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diff --git a/30745-0.txt b/30745-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..461ce51 --- /dev/null +++ b/30745-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,27558 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Calamities and Quarrels of Authors, by Isaac Disraeli + +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: Calamities and Quarrels of Authors + +Author: Isaac Disraeli + +Release Date: December 23, 2009 [EBook #30745] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CALAMITIES AND QUARRELS OF AUTHORS *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + CALAMITIES AND QUARRELS + OF + AUTHORS. + + BY + ISAAC DISRAELI. + + + A NEW EDITION + + EDITED BY HIS SON + THE EARL OF BEACONSFIELD. + + + LONDON: + FREDERICK WARNE AND CO. + BEDFORD STREET, STRAND. + + + LONDON: + BRADBURY, AGNEW & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS. + PREFACE 3 + AUTHORS BY PROFESSION:--GUTHRIE AND AMHURST--DRAKE--SMOLLETT 7 + THE CASE OF AUTHORS STATED, INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF LITERARY + PROPERTY 15 + THE SUFFERINGS OF AUTHORS 22 + A MENDICANT AUTHOR, AND THE PATRONS OF FORMER TIMES 25 + COWLEY--OF HIS MELANCHOLY 35 + THE PAINS OF FASTIDIOUS EGOTISM 42 + INFLUENCE OF A BAD TEMPER IN CRITICISM 51 + DISAPPOINTED GENIUS TAKES A FATAL DIRECTION BY ITS ABUSE 59 + THE MALADIES OF AUTHORS 70 + LITERARY SCOTCHMEN 75 + LABORIOUS AUTHORS 83 + THE DESPAIR OF YOUNG POETS 98 + THE MISERIES OF THE FIRST ENGLISH COMMENTATOR 104 + THE LIFE OF AN AUTHORESS 106 + THE INDISCRETION OF AN HISTORIAN--CARTE 110 + LITERARY RIDICULE, ILLUSTRATED BY SOME ACCOUNT OF A LITERARY + SATIRE 114 + LITERARY HATRED, EXHIBITING A CONSPIRACY AGAINST AN AUTHOR 130 + UNDUE SEVERITY OF CRITICISM 139 + A VOLUMINOUS AUTHOR WITHOUT JUDGMENT 146 + GENIUS AND ERUDITION THE VICTIMS OF IMMODERATE VANITY 155 + GENIUS, THE DUPE OF ITS PASSIONS 168 + LITERARY DISAPPOINTMENTS DISORDERING THE INTELLECT 172 + THE REWARDS OF ORIENTAL STUDENTS 186 + DANGER INCURRED BY GIVING THE RESULT OF LITERARY INQUIRIES 193 + A NATIONAL WORK WHICH COULD FIND NO PATRONAGE 200 + THE MISERIES OF SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS 202 + THE ILLUSIONS OF WRITERS IN VERSE 212 + + QUARRELS OF AUTHORS. + PREFACE 229 + WARBURTON, AND HIS QUARRELS; INCLUDING AN ILLUSTRATION OF HIS + LITERARY CHARACTER 233 + POPE AND HIS MISCELLANEOUS QUARRELS 278 + POPE AND CURLL; OR A NARRATIVE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY + TRANSACTIONS RESPECTING THE PUBLICATION OF POPE'S LETTERS 292 + POPE AND CIBBER; CONTAINING A VINDICATION OF THE COMIC WRITER 301 + POPE AND ADDISON 313 + BOLINGBROKE AND MALLET'S POSTHUMOUS QUARREL WITH POPE 321 + LINTOT'S ACCOUNT-BOOK 328 + POPE'S EARLIEST SATIRE 333 + THE ROYAL SOCIETY 336 + SIR JOHN HILL, WITH THE ROYAL SOCIETY, FIELDING, SMART, ETC. 362 + BOYLE AND BENTLEY 377 + PARKER AND MARVELL 391 + D'AVENANT AND A CLUB OF WITS 403 + THE PAPER-WARS OF THE CIVIL WARS 415 + POLITICAL CRITICISM ON LITERARY COMPOSITIONS 423 + HOBBES, AND HIS QUARRELS; INCLUDING AN ILLUSTRATION OF HIS + CHARACTER 436 + HOBBES'S QUARRELS WITH DR. WALLIS, THE MATHEMATICIAN. 463 + JONSON AND DECKER 474 + CAMDEN AND BROOKE 490 + MARTIN MAR-PRELATE 501 + SUPPLEMENT TO MARTIN MAR-PRELATE 523 + LITERARY QUARRELS FROM PERSONAL MOTIVES 529 + + INDEX 541 + + + + +CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS: + +INCLUDING + +SOME INQUIRIES RESPECTING THEIR MORAL AND LITERARY CHARACTERS. + + "Such a superiority do the pursuits of Literature possess above + every other occupation, that even he who attains but a mediocrity + in them, merits the pre-eminence above those that excel the most + in the common and vulgar professions."--HUME. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The Calamities of Authors have often excited the attention of the +lovers of literature; and, from the revival of letters to this day, +this class of the community, the most ingenious and the most +enlightened, have, in all the nations of Europe, been the most +honoured, and the least remunerated. Pierius Valerianus, an attendant +in the literary court of Leo X., who twice refused a bishopric that he +might pursue his studies uninterrupted, was a friend of Authors, and +composed a small work, "De Infelicitate Literatorum," which has been +frequently reprinted.[1] It forms a catalogue of several Italian +literati, his contemporaries; a meagre performance, in which the +author shows sometimes a predilection for the marvellous, which +happens so rarely in human affairs; and he is so unphilosophical, that +he places among the misfortunes of literary men those fatal casualties +to which all men are alike liable. Yet even this small volume has its +value: for although the historian confines his narrative to his own +times, he includes a sufficient number of names to convince us that to +devote our life to authorship is not the true means of improving our +happiness or our fortune. + +At a later period, a congenial work was composed by Theophilus +Spizelius, a German divine; his four volumes are after the fashion of +his country and his times, which could make even small things +ponderous. In 1680 he first published two volumes, entitled "Infelix +Literatus," and five years afterwards his "Felicissimus Literatus;" he +writes without size, and sermonises without end, and seems to have +been so grave a lover of symmetry, that he shapes his _Felicities_ +just with the same measure as his _Infelicities_. These two equalised +bundles of hay might have held in suspense the casuistical ass of +Sterne, till he had died from want of a motive to choose either. Yet +Spizelius is not to be contemned because he is verbose and heavy; he +has reflected more deeply than Valerianus, by opening the moral causes +of those calamities which he describes.[2] + +The chief object of the present work is to ascertain some doubtful yet +important points concerning Authors. The title of Author still retains +its seduction among our youth, and is consecrated by ages. Yet what +affectionate parent would consent to see his son devote himself to his +pen as a profession? The studies of a true Author insulate him in +society, exacting daily labours; yet he will receive but little +encouragement, and less remuneration. It will be found that the most +successful Author can obtain no equivalent for the labours of his +life. I have endeavoured to ascertain this fact, to develope the +causes and to paint the variety of evils that naturally result from +the disappointments of genius. Authors themselves never discover this +melancholy truth till they have yielded to an impulse, and adopted a +profession, too late in life to resist the one, or abandon the other. +Whoever labours without hope, a painful state to which Authors are at +length reduced, may surely be placed among the most injured class in +the community. Most Authors close their lives in apathy or despair, +and too many live by means which few of them would not blush to +describe. + +Besides this perpetual struggle with penury, there are also moral +causes which influence the literary character. I have drawn the +individual characters and feelings of Authors from their own +confessions, or deduced them from the prevalent events of their lives; +and often discovered them in their secret history, as it floats on +tradition, or lies concealed in authentic and original documents. I +would paint what has not been unhappily called the _psychological_ +character.[3] + +I have limited my inquiries to our own country, and generally to +recent times; for researches more curious, and eras more distant, +would less forcibly act on our sympathy. If, in attempting to avoid +the naked brevity of Valerianus, I have taken a more comprehensive +view of several of our Authors, it has been with the hope that I was +throwing a new light on their characters, or contributing some fresh +materials to our literary history. I feel anxious for the fate of the +opinions and the feelings which have arisen in the progress and +diversity of this work; but whatever their errors may be, it is to +them that my readers at least owe the materials of which it is formed; +these materials will be received with consideration, as the +confessions and statements of genius itself. In mixing them with my +own feelings, let me apply a beautiful apologue of the Hebrews--"The +clusters of grapes sent out of Babylon implore favour for the +exuberant leaves of the vine; for had there been no leaves, you had +lost the grapes." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] A modern writer observes, that "Valeriano is chiefly known to + the present times by his brief but curious and interesting + work, _De Literatorum Infelicitate_, which has preserved many + anecdotes of the principal scholars of the age, not elsewhere + to be found."--ROSCOE'S _Leo X._ vol. iv. p. 175. + + [2] There is also a bulky collection of this kind, entitled, + _Analecta de Calamitate Literatorum_, edited by Mencken, the + author of _Charlataneria Eruditorum_. + + [3] From the Grecian _Psyche_, or the soul, the Germans have + borrowed this expressive term. They have a _Psychological + Magazine_. Some of our own recent authors have adopted the + term peculiarly adapted to the historian of the human mind. + + + + +AUTHORS BY PROFESSION. + +GUTHRIE AND AMHURST--DRAKE--SMOLLETT. + + +A great author once surprised me by inquiring what I meant by "an +Author by Profession." He seemed offended at the supposition that I +was creating an odious distinction between authors. I was only placing +it among their calamities. + +The title of AUTHOR is venerable; and in the ranks of national glory, +authors mingle with its heroes and its patriots. It is indeed by our +authors that foreigners have been taught most to esteem us; and this +remarkably appears in the expression of Gemelli, the Italian traveller +round the world, who wrote about the year 1700; for he told all Europe +that "he could find nothing amongst us but our writings to distinguish +us from the worst of barbarians." But to become an "Author by +Profession," is to have no other means of subsistence than such as are +extracted from the quill; and no one believes these to be so +precarious as they really are, until disappointed, distressed, and +thrown out of every pursuit which can maintain independence, the +noblest mind is cast into the lot of a doomed labourer. + +Literature abounds with instances of "Authors by Profession" +accommodating themselves to this condition. By vile artifices of +faction and popularity their moral sense is injured, and the literary +character sits in that study which he ought to dignify, merely, as one +of them sings, + + To keep his mutton twirling at the fire. + +Another has said, "He is a fool who is a grain honester than the times +he lives in." + +Let it not, therefore, be conceived that I mean to degrade or vilify +the literary character, when I would only separate the Author from +those polluters of the press who have turned a vestal into a +prostitute; a grotesque race of famished buffoons or laughing +assassins; or that populace of unhappy beings, who are driven to +perish in their garrets, unknown and unregarded by all, for illusions +which even their calamities cannot disperse. Poverty, said an ancient, +is a sacred thing--it is, indeed, so sacred, that it creates a +sympathy even for those who have incurred it by their folly, or plead +by it for their crimes. + +The history of our Literature is instructive--let us trace the origin +of characters of this sort among us: some of them have happily +disappeared, and, whenever great authors obtain their due rights, the +calamities of literature will be greatly diminished. + +As for the phrase of "Authors by Profession," it is said to be of +modern origin; and GUTHRIE, a great dealer in literature, and a +political scribe, is thought to have introduced it, as descriptive of +a class of writers which he wished to distinguish from the general +term. I present the reader with an unpublished letter of Guthrie, in +which the phrase will not only be found, but, what is more important, +which exhibits the character in its degraded form. It was addressed to +a minister. + + _June 3, 1762._ + + "My Lord, + + "In the year 1745-6, Mr. Pelham, then First Lord of the Treasury, + acquainted me, that it was his Majesty's pleasure I should + receive, till better provided for, which never has happened, + 200_l._ a-year, to be paid by him and his successors in the + Treasury. I was satisfied with the august name made use of, and + the appointment has been regularly and quarterly paid me ever + since. I have been equally punctual in doing the government all + the services that fell within my abilities or sphere of life, + especially in those critical situations that call for unanimity in + the service of the crown. + + "Your Lordship may possibly now suspect that _I am an Author by + Profession_: you are not deceived; and will be less so, if you + believe that I am disposed to serve his Majesty under your + Lordship's _future patronage and protection, with greater zeal, if + possible, than ever_. + + "I have the honour to be, + "My Lord, &c., + "WILLIAM GUTHRIE." + +Unblushing venality! In one part he shouts like a plundering +hussar who has carried off his prey; and in the other he bows with +the tame suppleness of the "quarterly" Swiss chaffering his halbert +for his price;--"to serve his Majesty" for--"his Lordship's future +patronage." + +Guthrie's notion of "An Author by Profession," entirely derived from +his own character, was twofold; literary taskwork, and political +degradation. He was to be a gentleman convertible into an historian, +at ---- per sheet; and, when he had not time to write histories, he +chose to sell his name to those he never wrote. These are mysteries of +the craft of authorship; in this sense it is only a trade, and a very +bad one! But when in his other capacity, this gentleman comes to hire +himself to one lord as he had to another, no one can doubt that the +stipendiary would change his principles with his livery.[4] + +Such have been some of the "Authors by Profession" who have worn the +literary mask; for literature was not the first object of their +designs. They form a race peculiar to our country. They opened their +career in our first great revolution, and flourished during the +eventful period of the civil wars. In the form of newspapers, their +"Mercuries" and "Diurnals" were political pamphlets.[5] Of these, the +Royalists, being the better educated, carried off to their side all +the spirit, and only left the foam and dregs for the Parliamentarians; +otherwise, in lying, they were just like one another; for "the father +of lies" seems to be of no party! Were it desirable to instruct men by +a system of political and moral calumny, the complete art might be +drawn from these archives of political lying, during their flourishing +era. We might discover principles among them which would have humbled +the genius of Machiavel himself, and even have taught Mr. Sheridan's +more popular scribe, Mr. Puff, a sense of his own inferiority. + +It is known that, during the administration of Harley and Walpole, +this class of authors swarmed and started up like mustard-seed in a +hot-bed. More than fifty thousand pounds were expended among them! +Faction, with mad and blind passions, can affix a value on the basest +things that serve its purpose.[6] These "Authors by Profession" wrote +more assiduously the better they were paid; but as attacks only +produced replies and rejoinders, to remunerate them was heightening +the fever and feeding the disease. They were all fighting for present +pay, with a view of the promised land before them; but they at length +became so numerous, and so crowded on one another, that the minister +could neither satisfy promised claims nor actual dues. He had not at +last the humblest office to bestow, not a commissionership of wine +licences, as Tacitus Gordon had: not even a collectorship of the +customs in some obscure town, as was the wretched worn-out Oldmixon's +pittance;[7] not a crumb for a mouse! + +The captain of this banditti in the administration of Walpole was +Arnall, a young attorney, whose mature genius for scurrilous +party-papers broke forth in his tender nonage. This hireling was "The +Free Briton," and in "The Gazetteer" _Francis Walsingham, Esq._, +abusing the name of a profound statesman. It is said that he received +above ten thousand pounds for his obscure labours; and this patriot +was suffered to retire with all the dignity which a pension could +confer. He not only wrote for hire, but valued himself on it; proud of +the pliancy of his pen and of his principles, he wrote without remorse +what his patron was forced to pay for, but to disavow. It was from a +knowledge of these "Authors by Profession," writers of a faction in +the name of the community, as they have been well described, that our +great statesman Pitt fell into an error which he lived to regret. He +did not distinguish between authors; he confounded the mercenary with +the men of talent and character; and with this contracted view of the +political influence of genius, he must have viewed with awe, perhaps +with surprise, its mighty labour in the volumes of Burke. + +But these "Authors by Profession" sometimes found a retribution of +their crimes even from their masters. When the ardent patron was +changed into a cold minister, their pen seemed wonderfully to have +lost its point, and the feather could not any more tickle. They were +flung off, as Shakspeare's striking imagery expresses it, like + + An unregarded bulrush on the stream, + To rot itself with motion. + +Look on the fate and fortune of AMHURST. The life of this "Author by +Profession" points a moral. He flourished about the year 1730. He +passed through a youth of iniquity, and was expelled from his college +for his irregularities: he had exhibited no marks of regeneration when +he assailed the university with the periodical paper of the _Terræ +Filius_; a witty Saturnalian effusion on the manners and Toryism of +Oxford, where the portraits have an extravagant kind of likeness, and +are so false and so true that they were universally relished and +individually understood. Amhurst, having lost his character, hastened +to reform the morals and politics of the nation. For near twenty years +he toiled at "The Craftsman," of which ten thousand are said to have +been sold in one day. Admire this patriot! an expelled collegian +becomes an outrageous zealot for popular reform, and an intrepid Whig +can bend to be yoked to all the drudgery of a faction! Amhurst +succeeded in writing out the minister, and writing in Bolingbroke and +Pulteney. Now came the hour of gratitude and generosity. His patrons +mounted into power--but--they silently dropped the instrument of their +ascension. The political prostitute stood shivering at the gate of +preferment, which his masters had for ever flung against him. He died +broken-hearted, and owed the charity of a grave to his bookseller. + +I must add one more striking example of a political author in the case +of Dr. JAMES DRAKE, a man of genius, and an excellent writer. He +resigned an honourable profession, that of medicine, to adopt a very +contrary one, that of becoming an author by profession for a party. As +a Tory writer, he dared every extremity of the law, while he evaded +it by every subtlety of artifice; he sent a masked lady with his MS. +to the printer, who was never discovered, and was once saved by a flaw +in the indictment from the simple change of an _r_ for a _t_, or _nor_ +for _not_;--one of those shameful evasions by which the law, to its +perpetual disgrace, so often protects the criminal from punishment. +Dr. Drake had the honour of hearing himself censured from the throne; +of being imprisoned; of seeing his "Memorials of the Church of +England" burned at London, and his "Historia Anglo-Scotica" at +Edinburgh. Having enlisted himself in the pay of the booksellers, +among other works, I suspect, he condescended to practise some +literary impositions. For he has reprinted Father Parson's famous +libel against the Earl of Leicester in Elizabeth's reign, under the +title of "Secret Memoirs of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 1706," +8vo, with a preface pretending it was printed from an old MS. + +Drake was a lover of literature; he left behind him a version of +Herodotus, and a "System of Anatomy," once the most popular and +curious of its kind. After all this turmoil of his literary life, +neither his masked lady nor the flaws in his indictments availed him. +Government brought a writ of error, severely prosecuted him; and, +abandoned, as usual, by those for whom he had annihilated a genius +which deserved a better fate, his perturbed spirit broke out into a +fever, and he died raving against cruel persecutors, and patrons not +much more humane. + +So much for some of those who have been "Authors by Profession" in one +of the twofold capacities which Guthrie designed, that of writing for +a minister; the other, that of writing for the bookseller, though far +more honourable, is sufficiently calamitous. + +In commercial times, the hope of profit is always a stimulating, but a +degrading motive; it dims the clearest intellect, it stills the +proudest feelings. Habit and prejudice will soon reconcile even genius +to the work of money, and to avow the motive without a blush. "An +author by profession," at once ingenious and ingenuous, declared that, +"till fame appears to be worth more than money, he would always prefer +money to fame." JOHNSON had a notion that there existed no motive for +writing but money! Yet, crowned heads have sighed with the ambition of +authorship, though this great master of the human mind could suppose +that on this subject men were not actuated either by the love of glory +or of pleasure! FIELDING, an author of great genius and of "the +profession," in one of his "Covent-garden Journals" asserts, that "An +author, in a country where there is no public provision for men of +genius, is not obliged to be a more disinterested patriot than any +other. Why is he whose _livelihood is in his pen_ a greater monster in +using it to serve himself, than he who uses his tongue for the same +purpose?" + +But it is a very important question to ask, is this "livelihood in the +pen" really such? Authors drudging on in obscurity, and enduring +miseries which can never close but with their life--shall this be +worth even the humble designation of a "livelihood?" I am not now +combating with them whether their taskwork degrades them, but whether +they are receiving an equivalent for the violation of their genius, +for the weight of the fetters they are wearing, and for the entailed +miseries which form an author's sole legacies to his widow and his +children. Far from me is the wish to degrade literature by the +inquiry; but it will be useful to many a youth of promising talent, +who is impatient to abandon all professions for this one, to consider +well the calamities in which he will most probably participate. + +Among "Authors by Profession" who has displayed a more fruitful +genius, and exercised more intense industry, with a loftier sense of +his independence, than SMOLLETT? But look into his life and enter into +his feelings, and you will be shocked at the disparity of his +situation with the genius of the man. His life was a succession of +struggles, vexations, and disappointments, yet of success in his +writings. Smollett, who is a great poet, though he has written little +in verse, and whose rich genius composed the most original pictures of +human life, was compelled by his wants to debase his name by selling +it to voyages and translations, which he never could have read. When +he had worn himself down in the service of the public or the +booksellers, there remained not, of all his slender remunerations, in +the last stage of life, sufficient to convey him to a cheap country +and a restorative air on the Continent. The father may have thought +himself fortunate, that the daughter whom he loved with more than +common affection was no more to share in his wants; but the husband +had by his side the faithful companion of his life, left without a +wreck of fortune. Smollett, gradually perishing in a foreign land,[8] +neglected by an admiring public, and without fresh resources from the +booksellers, who were receiving the income of his works, threw out his +injured feelings in the character of _Bramble_; the warm generosity of +his temper, but not his genius, seemed fleeting with his breath. In a +foreign land his widow marked by a plain monument the spot of his +burial, and she perished in solitude! Yet Smollett dead--soon an +ornamented column is raised at the place of his birth,[9] while the +grave of the author seemed to multiply the editions of his works. +There are indeed grateful feelings in the public at large for a +favourite author; but the awful testimony of those feelings, by its +gradual progress, must appear beyond the grave! They visit the column +consecrated by his name, and his features are most loved, most +venerated, in the bust. + +Smollett himself shall be the historian of his own heart; this most +successful "Author by Profession," who, for his subsistence, composed +masterworks of genius, and drudged in the toils of slavery, shall +himself tell us what happened, and describe that state between life +and death, partaking of both, which obscured his faculties and +sickened his lofty spirit. + +"Had some of those who were pleased to call themselves my friends been +at any pains to deserve the character, and told me ingenuously what I +had to expect in _the capacity of an author, when I first professed +myself of that venerable fraternity_, I should in all probability have +spared myself the _incredible labour and chagrin I have since +undergone_." + +As a relief from literary labour, Smollett once went to revisit his +family, and to embrace the mother he loved; but such was the +irritation of his mind and the infirmity of his health, exhausted by +the hard labours of authorship, that he never passed a more weary +summer, nor ever found himself so incapable of indulging the warmest +emotions of his heart. On his return, in a letter, he gave this +melancholy narrative of himself:--"Between friends, I am now convinced +that _my brain was in some measure affected_; for I had a kind of +_Coma Vigil_ upon me from April to November, without intermission. In +consideration of this circumstance, I know you will forgive all my +peevishness and discontent; tell Mrs. Moore that with regard to me, +she has as yet seen nothing but the wrong side of the tapestry." Thus +it happens in the life of authors, that they whose comic genius +diffuses cheerfulness, create a pleasure which they cannot themselves +participate. + +The _Coma Vigil_ may be described by a verse of Shakspeare:-- + + Still-waking sleep! that is not what it is! + +Of praise and censure, says Smollett, in a letter to Dr. Moore, +"Indeed I am sick of both, and wish to God my circumstances would +allow me to consign my pen to oblivion." A wish, as fervently repeated +by many "Authors by Profession," who are not so fully entitled as was +Smollett to write when he chose, or to have lived in quiet for what he +had written. An author's life is therefore too often deprived of all +social comfort whether he be the writer for a minister, or a +bookseller--but their case requires to be stated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [4] It has been lately disclosed that HOME, the author of "Douglas," + was pensioned by Lord Bute to answer all the papers and + pamphlets of the Government, and to be a vigilant defender of + the measures of Government. + + [5] I have elsewhere portrayed the personal characters of the + hireling chiefs of these paper wars: the versatile and + unprincipled Marchmont Needham, the Cobbett of his day; the + factious Sir Roger L'Estrange; and the bantering and + profligate Sir John Birkenhead. + + [6] An ample view of these lucubrations is exhibited in the early + volumes of the _Gentleman's Magazine_. + + [7] It was said of this man that "he had submitted to labour at the + press, like a horse in a mill, till he became as blind and as + wretched." To show the extent of the conscience of this class + of writers, and to what lengths mere party-writers can + proceed, when duly encouraged, Oldmixon, who was a Whig + historian, if a violent party-writer ought ever to be + dignified by so venerable a title, unmercifully rigid to all + other historians, was himself guilty of the crimes with which + he so loudly accused others. He charged three eminent persons + with interpolating Lord Clarendon's History; this charge was + afterwards disproved by the passages being produced in his + Lordship's own handwriting, which had been fortunately + preserved; and yet this accuser of interpolation, when + employed by Bishop Kennett to publish his collection of our + historians, made no scruple of falsifying numerous passages in + Daniel's Chronicle, which makes the first edition of that + collection of no value. + + [8] Smollett died in a small abode in the neighbourhood of Leghorn, + where he had resided some time in the hope of recovering his + shattered health; and where he wrote his "Humphrey Clinker." + His friends had tried in vain to procure for him the + appointment of consul to any one of the ports of the + Mediterranean. He is buried in the English cemetery at + Leghorn.--ED. + + [9] It stands opposite Dalquhurn House, where he was born, near the + village of Renton, Dumbartonshire. Had Smollett lived a few + more years, he would have been entitled to an estate of about + 1000_l._ a year. There is also a cenotaph to his memory on the + banks of Leven-water, which he has consecrated in one of his + best poems.--ED. + + + + +THE CASE OF AUTHORS STATED, + +INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF LITERARY PROPERTY. + + +JOHNSON has dignified the booksellers as "the patrons of literature," +which was generous in that great author, who had written well and +lived but ill all his life on that patronage. Eminent booksellers, in +their constant intercourse with the most enlightened class of the +community, that is, with the best authors and the best readers, +partake of the intelligence around them; their great capitals, too, +are productive of good and evil in literature; useful when they carry +on great works, and pernicious when they sanction indifferent ones. +Yet are they but commercial men. A trader can never be deemed a +patron, for it would be romantic to purchase what is not saleable; and +where no favour is conferred, there is no patronage. + +Authors continue poor, and booksellers become opulent; an extraordinary +result! Booksellers are not agents for authors, but proprietors of +their works; so that the perpetual revenues of literature are solely +in the possession of the trade. + +Is it then wonderful that even successful authors are indigent? They +are heirs to fortunes, but by a strange singularity they are +disinherited at their birth; for, on the publication of their works, +these cease to be their own property. Let that natural property be +secured, and a good book would be an inheritance, a leasehold or a +freehold, as you choose it; it might at least last out a generation, +and descend to the author's blood, were they permitted to live on +their father's glory, as in all other property they do on his +industry.[10] Something of this nature has been instituted in France, +where the descendants of Corneille and Molière retain a claim on the +theatres whenever the dramas of their great ancestors are performed. +In that country, literature has ever received peculiar honours--it was +there decreed, in the affair of Crebillon, that literary productions +are not seizable by creditors.[11] + +The history of literary property in this country might form as +ludicrous a narrative as Lucian's "true history." It was a long while +doubtful whether any such thing existed, at the very time when +booksellers were assigning over the perpetual copyrights of books, and +making them the subject of family settlements for the provision of +their wives and children! When Tonson, in 1739, obtained an injunction +to restrain another bookseller from printing Milton's "Paradise +Lost," he brought into court as a proof of his title an assignment of +the original copyright, made over by the sublime poet in 1667, which +was read. Milton received for this assignment the sum which we all +know--Tonson and all his family and assignees rode in their carriages +with the profits of the five-pound epic.[12] + +The verbal and tasteless lawyers, not many years past, with legal +metaphysics, wrangled like the schoolmen, inquiring of each other, +"whether the _style_ and _ideas_ of an author were tangible things; or +if these were a _property_, how is _possession_ to be taken, or any +act of _occupancy_ made on mere intellectual _ideas_." Nothing, said +they, can be an object of property but which has a corporeal +substance; the air and the light, to which they compared an author's +ideas, are common to all; ideas in the MS. state were compared to +birds in a cage; while the author confines them in his own dominion, +none but he has a right to let them fly; but the moment he allows the +bird to escape from his hand, it is no violation of property in any +one to make it his own. And to prove that there existed no property +after publication, they found an analogy in the gathering of acorns, +or in seizing on a vacant piece of ground; and thus degrading that +most refined piece of art formed in the highest state of society, a +literary production, they brought us back to a state of nature; and +seem to have concluded that literary property was purely ideal; a +phantom which, as its author could neither grasp nor confine to +himself, he must entirely depend on the public benevolence for his +reward.[13] + +The Ideas, that is, the work of an author, are "tangible things." +"There are works," to quote the words of a near and dear relative, +"which require great learning, great industry, great labour, and great +capital, in their preparation. They assume a palpable form. You may +fill warehouses with them, and freight ships; and the tenure by which +they are held is superior to that of all other property, for it is +original. It is tenure which does not exist in a doubtful title; which +does not spring from any adventitious circumstances; it is not +found--it is not purchased--it is not prescriptive--it is original; so +it is the most natural of all titles, because it is the most simple +and least artificial. It is paramount and sovereign, because it is a +tenure by creation."[14] + +There were indeed some more generous spirits and better philosophers +fortunately found on the same bench; and the identity of a literary +composition was resolved into its sentiments and language, besides +what was more obviously valuable to some persons, the print and paper. +On this slight principle was issued the profound award which accorded +a certain term of years to any work, however immortal. They could not +diminish the immortality of a book, but only its reward. In all the +litigations respecting literary property, authors were little +considered--except some honourable testimonies due to genius, from the +sense of WILLES, and the eloquence of MANSFIELD. Literary property was +still disputed, like the rights of a parish common. An honest printer, +who could not always write grammar, had the shrewdness to make a bold +effort in this scramble, and perceiving that even by this last +favourable award all literary property would necessarily centre with +the booksellers, now stood forward for his own body--the printers. +This rough advocate observed that "a few persons who call themselves +_booksellers_, about the number of _twenty-five_, have kept the +_monopoly of books and copies_ in their hands, to the entire exclusion +of all others, but more especially the _printers_, whom they have +always held it a rule never to let become purchasers in _copy_." Not a +word for the _authors_! As for them, they were doomed by both parties +as the fat oblation: they indeed sent forth some meek bleatings; but +what were AUTHORS, between judges, booksellers, and printers? the +sacrificed among the sacrificers! + +All this was reasoning in a circle. LITERARY PROPERTY in our nation +arose from _a new state of society_. These lawyers could never +develope its nature by wild analogies, nor discover it in any +common-law right; for our common law, composed of immemorial customs, +could never have had in its contemplation an object which could not +have existed in barbarous periods. Literature, in its enlarged spirit, +certainly never entered into the thoughts or attention of our rude +ancestors. All their views were bounded by the necessaries of life; +and as yet they had no conception of the impalpable, invisible, yet +sovereign dominion of the human mind--enough for our rough heroes was +that of the seas! Before the reign of Henry VIII. great authors +composed occasionally a book in Latin, which none but other great +authors cared for, and which the people could not read. In the reign +of Elizabeth, ROGER ASCHAM appeared--one of those men of genius born +to create a new era in the history of their nation. The first English +author who may be regarded as the founder of our _prose style_ was +Roger Ascham, the venerable parent of our _native literature_. At a +time when our scholars affected to contemn the vernacular idiom, and +in their Latin works were losing their better fame, that of being +understood by all their countrymen, Ascham boldly avowed the design of +setting an example, in his own words, TO SPEAK AS THE COMMON PEOPLE, +TO THINK AS WISE MEN. His pristine English is still forcible without +pedantry, and still beautiful without ornament.[15] The illustrious +BACON condescended to follow this new example in the most popular of +his works. This change in our literature was like a revelation; these +men taught us our language in books. We became a reading people; and +then the demand for books naturally produced a new order of authors, +who traded in literature. It was then, so early as in the Elizabethan +age, that _literary property_ may be said to derive its obscure origin +in this nation. It was protected in an indirect manner by the +_licensers_ of the press; for although that was a mere political +institution, only designed to prevent seditious and irreligious +publications, yet, as no book could be printed without a licence, +there was honour enough in the licensers not to allow other +publishers to infringe on the privilege granted to the first +claimant. In Queen Anne's time, when the office of licensers was +extinguished, a more liberal genius was rising in the nation, and +_literary property_ received a more definite and a more powerful +protection. A limited term was granted to every author to reap the +fruits of his labours; and Lord Hardwicke pronounced this statute "a +universal patent for authors." Yet, subsequently, the subject of +_literary property_ involved discussion; even at so late a period as +in 1769 it was still to be litigated. It was then granted that +originally an author had at common law a property in his work, but +that the act of Anne took away all copyright after the expiration of +the terms it permitted. + +As the matter now stands, let us address an arithmetical age--but my +pen hesitates to bring down my subject to an argument fitted to "these +coster-monger times."[16] On the present principle of literary +property, it results that an author disposes of a leasehold property +of twenty-eight years, often for less than the price of one year's +purchase! How many living authors are the sad witnesses of this fact, +who, like so many Esaus, have sold their inheritance for a meal! I +leave the whole school of Adam Smith to calm their calculating +emotions concerning "that unprosperous race of men" (sometimes this +master-seer calls them "unproductive") "commonly called _men of +letters_," who are pretty much in the situation which lawyers and +physicians would be in, were these, as he tells us, in that state when +"_a scholar_ and _a beggar_ seem to have been very nearly _synonymous +terms_"--and this melancholy fact that man of genius discovered, +without the feather of his pen brushing away a tear from his +lid--without one spontaneous and indignant groan! + +Authors may exclaim, "we ask for justice, not charity." They would +not need to require any favour, nor claim any other than that +protection which an enlightened government, in its wisdom and its +justice, must bestow. They would leave to the public disposition the +sole appreciation of their works; their book must make its own +fortune; a bad work may be cried up, and a good work may be cried +down; but Faction will soon lose its voice, and Truth acquire one. +The cause we are pleading is not the calamities of indifferent +writers, but of those whose utility or whose genius long survives +that limited term which has been so hardly wrenched from the +penurious hand of verbal lawyers. Every lover of literature, and +every votary of humanity has long felt indignant at that sordid +state and all those secret sorrows to which men of the finest +genius, or of sublime industry, are reduced and degraded in +society. Johnson himself, who rejected that perpetuity of literary +property which some enthusiasts seemed to claim at the time the +subject was undergoing the discussion of the judges, is, however, +for extending the copyright to a _century_. Could authors secure +this, their natural right, literature would acquire a permanent +and a nobler reward; for great authors would then be distinguished +by the very profits they would receive from that obscure multitude +whose common disgraces they frequently participate, notwithstanding +the superiority of their own genius. Johnson himself will serve as +a proof of the incompetent remuneration of literary property. He +undertook and he performed an Herculean labour, which employed him +so many years that the price he obtained was exhausted before the +work was concluded--the wages did not even last as long as the +labour! Where, then, is the author to look forward, when such works +are undertaken, for a provision for his family, or for his future +existence? It would naturally arise from the work itself, were +authors not the most ill-treated and oppressed class of the +community. The daughter of MILTON need not have craved the alms of +the admirers of her father, if the right of authors had been better +protected; his own "Paradise Lost" had then been her better portion +and her most honourable inheritance. The children of BURNS would have +required no subscriptions; that annual tribute which the public pay +to the genius of their parent was their due, and would have been their +fortune. + +Authors now submit to have a shorter life than their own celebrity. +While the book markets of Europe are supplied with the writings of +English authors, and they have a wider diffusion in America than at +home, it seems a national ingratitude to limit the existence of works +for their authors to a short number of years, and then to seize on +their possession for ever. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [10] The following facts will show the value of _literary property_; + immense profits and cheap purchases! The manuscript of + "Robinson Crusoe" ran through the whole trade, and no one + would print it; the bookseller who did purchase it, who, it is + said, was not remarkable for his discernment, but for a + speculative turn, got a thousand guineas by it. How many have + the booksellers since accumulated? Burn's "Justice" was + disposed of by its author for a trifle, as well as Buchan's + "Domestic Medicine;" these works yield annual incomes. + Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield" was sold in the hour of + distress, with little distinction from any other work in that + class of composition; and "Evelina" produced five guineas from + the niggardly trader. Dr. Johnson fixed the price of his + "Biography of the Poets" at two hundred guineas; and Mr. + Malone observes, the booksellers in the course of twenty-five + years have probably got five thousand. I could add a great + number of facts of this nature which relate to living writers; + the profits of their own works for two or three years would + rescue them from the horrors and humiliation of pauperism. It + is, perhaps, useful to record, that, while the compositions of + genius are but slightly remunerated, though sometimes as + productive as "the household stuff" of literature, the latter + is rewarded with princely magnificence. At the sale of the + Robinsons, the copyright of "Vyse's Spelling-book" was sold at + the enormous price of 2200_l._, with an _annuity_ of fifty + guineas to the author! + + [11] The circumstance, with the poet's dignified petition, and the + King's honourable decree, are preserved in "Curiosities of + Literature," vol. i. p. 406. + + [12] The elder Tonson's portrait represents him in his gown and cap, + holding in his right hand a volume lettered "Paradise + Lost"--such a favourite object was Milton and copyright! Jacob + Tonson was the founder of a race who long honoured literature. + His rise in life is curious. He was at first unable to pay + twenty pounds for a play by Dryden, and joined with another + bookseller to advance that sum; the play sold, and Tonson was + afterwards enabled to purchase the succeeding ones. He and his + nephew died worth two hundred thousand pounds.--Much old + Tonson owed to his own industry; but he was a mere trader. He + and Dryden had frequent bickerings; he insisted on receiving + 10,000 verses for two hundred and sixty-eight pounds, and poor + Dryden threw in the finest Ode in the language towards the + number. He would pay in the base coin which was then current; + which was a loss to the poet. Tonson once complained to + Dryden, that he had only received 1446 lines of his + translation of Ovid for his Miscellany for fifty guineas, when + he had calculated at the rate of 1518 lines for forty guineas; + he gives the poet a piece of critical reasoning, that he + considered he had a better bargain with "Juvenal," which is + reckoned "not so easy to translate as Ovid." In these times + such a mere trader in literature has disappeared. + + [13] Sir James Burrows' Reports on the question concerning Literary + Property, 4to. London, 1773. + + [14] Mirror of Parliament, 3529. + + [15] See "Amenities of Literature" for an account of this author. + + [16] A coster-monger, or Costard-monger, is a dealer in apples, which + are so called because they are shaped like a _costard_, _i.e._ + a man's head. _Steevens._--Johnson explains the phrase + eloquently: "In these times when the prevalence of trade has + produced that meanness, that rates the merit of everything by + money." + + + + +THE SUFFERINGS OF AUTHORS. + + +_The natural rights and properties of AUTHORS_ not having been +sufficiently protected, they are defrauded, not indeed of their fame, +though they may not always live to witness it, but of their +_uninterrupted profits_, which might save them from their frequent +degradation in society. That act of Anne which confers on them some +right of property, acknowledges that works of learned men have been +carried on "too often to the ruin of them and their families." + +Hence we trace a literary calamity which the public endure in those +"Authors by Profession," who, finding often too late in life that it +is the worst profession, are not scrupulous to live by some means or +other. "I must live," cried one of the brotherhood, shrugging his +shoulders in his misery, and almost blushing for a libel he had just +printed--"I do not see the necessity," was the dignified reply. Trade +was certainly not the origin of authorship. Most of our great authors +have written from a more impetuous impulse than that of a mechanic; +urged by a loftier motive than that of humouring the popular taste, +they have not lowered themselves by writing down to the public, but +have raised the public to them. Untasked, they composed at propitious +intervals; and feeling, not labour, was in their last, as in their +first page. + +When we became a reading people, books were to be suited to popular +tastes, and then that trade was opened that leads to the workhouse. A +new race sprang up, that, like Ascham, "spoke as the common people;" +but would not, like Ascham, "think as wise men." The founders of +"Authors by Profession" appear as far back as in the Elizabethan age. +Then there were some roguish wits, who, taking advantage of the public +humour, and yielding their principle to their pen, lived to write, and +wrote to live; loose livers and loose writers!--like Autolycus, they +ran to the fair, with baskets of hasty manufactures, fit for clowns +and maidens.[17] + +Even then flourished the craft of authorship, and the mysteries of +bookselling. ROBERT GREENE, the master-wit, wrote "The Art of +Coney-catching," or Cheatery, in which he was an adept; he died of a +surfeit of Rhenish and pickled herrings, at a fatal banquet of +authors;--and left as his legacy among the "Authors by Profession" "A +Groatsworth of Wit, bought with a Million of Repentance." One died of +another kind of surfeit. Another was assassinated in a brothel. But +the list of the calamities of all these worthies have as great variety +as those of the Seven Champions.[18] Nor were the _stationers_, or +_book-venders_, as the publishers of books were first designated, at a +fault in the mysteries of "coney-catching." Deceptive and vaunting +title-pages were practised to such excess, that TOM NASH, an "Author +by Profession," never fastidiously modest, blushed at the title of his +"Pierce Pennilesse," which the publisher had flourished in the first +edition, like "a tedious mountebank." The booksellers forged great +names to recommend their works, and passed off in currency their base +metal stamped with a royal head. "It was an usual thing in those +days," says honest Anthony Wood, "to set a great name to a book or +books, by the sharking booksellers or snivelling writers, to get +bread." + +Such authors as these are unfortunate, before they are criminal; they +often tire out their youth before they discover that "Author by +Profession" is a denomination ridiculously assumed, for it is none! +The first efforts of men of genius are usually honourable ones; but +too often they suffer that genius to be debased. Many who would have +composed history have turned voluminous party-writers; many a noble +satirist has become a hungry libeller. Men who are starved in +society, hold to it but loosely. They are the children of Nemesis! +they avenge themselves--and with the Satan of MILTON they exclaim, + + Evil, be thou my good! + +Never were their feelings more vehemently echoed than by this +Nash--the creature of genius, of famine, and despair. He lived indeed +in the age of Elizabeth, but writes as if he had lived in our own. He +proclaimed himself to the world as _Pierce Pennilesse_, and on a +retrospect of his _literary life_, observes that he had "sat up late +and rose early, contended with the cold, and conversed with +scarcitie;" he says, "all my labours turned to losse,--I was despised +and neglected, my paines not regarded, or slightly rewarded, and I +myself, in prime of my best wit, laid open to povertie. Whereupon I +accused my fortune, railed on my patrons, bit my pen, rent my papers, +and raged."--And then comes the after-reflection, which so frequently +provokes the anger of genius: "How many base men that wanted those +parts I had, enjoyed content at will, and had wealth at command! I +called to mind a cobbler that was worth five hundred pounds; an +hostler that had built a goodly inn; a carman in a leather pilche that +had whipt a thousand pound out of his horse's tail--and have I more +than these? thought I to myself; am I better born? am I better brought +up? yea, and better favoured! and yet am I a beggar? How am I crost, +or whence is this curse? Even from hence, the men that should employ +such as I am, are enamoured of their own wits, though they be never so +scurvie; that a scrivener is better paid than a scholar; and men of +art must seek to live among cormorants, or be kept under by dunces, +who count it policy to keep them bare to follow their books the +better." And then, Nash thus utters the cries of-- + + A DESPAIRING AUTHOR! + + Why is't damnation to despair and die + When life is my true happiness' disease? + My soul! my soul! thy safety makes me fly + _The faulty means_ that might my pain appease; + Divines and dying men may talk of hell; + But in my heart her several torments dwell. + + Ah worthless wit, to train me to this woe! + Deceitful arts that nourish discontent! + Ill thrive the folly that bewitch'd me so! + Vain thoughts, adieu! for now I will repent; + And yet my wants persuade me to proceed, + Since none take pity of a scholar's need!-- + + Forgive me, God, although I curse my birth, + And ban the air wherein I breathe a wretch! + For misery hath daunted all my mirth-- + Without redress complains my careless verse, + And Midas' ears relent not at my moan! + In some far land will I my griefs rehearse, + 'Mongst them that will be moved when I shall groan! + England, adieu! the soil that brought me forth! + Adieu, unkinde! where skill is nothing worth! + +Such was the miserable cry of an "Author by Profession" in the reign +of Elizabeth. Nash not only renounces his country in his despair--and +hesitates on "the faulty means" which have appeased the pangs of many +of his unhappy brothers, but he proves also the weakness of the moral +principle among these men of genius; for he promises, if any Mæcenas +will bind him by his bounty, he will do him "as much honour as any +poet of my beardless years in England--but," he adds, "if he be sent +away with a flea in his ear, let him look that I will rail on him +soundly; not for an hour or a day, while the injury is fresh in my +memory, but in some elaborate polished poem, which I will leave to the +world when I am dead, to be a living image to times to come of his +beggarly parsimony." Poets might imagine that CHATTERTON had written +all this, about the time he struck a balance of his profit and loss by +the death of Beckford the Lord Mayor, in which he concludes with "I am +glad he is dead by 3_l._ 13_s._ 6_d._"[19] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [17] An abundance of these amusing tracts eagerly bought up in their + day, but which came in the following generation to the + ballad-stalls, are in the present enshrined in the cabinets of + the curious. Such are the revolutions of literature! [It is by + no means uncommon to find them realise sums at the rate of a + guinea a page; but it is to be solely attributed to their + extreme rarity; for in many instances the reprints of such + tracts are worthless.] + + [18] Poverty and the gaol alternated with tavern carouses or the + place of honour among the wild young gallants at the + playhouses. They were gentlemen or beggars as daily + circumstances ordained. When this was the case with such + authors as Greene, Peele, and Massinger, we need not wonder at + finding "a whole knot" of writers in infinitely worse plight, + who lived (or starved) by writing ballads and pamphlets on + temporary subjects. In a brief tract, called "The Downfall of + Temporising Poets," published 1641, they are said to be "an + indifferent strong corporation, twenty-three of you sufficient + writers, besides Martin Parker," who was the great ballad and + pamphlet writer of the day. The shifts they were put to, and + the difficulties of their living, is denoted in the reply of + one of the characters in this tract, who on being asked if he + has money, replies "Money? I wonder where you ever see poets + have money two days together; I sold a copy last night, and + have spent the money; and now have another copy to sell, but + nobody will buy it."--ED. + + [19] Chatterton had written a political essay for "The North Briton," + which opened with the preluding flourish of "A spirited people + freeing themselves from insupportable slavery:" it was, + however, though accepted, not printed, on account of the Lord + Mayor's death. The patriot thus calculated the death of his + great patron! + + £ s. d. + Lost by his death in this Essay 1 11 6 + Gained in Elegies £2 2 + ---- in Essays 3 3 + ---- 5 5 0 + --------- + Am glad he is dead by £3 13 6 + + + + +A MENDICANT AUTHOR, + +AND THE PATRONS OF FORMER TIMES. + + +It must be confessed, that before "Authors by Profession" had +fallen into the hands of the booksellers, they endured peculiar +grievances. They were pitiable retainers of some great family. +The miseries of such an author, and the insolence and penuriousness of +his patrons, who would not return the poetry they liked and would not +pay for, may be traced in the eventful life of THOMAS CHURCHYARD, a +poet of the age of Elizabeth, one of those unfortunate men who have +written poetry all their days, and lived a long life to complete +the misfortune. His muse was so fertile, that his works pass all +enumeration. He courted numerous patrons, who valued the poetry, +while they left the poet to his own miserable contemplations. In a +long catalogue of his works, which this poet has himself given, he +adds a few memoranda, as he proceeds, a little ludicrous, but very +melancholy. He wrote a book which he could never afterwards +recover from one of his patrons, and adds, "all which book was in as +good verse as ever I made; an honourable knight dwelling in the +Black Friers can witness the same, because I read it unto him." +Another accorded him the same remuneration--on which he adds, "An +infinite number of other songs and sonnets given where they cannot +be recovered, nor purchase any favour when they are craved." Still, +however, he announces "Twelve long Tales for Christmas, dedicated to +twelve honourable lords." Well might Churchyard write his own sad +life, under the title of "The Tragicall Discourse of the Haplesse +Man's Life."[20] + +It will not be easy to parallel this pathetic description of the +wretched age of a poor neglected poet mourning over a youth vainly +spent. + + High time it is to haste my carcase hence: + Youth stole away and felt no kind of joy, + And age he left in travail ever since; + The wanton days that made me nice and coy + Were but a dream, a shadow, and a toy-- + + I look in glass, and find my cheeks so lean + That every hour I do but wish me dead; + Now back bends down, and forwards falls the head, + And hollow eyes in wrinkled brow doth shroud + As though two stars were creeping under cloud. + + The lips wax cold, and look both pale and thin, + The teeth fall out as nutts forsook the shell, + The bare bald head but shows where hair hath been, + The lively joints wax weary, stiff, and still, + The ready tongue now falters in his tale; + The courage quails as strength decays and goes.... + + The thatcher hath a cottage poor you see: + The shepherd knows where he shall sleep at night; + The daily drudge from cares can quiet be: + Thus fortune sends some rest to every wight; + And I was born to house and land by right.... + + Well, ere my breath my body do forsake + My spirit I bequeath to God above; + My books, my scrawls, and songs that I did make, + I leave with friends that freely did me love.... + + Now, friends, shake hands, I must be gone, my boys! + Our mirth takes end, our triumph all is done; + Our tickling talk, our sports and merry toys + Do glide away like shadow of the sun. + Another comes when I my race have run, + Shall pass the time with you in better plight, + And find good cause of greater things to write. + +Yet Churchyard was no contemptible bard; he composed a national poem, +"The Worthiness of Wales," which has been reprinted, and will be still +dear to his "Fatherland," as the Hollanders expressively denote their +natal spot. He wrote in the "Mirrour of Magistrates," the Life of +Wolsey, which has parts of great dignity; and the Life of Jane Shore, +which was much noticed in his day, for a severe critic of the times +writes: + + Hath not Shore's wife, although a light-skirt she, + Given him a chaste, long, lasting memorie? + +Churchyard, and the miseries of his poetical life, are alluded to by +Spenser. He is old Palemon in "Colin Clout's come Home again." Spenser +is supposed to describe this laborious writer for half a century, +whose melancholy pipe, in his old age, may make the reader "rew:" + + Yet he himself may rewed be more right, + That sung so long untill quite hoarse he grew. + +His epitaph, preserved by Camden, is extremely instructive to all +poets, could epitaphs instruct them:-- + + _Poverty_ and _poetry_ his tomb doth inclose; + Wherefore, good neighbours, be merry in _prose_. + +It appears also by a confession of Tom Nash, that an author would +then, pressed by the _res angusta domi_, when "the bottom of his purse +was turned upward," submit to compose pieces for gentlemen who aspired +to authorship. He tells us on some occasion, that he was then in the +country composing poetry for some country squire;--and says, "I am +faine to let my plow stand still in the midst of a furrow, to follow +these Senior Fantasticos, to whose amorous _villanellas_[21] I +prostitute my pen," and this, too, "twice or thrice in a month;" and +he complains that it is "poverty which alone maketh me so unconstant +to my determined studies, trudging from place to place to and fro, and +prosecuting the means to keep me from idlenesse." An author was then +much like a vagrant. + +Even at a later period, in the reign of the literary James, great +authors were reduced to a state of mendicity, and lived on alms, +although their lives and their fortunes had been consumed in +forming national labours. The antiquary STOWE exhibits a striking +example of the rewards conferred on such valued authors. Stowe had +devoted his life, and exhausted his patrimony, in the study of +English antiquities; he had travelled on foot throughout the kingdom, +inspecting all monuments of antiquity, and rescuing what he could +from the dispersed libraries of the monasteries. His stupendous +collections, in his own handwriting, still exist, to provoke the +feeble industry of literary loiterers. He felt through life the +enthusiasm of study; and seated in his monkish library, living with +the dead more than with the living, he was still a student of taste: +for Spenser the poet visited the library of Stowe; and the first +good edition of Chaucer was made so chiefly by the labours of our +author. Late in life, worn-out with study and the cares of poverty, +neglected by that proud metropolis of which he had been the historian, +his good-humour did not desert him; for being afflicted with sharp +pains in his aged feet, he observed that "his affliction lay in that +part which formerly he had made so much use of." Many a mile had he +wandered and much had he expended, for those treasures of antiquities +which had exhausted his fortune, and with which he had formed works +of great public utility. It was in his eightieth year that Stowe at +length received a public acknowledgment of his services, which will +appear to us of a very extraordinary nature. He was so reduced in his +circumstances that he petitioned James I. for a _licence to collect +alms_ for himself! "as a recompense for his labours and travel of +_forty-five years_, in setting forth the _Chronicles of England_, +and _eight years_ taken up in the _Survey of the Cities of London +and Westminster_, towards his relief now in his old age; having left +his former means of living, and only employing himself for the +service and good of his country." Letters-patent under the great +seal were granted. After no penurious commendations of Stowe's +labours, he is permitted "to gather the benevolence of well-disposed +people within this realm of England; to ask, gather, and take the +alms of all our loving subjects." These letters-patent were to be +published by the clergy from their pulpits; they produced so +little, that they were renewed for another twelvemonth: one entire +parish in the city contributed seven shillings and sixpence! Such, +then, was the patronage received by Stowe, to be a licensed beggar +throughout the kingdom for one twelvemonth! Such was the public +remuneration of a man who had been useful to his nation, but not to +himself! + +Such was the first age of _Patronage_, which branched out in the last +century into an age of _Subscriptions_, when an author levied +contributions before his work appeared; a mode which inundated our +literature with a great portion of its worthless volumes: of these the +most remarkable are the splendid publications of Richard Blome; they +may be called fictitious works; for they are only mutilated +transcripts from Camden and Speed, but richly ornamented, and +pompously printed, which this literary adventurer, said to have been a +gentleman, loaded the world with, by the aid of his subscribers. +Another age was that of _Dedications_,[22] when the author was to +lift his tiny patron to the skies, in an inverse ratio as he lowered +himself, in this public exhibition. Sometimes the party haggled about +the price;[23] or the statue, while stepping into his niche, would +turn round on the author to assist his invention. A patron of Peter +Motteux, dissatisfied with Peter's colder temperament, composed the +superlative dedication to himself, and completed the misery of the +author by subscribing it with Motteux's name![24] Worse fared it when +authors were the unlucky hawkers of their own works; of which I shall +give a remarkable instance in MYLES DAVIES, a learned man maddened by +want and indignation. + +The subject before us exhibits one of the most singular spectacles in +these volumes; that of a scholar of extensive erudition, whose life +seems to have passed in the study of languages and the sciences, while +his faculties appear to have been disordered from the simplicity of +his nature, and driven to madness by indigence and insult. He formed +the wild resolution of becoming a mendicant author, the hawker of his +own works; and by this mode endured all the aggravated sufferings, the +great and the petty insults of all ranks of society, and even +sometimes from men of learning themselves, who denied a mendicant +author the sympathy of a brother. + +MYLES DAVIES and his works are imperfectly known to the most curious +of our literary collectors. His name has scarcely reached a few; the +author and his works are equally extraordinary, and claim a right to +be preserved in this treatise on the "Calamities of Authors." + +Our author commenced printing a work, difficult, from its miscellaneous +character, to describe; of which the volumes appeared at different +periods. The early and the most valuable volumes were the first and +second; they are a kind of bibliographical, biographical, and critical +work, on English Authors. They all bear a general title of "Athenæ +Britannicæ."