July, 1847; and +this (though he was afterwards again elected for that city in +July, 1852, without being a candidate) may be considered as the +last instance of his taking an active part in the contests of +public life. These few dates are mentioned for the purpose +of enabling the reader to assign the articles, now and previously +published, to the principal periods into which the author's life +may be divided. + +The admirers of his later works will probably be interested by +watching the gradual formation of his style, and will notice in +his earlier productions, vigorous and clear as their language +always was, the occurrence of faults against which he afterwards +most anxiously guarded himself. A much greater interest will +undoubtedly be felt in tracing the date and development of his +opinions. + +The articles published in Knight's Quarterly Magazine were +composed during the author's residence at college, as B.A. It +may be remarked that the first two of these exhibit the +earnestness with which he already endeavoured to represent to +himself and to others the scenes and persons of past times as in +actual existence. Of the Dialogue between Milton and Cowley he +spoke, many years after its publication, as that one of his works +which he remembered with most satisfaction. The article on +Mitford's Greece he did not himself value so highly as others +thought it deserved. This article, at any rate, contains the +first distinct enunciation of his views, as to the office of an +historian, views afterwards more fully set forth in his Essay, +upon History, in the Edinburgh Review. From the protest, in the +last mentioned essay, against the conventional notions respecting +the majesty of history might perhaps have been anticipated +something like the third chapter of the History of England. It +may be amusing to notice that in the article on Mitford, appears +the first sketch of the New Zealander, afterwards filled up in a +passage in the review of Mrs Austin's translation of Ranke, a +passage which at one time was the subject of allusion, two or +three times a week, in speeches and leading articles. In this, +too, appear, perhaps for the first time, the author's views on +the representative system. These he retained to the very last; +they are brought forward repeatedly in the articles published in +this collection and elsewhere, and in his speeches in parliament; +and they coincide with the opinions expressed in the letter to an +American correspondent, which was so often cited in the late +debate on the Reform Bill. + +Some explanation appears to be necessary as to the publication of +the three articles "Mill on Government," "Westminster Reviewer's +Defence of Mill" and "Utilitarian Theory of Government." + +In 1828 Mr James Mill, the author of the History of British +India, reprinted some essays which he had contributed to the +Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica; and among these was +an Essay on Government. The method of inquiry and reasoning +adopted in this essay appeared to Macaulay to be essentially +wrong. He entertained a very strong conviction that the only +sound foundation for a theory of Government must be laid in +careful and copious historical induction; and he believed that Mr +Mill's work rested upon a vicious reasoning a priori. Upon this +point he felt the more earnestly, owing to his own passion for +historical research, and to his devout admiration of Bacon, whose +works he was at that time studying with intense attention. There +can, however, be little doubt that he was also provoked by the +pretensions of some members of a sect which then commonly went by +the name of Benthamites, or Utilitarians. This sect included +many of his contemporaries, who had quitted Cambridge at about +the same time with him. It had succeeded, in some measure, to +the sect of the Byronians, whom he has described in the review of +Moore's Life of Lord Byron, who discarded their neckcloths, and +fixed little models of skulls on the sand-glasses by which they +regulated the boiling of their eggs for breakfast. The members +of these sects, and of many others that have succeeded, have +probably long ago learned to smile at the temporary humours. But +Macaulay, himself a sincere admirer of Bentham, was irritated by +what he considered the unwarranted tone assumed by several of the +class of Utilitarians. "We apprehend," he said, "that many of +them are persons who, having read little or nothing, are +delighted to be rescued from the sense of their own inferiority +by some teacher who assures them that the studies which they have +neglected are of no value, puts five or six phrases into their +mouths, lends them an odd number of the Westminster Review, and +in a month transforms them into philosophers;" and he spoke of +them as "smatterers, whose attainments just suffice to elevate +them from the insignificance of dunces to the dignity of bores, +and to spread dismay among their pious aunts and grand mothers." +The sect, of course, like other sects, comprehended some +pretenders, and these the most arrogant and intolerant among its +members. He, however, went so far as to apply the following +language to the majority:--"As to the greater part of the sect, +it is, we apprehend, of little consequence what they study or +under whom. It would be more amusing, to be sure, and more +reputable, if they would take up the old republican cant and +declaim about Brutus and Timoleon, the duty of killing tyrants +and the blessedness of dying for liberty. But, on the whole, +they might have chosen worse. They may as well be Utilitarians +as jockeys or dandies. And, though quibbling about self-interest +and motives, and objects of desire, and the greatest happiness of +the greatest number, is but a poor employment for a grown man, it +certainly hurts the health less than hard drinking and the +fortune less than high play; it is not much more laughable than +phrenology, and is immeasurably more humane than cock-fighting." + +Macaulay inserted in the Edinburgh Review of March, 1829, an +article upon Mr Mill's Essay. He attacked the method with much +vehemence; and, to the end of his life, he never saw any ground +for believing that in this he had gone too far. But before long +he felt that he had not spoken of the author of the Essay with +the respect due to so eminent a man. In 1833, he described Mr +mill, during the debate on the India Bill of that year, as a +"gentleman extremely well acquainted with the affairs of our +Eastern Empire, a most valuable servant of the Company, and the +author of a history of India, which, though certainly not free +from faults, is, I think, on the whole, the greatest historical +work which has appeared in our language since that of Gibbon." + +Almost immediately upon the appearance of the article in the +Edinburgh Review, an answer was published in the Westminster +Review. It was untruly attributed, in the newspapers of the day, +to Mr Bentham himself. Macaulay's answer to this appeared in the +Edinburgh Review, June, 1829. He wrote the answer under the +belief that he was answering Mr Bentham, and was undeceived in +time only to add the postscript. The author of the article in +the Westminster Review had not perceived that the question raised +was not as to the truth or falsehood of the result at which Mr +Mill had arrived, but as to the soundness or unsoundness of the +method which he pursued; a misunderstanding at which Macaulay, +while he supposed the article to be the work of Mr Bentham, +expressed much surprise. The controversy soon became principally +a dispute as to the theory which was commonly known by the name +of The Greatest Happiness Principle. Another article in the +Westminster Review followed; and a surrejoinder by Macaulay in +the Edinburgh Review of October, 1829. Macaulay was irritated at +what he conceived to be either extreme dullness or gross +unfairness on the part of his unknown antagonist, and struck as +hard as he could; and he struck very hard indeed. + +The ethical question thus raised was afterwards discussed by Sir +James Mackintosh, in the Dissertation contributed by him to the +seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, page 284-313 +(Whewell's Edition). Sir James Mackintosh notices the part taken +in the controversy by Macaulay, in the following words: "A +writer of consummate ability, who has failed in little but the +respect due to the abilities and character of his opponents, has +given too much countenance to the abuse and confusion of language +exemplified in the well-known verse of Pope, + +'Modes of self-love the Passions we may call.' + +'We know,' says he, 'no universal proposition respecting human +nature which is true but one--that men always act from self- +interest.'" "It is manifest from the sequel, that the writer is +not the dupe of the confusion; but many of his readers may be so. +If, indeed, the word "self-interest" could with propriety be used +for the gratification of every prevalent desire, he has clearly +shown that this change in the signification of terms would be of +no advantage to the doctrine which he controverts. It would make +as many sorts of self-interest as there are appetites, and it is +irreconcilably at variance with the system of association +proposed by Mr Mill." "The admirable writer whose language has +occasioned this illustration, who at an early age has mastered +every species of composition, will doubtless hold fast to +simplicity, which survives all the fashions of deviation from it, +and which a man of genius so fertile has few temptations to for +sake." + +When Macaulay selected for publication certain articles of the +Edinburgh Review, he resolved not to publish any of the three +essays in question; for which he assigned the following reason:-- + +"The author has been strongly urged to insert three papers on the +Utilitarian Philosophy, which, when they first appeared, +attracted some notice, but which are not in the American +editions. He has however determined to omit these papers, not +because he is disposed to retract a single doctrine which they +contain, but because he is unwilling to offer what might be +regarded as an affront to the memory of one from whose opinions +he still widely dissents, but to whose talents and virtues he +admits that he formerly did not do justice. Serious as are the +faults of the Essay on Government, a critic, while noticing those +faults, should have abstained from using contemptuous language +respecting the historian of British India. It ought to be known +that Mr Mill had the generosity, not only to forgive, but to +forget the unbecoming acrimony with which he had been assailed, +and was, when his valuable life closed, on terms of cordial +friendship with his assailant." + +Under these circumstances, considerable doubt has been felt as to +the propriety of republishing the three Essays in the present +collection. But it has been determined, not without much +hesitation, that they should appear. It is felt that no +disrespect is shown to the memory of Mr Mill, when the +publication is accompanied by so full an apology for the tone +adopted towards him; and Mr Mill himself would have been the last +to wish for the suppression of opinions on the ground that they +were in express antagonism to his own. The grave has now closed +upon the assailant as well as the assailed. On the other hand, +it cannot but be desirable that opinions which the author +retained to the last, on important questions in politics and +morals, should be before the public. + +Some of the poems now collected have already appeared in print; +others are supplied by the recollection of friends. The first +two are published on account of their having been composed in the +author's childhood. In the poems, as well as in the prose works, +will be occasionally found thoughts and expressions which have +afterwards been adopted in later productions. + +No alteration whatever has been made from the form in which the +author left the several articles, with the exception of some +changes in punctuation, and the correction of one or two obvious +misprints. + +T.F.E. +London, June 1860. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + +Fragments of a Roman Tale. (June 1823.) + +On the Royal Society of Literature. (June 1823.) + +Scenes from "Athenian Revels." (January 1824.) + +Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. I. Dante. +(January 1824.) + +Criticisms on the Principal Italian Writers. No. II. Petrarch. +(April 1824.) + +Some account of the Great Lawsuit between the Parishes of St +Dennis and St George in the Water. (April 1824.) + +A Conversation between Mr Abraham Cowley and Mr John Milton, +touching the Great Civil War. (August 1824.) + +On the Athenian Orators. (August 1824.) + +A Prophetic Account of a Grand National Epic Poem, to be entitled +"The Wellingtoniad," and to be Published A.D. 2824. (November +1824.) + +On Mitford's History of Greece. (November 1824.) + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS OF LORD MACAULAY. + + +CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNIGHT'S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. + + +FRAGMENTS OF A ROMAN TALE. + +(June 1823.) + + +It was an hour after noon. Ligarius was returning from the +Campus Martius. He strolled through one of the streets which led +to the Forum, settling his gown, and calculating the odds on the +gladiators who were to fence at the approaching Saturnalia. +While thus occupied, he overtook Flaminius, who, with a heavy +step and a melancholy face, was sauntering in the same direction. +The light-hearted young man plucked him by the sleeve. + +"Good-day, Flaminius. Are you to be of Catiline's party this +evening?" + +"Not I." + +"Why so? Your little Tarentine girl will break her heart." + +"No matter. Catiline has the best cooks and the finest wine in +Rome. There are charming women at his parties. But the twelve- +line board and the dice-box pay for all. The Gods confound me if +I did not lose two millions of sesterces last night. My villa at +Tibur, and all the statues that my father the praetor brought +from Ephesus, must go to the auctioneer. That is a high price, +you will acknowledge, even for Phoenicopters, Chian, and +Callinice." + +"High indeed, by Pollux." + +"And that is not the worst. I saw several of the leading +senators this morning. Strange things are whispered in the +higher political circles." + +"The Gods confound the political circles. I have hated the name +of politician ever since Sylla's proscription, when I was within +a moment of having my throat cut by a politician, who took me for +another politician. While there is a cask of Falernian in +Campania, or a girl in the Suburra, I shall be too well employed +to think on the subject." + +"You will do well," said Flaminius gravely, "to bestow some +little consideration upon it at present. Otherwise, I fear, you +will soon renew your acquaintance with politicians, in a manner +quite as unpleasant as that to which you allude." + +"Averting Gods! what do you mean?" + +"I will tell you. There are rumours of conspiracy. The order of +things established by Lucius Sylla has excited the disgust of the +people, and of a large party of the nobles. Some violent +convulsion is expected." + +"What is that to me? I suppose that they will hardly proscribe +the vintners and gladiators, or pass a law compelling every +citizen to take a wife." + +"You do not understand. Catiline is supposed to be the author of +the revolutionary schemes. You must have heard bold opinions at +his table repeatedly." + +"I never listen to any opinions upon such subjects, bold or +timid." + +"Look to it. Your name has been mentioned." + +"Mine! good Gods! I call Heaven to witness that I never so much +as mentioned Senate, Consul, or Comitia, in Catiline's house." + +"Nobody suspects you of any participation in the inmost counsels +of the party. But our great men surmise that you are among those +whom he has bribed so high with beauty, or entangled so deeply in +distress, that they are no longer their own masters. I shall +never set foot within his threshold again. I have been solemnly +warned by men who understand public affairs; and I advise you to +be cautious." + +The friends had now turned into the Forum, which was thronged +with the gay and elegant youth of Rome. "I can tell you more," +continued Flaminius; "somebody was remarking to the Consul +yesterday how loosely a certain acquaintance of ours tied his +girdle. 'Let him look to himself;' said Cicero, 'or the state +may find a tighter girdle for his neck.'" + +"Good Gods! who is it? You cannot surely mean"-- + +"There he is." + +Flaminius pointed to a man who was pacing up and down the Forum +at a little distance from them. He was in the prime of manhood. +His personal advantages were extremely striking, and were +displayed with an extravagant but not ungraceful foppery. His +gown waved in loose folds; his long dark curls were dressed with +exquisite art, and shone and steamed with odours; his step and +gesture exhibited an elegant and commanding figure in every +posture of polite languor. But his countenance formed a singular +contrast to the general appearance of his person. The high and +imperial brow, the keen aquiline features, the compressed mouth; +the penetrating eye, indicated the highest degree of ability and +decision. He seemed absorbed in intense meditation. With eyes +fixed on the ground, and lips working in thought, he sauntered +round the area, apparently unconscious how many of the young +gallants of Rome were envying the taste of his dress, and the +ease of his fashionable stagger. + +"Good Heaven!" said Ligarius, "Caius Caesar is as unlikely to be +in a plot as I am." + +"Not at all." + +"He does nothing but game; feast, intrigue, read Greek, and write +verses." + +"You know nothing of Caesar. Though he rarely addresses the +Senate, he is considered as the finest speaker there, after the +Consul. His influence with the multitude is immense. He will +serve his rivals in public life as he served me last night at +Catiline's. We were playing at the twelve lines. (Duodecim +scripta, a game of mixed chance and skill, which seems to have +been very fashionable in the higher circles of Rome. The famous +lawyer Mucius was renowned for his skill in it.--("Cic. Orat." i. +50.)--Immense stakes. He laughed all the time, chatted with +Valeria over his shoulder, kissed her hand between every two +moves, and scarcely looked at the board. I thought that I had +him. All at once I found my counters driven into the corner. +Not a piece to move, by Hercules. It cost me two millions of +sesterces. All the Gods and Goddesses confound him for it!" + +"As to Valeria," said Ligarius, "I forgot to ask whether you have +heard the news." + +"Not a word. What?" + +"I was told at the baths to-day that Caesar escorted the lady +home. Unfortunately old Quintus Lutatius had come back from his +villa in Campania, in a whim of jealousy. He was not expected +for three days. There was a fine tumult. The old fool called +for his sword and his slaves, cursed his wife, and swore that he +would cut Caesar's throat." + +"And Caesar?" + +"He laughed, quoted Anacreon, trussed his gown round his left +arm, closed with Quintus, flung him down, twisted his sword out +of his hand, burst through the attendants, ran a freed-man +through the shoulder, and was in the street in an instant." + +"Well done! Here he comes. Good-day, Caius." + +Caesar lifted his head at the salutation. His air of deep +abstraction vanished; and he extended a hand to each of the +friends. + +"How are you after your last night's exploit?" + +"As well as possible," said Caesar, laughing. + +"In truth we should rather ask how Quintus Lutatius is." + +"He, I understand, is as well as can be expected of a man with a +faithless spouse and a broken head. His freed-man is most +seriously hurt. Poor fellow! he shall have half of whatever I +win to-night. Flaminius, you shall have your revenge at +Catiline's." + +"You are very kind. I do not intend to be at Catiline's till I +wish to part with my town-house. My villa is gone already." + +"Not at Catiline's, base spirit! You are not of his mind, my +gallant Ligarius. Dice, Chian, and the loveliest Greek singing +girl that was ever seen. Think of that, Ligarius. By Venus, she +almost made me adore her, by telling me that I talked Greek with +the most Attic accent that she had heard in Italy." + +"I doubt she will not say the same of me," replied Ligarius. "I +am just as able to decipher an obelisk as to read a line of +Homer." + +"You barbarous Scythian, who had the care of your education?" + +"An old fool,--a Greek pedant,--a Stoic. He told me that pain +was no evil, and flogged me as if he thought so. At last one +day, in the middle of a lecture, I set fire to his enormous +filthy beard, singed his face, and sent him roaring out of the +house. There ended my studies. From that time to this I have +had as little to do with Greece as the wine that your poor old +friend Lutatius calls his delicious Samian." + +"Well done, Ligarius. I hate a Stoic. I wish Marcus Cato had a +beard that you might singe it for him. The fool talked his two +hours in the Senate yesterday, without changing a muscle of his +face. He looked as savage and as motionless as the mask in which +Roscius acted Alecto. I detest everything connected with him." + +"Except his sister, Servilia." + +"True. She is a lovely woman." + +"They say that you have told her so, Caius" + +"So I have." + +"And that she was not angry." + +"What woman is?" + +"Aye--but they say"-- + +"No matter what they say. Common fame lies like a Greek +rhetorician. You might know so much, Ligarius, without reading +the philosophers. But come, I will introduce you to little dark- +eyed Zoe." + +"I tell you I can speak no Greek." + +"More shame for you. It is high time that you should begin. You +will never have such a charming instructress. Of what was your +father thinking when he sent for an old Stoic with a long beard +to teach you? There is no language-mistress like a handsome +woman. When I was at Athens, I learnt more Greek from a pretty +flower-girl in the Peiraeus than from all the Portico and the +Academy. She was no Stoic, Heaven knows. But come along to Zoe. +I will be your interpreter. Woo her in honest Latin, and I will +turn it into elegant Greek between the throws of dice. I can +make love and mind my game at once, as Flaminius can +tell you. + +"Well, then, to be plain, Caesar, Flaminius has been talking to +me about plots, and suspicions, and politicians. I never plagued +myself with such things since Sylla's and Marius's days; and then +I never could see much difference between the parties. All that +I am sure of is, that those who meddle with such affairs are +generally stabbed or strangled. And, though I like Greek wine +and handsome women, I do not wish to risk my neck for them. Now, +tell me as a friend, Caius--is there no danger?" + +"Danger!" repeated Caesar, with a short, fierce, disdainful +laugh: "what danger do you apprehend?" + +"That you should best know," said Flaminius; "you are far more +intimate with Catiline than I. But I advise you to be cautious. +The leading men entertain strong suspicions." + +Caesar drew up his figure from its ordinary state of graceful +relaxation into an attitude of commanding dignity, and replied in +a voice of which the deep and impassioned melody formed a strange +contrast to the humorous and affected tone of his ordinary +conversation. "Let them suspect. They suspect because they know +what they have deserved. What have they done for Rome?--What for +mankind? Ask the citizens--ask the provinces. Have they had any +other object than to perpetuate their own exclusive power, and to +keep us under the yoke of an oligarchical tyranny, which unites +in itself the worst evils of every other system, and combines +more than Athenian turbulence with more than Persian despotism?" + +"Good Gods! Caesar. It is not safe for you to speak, or for us +to listen to, such things, at such a crisis." + +"Judge for yourselves what you will hear. I will judge for +myself what I will speak. I was not twenty years old when I +defied Lucius Sylla, surrounded by the spears of legionaries and +the daggers of assassins. Do you suppose that I stand in awe of +his paltry successors, who have inherited a power which they +never could have acquired; who would imitate his proscriptions, +though they have never equalled his conquests?" + +"Pompey is almost as little to be trifled with as Sylla. I heard +a consular senator say that, in consequence of the present +alarming state of affairs, he would probably be recalled from the +command assigned to him by the Manilian law." + +"Let him come,--the pupil of Sylla's butcheries,--the gleaner of +Lucullus's trophies,--the thief-taker of the Senate." + +"For Heaven's sake, Caius!--if you knew what the Consul said"-- + +"Something about himself, no doubt. Pity that such talents +should be coupled with such cowardice and coxcombry. He is the +finest speaker living,--infinitely superior to what Hortensius +was, in his best days;-- a charming companion, except when he +tells over for the twentieth time all the jokes that he made at +Verres's trial. But he is the despicable tool of a despicable +party." + +"Your language, Caius, convinces me that the reports which have +been circulated are not without foundation. I will venture to +prophesy that within a few months the republic will pass through +a whole Odyssey of strange adventures." + +"I believe so; an Odyssey, of which Pompey will be the +Polyphemus, and Cicero the Siren. I would have the state imitate +Ulysses: show no mercy to the former; but contrive, if it can be +done, to listen to the enchanting voice of the other, without +being seduced by it to destruction." + +"But whom can your party produce as rivals to these two famous +leaders?" + +"Time will show. I would hope that there may arise a man, whose +genius to conquer, to conciliate, and to govern, may unite in one +cause an oppressed and divided people;--may do all that Sylla +should have done, and exhibit the magnificent spectacle of a +great nation directed by a great mind." + +"And where is such a man to be found?" + +"Perhaps where you would least expect to find him. Perhaps he +may be one whose powers have hitherto been concealed in domestic +or literary retirement. Perhaps he may be one, who, while +waiting for some adequate excitement, for some worthy +opportunity, squanders on trifles a genius before which may yet +be humbled the sword of Pompey and the gown of Cicero. Perhaps +he may now be disputing with a sophist; perhaps prattling with a +mistress; perhaps" and, as he spoke, he turned away, and resumed +his lounge, "strolling in the Forum." + +... + +It was almost midnight. The party had separated. Catiline and +Cethegus were still conferring in the supper-room, which was, as +usual, the highest apartment of the house. It formed a cupola, +from which windows opened on the flat roof that surrounded it. +To this terrace Zoe had retired. With eyes dimmed with fond and +melancholy tears, she leaned over the balustrade, to catch the +last glimpse of the departing form of Caesar, as it grew more and +more indistinct in the moonlight. Had he any thought of her? +Any love for her? He, the favourite of the high-born beauties of +Rome, the most splendid, the most graceful, the most eloquent of +its nobles? It could not be. His voice had, indeed, been +touchingly soft whenever he addressed her. There had been a +fascinating tenderness even in the vivacity of his look and +conversation. But such were always the manners of Caesar towards +women. He had wreathed a sprig of myrtle in her hair as she was +singing. She took it from her dark ringlets, and kissed it, and +wept over it, and thought of the sweet legends of her own dear +Greece,--of youths and girls, who, pining away in hopeless love, +had been transformed into flowers by the compassion of the Gods; +and she wished to become a flower, which Caesar might sometimes +touch, though he should touch it only to weave a crown for some +prouder and happier mistress. + +She was roused from her musings by the loud step and voice of +Cethegus, who was pacing furiously up and down the supper-room. + +"May all the Gods confound me, if Caesar be not the deepest +traitor, or the most miserable idiot, that ever intermeddled with +a plot!" + +Zoe shuddered. She drew nearer to the window. She stood +concealed from observation by the curtain of fine network which +hung over the aperture, to exclude the annoying insects of the +climate. + +"And you too!" continued Cethegus, turning fiercely on his +accomplice; "you to take his part against me!--you, who proposed +the scheme yourself!" + +"My dear Caius Cethegus, you will not understand me. I proposed +the scheme; and I will join in executing it. But policy is as +necessary to our plans as boldness. I did not wish to startle +Caesar--to lose his co-operation--perhaps to send him off with an +information against us to Cicero and Catulus. He was so +indignant at your suggestion that all my dissimulation was +scarcely sufficient to prevent a total rupture." + +"Indignant! The Gods confound him!--He prated about humanity, +and generosity, and moderation. By Hercules, I have not heard +such a lecture since I was with Xenochares at Rhodes." + +"Caesar is made up of inconsistencies. He has boundless +ambition, unquestioned courage, admirable sagacity. Yet I have +frequently observed in him a womanish weakness at the sight of +pain. I remember that once one of his slaves was taken ill while +carrying his litter. He alighted, put the fellow in his place +and walked home in a fall of snow. I wonder that you could be so +ill-advised as to talk to him of massacre, and pillage, and +conflagration. You might have foreseen that such propositions +would disgust a man of his temper." + +"I do not know. I have not your self-command, Lucius. I hate +such conspirators. What is the use of them? We must have blood +--blood,-- hacking and tearing work--bloody work!" + +"Do not grind your teeth, my dear Caius; and lay down the +carving-knife. By Hercules, you have cut up all the stuffing of +the couch." + +"No matter; we shall have couches enough soon,--and down to stuff +them with,--and purple to cover them,--and pretty women to loll +on them,--unless this fool, and such as he, spoil our plans. I +had something else to say. The essenced fop wishes to seduce Zoe +from me." + +"Impossible! You misconstrue the ordinary gallantries which he +is in the habit of paying to every handsome face." + +"Curse on his ordinary gallantries, and his verses, and his +compliments, and his sprigs of myrtle! If Caesar should dare--by +Hercules, I will tear him to pieces in the middle of the Forum." + +"Trust his destruction to me. We must use his talents and +influence--thrust him upon every danger--make him our instrument +while we are contending--our peace-offering to the Senate if we +fail--our first victim if we succeed." + +"Hark! what noise was that?" + +"Somebody in the terrace --lend me your dagger." + +Catiline rushed to the window. Zoe was standing in the shade. +He stepped out. She darted into the room--passed like a flash of +lightning by the startled Cethegus--flew down the stairs--through +the court--through the vestibule--through the street. Steps, +voices, lights, came fast and confusedly behind her; but with the +speed of love and terror she gained upon her pursuers. She fled +through the wilderness of unknown and dusky streets, till she +found herself, breathless and exhausted, in the midst of a crowd +of gallants, who, with chaplets on their heads and torches in +their hands, were reeling from the portico of a stately mansion. + +The foremost of the throng was a youth whose slender figure and +beautiful countenance seemed hardly consistent with his sex. But +the feminine delicacy of his features rendered more frightful the +mingled sensuality and ferocity of their expression. The +libertine audacity of his stare, and the grotesque foppery of his +apparel, seemed to indicate at least a partial insanity. +Flinging one arm round Zoe, and tearing away her veil with the +other, he disclosed to the gaze of his thronging companions the +regular features and large dark eyes which characterise Athenian +beauty. + +"Clodius has all the luck to-night," cried Ligarius. + +"Not so, by Hercules," said Marcus Coelius; "the girl is fairly +our common prize: we will fling dice for her. The Venus (Venus +was the Roman term for the highest throw of the dice.) throw, as +it ought to do, shall decide." + +"Let me go--let me go, for Heaven's sake," cried Zoe, struggling +with Clodius. + +"What a charming Greek accent she has! Come into the house, my +little Athenian nightingale." + +"Oh! what will become of me? If you have mothers--if you have +sisters"-- + +"Clodius has a sister," muttered Ligarius, "or he is much +belied." + +"By Heaven, she is weeping," said Clodius. + +"If she were not evidently a Greek," said Coelius, "I should take +her for a vestal virgin." + +"And if she were a vestal virgin," cried Clodius fiercely, "it +should not deter me. This way;--no struggling--no screaming." + +"Struggling! screaming!" exclaimed a gay and commanding voice; +"You are making very ungentle love, Clodius." + +The whole party started. Caesar had mingled with them +unperceived. + +The sound of his voice thrilled through the very heart of Zoe. +With a convulsive effort she burst from the grasp of her insolent +admirer, flung herself at the feet of Caesar, and clasped his +knees. The moon shone full on her agitated and imploring face: +her lips moved; but she uttered no sound. He gazed at her for an +instant--raised her--clasped her to his bosom. "Fear nothing, my +sweet Zoe." Then, with folded arms, and a smile of placid +defiance, he placed himself between her and Clodius. + +Clodius staggered forward, flushed with wine and rage, and +uttering alternately a curse and a hiccup. + +"By Pollux, this passes a jest. Caesar, how dare you insult me +thus?" + +"A jest! I am as serious as a Jew on the Sabbath. Insult you; +for such a pair of eyes I would insult the whole consular bench, +or I should be as insensible as King Psammis's mummy." + +"Good Gods, Caesar!" said Marcus Coelius, interposing; "you +cannot think it worth while to get into a brawl for a little +Greek girl!" + +"Why not? The Greek girls have used me as well as those of Rome. +Besides, the whole reputation of my gallantry is at stake. Give +up such a lovely woman to that drunken boy! My character would +be gone for ever. No more perfumed tablets, full of vows and +raptures. No more toying with fingers at the circus. No more +evening walks along the Tiber. No more hiding in chests or +jumping from windows. I, the favoured suitor of half the white +stoles in Rome, could never again aspire above a freed-woman. +You a man of gallantry, and think of such a thing! For shame, my +dear Coelius! Do not let Clodia hear of it." + +While Caesar spoke he had been engaged in keeping Clodius at +arm's-length. The rage of the frantic libertine increased as the +struggle continued. "Stand back, as you value your life," he +cried; "I will pass." + +"Not this way, sweet Clodius. I have too much regard for you to +suffer you to make love at such disadvantage. You smell too much +of Falernian at present. Would you stifle your mistress? By +Hercules, you are fit to kiss nobody now, except old Piso, when +he is tumbling home in the morning from the vintners." + +Clodius plunged his hand into his bosom and drew a little dagger, +the faithful companion of many desperate adventures. + +"Oh, Gods! he will be murdered!" cried Zoe. + +The whole throng of revellers was in agitation. The street +fluctuated with torches and lifted hands. It was but for a +moment. Caesar watched with a steady eye the descending hand of +Clodius, arrested the blow, seized his antagonist by the throat, +and flung him against one of the pillars of the portico with such +violence, that he rolled, stunned and senseless, on the ground. + +"He is killed," cried several voices. + +"Fair self-defence, by Hercules!" said Marcus Coelius. "Bear +witness, you all saw him draw his dagger." + +He is not dead--he breathes," said Ligarius. " Carry him into +the house; he is dreadfully bruised." + +The rest of the party retired with Clodius. Coelius turned to +Caesar. + +"By all the Gods, Caius! you have won your lady fairly. A +splendid victory! You deserve a triumph." + +"What a madman Clodius has become!" + +"Intolerable. But come and sup with me on the Nones. You have +no objection to meet the Consul?" + +Cicero? None at all. We need not talk politics. Our old dispute +about Plato and Epicurus will furnish us with plenty of +conversation. So reckon upon me, my dear Marcus, and farewell." + +Caesar and Zoe turned away. As soon as they were beyond hearing, +she began in great agitation:-- + +"Caesar, you are in danger. I know all. I overheard Catiline +and Cethegus. You are engaged in a project which must lead to +certain destruction." + +"My beautiful Zoe, I live only for glory and pleasure. For these +I have never hesitated to hazard an existence which they alone +render valuable to me. In the present case, I can assure you +that our scheme presents the fairest hopes of success." + +"So much the worse. You do not know--you do not understand me. +I speak not of open peril, but of secret treachery. Catiline +hates you;--Cethegus hates you;--your destruction is resolved. +If you survive the contest, you perish in the first hour of +victory. They detest you for your moderation; they are eager for +blood and plunder. I have risked my life to bring you this +warning; but that is of little moment. Farewell!--Be happy." + +Caesar stopped her. "Do you fly from my thanks, dear Zoe?" + +"I wish not for your thanks, but for your safety;--I desire not +to defraud Valeria or Servilia of one caress, extorted from +gratitude or pity. Be my feelings what they may, I have learnt +in a fearful school to endure and to suppress them. I have been +taught to abase a proud spirit to the claps and hisses of the +vulgar;--to smile on suitors who united the insults of a +despicable pride to the endearments of a loathsome fondness;-- to +affect sprightliness with an aching head, and eyes from which +tears were ready to gush;--to feign love with curses on my lips, +and madness in my brain. Who feels for me any esteem,--any +tenderness? Who will shed a tear over the nameless grave which +will soon shelter from cruelty and scorn the broken heart of the +poor Athenian girl? But you, who alone have addressed her in her +degradation with a voice of kindness and respect, farewell. +Sometimes think of me,--not with sorrow;--no; I could bear your +ingratitude, but not your distress. Yet, if it will not pain you +too much, in distant days, when your lofty hopes and destinies +are accomplished,--on the evening of some mighty victory, +--in the chariot of some magnificent triumph,--think on one who +loved you with that exceeding love which only the miserable can +feel. Think that, wherever her exhausted frame may have sunk +beneath the sensibilities of a tortured spirit,--in whatever +hovel or whatever vault she may have closed her eyes,--whatever +strange scenes of horror and pollution may have surrounded her +dying bed, your shape was the last that swam before her sight-- +your voice the last sound that was ringing in her ears. Yet turn +your face to me, Caesar. Let me carry away one last look of +those features, and then "--He turned round. He looked at her. +He hid his face on her bosom, and burst into tears. With sobs +long and loud, and convulsive as those of a terrified child, he +poured forth on her bosom the tribute of impetuous and +uncontrollable emotion. He raised his head; but he in vain +struggled to restore composure to the brow which had confronted +the frown of Sylla, and the lips which had rivalled the eloquence +of Cicero. He several times attempted to speak, but in vain; and +his voice still faltered with tenderness, when, after a pause of +several minutes, he thus addressed her: + +"My own dear Zoe, your love has been bestowed on one who, if he +cannot merit, can at least appreciate and adore you. Beings of +similar loveliness, and similar devotedness of affection, +mingled, in all my boyish dreams of greatness, with visions of +curule chairs and ivory cars, marshalled legions and laurelled +fasces. Such I have endeavoured to find in the world; and, in +their stead, I have met with selfishness, with vanity, with +frivolity, with falsehood. The life which you have preserved is +a boon less valuable than the affection "-- + +"Oh! Caesar," interrupted the blushing Zoe, "think only on your +own security at present. If you feel as you speak,--but you are +only mocking me,--or perhaps your compassion "-- + +"By Heaven!