[25] + +Collectors have sometimes met with a very curious volume, entitled +"Icon Libellorum," and sometimes the same book, under another +title--"A Critical History of Pamphlets." This rare book forms the +first volume of the "Athenæ Britannicæ." The author was Myles Davies, +whose biography is quite unknown: he may now be his own biographer. He +was a Welsh clergyman, a vehement foe to Popery, Arianism, and +Socinianism, of the most fervent loyalty to George I. and the +Hanoverian succession; a scholar, skilled in Greek and Latin, and in +all the modern languages. Quitting his native spot with political +disgust, he changed his character in the metropolis, for he subscribes +himself "Counsellor-at-Law." In an evil hour he commenced author, not +only surrounded by his books, but with the more urgent companions of a +wife and family; and with that childlike simplicity which sometimes +marks the mind of a retired scholar, we perceive him imagining that +his immense reading would prove a source, not easily exhausted, for +their subsistence. + +From the first volumes of his series much curious literary history may +be extracted, amidst the loose and wandering elements of this literary +chaos. In his dedication to the Prince he professes "to represent +writers and writings in a catoptrick view." + +The preface to the second volume opens his plan; and nothing as yet +indicates those rambling humours which his subsequent labours +exhibit. + +As he proceeded in forming these volumes, I suspect, either that his +mind became a little disordered, or that he discovered that mere +literature found but penurious patrons in "the Few;" for, attempting +to gain over all classes of society, he varied his investigations, and +courted attention, by writing on law, physic, divinity, as well as +literary topics. By his account-- + +"The avarice of booksellers, and the stinginess of hard-hearted +patrons, had driven him into a cursed company of door-keeping herds, +to meet the irrational brutality of those uneducated mischievous +animals called footmen, house-porters, poetasters, mumpers, +apothecaries, attorneys, and such like beasts of prey," who were, like +himself, sometimes barred up for hours in the menagerie of a great +man's antechamber. In his addresses to Drs. Mead and Freind, he +declares--"My misfortunes drive me to publish my writings for a poor +livelihood; and nothing but the utmost necessity could make any man in +his senses to endeavour at it, in a method so burthensome to the +modesty and education of a scholar." + +In French he dedicates to George I.; and in the Harleian MSS. I +discovered a long letter to the Earl of Oxford, by our author, in +French, with a Latin ode. Never was more innocent bribery proffered to +a minister! He composed what he calls _Stricturæ Pindaricæ_ on the +"Mughouses," then political clubs;[26] celebrates English authors in +the same odes, and inserts a political Latin drama, called "Pallas +Anglicana." Mævius and Bavius were never more indefatigable! The +author's intellect gradually discovers its confusion amidst the loud +cries of penury and despair. + +To paint the distresses of an author soliciting alms for a book which +he presents--and which, whatever may be its value, comes at least as +an evidence that the suppliant is a learned man--is a case so +uncommon, that the invention of the novelist seems necessary to fill +up the picture. But Myles Davies is an artist in his own simple +narrative. + +Our author has given the names of several of his unwilling customers:-- + +"Those squeeze-farthing and hoard-penny ignoramus doctors, with +several great personages who formed excuses for not accepting my +books; or they would receive them, but give nothing for them; or else +deny they had them, or remembered anything of them; and so gave me +nothing for my last present of books, though they kept them _gratis et +ingratiis_. + +"But his Grace of the Dutch extraction in Holland (said to be akin to +Mynheer Vander B--nck) had a peculiar grace in receiving my present of +books and odes, which, being bundled up together with a letter and ode +upon his Graceship, and carried in by his porter, I was bid to call +for an answer five years hence. I asked the porter what he meant by +that? I suppose, said he, four or five days hence; but it proved five +or six months after, before I could get any answer, though I had writ +five or six letters in French with fresh odes upon his Graceship, and +an account where I lived, and what noblemen had accepted of my +present. I attended about the door three or four times a week all that +time constantly from twelve to four or five o'clock in the evening; +and walking under the fore windows of the parlours, once that time his +and her Grace came after dinner to stare at me, with open windows and +shut mouths, but filled with fair water, which they spouted with so +much dexterity that they twisted the water through their teeth and +mouth-skrew, to flash near my face, and yet just to miss me, though my +nose could not well miss the natural flavour of the orange-water +showering so very near me. Her Grace began the water-work, but not +very gracefully, especially for an English lady of her description, +airs, and qualities, to make a stranger her spitting-post, who had +been guilty of no other offence than to offer her husband some +writings.--His Grace followed, yet first stood looking so wistfully +towards me, that I verily thought he had a mind to throw me a guinea +or two for all these indignities, and two or three months' then +sleeveless waiting upon him--and accordingly I advanced to address his +Grace to remember the poor author; but, instead of an answer, he +immediately undams his mouth, out fly whole showers of lymphatic +rockets, which had like to have put out my mortal eyes." + +Still he was not disheartened, and still applied for his bundle of +books, which were returned to him at length unopened, with "half a +guinea upon top of the cargo," and "with a desire to receive no more. +I plucked up courage, murmuring within myself-- + + 'Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito.'" + +He sarcastically observes, + +"As I was still jogging on homewards, I thought that a great many were +called _their Graces_, not for any grace or favour they had truly +deserved with God or man, but for the same reason of contraries, that +the _Parcæ_ or Destinies, were so called, because they spared none, or +were not truly the _Parcæ, quia non parcebant_." + +Our indigent and indignant author, by the faithfulness of his +representations, mingles with his anger some ludicrous scenes of +literary mendicity. + +"I can't choose (now I am upon the fatal subject) but make one +observation or two more upon the various rencontres and adventures I +met withall, in presenting my books to those who were likely to accept +of them for their own information, or for that of helping a poor +scholar, or for their own vanity or ostentation. + +"Some parsons would hollow to raise the whole house and posse of the +domestics to raise a poor _crown_; at last all that flutter ends in +sending Jack or Tom out to change a guinea, and then 'tis reckoned +over half-a-dozen times before the fatal crown can be picked out, +which must be taken as it is given, with all the parade of almsgiving, +and so to be received with all the active and passive ceremonial of +mendication and alms-receiving--as if the books, printing and paper, +were worth nothing at all, and as if it were the greatest charity for +them to touch them or let them be in the house; 'For I shall never +read them,' says one of the five-shilling-piece chaps; 'I have no time +to look in them,' says another; ''Tis so much money lost,' says a +grave dean; 'My eyes being so bad,' said a bishop, 'that I can scarce +read at all.' 'What do you want with me?' said another; 'Sir, I +presented you the other day with my _Athenæ Britannicæ_, being the +last part published.' 'I don't want books, take them again; I don't +understand what they mean.' 'The title is very plain,' said I, 'and +they are writ mostly in English.' 'I'll give you a crown for both the +volumes.' 'They stand me, sir, in more than that, and 'tis for a bare +subsistence I present or sell them; how shall I live?' 'I care not a +farthing for that; live or die, 'tis all one to me.' 'Damn my master!' +said Jack, ''twas but last night he was commending your books and your +learning to the skies; and now he would not care if you were starving +before his eyes; nay, he often makes game at your clothes, though he +thinks you the greatest scholar in England.'" + +Such was the life of a learned mendicant author! The scenes which are +here exhibited appear to have disordered an intellect which had never +been firm; in vain our author attempted to adapt his talents to all +orders of men, still "To the crazy ship all winds are contrary." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [20] This author, now little known but to the student of our rarer + early poets, was a native of Shrewsbury, and had served in the + army. He wrote a large number of poetical pieces, all now of + the greatest rarity; their names have been preserved by that + industrious antiquary Joseph Ritson, in his _Bibliographia + Poetica_. The principal one was termed "The Worthiness of + Wales," and is written in laudation of the Principality. He + was frequently employed to supply verses for Court Masques and + Pageantry. He composed "all the devises, pastimes, and plays + at Norwich" when Queen Elizabeth was entertained there; as + well as gratulatory verses to her at Woodstock. He speaks of + his mind as "never free from studie," and his body "seldom + void of toyle"--"and yet both of them neither brought greate + benefits to the life, nor blessing to the soule" he adds, in + the words of a man whose hope deferred has made his heart + sick!--ED. + + [21] _Villanellas_, or rather "_Villanescas_, are properly country + rustic songs, but commonly taken for ingenious ones made in + imitation of them."--PINEDA. + + [22] This practice of dedications had indeed flourished before; for + authors had even prefixed numerous dedications to the same + work, or dedicated to different patrons the separate + divisions. Fuller's "Church History" is disgraced by the + introduction of twelve title-pages, besides the general one; + with as many particular dedications, and no less than fifty or + sixty inscriptions, addressed to benefactors; for which he is + severely censured by Heylin. It was an expedient to procure + dedication fees; for publishing books by _subscription_ was an + art not then discovered. + + [23] The price of the dedication of a play was even fixed, from five + to ten guineas, from the Revolution to the time of George I., + when it rose to twenty--but sometimes a bargain was to be + struck--when the author and the play were alike indifferent. + Even on these terms could vanity be gratified with the coarse + luxury of panegyric, of which every one knew the price. + + [24] This circumstance was so notorious at the time, that it + occasioned a poetical satire in a dialogue between Motteux and + his patron Henningham--preserved in that vast flower-bed or + dunghill, for it is both, of "Poems on Affairs of State," vol. + ii. 251. The patron, in his zeal to omit no possible + distinction that could attach to him, had given one + circumstance which no one but himself could have known, and + which he thus regrets: + + "PATRON. + + I must confess I was to blame + That one particular to name; + The rest could never have been known, + _I made the style so like thy own_. + + POET. + + I beg your pardon, Sir, for that! + + PATRON. + + Why d----e what would you be at? + _I writ below myself_, you sot! + Avoiding figures, tropes, what not; + For fear I should my fancy _raise + Above the level of thy plays_!" + + [25] "_Athenæ Britannicæ_, or a Critical History of the Oxford and + Cambridge Writers and Writings, with those of the Dissenters + and Romanists, as well as other Authors and Worthies, both + Domestic and Foreign, both Ancient and Modern. Together with + an occasional freedom of thought, in criticising and comparing + the parallel qualifications of the most eminent authors and + their performances, both in MS. and print, both at home and + abroad. By M. D. London, 1716." On the first volume of this + series, Dr. Farmer, a bloodhound of unfailing scent in curious + and obscure English books, has written on the leaf "This is + the only copy I have met with." Even the great bibliographer, + Baker, of Cambridge, never met but with three volumes (the + edition at the British Museum is in seven), sent him as a + great curiosity by the Earl of Oxford, and now deposited in + his collection at St. John's College. Baker has written this + memorandum in the first volume: "Few copies were printed, so + the work has become scarce, and for that reason will be + valued. The book in the greatest part is borrowed from modern + historians, but yet contains some things more uncommon, and + not easily to be met with." How superlatively rare must be the + English volumes which the eyes of Farmer and Baker never + lighted on! + + [26] These clubs are described in Macky's "Journey through England," + 1724. He says they were formed to uphold the Royalist party + on the accession of King George I. "This induced a set of + gentlemen to establish _Mughouses_ in all the corners of + this great city, for well-affected tradesmen to meet and keep + up the spirit of loyalty to the Protestant succession," and + to be ready to join their forces for the suppression of the + other party. "Many an encounter they had, till at last the + Parliament was obliged by a law to put an end to this city + strife, which had this good effect, that upon the pulling + down of the Mughouse in Salisbury Court, for which some boys + were hanged on this act, the city has not been troubled with + them since." It was the custom in these houses to allow no + other drink but ale to be consumed, which was brought in mugs + of earthenware; a chairman was elected, and he called on the + members of the company for songs, which were generally party + ballads of a strongly-worded kind, as may be seen in the + small collection printed in 1716, entitled "A Collection of + State Songs, Poems, &c., published since the Rebellion, and + sung in the several Mughouses in the cities of London and + Westminster."--ED. + + + + +COWLEY. + +OF HIS MELANCHOLY. + + +The mind of COWLEY was beautiful, but a querulous tenderness in his +nature breathes not only through his works, but influenced his habits +and his views of human affairs. His temper and his genius would have +opened to us, had not the strange decision of Sprat and Clifford +withdrawn that full correspondence of his heart which he had carried +on many years. These letters were suppressed because, as Bishop Sprat +acknowledges, "in this kind of prose Mr. Cowley was excellent! They +had a domestical plainness, and a peculiar kind of familiarity." And +then the florid writer runs off, that, "in letters, where the souls of +men should appear undressed, in that negligent habit they may be fit +to be seen by one or two in a chamber, but not to go abroad into the +streets." A false criticism: which not only has proved to be so since +their time by Mason's "Memoirs of Gray," but which these friends of +Cowley might have themselves perceived, if they had recollected that +the Letters of Cicero to Atticus form the most delightful chronicles +of the heart--and the most authentic memorials of the man. Peck +obtained one letter of Cowley's, preserved by Johnson, and it exhibits +a remarkable picture of the miseries of his poetical solitude. It is, +perhaps, not too late to inquire whether this correspondence was +destroyed as well as suppressed? Would Sprat and Clifford have burned +what they have told us they so much admired?[27] + +Fortunately for our literary sympathy, the fatal error of these +fastidious critics has been in some degree repaired by the admirable +genius himself whom they have injured. When Cowley retreated from +society, he determined to draw up an apology for his conduct, and to +have dedicated it to his patron, Lord St. Albans. His death +interrupted the entire design; but his Essays, which Pope so finely +calls "the language of his heart," are evidently parts of these +precious Confessions. All of Cowley's tenderest and undisguised +feelings have therefore not perished. These Essays now form a species +of composition in our language, a mixture of prose and verse--the man +with the poet--the self-painter has sat to himself, and, with the +utmost simplicity, has copied out the image of his soul. + +Why has this poet twice called himself _the melancholy Cowley_? He +employed no poetical _cheville_[28] for the metre of a verse which his +own feelings inspired. + +Cowley, at the beginning of the Civil War, joined the Royalists at +Oxford; followed the queen to Paris; yielded his days and his nights +to an employment of the highest confidence, that of deciphering the +royal correspondence; he transacted their business, and, almost +divorcing himself from his neglected muse, he yielded up for them the +tranquillity so necessary to the existence of a poet. From his +earliest days he tells us how the poetic affections had stamped +themselves on his heart, "like letters cut into the bark of a young +tree, which, with the tree, will grow proportionably." + +He describes his feelings at the court:-- + +"I saw plainly all the paint of that kind of life the nearer I came to +it--that beauty which I did not fall in love with when, for aught I +knew, it was real, was not like to bewitch or entice me when I saw it +was adulterate. I met with several great persons whom I liked very +well, but could not perceive that any part of their greatness was to +be liked or desired. I was in a crowd of good company, in business of +great and honourable trust; I eat at the best table, and enjoyed the +best conveniences that ought to be desired by a man of my condition; +yet I could not abstain from renewing my old schoolboy's wish, in a +copy of verses to the same effect:-- + + Well then! I now do plainly see, + This busie world and I shall ne'er agree!" + +After several years' absence from his native country, at a most +critical period, he was sent over to mix with that trusty band of +loyalists, who, in secrecy and in silence, were devoting themselves to +the royal cause. Cowley was seized on by the ruling powers. At this +moment he published a preface to his works, which some of his party +interpreted as a relaxation of his loyalty. He has been fully +defended. Cowley, with all his delicacy of temper, wished sincerely to +retire from all parties; and saw enough among the fiery zealots of his +own, to grow disgusted even with Royalists. + +His wish for retirement has been half censured as cowardice by +Johnson; but there was a tenderness of feeling which had ill-formed +Cowley for the cunning of party intriguers, and the company of little +villains. About this time he might have truly distinguished himself as +"The melancholy Cowley." + +I am only tracing his literary history for the purpose of this work: +but I cannot pass without noticing the fact, that this abused man, +whom his enemies were calumniating, was at this moment, under the +disguise of a doctor of physic, occupied by the novel studies of +botany and medicine; and as all science in the mind of the poet +naturally becomes poetry, he composed his books on plants in Latin +verse. + +At length came the Restoration, which the poet zealously celebrated in +his "Ode" on that occasion. Both Charles the First and Second had +promised to reward his fidelity with the mastership of the Savoy; but, +Wood says, "he lost it by certain persons enemies of the muses." Wood +has said no more; and none of Cowley's biographers have thrown any +light on the circumstance: perhaps we may discover this literary +calamity. + +That Cowley caught no warmth from that promised sunshine which the +new monarch was to scatter in prodigal gaiety, has been distinctly +told by the poet himself; his muse, in "The Complaint," having +reproached him thus:-- + + Thou young prodigal, who didst so loosely waste + Of all thy youthful years, the good estate-- + Thou changeling then, bewitch'd with noise and show, + Wouldst into courts and cities from me go-- + Go, renegado, cast up thy account-- + Behold the public storm is spent at last; + The sovereign is toss'd at sea no more, + And thou, with all the noble company, + Art got at last to shore-- + But whilst thy fellow-voyagers I see, + All march'd up to possess the promis'd land; + Thou still alone (alas!) dost gaping stand + Upon the naked beach, upon the barren sand. + +But neglect was not all Cowley had to endure; the royal party seemed +disposed to calumniate him. When Cowley was young he had hastily +composed the comedy of "The Guardian;" a piece which served the cause +of loyalty. After the Restoration, he rewrote it under the title of +"Cutter of Coleman Street;" a comedy which may still be read with +equal curiosity and interest: a spirited picture of the peculiar +characters which appeared at the Revolution. It was not only ill +received by a faction, but by those vermin of a new court, who, +without merit themselves, put in their claims, by crying down those +who, with great merit, are not in favour. All these to a man accused +the author of having written a satire against the king's party. And +this wretched party prevailed, too long for the author's repose, but +not for his fame.[29] Many years afterwards this comedy became +popular. Dryden, who was present at the representation, tells us that +Cowley "received the news of his ill success not with so much firmness +as might have been expected from so great a man." Cowley was in truth +a great man, and a greatly injured man. His sensibility and delicacy +of temper were of another texture than Dryden's. What at that moment +did Cowley experience, when he beheld himself neglected, calumniated, +and, in his last appeal to public favour, found himself still a victim +to a vile faction, who, to court their common master, were trampling +on their honest brother? + +We shall find an unbroken chain of evidence, clearly demonstrating the +agony of his literary feelings. The cynical Wood tells us that, "not +finding that preferment he expected, while others for their money +carried away most places, he retired discontented into Surrey." And +his panegyrist, Sprat, describes him as "weary of the vexations and +formalities of an active condition--he had been perplexed with a long +compliance with foreign manners. He was satiated with the arts of a +court, which sort of life, though his virtue made it innocent to him, +yet nothing could make it quiet. These were the reasons that moved him +to follow the violent inclination of his own mind," &c. I doubt if +either the sarcastic antiquary or the rhetorical panegyrist have +developed the simple truth of Cowley's "violent inclination of his own +mind." He does it himself more openly in that beautiful picture of an +injured poet, in "The Complaint," an ode warm with individual feeling, +but which Johnson coldly passes over, by telling us that "it met the +usual fortune of complaints, and seems to have excited more contempt +than pity." + +Thus the biographers of Cowley have told us nothing, and the poet +himself has probably not told us all. To these calumnies respecting +Cowley's comedy, raised up by those whom Wood designates as "enemies +of the muses," it would appear that others were added of a deeper dye, +and in malignant whispers distilled into the ear of royalty. Cowley, +in an ode, had commemorated the genius of Brutus, with all the +enthusiasm of a votary of liberty. After the king's return, when +Cowley solicited some reward for his sufferings and services in the +royal cause, the chancellor is said to have turned on him with a +severe countenance, saying, "Mr. Cowley, your pardon is your reward!" +It seems that ode was then considered to be of a dangerous tendency +among half the nation; Brutus would be the model of enthusiasts, who +were sullenly bending their neck under the yoke of royalty. Charles +II. feared the attempt of desperate men; and he might have forgiven +Rochester a loose pasquinade, but not Cowley a solemn invocation. This +fact, then, is said to have been the true cause of the despondency so +prevalent in the latter poetry of "the melancholy Cowley." And hence +the indiscretion of the muse, in a single flight, condemned her to a +painful, rather than a voluntary solitude; and made the poet complain +of "barren praise" and "neglected verse."[30] + +While this anecdote harmonises with better known facts, it throws some +light on the outcry raised against the comedy, which seems to have +been but an echo of some preceding one. Cowley retreated into +solitude, where he found none of the agrestic charms of the landscapes +of his muse. When in the world, Sprat says, "he had never wanted for +constant health and strength of body;" but, thrown into solitude, he +carried with him a wounded spirit--the Ode of Brutus and the +condemnation of his comedy were the dark spirits that haunted his +cottage. Ill health soon succeeded low spirits--he pined in dejection, +and perished a victim of the finest and most injured feelings. + +But before we leave _the melancholy Cowley_, he shall speak the +feelings, which here are not exaggerated. In this Chronicle of +Literary Calamity no passage ought to be more memorable than the +solemn confession of one of the most amiable of men and poets. + +Thus he expresses himself in the preface to his "Cutter of Coleman +Street." + +"We are therefore wonderful wise men, and have a fine business of it; +we, who spend our time in poetry. I do sometimes laugh, and am often +angry with myself, when I think on it; and if I had a son inclined by +nature to the same folly, I believe I should bind him from it by the +strictest conjurations of a paternal blessing. For what can be more +ridiculous than to labour to give men delight, whilst they labour, on +their part, most earnestly to take offence?" + +And thus he closes the preface, in all the solemn expression of +injured feelings:--"This I do affirm, that _from all which I have +written, +I never+ received the least benefit or the least advantage; +but, on the contrary, have felt sometimes the effects of malice and +misfortune_!" + +Cowley's ashes were deposited between those of Chaucer and Spenser; a +marble monument was erected by a duke; and his eulogy was pronounced, +on the day of his death, from the lips of royalty. The learned wrote, +and the tuneful wept: well might the neglected bard, in his +retirement, compose an epitaph on himself, living there "entombed, +though not dead." + +To this ambiguous state of existence he applies a conceit, not +inelegant, from the tenderness of its imagery: + + Hic sparge flores, sparge breves rosas, + Nam vita gaudet mortua floribus; + Herbisque odoratis corona + Vatis adhuc cinerem calentem. + + IMITATED. + + Here scatter flowers and short-lived roses bring. + For life, though dead, enjoys the flowers of spring; + With breathing wreaths of fragrant herbs adorn + The yet warm embers in the poet's urn. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [27] My researches could never obtain more than one letter of + Cowley's--it is but an elegant trifle--returning thanks to his + friend Evelyn for some seeds and plants. "The Garden" of + Evelyn is immortalised in a delightful Ode of Cowley's, as + well as by Evelyn himself. Even in this small note we may + discover the touch of Cowley. The original is in Astle's + collection. + + MR. ABRAHAM COWLEY TO JOHN EVELYN, ESQ. + + "_Barn Elms, March 23, 1663._ + + "SIR,--There is nothing more pleasant than to see kindness + in a person for whom we have great esteem and respect: no, + not the sight of your garden in May, or even the having + such an one; which makes me more obliged to return you my + most humble thanks for the testimonies I have lately + received of you, both by your letter and your presents. I + have already sowed such of your seeds as I thought most + proper upon a hot-bed; but cannot find in all my books a + catalogue of these plants which require that culture, nor + of such as must be set in pots; which defects, and all + others, I hope shortly to see supplied, as I hope shortly + to see your work of Horticulture finished and published; + and long to be in all things your disciple, as I am in all + things now, + + "Sir, your most humble and most obedient Servant, + "A. COWLEY." + + [Barn Elms, from whence this letter is dated, was the first + country residence of Cowley. It lies low on the banks of the + Thames, and here the poet was first seized with a fever, which + obliged him to remove; but he chose an equally improper + locality for a man of his temperament, in Chertsey, where he + died from the effects of a severe cold.] + + Such were the ordinary letters which passed between two men + whom it would be difficult to parallel for their elegant + tastes and gentle dispositions. Evelyn's beautiful retreat at + Sayes Court, at Deptford, is described by a contemporary as + "a garden exquisite and most boscaresque, and, as it were, + an exemplar of his book of Forest-trees." It was the + entertainment and wonder of the greatest men of those times, + and inspired the following lines of Cowley, to Evelyn and + his lady, who excelled in the arts her husband loved; for she + designed the frontispiece to his version of Lucretius-- + + "In books and gardens thou hast placed aright + (Things well which thou dost understand, + And both dost make with thy laborious hand) + Thy noble innocent delight; + And in thy virtuous wife, where thou again dost meet + Both pleasures more refined and sweet; + The fairest garden in her looks, + And in her mind the wisest books." + + [28] A term the French apply to those _botches_ which bad poets use + to make out their metre. + + [29] This comedy was first presented very hurriedly for the amusement + of Prince Charles as he passed through Cambridge to York. + Cowley himself describes it, then, as "neither _made_ nor + _acted_, but _rough-drawn_ by him, and _repeated_ by his + scholars" for this temporary purpose. After the Restoration he + endeavoured to do more justice to his juvenile work, by + remodelling it, and producing it at the Duke of York's + theatre. But as many of the characters necessarily retained + the features of the older play, and times had changed; it was + easy to affix a false stigma to the poet's pictures of the old + Cavaliers; and the play was universally condemned as a satire + on the Royalists. It was reproduced with success at the + theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, as long afterwards as the + year 1730.--ED. + + [30] The anecdote, probably little known, may be found in "The + Judgment of Dr. Prideaux in Condemning the Murder of + Julius Cæsar by the Conspirators as a most villanous act, + maintained," 1721, p. 41. + + + + +THE PAINS OF FASTIDIOUS EGOTISM. + + +I must place the author of "The Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors," +who himself now ornaments that roll, among those who have participated +in the misfortunes of literature. + +HORACE WALPOLE was the inheritor of a name the most popular in +Europe;[31] he moved in the higher circles of society; and fortune had +never denied him the ample gratification of his lively tastes in the +elegant arts, and in curious knowledge. These were particular +advantages. But Horace Walpole panted with a secret desire for +literary celebrity; a full sense of his distinguished rank long +suppressed the desire of venturing the name he bore to the uncertain +fame of an author, and the caprice of vulgar critics. At length he +pretended to shun authors, and to slight the honours of authorship. +The cause of this contempt has been attributed to the perpetual +consideration of his rank. But was this bitter contempt of so early a +date? Was Horace Walpole a Socrates before his time? was he born that +prodigy of indifference, to despise the secret object he languished to +possess? His early associates were not only noblemen, but literary +noblemen; and need he have been so petulantly fastidious at bearing +the venerable title of author, when he saw Lyttleton, Chesterfield, +and other peers, proud of wearing the blue riband of literature? No! +it was after he had become an author that he contemned authorship: and +it was not the precocity of his sagacity, but the maturity of his +experience, that made him willing enough to undervalue literary +honours, which were not sufficient to satisfy his desires. + +Let us estimate the genius of Horace Walpole by analysing his talents, +and inquiring into the nature of his works. + +His taste was highly polished; his vivacity attained to brilliancy;[32] +and his picturesque fancy, easily excited, was soon extinguished; his +playful wit and keen irony were perpetually exercised in his +observations on life, and his memory was stored with the most +amusing knowledge, but much too lively to be accurate; for his +studies were but his sports. But other qualities of genius must +distinguish the great author, and even him who would occupy that +leading rank in the literary republic our author aspired to fill. He +lived too much in that class of society which is little favourable to +genius; he exerted neither profound thinking, nor profound feeling; +and too volatile to attain to the pathetic, that higher quality of +genius, he was so imbued with the petty elegancies of society that +every impression of grandeur in the human character was deadened in +the breast of the polished cynic. + +Horace Walpole was not a man of genius,--his most pleasing, if not his +great talent, lay in letter-writing; here he was without a rival;[33] +but he probably divined, when he condescended to become an author, +that something more was required than the talents he exactly +possessed. In his latter days he felt this more sensibly, which will +appear in those confessions which I have extracted from an unpublished +correspondence. + +Conscious of possessing the talent which amuses, yet feeling his +deficient energies, he resolved to provide various substitutes for +genius itself; and to acquire reputation, if he could not grasp at +celebrity. He raised a printing-press at his Gothic castle, by which +means he rendered small editions of his works valuable from their +rarity, and much talked of, because seldom seen. That this is true, +appears from the following extract from his unpublished correspondence +with a literary friend. It alludes to his "Anecdotes of Painting in +England," of which the first edition only consisted of 300 copies. + +"Of my new fourth volume I printed 600; but, as they can be had, I +believe not a third part is sold. This is a very plain lesson to me, +that my editions sell for their curiosity, and not for any merit in +them--and so they would if I printed Mother Goose's Tales, and but a +few. If I am humbled as an author, I may be vain as a printer; and +when one has nothing else to be vain of, it is certainly very little +worth while to be proud of that." + +There is a distinction between the author of great connexions and the +mere author. In the one case, the man may give a temporary existence +to his books; but in the other, it is the book which gives existence +to the man. + +Walpole's writings seem to be constructed on a certain principle, by +which he gave them a sudden, rather than a lasting existence. In +historical research our adventurer startled the world by maintaining +paradoxes which attacked the opinions, or changed the characters, +established for centuries. Singularity of opinion, vivacity of +ridicule, and polished epigrams in prose, were the means by which +Horace Walpole sought distinction. + +In his works of imagination, he felt he could not trust to himself--the +natural pathetic was utterly denied him. But he had fancy and +ingenuity; he had recourse to the _marvellous_ in imagination on the +principle he had adopted the _paradoxical_ in history. Thus, "The +Castle of Otranto," and "The Mysterious Mother," are the productions +of ingenuity rather than genius; and display the miracles of art, +rather than the spontaneous creations of nature. + +All his literary works, like the ornamented edifice he inhabited, +were constructed on the same artificial principle; an old paper +lodging-house, converted by the magician of taste into a Gothic +castle, full of scenic effects.[34] + +"A Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors" was itself a classification +which only an idle amateur could have projected, and only the most +agreeable narrator of anecdotes could have seasoned. These splendid +scribblers are for the greater part no authors at all.[35] + +His attack on our peerless Sidney, whose fame was more mature than +his life, was formed on the same principle as his "Historic Doubts" on +Richard III. Horace Walpole was as willing to vilify the truly great, +as to beautify deformity; when he imagined that the fame he was +destroying or conferring, reflected back on himself. All these works +were plants of sickly delicacy, which could never endure the open air, +and only lived in the artificial atmosphere of a private collection. +Yet at times the flowers, and the planter of the flowers, were roughly +shaken by an uncivil breeze. + +His "Anecdotes of Painting in England" is a most entertaining +catalogue. He gives the feelings of the distinct eras with regard to +the arts; yet his pride was never gratified when he reflected that he +had been writing the work of Vertue, who had collected the materials, +but could not have given the philosophy. His great age and his good +sense opened his eyes on himself; and Horace Walpole seems to have +judged too contemptuously of Horace Walpole. The truth is, he was +mortified he had not and never could obtain a literary peerage; and he +never respected the commoner's seat. At these moments, too frequent in +his life, he contemns authors, and returns to sink back into all the +self-complacency of aristocratic indifference. + +This cold unfeeling disposition for literary men, this disguised malice +of envy, and this eternal vexation at his own disappointments,--break +forth in his correspondence with one of those literary characters +with whom he kept on terms while they were kneeling to him in the +humility of worship, or moved about to fetch or to carry his little +quests of curiosity in town or country.[36] + +The following literary confessions illustrate this character:-- + + "_June, 1778._ + + "I have taken a thorough dislike to being an author; and, if it + would not look like begging you to compliment one by contradicting + me, I would tell you what I am most seriously convinced of, that I + find what small share of parts I had grown dulled. And when I + perceive it myself, I may well believe that others would not be + less sharp-sighted. _It is very natural_; mine were _spirits_ + rather than _parts_; and as time has rebated the one, it must + surely destroy _their resemblance_ to the other." + +In another letter:-- + + "I set very little value on myself; as a man, I am a very faulty + one; and _as an author, a very middling one_, which _whoever + thinks a comfortable rank, is not at all of my opinion_. Pray + convince me that you think I mean sincerely, by not answering me + with a compliment. It is very weak to be pleased with flattery; + the stupidest of all delusions to beg it. From you I should take + it ill. We have known one another almost forty years." + +There were times when Horace Walpole's natural taste for his studies +returned with all the vigour of passion--but his volatility and his +desultory life perpetually scattered his firmest resolutions into air. +This conflict appears beautifully described when the view of King's +College, Cambridge, throws his mind into meditation; and the passion +for study and seclusion instantly kindled his emotions, lasting, +perhaps, as long as the letter which describes them occupied in +writing. + + "_May 22, 1777._ + + "The beauty of King's College, Cambridge, now it is restored, + penetrated me with a visionary longing to be a monk in it. Though + my life has been passed in turbulent scenes, in pleasures or other + pastimes, and in much fashionable dissipation, still, books, + antiquity, and virtue kept hold of a corner of my heart: and since + necessity has forced me of late years to be a man of business, my + disposition tends to be a recluse for what remains--but it will + not be my lot; and though there is some excuse for the young doing + what they like, I doubt an old man should do nothing but what he + ought, and I hope doing one's duty is the best preparation for + death. Sitting with one's arms folded to think about it, is a very + long way for preparing for it. If Charles V. had resolved to make + some amends for his abominable ambition by doing good (his duty + as a king), there would have been infinitely more merit than going + to doze in a convent. One may avoid actual guilt in a sequestered + life, but the virtue of it is merely negative; the innocence is + beautiful." + +There had been moments when Horace Walpole even expressed the +tenderest feelings for fame; and the following passage, written prior +to the preceding ones, gives no indication of that contempt for +literary fame, of which the close of this character will exhibit an +extraordinary instance. + +This letter relates an affecting event--he had just returned from +seeing General Conway attacked by a paralytic stroke. Shocked by his +appearance, he writes-- + + "It is, perhaps, to vent my concern that I write. It has operated + such a revolution on my mind, as no time, at _my age_, can efface. + It has at once damped every pursuit which my spirits had even now + prevented me from being weaned from, I mean of virtu. It is like a + mortal distemper in myself; for can amusements amuse, if there is + but a glimpse, a vision of outliving one's friends? _I have had + dreams in which I thought I wished for fame--it was not certainly + posthumous fame at any distance; I feel, I feel it was confined to + the memory of those I love._ It seems to me impossible for a man + who has no friends to do anything for fame--and to me the first + position in friendship is, to intend one's friends should survive + one--but it is not reasonable to oppress you, who are suffering + gout, with my melancholy ideas. What I have said will tell you, + what I hope so many years have told you, that I am very constant + and sincere to friends of above forty years." + +In a letter of a later date there is a remarkable confession, which +harmonises with those already given. + + "My pursuits have always been light, trifling, and tended to + nothing but my casual amusement. I will not say, without a little + vain ambition of showing some parts, but never with industry + sufficient to make me apply to anything solid. My studies, if they + could be called so, and my productions, were alike desultory. In + my latter age I discovered the futility both of my objects and + writings--I felt how insignificant is the reputation of an author + of mediocrity; and that, being no genius, I only added one name + more to a list of writers; but had told the world nothing but what + it could as well be without. These reflections were the best + proofs of my sense; and when I could see through my own vanity, + there is less wonder in my discovering that such talents as I + might have had are impaired at seventy-two." + +Thus humbled was Horace Walpole to himself!--there is an intellectual +dignity, which this man of wit and sense was incapable of reaching--and +it seems a retribution that the scorner of true greatness should at +length feel the poisoned chalice return to his own lips. He who had +contemned the eminent men of former times, and quarrelled with and +ridiculed every contemporary genius; who had affected to laugh at +the literary fame he could not obtain,--at length came to scorn himself! +and endured "the penal fires" of an author's hell, in undervaluing his +own works, the productions of a long life! + +The chagrin and disappointment of such an author were never less +carelessly concealed than in the following extraordinary letter:-- + + HORACE WALPOLE TO -------- + + "_Arlington Street, April 27, 1773._ + + "Mr. Gough wants to be introduced to me! Indeed! I would see him, + as he has been midwife to Masters; but he is so dull that he + would only be troublesome--and besides, you know I shun + authors, and would never have been one myself, if it obliged me to + keep such bad company. They are always in earnest, and think + their profession serious, and dwell upon trifles, and reverence + learning. I laugh at all these things, and write only to laugh + at them and divert myself. None of us are authors of any + consequence, and it is the most ridiculous of all vanities to be + vain of being _mediocre_. A page in a great author humbles me to + the dust, and the conversation of those that are not superior + to myself reminds me of what will be thought of myself. I blush + to flatter them, or to be flattered by them; and should dread + letters being published some time or other, in which they would + relate our interviews, and we should appear like those puny + conceited witlings in Shenstone's and Hughes's correspondence, + who give themselves airs from being in possession of the soil + of Parnassus for the time being; as peers are proud because they + enjoy the estates of great men who went before them. Mr. Gough is + very welcome to see Strawberry-hill, or I would help him to + any scraps in my possession that would assist his publications, + though he is one of those industrious who are only re-burying the + dead--but I cannot be acquainted with him; it is contrary to + my system and my humour; and besides I know nothing of barrows + and Danish entrenchments, and Saxon barbarisms and Phœnician + characters--in short, I know nothing of those ages that knew + nothing--then how should I be of use to modern literati? All the + Scotch metaphysicians have sent me their works. I did not read one + of them, because I do not understand what is not understood by + those that write about it; and I did not get acquainted with + one of the writers. I should like to be intimate with Mr. + Anstey, even though he wrote Lord Buckhorse, or with the author + of the Heroic Epistle--I have no thirst to know the rest of my + contemporaries, from the absurd bombast of Dr. Johnson down to + the silly Dr. Goldsmith, though the latter changeling has had + bright gleams of parts, and the former had sense, till he + changed it for words, and sold it for a pension. Don't think me + scornful. Recollect that I have seen Pope, and lived with + Gray.--Adieu!" + +Such a letter seems not to have been written by a literary man--it is +the babble of a thoughtless wit and a man of the world. But it is +worthy of him whose contracted heart could never open to patronage or +friendship. From such we might expect the unfeeling observation in the +"Anecdotes of Painting," that "want of patronage is the apology for +want of genius. Milton and La Fontaine did not write in the bask of +court favour. A poet or a painter may want an equipage or a villa, by +wanting protection; they can always afford to buy ink and paper, +colours and pencil. Mr. Hogarth has received no honours, but universal +admiration." Patronage, indeed, cannot convert dull men into men of +genius, but it may preserve men of genius from becoming dull men. It +might have afforded Dryden that studious leisure which he ever wanted, +and which would have given us not imperfect tragedies, and uncorrected +poems, but the regulated flights of a noble genius. It might have +animated Gainsborough to have created an English school in landscape, +which I have heard from those who knew him was his favourite yet +neglected pursuit. But Walpole could insult that genius, which he +wanted the generosity to protect! + +The whole spirit of this man was penury. Enjoying an affluent +income he only appeared to patronise the arts which amused his +tastes,--employing the meanest artists, at reduced prices, to +ornament his own works, an economy which he bitterly reprehends in +others who were compelled to practise it. He gratified his avarice +at the expense of his vanity; the strongest passion must prevail. +It was the simplicity of childhood in Chatterton to imagine Horace +Walpole could be a patron--but it is melancholy to record that a +slight protection might have saved such a youth. Gray abandoned +this man of birth and rank in the midst of their journey through +Europe; Mason broke with him; even his humble correspondent Cole, +this "friend of forty years," was often sent away in dudgeon; and +he quarrelled with all the authors and artists he had ever been +acquainted with. The Gothic castle at Strawberry-hill was rarely +graced with living genius--there the greatest was Horace Walpole +himself; but he had been too long waiting to see realised a +magical vision of his hopes, which resembled the prophetic fiction of +his own romance, that "the owner should grow too large for his +house." After many years, having discovered that he still retained his +mediocrity, he could never pardon the presence of that preternatural +being whom the world considered a GREAT MAN.--Such was the feeling +which dictated the close of the above letter; Johnson and Goldsmith +were to be "scorned," since Pope and Gray were no more within the +reach of his envy and his fear. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [31] He was the youngest son of the celebrated minister, Sir Robert + Walpole.--ED. + + [32] In his letters there are uncommon instances of vivacity, + whenever pointed against authors. The following have not yet + met the public eye. What can be more maliciously pungent + than this on Spence? "As I know Mr. J. Spence, I do not + think I should have been so much delighted as Dr. Kippis with + reading his letters. He was a good-natured harmless little + soul, but more like a silver penny than a genius. It was a + neat fiddle-faddle bit of sterling, that had read good books, + and kept good company; but was too trifling for use, and only + fit to please a child."--On Dr. Nash's first volume of + 'Worcestershire': "It is a folio of prodigious corpulence, and + yet dry enough; but it is finely dressed with many heads and + views." He characterises Pennant; "_He_ is not one of our + plodders (alluding to Gough); rather the other extreme; + his _corporal_ spirits (for I cannot call them _animal_) do + not allow him to digest anything. He gave a round jump + from ornithology to antiquity, and, as if they had any + relation, thought he understood everything that lay between + them. The report of his being disordered is not true; he has + been with me, and at least is as composed as ever I saw him." + His literary correspondence with his friend Cole abounds + with this easy satirical criticism--he delighted to + ridicule authors!--as well as to starve the miserable artists + he so grudgingly paid. In the very volumes he celebrated the + arts, he disgraced them by his penuriousness; so that he + loved to indulge his avarice at the expense of his vanity! + + [33] This opinion on Walpole's talent for letter-writing was + published in 1812, many years before the public had the + present collection of his letters; my prediction has been + amply verified. He wrote a great number to Bentley, the son + of Dr. Bentley, who ornamented Gray's works with some + extraordinary designs. Walpole, who was always proud and + capricious, observes his friend Cole, broke with Bentley + because he would bring his wife with him to Strawberry-hill. + He then asked Bentley for all his letters back, but he + would not in return give Bentley's own. + + This whole correspondence abounded with literature, criticism, + and wit of the most original and brilliant composition. This + is the opinion of no friend, but an admirer, and a good judge; + for it was Bentley's own. + + [34] This is the renowned Strawberry-hill, a villa still standing on + the banks of the Thames, between Teddington and Twickenham, + but now despoiled of the large collection of pictures, + curiosities, and articles of _vertu_ so assiduously collected + by Walpole during a long life. The ground on which it stands + was originally partially occupied by a small cottage, built by + a nobleman's coachman for a lodging-house, and occupied by a + toy-woman of the name of Chevenix. Hence Walpole says of it, + in a letter to General Conway, "it is a little plaything house + that I got out of Mrs. Chevenix's shop, and is the prettiest + bauble you ever saw."--ED. + + [35] Walpole's characters are not often to be relied on, witness his + injustice to Hogarth as a painter, and his insolent calumny of + Charles I. His literary opinions of James I. and of Sidney + might have been written without any acquaintance with the + works he has so maliciously criticised. In his account of + Sidney he had silently passed over the "Defence of Poetry;" + and in his second edition has written this avowal, that "he + had forgotten it; a proof that I at least did not think it + sufficient foundation for so high a character as he acquired." + How heartless was the polished cynicism which could dare to + hazard this false criticism! Nothing can be more imposing than + his volatile and caustic criticisms on the works of James I., + yet he had probably never opened that folio he so poignantly + ridicules. He doubts whether two pieces, "The Prince's + Cabala," and "The Duty of a King in his Royal Office," were + genuine productions of James I. The truth is that both these + works are nothing more than extracts printed with those + separate titles and drawn from the king's "Basilicon Doron." + He had probably neither read the extracts nor the original. + + [36] It was such a person as Cole of Milton, his correspondent of + forty years, who lived at a distance, and obsequious to his + wishes, always looking up to him, though never with a + parallel glance--with whom he did not quarrel, though if + Walpole could have read the private notes Cole made in his + MSS. at the time he was often writing the civilest letters of + admiration,--even Cole would have been cashiered from his + correspondence. Walpole could not endure equality in literary + men.--Bentley observed to Cole, that Walpole's pride and + hauteur were excessive; which betrayed themselves in the + treatment of Gray who had himself too much pride and + spirit _to forgive it_ when matters were made up between them, + and Walpole invited Gray to Strawberry-hill. When Gray came, + he, without any ceremony, told Walpole that though he + waited on him as civility required, yet by _no means would he + ever be there on the terms of their former friendship, + which he had totally cancelled_.--From COLE'S MSS. + + + + +INFLUENCE OF A BAD TEMPER IN CRITICISM. + + +Unfriendly to the literary character, some have imputed the +brutality of certain authors to their literary habits, when it may +be more truly said that they derived their literature from their +brutality. The spirit was envenomed before it entered into the +fierceness of literary controversy, and the insanity was in the +evil temper of the man before he roused our notice by his ravings. +RITSON, the late antiquary of poetry (not to call him poetical), +amazed the world by his vituperative railing at two authors of the +finest taste in poetry, Warton and Percy; he carried criticism, as +the discerning few had first surmised, to insanity itself; the +character before us only approached it. + +DENNIS attained to the ambiguous honour of being distinguished as +"The Critic," and he may yet instruct us how the moral influences the +literary character, and how a certain talent that can never mature +itself into genius, like the pale fruit that hangs in the shade, +ripens only into sourness. + +As a critic in his own day, party for some time kept him alive; the +art of criticism was a novelty at that period of our literature. He +flattered some great men, and he abused three of the greatest; this +was one mode of securing popularity; because, by this contrivance, he +divided the town into two parties; and the irascibility and satire of +Pope and Swift were not less serviceable to him than the partial +panegyrics of Dryden and Congreve. Johnson revived him, for his minute +attack on Addison; and Kippis, feebly voluminous, and with the cold +affectation of candour, allows him to occupy a place in our literary +history too large in the eye of Truth and Taste. + +Let us say all the good we can of him, that we may not be interrupted +in a more important inquiry. Dennis once urged fair pretensions to the +office of critic. Some of his "Original Letters," and particularly the +"Remarks on Prince Arthur," written in his vigour, attain even to +classical criticism.[37] Aristotle and Bossu lay open before him, and +he developes and sometimes illustrates their principles with close +reasoning. Passion had not yet blinded the young critic with rage; and +in that happy moment, Virgil occupied his attention even more than +Blackmore. + +The prominent feature in his literary character was good sense; but in +literature, though not in life, good sense is a penurious virtue. +Dennis could not be carried beyond the cold line of a precedent, and +before he ventured to be pleased, he was compelled to look into +Aristotle. His learning was the bigotry of literature. It was ever +Aristotle explained by Dennis. But in the explanation of the obscure +text of his master, he was led into such frivolous distinctions, and +tasteless propositions, that his works deserve inspection, as examples +of the manner of a true mechanical critic. + +This blunted feeling of the mechanical critic was at first concealed +from the world in the pomp of critical erudition; but when he trusted +to himself, and, destitute of taste and imagination, became a poet and +a dramatist, the secret of the Royal Midas was revealed. As his evil +temper prevailed, he forgot his learning, and lost the moderate sense +which he seemed once to have possessed. Rage, malice, and dulness, +were the heavy residuum; and now he much resembled that congenial soul +whom the ever-witty South compared to the tailor's goose, which is at +once hot and heavy. + +Dennis was sent to Cambridge by his father, a saddler, who imagined a +genius had been born in the family. He travelled in France and Italy, +and on his return held in contempt every pursuit but poetry and +criticism. He haunted the literary coteries, and dropped into a galaxy +of wits and noblemen. At a time when our literature, like our +politics, was divided into two factions, Dennis enlisted himself under +Dryden and Congreve;[38] and, as legitimate criticism was then an +awful novelty in the nation, the young critic, recent from the +Stagirite, soon became an important, and even a tremendous spirit. +Pope is said to have regarded his judgment; and Mallet, when young, +tremblingly submitted a poem, to live or die by his breath. One would +have imagined that the elegant studies he was cultivating, the views +of life which had opened on him, and the polished circle around, would +have influenced the grossness which was the natural growth of the +soil. But ungracious Nature kept fast hold of the mind of Dennis! + +His personal manners were characterised by their abrupt violence. Once +dining with Lord Halifax he became so impatient of contradiction, that +he rushed out of the room, overthrowing the sideboard. Inquiring on +the next day how he had behaved, Moyle observed, "You went away like +the devil, taking one corner of the house with you." The wits, +perhaps, then began to suspect their young Zoilus's dogmatism. + +The actors refused to perform one of his tragedies to empty houses, +but they retained some excellent thunder which Dennis had invented; +it rolled one night when Dennis was in the pit, and it was applauded! +Suddenly starting up, he cried to the audience, "By G--, they wont act +my tragedy, but they steal my thunder!" Thus, when reading Pope's +"Essay on Criticism," he came to the character of Appius, he suddenly +flung down the new poem, exclaiming, "By G--, he means me!" He is +painted to the life. + + _Lo!_ _Appius reddens_ at each word you speak, + And stares tremendous with a threatening eye, + Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry. + +I complete this picture of Dennis with a very extraordinary +caricature, which Steele, in one of his papers of "The Theatre," has +given of Dennis. I shall, however, disentangle the threads, and pick +out what I consider not to be caricature, but resemblance. + +"His motion is quick and sudden, turning on all sides, with a +suspicion of every object, as if he had done or feared some +extraordinary mischief. You see wickedness in his meaning, but folly +of countenance, that betrays him to be unfit for the execution of it. +He starts, stares, and looks round him. This constant shuffle of haste +without speed, makes the man thought a little touched; but the vacant +look of his two eyes gives you to understand that he could never run +out of his wits, which seemed not so much to be lost, as to want +employment; they are not so much astray, as they are a wool-gathering. +He has the face and surliness of a mastiff, which has often saved him +from being treated like a cur, till some more sagacious than ordinary +found his nature, and used him accordingly. Unhappy being! terrible +without, fearful within! Not a wolf in sheep's clothing, but a sheep +in a wolf's."[39] + +However anger may have a little coloured this portrait, its truth may +be confirmed from a variety of sources. If Sallust, with his +accustomed penetration in characterising the violent emotions of +Catiline's restless mind, did not forget its indication in "his walk +now quick and now slow," it maybe allowed to think that the character +of Dennis was alike to be detected in his habitual surliness. + +Even in his old age--for our chain must not drop a link--his native +brutality never forsook him. Thomson and Pope charitably supported the +veteran Zoilus at a benefit play; and Savage, who had nothing but a +verse to give, returned them very poetical thanks in the name of +Dennis. He was then blind and old, but his critical ferocity had no +old age; his surliness overcame every grateful sense, and he swore as +usual, "They could be no one's but that _fool_ Savage's"--an evidence +of his sagacity and brutality![40] This was, perhaps, the last peevish +snuff shaken from the dismal link of criticism; for, a few days after, +was the redoubted Dennis numbered with the mighty dead. + +He carried the same fierceness into his style, and commits the same +ludicrous extravagances in literary composition as in his manners. Was +Pope really sore at the Zoilian style? He has himself spared me the +trouble of exhibiting Dennis's gross personalities, by having +collected them at the close of the Dunciad--specimens which show how +low false wit and malignity can get to by hard pains. I will throw +into the note a curious illustration of the anti-poetical notions of a +mechanical critic, who has no wing to dip into the hues of the +imagination.[41] + +In life and in literature we meet with men who seem endowed with an +obliquity of understanding, yet active and busy spirits; but, as +activity is only valuable in proportion to the capacity that puts all +in motion, so, when ill directed, the intellect, warped by nature, +only becomes more crooked and fantastical. A kind of frantic +enthusiasm breaks forth in their actions and their language, and often +they seem ferocious when they are only foolish. We may thus account +for the manners and style of Dennis, pushed almost to the verge of +insanity, and acting on him very much like insanity itself--a +circumstance which the quick vengeance of wit seized on, in the +humorous "Narrative of Dr. Robert Norris, concerning the Frenzy of Mr. +John Dennis, an officer of the Custom-house."[42] + +It is curious to observe that Dennis, in the definition of genius, +describes himself; he says--"Genius is caused by a _furious joy_ and +_pride of soul_ on the conception of an extraordinary hint. Many men +have their _hints_ without their motions of _fury and pride of soul_, +because they want fire enough to agitate their spirits; and these we +call cold writers. Others, who have a great deal of fire, but have not +excellent organs, feel the fore-mentioned _motions_, without the +extraordinary _hints_; and these we call fustian writers." His +_motions_ and his _hints_, as he describes them, in regard to cold or +fustian writers, seem to include the extreme points of his own +genius. + +Another feature strongly marks the race of the Dennises. With a +half-consciousness of deficient genius, they usually idolize some +chimera, by adopting some extravagant principle; and they consider +themselves as original when they are only absurd. + +Dennis had ever some misshapen idol of the mind, which he was +perpetually caressing with the zeal of perverted judgment or monstrous +taste. Once his frenzy ran against the Italian Opera; and in his +"Essay on Public Spirit," he ascribes its decline to its unmanly +warblings. I have seen a long letter by Dennis to the Earl of Oxford, +written to congratulate his lordship on his accession to power, and +the high hopes of the nation; but the greater part of the letter runs +on the Italian Opera, while Dennis instructs the Minister that the +national prosperity can never be effected while this general +corruption of the three kingdoms lies open! + +Dennis has more than once recorded two material circumstances in the +life of a true critic; these are his _ill-nature_ and the _public +neglect_. + +"I make no doubt," says he, "that upon the perusal of the critical +part of these letters, the _old accusation_ will be brought against +me, and there will be a _fresh outcry_ among thoughtless people that I +am _an ill-natured man_." + +He entertained exalted opinions of his own powers, and he deeply felt +their public neglect. + +"While others," he says in his tracts, "have been _too much +encouraged_, I have been _too much neglected_"--his favourite system, +that religion gives principally to great poetry its spirit and +enthusiasm, was an important point, which, he says, "has been left to +be treated by _a person who has the honour of being your lordship's +countryman_--your lordship knows that persons _so much and so long +oppressed as I have been_ have been always allowed to _say things +concerning themselves_ which in others might be offensive." + +His vanity, we see, was equal to his vexation, and as he grew old he +became more enraged; and, writing too often without Aristotle or Locke +by his side, he gave the town pure Dennis, and almost ceased to be +read. "The oppression" of which he complains might not be less +imaginary than his alarm, while a treaty was pending with France, that +he should be delivered up to the Grand Monarque for having written a +tragedy, which no one could read, against his majesty. + +It is melancholy, but it is useful, to record the mortifications of +such authors. Dennis had, no doubt, laboured with zeal which could +never meet a reward; and, perhaps, amid his critical labours, he +turned often with an aching heart from their barren contemplation to +that of the tranquillity he might have derived from an humbler +avocation. + +It was not literature, then, that made the mind coarse, brutalising +the habits and inflaming the style of Dennis. He had thrown himself +among the walks of genius, and aspired to fix himself on a throne to +which Nature had refused him a legitimate claim. What a lasting source +of vexation and rage, even for a long-lived patriarch of criticism! + +Accustomed to suspend the scourge over the heads of the first authors +of the age, he could not sit at a table or enter a coffee-house +without exerting the despotism of a literary dictator. How could the +mind that had devoted itself to the contemplation of masterpieces, +only to reward its industry by detailing to the public their human +frailties, experience one hour of amenity, one idea of grace, one +generous impulse of sensibility? + +But the poor critic himself at length fell, really more the victim of +his criticisms than the genius he had insulted. Having incurred the +public neglect, the blind and helpless Cacus in his den sunk fast into +contempt, dragged on a life of misery, and in his last days, scarcely +vomiting his fire and smoke, became the most pitiable creature, +receiving the alms he craved from triumphant genius. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [37] It is curious to observe that Kippis, who classifies with the + pomp of enumeration his heap of pamphlets, imagines that, as + Blackmore's Epic is consigned to oblivion, so likewise must be + the criticism, which, however, he confesses he could never + meet with. An odd fate attends Dennis's works: his criticism + on a bad work ought to survive it, as good works have survived + his criticisms. + + [38] See in Dennis's "Original Letters" one to Tonson, entitled, "On + the conspiracy against the reputation of Mr. Dryden." It was + in favour of _folly_ against _wisdom_, _weakness_ against + _power_, &c.; _Pope_ against _Dryden_. He closes with a + well-turned period. "Wherever genius runs through a work, I + forgive its faults; and wherever that is wanting, no beauties + can touch me. Being struck by Mr. Dryden's genius, I have no + eyes for his errors; and I have no eyes for his enemies' + beauties, because I am not struck by their genius." + + [39] In the narrative of his frenzy (quoted p. 56), his _personnel_ + is thus given. "His aspect was furious, his eyes were rather + fiery than lively, which he rolled about in an uncommon + manner. He often opened his mouth as if he would have uttered + some matter of importance, but the sound seemed lost inwardly. + His beard was grown, which they told me he would not suffer to + be shaved, believing the modern dramatic poets had corrupted + all the barbers of the town to take the first opportunity of + cutting his throat. His eyebrows were grey, long, and grown + together, which he knit with indignation when anything was + spoken, insomuch that he seemed not to have smoothed his + forehead for many years."--ED. + + [40] There is an epigram on Dennis by Savage, which Johnson has + preserved in his Life; and I feel it to be a very correct + likeness, although Johnson censures Savage for writing an + epigram against Dennis, while he was living in great + familiarity with the critic. Perhaps that was the happiest + moment to write the epigram. The anecdote in the text + doubtless prompted "the fool" to take this fair revenge and + just chastisement. Savage has brought out the features + strongly, in these touches-- + + "Say what revenge on Dennis can be had, + Too dull for laughter, for reply too mad. + On one so poor you cannot take the law, + On one so old your sword you scorn to draw. + Uncaged then, let the harmless monster rage, + Secure in dulness, madness, want, and age!" + + [41] Dennis points his heavy cannon of criticism and thus + bombards that aerial edifice, the "Rape of the Lock." He is + inquiring into the nature of _poetical machinery_, which, he + oracularly pronounces, should be religious, or allegorical, + or political; asserting the "Lutrin" of Boileau to be a + trifle only in appearance, covering the deep political + design of reforming the Popish Church!--With the yard of + criticism he takes measure of the slender graces and tiny + elegance of Pope's aerial machines, as "less considerable + than the _human persons_, which is _without precedent_. + Nothing can be so contemptible as the _persons_ or so + foolish as the understandings of these _hobgoblins_. + Ariel's speech is one continued impertinence. After he has + talked to them of black omens and dire disasters that + threaten his heroine, those bugbears dwindle to the breaking + a piece of china, to staining a petticoat, the losing a + fan, or a bottle of sal volatile--and what makes Ariel's + speech more ridiculous is the _place_ where it is spoken, on + the sails and cordage of Belinda's barge." And then he + compares the Sylphs to the Discord of Homer, whose feet are + upon the earth, and head in the skies. "They are, indeed, + beings so diminutive that they bear the same proportion to + the rest of the intellectual that _Eels in vinegar_ do to + the rest of the material world; the latter are only to be seen + through microscopes, and the former only through the false + optics of a Rosicrucian understanding." And finally, he + decides that "these diminutive beings are only _Sawney_ + (that is, Alexander Pope), taking the change; for it is + he, a little lump of flesh, that talks, instead of a little + spirit." Dennis's profound gravity contributes an additional + feature of the burlesque to these heroi-comic poems + themselves, only that Dennis cannot be playful, and will + not be good-humoured. + + On the same tasteless principle he decides on the improbability + of that incident in the "Conscious Lovers" of Steele, raised + by Bevil, who, having received great obligations from his + father, has promised not to marry without his consent. On this + Dennis, who rarely in his critical progress will stir a foot + without authority, quotes four formidable pages from Locke's + "Essay on Government," to prove that, at the age of + discretion, a man is free to dispose of his own actions! One + would imagine that Dennis was arguing like a special pleader, + rather than developing the involved action of an affecting + drama. Are there critics who would pronounce Dennis to be a + very _sensible_ brother? It is here too he calls Steele "a + twopenny author," alluding to the price of the "Tatlers"--but + this cost Dennis dear! + + [42] "The narrative of the frenzy of Mr. John Dennis," published in + the Miscellanies of Pope, Swift, and Arbuthnot, and said to + have been written by Pope, is a grave banter on his usual + violence. It professes to be the account of the physician who + attended him at the request of a servant, who describes the + first attack of his madness coming on when "a poor simple + child came to him from the printers; the boy had no sooner + entered the room, but he cried out 'the devil was come!'" The + constant idiosyncrasy he had that his writings against France + and the Pope might endanger his liberty, is amusingly hit off; + "he perpetually starts and runs to the window when any one + knocks, crying out ''Sdeath! a messenger from the French King; + I shall die in the Bastile!'"--ED. + + + + +DISAPPOINTED GENIUS + +TAKES A FATAL DIRECTION BY ITS ABUSE. + + +How the moral and literary character are reciprocally influenced, may +be traced in the character of a personage peculiarly apposite to these +inquiries. This worthy of literature is ORATOR HENLEY, who is rather +known traditionally than historically.[43] He is so overwhelmed with +the echoed satire of Pope, and his own extravagant conduct for many +years, that I should not care to extricate him, had I not discovered a +feature in the character of Henley not yet drawn, and constituting no +inferior calamity among authors. + +Henley stands in his "gilt tub" in the Dunciad; and a portrait of him +hangs in the picture-gallery of the Commentary. Pope's verse and +Warburton's notes are the pickle and the bandages for any Egyptian +mummy of dulness, who will last as long as the pyramid that encloses +him. I shall transcribe, for the reader's convenience, the lines of +Pope:-- + + Embrown'd with native bronze, lo! Henley stands, + Tuning his voice, and balancing his hands; + How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue! + How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung! + Still break the benches, Henley, with thy strain, + While Sherlock, Hare, and Gibson, preach in vain. + Oh! great restorer of the good old stage, + Preacher at once, and Zany of thy age![44] + +It will surprise when I declare that this buffoon was an indefatigable +student, a proficient in all the learned languages, an elegant poet, +and, withal, a wit of no inferior class. It remains to discover why +"the Preacher" became "the Zany." + +Henley was of St. John's College, Cambridge, and was distinguished for +the ardour and pertinacity of his studies; he gave evident marks of +genius. There is a letter of his to the "Spectator," signed _Peter de +Quir_, which abounds with local wit and quaint humour.[45] He had not +attained his twenty-second year when he published a poem, entitled +"Esther, Queen of Persia,"[46] written amid graver studies; for three +years after, Henley, being M.A., published his "Complete Linguist," +consisting of grammars of ten languages. + +The poem itself must not be passed by in silent notice. It is preceded +by a learned preface, in which the poet discovers his intimate +knowledge of oriental studies, with some etymologies from the Persic, +the Hebrew, and the Greek, concerning the name and person of +Ahasuerus, whom he makes to be Xerxes. The close of this preface gives +another unexpected feature in the character of him who, the poet tells +us, was "embrowned with _native_ bronze"--an unaffected modesty! +Henley, alluding to a Greek paraphrase of Barnes, censures his faults +with acrimony, and even apologises for them, by thus gracefully +closing the preface: "These can only be alleviated by one plea, the +youth of the author, which is a circumstance I hope the candid will +consider in favour of the present writer!" + +The poem is not destitute of imagination and harmony. + +The pomp of the feast of Ahasuerus has all the luxuriance of Asiatic +splendour; and the circumstances are selected with some fancy. + + The higher guests approach a room of state, + Where tissued couches all around were set + Labour'd with art; o'er ivory tables thrown, + Embroider'd carpets fell in folds adown. + The bowers and gardens of the court were near, + And open lights indulged the breathing air. + + Pillars of marble bore a silken sky, + While cords of purple and fine linen tie + In silver rings, the azure canopy. + Distinct with diamond stars the blue was seen, + And earth and seas were feign'd in emerald green; + A globe of gold, ray'd with a pointed crown, + Form'd in the midst almost a real sun. + +Nor is Henley less skilful in the elegance of his sentiments, and in +his development of the human character. When Esther is raised to the +throne, the poet says-- + + And Esther, though in robes, is Esther still. + +And then sublimely exclaims-- + + The heroic soul, amidst its bliss or woe, + Is never swell'd too high, nor sunk too low; + Stands, like its origin above the skies, + Ever the same great self, sedately wise; + Collected and prepared in every stage + To scorn a courting world, or bear its rage. + +But wit which the "Spectator" has sent down to posterity, and poetry +which gave the promise of excellence, did not bound the noble ambition +of Henley; ardent in more important labours, he was perfecting himself +in the learned languages, and carrying on a correspondence with +eminent scholars. + +He officiated as the master of the free-school at his native town in +Leicestershire, then in a declining state; but he introduced many +original improvements. He established a class for public elocution, +recitations of the classics, orations, &c.; and arranged a method of +enabling every scholar to give an account of his studies without the +necessity of consulting others, or of being examined by particular +questions. These miracles are indeed a little apocryphal; for they are +drawn from that pseudo-gospel of his life, of which I am inclined to +think he himself was the evangelist. His grammar of ten languages was +now finished; and his genius felt that obscure spot too circumscribed +for his ambition. He parted from the inhabitants with their regrets, +and came to the metropolis with thirty recommendatory letters. + +Henley probably had formed those warm conceptions of patronage in +which youthful genius cradles its hopes. Till 1724 he appears, +however, to have obtained only a small living, and to have existed by +translating and writing. Thus, after persevering studies, many +successful literary efforts, and much heavy taskwork, Henley found he +was but a hireling author for the booksellers, and a salaried +"Hyp-doctor" for the minister; for he received a stipend for this +periodical paper, which was to cheer the spirits of the people by +ridiculing the gloomy forebodings of Amhurst's "Craftsman." About this +time the complete metamorphosis of the studious and ingenious John +Henley began to branch out into its grotesque figure; and a curiosity +in human nature was now about to be opened to public inspection. "The +Preacher" was to personate "The Zany." His temper had become brutal, +and he had gradually contracted a ferocity and grossness in his +manners, which seem by no means to have been indicated in his purer +days. His youth was disgraced by no irregularities--it was studious +and honourable. But he was now quick at vilifying the greatest +characters; and having a perfect contempt for all mankind, was +resolved to live by making one half of the world laugh at the other. +Such is the direction which disappointed genius has too often given to +its talents. + +He first affected oratory, and something of a theatrical attitude in +his sermons, which greatly attracted the populace; and he startled +those preachers who had so long dozed over their own sermons, and who +now finding themselves with but few slumberers about them, envied +their Ciceronian brothers. + + Tuning his voice, and balancing his hands. + +It was alleged against Henley, that "he drew the people too much from +their parish churches, and was not so proper for a London divine as a +rural pastor." He was offered a rustication, on a better living; but +Henley did not come from the country to return to it. + +There is a narrative of the life of Henley, which, subscribed by another +person's name, he himself inserted in his "Oratory Transactions."[47] +As he had to publish himself this highly seasoned biographical +morsel, and as his face was then beginning to be "embrowned with +bronze," he thus very impudently and very ingeniously apologises for +the panegyric:-- + +"If any remark of the writer appears favourable to myself, and be +judged apocryphal, it may, however, weigh in the opposite scale to +some things less obligingly said of me; false praise being as +pardonable as false reproach."[48] + +In this narrative we are told, that when at college-- + +"He began to be uneasy that he had not the liberty of thinking, +without incurring the scandal of heterodoxy; he was impatient that +systems of all sorts were put into his hands ready carved out for him; +it shocked him to find that he was commanded to believe against his +judgment, and resolved some time or other to enter his protest against +any person being bred like a slave, who is born an Englishman." + +This is all very decorous, and nothing can be objected to the first +cry of this reforming patriot but a reasonable suspicion of its truth. +If these sentiments were really in his mind at college, he deserves at +least the praise of retention: for fifteen years were suffered to pass +quietly without the patriotic volcano giving even a distant rumbling +of the sulphurous matter concealed beneath. All that time had passed +in the contemplation of church preferment, with the aerial perspective +lighted by a visionary mitre. But Henley grew indignant at his +disappointments, and suddenly resolved to reform "the gross impostures +and faults that have long prevailed in the received _institutions_ and +_establishments_ of _knowledge_ and _religion_"--simply meaning that +he wished to pull down the _Church_ and the _University_! + +But he was prudent before he was patriotic; he at first grafted +himself on Whiston, adopting his opinions, and sent some queries by +which it appears that Henley, previous to breaking with the church, +was anxious to learn the power it had to punish him. The Arian Whiston +was himself, from pure motives, suffering expulsion from Cambridge, +for refusing his subscription to the Athanasian Creed; he was a pious +man, and no buffoon, but a little crazed. Whiston afterwards +discovered the character of his correspondent, he then requested the +Bishop of London. + +"To summon Mr. Henley, the orator, whose vile history I knew so well, +to come and tell it to the church. But the bishop said he could do +nothing; since which time Mr. Henley has gone on for about twenty +years without control every week, as an ecclesiastical mountebank, to +abuse religion." + +The most extraordinary project was now formed by Henley; he was to +teach mankind universal knowledge from his lectures, and primitive +Christianity from his sermons. He took apartments in Newport market, +and opened his "Oratory." He declared, + +"He would teach more in one year than schools and universities did in +five, and write and study twelve hours a-day, and yet appear as +untouched by the yoke, as if he never bore it." + +In his "Idea of what is intended to be taught in the _Week-days' +Universal Academy_," we may admire the fertility, and sometimes the +grandeur of his views. His lectures and orations[49] are of a very +different nature from what they are imagined to be; literary topics +are treated with perspicuity and with erudition, and there is +something original in the manner. They were, no doubt, larded and +stuffed with many high-seasoned jokes, which Henley did not send to +the printer. + +Henley was a charlatan and a knave; but in all his charlatanerie and +his knavery he indulged the reveries of genius; many of which have +been realised since; and, if we continue to laugh at Henley, it will +indeed be cruel, for we shall be laughing at ourselves! Among the +objects which Henley discriminates in his general design, were, to +supply the want of a university, or universal school, in this capital, +for persons of all ranks, professions, and capacities;--to encourage a +literary correspondence with great men and learned bodies; the +communication of all discoveries and experiments in science and the +arts; to form an amicable society for the encouragement of learning, +"in order to cultivate, adorn, and exalt the genius of Britain;" to +lay a foundation for an English Academy; to give a standard to our +language, and a digest to our history; to revise the ancient schools +of philosophy and elocution, which last has been reckoned by +Pancirollus among the _artes perditæ_. All these were "to bring all +the parts of knowledge into the narrowest compass, placing them in the +clearest light, and fixing them to the utmost certainty." The religion +of the Oratory was to be that of the primitive church in the first +ages of the four first general councils, approved by parliament in the +first year of the reign of Elizabeth. "The Church of England is really +with us; we appeal to her own principles, and we shall not deviate +from her, unless she deviates from herself." Yet his "Primitive +Christianity" had all the sumptuous pomp of popery; his creeds and +doxologies are printed in the red letter, and his liturgies in the +black; his pulpit blazed in gold and velvet (Pope's "gilt tub"); while +his "Primitive Eucharist" was to be distributed with all the ancient +forms of celebrating the sacrifice of the altar, which he says, "are +so noble, so just, sublime, and perfectly harmonious, that the change +has been made to an unspeakable disadvantage." It was restoring the +decorations and the mummery of the mass! He assumed even a higher +tone, and dispersed medals, like those of Louis XIV., with the device +of a sun near the meridian, and a motto, _Ad summa_, with an +inscription expressive of the genius of this new adventurer, _Inveniam +viam aut faciam_! There was a snake in the grass; it is obvious that +Henley, in improving literature and philosophy, had a deeper +design--to set up a new sect! He called himself "a Rationalist," and +on his death-bed repeatedly cried out, "Let my notorious enemies know +I die a Rational."[50] + +His address to the town[51] excited public curiosity to the utmost; +and the floating crowds were repulsed by their own violence from +this new paradise, where "The Tree of Knowledge" was said to be +planted. At the succeeding meeting "the Restorer of Ancient +Eloquence" informed "persons in chairs that they must come sooner." +He first commenced by subscriptions to be raised from "persons +eminent in Arts and Literature," who, it seems, were lured by the +seductive promise, that, "if they had been virtuous or penitents, they +should be commemorated;" an oblique hint at a panegyrical puff. In the +decline of his popularity he permitted his door-keeper, whom he +dignifies with the title of _Ostiary_, to take a shilling! But he +seems to have been popular for many years; even when his auditors +were but few, they were of the better order;[52] and in notes +respecting him which I have seen, by a contemporary, he is called +"the reverend and learned." His favourite character was that of a +Restorer of Eloquence; and he was not destitute of the qualifications +of a fine orator, a good voice, graceful gesture, and forcible +elocution. Warburton justly remarked, "Sometimes he broke jests, +and sometimes that bread which he called the Primitive Eucharist." He +would degenerate into buffoonery on solemn occasions. His address to +the Deity was at first awful, and seemingly devout; but, once +expatiating on the several sects who would certainly be damned, he +prayed that the Dutch might be _undamm'd_! He undertook to show the +ancient use of the petticoat, by quoting the Scriptures where the +mother of Samuel is said to have made him "_a little coat_," ergo, a +PETTI-_coat_![53] His advertisements were mysterious ribaldry to +attract curiosity, while his own good sense would frequently +chastise those who could not resist it; his auditors came in +folly, but they departed in good-humour.[54] These advertisements +were usually preceded by a sort of motto, generally a sarcastic +allusion to some public transaction of the preceding week.[55] +Henley pretended to great impartiality; and when two preachers had +animadverted on him, he issued an advertisement, announcing "A +Lecture that will be a challenge to the Rev. Mr. Batty and the Rev. +Mr. Albert. Letters are sent to them on this head, and _a free +standing-place_ is there to be had _gratis_." Once Henley offered +to admit of a disputation, and that he would impartially determine +the merits of the contest. It happened that Henley this time was +overmatched; for two Oxonians, supported by a strong party to awe his +"marrow-boners," as the butchers were called, said to be in the +Orator's pay, entered the list; the one to defend the _ignorance_, +the other the _impudence_, of the Restorer of Eloquence himself. As +there was a door behind the rostrum, which led to his house, the +Orator silently dropped out, postponing the award to some happier +day.[56] + +This age of lecturers may find their model in Henley's "Universal +Academy," and if any should aspire to bring themselves down to his +genius, I furnish them with hints of anomalous topics. In the second +number of "The Oratory Transactions," is a diary from July 1726, to +August 1728. It forms, perhaps, an unparalleled chronicle of the +vagaries of the human mind. These archives of cunning, of folly, and +of literature, are divided into two diaries; the one "The Theological +or Lord's days' subjects of the Oratory;" the other, "The Academical +or Week-days' subjects." I can only note a few. It is easy to pick out +ludicrous specimens; for he had a quaint humour peculiar to himself; +but among these numerous topics are many curious for their knowledge +and ingenuity. + +"The last Wills and Testaments of the Patriarchs." + +"An Argument to the Jews, with a proof that they ought to be +Christians, for the same reason which they ought to be Jews." + +"St. Paul's Cloak, Books, and Parchments, left at Troas." + +"The tears of Magdalen, and the joy of angels." + +"New Converts in Religion." After pointing out the names of "Courayer +and others, the D---- of W----n, the Protestantism of the P----, the +conversion of the Rev. Mr. B----e, and Mr. Har----y," he closes with +"Origen's opinion of Satan's conversion; with the choice and balance +of Religion in all countries." + +There is one remarkable entry:-- + +"Feb. 11. This week all Mr. Henley's writings were seized, to be +examined by the State. _Vide Magnam Chartam_, and _Eng Lib._" + +It is evident by what follows that the _personalities_ he made use of +were one means of attracting auditors. + +"On the action of Cicero, and the beauty of Eloquence, and on living +characters; of action in the Senate, at the Bar, and in the Pulpit--of +the Theatrical in all men. The manner of my Lord ----, Sir ----, Dr. +----, the B. of ----, being a proof how all life is playing something, +but with different action." + +In a Lecture on the History of Bookcraft, an account was given + +"Of the plenty of books, and dearth of sense; the advantages of the +Oratory to the booksellers, in advertising for them; and to their +customers, in making books useless; with all the learning, reason, and +wit more than are proper for one advertisement." + +Amid these eccentricities it is remarkable that "the Zany" never +forsook his studies; and the amazing multiplicity of the MSS. he left +behind him confirm this extraordinary fact. "These," he says, "are six +thousand more or less, that I value at one guinea apiece; with 150 +volumes of commonplaces of wit, memoranda," &c. They were sold for +much less than one hundred pounds; I have looked over many; they are +written with great care. Every leaf has an opposite blank page, +probably left for additions or corrections, so that if his nonsense +were spontaneous, his sense was the fruit of study and correction. + +Such was "Orator Henley!" A scholar of great acquirements, and of no +mean genius; hardy and inventive, eloquent and witty; he might have +been an ornament to literature, which he made ridiculous; and the +pride of the pulpit, which he so egregiously disgraced; but, having +blunted and worn out that interior feeling, which is the instinct of +the good man, and the wisdom of the wise, there was no balance in his +passions, and the decorum of life was sacrificed to its selfishness. +He condescended to live on the follies of the people, and his sordid +nature had changed him till he crept, "licking the dust with the +serpent."[57] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [43] So little is known of this singular man, that Mr. Dibdin, in his + very curious "Bibliomania," was not able to recollect any + other details than those he transcribed from Warburton's + "Commentary on the Dunciad." In Mr. Nichols' "History of + Leicestershire" a more copious account of Henley may be found; + to their facts something is here added. It was, however, + difficult to glean after so excellent a harvest-home. To the + author of the "Life of Bowyer," and other works devoted to our + authors, our literary history is more indebted, than to the + labours of any other contemporary. He is the Prosper Marchand + of English literature. + + [44] It is, perhaps, unnecessary to point out this allusion of Pope + to our ancient _mysteries_, where the _Clergy_ were the + _actors_; among which, the _Vice_ or _Punch_ was introduced. + (See "Curiosities of Literature.") + + [45] Specimens of Henley's style may be most easily referred to in + the "Spectator," Nos. 94 and 518. The communication on + punning, in the first; and that of judging character by + exteriors, in the last; are both attributed to Henley.--ED. + + [46] The title is, "Esther, Queen of Persia, an historical Poem, in + four books; by John Henley, B.A. of St. John's College, + Cambridge. 1714." + + [47] Many of the rough drafts of his famed discourses delivered at + the Oratory are preserved in the library of the Guildhall, + London. The advertisements he drew up for the papers, + announcing their subject, are generally exceedingly whimsical, + and calculated to attract popular attention.--ED. + + [48] This narrative is subscribed A. Welstede. Warburton maliciously + quotes it as a life of Henley, written by Welsted--doubtless + designed to lower the writer of that name, and one of the + heroes of the Dunciad. The public have long been deceived by + this artifice; the effect, I believe, of Warburton's + dishonesty. + + [49] Every lecture is dedicated to some branch of the royal family. + Among them one is on "University Learning," an attack.--"On + the English History and Historians," extremely curious.--"On + the Languages, Ancient and Modern," full of erudition.--"On + the English Tongue," a valuable criticism at that moment when + our style was receiving a new polish from Addison and Prior. + Henley, acknowledging that these writers had raised + _correctness_ of expression to its utmost height, adds, + though, "if I mistake not, something to the detriment of that + _force_ and _freedom_ that ought, with the most concealed art, + to be a perfect copy of nature in all compositions." This is + among the first notices of that artificial style which has + vitiated our native idiom, substituting for its purity an + affected delicacy, and for its vigour profuse ornament. Henley + observes that, "to be perspicuous, pure, elegant, copious, and + harmonious, are the chief good qualities of writing the + English tongue; they are attained by study and practice, and + lost by the contrary: but _imitation_ is to be avoided; they + cannot be made our own but by keeping the force of our + understandings superior to our models; by _rendering our + thoughts the original, and our words the copy_."--"On Wit and + Imagination," abounding with excellent criticism.--"On grave + conundrums and serious buffoons, in defence of burlesque + discourses, from the most weighty authorities."--"A + Dissertation upon Nonsense." At the close he has a fling at + his friend Pope; it was after the publication of the Dunciad. + "Of Nonsense there are celebrated professors; Mr. Pope grows + witty like Bays in the 'Rehearsal,' by selling bargains (his + subscriptions for Homer), praising himself, laughing at his + joke, and making his own works the test of any man's + criticism; but he seems to be in some jeopardy; for the ghost + of Homer has lately spoke to him in Greek, and Shakspeare + resolves to bring him, as he has brought Shakspeare, to a + tragical conclusion. Mr. Pope suggests the last choice of a + subject for writing a book, by making the _Nonsense_ of others + his argument; while his own puts it out of any writer's power + to confute him." In another fling at Pope, he gives the reason + why Mr. Pope adds the dirty dialect to that of the water, and + is in love with the Nymphs of Fleet ditch; and in a lecture on + the spleen he announced "an anatomical discovery, that Mr. + Pope's spleen is bigger than his head!" + + [50] Thus he anticipated the term, since become so notorious among + German theologians. + + [51] It is preserved in the "Historical Register," vol. xi. for 1726. + It is curious and well written. + + [52] "Gentleman's Magazine," vol. lvii. p. 876. + + [53] His "Defence of the Oratory" is a curious performance. He + pretends to derive his own from great authority. "St. Paul + is related, Acts 28, to have dwelt _two whole years in his + own hired house_, and to have received all that came in + unto him, teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus + Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. This + was at _Rome_, and doubtless was his practice in his other + travels, there being the same reason in the thing to produce + elsewhere the like circumstances." He proceeds to show + "the calumnies and reproaches, and the novelty and impiety, + with which Christianity, at its first setting out, was + charged, as a mean, abject institution, not only useless + and unserviceable, but pernicious to the public and its + professors, as the refuse of the world."--Of the false + accusations raised against Jesus--all this he applies to + himself and his oratory--and he concludes, that "Bringing + men to think rightly will always be reckoned a depraving + of their minds by those who are desirous to keep them in a + mistake, and who measure all truth by the standard of their + own narrow opinions, views, and passions. The principles of + this institution are those of right reason: the first ages + of Christianity; true facts, clear criticism, and polite + literature--if these corrupt the mind, to find a place where + the mind will not be corrupted will be impracticable." + Thus speciously could "the Orator" reason, raising himself to + the height of apostolical purity. And when he was accused + that he _did all for lucre_, he retorted, that "some _do + nothing_ for it;" and that "he preached more charity sermons + than any clergyman in the kingdom." + + [54] He once advertised an oration on marriage, which drew together + an overflowing assembly of females, at which, solemnly shaking + his head, he told the ladies, that "he was afraid, that + oftentimes, as well as now, they came to church in hopes to + get husbands, rather than be instructed by the preacher;" to + which he added a piece of wit not quite decent. He congregated + the trade of shoemakers, by offering to show the most + expeditious method of making shoes: he held out a boot, and + cut off the leg part. He gave a lecture, which he advertised + was "for the instruction of those who do not like it; it was + on the philosophy, history, and great use of _Nonsense_ to the + learned, political, and polite world, who excel in it." + + [55] Dr. Cobden, one of George the Second's chaplains, having, in + 1748, preached a sermon at St. James's from these words, "Take + away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be + established in righteousness," it gave so much displeasure, + that the doctor was struck out of the list of chaplains; and + the next Saturday the following parody of his text appeared as + a motto to Henley's advertisement: + + "Away with the wicked before the king, + And away with the wicked behind him; + His throne it will bless + With righteousness, + And we shall know where to find him." + CHALMER'S "Biographical Dictionary." + + [56] The history of the closing years of Henley's life is thus given + in "The History of the Robin Hood Society," 1764, a political + club, whose debates he occasionally enlivened:--"The Orator, + with various success, still kept up his _Oratory_, _King + George's_, or _Charles's Chapel_, as he differently termed it, + till the year 1759, when he died. At its first establishment + it was amazingly crowded, and money flowed in upon him apace; + and between whiles it languished and drooped: but for some + years before its author's death it dwindled away so much, and + fell into such an hectic state, that the few friends of it + feared its decease was very near. The doctor, indeed, kept it + up to the last, determined it should live as long as he did, + and actually exhibited many evenings to empty benches. Finding + no one at length would attend, he admitted the acquaintances + of his door-keeper, runner, mouth-piece, and some other of his + followers, gratis. On the 13th of October, however, the doctor + died, and the Oratory ceased; no one having iniquity or + impudence sufficient to continue it on."--ED. + + [57] Hogarth has preserved his features in the parson who figures so + conspicuously in his "Modern Midnight Conversation." His + off-hand style of discourse is given in the _Gray's-Inn + Journal_, 1753 (No. 18), in an imaginary meeting of the + political Robin Hood Society, where he figures as Orator Bronze, + and exclaims:--"I am pleased to see this assembly--you're a + twig from me; a chip of the old block at Clare Market;--I am + the old block, invincible; _coup de grace_ as yet unanswered. + We are brother rationalists; logicians upon fundamentals! I + love ye all--I love mankind in general--give me some of that + porter."--ED. + + + + +THE MALADIES OF AUTHORS. + + +The practice of every art subjects the artist to some particular +inconvenience, usually inflicting some malady on that member which has +been over-wrought by excess: nature abused, pursues man into his most +secret corners, and avenges herself. In the athletic exercises of the +ancient Gymnasium, the pugilists were observed to become lean from +their hips downwards, while the superior parts of their bodies, which +they over-exercised, were prodigiously swollen; on the contrary, the +racers were meagre upwards, while their feet acquired an unnatural +dimension. The secret source of life seems to be carried forwards to +those parts which are making the most continued efforts. + +In all sedentary labours, some particular malady is contracted by +every worker, derived from particular postures of the body and +peculiar habits. Thus the weaver, the tailor, the painter, and the +glass-blower, have all their respective maladies. The diamond-cutter, +with a furnace before him, may be said almost to live in one; the +slightest air must be shut out of the apartment, lest it scatter away +the precious dust--a breath would ruin him! + +The analogy is obvious;[58] and the author must participate in the +common fate of all sedentary occupations. But his maladies, from the +very nature of the delicate organ of thinking, intensely exercised, +are more terrible than those of any other profession; they are more +complicated, more hidden in their causes, and the mysterious union +and secret influence of the faculties of the soul over those of the +body, are visible, yet still incomprehensible; they frequently produce +a perturbation in the faculties, a state of acute irritability, and +many sorrows and infirmities, which are not likely to create much +sympathy from those around the author, who, at a glance, could have +discovered where the pugilist or the racer became meagre or monstrous: +the intellectual malady eludes even the tenderness of friendship. + +The more obvious maladies engendered by the life of a student arise +from over-study. These have furnished a curious volume to Tissot, in +his treatise "On the Health of Men of Letters;" a book, however, which +chills and terrifies more than it does good. + +The unnatural fixed postures, the perpetual activity of the mind, and +the inaction of the body; the brain exhausted with assiduous toil +deranging the nerves, vitiating the digestive powers, disordering its +own machinery, and breaking the calm of sleep by that previous state +of excitement which study throws us into, are some of the calamities +of a studious life: for like the ocean when its swell is subsiding, +the waves of the mind too still heave and beat; hence all the small +feverish symptoms, and the whole train of hypochondriac affections, as +well as some acute ones.[59] + +Among the correspondents of the poets Hughes and Thomson, there is a +pathetic letter from a student. Alexander Bayne, to prepare his +lectures, studied fourteen hours a-day for eight months successively, +and wrote 1,600 sheets. Such intense application, which, however, not +greatly exceeds that of many authors, brought on the bodily complaints +he has minutely described, with "all the dispiriting symptoms of a +nervous illness, commonly called vapours, or lowness of spirits." +Bayne, who was of an athletic temperament, imagined he had not paid +attention to his diet, to the lowness of his desk, and his habit of +sitting with a particular compression of the body; in future all these +were to be avoided. He prolonged his life for five years, and, +perhaps, was still flattering his hopes of sharing one day in the +literary celebrity of his friends, when, to use his words, "the same +illness made a fierce attack upon me again, and has kept me in a very +bad state of inactivity and disrelish of all my ordinary amusements:" +those _amusements_ were his serious _studies_. There is a fascination +in literary labour: the student feeds on magical drugs; to withdraw +him from them requires nothing less than that greater magic which +could break his own spells. A few months after this letter was written +Bayne died on the way to Bath, a martyr to his studies. + +The excessive labour on a voluminous work, which occupies a long life, +leaves the student with a broken constitution, and his sight decayed +or lost. The most admirable observer of mankind, and the truest +painter of the human heart, declares, "The corruptible body presseth +down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the _mind that +museth on many things_." Of this class was old Randle Cotgrave, the +curious collector of the most copious dictionary of old French and old +English words and phrases. The work is the only treasury of our +genuine idiom. Even this labour of the lexicographer, so copious and +so elaborate, must have been projected with rapture, and pursued with +pleasure, till, in the progress, "the mind was musing on many things." +Then came the melancholy doubt, that drops mildew from its enveloping +wings over the voluminous labour of a laborious author, whether he be +wisely consuming his days, and not perpetually neglecting some higher +duties or some happier amusements. Still the enchanted delver sighs, +and strikes on in the glimmering mine of hope. If he live to complete +the great labour, it is, perhaps, reserved for the applause of the +next age; for, as our great lexicographer exclaimed, "In this gloom of +solitude I have protracted my work, till those whom I wished to please +have sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty +sounds;" but, if it be applauded in his own, that praise has come too +late for him whose literary labour has stolen away his sight. Cotgrave +had grown blind over his dictionary, and was doubtful whether this +work of his laborious days and nightly vigils was not a superfluous +labour, and nothing, after all, but a "poor bundle of words." The +reader may listen to the gray-headed martyr addressing his patron, +Lord Burghley: + +"I present to your lordship an account of the _expense of many hours_, +which, in your service, and to mine own benefit, _might have been +otherwise employed_. My desires have aimed at more substantial marks; +but _mine eyes_ failed them, and forced me to _spend out their vigour +in this bundle of words_, which may be unworthy of your lordship's +great patience, and, perhaps, _ill-suited to the expectation of +others_." + +A great number of young authors have died of over-study. An +intellectual enthusiasm, accompanied by constitutional delicacy, has +swept away half the rising genius of the age. Curious calculators have +affected to discover the average number of infants who die under the +age of five years: had they investigated those of the children of +genius who perish before their thirtieth year, we should not be +less amazed at this waste of man. There are few scenes more +afflicting, nor which more deeply engage our sympathy, than that +of a youth, glowing with the devotion of study, and resolute to +distinguish his name among his countrymen, while death is stealing on +him, touching with premature age, before he strikes the last blow. +The author perishes on the very pages which give a charm to his +existence. The fine taste and tender melancholy of Headley, the +fervid genius of Henry Kirke White, will not easily pass away; but +how many youths as noble-minded have not had the fortune of Kirke +White to be commemorated by genius, and have perished without their +fame! Henry Wharton is a name well known to the student of English +literature; he published historical criticisms of high value; and he +left, as some of the fruits of his studies, sixteen volumes of +MS., preserved in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth. These +great labours were pursued with the ardour that only could have +produced them; the author had not exceeded his thirtieth year when +he sank under his continued studies, and perished a martyr to +literature. Our literary history abounds with instances of the sad +effects of an over indulgence in study: that agreeable writer, +Howel, had nearly lost his life by an excess of this nature, +studying through long nights in the depth of winter. This severe study +occasioned an imposthume in his head; he was eighteen days without +sleep; and the illness was attended with many other afflicting +symptoms. The eager diligence of Blackmore, protracting his studies +through the night, broke his health, and obliged him to fly to a +country retreat. Harris, the historian, died of a consumption by +midnight studies, as his friend Hollis mentions. I shall add a +recent instance, which I myself witnessed: it is that of John +Macdiarmid. He was one of those Scotch students whom the golden +fame of Hume and Robertson attracted to the metropolis. He mounted the +first steps of literary adventure with credit; and passed through +the probation of editor and reviewer, till he strove for more +heroic adventures. He published some volumes, whose subjects +display the aspirings of his genius: "An Inquiry into the Nature of +Civil and Military Subordination;" another into "the System of +Military Defence." It was during these labours I beheld this +inquirer, of a tender frame, emaciated, and study-worn, with +hollow eyes, where the mind dimly shone like a lamp in a tomb. With +keen ardour he opened a new plan of biographical politics. When, by +one who wished the author was in better condition, the dangers of +excess in study were brought to his recollection, he smiled, and, +with something of a mysterious air, talked of unalterable confidence +in the powers of his mind; of the indefinite improvement in our +faculties: and, with this enfeebled frame, considered himself +capable of continuous labour. His whole life, indeed, was one +melancholy trial. Often the day cheerfully passed without its meal, +but never without its page. The new system of political biography +was advancing, when our young author felt a paralytic stroke. He +afterwards resumed his pen; and a second one proved fatal. He lived +just to pass through the press his "Lives of British Statesmen," a +splendid quarto, whose publication he owed to the generous temper +of a friend, who, when the author could not readily procure a +publisher, would not see the dying author's last hope disappointed. +Some research and reflection are combined in this literary and +civil history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; but it +was written with the blood of the author, for Macdiarmid died of +over-study and exhaustion. + +Among the maladies of poor authors, who procure a precarious existence +by their pen, one, not the least considerable, is their old age; their +flower and maturity of life were shed for no human comforts; and old +age is the withered root. The late THOMAS MORTIMER, the compiler, +among other things, of that useful work, "The Student's Pocket +Dictionary," felt this severely--he himself experienced no abatement +of his ardour, nor deficiency in his intellectual powers, at near the +age of eighty;--but he then would complain "of the paucity of literary +employment, and the preference given to young adventurers." Such is +the _youth_, and such the _old age_ of ordinary authors! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [58] Hawkesworth, in the second paper of the "Adventurer," has + composed, from his own feelings, an elegant description of + intellectual and corporeal labour, and the sufferings of an + author, with the uncertainty of his labour and his reward. + + [59] Dr. Fuller's "Medicina Gymnastica, or, a treatise concerning the + power of Exercise, with respect to the Animal OEconomy, fifth + edition, 1718," is useful to remind the student of what he is + apt to forget; for the object of this volume is to _substitute + exercise for medicine_. He wrote the book before he became a + physician. He considers horse-riding as the best and noblest + of all exercises, it being "a mixed exercise, partly active + and partly passive, while other sorts, such as walking, + running, stooping, or the like, require some labour and more + strength for their performance." Cheyne, in his well-known + treatise of "The English Malady," published about twenty years + after Fuller's work, acknowledges that riding on horseback is + the best of all exercises, for which he details his reasons. + "Walking," he says, "though it will answer the same end, yet + is it more laborious and tiresome;" but amusement ought always + to be combined with the exercise of a student; the mind will + receive no refreshment by a solitary walk or ride, unless it + be agreeably withdrawn from all thoughtfulness and anxiety; if + it continue studying in its recreations, it is the sure means + of obtaining neither of its objects--a friend, not an author, + will at such a moment be the better companion. + + The last chapter in Fuller's work contains much curious + reading on the ancient physicians, and their gymnastic + courses, which Asclepiades, the pleasantest of all the ancient + physicians, greatly studied; he was most fortunate in the + invention of exercises to supply the place of much physic, and + (says Fuller) no man in any age ever had the happiness to + obtain so general an applause; Pliny calls him the delight of + mankind. Admirable physician, who had so many ways, it + appears, to make physic agreeable! He invented the _lecti + pensiles_, or hanging beds, that the sick might be rocked to + sleep; which took so much at that time, that they became a + great luxury among the Romans. + + Fuller judiciously does not recommend the gymnastic courses, + because horse-riding, for persons of delicate constitutions, + is preferable; he discovers too the reason why the ancients + did not introduce this mode of exercise--it arose from the + simple circumstance of their not knowing the use of stirrups, + which was a later invention. Riding with the ancients was, + therefore, only an exercise for the healthy and the robust; a + horse without stirrups was a formidable animal for a + valetudinarian. + + + + +LITERARY SCOTCHMEN. + + +What literary emigrations from the North of young men of genius, +seduced by a romantic passion for literary fame, and lured by the +golden prospects which the happier genius of some of their own +countrymen opened on them. A volume might be written on literary +Scotchmen, who have perished immaturely in this metropolis; little +known, and slightly connected, they have dropped away among us, and +scarcely left a vestige in the wrecks of their genius. Among them some +authors may be discovered who might have ranked, perhaps, in the first +classes of our literature. I shall select four out of as many hundred, +who were not entirely unknown to me; a romantic youth--a man of +genius--a brilliant prose writer--and a labourer in literature. + +ISSAC RITSON (not the poetical antiquary) was a young man of genius, +who perished immaturely in this metropolis by attempting to exist by +the efforts of his pen. + +In early youth he roved among his native mountains, with the battles +of Homer in his head, and his bow and arrow in his hand; in calmer +hours, he nearly completed a spirited version of Hesiod, which +constantly occupied his after-studies; yet our minstrel-archer did not +less love the severer sciences. + +Selected at length to rise to the eminent station of the Village +Schoolmaster,--from the thankless office of pouring cold rudiments +into heedless ears, RITSON took a poetical flight. It was among the +mountains and wild scenery of Scotland that our young Homer, picking +up fragments of heroic songs, and composing some fine ballad poetry, +would, in his wanderings, recite them with such passionate expression, +that he never failed of auditors; and found even the poor generous, +when their better passions were moved. Thus he lived, like some old +troubadour, by his rhymes, and his chants, and his virelays; and, +after a year's absence, our bard returned in the triumph of verse. +This was the most seducing moment of life; RITSON felt himself a +laureated Petrarch; but he had now quitted his untutored but feeling +admirers, and the child of fancy was to mix with the everyday business +of life. + +At Edinburgh he studied medicine, lived by writing theses for the +idle and the incompetent, and composed a poem on Medicine, till at +length his hopes and his ambition conducted him to London. But the +golden age of the imagination soon deserted him in his obscure +apartment in the glittering metropolis. He attended the hospitals, +but these were crowded by students who, if they relished the +science less, loved the trade more: he published a hasty version +of Homer's Hymn to Venus, which was good enough to be praised, but +not to sell; at length his fertile imagination, withering over the +taskwork of literature, he resigned fame for bread; wrote the preface +to Clarke's Survey of the Lakes, compiled medical articles for the +Monthly Review; and, wasting fast his ebbing spirits, he retreated to +an obscure lodging at Islington, where death relieved a hopeless +author, in the twenty-seventh year of his life. + +The following unpolished lines were struck off at a heat in trying his +pen on the back of a letter; he wrote the names of the Sister Fates, +Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos--the sudden recollection of his own fate +rushed on him--and thus the rhapsodist broke out:-- + + I wonder much, as yet ye're spinning, Fates! + What threads yet twisted out for me, old jades! + Ah, Atropos! perhaps for me thou spinn'st + Neglect, contempt, and penury and woe; + Be't so; whilst that foul fiend, the spleen, + And moping melancholy spare me, all the rest + I'll bear, as should a man; 'twill do me good, + And teach me what no better fortune could, + Humility, and sympathy with others' ills. + --------------Ye destinies, + I love you much; ye flatter not my pride. + Your mien, 'tis true, is wrinkled, hard, and sour; + Your words are harsh and stern; and sterner still + Your purposes to me. Yet I forgive + Whatever you have done, or mean to do. + Beneath some baleful planet born, I've found, + In all this world, no friend with fostering hand + To lead me on to science, which I love + Beyond all else the world could give; yet still + Your rigour I forgive; ye are not yet my foes; + My own untutor'd will's my only curse. + We grasp asphaltic apples; blooming poison! + We love what we should hate; how kind, ye Fates, + To thwart our wishes! O you're kind to scourge! + And flay us to the bone to make us feel!