--by every oath that is binding "-- + +"Alas! alas! Caesar, were not all the same oaths sworn yesterday +to Valeria? But I will trust you, at least so far as to partake +your present dangers. Flight may he necessary:--form your plans. +Be they what they may, there is one who, in exile, in poverty, in +peril, asks only to wander, to beg, to die with you." + +"My Zoe, I do not anticipate any such necessity. To renounce the +conspiracy without renouncing the principles on which it was +originally undertaken,--to elude the vengeance of the Senate +without losing the confidence of the people,--is, indeed, an +arduous, but not an impossible, task. I owe it to myself and to +my country to make the attempt. There is still ample time for +consideration. At present I am too happy in love to think of +ambition or danger." + +They had reached the door of a stately palace. Caesar struck it. +It was instantly opened by a slave. Zoe found herself in a +magnificent hall, surrounded by pillars of green marble, between +which were ranged the statues of the long line of Julian nobles. + +"Call Endymion," said Caesar. + +The confidential freed-man made his appearance, not without a +slight smile, which his patron's good nature emboldened him to +hazard, at perceiving the beautiful Athenian. + +"Arm my slaves, Endymion; there are reasons for precaution. Let +them relieve each other on guard during the night. Zoe, my love, +my preserver, why are your cheeks so pale? Let me kiss some +bloom into them. How you tremble! Endymion, a flask of Samian +and some fruit. Bring them to my apartments. This way, my sweet +Zoe." + +... + + +ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. + +(June 1823.) + +This is the age of societies. There is scarcely one Englishman +in ten who has not belonged to some association for distributing +books, or for prosecuting them; for sending invalids to the +hospital, or beggars to the treadmill; for giving plate to the +rich, or blankets to the poor. To be the most absurd institution +among so many institutions is no small distinction; it seems, +however, to belong indisputably to the Royal Society of +Literature. At the first establishment of that ridiculous +academy, every sensible man predicted that, in spite of regal +patronage and episcopal management, it would do nothing, or do +harm. And it will scarcely be denied that those expectations +have hitherto been fulfilled. + +I do not attack the founders of the association. Their +characters are respectable; their motives, I am willing to +believe, were laudable. But I feel, and it is the duty of every +literary man to feel, a strong jealousy of their proceedings. +Their society can be innocent only while it continues to be +despicable. Should they ever possess the power to encourage +merit, they must also possess the power to depress it. Which +power will be more frequently exercised, let every one who has +studied literary history, let every one who has studied human +nature, declare. + +Envy and faction insinuate themselves into all communities. They +often disturb the peace, and pervert the decisions, of benevolent +and scientific associations. But it is in literary academies +that they exert the most extensive and pernicious influence. In +the first place, the principles of literary criticism, though +equally fixed with those on which the chemist and the surgeon +proceed, are by no means equally recognised. Men are rarely able +to assign a reason for their approbation or dislike on questions +of taste; and therefore they willingly submit to any guide who +boldly asserts his claim to superior discernment. It is more +difficult to ascertain and establish the merits of a poem than +the powers of a machine or the benefits of a new remedy. Hence +it is in literature, that quackery is most easily puffed, and +excellence most easily decried. + +In some degree this argument applies to academies of the fine +arts; and it is fully confirmed by all that I have ever heard of +that institution which annually disfigures the walls of Somerset +House with an acre of spoiled canvas. But a literary tribunal is +incomparably more dangerous. Other societies, at least, have no +tendency to call forth any opinions on those subjects which most +agitate and inflame the minds of men. The sceptic and the +zealot, the revolutionist and the placeman, meet on common ground +in a gallery of paintings or a laboratory of science. They can +praise or censure without reference to the differences which +exist between them. In a literary body this can never be the +case. Literature is, and always must be, inseparably blended +with politics and theology; it is the great engine which moves +the feelings of a people on the most momentous questions. It is, +therefore, impossible that any society can be formed so impartial +as to consider the literary character of an individual abstracted +from the opinions which his writings inculcate. It is not to be +hoped, perhaps it is not to be wished, that the feelings of the +man should be so completely forgotten in the duties of the +academician. The consequences are evident. The honours and +censures of this Star Chamber of the Muses will be awarded +according to the prejudices of the particular sect or faction +which may at the time predominate. Whigs would canvass against a +Southey, Tories against a Byron. Those who might at first +protest against such conduct as unjust would soon adopt it on the +plea of retaliation; and the general good of literature, for +which the society was professedly instituted, would be forgotten +in the stronger claims of political and religious partiality. + +Yet even this is not the worst. Should the institution ever +acquire any influence, it will afford most pernicious facilities +to every malignant coward who may desire to blast a reputation +which he envies. It will furnish a secure ambuscade, behind +which the Maroons of literature may take a certain and deadly +aim. The editorial WE has often been fatal to rising genius; +though all the world knows that it is only a form of speech, very +often employed by a single needy blockhead. The academic WE +would have a far greater and more ruinous influence. Numbers, +while they increase the effect, would diminish the shame, of +injustice. The advantages of an open and those of an anonymous +attack would be combined; and the authority of avowal would be +united to the security of concealment. The serpents in Virgil, +after they had destroyed Laocoon, found an asylum from the +vengeance of the enraged people behind the shield of the statue +of Minerva. And, in the same manner, everything that is +grovelling and venomous, everything that can hiss, and everything +that can sting, would take sanctuary in the recesses of this new +temple of wisdom. + +The French academy was, of all such associations, the most widely +and the most justly celebrated. It was founded by the greatest +of ministers: it was patronised by successive kings; it numbered +in its lists most of the eminent French writers. Yet what +benefit has literature derived from its labours? What is its +history but an uninterrupted record of servile compliances--of +paltry artifices--of deadly quarrels--of perfidious friendships? +Whether governed by the Court, by the Sorbonne, or by the +Philosophers, it was always equally powerful for evil, and +equally impotent for good. I might speak of the attacks by which +it attempted to depress the rising fame of Corneille; I might +speak of the reluctance with which it gave its tardy confirmation +to the applauses which the whole civilised world had bestowed on +the genius of Voltaire. I might prove by overwhelming evidence +that, to the latest period of its existence, even under the +superintendence of the all-accomplished D'Alembert, it continued +to be a scene of the fiercest animosities and the basest +intrigues. I might cite Piron's epigrams, and Marmontel's +memoirs, and Montesquieu's letters. But I hasten on to another +topic. + +One of the modes by which our Society proposes to encourage merit +is the distribution of prizes. The munificence of the king has +enabled it to offer an annual premium of a hundred guineas for +the best essay in prose, and another of fifty guineas for the +best poem, which may be transmitted to it. This is very +laughable. In the first place the judges may err. Those +imperfections of human intellect to which, as the articles of the +Church tell us, even general councils are subject, may possibly +be found even in the Royal Society of Literature. The French +academy, as I have already said, was the most illustrious +assembly of the kind, and numbered among its associates men much +more distinguished than ever will assemble at Mr Hatchard's to +rummage the box of the English Society. Yet this famous body +gave a poetical prize, for which Voltaire was a candidate, to a +fellow who wrote some verses about THE FROZEN AND THE BURNING +POLE. + +Yet, granting that the prizes were always awarded to the best +composition, that composition, I say without hesitation, will +always be bad. A prize poem is like a prize sheep. The object +of the competitor for the agricultural premium is to produce an +animal fit, not to be eaten, but to be weighed. Accordingly he +pampers his victim into morbid and unnatural fatness; and, when +it is in such a state that it would be sent away in disgust from +any table, he offers it to the judges. The object of the +poetical candidate, in like manner, is to produce, not a good +poem, but a poem of that exact degree of frigidity or bombast +which may appear to his censors to be correct or sublime. +Compositions thus constructed will always be worthless. The few +excellences which they may contain will have an exotic aspect and +flavour. In general, prize sheep are good for nothing but to +make tallow candles, and prize poems are good for nothing but to +light them. + +The first subject proposed by the Society to the poets of England +was Dartmoor. I thought that they intended a covert sarcasm at +their own projects. Their institution was a literary Dartmoor +scheme;--a plan for forcing into cultivation the waste lands of +intellect,--for raising poetical produce, by means of bounties, +from soil too meagre to have yielded any returns in the natural +course of things. The plan for the cultivation of Dartmoor has, +I hear, been abandoned. I hope that this may be an omen of the +fate of the Society. + +In truth, this seems by no means improbable. They have been +offering for several years the rewards which the king placed at +their disposal, and have not, as far as I can learn, been able to +find in their box one composition which they have deemed worthy +of publication. At least no publication has taken place. The +associates may perhaps be astonished at this. But I will attempt +to explain it, after the manner of ancient times, by means of an +apologue. + +About four hundred years after the Deluge, King Gomer Chephoraod +reigned in Babylon. He united all the characteristics of an +excellent sovereign. He made good laws, won great battles, and +white-washed long streets. He was, in consequence, idolised by +his people, and panegyrised by many poets and orators. A book +was then a sermons undertaking. Neither paper nor any similar +material had been invented. Authors were therefore under the +necessity of inscribing their compositions on massive bricks. +Some of these Babylonian records are still preserved in European +museums; but the language in which they are written has never +been deciphered. Gomer Chephoraod was so popular that the clay +of all the plains round the Euphrates could scarcely furnish +brick-kilns enough for his eulogists. It is recorded in +particular that Pharonezzar, the Assyrian Pindar, published a +bridge and four walls in his praise. + +One day the king was going in state from his palace to the temple +of Belus. During this procession it was lawful for any +Babylonian to offer any petition or suggestion to his sovereign. +As the chariot passed before a vintner's shop, a large company, +apparently half-drunk, sallied forth into the street, and one of +them thus addressed the king: + +"Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! It appears to thy servants +that of all the productions of the earth good wine is the best, +and bad wine is the worst. Good wine makes the heart cheerful, +the eyes bright, the speech ready. Bad wine confuses the head, +disorders the stomach, makes us quarrelsome at night, and sick +the next morning. Now therefore let my lord the king take order +that thy servants may drink good wine. + +"And how is this to be done?" said the good-natured prince. + +"O King," said his monitor, "this is most easy. Let the king +make a decree, and seal it with his royal signet: and let it be +proclaimed that the king will give ten she-asses, and ten slaves, +and ten changes of raiment, every year, unto the man who shall +make ten measures of the best wine. And whosoever wishes for the +she-asses, and the slaves, and the raiment, let him send the ten +measures of wine to thy servants, and we will drink thereof and +judge. So shall there be much good wine in Assyria." + +The project pleased Gomer Chephoraod. "Be it so," said he. The +people shouted. The petitioners prostrated themselves in +gratitude. The same night heralds were despatched to bear the +intelligence to the remotest districts of Assyria. + +After a due interval the wines began to come in; and the +examiners assembled to adjudge the prize. The first vessel was +unsealed. Its odour was such that the judges, without tasting +it, pronounced unanimous condemnation. The next was opened: it +had a villainous taste of clay. The third was sour and vapid. +They proceeded from one cask of execrable liquor to another, till +at length, in absolute nausea, they gave up the investigation. + +The next morning they all assembled at the gate of the king, with +pale faces and aching heads. They owned that they could not +recommend any competitor as worthy of the rewards. They swore +that the wine was little better than poison, and entreated +permission to resign the office of deciding between such +detestable potions. + +"In the name of Belus, how can this have happened?" said the +king. + +Merolchazzar, the high-priest, muttered something about the anger +of the Gods at the toleration shown to a sect of impious heretics +who ate pigeons broiled, "whereas," said he, "our religion +commands us to eat them roasted. Now therefore, O King," +continued this respectable divine, "give command to thy men of +war, and let them smite the disobedient people with the sword, +them, and their wives, and their children, and let their houses, +and their flocks, and their herds, be given to thy servants the +priests. Then shall the land yield its increase, and the fruits +of the earth shall be no more blasted by the vengeance of +Heaven." + +"Nay," said the king, "the ground lies under no general curse +from Heaven. The season has been singularly good. The wine +which thou didst thyself drink at the banquet a few nights ago, O +venerable Merolchazzar, was of this year's vintage. Dost thou +not remember how thou didst praise it? It was the same night +that thou wast inspired by Belus and didst reel to and fro, and +discourse sacred mysteries. These things are too hard for me. I +comprehend them not. The only wine which is bad is that which is +sent to my judges. Who can expound this to us?" + +The king scratched his head. Upon which all the courtiers +scratched their heads. + +He then ordered proclamation to be made that a purple robe and a +golden chain should be given to the man who could solve this +difficulty. + +An old philosopher, who had been observed to smile rather +disdainfully when the prize had first been instituted, came +forward and spoke thus:-- + +"Gomer Chephoraod, live for ever! Marvel not at that which has +happened. It was no miracle, but a natural event. How could it +be otherwise? It is true that much good wine has been made this +year. But who would send it in for thy rewards? Thou knowest +Ascobaruch who hath the great vineyards in the north, and +Cohahiroth who sendeth wine every year from the south over the +Persian Golf. Their wines are so delicious that ten measures +thereof are sold for an hundred talents of silver. Thinkest thou +that they will exchange them for thy slaves and thine asses? +What would thy prize profit any who have vineyards in rich +soils?" + +"Who then," said one of the judges, "are the wretches who sent us +this poison?" + +"Blame them not," said the sage, "seeing that you have been the +authors of the evil. They are men whose lands are poor, and have +never yielded them any returns equal to the prizes which the king +proposed. Wherefore, knowing that the lords of the fruitful +vineyards would not enter into competition with them they planted +vines, some on rocks, and some in light sandy soil, and some in +deep clay. Hence their wines are bad. For no culture or reward +will make barren land bear good vines. Know therefore, +assuredly, that your prizes have increased the quantity of bad +but not of good wine." + +There was a long silence. At length the king spoke. "Give him +the purple robe and the chain of gold. Throw the wines into the +Euphrates; and proclaim that the Royal Society of Wines is +dissolved." + +... + + +SCENES FROM "ATHENIAN REVELS." + +(January 1824.) + +A DRAMA. + +I. + +SCENE--A Street in Athens. + +Enter CALLIDEMUS and SPEUSIPPUS; + +CALLIDEMUS. +So, you young reprobate! You must be a man of wit, forsooth, and +a man of quality! You must spend as if you were as rich as +Nicias, and prate as if you were as wise as Pericles! You must +dangle after sophists and pretty women! And I must pay for all! +I must sup on thyme and onions, while you are swallowing thrushes +and hares! I must drink water, that you may play the cottabus +(This game consisted in projecting wine out of cups; it was a +diversion extremely fashionable at Athenian entertainments.) with +Chian wine! I must wander about as ragged as Pauson (Pauson was +an Athenian painter, whose name was synonymous with beggary. See +Aristophanes; Plutus, 602. From his poverty, I am inclined to +suppose that he painted historical pictures.), that you may be as +fine as Alcibiades! I must lie on bare boards, with a stone (See +Aristophanes; Plutus, 542.) for my pillow, and a rotten mat for +my coverlid, by the light of a wretched winking lamp, while you +are marching in state, with as many torches as one sees at the +feast of Ceres, to thunder with your hatchet (See Theocritus; +Idyll ii. 128.) at the doors of half the Ionian ladies in +Peiraeus. (This was the most disreputable part of Athens. See +Aristophanes: Pax, 165.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Why, thou unreasonable old man! Thou most shameless of fathers!- +- + +CALLIDEMUS. +Ungrateful wretch; dare you talk so? Are you not afraid of the +thunders of Jupiter? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Jupiter thunder! nonsense! Anaxagoras says, that thunder is only +an explosion produced by-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +He does! Would that it had fallen on his head for his pains! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Nay: talk rationally. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Rationally! You audacious young sophist! I will talk +rationally. Do you know that I am your father? What quibble can +you make upon that? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Do I know that you are my father? Let us take the question to +pieces, as Melesigenes would say. First, then, we must inquire +what is knowledge? Secondly, what is a father? Now, knowledge, +as Socrates said the other day to Theaetetus (See Plato's +Theaetetus.)-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +Socrates! what! the ragged flat-nosed old dotard, who walks about +all day barefoot, and filches cloaks, and dissects gnats, and +shoes (See Aristophanes; Nubes, 150.) fleas with wax? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +All fiction! All trumped up by Aristophanes! + +CALLIDEMUS. +By Pallas, if he is in the habit of putting shoes on his fleas, +he is kinder to them than to himself. But listen to me, boy; if +you go on in this way, you will be ruined. There is an argument +for you. Go to your Socrates and your Melesigenes, and tell them +to refute that. Ruined! Do you hear? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Ruined! + +CALLIDEMUS. +Ay, by Jupiter! Is such a show as you make to be supported on +nothing? During all the last war, I made not an obol from my +farm; the Peloponnesian locusts came almost as regularly as the +Pleiades;--corn burnt;--olives stripped;--fruit trees cut down;-- +wells stopped up;--and, just when peace came, and I hoped that +all would turn out well, you must begin to spend as if you had +all the mines of Thasus at command. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Now, by Neptune, who delights in horses-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +If Neptune delights in horses, he does not resemble me. You must +ride at the Panathenaea on a horse fit for the great king: four +acres of my best vines went for that folly. You must retrench, +or you will have nothing to eat. Does not Anaxagoras mention, +among his other discoveries, that when a man has nothing to eat +he dies? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +You are deceived. My friends-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +Oh, yes! your friends will notice you, doubtless, when you are +squeezing through the crowd, on a winter's day, to warm yourself +at the fire of the baths;--or when you are fighting with beggars +and beggars' dogs for the scraps of a sacrifice;--or when you are +glad to earn three wretched obols (The stipend of an Athenian +juryman.) by listening all day to lying speeches and crying +children. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +There are other means of support. + +CALLIDEMUS. +What! I suppose you will wander from house to house, like that +wretched buffoon Philippus (Xenophon; Convivium.), and beg +everybody who has asked a supper-party to be so kind as to feed +you and laugh at you; or you will turn sycophant; you will get a +bunch of grapes, or a pair of shoes, now and then, by frightening +some rich coward with a mock prosecution. Well! that is a task +for which your studies under the sophists may have fitted you. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +You are wide of the mark. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Then what, in the name of Juno, is your scheme? Do you intend to +join Orestes (A celebrated highwayman of Attica. See +Aristophanes; Aves, 711; and in several other passages.), and rob +on the highway? Take care; beware of the eleven (The police +officers of Athens.); beware of the hemlock. It may be very +pleasant to live at other people's expense; but not very +pleasant, I should think, to hear the pestle give its last bang +against the mortar, when the cold dose is ready. Pah!-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Hemlock? Orestes! folly!--I aim at nobler objects. What say you +to politics,--the general assembly? + +CALLIDEMUS. +You an orator!--oh no! no! Cleon was worth twenty such fools as +you. You have succeeded, I grant, to his impudence, for which, +if there be justice in Tartarus, he is now soaking up to the eyes +in his own tanpickle. But the Paphlagonian had parts. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +And you mean to imply-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +Not I. You are a Pericles in embryo, doubtless. Well: and when +are you to make your first speech? O Pallas! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +I thought of speaking, the other day, on the Sicilian expedition; +but Nicias (See Thucydides, vi. 8.) got up before me. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Nicias, poor honest man, might just as well have sate still; his +speaking did but little good. The loss of your oration is, +doubtless, an irreparable public calamity. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Why, not so; I intend to introduce it at the next assembly; it +will suit any subject. + +CALLIDEMUS. +That is to say, it will suit none. But pray, if it be not too +presumptuous a request, indulge me with a specimen. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Well; suppose the agora crowded;--an important subject under +discussion;--an ambassador from Argos, or from the great king;-- +the tributes from the islands;--an impeachment;--in short, +anything you please. The crier makes proclamation.--"Any citizen +above fifty years old may speak--any citizen not disqualified may +speak." Then I rise:--a great murmur of curiosity while I am +mounting the stand. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Of curiosity! yes, and of something else too. You will +infallibly be dragged down by main force, like poor Glaucon (See +Xenophon Memorabilia, iii.) last year. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Never fear. I shall begin in this style: +"When I consider, Athenians, the importance of our city;--when I +consider the extent of its power, the wisdom of its laws, the +elegance of its decorations;--when I consider by what names and +by what exploits its annals are adorned; when I think on +Harmodius and Aristogiton, on Themistocles and Miltiades, on +Cimon and Pericles;--when I contemplate our pre-eminence in arts +and letters;--when I observe so many flourishing states and +islands compelled to own the dominion, and purchase the +protection of the City of the Violet Crown" (A favourite epithet +of Athens. See Aristophanes; Acharn. 637.)-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +I shall choke with rage. Oh, all ye gods and goddesses, what +sacrilege, what perjury have I ever committed, that I should be +singled out from among all the citizens of Athens to be the +father of this fool? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +What now? By Bacchus, old man, I would not advise you to give +way to such fits of passion in the streets. If Aristophanes were +to see you, you would infallibly be in a comedy next spring. + +CALLIDEMUS. +You have more reason to fear Aristophanes than any fool living. +Oh, that he could but hear you trying to imitate the slang of +Straton (See Aristophanes; Equites, 1375.) and the lisp of +Alcibiades! (See Aristophanes; Vespae, 44.) You would be an +inexhaustible subject. You would console him for the loss of +Cleon. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +No, no. I may perhaps figure at the dramatic representations +before long; but in a very different way. + +CALLIDEMUS. +What do you mean? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +What say you to a tragedy? + +CALLIDEMUS. +A tragedy of yours? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Even so. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Oh Hercules! Oh Bacchus! This is too much. Here is an +universal genius; sophist,--orator,--poet. To what a three- +headed monster have I given birth! a perfect Cerberus of +intellect! And pray what may your piece be about? Or will your +tragedy, like your speech, serve equally for any subject? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +I thought of several plots;--Oedipus,--Eteocles and Polynices,-- +the war of Troy,--the murder of Agamemnon. + +CALLIDEMUS. +And what have you chosen? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +You know there is a law which permits any modern poet to retouch +a play of Aeschylus, and bring it forward as his own composition. +And, as there is an absurd prejudice, among the vulgar, in favour +of his extravagant pieces, I have selected one of them, and +altered it. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Which of them? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Oh! that mass of barbarous absurdities, the Prometheus. But I +have framed it anew upon the model of Euripides. By Bacchus, I +shall make Sophocles and Agathon look about them. You would not +know the play again. + +CALLIDEMUS. +By Jupiter, I believe not. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +I have omitted the whole of the absurd dialogue between Vulcan +and Strength, at the beginning. + +CALLIDEMUS. +That may be, on the whole, an improvement. The play will then +open with that grand soliloquy of Prometheus, when he is chained +to the rock. + +"Oh! ye eternal heavens! ye rushing winds! +Ye fountains of great streams! Ye ocean waves, +That in ten thousand sparkling dimples wreathe +Your azure smiles! All-generating earth! +All-seeing sun! On you, on you, I call." (See Aeschylus; +Prometheus, 88.) + +Well, I allow that will be striking; I did not think you capable +of that idea. Why do you laugh? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Do you seriously suppose that one who has studied the plays of +that great man, Euripides, would ever begin a tragedy in such a +ranting style? + +CALLIDEMUS. +What, does not your play open with the speech of Prometheus? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +No doubt. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Then what, in the name of Bacchus, do you make him say? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +You shall hear; and, if it be not in the very style of Euripides, +call me a fool. + +CALLIDEMUS. +That is a liberty which I shall venture to take, whether it be or +no. But go on. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Prometheus begins thus:-- + +"Coelus begat Saturn and Briareus +Cottus and Creius and Iapetus, +Gyges and Hyperion, Phoebe, Tethys, +Thea and Rhea and Mnemosyne. +Then Saturn wedded Rhea, and begat +Pluto and Neptune, Jupiter and Juno." + +CALLIDEMUS. +Very beautiful, and very natural; and, as you say, very like +Euripides. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +You are sneering. Really, father, you do not understand these +things. You had not those advantages in your youth-- + +CALLIDEMUS. +Which I have been fool enough to let you have. No; in my early +days, lying had not been dignified into a science, nor politics +degraded into a trade. I wrestled, and read Homer's battles, +instead of dressing my hair, and reciting lectures in verse out +of Euripides. But I have some notion of what a play should be; I +have seen Phrynichus, and lived with Aeschylus. I saw the +representation of the Persians. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +A wretched play; it may amuse the fools who row the triremes; but +it is utterly unworthy to be read by any man of taste. + +CALLIDEMUS. +If you had seen it acted;--the whole theatre frantic with joy, +stamping, shouting, laughing, crying. There was Cynaegeirus, the +brother of Aeschylus, who lost both his arms at Marathon, beating +the stumps against his sides with rapture. When the crowd +remarked him--But where are you going? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +To sup with Alcibiades; he sails with the expedition for Sicily +in a few days; this is his farewell entertainment. + +CALLIDEMUS. +So much the better; I should say, so much the worse. That cursed +Sicilian expedition! And you were one of the young fools (See +Thucydides, vi. 13.) who stood clapping and shouting while he was +gulling the rabble, and who drowned poor Nicias's voice with your +uproar. Look to it; a day of reckoning will come. As to +Alcibiades himself-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. +What can you say against him? His enemies themselves acknowledge +his merit. + +CALLIDEMUS. +They acknowledge that he is clever, and handsome, and that he was +crowned at the Olympic games. And what other merits do his +friends claim for him? A precious assembly you will meet at his +house, no doubt. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +The first men in Athens, probably. + +CALLIDEMUS. +Whom do you mean by the first men in Athens? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Callicles. (Callicles plays a conspicuous part in the Gorgias of +Plato.) + +CALLIDEMUS. +A sacrilegious, impious, unfeeling ruffian! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Hippomachus. + +CALLIDEMUS. +A fool, who can talk of nothing but his travels through Persia +and Egypt. Go, go. The gods forbid that I should detain you +from such choice society! + +[Exeunt severally.] + + +II. + +SCENE--A Hall in the house of ALCIBIADES. + +ALCIBIADES, SPEUSIPPUS, CALLICLES, HIPPOMACHUS, CHARICLEA, +and others, seated round a table feasting. + +ALCIBIADES. +Bring larger cups. This shall be our gayest revel. It is +probably the last--for some of us at least. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +At all events, it will be long before you taste such wine again, +Alcibiades. + +CALLICLES. +Nay, there is excellent wine in Sicily. When I was there with +Eurymedon's squadron, I had many a long carouse. You never saw +finer grapes than those of Aetna. + +HIPPOMACHUS. +The Greeks do not understand the art of making wine. Your +Persian is the man. So rich, so fragrant, so sparkling! I will +tell you what the Satrap of Caria said to me about that when I +supped with him. + +ALCIBIADES. +Nay, sweet Hippomachus; not a word to-night about satraps, or the +great king, or the walls of Babylon, or the Pyramids, or the +mummies. Chariclea, why do you look so sad? + +CHARICLEA. +Can I be cheerful when you are going to leave me, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. +My life, my sweet soul, it is but for a short time. In a year we +conquer Sicily. In another, we humble Carthage. (See +Thucydides, vi. 90.) I will bring back such robes, such +necklaces, elephants' teeth by thousands, ay, and the elephants +themselves, if you wish to see them. Nay, smile, my Chariclea, +or I shall talk nonsense to no purpose. + +HIPPOMACHUS. +The largest elephant that I ever saw was in the grounds of +Teribazus, near Susa. I wish that I had measured him. + +ALCIBIADES. +I wish that he had trod upon you. Come, come, Chariclea, we +shall soon return, and then-- + +CHARICLEA. +Yes; then indeed. + +ALCIBIADES. +Yes, then-- +Then for revels; then for dances, +Tender whispers, melting glances. +Peasants, pluck your richest fruits: +Minstrels, sound your sweetest flutes: +Come in laughing crowds to greet us, +Dark-eyed daughters of Miletus; +Bring the myrtles, bring the dice, +Floods of Chian, hills of spice. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Whose lines are those, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. +My own. Think you, because I do not shut myself up to meditate, +and drink water, and eat herbs, that I cannot write verses? By +Apollo, if I did not spend my days in politics, and my nights in +revelry, I should have made Sophocles tremble. But now I never +go beyond a little song like this, and never invoke any Muse but +Chariclea. But come, Speusippus, sing. You are a professed +poet. Let us have some of your verses. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +My verses! How can you talk so? I a professed poet! + +ALCIBIADES. +Oh, content you, sweet Speusippus. We all know your designs upon +the tragic honours. Come, sing. A chorus of your new play. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Nay, nay-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. +When a guest who is asked to sing at a Persian banquet refuses-- + +SPEUSIPPUS. +In the name of Bacchus-- + +ALCIBIADES. +I am absolute. Sing. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Well, then, I will sing you a chorus, which, I think, is a +tolerable imitation of Euripides. + +CHARICLEA. +Of Euripides?--Not a word. + +ALCIBIADES. +Why so, sweet Chariclea? + +CHARICLEA. +Would you have me betray my sex? Would you have me forget his +Phaedras and Sthenoboeas? No if I ever suffer any lines of that +woman-hater, or his imitators, to be sung in my presence, may I +sell herbs (The mother of Euripides was a herb-woman. This was a +favourite topic of Aristophanes.) like his mother, and wear rags +like his Telephus. (The hero of one of the lost plays of +Euripides, who appears to have been brought upon the stage in the +garb of a beggar. See Aristophanes; Acharn. 430; and in other +places.) + +ALCIBIADES. +Then, sweet Chariclea, since you have silenced Speusippus, you +shall sing yourself. + +CHARICLEA. +What shall I sing? + +ALCIBIADES. +Nay, choose for yourself. + +CHARICLEA. +Then I will sing an old Ionian hymn, which is chanted every +spring at the feast of Venus, near Miletus. I used to sing it in +my own country when I was a child; and--ah, Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. +Dear Chariclea, you shall sing something else. This distresses +you. + +CHARICLEA. +No hand me the lyre:--no matter. You will hear the song to +disadvantage. But if it were sung as I have heard it sung:--if +this were a beautiful morning in spring, and if we were standing +on a woody promontory, with the sea, and the white sails, and the +blue Cyclades beneath us,--and the portico of a temple peeping +through the trees on a huge peak above our heads,--and thousands +of people, with myrtles in their hands, thronging up the winding +path, their gay dresses and garlands disappearing and emerging by +turns as they passed round the angles of the rock,--then perhaps- +- + +ALCIBIADES. +Now, by Venus herself, sweet lady, where you are we shall lack +neither sun, nor flowers, nor spring, nor temple, nor goddess. + +CHARICLEA. (Sings.) +Let this sunny hour be given, +Venus, unto love and mirth: +Smiles like thine are in the heaven; +Bloom like thine is on the earth; +And the tinkling of the fountains, +And the murmurs of the sea, +And the echoes from the mountains, +Speak of youth, and hope, and thee. + +By whate'er of soft expression +Thou hast taught to lovers' eyes, +Faint denial, slow confession, +Glowing cheeks and stifled sighs; +By the pleasure and the pain, +By the follies and the wiles, +Pouting fondness, sweet disdain, +Happy tears and mournful smiles; + +Come with music floating o'er thee; +Come with violets springing round: +Let the Graces dance before thee, +All their golden zones unbound; +Now in sport their faces hiding, +Now, with slender fingers fair, +From their laughing eyes dividing +The long curls of rose-crowned hair. + +ALCIBIADES. +Sweetly sung; but mournfully, Chariclea; for which I would chide +you, but that I am sad myself. More wine there. I wish to all +the gods that I had fairly sailed from Athens. + +CHARICLEA. +And from me, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. +Yes, from you, dear lady. The days which immediately precede +separation are the most melancholy of our lives. + +CHARICLEA. +Except those which immediately follow it. + +ALCIBIADES. +No; when I cease to see you, other objects may compel my +attention; but can I be near you without thinking how lovely you +are, and how soon I must leave you? + +HIPPOMACHUS. +Ay; travelling soon puts such thoughts out of men's heads. + +CALLICLES. +A battle is the best remedy for them. + +CHARICLEA. +A battle, I should think, might supply their place with others as +unpleasant. + +CALLICLES. +No. The preparations are rather disagreeable to a novice. But +as soon as the fighting begins, by Jupiter, it is a noble time;-- +men trampling,--shields clashing,--spears breaking,--and the +poean roaring louder than all. + +CHARICLEA. +But what if you are killed? + +CALLICLES. +What indeed? You must ask Speusippus that question. He is a +philosopher. + +ALCIBIADES. +Yes, and the greatest of philosophers, if he can answer it. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Pythagoras is of opinion-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. +Pythagoras stole that and all his other opinions from Asia and +Egypt. The transmigration of the soul and the vegetable diet are +derived from India. I met a Brachman in Sogdiana-- + +CALLICLES. +All nonsense! + +CHARICLEA. +What think you, Alcibiades? + +ALCIBIADES. +I think that, if the doctrine be true, your spirit will be +transfused into one of the doves who carry (Homer's Odyssey, xii. +63.) ambrosia to the gods or verses to the mistresses of poets. +Do you remember Anacreon's lines? How should you like such an +office? + +CHARICLEA. +If I were to be your dove, Alcibiades, and you would treat me as +Anacreon treated his, and let me nestle in your breast and drink +from your cup, I would submit even to carry your love-letters to +other ladies. + +CALLICLES. +What, in the name of Jupiter, is the use of all these +speculations about death? Socrates once (See the close of +Plato's Gorgias.) lectured me upon it the best part of a day. I +have hated the sight of him ever since. Such things may suit an +old sophist when he is fasting; but in the midst of wine and +music-- + +HIPPOMACHUS. +I differ from you. The enlightened Egyptians bring skeletons +into their banquets, in order to remind their guests to make the +most of their life while they have it. + +CALLICLES. +I want neither skeleton nor sophist to teach me that lesson. +More wine, I pray you, and less wisdom. If you must believe +something which you never can know, why not be contented with the +long stories about the other world which are told us when we are +initiated at the Eleusinian mysteries? (The scene which follows +is founded upon history. Thucydides tells us, in his sixth book, +that about this time Alcibiades was suspected of having assisted +at a mock celebration of these famous mysteries. It was the +opinion of the vulgar among the Athenians that extraordinary +privileges were granted in the other world to alt who had been +initiated.) + +CHARICLEA. +And what are those stories? + +ALCIBIADES. +Are not you initiated, Chariclea? + +CHARICLEA. +No; my mother was a Lydian, a barbarian; and therefore-- + +ALCIBIADES. +I understand. Now the curse of Venus on the fools who made so +hateful a law! Speusippus, does not your friend Euripides (The +right of Euripides to this line is somewhat disputable. See +Aristophanes; Plutus, 1152.) say + +"The land where thou art prosperous is thy country?" + +Surely we ought to say to every lady + +"The land where thou art pretty is thy country." + +Besides, to exclude foreign beauties from the chorus of the +initiated in the Elysian fields is less cruel to them than to +ourselves. Chariclea, you shall be initiated. + +CHARICLEA. +When? + +ALCIBIADES. +Now. + +CHARICLEA. +Where? + +ALCIBIADES. +Here. + +CHARICLEA. +Delightful! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +But there must be an interval of a year between the purification +and the initiation. + +ALCIBIADES. +We will suppose all that. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +And nine days of rigid mortification of the senses. + +ALCIBIADES. +We will suppose that too. I am sure it was supposed, with as +little reason, when I was initiated. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +But you are sworn to secrecy. + +ALCIBIADES. +You a sophist, and talk of oaths! You a pupil of Euripides, and +forget his maxims! + +"My lips have sworn it; but my mind is free." (See Euripides: +Hippolytus, 608. For the jesuitical morality of this line +Euripides is bitterly attacked by the comic poet.