-- + +Thus deeply he enters into his own feelings, and abjures his errors, +as he paints the utter desolation of the soul while falling into the +grave opening at his feet. + +The town was once amused almost every morning by a series of humorous +or burlesque poems by a writer under the assumed name of _Matthew +Bramble_--he was at that very moment one of the most moving spectacles +of human melancholy I have ever witnessed. + +It was one evening I saw a tall, famished, melancholy man enter a +bookseller's shop, his hat flapped over his eyes, and his whole +frame evidently feeble from exhaustion and utter misery. The +bookseller inquired how he proceeded in his new tragedy. "Do not talk +to me about my tragedy! Do not talk to me about my tragedy! I have +indeed more tragedy than I can bear at home!" was the reply, and +the voice faltered as he spoke. This man was Matthew Bramble, or +rather--M'DONALD, the author of the tragedy of Vimonda, at that moment +the writer of comic poetry--his tragedy was indeed a domestic one, +in which he himself was the greatest actor amid his disconsolate +family; he shortly afterwards perished. M'Donald had walked from +Scotland with no other fortune than the novel of "The Independent" +in one pocket, and the tragedy of "Vimonda" in the other. Yet he +lived some time in all the bloom and flush of poetical confidence. +Vimonda was even performed several nights, but not with the +success the romantic poet, among his native rocks, had conceived was +to crown his anxious labours--the theatre disappointed him--and +afterwards, to his feelings, all the world! + +LOGAN had the dispositions of a poetic spirit, not cast in a +common mould; with fancy he combined learning, and with eloquence +philosophy. + +His claims on our sympathy arise from those circumstances in his life +which open the secret sources of the calamities of authors; of those +minds of finer temper, who, having tamed the heat of their youth by +the patient severity of study, from causes not always difficult to +discover, find their favourite objects and their fondest hopes barren +and neglected. It is then that the thoughtful melancholy, which +constitutes so large a portion of their genius, absorbs and consumes +the very faculties to which it gave birth. + +Logan studied at the University of Edinburgh, was ordained in the +Church of Scotland--and early distinguished as a poet by the +simplicity and the tenderness of his verses, yet the philosophy of +history had as deeply interested his studies. He gave two courses of +lectures. I have heard from his pupils their admiration, after the +lapse of many years; so striking were those lectures for having +successfully applied the science of moral philosophy to the history of +nations. All wished that Logan should obtain the chair of the +Professorship of Universal History--but from some point of etiquette +he failed in obtaining that distinguished office. + +This was his first disappointment in life, yet then perhaps but +lightly felt; for the public had approved of his poems, and a +successful poet is easily consoled. Poetry to such a gentle being +seems a universal specific for all the evils of life; it acts at the +moment, exhausting and destroying too often the constitution it seems +to restore. + +He had finished the tragedy of "Runnymede;" it was accepted at +Covent-garden, but interdicted by the Lord Chamberlain, from some +suspicion that its lofty sentiments contained allusions to the +politics of the day. The Barons-in-arms who met John were conceived to +be deeper politicians than the poet himself was aware of. This was the +second disappointment in the life of this man of genius. + +The third calamity was the natural consequence of a tragic poet being +also a Scotch clergyman. Logan had inflicted a wound on the +Presbytery, heirs of the genius of old Prynne, whose puritanic +fanaticism had never forgiven Home for his "Douglas," and now groaned +to detect genius still lurking among them.[60] Logan, it is certain, +expressed his contempt for them; they their hatred of him: folly and +pride in a poet, to beard Presbyters in a land of Presbyterians![61] + +He gladly abandoned them, retiring on a small annuity. They had, +however, hurt his temper--they had irritated the nervous system of a +man too susceptible of all impressions, gentle or unkind--his +character had all those unequal habitudes which genius contracts in +its boldness and its tremors; he was now vivacious and indignant, and +now fretted and melancholy. He flew to the metropolis, occupied +himself in literature, and was a frequent contributor to the "English +Review." He published "A Review of the Principal Charges against Mr. +Hastings." Logan wrestled with the genius of Burke and Sheridan; the +House of Commons ordered the publisher Stockdale to be prosecuted, but +the author did not live to rejoice in the victory obtained by his +genius. + +This elegant philosopher has impressed on all his works the seal of +genius; and his posthumous compositions became even popular; he who +had with difficulty escaped excommunication by Presbyters, left the +world after his death two volumes of sermons, which breathe all that +piety, morality, and eloquence admire. His unrevised lectures, +published under the name of a person, one Rutherford, who had +purchased the MS., were given to the world in "A View of Ancient +History." But one highly-finished composition he had himself +published; it is a philosophical review of Despotism: had the name of +Gibbon been affixed to the title-page, its authenticity had not been +suspected.[62] + +From one of his executors, Mr. Donald Grant, who wrote the life +prefixed to his poems, I heard of the state of his numerous MSS.; the +scattered, yet warm embers of the unhappy bard. Several tragedies, and +one on Mary Queen of Scots, abounding with all that domestic +tenderness and poetic sensibility which formed the soft and natural +feature of his muse; these, with minor poems, thirty lectures on the +Roman History, and portions of a periodical paper, were the wrecks of +genius! He resided here, little known out of a very private circle, +and perished in his fortieth year, not of penury, but of a broken +heart. Such noble and well-founded expectations of fortune and fame, +all the plans of literary ambition overturned: his genius, with all +its delicacy, its spirit, and its elegance, became a prey to that +melancholy which constituted so large a portion of it. + +Logan, in his "Ode to a Man of Letters," had formed this lofty +conception of a great author:-- + + Won from neglected wastes of time, + Apollo hails his fairest clime, + The provinces of mind; + An Egypt with eternal towers;[63] + See Montesquieu redeem the hours + From Louis to mankind. + + No tame remission genius knows, + No interval of dark repose, + To quench the ethereal flame; + From Thebes to Troy, the victor hies, + And Homer with his hero vies, + In varied paths to Fame. + +Our children will long repeat his "Ode to the Cuckoo," one of the most +lovely poems in our language; magical stanzas of picture, melody, and +sentiment.[64] + +These authors were undoubtedly men of finer feelings, who all perished +immaturely, victims in the higher department of literature! But this +article would not be complete without furnishing the reader with a +picture of the fate of one who, with a pertinacity of industry not +common, having undergone regular studies, not very injudiciously +deemed that the life of a man of letters could provide for the simple +wants of a philosopher. + +This man was the late ROBERT HERON, who, in the following letter, +transcribed from the original, stated his history to the Literary +Fund. It was written in a moment of extreme bodily suffering and +mental agony in the house to which he had been hurried for debt. At +such a moment he found eloquence in a narrative, pathetic from its +simplicity, and valuable for its genuineness, as giving the results of +a life of literary industry, productive of great infelicity and +disgrace; one would imagine that the author had been a criminal rather +than a man of letters. + + +"_The Case of a Man of Letters, of regular education, living by honest +literary industry._ + +"Ever since I was eleven years of age I have mingled with my studies +the labour of teaching or of writing, to support and educate myself. + +"During about twenty years, while I was in constant or occasional +attendance at the University of Edinburgh, I taught and assisted young +persons, at all periods, in the course of education; from the Alphabet +to the highest branches of Science and Literature. + +"I read a course of Lectures on the Law of Nature, the Law of Nations; +the Jewish, the Grecian, the Roman, and the Canon Law; and then on the +Feudal Law; and on the several forms of Municipal Jurisprudence +established in Modern Europe. I printed a Syllabus of these Lectures, +which was approved. They were intended as introductory to the +professional study of Law, and to assist gentlemen who did not study +it professionally, in the understanding of History. + +"I translated 'Fourcroy's Chemistry' twice, from both the second and +the third editions of the original; 'Fourcroy's Philosophy of +Chemistry;' 'Savary's Travels in Greece;' 'Dumourier's Letters;' +'Gessner's Idylls' in part; an abstract of 'Zimmerman on Solitude,' +and a great diversity of smaller pieces. + +"I wrote a 'Journey through the Western Parts of Scotland,' which has +passed through two editions; a 'History of Scotland,' in six volumes +8vo; a 'Topographical Account of Scotland,' which has been several +times reprinted; a number of communications in the 'Edinburgh +Magazine;' many Prefaces and Critiques; a 'Memoir of the Life of Burns +the Poet,' which suggested and promoted the subscription for his +family--has been many times reprinted, and formed the basis of Dr. +Currie's Life of him, as I learned by a letter from the doctor to one +of his friends; a variety of _Jeux d'Esprit_ in verse and prose; and +many abridgments of large works. + +"In the beginning of 1799 I was encouraged to come to London. Here I +have written a great multiplicity of articles in almost every branch of +science and literature; my education at Edinburgh having comprehended +them all. The 'London Review,' the 'Agricultural Magazine,' the +'Anti-Jacobin Review,' the 'Monthly Magazine,' the 'Universal +Magazine,' the 'Public Characters,' the 'Annual Necrology,' with +several other periodical works, contain many of my communications. In +such of those publications as have been reviewed, I can show that my +anonymous pieces have been distinguished with very high praise. I +have written also a short system of Chemistry, in one volume 8vo; and I +published a few weeks since a small work called 'Comforts of Life,'[65] +of which the first edition was sold in one week, and the second +edition is now in rapid sale. + +"In the Newspapers--the _Oracle_, the _Porcupine_ when it existed, the +_General Evening Post_, the _Morning Post_, the _British Press_, the +_Courier_, &c., I have published many Reports of Debates in +Parliament, and, I believe, a greater variety of light fugitive pieces +than I know to have been written by any one other person. + +"I have written also a variety of compositions in the Latin and the +French languages, in favour of which I have been honoured with the +testimonies of liberal approbation. + +"I have invariably written to serve the cause of religion, morality, +pious christian education, and good order, in the most direct manner. +I have considered what I have written as mere trifles; and have +incessantly studied to qualify myself for something better. I can +prove that I have, for many years, read and written, one day with +another, from twelve to sixteen hours a day. As a human being, I have +not been free from follies and errors. But the tenor of my life has +been temperate, laborious, humble, quiet, and, to the utmost of my +power, beneficent. I can prove the general tenor of my writings to +have been candid, and ever adapted to exhibit the most favourable +views of the abilities, dispositions, and exertions of others. + +"For these last ten months I have been brought to the very extremity +of bodily and pecuniary distress. + +"I shudder at the thought of perishing in a gaol. + +"_92, Chancery-lane, Feb. 2, 1807._ + +"(In confinement)." + +The physicians reported that Robert Heron's health was such "as +rendered him totally incapable of extricating himself from the +difficulties in which he was involved, by the _indiscreet exertion of +his mind, in protracted and incessant literary labours_." + +About three months after, Heron sunk under a fever, and perished amid +the walls of Newgate. We are disgusted with this horrid state of +pauperism; we are indignant at beholding an author, not a contemptible +one, in this last stage of human wretchedness! after early and late +studies--after having read and written from twelve to sixteen hours a +day! O, ye populace of scribblers! before ye are driven to a garret, +and your eyes are filled with constant tears, pause--recollect that +few of you possess the learning or the abilities of Heron. + +The fate of Heron is the fate of hundreds of authors by profession in +the present day--of men of some literary talent, who can never +extricate themselves from a degrading state of poverty. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [60] Home was at the time when he wrote "Douglas" a clergyman in the + Scottish Church; the theatre was then looked upon by the + religious Scotsmen with the most perfect abhorrence. Many + means were taken to deter the performance of the play; and as + they did not succeed, others were tried to annoy the author, + until their persevering efforts induced him to withdraw + himself entirely from the clerical profession.--ED. + + [61] The objection to his tragedy was made chiefly by his + parishioners at South Leith, who were strongly opposed to + their minister being in any way connected with the theatre. He + therefore resigned his appointment, and settled in London, + which he never afterwards abandoned, dying there in + 1788.--ED. + + [62] This admirable little work is entitled "A Dissertation on the + Governments, Manners, and Spirit of Asia; Murray, 1787." It is + anonymous; but the publisher informed me it was written by + Logan. His "Elements of the Philosophy of History" are + valuable. His "Sermons" have been republished. + + [63] The finest provinces of Egypt gained from a neglected waste. + + [64] An attempt has been made to deprive Logan of the authorship of + this poem. He had edited (very badly) the poems of a deceased + friend, Michael Bruce; and the friends of the latter claimed + this poem as one of them. In the words of one who has examined + the evidence it may be sufficient to say, "his claim is not + only supported by internal evidence, but the charge was never + advanced against him while he was alive to repel it."--ED. + + [65] "The Comforts of Life" were written in prison; "The Miseries" + (by Jas. Beresford) necessarily in a drawing-room. The works + of authors are often in contrast with themselves; melancholy + authors are the most jocular, and the most humorous the most + melancholy. + + + + +LABORIOUS AUTHORS. + + +This is one of the groans of old BURTON over his laborious work, when +he is anticipating the reception it is like to meet with, and +personates his objectors. He says:-- + +"This is a thinge of meere industrie--a collection without wit or +invention--a very toy! So men are valued!--their labours vilified by +fellowes of no worth themselves, as things of nought; who could not +have done as much." + +There is, indeed, a class of authors who are liable to forfeit all +claims to genius, whatever their genius may be--these are the +laborious writers of voluminous works; but they are farther subject +to heavier grievances--to be undervalued or neglected by the apathy or +the ingratitude of the public. + +Industry is often conceived to betray the absence of intellectual +exertion, and the magnitude of a work is imagined necessarily to shut +out all genius. Yet a laborious work has often had an original growth +and raciness in it, requiring a genius whose peculiar feeling, like +invisible vitality, is spread through the mighty body. Feeble +imitations of such laborious works have proved the master's mind that +is in the original. There is a talent in industry which every +industrious man does not possess; and even taste and imagination may +lead to the deepest studies of antiquities, as well as mere +undiscerning curiosity and plodding dulness. + +But there are other more striking characteristics of intellectual +feeling in authors of this class. The fortitude of mind which +enables them to complete labours of which, in many instances, they +are conscious that the real value will only be appreciated by +dispassionate posterity, themselves rarely living to witness the fame +of their own work established, while they endure the captiousness +of malicious cavillers. It is said that the Optics of NEWTON had +no character or credit here till noticed in France. It would not be +the only instance of an author writing above his own age, and +anticipating its more advanced genius. How many works of erudition +might be adduced to show their author's disappointments! PRIDEAUX'S +learned work of the "Connexion of the Old and New Testament," and +SHUCKFORD'S similar one, were both a long while before they could +obtain a publisher, and much longer before they found readers. It is +said Sir WALTER RALEIGH burned the second volume of his History, from +the ill success the first had met with. PRINCE'S "Worthies of +Devon" was so unfavourably received by the public, that the +laborious and patriotic author was so discouraged as not to print the +second volume, which is said to have been prepared for the press. +FARNEWORTH'S elaborate Translation, with notes and dissertations, +of Machiavel's works, was hawked about the town; and the poor +author discovered that he understood Machiavel better than the +public. After other labours of this kind, he left his family in +distressed circumstances. Observe, this excellent book now bears a +high price! The fate of the "Biographia Britannica," in its first +edition, must be noticed: the spirit and acuteness of CAMPBELL, +the curious industry of OLDYS, and the united labours of very able +writers, could not secure public favour; this treasure of our +literary history was on the point of being suspended, when a poem by +Gilbert West drew the public attention to that elaborate work, +which, however, still languished, and was hastily concluded. GRANGER +says of his admirable work, in one of his letters--"On a fair state +of my account, it would appear that my labours in the improvement +of my work do not amount to _half the pay of a scavenger_!" He +received only one hundred pounds to the times of Charles I., and +the rest to depend on public favour for the continuation. The sale +was sluggish; even Walpole seemed doubtful of its success, though he +probably secretly envied the skill of our portrait-painter. It was +too philosophical for the mere collector, and it took near ten years +before it reached the hands of philosophers; the author derived +little profit, and never lived to see its popularity established! +We have had many highly valuable works suspended for their want of +public patronage, to the utter disappointment, and sometimes the +ruin of their authors; such are OLDYS'S "British Librarian," MORGAN'S +"Phœnix Britannicus," Dr. BERKENHOUT'S "Biographia Literaria," +Professor MARTYN'S and Dr. LETTICE'S "Antiquities of Herculaneum:" +all these are _first_ volumes, there are no _seconds_! They are +now rare, curious, and high priced! Ungrateful public! Unhappy +authors! + +That noble enthusiasm which so strongly characterises genius, in +productions whose originality is of a less ambiguous nature, has been +experienced by some of these laborious authors, who have sacrificed +their lives and fortunes to their beloved studies. The enthusiasm of +literature has often been that of heroism, and many have not shrunk +from the forlorn hope. + +RUSHWORTH and RYMER, to whose collections our history stands so deeply +indebted, must have strongly felt this literary ardour, for they +passed their lives in forming them; till Rymer, in the utmost +distress, was obliged to sell his books and his fifty volumes of MS. +which he could not get printed; and Rushworth died in the King's Bench +of a broken heart. Many of his papers still remain unpublished. His +ruling passion was amassing state matters, and he voluntarily +neglected great opportunities of acquiring a large fortune for this +entire devotion of his life. The same fate has awaited the similar +labours of many authors to whom the history of our country lies under +deep obligations. ARTHUR COLLINS, the historiographer of our Peerage, +and the curious collector of the valuable "Sydney Papers," and other +collections, passed his life in reselling these works of antiquity, in +giving authenticity to our history, or contributing fresh materials to +it; but his midnight vigils were cheered by no patronage, nor his +labours valued, till the eye that pored on the mutilated MS. was for +ever closed. Of all those curious works of the late Mr. STRUTT, which +are now bearing such high prices, all were produced by extensive +reading, and illustrated by his own drawings, from the manuscripts of +different epochs in our history. What was the result to that ingenious +artist and author, who, under the plain simplicity of an antiquary, +concealed a fine poetical mind, and an enthusiasm for his beloved +pursuits to which only we are indebted for them? Strutt, living in the +greatest obscurity, and voluntarily sacrificing all the ordinary views +of life, and the trade of his _burin_, solely attached to national +antiquities, and charmed by calling them into a fresh existence under +his pencil, I have witnessed at the British Museum, forgetting for +whole days his miseries, in sedulous research and delightful labour; +at times even doubtful whether he could get his works printed; for +some of which he was not regaled even with the Roman supper of "a +radish and an egg." How he left his domestic affairs, his son can +tell; how his works have tripled their value, the booksellers. In +writing on the calamities attending the love of literary labour, Mr. +JOHN NICHOLS, the modest annalist of the literary history of the last +century, and the friend of half the departed genius of our country, +cannot but occur to me. He zealously published more than fifty works, +illustrating the literature and the antiquities of the country; +labours not given to the world without great sacrifices. Bishop Hurd, +with friendly solicitude, writes to Mr. Nichols on some of his own +publications, "While you are enriching the Antiquarian world" (and, by +the Life of Bowyer, may be added the Literary), "I hope you do not +forget yourself. _The profession of an author, I know from experience, +is not a lucrative one._--I only mention this because I see a large +catalogue of your publications." At another time the Bishop writes, +"You are very good to excuse my freedom with you; but, as times go, +almost any trade is better than that of an author," &c. On these notes +Mr. Nichols confesses, "I have had some occasion to regret that I did +not attend to the judicious suggestions." We owe to the late THOMAS +DAVIES, the author of "Garrick's Life," and other literary works, +beautiful editions of some of our elder poets, which are now eagerly +sought after, yet, though all his publications were of the best kinds, +and are now of increasing value, the taste of Tom Davies twice ended +in bankruptcy. It is to be lamented for the cause of literature, that +even a bookseller may have too refined a taste for his trade; it must +always be his interest to float on the current of public taste, +whatever that may be; should he have an ambition to _create_ it, he +will be anticipating a more cultivated curiosity by half a century; +thus the business of a bookseller rarely accords with the design of +advancing our literature. + +The works of literature, it is then but too evident, receive no +equivalent; let this be recollected by him who would draw his +existence from them. A young writer often resembles that imaginary +author whom Johnson, in a humorous letter in "The Idler" (No. 55), +represents as having composed a work "of universal curiosity, computed +that it would call for many editions of his book, and that in five +years he should gain fifteen thousand pounds by the sale of thirty +thousand copies." There are, indeed, some who have been dazzled by the +good fortune of GIBBON, ROBERTSON, and HUME; we are to consider these +favourites, not merely as authors, but as possessing, by their +situation in life, a certain independence which preserved them from +the vexations of the authors I have noticed. Observe, however, that +the uncommon sum Gibbon received for copyright, though it excited the +astonishment of the philosopher himself, was for the continued labour +of a _whole life_, and probably the _library_ he had purchased for his +work equalled at least in cost the produce of his _pen_; the tools +cost the workman as much as he obtained for his work. Six thousand +pounds gained on these terms will keep an author indigent. + +Many great labours have been designed by their authors even to be +posthumous, prompted only by their love of study and a patriotic +zeal. Bishop KENNETT'S stupendous "Register and Chronicle," volume I., +is one of those astonishing labours which could only have been +produced by the pleasure of study urged by the strong love of +posterity.[66] It is a diary in which the bishop, one of our most +studious and active authors, has recorded every matter of fact, +"delivered in the words of the most authentic books, papers, and +records." The design was to preserve our literary history from the +Restoration. This silent labour he had been pursuing all his life, +and published the first volume in his sixty-eighth year, the very +year he died. But he was so sensible of the coyness of the public +taste for what he calls, in a letter to a literary friend, "a tedious +heavy book," that he gave it away to the publisher. "The volume, +too large, brings me no profit. In good truth, the scheme was laid +for conscience' sake, to restore a good old principle that history +should be purely matter of fact, that every reader, by examining and +comparing, may make out a history by his own judgment. I have +collections transcribed for another volume, if the bookseller will +run the hazard of printing." This volume has never appeared, and the +bookseller probably lost a considerable sum by the one published, +which valuable volume is now procured with difficulty.[67] + +These laborious authors have commenced their literary life with a +glowing ardour, though the feelings of genius have been obstructed by +those numerous causes which occur too frequently in the life of a +literary man. + +Let us listen to STRUTT, whom we have just noticed, and let us learn +what he proposed doing in the first age of fancy. + +Having obtained the first gold medal ever given at the Royal Academy, +he writes to his mother, and thus thanks her and his friends for their +deep interest in his success:-- + +"I will at least strive to the utmost to give my benefactors no reason +to think their pains thrown away. If I should not be able to abound +in riches, yet, by God's help, I will strive to pluck that palm which +the greatest artists of foregoing ages have done before me; _I will +strive to leave my name behind me in the world, if not in the +splendour that some have, at least with +some marks+ of assiduity and +study_; which, I can assure you, shall never be wanting in me. Who can +bear to hear the names of Raphael, Titian, Michael Angelo, &c., the +most famous of the Italian masters, in the mouth of every one, and not +wish to be like them? And to be like them, we must study as they have +done, take such pains, and labour continually like them; the which +shall not be wanting on my side, I dare affirm; so that, should I not +succeed, I may rest contented, and say I have done my utmost. God has +blessed me with a mind to undertake. You, dear madam, will excuse my +vanity; you know me, from my childish days, to have been a vain boy, +always desirous to execute something to gain me praises from every +one; always scheming and imitating whatever I saw done by anybody." + +And when Strutt settled in the metropolis, and studied at the British +Museum, amid all the stores of knowledge and art, his imagination +delighted to expatiate in its future prospects. In a letter to a +friend he has thus chronicled his feelings: + +"I would not only be a great antiquary, but a refined thinker; I would +not only discover antiquities, but would, by explaining their use, +render them useful. Such vast funds of knowledge lie hid in the +antiquated remains of the earlier ages; these I would bring forth, and +set in their true light." + +Poor Strutt, at the close of life, was returning to his own first and +natural energies, in producing a work of the imagination. He had made +considerable progress in one, and the early parts which he had +finished bear the stamp of genius; it is entitled "Queenhoo-hall, a +Romance of ancient times," full of the picturesque manners, and +costume, and characters of the age, in which he was so conversant; +with many lyrical pieces, which often are full of poetic feeling--but +he was called off from the work to prepare a more laborious one. +"Queenhoo-hall" remained a heap of fragments at his death; except the +first volume, and was filled up by a stranger hand. The stranger was +Sir Walter Scott, and "Queenhoo-hall" was the origin of that glorious +series of romances where antiquarianism has taken the shape of +imagination. + +Writing on the calamities attached to literature, I must notice one of +a more recondite nature, yet perhaps few literary agonies are more +keenly felt. I would not excite an undue sympathy for a class of +writers who are usually considered as drudges; but the present case +claims our sympathy. + +There are men of letters, who, early in life, have formed some +favourite plan of literary labour, which they have unremittingly +pursued, till, sometimes near the close of life, they either discover +their inability to terminate it, or begin to depreciate their own +constant labour. The literary architect has grown gray over his +edifice; and, as if the black wand of enchantment had waved over it, +the colonnades become interminable, the pillars seem to want a +foundation, and all the rich materials he had collected together, lie +before him in all the disorder of ruins. It may be urged that the +reward of literary labour, like the consolations of virtue, must be +drawn with all their sweetness from itself; or, that if the author be +incompetent, he must pay the price of his incapacity. This may be +Stoicism, but it is not humanity. The truth is, there is always a +latent love of fame, that prompts to this strong devotion of labour; +and he who has given a long life to that which he has so much desired, +and can never enjoy, might well be excused receiving our insults, if +he cannot extort our pity. + +A remarkable instance occurs in the fate of the late Rev. WILLIAM +COLE;[68] he was the college friend of Walpole, Mason, and Gray; a +striking proof how dissimilar habits and opposite tastes and feelings +can associate in literary friendship; for Cole, indeed, the public had +informed him that his friends were poets and men of wit; and for them, +Cole's patient and curious turn was useful, and, by its extravagant +trifling, must have been very amusing. He had a gossip's ear, and a +tatler's pen--and, among better things, wrote down every grain of +literary scandal his insatiable and minute curiosity could lick up; as +patient and voracious as an ant-eater, he stretched out his tongue +till it was covered by the tiny creatures, and drew them all in at one +digestion. All these tales were registered with the utmost simplicity, +as the reporter received them; but, being but tales, the exactness of +his truth made them still more dangerous lies, by being perpetuated; +in his reflections he spared neither friend nor foe; yet, still +anxious after truth, and usually telling lies, it is very amusing to +observe, that, as he proceeds, he very laudably contradicts, or +explains away in subsequent memoranda what he had before registered. +Walpole, in a correspondence of forty years, he was perpetually +flattering, though he must imperfectly have relished his fine taste, +while he abhorred his more liberal principles, to which sometimes he +addressed a submissive remonstrance. He has at times written a letter +coolly, and, at the same moment, chronicled his suppressed feelings in +his diary, with all the flame and sputter of his strong prejudices. He +was expressly nicknamed Cardinal Cole. These scandalous chronicles, +which only show the violence of his prejudices, without the force of +genius, or the acuteness of penetration, were ordered not to be opened +till twenty years after his decease; he wished to do as little +mischief as he could, but loved to do some. I well remember the cruel +anxiety which prevailed in the nineteenth year of these inclosures; it +spoiled the digestions of several of our literati who had had the +misfortune of Cole's intimate friendship, or enmity. One of these was +the writer of the Life of Thomas Baker, the Cambridge Antiquary, who +prognosticated all the evil he among others was to endure; and, +writhing in fancy under the whip not yet untwisted, justly enough +exclaims in his agony, "The attempt to keep these characters from the +public till the subjects of them shall be no more, seems to be +peculiarly cruel and ungenerous, since it is precluding them from +vindicating themselves from such injurious aspersions, as their +friends, perhaps however willing, may at that distance of time be +incapable of removing." With this author, Mr. Masters, Cole had +quarrelled so often, that Masters writes, "I am well acquainted with +the fickleness of his disposition for more than forty years past." + +When the lid was removed from this Pandora's box, it happened that +some of his intimate friends were alive to perceive in what strange +figures they were exhibited by their quondam admirer! + +COLE, however, bequeathed to the nation, among his unpublished works, +a vast mass of antiquities and historical collections, and one +valuable legacy of literary materials. When I turned over the papers +of this literary antiquary, I found the recorded cries of a literary +martyr. + +COLE had passed a long life in the pertinacious labour of forming an +"Athenæ Cantabrigienses," and other literary collections--designed as +a companion to the work of Anthony Wood. These mighty labours exist in +more than fifty folio volumes in his own writing. He began these +collections about the year 1745; in a fly-leaf of 1777 I found the +following melancholy state of his feelings and a literary confession, +as forcibly expressed as it is painful to read, when we consider that +they are the wailings of a most zealous votary: + +"In good truth, whoever undertakes this drudgery of an 'Athenæ +Cantabrigienses' must be contented with no prospect of credit and +reputation to himself, and with the mortifying reflection that after +all his pains and study, through life, he must be looked upon in a +humble light, and only as a journeyman to Anthony Wood, whose +excellent book of the same sort will ever preclude any other, who +shall follow him in the same track, from all hopes of fame; and will +only represent him as an imitator of so original a pattern. For, at +this time of day, all great characters, both Cantabrigians and +Oxonians, are already published to the world, either in his book, or +various others; so that the collection, unless the same characters are +reprinted here, must be made up of second-rate persons, and the refuse +of authorship.--However, as I have begun, and made so large a progress +in this undertaking, _it is death to think of leaving it off_, though, +from the former considerations, so little credit is to be expected +from it." + +Such were the fruits, and such the agonies, of nearly half a century +of assiduous and zealous literary labour! Cole urges a strong claim to +be noticed among our literary calamities. Another of his miseries was +his uncertainty in what manner he should dispose of his collections: +and he has put down this _naïve_ memorandum--"I have long wavered how +to dispose of all my MS. volumes; to give them to _King's College_, +would be to throw them into a _horsepond_; and I had as lieve do one +as the other; they are generally so _conceited of their Latin and +Greek, that all other studies are barbarism_."[69] + +The dread of incompleteness has attended the life-labours (if the +expression may be allowed) of several other authors who have never +published their works. Such was the learned Bishop LLOYD, and the Rev. +THOMAS BAKER, who was first engaged in the same pursuit as Cole, and +carried it on to the extent of about forty volumes in folio. Lloyd is +described by Burnet as having "many volumes of materials upon all +subjects, so that he could, with very little labour, write on any of +them, with more life in his imagination, and a truer judgment, than +may seem consistent with such a laborious course of study; but he did +not lay out his learning with the same diligence as he laid it in." It +is mortifying to learn, in the words of Johnson, that "he was always +hesitating and inquiring, raising objections, and removing them, and +waiting for clearer light and fuller discovery." Many of the labours +of this learned bishop were at length consumed in the kitchen of his +descendant. "Baker (says Johnson), after many years passed in +biography, left his manuscripts to be buried in a library, because +that was imperfect which could never be perfected." And to complete +the absurdity, or to heighten the calamity which the want of these +useful labours makes every literary man feel, half of the collections +of Baker sleep in their dust in a turret of the University; while the +other, deposited in our national library at the British Museum, and +frequently used, are rendered imperfect by this unnatural divorce. + +I will illustrate the character of a laborious author by that of +ANTHONY WOOD. + +WOOD'S "Athenæ Oxonienses" is a history of near a thousand of our +native authors; he paints their characters, and enters into the spirit +of their writings. But authors of this complexion, and works of this +nature, are liable to be slighted; for the fastidious are petulant, +the volatile inexperienced, and those who cultivate a single province +in literature are disposed, too often, to lay all others under a state +of interdiction. + +WARBURTON, in a work thrown out in the heat of unchastised youth, and +afterwards withdrawn from public inquiry, has said of the "Athenæ +Oxonienses"-- + +"Of all those writings given us by the learned Oxford antiquary, there +is not one that is not a disgrace to letters; most of them are so to +common sense, and some even to human nature. Yet how set out! how +tricked! how adorned! how extolled!"[70] + +The whole tenor of Wood's life testifies, as he himself tells us, +that "books and MSS. formed his Elysium, and he wished to be dead to +the world." This sovereign passion marked him early in life, and the +image of death could not disturb it. When young, "he walked mostly +alone, was given much to thinking and melancholy." The _deliciæ_ of +his life were the more liberal studies of painting and music, +intermixed with those of antiquity; nor could his family; who +checked such unproductive studies, ever check his love of them. With +what a firm and noble spirit he says-- + +"When he came to full years, he perceived it was his natural genie, +and he could not avoid them--they crowded on him--he could never give +a reason why he should delight in those studies, more than in others, +so prevalent was nature, mixed with a generosity of mind, and a hatred +to all that was servile, sneaking, or advantageous for lucre-sake." + +These are not the roundings of a period, but the pure expressions +of a man who had all the simplicity of childhood in his feelings. +Could such vehement emotions have been excited in the unanimated +breast of a clod of literature? Thus early Anthony Wood betrayed the +characteristics of genius; nor did the literary passion desert him +in his last moments. With his dying hands he still grasped his +beloved papers, and his last mortal thoughts dwelt on his _Athenæ +Oxonienses_.[71] + +It is no common occurrence to view an author speechless in the hour of +death, yet fervently occupied by his posthumous fame. Two friends went +into his study to sort that vast multitude of papers, notes, +letters--his more private ones he had ordered not to be opened for +seven years; about two bushels full were ordered for the fire, which +they had lighted for the occasion. "As he was expiring, he expressed +both his knowledge and approbation of what was done by throwing out +his hands." + +Turn over his Herculean labour; do not admire less his fearlessness of +danger, than his indefatigable pursuit of truth. He wrote of his +contemporaries as if he felt a right to judge of them, and as if he +were living in the succeeding age; courtier, fanatic, or papist, were +much alike to honest Anthony; for he professes himself "such an +universal lover of all mankind, that he wished there might be no cheat +put upon readers and writers in the business of commendations. And +(says he) since every one will have a double balance, one for his own +party, and another for his adversary, all he could do is to amass +together what every side thinks will make best weight for themselves. +Let posterity hold the scales." + +Anthony might have added, "I have held them." This uninterrupted +activity of his spirits was the action of a sage, not the bustle of +one intent merely on heaping up a book. + +"He never wrote in post, with his body and thoughts in a hurry, but in +a fixed abode, and with a deliberate pen. And he never concealed an +ungrateful truth, nor flourished over a weak place, but in sincerity +of meaning and expression." + +Anthony Wood cloistered an athletic mind, a hermit critic abstracted from +the world, existing more with posterity than amid his contemporaries. His +prejudices were the keener from the very energies of the mind that +produced them; but, as he practises no deception on his reader, we know +the causes of his anger or his love. And, as an original thinker creates +a style for himself, from the circumstance of not attending to style at +all, but to feeling, so Anthony Wood's has all the peculiarity of the +writer. Critics of short views have attempted to screen it from ridicule, +attributing his uncouth style to the age he lived in. But not one in his +own time nor since, has composed in the same style. The austerity and +the quickness of his feelings vigorously stamped all their roughness and +vivacity on every sentence. He describes his own style as "an honest, +plain English dress, without flourishes or affectation of style, as best +becomes a history of truth and matters of fact. It is the first (work) +of its nature that has ever been printed in our own, or in any other +mother-tongue." + +It is, indeed, an honest Montaigne-like simplicity. Acrimonious and +cynical, he is always sincere, and never dull. Old Anthony to me is an +admirable character-painter, for anger and love are often picturesque. +And among our literary historians he might be compared, for the effect +he produces, to Albert Durer, whose kind of antique rudeness has a +sharp outline, neither beautiful nor flowing; and, without a genius +for the magic of light and shade, he is too close a copier of Nature +to affect us by ideal forms. + +The independence of his mind nerved his ample volumes, his fortitude +he displayed in the contest with the University itself, and his +firmness in censuring Lord Clarendon, the head of his own party. Could +such a work, and such an original manner, have proceeded from an +ordinary intellect? Wit may sparkle, and sarcasm may bite; but the +cause of literature is injured when the industry of such a mind is +ranked with that of "the hewers of wood, and drawers of water:" +ponderous compilers of creeping commentators. Such a work as the +"Athenæ Oxonienses" involved in its pursuits some of the higher +qualities of the intellect; a voluntary devotion of life, a sacrifice +of personal enjoyments, a noble design combining many views, some +present and some prescient, a clear vigorous spirit equally diffused +over a vast surface. But it is the hard fate of authors of this class +to be levelled with their inferiors! + +Let us exhibit one more picture of the calamities of a laborious +author, in the character of JOSHUA BARNES, editor of Homer, Euripides, +and Anacreon, and the writer of a vast number of miscellaneous +compositions in history and poetry. Besides the works he published, he +left behind him nearly fifty unfinished ones; many were epic poems, +all intended to be in twelve books, and some had reached their eighth! +His folio volume of "The History of Edward III." is a labour of +valuable research. He wrote with equal facility in Greek, Latin, and +his own language, and he wrote all his days; and, in a word, having +little or nothing but his Greek professorship, not exceeding forty +pounds a year, Barnes, who had a great memory, a little imagination, +and no judgment, saw the close of a life, devoted to the studies of +humanity, settle around him in gloom and despair. The great idol of +his mind was the edition of his Homer, which seems to have completed +his ruin; he was haunted all his days with a notion that he was +persecuted by envy, and much undervalued in the world; the sad +consolation of the secondary and third-rate authors, who often die +persuaded of the existence of ideal enemies. To be enabled to publish +his Homer at an enormous charge, he wrote a poem, the design of which +is to prove that Solomon was the author of the Iliad; and it has been +said that this was done to interest his wife, who had some property, +to lend her aid towards the publication of so divine a work. This +happy pun was applied for his epitaph:-- + + JOSHUA BARNES, + Felicis memoriæ, judicium expectans. + _Here lieth_ + JOSHUA BARNES, + Of happy memory, awaiting judgment! + +The year before he died he addressed the following letter to the Earl +of Oxford, which I transcribe from the original. It is curious to +observe how the veteran and unhappy scribbler, after his vows of +retirement from the world of letters, thoroughly disgusted with "all +human learning," gently hints to his patron, that he has ready for the +press, a singular variety of contrasted works; yet even then he did +not venture to disclose one-tenth part of his concealed treasures! + + "TO THE EARL OF OXFORD. + + _Oct. 16, 1711._ + + "MY HON. LORD, + + "This, not in any doubt of your goodness and high respect to + learning, for I have fresh instances of it every day; but because + I am prevented in my design of waiting personally on you, being + called away by my business for Cambridge, to read Greek lectures + this term; and my circumstances are pressing, being, through the + combination of booksellers, and the meaner arts of others, too + much prejudiced in the sale. I am not neither sufficiently + ascertained whether my Homer and letters came to your honour; + surely the vast charges of that edition has almost broke my + courage, there being much more trouble in putting off the + impression, and contending with a subtle and unkind world, than + in all the study and management of the press. + + "Others, my lord, are younger, and their hopes and helps are + fresher; I have done as much in the way of learning as any man + living, but have received less encouragement than any, having + nothing but my Greek professorship, which is but forty pounds per + annum, that I can call my own, and more than half of that is taken + up by my expenses of lodging and diet in terme time at Cambridge. + + "I was obliged to take up three hundred and fifty pounds on + interest towards this last work, whereof I still owe two hundred + pounds, and two hundred more for the printing; the whole expense + arising to about one thousand pounds. I have lived in the + university above thirty years, fellow of a college now above forty + years' standing, and fifty-eight years of age; am bachelor of + divinity, and have preached before kings; but am now your honour's + suppliant, and would fain retire from the study of humane + learning, which has been so little beneficial to me, if I might + have a little prebend, or sufficient anchor to lay hold on; only I + have two or three matters ready for the press--an ecclesiastical + history, Latin; an heroic poem of the Black Prince, Latin; another + of Queen Anne, English, finished; a treatise of Columnes, Latin; + and an accurate treatise about Homer, Greek, Latin, &c. I would + fain be permitted the honour to make use of your name in some one, + or most of these, and to be, &c., + + "JOSHUA BARNES."[72] + +He died nine months afterwards. Homer did not improve in sale; and the +sweets of patronage were not even tasted. This, then, is the history +of a man of great learning, of the most pertinacious industry, but +somewhat allied to the family of the _Scribleri_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [66] Kennett was characterised throughout life by a strong party + feeling, which he took care to display on every occasion. He + was born at Dover in 1660, and his first publication, at the + age of twenty, gave great offence to the Whig party; it was in + the form of a letter from a Student at Oxford to a friend in + the country, concerning the approaching parliament. He + scarcely ever published a sermon without so far mixing party + matters in it as to obtain replies and rejoinders; the rector + of Whitechapel employed an artist to place his head on Judas's + shoulders in the picture of the Last Supper done for that + church, and to make the figure unmistakeable, placed the + _patch_ on the forehead which Kennett wore, to conceal a scar + he got by the bursting of a gun. His diligence and application + through life was extraordinary. He assisted Anthony Wood in + collecting materials for his "Athenæ Oxonienses;" and, like + Oldys, was continually employed in noting books, or in forming + manuscript collections on various subjects, all of which were + purchased by the Earl of Shelburne, afterwards Marquis of + Lansdowne, and were sold with the rest of his manuscripts to + the British Museum. He died in 1714, of a fever he had + contracted in a journey to Italy.--ED. + + [67] See Bishop Kennett's Letter in Nichols's "Life of Bowyer," vol. + i, 383. + + [68] The best account of the Rev. Wm. Cole is to be found in + Nichols's "Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century," vol. + i. His life was eventless, and passed in studious drudgery. He + had all that power of continuous application which will + readily form immense manuscript collections. In this way his + life was passed, occasionally aiding from his enormous stores + the labours of others. He was an early and intimate + acquaintance of Horace Walpole's, and they visited France + together in 1765. Browne Willis, the antiquary, gave him the + rectory of Blecheley, in Buckinghamshire, and he was + afterwards presented to the vicarage of Burnham, near Eton. He + died in 1782, in the 68th year of his age, having chiefly + employed a long life in noting on all subjects, until his + manuscripts became a small library of themselves, which he + bequeathed to the British Museum, with an order that they + should not be opened for twenty years. They are correctly + characterised by Nichols: he says, "many of the volumes + exhibit striking traits of Mr. Cole's own character; and a man + of sufficient leisure might pick out of them abundance of + curious matter." He left a diary behind him which for + puerility could not be exceeded, and of which Nichols gives + several ridiculous specimens. If his parrot died, or his + man-servant was bled; if he sent a loin of pork to a friend, + and got a quarter of lamb in return; "drank coffee with Mrs. + Willis," or "sent two French wigs to a London barber," all is + faithfully recorded. It is a true picture of a lover of + labour, whose constant energy must be employed, and will write + even if the labour be worthless.--ED. + + [69] Cole's collection, ultimately bequeathed by him to the British + Museum, is comprised in 92 volumes, and is arranged among the + additional manuscripts there, of which it forms Nos. 5798 to + 5887.--ED. + + [70] In his "Critical and Philosophical Enquiry into the Causes of + Prodigies." + + [71] This, his most valuable work, has been most carefully edited, + with numerous additions by Dr. Bliss, and is the great + authority for Lives of Oxford men. Its author, born at Oxford + in 1632, died there in 1695, having devoted his life strictly + to study.--ED. + + [72] Harleian MSS. 7523. + + + + +THE DESPAIR OF YOUNG POETS. + + +WILLIAM PATTISON was a young poet who perished in his twentieth year; +his character and his fate resemble those of Chatterton. He was one +more child of that family of genius, whose passions, like the torch, +kindle but to consume themselves. + +The youth of Pattison was that of a poet. Many become irrecoverably +poets by local influence; and Beattie could hardly have thrown his +"Minstrel" into a more poetical solitude than the singular spot which +was haunted by our young bard. His first misfortune was that of having +an anti-poetical parent; his next was that of having discovered a spot +which confirmed his poetical habits, inspiring all the melancholy and +sensibility he loved to indulge. This spot, which in his fancy +resembled some favourite description in Cowley, he called "Cowley's +Walk." Some friend, who was himself no common painter of fancy, has +delineated the whole scenery with minute touches, and a freshness of +colouring, warm with reality. Such a poetical habitation becomes a +part of the poet himself, reflecting his character, and even +descriptive of his manners. + +"On one side of 'Cowley's Walk' is a huge rock, grown over with moss +and ivy climbing on its sides, and in some parts small trees spring +out of the crevices of the rock; at the bottom are a wild plantation +of irregular trees, in every part looking aged and venerable. Among +these cavities, one larger than the rest was the cave he loved to sit +in: arched like a canopy, its rustic borders were edged with ivy +hanging down, overshadowing the place, and hence he called it (for +poets must give a name to every object they love) 'Hederinda,' bearing +ivy. At the foot of this grotto a stream of water ran along the walk, +so that its level path had trees and water on one side, and a wild +rough precipice on the other. In winter, this spot looked full of +horror--the naked trees, the dark rock, and the desolate waste; but in +the spring, the singing of the birds, the fragrancy of the flowers, +and the murmuring of the stream, blended all their enchantment." + +Here, in the heat of the day, he escaped into the "Hederinda," and +shared with friends his rapture and his solitude; and here through +summer nights, in the light of the moon, he meditated and melodised +his verses by the gentle fall of the waters. Thus was Pattison fixed +and bound up in the strongest spell the demon of poetry ever drew +around a susceptible and careless youth. + +He was now a decided poet. At Sidney College, in Cambridge, he was +greatly loved; till, on a quarrel with a rigid tutor, he rashly cut +his name out of the college book, and quitted it for ever in utter +thoughtlessness and gaiety, leaving his gown behind, as his _locum +tenens_, to make his apology, by pinning on it a satirical farewell. + + Whoever gives himself the pains to stoop, + And take my venerable tatters up, + To his presuming inquisition I, + In _loco Pattisoni_, thus reply: + "Tired with the senseless jargon of the gown, + My master left the college for the town, + And scorns his precious minutes to regale + With wretched college-wit and college-ale." + +He flew to the metropolis to take up the trade of a poet. + +A translation of Ovid's "Epistles" had engaged his attention during +two years; his own genius seemed inexhaustible; and pleasure and +fame were awaiting the poetical emigrant. He resisted all kind +importunities to return to college; he could not endure submission, +and declares "his spirit cannot bear control." One friend "fears the +innumerable temptations to which one of his complexion is liable in +such a populous place." Pattison was much loved; he had all the +generous impetuosity of youthful genius; but he had resolved on +running the perilous career of literary glory, and he added one +more to the countless thousands who perish in obscurity. + +His first letters are written with the same spirit that distinguishes +Chatterton's; all he hopes he seems to realise. He mixes among the +wits, dates from Button's, and drinks with Concanen healths to +college friends, till they lose their own; more dangerous Muses +condescend to exhibit themselves to the young poet in the park; and +he was to be introduced to Pope. All is exultation! Miserable +youth! The first thought of prudence appears in a resolution of +soliciting subscriptions from all persons, for a volume of poems. + +His young friends at college exerted their warm patronage; those in +his native North condemn him, and save their crowns; Pope admits of no +interview, but lends his name, and bestows half-a-crown for a volume +of poetry, which he did not want; the poet wearies kindness, and would +extort charity even from brother-poets; petitions lords and ladies; +and, as his wants grow on him, his shame decreases. + +How the scene has changed in a few months! He acknowledges to a +friend, that "his heart was broke through the misfortunes he had +fallen under;" he declares "he feels himself near the borders of +death." In moments like these he probably composed the following +lines, awfully addressed, + + AD CŒLUM! + Good heaven! this mystery of life explain, + Nor let me think I bear the load in vain; + Lest, with the tedious passage cheerless grown, + Urged by despair, I throw the burden down. + +But the torture of genius, when all its passions are strained on the +rack, was never more pathetically expressed than in the following +letter:-- + + "SIR,--If you was ever touched with a sense of humanity, consider + my condition: what _I am_, my proposals will inform you; what _I + have been_, Sidney College, in Cambridge, can witness; but what _I + shall be_ some few hours hence, I tremble to think! Spare my + blushes!--I have not enjoyed the common necessaries of life for + these two days, and can hardly hold to subscribe myself, + + "Yours, &c." + +The picture is finished--it admits not of another stroke. Such was the +complete misery which Savage, Boyse, Chatterton, and more innocent +spirits devoted to literature, have endured--but not long--for they +must perish in their youth! + +HENRY CAREY was one of our most popular poets; he, indeed, has +unluckily met with only dictionary critics, or what is as fatal to +genius, the cold and undistinguishing commendation of grave men on +subjects of humour, wit, and the lighter poetry. The works of Carey do +not appear in any of our great collections, where Walsh, Duke, and +Yalden slumber on the shelf. + +Yet Carey was a true son of the Muses, and the most successful writer +in our language. He is the author of several little national poems. In +early life he successfully burlesqued the affected versification of +Ambrose Philips, in his baby poems, to which he gave the fortunate +appellation of "_Namby Pamby_, a panegyric on the new versification;" +a term descriptive in sound of those chiming follies, and now become a +technical term in modern criticism. Carey's "Namby Pamby" was at first +considered by Swift as the satirical effusion of Pope, and by Pope as +the humorous ridicule of Swift. His ballad of "Sally in our Alley" was +more than once commended for its nature by Addison, and is sung to +this day. Of the national song, "God save the King," it is supposed he +was the author both of the words and of the music.[73] He was very +successful on the stage, and wrote admirable burlesques of the Italian +Opera, in "The Dragon of Wantley," and "The Dragoness;" and the mock +tragedy of "Chrononhotonthologos" is not forgotten. Among his Poems +lie still concealed several original pieces; those which have a +political turn are particularly good, for the politics of Carey were +those of a poet and a patriot. I refer the politician who has any +taste for poetry and humour to "The Grumbletonians, or the Dogs +without doors, a Fable," very instructive to those grown-up folks, +"The Ins and the Outs." "Carey's Wish" is in this class; and, as the +purity of election remains still among the desiderata of every true +Briton, a poem on that subject by the patriotic author of our national +hymn of "God save the King" may be acceptable. + + CAREY'S WISH. + + Cursed be the wretch that's bought and sold, + And barters liberty for gold; + For when election is not free, + In vain we boast of liberty: + And he who sells his single right, + Would sell his country, if he might. + + When liberty is put to sale + For wine, for money, or for ale, + The sellers must be abject slaves, + The buyers vile designing knaves; + A proverb it has been of old, + The devil's bought but to be sold. + + This maxim in the statesman's school + Is always taught, _divide and rule_. + All parties are to him a joke: + While zealots foam, he fits the yoke. + Let men their reason once resume; + 'Tis then the statesman's turn to fume. + + Learn, learn, ye Britons, to unite; + Leave off the old exploded bite; + Henceforth let Whig and Tory cease, + And turn all party rage to peace; + Rouse and revive your ancient glory; + Unite, and drive the world before you. + +To the ballad of "Sally in our Alley" Carey has prefixed an argument +so full of nature, that the song may hereafter derive an additional +interest from its simple origin. The author assures the reader that +the popular notion that the subject of his ballad had been the noted +Sally Salisbury, is perfectly erroneous, he being a stranger to her +name at the time the song was composed. + +"As innocence and virtue were ever the boundaries of his Muse, so in +this little poem he had no other view than to set forth the beauty of +a chaste and disinterested passion, even in the lowest class of human +life. The real occasion was this: A shoemaker's 'prentice, making +holiday with his sweetheart, treated her with a sight of Bedlam, the +puppet-shows, the flying-chairs, and all the elegancies of Moorfields; +from whence, proceeding to the Farthing Pye-house, he gave her a +collation of buns, cheesecakes, gammon of bacon, stuffed beef, and +bottled ale; through all which scenes the author dodged them (charmed +with the simplicity of their courtship), from whence he drew this +little sketch of Nature; but, being then young and obscure, he was +very much ridiculed for this performance; which, nevertheless, made +its way into the polite world, and amply recompensed him by the +applause of the divine Addison, who was pleased (more than once) to +mention it with approbation." + +In "The Poet's Resentment" poor Carey had once forsworn "the harlot +Muse:"-- + + Far, far away then chase the harlot Muse, + Nor let her thus thy noon of life abuse; + Mix with the common crowd, unheard, unseen, + And if again thou tempt'st the vulgar praise, + Mayst thou be crown'd with birch instead of bays! + +Poets make such oaths in sincerity, and break them in rapture. + +At the time that this poet could neither walk the streets nor be +seated at the convivial board, without listening to his own songs and +his own music--for, in truth, the whole nation was echoing his verse, +and crowded theatres were applauding his wit and humour--while this +very man himself, urged by his strong humanity, founded a "Fund for +decayed Musicians"--he was so broken-hearted, and his own common +comforts so utterly neglected, that in despair, not waiting for nature +to relieve him from the burden of existence, he laid violent hands on +himself; and when found dead, had only a halfpenny in his pocket! Such +was the fate of the author of some of the most popular pieces in our +language. He left a son, who inherited his misery, and a gleam of his +genius. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [73] The late Richard Clark, of the Chapel Royal and Westminster + Abbey, published in 1823 "An Account of the National Anthem, + entitled God save the King," in which he satisfactorily proves + "that Carey neither had, nor could have had, any claim at all + to this composition," which he traces back to the celebrated + composer, Dr. John Bull, who he believes composed it for the + entertainment given by the Merchant Taylors Company to King + James I., in 1607. Ward, in his "Lives of the Gresham + Professors," gives a list of Bull's compositions, then in the + possession of Dr. Pepusch (who arranged the music for the + _Beggar's Opera_), and Art. 56 is "God save the King." At the + Doctor's death, his manuscripts, amounting to two cartloads, + were scattered or sold for waste-paper, and this was one of + the number. Clark ultimately recovered this MS.--ED. + + + + +THE MISERIES OF THE FIRST ENGLISH COMMENTATOR. + + +DR. ZACHARY GREY, the editor of "Hudibras," is the father of our +modern commentators.[74] His case is rather peculiar; I know not +whether the father, by an odd anticipation, was doomed to suffer +for the sins of his children, or whether his own have been visited +on the third generation; it is certain that never was an author +more overpowered by the attacks he received from the light and +indiscriminating shafts of ignorant wits. He was ridiculed and abused +for having assisted us to comprehend the wit of an author, which, +without that aid, at this day would have been nearly lost to us; and +whose singular subject involved persons and events which required the +very thing he gave,--historical and explanatory notes. + +A first thought, and all the danger of an original invention, which is +always imperfectly understood by the superficial, was poor Dr. Grey's +merit. He was modest and laborious, and he had the sagacity to +discover what Butler wanted, and what the public required. His project +was a happy thought, to commentate on a singular work which has +scarcely a parallel in modern literature, if we except the "Satyre +Ménippée" of the French, which is, in prose, the exact counterpart of +"Hudibras" in rhyme; for our rivals have had the same state +revolution, in which the same dramatic personages passed over their +national stage, with the same incidents, in the civil wars of the +ambitious Guises, and the citizen-reformers. They, too, found a +Butler, though in prose, a Grey in Duchat, and, as well as they could, +a Hogarth. An edition, which appeared in 1711, might have served as +the model of Grey's Hudibras. + +It was, however, a happy thought in our commentator, to turn over the +contemporary writers to collect the events and discover the personages +alluded to by Butler; to read what the poet read, to observe what the +poet observed. This was at once throwing himself and the reader back +into an age, of which even the likeness had disappeared, and +familiarising us with distant objects, which had been lost to us in +the haze and mists of time. For this, not only a new mode of +travelling, but a new road was to be opened; the secret history, the +fugitive pamphlet, the obsolete satire, the ancient comedy--such were +the many curious volumes whose dust was to be cleared away, to cast a +new radiance on the fading colours of a moveable picture of manners; +the wittiest ever exhibited to mankind. This new mode of research, +even at this moment, is imperfectly comprehended, still ridiculed even +by those who could never have understood a writer who will only be +immortal in the degree he is comprehended--and whose wit could not +have been felt but for the laborious curiosity of him whose "reading" +has been too often aspersed for "such reading" + + As was never read. + +Grey was outrageously attacked by all the wits, first by Warburton, in +his preface to Shakspeare, who declares that "he hardly thinks there +ever appeared so execrable a heap of nonsense under the name of +commentaries, as hath been lately given us on a certain satyric poet +of the last age." It is odd enough, Warburton had himself contributed +towards these very notes, but, for some cause which has not been +discovered, had quarrelled with Dr. Grey. I will venture a conjecture +on this great conjectural critic. Warburton was always meditating to +give an edition of his own of our old writers, and the sins he +committed against Shakspeare he longed to practise on Butler, whose +times were, indeed, a favourite period of his researches. Grey had +anticipated him, and though Warburton had half reluctantly yielded the +few notes he had prepared, his proud heart sickened when he beheld +the amazing subscription Grey obtained for his first edition of +"Hudibras;" he received for that work 1500_l._[75]--a proof that this +publication was felt as a want by the public. + +Such, however, is one of those blunt, dogmatic censures in which +Warburton abounds, to impress his readers with the weight of his +opinions; this great man wrote more for effect than any other of our +authors, as appears by his own or some friend's confession, that if +his edition of Shakspeare did no honour to that bard, this was not the +design of the commentator--which was only to do honour to himself by a +display of his own exuberant erudition. + +The poignant Fielding, in his preface to his "Journey to Lisbon," has +a fling at the gravity of our doctor. "The laborious, much-read Dr. Z. +Grey, of whose redundant notes on 'Hudibras' I shall only say that it +is, I am confident, the single book extant in which above 500 authors +are quoted, not one of which could be found in the collection of the +late Dr. Mead." Mrs. Montague, in her letters, severely characterises +the miserable father of English commentators; she wrote in youth and +spirits, with no knowledge of books, and _before_ even the unlucky +commentator had published his work, but wit is the bolder by +anticipation. She observes that "his dulness may be a proper ballast +for doggrel; and it is better that his stupidity should make jest dull +than serious and sacred things ridiculous;" alluding to his numerous +theological tracts. + +Such then are the hard returns which some authors are doomed to +receive as the rewards of useful labours from those who do not even +comprehend their nature; a wit should not be admitted as a critic till +he has first proved by his gravity, or his dulness if he chooses, that +he has some knowledge; for it is the privilege and nature of wit to +write fastest and best on what it least understands. Knowledge only +encumbers and confines its flights. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [74] Dr. Zachary Grey was throughout a long life a busy contributor + to literature. The mere list of his productions, in + divinity and history, occupy some pages of our biographical + dictionaries. He was born 1687, and died at Ampthill, in + Bedfordshire, in 1766. In private he was noted for mild and + pleasing manners. His "Hudibras," which was first published + in 1744, in two octavo volumes, is now the standard + edition.--ED. + + [75] Cole's MSS. + + + + +THE LIFE OF AN AUTHORESS. + + +Of all the sorrows in which the female character may participate, +there are few more affecting than those of an authoress;--often +insulated and unprotected in society--with all the sensibility of the +sex, encountering miseries which break the spirits of men; with the +repugnance arising from that delicacy which trembles when it quits its +retirement. + +My acquaintance with an unfortunate lady of the name of ELIZA RYVES, +was casual and interrupted; yet I witnessed the bitterness of "hope +deferred, which maketh the heart sick." She sunk, by the slow wastings +of grief, into a grave which probably does not record the name of its +martyr of literature. + +She was descended from a family of distinction in Ireland; but as she +expressed it, "she had been deprived of her birthright by the +chicanery of law." In her former hours of tranquillity she had +published some elegant odes, had written a tragedy and comedies--all +which remained in MS. In her distress she looked up to her pen as a +source of existence; and an elegant genius and a woman of polished +manners commenced the life of a female trader in literature. + +Conceive the repulses of a modest and delicate woman in her attempts +to appreciate the value of a manuscript with its purchaser. She has +frequently returned from the booksellers to her dreadful solitude to +hasten to her bed--in all the bodily pains of misery, she has sought +in uneasy slumbers a temporary forgetfulness of griefs which were to +recur on the morrow. Elegant literature is always of doubtful +acceptance with the public, and Eliza Ryves came at length to try the +most masculine exertions of the pen. She wrote for one newspaper much +political matter; but the proprietor was too great a politician for +the writer of politics, for he only praised the labour he never paid; +much poetry for another, in which, being one of the correspondents of +Della Crusca, in payment of her verses she got nothing but verses; the +most astonishing exertion for a female pen was the entire composition +of the historical and political portion of some Annual Register. So +little profitable were all these laborious and original efforts, that +every day did not bring its "daily bread." Yet even in her poverty her +native benevolence could make her generous; for she has deprived +herself of her meal to provide with one an unhappy family dwelling +under the same roof. + +Advised to adopt the mode of translation, and being ignorant of the +French language, she retired to an obscure lodging at Islington, which +she never quitted till she had produced a good version of Rousseau's +"Social Compact," Raynal's "Letter to the National Assembly," and +finally translated De la Croix's "Review of the Constitutions of the +principal States in Europe," in two large volumes with intelligent +notes. All these works, so much at variance with her taste, left her +with her health much broken, and a mind which might be said to have +nearly survived the body. + +Yet even at a moment so unfavourable, her ardent spirit engaged in a +translation of Froissart. At the British Museum I have seen her +conning over the magnificent and voluminous MS. of the old chronicler, +and by its side Lord Berners' version, printed in the reign of Henry +VIII. It was evident that his lordship was employed as a spy on +Froissart, to inform her of what was going forward in the French camp; +and she soon perceived, for her taste was delicate, that it required +an ancient lord and knight, with all his antiquity of phrase, to break +a lance with the still more ancient chivalric Frenchman. The familiar +elegance of modern style failed to preserve the picturesque touches +and the _naïve_ graces of the chronicler, who wrote as the mailed +knight combated--roughly or gracefully, as suited the tilt or the +field. She vailed to Lord Berners; while she felt it was here +necessary to understand old French, and then to write it in old +English.[76] During these profitless labours hope seemed to be +whispering in her lonely study. Her comedies had been in possession of +the managers of the theatres during several years. They had too much +merit to be rejected, perhaps too little to be acted. Year passed over +year, and the last still repeated the treacherous promise of its +brother. The mysterious arts of procrastination are by no one so well +systematised as by the theatrical manager, nor its secret sorrows so +deeply felt as by the dramatist. One of her comedies, _The Debt of +Honour_, had been warmly approved at both theatres--where probably a +copy of it may still be found. To the honour of one of the managers, +he presented her with a hundred pounds on his acceptance of it. Could +she avoid then flattering herself with an annual harvest? + +But even this generous gift, which involved in it such golden +promises, could not for ten years preserve its delusion. "I feel," +said Eliza Ryves, "the necessity of some powerful patronage, to bring +my comedies forward to the world with _éclat_, and secure them an +admiration which, should it even be deserved, is seldom bestowed, +unless some leading judge of literary merit gives the sanction of his +applause; and then the world will chime in with his opinion, without +taking the trouble to inform themselves whether it be founded in +justice or partiality." She never suspected that her comedies were not +comic!--but who dare hold an argument with an ingenious mind, when it +reasons from a right principle, with a wrong application to itself? It +is true that a writer's connexions have often done a great deal for a +small author, and enabled some favourites of literary fashion to enjoy +a usurped reputation; but it is not so evident that Eliza Ryves was a +comic writer, although, doubtless, she appeared another Menander to +herself. And thus an author dies in a delusion of self-flattery! + +The character of Eliza Ryves was rather tender and melancholy, than +brilliant and gay; and like the bruised perfume--breathing sweetness +when broken into pieces. She traced her sorrows in a work of fancy, +where her feelings were at least as active as her imagination. It is a +small volume, entitled "The Hermit of Snowden." Albert, opulent and +fashionable, feels a passion for Lavinia, and meets the kindest +return; but, having imbibed an ill opinion of women from his +licentious connexions, he conceived they were slaves of passion, or of +avarice. He wrongs the generous nature of Lavinia, by suspecting her +of mercenary views; hence arise the perplexities of the hearts of +both. Albert affects to be ruined, and spreads the report of an +advantageous match. Lavinia feels all the delicacy of her situation; +she loves, but "she never told her love." She seeks for her existence +in her literary labours, and perishes in want. + +In the character of Lavinia, our authoress, with all the melancholy +sagacity of genius, foresaw and has described her own death!--the +dreadful solitude to which she was latterly condemned, when in the +last stage of her poverty; her frugal mode of life; her acute +sensibility; her defrauded hopes; and her exalted fortitude. She has +here formed a register of all that occurred in her solitary existence. +I will give one scene--to me it is pathetic--for it is like a scene at +which I was present:-- + +"Lavinia's lodgings were about two miles from town, in an obscure +situation. I was showed up to a mean apartment, where Lavinia was +sitting at work, and in a dress which indicated the greatest economy. +I inquired what success she had met with in her dramatic pursuits. She +waved her head, and, with a melancholy smile, replied, 'that her +hopes of ever bringing any piece on the stage were now entirely over; +for she found that more interest was necessary for the purpose than +she could command, and that she had for that reason laid aside her +comedy for ever!' While she was talking, came in a favourite dog of +Lavinia's, which I had used to caress. The creature sprang to my arms, +and I received him with my usual fondness. Lavinia endeavoured to +conceal a tear which trickled down her cheek. Afterwards she said, +'Now that I live entirely alone, I show Juno more attention than I had +used to do formerly. _The heart wants something to be kind to_; and it +consoles us for the loss of society, to see even an animal derive +happiness from the endearments we bestow upon it.'" + +Such was Eliza Ryves! not beautiful nor interesting in her person, but +with a mind of fortitude, susceptible of all the delicacy of feminine +softness, and virtuous amid her despair.[77] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [76] This version of Lord Berners has been reprinted. + + [77] Those who desire to further investigate the utter misery of + female authorship may be referred to Whyte's vivid description + of an interview with Mrs. Clarke (the daughter of Colley + Cibber), about the purchase of a novel. It is appended to an + edition of his own poems, printed at Dublin, 1792; and has + been reproduced in Hone's "Table Book," vol. i.--ED. + + + + +THE INDISCRETION OF AN HISTORIAN. + +THOMAS CARTE. + + +"CARTE," says Mr. Hallam, "is the most exact historian we have;" and +Daines Barrington prefers his authority to that of any other, and many +other writers confirm this opinion. Yet had this historian been an +ordinary compiler, he could not have incurred a more mortifying fate; +for he was compelled to retail in shilling numbers that invaluable +history which we have only learned of late times to appreciate, and +which was the laborious fruits of self-devotion. + +Carte was the first of our historians who had the sagacity and the +fortitude to ascertain where the true sources of our history lie. He +discovered a new world beyond the old one of our research, and not +satisfied in gleaning the _res historica_ from its original writers--a +merit which has not always been possessed by some of our popular +historians--Carte opened those subterraneous veins of secret history +from whence even the original writers of our history, had they +possessed them, might have drawn fresh knowledge and more ample +views. Our domestic or civil history was scarcely attempted till Carte +planned it; while all his laborious days and his literary travels on +the Continent were absorbed in the creation of a _History of England_ +and of a _Public Library_ in the metropolis, for we possessed neither. +A diligent foreigner, Rapin, had compiled our history, and had +opportunely found in the vast collection of Rymer's "Fœdera" a rich +accession of knowledge; but a foreigner could not sympathise with the +feelings, or even understand the language, of the domestic story of +our nation; our rolls and records, our state-letters, the journals of +parliament, and those of the privy-council; an abundant source of +private memoirs; and the hidden treasures in the state-paper office, +the Cottonian and Harleian libraries; all these, and much besides, the +sagacity of Carte contemplated. He had further been taught--by his own +examination of the true documents of history, which he found preserved +among the ancient families of France, who with a warm patriotic +spirit, worthy of imitation, "often carefully preserved in their +families the acts of their ancestors;" and the _trésor des chartes_ +and the _dépôt pour les affaires étrangères_ (the state-paper office +of France),--that the history of our country is interwoven with that +of its neighbours, as well as with that of our own countrymen.[78] + +Carte, with these enlarged views, and firm with diligence which never +paused, was aware that such labours--both for the expense and +assistance they demand--exceeded the powers of a private individual; +but "what a single man cannot do," he said, "may be easily done by a +society, and the value of an opera subscription would be sufficient to +patronise a History of England." His valuable "History of the Duke of +Ormond" had sufficiently announced the sort of man who solicited this +necessary aid; nor was the moment unpropitious to his fondest hopes, +for a _Society for the Encouragement of Learning_ had been formed, and +this impulse of public spirit, however weak, had, it would seem, +roused into action some unexpected quarters. When Carte's project was +made known, a large subscription was raised to defray the expense of +transcripts, and afford a sufficient independence to the historian; +many of the nobility and the gentry subscribed ten or twenty guineas +annually, and several of the corporate bodies in the city honourably +appeared as the public patrons of the literature of their nation. He +had, perhaps, nearly a thousand a year subscribed, which he employed +on the History. Thus everything promised fair both for the history and +for the historian of our fatherland, and about this time he zealously +published another proposal for the erection of a public library in the +Mansion-house. "There is not," observed Carte, "a great city in Europe +so ill-provided with public libraries as London." He enters into a +very interesting and minute narrative of the public libraries of +Paris.[79] He then also suggested the purchase of ten thousand +manuscripts of the Earl of Oxford, which the nation now possess in the +Harleian collection. + +Though Carte failed to persuade our opulent citizens to purchase this +costly honour, it is probably to his suggestion that the nation owes +the British Museum. The ideas of the literary man are never thrown +away, however vain at the moment, or however profitless to himself. +Time preserves without injuring the image of his mind, and a following +age often performs what the preceding failed to comprehend. + +It was in 1743 that this work was projected, in 1747 the first volume +appeared. One single act of indiscretion, an unlucky accident rather +than a premeditated design, overturned in a moment this monument of +history;--for it proved that our Carte, however enlarged were his +views of what history ought to consist, and however experienced in +collecting its most authentic materials, and accurate in their +statement, was infected by a superstitious jacobitism, which seemed +likely to spread itself through his extensive history. Carte indeed +was no philosopher, but a very faithful historian. + +Having unhappily occasion to discuss whether the King of England had, +from the time of Edward the Confessor, the power of healing inherent +in him before his unction, or whether the gift was conveyed by +ecclesiastical hands, to show the efficacy of the royal touch, he +added an idle story, which had come under his own observation, of a +person who appeared to have been so healed. Carte said of this unlucky +personage, so unworthily introduced five hundred years before he was +born, that he had been sent to Paris to be touched by "the eldest +lineal descendant of a race of kings who had indeed for a long +succession of ages cured that distemper by the royal touch." The +insinuation was unquestionably in favour of the Pretender, although +the name of the prince was not avowed, and was a sort of promulgation +of the right divine to the English throne. + +The first news our author heard of his elaborate history was the +discovery of this unforeseen calamity; the public indignation was +roused, and subscribers, public and private, hastened to withdraw +their names. The historian was left forlorn and abandoned amid his +extensive collections, and Truth, which was about to be drawn out of +her well by this robust labourer, was no longer imagined to lie +concealed at the bottom of the waters. + +Thunderstruck at this dreadful reverse to all his hopes, and +witnessing the unrequited labour of more than thirty years withered +in an hour, the unhappy Carte drew up a faint appeal, rendered still +more weak by a long and improbable tale, that the objectionable +illustration had been merely a private note which by mistake had +been printed, and only designed to show that the person who had been +healed improperly attributed his cure to the sanative virtue of the +regal unction; since the prince in question had never been anointed. +But this was plunging from Scylla into Charybdis, for it inferred +that the Stuarts inherited the heavenly-gifted touch by descent. This +could not avail; yet heavy was the calamity! for now an historian of +the utmost probity and exactness, and whose labours were never +equalled for their scope and extent, was ruined for an absurd but +not peculiar opinion, and an indiscretion which was more ludicrous +than dishonest. + +This shock of public opinion was met with a fortitude which only +strong minds experience; Carte was the true votary of study,--by +habit, by devotion, and by pleasure, he persevered in producing an +invaluable folio every two years; but from three thousand copies he +was reduced to seven hundred and fifty, and the obscure patronage of +the few who knew how to appreciate them. Death only arrested the +historian's pen--in the fourth volume. We have lost the important +period of the reign of the second Charles, of which Carte declared +that he had read "a series of memoirs from the beginning to the end of +that reign which would have laid open all those secret intrigues which +Burnet with all his genius for conjecture does not pretend to account +for." + +So precious were the MS. collections Carte left behind him, that the +proprietor valued them at 1500_l._; Philip Earl of Hardwicke paid +200_l._ only for the perusal, and Macpherson a larger sum for their +use; and Hume, without Carte, would scarcely have any authorities. +Such was the calamitous result of Carte's historical labours, who has +left others of a more philosophical cast, and of a finer taste in +composition, to reap the harvest whose soil had been broken by his +hand. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [78] It is much to the honour of Carte, that the French acknowledge + that his publication of the "Rolles Gascognes" gave to them + the first idea of their learned work, the "Notice des + Diplomes." + + [79] This paper, which is a great literary curiosity, is preserved by + Mr. Nichols in his "Literary History," vol. ii. + + + + +LITERARY RIDICULE. + +ILLUSTRATED BY SOME ACCOUNT OF A LITERARY SATIRE. + + +RIDICULE may be considered as a species of eloquence; it has all its +vehemence, all its exaggeration, all its power of diminution; it is +irresistible! Its business is not with truth, but with its appearance; +and it is this similitude, in perpetual comparison with the original, +which, raising contempt, produces the ridiculous. + +There is nothing real in ridicule; the more exquisite, the more it +borrows from the imagination. When directed towards an individual, by +preserving a unity of character in all its parts, it produces a +fictitious personage, so modelled on the prototype, that we know not +to distinguish the true one from the false. Even with an intimate +knowledge of the real object, the ambiguous image slides into our +mind, for we are at least as much influenced in our opinions by our +imagination as by our judgment. Hence some great characters have come +down to us spotted with the taints of indelible wit; and a satirist of +this class, sporting with distant resemblances and fanciful analogies, +has made the fictitious accompany for ever the real character. Piqued +with Akenside for some reflections against Scotland, Smollett has +exhibited a man of great genius and virtue as a most ludicrous +personage; and who can discriminate, in the ridiculous physician in +"Peregrine Pickle," what is real from what is fictitious?[80] + +The banterers and ridiculers possess this provoking advantage over +sturdy honesty or nervous sensibility--their amusing fictions affect +the world more than the plain tale that would put them down. They +excite our risible emotions, while they are reducing their adversary +to contempt--otherwise they would not be distinguished from gross +slanderers. When the wit has gained over the laughers on his side, he +has struck a blow which puts his adversary _hors de combat_. A grave +reply can never wound ridicule, which, assuming all forms, has really +none. Witty calumny and licentious raillery are airy nothings that +float about us, invulnerable from their very nature, like those +chimeras of hell which the sword of Æneas could not pierce--yet these +shadows of truth, these false images, these fictitious realities, have +made heroism tremble, turned the eloquence of wisdom into folly, and +bowed down the spirit of honour itself. + +Not that the legitimate use of RIDICULE is denied: the wisest men have +been some of the most exquisite ridiculers; from Socrates to the +Fathers, and from the Fathers to Erasmus, and from Erasmus to Butler +and Swift. Ridicule is more efficacious than argument; when that keen +instrument cuts what cannot be untied. "The Rehearsal" wrote down the +unnatural taste for the rhyming heroic tragedies, and brought the +nation back from sound to sense, from rant to passion. More important +events may be traced in the history of Ridicule. When a certain set of +intemperate Puritans, in the reign of Elizabeth, the ridiculous +reformists of abuses in Church and State, congregated themselves under +the literary _nom de guerre_ of _Martin Mar-prelate_, a stream of +libels ran throughout the nation. The grave discourses of the +archbishop and the prelates could never silence the hardy and +concealed libellers. They employed a moveable printing-press, and the +publishers perpetually shifting their place, long escaped detection. +They declared their works were "printed in Europe, not far from some +of the bouncing priests;" or they were "printed over sea, in Europe, +within two furlongs of a bouncing priest, at the cost and charges of +Martin Mar-prelate, gent." It was then that TOM NASH, whom I am about +to introduce to the reader's more familiar acquaintance, the most +exquisite banterer of that age of genius, turned on them their own +weapons, and annihilated them into silence when they found themselves +paid in their own base coin. He rebounded their popular ribaldry on +themselves, with such replies as "Pap with a hatchet, or a fig for my +godson; or, crack me this nut. To be sold, at the sign of the +Crab-tree Cudgel, in Thwack-coat lane."[81] Not less biting was his +"Almond for a Parrot, or an Alms for Martin." Nash first silenced +_Martin Mar-prelate_, and the government afterwards hanged him; Nash +might be vain of the greater honour. A ridiculer then is the best +champion to meet another ridiculer; their scurrilities magically undo +each other. + +But the abuse of ridicule is not one of the least calamities of +literature, when it withers genius, and gibbets whom it ought to +enshrine. Never let us forget that Socrates before his judges asserted +that "his persecution originated in the licensed raillery of +Aristophanes, which had so unduly influenced the popular mind during +_several years_!" And thus a fictitious Socrates, not the great +moralist, was condemned. Armed with the most licentious ridicule, the +Aretine of our own country and times has proved that its chief +magistrate was not protected by the shield of domestic and public +virtues; a false and distorted image of an intelligent monarch could +cozen the gross many, and aid the purposes of the subtle few. + +There is a plague-spot in ridicule, and the man who is touched with +it can be sent forth as the jest of his country. + +The literary reign of Elizabeth, so fertile in every kind of genius, +exhibits a remarkable instance, in the controversy between the witty +Tom Nash and the learned Gabriel Harvey. It will illustrate the nature +of _the fictions of ridicule_, expose the materials of which its +shafts are composed, and the secret arts by which ridicule can level a +character which seems to be placed above it. + +GABRIEL HARVEY was an author of considerable rank, but with two +learned brothers, as Wood tells us, "had the ill luck to fall into the +hands of that noted and restless buffoon, Tom Nash." + +Harvey is not unknown to the lover of poetry, from his connexion with +Spenser, who loved and revered him. He is the Hobynol whose poem is +prefixed to the "Faery Queen," who introduced Spenser to Sir Philip +Sidney: and, besides his intimacy with the literary characters of his +times, he was a Doctor of Laws, an erudite scholar, and distinguished +as a poet. Such a man could hardly be contemptible; and yet, when some +little peculiarities become aggravated, and his works are touched by +the caustic of the most adroit banterer of that age of wit, no +character has descended to us with such grotesque deformity, exhibited +in so ludicrous an attitude. + +Harvey was a pedant, but pedantry was part of the erudition of an age +when our national literature was passing from its infancy; he +introduced hexameter verses into our language, and pompously laid +claim to an invention which, designed for the reformation of English +verse, was practised till it was found sufficiently ridiculous. His +style was infected with his pedantic taste; and the hard outline of +his satirical humour betrays the scholastic cynic, not the airy and +fluent wit. He had, perhaps, the foibles of a man who was clearing +himself from obscurity; he prided himself on his family alliances, +while he fastidiously looked askance on the trade of his father--a +rope-manufacturer. + +He was somewhat rich in his apparel, according to the rank in society +he held; and, hungering after the notice of his friends, they fed him +on soft sonnet and relishing dedication, till Harvey ventured to +publish a collection of panegyrics on himself--and thus gravely +stepped into a niche erected to Vanity. At length he and his two +brothers--one a divine and the other a physician--became students of +astronomy; then an astronomer usually ended in an almanac-maker, and +above all, in an astrologer--an avocation which tempted a man to +become a prophet. Their "sharp and learned judgment on earthquakes" +drove the people out of their senses (says Wood); but when nothing +happened of their predictions, the brothers received a severe +castigation from those great enemies of prophets, the wits. The +buffoon, Tarleton, celebrated for his extempore humour, jested on them +at the theatre;[82] Elderton, a drunken ballad-maker, "consumed his +ale-crammed nose to nothing in bear-bating them with bundles of +ballads."[83] One on the earthquake commenced with "Quake! quake! +quake!" They made the people laugh at their false terrors, or, as Nash +humorously describes their fanciful panic, "when they sweated and were +not a haire the worse." Thus were the three learned brothers beset by +all the town-wits; Gabriel had the hardihood, with all undue gravity, +to charge pell-mell among the whole knighthood of drollery; a +circumstance probably alluded to by Spenser, in a sonnet addressed to +Harvey-- + + "Harvey, the happy above happier men, + I read; that sitting like a looker-on + Of this worlde's stage, dost note with _critique pen_ + The sharp dislikes of each condition; + And, as one carelesse of suspition, + Ne fawnest for the favour of the great; + _Ne fearest foolish reprehension + Of faulty men, which daunger to thee threat_, + But freely doest of what thee list, entreat, + Like a great lord of peerlesse liberty.--" + +The "foolish reprehension of faulty men, threatening Harvey with +danger," describes that gregarious herd of town-wits in the age of +Elizabeth--Kit Marlow, Robert Greene, Dekker, Nash, &c.--men of no +moral principle, of high passions, and the most pregnant Lucianic +wits who ever flourished at one period.[84] Unfortunately for the +learned Harvey, his "critique pen," which is strange in so polished +a mind and so curious a student, indulged a sharpness of invective +which would have been peculiar to himself, had his adversary, Nash, +not quite outdone him. Their pamphlets foamed against each other, +till Nash, in his vehement invective, involved the whole generation +of the Harveys, made one brother more ridiculous than the other, and +even attainted the fair name of Gabriel's respectable sister. +Gabriel, indeed, after the death of Robert Greene, the crony of Nash, +sitting like a vampyre on his grave, sucked blood from his corpse, +in a memorable narrative of the debaucheries and miseries of this +town-wit. I throw into the note the most awful satirical address I +ever read.[85] It became necessary to dry up the floodgates of +these rival ink-horns, by an order of the Archbishop of Canterbury. +The order is a remarkable fragment of our literary history, and is +thus expressed:--"That all Nashe's bookes and Dr. Harvey's bookes be +taken wheresoever they may be found, and that none of the said bookes +be ever printed hereafter." + +This extraordinary circumstance accounts for the excessive rarity of +Harvey's "Foure Letters, 1592," and that literary scourge of Nash's, +"Have with you to Saffron-Walden (Harvey's residence), or Gabriel +Harvey's Hunt is vp, 1596;" pamphlets now as costly as if they +consisted of leaves of gold.[87] + +Nash, who, in his other works, writes in a style as flowing as +Addison's, with hardly an obsolete vestige, has rather injured this +literary invective by the evident burlesque he affects of Harvey's +pedantic idiom; and for this Mr. Malone has hastily censured him, +without recollecting the aim of this modern Lucian.[88] The delicacy +of irony; the _sous-entendu_, that subtlety of indicating what is not +told; all that poignant satire, which is the keener for its polish, +were not practised by our first vehement satirists; but a bantering +masculine humour, a style stamped in the heat of fancy, with all the +life-touches of strong individuality, characterise these licentious +wits. They wrote then as the old _fabliers_ told their tales, naming +everything by its name; our refinement cannot approve, but it cannot +diminish their real nature, and among our elaborate graces, their +_naïveté_ must be still wanting. + +In this literary satire NASH has interwoven a kind of ludicrous +biography of Harvey; and seems to have anticipated the character of +Martinus Scriblerus. I leave the grosser parts of this invective +untouched; for my business is not with _slander_, but with _ridicule_. + +Nash opens as a skilful lampooner; he knew well that ridicule, without +the appearance of truth, was letting fly an arrow upwards, touching no +one. Nash accounts for his protracted silence by adroitly declaring +that he had taken these two or three years to get perfect intelligence +of Harvey's "Life and conversation; one true point whereof well sat +downe will more excruciate him than _knocking him about the ears with +his own style_ in a hundred sheets of paper." + +And with great humour says-- + +"As long as it is since he writ against me, so long have I given him a +lease of his life, and he hath only held it by my mercy; and now let +him thank his friends for this heavy load of disgrace I lay upon him, +since I do it but to show my sufficiency; and they urging what a +triumph he had over me, hath made me ransack my standish more than I +would." + +In the history of such a literary hero as Gabriel, the birth has ever +been attended by portents. Gabriel's mother "dreamt a dream," that she +was delivered "of an immense elder gun that can shoot nothing but +pellets of chewed paper; and thought, instead of a boy, she was +brought to bed of one of those kistrell birds called a wind-sucker." +At the moment of his birth came into the world "a calf with a double +tongue, and eares longer than any ass's, with his feet turned +backwards." Facetious analogies of Gabriel's literary genius! + +He then paints to the life the grotesque portrait of Harvey; so that +the man himself stands alive before us. "He was of an adust swarth +choleric dye, like restie bacon, or a dried scate-fish; his skin +riddled and crumpled like a piece of burnt parchment, with channels +and creases in his face, and wrinkles and frets of old age." Nash +dexterously attributes this premature old age to his own talents; +exulting humorously-- + +"I have brought him low, and shrewdly broken him; look on his head, +and you shall find a gray haire for euerie line I have writ against +him; and you shall haue all his beard white too by the time he hath +read ouer this booke." + +To give a finishing to the portrait, and to reach the climax of +personal contempt, he paints the sordid misery in which he lived at +Saffron-Walden:--"Enduring more hardness than a camell, who will liue +four dayes without water, and feedes on nothing but thistles and +wormwood, as he feeds on his estate on trotters, sheep porknells, and +buttered rootes, in an hexameter meditation." + +In his Venetian velvet and pantofles of pride, we are told-- + +"He looks, indeed, like a case of tooth-pickes, or a lute-pin stuck in +a suit of apparell. An Vsher of a dancing-schoole, he is such a _basia +de vmbra de vmbra de los pedes_; a kisser of the shadow of your feetes +shadow he is!" + +This is, doubtless, a portrait resembling the original, with its +Cervantic touches; Nash would not have risked what the eyes of his +readers would instantly have proved to be fictitious; and, in fact, +though the _Grangerites_ know of no portrait of Gabriel Harvey, they +will find a woodcut of him by the side of this description; it is, +indeed, in a most pitiable attitude, expressing that gripe of +criticism which seized on Gabriel "upon the news of the going in hand +of my booke." + +The ponderosity and prolixity of Gabriel's "period of a mile," are +described with a facetious extravagance, which may be given as a +specimen of the eloquence of ridicule. Harvey entitled his various +pamphlets "Letters." + +"More letters yet from the doctor? Out upon it, here's a packet of +epistling, as bigge as a packe of woollen cloth, or a stack of salt +fish. Carrier, didst thou bring it by wayne, or by horsebacke? By +wayne, sir, and it hath crackt me three axle-trees.--_Heavie_ newes! +Take them again! I will never open them.--My cart (quoth he, +deep-sighing,) hath cryde creake under them fortie times euerie +furlong; wherefore if you be a good man rather make mud-walls with +them, mend highways, or damme up quagmires with them. + +"When I came to unrip and unbumbast[89] this _Gargantuan_ bag pudding, +and found nothing in it but dogs tripes, swines livers, oxe galls, and +sheepes guts, I was in a bitterer chafe than anie cooke at a long +sermon, when his meat burnes. + +"O 'tis an vnsconscionable vast gor-bellied volume, bigger bulkt than +a Dutch hoy, and more cumbersome than a payre of Switzer's galeaze +breeches."[90] + +And in the same ludicrous style he writes-- + +"One epistle thereof to John Wolfe (Harvey's printer) I took and +weighed in an ironmonger's scale, and it counter poyseth a cade[91] of +herrings with three Holland cheeses. It was rumoured about the Court +that the guard meant to trie masteries with it before the Queene, and +instead of throwing the sledge, or the hammer, to hurle it foorth at +the armes end for a wager. + +"Sixe and thirtie sheets it comprehendeth, which with him is but sixe +and thirtie full points (periods); for he makes no more difference +'twixt a sheet of paper and a full pointe, than there is 'twixt two +black puddings for a pennie, and a pennie for a pair of black +puddings. Yet these are but the shortest prouerbes of his wit, for he +never bids a man good morrow, but he makes a speech as long as a +proclamation, nor drinkes to anie, but he reads a lecture of three +howers long, _de Arte bibendi_. O 'tis a precious apothegmatical +pedant." + +It was the foible of Harvey to wish to conceal the humble avocation of +his father: this forms a perpetual source of the bitterness or the +pleasantry of Nash, who, indeed, calls his pamphlet "a full answer to +the eldest son of the halter maker," which, he says, "is death to +Gabriel to remember; wherefore from time to time he doth nothing but +turmoile his thoughts how to invent new pedigrees, and what great +nobleman's bastard he was likely to be, not whose sonne he is reputed +to be. Yet he would not have a shoo to put on his foote if his father +had not traffiqued with the hangman.--Harvey nor his brothers cannot +bear to be called the sonnes of a rope-maker, which, by his private +confession to some of my friends, was the only thing that most set him +afire against me. Turne over his two bookes he hath published against +me, wherein he hath clapt paper God's plentie, if that could press a +man to death, and see if, in the waye of answer, or otherwise, he once +mentioned _the word rope-maker_, or come within forty foot of it; +except in one place of his first booke, where he nameth it not +neither, but goes thus cleanly to worke:--'and may not a good sonne +have a reprobate for his father?' a periphrase of a rope-maker, which, +if I should shryue myself, I never heard before." According to Nash, +Gabriel took his oath before a justice, that his father was an honest +man, and kept his sons at the Universities a long time. "I confirmed +it, and added, Ay! which is more, three proud sonnes, that when they +met the hangman, their father's best customer, would not put off their +hats to him--" + +Such repeated raillery on this foible of Harvey touched him more to +the quick, and more raised the public laugh, than any other point +of attack; for it was merited. Another foible was, perhaps, the +finical richness of Harvey's dress, adopting the Italian fashions on +his return from Italy, "when he made no bones of taking the wall +of Sir Philip Sidney, in his black Venetian velvet."[92] On this the +fertile invention of Nash raises a scandalous anecdote concerning +Gabriel's wardrobe; "a tale of his hobby-horse reuelling and +domineering at Audley-end, when the Queen was there; to which place +Gabriel came ruffling it out, hufty tufty, in his suit of veluet--" +which he had "untrussed, and pelted the outside from the lining of +an old velvet saddle he had borrowed!" "The rotten mould of that +worm-eaten relique, he means, when he dies, to hang over his tomb for +a monument."[93] Harvey was proud of his refined skill in "Tuscan +authors," and too fond of their worse conceits. Nash alludes to +his travels in Italy, "to fetch him twopenny worth of Tuscanism, +quite renouncing his natural English accents and gestures, wrested +himself wholly to the Italian punctilios, painting himself like a +courtezan, till the Queen declared, 'he looked something like an +Italian!' At which he roused his plumes, pricked his ears, and run +away with the bridle betwixt his teeth." These were malicious +tales, to make his adversary contemptible, whenever the merry wits at +court were willing to sharpen themselves on him. + +One of the most difficult points of attack was to break through that +bastion of sonnets and panegyrics with which Harvey had fortified +himself by the aid of his friends, against the assaults of Nash. +Harvey had been commended by the learned and the ingenious. Our +Lucian, with his usual adroitness, since he could not deny Harvey's +intimacy with Spenser and Sidney, gets rid of their suffrages by this +malicious sarcasm: "It is a miserable thing for a man to be said to +have had friends, and now to have neer a one left!" As for the others, +whom Harvey calls "his gentle and liberall friends," Nash boldly +caricatures the grotesque crew, as "tender itchie brained infants, +that cared not what they did, so they might come in print; worthless +whippets, and jack-straws, who meeter it in his commendation, whom he +would compare with the highest." The works of these young writers he +describes by an image exquisitely ludicrous and satirical:-- + +"These mushrumpes, who pester the world with their pamphlets, are like +those barbarous people in the hot countries, who, when they have bread +to make, doe no more than clap the dowe upon a post on the outside of +their houses, and there leave it to the sun to bake; so their +indigested conceipts, far rawer than anie dowe, at all adventures upon +the post they clap, pluck them off who will, and think they have made +as good a batch of poetrie as may be." + +Of Harvey's list of friends he observes:-- + +"To a bead-roll of learned men and lords, he appeals, whether he be an +asse or no?" + +Harvey had said, "Thomas Nash, from the top of his wit looking down +upon simple creatures, calleth Gabriel Harvey a dunce, a foole, an +ideot, a dolt, a goose cap, an asse, and so forth; for some of the +residue is not to be spoken but with his owne mannerly mouth; but he +should have shewed particularlie which wordes in my letters were the +wordes of a dunce; which sentences the sentences of a foole; which +arguments the arguments of an ideot; which opinions the opinions of a +dolt; which judgments the judgments of a goose-cap; which conclusions +the conclusions of an asse."[94] + +Thus Harvey reasons, till he becomes unreasonable; one would have +imagined that the literary satires of our English Lucian had been +voluminous enough, without the mathematical demonstration. The +banterers seem to have put poor Harvey nearly out of his wits; he and +his friends felt their blows too profoundly; they were much too +thin-skinned, and the solemn air of Harvey in his graver moments at +their menaces is extremely ludicrous. They frequently called him +_Gabrielissime Gabriel_, which quintessence of himself seems to have +mightily affected him. They threatened to confute his letters till +eternity--which seems to have put him in despair. The following +passage, descriptive of Gabriel's distresses, may excite a smile. + +"This grand confuter of my letters says, 'Gabriel, if there be any wit +or industrie in thee, now I will dare it to the vttermost; write of +what thou wilt, in what language thou wilt, and I will confute it, and +answere it. Take Truth's part, and I will proouve truth to be no +truth, marching ovt of thy dung-voiding mouth.' He will never leave me +as long as he is able to lift a pen, _ad infinitum_; if I reply, he +has a rejoinder; and for my brief _triplication_, he is prouided with +a _quadruplication_, and so he mangles my sentences, hacks my +arguments, wrenches my words, chops and changes my phrases, even to +the disjoyning and dislocation of my whole meaning." + +Poor Harvey! he knew not that there was _nothing real_ in ridicule, +_no end_ to its merry malice! + +Harvey's taste for hexameter verses, which he so unnaturally forced +into our language, is admirably ridiculed. Harvey had shown his taste +for these metres by a variety of poems, to whose subjects Nash thus +sarcastically alludes:-- + +"It had grown with him into such a dictionary custom, that no may-pole +in the street, no wether-cocke on anie church-steeple, no arbour, no +lawrell, no yewe-tree, he would ouerskip, without hayling in this +manner. After supper, if he chancst to play at cards with a queen of +harts in his hands, he would run upon men's and women's hearts all the +night." + +And he happily introduces here one of the miserable hexameter conceits +of Harvey-- + + Stout hart and sweet hart, yet stoutest hart to be stooped. + +Harvey's "Encomium Lauri" thus ridiculously commences, + + What might I call this tree? A lawrell? O bonny lawrell, + Needes to thy bowes will I bow this knee, and vayle my bonetto; + +which Nash most happily burlesques by describing Harvey under a +yew-tree at Trinity-hall, composing verses on the weathercock of +Allhallows in Cambridge:-- + + O thou wether-cocke that stands on the top of Allhallows, + Come thy wales down, if thou darst, for thy crowne, and take the + wall on us. + +"The hexameter verse (says Nash) I graunt to be a gentleman of an +auncient house (so is many an English beggar), yet this clyme of our's +hee cannot thrive in; our speech is too craggy for him to set his +plough in; hee goes twitching and hopping in our language, like a man +running vpon quagmires, vp the hill in one syllable and down the dale +in another, retaining no part of that stately smooth gate which he +vaunts himself with amongst the Greeks and Latins." + +The most humorous part in this Scribleriad, is a ludicrous narrative +of Harvey's expedition to the metropolis, for the sole purpose of +writing his "Pierce Supererogation," pitted against Nash's "Pierce's +Pennilesse." The facetious Nash describes the torpor and pertinacity +of his genius, by telling us he had kept Harvey at work-- + +"For seaven and thirtie weekes space while he lay at his printer's, +Wolfe, never stirring out of doors, or being churched all that +while--and that in the deadest season that might bee, hee lying in the +ragingest furie of the last plague where there dyde above 1600 a weeke +in London, ink-squittring and saracenically printing against mee. +Three quarters of a year thus immured hee remained, with his spirits +yearning empassionment, and agonised fury, thirst of revenge, +neglecting soul and bodies health to compasse it--sweating and dealing +upon it most intentively."[95] + +The narrative proceeds with the many perils which Harvey's printer +encountered, by expense of diet, and printing for this bright genius +and his friends, whose works "would rust and iron-spot paper to have +their names breathed over it;" and that Wolfe designed "to get a +privilege betimes, forbidding of all others to sell waste-paper but +himselfe." The climax of the narrative, after many misfortunes, ends +with Harvey being arrested by the printer, and confined to Newgate, +where his sword is taken from him, to his perpetual disgrace. So much +did Gabriel endure for having written a book against Tom Nash! + +But Harvey might deny some of these ludicrous facts.--Will he deny? +cries Nash--and here he has woven every tale the most watchful malice +could collect, varnished for their full effect. Then he adds, + +"You see I have brought the doctor out of request at court; and it +shall cost me a fall, but I will get him howted out of the Vniuersitie +too, ere I giue him ouer." He tells us Harvey was brought on the stage +at Trinity-college, in "the exquisite comedie of Pedantius," where, +under "the finical fine schoolmaster, the just manner of his phrase, +they stufft his mouth with; and the whole buffianisme throughout his +bookes, they bolstered out his part with--euen to the carrying of his +gowne, his nice gate in his pantofles, or the affected accent of his +speech--Let him deny that there was a shewe made at Clarehall of him +and his brothers, called Tarrarantantara turba tumultuosa Trigonum +Tri-Harveyorum Tri-harmonia; and another shewe of the little minnow +his brother, at Peter-house, called Duns furens, Dick Harvey in a +frensie." The sequel is thus told:--"Whereupon Dick came and broke the +college glass windows, and Dr. Perne caused him to be set in the +stockes till the shewe was ended." + +This "Duns furens, Dick Harvey in a frensie," was not only the +brother of one who ranked high in society and literature, but himself +a learned professor. Nash brings him down to "Pigmey Dick, that lookes +like a pound of goldsmith's candles, who had like to commit folly last +year with a milk-maid, as a friend of his very soberly informed me. +Little and little-wittied Dick, that hath vowed to live and die in +defence of Brutus and his Trojans."[96] An Herculean feat of this +"Duns furens," Nash tells us, was his setting Aristotle with his heels +upwards on the school-gates at Cambridge, and putting ass's ears on +his head, which Tom here records in _perpetuam rei memoriam_. But +Wood, our grave and keen literary antiquary, observes-- + +"To let pass other matters these vain men (the wits) report of Richard +Harvey, his works show him quite another person than what they make +him to be." + +Nash then forms a ludicrous contrast between "witless Gabriel and +ruffling Richard." The astronomer Richard was continually baiting the +great bear in the firmament, and in his lectures set up atheistical +questions, which Nash maliciously adds, "as I am afraid the earth +would swallow me if I should but rehearse." And at his close, Nash +bitterly regrets he has no more room; "else I should make Gabriel a +fugitive out of England, being the rauenousest slouen that ever lapt +porridge in noblemen's houses, where he has had already, out of two, +his mittimus of Ye may be gone! for he was a sower of seditious +paradoxes amongst kitchen-boys." Nash seems to have considered himself +as terrible as an Archilochus, whose satires were so fatal as to +induce the satirised, after having read them, to hang themselves. + +How ill poor Harvey passed through these wit-duels, and how profoundly +the wounds inflicted on him and his brothers were felt, appears by his +own confessions. In his "Foure Letters," after some curious +observations on invectives and satires, from those of Archilochus, +Lucian, and Aretine, to Skelton and Scoggin, and "the whole venomous +and viperous brood of old and new raylers," he proceeds to blame even +his beloved friend the gentle Spenser, for the severity of his "Mother +Hubbard's Tale," a satire on the court. "I must needes say, Mother +Hubbard in heat of choller, forgetting the pure sanguine of her +Sweete Feary Queene, artfully ouershott her malcontent-selfe; as +elsewhere I have specified at large, with the good leaue of vnspotted +friendship.--Sallust and Clodius learned of Tully to frame artificiall +declamations and patheticall invectives against Tully himselfe; if +Mother Hubbard, in the vaine of Chawcer, happen to tel one canicular +tale, father Elderton and his son Greene, in the vaine of Skelton or +Scoggin, will counterfeit an hundred dogged fables, libles, slaunders, +lies, for the whetstone. But many will sooner lose their liues than +the least jott of their reputation. What mortal feudes, what cruel +bloodshed, what terrible slaughterdome have been committed for the +point of honour and some few courtly ceremonies." + +The incidents so plentifully narrated in this Lucianic biography, the +very nature of this species of satire throws into doubt; yet they +still seem shadowed out from some truths; but the truths who can +unravel from the fictions? And thus a narrative is consigned to +posterity which involves illustrious characters in an inextricable +network of calumny and genius. + +Writers of this class alienate themselves from human kind, they break +the golden bond which holds them to society; and they live among us +like a polished banditti. In these copious extracts, I have not +noticed the more criminal insinuations against the Harveys; I have +left the grosser slanders untouched. My object has been only to trace +the effects of ridicule, and to detect its artifices, by which the +most dignified characters may be deeply injured at the pleasure of a +Ridiculer. The wild mirth of ridicule, aggravating and taunting real +imperfections, and fastening imaginary ones on the victim in idle +sport or ill-humour, strikes at the most brittle thing in the world, a +man's good reputation, for delicate matters which are not under the +protection of the law, but in which so much of personal happiness is +concerned. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [80] Of AKENSIDE few particulars have been recorded, for the friend + who best knew him was of so cold a temper with regard to + public opinion, that he has not, in his account, revealed a + solitary feature in the character of the poet. Yet Akenside's + mind and manners were of a fine romantic cast, drawn from the + moulds of classical antiquity. Such was the charm of his + converse, that he even heated the cold and sluggish mind of + Sir John Hawkins, who has, with unusual vivacity, described a + day spent with him in the country. As I have mentioned the + fictitious physician in "Peregrine Pickle," let the same page + show the real one. I shall transcribe Sir John's forgotten + words--omitting his "neat and elegant dinner:"--"Akenside's + conversation was of the most delightful kind, learned, + instructive, and, without any affectation of wit, cheerful and + entertaining. One of the pleasantest days of my life I passed + with him, Mr. Dyson, and another friend, at Putney--where the + enlivening sunshine of a summer's day, and the view of an + unclouded sky, were the least of our gratifications. In + perfect good-humour with himself and all about him, he seemed + to feel a joy that he lived, and poured out his gratulations + to the great Dispenser of all felicity in expressions that + Plato himself might have uttered on such an occasion. In + conversations with select friends, and those whose studies had + been nearly the same with his own, it was a usual thing with + him, in libations to the memory of eminent men among the + ancients, to bring their characters into view, and expatiate + on those particulars of their lives that had rendered them + famous." Observe the arts of the ridiculer! he seized on the + romantic enthusiasm of Akenside, and turned it to _the cookery + of the ancients_! + + [81] This pamphlet has been ascribed to John Lilly, but it must be + confessed that its native vigour strangely contrasts with the + famous _Euphuism_ of that refined writer. [There can, however, + be little doubt that he was the author of this tract, as he is + alluded to more than once as such by Harvey in his "Pierce's + Supererogation;"--"would that Lilly had alwaies been _Euphues_ + and never _Pap-hatchet_."--ED.] + + [82] Tarleton appears to have had considerable power of extemporising + satirical rhymes on the fleeting events of his own day. A + collection of his Jests was published in 1611; the following + is a favourable specimen:--"There was a nobleman asked + Tarleton what he thought of soldiers in time of peace. Marry, + quoth he, they are like chimneys in summer."--ED. + + [83] A long list of Elderton's popular rhymes is given by Ritson in + his "Bibliographia Poetica." One of them, on the "King of + Scots and Andrew Browne," is published in Percy's "Reliques," + who speaks of him as "a facetious fuddling companion, whose + tippling and whose rhymes rendered him famous among his + contemporaries." Ritson is more condensed and less civil in + his analysis; he simply describes him as "a ballad-maker by + profession, and drunkard by habit."--ED. + + [84] Harvey, in the title-page of his "Pierce's Supererogation," has + placed an emblematic woodcut, expressive of his own + confidence, and his contempt of the wits. It is a lofty + palm-tree, with its durable and impenetrable trunk; at its + feet lie a heap of serpents, darting their tongues, and filthy + toads, in vain attempting to pierce or to pollute it. The + Italian motto, wreathed among the branches of the palm, + declares, _Il vostro malignare non giova nulla_: Your + malignity avails nothing. + + [85] Among those Sonnets, in Harvey's "Foure Letters, and certaine + Sonnets, especially touching Robert Greene and other parties + by him abused, 1592," there is one, which, with great + originality of conception, has an equal vigour of style, and + causticity of satire, on Robert Greene's death. John Harvey + the physician, who was then dead, is thus made to address the + town-wit, and the libeller of himself and his family. If + Gabriel was the writer of this singular Sonnet, as he + undoubtedly is of the verses to Spenser, subscribed Hobynol, + it must be confessed he is a Poet, which he never appears in + his English hexameters:-- + + JOHN HARVEY the Physician's Welcome to ROBERT GREENE! + + "Come, fellow Greene, come to thy gaping grave, + Bid vanity and foolery farewell, + That ouerlong hast plaid the mad-brained knaue, + And ouerloud hast rung the bawdy bell. + Vermine to vermine must repair at last; + No fitter house for busie folke to dwell; + Thy conny-catching pageants are past[86], + Some other must those arrant stories tell; + These hungry wormes thinke long for their repast; + Come on; I pardon thy offence to me; + It was thy living; be not so aghast! + A fool and a physitian may agree! + And for my brothers never vex thyself; + They are not to disease a buried elfe." + + [86] Greene had written "The Art of Coney-catching." He was a great + adept in the arts of a town-life. + + [87] Sir Egerton Brydges in his reprint of "Greene's Groatsworth of + Wit," has given the only passage from "The Quip for an Upstart + Courtier," which at all alludes to Harvey's father. He says + with great justice, "there seems nothing in it sufficiently + offensive to account for the violence of Harvey's anger." The + Rev. A. Dyce, so well known from his varied researches in our + dramatic literature, is of opinion that the offensive passage + has been removed from the editions which have come down to us. + Without some such key it is impossible to comprehend Harvey's + implacable hatred, or the words of himself and friends when + they describe Greene as an "impudent railer in an odious and + desperate mood," or his satire as "spiteful and villanous + abuse." The occasion of the quarrel was an attack by Richard + Harvey, who had the folly to "mis-term all our poets and + writers about London, _piperly make-plays_ and _make-bates_," + as Nash informs us; "hence Greene being chief agent to the + company, for he writ more than four other, took occasion to + canvass him a little,--about some seven or eight lines, which + hath plucked on an invective of so many leaves."