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. +But Alcibiades-- + +ALCIBIADES. +What! Are you afraid of Ceres and Proserpine? + +SPEUSIPPUS. +No--but--but--I--that is I--but it is best to be safe--I mean-- +Suppose there should be something in it. + +ALCIBIADES. +Now, by Mercury, I shall die with laughing. O Speusippus. +Speusippus! Go back to your old father. Dig vineyards, and +judge causes, and be a respectable citizen. But never, while you +live; again dream of being a philosopher. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Nay, I was only-- + +ALCIBIADES. +A pupil of Gorgias and Melesigenes afraid of Tartarus! In what +region of the infernal world do you expect your domicile to be +fixed? Shall you roll a stone like Sisyphus? Hard exercise, +Speusippus! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +In the name of all the gods-- + +ALCIBIADES. +Or shall you sit starved and thirsty in the midst of fruit and +wine like Tantalus? Poor fellow? I think I see your face as you +are springing up to the branches and missing your aim. Oh +Bacchus! Oh Mercury! + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. +Or perhaps you will be food for a vulture, like the huge fellow +who was rude to Latona. + +SPEUSIPPUS. +Alcibiades! + +ALCIBIADES. +Never fear. Minos will not be so cruel. Your eloquence will +triumph over all accusations. The Furies will skulk away like +disappointed sycophants. Only address the judges of hell in the +speech which you were prevented from speaking last assembly. +"When I consider"--is not that the beginning of it? Come, man, +do not be angry. Why do you pace up and down with such long +steps? You are not in Tartarus yet. You seem to think that you +are already stalking like poor Achilles, + +"With stride +Majestic through the plain of Asphodel." (See Homer's Odyssey, +xi. 538.) + +SPEUSIPPUS. +How can you talk so, when you know that I believe all that +foolery as little as you do? + +ALCIBIADES. +Then march. You shall be the crier. Callicles, you shall carry +the torch. Why do you stare? (The crier and torchbearer were +important functionaries at the celebration of the Eleusinian +mysteries.) + +CALLICLES. +I do not much like the frolic. + +ALCIBIADES. +Nay, surely you are not taken with a fit of piety. If all be +true that is told of you, you have as little reason to think the +gods vindictive as any man breathing. If you be not belied, a +certain golden goblet which I have seen at your house was once in +the temple of Juno at Corcyra. And men say that there was a +priestess at Tarentum-- + +CALLICLES. +A fig for the gods! I was thinking about the Archons. You will +have an accusation laid against you to-morrow. It is not very +pleasant to be tried before the king. (The name of king was +given in the Athenian democracy to the magistrate who exercised +those spiritual functions which in the monarchical times had +belonged to the sovereign. His court took cognisance of offences +against the religion of the state.) + +ALCIBIADES. +Never fear: there is not a sycophant in Attica who would dare to +breathe a word against me, for the golden plane-tree of the great +king. (See Herodotus, viii. 28.) + +HIPPOMACHUS. +That plane-tree-- + +ALCIBIADES. +Never mind the plane-tree. Come, Callicles, you were not so +timid when you plundered the merchantman off Cape Malea. Take up +the torch and move. Hippomachus, tell one of the slaves to bring +a sow. (A sow was sacrificed to Ceres at the admission to the +greater mysteries.) + +CALLICLES. +And what part are you to play? + +ALCIBIADES. +I shall be hierophant. Herald, to your office. Torchbearer, +advance with the lights. Come forward, fair novice. We will +celebrate the rite within. + +[Exeunt.] + +... + + +CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + +No. I. DANTE. + +(January 1824.) + +"Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, +If better thou belong not to the dawn, +Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn +With thy bright circlet." Milton. + +In a review of Italian literature, Dante has a double claim to +precedency. He was the earliest and the greatest writer of his +country. He was the first man who fully descried and exhibited +the powers of his native dialect. The Latin tongue, which, under +the most favourable circumstances, and in the hands of the +greatest masters, had still been poor, feeble, and singularly +unpoetical, and which had, in the age of Dante, been debased by +the admixture of innumerable barbarous words and idioms, was +still cultivated with superstitious veneration, and received, in +the last stage of corruption, more honours than it had deserved +in the period of its life and vigour. It was the language of the +cabinet, of the university, of the church. It was employed by +all who aspired to distinction in the higher walks of poetry. In +compassion to the ignorance of his mistress, a cavalier might now +and then proclaim his passion in Tuscan or Proven‡al rhymes. The +vulgar might occasionally be edified by a pious allegory in the +popular jargon. But no writer had conceived it possible that the +dialect of peasants and market-women should possess sufficient +energy and precision for a majestic and durable work. Dante +adventured first. He detected the rich treasures of thought and +diction which still lay latent in their ore. He refined them +into purity. He burnished them into splendour. He fitted them +for every purpose of use and magnificence. And he has thus +acquired the glory, not only of producing the finest narrative +poem of modern times but also of creating a language, +distinguished by unrivalled melody, and peculiarly capable of +furnishing to lofty and passionate thoughts their appropriate +garb of severe and concise expression. + +To many this may appear a singular panegyric on the Italian +tongue. Indeed the great majority of the young gentlemen and +young ladies, who, when they are asked whether they read Italian, +answer "yes," never go beyond the stories at the end of their +grammar,--The Pastor Fido,--or an act of Artaserse. They could +as soon read a Babylonian brick as a canto of Dante. Hence it is +a general opinion, among those who know little or nothing of the +subject, that this admirable language is adapted only to the +effeminate cant of sonnetteers, musicians, and connoisseurs. + +The fact is that Dante and Petrarch have been the Oromasdes and +Arimanes of Italian literature. I wish not to detract from the +merits of Petrarch. No one can doubt that his poems exhibit, +amidst some imbecility and more affectation, much elegance, +ingenuity, and tenderness. They present us with a mixture which +can only be compared to the whimsical concert described by the +humorous poet of Modena: + +"S'udian gli usignuoli, al primo albore, +Egli asini cantar versi d'amore." +(Tassoni; Secchia Rapita, canto i. stanza 6.) + +I am not, however, at present speaking of the intrinsic +excellencies of his writings, which I shall take another +opportunity to examine, but of the effect which they produced on +the literature of Italy. The florid and luxurious charms of his +style enticed the poets and the public from the contemplation of +nobler and sterner models. In truth, though a rude state of +society is that in which great original works are most frequently +produced, it is also that in which they are worst appreciated. +This may appear paradoxical; but it is proved by experience, and +is consistent with reason. To be without any received canons of +taste is good for the few who can create, but bad for the many +who can only imitate and judge. Great and active minds cannot +remain at rest. In a cultivated age they are too often contented +to move on in the beaten path. But where no path exists they +will make one. Thus the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Divine Comedy, +appeared in dark and half barbarous times: and thus of the few +original works which have been produced in more polished ages we +owe a large proportion to men in low stations and of uninformed +minds. I will instance, in our own language, the Pilgrim's +Progress and Robinson Crusoe. Of all the prose works of fiction +which we possess, these are, I will not say the best, but the +most peculiar, the most unprecedented, the most inimitable. Had +Bunyan and Defoe been educated gentlemen, they would probably +have published translations and imitations of French romances "by +a person of quality." I am not sure that we should have had Lear +if Shakspeare had been able to read Sophocles. + +But these circumstances, while they foster genius, are +unfavourable to the science of criticism. Men judge by +comparison. They are unable to estimate the grandeur of an +object when there is no standard by which they can measure it. +One of the French philosophers (I beg Gerard's pardon), who +accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, tells us that, when he first +visited the great Pyramid, he was surprised to see it so +diminutive. It stood alone in a boundless plain. There was +nothing near it from which he could calculate its magnitude. But +when the camp was pitched beside it, and the tents appeared like +diminutive specks around its base, he then perceived the +immensity of this mightiest work of man. In the same manner, it +is not till a crowd of petty writers has sprung up that the merit +of the great masterspirits of literature is understood. + +We have indeed ample proof that Dante was highly admired in his +own and the following age. I wish that we had equal proof that +he was admired for his excellencies. But it is a remarkable +corroboration of what has been said, that this great man seems to +have been utterly unable to appreciate himself. In his treatise +"De Vulgari Eloquentia" he talks with satisfaction of what he has +done for Italian literature, of the purity and correctness of his +style. "Cependant," says a favourite writer of mine,(Sismondi, +Literature du Midi de l'Europe.) "il n'est ni pur, ni correct, +mais il est createur." Considering the difficulties with which +Dante had to struggle, we may perhaps be more inclined than the +French critic to allow him this praise. Still it is by no means +his highest or most peculiar title to applause. It is scarcely +necessary to say that those qualities which escaped the notice of +the poet himself were not likely to attract the attention of the +commentators. The fact is, that, while the public homage was +paid to some absurdities with which his works may be justly +charged, and to many more which were falsely imputed to them,-- +while lecturers were paid to expound and eulogise his physics, +his metaphysics, his theology, all bad of their kind--while +annotators laboured to detect allegorical meanings of which the +author never dreamed, the great powers of his imagination, and +the incomparable force of his style, were neither admired nor +imitated. Arimanes had prevailed. The Divine Comedy was to that +age what St. Paul's Cathedral was to Omai. The poor Otaheitean +stared listlessly for a moment at the huge cupola, and ran into a +toyshop to play with beads. Italy, too, was charmed with +literary trinkets, and played with them for four centuries. + +From the time of Petrarch to the appearance of Alfieri's +tragedies, we may trace in almost every page of Italian +literature the influence of those celebrated sonnets which, from +the nature both of their beauties and their faults, were +peculiarly unfit to be models for general imitation. Almost all +the poets of that period, however different in the degree and +quality of their talents, are characterised by great +exaggeration, and as a necessary consequence, great coldness of +sentiment; by a passion for frivolous and tawdry ornament; and, +above all, by an extreme feebleness and diffuseness of style. +Tasso, Marino, Guarini, Metastasio, and a crowd of writers of +inferior merit and celebrity, were spell-bound in the enchanted +gardens of a gaudy and meretricious Alcina, who concealed +debility and deformity beneath the deceitful semblance of +loveliness and health. Ariosto, the great Ariosto himself, like +his own Ruggiero, stooped for a time to linger amidst the magic +flowers and fountains, and to caress the gay and painted +sorceress. But to him, as to his own Ruggiero, had been given +the omnipotent ring and the winged courser, which bore him from +the paradise of deception to the regions of light and nature. + +The evil of which I speak was not confined to the graver poets. +It infected satire, comedy, burlesque. No person can admire more +than I do the great masterpieces of wit and humour which Italy +has produced. Still I cannot but discern and lament a great +deficiency, which is common to them all. I find in them +abundance of ingenuity, of droll naivete, of profound and just +reflection, of happy expression. Manners, characters, opinions, +are treated with "a most learned spirit of human dealing." But +something is still wanting. We read, and we admire, and we yawn. +We look in vain for the bacchanalian fury which inspired the +comedy of Athens, for the fierce and withering scorn which +animates the invectives of Juvenal and Dryden, or even for the +compact and pointed diction which adds zest to the verses of Pope +and Boileau. There is no enthusiasm, no energy, no condensation, +nothing which springs from strong feeling, nothing which tends to +excite it. Many fine thoughts and fine expressions reward the +toil of reading. Still it is a toil. The Secchia Rapita, in +some points the best poem of its kind, is painfully diffuse and +languid. The Animali Parlanti of Casti is perfectly intolerable. +I admire the dexterity of the plot, and the liberality of the +opinions. I admit that it is impossible to turn to a page which +does not contain something that deserves to be remembered; but it +is at least six times as long as it ought to be. And the +garrulous feebleness of the style is a still greater fault than +the length of the work. + +It may be thought that I have gone too far in attributing these +evils to the influence of the works and the fame of Petrarch. It +cannot, however, be doubted that they have arisen, in a great +measure, from a neglect of the style of Dante. This is not more +proved by the decline of Italian poetry than by its +resuscitation. After the lapse of four hundred and fifty years, +there appeared a man capable of appreciating and imitating the +father of Tuscan literature--Vittorio Alfieri. Like the prince +in the nursery tale, he sought and found the sleeping beauty +within the recesses which had so long concealed her from mankind. +The portal was indeed rusted by time;--the dust of ages had +accumulated on the hangings;--the furniture was of antique +fashion;--and the gorgeous colour of the embroidery had faded. +But the living charms which were well worth all the rest remained +in the bloom of eternal youth, and well rewarded the bold +adventurer who roused them from their long slumber. In every +line of the Philip and the Saul, the greatest poems, I think, of +the eighteenth century, we may trace the influence of that mighty +genius which has immortalised the ill-starred love of Francesca, +and the paternal agonies of Ugolino. Alfieri bequeathed the +sovereignty of Italian literature to the author of the +Aristodemus--a man of genius scarcely inferior to his own, and a +still more devoted disciple of the great Florentine. It must be +acknowledged that this eminent writer has sometimes pushed too +far his idolatry of Dante. To borrow a sprightly illustration +from Sir John Denham, he has not only imitated his garb, but +borrowed his clothes. He often quotes his phrases; and he has, +not very judiciously as it appears to me, imitated his +versification. Nevertheless, he has displayed many of the higher +excellencies of his master; and his works may justly inspire us +with a hope that the Italian language will long flourish under a +new literary dynasty, or rather under the legitimate line, which +has at length been restored to a throne long occupied by specious +usurpers. + +The man to whom the literature of his country owes its origin and +its revival was born in times singularly adapted to call forth +his extraordinary powers. Religious zeal, chivalrous love and +honour, democratic liberty, are the three most powerful +principles that have ever influenced the character of large +masses of men. Each of them singly has often excited the +greatest enthusiasm, and produced the most important changes. In +the time of Dante all the three, often in amalgamation, generally +in conflict, agitated the public mind. The preceding generation +had witnessed the wrongs and the revenge of the brave, the +accomplished, the unfortunate Emperor Frederic the Second,--a +poet in an age of schoolmen,--a philosopher in an age of monks,-- +a statesman in an age of crusaders. During the whole life of the +poet, Italy was experiencing the consequences of the memorable +struggle which he had maintained against the Church. The finest +works of imagination have always been produced in times of +political convulsion, as the richest vineyards and the sweetest +flowers always grow on the soil which has been fertilised by the +fiery deluge of a volcano. To look no further than the literary +history of our own country, can we doubt that Shakspeare was in a +great measure produced by the Reformation, and Wordsworth by the +French Revolution? Poets often avoid political transactions; +they often affect to despise them. But, whether they perceive it +or not, they must be influenced by them. As long as their minds +have any point of contact with those of their fellow-men, the +electric impulse, at whatever distance it may originate, will be +circuitously communicated to them. + +This will be the case even in large societies, where the division +of labour enables many speculative men to observe the face of +nature, or to analyse their own minds, at a distance from the +seat of political transactions. In the little republic of which +Dante was a member the state of things was very different. These +small communities are most unmercifully abused by most of our +modern professors of the science of government. In such states, +they tell us, factions are always most violent: where both +parties are cooped up within a narrow space, political difference +necessarily produces personal malignity. Every man must be a +soldier; every moment may produce a war. No citizen can lie down +secure that he shall not be roused by the alarum-bell, to repel +or avenge an injury. In such petty quarrels Greece squandered +the blood which might have purchased for her the permanent empire +of the world, and Italy wasted the energy and the abilities which +would have enabled her to defend her independence against the +Pontiffs and the Caesars. + +All this is true: yet there is still a compensation. Mankind has +not derived so much benefit from the empire of Rome as from the +city of Athens, nor from the kingdom of France as from the city +of Florence. The violence of party feeling may be an evil; but +it calls forth that activity of mind which in some states of +society it is desirable to produce at any expense. Universal +soldiership may be an evil; but where every man is a soldier +there will be no standing army. And is it no evil that one man +in every fifty should be bred to the trade of slaughter; should +live only by destroying and by exposing himself to be destroyed; +should fight without enthusiasm and conquer without glory; be +sent to a hospital when wounded, and rot on a dunghill when old? +Such, over more than two-thirds of Europe, is the fate of +soldiers. It was something that the citizen of Milan or Florence +fought, not merely in the vague and rhetorical sense in which the +words are often used, but in sober truth, for his parents, his +children, his lands, his house, his altars. It was something +that he marched forth to battle beneath the Carroccio, which had +been the object of his childish veneration: that his aged father +looked down from the battlements on his exploits; that his +friends and his rivals were the witnesses of his glory. If he +fell, he was consigned to no venal or heedless guardians. The +same day saw him conveyed within the walls which he had defended. +His wounds were dressed by his mother; his confession was +whispered to the friendly priest who had heard and absolved the +follies of his youth; his last sigh was breathed upon the lips of +the lady of his love. Surely there is no sword like that which +is beaten out of a ploughshare. Surely this state of things was +not unmixedly bad; its evils were alleviated by enthusiasm and by +tenderness; and it will at least be acknowledged that it was well +fitted to nurse poetical genius in an imaginative and observant +mind. + +Nor did the religious spirit of the age tend less to this result +than its political circumstances. Fanaticism is an evil, but it +is not the greatest of evils. It is good that a people should be +roused by any means from a state of utter torpor;--that their +minds should be diverted from objects merely sensual, to +meditations, however erroneous, on the mysteries of the +moral and intellectual world; and from interests which are +immediately selfish to those which relate to the past, the +future, and the remote. These effects have sometimes been +produced by the worst superstitions that ever existed; but the +Catholic religion, even in the time of its utmost extravagance +and atrocity, never wholly lost the spirit of the Great Teacher, +whose precepts form the noblest code, as His conduct furnished +the purest example, of moral excellence. It is of all religions +the most poetical. The ancient superstitions furnished the fancy +with beautiful images, but took no hold on the heart. The +doctrines of the Reformed Churches have most powerfully +influenced the feelings and the conduct of men, but have not +presented them with visions of sensible beauty and grandeur. The +Roman Catholic Church has united to the awful doctrines +of the one that Mr Coleridge calls the "fair humanities" of the +other. It has enriched sculpture and painting with the loveliest +and most majestic forms. To the Phidian Jupiter it can oppose +the Moses of Michael Angelo; and to the voluptuous beauty of the +Queen of Cyprus, the serene and pensive loveliness of the Virgin +Mother. The legends of its martyrs and its saints may vie in +ingenuity and interest with the mythological fables of Greece; +its ceremonies and processions were the delight of the vulgar; +the huge fabric of secular power with which it was connected +attracted the admiration of the statesman. At the same time, it +never lost sight of the most solemn and tremendous doctrines of +Christianity,--the incarnate God,--the judgment,--the +retribution,--the eternity of happiness or torment. Thus, while, +like the ancient religions, it received incalculable support from +policy and ceremony, it never wholly became, like those +religions, a merely political and ceremonial institution. + +The beginning of the thirteenth century was, as Machiavelli has +remarked, the era of a great revival of this extraordinary +system. The policy of Innocent,--the growth of the Inquisition +and the mendicant orders,--the wars against the Albigenses, the +Pagans of the East, and the unfortunate princes of the house of +Swabia, agitated Italy during the two following generations. In +this point Dante was completely under the influence of his age. +He was a man of a turbid and melancholy spirit. In early youth +he had entertained a strong and unfortunate passion, which, long +after the death of her whom he loved, continued to haunt him. +Dissipation, ambition, misfortunes had not effaced it. He was +not only a sincere, but a passionate, believer. The crimes and +abuses of the Church of Rome were indeed loathsome to him; but to +all its doctrines and all its rites he adhered with enthusiastic +fondness and veneration; and, at length, driven from his native +country, reduced to a situation the most painful to a man of his +disposition, condemned to learn by experience that no food is so +bitter as the bread of dependence +("Tu proverai si come sa di sale +Lo pane altrui, e come e duro calle +Lo scendere e'l sa'ir per l'altrui scale." +Paradiso, canto xvii.), + +and no ascent so painful as the staircase of a patron,--his +wounded spirit took refuge in visionary devotion. Beatrice, the +unforgotten object of his early tenderness, was invested by his +imagination with glorious and mysterious attributes; she was +enthroned among the highest of the celestial hierarchy: Almighty +Wisdom had assigned to her the care of the sinful and unhappy +wanderer who had loved her with such a perfect love. ("L'amico +mio, e non della ventura." Inferno, canto ii.) By a confusion, +like that which often takes place in dreams, he has sometimes +lost sight of her human nature, and even of her personal +existence, and seems to consider her as one of the attributes of +the Deity. + +But those religious hopes which had released the mind of the +sublime enthusiast from the terrors of death had not rendered his +speculations on human life more cheerful. This is an +inconsistency which may often be observed in men of a similar +temperament. He hoped for happiness beyond the grave: but he +felt none on earth. It is from this cause, more than from any +other, that his description of Heaven is so far inferior to the +Hell or the Purgatory. With the passions and miseries of the +suffering spirits he feels a strong sympathy. But among the +beatified he appears as one who has nothing in common with them,- +-as one who is incapable of comprehending, not only the degree, +but the nature of their enjoyment. We think that we see him +standing amidst those smiling and radiant spirits with that scowl +of unutterable misery on his brow, and that curl of bitter +disdain on his lips, which all his portraits have preserved, and +which might furnish Chantrey with hints for the head of his +projected Satan. + +There is no poet whose intellectual and moral character are so +closely connected. The great source, as it appears to me, of the +power of the Divine Comedy is the strong belief with which the +story seems to be told. In this respect, the only books which +approach to its excellence are Gulliver's Travels and Robinson +Crusoe. The solemnity of his asseverations, the consistency and +minuteness of his details, the earnestness with which he labours +to make the reader understand the exact shape and size of +everything that he describes, give an air of reality to his +wildest fictions. I should only weaken this statement by quoting +instances of a feeling which pervades the whole work, and to +which it owes much of its fascination. This is the real +justification of the many passages in his poem which bad critics +have condemned as grotesque. I am concerned to see that Mr Cary, +to whom Dante owes more than ever poet owed to translator, has +sanctioned an accusation utterly unworthy of his abilities. "His +solicitude," says that gentleman, "to define all his images in +such a manner as to bring them within the circle of our vision, +and to subject them to the power of the pencil, renders him +little better than grotesque, where Milton has since taught us to +expect sublimity." It is true that Dante has never shrunk from +embodying his conceptions in determinate words, that he has even +given measures and numbers, where Milton would have left his +images to float undefined in a gorgeous haze of language. Both +were right. Milton did not profess to have been in heaven or +hell. He might therefore reasonably confine himself to +magnificent generalities. Far different was the office of the +lonely traveller, who had wandered through the nations of the +dead. Had he described the abode of the rejected spirits in +language resembling the splendid lines of the English Poet,--had +he told us of-- + +"An universe of death, which God by curse +Created evil, for evil only good, +Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds +Perverse all monstrous, all prodigious things, +Abominable, unutterable, and worse +Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived, +Gorgons, and hydras, and chimaeras dire"-- + +this would doubtless have been noble writing. But where would +have been that strong impression of reality, which, in accordance +with his plan, it should have been his great object to produce? +It was absolutely necessary for him to delineate accurately "all +monstrous, all prodigious things,"--to utter what might to others +appear "unutterable,"--to relate with the air of truth what +fables had never feigned,--to embody what fear had never +conceived. And I will frankly confess that the vague sublimity of +Milton affects me less than these reviled details of Dante. We +read Milton; and we know that we are reading a great poet. When +we read Dante, the poet vanishes. We are listening to the man +who has returned from "the valley of the dolorous abyss;" +("Lavalle d'abisso doloroso."--Inferno, cantoiv.)--we seem to see +the dilated eye of horror, to hear the shuddering accents with +which he tells his fearful tale. Considered in this light, the +narratives are exactly what they should be,--definite in +themselves, but suggesting to the mind ideas of awful and +indefinite wonder. They are made up of the images of the earth:- +-they are told in the language of the earth.--Yet the whole +effect is, beyond expression, wild and unearthly. The fact is, +that supernatural beings, as long as they are considered merely +with reference to their own nature, excite our feelings very +feebly. It is when the great gulf which separates them from us +is passed, when we suspect some strange and undefinable relation +between the laws of the visible and the invisible world, that +they rouse, perhaps, the strongest emotions of which our nature +is capable. How many children, and how many men, are afraid of +ghosts, who are not afraid of God! And this, because, though +they entertain a much stronger conviction of the existence of a +Deity than of the reality of apparitions, they have no +apprehension that he will manifest himself to them in any +sensible manner. While this is the case, to describe superhuman +beings in the language, and to attribute to them the actions, of +humanity may be grotesque, unphilosophical, inconsistent; but it +will be the only mode of working upon the feelings of men, and, +therefore, the only mode suited for poetry. Shakspeare +understood this well, as he understood everything that belonged +to his art. Who does not sympathise with the rapture of Ariel, +flying after sunset on the wings of the bat, or sucking in the +cups of flowers with the bee? Who does not shudder at the +caldron of Macbeth? Where is the philosopher who is not moved +when he thinks of the strange connection between the infernal +spirits and "the sow's blood that hath eaten her nine farrow?" +But this difficult task of representing supernatural beings to +our minds, in a manner which shall be neither unintelligible to +our intellects nor wholly inconsistent with our ideas of their +nature, has never been so well performed as by Dante. I will +refer to three instances, which are, perhaps, the most striking:- +-the description of the transformations of the serpents and the +robbers, in the twenty-fifth canto of the Inferno,--the passage +concerning Nimrod, in the thirty-first canto of the same part,-- +and the magnificent procession in the twenty-ninth canto of the +Purgatorio. + +The metaphors and comparisons of Dante harmonise admirably with +that air of strong reality of which I have spoken. They have a +very peculiar character. He is perhaps the only poet whose +writings would become much less intelligible if all illustrations +of this sort were expunged. His similes are frequently rather +those of a traveller than of a poet. He employs them not to +display his ingenuity by fanciful analogies,--not to delight the +reader by affording him a distant and passing glimpse of +beautiful images remote from the path in which he is proceeding, +but to give an exact idea of the objects which he is describing, +by comparing them with others generally known. The boiling pitch +in Malebolge was like that in the Venetian arsenal:--the mound on +which he travelled along the banks of Phlegethon was like that +between Ghent and Bruges, but not so large:--the cavities where +the Simoniacal prelates are confined resemble the Fonts in the +Church of John at Florence. Every reader of Dante will recall +many other illustrations of this description, which add to the +appearance of sincerity and earnestness from which the narrative +derives so much of its interest. + +Many of his comparisons, again, are intended to give an exact +idea of his feelings under particular circumstances. The +delicate shades of grief, of fear, of anger, are rarely +discriminated with sufficient accuracy in the language of the +most refined nations. A rude dialect never abounds in nice +distinctions of this kind. Dante therefore employs the most +accurate and infinitely the most poetical mode of marking the +precise state of his mind. Every person who has experienced the +bewildering effect of sudden bad tidings,--the stupefaction,--the +vague doubt of the truth of our own perceptions which they +produce,--will understand the following simile:--"I was as he is +who dreameth his own harm,--who, dreaming, wishes that it may be +all a dream, so that he desires that which is as though it were +not." This is only one out of a hundred equally striking and +expressive similitudes. The comparisons of Homer and Milton are +magnificent digressions. It scarcely injures their effect to +detach them from the work. Those of Dante are very different. +They derive their beauty from the context, and reflect beauty +upon it. His embroidery cannot be taken out without spoiling the +whole web. I cannot dismiss this part of the subject without +advising every person who can muster sufficient Italian to read +the simile of the sheep, in the third canto of the Purgatorio. I +think it the most perfect passage of the kind in the world, the +most imaginative, the most picturesque, and the most sweetly +expressed. + +No person can have attended to the Divine Comedy without +observing how little impression the forms of the external world +appear to have made on the mind of Dante. His temper and his +situation had led him to fix his observation almost exclusively +on human nature. The exquisite opening of the eighth* canto of +the Purgatorio affords a strong instance of this. (I cannot help +observing that Gray's imitation of that noble line + +"Che paia 'lgiorna pianger che si muore,"-- + +is one of the most striking instances of injudicious plagiarism +with which I am acquainted. Dante did not put this strong +personification at the beginning of his description. The +imagination of the reader is so well prepared for it by the +previous lines, that it appears perfectly natural and pathetic. +Placed as Gray has placed it, neither preceded nor followed by +anything that harmonises with it, it becomes a frigid conceit. +Woe to the unskilful rider who ventures on the horses of +Achilles!) + +He leaves to others the earth, the ocean, and the sky. His +business is with man. To other writers, evening may be the +season of dews and stars and radiant clouds. To Dante it is the +hour of fond recollection and passionate devotion,--the hour +which melts the heart of the mariner and kindles the love of the +pilgrim,--the hour when the toll of the bell seems to mourn for +another day which is gone and will return no more. + +The feeling of the present age has taken a direction +diametrically opposite. The magnificence of the physical world, +and its influence upon the human mind, have been the favourite +themes of our most eminent poets. The herd of bluestocking +ladies and sonneteering gentlemen seem to consider a strong +sensibility to the "splendour of the grass, the glory of the +flower," as an ingredient absolutely indispensable in the +formation of a poetical mind. They treat with contempt all +writers who are unfortunately + +nec ponere lucum +Artifices, nec rus saturum laudare. + +The orthodox poetical creed is more Catholic. The noblest +earthly object of the contemplation of man is man himself. The +universe, and all its fair and glorious forms, are indeed +included in the wide empire of the imagination; but she has +placed her home and her sanctuary amidst the inexhaustible +varieties and the impenetrable mysteries of the mind. + +In tutte parti impera, e quivi regge; +Quivi e la sua cittade, e l'alto seggio. +(Inferno, canto i.) + +Othello is perhaps the greatest work in the world. From what +does it derive its power? From the clouds? From the ocean? +From the mountains? Or from love strong as death, and jealousy +cruel as the grave? What is it that we go forth to see in +Hamlet? Is it a reed shaken with the wind? A small celandine? +A bed of daffodils? Or is it to contemplate a mighty and wayward +mind laid bare before us to the inmost recesses? It may perhaps +be doubted whether the lakes and the hills are better fitted for +the education of a poet than the dusky streets of a huge capital. +Indeed who is not tired to death with pure description of +scenery? Is it not the fact, that external objects never +strongly excite our feelings but when they are contemplated in +reference to man, as illustrating his destiny, or as influencing +his character? The most beautiful object in the world, it will +be allowed, is a beautiful woman. But who that can analyse his +feelings is not sensible that she owes her fascination less to +grace of outline and delicacy of colour, than to a thousand +associations which, often unperceived by ourselves, connect those +qualities with the source of our existence, with the nourishment +of our infancy, with the passions of our youth, with the hopes of +our age--with elegance, with vivacity, with tenderness, with the +strongest of natural instincts, with the dearest of social ties? + +To those who think thus, the insensibility of the Florentine poet +to the beauties of nature will not appear an unpardonable +deficiency. On mankind no writer, with the exception of +Shakspeare, has looked with a more penetrating eye. I have said +that his poetical character had derived a tinge from his peculiar +temper. It is on the sterner and darker passions that he +delights to dwell. All love excepting the half-mystic passion +which he still felt for his buried Beatrice, had palled on the +fierce and restless exile. The sad story of Rimini is almost a +single exception. I know not whether it has been remarked, that, +in one point, misanthropy seems to have affected his mind, as it +did that of Swift. Nauseous and revolting images seem to have +had a fascination for his mind; and he repeatedly places before +his readers, with all the energy of his incomparable style, the +most loathsome objects of the sewer and the dissecting-room. + +There is another peculiarity in the poem of Dante, which, I +think, deserves notice. Ancient mythology has hardly ever been +successfully interwoven with modern poetry. One class of writers +have introduced the fabulous deities merely as allegorical +representatives of love, wine, or wisdom. This necessarily +renders their works tame and cold. We may sometimes admire their +ingenuity; but with what interest can we read of beings of whose +personal existence the writer does not suffer us to entertain, +for a moment, even a conventional belief? Even Spenser's +allegory is scarcely tolerable, till we contrive to forget that +Una signifies innocence, and consider her merely as an oppressed +lady under the protection of a generous knight. + +Those writers who have, more judiciously, attempted to preserve +the personality of the classical divinities have failed from a +different cause. They have been imitators, and imitators at a +disadvantage. Euripides and Catullus believed in Bacchus and +Cybele as little as we do. But they lived among men who did. +Their imaginations, if not their opinions, took the colour of the +age. Hence the glorious inspiration of the Bacchae and the Atys. +Our minds are formed by circumstances: and I do not believe that +it would be in the power of the greatest modern poet to lash +himself up to a degree of enthusiasm adequate to the production +of such works. + +Dante, alone among the poets of later times, has been, in this +respect, neither an allegorist nor an imitator; and, +consequently, he alone has introduced the ancient fictions with +effect. His Minos, his Charon, his Pluto, are absolutely +terrific. Nothing can be more beautiful or original +than the use which he has made of the River of Lethe. He has +never assigned to his mythological characters any functions +inconsistent with the creed of the Catholic Church. He has +related nothing concerning them which a good Christian of that +age might not believe possible. On this account there is nothing +in these passages that appears puerile or pedantic. On the +contrary, this singular use of classical names suggests +to the mind a vague and awful idea of some mysterious revelation, +anterior to all recorded history, of which the dispersed +fragments might have been retained amidst the impostures and +superstitions of later religions. Indeed the mythology of the +Divine Comedy is of the elder and more colossal mould. It +breathes the spirit of Homer and Aeschylus, not of Ovid and +Claudian. + +This is the more extraordinary, since Dante seems to have been +utterly ignorant of the Greek language; and his favourite Latin +models could only have served to mislead him. Indeed, it is +impossible not to remark his admiration of writers far inferior +to himself; and, in particular, his idolatry of Virgil, who, +elegant and splendid as he is, has no pretensions to the depth +and originality of mind which characterise his Tuscan worshipper, +In truth it may be laid down as an almost universal rule that +good poets are bad critics. Their minds are under the tyranny of +ten thousand associations imperceptible to others. The worst +writer may easily happen to touch a spring which is connected in +their minds with a long succession of beautiful images. They are +like the gigantic slaves of Aladdin, gifted with matchless power, +but bound by spells so mighty that when a child whom they could +have crushed touched a talisman, of whose secret he was ignorant, +they immediately became his vassals. It has more than once +happened to me to see minds, graceful and majestic as the Titania +of Shakspeare, bewitched by the charms of an ass's head, +bestowing on it the fondest caresses, and crowning it with the +sweetest flowers. I need only mention the poems attributed to +Ossian. They are utterly worthless, except as an edifying +instance of the success of a story without evidence, and of a +book without merit. They are a chaos of words which present no +image, of images which have no archetype:--they are without form +and void; and darkness is upon the face of them. Yet how many +men of genius have panegyrised and imitated them! + +The style of Dante is, if not his highest, perhaps his most +peculiar excellence. I know nothing with which it can be +compared. The noblest models of Greek composition must yield to +it. His words are the fewest and the best which it is possible +to use. The first expression in which he clothes his thoughts is +always so energetic and comprehensive that amplification would +only injure the effect. There is probably no writer in any +language who has presented so many strong pictures to the mind. +Yet there is probably no writer equally concise. This perfection +of style is the principal merit of the Paradiso, which, as I have +already remarked, is by no means equal in other respects to the +two preceding parts of the poem. The force and felicity of the +diction, however, irresistibly attract the reader through the +theological lectures and the sketches of ecclesiastical +biography, with which this division of the work too much abounds. +It may seem almost absurd to quote particular specimens of an +excellence which is diffused over all his hundred cantos. I +will, however, instance the third canto of the Inferno, and the +sixth of the Purgatorio, as passages incomparable in their kind. +The merit of the latter is, perhaps, rather oratorical than +poetical; nor can I recollect anything in the great Athenian +speeches which equals it in force of invective and bitterness of +sarcasm. I have heard the most eloquent statesman of the age +remark that, next to Demosthenes, Dante is the writer who ought +to be most attentively studied by every man who desires to attain +oratorical eminence. + +But it is time to close this feeble and rambling critique. I +cannot refrain, however, from saying a few words upon the +translations of the Divine Comedy. Boyd's is as tedious and +languid as the original is rapid and forcible. The strange +measure which he has chosen, and, for aught I know, invented, is +most unfit for such a work. Translations ought never to be +written in a verse which requires much command of rhyme. The +stanza becomes a bed of Procrustes; and the thoughts of the +unfortunate author are alternately racked and curtailed to fit +their new receptacle. The abrupt and yet consecutive style of +Dante suffers more than that of any other poet by a version +diffuse in style, and divided into paragraphs, for they deserve +no other name, of equal length. + +Nothing can be said in favour of Hayley's attempt, but that it is +better than Boyd's. His mind was a tolerable specimen of +filigree work,--rather elegant, and very feeble. All that can be +said for his best works is that they are neat. All that can be +said against his worst is that they are stupid. He might have +translated Metastasio tolerably. But he was utterly unable to do +justice to the + +"rime e aspre e chiocce, +"Come si converrebbe al tristo buco." +(Inferno, canto xxxii.) + +I turn with pleasure from these wretched performances to Mr +Cary's translation. It is a work which well deserves a separate +discussion, and on which, if this article were not already too +long, I could dwell with great pleasure. At present I will only +say that there is no other version in the world, as far as I +know, so faithful, yet that there is no other version which so +fully proves that the translator is himself a man of poetical +genius. Those who are ignorant of the Italian language should +read it to become acquainted with the Divine Comedy. Those who +are most intimate with Italian literature should read it for its +original merits: and I believe that they will find it difficult +to determine whether the author deserves most praise for his +intimacy with the language of Dante, or for his extraordinary +mastery over his own. + +... + + +CRITICISMS ON THE PRINCIPAL ITALIAN WRITERS. + +No. II. PETRARCH. + +(April 1824.) + +Et vos, o lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte, +Sic positae quoniam suaves miscetis odores. Virgil. + +It would not be easy to name a writer whose celebrity, when both +its extent and its duration are taken into the account, can be +considered as equal to that of Petrarch. Four centuries and a +half have elapsed since his death. Yet still the inhabitants of +every nation throughout the western world are as familiar with +his character and his adventures as with the most illustrious +names, and the most recent anecdotes, of their own literary +history. This is indeed a rare distinction. His detractors must +acknowledge that it could not have been acquired by a poet +destitute of merit. His admirers will scarcely maintain that the +unassisted merit of Petrarch could have raised him to that +eminence which has not yet been attained by Shakspeare, Milton, +or Dante,--that eminence, of which perhaps no modern writer, +excepting himself and Cervantes, has long retained possession,-- +an European reputation. + +It is not difficult to discover some of the causes to which this +great man has owed a celebrity, which I cannot but think +disproportioned to his real claims on the admiration of mankind. +In the first place, he is an egotist. Egotism in conversation is +universally abhorred. Lovers, and, I believe, lovers alone, +pardon it in each other. No services, no talents, no powers of +pleasing, render it endurable. Gratitude, admiration, interest, +fear, scarcely prevent those who are condemned to listen to it +from indicating their disgust and fatigue. The childless uncle, +the powerful patron can scarcely extort this compliance. We +leave the inside of the mail in a storm, and mount the box, +rather than hear the history of our companion. The chaplain +bites his lips in the presence of the archbishop. The midshipman +yawns at the table of the First Lord. Yet, from whatever cause, +this practice, the pest of conversation, gives to writing a zest +which nothing else can impart. Rousseau made the boldest +experiment of this kind; and it fully succeeded. In our own time +Lord Byron, by a series of attempts of the same nature, made +himself the object of general interest and admiration. +Wordsworth wrote with egotism more intense, but less obvious; and +he has been rewarded with a sect of worshippers, comparatively +small in number, but far more enthusiastic in their devotion. It +is needless to multiply instances. Even now all the walks of +literature are infested with mendicants for fame, who attempt to +excite our interest by exhibiting all the distortions of their +intellects, and stripping the covering from all the putrid sores +of their feelings. Nor are there wanting many who push their +imitation of the beggars whom they resemble a step further, and +who find it easier to extort a pittance from the spectator, by +simulating deformity and debility from which they are exempt, +than by such honest labour as their health and strength enable +them to perform. In the meantime the credulous public pities and +pampers a nuisance which requires only the treadmill and the +whip. This art, often successful when employed by dunces, gives +irresistible fascination to works which possess intrinsic merit. +We are always desirous to know something of the character and +situation of those whose writings we have perused with pleasure. +The passages in which Milton has alluded to his own circumstances +are perhaps read more frequently, and with more interest, than +any other lines in his poems. It is amusing to observe with what +labour critics have attempted to glean from the poems of Homer, +some hints as to his situation and feelings. According to one +hypothesis, he intended to describe himself under the name of +Demodocus. Others maintain that he was the identical Phemius +whose life Ulysses spared. This propensity of the human mind +explains, I think, in a great degree, the extensive popularity of +a poet whose works are little else than the expression of his +personal feelings. + +In the second place, Petrarch was not only an egotist, but an +amatory egotist. The hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows, +which he described, were derived from the passion which of all +passions exerts the widest influence, and which of all passions +borrows most from the imagination. He had also another immense +advantage. He was the first eminent amatory poet who appeared +after the great convulsion which had changed, not only the +political, but the moral, state of the world. The Greeks, who, +in their public institutions and their literary tastes, were +diametrically opposed to the oriental nations, bore a +considerable resemblance to those nations in their domestic +habits. Like them, they despised the intellects and immured the +persons of their women; and it was among the least of the +frightful evils to which this pernicious system gave birth, that +all the accomplishments of mind, and all the fascinations of +manner, which, in a highly cultivated age, will generally be +necessary to attach men to their female associates, were +monopolised by the Phrynes and the Lamais. The indispensable +ingredients of honourable and chivalrous love were nowhere to be +found united. The matrons and their daughters confined in the +harem,--insipid, uneducated, ignorant of all but the mechanical +arts, scarcely seen till they were married,--could rarely excite +interest; afterwards their brilliant rivals, half Graces, half +Harpies, elegant and informed, but fickle and rapacious, could +never inspire respect. + +The state of society in Rome was, in this point, far happier; and +the Latin literature partook of the superiority. The Roman poets +have decidedly surpassed those of Greece in the delineation of +the passion of love. There is no subject which they have treated +with so much success. Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, Horace, and +Propertius, in spite of all their faults, must be allowed to rank +high in this department of the art. To these I would add my +favourite Plautus; who, though he took his plots from Greece, +found, I suspect, the originals of his enchanting female +characters at Rome. + +Still many evils remained: and, in the decline of the great +empire, all that was pernicious in its domestic institutions +appeared more strongly. Under the influence of governments at +once dependent and tyrannical, which purchased, by cringing to +their enemies, the power of trampling on their subjects, the +Romans sunk into the lowest state of effeminacy and debasement. +Falsehood, cowardice, sloth, conscious and unrepining +degradation, formed the national character. Such a character is +totally incompatible with the stronger passions. Love, in +particular, which, in the modern sense of the word, implies +protection and devotion on the one side, confidence on the other, +respect and fidelity on both, could not exist among the sluggish +and heartless slaves who cringed around the thrones of Honorius +and Augustulus. At this period the great renovation commenced. +The warriors of the north, destitute as they were of knowledge +and humanity, brought with them, from their forests and marshes, +those qualities without which humanity is a weakness and +knowledge a curse,--energy--independence--the dread of shame--the +contempt of danger. It would be most interesting to examine the +manner in which the admixture of the savage conquerors and the +effeminate slaves, after many generations of darkness and +agitation, produced the modern European character;--to trace +back, from the first conflict to the final amalgamation, the +operation of that mysterious alchemy which, from hostile and +worthless elements, has extracted the pure gold of human nature-- +to analyse the mass, and to determine the proportion in which the +ingredients are mingled. But I will confine myself to the +subject to which I have more particularly referred. The nature +of the passion of love had undergone a complete change. It still +retained, indeed, the fanciful and voluptuous character which it +had possessed among the southern nations of antiquity. But it +was tinged with the superstitious veneration with which the +northern warriors had been accustomed to regard women. Devotion +and war had imparted to it their most solemn and animating +feelings. It was sanctified by the blessings of the Church, and +decorated with the wreaths of the tournament. Venus, as in the +ancient fable, was again rising above the dark and tempestuous +waves which had so long covered her beauty. But she rose not +now, as of old, in exposed and luxurious loveliness. She still +wore the cestus of her ancient witchcraft; but the diadem of Juno +was on her brow, and the aegis of Pallas in her hand. Love +might, in fact, be called a new passion; and it is not +astonishing that the first poet of eminence who wholly devoted +his genius to this theme should have excited an extraordinary +sensation. He may be compared to an adventurer who accidentally +lands in a rich and unknown island; and who, though he may only +set up an ill-shaped cross upon the shore, acquires possession of +its treasures, and gives it his name. The claim of Petrarch was +indeed somewhat like that of Amerigo Vespucci to the continent +which should have derived its appellation from Columbus. The +Provencal poets were unquestionably the masters of the +Florentine. But they wrote in an age which could not appreciate +their merits; and their imitator lived at the very period when +composition in the vernacular language began to attract general +attention. Petrarch was in literature what a Valentine is in +love. The public preferred him, not because his merits were of a +transcendent order, but because he was the first person whom they +saw after they awoke from their long sleep. + +Nor did Petrarch gain less by comparison with his immediate +successors than with those who had preceded him. Till more than +a century after his death Italy produced no poet who could be +compared to him. This decay of genius is doubtless to be +ascribed, in a great measure, to the influence which his own +works had exercised upon the literature of his country. Yet it +has conduced much to his fame. Nothing is more favourable to the +reputation of a writer than to be succeeded by a race inferior to +himself; and it is an advantage, from obvious causes, much more +frequently enjoyed by those who corrupt the national taste than +by those who improve it. + +Another cause has co-operated with those which I have mentioned +to spread the renown of Petrarch. I mean the interest which is +inspired by the events of his life--an interest which must have +been strongly felt by his contemporaries, since, after an +interval of five hundred years, no critic can be wholly exempt +from its influence. Among the great men to whom we owe the +resuscitation of science he deserves the foremost place; and his +enthusiastic attachment to this great cause constitutes his most +just and splendid title to the gratitude of posterity. He was +the votary of literature. He loved it with a perfect love. He +worshipped it with an almost fanatical devotion. He was the +missionary, who proclaimed its discoveries to distant countries-- +the pilgrim, who travelled far and wide to collect its reliques-- +the hermit, who retired to seclusion to meditate on its beauties- +-the champion, who fought its battles--the conqueror, who, in +more than a metaphorical sense, led barbarism and ignorance in +triumph, and received in the Capitol the laurel which his +magnificent victory had earned. + +Nothing can be conceived more noble or affecting than that +ceremony. The superb palaces and porticoes, by which had rolled +the ivory chariots of Marius and Caesar, had long mouldered into +dust. The laurelled fasces--the golden eagles--the shouting +legions--the captives and the pictured cities--were indeed +wanting to his victorious procession. The sceptre had passed +away from Rome. But she still retained the mightier influence of +an intellectual empire, and was now to confer the prouder reward +of an intellectual triumph. To the man who had extended the +dominion of her ancient language--who had erected the trophies of +philosophy and imagination in the haunts of ignorance and +ferocity--whose captives were the hearts of admiring nations +enchained by the influence of his song--whose spoils were the +treasures of ancient genius rescued from obscurity and decay--the +Eternal City offered the just and glorious tribute of her +gratitude. Amidst the ruined monuments of ancient and the infant +erections of modern art, he who had restored the broken link +between the two ages of human civilisation was crowned with the +wreath which he had deserved from the moderns who owed to him +their refinement--from the ancients who owed to him their fame. +Never was a coronation so august witnessed by Westminster or by +Rheims. + +When we turn from this glorious spectacle to the private chamber +of the poet,--when we contemplate the struggle of passion and +virtue,--the eye dimmed, the cheek furrowed, by the tears of +sinful and hopeless desire,--when we reflect on the whole history +of his attachment, from the gay fantasy of his youth to the +lingering despair of his age, pity and affection mingle with our +admiration. Even after death had placed the last seal on his +misery, we see him devoting to the cause of the human mind all +the strength and energy which love and sorrow had spared. He +lived the apostle of literature;--he fell its martyr:--he was +found dead with his head reclined on a book. + +Those who have studied the life and writings of Petrarch with +attention, will perhaps be inclined to make some deductions from +this panegyric. It cannot be denied that his merits were +disfigured by a most unpleasant affectation. His zeal for +literature communicated a tinge of pedantry to all his feelings +and opinions. His love was the love of a sonnetteer:--his +patriotism was the patriotism of an antiquarian. The interest +with which we contemplate the works, and study the history, of +those who, in former ages, have occupied our country, arises from +the associations which connect them with the community in which +are comprised all the objects of our affection and our hope. In +the mind of Petrarch these feelings were reversed. He loved +Italy, because it abounded with the monuments of the ancient +masters of the world. His native city--the fair and glorious +Florence--the modern Athens, then in all the bloom and strength +of its youth, could not obtain, from the most distinguished of +its citizens, any portion of that passionate homage which he paid +to the decrepitude of Rome. These and many other blemishes, +though they must in candour be acknowledged, can but in a very +slight degree diminish the glory of his career. For my own part, +I look upon it with so much fondness and pleasure that I feel +reluctant to turn from it to the consideration of his works, +which I by no means contemplate with equal admiration. + +Nevertheless, I think highly of the poetical powers of Petrarch. +He did not possess, indeed, the art of strongly presenting +sensible objects to the imagination;--and this is the more +remarkable, because the talent of which I speak is that which +peculiarly distinguishes the Italian poets. In the Divine Comedy +it is displayed in its highest perfection. It characterises +almost every celebrated poem in the language. Perhaps this is to +be attributed to the circumstance, that painting and sculpture +had attained a high degree of excellence in Italy before poetry +had been extensively cultivated. Men were debarred from books, +but accustomed from childhood to contemplate the admirable works +of art, which, even in the thirteenth century, Italy began to +produce. Hence their imaginations received so strong a bias +that, even in their writings, a taste for graphic delineation is +discernible. The progress of things in England has been in all +respects different. The consequence is, that English historical +pictures are poems on canvas; while Italian poems are pictures +painted to the mind by means of words. Of this national +characteristic the writings of Petrarch are almost totally +destitute. His sonnets indeed, from their subject and nature, +and his Latin Poems, from the restraints which always shackle one +who writes in a dead language, cannot fairly be received in +evidence. But his Triumphs absolutely required the exercise of +this talent, and exhibit no indications of it. + +Genius, however, he certainly possessed, and genius of a high +order. His ardent, tender, and magnificent turn of thought, his +brilliant fancy, his command of expression, at once forcible and +elegant, must be acknowledged. Nature meant him for the prince +of lyric writers. But by one fatal present she deprived her +other gifts of half their value. He would have been a much +greater poet had he been a less clever man. His ingenuity was +the bane of his mind. He abandoned the noble and natural style, +in which he might have excelled, for the conceits which he +produced with a facility at once admirable and disgusting. His +muse, like the Roman lady in Livy, was tempted by gaudy ornaments +to betray the fastnesses of her strength, and, like her, was +crushed beneath the glittering bribes which had seduced her. + +The paucity of his thoughts is very remarkable. It is impossible +to look without amazement on a mind so fertile in combinations, +yet so barren of images. His amatory poetry is wholly made up of +a very few topics, disposed in so many orders, and exhibited in +so many lights, that it reminds us of those arithmetical problems +about permutations, which so much astonish the unlearned. The +French cook, who boasted that he could make fifteen different +dishes out of a nettle-top, was not a greater master of his art. +The mind of Petrarch was a kaleidoscope. At every turn it +presents us with new forms, always fantastic, occasionally +beautiful; and we can scarcely believe that all these varieties +have been produced by the same worthless fragments of glass. The +sameness of his images is, indeed, in some degree, to be +attributed to the sameness of his subject. It would be +unreasonable to expect perpetual variety from so many hundred +compositions, all of the same length, all in the same measure, +and all addressed to the same insipid and heartless coquette. I +cannot but suspect also that the perverted taste, which is the +blemish of his amatory verses, was to be attributed to the +influence of Laura, who, probably, like most critics of her sex, +preferred a gaudy to a majestic style. Be this as it may, he no +sooner changes his subject than he changes his manner. When he +speaks of the wrongs and degradation of Italy, devastated by +foreign invaders, and but feebly defended by her pusillanimous +children, the effeminate lisp of the sonnetteer is exchanged for +a cry, wild, and solemn, and piercing as that which proclaimed +"Sleep no more" to the bloody house of Cawdor. "Italy seems not +to feel her sufferings," exclaims her impassioned poet; +"decrepit, sluggish, and languid, will she sleep forever? Will +there be none to awake her? Oh that I had my hands twisted in +her hair!" + +("Che suoi guai non par che senta; +Vecchia, oziosa, e lenta. +Dormira sempre, e non fia chi la svegli? +Le man l' avess' io avvolte entro e capegli." +Canzone xi.) + +Nor is it with less energy that he denounces against the +Mahometan Babylon the vengeance of Europe and of Christ. His +magnificent enumeration of the ancient exploits of the Greeks +must always excite admiration, and cannot be perused without the +deepest interest, at a time when the wise and good, bitterly +disappointed in so many other countries, are looking with +breathless anxiety towards the natal land of liberty,--the field +of Marathon,--and the deadly pass where the Lion of Lacedaemon +turned to bay. +("Maratona, e le mortali strette +Che difese il LEON con poca gente." +Canzone v.) + +His poems on religious subjects also deserve the highest +commendation. At the head of these must be placed the Ode to the +Virgin. It is, perhaps, the finest hymn in the world. His +devout veneration receives an exquisitely poetical character from +the delicate perception of the sex and the loveliness of his +idol, which we may easily trace throughout the whole composition. + +I could dwell with pleasure on these and similar parts of the +writings of Petrarch; but I must return to his amatory poetry: +to that he entrusted his fame; and to that he has principally +owed it. + +The prevailing defect of his best compositions on this subject is +the universal brilliancy with which they are lighted up. The +natural language of the passions is, indeed, often figurative and +fantastic; and with none is this more the case than with that of +love. Still there is a limit. The feelings should, indeed, have +their ornamental garb; but, like an elegant woman, they should be +neither muffled nor exposed. The drapery should be so arranged, +as at once to answer the purposes of modest concealment and +judicious display. The decorations should sometimes be employed +to hide a defect, and sometimes to heighten a beauty; but never +to conceal, much less to distort, the charms to which they are +subsidiary. The love of Petrarch, on the contrary, arrays itself +like a foppish savage, whose nose is bored with a golden ring, +whose skin is painted with grotesque forms and dazzling colours, +and whose ears are drawn down his shoulders by the weight of +jewels. It is a rule, without any exception, in all kinds of +composition, that the principal idea, the predominant feeling, +should never be confounded with the accompanying decorations. It +should generally be distinguished from them by greater simplicity +of expression; as we recognise Napoleon in the pictures of his +battles, amidst a crowd of embroidered coats and plumes, by his +grey cloak and his hat without a feather. In the verses of +Petrarch it is generally impossible to say what thought is meant +to be prominent. All is equally elaborate. The chief wears the +same gorgeous and degrading livery with his retinue, and obtains +only his share of the indifferent stare which we bestow upon them +in common. The poems have no strong lights and shades, no +background, no foreground;--they are like the illuminated figures +in an oriental manuscript,--plenty of rich tints and no +perspective. Such are the faults of the most celebrated of these +compositions. Of those which are universally acknowledged to be +bad it is scarcely possible to speak with patience. Yet they +have much in common with their splendid companions. They differ +from them, as a Mayday procession of chimneysweepers differs from +the Field of Cloth of Gold. They have the gaudiness but not the +wealth. His muse belongs to that numerous class of females who +have no objection to be dirty, while they can be tawdry. When +his brilliant conceits are exhausted, he supplies their place +with metaphysical quibbles, forced antitheses, bad puns, and +execrable charades. In his fifth sonnet he may, I think, be said +to have sounded the lowest chasm of the Bathos. Upon the whole, +that piece may be safely pronounced to be the worst attempt at +poetry, and the worst attempt at wit, in the world. + +A strong proof of the truth of these criticisms is, that almost +all the sonnets produce exactly the same effect on the mind of +the reader. They relate to all the various moods of a lover, +from joy to despair:--yet they are perused, as far as my +experience and observation have gone, with exactly the same +feeling. The fact is, that in none of them are the passion and +the ingenuity mixed in just proportions. There is not enough +sentiment to dilute the condiments which are employed to season +it. The repast which he sets before us resembles the Spanish +entertainment in Dryden's "Mock Astrologer", at which the relish +of all the dishes and sauces was overpowered by the common +flavour of spice. Fish,--flesh,--fowl,--everything at table +tasted of nothing but red pepper. + +The writings of Petrarch may indeed suffer undeservedly from one +cause to which I must allude. His imitators have so much +familiarised the ear of Italy and of Europe to the favourite +topics of amorous flattery and lamentation, that we can scarcely +think them original when we find them in the first author; and, +even when our understandings have convinced us that they were new +to him, they are still old to us. This has been the fate of many +of the finest passages of the most eminent writers. It is +melancholy to trace a noble thought from stage to stage of its +profanation; to see it transferred from the first illustrious +wearer to his lacqueys, turned, and turned again, and at last +hung on a scarecrow. Petrarch has really suffered much from this +cause. Yet that he should have so suffered is a sufficient proof +that his excellences were not of the highest order. A line may +be stolen; but the pervading spirit of a great poet is not to be +surreptitiously obtained by a plagiarist. The continued +imitation of twenty-five centuries has left Homer as it found +him. If every simile and every turn of Dante had been copied ten +thousand times, the Divine Comedy would have retained all its +freshness. It was easy for the porter in Farquhar to pass for +Beau Clincher, by borrowing his lace and his pulvilio. It would +have been more difficult to enact Sir Harry Wildair. + +Before I quit this subject I must defend Petrarch from one +accusation which is in the present day frequently brought against +him. His sonnets are pronounced by a large sect of critics not +to possess certain qualities which they maintain to be +indispensable to sonnets, with as much confidence, and as much +reason, as their prototypes of old insisted on the unities of the +drama. I am an exoteric--utterly unable to explain the mysteries +of this new poetical faith. I only know that it is a faith, +which except a man do keep pure and undefiled, without doubt he +shall be called a blockhead. I cannot, however, refrain from +asking what is the particular virtue which belongs to fourteen as +distinguished from all other numbers. Does it arise from its +being a multiple of seven? Has this principle any reference to +the sabbatical ordinance? Or is it to the order of rhymes that +these singular properties are attached? Unhappily the sonnets of +Shakspeare differ as much in this respect from those of Petrarch, +as from a Spenserian or an octave stanza. Away with this +unmeaning jargon! We have pulled down the old regime of +criticism. I trust that we shall never tolerate the equally +pedantic and irrational despotism, which some of the +revolutionary leaders would erect upon its ruins. We have not +dethroned Aristotle and Bossu for this. + +These sonnet-fanciers would do well to reflect that, though the +style of Petrarch may not suit the standard of perfection which +they have chosen, they lie under great obligations to these very +poems,--that, but for Petrarch the measure, concerning which they +legislate so judiciously, would probably never have attracted +notice; and that to him they owe the pleasure of admiring, and +the glory of composing, pieces, which seem to have been produced +by Master Slender, with the assistance of his man Simple. + +I cannot conclude these remarks without making a few observations +on the Latin writings of Petrarch. It appears that, both by +himself and by his contemporaries, these were far more highly +valued than his compositions in the vernacular language. +Posterity, the supreme court of literary appeal, has not only +reversed the judgment, but, according to its general practice, +reversed it with costs, and condemned the unfortunate works to +pay, not only for their own inferiority, but also for the +injustice of those who had given them an unmerited preference. +And it must be owned that, without making large allowances for +the circumstances under which they were produced, we cannot +pronounce a very favourable judgment. They must be considered as +exotics, transplanted to a foreign climate, and reared in an +unfavourable situation; and it would be unreasonable to expect +from them the health and the vigour which we find in the +indigenous plants around them, or which they might themselves +have possessed in their native soil. He has but very imperfectly +imitated the style of the Latin authors, and has not compensated +for the deficiency by enriching the ancient language with the +graces of modern poetry. The splendour and ingenuity, which we +admire, even when we condemn it, in his Italian works, is almost +totally wanting, and only illuminates with rare and occasional +glimpses the dreary obscurity of the African. The eclogues have +more animation; but they can only be called poems by courtesy. +They have nothing in common with his writings in his native +language, except the eternal pun about Laura and Daphne. None of +these works would have placed him on a level with Vida or +Buchanan. Yet, when we compare him with those who preceded him, +when we consider that he went on the forlorn hope of literature, +that he was the first who perceived, and the first who attempted +to revive, the finer elegancies of the ancient language of the +world, we shall perhaps think more highly of him than of those +who could never have surpassed his beauties if they had not +inherited them. + +He has aspired to emulate the philosophical eloquence of Cicero, +as well as the poetical majesty of Virgil. His essay on the +Remedies of Good and Evil Fortune is a singular work in a +colloquial form, and a most scholastic style. It seems to be +framed upon the model of the Tusculan Questions,--with what +success those who have read it may easily determine. It consists +of a series of dialogues: in each of these a person is +introduced who has experienced some happy or some adverse event: +he gravely states his case; and a reasoner, or rather Reason +personified, confutes him; a task not very difficult, since the +disciple defends his position only by pertinaciously repeating +it, in almost the same words at the end of every argument of his +antagonist. In this manner Petrarch solves an immense variety of +cases. Indeed, I doubt whether it would be possible to name any +pleasure or any calamity which does not find a place in this +dissertation. He gives excellent advice to a man who is in +expectation of discovering the philosopher's stone;--to another, +who has formed a fine aviary;--to a third, who is delighted with +the tricks of a favourite monkey. His lectures to the +unfortunate are equally singular. He seems to imagine that a +precedent in point is a sufficient consolation for every form of +suffering. "Our town is taken," says one complainant; "So was +Troy," replies his comforter. "My wife has eloped," says +another; "If it has happened to you once, it happened to Menelaus +twice." One poor fellow is in great distress at having +discovered that his wife's son is none of his. "It is hard," +says he, "that I should have had the expense of bringing up one +who is indifferent to me." "You are a man," returns his monitor, +quoting the famous line of Terence; "and nothing that belongs to +any other man ought to be indifferent to you." The physical +calamities of life are not omitted; and there is in particular a +disquisition on the advantages of having the itch, which, if not +convincing, is certainly very amusing. + +The invectives on an unfortunate physician, or rather upon the +medical science, have more spirit. Petrarch was thoroughly in +earnest on this subject. And the bitterness of his feelings +occasionally produces, in the midst of his classical and +scholastic pedantry, a sentence worthy of the second Philippic. +Swift himself might have envied the chapter on the causes of the +paleness of physicians. + +Of his Latin works the Epistles are the most generally known and +admired. As compositions they are certainly superior to his +essays. But their excellence is only comparative. From so large +a collection of letters, written by so eminent a man, during so +varied and eventful a life, we should have expected a complete +and spirited view of the literature, the manners, and the +politics of the age. A traveller--a poet--a scholar--a lover--a +courtier--a recluse--he might have perpetuated, in an +imperishable record, the form and pressure of the age and body of +the time. Those who read his correspondence, in the hope of +finding such information as this, will be utterly disappointed. +It contains nothing characteristic of the period or of the +individual. It is a series, not of letters, but of themes; and, +as it is not generally known, might be very safely employed at +public schools as a magazine of commonplaces. Whether he write +on politics to the Emperor and the Doge, or send advice and +consolation to a private friend, every line is crowded with +examples and quotations, and sounds big with Anaxagoras and +Scipio. Such was the interest excited by the character of +Petrarch, and such the admiration which was felt for his +epistolary style, that it was with difficulty that his letters +reached the place of their destination. The poet describes, with +pretended regret and real complacency, the importunity of the +curious, who often opened, and sometimes stole, these favourite +compositions. It is a remarkable fact that, of all his epistles, +the least affected are those which are addressed to the dead and +the unborn. Nothing can be more absurd than his whim of +composing grave letters of expostulation and commendation to +Cicero and Seneca; yet these strange performances are written in +a far more natural manner than his communications to his living +correspondents. But of all his Latin works the preference must +be given to the Epistle to Posterity; a simple, noble, and +pathetic composition, most honourable both to his taste and his +heart. If we can make allowance for some of the affected +humility of an author, we shall perhaps think that no literary +man has left a more pleasing memorial of himself. + +In conclusion, we may pronounce that the works of Petrarch were +below both his genius and his celebrity; and that the +circumstances under which he wrote were as adverse to the +development of his powers as they were favourable to the +extension of his fame. + +... + + +SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT LAWSUIT BETWEEN THE PARISHES OF ST +DENNIS AND ST GEORGE IN THE WATER. + +(April 1824.) + +PART I. + +The parish of St Dennis is one of the most pleasant parts of the +county in which it is situated. It is fertile, well wooded, well +watered, and of an excellent air. For many generations the manor +had been holden in tail-male by a worshipful family, who have +always taken precedence of their neighbours at the races and the +sessions. + +In ancient times the affairs of this parish were administered by +a Court-Baron, in which the freeholders were judges; and the +rates were levied by select vestries of the inhabitant +householders. But at length these good customs fell into disuse. +The Lords of the Manor, indeed, still held courts for form's +sake; but they or their stewards had the whole management of +affairs. They demanded services, duties, and customs to which +they had no just title. Nay, they would often bring actions +against their neighbours for their own private advantage, and +then send in the bill to the parish. No objection was made, +during many years, to these proceedings, so that the rates became +heavier and heavier: nor was any person exempted from these +demands, except the footmen and gamekeepers of the squire and the +rector of the parish. They indeed were never checked in any +excess. They would come to an honest labourer's cottage, eat his +pancakes, tuck his fowls into their pockets, and cane the poor +man himself. If he went up to the great house to complain, it +was hard to get the speech of Sir Lewis; and, indeed, his only +chance of being righted was to coax the squire's pretty +housekeeper, who could do what she pleased with her master. If +he ventured to intrude upon the Lord of the Manor without this +precaution, he gained nothing by his pains. Sir Lewis, indeed, +would at first receive him with a civil face; for, to give him +his due, he could be a fine gentleman when he pleased. "Good +day, my friend," he would say, "what situation have you in my +family?" "Bless your honour!" says the poor fellow, "I am not +one of your honour's servants; I rent a small piece of ground, +your honour." "Then, you dog," quoth the squire, "what do you +mean by coming here? Has a gentleman nothing to do but to hear +the complaints of clowns? Here! Philip, James, Dick, toss this +fellow in a blanket; or duck him, and set him in the stocks to +dry." + +One of these precious Lords of the Manor enclosed a deer-park; +and, in order to stock it, he seized all the pretty pet fawns +that his tenants had brought up, without paying them a farthing, +or asking their leave. It was a sad day for the parish of St +Dennis. Indeed, I do not believe that all his oppressive +exactions and long bills enraged the poor tenants so much as this +cruel measure. + +Yet for a long time, in spite of all these inconveniences, St +Dennis's was a very pleasant place. The people could not refrain +from capering if they heard the sound of a fiddle. And, if they +were inclined to be riotous, Sir Lewis had only to send for +Punch, or the dancing dogs, and all was quiet again. But this +could not last forever; they began to think more and more of +their condition; and, at last, a club of foul-mouthed, good-for- +nothing rascals was held at the sign of the Devil, for the +purpose of abusing the squire and the parson. The doctor, to own +the truth, was old and indolent, extremely fat and greedy. He +had not preached a tolerable sermon for a long time. The squire +was still worse; so that, partly by truth and partly by +falsehood, the club set the whole parish against their superiors. +The boys scrawled caricatures of the clergyman upon the church- +door, and shot at the landlord with pop-guns as he rode a- +hunting. It was even whispered about that the Lord of the Manor +had no right to his estate, and that, if he were compelled to +produce the original title-deeds, it would be found that he only +held the estate in trust for the inhabitants of the parish. + +In the meantime the squire was pressed more and more for money. +The parish could pay no more. The rector refused to lend a +farthing. The Jews were clamorous for their money; and the +landlord had no other resource than to call together the +inhabitants of the parish, and to request their assistance. They +now attacked him furiously about their grievances, and insisted +that he should relinquish his oppressive powers. They insisted +that his footmen should be kept in order, that the parson should +pay his share of the rates, that the children of the parish +should be allowed to fish in the trout-stream, and to gather +blackberries in the hedges. They at last went so far as to +demand that he should acknowledge that he held his estate only in +trust for them. His distress compelled him to submit. They, in +return, agreed to set him free from his pecuniary difficulties, +and to suffer him to inhabit the manor-house; and only annoyed +him from time to time by singing impudent ballads under his +window. + +The neighbouring gentlefolks did not look on these proceedings +with much complacency. It is true that Sir Lewis and his +ancestors had plagued them with law-suits, and affronted them at +county meetings. Still they preferred the insolence of a +gentleman to that of the rabble, and felt some uneasiness lest +the example should infect their own tenants. + +A large party of them met at the house of Lord Caesar Germain. +Lord Caesar was the proudest man in the county. His family was +very ancient and illustrious, though not particularly opulent. +He had invited most of his wealthy neighbours. There was Mrs +Kitty North, the relict of poor Squire Peter, respecting whom the +coroner's jury had found a verdict of accidental death, but whose +fate had nevertheless excited strange whispers in the +neighbourhood. There was Squire Don, the owner of the great West +Indian property, who was not so rich as he had formerly been, but +still retained his pride, and kept up his customary pomp; so that +he had plenty of plate but no breeches. There was Squire Von +Blunderbussen, who had succeeded to the estates of his uncle, old +Colonel Frederic Von Blunderbussen, of the hussars. The colonel +was a very singular old fellow; he used to learn a page of +Chambaud's grammar, and to translate Telemaque, every morning, +and he kept six French masters to teach him to parleyvoo. +Nevertheless he was a shrewd clever man, and improved his estate +with so much care, sometimes by honest and sometimes by dishonest +means, that he left a very pretty property to his nephew. + +Lord Caesar poured out a glass of Tokay for Mrs Kitty. "Your +health, my dear madam, I never saw you look more charming. Pray, +what think you of these doings at St Dennis's?" + +"Fine doings, indeed!" interrupted Von Blunderbussen; "I wish +that we had my old uncle alive, he would have had some of them up +to the halberts. He knew how to usa cat-o'-nine-tails. If +things go on in this way, a gentleman will not be able to +horsewhip an impudent farmer, or to say a civil word to a milk- +maid." + +"Indeed, it's very true, Sir," said Mrs Kitty; "their insolence +is intolerable. Look at me, for instance:--a poor lone woman!