--ED. + + [88] Nash was a great favourite with the wits of his day. One calls + him "our true English Aretine," another, "Sweet satyric Nash," + a third describes his Muse as "armed with a gag-tooth (a + tusk), and his pen possessed with Hercules's furies." He is + well characterised in "The Return from Parnassus." + + "His style was witty, tho' he had some gall; + Something he might have mended, so may all; + Yet this I say, that for _a mother's wit_, + Few men have ever seen the like of it." + + Nash abounds with "Mother-wit;" but he was also educated at + the University, with every advantage of classical studies. + + [89] _Bombast_ was the tailors' term in the Elizabethan era for the + stuffing of horsehair or wool used for the large breeches then + in fashion; hence the term was applied to high-sounding + phrases--"all sound and fury, signifying nothing."--ED. + + [90] These were the loose heavy breeches so constantly worn by Swiss + soldiers as to become a national costume, and which has been + handed down to us by the artists of the day in a variety of + forms. They obtained the name of _galeaze_, from their + supposed resemblance to the broad-bottomed ship called a + galliass.--ED. + + [91] A cade is 500 herrings; a great quantity of an article of no + value. + + [92] Harvey's love of dress, and desire to indulge it cheaply, is + satirically alluded to by Nash, in confuting Harvey's + assertion that Greene's wardrobe at his death was not worth + more than three shillings--"I know a broker in a spruce + leather jerkin shall give you thirty shillings for the doublet + alone, if you can help him to it. Hark in your ear! he had a + very fair cloak, with sleeves of a goose green, it would serve + you as fine as may be. No more words; if you be wise, play the + good husband, and listen after it, you may buy it ten + shillings better cheap than it cost him. By St. Silver, it is + good to be circumspect in casting for the world; there's a + great many _ropes_ go to ten shillings? If you want a greasy + pair of silk stockings to shew yourself in the court, they are + there to be had too, amongst his moveables."--ED. + + [93] This unlucky Venetian velvet coat of Harvey had also produced a + "Quippe for an Vpstart Courtier, or a quaint dispute between + Veluet-breeches and Cloth-breeches," which poor Harvey + declares was "one of the most licentious and intolerable + invectives." This blow had been struck by Greene on the + "Italianated" Courtier. + + [94] "Pierce's Supererogation, or a new praise of the Old Asse," + 1593. + + [95] Harvey's opponents were much nimbler penmen, and could strike + off these lampoons with all the facility of writers for the + stage. Thus Nash declares, in his "Have with you to Saffron + Walden," that he leaves Lilly, who was also attacked, to + defend himself, because "in as much time as he spends in + taking tobacco one week, he can compile that would make + Gabriell repent himself all his life after."--ED. + + [96] He had written an antiquarian work on the descent of Brutus on + our island.--The party also who at the University attacked the + opinions of Aristotle were nicknamed the _Trojans_, as + determined enemies of the _Greeks_. + + + + +LITERARY HATRED. + +EXHIBITING A CONSPIRACY AGAINST AN AUTHOR. + + +In the peaceful walks of literature we are startled at discovering +genius with the mind, and, if we conceive the instrument it guides to +be a stiletto, with the hand of an assassin--irascible, vindictive, +armed with indiscriminate satire, never pardoning the merit of rival +genius, but fastening on it throughout life, till, in the moral +retribution of human nature, these very passions, by their ungratified +cravings, have tended to annihilate the being who fostered them. These +passions among literary men are with none more inextinguishable than +among _provincial writers_.--Their bad feelings are concentrated by +their local contraction. The proximity of men of genius seems to +produce a familiarity which excites hatred or contempt; while he who +is afflicted with disordered passions imagines that he is urging his +own claims to genius by denying them to their possessor. A whole life +passed in harassing the industry or the genius which he has not +equalled; and instead of running the open career as a competitor, only +skulking as an assassin by their side, is presented in the object now +before us. + +Dr. GILBERT STUART seems early in life to have devoted himself to +literature; but his habits were irregular, and his passions fierce. +The celebrity of Robertson, Blair, and Henry, with other Scottish +brothers, diseased his mind with a most envious rancour. He confined +all his literary efforts to the pitiable motive of destroying theirs; +he was prompted to every one of his historical works by the mere +desire of discrediting some work of Robertson; and his numerous +critical labours were all directed to annihilate the genius of his +country. How he converted his life into its own scourge, how wasted +talents he might have cultivated into perfection, lost every trace of +humanity, and finally perished, devoured by his own fiend-like +passions,--shall be illustrated by the following narrative, collected +from a correspondence now lying before me, which the author carried on +with his publisher in London. I shall copy out at some length the +hopes and disappointments of the literary adventurer--the colours are +not mine; I am dipping my pencil in the palette of the artist +himself. + +In June, 1773, was projected in the Scottish capital "The Edinburgh +Magazine and Review." Stuart's letters breathe the spirit of rapturous +confidence. He had combined the sedulous attention of the intelligent +Smellie, who was to be the printer, with some very honourable critics; +Professor Baron, Dr. Blacklock, and Professor Richardson; and the +first numbers were executed with more talent than periodical +publications had then exhibited. But the hardiness of Stuart's +opinions, his personal attacks, and the acrimony of his literary +libels, presented a new feature in Scottish literature, of such +ugliness and horror, that every honourable man soon averted his face +from this _boutefeu_. + +He designed to ornament his first number with-- + +"A print of my Lord Monboddo in his quadruped form. I must, therefore, +most earnestly beg that you will purchase for me a copy of it in some +of the Macaroni print shops. It is not to be procured at Edinburgh. +They are afraid to vend it here. We are to take it on the footing of a +figure of an animal, not yet described; and are to give a grave, yet +satirical account of it, in the manner of Buffon. It would not be +proper to allude to his lordship but in a very distant manner." + +It was not, however, ventured on; and the nondescript animal was still +confined to the windows of "the Macaroni print shops." It was, +however, the bloom of the author's fancy, and promised all the mellow +fruits it afterwards produced. + +In September this ardour did not abate:-- + +"The proposals are issued; the subscriptions in the booksellers' shops +astonish; correspondents flock in; and, what will surprise you, the +timid proprietors of the 'Scots' Magazine' have come to the resolution +of dropping their work. You stare at all this, and so do I too." + +Thus he flatters himself he is to annihilate his rival, without even +striking the first blow. The appearance of his first number is to be +the moment when their last is to come forth. Authors, like the +discoverers of mines, are the most sanguine creatures in the world: +Gilbert Stuart afterwards flattered himself Dr. Henry was lying at the +point of death from the scalping of his tomahawk pen; but of this +anon. + +On the publication of the first number, in November, 1773, all is +exultation; and an account is facetiously expected that "a thousand +copies had emigrated from the Row and Fleet-street." + +There is a serious composure in the letter of December, which seems to +be occasioned by the tempered answer of his London correspondent. The +work was more suited to the meridian of Edinburgh; and from causes +sufficiently obvious, its personality and causticity. Stuart, however, +assures his friend that "the second number you will find better than +the first, and the third better than the second." + +The next letter is dated March 4, 1774, in which I find our author +still in good spirits:-- + +"The Magazine rises, and promises much, in this quarter. Our artillery +has silenced all opposition. The rogues of the 'uplifted hands' +decline the combat." These rogues are the clergy, and some others, who +had "uplifted hands" from the vituperative nature of their adversary; +for he tells us that, "now the clergy are silent, the town-council +have had the presumption to oppose us; and have threatened Creech (the +publisher in Edinburgh) with the terror of making him a constable for +his insolence. A pamphlet on the abuses of Heriot's Hospital, +including a direct proof of perjury in the provost, was the punishment +inflicted in return. And new papers are forging to chastise them, in +regard to the poors' rate, which is again started; the improper choice +of professors; and violent stretches of the impost. The _liberty of +the press_, in its fullest extent, is to be employed against them." + +Such is the language of reform, and the spirit of a reformist! A +little private malignity thus ferments a good deal of public spirit; +but patriotism must be independent to be pure. If the "Edinburgh +Review" continues to succeed in its sale, as Stuart fancies, +Edinburgh itself may be in some danger. His perfect contempt of +his contemporaries is amusing:-- + +"Monboddo's second volume is published, and, with Kaimes, will appear +in our next; the former is a childish performance; the latter rather +better. We are to treat them with a good deal of freedom. I observe an +amazing falling off in the English Reviews. We beat them hollow. I +fancy they have no assistance but from the Dissenters,--a dull body of +men. The Monthly will not easily recover the death of Hawkesworth; and +I suspect that Langhorne has forsaken them; for I see no longer his +pen." + +We are now hastening to the sudden and the moral catastrophe of our +tale. The thousand copies which had emigrated to London remained +there, little disturbed by public inquiry; and in Scotland, the +personal animosity against almost every literary character there, +which had inflamed the sale, became naturally the latent cause of its +extinction; for its life was but a feverish existence, and its florid +complexion carried with it the seeds of its dissolution. Stuart at +length quarrelled with his coadjutor, Smellie, for altering his +reviews. Smellie's prudential dexterity was such, that, in an article +designed to level Lord Kaimes with Lord Monboddo, the whole libel was +completely metamorphosed into a panegyric. They were involved in a +lawsuit about "a blasphemous paper." And now the enraged Zoilus +complains of "his hours of peevishness and dissatisfaction." He +acknowledges that "a circumstance had happened which had broke his +peace and ease altogether for some weeks." And now he resolves that +this great work shall quietly sink into a mere compilation from the +London periodical works. Such, then, is the progress of malignant +genius! The author, like him who invented the brazen bull of Phalaris, +is writhing in that machine of tortures he had contrived for others. + +We now come to a very remarkable passage: it is the frenzied language +of disappointed wickedness. + + "_17 June, 1774._ + + "It is an infinite disappointment to me that the Magazine does not + grow in London; I thought the soil had been richer. But it is my + constant fate to be disappointed in everything I attempt; I do not + think I ever had a wish that was gratified; and never dreaded an + event that did not come. With this felicity of fate, I wonder how + the devil I could turn projector. I am now sorry that I left + London; and the moment that I have money enough to carry me back + to it, I shall set off. _I mortally detest and abhor this place, + and everybody in it._ Never was there a city where there was so + much pretension to knowledge, and that had so little of it. The + solemn foppery, and the gross stupidity of the Scottish literati, + are perfectly insupportable. I shall drop my idea of a Scots + newspaper. Nothing will do in this country that has common sense + in it; only cant, hypocrisy, and superstition will flourish here. + _A curse on the country, and all the men, women, and children of + it!_" + +Again.--"The publication is too good for the country. There are very +few men of taste or erudition on this side of the Tweed. Yet every +idiot one meets with lays claim to both. Yet the success of the +Magazine is in reality greater than we could expect, considering +that we have every clergyman in the kingdom to oppose it, and that +the magistracy of the place are every moment threatening its +destruction." + +And, therefore, this recreant Scot anathematizes the Scottish people +for not applauding blasphemy, calumny, and every species of literary +criminality! Such are the monstrous passions that swell out the +poisonous breast of genius, deprived of every moral restraint; and +such was the demoniac irritability which prompted a wish in Collot +d'Herbois to set fire to the four quarters of the city of Lyons; +while, in his "tender mercies," the kennels of the streets were +running with the blood of its inhabitants--remembering still that the +Lyonese had, when he was a miserable actor, hissed him off the stage! + +Stuart curses his country, and retreats to London. Fallen, but not +abject; repulsed, but not altered; degraded, but still haughty. No +change of place could operate any in his heart. He was born in +literary crime, and he perished in it. It was now "The English Review" +was instituted, with his idol Whitaker, the historian of Manchester, +and others. He says, "To Whitaker he assigns the palm of history in +preference to Hume and Robertson." I have heard that he considered +himself higher than Whitaker, and ranked himself with Montesquieu. He +negotiated for Whitaker and himself a Doctor of Laws' degree; and they +were now in the titular possession of all the fame which a dozen +pieces could bestow! In "The English Review" broke forth all the +genius of Stuart in an unnatural warfare of Scotchmen in London +against Scotchmen at Edinburgh. "The bitter herbs," which seasoned it +against Blair, Robertson, Gibbon, and the ablest authors of the age, +at first provoked the public appetite, which afterwards indignantly +rejected the palatable garbage. + +But to proceed with our _Literary Conspiracy_, which was conducted by +Stuart with a pertinacity of invention perhaps not to be paralleled in +literary history. That the peace of mind of such an industrious author +as Dr. HENRY was for a considerable time destroyed; that the sale of a +work on which Henry had expended much of his fortune and his life was +stopped; and that, when covered with obloquy and ridicule, in despair +he left Edinburgh for London, still encountering the same hostility; +that all this was the work of the same hand perhaps was never even +known to its victim. The multiplied forms of this Proteus of the +Malevoli were still but one devil; fire or water, or a bull or a lion; +still it was the same Proteus, the same Stuart. + +From the correspondence before me I am enabled to collect the +commencement and the end of this literary conspiracy, with all its +intermediate links. It thus commences:-- + + "_25 Nov. 1773._ + + "We have been attacked from different quarters, and Dr. Henry in + particular has given a long and a dull defence of his sermon. I + have replied to it with a degree of spirit altogether unknown in + this country. The reverend historian was perfectly astonished, and + has actually invited the Society for Propagating Christian + Knowledge to arm in his cause! I am about to be persecuted by the + whole clergy, and I am about to persecute them in my turn. They + are hot and zealous; I am cool and dispassionate, like a + determined sceptic; since I have entered the lists, I must fight; + I must gain the victory, or perish like a man." + + + "_13 Dec. 1773._ + + "David Hume wants to review Henry; but that task is so precious + that I will undertake it myself. Moses, were he to ask it as a + favour, should not have it; yea, not even the man after God's own + heart." + + + "_4 March, 1774._ + + "This month Henry is utterly demolished; his sale is stopped, many + of his copies are returned; and his old friends have forsaken him; + pray, in what state is he in London? Henry has delayed his London + journey; you cannot easily conceive how exceedingly he is + humbled.[97] + + "I wish I could transport myself to London to review him for the + Monthly. A fire there, and in the Critical, would perfectly + annihilate him. Could you do nothing in the latter? To the former + I suppose David Hume has transcribed the criticism he intended for + us. It is precious, and would divert you. I keep a proof of it in + my cabinet for the amusement of friends. This great philosopher + begins to dote."[98] + +Stuart prepares to assail Henry, on his arrival in London, from +various quarters--to lower the value of his history in the estimation +of the purchasers. + + "_21 March, 1774._ + + "To-morrow morning Henry sets off for London, with immense hopes + of selling his history. I wish he had delayed till our last review + of him had reached your city. But I really suppose that he has + little probability of getting any gratuity. The trade are too + sharp to give precious gold for perfect nonsense. I wish sincerely + that I could enter Holborn the same hour with him. He should have + a repeated fire to combat with. I entreat that you may be so kind + as to let him feel some of your thunder. I shall never forget the + favour. If Whitaker is in London, he could give a blow. Paterson + will give him a knock. Strike by all means. The wretch will + tremble, grow pale, and return with a consciousness of his + debility. I entreat I may hear from you a day or two after you + have seen him. He will complain grievously of me to Strahan and + Rose. I shall send you a paper about him--an advertisement from + Parnassus, in the manner of Boccalini." + + + "_March, 1774._ + + "Dr. Henry has by this time reached you. I think you ought to pay + your respects to him in the _Morning Chronicle_. If you would only + transcribe his jests, it would make him perfectly ridiculous. See, + for example, what he says of St. Dunstan. A word to the wise." + + + "_March 27, 1774._ + + "I have a thousand thanks to give you for your insertion of the + paper in the London _Chronicle_, and for the part you propose to + act in regard to Henry. I could wish that you knew for certain his + being in London before you strike the first blow. An inquiry at + Cadell's will give this. When you have an enemy to attack, I shall + in return give my best assistance, and aim at him a mortal blow, + and rush forward to his overthrow, though the flames of hell + should start up to oppose me. + + "It pleases me, beyond what I can express, that Whitaker has an + equal contempt for Henry. The idiot threatened, when he left + Edinburgh, that he would find a method to manage the Reviews, and + that he would oppose their panegyric to our censure. Hume has + behaved ill in the affair, and I am preparing to chastise him. + You may expect a series of papers in the Magazine, pointing out a + multitude of his errors, and ascertaining his ignorance of English + history. It was too much for my temper to be assailed both by + infidels and believers. My pride could not submit to it. I shall + act in my defence with a spirit which it seems they have not + expected." + + + "_11 April, 1774._ + + "I received with infinite pleasure the annunciation of the great + man into the capital. It is forcible and excellent; and you have + my best thanks for it. You improve amazingly. The poor creature + will be stupified with amazement. Inclosed is a paper for him. + Boccalini will follow. I shall fall upon a method to let David + know Henry's transaction about his review. It is mean to the last + degree. But what could one expect from the most ignorant and the + most contemptible man alive? Do you ever see Macfarlane? He owes + me a favour for his history of George III., and would give a fire + for the packet. The idiot is to be Moderator for the ensuing + Assembly. It shall not, however, be without opposition. + + "Would the paragraph about him from the inclosed leaf of the + 'Edinburgh Review' be any disgrace to the _Morning Chronicle_?" + + + "_20th May, 1774._ + + "Boccalini I thought of transmitting, when the reverend historian, + for whose use it was intended, made his appearance at Edinburgh. + But it will not be lost. He shall most certainly see it. David's + critique was most acceptable. It is a curious specimen in one view + of insolent vanity, and in another of contemptible meanness. The + old historian begins to dote, and the new one was never out of + dotage." + + + "_3 April, 1775._ + + "I see every day that what is written to a man's disparagement is + never forgot nor forgiven. Poor Henry is on the point of death, + and his friends declare that I have killed him. I received the + information as a compliment, and begged they would not do me so + much honour." + +But Henry and his history long survived Stuart and his _critiques_; +and Robertson, Blair, and Kaimes, with others he assailed, have all +taken their due ranks in public esteem. What niche does Stuart occupy? +His historical works possess the show, without the solidity, of +research; hardy paradoxes, and an artificial style of momentary +brilliancy, are none of the lasting materials of history. This shadow +of "Montesquieu," for he conceived him only to be his fit rival, +derived the last consolations of life from an obscure corner of a +Burton ale-house--there, in rival potations, with two or three other +disappointed authors, they regaled themselves on ale they could not +always pay for, and recorded their own literary celebrity, which had +never taken place. Some time before his death, his asperity was almost +softened by melancholy; with a broken spirit, he reviewed himself; a +victim to that unrighteous ambition which sought to build up its +greatness with the ruins of his fellow-countrymen; prematurely wasting +talents which might have been directed to literary eminence. And +Gilbert Stuart died as he had lived, a victim to intemperance, +physical and moral! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [97] It may be curious to present Stuart's idea of the literary + talents of Henry. Henry's unhappy turn for humour, and a style + little accordant with historical dignity, lie fairly open to + the critic's animadversion. But the research and application + of the writer, for that day, were considerable, and are still + appreciated. But we are told that "he neither furnishes + entertainment nor instruction. Diffuse, vulgar, and + ungrammatical, he strips history of all her ornaments. As an + antiquary, he wants accuracy and knowledge; and, as an + historian, he is destitute of fire, taste, and sentiment. His + work is a gazette, in which we find actions and events, + without their causes; and in which we meet with the names, + without the characters of personages. He has amassed all the + refuse and lumber of the times he would record." Stuart never + imagined that the time would arrive when the name of Henry + would be familiar to English readers, and by many that of + Stuart would not be recollected. + + [98] The critique on Henry, in the _Monthly Review_, was written by + Hume--and, because the philosopher was candid, he is here said + to have doted. + + + + +UNDUE SEVERITY OF CRITICISM. + +DR. KENRICK.--SCOTT OF AMWELL. + + +We have witnessed the malignant influence of illiberal criticism, not +only on literary men, but over literature itself, since it is the +actual cause of suppressing works which lie neglected, though +completed by their authors. The arts of literary condemnation, as they +may be practised by men of wit and arrogance, are well known; and it +is much less difficult than it is criminal, to scare the modest man of +learning, and to rack the man of genius, in that bright vision of +authorship sometimes indulged in the calm of their studies--a generous +emotion to inspire a generous purpose! With suppressed indignation, +shrinking from the press, such have condemned themselves to a +Carthusian silence; but the public will gain as little by silent +authors as by a community of lazy monks; or a choir of singers who +insist they have lost their voice. That undue severity of criticism +which diminishes the number of good authors, is a greater calamity +than even that mawkish panegyric which may invite indifferent ones; +for the truth is, a bad book produces no great evil in literature; it +dies soon, and naturally; and the feeble birth only disappoints its +unlucky parent, with a score of idlers who are the dupes of their rage +after novelty. A bad book never sells unless it be addressed to the +passions, and, in that case, the severest criticism will never impede +its circulation; malignity and curiosity being passions so much +stronger and less delicate than taste or truth. + +And who are the authors marked out for attack? Scarcely one of the +populace of scribblers; for wit will not lose one silver shaft on game +which, struck, no one would take up. It must level at the Historian, +whose novel researches throw a light in the depths of antiquity; at +the Poet, who, addressing himself to the imagination, perishes if that +sole avenue to the heart be closed on him. Such are those who receive +the criticism which has sent some nervous authors to their graves, and +embittered the life of many whose talents we all regard.[99] + +But this species of criticism, though ungenial and nipping at first, +does not always kill the tree which it has frozen over. + +In the calamity before us, Time, that great autocrat, who in its +tremendous march destroys authors, also annihilates critics; and +acting in this instance with a new kind of benevolence, takes up some +who have been violently thrown down, and fixes them in their proper +place; and daily enfeebling unjust criticism, has restored an injured +author to his full honours. + +It is, however, lamentable enough that authors must participate in +that courage which faces the cannon's mouth, or cease to be authors; +for military enterprise is not the taste of modest, retired, and +timorous characters. The late Mr. Cumberland used to say that authors +must not be thin-skinned, but shelled like the rhinoceros; there are, +however, more delicately tempered animals among them, new-born lambs, +who shudder at a touch, and die under a pressure. + +As for those great authors (though the greatest shrink from ridicule) +who still retain public favour, they must be patient, proud, and +fearless--patient of that obloquy which still will stain their honour +from literary echoers; proud, while they are sensible that their +literary offspring is not + + Deformed, unfinished, sent before its time + Into this breathing world, scarce half made up. + +And fearless of all critics, when they recollect the reply of Bentley +to one who threatened to write him down, "that no author was ever +written down but by himself." + +An author must consider himself as an arrow shot into the world; his +impulse must be stronger than the current of air that carries him +on--else he fall! + +The character I had proposed to illustrate this calamity was the +caustic Dr. KENRICK, who, once during several years, was, in his +"London Review," one of the great disturbers of literary repose. The +turn of his criticism; the airiness, or the asperity of his sarcasm; +the arrogance with which he treated some of our great authors, would +prove very amusing, and serve to display a certain talent of +criticism. The life of Kenrick, too, would have afforded some +wholesome instruction concerning the morality of a critic. But the +rich materials are not at hand! He was a man of talents, who ran a +race with the press; could criticise all the genius of the age faster +than it could be produced; could make his own malignity look like wit, +and turn the wit of others into absurdity, by placing it topsy-turvy. +As thus, when he attacked "The Traveller" of Goldsmith, which he +called "a flimsy poem," he discussed the subject as a grave political +pamphlet, condemning the whole system, as raised on false principles. +"The Deserted Village" was sneeringly pronounced to be "pretty;" but +then it had "neither fancy, dignity, genius, or fire." When he +reviewed Johnson's "Tour to the Hebrides," he decrees that the whole +book was written "by one who had seen but little," and therefore could +not be very interesting. His virulent attack on Johnson's Shakspeare +may be preserved for its total want of literary decency; and his "Love +in the Suds, a Town Eclogue," where he has placed Garrick with an +infamous character, may be useful to show how far witty malignity will +advance in the violation of moral decency. He libelled all the genius +of the age, and was proud of doing it.[100] Johnson and Akenside +preserved a stern silence: but poor Goldsmith, the child of Nature, +could not resist attempting to execute martial law, by caning the +critic; for which being blamed, he published a defence of himself in +the papers. I shall transcribe his feelings on Kenrick's excessive and +illiberal criticism. + +"The law gives us no protection against this injury. The insults we +receive before the public, by being more open, are the more +distressing; by treating them with silent contempt, we do not pay a +sufficient deference to the opinion of the world. By recurring to +legal redress, we too often expose the weakness of the law, which only +serves to increase our mortification by failing to relieve us. In +short, every man should singly consider himself as a guardian of the +liberty of the press, and, as far as his influence can extend, should +endeavour to prevent its licentiousness becoming at last the grave of +its freedom."[101] + +Here then is another calamity arising from the calamity of undue +severity of criticism, which authors bring on themselves by their +excessive anxiety, which throws them into some extremely ridiculous +attitudes; and surprisingly influences even authors of good sense and +temper. SCOTT, of Amwell, the Quaker and Poet, was, doubtless, a +modest and amiable man, for Johnson declared "he loved him." When his +poems were collected, they were reviewed in the "Critical Review" very +offensively to the poet; for the critic, alluding to the numerous +embellishments of the volume, observed that + +"There is a profusion of ornaments and finery about this book not +quite suitable to the plainness and simplicity of the Barclean system; +but Mr. Scott is fond of the Muses, and wishes, we suppose, like +Captain Macheath, to see his ladies well dressed." + +Such was the cold affected witticism of the critic, whom I intimately +knew--and I believe he meant little harm! His friends imagined even +that this was the solitary attempt at wit he had ever made in his +life; for after a lapse of years, he would still recur to it as an +evidence of the felicity of his fancy, and the keenness of his satire. +The truth is, he was a physician, whose name is prefixed as the editor +to a great medical compilation, and who never pretended that he had +any taste for poetry. His great art of poetical criticism was always, +as Pope expresses a character, "to dwell in decencies;" his acumen, to +detect that terrible poetic crime false rhymes, and to employ +indefinite terms, which, as they had no precise meaning, were +applicable to all things; to commend, occasionally, a passage not +always the most exquisite; sometimes to hesitate, while, with +delightful candour, he seemed to give up his opinion; to hazard +sometimes a positive condemnation on parts which often unluckily +proved the most favourite with the poet and the reader. Such was this +poetical reviewer, whom no one disturbed in his periodical course, +till the circumstance of a plain Quaker becoming a poet, and +fluttering in the finical ornaments of his book, provoked him from +that calm state of innocent mediocrity, into miserable humour, and +illiberal criticism. + +The effect, however, this pert criticism had on poor Scott was indeed +a calamity. It produced an inconsiderate "Letter to the Critical +Reviewers." Scott was justly offended at the stigma of Quakerism, +applied to the author of a literary composition; but too gravely +accuses the critic of his scurrilous allusion to Macheath, as +comparing him to a highwayman; he seems, however, more provoked at the +odd account of his poems; he says, "You rank all my poems together as +_bad_, then discriminate some as _good_, and, to complete all, +recommend the volume as _an agreeable and amusing collection_." Had +the poet been personally acquainted with this tantalizing critic, he +would have comprehended the nature of the criticism--and certainly +would never have replied to it. + +The critic, employing one of his indefinite terms, had said of +"Amwell," and some of the early "Elegies," that "they had their share +of poetical merit;" he does not venture to assign the proportion of +that share, but "the Amœbean and oriental eclogues, odes, epistles, +&c., now added, are _of a much weaker feature, and many of them +incorrect_." + +Here Scott loses all his dignity as a Quaker and a poet--he asks what +the critic means by the affected phrase _much weaker feature_; the +style, he says, was designed to be somewhat less elevated, and thus +addresses the critic:-- + +"You may, however, be safely defied to pronounce them, with truth, +deficient either in strength or melody of versification! They +were designed to be, like Virgil's, descriptive of Nature, simple +and correct. Had you been disposed to do me justice, you might +have observed that in these eclogues I had drawn from the great +prototype Nature, much imagery that had escaped the notice of +all my predecessors. You might also have remarked that when I +introduced images that had been already introduced by others, +still the arrangement or combination of those images was my own. +The praise of originality you might at least have allowed me." + +As for their _incorrectness_!--Scott points that accusation with a +note of admiration, adding, "with whatever defects my works may be +chargeable, the last is that of _incorrectness_." + +We are here involuntarily reminded of Sir Fretful, in _The Critic_:-- + +"I think the interest rather declines in the fourth act." + +"Rises! you mean, my dear friend!" + +Perhaps the most extraordinary examples of the irritation of a poet's +mind, and a man of amiable temper, are those parts of this letter in +which the author quotes large portions of his poetry, to refute the +degrading strictures of the reviewer. + +This was a fertile principle, admitting of very copious extracts; but +the ludicrous attitude is that of an Adonis inspecting himself at his +mirror. + +That provoking see-saw of criticism, which our learned physician +usually adopted in his critiques, was particularly tantalizing to the +poet of Amwell. The critic condemns, in the gross, a whole set of +eclogues; but immediately asserts of one of them, that "the whole of +it has great poetical merit, and paints its subject in the warmest +colours." When he came to review the odes, he discovers that "he does +not meet with those polished numbers, nor that freedom and spirit, +which that species of poetry requires;" and quotes half a stanza, +which he declares is "abrupt and insipid." "From twenty-seven odes!" +exclaims the writhing poet--"are the whole of my lyric productions to +be stigmatised for four lines which are flatter than those that +preceded them?" But what the critic could not be aware of, the poet +tells us--he designed them to be just what they are. "I knew they were +so when they were first written, but they were thought sufficiently +elevated for the place." And then he enters into an inquiry what the +critic can mean by "polished numbers, freedom, and spirit." The +passage is curious:-- + +"By your first criticism, _polished numbers_, if you mean melodious +versification, this perhaps the general ear will not deny me. If you +mean classical, chaste diction, free from tautologous repetitions of +the same thoughts in different expressions; free from bad rhymes, +unnecessary epithets, and incongruous metaphors, I believe you may be +safely challenged to produce many instances wherein I have failed. + +"By _freedom_, your second criterion, if you mean daring transition, +or arbitrary and desultory disposition of ideas, however this may +be required in the greater ode, it is now, I believe, for the first +time, expected in the lesser ode. If you mean that careless, diffuse +composition, that conversation-verse, or verse loitering into +prose, now so fashionable, this is an excellence which I am not +very ambitious of attaining. But if you mean strong, concise, yet +natural easy expression, I apprehend the general judgment will decide +in my favour. To the general ear, and the general judgment, then, do +I appeal as to an impartial tribunal." Here several odes are +transcribed. "By _spirit_, your third criticism, I know nothing you +can mean but enthusiasm; that which transports us to every scene, and +interests us in every sentiment. Poetry without this cannot subsist; +every species demands its proportion, from the greater ode, of which +it is the principal characteristic, to the lesser, in which a +small portion of it only has hitherto been thought requisite. My +productions, I apprehend, have never before been deemed destitute +of this essential constituent. Whatever I have wrote, I have felt, +and I believe others have felt it also." + +On "the Epistles," which had been condemned in the gross, suddenly the +critic turns round courteously to the bard, declaring "they are +written in an easy and familiar style, and seem to flow from a good +and a benevolent heart." But then sneeringly adds, that one of them +being entitled "An Essay on Painting, addressed to a young Artist, +had better have been omitted, because it had been so fully treated in +so masterly a manner by Mr. Hayley." This was letting fall a spark in +a barrel of gunpowder. Scott immediately analyses his brother poet's +poem, to show they have nothing in common; and then compares those +similar passages the subject naturally produced, to show that "his +poem does not suffer greatly in the comparison." "You may," he adds, +after giving copious extracts from both poems, "persist in saying that +Mr. Hayley's are the best. Your business then is to prove it." This, +indeed, had been a very hazardous affair for our medical critic, whose +poetical feelings were so equable, that he acknowledges "Mr. Scott's +poem is just and elegant," but "Mr. Hayley's is likewise just and +elegant;" therefore, if one man has written a piece "just and +elegant," there is no need of another on the same subject "just and +elegant." + +To such an extreme point of egotism was a modest and respectable +author most cruelly driven by the callous playfulness of a poetical +critic, who himself had no sympathy for poetry of any quality or any +species, and whose sole art consisted in turning about the canting +dictionary of criticism. Had Homer been a modern candidate for +poetical honours, from him Homer had not been distinguished, even from +the mediocrity of Scott of Amwell, whose poetical merits are not, +however, slight. In his Amœbean eclogues he may be distinguished as +the poet of botanists. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [99] So sensible was even the calm Newton to critical attacks, that + Whiston tells us he lost his favour, which he had enjoyed for + twenty years, for contradicting Newton in his old age; for + no man was of "a more fearful temper." Whiston declares that + he would not have thought proper to have published his work + against Newton's "Chronology" in his lifetime, "because I + knew his temper so well, that I should have expected it + would have killed him; as Dr. Bentley, Bishop Stillingfleet's + chaplain, told me, that he believed Mr. Locke's thorough + confutation of the Bishop's metaphysics about the Trinity + hastened his end." Pope writhed in his chair from the light + shafts which Cibber darted on him; yet they were not tipped + with the poison of the Java-tree. Dr. Hawkesworth, _died + of criticism_.--Singing-birds cannot live in a storm. + + [100] In one of his own publications he quotes, with great + self-complacency, the following lines on himself:-- + + "The wits who drink water and suck sugar-candy, + Impute the strong spirit of Kenrick to brandy: + They are not so much out; the matter in short is, + He sips _aqua-vitæ_ and spits _aqua-fortis_." + + [101] Dr. Kenrick's character and career is thus summed up in the + "Biographia Dramatica:"--"This author, with singular + abilities, was neither happy or successful. Few persons were + ever less respected by the world; still fewer have created so + many enemies, or dropped into the grave so little regretted by + their contemporaries. He was seldom without an enemy to attack + or defend himself from." He was the son of a London citizen, + and is said to have served an apprenticeship to a brass-rule + maker. One of his best known literary works was a comedy + called _Falstaff's Wedding_, which met with considerable + success upon the stage, although its author ventured on the + difficult task of adopting Shakespeare's characters, and + putting new words into the mouth of the immortal Sir John and + his satellites.--ED. + + + + +A VOLUMINOUS AUTHOR WITHOUT JUDGMENT. + + +Vast erudition, without the tact of good sense, in a voluminous +author, what a calamity! for to such a mind no subject can present +itself on which he is unprepared to write, and none at the same time +on which he can ever write reasonably. The name and the works of +WILLIAM PRYNNE have often come under the eye of the reader; but it is +even now difficult to discover his real character; for Prynne stood so +completely insulated amid all parties, that he was ridiculed by his +friends, and execrated by his enemies. The exuberance of his fertile +pen, the strangeness and the manner of his subjects, and his +pertinacity in voluminous publication, are known, and are nearly +unparalleled in literary history. + +Could the man himself be separated from the author, Prynne would not +appear ridiculous; but the unlucky author of nearly two hundred +works,[102] and who, as Wood quaintly computes, "must have written a +sheet every day of his life, reckoning from the time that he came to +the use of reason and the state of man," has involved his life in his +authorship; the greatness of his character loses itself in his +voluminous works; and whatever Prynne may have been in his own age, +and remains to posterity, he was fated to endure all the calamities of +an author who has strained learning into absurdity, and abused zealous +industry by chimerical speculation. + +Yet his activity, and the firmness and intrepidity of his character +in public life, were as ardent as they were in his study--his soul +was Roman; and Eachard says, that Charles II., who could not but +admire his earnest honesty, his copious learning, and the public +persecutions he suffered, and the ten imprisonments he endured, +inflicted by all parties, dignified him with the title of "the +Cato of the Age;" and one of his own party facetiously described +him as "William the Conqueror," a title he had most hardly earned +by his inflexible and invincible nature. Twice he had been cropped of +his ears; for at the first time the executioner having spared the +two fragments, the inhuman judge on his second trial discovering them +with astonishment, ordered them to be most unmercifully cropped--then +he was burned on his cheek, and ruinously fined and imprisoned in a +remote solitude,[103]--but had they torn him limb by limb, Prynne had +been in his mind a very polypus, which, cut into pieces, still loses +none of its individuality. + +His conduct on the last of these occasions, when sentenced to be +stigmatised, and to have his ears cut close, must be noticed. Turning +to the executioner, he calmly invited him to do his duty--"Come, +friend, come, burn me! cut me! I fear not! I have learned to fear the +fire of hell, and not what man can do unto me; come, scar me! scar +me!" In Prynne this was not ferocity, but heroism; Bastwick was +intrepid out of spite, and Burton from fanaticism. The executioner had +been urged not to spare his victims, and he performed his office with +extraordinary severity, cruelly heating his iron twice, and cutting +one of Prynne's ears so close, as to take away a piece of the cheek. +Prynne stirred not in the torture; and when it was done, smiled, +observing, "The more I am beaten down, the more I am lift up." After +this punishment, in going to the Tower by water, he composed the +following verses on the two letters branded on his cheek, S. L., for +schismatical libeller, but which Prynne chose to translate "Stigmata +Laudis," the stigmas of his enemy, the Archbishop Laud. + + Stigmata maxillis referens insignia LAUDIS, + Exultans remeo, victima grata Deo. + +The heroic man, who could endure agony and insult, and even thus +commemorate his sufferings, with no unpoetical conception, almost +degrades his own sublimity when the poetaster sets our teeth on edge +by his verse. + + Bearing Laud's stamps on my cheeks I retire + Triumphing, God's sweet sacrifice by fire. + +The triumph of this unconquered being was, indeed, signal. History +scarcely exhibits so wonderful a reverse of fortune, and so strict a +retribution, as occurred at this eventful period. He who had borne +from the archbishop and the lords in the Star Chamber the most +virulent invectives, wishing them at that instant seriously to +consider that some who sat there on the bench might yet stand +prisoners at the bar, and need the favour they now denied, at length +saw the prediction completely verified. What were the feelings of +Laud, when Prynne, returning from his prison of Mount Orgueil in +triumph, the road strewed with boughs, amid the acclamations of the +people, entered the apartment in the Tower which the venerable Laud +now in his turn occupied. The unsparing Puritan sternly performed the +office of rifling his papers,[104] and persecuted the helpless prelate +till he led him to the block. Prynne, to use his own words, for he +could be eloquent when moved by passion, "had struck proud Canterbury +to the heart; and had undermined all his prelatical designs to advance +the bishops' pomp and power;"[105] Prynne triumphed--but, even this +austere Puritan soon grieved over the calamities he had contributed to +inflict on the nation; and, with a humane feeling, he once wished, +that "when they had cut off his ears, they had cut off his head." He +closed his political existence by becoming an advocate for the +Restoration; but, with his accustomed want of judgment and intemperate +zeal, had nearly injured the cause by his premature activity. At the +Restoration some difficulty occurred to dispose of "busie Mr. Pryn," +as Whitelocke calls him. It is said he wished to be one of the Barons +of the Exchequer, but he was made the Keeper of the Records in the +Tower, "purposely to employ his head from scribbling against the state +and bishops;" where they put him to clear the Augean stable of our +national antiquities, and see whether they could weary out his +restless vigour. Prynne had, indeed, written till he found no +antagonist would reply; and now he rioted in leafy folios, and proved +himself to be one of the greatest paper-worms which ever crept into +old books and mouldy records.[106] + +The literary character of Prynne is described by the happy epithet which +Anthony Wood applies to him, "Voluminous Prynne." His great +characteristic is opposed to that axiom of Hesiod so often quoted, that +"half is better than the whole;" a secret which the matter-of-fact +men rarely discover. Wanting judgment, and the tact of good sense, +these detailers have no power of selection from their stores, to make +one prominent fact represent the hundred minuter ones that may follow +it. Voluminously feeble, they imagine expansion is stronger than +compression; and know not to generalise, while they only can deal in +particulars. Prynne's speeches were just as voluminous as his +writings; always deficient in judgment, and abounding in knowledge--he +was always wearying others, but never could himself. He once made a +speech to the House, to persuade them the king's concessions were +sufficient ground for a treaty; it contains a complete narrative of +all the transactions between the king, the Houses, and the army, from +the beginning of the parliament; it takes up 140 octavo pages, and kept +the house so long together, that the debates lasted from Monday +morning till Tuesday morning! + +Prynne's literary character may be illustrated by his singular book, +"Histriomastix,"--where we observe how an author's exuberant learning, +like corn heaped in a granary, grows rank and musty, by a want of +power to ventilate and stir about the heavy mass. + +This paper-worm may first be viewed in his study, as painted by the +picturesque Anthony Wood; an artist in the Flemish school:-- + +"His custom, when he studied, was to put on a long quilted cap, which +came an inch over his eyes, serving as an umbrella to defend them from +too much light, and _seldom eating any dinner_, would be every three +hours maunching a roll of bread, and now and then refresh his +exhausted spirits with ale brought to him by his servant;" a custom to +which Butler alludes, + + Thou that with ale, or viler liquors, + Didst inspire Withers, Prynne, and Vicars, + And force them, though it were in spite + Of nature, and their stars, to write. + +The "HISTRIOMASTIX, the Player's Scourge, or Actor's Tragedie," is a +ponderous quarto, ascending to about 1100 pages; a Puritan's invective +against plays and players, accusing them of every kind of crime, +including libels against Church and State;[107] but it is more +remarkable for the incalculable quotations and references foaming over +the margins. Prynne scarcely ventures on the most trivial opinion, +without calling to his aid whatever had been said in all nations and +in all ages; and Cicero, and Master Stubbs, Petrarch and Minutius +Felix, Isaiah and Froissart's Chronicle, oddly associate in the +ravings of erudition. Who, indeed, but the author "who seldom dined," +could have quoted perhaps a thousand writers in one volume?[108] A wit +of the times remarked of this _Helluo librorum_, that "Nature makes +ever the dullest beasts most laborious, and the greatest feeders;" and +Prynne has been reproached with a weak digestion, for "returning +things unaltered, which is a symptom of a feeble stomach." + +When we examine this volume, often alluded to, the birth of the +monster seems prodigious and mysterious; it combines two opposite +qualities; it is so elaborate in its researches among the thousand +authors quoted, that these required years to accumulate, and yet the +matter is often temporary, and levelled at fugitive events and +particular persons; thus the very formation of this mighty volume +seems paradoxical. The secret history of this book is as extraordinary +as the book itself, and is a remarkable evidence how, in a work of +immense erudition, the arts of a wily sage involved himself, and +whoever was concerned in his book, in total ruin. The author was +pilloried, fined, and imprisoned; his publisher condemned in the +penalty of five hundred pounds, and barred for ever from printing and +selling books, and the licenser removed and punished. Such was the +fatality attending the book of a man whose literary voracity produced +one of the most tremendous indigestions, in a malady of writing. + +It was on examining Prynne's trial I discovered the secret history of +the "Histriomastix." Prynne was seven years in writing this work, and, +what is almost incredible, it was near four years passing through the +press. During that interval the eternal scribbler was daily gorging +himself with voluminous food, and daily fattening his cooped-up capon. +The temporary sedition and libels were the gradual Mosaic inlayings +through this shapeless mass. + +It appears that the volume of 1100 quarto pages originally consisted +of little more than a quire of paper; but Prynne found insuperable +difficulties in procuring a licenser, even for this infant Hercules. +Dr. Goode deposed that-- + +"About eight years ago Mr. Prynne brought to him a quire of paper to +license, which he refused; and he recollected the circumstance by +having held an argument with Prynne on his severe reprehension on the +unlawfulness of a man to put on women's apparel, which, the +good-humoured doctor asserted was not always unlawful; for suppose Mr. +Prynne yourself, as a Christian, was persecuted by pagans, think you +not if you disguised yourself in your maid's apparel, you did well? +Prynne sternly answered that he thought himself bound rather to yield +to death than to do so." + +Another licenser, Dr. Harris, deposed, that about seven years ago-- + +"Mr. Prynne came to him to license a treatise concerning stage-plays; +but he would not allow of the same;"--and adds, "So this man did +deliver this book when it was young and tender, and would have had it +then printed; but it is since grown seven times bigger, and seven +times worse." + +Prynne not being able to procure these licensers, had recourse to +another, Buckner, chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was +usual for the licenser to examine the MS. before it went to the press; +but Prynne either tampered with Buckner, or so confused his intellects +by keeping his multifarious volume in the press for four years; and +sometimes, I suspect, by numbering folios for pages, as appears in the +work, that the examination of the licenser gradually relaxed; and he +declares in his defence that he had only licensed part of it. The +bookseller, Sparks, was indeed a noted publisher of what was then +called "Unlawful and unlicensed books;" and he had declared that it +was "an excellent book, which would be called in, and then sell well." +He confesses the book had been more than three years in the press, and +had cost him three hundred pounds. + +The speech of Noy, the Attorney-General, conveys some notion of the +work itself; sufficiently curious as giving the feelings of those +times against the Puritans. + +"Who he means by his _modern innovators_ in the church, and by +_cringing and ducking_ to altars, a fit term to bestow on the church; +he learned it of the _canters_, being used among them. The musick in +the church, the charitable term he giveth it, is not to be a noise of +men, but rather a _bleating of brute beasts_; choristers _bellow_ the +tenor, as it were oxen; _bark_ a counterpoint as a kennel of dogs; +_roar_ out a treble like a sort of bulls; _grunt_ out a bass, as it +were a number of hogs. Bishops he calls the _silk and satin divines_; +says Christ was a Puritan, in his Index. He falleth on those things +that have not relation to stage-plays, musick in the church, dancing, +new-years' gifts, &c.,--then upon altars, images, hair of men and +women, bishops and bonfires. Cards and tables do offend him, and +perukes do fall within the compass of his theme. His end is to +persuade the people that we are returning back again to paganism, and +to persuade them to go and serve God in another country, as many are +gone already, and set up new laws and fancies among themselves. +Consider what may come of it!" + +The decision of the Lords of the Star Chamber was dictated by passion +as much as justice. Its severity exceeded the crime of having produced +an unreadable volume of indigested erudition; and the learned +scribbler was too hardly used, scarcely escaping with life. Lord +Cottington, amazed at the mighty volume, too bluntly affirmed that +Prynne did not write this book alone; "he either assisted the devil, +or was assisted by the devil." But secretary Cooke delivered a +sensible and temperate speech; remarking on all its false erudition +that, + +"By this vast book of Mr. Prynne's, it appeareth that he hath read +more than he hath studied, and studied more than he hath considered. +He calleth his book 'Histriomastix;' but therein he showeth himself +like unto Ajax Anthropomastix, as the Grecians called him, the scourge +of all mankind, that is, the whipper and the whip." + +Such is the history of a man whose greatness of character was clouded +over and lost in a fatal passion for scribbling; such is the history +of a voluminous author whose genius was such that he could write a +folio much easier than a page; and "seldom dined" that he might quote +"squadrons of authorities."[109] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [102] That all these works should not be wanting to posterity, + Prynne deposited the complete collection in the library of + Lincoln's-Inn, about forty volumes in folio and quarto. + Noy, the Attorney-General, Prynne's great adversary, was + provoked at the society's acceptance of these ponderous + volumes, and promised to send them the voluminous labours of + Taylor the water-poet, to place by their side; he judged, as + Wood says, that "Prynne's books were worth little or + nothing; that his proofs were no arguments, and his + affirmations no testimonies." But honest Anthony, in spite + of his prejudices against Prynne, confesses, that though + "by the generality of scholars they are looked upon to be + rather rhapsodical and confused than polite or concise, yet, + for antiquaries, critics, and sometimes for divines, they are + useful." Such erudition as Prynne's always retains its + value--the author who could quote a hundred authors on + "the unloveliness of love-locks," will always make a good + literary chest of drawers, well filled, for those who can make + better use of their contents than himself. + + [103] Prynne seems to have considered being debarred from pen, ink, + and books as an act more barbarous than the loss of his ears. + See his curious book of "A New Discovery of the Prelate's + Tyranny;" it is a complete collection of everything relating + to Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton; three political fanatics, who + seem impatiently to have courted the fate of Marsyas. Prynne, + in his voluminous argument, proving the illegality of the + sentences he had suffered, in his ninth point thus gives way + to all the feelings of Martinus Scriblerus:--"Point 9th, that + the prohibiting of me pen, ink, paper, and books, is against + law." He employs an argument to prove that the abuse of any + lawful thing never takes away the use of it; therefore the law + does not deprive gluttons or drunkards of necessary meat and + drink; this analogy he applies to his pen, ink, and books, of + which they could not deprive him, though they might punish him + for their abuse. He asserts that the popish prelates, in the + reign of Mary, were the first who invented this new torture of + depriving a scribbler of pen and ink. He quotes a long passage + from Ovid's Tristia, to prove that, though exiled to the Isle + of Pontus for his wanton books of love, pen and ink were not + denied him to compose new poems; that St. John, banished to + the Isle of Patmos by the persecuting Domitian, still was + allowed pen and ink, for there he wrote the Revelation--and he + proceeds with similar facts. Prynne's books abound with + uncommon facts on common topics, for he had no discernment; + and he seems to have written to convince himself, and not the + public. + + But to show the extraordinary perseverance of Prynne in his + love of scribbling, I transcribe the following title of one of + his extraordinary works. He published "Comfortable Cordial + against Discomfortable Fears of Imprisonment, containing some + Latin verses, sentences and texts of Scripture, _written by + Mr. Wm. Prynne on his chamber-walls in_ the Tower of London + during his imprisonment there; translated by him into English + verse," 1641. Prynne literally verifies Pope's description-- + + "Is there who lock'd from ink and paper, scrawls + With desperate charcoal round his darken'd walls?" + + We have also a catalogue of printed books written by Wm. + Prynne, of Lincoln's-Inn, Esq., in these classes-- + + Before } + During } his imprisonment, with the motto _Jucundi acti + labores_. 1643. + Since } + + [104] The interesting particulars of this interview have been + preserved by the Archbishop himself--and it is curious to + observe how Laud could now utter the same tones of murmur and + grief to which Prynne himself had recently given way. Studied + insult in these cases accompanies power in the hands of a + faction. I collect these particulars from "The History of the + Troubles and Tryal of Archbishop Laud," and refer to Vicars's + "God in the Mount, or a Parliamentarie Chronicle," p. 344, for + the Puritanic triumphs. + + "My implacable enemy, Mr. Pryn, was picked out as a man + whose malice might be trusted to make the search upon me, and + he did it exactly. The manner of the search upon me was + thus: Mr. Pryn came into the Tower so soon as the gates + were open--commanded the Warder to open my door--he came into + my chamber, and found me in bed--Mr. Pryn seeing me safe + in bed, falls first to my pockets to rifle them--it was + expressed in the warrant that he should search my pockets. + Did they remember, when they gave this warrant, how odious it + was to Parliaments, and some of themselves, to have the + pockets of men searched? I rose, got my gown upon my + shoulders, and he held me in the search till past nine in the + morning (he had come in betimes in the morning in the month + of May). He took from me twenty-one bundles of papers which + I had prepared for my defence, &c., a little book or diary, + containing all the occurrences of my life, and my book of + private devotions; both written with my own hand. Nor could + I get him to leave this last; he must needs see what passed + between God and me. The last place he rifled was a trunk + which stood by my bedside; in that he found nothing but about + forty pounds in money, for my necessary expenses, which he + meddled not with, and a bundle of some gloves. This bundle he + was so careful to open, as that he caused each glove to be + looked into; upon this I tendered him one pair of the gloves, + which he refusing, I told him he might take them, and fear no + bribe, for he had already done me all the mischief he could, + and I asked no favour of him; so he thanked me, took the + gloves, and bound up my papers, and went his way."