-- +My dear Peter dead! I loved him:--so I did; and, when he died, I +was so hysterical you cannot think. And now I cannot lean on the +arm of a decent footman, or take a walk with a tall grenadier +behind me, just to protect me from audacious vagabonds, but they +must have their nauseous suspicions;--odious creatures!" + +"This must be stopped," replied Lord Caesar. "We ought to +contribute to support my poor brother-in-law against these +rascals. I will write to Squire Guelf on this subject by this +night's post. His name is always at the head of our county +subscriptions." + +If the people of St Dennis's had been angry before, they were +well-nigh mad when they heard of this conversation. The whole +parish ran to the manor-house. Sir Lewis's Swiss porter shut the +door against them; but they broke in and knocked him on the head +for his impudence. They then seized the Squire, hooted at him, +pelted him, ducked him, and carried him to the watch-house. They +turned the rector into the street, burnt his wig and band, and +sold the church-plate by auction. They put up a painted Jezebel +in the pulpit to preach. They scratched out the texts which were +written round the church, and scribbled profane scraps of songs +and plays in their place. They set the organ playing to pot- +house tunes. Instead of being decently asked in church, they +were married over a broomstick. But, of all their whims, the use +of the new patent steel-traps was the most remarkable. + +This trap was constructed on a completely new principle. It +consisted of a cleaver hung in a frame like a window; when any +poor wretch got in, down it came with a tremendous din, and took +off his head in a twinkling. They got the squire into one of +these machines. In order to prevent any of his partisans from +getting footing in the parish, they placed traps at every corner. +It was impossible to walk through the highway at broad noon +without tumbling into one or other of them. No man could go +about his business in security. Yet so great was the hatred +which the inhabitants entertained for the old family, that a few +decent, honest people, who begged them to take down the steel- +traps, and to put up humane man-traps in their room, were very +roughly handled for their good nature. + +In the meantime the neighbouring gentry undertook a suit against +the parish on the behalf of Sir Lewis's heir, and applied to +Squire Guelf for his assistance. + +Everybody knows that Squire Guelf is more closely tied up than +any gentleman in the shire. He could, therefore, lend them no +help; but he referred them to the Vestry of the Parish of St +George in the Water. These good people had long borne a grudge +against their neighbours on the other side of the stream; and +some mutual trespasses had lately occurred which increased their +hostility. + +There was an honest Irishman, a great favourite among them, who +used to entertain them with raree-shows, and to exhibit a magic +lantern to the children on winter evenings. He had gone quite +mad upon this subject. Sometimes he would call out in the middle +of the street--"Take care of that corner, neighbours; for the +love of Heaven, keep clear of that post, there is a patent steel- +trap concealed thereabouts." Sometimes he would be disturbed by +frightful dreams; then he would get up at dead of night, open his +window and cry "fire," till the parish was roused, and the +engines sent for. The pulpit of the Parish of St George seemed +likely to fall; I believe that the only reason was that the +parson had grown too fat and heavy; but nothing would persuade +this honest man but that it was a scheme of the people at St +Dennis's, and that they had sawed through the pillars in order to +break the rector's neck. Once he went about with a knife in his +pocket, and told all the persons whom he met that it had been +sharpened by the knife-grinder of the next parish to cut their +throats. These extravagancies had a great effect on the people; +and the more so because they were espoused by Squire Guelf's +steward, who was the most influential person in the parish. He +was a very fair-spoken man, very attentive to the main chance, +and the idol of the old women, because he never played at +skittles or danced with the girls; and, indeed, never took any +recreation but that of drinking on Saturday nights with his +friend Harry, the Scotch pedlar. His supporters called him Sweet +William; his enemies the Bottomless Pit. + +The people of St Dennis's, however, had their advocates. There +was Frank, the richest farmer in the parish, whose great +grandfather had been knocked on the head many years before, in a +squabble between the parish and a former landlord. There was +Dick, the merry-andrew, rather light-fingered and riotous, but a +clever droll fellow. Above all, there was Charley, the publican, +a jolly, fat, honest lad, a great favourite with the women, who, +if he had not been rather too fond of ale and chuck-farthing, +would have been the best fellow in the neighbourhood. + +"My boys," said Charley, "this is exceedingly well for Madam +North;--not that I would speak uncivilly of her; she put up my +picture in her best room, bless her for it! But, I say, this is +very well for her, and for Lord Caesar, and Squire Don, and +Colonel Von;--but what affair is it of yours or mine? It is not +to be wondered at, that gentlemen should wish to keep poor people +out of their own. But it is strange indeed that they should +expect the poor themselves to combine against their own +interests. If the folks at St Dennis's should attack us we have +the law and our cudgels to protect us. But why, in the name of +wonder, are we to attack them? When old Sir Charles, who was +Lord of the Manor formerly, and the parson, who was presented by +him to the living, tried to bully the vestry, did not we knock +their heads together, and go to meeting to hear Jeremiah +Ringletub preach? And did the Squire Don, or the great Sir +Lewis, that lived at that time, or the Germains, say a word +against us for it? Mind your own business, my lads: law is not +to be had for nothing; and we, you may be sure, shall have to pay +the whole bill." + +Nevertheless the people of St George's were resolved on law. +They cried out most lustily, "Squire Guelf for ever! Sweet +William for ever! No steel traps!" Squire Guelf took all the +rascally footmen who had worn old Sir Lewis's livery into his +service. They were fed in the kitchen on the very best of +everything, though they had no settlement. Many people, and the +paupers in particular, grumbled at these proceedings. The +steward, however, devised a way to keep them quiet. + +There had lived in this parish for many years an old gentleman, +named Sir Habeas Corpus. He was said by some to be of Saxon, by +some of Norman, extraction. Some maintain that he was not born +till after the time of Sir Charles, to whom we have before +alluded. Others are of opinion that he was a legitimate son of +old Lady Magna Charta, although he was long concealed and kept +out of his birthright. Certain it is that he was a very +benevolent person. Whenever any poor fellow was taken up on +grounds which he thought insufficient, he used to attend on his +behalf and bail him; and thus he had become so popular, that to +take direct measures against him was out of the question. + +The steward, accordingly, brought a dozen physicians to examine +Sir Habeas. After consultation, they reported that he was in a +very bad way, and ought not, on any account, to be allowed to +stir out for several months. Fortified with this authority, the +parish officers put him to bed, closed his windows, and barred +his doors. They paid him every attention, and from time to time +issued bulletins of his health. The steward never spoke of him +without declaring that he was the best gentleman in the world; +but excellent care was taken that he should never stir out of +doors. + +When this obstacle was removed, the Squire and the steward kept +the parish in excellent order; flogged this man, sent that man to +the stocks, and pushed forward the law-suit with a noble +disregard of expense. They were, however, wanting either in +skill or in fortune. And everything went against them after +their antagonists had begun to employ Solicitor Nap. + +Who does not know the name of Solicitor Nap? At what alehouse is +not his behaviour discussed? In what print-shop is not his +picture seen? Yet how little truth has been said about him! +Some people hold that he used to give laudanum by pints to his +six clerks for his amusement. Others, whose number has very much +increased since he was killed by the gaol distemper, conceive +that he was the very model of honour and good-nature. I shall +try to tell the truth about him. + +He was assuredly an excellent solicitor. In his way he never was +surpassed. As soon as the parish began to employ him, their +cause took a turn. In a very little time they were successful; +and Nap became rich. He now set up for a gentleman; took +possession of the old manor-house; got into the commission of the +peace, and affected to be on a par with the best of the county. +He governed the vestries as absolutely as the old family had +done. Yet, to give him his due, he managed things with far more +discretion than either Sir Lewis or the rioters who had pulled +the Lords of the Manor down. He kept his servants in tolerable +order. He removed the steel traps from the highways and the +corners of the streets. He still left a few indeed in the more +exposed parts of his premises; and set up a board announcing that +traps and spring guns were set in his grounds. He brought the +poor parson back to the parish; and, though he did not enable him +to keep a fine house and a coach as formerly, he settled him in a +snug little cottage, and allowed him a pleasant pad-nag. He +whitewashed the church again; and put the stocks, which had been +much wanted of late, into good repair. + +With the neighbouring gentry, however, he was no favourite. He +was crafty and litigious. He cared nothing for right, if he +could raise a point of law against them. He pounded their +cattle, broke their hedges, and seduced their tenants from them. +He almost ruined Lord Caesar with actions, in every one of which +he was successful. Von Blunderbussen went to law with him for an +alleged trespass, but was cast, and almost ruined by the costs of +suit. He next took a fancy to the seat of Squire Don, who was, +to say the truth, little better than an idiot. He asked the poor +dupe to dinner, and then threatened to have him tossed in a +blanket unless he would make over his estates to him. The poor +Squire signed and sealed a deed by which the property was +assigned to Joe, a brother of Nap's, in trust for and to the use +of Nap himself. The tenants, however, stood out. They +maintained that the estate was entailed, and refused to pay rents +to the new landlord; and in this refusal they were stoutly +supported by the people in St George's. + +About the same time Nap took it into his head to match with +quality, and nothing would serve him but one of the Miss +Germains. Lord Caesar swore like a trooper; but there was no +help for it. Nap had twice put executions in his principal +residence, and had refused to discharge the latter of the two +till he had extorted a bond from his Lordship which compelled him +to comply. + +THE END OF THE FIRST PART. + +... + + +A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR ABRAHAM COWLEY AND MR JOHN MILTON, +TOUCHING THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. + +SET DOWN BY A GENTLEMAN OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE. + +(August 1824.) + +"Referre sermones Deorum et +Magna modis tenuare parvis."--Horace. + +I have thought it good to set down in writing a memorable debate, +wherein I was a listener, and two men of pregnant parts and great +reputation discoursers; hoping that my friends will not be +displeased to have a record both of the strange times through +which I have lived, and of the famous men with whom I have +conversed. It chanced in the warm and beautiful spring of the +year 1665, a little before the saddest summer that ever London +saw, that I went to the Bowling Green at Piccadilly, whither, at +that time, the best gentry made continual resorts. There I met +Mr Cowley, who had lately left Barnelms. There was then a house +preparing for him at Chertsey; and till it should be finished, he +had come up for a short time to London, that he might urge a suit +to his Grace of Buckingham touching certain lands of her +Majesty's, whereof he requested a lease. I had the honour to be +familiarly acquainted with that worthy gentleman and most +excellent poet, whose death hath been deplored with as general a +consent of all Powers that delight in the woods, or in verse, or +in love, as was of old that of Daphnis or of Callus. + +After some talk, which it is not material to set down at large, +concerning his suit and his vexations at the court, where indeed +his honesty did him more harm than his parts could do him good, I +entreated him to dine with me at my lodging in the Temple, which +he most courteously promised. And, that so eminent a guest might +not lack a better entertainment than cooks or vintners can +provide, I sent to the house of Mr John Milton, in the Artillery +Walk, to beg that he would also be my guest. For, though he had +been secretary, first to the Council of State, and, after that, +to the Protector, and Mr Cowley had held the same post under the +Lord St Albans in his banishment, I hoped, notwithstanding that +they would think themselves rather united by their common art +than divided by their different factions. And so indeed it +proved. For, while we sat at table, they talked freely of many +men and things, as well ancient as modern, with much civility. +Nay, Mr Milton, who seldom tasted wine, both because of his +singular temperance and because of his gout, did more than once +pledge Mr Cowley, who was indeed no hermit in diet. At last, +being heated, Mr Milton begged that I would open the windows. +"Nay," said I, "if you desire fresh air and coolness, what should +hinder us, as the evening is fair, from sailing for an hour on +the river?" To this they both cheerfully consented; and forth we +walked, Mr Cowley and I leading Mr Milton between us, to the +Temple Stairs. There we took a boat; and thence we were rowed up +the river. + +The wind was pleasant; the evening fine; the sky, the earth, and +the water beautiful to look upon. But Mr Cowley and I held our +peace, and said nothing of the gay sights around us, lest we +should too feelingly remind Mr Milton of his calamity; whereof, +however, he needed no monitor: for soon he said, sadly, "Ah, Mr +Cowley, you are a happy man. What would I now give but for one +more look at the sun, and the waters, and the gardens of this +fair city!" + +"I know not," said Mr Cowley, "whether we ought not rather to +envy you for that which makes you to envy others: and that +specially in this place, where all eyes which are not closed in +blindness ought to become fountains of tears. What can we look +upon which is not a memorial of change and sorrow, of fair things +vanished, and evil things done? When I see the gate of +Whitehall, and the stately pillars of the Banqueting House, I +cannot choose but think of what I have there seen in former days, +masques, and pageants, and dances, and smiles, and the waving of +graceful heads, and the bounding of delicate feet. And then I +turn to thoughts of other things, which even to remember makes me +to blush and weep;--of the great black scaffold, and the axe and +block, which were placed before those very windows; and the voice +seems to sound in mine ears, the lawless and terrible voice, +which cried out that the head of a king was the head of a +traitor. There stands Westminster Hall, which who can look upon, +and not tremble to think how time, and change, and death confound +the councils of the wise, and beat down the weapons of the +mighty? How have I seen it surrounded with tens of thousands of +petitioners crying for justice and privilege! How have I heard +it shake with fierce and proud words, which made the hearts of +the people burn within them! Then it is blockaded by dragoons, +and cleared by pikemen. And they who have conquered their master +go forth trembling at the word of their servant. And yet a +little while, and the usurper comes forth from it, in his robe of +ermine, with the golden staff in one hand and the Bible in the +other, amidst the roaring of the guns and the shouting of the +people. And yet again a little while, and the doors are thronged +with multitudes in black, and the hearse and the plumes come +forth; and the tyrant is borne, in more than royal pomp, to a +royal sepulchre. A few days more, and his head is fixed to rot +on the pinnacles of that very hall where he sat on a throne in +his life, and lay in state after his death. When I think on all +these things, to look round me makes me sad at heart. True it is +that God hath restored to us our old laws, and the rightful line +of our kings. Yet, how I know not, but it seems to me that +something is wanting--that our court hath not the old gravity, +nor our people the old loyalty. These evil times, like the great +deluge, have overwhelmed and confused all earthly things. And, +even as those waters, though at last they abated, yet, as the +learned write, destroyed all trace of the garden of Eden, so that +its place hath never since been found, so hath this opening of +all the flood-gates of political evil effaced all marks of the +ancient political paradise." + +"Sir, by your favour," said Mr Milton, "though, from many +circumstances both of body and of fortune, I might plead fairer +excuses for despondency than yourself, I yet look not so sadly +either on the past or on the future. That a deluge hath passed +over this our nation, I deny not. But I hold it not to be such a +deluge as that of which you speak; but rather a blessed flood, +like those of the Nile, which in its overflow doth indeed wash +away ancient landmarks, and confound boundaries, and sweep away +dwellings, yea, doth give birth to many foul and dangerous +reptiles. Yet hence is the fulness of the granary, the beauty of +the garden, the nurture of all living things. + +"I remember well, Mr Cowley, what you have said concerning these +things in your Discourse of the Government of Oliver Cromwell, +which my friend Elwood read to me last year. Truly, for elegance +and rhetoric, that essay is to be compared with the finest +tractates of Isocrates and Cicero. But neither that nor any +other book, nor any events, which with most men have, more than +any book, weight and authority, have altered my opinion, that, of +all assemblies that ever were in this world, the best and the +most useful was our Long Parliament. I speak not this as wishing +to provoke debate; which neither yet do I decline." + +Mr Cowley was, as I could see, a little nettled. Yet, as he was +a man of a kind disposition and a most refined courtesy, he put a +force upon himself, and answered with more vehemence and +quickness indeed than was his wont, yet not uncivilly. "Surely, +Mr Milton, you speak not as you think. I am indeed one of those +who believe that God hath reserved to himself the censure of +kings, and that their crimes and oppressions are not to be +resisted by the hands of their subjects. Yet can I easily find +excuse for the violence of such as are stung to madness by +grievous tyranny. But what shall we say for these men? Which of +their just demands was not granted? Which even of their cruel +and unreasonable requisitions, so as it were not inconsistent +with all law and order, was refused? Had they not sent Strafford +to the block and Laud to the Tower? Had they not destroyed the +Courts of the High Commission and the Star Chamber? Had they not +reversed the proceedings confirmed by the voices of the judges of +England, in the matter of ship-money? Had they not taken from +the king his ancient and most lawful power touching the order of +knighthood? Had they not provided that, after their dissolution, +triennial parliaments should be holden, and that their own power +should continue till of their great condescension they should be +pleased to resign it themselves? What more could they ask? Was +it not enough that they had taken from their king all his +oppressive powers, and many that were most salutary? Was it not +enough that they had filled his council-board with his enemies, +and his prisons with his adherents? Was it not enough that they +had raised a furious multitude, to shout and swagger daily under +the very windows of his royal palace? Was it not enough that +they had taken from him the most blessed prerogative of princely +mercy; that, complaining of intolerance themselves, they had +denied all toleration to others; that they had urged, against +forms, scruples childish as those of any formalist; that they had +persecuted the least remnant of the popish rites with the +fiercest bitterness of the popish spirit? Must they besides all +this have full power to command his armies, and to massacre his +friends? + +"For military command, it was never known in any monarchy, nay, +in any well ordered republic, that it was committed to the +debates of a large and unsettled assembly. For their other +requisition, that he should give up to their vengeance all who +had defended the rights of his crown, his honour must have been +ruined if he had complied. Is it not therefore plain that they +desired these things only in order that, by refusing, his +Majesty might give them a pretence for war? + +"Men have often risen up against fraud, against cruelty, against +rapine. But when before was it known that concessions were met +with importunities, graciousness with insults, the open palm of +bounty with the clenched fist of malice? Was it like trusty +delegates of the Commons of England, and faithful stewards of +their liberty and their wealth, to engage them for such causes in +civil war, which both to liberty and to wealth is of all things +the most hostile. Evil indeed must be the disease which is not +more tolerable than such a medicine. Those who, even to save a +nation from tyrants, excite it to civil war do in general but +minister to it the same miserable kind of relief wherewith the +wizards of Pharaoh mocked the Egyptian. We read that, when Moses +had turned their waters into blood, those impious magicians, +intending, not benefit to the thirsting people, but vain and +emulous ostentation of their own art, did themselves also change +into blood the water which the plague had spared. Such sad +comfort do those who stir up war minister to the oppressed. But +here where was the oppression? What was the favour which had not +been granted? What was the evil which had not been removed? +What further could they desire?" + +"These questions," said Mr Milton, austerely, "have indeed often +deceived the ignorant; but that Mr Cowley should have been so +beguiled, I marvel. You ask what more the Parliament could +desire? I will answer you in one word, security. What are +votes, and statutes, and resolutions? They have no eyes to see, +no hands to strike and avenge. They must have some safeguard +from without. Many things, therefore, which in themselves were +peradventure hurtful, was this Parliament constrained to ask, +lest otherwise good laws and precious rights should be without +defence. Nor did they want a great and signal example of this +danger. I need not remind you that, many years before, the two +Houses had presented to the king the Petition of Right, wherein +were set down all the most valuable privileges of the people of +this realm. Did not Charles accept it? Did he not declare it to +be law? Was it not as fully enacted as ever were any of those +bills of the Long Parliament concerning which you spoke? And +were those privileges therefore enjoyed more fully by the people? +No: the king did from that time redouble his oppressions as if +to avenge himself for the shame of having been compelled to +renounce them. Then were our estates laid under shameful +impositions, our houses ransacked, our bodies imprisoned. +Then was the steel of the hangman blunted with mangling the ears +of harmless men. Then our very minds were fettered, and the iron +entered into our souls. Then we were compelled to hide our +hatred, our sorrow, and our scorn, to laugh with hidden faces at +the mummery of Laud, to curse under our breath the tyranny of +Wentworth. Of old time it was well and nobly said, by one of our +kings, that an Englishman ought to be as free as his thoughts. +Our prince reversed the maxim; he strove to make our thoughts as +much slaves as ourselves. To sneer at a Romish pageant, to +miscall a lord's crest, were crimes for which there was no mercy. +These were all the fruits which we gathered from those excellent +laws of the former Parliament, from these solemn promises of the +king. Were we to be deceived again? Were we again to give +subsidies, and receive nothing but promises? Were we again to +make wholesome statutes, and then leave them to be broken daily +and hourly, until the oppressor should have squandered another +supply, and should be ready for another perjury? You ask what +they could desire which he had not already granted. Let me ask +of you another question. What pledge could he give which he had +not already violated? From the first year of his reign, whenever +he had need of the purses of his Commons to support the revels of +Buckingham or the processions of Laud, he had assured them that, +as he was a gentleman and a king, he would sacredly preserve +their rights. He had pawned those solemn pledges, and pawned +them again and again; but when had he redeemed them? 'Upon my +faith,'--'Upon my sacred word,'--'Upon the honour of a prince,'-- +came so easily from his lips, and dwelt so short a time on his +mind that they were as little to be trusted as the 'By the hilts' +of an Alsatian dicer. + +"Therefore it is that I praise this Parliament for what else I +might have condemned. If what he had granted had been granted +graciously and readily, if what he had before promised had been +faithfully observed, they could not be defended. It was because +he had never yielded the worst abuse without a long struggle, and +seldom without a large bribe; it was because he had no sooner +disentangled himself from his troubles than he forgot his +promises; and, more like a villainous huckster than a great king, +kept both the prerogative and the large price which had been paid +to him to forego it; it was because of these things that it was +necessary and just to bind with forcible restraints one who could +be bound neither by law nor honour. Nay, even while he was +making those very concessions of which you speak, he betrayed his +deadly hatred against the people and their friends. Not only did +he, contrary to all that ever was deemed lawful in England, order +that members of the Commons House of Parliament should be +impeached of high treason at the bar of the Lords; thereby +violating both the trial by jury and the privileges of the House; +but, not content with breaking the law by his ministers, he went +himself armed to assail it. In the birth-place and sanctuary of +freedom, in the House itself; nay in the very chair of the +speaker, placed for the protection of free speech and privilege, +he sat, rolling his eyes round the benches, searching for those +whose blood he desired, and singling out his opposers to the +slaughter. This most foul outrage fails. Then again for the old +arts. Then come gracious messages. Then come courteous +speeches. Then is again mortgaged his often forfeited honour. +He will never again violate the laws. He will respect their +rights as if they were his own. He pledges the dignity of his +crown; that crown which had been committed to him for the weal of +his people, and which he never named, but that he might the more +easily delude and oppress them. + +"The power of the sword, I grant you, was not one to be +permanently possessed by Parliament. Neither did that Parliament +demand it as a permanent possession. They asked it only for +temporary security. Nor can I see on what conditions they could +safely make peace with that false and wicked king, save such as +would deprive him of all power to injure. + +"For civil war, that it is an evil I dispute not. But that it is +the greatest of evils, that I stoutly deny. It doth indeed +appear to the misjudging to be a worse calamity than bad +government, because its miseries are collected together within a +short space and time, and may easily at one view be taken in and +perceived. But the misfortunes of nations ruled by tyrants, +being distributed over many centuries and many places, as they +are of greater weight and number, so are they of less display. +When the Devil of tyranny hath gone into the body politic he +departs not but with struggles, and foaming, and great +convulsions. Shall he, therefore, vex it for ever, lest, in +going out, he for a moment tear and rend it? Truly this argument +touching the evils of war would better become my friend Elwood, +or some other of the people called Quakers, than a courtier and a +cavalier. It applies no more to this war than to all others, as +well foreign as domestic, and, in this war, no more to the Houses +than to the king; nay, not so much, since he by a little +sincerity and moderation might have rendered that needless which +their duty to God and man then enforced them to do." + +"Pardon me, Mr Milton," said Mr Cowley; "I grieve to hear you +speak thus of that good king. Most unhappy indeed he was, in +that he reigned at a time when the spirit of the then living +generation was for freedom, and the precedents of former ages for +prerogative. His case was like to that of Christopher Columbus, +when he sailed forth on an unknown ocean, and found that the +compass, whereby he shaped his course, had shifted from the north +pole whereto before it had constantly pointed. So it was with +Charles. His compass varied; and therefore he could not tack +aright. If he had been an absolute king he would doubtless, like +Titus Vespasian, have been called the delight of the human race. +If he had been a Doge of Venice, or a Stadtholder of Holland, he +would never have outstepped the laws. But he lived when our +government had neither clear definitions nor strong sanctions. +Let, therefore, his faults be ascribed to the time. Of his +virtues the praise is his own. + +"Never was there a more gracious prince, or a more proper +gentleman. In every pleasure he was temperate, in conversation +mild and grave, in friendship constant, to his servants liberal, +to his queen faithful and loving, in battle grave, in sorrow and +captivity resolved, in death most Christian and forgiving. + +"For his oppressions, let us look at the former history of this +realm. James was never accounted a tyrant. Elizabeth is +esteemed to have been the mother of her people. Were they less +arbitrary? Did they never lay hands on the purses of their +subjects but by Act of Parliament? Did they never confine +insolent and disobedient men but in due course of law? Was the +court of Star Chamber less active? Were the ears of libellers +more safe? I pray you, let not king Charles be thus dealt with. +It was enough that in his life he was tried for an alleged breach +of laws which none ever heard named till they were discovered for +his destruction. Let not his fame be treated as was his sacred +and anointed body. Let not his memory be tried by principles +found out ex post facto. Let us not judge by the spirit of one +generation a man whose disposition had been formed by the temper +and fashion of another." + +"Nay, but conceive me, Mr Cowley," said Mr Milton; "inasmuch as, +at the beginning of his reign, he imitated those who had governed +before him, I blame him not. To expect that kings will, of their +own free choice, abridge their prerogative, were argument of but +slender wisdom. Whatever, therefore, lawless, unjust, or cruel, +he either did or permitted during the first years of his reign, I +pass by. But for what was done after that he had solemnly given +his consent to the Petition of Right, where shall we find +defence? Let it be supposed, which yet I concede not, that the +tyranny of his father and of Queen Elizabeth had been no less +rigorous than was his. But had his father, had that queen, sworn +like him, to abstain from those rigours? Had they, like him, for +good and valuable consideration, aliened their hurtful +prerogatives? Surely not: from whatever excuse you can plead +for him he had wholly excluded himself. The borders of +countries, we know, are mostly the seats of perpetual wars and +tumults. It was the same with the undefined frontiers, which of +old separated privilege and prerogative. They were the debatable +land of our polity. It was no marvel if, both on the one side +and on the other, inroads were often made. But, when treaties +have been concluded, spaces measured, lines drawn, landmarks set +up, that which before might pass for innocent error or just +reprisal becomes robbery, perjury, deadly sin. He knew not, you +say, which of his powers were founded on ancient law, and which +only on vicious example. But had he not read the Petition of +Right? Had not proclamation been made from his throne, Soit fait +comme il est desire? + +"For his private virtues they are beside the question. Remember +you not," and Mr Milton smiled, but somewhat sternly, "what Dr +Cauis saith in the Merry Wives of Shakspeare? 