--Prynne + had a good deal of _cunning_ in his character, as well as + fortitude. He had all the subterfuges and quirks which, + perhaps, form too strong a feature in the character of "an + utter Barrister of Lincoln's Inn." His great artifice was + secretly printing extracts from the diary of Laud, and + placing a copy in the hands of every member of the House, + which was a sudden stroke on the Archbishop, when at the + bar, that at the moment overcame him. Once when Prynne was + printing one of his libels, he attempted to deny being the + author, and ran to the printing-house to distribute the forms, + but it was proved he had corrected the proof and the + revise. Another time, when he had written a libellous + letter to the Archbishop, Noy, the Attorney-General, sent + for Prynne from his prison, and demanded of him whether the + letter was of his own handwriting. Prynne said he must see + and read the letter before he could determine; and when Noy + gave it to him, Prynne tore it to pieces, and threw the + fragments out of the window, that it might not be brought in + evidence against him. Noy had preserved a copy, but that + did not avail him, as Prynne well knew that the misdemeanour + was in the letter itself; and Noy gave up the prosecution, + as there was now no remedy. + + [105] Breviate of the Bishop's intolerable usurpations, p. 35. + + [106] While Keeper of the Records, he set all the great energies of + his nature to work upon the national archives. The result + appeared in three folio volumes of the greatest value to the + historian. They were published irregularly, and at intervals + of time--thus the second volume was issued in 1665; the first + in 1666; and the third in 1670. The first two volumes are of + the utmost rarity, nearly all the copies having been destroyed + in the great fire of London.--ED. + + [107] Hume, in his History, has given some account of this enormous + quarto; to which I refer the reader, vol. vi. chap. lii. + + [108] Milton admirably characterises Prynne's absurd learning, as well + as his character, in his treatise on "The likeliest means to + remove hirelings out of the Church," as "a late hot querist + for tythes, whom ye may know by _his wits lying ever beside + him in the margin, to be ever beside his wits in the text_. A + fierce Reformer once; now rankled with a contrary heat." + + [109] The very expression Prynne himself uses, see p. 668 of the + Histriomastix; where having gone through "three squadrons," he + commences a fresh chapter thus: "The fourth squadron of + authorities is the venerable troope of 70 several renowned + ancient fathers;" and he throws in more than he promised, all + which are quoted volume and page, as so many "play-confounding + arguments." He has quoted perhaps from three to four hundred + authors on a single point. + + + + +GENIUS AND ERUDITION THE VICTIMS OF IMMODERATE VANITY. + + +The name of TOLAND is more familiar than his character, yet his +literary portrait has great singularity; he must be classed among the +"Authors by Profession," an honour secured by near fifty publications; +and we shall discover that he aimed to combine with the literary +character one peculiarly his own.[110] With higher talents and more +learning than have been conceded to him, there ran in his mind an +original vein of thinking. Yet his whole life exhibits in how small a +degree great intellectual powers, when scattered through all the forms +which Vanity suggests, will contribute to an author's social comforts, +or raise him in public esteem. Toland was fruitful in his productions, +and still more so in his projects; yet it is mortifying to estimate +the result of all the intense activity of the life of an author of +genius, which terminates in being placed among these Calamities. + +Toland's birth was probably illegitimate; a circumstance which +influenced the formation of his character. Baptised in ridicule, he +had nearly fallen a victim to Mr. Shandy's system of Christian names, +for he bore the strange ones of _Janus Junius_, which, when the +school-roll was called over every morning, afforded perpetual +merriment, till the master blessed him with plain _John_, which the +boy adopted, and lived in quiet. I must say something on the names +themselves, perhaps as ridiculous! May they not have influenced the +character of Toland, since they certainly describe it? He had all the +shiftings of the double-faced _Janus_, and the revolutionary politics +of the ancient _Junius_. His godfathers sent him into the world in +cruel mockery, thus to remind their Irish boy of the fortunes that +await the desperately bold: nor did Toland forget the strong-marked +designations; for to his most objectionable work, the Latin tract +entitled _Pantheisticon_, descriptive of what some have considered as +an atheistical society, he subscribes these appropriate names, which +at the time were imagined to be fictitious. + +Toland ran away from school and Popery. When in after-life he was +reproached with native obscurity, he ostentatiously produced a +testimonial of his birth and family, hatched up at a convent of Irish +Franciscans in Germany, where the good Fathers subscribed, with their +ink tinged with their Rhenish, to his most ancient descent, referring +to the Irish history! which they considered as a parish register, fit +for the suspected son of an Irish Priest! + +Toland, from early life, was therefore dependent on patrons; but +illegitimate birth creates strong and determined characters, and +Toland had all the force and originality of self-independence. He was +a seed thrown by chance, to grow of itself wherever it falls. + +This child of fortune studied at four Universities; at Glasgow, +Edinburgh, and Leyden; from the latter he passed to Oxford, and, in +the Bodleian Library, collected the materials for his after-studies. + +He loved study, and even at a later period declares that "no +employment or condition of life shall make me disrelish the lasting +entertainment of books." In his "Description of Epsom," he observes +that the taste for retirement, reading, and contemplation, promotes +the true relish for select company, and says, + +"Thus I remove at pleasure, as I grow weary of the country or the +town, as I avoid a crowd or seek company.--Here, then, let me have +_books and bread_ enough without dependence; a bottle of hermitage and +a plate of olives for a select friend; with an early rose to present a +young lady as an emblem of discretion no less than of beauty." + +At Oxford appeared that predilection for paradoxes and over-curious +speculations, which formed afterwards the marking feature of his +literary character. He has been unjustly contemned as a sciolist; he +was the correspondent of Leibnitz, Le Clerc, and Bayle, and was a +learned author when scarcely a man. He first published a Dissertation +on the strange tragical death of Regulus, and proved it a Roman +legend. A greater paradox might have been his projected speculation on +Job, to demonstrate that only the dialogue was genuine; the rest being +the work of some idle Rabbin, who had invented a monstrous story to +account for the extraordinary afflictions of that model of a divine +mind. Speculations of so much learning and ingenuity are uncommon in a +young man; but Toland was so unfortunate as to value his own merits +before those who did not care to hear of them. + +Hardy vanity was to recompense him, perhaps he thought, for that want +of fortune and connexions, which raised duller spirits above him. +Vain, loquacious, inconsiderate, and daring, he assumed the +dictatorship of a coffee-house, and obtained easy conquests, which he +mistook for glorious ones, over the graver fellows, who had for many a +year awfully petrified their own colleges. He gave more violent +offence by his new opinions on religion. An anonymous person addressed +two letters to this new Heresiarch, solemn and monitory.[111] Toland's +answer is as honourable as that of his monitor's. This passage is +forcibly conceived:-- + +"To what purpose should I study here or elsewhere, were I an _atheist_ +or _deist_, for one of the two you take me to be? What a condition to +mention virtue, if I believed there was no God, or one so impotent +that could not, or so malicious that would not, reveal himself! Nay, +though I granted a Deity, yet, if nothing of me subsisted after death, +what laws could bind, what incentives could move me to common honesty? +Annihilation would be a sanctuary for all my sins, and put an end to +my crimes with myself. Believe me I am not so indifferent to the evils +of the present life, but, without the expectation of a better, I +should soon suspend the mechanism of my body, and resolve into +inconscious atoms." + +This early moment of his life proved to be its crisis, and the first +step he took decided his after-progress. His first great work of +"Christianity not Mysterious," produced immense consequences. Toland +persevered in denying that it was designed as any attack on +Christianity, but only on those subtractions, additions, and other +alterations, which have corrupted that pure institution. The work, at +least, like its title, is "Mysterious."[112] Toland passed over to +Ireland, but his book having got there before him, the author beheld +himself anathematized; the pulpits thundered, and it was dangerous to +be seen conversing with him. A jury who confessed they could not +comprehend a page of his book, condemned it to be burned. Toland now +felt a tenderness for his person; and the humane Molyneux, the friend +of Locke, while he censures the imprudent vanity of our author, gladly +witnessed the flight of "the poor gentleman." But South, indignant at +our English moderation in his own controversy with Sherlock on some +doctrinal points of the Trinity, congratulates the Archbishop of +Dublin on the Irish persecution; and equally witty and intolerant, he +writes on Toland, "Your Parliament presently sent him packing, and +without the help of a _fagot_, soon made the kingdom _too hot_ for +him." + +Toland was accused of an intention to found a sect, as South +calls them, of "Mahometan-Christians." Many were stigmatised as +_Tolandists_; but the disciples of a man who never procured for +their prophet a bit of dinner or a new wig, for he was frequently +wanting both, were not to be feared as enthusiasts. The persecution +from the church only rankled in the breast of Toland, and excited +unextinguishable revenge. + +He now breathed awhile from the bonfire of theology; and our _Janus_ +turned his political face. He edited Milton's voluminous politics, and +Harrington's fantastical "Oceana," and, as his "Christianity not +Mysterious" had stamped his religion with something worse than heresy, +so in politics he was branded as a Commonwealth's-man. Toland had +evidently strong nerves; for him opposition produced controversy, +which he loved, and controversy produced books, by which he lived. + +But let it not be imagined that Toland affected to be considered as no +Christian, or avowed himself as a Republican. "Civil and religious +toleration" (he says) "have been the two main objects of all my +writings." He declares himself to be only a primitive Christian, and a +pure Whig. But an author must not be permitted to understand himself +so much more clearly than he has enabled his readers to do. His +mysterious conduct may be detected in his want of moral integrity. + +He had the art of explaining away his own words, as in his first +controversy about the word _mystery_ in religion, and he exults in his +artifice; for, in a letter, where he is soliciting the minister for +employment, he says:--"The church is much exasperated against me; yet +as that is the heaviest article, so it is undoubtedly the easiest +conquered, and I know _the infallible method of doing it_." And, in a +letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, he promises to _reform his +religion to that prelate's liking_! He took the sacrament as an +opening for the negotiation. + +What can be more explicit than his recantation at the close of his +_Vindicius Liberius_? After telling us that he had withdrawn from +sale, after the second edition, his "'Christianity not Mysterious,' +when I perceived what real or pretended offence it had given," he +concludes thus:--"Being now arrived to years that will not wholly +excuse inconsiderateness in resolving, or precipitance in acting, I +firmly hope that my _persuasion_ and _practice_ will show me _to be a +true Christian_; that my due _conformity_ to the _public worship_ may +prove me to be _a good Churchman_; and that my untainted loyalty to +King William will argue me to be a staunch Commonwealth's-man. That I +shall continue all my life a friend to religion, an enemy to +superstition, a supporter of good kings, and a deposer of tyrants." + +Observe, this _Vindicius Liberius_ was published on his return from +one of his political tours in Germany. His views were then of a very +different nature from those of controversial divinity; but it was +absolutely necessary to allay the storm the church had raised against +him. We begin now to understand a little better the character of +Toland. These literary adventurers, with heroic pretensions, can +practise the meanest artifices, and shrink themselves into nothing to +creep out of a hole. How does this recantation agree with the +"Nazarenus," and the other theological works which Toland was +publishing all his life? Posterity only can judge of men's characters; +it takes in at a glance the whole of a life; but contemporaries only +view a part, often apparently unconnected and at variance, when in +fact it is neither. This recantation is full of the spirit of _Janus +Junius_ Toland. + +But we are concerned chiefly with Toland's literary character. He was +so confirmed an author, that he never published one book without +promising another. He refers to others in MS.; and some of his most +curious works are posthumous. He was a great artificer of title-pages, +covering them with a promising luxuriance; and in this way recommended +his works to the booksellers. He had an odd taste for running +inscriptions of whimsical crabbed terms; the gold-dust of erudition to +gild over a title; such as "Tetradymus, Hodegus, Clidopharus;" +"Adeisidaemon, or the Unsuperstitious." He pretends these affected +titles indicated their several subjects; but the genius of Toland +could descend to literary quackery. + +He had the art of propagating books; his small Life of Milton produced +several; besides the complacency he felt in extracting long passages +from Milton against the bishops. In this Life, his attack on the +authenticity of the _Eikon Basilike_ of Charles I. branched into +another on supposititious writings; and this included the spurious +gospels. Association of ideas is a nursing mother to the fertility of +authorship. The spurious gospels opened a fresh theological campaign, +and produced his "Amyntor." There was no end in provoking an author, +who, in writing the life of a poet, could contrive to put the +authenticity of the Testament to the proof. + +Amid his philosophical labours, his _vanity_ induced him to seize on +all temporary topics to which his facility and ingenuity gave +currency. The choice of his subjects forms an amusing catalogue; for +he had "Remarks" and "Projects" as fast as events were passing. He +wrote on the "Art of Governing by Parties," on "Anglia Liberia," +"Reasons for Naturalising the Jews," on "The Art of Canvassing at +Elections," "On raising a National Bank without Capital," "The State +Anatomy," "Dunkirk or Dover," &c. &c. These, and many like these, set +off with catching titles, proved to the author that a man of genius +may be capable of writing on all topics at all times, and make the +country his debtor without benefiting his own creditors.[113] + +There was a moment in Toland's life when he felt, or thought he felt, +fortune in his grasp. He was then floating on the ideal waves of the +South Sea bubble. The poor author, elated with a notion that he was +rich enough to print at his own cost, dispersed copies of his absurd +"Pantheisticon." He describes a society of Pantheists, who worship the +universe as God; a mystery much greater than those he attacked in +Christianity. Their prayers are passages from Cicero and Seneca, and +they chant long poems instead of psalms; so that in their zeal they +endured a little tediousness. The next objectionable circumstance in +this wild ebullition of philosophical wantonness is the apparent +burlesque of some liturgies; and a wag having inserted in some copies +an impious prayer to Bacchus, Toland suffered for the folly of others +as well as his own.[114] With the South Sea bubble vanished Toland's +desire of printing books at his own risk; and thus relieved the world +from the weight of more _Pantheisticons_! + +With all this bustle of authorship, amidst temporary publications +which required such prompt ingenuity, and elaborate works which +matured the fruits of early studies, Toland was still not a sedentary +writer. I find that he often travelled on the continent; but how could +a guinealess author so easily transport himself from Flanders to +Germany, and appear at home in the courts of Berlin, Dresden, and +Hanover? Perhaps we may discover a concealed feature in the character +of our ambiguous philosopher. + +In the only Life we have of Toland, by Des Maiseaux, prefixed to his +posthumous works, he tells us, that Toland was at the court of Berlin, +but "an incident, _too ludicrous to be mentioned_, obliged him to +leave that place sooner than he expected." Here is an incident in a +narrative clearly marked out, but never to be supplied! Whatever this +incident was, it had this important result, that it sent Toland away +in haste; but _why_ was he there? Our chronological biographer,[115] +"good easy man," suspects nothing more extraordinary when he tells us +Toland was at Berlin or Hanover, than when he finds him at Epsom; +imagines Toland only went to the Electoral Princess Sophia, and the +Queen of Prussia, who were "ladies of sublime genius," to entertain +them by vexing some grave German divines, with philosophical +conferences, and paradoxical conundrums; all the ravings of Toland's +idleness.[116] + +This secret history of Toland can only be picked out by fine threads. +He professed to be a literary character--he had opened a periodical +"literary correspondence," as he terms it, with Prince Eugene; such as +we have witnessed in our days by Grimm and La Harpe, addressed to some +northern princes. He was a favourite with the Electoral Princess +Sophia and the Queen of Prussia, to whom he addressed his "Letters to +Serena." Was he a political agent? Yet how was it that Toland was +often driven home by distressed circumstances? He seems not to have +been a practical politician, for he managed his own affairs very ill. +Was the political intriguer rather a suspected than a confidential +servant of all his masters and mistresses? for it is evident no one +cared for him! The absence of moral integrity was probably never +disguised by the loquacious vanity of this literary adventurer. + +In his posthumous works are several "Memorials" for the Earl of +Oxford, which throw a new light over a union of political _espionage_ +with the literary character, which finally concluded in producing that +extraordinary one which the political imagination of Toland created in +all the obscurity and heat of his reveries. + +In one of these "Memorials," forcibly written and full of curiosity, +Toland remonstrates with the minister for his marked neglect of him; +opens the scheme of a political tour, where, like Guthrie, he would be +content with his _quarterage_. He defines his character; for the +independent Whig affects to spurn at the office, though he might not +shrink at the duties of a spy. + +"Whether such a person, sir, who is _neither minister nor spy_, and as +a _lover of learning will be welcome everywhere_, may not prove of +extraordinary use to my Lord Treasurer, as well as to his predecessor +Burleigh, who employed such, I leave his lordship and you to +consider." + +Still _this character_, whatever title may designate it, is inferior +in dignity and importance to that which Toland afterwards projected, +and which portrays him where his life-writer has not given a touch +from his brush; it is a political curiosity. + +"I laid an honester scheme of serving my country, your lordship, and +myself; for, seeing it was neither convenient for you, nor a thing at +all desired by me, that _I should appear in any public post_, I +sincerely proposed, as occasions should offer, to communicate to your +lordship my observations on _the temper of the ministry, the +dispositions of the people, the condition of our enemies or allies +abroad_, and what I might think _most expedient in every conjuncture_; +which advice you were to follow in whole, or in part, or not at all, +as your own superior wisdom should direct. My general acquaintance, +the several languages I speak, the experience I have acquired in +foreign affairs, and being engaged in no interest at home, besides +that of the public, should qualify me in some measure for this +province. ALL WISE MINISTERS HAVE EVER HAD SUCH PRIVATE MONITORS. As +much as I thought myself fit, or was thought so by others, for such +general observations, so much have I ever abhorred, my lord, _those +particular observers we call SPIES_; but I despise the calumny no less +than I detest the thing. Of such general observations, you should have +perused a far greater number than I thought fit to present hitherto, +had I discovered, by due effects, that they were acceptable from _me_; +for they must unavoidably be received from _somebody_, unless a +minister were omniscient--yet I soon had good reason to believe I was +not designed for the man, whatever the original sin could be that made +me incapable of such a trust, and which I now begin to suspect. +Without direct answers to my proposals, how could I know whether I +helped my friends elsewhere, or betrayed them contrary to my +intentions! and accordingly I have for some time been very cautious +and reserved. But if your lordship will enter into any measures with +me to procure _the good of my country_, I shall be more ready to +_serve_ your lordship in this, or in some becoming capacity, than any +other minister. They who confided to my management affairs of a higher +nature have found me exact as well as secret. My impenetrable +negociation at Vienna (hid under the pretence of curiosity) was not +only applauded by the prince that employed me, but also proportionably +rewarded. And here, my lord, give me leave to say that I have found +England miserably served abroad since this change; and our ministers +at home are sometimes as great strangers to the genius as to the +persons of those with whom they have to do. At ---- you have placed +the most unacceptable man in the world--one that lived in a scandalous +misunderstanding with the minister of the States at another court--one +that has been the laughing-stock of all courts, for his senseless +haughtiness and most ridiculous airs--and one that can never judge +aright, unless by accident, in anything." + +The discarded, or the suspected _private monitor of the Minister_ +warms into the tenderest language of political amour, and mourns their +rupture but as the quarrels of lovers. + +"I cannot, from all these considerations, but in the nature of a +lover, complain of your present neglect, and be solicitous for your +future care." And again, "I have made use of the simile of a lover, +and as such, indeed, I thought fit, once for all, to come to a +thorough explanation, resolved, if my affection be not killed by your +unkindness, to become indissolubly yours." + +Such is the nice artifice which colours, with a pretended love of his +country, the sordidness of the political intriguer, giving clean names +to filthy things. But this view of the political face of our _Janus_ +is not complete till we discover the levity he could carry into +politics when not disguised by more pompous pretensions. I shall give +two extracts from letters composed in a different spirit. + +"I am bound for Germany, though first for Flanders, and next for +Holland. I believe I shall be pretty well accommodated for this +voyage, which I expect will be very short. Lord! how near was _my old +woman_ being a queen! and your humble servant being _at his ease_." + +His _old woman_ was the Electoral Princess Sophia; and _his ease_ is +what patriots distinguish as _the love of their country_! Again-- + +"The October Club,[117] if rightly managed, will be rare stuff _to +work the ends of any party_. I sent such an account of these wights to +an _old gentlewoman_ of my acquaintance, as in the midst of fears (the +change of ministry) will make her laugh." + +After all his voluminous literature, and his refined politics, Toland +lived and died the life of an Author by Profession, in an obscure +lodging at a country carpenter's, in great distress. He had still one +patron left, who was himself poor, Lord Molesworth, who promised him, +if he lived, + +"Bare necessaries. These are but cold comfort to a man of your spirit +and desert; but 'tis all I dare promise! 'Tis an ungrateful age, and +we must bear with it the best we may till we can mend it." + +And his lordship tells of his unsuccessful application to some Whig +lord for Toland; and concludes, + +"'Tis a sad monster of a man, and not worthy of further notice." + +I have observed that Toland had strong nerves; he neither feared +controversies, nor that which closes all. Having examined his +manuscripts, I can sketch a minute picture of the last days of our +"author by profession." At the carpenter's lodgings he drew up a list +of all his books--they were piled on four chairs, to the amount of +155--most of them works which evince the most erudite studies; and as +Toland's learning has been very lightly esteemed, it may be worth +notice that some of his MSS. were transcribed in Greek.[118] To this +list he adds--"I need not recite those in the closet with the unbound +books and pamphlets; nor my trunk, wherein are all my papers and MSS." +I perceive he circulated his MSS. among his friends, for there is a +list by him as he lent them, among which are ladies as well as +gentlemen, _esprits forts_! + +Never has author died more in character than Toland; he may be said to +have died with a busy pen in his hand. Having suffered from an +unskilful physician, he avenged himself in his own way; for there was +found on his table an "Essay on Physic without Physicians." The dying +patriot-trader was also writing a preface for a political pamphlet on +_the danger of mercenary Parliaments_; and the philosopher was +composing his own epitaph--one more proof of the ruling passion +predominating in death; but why should a _Pantheist_ be solicitous to +perpetuate his genius and his fame! I shall transcribe a few lines; +surely they are no evidence of Atheism! + + Omnium Literarum excultor, + ac linguarum plus decem sciens; + Veritatis propugnator, + Libertatis assertor; + nullus autem sectator aut cliens, + nec minis, nec malis est inflexus, + quin quam elegit, viam perageret; + utili honestum anteferens. + Spiritus cum æthereo patre, + à quo prodiit olim, conjungitur; + corpus item, Naturæ cedens, + in materno gremio reponitur. + Ipse vero æternum est resurrecturus, + at idem futurus TOLANDUS nunquam.[119] + +One would have imagined that the writer of his own panegyrical epitaph +would have been careful to have transmitted to posterity a copy of his +features; but I know of no portrait of Toland. His patrons seem never +to have been generous, nor his disciples grateful; they mortified +rather than indulged the egotism of his genius. There appeared, +indeed, an elegy, shortly after the death of Toland, so ingeniously +contrived, that it is not clear whether he is eulogised or ridiculed. +Amid its solemnity these lines betray the sneer. "Has," exclaimed the +eulogist of the ambiguous philosopher, + + Each jarring element gone angry home? + And _Master Toland_ a _Non-ens_ become? + +LOCKE, with all the prescient sagacity of that clear understanding +which penetrated under the secret folds of the human heart, +anticipated the life of Toland at its commencement. He admired the +genius of the man; but, while he valued his parts and learning, he +dreaded their result. In a letter I find these passages, which were +then so prophetic, and are now so instructive:-- + +"If his exceeding great value of himself do not deprive the world of +that usefulness that his parts, if rightly conducted, might be of, I +shall be very glad.--The hopes young men give of what use they will +make of their parts is, to me, the encouragement of being concerned +for them; but, _if vanity increases with age, I always fear whither it +will lead a man_." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [110] Toland was born in Ireland, in 1669, of Roman Catholic parents, + but became a zealous opponent of that faith before he was + sixteen; after which he finished his education at Glasgow and + Edinburgh; he retired to study at Leyden, where he formed the + acquaintance of Leibnitz and other learned men. His first + book, published in 1696, and entitled "Christianity not + Mysterious," was met by the strongest denunciation from the + pulpit, was "presented" by the grand jury of Middlesex, and + ordered to be burnt by the common hangman by the Parliament of + Ireland. He was henceforth driven for employ to literature; + and in 1699 was engaged by the Duke of Newcastle to edit the + "Memoirs of Denzil, Lord Hollis;" and afterwards by the Earl + of Oxford on a new edition of Harrington's "Oceana." He then + visited the Courts of Berlin and Hanover. He published many + works on politics and religion, the latter all remarkable for + their deistical tendencies, and died in March, 1722, at the + age of 53.--ED. + + [111] These letters will interest every religious person; they may be + found in Toland's posthumous works, vol. ii. p. 295. + + [112] Toland pretends to prove that "there is nothing in the Christian + Religion, not only which is contrary to reason, but even + which is above it."--He made use of some arguments (says + Le Clerc) that were drawn from Locke's Treatise on the + Human Understanding. I have seen in MS. a finished treatise by + Locke on Religion, addressed to Lady Shaftesbury; Locke + gives it as a translation from the French. I regret my + account is so imperfect; but the possessor may, perhaps, be + induced to give it to the public. The French philosophers have + drawn their first waters from English authors; and Toland, + Tindale, and Woolston, with Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, and + Locke, were among their earliest acquisitions. + + [113] In examining the original papers of Toland, which are preserved, + I found some of his agreements with booksellers. For his + description of Epsom he was to receive only four guineas in + case 1000 were sold. He received ten guineas for his pamphlet + on Naturalising the Jews, and ten guineas more in case Bernard + Lintott sold 2000. The words of this agreement run thus: + "Whenever Mr. Toland calls for ten guineas, after the first of + February next, I promise to pay them, if I _cannot show_ that + 200 of the copies remain unsold." What a sublime person is an + author! What a misery is authorship! The great philosopher who + creates systems that are to alter the face of his country, + must stand at the counter to count out 200 unsold copies! + + [114] Des Maiseaux frees Toland from this calumny, and hints at his + own personal knowledge of the author--but he does not know + what a foreign writer authenticates, that this blasphemous + address to Bacchus is a parody of a prayer in the Roman + ritual, written two centuries before by a very proper society + of _Pantheists_, a club of drunkards! + + [115] Warburton has well described Des Maiseaux: "All the Life-writers + we have had are, indeed, strange insipid creatures. The + verbose tasteless Frenchman seems to lay it down as a + principle that every life must be a book, and what is worse, + it proves a book without a life; for what do we know of + Boileau, after all his tedious stuff?" + + [116] One of these philosophical conferences has been preserved by + Beausobre, who was indeed the party concerned. He inserted it + in the "Bibliothèque Germanique," a curious literary journal, + in 50 volumes, written by L'Enfant, Beausobre, and Formey. It + is very copious, and very curious, and is preserved in the + General Dictionary, art. Toland. The parties, after a warm + contest, were very wisely interrupted by the Queen, when she + discovered they had exhausted their learning, and were + beginning to rail at each other. + + [117] A political society which obtained its name from the malt + liquors consumed at its meetings, and which was popularly + termed October from the month when it was usually brewed. This + club advocated the claims of the House of Hanover, and may + have originated the Mughouses noted in p. 32.--ED. + + [118] I subjoin, for the gratification of the curious, the titles of a + few of these books. "Spanhemii Opera;" "Clerici Pentateuchus;" + "Constantini Lexicon Græco-Latinum;" "Fabricii Codex + Apocryphus Vet. et Nov. Test.;" "Synesius de Regno;" "Historia + Imaginum Coelestium Gosselini," 16 volumes; "Caryophili + Dissertationes;" "Vonde Hardt Ephemerides Philologicæ;" + "Trismegisti Opera;" "Recoldus, et alia Mahomedica;" all the + Works of Buxtorf; "Salviani Opera;" "Reland de Relig. + Mahomedica;" "Galli Opuscula Mythologica;" "Apollodori + Bibliotheca;" "Palingenius;" "Apuleius;" and every classical + author of antiquity. As he was then employed in his curious + history of the Druids, of which only a specimen is preserved, + we may trace his researches in the following books: "Luydii + Archæologia Britannica;" "Old Irish Testament," &c.; + "Maccurtin's History of Ireland;" "O'Flaherty's Ogygia;" + "Epistolarum Hibernicarum;" "Usher's Religion of the ancient + Irish;" "Brand's Isles of Orkney and Zetland;" "Pezron's + Antiquités des Celtes." + + There are some singular papers among these fragments. One + title of a work is "Priesthood without Priestcraft; or + Superstition distinguished from Religion, Dominion from Order, + and Bigotry from Reason, in the most principal Controversies + about Church government, which at present divide and deform + Christianity." He has composed "A Psalm before Sermon in + praise of Asinity." There are other singular titles and works + in the mass of his papers. + + [119] + + A lover of all literature, + and knowing more than ten languages; + a champion for truth, + an assertor of liberty, + but the follower or dependant of no man; + nor could menaces nor fortune bend him; + the way he had chosen he pursued, + preferring honesty to his interest. + His spirit is joined with its ethereal father + from whom it originally proceeded; + his body likewise, yielding to Nature, + is again laid in the lap of its mother: + but he is about to rise again in eternity, + yet never to be the same TOLAND more. + + + + +GENIUS THE DUPE OF ITS PASSIONS. + + +POPE said that STEELE, though he led a careless and vicious life, had +nevertheless a love and reverence for virtue. The life of Steele was +not that of a retired scholar; hence his moral character becomes more +instructive. He was one of those whose hearts are the dupes of their +imaginations, and who are hurried through life by the most despotic +volition. He always preferred his caprices to his interests; or, +according to his own notion, very ingenious, but not a little absurd, +"he was always of the humour of preferring the state of his mind to +that of his fortune." The result of this principle of moral conduct +was, that a man of the most admirable abilities was perpetually acting +like a fool, and, with a warm attachment to virtue, was the frailest +of human beings. + +In the first act of his life we find the seed that developed itself in +the succeeding ones. His uncle could not endure a hero for his heir: +but Steele had seen a marching regiment; a sufficient reason with him +to enlist as a private in the horse-guards: cocking his hat, and +putting on a broad-sword, jack-boots, and shoulder-belt, with the most +generous feelings he forfeited a very good estate.--At length Ensign +Steele's frank temper and wit conciliated esteem, and extorted +admiration, and the ensign became a favourite leader in all the +dissipations of the town. All these were the ebullitions of genius, +which had not yet received a legitimate direction. Amid these orgies, +however, it was often pensive, and forming itself; for it was in the +height of these irregularities that Steele composed his "Christian +Hero," a moral and religious treatise, which the contritions of every +morning dictated, and to which the disorders of every evening added +another penitential page. Perhaps the genius of Steele was never so +ardent and so pure as at this period; and in his elegant letter to his +commander, the celebrated Lord Cutts, he gives an interesting account +of the origin of this production, which none but one deeply imbued +with its feelings could have so forcibly described. + + "_Tower Guard, March 23, 1701._ + + "MY LORD,--The address of the following papers is so very much due + to your lordship, that they are but a mere report of what has + passed upon my guard to my commander; for they were writ upon + duty, when the mind was perfectly disengaged, and at leisure, in + the silent watch of the night, to run over the busy dream of the + day; and the vigilance which obliges us to suppose an enemy always + near us, has awakened a sense that there is a restless and subtle + one which constantly attends our steps, and meditates our + ruin."[120] + +To this solemn and monitory work he prefixed his name, from this +honourable motive, that it might serve as "a standing testimony +against himself, and make him ashamed of understanding, and seeming to +feel what was virtuous, and living so quite contrary a life." Do we +not think that no one less than a saint is speaking to us? And yet he +is still nothing more than Ensign Steele! He tells us that this grave +work made him considered, who had been no undelightful companion, as a +disagreeable fellow--and "The Christian Hero," by his own words, +appears to have fought off several fool-hardy geniuses who were for +"trying their valour on him," supposing a saint was necessarily a +poltroon. Thus "The Christian Hero," finding himself slighted by his +loose companions, sat down and composed a most laughable comedy, "The +Funeral;" and with all the frankness of a man who cares not to hide +his motives, he tells us, that after his religious work he wrote the +comedy because "nothing can make the town so fond of a man as a +successful play."[121] The historian who had to record such strange +events, following close on each other, as an author publishing a book +of piety, and then a farce, could never have discovered the secret +motive of the versatile writer, had not that writer possessed the most +honest frankness. + +Steele was now at once a man of the town and its censor, and wrote +lively essays on the follies of the day in an enormous black peruke +which cost him fifty guineas! He built an elegant villa, but, as he +was always inculcating economy, he dates from "The Hovel." He detected +the fallacy of the South Sea scheme, while he himself invented +projects, neither inferior in magnificence nor in misery. He even +turned alchemist, and wanted to coin gold, merely to distribute it. +The most striking incident in the life of this man of volition, was +his sudden marriage with a young lady who attended his first wife's +funeral--struck by her angelical beauty, if we trust to his raptures. +Yet this sage, who would have written so well on the choice of a wife, +united himself to a character the most uncongenial to his own; cold, +reserved, and most anxiously prudent in her attention to money, she +was of a temper which every day grew worse by the perpetual imprudence +and thoughtlessness of his own. He calls her "Prue" in fondness and +reproach; she was Prudery itself! His adoration was permanent, and so +were his complaints; and they never parted but with bickerings--yet he +could not suffer her absence, for he was writing to her three or four +passionate notes in a day, which are dated from his office, or his +bookseller's, or from some friend's house--he has risen in the midst +of dinner to despatch a line to "Prue," to assure her of his affection +since noon.[122]--Her presence or her absence was equally painful to +him. + +Yet Steele, gifted at all times with the susceptibility of genius, was +exercising the finest feelings of the heart; the same generosity of +temper which deluded his judgment, and invigorated his passions, +rendered him a tender and pathetic dramatist; a most fertile essayist; +a patriot without private views; an enemy whose resentment died away +in raillery; and a friend, who could warmly press the hand that +chastised him. Whether in administration, or expelled the House; +whether affluent, or flying from his creditors; in the fulness of his +heart he, perhaps, secured his own happiness, and lived on, like some +wits, extempore. But such men, with all their virtues and all their +genius, live only for themselves. + +Steele, in the waste of his splendid talents, had raised sudden +enmities and transient friendships. The world uses such men as Eastern +travellers do fountains; they drink their waters, and when their +thirst is appeased, turn their hacks on them. Steele lived to be +forgotten. He opened his career with folly; he hurried through it in a +tumult of existence; and he closed it by an involuntary exile, amid +the wrecks of his fortune and his mind. + +Steele, in one of his numerous periodical works, the twelfth number of +the "Theatre," has drawn an exquisite contrast between himself and +his friend Addison: it is a cabinet picture. Steele's careful pieces, +when warm with his subject, had a higher spirit, a richer flavour, +than the equable softness of Addison, who is only beautiful. + +"There never was a more strict friendship than between these +gentlemen; nor had they ever any difference but what proceeded from +their different way of pursuing the same thing: the one, with +patience, foresight, and temperate address, always waited and stemmed +the torrent; while the other often plunged himself into it, and was as +often taken out by the temper of him who stood weeping on the bank for +his safety, whom he could not dissuade from leaping into it. Thus +these two men lived for some years last past, shunning each other, but +still preserving the most passionate concern for their mutual welfare. +But when they met, they were as unreserved as boys; and talked of the +greatest affairs, upon which they saw where they differed, without +pressing (what they knew impossible) to convert each other." + +If Steele had the honour of the invention of those periodical papers +which first enlightened the national genius by their popular +instruction, he is himself a remarkable example of the moral and the +literary character perpetually contending in the man of volition. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [120] Mr. Nichols's "Epistolary Correspondence of Sir Richard Steele," + vol. i. p. 77. + + [121] Steele has given a delightful piece of self-biography towards + the end of his "Apology for Himself and his Writings," p. 80, + 4to. + + [122] In the "Epistolary Correspondence of Sir Richard Steele," edition + of 1809, are preserved these extraordinary love-despatches; + "Prue" used poor Steele at times very ill; indeed Steele + seems to have conceived that his warm affections were all she + required, for Lady Steele was usually left whole days in + solitude, and frequently in want of a guinea, when Steele + could not raise one. He, however, sometimes remonstrates with + her very feelingly. The following note is an instance:-- + + "DEAR WIFE,--I have been in great pain of body and mind + since I came out. You are extremely cruel to a generous + nature, which has a tenderness for you that renders your + least _dishumour_ insupportably afflicting. After short + starts of passion, not to be inclined to reconciliation, + is what is against all rules of Christianity and justice. + When I come home, I beg to be kindly received; or this + will have as ill an effect upon my fortune, as on my mind + and body." + + In a postscript to another billet, he thus "sneers at Lady + Steele's excessive attention to money":-- + + "Your man Sam owes me threepence, which must be deducted + in the account between you and me; therefore, pray take + care to get it in, or stop it." + + Such despatches as the following were sent off three or four + times in a day:-- + + "I beg of you not to be impatient, though it be an hour + before you see + + "Your obliged husband, + R. STEELE." + + + "DEAR PRUE,--Don't be displeased that I do not come home + till eleven o'clock. + + Yours, ever." + + + "DEAR PRUE,--Forgive me dining abroad, and let Will carry + the papers to Buckley's. + + Your fond devoted + R. S." + + + "DEAR PRUE,--I am very sleepy and tired, but could not + think of closing my eyes till I had told you I am, dearest + creature, your most affectionate, faithful husband, + + R. STEELE. + + "From the Press, One in the morning." + + It would seem by the following note that this hourly account + of himself was in consequence of the connubial mandate of his + fair despot:-- + + "DEAR PRUE,--It is a strange thing, because you are + handsome, that you will not behave yourself with the + obedience that people of worse features do--but that I + must be always giving you an account of every trifle and + minute of my time. I send this to tell you I am waiting to + be sent for again when my Lord Wharton is stirring." + + + + +LITERARY DISAPPOINTMENTS DISORDERING THE INTELLECT. + +LELAND AND COLLINS. + + +This awful calamity may be traced in the fate of LELAND and COLLINS: +the one exhausted the finer faculties of his mind in the grandest +views, and sunk under gigantic tasks; the other enthusiast sacrificed +his reason and his happiness to his imagination. + +LELAND, the father of our antiquaries, was an accomplished scholar, +and his ample mind had embraced the languages of antiquity, those of +his own age, and the ancient ones of his own country: thus he held all +human learning by its three vast chains. He travelled abroad; and he +cultivated poetry with the ardour he could even feel for the +acquisition of words. On his return home, among other royal favours, +he was appointed by Henry VIII. the king's antiquary, a title +honourably created for Leland; for with him it became extinct. By this +office he was empowered to search after English antiquities; to +review the libraries of all the religious institutions, and to bring +the records of antiquity "out of deadly darkness into lively light." +This extensive power fed a passion already formed by the study of our +old rude historians; his elegant taste perceived that they wanted +those graces which he could lend them. + +Six years were occupied, by uninterrupted travel and study, to survey +our national antiquities; to note down everything observable for the +history of the country and the honour of the nation. What a +magnificent view has he sketched of this learned journey! In search of +knowledge, Leland wandered on the sea-coasts and in the midland; +surveyed towns and cities, and rivers, castles, cathedrals, and +monasteries; tumuli, coins, and inscriptions; collected authors; +transcribed MSS. If antiquarianism pored, genius too meditated in this +sublime industry. + +Another six years were devoted to shape and to polish the immense +collections he had amassed. All this untired labour and continued +study were rewarded by Henry VIII. It is delightful, from its rarity, +to record the gratitude of a patron: Henry was worthy of Leland; and +the genius of the author was magnificent as that of the monarch who +had created it. + +Nor was the gratitude of Leland silent: he seems to have been in the +habit of perpetuating his spontaneous emotions in elegant Latin verse. +Our author has fancifully expressed his gratitude to the king:-- + +"Sooner," he says, "shall the seas float without their silent +inhabitants; the thorny hedges cease to hide the birds; the oak to +spread its boughs; and Flora to paint the meadows with flowers;" + + Quàm Rex dive, tuum labatur pectore nostro + Nomen, quod studiis portus et aura meis. + + Than thou, great King, my bosom cease to hail, + Who o'er my studies breath'st a favouring gale. + +Leland was, indeed, alive to the kindness of his royal patron; and +among his numerous literary projects, was one of writing a history of +all the palaces of Henry, in imitation of Procopius, who described +those of the Emperor Justinian. He had already delighted the royal ear +in a beautiful effusion of fancy and antiquarianism, in his _Cygnea +Cantio_, the Song of the Swans. The swan of Leland, melodiously +floating down the Thames, from Oxford to Greenwich, chants, as she +passes along, the ancient names and honours of the towns, the castles, +and the villages. + +Leland presented his "Strena, or a New Year's Gift," to the king.--It +consists of an account of his studies; and sketches, with a fervid and +vast imagination, his magnificent labour, which he had already +inscribed with the title _De Antiquitate Britannica_, and which was to +be divided into as many books as there were shires. All parts of this +address of the King's Antiquary to the king bear the stamp of his +imagination and his taste. He opens his intention of improving, by the +classical graces of composition, the rude labours of our ancestors; +for, + +"Except Truth be delicately clothed in purpure, her written verytees +can scant find a reader." + +Our old writers, he tells his sovereign, had, indeed, + +"From time to time preserved the acts of your predecessors, and the +fortunes of your realm, with great diligence, and no less faith; would +to God with like eloquence!" + +An exclamation of fine taste, when taste was yet a stranger in the +country. And when he alludes to the knowledge of British affairs +scattered among the Roman, as well as our own writers, his fervid +fancy breaks forth with an image at once simple and sublime:-- + +"I trust," says Leland, "so to open the window, that the light shall +be seen so long, that is to say, by the space of a whole thousand +years stopped up, and the old glory of your Britain to re-flourish +through the world."[123] + +And he pathetically concludes-- + +"Should I live to perform those things that are already begun, I trust +that your realm shall so well be known, once painted with its native +colours, that it shall give place to the glory of no other region." + +The grandeur of this design was a constituent part of the genius of +Leland, but not less, too, was that presaging melancholy which even +here betrays itself, and even more frequently in his verses. +Everything about Leland was marked by his own greatness; his country +and his countrymen were ever present; and, by the excitement of his +feelings, even his humbler pursuits were elevated into patriotism. +Henry died the year after he received the "New Year's Gift." From that +moment, in losing the greatest patron for the greatest work, Leland +appears to have felt the staff which he had used to turn at pleasure +for his stay, break in his hands. + +He had new patrons to court, while engaged in labours for which a +single life had been too short. The melancholy that cherishes genius +may also destroy it. Leland, brooding over his voluminous labours, +seemed to love and to dread them; sometimes to pursue them with +rapture, and sometimes to shrink from them with despair. His generous +temper had once shot forwards to posterity; but he now calms his +struggling hopes and doubts, and confines his literary ambition to his +own country and his own age. + + POSTERITATIS AMOR DUBIUS. + + Posteritatis amor mihi perblanditur, et ultro + Premittit libris secula multa meis. + At non tam facile est oculato imponere, nosco + Quàm non sim tali dignus honore frui. + Græcia magniloquos vates desiderat ipsa, + Roma suos etiam disperiisse dolet. + Exemplis quum sim claris edoctus ab istis, + Quî sperem Musas vivere posse meas? + Certè mî sat erit præsenti scribere sæclo, + Auribus et patriæ complacuisse meæ. + + IMITATED. + + Posterity, thy soothing love I feel, + That o'er my volumes many an age may steal: + But hard it is the well-clear'd eye to cheat + With honours undeserved, too fond deceit! + Greece, greatly eloquent, and full of fame, + Sighs for the want of many a perish'd name; + And Rome o'er her illustrious children mourns, + Their fame departing with their mouldering urns. + How can I hope, by such examples shown, + More than a transient day, a passing sun? + Enough for me to win the present age, + And please a brother with a brother's page. + +By other verses, addressed to Cranmer, it would appear that Leland was +experiencing anxieties to which he had not been accustomed,--and one +may suspect, by the opening image of his "Supellex," that his pension +was irregular, and that he began, as authors do in these hard cases, +to value "the furniture" of his mind above that of his house. + + AD THOMAM CRANMERUM, CANT. ARCHIEPISCOP. + + Est congesta mihi domi Supellex + Ingens, aurea, nobilis, venusta, + Quâ totus studeo Britanniarum + Vero reddere gloriam nitori. + Sed Fortuna meis noverca cœptis + Jam felicibus invidet maligna. + Quare, ne pereant brevi vel horâ + Multarum mihi noctium labores + Omnes, et patriæ simul decora + Ornamenta cadant, &c. &c. + + IMITATED. + + The furnitures that fill my house, + The vast and beautiful disclose, + All noble, and the store is gold; + Our ancient glory here unroll'd. + But fortune checks my daring claim, + A step-mother severe to fame. + A smile malignantly she throws + Just at the story's prosperous close. + And thus must the unfinish'd tale, + And all my many vigils fail, + And must my country's honour fall; + In one brief hour must perish all? + +But, conscious of the greatness of his labours, he would obtain the +favour of the Archbishop, by promising a share of his own fame-- + + ----pretium sequetur amplum-- + Sic nomen tibi litteræ elegantes + Rectè perpetuum dabunt, suosque + Partim vel titulos tibi receptos + Concedet memori Britannus ore: + Sic te posteritas amabit omnis, + Et famâ super æthera innotesces. + + IMITATED. + + But take the ample glorious meed, + To letter'd elegance decreed, + When Britain's mindful voice shall bend, + And with her own thy honours blend, + As she from thy kind hands receives + Her titles drawn on Glory's leaves, + And back reflects them on thy name, + Till time shall love thy mounting fame. + +Thus was Leland, like the melancholic, withdrawn entirely into the +world of his own ideas; his imagination delighting in reveries, while +his industry was exhausting itself in labour. His manners were not +free from haughtiness,--his meagre and expressive physiognomy +indicates the melancholy and the majesty of his mind; it was not old +age, but the premature wrinkles of those nightly labours he has +himself recorded. All these characteristics are so strongly marked in +the bust of Leland, that Lavater had triumphed had he studied +it.[124] + +Labour had been long felt as voluptuousness by Leland; and this is +among the Calamities of Literature, and it is so with all those +studies which deeply busy the intellect and the fancy. There is a +poignant delight in study, often subversive of human happiness. Men of +genius, from their ideal state, drop into the cold formalities of +society, to encounter its evils, its disappointments, its neglect, and +perhaps its persecutions. When such minds discover the world will only +become a friend on its own terms, then the cup of their wrath +overflows; the learned grow morose, and the witty sarcastic; but more +indelible emotions in a highly-excited imagination often produce those +delusions, which Darwin calls hallucinations, and which sometimes +terminate in mania. The haughtiness, the melancholy, and the aspiring +genius of Leland, were tending to a disordered intellect. Incipient +insanity is a mote floating in the understanding, escaping all +observation, when the mind is capable of observing itself, but seems a +constituent part of the mind itself when that is completely covered +with its cloud. + +Leland did not reach even the maturity of life, the period at which +his stupendous works were to be executed. He was seized by frenzy. The +causes of his insanity were never known. The Papists declared he went +mad because he had embraced the new religion; his malicious rival +Polydore Vergil, because he had promised what he could not perform; +duller prosaists because his poetical turn had made him conceited. The +grief and melancholy of a fine genius, and perhaps an irregular +pension, his enemies have not noticed. + +The ruins of Leland's mind were viewed in his library; volumes on +volumes stupendously heaped together, and masses of notes scattered +here and there; all the vestiges of his genius, and its distraction. +His collections were seized on by honest and dishonest hands; many +were treasured, but some were stolen. Hearne zealously arranged a +series of volumes from the fragments; but the "Britannia" of Camden, +the "London" of Stowe, and the "Chronicles" of Holinshed, are only a +few of those public works whose waters silently welled from the spring +of Leland's genius; and that nothing might be wanting to preserve some +relic of that fine imagination which was always working in his poetic +soul, his own description of his learned journey over the kingdom was +a spark, which, falling into the inflammable mind of a poet, produced +the singular and patriotic poem of the "Polyolbion" of Drayton. Thus +the genius of Leland has come to us diffused through a variety of +other men's; and what he intended to produce it has required many to +perform. + +A singular inscription, in which Leland speaks of himself, in the +style he was accustomed to use, and which Weever tells us was affixed +to his monument, as he had heard by tradition, was probably a relic +snatched from his general wreck--for it could not with propriety have +been composed after his death.[125] + + Quantùm Rhenano debet Germania docto + Tantùm debebit terra Britanna mihi. + Ille suæ gentis ritus et nomina prisca + Æstivo fecit lucidiora die. + Ipse antiquarum rerum quoque magnus amator + Ornabo patriæ lumina clara meæ. + Quæ cum prodierint niveis inscripta tabellis, + Tum testes nostræ sedulitatis erunt. + + IMITATED. + + What Germany to learn'd Rhenanus owes, + That for my Britain shall my toil unclose; + His volumes mark their customs, names, and climes, + And brighten, with a summer's light, old times. + I also, touch'd by the same love, will write, + To ornament my country's splendid light, + Which shall, inscribed on snowy tablets, be + Full many a witness of my industry. + +Another example of literary disappointment disordering the intellect +may be contemplated in the fate of the poet COLLINS. + +Several interesting incidents may be supplied to Johnson's narrative +of the short and obscure life of this poet, who, more than any other +of our martyrs to the lyre, has thrown over all his images and his +thoughts a tenderness of mind, and breathed a freshness over the +pictures of poetry, which the mighty Milton has not exceeded, and the +laborious Gray has not attained. But he immolated happiness, and at +length reason, to his imagination! The incidents most interesting in +the life of Collins would be those events which elude the ordinary +biographer; that invisible train of emotions which were gradually +passing in his mind; those passions which first moulded his genius, +and which afterwards broke it! But who could record the vacillations +of a poetic temper, its early hope and its late despair, its wild +gaiety and its settled frenzy, but the poet himself? Yet Collins has +left behind no memorial of the wanderings of his alienated mind but +the errors of his life! + +At college he published his "Persian Eclogues," as they were first +called, to which, when he thought they were not distinctly Persian, he +gave the more general title of "Oriental." The publication was +attended with no success; but the first misfortune a poet meets will +rarely deter him from incurring more. He suddenly quitted the +university, and has been censured for not having consulted his friends +when he rashly resolved to live by the pen. But he had no friends! His +father had died in embarrassed circumstances; and Collins was residing +at the university on the stipend allowed him by his uncle, Colonel +Martin, who was abroad. He was indignant at a repulse he met with at +college; and alive to the name of author and poet, the ardent and +simple youth imagined that a nobler field of action opened on him in +the metropolis than was presented by the flat uniformity of a +collegiate life. To whatever spot the youthful poet flies, that spot +seems Parnassus, as applause seems patronage. He hurried to town, and +presented himself before the cousin who paid his small allowance from +his uncle in a fashionable dress with a feather in his hat. The graver +gentleman did not succeed in his attempt at sending him back, with all +the terror of his information, that Collins had not a single guinea of +his own, and was dressed in a coat he could never pay for. The young +bard turned from his obdurate cousin as "a dull fellow;" a usual +phrase with him to describe those who did not think as he would have +them. + +That moment was now come, so much desired, and scarcely yet dreaded, +which was to produce those effusions of fancy and learning, for which +Collins had prepared himself by previous studies. About this time +Johnson[126] has given a finer picture of the intellectual powers and +the literary attainments of Collins than in the life he afterwards +composed. "Collins was acquainted not only with the learned tongues, +but with the Italian, French, and Spanish languages; full of hopes and +full of projects, versed in many languages, high in fancy, and strong +in retention." Such was the language of Johnson, when, warmed by his +own imagination, he could write like Longinus; at that after-period, +when assuming the austerity of critical discussion for the lives of +poets, even in the coldness of his recollections, he describes Collins +as "a man of extensive literature, and of vigorous faculties." + +A chasm of several years remains to be filled. He was projecting works +of labour, and creating productions of taste; and he has been +reproached for irresolution, and even for indolence. Let us catch his +feelings from the facts as they rise together, and learn whether +Collins must endure censure or excite sympathy. + +When he was living loosely about town, he occasionally wrote many +short poems in the house of a friend, who witnesses that he burned as +rapidly as he composed. His odes were purchased by Millar, yet though +but a slight pamphlet, all the interest of that great bookseller could +never introduce them into notice. Not an idle compliment is recorded +to have been sent to the poet. When we now consider that among these +odes was one the most popular in the language, with some of the most +exquisitely poetical, it reminds us of the difficulty a young writer +without connexions experiences in obtaining the public ear; and of the +languor of poetical connoisseurs who sometimes suffer poems, that have +not yet grown up to authority, to be buried on the shelf. What the +outraged feelings of the poet were, appeared when some time afterwards +he became rich enough to express them. Having obtained some fortune by +the death of his uncle, he made good to the publisher the deficiency +of the unsold odes, and, in his haughty resentment at the public +taste, consigned the impression to the flames! + +Who shall now paint the feverish and delicate feelings of a young poet +such as Collins, who had twice addressed the public, and twice had +been repulsed? He whose poetic temper Johnson has finely painted, at +the happy moment when he felt its influence, as "delighting to rove +through the meadows of enchantment, to gaze on the magnificence of +golden palaces, and repose by the waterfalls of Elysian gardens!" + +It cannot be doubted, and the recorded facts will demonstrate it, that +the poetical disappointments of Collins were secretly preying on his +spirit, and repressing his firmest exertions. With a mind richly +stored with literature, and a soul alive to the impulses of nature and +study, he projected a "History of the Revival of Learning," and a +translation of "Aristotle's Poetics," to be illustrated by a large +commentary. + +But "his great fault," says Johnson, "was his _irresolution_; or the +frequent calls of _immediate necessity_ broke his schemes, and +suffered him to pursue no settled purpose." Collins was, however, not +idle, though without application; for, when reproached with idleness +by a friend, he showed instantly several sheets of his version of +Aristotle, and many embryos of some lives he had engaged to compose +for the "Biographia Britannica;" he never brought either to +perfection! What then was this _irresolution_ but the vacillations of +a mind broken and confounded? He had exercised too constantly the +highest faculties of fiction, and he had precipitated himself into the +dreariness of real life. None but a poet can conceive, for none but a +poet can experience, the secret wounds inflicted on a mind of romantic +fancy and tenderness of emotion, which has staked its happiness on its +imagination; for such neglect is felt as ordinary men would feel the +sensation of being let down into a sepulchre, and buried alive. The +mind of Tasso, a brother in fancy to Collins, became disordered by the +opposition of the critics, but perpetual neglect injures it not less. +The HOPE of the ancients was represented holding some flowers, the +promise of the spring, or some spikes of corn, indicative of +approaching harvest--but the HOPE of Collins had scattered its seed, +and they remained buried in the earth. + +The oblivion which covered our poet's works appeared to him eternal, +as those works now seem to us immortal. He had created HOPE with deep +and enthusiastic feeling!