'What shall the +honest man do in my closet? There is no honest man that shall +come in my closet.' Even so say I. There is no good man who +shall make us his slaves. If he break his word to his people, is +it a sufficient defence that he keeps it to his companions? If +he oppress and extort all day, shall he be held blameless because +he prayeth at night and morning? If he be insatiable in plunder +and revenge, shall we pass it by because in meat and drink he is +temperate? If he have lived like a tyrant, shall all be +forgotten because he hath died like a martyr? + +"He was a man, as I think, who had so much semblance of virtues +as might make his vices most dangerous. He was not a tyrant +after our wonted English model. The second Richard, the second +and fourth Edwards, and the eighth Harry, were men profuse, gay, +boisterous; lovers of women and of wine, of no outward sanctity +or gravity. Charles was a ruler after the Italian fashion; +grave, demure, of a solemn carriage, and a sober diet; as +constant at prayers as a priest, as heedless of oaths as an +atheist." + +Mr Cowley answered somewhat sharply: "I am sorry, Sir, to hear +you speak thus. I had hoped that the vehemence of spirit which +was caused by these violent times had now abated. Yet, sure, Mr +Milton, whatever you may think of the character of King Charles, +you will not still justify his murder?" + +"Sir," said Mr Milton, "I must have been of a hard and strange +nature, if the vehemence which was imputed to me in my younger +days had not been diminished by the afflictions wherewith it hath +pleased Almighty God to chasten my age. I will not now defend +all that I may heretofore have written. But this I say, that I +perceive not wherefore a king should be exempted from all +punishment. Is it just that where most is given least should be +required? Or politic that where there is the greatest power to +injure there should be no danger to restrain? But, you will say, +there is no such law. Such a law there is. There is the law of +selfpreservation written by God himself on our hearts. There is +the primal compact and bond of society, not graven on stone, or +sealed with wax, nor put down on parchment, nor set forth in any +express form of words by men when of old they came together; but +implied in the very act that they so came together, pre-supposed +in all subsequent law, not to be repealed by any authority, nor +invalidated by being omitted in any code; inasmuch as from thence +are all codes and all authority. + +"Neither do I well see wherefore you cavaliers, and, indeed, many +of us whom you merrily call Roundheads, distinguish between those +who fought against King Charles, and specially after the second +commission given to Sir Thomas Fairfax, and those who condemned +him to death. Sure, if his person were inviolable, it was as +wicked to lift the sword against it at Naseby as the axe at +Whitehall. If his life might justly be taken, why not in course +of trial as well as by right of war? + +"Thus much in general as touching the right. But, for the +execution of King Charles in particular, I will not now undertake +to defend it. Death is inflicted, not that the culprit may die, +but that the state may be thereby advantaged. And, from all that +I know, I think that the death of King Charles hath more hindered +than advanced the liberties of England. + +"First, he left an heir. He was in captivity. The heir was in +freedom. He was odious to the Scots. The heir was favoured by +them. To kill the captive therefore, whereby the heir, in the +apprehension of all royalists, became forthwith king--what was +it, in truth, but to set their captive free, and to give him +besides other great advantages? + +"Next, it was a deed most odious to the people, and not only to +your party, but to many among ourselves; and, as it is perilous +for any government to outrage the public opinion, so most was it +perilous for a government which had from that opinion alone its +birth, its nurture, and its defence. + +"Yet doth not this properly belong to our dispute; nor can these +faults be justly charged upon that most renowned Parliament. +For, as you know, the high court of justice was not established +until the House had been purged of such members as were adverse +to the army, and brought wholly under the control of the chief +officers." + +"And who," said Mr Cowley, "levied that army? Who commissioned +those officers? Was not the fate of the Commons as justly +deserved as was that of Diomedes, who was devoured by those +horses whom he had himself taught to feed on the flesh and blood +of men? How could they hope that others would respect laws which +they had themselves insulted; that swords which had been drawn +against the prerogatives of the king would be put up at an +ordinance of the Commons? It was believed, of old, that there +were some devils easily raised but never to be laid; insomuch +that, if a magician called them up, he should be forced to find +them always some employment; for, though they would do all his +bidding, yet, if he left them but for one moment without some +work of evil to perform, they would turn their claws against +himself. Such a fiend is an army. They who evoke it cannot +dismiss it. They are at once its masters and its slaves. Let +them not fail to find for it task after task of blood and rapine. +Let them not leave it for a moment in repose, lest it tear them +in pieces. + +"Thus was it with that famous assembly. They formed a force +which they could neither govern nor resist. They made it +powerful. They made it fanatical. As if military insolence were +not of itself sufficiently dangerous, they heightened it with +spiritual pride,--they encouraged their soldiers to rave from the +tops of tubs against the men of Belial, till every trooper +thought himself a prophet. They taught them to abuse popery, +till every drummer fancied that he was as infallible as a pope. + +"Then it was that religion changed her nature. She was no longer +the parent of arts and letters, of wholesome knowledge, of +innocent pleasures, of blessed household smiles. In their place +came sour faces, whining voices, the chattering of fools, the +yells of madmen. Then men fasted from meat and drink, who fasted +not from bribes and blood. Then men frowned at stage-plays, who +smiled at massacres. Then men preached against painted faces, +who felt no remorse for their own most painted lives. Religion +had been a pole-star to light and to guide. It was now more like +to that ominous star in the book of the Apocalypse, which fell +from heaven upon the fountains and rivers and changed them into +wormwood; for even so did it descend from its high and celestial +dwelling-place to plague this earth, and to turn into bitterness +all that was sweet, and into poison all that was nourishing. + +"Therefore it was not strange that such things should follow. +They who had closed the barriers of London against the king could +not defend them against their own creatures. They who had so +stoutly cried for privilege, when that prince, most unadvisedly +no doubt, came among them to demand their members, durst not wag +their fingers when Oliver filled their hall with soldiers, gave +their mace to a corporal, put their keys in his pocket, and drove +them forth with base terms, borrowed half from the conventicle +and half from the ale-house. Then were we, like the trees of the +forest in holy writ, given over to the rule of the bramble; then +from the basest of the shrubs came forth the fire which devoured +the cedars of Lebanon. We bowed down before a man of mean birth, +of ungraceful demeanour, of stammering and most vulgar utterance, +of scandalous and notorious hypocrisy. Our laws were made and +unmade at his pleasure; the constitution of our Parliaments +changed by his writ and proclamation; our persons imprisoned; our +property plundered; our lands and houses overrun with soldiers; +and the great charter itself was but argument for a scurrilous +jest; and for all this we may thank that Parliament; for never, +unless they had so violently shaken the vessel, could such foul +dregs have risen to the top." + +Then answered Mr Milton: "What you have now said comprehends so +great a number of subjects, that it would require, not an +evening's sail on the Thames, but rather a voyage to the Indies, +accurately to treat of all: yet, in as few words as I may, I +will explain my sense of these matters. + +"First, as to the army. An army, as you have well set forth, is +always a weapon dangerous to those who use it; yet he who falls +among thieves spares not to fire his musquetoon, because he may +be slain if it burst in his hand. Nor must states refrain from +defending themselves, lest their defenders should at last turn +against them. Nevertheless, against this danger statesmen should +carefully provide; and, that they may do so, they should take +especial care that neither the officers nor the soldiers do +forget that they are also citizens. I do believe that the +English army would have continued to obey the parliament with all +duty, but for one act, which, as it was in intention, in seeming, +and in immediate effect, worthy to be compared with the most +famous in history, so was it, in its final consequence, most +injurious. I speak of that ordinance called the "self-denying", +and of the new model of the army. By those measures the Commons +gave up the command of their forces into the hands of men who +were not of themselves. Hence, doubtless, derived no small +honour to that noble assembly, which sacrificed to the hope of +public good the assurance of private advantage. And, as to the +conduct of the war, the scheme prospered. Witness the battle of +Naseby, and the memorable exploits of Fairfax in the west. But +thereby the Parliament lost that hold on the soldiers and that +power to control them, which they retained while every regiment +was commanded by their own members. Politicians there be, who +would wholly divide the legislative from the executive power. In +the golden age this may have succeeded; in the millennium it may +succeed again. But, where great armies and great taxes are +required, there the executive government must always hold a great +authority, which authority, that it may not oppress and destroy +the legislature, must be in some manner blended with it. The +leaders of foreign mercenaries have always been most dangerous to +a country. The officers of native armies, deprived of the civil +privileges of other men, are as much to be feared. This was the +great error of that Parliament: and, though an error it were, it +was an error generous, virtuous, and more to be deplored than +censured. + +"Hence came the power of the army and its leaders, and especially +of that most famous leader, whom both in our conversation to-day, +and in that discourse whereon I before touched, you have, in my +poor opinion, far too roughly handled. Wherefore you speak +contemptibly of his parts I know not; but I suspect that you are +not free from the error common to studious and speculative men. +Because Oliver was an ungraceful orator, and never said, either +in public or private, anything memorable, you will have it that +he was of a mean capacity. Sure this is unjust. Many men have +there been ignorant of letters, without wit, without eloquence, +who yet had the wisdom to devise, and the courage to perform, +that which they lacked language to explain. Such men often, in +troubled times, have worked out the deliverance of nations and +their own greatness, not by logic, not by rhetoric, but by +wariness in success, by calmness in danger, by fierce and +stubborn resolution in all adversity. The hearts of men are +their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their +eloquence: and such an one, in my judgment, was his late +Highness, who, if none were to treat his name scornfully now +shook not at the sound of it while he lived, would, by very few, +be mentioned otherwise than with reverence. His own deeds shall +avouch him for a great statesman, a great soldier, a true lover +of his country, a merciful and generous conqueror. + +"For his faults, let us reflect that they who seem to lead are +oftentimes most constrained to follow. They who will mix with +men, and especially they who will govern them, must in many +things obey them. They who will yield to no such conditions may +be hermits, but cannot be generals and statesmen. If a man will +walk straight forward without turning to the right or the left, +he must walk in a desert, and not in Cheapside. Thus was he +enforced to do many things which jumped not with his inclination +nor made for his honour; because the army, on which alone he +could depend for power and life, might not otherwise be +contented. And I, for mine own part, marvel less that he +sometimes was fain to indulge their violence than that he could +so often restrain it. + +"In that he dissolved the Parliament, I praise him. It then was +so diminished in numbers, as well by the death as by the +exclusion of members, that it was no longer the same assembly; +and, if at that time it had made itself perpetual, we should have +been governed, not by an English House of Commons, but by a +Venetian Council. + +"If in his following rule he overstepped the laws, I pity rather +than condemn him. He may be compared to that Maeandrius of +Samos, of whom Herodotus saith, in his Thalia, that, wishing to +be of all men the most just, he was not able; for after the death +of Polycrates he offered freedom to the people; and not till +certain of them threatened to call him to a reckoning for what he +had formerly done, did he change his purpose, and make himself a +tyrant, lest he should be treated as a criminal. + +"Such was the case of Oliver. He gave to his country a form of +government so free and admirable that, in near six thousand +years, human wisdom hath never devised any more excellent +contrivance for human happiness. To himself he reserved so +little power that it would scarcely have sufficed for his safety, +and it is a marvel that it could suffice for his ambition. When, +after that, he found that the members of his Parliament disputed +his right even to that small authority which he had kept, when he +might have kept all, then indeed I own that he began to govern by +the sword those who would not suffer him to govern by the law. + +"But, for the rest, what sovereign was ever more princely in +pardoning injuries, in conquering enemies, in extending the +dominions and the renown of his people? What sea, what shore did +he not mark with imperishable memorials of his friendship or his +vengeance? The gold of Spain, the steel of Sweden, the ten +thousand sails of Holland, availed nothing against him. While +every foreign state trembled at our arms, we sat secure from all +assault. War, which often so strangely troubles both husbandry +and commerce, never silenced the song of our reapers, or the +sound of our looms. Justice was equally administered; God was +freely worshipped. + +"Now look at that which we have taken in exchange. With the +restored king have come over to us vices of every sort, and most +the basest and most shameful,--lust without love--servitude +without loyalty--foulness of speech--dishonesty of dealing-- +grinning contempt of all things good and generous. The throne is +surrounded by men whom the former Charles would have spurned from +his footstool. The altar is served by slaves whose knees are +supple to every being but God. Rhymers, whose books the hangman +should burn, pandars, actors, and buffoons, these drink a health +and throw a main with the King; these have stars on their breasts +and gold sticks in their hands; these shut out from his presence +the best and bravest of those who bled for his house. Even so +doth God visit those who know not how to value freedom. He gives +them over to the tyranny which they have desired, Ina pantes +epaurontai basileos." + +"I will not," said Mr Cowley, "dispute with you on this argument. +But, if it be as you say, how can you maintain that England hath +been so greatly advantaged by the rebellion?" + +"Understand me rightly, Sir," said Mr Milton. "This nation is +not given over to slavery and vice. We tasted indeed the fruits +of liberty before they had well ripened. Their flavour was harsh +and bitter; and we turned from them with loathing to the sweeter +poisons of servitude. This is but for a time. England is +sleeping on the lap of Dalilah, traitorously chained, but not yet +shorn of strength. Let the cry be once heard--the Philistines be +upon thee; and at once that sleep will be broken, and those +chains will be as flax in the fire. The great Parliament hath +left behind it in our hearts and minds a hatred of tyrants, a +just knowledge of our rights, a scorn of vain and deluding names; +and that the revellers of Whitehall shall surely find. The sun +is darkened; but it is only for a moment: it is but an eclipse; +though all birds of evil omen have begun to scream, and all +ravenous beasts have gone forth to prey, thinking it to be +midnight. Woe to them if they be abroad when the rays again +shine forth! + +"The king hath judged ill. Had he been wise he would have +remembered that he owed his restoration only to confusions which +had wearied us out, and made us eager for repose. He would have +known that the folly and perfidy of a prince would restore to the +good old cause many hearts which had been alienated thence by the +turbulence of factions; for, if I know aught of history, or of +the heart of man, he will soon learn that the last champion of +the people was not destroyed when he murdered Vane, nor seduced +when he beguiled Fairfax." + +Mr Cowley seemed to me not to take much amiss what Mr Milton had +said touching that thankless court, which had indeed but poorly +requited his own good service. He only said, therefore, "Another +rebellion! Alas! alas! Mr Milton! If there be no choice but +between despotism and anarchy, I prefer despotism." + +"Many men," said Mr Milton, "have floridly and ingeniously +compared anarchy and despotism; but they who so amuse themselves +do but look at separate parts of that which is truly one great +whole. Each is the cause and the effect of the other; the evils +of either are the evils of both. Thus do states move on in the +same eternal cycle, which, from the remotest point, brings them +back again to the same sad starting-post: and, till both those +who govern and those who obey shall learn and mark this great +truth, men can expect little through the future, as they have +known little through the past, save vicissitudes of extreme +evils, alternately producing and produced. + +"When will rulers learn that, where liberty is not, security end +order can never be? We talk of absolute power; but all power +hath limits, which, if not fixed by the moderation of the +governors, will be fixed by the force of the governed. +Sovereigns may send their opposers to dungeons; they may clear +out a senate-house with soldiers; they may enlist armies of +spies; they may hang scores of the disaffected in chains at every +cross road; but what power shall stand in that frightful time +when rebellion hath become a less evil than endurance? Who shall +dissolve that terrible tribunal, which, in the hearts of the +oppressed, denounces against the oppressor the doom of its wild +justice? Who shall repeal the law of selfdefence? What arms or +discipline shall resist the strength of famine and despair? How +often were the ancient Caesars dragged from their golden palaces, +stripped of their purple robes, mangled, stoned, defiled with +filth, pierced with hooks, hurled into Tiber? How often have the +Eastern Sultans perished by the sabres of their own janissaries, +or the bow-strings of their own mutes! For no power which is not +limited by laws can ever be protected by them. Small, therefore, +is the wisdom of those who would fly to servitude as if it were a +refuge from commotion; for anarchy is the sure consequence of +tyranny. That governments may be safe, nations must be free. +Their passions must have an outlet provided, lest they make one. + +"When I was at Naples, I went with Signor Manso, a gentleman of +excellent parts and breeding, who had been the familiar friend of +that famous poet Torquato Tasso, to see the burning mountain +Vesuvius. I wondered how the peasants could venture to dwell so +fearlessly and cheerfully on its sides, when the lava was flowing +from its summit; but Manso smiled, and told me that when the fire +descends freely they retreat before it without haste or fear. +They can tell how fast it will move, and how far; and they know, +moreover, that, though it may work some little damage, it will +soon cover the fields over which it hath passed with rich +vineyards and sweet flowers. But, when the flames are pent up in +the mountain, then it is that they have reason to fear; then it +is that the earth sinks and the sea swells; then cities are +swallowed up; and their place knoweth them no more. So it is in +politics: where the people is most closely restrained, there it +gives the greatest shocks to peace and order; therefore would I +say to all kings, let your demagogues lead crowds, lest they lead +armies; let them bluster, lest they massacre; a little turbulence +is, as it were, the rainbow of the state; it shows indeed that +there is a passing shower; but it is a pledge that there shall be +no deluge." + +"This is true," said Mr Cowley; "yet these admonitions are not +less needful to subjects than to sovereigns." + +"Surely," said Mr Milton; "and, that I may end this long debate +with a few words in which we shall both agree, I hold that, as +freedom is the only safeguard of governments, so are order and +moderation generally necessary to preserve freedom. Even the +vainest opinions of men are not to be outraged by those who +propose to themselves the happiness of men for their end, and who +must work with the passions of men for their means. The blind +reverence for things ancient is indeed so foolish that it might +make a wise man laugh, if it were not also sometimes so +mischievous that it would rather make a good man weep. Yet, +since it may not be wholly cured it must be discreetly indulged; +and therefore those who would amend evil laws should consider +rather how much it may be safe to spare, than how much it may be +possible to change. Have you not heard that men who have been +shut up for many years in dungeons shrink if they see the light, +and fall down if their irons be struck off? And so, when nations +have long been in the house of bondage, the chains which have +crippled them are necessary to support them, the darkness which +hath weakened their sight is necessary to preserve it. Therefore +release them not too rashly, lest they curse their freedom and +pine for their prison. + +"I think indeed that the renowned Parliament, of which we have +talked so much, did show, until it became subject to the +soldiers, a singular and admirable moderation, in such times +scarcely to be hoped, and most worthy to be an example to all +that shall come after. But on this argument I have said enough: +and I will therefore only pray to Almighty God that those who +shall, in future times stand forth in defence of our liberties, +as well civil as religious, may adorn the good cause by mercy, +prudence, and soberness, to the glory of his name and the +happiness and honour of the English people." + +And so ended that discourse; and not long after we were set on +shore again at the Temple Gardens, and there parted company: and +the same evening I took notes of what had been said, which I have +here more fully set down, from regard both to the fame of the +men, and the importance of the subject-matter. + +... + + +ON THE ATHENIAN ORATORS. + +(August 1824.) + +"To the famous orators repair, +Those ancient, whose resistless eloquence +Wielded at will that fierce democratie, +Shook the arsenal, and fulmined over Greece +To Macedon and Artaxerxes' throne."--Milton. + +The celebrity of the great classical writers is confined within +no limits, except those which separate civilised from savage man. +Their works are the common property of every polished nation. +They have furnished subjects for the painter, and models for the +poet. In the minds of the educated classes throughout Europe, +their names are indissolubly associated with the endearing +recollections of childhood,--the old school-room,--the dog-eared +grammar,--the first prize,--the tears so often shed and so +quickly dried. So great is the veneration with which they are +regarded, that even the editors and commentators who perform the +lowest menial offices to their memory, are considered, like the +equerries and chamberlains of sovereign princes, as entitled to a +high rank in the table of literary precedence. It is, therefore, +somewhat singular that their productions should so rarely have +been examined on just and philosophical principles of criticism. + +The ancient writers themselves afford us but little assistance. +When they particularise, they are commonly trivial: when they +would generalise, they become indistinct. An exception must, +indeed, be made in favour of Aristotle. Both in analysis and in +combination, that great man was without a rival. No philosopher +has ever possessed, in an equal degree, the talent either of +separating established systems into their primary elements, or of +connecting detached phenomena in harmonious systems. He was the +great fashioner of the intellectual chaos; he changed its +darkness into light, and its discord into order. He brought to +literary researches the same vigour and amplitude of mind to +which both physical and metaphysical science are so greatly +indebted. His fundamental principles of criticism are excellent. +To cite only a single instance:--the doctrine which he +established, that poetry is an imitative art, when justly +understood, is to the critic what the compass is to the +navigator. With it he may venture upon the most extensive +excursions. Without it he must creep cautiously along the coast, +or lose himself in a trackless expanse, and trust, at best, to +the guidance of an occasional star. It is a discovery which +changes a caprice into a science. + +The general propositions of Aristotle are valuable. But the +merit of the superstructure bears no proportion to that of the +foundation. This is partly to be ascribed to the character of +the philosopher, who, though qualified to do all that could be +done by the resolving and combining powers of the understanding, +seems not to have possessed much of sensibility or imagination. +Partly, also, it may be attributed to the deficiency of +materials. The great works of genius which then existed were not +either sufficiently numerous or sufficiently varied to enable any +man to form a perfect code of literature. To require that a +critic should conceive classes of composition which had never +existed, and then investigate their principles, would be as +unreasonable as the demand of Nebuchadnezzar, who expected his +magicians first to tell him his dream and then to interpret it. + +With all his deficiencies, Aristotle was the most enlightened and +profound critic of antiquity. Dionysius was far from possessing +the same exquisite subtilty, or the same vast comprehension. But +he had access to a much greater number of specimens; and he had +devoted himself, as it appears, more exclusively to the study of +elegant literature. His peculiar judgments are of more value +than his general principles. He is only the historian of +literature. Aristotle is its philosopher. + +Quintilian applied to general literature the same principles by +which he had been accustomed to judge of the declamations of his +pupils. He looks for nothing but rhetoric, and rhetoric not of +the highest order. He speaks coldly of the incomparable works of +Aeschylus. He admires, beyond expression, those inexhaustible +mines of common-places, the plays of Euripides. He bestows a few +vague words on the poetical character of Homer. He then proceeds +to consider him merely as an orator. An orator Homer doubtless +was, and a great orator. But surely nothing is more remarkable, +in his admirable works, than the art with which his oratorical +powers are made subservient to the purposes of poetry. Nor can I +think Quintilian a great critic in his own province. Just as are +many of his remarks, beautiful as are many of his illustrations, +we can perpetually detect in his thoughts that flavour which the +soil of despotism generally communicates to all the fruits of +genius. Eloquence was, in his time, little more than a condiment +which served to stimulate in a despot the jaded appetite for +panegyric, an amusement for the travelled nobles and the blue- +stocking matrons of Rome. It is, therefore, with him, rather a +sport than a war; it is a contest of foils, not of swords. He +appears to think more of the grace of the attitude than of the +direction and vigour of the thrust. It must be acknowledged, in +justice to Quintilian, that this is an error to which Cicero has +too often given the sanction, both of his precept and of his +example. + +Longinus seems to have had great sensibility, but little +discrimination. He gives us eloquent sentences, but no +principles. It was happily said that Montesquieu ought to have +changed the name of his book from "L'Esprit des Lois" to +"L'Esprit sur les Lois". In the same manner the philosopher of +Palmyra ought to have entitled his famous work, not "Longinus on +the Sublime," but "The Sublimities of Longinus." The origin of +the sublime is one of the most curious and interesting subjects +of inquiry that can occupy the attention of a critic. In our own +country it has been discussed, with great ability, and, I think, +with very little success, by Burke and Dugald Stuart. Longinus +dispenses himself from all investigations of this nature, by +telling his friend Terentianus that he already knows everything +that can be said upon the question. It is to be regretted that +Terentianus did not impart some of his knowledge to his +instructor: for from Longinus we learn only that sublimity means +height--or elevation. (Akrotes kai exoche tis logon esti ta +uoe.) This name, so commodiously vague, is applied indifferently +to the noble prayer of Ajax in the Iliad, and to a passage of +Plato about the human body, as full of conceits as an ode of +Cowley. Having no fixed standard, Longinus is right only by +accident. He is rather a fancier than a critic. + +Modern writers have been prevented by many causes from supplying +the deficiencies of their classical predecessors. At the time of +the revival of literature, no man could, without great and +painful labour, acquire an accurate and elegant knowledge of the +ancient languages. And, unfortunately, those grammatical and +philological studies, without which it was impossible to +understand the great works of Athenian and Roman genius, have a +tendency to contract the views and deaden the sensibility of +those who follow them with extreme assiduity. A powerful mind, +which has been long employed in such studies, may be compared to +the gigantic spirit in the Arabian tale, who was persuaded to +contract himself to small dimensions in order to enter within the +enchanted vessel, and, when his prison had been closed upon him, +found himself unable to escape from the narrow boundaries to the +measure of which he had reduced his stature. When the means have +long been the objects of application, they are naturally +substituted for the end. It was said, by Eugene of Savoy, that +the greatest generals have commonly been those who have been at +once raised to command, and introduced to the great operations of +war, without being employed in the petty calculations and +manoeuvres which employ the time of an inferior officer. In +literature the principle is equally sound. The great tactics of +criticism will, in general, be best understood by those who have +not had much practice in drilling syllables and particles. + +I remember to have observed among the French Anas a ludicrous +instance of this. A scholar, doubtless of great learning, +recommends the study of some long Latin treatise, of which I now +forget the name, on the religion, manners, government, and +language of the early Greeks. "For there," says he, "you will +learn everything of importance that is contained in the Iliad and +Odyssey, without the trouble of reading two such tedious books." +Alas! it had not occurred to the poor gentleman that all the +knowledge to which he attached so much value was useful only as +it illustrated the great poems which he despised, and would be as +worthless for any other purpose as the mythology of Caffraria, or +the vocabulary of Otaheite. + +Of those scholars who have disdained to confine themselves to +verbal criticism few have been successful. The ancient languages +have, generally, a magical influence on their faculties. They +were "fools called into a circle by Greek invocations." The +Iliad and Aeneid were to them not books but curiosities, or +rather reliques. They no more admired those works for their +merits than a good Catholic venerates the house of the Virgin at +Loretto for its architecture. Whatever was classical was good. +Homer was a great poet, and so was Callimachus. The epistles of +Cicero were fine, and so were those of Phalaris. Even with +respect to questions of evidence they fell into the same error. +The authority of all narrations, written in Greek or Latin, was +the same with them. It never crossed their minds that the lapse +of five hundred years, or the distance of five hundred leagues, +could affect the accuracy of a narration;--that Livy could be a +less veracious historian than Polybius;--or that Plutarch could +know less about the friends of Xenophon than Xenophon himself. +Deceived by the distance of time, they seem to consider all the +Classics as contemporaries; just as I have known people in +England, deceived by the distance of place, take it for granted +that all persons who live in India are neighbours, and ask an +inhabitant of Bombay about the health of an acquaintance at +Calcutta. It is to be hoped that no barbarian deluge will ever +again pass over Europe. But should such a calamity happen, it +seems not improbable that some future Rollin or Gillies will +compile a history of England from Miss Porter's Scottish Chiefs, +Miss Lee's Recess, and Sir Nathaniel Wraxall's Memoirs. + +It is surely time that ancient literature should be examined in a +different manner, without pedantical prepossessions, but with a +just allowance, at the same time, for the difference of +circumstances and manners. I am far from pretending to the +knowledge or ability which such a task would require. All that I +mean to offer is a collection of desultory remarks upon a most +interesting portion of Greek literature. + +It may be doubted whether any compositions which have ever been +produced in the world are equally perfect in their kind with the +great Athenian orations. Genius is subject to the same laws +which regulate the production of cotton and molasses. The supply +adjusts itself to the demand. The quantity may be diminished by +restrictions, and multiplied by bounties. The singular +excellence to which eloquence attained at Athens is to be mainly +attributed to the influence which it exerted there. In turbulent +times, under a constitution purely democratic, among a people +educated exactly to that point at which men are most susceptible +of strong and sudden impressions, acute, but not sound reasoners, +warm in their feelings, unfixed in their principles, and +passionate admirers of fine composition, oratory received such +encouragement as it has never since obtained. + +The taste and knowledge of the Athenian people was a favourite +object of the contemptuous derision of Samuel Johnson; a man who +knew nothing of Greek literature beyond the common school-books, +and who seems to have brought to what he had read scarcely more +than the discernment of a common school-boy. He used to assert, +with that arrogant absurdity which, in spite of his great +abilities and virtues, renders him, perhaps the most ridiculous +character in literary history, that Demosthenes spoke to a people +of brutes;--to a barbarous people;--that there could have been no +civilisation before the invention of printing. Johnson was a +keen but a very narrow-minded observer of mankind. He +perpetually confounded their general nature with their particular +circumstances. He knew London intimately. The sagacity of his +remarks on its society is perfectly astonishing. But Fleet +Street was the world to him. He saw that Londoners who did not +read were profoundly ignorant; and he inferred that a Greek, who +had few or no books, must have been as uninformed as one of Mr +Thrale's draymen. + +There seems to be, on the contrary, every reason to believe, +that, in general intelligence, the Athenian populace far +surpassed the lower orders of any community that has ever +existed. It must be considered, that to be a citizen was to be a +legislator,--a soldier,--a judge,--one upon whose voice might +depend the fate of the wealthiest tributary state, of the most +eminent public man. The lowest offices, both of agriculture and +of trade, were, in common, performed by slaves. The commonwealth +supplied its meanest members with the support of life, the +opportunity of leisure, and the means of amusement. Books were +indeed few: but they were excellent; and they were accurately +known. It is not by turning over libraries, but by repeatedly +perusing and intently contemplating a few great models, that the +mind is best disciplined. A man of letters must now read much +that he soon forgets, and much from which he learns nothing +worthy to be remembered. The best works employ, in general, but +a small portion of his time. Demosthenes is said to have +transcribed six times the history of Thucydides. If he had been +a young politician of the present age, he might in the same space +of time have skimmed innumerable newspapers and pamphlets. I do +not condemn that desultory mode of study which the state of +things, in our day, renders a matter of necessity. But I may be +allowed to doubt whether the changes on which the admirers of +modern institutions delight to dwell have improved our condition +so much in reality as in appearance. Rumford, it is said, +proposed to the Elector of Bavaria a scheme for feeding his +soldiers at a much cheaper rate than formerly. His plan was +simply to compel them to masticate their food thoroughly. A +small quantity, thus eaten, would, according to that famous +projector, afford more sustenance than a large meal hastily +devoured. I do not know how Rumford's proposition was received; +but to the mind, I believe, it will be found more nutritious to +digest a page than to devour a volume. + +Books, however, were the least part of the education of an +Athenian citizen. Let us, for a moment, transport ourselves in +thought, to that glorious city. Let us imagine that we are +entering its gates, in the time of its power and glory. A crowd +is assembled round a portico. All are gazing with delight at the +entablature; for Phidias is putting up the frieze. We turn into +another street; a rhapsodist is reciting there: men, women, +children are thronging round him: the tears are running down +their cheeks: their eyes are fixed: their very breath is still; +for he is telling how Priam fell at the feet of Achilles, and +kissed those hands,--the terrible--the murderous,--which had +slain so many of his sons. +(--kai kuse cheiras, +deinas, anorophonous, ai oi poleas ktanon uias.) + +We enter the public place; there is a ring of youths, all leaning +forward, with sparkling eyes, and gestures of expectation. +Socrates is pitted against the famous atheist, from Ionia, and +has just brought him to a contradiction in terms. But we are +interrupted. The herald is crying--"Room for the Prytanes." The +general assembly is to meet. The people are swarming in on every +side. Proclamation is made--"Who wishes to speak?" There is a +shout, and a clapping of hands: Pericles is mounting the stand. +Then for a play of Sophocles; and away to sup with Aspasia. I +know of no modern university which has so excellent a system of +education. + +Knowledge thus acquired and opinions thus formed were, indeed, +likely to be, in some respects, defective. Propositions which +are advanced in discourse generally result from a partial view of +the question, and cannot be kept under examination long enough to +be corrected. Men of great conversational powers almost +universally practise a sort of lively sophistry and exaggeration, +which deceives, for the moment, both themselves and their +auditors. Thus we see doctrines, which cannot bear a close +inspection, triumph perpetually in drawing-rooms, in debating +societies, and even in legislative or judicial assemblies. To +the conversational education of the Athenians I am inclined to +attribute the great looseness of reasoning which is remarkable in +most of their scientific writings. Even the most illogical of +modern writers would stand perfectly aghast at the puerile +fallacies which seem to have deluded some of the greatest men of +antiquity. Sir Thomas Lethbridge would stare at the political +economy of Xenophon; and the author of "Soirees de Petersbourg" +would be ashamed of some of the metaphysical arguments of Plato. +But the very circumstances which retarded the growth of science +were peculiarly favourable to the cultivation of eloquence. From +the early habit of taking a share in animated discussion the +intelligent student would derive that readiness of resource, that +copiousness of language, and that knowledge of the temper and +understanding of an audience, which are far more valuable to an +orator than the greatest logical powers. + +Horace has prettily compared poems to those paintings of which +the effect varies as the spectator changes his stand. The same +remark applies with at least equal justice to speeches. They +must be read with the temper of those to whom they were +addressed, or they must necessarily appear to offend against the +laws of taste and reason; as the finest picture, seen in a light +different from that for which it was designed, will appear fit +only for a sign. This is perpetually forgotten by those who +criticise oratory. Because they are reading at leisure, pausing +at every line, reconsidering every argument, they forget that the +hearers were hurried from point to point too rapidly to detect +the fallacies through which they were conducted; that they had no +time to disentangle sophisms, or to notice slight inaccuracies of +expression; that elaborate excellence, either of reasoning or of +language, would have been absolutely thrown away. To recur to +the analogy of the sister art, these connoisseurs examine a +panorama through a microscope, and quarrel with a scene-painter +because he does not give to his work the exquisite finish of +Gerard Dow. + +Oratory is to be estimated on principles different from those +which are applied to other productions. Truth is the object of +philosophy and history. Truth is the object even of those works +which are peculiarly called works of fiction, but which, in fact, +bear the same relation to history which algebra bears to +arithmetic. The merit of poetry, in its wildest forms, still +consists in its truth,--truth conveyed to the understanding, not +directly by the words, but circuitously by means of imaginative +associations, which serve as its conductors. The object of +oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion. The admiration of +the multitude does not make Moore a greater poet than Coleridge, +or Beattie a greater philosopher than Berkeley. But the +criterion of eloquence is different. A speaker who exhausts the +whole philosophy of a question, who displays every grace of +style, yet produces no effect on his audience, may be a great +essayist, a great statesman, a great master of composition; but +he is not an orator. If he miss the mark, it makes no difference +whether he have taken aim too high or too low. + +The effect of the great freedom of the press in England has been, +in a great measure, to destroy this distinction, and to leave +among us little of what I call Oratory Proper. Our legislators, +our candidates, on great occasions even our advocates, address +themselves less to the audience than to the reporters. They +think less of the few hearers than of the innumerable readers. +At Athens the case was different; there the only object of the +speaker was immediate conviction and persuasion. He, therefore, +who would justly appreciate the merit of the Grecian orators +should place himself, as nearly as possible, in the situation of +their auditors: he should divest himself of his modern feelings +and acquirements, and make the prejudices and interests of the +Athenian citizen his own. He who studies their works in this +spirit will find that many of those things which, to an English +reader, appear to be blemishes,--the frequent violation of those +excellent rules of evidence by which our courts of law are +regulated,--the introduction of extraneous matter,--the reference +to considerations of political expediency in judicial +investigations,--the assertions, without proof,--the passionate +entreaties,--the furious invectives,--are really proofs of the +prudence and address of the speakers. He must not dwell +maliciously on arguments or phrases, but acquiesce in his first +impressions. It requires repeated perusal and reflection to +decide rightly on any other portion of literature. But with +respect to works of which the merit depends on their +instantaneous effect the most hasty judgment is likely to be +best. + +The history of eloquence at Athens is remarkable. From a very +early period great speakers had flourished there. Pisistratus +and Themistocles are said to have owed much of their influence to +their talents for debate. We learn, with more certainty, that +Pericles was distinguished by extraordinary oratorical powers. +The substance of some of his speeches is transmitted to us by +Thucydides; and that excellent writer has doubtless faithfully +reported the general line of his arguments. But the manner, +which in oratory is of at least as much consequence as the +matter, was of no importance to his narration. It is evident +that he has not attempted to preserve it. Throughout his work, +every speech on every subject, whatever may have been the +character of the dialect of the speaker, is in exactly the same +form. The grave king of Sparta, the furious demagogue of Athens, +the general encouraging his army, the captive supplicating for +his life, all are represented as speakers in one unvaried style,- +-a style moreover wholly unfit for oratorical purposes. His mode +of reasoning is singularly elliptical,--in reality most +consecutive,--yet in appearance often incoherent. His meaning, +in itself sufficiently perplexing, is compressed into the fewest +possible words. His great fondness for antithetical expression +has not a little conduced to this effect. Every one must have +observed how much more the sense is condensed in the verses of +Pope and his imitators, who never ventured to continue the same +clause from couplet to couplet, than in those of poets who allow +themselves that license. Every artificial division, which is +strongly marked, and which frequently recurs, has the same +tendency. The natural and perspicuous expression which +spontaneously rises to the mind will often refuse to accommodate +itself to such a form. It is necessary either to expand it into +weakness, or to compress it into almost impenetrable density. +The latter is generally the choice of an able man, and was +assuredly the choice of Thucydides. + +It is scarcely necessary to say that such speeches could never +have been delivered. They are perhaps among the most difficult +passages in the Greek language, and would probably have been +scarcely more intelligible to an Athenian auditor than to a +modern reader. Their obscurity was acknowledged by Cicero, who +was as intimate with the literature and language of Greece as the +most accomplished of its natives, and who seems to have held a +respectable rank among the Greek authors. Their difficulty to a +modern reader lies, not in the words, but in the reasoning. A +dictionary is of far less use in studying them than a clear head +and a close attention to the context. They are valuable to the +scholar as displaying, beyond almost any other compositions, the +powers of the finest of languages: they are valuable to the +philosopher as illustrating the morals and manners of a most +interesting age: they abound in just thought and energetic +expression. But they do not enable us to form any accurate +opinion on the merits of the early Greek orators. + +Though it cannot be doubted that, before the Persian wars, Athens +had produced eminent speakers, yet the period during which +eloquence most flourished among her citizens was by no means that +of her greatest power and glory. It commenced at the close of +the Peloponnesian war. In fact, the steps by which Athenian +oratory approached to its finished excellence seem to have been +almost contemporaneous with those by which the Athenian character +and the Athenian empire sunk to degradation. At the time when +the little commonwealth achieved those victories which twenty- +five eventful centuries have left unequalled, eloquence was in +its infancy. The deliverers of Greece became its plunderers and +oppressors. Unmeasured exaction, atrocious vengeance, the +madness of the multitude, the tyranny of the great, filled the +Cyclades with tears, and blood, and mourning. The sword +unpeopled whole islands in a day. The plough passed over the +ruins of famous cities. The imperial republic sent forth her +children by thousands to pine in the quarries of Syracuse, or to +feed the vultures of Aegospotami. She was at length reduced by +famine and slaughter to humble herself before her enemies, and to +purchase existence by the sacrifice of her empire and her laws. +During these disastrous and gloomy years, oratory was advancing +towards its highest excellence. And it was when the moral, the +political, and the military character of the people was most +utterly degraded, it was when the viceroy of a Macedonian +sovereign gave law to Greece, that the courts of Athens witnessed +the most splendid contest of eloquence that the world has ever +known. + +The causes of this phenomenon it is not, I think, difficult to +assign. The division of labour operates on the productions of +the orator as it does on those of the mechanic. It was remarked +by the ancients that the Pentathlete, who divided his attention +between several exercises, though he could not vie with a boxer +in the use of the cestus, or with one who had confined his +attention to running in the contest of the stadium, yet enjoyed +far greater general vigour and health than either. It is the +same with the mind. The superiority in technical skill is often +more than compensated by the inferiority in general intelligence. +And this is peculiarly the case in politics. States have always +been best governed by men who have taken a wide view of public +affairs, and who have rather a general acquaintance with many +sciences than a perfect mastery of one. The union of the +political and military departments in Greece contributed not a +little to the splendour of its early history. After their +separation more skilful generals and greater speakers appeared; +but the breed of statesmen dwindled and became almost extinct. +Themistocles or Pericles would have been no match for Demosthenes +in the assembly, or for Iphicrates in the field. But surely they +were incomparably better fitted than either for the supreme +direction of affairs. + +There is indeed a remarkable coincidence between the progress of +the art of war, and that of the art of oratory, among the Greeks. +They both advanced to perfection by contemporaneous steps, and +from similar causes. The early speakers, like the early warriors +of Greece, were merely a militia. It was found that in both +employments practice and discipline gave superiority. (It has +often occurred to me, that to the circumstances mentioned in the +text is to be referred one of the most remarkable events in +Grecian history; I mean the silent but rapid downfall of the +Lacedaemonian power. Soon after the termination of the +Peloponnesian war, the strength of Lacedaemon began to decline. +Its military discipline, its social institutions, were the same. +Agesilaus, during whose reign the change took place, was the +ablest of its kings. Yet the Spartan armies were frequently +defeated in pitched battles,--an occurrence considered impossible +in the earlier ages of Greece. They are allowed to have fought +most bravely; yet they were no longer attended by the success to +which they had formerly been accustomed. No solution of these +circumstances is offered, as far as I know, by any ancient +author. The real cause, I conceive, was this. The +Lacedaemonians, alone among the Greeks, formed a permanent +standing army. While the citizens of other commonwealths were +engaged in agriculture and trade, they had no employment whatever +but the study of military discipline. Hence, during the Persian +and Peloponnesian wars, they had that advantage over their +neighbours which regular troops always possess over militia. +This advantage they lost, when other states began, at a later +period, to employ mercenary forces, who were probably as superior +to them in the art of war as they had hitherto been to their +antagonists.) Each pursuit therefore became first an art, and +then a trade. In proportion as the professors of each became +more expert in their particular craft, they became less +respectable in their general character. Their skill had been +obtained at too great expense to be employed only from +disinterested views. Thus, the soldiers forgot that they were +citizens, and the orators that they were statesmen. I know not +to what Demosthenes and his famous contemporaries can be so +justly compared as to those mercenary troops who, in their time, +overran Greece; or those who, from similar causes, were some +centuries ago the scourge of the Italian republics,--perfectly +acquainted with every part of their profession, irresistible in +the field, powerful to defend or to destroy, but defending +without love, and destroying without hatred. We may despise the +characters of these political Condottieri; but is impossible to +examine the system of their tactics without being amazed at its +perfection. + +I had intended to proceed to this examination, and to consider +separately the remains of Lysias, of Aeschines, of Demosthenes, +and of Isocrates, who, though strictly speaking he was rather a +pamphleteer than an orator, deserves, on many accounts, a place +in such a disquisition. The length of my prolegomena and +digressions compels me to postpone this part of the subject to +another occasion. A Magazine is certainly a delightful invention +for a very idle or a very busy man. He is not compelled to +complete his plan or to adhere to his subject. He may ramble as +far as he is inclined, and stop as soon as he is tired. No one +takes the trouble to recollect his contradictory opinions or his +unredeemed pledges. He may be as superficial, as inconsistent, +and as careless as he chooses. Magazines resemble those little +angels, who, according to the pretty Rabbinical tradition, are +generated every morning by the brook which rolls over the flowers +of Paradise,--whose life is a song,--who warble till sunset, and +then sink back without regret into nothingness. Such spirits +have nothing to do with the detecting spear of Ithuriel or the +victorious sword of Michael. It is enough for them to please and +be forgotten. + +... + + +A PROPHETIC ACCOUNT OF A GRAND NATIONAL EPIC POEM, TO BE ENTITLED +"THE WELLINGTONIAD," AND TO BE PUBLISHED A.D. 2824. + +(November 1824.) + +How I became a prophet it is not very important to the reader to +know. Nevertheless I feel all the anxiety which, under similar +circumstances, troubled the sensitive mind of Sidrophel; and, +like him, am eager to vindicate myself from the suspicion of +having practised forbidden arts, or held intercourse with beings +of another world. I solemnly declare, therefore, that I never +saw a ghost, like Lord Lyttleton; consulted a gipsy, like +Josephine; or heard my name pronounced by an absent person, like +Dr Johnson. Though it is now almost as usual for gentlemen to +appear at the moment of their death to their friends as to call +on them during their life, none of my acquaintance have been so +polite as to pay me that customary attention. I have derived my +knowledge neither from the dead nor from the living; neither from +the lines of a hand, nor from the grounds of a tea-cup; neither +from the stars of the firmament, nor from the fiends of the +abyss. I have never, like the Wesley family, heard "that mighty +leading angel," who "drew after him the third part of heaven's +sons," scratching in my cupboard. I have never been enticed to +sign any of those delusive bonds which have been the ruin of so +many poor creatures; and, having always been an indifferent horse +man, I have been careful not to venture myself on a broomstick. + +My insight into futurity, like that of George Fox the quaker, and +that of our great and philosophic poet, Lord Byron, is derived +from simple presentiment. This is a far less artificial process +than those which are employed by some others. Yet my predictions +will, I believe, be found more correct than theirs, or, at all +events, as Sir Benjamin Back bite says in the play, "more +circumstantial." + +I prophesy then, that, in the year 2824, according to our present +reckoning, a grand national Epic Poem, worthy to be compared with +the Iliad, the Aeneid, or the Jerusalem, will be published in +London. + +Men naturally take an interest in the adventures of every eminent +writer. I will, therefore, gratify the laudable curiosity, +which, on this occasion, will doubtless be universal, by pre +fixing to my account of the poem a concise memoir of the poet. + +Richard Quongti will be born at Westminster on the 1st of July, +2786. He will be the younger son of the younger branch of one of +the most respectable families in England. He will be linearly +descended from Quongti, the famous Chinese liberal, who, after +the failure of the heroic attempt of his party to obtain a +constitution from the Emperor Fim Fam, will take refuge in +England, in the twenty-third century. Here his descendants will +obtain considerable note; and one branch of the family will be +raised to the peerage. + +Richard, however, though destined to exalt his family to +distinction far nobler than any which wealth or titles can +bestow, will be born to a very scanty fortune. He will display +in his early youth such striking talents as will attract the +notice of Viscount Quongti, his third cousin, then secretary of +state for the Steam Department. At the expense of this eminent +nobleman, he will be sent to prosecute his studies at the +university of Tombuctoo. To that illustrious seat of the muses +all the ingenuous youth of every country will then be attracted +by the high scientific character of Professor Quashaboo, and the +eminent literary attainments of Professor Kissey Kickey. In +spite of this formidable competition, however, Quongti will +acquire the highest honours in every department of knowledge, and +will obtain the esteem of his associates by his amiable and +unaffected manners. The guardians of the young Duke of +Carrington, premier peer of England, and the last remaining scion +of the ancient and illustrious house of Smith, will be desirous +to secure so able an instructor for their ward. With the Duke, +Quongti will perform the grand tour, and visit the polished +courts of Sydney and Capetown. After prevailing on his pupil, +with great difficulty, to subdue a violent and imprudent passion +which he had conceived for a Hottentot lady, of great beauty and +accomplishments indeed, but of dubious character, he will travel +with him to the United States of America. But that tremendous +war which will be fatal to American liberty will, at that time, +be raging through the whole federation. At New York the +travellers will hear of the final defeat and death of the +illustrious champion of freedom, Jonathon Higginbottom, and of +the elevation of Ebenezer Hogsflesh to the perpetual Presidency. +They will not choose to proceed in a journey which would expose +them to the insults of that brutal soldiery, whose cruelty and +rapacity will have devastated Mexico and Colombia, and now, at +length, enslaved their own country. + +On their return to England, A.D. 2810, the death of the Duke will +compel his preceptor to seek for a subsistence by literary +labours. His fame will be raised by many small productions of +considerable merit; and he will at last obtain a permanent place +in the highest class of writers by his great epic poem. + +The celebrated work will become, with unexampled rapidity, a +popular favourite. The sale will be so beneficial to the author +that, instead of going about the dirty streets on his velocipede, +he will be enabled to set up his balloon. + +The character of this noble poem will be so finely and justly +given in the Tombuctoo Review for April 2825, that I cannot +refrain from translating the passage. The author will be our +poet's old preceptor, Professor Kissey Kickey. + +"In pathos, in splendour of language, in sweetness of +versification, Mr Quongti has long been considered as unrivalled. +In his exquisite poem on the Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus all these +qualities are displayed in their greatest perfection. How +exquisitely does that work arrest and embody the undefined and +vague shadows which flit over an imaginative mind. The cold +worldling may not comprehend it; but it will find a response in +the bosom of every youthful poet, of every enthusiastic lover, +who has seen an Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus by moonlight. But we +were yet to learn that he possessed the comprehension, the +judgment, and the fertility of mind indispensable to the epic +poet. + +"It is difficult to conceive a plot more perfect than that of the +'Wellingtoniad.' It is most faithful to the manners of the age +to which it relates. It preserves exactly all the historical +circumstances, and interweaves them most artfully with all the +speciosa miracula of supernatural agency." + +Thus far the learned Professor of Humanity in the university of +Tombuctoo. I fear that the critics of our time will form an +opinion diametrically opposite as to these every points. Some +will, I fear, be disgusted by the machinery, which is derived +from the mythology of ancient Greece. I can only say that, in +the twenty-ninth century, that machinery will be universally in +use among poets; and that Quongti will use it, partly in +conformity with the general practice, and partly from a +veneration, perhaps excessive, for the great remains of classical +antiquity, which will then, as now, be assiduously read by every +man of education; though Tom Moore's songs will be forgotten, and +only three copies of Lord Byron's works will exist: one in the +possession of King George the Nineteenth, one in the Duke of +Carrington's collection, and one in the library of the British +Museum. Finally, should any good people be concerned to hear +that Pagan fictions will so long retain their influence over +literature, let them reflect that, as the Bishop of St David's +says, in his "Proofs of the Inspiration of the Sibylline Verses," +read at the last meeting of the Royal Society of Literature, "at +all events, a Pagan is not a Papist." + +Some readers of the present day may think that Quongti is by no +means entitled to the compliments which his Negro critic pays him +on his adherence to the historical circumstances of the time in +which he has chosen his subject; that, where he introduces any +trait of our manners, it is in the wrong place, and that he +confounds the customs of our age with those of much more remote +periods. I can only say that the charge is infinitely more +applicable to Homer, Virgil, and Tasso. If, therefore, the +reader should detect, in the following abstract of the plot, any +little deviation from strict historical accuracy, let him +reflect, for a moment, whether Agamemnon would not have found as +much to censure in the Iliad,--Dido in the Aeneid,--or Godfrey in +the Jerusalem. Let him not suffer his opinions to depend on +circumstances which cannot possibly affect the truth or falsehood +of the representation. If it be impossible for a single man to +kill hundreds in battle, the impossibility is not diminished by +distance of time. If it be as certain that Rinaldo never +disenchanted a forest in Palestine as it is that the Duke of +Wellington never disenchanted the forest of Soignies, can we, as +rational men, tolerate the one story and ridicule the other? Of +this, at least, I am certain, that whatever excuse we have for +admiring the plots of those famous poems our children will have +for extolling that of the "Wellingtoniad." + +I shall proceed to give a sketch of the narrative. The subject +is "The Reign of the Hundred Days." + +BOOK I. + +The poem commences, in form, with a solemn proposition of the +subject. Then the muse is invoked to give the poet accurate +information as to the causes of so terrible a commotion. The +answer to this question, being, it is to be supposed, the joint +production of the poet and the muse, ascribes the event to +circumstances which have hitherto eluded all the research of +political writers, namely, the influence of the god Mars, who, we +are told, had some forty years before usurped the conjugal rights +of old Carlo Buonaparte, and given birth to Napoleon. By his +incitement it was that the emperor with his devoted companions +was now on the sea, returning to his ancient dominions. The gods +were at present, fortunately for the adventurer, feasting with +the Ethiopians, whose entertainments, according to the ancient +custom described by Homer, they annually attended, with the same +sort of condescending gluttony which now carries the cabinet to +Guildhall on the 9th of November. Neptune was, in consequence, +absent, and unable to prevent the enemy of his favourite island +from crossing his element. Boreas, however, who had his abode on +the banks of the Russian ocean, and who, like Thetis in the +Iliad, was not of sufficient quality to have an invitation to +Ethiopia, resolves to destroy the armament which brings war and +danger to his beloved Alexander. He accordingly raises a storm +which is most powerfully described. Napoleon bewails the +inglorious fate for which he seems to be reserved. "Oh! thrice +happy," says he, "those who were frozen to death at Krasnoi, or +slaughtered at Leipsic. Oh, Kutusoff, bravest of the Russians, +wherefore was I not permitted to fall by thy victorious sword?" +He then offers a prayer to Aeolus, and vows to him a sacrifice of +a black ram. In consequence, the god recalls his turbulent +subject; the sea is calmed; and the ship anchors in the port of +Frejus. Napoleon and Bertrand, who is always called the faithful +Bertrand, land to explore the country; Mars meets them disguised +as a lancer of the guard, wearing the cross of the legion of +honour. He advises them to apply for necessaries of all kinds to +the governor, shows them the way, and disappears with a strong +smell of gunpowder. Napoleon makes a pathetic speech, and enters +the governor's house. Here he sees hanging up a fine print of +the battle of Austerlitz, himself in the foreground giving his +orders. This puts him in high spirits; he advances and salutes +the governor, who receives him most loyally, gives him an +entertainment, and, according to the usage of all epic hosts, +insists after dinner on a full narration of all that has happened +to him since the battle of Leipsic. + +BOOK II. + +Napoleon carries his narrative from the battle of Leipsic to his +abdication. But, as we shall have a great quantity of fighting +on our hands, I think it best to omit the details. + +BOOK III. + +Napoleon describes his sojourn at Elba, and his return; how he +was driven by stress of weather to Sardinia, and fought with the +harpies there; how he was then carried southward to Sicily, where +he generously took on board an English sailor, whom a man-of-war +had unhappily left there, and who was in imminent danger of being +devoured by the Cyclops; how he landed in the bay of Naples, saw +the Sibyl, and descended to Tartarus; how he held a long and +pathetic conversation with Poniatowski, whom he found wandering +unburied on the banks of Styx; how he swore to give him a +splendid funeral; how he had also an affectionate interview with +Desaix; how Moreau and Sir Ralph Abercrombie fled at the sight of +him. He relates that he then re-embarked, and met with nothing +of importance till the commencement of the storm with which the +poem opens. + +BOOK IV. + +The scene changes to Paris. Fame, in the garb of an express, +brings intelligence of the landing of Napoleon. The king +performs a sacrifice: but the entrails are unfavourable; and the +victim is without a heart. He prepares to encounter the invader. +A young captain of the guard,--the son of Maria Antoinette by +Apollo,--in the shape of a fiddler, rushes in to tell him that +Napoleon is approaching with a vast army. The royal forces are +drawn out for battle. Full catalogues are given of the regiments +on both sides; their colonels, lieutenant-colonels, and uniform. + +BOOK V. + +The king comes forward and defies Napoleon to single combat. +Napoleon accepts it. Sacrifices are offered. The ground is +measured by Ney and Macdonald. The combatants advance. Louis +snaps his pistol in vain. The bullet of Napoleon, on the +contrary, carries off the tip of the king's ear. Napoleon then +rushes on him sword in hand. But Louis snatches up a stone, such +as ten men of those degenerate days will be unable to move, and +hurls it at his antagonist. Mars averts it. Napoleon then +seizes Louis, and is about to strike a fatal blow, when Bacchus +intervenes, like Venus in the third book of the Iliad, bears off +the king in a thick cloud, and seats him in an hotel at Lille, +with a bottle of Maraschino and a basin of soup before him. Both +armies instantly proclaim Napoleon emperor. + +BOOK VI. + +Neptune, returned from his Ethiopian revels, sees with rage the +events which have taken place in Europe. He flies to the cave of +Alecto, and drags out the fiend, commanding her to excite +universal hostility against Napoleon. The Fury repairs to Lord +Castlereagh; and, as, when she visited Turnus, she assumed the +form of an old woman, she here appears in the kindred shape of Mr +Vansittart, and in an impassioned address exhorts his lordship to +war. His lordship, like Turnus, treats this unwonted monitor +with great disrespect, tells him that he is an old doting fool, +and advises him to look after the ways and means, and leave +questions of peace and war to his betters. The Fury then +displays all her terrors. The neat powdered hair bristles up +into snakes; the black stockings appear clotted with blood; and, +brandishing a torch, she announces her name and mission. Lord +Castlereagh, seized with fury, flies instantly to the Parliament, +and recommends war with a torrent of eloquent invective. All the +members instantly clamour for vengeance, seize their arms which +are hanging round the walls of the house, and rush forth to +prepare for instant hostilities. + +BOOK VII. + +In this book intelligence arrives at London of the flight of the +Duchess d'Angouleme from France. It is stated that this heroine, +armed from head to foot, defended Bordeaux against the adherents +of Napoleon, and that she fought hand to hand with Clausel, and +beat him down with an enormous stone. Deserted by her followers, +she at last, like Turnus, plunged, armed as she was, into the +Garonne, and swam to an English ship which lay off the coast. +This intelligence yet more inflames the English to war. + +A yet bolder flight than any which has been mentioned follows. +The Duke of Wellington goes to take leave of the duchess; and a +scene passes quite equal to the famous interview of Hector and +Andromache. Lord Douro is frightened at his father's feather, +but begs for his epaulette. + +BOOK VIII. + +Neptune, trembling for the event of the war, implores Venus, who, +as the offspring of his element, naturally venerates him, to +procure from Vulcan a deadly sword and a pair of unerring pistols +for the Duke. They are accordingly made, and superbly decorated. +The sheath of the sword, like the shield of Achilles, is carved, +in exquisitely fine miniature, with scenes from the common life +of the period; a dance at Almack's a boxing match at the Fives- +court, a lord mayor's procession, and a man hanging. All these +are fully and elegantly described. The Duke thus armed hastens +to Brussels. + +BOOK IX. + +The Duke is received at Brussels by the King of the Netherlands +with great magnificence. He is informed of the approach of the +armies of all the confederate kings. The poet, however, with a +laudable zeal for the glory of his country, completely passes +over the exploits of the Austrians in Italy, and the discussions +of the congress. England and France, Wellington and Napoleon, +almost exclusively occupy his attention. Several days are spent +at Brussels in revelry. The English heroes astonish their allies +by exhibiting splendid games, similar to those which draw the +flower of the British aristocracy to Newmarket and Moulsey Hurst, +and which will be considered by our descendants with as much +veneration as the Olympian and Isthmian contests by classical +students of the present time. In the combat of the cestus, Shaw, +the lifeguardsman, vanquishes the Prince of Orange, and obtains a +bull as a prize. In the horse-race, the Duke of Wellington and +Lord Uxbridge ride against each other; the Duke is victorious, +and is rewarded with twelve opera-girls. On the last day of the +festivities, a splendid dance takes place, at which all the +heroes attend. + +BOOK X. + +Mars, seeing the English army thus inactive, hastens to rouse +Napoleon, who, conducted by Night and Silence, unexpectedly +attacks the Prussians. The slaughter is immense. Napoleon kills +many whose histories and families are happily particularised. He +slays Herman, the craniologist, who dwelt by the linden-shadowed +Elbe, and measured with his eye the skulls of all who walked +through the streets of Berlin. Alas! his own skull is now cleft +by the Corsican sword. Four pupils of the University of Jena +advance together to encounter the Emperor; at four blows he +destroys them all. Blucher rushes to arrest the devastation; +Napoleon strikes him to the ground, and is on the point of +killing him, but Gneisenau, Ziethen, Bulow, and all the other +heroes of the Prussian army, gather round him, and bear the +venerable chief to a distance from the field. The slaughter is +continued till night. In the meantime Neptune has despatched +Fame to bear the intelligence to the Duke, who is dancing at +Brussels. The whole army is put in motion. The Duke of +Brunswick's horse speaks to admonish him of his danger, but in +vain. + +BOOK VI. + +Picton, the Duke of Brunswick, and the Prince of Orange, engage +Ney at Quatre Bras. Ney kills the Duke of Brunswick, and strips +him, sending his belt to Napoleon. The English fall back on +Waterloo. Jupiter calls a council of the gods, and commands that +none shall interfere on either side. Mars and Neptune make very +eloquent speeches. The battle of Waterloo commences. Napoleon +kills Picton and Delancy. Ney engages Ponsonby and kills him. +The Prince of Orange is wounded by Soult. Lord Uxbridge flies to +check the carnage. He is severely wounded by Napoleon, and only +saved by the assistance of Lord Hill. In the meantime the Duke +makes a tremendous carnage among the French. He encounters +General Duhesme and vanquishes him, but spares his life. He +kills Toubert, who kept the gaming-house in the Palais Royal, and +Maronet, who loved to spend whole nights in drinking champagne. +Clerval, who had been hooted from the stage, and had then become +a captain in the Imperial Guard, wished that he had still +continued to face the more harmless enmity of the Parisian pit. +But Larrey, the son of Esculapius, whom his father had instructed +in all the secrets of his art, and who was surgeon-general of the +French army, embraced the knees of the destroyer, and conjured +him not to give death to one whose office it was to give life. +The Duke raised him, and bade him live. + +But we must hasten to the close. Napoleon rushes to encounter +Wellington. Both armies stand in mute amaze. The heroes fire +their pistols; that of Napoleon misses, but that of Wellington, +formed by the hand of Vulcan, and primed by the Cyclops, wounds +the Emperor in the thigh. He flies, and takes refuge among his +troops. The flight becomes promiscuous. The arrival of the +Prussians, from a motive of patriotism, the poet completely +passes over. + +BOOK XII. + +Things are now hastening to the catastrophe. Napoleon flies to +London, and, seating himself on the hearth of the Regent, +embraces the household gods and conjures him, by the venerable +age of George III., and by the opening perfections of the +Princess Charlotte, to spare him. The Prince is inclined to do +so; when, looking on his breast, he sees there the belt of the +Duke of Brunswick. He instantly draws his sword, and is about to +stab the destroyer of his kinsman. Piety and hospitality, +however, restrain his hand. He takes a middle course, and +condemns Napoleon to be exposed on a desert island. The King of +France re-enters Paris; and the poem concludes. + +... + + +ON MITFORD'S HISTORY OF GREECE. + +(November 1824.) + +This is a book which enjoys a great and increasing popularity: +but, while it has attracted a considerable share of the public +attention, it has been little noticed by the critics. Mr Mitford +has almost succeeded in mounting, unperceived by those whose +office it is to watch such aspirants, to a high place among +historians. He has taken a seat on the dais without being +challenged by a single seneschal. To oppose the progress of his +fame is now almost a hopeless enterprise. Had he been reviewed +with candid severity, when he had published only his first +volume, his work would either have deserved its reputation, or +would never have obtained it. "Then," as Indra says of Kehama, +"then was the time to strike." The time was neglected; and the +consequence is that Mr Mitford like Kehama, has laid his +victorious hand on the literary Amreeta, and seems about to taste +the precious elixir of immortality. I shall venture to emulate +the courage of the honest Glendoveer-- +"When now +He saw the Amreeta in Kehama's hand, +An impulse that defied all self-command, +In that extremity, +Stung him, and he resolved to seize the cup, +And dare the Rajah's force in Seeva's sight, +Forward he sprung to tempt the unequal fray." + +In plain words, I shall offer a few considerations, which may +tend to reduce an overpraised writer to his proper level. + +The principal characteristic of this historian, the origin of his +excellencies and his defects, is a love of singularity. He has +no notion of going with a multitude to do either good or evil. +An exploded opinion, or an unpopular person, has an irresistible +charm for him. The same perverseness may be traced in his +diction. His style would never have been elegant; but it might +at least have been manly and perspicuous; and nothing but the +most elaborate care could possibly have made it so bad as it is. +It is distinguished by harsh phrases, strange collocations, +occasional solecisms, frequent obscurity, and, above all, by a +peculiar oddity, which can no more be described than it can be +overlooked. Nor is this all. Mr Mitford piques himself on +spelling better than any of his neighbours; and this not only in +ancient names, which he mangles in defiance both of custom and of +reason, but in the most ordinary words of the English language. +It is, in itself, a matter perfectly indifferent whether we call +a foreigner by the name which he bears in his own language, or by +that which corresponds to it in ours; whether we say Lorenzo de +Medici, or Lawrence de Medici, Jean Chauvin, or John Calvin. In +such cases established usage is considered as law by all writers +except Mr Mitford. If he were always consistent with himself, he +might be excused for sometimes disagreeing with his neighbours; +but he proceeds on no principle but that of being unlike the rest +of the world. Every child has heard of Linnaeus; therefore Mr +Mitford calls him Linne: Rousseau is known all over Europe as +Jean Jacques; therefore Mr Mitford bestows on him the strange +appellation of John James. + +Had Mr Mitford undertaken a History of any other country than +Greece, this propensity would have rendered his work useless and +absurd. His occasional remarks on the affairs of ancient Rome +and of modern Europe are full of errors: but he writes of times +with respect to which almost every other writer has been in the +wrong; and, therefore, by resolutely deviating from his +predecessors, he is often in the right. + +Almost all the modern historians of Greece have shown the +grossest ignorance of the most obvious phenomena of human nature. +In their representations the generals and statesmen of antiquity +are absolutely divested of all individuality. They are +personifications; they are passions, talents, opinions, virtues, +vices, but not men. Inconsistency is a thing of which these +writers have no notion. That a man may have been liberal in his +youth and avaricious in his age, cruel to one enemy and merciful +to another, is to them utterly inconceivable. If the facts be +undeniable, they suppose some strange and deep design, in order +to explain what, as every one who has observed his own mind +knows, needs no explanation at all. This is a mode of writing +very acceptable to the multitude who have always been accustomed +to make gods and daemons out of men very little better or worse +than themselves; but it appears contemptible to all who have +watched the changes of human character--to all who have observed +the influence of time, of circumstances, and of associates, on +mankind--to all who have seen a hero in the gout, a democrat in +the church, a pedant in love, or a philosopher in liquor. This +practice of painting in nothing but black and white is +unpardonable even in the drama. It is the great fault of +Alfieri; and how much it injures the effect of his compositions +will be obvious to every one who will compare his Rosmunda with +the Lady Macbeth of Shakspeare. The one is a wicked woman; the +other is a fiend. Her only feeling is hatred; all her words are +curses. We are at once shocked and fatigued by the spectacle of +such raving cruelty, excited by no provocation, repeatedly +changing its object, and constant in nothing but in its in- +extinguishable thirst for blood. + +In history this error is far more disgraceful. Indeed, there is +no fault which so completely ruins a narrative in the opinion of +a judicious reader. We know that the line of demarcation between +good and bad men is so faintly marked as often to elude the most +careful investigation of those who have the best opportunities +for judging. Public men, above all, are surrounded with so many +temptations and difficulties that some doubt must almost always +hang over their real dispositions and intentions. The lives of +Pym, Cromwell, Monk, Clarendon, Marlborough, Burnet, Walpole, are +well known to us. We are acquainted with their actions, their +speeches, their writings; we have abundance of letters and well- +authenticated anecdotes relating to them: yet what candid man +will venture very positively to say which of them were honest and +which of them were dishonest men? It appears easier to pronounce +decidedly upon the great characters of antiquity, not because we +have greater means of discovering truth, but simply because we +have less means of detecting error. The modern historians of +Greece have forgotten this. Their heroes and villains are as +consistent in all their sayings and doings as the cardinal +virtues and the deadly sins in an allegory. We should as soon +expect a good action from giant Slay-good in Bunyan as from +Dionysius; and a crime of Epaminondas would seem as incongruous +as a faux-pas of the grave and comely damsel called Discretion, +who answered the bell at the door of the house Beautiful. + +This error was partly the cause and partly the effect of the high +estimation in which the later ancient writers have been held by +modern scholars. Those French and English authors who have +treated of the affairs of Greece have generally turned with +contempt from the simple and natural narrations of Thucydides and +Xenophon to the extravagant representations of Plutarch, +Diodorus, Curtius, and other romancers of the same class,--men +who described military operations without ever having handled a +sword, and applied to the seditions of little republics +speculations formed by observation on an empire which covered +half the known world. Of liberty they knew nothing. It was to +them a great mystery--a superhuman enjoyment. They ranted about +liberty and patriotism, from the same cause which leads monks to +talk more ardently than other men about love and women. A wise +man values political liberty, because it secures the persons and +the possessions of citizens; because it tends to prevent the +extravagance of rulers, and the corruption of judges; because it +gives birth to useful sciences and elegant arts; because it +excites the industry and increases the comforts of all classes of +society. These theorists imagined that it possessed something +eternally and intrinsically good, distinct from the blessings +which it generally produced. They considered it not as a means +but as an end; an end to be attained at any cost. Their +favourite heroes are those who have sacrificed, for the mere name +of freedom, the prosperity--the security--the justice--from which +freedom derives its value. + +There is another remarkable characteristic of these writers, in +which their modern worshippers have carefully imitated them--a +great fondness for good stories. The most established facts, +dates, and characters are never suffered to come into competition +with a splendid saying, or a romantic exploit. The early +historians have left us natural and simple descriptions of the +great events which they witnessed, and the great men with whom +they associated. When we read the account which Plutarch +and Rollin have given of the same period, we scarcely know our +old acquaintance again; we are utterly confounded by the melo- +dramatic effect of the narration, and the sublime coxcombry of +the characters. + +These are the principal errors into which the predecessors of Mr +Mitford have fallen; and from most of these he is free. His +faults are of a completely different description. It is to be +hoped that the students of history may now be saved, like Dorax +in Dryden's play, by swallowing two conflicting poisons, each of +which may serve as an antidote to the other. + +The first and most important difference between Mr Mitford and +those who have preceded him is in his narration. Here the +advantage lies, for the most part, on his side. His principle is +to follow the contemporary historians, to look with doubt on all +statements which are not in some degree confirmed by them, and +absolutely to reject all which are contradicted by them. While +he retains the guidance of some writer in whom he can place +confidence, he goes on excellently. When he loses it, he falls +to the level, or perhaps below the level, of the writers whom he +so much despises: he is as absurd as they, and very much duller. +It is really amusing to observe how he proceeds with his +narration when he has no better authority than poor Diodorus. He +is compelled to relate something; yet he believes nothing. He +accompanies every fact with a long statement of objections. His +account of the administration of Dionysius is in no sense a +history. It ought to be entitled--"Historic doubts as to certain +events, alleged to have taken place in Sicily." + +This scepticism, however, like that of some great legal +characters almost as sceptical as himself; vanishes whenever his +political partialities interfere. He is a vehement admirer of +tyranny and oligarchy, and considers no evidence as feeble which +can be brought forward in favour of those forms of government. +Democracy he hates with a perfect hatred, a hatred which, in the +first volume of his history, appears only in his episodes and +reflections, but which, in those parts where he has less +reverence for his guides, and can venture to take his own way, +completely distorts even his narration. + +In taking up these opinions, I have no doubt that Mr Mitford was +influenced by the same love of singularity which led him to spell +"island" without an "s," and to place two dots over the last +letter of "idea." In truth, preceding historians have erred so +monstrously on the other side that even the worst parts of Mr +Mitford's book may be useful as a corrective. For a young +gentleman who talks much about his country, tyrannicide, and +Epaminondas, this work, diluted in a sufficient quantity of +Rollin and Berthelemi, may be a very useful remedy. + +The errors of both parties arise from an ignorance or a neglect +of the fundamental principles of political science. The writers +on one side imagine popular government to be always a blessing; +Mr Mitford omits no opportunity of assuring us that it is always +a curse. The fact is, that a good government, like a good coat, +is that which fits the body for which it is designed. A man who, +upon abstract principles, pronounces a constitution to be good, +without an exact knowledge of the people who are to be governed +by it, judges as absurdly as a tailor who should measure the +Belvidere Apollo for the clothes of all his customers. The +demagogues who wished to see Portugal a republic, and the wise +critics who revile the Virginians for not having instituted a +peerage, appear equally ridiculous to all men of sense and +candour. + +That is the best government which desires to make the people +happy, and knows how to make them happy. Neither the inclination +nor the knowledge will suffice alone; and it is difficult to find +them together. + +Pure democracy, and pure democracy alone, satisfies the former +condition of this great problem. That the governors may be +solicitous only for the interests of the governed, it is +necessary that the interests of the governors and the governed +should be the same. This cannot be often the case where power is +intrusted to one or to a few. The privileged part of the +community will doubtless derive a certain degree of advantage +from the general prosperity of the state; but they will derive a +greater from oppression and exaction. The king will desire an +useless war for his glory, or a parc-aux-cerfs for his pleasure. +The nobles will demand monopolies and lettres-de-cachet. In +proportion as the number of governors is increased the evil is +diminished. There are fewer to contribute, and more to receive. +The dividend which each can obtain of the public plunder becomes +less and less tempting. But the interests of the subjects and +the rulers never absolutely coincide till the subjects themselves +become the rulers, that is, till the government be either +immediately or mediately democratical. + +But this is not enough. "Will without power," said the sagacious +Casimir to Milor Beefington, "is like children playing at +soldiers." The people will always be desirous to promote their +own interests; but it may be doubted, whether, in any community, +they were ever sufficiently educated to understand them. Even in +this island, where the multitude have long been better informed +than in any other part of Europe, the rights of the many have +generally been asserted against themselves by the patriotism of +the few. Free trade, one of the greatest blessings which a +government can confer on a people, is in almost every country +unpopular. It may be well doubted, whether a liberal policy with +regard to our commercial relations would find any support from a +parliament elected by universal suffrage. The republicans on the +other side of the Atlantic have recently adopted regulations of +which the consequences will, before long, show us, + +"How nations sink, by darling schemes oppressed, +When vengeance listens to the fool's request." + +The people are to be governed for their own good; and, that they +may be governed for their own good, they must not be governed by +their own ignorance. There are countries in which it would be as +absurd to establish popular government as to abolish all the +restraints in a school, or to untie all the strait-waistcoats in +a madhouse. + +Hence it may be concluded that the happiest state of society is +that in which supreme power resides in the whole body of a well- +informed people. This is an imaginary, perhaps an unattainable, +state of things. Yet, in some measure, we may approximate to it; +and he alone deserves the name of a great statesman, whose +principle it is to extend the power of the people in proportion +to the extent of their knowledge, and to give them every facility +for obtaining such a degree of knowledge as may render it safe to +trust them with absolute power. In the mean time, it is +dangerous to praise or condemn constitutions in the abstract; +since, from the despotism of St Petersburg to the democracy of +Washington, there is scarcely a form of government which might +not, at least in some hypothetical case, be the best possible. + +If, however, there be any form of government which in all ages +and all nations has always been, and must always be, pernicious, +it is certainly that which Mr Mitford, on his usual principle of +being wiser than all the rest of the world, has taken under his +especial patronage--pure oligarchy. This is closely, and indeed +inseparably, connected with another of his eccentric tastes, a +marked partiality for Lacedaemon, and a dislike of Athens. Mr +Mitford's book has, I suspect, rendered these sentiments in some +degree popular; and I shall, therefore, examine them at some +length. + +The shades in the Athenian character strike the eye more rapidly +than those in the Lacedaemonian: not because they are darker, +but because they are on a brighter ground. The law of ostracism +is an instance of this. Nothing can be conceived more odious +than the practice of punishing a citizen, simply and professedly, +for his eminence;--and nothing in the institutions of Athens is +more frequently or more justly censured. Lacedaemon was free +from this. And why? Lacedaemon did not need it. Oligarchy is an +ostracism of itself,--an ostracism not occasional, but permanent, +--not dubious, but certain. Her laws prevented the development +of merit instead of attacking its maturity. They did not cut +down the plant in its high and palmy state, but cursed the soil +with eternal sterility. In spite of the law of ostracism, Athens +produced, within a hundred and fifty years, the greatest public +men that ever existed. Whom had Sparta to ostracise? She +produced, at most, four eminent men, Brasidas, Gylippus, +Lysander, and Agesilaus. Of these, not one rose to distinction +within her jurisdiction. It was only when they escaped from the +region within which the influence of aristocracy withered +everything good and noble, it was only when they ceased to be +Lacedaemonians, that they became great men. Brasidas, among the +cities of Thrace, was strictly a democratical leader, the +favourite minister and general of the people. The same may be +said of Gylippus, at Syracuse. Lysander, in the Hellespont, and +Agesilaus, in Asia, were liberated for a time from the hateful +restraints imposed by the constitution of Lycurgus. Both +acquired fame abroad; and both returned to be watched and +depressed at home. This is not peculiar to Sparta. Oligarchy, +wherever it has existed, has always stunted the growth of genius. +Thus it was at Rome, till about a century before the Christian +era: we read of abundance of consuls and dictators who won +battles, and enjoyed triumphs; but we look in vain for a single +man of the first order of intellect,--for a Pericles, a +Demosthenes, or a Hannibal. The Gracchi formed a strong +democratical party; Marius revived it; the foundations of the old +aristocracy were shaken; and two generations fertile in really +great men appeared. + +Venice is a still more remarkable instance: in her history we +see nothing but the state; aristocracy had destroyed every seed +of genius and virtue. Her dominion was like herself, lofty and +magnificent, but founded on filth and weeds. God forbid that +there should ever again exist a powerful and civilised state, +which, after existing through thirteen hundred eventful years, +should not bequeath to mankind the memory of one great name or +one generous action. + +Many writers, and Mr Mitford among the number, have admired the +stability of the Spartan institutions; in fact, there is little +to admire, and less to approve. Oligarchy is the weakest and the +most stable of governments; and it is stable because it is weak. +It has a sort of valetudinarian longevity; it lives in the +balance of Sanctorius; it takes no exercise; it exposes itself to +no accident; it is seized with an hypochondriac alarm at every +new sensation; it trembles at every breath; it lets blood for +every inflammation: and thus, without ever enjoying a day of +health or pleasure, drags on its existence to a doting and +debilitated old age. + +The Spartans purchased for their government a prolongation of its +existence by the sacrifice of happiness at home and dignity +abroad. They cringed to the powerful; they trampled on the weak; +they massacred their helots; they betrayed their allies; they +contrived to be a day too late for the battle of Marathon; they +attempted to avoid the battle of Salamis; they suffered the +Athenians, to whom they owed their lives and liberties, to be a +second time driven from their country by the Persians, that they +might finish their own fortifications on the Isthmus; they +attempted to take advantage of the distress to which exertions in +their cause had reduced their preservers, in order to make them +their slaves; they strove to prevent those who had abandoned +their walls to defend them, from rebuilding them to defend +themselves; they commenced the Peloponnesian war in violation of +their engagements with Athens; they abandoned it in violation of +their engagements with their allies; they gave up to the sword +whole cities which had placed themselves under their protection; +they bartered, for advantages confined to themselves, the +interest, the freedom, and the lives of those who had served them +most faithfully; they took with equal complacency, and equal +infamy, the stripes of Elis and the bribes of Persia; they never +showed either resentment or gratitude; they abstained from no +injury, and they revenged none. Above all, they looked on a +citizen who served them well as their deadliest enemy. These are +the arts which protract the existence of government. + +Nor were the domestic institutions of Lacedaemon less hateful or +less contemptible than her foreign policy. A perpetual +interference with every part of the system of human life, a +constant struggle against nature and reason, characterised all +her laws. To violate even prejudices which have taken deep root +in the minds of a people is scarcely expedient; to think of +extirpating natural appetites and passions is frantic: the +external symptoms may be occasionally repressed; but the feeling +still exists, and, debarred from its natural objects, preys on +the disordered mind and body of its victim. Thus it is in +convents---thus it is among ascetic sects--thus it was among the +Lacedaemonians. Hence arose that madness, or violence +approaching to madness, which, in spite of every external +restraint, often appeared among the most distinguished citizens +of Sparta. Cleomenes terminated his career of raving cruelty by +cutting himself to pieces. Pausanias seems to have been +absolutely insane; he formed a hopeless and profligate scheme; he +betrayed it by the ostentation of his behaviour, and the +imprudence of his measures; and he alienated, by his insolence, +all who might have served or protected him. Xenophon, a warm +admirer of Lacedaemon, furnishes us with the strongest evidence +to this effect. It is impossible not to observe the brutal and +senseless fury which characterises almost every Spartan with whom +he was connected. Clearchus nearly lost his life by his cruelty. +Chirisophus deprived his army of the services of a faithful guide +by his unreasonable and ferocious severity. But it is needless +to multiply instances. Lycurgus, Mr Mitford's favourite +legislator, founded his whole system on a mistaken principle. He +never considered that governments were made for men, and not men +for governments. Instead of adapting the constitution to the +people, he distorted the minds of the people to suit the +constitution, a scheme worthy of the Laputan Academy of +Projectors. And this appears to Mr Mitford to constitute his +peculiar title to admiration. Hear himself: "What to modern +eyes most strikingly sets that extraordinary man above all other +legislators is, that in so many circumstances, apparently out of +the reach of law, he controlled and formed to his own mind the +wills and habits of his people." I should suppose that this +gentleman had the advantage of receiving his education under the +ferula of Dr Pangloss; for his metaphysics are clearly those of +the castle of Thunder-ten-tronckh: "Remarquez bien que les nez +ont ete faits pour porter des lunettes, aussi avons nous des +lunettes. Les jambes sont visiblement institues pour etre +chaussees, et nous avons des chausses. Les cochons etant faits +pour etre manges, nous mangeons du porc toute l'annee." + +At Athens the laws did not constantly interfere with the tastes +of the people. The children were not taken from their parents by +that universal step-mother, the state. They were not starved +into thieves, or tortured into bullies; there was no established +table at which every one must dine, no established style in which +every one must converse. An Athenian might eat whatever he could +afford to buy, and talk as long as he could find people to +listen. The government did not tell the people what opinions +they were to hold, or what songs they were to sing. Freedom +produced excellence. Thus philosophy took its origin. Thus were +produced those models of poetry, of oratory, and of the arts, +which scarcely fall short of the standard of ideal excellence. +Nothing is more conducive to happiness than the free exercise of +the mind in pursuits congenial to it. This happiness, assuredly, +was enjoyed far more at Athens than at Sparta. The Athenians are +acknowledged even by their enemies to have been distinguished, in +private life, by their courteous and amiable demeanour. Their +levity, at least, was better than Spartan sullenness and their +impertinence than Spartan insolence. Even in courage it may be +questioned whether they were inferior to the Lacedaemonians. The +great Athenian historian has reported a remarkable observation of +the great Athenian minister. Pericles maintained that his +countrymen, without submitting to the hardships of a Spartan +education, rivalled all the achievements of Spartan valour, and +that therefore the pleasures and amusements which they enjoyed +were to be considered as so much clear gain. The infantry of +Athens was certainly not equal to that of Lacedaemon; but this +seems to have been caused merely by want of practice: the +attention of the Athenians was diverted from the discipline of +the phalanx to that of the trireme. The Lacedaemonians, in spite +of all their boasted valour, were, from the same cause, timid and +disorderly in naval action. + +But we are told that crimes of great enormity were perpetrated by +the Athenian government, and the democracies under its +protection. It is true that Athens too often acted up to the +full extent of the laws of war in an age when those laws had not +been mitigated by causes which have operated in later times. +This accusation is, in fact, common to Athens, to Lacedaemon, to +all the states of Greece, and to all states similarly situated. +Where communities are very large, the heavier evils of war are +felt but by few. The ploughboy sings, the spinning-wheel turns +round, the wedding-day is fixed, whether the last battle were +lost or won. In little states it cannot be thus; every man feels +in his own property and person the effect of a war. Every man is +a soldier, and a soldier fighting for his nearest interests. His +own trees have been cut down--his own corn has been burnt--his +own house has been pillaged--his own relations have been killed. +How can he entertain towards the enemies of his country the same +feelings with one who has suffered nothing from them, except +perhaps the addition of a small sum to the taxes which he pays? +Men in such circumstances cannot be generous. They have too much +at stake. It is when they are, if I may so express myself, +playing for love, it is when war is a mere game at chess, it is +when they are contending for a remote colony, a frontier town, +the honours of a flag, a salute, or a title, that they can make +fine speeches, and do good offices to their enemies. The Black +Prince waited behind the chair of his captive; Villars +interchanged repartees with Eugene; George II. sent +congratulations to Louis XV., during a war, upon occasion of his +escape from the attempt of Damien: and these things are fine and +generous, and very gratifying to the author of the Broad Stone of +Honour, and all the other wise men who think, like him, that God +made the world only for the use of gentlemen. But they spring in +general from utter heartlessness. No war ought ever to be +undertaken but under circumstances which render all interchange +of courtesy between the combatants impossible. It is a bad thing +that men should hate each other; but it is far worse that they +should contract the habit of cutting one another's throats +without hatred. War is never lenient, but where it is wanton; +when men are compelled to fight in selfdefence, they must hate +and avenge: this may be bad; but it is human nature; it is the +clay as it came from the hand of the potter. + +It is true that among the dependencies of Athens seditions +assumed a character more ferocious than even in France, during +the reign of terror--the accursed Saturnalia of an accursed +bondage. It is true that in Athens itself, where such +convulsions were scarcely known, the condition of the higher +orders was disagreeable; that they were compelled to contribute +large sums for the service or the amusement of the public; and +that they were sometimes harassed by vexatious informers. +Whenever such cases occur, Mr Mitford's scepticism vanishes. The +"if," the "but," the "it is said," the "if we may believe," with +which he qualifies every charge against a tyrant or an +aristocracy, are at once abandoned. The blacker the story, the +firmer is his belief, and he never fails to inveigh with hearty +bitterness against democracy as the source of every species of +crime. + +The Athenians, I believe, possessed more liberty than was good +for them. Yet I will venture to assert that, while the +splendour, the intelligence, and the energy of that great people +were peculiar to themselves, the crimes with which they are +charged arose from causes which were common to them with every +other state which then existed. The violence of faction in that +age sprung from a cause which has always been fertile in every +political and moral evil, domestic slavery. + +The effect of slavery is completely to dissolve the connection +which naturally exists between the higher and lower classes of +free citizens. The rich spend their wealth in purchasing and +maintaining slaves. There is no demand for the labour of the +poor; the fable of Menenius ceases to be applicable; the belly +communicates no nutriment to the members; there is an atrophy in +the body politic. The two parties, therefore, proceed to +extremities utterly unknown in countries where they have mutually +need of each other. In Rome the oligarchy was too powerful to be +subverted by force; and neither the tribunes nor the popular +assemblies, though constitutionally omnipotent, could maintain a +successful contest against men who possessed the whole property +of the state. Hence the necessity for measures tending to +unsettle the whole frame of society, and to take away every +motive of industry; the abolition of debts, and the agrarian +laws--propositions absurdly condemned by men who do not consider +the circumstances from which they sprung. They were the +desperate remedies of a desperate disease. In Greece the +oligarchical interest was not in general so deeply rooted as at +Rome. The multitude, therefore, often redressed by force +grievances which, at Rome, were commonly attacked under the forms +of the constitution. They drove out or massacred the rich, and +divided their property. If the superior union or military skill +of the rich rendered them victorious, they took measures equally +violent, disarmed all in whom they could not confide, often +slaughtered great numbers, and occasionally expelled the whole +commonalty from the city, and remained, with their slaves, the +sole inhabitants. + +From such calamities Athens and Lacedaemon alone were almost +completely free. At Athens the purses of the rich were laid +under regular contribution for the support of the poor; and this, +rightly considered, was as much a favour to the givers as to the +receivers, since no other measure could possibly have saved their +houses from pillage and their persons from violence. It is +singular that Mr Mitford should perpetually reprobate a policy +which was the best that could be pursued in such a state of +things, and which alone saved Athens from the frightful outrages +which were perpetrated at Corcyra. + +Lacedaemon, cursed with a system of slavery more odious than has +ever existed in any other country, avoided this evil by almost +totally annihilating private property. Lycurgus began by an +agrarian law. He abolished all professions except that of arms; +he made the whole of his community a standing army, every member +of which had a common right to the services of a crowd of +miserable bondmen; he secured the state from sedition at the +expense of the Helots. Of all the parts of his system this is +the most creditable to his head, and the most disgraceful to his +heart. + +These considerations, and many others of equal importance, Mr +Mitford has neglected; but he has yet a heavier charge to answer. +He has made not only illogical inferences, but false statements. +While he never states, without qualifications and objections, the +charges which the earliest and best historians have brought +against his favourite tyrants, Pisistratus, Hippias, and Gelon, +he transcribes, without any hesitation, the grossest abuse of the +least authoritative writers against every democracy and every +demagogue. Such an accusation should not be made without being +supported; and I will therefore select one out of many passages +which will fully substantiate the charge, and convict Mr Mitford +of wilful misrepresentation, or of negligence scarcely less +culpable. Mr Mitford is speaking of one of the greatest men that +ever lived, Demosthenes, and comparing him with his rival, +Aeschines. Let him speak for himself. + +"In earliest youth Demosthenes earned an opprobrious nickname by +the effeminacy of his dress and manner." Does Mr Mitford know +that Demosthenes denied this charge, and explained the nickname +in a perfectly different manner? (See the speech of Aeschines +against Timarchus.) And, if he knew it, should he not have +stated it? He proceeds thus: "On emerging from minority, by the +Athenian law, at five-and-twenty, he earned another opprobrious +nickname by a prosecution of his guardians, which was considered +as a dishonourable attempt to extort money from them." In the +first place Demosthenes was not five-and-twenty years of age. Mr +Mitford might have learned, from so common a book as the +Archaeologia of Archbishop Potter, that at twenty Athenian +citizens were freed from the control of their guardians, and +began to manage their own property. The very speech of +Demosthenes against his guardians proves most satisfactorily that +he was under twenty. In his speech against Midias, he says that +when he undertook that prosecution he was quite a boy. +(Meirakullion on komide.) His youth might, therefore, excuse the +step, even if it had been considered, as Mr Mitford says, a +dishonourable attempt to extort money. But who considered it as +such? Not the judges who condemned the guardians. The Athenian +courts of justice were not the purest in the world; but their +decisions were at least as likely to be just as the abuse of a +deadly enemy. Mr Mitford refers for confirmation of his +statement to Aeschines and Plutarch. Aeschines by no means bears +him out; and Plutarch directly contradicts him. "Not long +after," says Mr Mitford, "he took blows publicly in the theater" +(I preserve the orthography, if it can be so called, of this +historian) "from a petulant youth of rank, named Meidias." Here +are two disgraceful mistakes. In the first place, it was long +after; eight years at the very least, probably much more. In the +next place the petulant youth, of whom Mr Mitford speaks, was +fifty years old. (Whoever will read the speech of Demosthenes +against Midias will find the statements in the text confirmed, +and will have, moreover, the pleasure of becoming acquainted with +one of the finest compositions in the world.) Really Mr Mitford +has less reason to censure the carelessness of his predecessors +than to reform his own. After this monstrous inaccuracy, with +regard to facts, we may be able to judge what degree of credit +ought to be given to the vague abuse of such a writer. "The +cowardice of Demosthenes in the field afterwards became +notorious." Demosthenes was a civil character; war was not his +business. In his time the division between military and +political offices was beginning to be strongly marked; yet the +recollection of the days when every citizen was a soldier was +still recent. In such states of society a certain degree of +disrepute always attaches to sedentary men; but that any leader +of the Athenian democracy could have been, as Mr Mitford says of +Demosthenes, a few lines before, remarkable for "an extraordinary +deficiency of personal courage," is absolutely impossible. What +mercenary warrior of the time exposed his life to greater or more +constant perils? Was there a single soldier at Chaeronea who had +more cause to tremble for his safety than the orator, who, in +case of defeat, could scarcely hope for mercy from the people +whom he had misled or the prince whom he had opposed? Were not +the ordinary fluctuations of popular feeling enough to deter any +coward from engaging in political conflicts? Isocrates, whom Mr +Mitford extols, because he constantly employed all the flowers of +his school-boy rhetoric to decorate oligarchy and tyranny, +avoided the judicial and political meetings of Athens from mere +timidity, and seems to have hated democracy only because he durst +not look a popular assembly in the face. Demosthenes was a man +of a feeble constitution: his nerves were weak, but his spirit +was high; and the energy and enthusiasm of his feelings supported +him through life and in death. + +So much for Demosthenes. Now for the orator of aristocracy. I +do not wish to abuse Aeschines. He may have been an honest man. +He was certainly a great man; and I feel a reverence, of which Mr +Mitford seems to have no notion, for great men of every party. +But, when Mr Mitford says that the private character of Aeschines +was without stain, does he remember what Aeschines has himself +confessed in his speech against Timarchus? I can make +allowances, as well as Mr Mitford, for persons who lived under a +different system of laws and morals; but let them be made +impartially. If Demosthenes is to be attacked on account of some +childish improprieties, proved only by the assertion of an +antagonist, what shall we say of those maturer vices which that +antagonist has himself acknowledged? "Against the private +character of Aeschines," says Mr Mitford, "Demosthenes seems not +to have had an insinuation to oppose." Has Mr Mitford ever read +the speech of Demosthenes on the Embassy? Or can he have +forgotten, what was never forgotten by anyone else who ever read +it, the story which Demosthenes relates with such terrible energy +of language concerning the drunken brutality of his rival? True +or false, here is something more than an insinuation; and nothing +can vindicate the historian, who has overlooked it, from the +charge of negligence or of partiality. But Aeschines denied the +story. And did not Demosthenes also deny the story respecting +his childish nickname, which Mr Mitford has nevertheless told +without any qualification? But the judges, or some part of them, +showed, by their clamour, their disbelief of the relation of +Demosthenes. And did not the judges, who tried the cause between +Demosthenes and his guardians, indicate, in a much clearer +manner, their approbation of the prosecution? But Demosthenes +was a demagogue, and is to be slandered. Aeschines was an +aristocrat, and is to be panegyrised. Is this a history, or a +party-pamphlet? + +These passages, all selected from a single page of Mr Mitford's +work, may give some notion to those readers, who have not the +means of comparing his statements with the original authorities, +of his extreme partiality and carelessness. Indeed, whenever +this historian mentions Demosthenes, he violates all the laws of +candour and even of decency; he weighs no authorities; he makes +no allowances; he forgets the best authenticated facts in the +history of the times, and the most generally recognised +principles of human nature. The opposition of the great orator +to the policy of Philip he represents as neither more nor less +than deliberate villany. I hold almost the same opinion with Mr +Mitford respecting the character and the views of that great and +accomplished prince. But am I, therefore, to pronounce +Demosthenes profligate and insincere? Surely not. Do we not +perpetually see men of the greatest talents and the purest +intentions misled by national or factious prejudices? The most +respectable people in England were, little more than forty years +ago, in the habit of uttering the bitterest abuse against +Washington and Franklin. It is certainly to be regretted that +men should err so grossly in their estimate of character. But no +person who knows anything of human nature will impute such errors +to depravity. + +Mr Mitford is not more consistent with himself than with reason. +Though he is the advocate of all oligarchies, he is also a warm +admirer of all kings, and of all citizens who raised themselves +to that species of sovereignty which the Greeks denominated +tyranny. If monarchy, as Mr Mitford holds, be in itself a +blessing, democracy must be a better form of government than +aristocracy, which is always opposed to the supremacy, and even +to the eminence, of individuals. On the other hand, it is but +one step that separates the demagogue and the sovereign. + +If this article had not extended itself to so great a length, I +should offer a few observations on some other peculiarities of +this writer,--his general preference of the Barbarians to the +Greeks,--his predilection for Persians, Carthaginians, Thracians, +for all nations, in short, except that great and enlightened +nation of which he is the historian. But I will confine myself +to a single topic. + +Mr Mitford has remarked, with truth and spirit, that "any history +perfectly written, but especially a Grecian history perfectly +written should be a political institute for all nations." It has +not occurred to him that a Grecian history, perfectly written, +should also be a complete record of the rise and progress of +poetry, philosophy, and the arts. Here his work is extremely +deficient. Indeed, though it may seem a strange thing to say of +a gentleman who has published so many quartos, Mr Mitford seems +to entertain a feeling, bordering on contempt, for literary and +speculative pursuits. The talents of action almost exclusively +attract his notice; and he talks with very complacent disdain of +"the idle learned." Homer, indeed, he admires; but principally, +I am afraid, because he is convinced that Homer could neither +read nor write. He could not avoid speaking of Socrates; but he +has been far more solicitous to trace his death to political +causes, and to deduce from it consequences unfavourable to +Athens, and to popular governments, than to throw light on the +character and doctrines of the wonderful man, + +"From whose mouth issued forth +Mellifluous streams that watered all the schools +Of Academics, old and new, with those +Surnamed Peripatetics, and the sect +Epicurean, and the Stoic severe." + +He does not seem to be aware that Demosthenes was a great orator; +he represents him sometimes as an aspirant demagogue, sometimes +as an adroit negotiator, and always as a great rogue. But that +in which the Athenian excelled all men of all ages, that +irresistible eloquence, which at the distance of more than two +thousand years stirs our blood, and brings tears into our eyes, +he passes by with a few phrases of commonplace commendation. The +origin of the drama, the doctrines of the sophists, the course of +Athenian education, the state of the arts and sciences, the whole +domestic system of the Greeks, he has almost completely +neglected. Yet these things will appear, to a reflecting man, +scarcely less worthy of attention than the taking of Sphacteria +or the discipline of the targeteers of Iphicrates. + +This, indeed, is a deficiency by no means peculiar to Mr Mitford. +Most people seem to imagine that a detail of public occurrences-- +the operations of sieges---the changes of administrations--the +treaties--the conspiracies--the rebellions--is a complete +history. Differences of definition are logically unimportant; +but practically they sometimes produce the most momentous +effects. Thus it has been in the present case. Historians have, +almost without exception, confined themselves to the public +transactions of states, and have left to the negligent +administration of writers of fiction a province at least equally +extensive and valuable. + +All wise statesmen have agreed to consider the prosperity or +adversity of nations as made up of the happiness or misery of +individuals, and to reject as chimerical all notions of a public +interest of the community, distinct from the interest of the +component parts. It is therefore strange that those whose office +it is to supply statesmen with examples and warnings should omit, +as too mean for the dignity of history, circumstances which exert +the most extensive influence on the state of society. In +general, the under current of human life flows steadily on, +unruffled by the storms which agitate the surface. The happiness +of the many commonly depends on causes independent of victories +or defeats, of revolutions or restorations,--causes which can be +regulated by no laws, and which are recorded in no archives. +These causes are the things which it is of main importance to us +to know, not how the Lacedaemonian phalanx was broken at +Leuctra,--not whether Alexander died of poison or by disease. +History, without these, is a shell without a kernel; and such is +almost all the history which is extant in the world. Paltry +skirmishes and plots are reported with absurd and useless +minuteness; but improvements the most essential to the comfort of +human life extend themselves over the world, and introduce +themselves into every cottage, before any annalist can +condescend, from the dignity of writing about generals and +ambassadors, to take the least notice of them. Thus the progress +of the most salutary inventions and discoveries is buried in +impenetrable mystery; mankind are deprived of a most useful +species of knowledge, and their benefactors of their honest fame. +In the meantime every child knows by heart the dates and +adventures of a long line of barbarian kings. The history of +nations, in the sense in which I use the word, is often best +studied in works not professedly historical. Thucydides, as far +as he goes, is an excellent writer; yet he affords us far less +knowledge of the most important particulars relating to Athens +than Plato or Aristophanes. The little treatise of Xenophon on +Domestic Economy contains more historical information than all +the seven books of his Hellenics. The same may be said of the +Satires of Horace, of the Letters of Cicero, of the novels of Le +Sage, of the memoirs of Marmontel. Many others might be +mentioned; but these sufficiently illustrate my meaning. + +I would hope that there may yet appear a writer who may despise +the present narrow limits, and assert the rights of history over +every part of her natural domain. Should such a writer engage in +that enterprise, in which I cannot but consider Mr Mitford as +having failed, he will record, indeed, all that is interesting +and important in military and political transactions; but he will +not think anything too trivial for the gravity of history which +is not too trivial to promote or diminish the happiness of man. +He will portray in vivid colours the domestic society, the +manners, the amusements, the conversation of the Greeks. He will +not disdain to discuss the state of agriculture, of the +mechanical arts, and of the conveniences of life. The progress +of painting, of sculpture, and of architecture, will form an +important part of his plan. But, above all, his attention will +be given to the history of that splendid literature from which +has sprung all the strength, the wisdom, the freedom, and the +glory, of the western world. + +Of the indifference which Mr Mitford shows on this subject I will +not speak; for I cannot speak with fairness. It is a subject on +which I love to forget the accuracy of a judge, in the veneration +of a worshipper and the gratitude of a child. If we consider +merely the subtlety of disquisition, the force of imagination, +the perfect energy and elegance of expression which characterise +the great works of Athenian genius, we must pronounce them +intrinsically most valuable; but what shall we say when we +reflect that from hence have sprung directly or indirectly, all +the noblest creations of the human intellect; that from hence +were the vast accomplishments and the brilliant fancy of Cicero; +the withering fire of Juvenal; the plastic imagination of Dante; +the humour of Cervantes; the comprehension of Bacon; the wit of +Butler; the supreme and universal excellence of Shakspeare? All +the triumphs of truth and genius over prejudice and power, in +every country and in every age, have been the triumphs of Athens. +Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against violence and +fraud, in the cause of liberty and reason, there has been her +spirit in the midst of them; inspiring, encouraging, consoling;-- +by the lonely lamp of Erasmus; by the restless bed of Pascal; in +the tribune of Mirabeau; in the cell of Galileo; on the scaffold +of Sidney. But who shall estimate her influence on private +happiness? Who shall say how many thousands have been made +wiser, happier, and better, by those pursuits in which she has +taught mankind to engage: to how many the studies which took +their rise from her have been wealth in poverty,--liberty in +bondage,--health in sickness,--society in solitude? Her power is +indeed manifested at the bar, in the senate, in the field of +battle, in the schools of philosophy. But these are not her +glory. Wherever literature consoles sorrow, or assuages pain,-- +wherever it brings gladness to eyes which fail with wakefulness +and tears, and ache for the dark house and the long sleep,--there +is exhibited, in its noblest form, the immortal influence of +Athens. + +The dervise, in the Arabian tale, did not hesitate to abandon to +his comrade the camels with their load of jewels and gold, while +he retained the casket of that mysterious juice which enabled him +to behold at one glance all the hidden riches of the universe. +Surely it is no exaggeration to say that no external advantage is +to be compared with that purification of the intellectual eye +which gives us to contemplate the infinite wealth of the mental +world, all the hoarded treasures of its primeval dynasties, all +the shapeless ore of its yet unexplored mines. This is the gift +of Athens to man. Her freedom and her power have for more than +twenty centuries been annihilated; her people have degenerated +into timid slaves; her language into a barbarous jargon; her +temples have been given up to the successive depredations of +Romans, Turks, and Scotchmen; but her intellectual empire is +imperishable. And when those who have rivalled her greatness +shall have shared her fate; when civilisation and knowledge shall +have fixed their abode in distant continents; when the sceptre +shall have passed away from England; when, perhaps, travellers +from distant regions shall in vain labour to decipher on some +mouldering pedestal the name of our proudest chief; shall hear +savage hymns chaunted to some misshapen idol over the ruined dome +of our proudest temple; and shall see a single naked fisherman +wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand masts;--her +influence and her glory will still survive,--fresh in eternal +youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the +intellectual principle from which they derived their origin, and +over which they exercise their control. + + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Miscellaneous Writings +and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, Volume I. + diff --git a/old/1mwsm10.zip b/old/1mwsm10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a4b6c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1mwsm10.zip |