-- + + With eyes so fair-- + Whispering promised pleasure, + And bade the lovely scenes at distance hail; + And Hope, enchanted, smiled, and waved her golden hair! + +The few years Collins passed in the metropolis he was subsisting with +or upon his friends; and, being a pleasing companion, he obtained many +literary acquaintances. It was at this period that Johnson knew him, +and thus describes him:--"His appearance was decent, and his +knowledge considerable; his views extensive, and his conversation +elegant." He was a constant frequenter at the literary resorts of the +Bedford and Slaughter's; and Armstrong, Hill, Garrick, and Foote, +frequently consulted him on their pieces before they appeared in +public. From his intimacy with Garrick he obtained a free admission +into the green-room; and probably it was at this period, among his +other projects, that he planned several tragedies, which, however, as +Johnson observes, "he only planned." There is a feature in Collins's +character which requires attention. He is represented as a man of +cheerful dispositions; and it has been my study to detect only a +melancholy, which was preying on the very source of life itself. +Collins was, indeed, born to charm his friends; for fancy and elegance +were never absent from his susceptible mind, rich in its stores, and +versatile in its emotions. He himself indicates his own character, in +his address to "Home:"-- + + Go! nor, regardless while these numbers boast + My short-lived bliss, forget my social name. + +Johnson has told us of his cheerful dispositions; and one who knew him +well observes, that "in the green-room he made diverting observations +on the vanity and false consequence of that class of people, and his +manner of relating them to his particular friends was extremely +entertaining:" but the same friend acknowledges that "some letters +which he received from Collins, though chiefly on business, have in +them some flights which strongly mark his character, and for which +reason I have preserved them." We cannot decide of the temper of a man +viewed only in a circle of friends, who listen to the ebullitions of +wit or fancy; the social warmth for a moment throws into forgetfulness +his secret sorrow. The most melancholy man is frequently the most +delightful companion, and peculiarly endowed with the talent of +satirical playfulness and vivacity of humour.[127] But what was the +true life of Collins, separated from its adventitious circumstances? +It was a life of want, never chequered by hope, that was striving to +elude its own observation by hurrying into some temporary dissipation. +But the hours of melancholy and solitude were sure to return; these +were marked on the dial of his life, and, when they struck, the gay +and lively Collins, like one of his own enchanted beings, as surely +relapsed into his natural shape. To the perpetual recollection of his +poetical disappointments are we to attribute this unsettled state of +his mind, and the perplexity of his studies. To these he was +perpetually reverting, which he showed when after a lapse of several +years, he could not rest till he had burned his ill-fated odes. And +what was the result of his literary life? He returned to his native +city of Chichester in a state almost of nakedness, destitute, +diseased, and wild in despair, to hide himself in the arms of a +sister. + +The cloud had long been gathering over his convulsed intellect; and +the fortune he acquired on the death of his uncle served only for +personal indulgences, which rather accelerated his disorder. There +were, at times, some awful pauses in the alienation of his mind--but +he had withdrawn it from study. It was in one of these intervals that +Thomas Warton told Johnson that when he met Collins travelling, he +took up a book the poet carried with him, from curiosity, to see what +companion a man of letters had chosen--it was an English Testament. "I +have but one book," said Collins, "but that is the best." This +circumstance is recorded on his tomb. + + He join'd pure faith to strong poetic powers, + And in reviving reason's lucid hours, + Sought on one book his troubled mind to rest, + And rightly deem'd the book of God the best. + +At Chichester, tradition has preserved some striking and affecting +occurrences of his last days; he would haunt the aisles and cloisters +of the cathedral, roving days and nights together, loving their + + Dim religious light. + +And, when the choristers chanted their anthem, the listening and +bewildered poet, carried out of himself by the solemn strains, and his +own too susceptible imagination, moaned and shrieked, and awoke a +sadness and a terror most affecting amid religious emotions; their +friend, their kinsman, and their poet, was before them, an awful image +of human misery and ruined genius! + +This interesting circumstance is thus alluded to on his monument:-- + + Ye walls that echoed to his frantic moan, + Guard the due record of this grateful stone: + Strangers to him, enamour'd of his lays, + This fond memorial of his talents raise. + +A voluntary subscription raised the monument to Collins. The genius of +Flaxman has thrown out on the eloquent marble all that fancy would +consecrate; the tomb is itself a poem. + +There Collins is represented as sitting in a reclining posture, during +a lucid interval of his afflicting malady, with a calm and benign +aspect, as if seeking refuge from his misfortunes in the consolations +of the Gospel, which lie open before him, whilst his lyre, and "The +Ode on the Passions," as a scroll, are thrown together neglected on +the ground. Upon the pediment on the tablet are placed in relief two +female figures of LOVE and PITY, entwined each in the arms of the +other; the proper emblems of the genius of his poetry. + +Langhorne, who gave an edition of Collins's poems with all the fervour +of a votary, made an observation not perfectly correct:--"It is +observable," he says, "that none of his poems bear the marks of an +amorous disposition; and that he is one of those few poets who have +sailed to Delphi without touching at Cythera. In the 'Ode to the +Passions,' _Love_ has been omitted." There, indeed, Love does not form +an important personage; yet, at the close, _Love_ makes his transient +appearance with _Joy_ and _Mirth_--"a gay fantastic round." + + And, amidst his frolic play, + As if he would the charming air repay, + Shook thousand odours from his dewy wings. + +It is certain, however, that Collins considered the amatory passion as +unfriendly to poetic originality; for he alludes to the whole race of +the Provençal poets, by accusing them of only employing + + Love, only love, her forceless numbers mean. + +Collins affected to slight the urchin; for he himself had been once in +love, and his wit has preserved the history of his passion; he was +attached to a young lady who was born the day before him, and who +seems not to have been very poetically tempered, for she did not +return his ardour. On that occasion he said "that he came into the +world _a day after the fair_." + +Langhorne composed two sonnets, which seem only preserved in the +"Monthly Review," in which he was a writer, and where he probably +inserted them; they bear a particular reference to the misfortunes of +our poet. In one he represents Wisdom, in the form of Addison, +reclining in "the old and honoured shade of Magdalen," and thus +addressing + + The poor shade of Collins, wandering by; + The tear stood trembling in his gentle eye, + With modest grief reluctant, while he said-- + "Sweet bard, belov'd by every muse in vain! + With pow'rs, whose fineness wrought their own decay; + Ah! wherefore, thoughtless, didst thou yield the rein + To fancy's will, and chase the meteor ray? + Ah! why forget thy own Hyblæan strain, + Peace rules the breast, where Reason rules the day." + +The last line is most happily applied; it is a verse by the +unfortunate bard himself, which heightens the contrast with his +forlorn state! Langhorne has feelingly painted the fatal indulgences +of such a character as Collins. + + Of fancy's too prevailing power beware! + Oft has she bright on life's fair morning shone; + Oft seated Hope on Reason's sovereign throne, + Then closed the scene, in darkness and despair. + Of all her gifts, of all her powers possest, + Let not her flattery win thy youthful ear, + Nor vow long faith to such a various guest, + False at the last, tho' now perchance full dear; + The casual lover with her charms is blest, + But woe to them her magic bands that wear! + +The criticism of Johnson on the poetry of Collins, that "as men are +often esteemed who cannot be loved, so the poetry of Collins may +sometimes extort praise when it gives little pleasure," might +almost have been furnished by the lumbering pen of old Dennis. But +Collins from the poetical never _extorts_ praise, for it is given +_spontaneously_; he is much _more loved_ than _esteemed_, for he +does not give _little pleasure_. Johnson, too, describes his +"lines as of slow motion, clogged and impeded with clusters of +consonants." Even this verbal criticism, though it appeals to the +eye, and not to the ear, is false criticism, since Collins is +certainly the most musical of poets. How could that lyrist be harsh +in his diction, who almost draws tears from our eyes, while his +melodious lines and picturing epithets are remembered by his readers? +He is devoured with as much enthusiasm by one party as he is +imperfectly relished by the other. + +Johnson has given two characters of this poet; the one composed at a +period when that great critic was still susceptible of the seduction +of the imagination; but even in this portrait, though some features of +the poet are impressively drawn, the likeness is incomplete, for there +is not even a slight indication of the chief feature in Collins's +genius, his tenderness and delicacy of emotion, and his fresh and +picturesque creative strokes. Nature had denied to Johnson's robust +intellect the perception of these poetic qualities. He was but a +stately ox in the fields of Parnassus, not the animal of nature. Many +years afterwards, during his poetical biography, that long Lent of +criticism, in which he mortified our poetical feeling by accommodating +his to the populace of critics--so faint were former recollections, +and so imperfect were even those feelings which once he seemed to have +possessed--that he could then do nothing but write on Collins with +much less warmth than he has written on Blackmore. Johnson is, indeed, +the first of critics, when his powerful logic investigates objects +submitted to reason; but great sense is not always combined with +delicacy of taste; and there is in poetry a province which Aristotle +himself may never have entered. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [123] Leland, in his magnificent plan, included several curious + departments. Jealous of the literary glory of the Italians, + whom he compares to the Greeks for accounting all nations + barbarous and unlettered, he had composed four books "De Viris + Illustribus", on English Authors, to force them to acknowledge + the illustrious genius, and the great men of Britain. Three + books "De Nobilitate Britannica" were to be "as an ornament + and a right comely garland." + + [124] What reason is there to suppose with Granger that his bust, so + admirably engraven by Grignion, is supposititious? Probably + struck by the premature old age of a man who died in his + fortieth year, he condemned it by its appearance; but not with + the eye of the physiognomist. + + [125] Ancient Funerall Monuments, p. 692. + + [126] In a letter to Joseph Warton. + + [127] Burton, the author of "The Anatomy of Melancholy," offers a + striking instance. Bishop Kennett, in his curious "Register + and Chronicle," has preserved the following particulars of + this author. "In an interval of vapours _he would be extremely + pleasant, and raise laughter in any company_. Yet I have heard + that nothing at last could make him laugh but going down to + the Bridge-foot at Oxford, and hearing the bargemen scold and + storm and swear at one another; at which he would set his + hands to his sides, and laugh most profusely; yet in his + chamber so mute and mopish, that he was suspected to be _felo + de se_." With what a fine strain of poetic feeling has a + modern bard touched this subject!-- + + "As a beam o'er the face of the waters may glow, + While the tide runs in darkness and coldness below, + So the cheek may be tinged with a warm sunny smile, + Though the cold heart to ruin runs darkly the while." + MOORE'S "Irish Melodies." + + + + +THE REWARDS OF ORIENTAL STUDENTS. + + +At a time when oriental studies were in their infancy in this country, +SIMON OCKLEY, animated by the illustrious example of Pococke and the +laborious diligence of Prideaux, devoted his life and his fortune to +these novel researches, which necessarily involved both. With that +enthusiasm which the ancient votary experienced, and with that patient +suffering the modern martyr has endured, he pursued, till he +accomplished, the useful object of his labours. He, perhaps, was the +first who exhibited to us other heroes than those of Rome and Greece; +sages as contemplative, and a people more magnificent even than the +iron masters of the world. Among other oriental productions, his most +considerable is "The History of the Saracens." The first volume +appeared in 1708, and the second ten years afterwards. In the preface +to the last volume, the oriental student pathetically counts over his +sorrows, and triumphs over his disappointments; the most remarkable +part is the date of the place from whence this preface was written--he +triumphantly closes his labours in the confinement of Cambridge Castle +for debt! + +Ockley, lamenting his small proficiency in the Persian studies, +resolves to attain to them-- + +"How often have I endeavoured to perfect myself in that language, but +my malignant and envious stars still frustrated my attempts; but they +shall sooner alter their courses than extinguish my resolution of +quenching that thirst which the little I have had of it hath already +excited." + +And he states the deficiencies of his history with the most natural +modesty-- + +"Had I not been forced to snatch everything that I have, as it were, +out of the fire, our Saracen history should have been ushered into the +world after a different manner." He is fearful that something would be +ascribed to his indolence or negligence, that "ought more justly to be +attributed to the influence of inexorable necessity, could I have been +master of my own time and circumstances." + +Shame on those pretended patrons who, appointing "a professor of the +oriental languages," counteract the purpose of the professorship by +their utter neglect of the professor, whose stipend cannot keep him on +the spot where only he ought to dwell. And Ockley complains also of +that hypocritical curiosity which pretends to take an interest in +things it cares little about; perpetually inquiring, as soon as a work +is announced, when it is to come out. But these Pharisees of +literature, who can only build sepulchres to ancient prophets, never +believe in a living one. Some of these Ockley met with on the +publication of his first volume: they run it down as the strangest +story they had ever heard; they had never met with such folks as the +Arabians! "A reverend dignitary asked me if, when I wrote that book, I +had not lately been reading the history of Oliver Cromwell?" Such was +the plaudit the oriental student received, and returned to grow pale +over his MSS. But when Petis de la Croix, observes Ockley, was +pursuing the same track of study, in the patronage of Louis XIV., he +found books, leisure, and encouragement; and when the great Colbert +desired him to compose the life of Genkis Chan, he considered a period +of ten years not too much to be allowed the author. And then Ockley +proceeds-- + +"But my unhappy condition hath always been widely different from +anything that could admit of such an exactness. Fortune seems only to +have given me a taste of it out of spite, on purpose that I might +regret the loss of it." + +He describes his two journeys to Oxford, for his first volume; but in +his second, matters fared worse with him-- + +"Either my domestic affairs were grown much worse, or I less able to +bear them; or what is more probable, both." + +Ingenuous confession! fruits of a life devoted in its struggles to +important literature! and we murmur when genius is irritable, and +erudition is morose! But let us proceed with Ockley:-- + +"I was forced to take the advantage of the slumber of my cares, that +never slept when I was awake; and if they did not incessantly +interrupt my studies, were sure to succeed them with no less constancy +than night doth the day." + +This is the cry of agony. He who reads this without sympathy, ought to +reject these volumes as the idlest he ever read, and honour me with +his contempt. The close of Ockley's preface shows a love-like +tenderness for his studies; although he must quit life without +bringing them to perfection, he opens his soul to posterity and tells +them, in the language of prophecy, that if they will bestow +encouragement on our youth, the misfortunes he has described will be +remedied. He, indeed, was aware that these students-- + +"Will hardly come in upon the prospect of finding leisure, in a +prison, to transcribe those papers for the press which they have +collected with indefatigable labour, and oftentimes at the expense of +their rest, and all the other conveniences of life, for the service of +the public." + +Yet the exulting martyr of literature, at the moment he is fast bound +to the stake, does not consider a prison so dreadful a reward for +literary labours-- + +"I can assure them, from my own experience, that I have enjoyed more +true liberty, more happy leisure, and more solid repose in six months +here, than in thrice the same number of years before. Evil is the +condition of that historian who undertakes to write the lives of +others before he knows how to live himself. Yet I have no just reason +to be angry with the world; I never stood in need of its assistance in +my life, but I found it always very liberal of its advice; for which I +am so much the more beholden to it, by how much the more I did always +in my judgment give the possession of wisdom the preference to that of +riches."[128] + +Poor Ockley, always a student, and rarely what is called a man of the +world, once encountered a literary calamity which frequently occurs +when an author finds himself among the vapid triflers and the polished +cynics of the fashionable circle. Something like a patron he found in +Harley, the Earl of Oxford, and once had the unlucky honour of dining +at the table of my Lord Treasurer. It is probable that Ockley, from +retired habits and severe studies, was not at all accomplished in the +_suaviter in modo_, of which greater geniuses than Ockley have so +surlily despaired. How he behaved I cannot narrate: probably he +delivered himself with as great simplicity at the table of the Lord +Treasurer as on the wrong side of Cambridge Castle gate. The +embarrassment this simplicity drew him into is very fully stated in +the following copious apology he addressed to the Earl of Oxford, +which I have transcribed from the original; perhaps it may be a useful +memorial to some men of letters as little polished as the learned +Ockley:-- + + "_Cambridge, July 15, 1714._ + + "MY LORD,--I was so struck with horror and amazement two days ago, + that I cannot possibly express it. A friend of mine showed me a + letter, part of the contents of which were, 'That Professor Ockley + had given such extreme offence by some uncourtly answers to some + gentlemen at my Lord Treasurer's table that it would be in vain to + make any further application to him.' + + "My Lord, it is impossible for me to recollect, at this distance + of time. All that I can say is this: that, as on the one side for + a man to come to his patron's table with a design to affront + either him or his friends supposes him a perfect natural, a mere + idiot; so on the other side it would be extreme severe, if a + person whose education was far distant from the politeness of a + court, should, upon the account of an unguarded expression, or + some little inadvertency in his behaviour, suffer a capital + sentence. + + "Which is my case, if I have forfeited your Lordship's favour; + which God forbid! That man is involved in double ruin that is not + only forsaken by his friend, but, which is the unavoidable + consequence, exposed to the malice and contempt not only of + enemies, but, what is still more grievous, of all sorts of fools. + + "It is not the talent of every well-meaning man to converse with + his superiors with due decorum; for, either when he reflects upon + the vast distance of their station above his own, he is struck + dumb and almost insensible; or else their condescension and + courtly behaviour encourages him to be too familiar. To steer + exactly between these two extremes requires not only a good + intention, but presence of mind, and long custom. + + "Another article in my friend's letter was, 'That somebody had + informed your Lordship that I was a very sot.' When first I had + the honour to be known to your Lordship, I could easily foresee + that there would be persons enough that would envy me upon that + account, and do what in them lay to traduce me. Let Haman enjoy + never so much himself, it is all nothing, it does him no good, + till poor Mordecai is hanged out of his way. + + "But I never feared the being censured upon that account. Here in + the University I converse with none but persons of the most + distinguished reputations both for learning and virtue, and + receive from them daily as great marks of respect and esteem, + which I should not have if that imputation were true. It is most + certain that I do indulge myself the freedom of drinking a + cheerful cup, at proper seasons, among my friends; but no + otherwise than is done by thousands of honest men, who never + forfeit their character by it. And whoever doth no more than so, + deserves no more to be called a sot, than a man that eats a hearty + meal would be willing to be called a glutton. + + "As for those detractors, if I have but the least assurance of + your Lordship's favour, I can very easily despise them. They are + _Nati consumere fruges_. They need not trouble themselves about + what other people do; for whatever they eat and drink, it is only + robbing the poor. Resigning myself entirely to your Lordship's + goodness and pardon, I conclude this necessary apology with like + provocation. That _I would be content he should take my character + from any person that had a good one of his own_. + + "I am, with all submission, My Lord, + "Your Lordship's most obedient, &c., + "SIMON OCKLEY." + +To the honour of the Earl of Oxford, this unlucky piece of awkwardness +at table, in giving "uncourtly answers," did not interrupt his regard +for the poor oriental student; for several years afterwards the +correspondence of Ockley was still acceptable to the Earl. + +If the letters of the widows and children of many of our eminent +authors were collected, they would demonstrate the great fact, that +the man who is a husband or a father ought not to be an author. They +might weary with a monotonous cry, and usually would be dated from the +gaol or the garret. I have seen an original letter from the widow of +Ockley to the Earl of Oxford, in which she lays before him the +deplorable situation of her affairs; the debts of the Professor being +beyond what his effects amounted to, the severity of the creditors +would not even suffer the executor to make the best of his effects; +the widow remained destitute of necessaries, incapable of assisting +her children.[129] + +Thus students have devoted their days to studies worthy of a student. +They are public benefactors, yet find no friend in the public, who +cannot yet appreciate their value--Ministers of State know it, though +they have rarely protected them. Ockley, by letters I have seen, was +frequently employed by Bolingbroke to translate letters from the +Sovereign of Morocco to our court; yet all the debts for which he was +imprisoned in Cambridge Castle did not exceed two hundred pounds. The +public interest is concerned in stimulating such enthusiasts; they are +men who cannot be salaried, who cannot be created by letters-patent; +for they are men who infuse their soul into their studies, and breathe +their fondness for them in their last agonies. Yet such are doomed to +feel their life pass away like a painful dream! + +Those who know the value of LIGHTFOOT'S Hebraic studies, may be +startled at the impediments which seem to have annihilated them. In +the following effusion he confides his secret agitation to his friend +Buxtorf: "A few years since I prepared a little commentary on the +First Epistle to the Corinthians, in the same style and manner as I +had done that on Matthew. But it laid by me two years or more, nor can +I now publish it, but at my own charges, and to my great damage, which +I felt enough and too much in the edition of my book upon Mark. Some +progress I have made in the gospel of St. Luke, but I can print +nothing but at my own cost: thereupon I wholly give myself to reading, +scarce thinking of writing more; for booksellers and printers have +dulled my edge, who will print no book, especially Latin, unless they +have an assured and considerable gain." + +These writings and even the fragments have been justly appreciated by +posterity, and a recent edition of all Lightfoot's works in many +volumes have received honours which their despairing author never +contemplated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [128] Dr. Edmund Castell offers a remarkable instance to illustrate + our present investigation. He more than devoted his life to + his "Lexicon Heptaglotton." It is not possible, if there are + tears that are to be bestowed on the afflictions of learned + men, to read his pathetic address to Charles II., and forbear. + He laments the seventeen years of incredible pains, during + which he thought himself idle when he had not devoted sixteen + or eighteen hours a day to this labour; that he had expended + all his inheritance (it is said more than twelve thousand + pounds); that it had broken his constitution, and left him + blind as well as poor. When this invaluable Polyglott was + published, the copies remained unsold in his hands; for the + learned Castell had anticipated the curiosity and knowledge of + the public by a full century. He had so completely devoted + himself to oriental studies, that they had a very remarkable + consequence, for he had totally forgotten his own language, + and could scarcely spell a single word. This appears in some + of his English Letters, preserved by Mr. Nichols in his + valuable "Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century," vol. + iv. Five hundred of these Lexicons, unsold at the time of his + death, were placed by Dr. Castell's niece in a room so little + regarded, that scarcely one complete copy escaped the rats, + and "the whole load of learned rags sold only for seven + pounds." The work at this moment would find purchasers, I + believe, at forty or fifty pounds.--The learned SALE, who + first gave the world a genuine version of the Koran, and who + had so zealously laboured in forming that "Universal History" + which was the pride of our country, pursued his studies + through a life of want--and this great orientalist (I grieve + to degrade the memoirs of a man of learning by such + mortifications), when he quitted his studies too often wanted + a change of linen, and often wandered in the streets in search + of some compassionate friend who would supply him with the + meal of the day! + + [129] The following are extracts from Ockley's letters to the Earl of + Oxford, which I copy from the originals:-- + + "_Cambridge Castle, May 2, 1717._ + + "I am here in the prison for debt, which must needs be an + unavoidable consequence of the distractions in my family. + I enjoy more repose, indeed, here, than I have tasted + these many years, but the circumstance of a family obliges + me to go out as soon as I can." + + + "_Cambridge, Sept. 7, 1717._ + + "I have at last found leisure in my confinement to finish + my Saracen history, which I might have hoped for in vain + in my perplexed circumstances." + + + + +DANGER INCURRED BY GIVING THE RESULT OF LITERARY INQUIRIES. + + +An author occupies a critical situation, for, while he is presenting +the world with the result of his profound studies and his honest +inquiries, it may prove pernicious to himself. By it he may incur the +risk of offending the higher powers, and witnessing his own days +embittered. Liable, by his moderation or his discoveries, by his +scruples or his assertions, by his adherence to truth, or by the +curiosity of his speculations, to be persecuted by two opposite +parties, even when the accusations of the one necessarily nullify the +other; such an author will be fortunate to be permitted to retire out +of the circle of the bad passions; but he crushes in silence and +voluntary obscurity all future efforts--and thus the nation loses a +valued author. + +This case is exemplified by the history of Dr. COWEL'S curious work +"The Interpreter." The book itself is a treasure of our antiquities, +illustrating our national manners. The author was devoted to his +studies, and the merits of his work recommended him to the Archbishop +of Canterbury; in the Ecclesiastical Court he practised as a civilian, +and became there eminent as a judge.[130] + +Cowel gave his work with all the modesty of true learning; for who +knows his deficiencies so well in the subject on which he has written +as that author who knows most? It is delightful to listen to the +simplicity and force with which an author in the reign of our first +James opens himself without reserve. + +"My true end is the advancement of knowledge; and therefore have I +published this poor work, not only to impart the good thereof to those +young ones that want it, but also to draw from the learned the supply +of my defects. Whosoever will charge these my travels [labours] with +many oversights, he shall need no solemn pains to prove them. And upon +the view taken of this book sithence the impression, I dare assure +them that shall observe most faults therein, that I, by gleaning after +him, will gather as many omitted by him, as he shall show committed by +me. What a man saith well is not, however, to be rejected because he +hath some errors; reprehend who will, in God's name, that is, with +sweetness and without reproach. So shall he reap hearty thanks at my +hands, and thus more soundly help in a few months, than I, by tossing +and tumbling my books at home, could possibly have done in many +years." + +This extract discovers Cowel's amiable character as an author. But he +was not fated to receive "sweetness without reproach." + +Cowel encountered an unrelenting enemy in Sir Edward Coke, the famous +Attorney-General of James I., the commentator of Littleton. As a man, +his name ought to arouse our indignation, for his licentious tongue, +his fierce brutality, and his cold and tasteless genius. He whose +vileness could even ruffle the great spirit of Rawleigh, was the +shameless persecutor of the learned Cowel. + +Coke was the oracle of the common law, and Cowel of the civil; but +Cowel practised at Westminster Hall as well as at Doctors' Commons. +Coke turned away with hatred from an advocate who, with the skill of a +great lawyer, exerted all the courage. The Attorney-General sought +every occasion to degrade him, and, with puerile derision, attempted +to fasten on Dr. Cowel the nickname of _Dr. Cowheel_. Coke, after +having written in his "Reports" whatever he could against our author, +with no effect, started a new project. Coke well knew his master's +jealousy on the question of his prerogative; and he touched the King +on that nerve. The Attorney-General suggested to James that Cowel had +discussed "too nicely the mysteries of his monarchy, in some points +derogatory to the supreme power of his crown; asserting that the royal +prerogative was in some cases limited." So subtly the serpent +whispered to the feminine ear of a monarch, whom this vanity of +royalty startled with all the fears of a woman. This suggestion had +nearly occasioned the ruin of Cowel--it verged on treason; and if the +conspiracy of Coke now failed, it was through the mediation of the +archbishop, who influenced the King; but it succeeded in alienating +the royal favour from Cowel. + +When Coke found he could not hang Cowel for treason, it was only a +small disappointment, for he had hopes to secure his prey by involving +him in felony. As physicians in desperate cases sometimes reverse +their mode of treatment, so Coke now operated on an opposite +principle. He procured a party in the Commons to declare that Cowel +was a betrayer of the rights and liberties of the people; that he had +asserted the King was independent of Parliament, and that it was a +favour to admit the consent of his subjects in giving of subsidies, +&c.; and, in a word, that he drew his arguments from the Roman +Imperial Code, and would make the laws and customs of Rome and +Constantinople those of London and York. Passages were wrested to +Coke's design. The prefacer of Cowel's book very happily expresses +himself when he says, "When a suspected book is brought to the +torture, it often confesseth all, and more than it knows." + +The Commons proceeded criminally against Cowel; and it is said his +life was required, had not the king interposed. The author was +imprisoned, and the book was burnt. + +On this occasion was issued "a proclamation touching Dr. Cowel's book +called 'The Interpreter.'" It may be classed among the most curious +documents of our literary history. I do not hesitate to consider this +proclamation as the composition of James I. + +I will preserve some passages from this proclamation, not merely for +their majestic composition, which may still be admired, and the +singularity of the ideas, which may still be applied--but for the +literary event to which it gave birth in the appointment of a royal +licenser for the press. Proclamations and burning of books are the +strong efforts of a weak government, exciting rather than suppressing +public attention. + +"This later age and times of the world wherein we are fallen is so +much given to verbal profession, as well of religion as of all +commendable royal virtues, but wanting the actions and deeds agreeable +to so specious a profession; as it hath bred such an unsatiable +curiosity in many men's spirits, and such an itching in the tongues +and pens of most men, as nothing is left unsearched to the bottom both +in talking and writing. For from the very highest mysteries in the +Godhead and the most inscrutable counsels in the Trinity, to the very +lowest pit of hell and the confused actions of the devils there, there +is nothing now unsearched into by the curiosity of men's brains. Men, +not being contented with the knowledge of so much of the will of God +as it hath pleased him to reveal, but they will needs sit with him in +his most private closet, and become privy of his most inscrutable +counsels. And, therefore, it is no wonder that men in these our days +do not spare to wade in all the deepest mysteries that belong to the +persons or state of kings and princes, that are gods upon earth; since +we see (as we have already said) that they spare not God himself. And +this licence, which every talker or writer now assumeth to himself, is +come to this abuse; that many Phormios will give counsel to Hannibal, +and many men that never went of the compass of cloysters or colleges, +will freely wade, by their writings, in the deepest mysteries of +monarchy and politick government. Whereupon it cannot otherwise fall +out but that when men go out of their element and meddle with things +above their capacity, themselves shall not only go astray and stumble +in darkness, but will mislead also divers others with themselves into +many mistakings and errors; the proof whereof we have lately had by a +book written by Dr. Cowel, called 'The Interpreter.'" + +The royal reviewer then in a summary way shows how Cowel had, "by +meddling in matters beyond his reach, fallen into many things to +mistake and deceive himself." The book is therefore "prohibited; the +buying, uttering, or reading it;" and those "who have any copies are +to deliver the same presently upon this publication to the Mayor of +London," &c., and the proclamation concludes with instituting +licensers of the press:-- + +"Because that there shall be better oversight of books of all sorts +before they come to the press, we have resolved to make choice of +commissioners, that shall look more narrowly into the nature of all +those things that shall be put to the press, and from whom a more +strict account shall be yielded unto us, than hath been used +heretofore." + +What were the feelings of our injured author, whose integrity was so +firm, and whose love of study was so warm, when he reaped for his +reward the displeasure of his sovereign, and the indignation of his +countrymen--accused at once of contradictory crimes, he could not be +a betrayer of the rights of the people, and at the same time limit the +sovereign power. Cowel retreated to his college, and, like a wise man, +abstained from the press; he pursued his private studies, while his +inoffensive life was a comment on Coke's inhumanity more honourable to +Cowel than any of Coke's on Littleton. + +Thus Cowel saw, in his own life, its richest labour thrown aside; and +when the author and his adversary were no more, it became a treasure +valued by posterity! It was printed in the reign of Charles I., under +the administration of Cromwell, and again after the Restoration. It +received the honour of a foreign edition. Its value is still +permanent. Such is the history of a book, which occasioned the +disgrace of its author, and embittered his life. + +A similar calamity was the fate of honest STOWE, the Chronicler. After +a long life of labour, and having exhausted his patrimony in the study +of English antiquities, from a reverential love to his country, poor +Stowe was ridiculed, calumniated, neglected, and persecuted. One +cannot read without indignation and pity what Howes, his continuator, +tells us in his dedication. Howes had observed that-- + +"No man would lend a helping hand to the late aged painful Chronicler, +nor, after his death, prosecute his work. He applied himself to +several persons of dignity and learning, whose names had got forth +among the public as likely to be the continuators of Stowe; but every +one persisted in denying this, and some imagined that their secret +enemies had mentioned their names with a view of injuring them, by +incurring the displeasure of their superiors and risking their own +quiet. One said, 'I will _not flatter_, to scandalise my posterity;' +another, 'I cannot see how a man should spend his labour and money +worse than in that which acquires no regard nor reward except +_backbiting_ and _detraction_.' One swore a great oath and said, 'I +thank God that I am not yet so mad to waste my time, spend two hundred +pounds a-year, trouble myself and all my friends, only to give +assurance of endless reproach, loss of liberty, and bring all my days +in question.'" + +Unhappy authors! are such then the terrors which silence eloquence, +and such the dangers which environ truth? Posterity has many +discoveries to make, or many deceptions to endure! But we are treading +on hot embers. + +Such too was the fate of REGINALD SCOT, who, in an elaborate and +curious volume,[131] if he could not stop the torrent of the popular +superstitions of witchcraft, was the first, at least, to break and +scatter the waves. It is a work which forms an epoch in the history of +the human mind in our country; but the author had anticipated a very +remote period of its enlargement. Scot, the apostle of humanity, and +the legislator of reason, lived in retirement, yet persecuted by +religious credulity and legal cruelty. + +SELDEN, perhaps the most learned of our antiquaries, was often led, in +his curious investigations, to disturb his own peace, by giving the +result of his inquiries. James I. and the Court party were willing +enough to extol his profound authorities and reasonings on topics +which did not interfere with their system of arbitrary power; but they +harassed and persecuted the author whom they would at other times +eagerly quote as their advocate. Selden, in his "History of Tithes," +had alarmed the clergy by the intricacy of his inquiries. He pretends, +however, to have only collected the opposite opinions of others, +without delivering his own. The book was not only suppressed, but the +great author was further disgraced by subscribing a gross recantation +of all his learned investigations--and was compelled to receive in +silence the insults of Courtly scholars, who had the hardihood to +accuse him of plagiarism, and other literary treasons, which more +sensibly hurt Selden than the recantation extorted from his hand by +"the Lords of the High Commission Court." James I. would not suffer +him to reply to them. When the king desired Selden to show the right +of the British Crown to the dominion of the sea, this learned author +having made proper collections, Selden, angried at an imprisonment he +had undergone, refused to publish the work. A great author like Selden +degrades himself when any personal feeling, in literary disputes, +places him on an equality with any king; the duty was to his +country.--But Selden, alive to the call of rival genius, when Grotius +published, in Holland, his _Mare liberum_, gave the world his _Mare +clausum_; when Selden had to encounter Grotius, and to proclaim to the +universe "the Sovereignty of the Seas," how contemptible to him +appeared the mean persecutions of a crowned head, and how little his +own meaner resentment! + +To this subject the fate of Dr. HAWKESWORTH is somewhat allied. It is +well known that this author, having distinguished himself by his +pleasing compositions in the "Adventurer," was chosen to draw up the +narrative of Cook's discoveries in the South Seas. The pictures of a +new world, the description of new manners in an original state of +society, and the incidents arising from an adventure which could find +no parallel in the annals of mankind, but under the solitary genius of +Columbus--all these were conceived to offer a history, to which the +moral and contemplative powers of Hawkesworth only were equal. Our +author's fate, and that of his work, are known: he incurred all the +danger of giving the result of his inquiries; he indulged his +imagination till it burst into pruriency, and discussed moral theorems +till he ceased to be moral. The shock it gave to the feelings of our +author was fatal; and the error of a mind, intent on inquiries which, +perhaps, he thought innocent, and which the world condemned as +criminal, terminated in death itself. Hawkesworth was a vain man, and +proud of having raised himself by his literary talents from his native +obscurity: of no learning, he drew all his science from the +Cyclopædia; and, I have heard, could not always have construed the +Latin mottos of his own paper, which were furnished by Johnson; but +his sensibility was abundant--and ere his work was given to the world, +he felt those tremblings and those doubts which anticipated his fate. +That he was in a state of mental agony respecting the reception of his +opinions, and some other parts of his work, will, I think, be +discovered in the following letter, hitherto unpublished. It was +addressed, with his MSS., to a peer, to be examined before they were +sent to the press--an occupation probably rather too serious for the +noble critic:-- + + "_London, March 2, 1761._ + + "I think myself happy to be permitted to put _my MSS. into your + Lordship's hands_, because, though it increases my anxiety and my + fears, yet it will at least secure me from what I should think _a + far greater misfortune_ than any other that can attend my + performance, _the danger of addressing to the King any sentiment, + allusion, or opinion_, that could make such an address _improper_. + I have now the honour to submit the _work_ to your Lordship, with + the dedication; from which the duty I owe to his Majesty, and, if + I may be permitted to add anything to that, the duty I owe to + myself, have concurred to exclude the servile, extravagant, and + indiscriminate adulation which has so often disgraced alike those + by whom it has been given and received. + + "I remain, &c. &c." + +This elegant epistle justly describes that delicacy in style which has +been so rarely practised by an indiscriminate dedicator; and it not +less feelingly touches on that "far greater misfortune than any +other," which finally overwhelmed the fortitude and intellect of this +unhappy author! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [130] Cowel's book, "The Interpreter," though professedly a mere + explanation of law terms, was believed to contain allusions or + interpretations of law entirely adapted to party feeling. + Cowel was blamed by both parties, and his book declared to + infringe the royal prerogative or the liberties of the + subject. It was made one of the articles against Laud at his + trial, that he had sanctioned a new edition of this work to + countenance King Charles in his measures. Cowel had died long + before this (October, 1611); he had retired again to + collegiate life as soon as he got free of his political + persecutions.--ED. + + [131] "The Discoverie of Witchcraft, necessary to be known for the + undeceiving of Judges, Justices, and Juries, and for the + Preservation of Poor People." Third edition, 1665. This was + about the time that, according to Arnot's Scots Trials, the + expenses of burning a witch amounted to ninety-two pounds, + fourteen shillings, Scots. The unfortunate old woman cost two + trees, and employed two men to watch her closely for thirty + days! One ought to recollect the past follies of humanity, to + detect, perhaps, some existing ones. + + + + +A NATIONAL WORK WHICH COULD FIND NO PATRONAGE. + + +The author who is now before us is DE LOLME! + +I shall consider as an English author that foreigner, who flew to our +country as the asylum of Europe, who composed a noble work on our +Constitution, and, having imbibed its spirit, acquired even the +language of a free country. + +I do not know an example in our literary history that so loudly +accuses our tardy and phlegmatic feeling respecting authors, as the +treatment De Lolme experienced in this country. His book on our +Constitution still enters into the studies of an English patriot, and +is not the worse for flattering and elevating the imagination, +painting everything beautiful, to encourage our love as well as our +reverence for the most perfect system of governments. It was a noble +as well as ingenious effort in a foreigner--it claimed national +attention--but could not obtain even individual patronage. The fact is +mortifying to record, that the author who wanted every aid, received +less encouragement than if he had solicited subscriptions for a raving +novel, or an idle poem. De Lolme was compelled to traffic with +booksellers for this work; and, as he was a theoretical rather than a +practical politician, he was a bad trader, and acquired the smallest +remuneration. He lived, in the country to which he had rendered a +national service, in extreme obscurity and decay; and the walls of the +Fleet too often enclosed the English Montesquieu. He never appears to +have received a solitary attention,[132] and became so disgusted with +authorship, that he preferred silently to endure its poverty rather +than its other vexations. He ceased almost to write. Of De Lolme I +have heard little recorded but his high-mindedness; a strong sense +that he stood degraded beneath that rank in society which his book +entitled him to enjoy. The cloud of poverty that covered him only +veiled without concealing its object; with the manners and dress of a +decayed gentleman, he still showed the few who met him that he +cherished a spirit perpetually at variance with the adversity of his +circumstances. + +Our author, in a narrative prefixed to his work, is the proud +historian of his own injured feelings; he smiled in bitterness on his +contemporaries, confident it was a tale reserved for posterity. + +After having written the work whose systematic principles refuted +those political notions which prevailed at the era of the American +revolution,--and whose truth has been so fatally demonstrated in our +own times, in two great revolutions, which have shown all the defects +and all the mischief of nations rushing into a state of freedom before +they are worthy of it,--the author candidly acknowledges he counted on +some sort of encouragement, and little expected to find the mere +publication had drawn him into great inconvenience. + +"When my enlarged English edition was ready for the press, had I +acquainted ministers that I was preparing to boil my tea-kettle with +it, for want of being able to afford the expenses of printing it;" +ministers, it seems, would not have considered that he was lighting +his fire with "myrrh, and cassia, and precious ointment." + +In the want of encouragement from great men, and even from booksellers, +De Lolme had recourse to a subscription; and his account of the manner +he was received, and the indignities he endured, all which are +narrated with great simplicity, show that whatever his knowledge of +our Constitution might be, "his knowledge of the country was, at that +time, very incomplete." At length, when he shared the profits of his +work with the booksellers, they were "but scanty and slow." After +all, our author sarcastically congratulates himself, that he-- + +"Was allowed to carry on the above business of selling my book, +without any objection being formed against me, from my not having +served a regular apprenticeship, and without being molested by the +Inquisition." + +And further he adds-- + +"Several authors have chosen to relate, in writings published after +death, the personal advantages by which their performances had been +followed; as for me, I have thought otherwise--and I will see it +printed while I am yet living." + +This, indeed, is the language of irritation! and De Lolme degrades +himself in the loudness of his complaint. But if the philosopher +lost his temper, that misfortune will not take away the dishonour of +the occasion that produced it. The country's shame is not lessened +because the author who had raised its glory throughout Europe, and +instructed the nation in its best lesson, grew indignant at the +ingratitude of his pupil. De Lolme ought not to have congratulated +himself that he had been allowed the liberty of the press unharassed +by an inquisition: this sarcasm is senseless! or his book is a +mere fiction! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [132] Except by the hand of literary charity; he was more than once + relieved by the Literary Fund. Such are the authors only whom + it is wise to patronise. + + + + +THE MISERIES OF SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS. + + +HUME is an author so celebrated, a philosopher so serene, and a man so +extremely amiable, if not fortunate, that we may be surprised to meet +his name inscribed in a catalogue of literary calamities. Look into +his literary life, and you will discover that the greater portion was +mortified and angried; and that the stoic so lost his temper, that had +not circumstances intervened which did not depend on himself, Hume had +abandoned his country and changed his name! + +"The first success of most of my writings was not such as to be an +object of vanity." His "Treatise of Human Nature" fell dead-born from +the press. It was cast anew with another title, and was at first +little more successful. The following letter to Des Maiseaux, which I +believe is now first published, gives us the feelings of the youthful +and modest philosopher:-- + + "DAVID HUME TO DES MAISEAUX. + + "SIR,--Whenever you see my name, you'll readily imagine the + subject of my letter. A young author can scarce forbear + speaking of his performance to all the world; but when he + meets with one that is a good judge, and whose instruction and + advice he depends on, there ought some indulgence to be given + him. You were so good as to promise me, that if you could find + leisure from your other occupations, you would look over my + system of philosophy, and at the same time ask the opinion of + such of your acquaintance as you thought proper judges. Have you + found it sufficiently intelligible? Does it appear true to you? + Do the style and language seem tolerable? These three questions + comprehend everything; and I beg of you to answer them with the + utmost freedom and sincerity. I know 'tis a custom to flatter + poets on their performances, but I hope philosophers may be + exempted; and the more so that their cases are by no means alike. + When we do not approve of anything in a poet we commonly can give + no reason for our dislikes but our particular taste; which not + being convincing, we think it better to conceal our sentiments + altogether. But every error in philosophy can be distinctly + markt and proved to be such; and this is a favour I flatter + myself you'll indulge me in with regard to the performance I put + into your hands. I am, indeed, afraid that it would be too great + a trouble for you to mark all the errors you have observed; I + shall only insist upon being informed of the most material of + them, and you may assure yourself will consider it as a singular + favour. I am, with great esteem + + "Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, + "_Aprile 6, 1739._ + "DAVID HUME. + + "Please direct to me at Ninewells, near Berwick-upon-Tweed." + +Hume's own favourite "Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals" +came unnoticed and unobserved in the world. When he published the +first portion of his "History," which made even Hume himself sanguine +in his expectations, he tells his own tale:-- + +"I thought that I was the only historian that had at once neglected +present power, interest, and authority, and the cry of popular +prejudices; and, as the subject was suited to every capacity, I +expected proportional applause. But miserable was my disappointment! +All classes of men and readers united in their rage against him who +had presumed to shed a generous tear for the fate of Charles I. and +the Earl of Strafford." "What was still more mortifying, the book +seemed to sink into oblivion, and in a twelvemonth not more than +forty-five copies were sold." + +Even Hume, a stoic hitherto in his literary character, was struck +down, and dismayed--he lost all courage to proceed--and, had the war +not prevented him, "he had resolved to change his name, and never more +to have returned to his native country." + +But an author, though born to suffer martyrdom, does not always +expire; he may be flayed like St. Bartholomew, and yet he can breathe +without a skin; stoned, like St. Stephen, and yet write on with a +broken head; and he has been even known to survive the flames, +notwithstanding the most precious part of an author, which is +obviously his book, has been burnt in an _auto da fe_. Hume once +more tried the press in "The Natural History of Religion." It proved +but another martyrdom! Still was the _fall_ (as he terms it) of +the first volume of his History haunting his nervous imagination, +when he found himself yet strong enough to hold a pen in his hand, +and ventured to produce a second, which "helped to buoy up its +unfortunate brother." But the third part, containing the reign of +Elizabeth, was particularly obnoxious, and he was doubtful whether he +was again to be led to the stake. But Hume, a little hardened by a +little success, grew, to use his own words, "callous against the +impressions of public folly," and completed his History, which was +now received "with tolerable, and but tolerable, success." + +At length, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, our author began, a +year or two before he died, as he writes, to see "many _symptoms_ of +my literary reputation breaking out _at last_ with additional lustre, +though I know that I can have but few years to enjoy it." What a +provoking consolation for a philosopher, who, according to the result +of his own system, was close upon a state of annihilation! + +To Hume, let us add the illustrious name of DRYDEN. + +It was after preparing a second edition of Virgil, that the great +Dryden, who had lived, and was to die in harness, found himself still +obliged to seek for daily bread. Scarcely relieved from one heavy +task, he was compelled to hasten to another; and his efforts were now +stimulated by a domestic feeling, the expected return of his son in +ill-health from Rome. In a letter to his bookseller he pathetically +writes--"If it please God that _I must die of over-study_, I cannot +spend my life better than in preserving his." It was on this occasion, +on the verge of his seventieth year, as he describes himself in the +dedication of his Virgil, that, "worn out with study, and oppressed +with fortune," he contracted to supply the bookseller with 10,000 +verses at sixpence a line! + +What was his entire dramatic life but a series of vexation and +hostility, from his first play to his last? On those very boards +whence Dryden was to have derived the means of his existence and his +fame, he saw his foibles aggravated, and his morals aspersed. +Overwhelmed by the keen ridicule of Buckingham, and maliciously +mortified by the triumph which Settle, his meanest rival, was allowed +to obtain over him, and doomed still to encounter the cool malignant +eye of Langbaine, who read poetry only to detect plagiarism. +Contemporary genius is inspected with too much familiarity to be felt +with reverence; and the angry prefaces of Dryden only excited the +little revenge of the wits. How could such sympathise with injured, +but with lofty feelings? They spread two reports of him, which may not +be true, but which hurt him with the public. It was said that, being +jealous of the success of Creech, for his version of Lucretius, he +advised him to attempt Horace, in which Dryden knew he would fail--and +a contemporary haunter of the theatre, in a curious letter[133] on +_The Winter Diversions_, says of Congreve's angry preface to the +_Double Dealer_, that-- + +"The critics were severe upon this play, which gave the author +occasion to lash them in his epistle dedicatory--so that 'tis +generally thought _he has done his business and lost himself_; a thing +he owes to Mr. Dryden's _treacherous friendship_, who being _jealous +of the applause_ he had got by his _Old Bachelor deluded him_ into a +foolish imitation of his own way of writing angry prefaces." + +This lively critic is still more vivacious on the great Dryden, who +had then produced his _Love Triumphant_, which, the critic says, + +"Was damned by the universal cry of the town, _nemine contradicente_ +but the _conceited poet_. He says in his prologue that 'this is the +last the town must expect from him;' he had done himself a kindness +had he taken his leave before." He then describes the success of +Southerne's _Fatal Marriage, or the Innocent Adultery_, and +concludes, "This kind usage will encourage desponding minor poets, +and _vex huffing Dryden and Congreve to madness_." + +I have quoted thus much of this letter, that we may have before us +a true image of those feelings which contemporaries entertain of the +greater geniuses of their age; how they seek to level them; and in +what manner men of genius are doomed to be treated--slighted, +starved, and abused. Dryden and Congreve! the one the finest genius, +the other the most exquisite wit of our nation, are to be _vexed to +madness_!--their failures are not to excite sympathy, but contempt +or ridicule! How the feelings and the language of contemporaries +differ from that of posterity! And yet let _us_ not exult in our purer +and more dignified feelings--_we_ are, indeed, the _posterity_ of +Dryden and Congreve; but we are the _contemporaries_ of others who +must patiently hope for better treatment from our sons than they +have received from the fathers. + +Dryden was no master of the pathetic, yet never were compositions more +pathetic than the Prefaces this great man has transmitted to +posterity! Opening all the feelings of his heart, we live among his +domestic sorrows. Johnson censures Dryden for saying _he has few +thanks to pay his stars that he was born among Englishmen_.[134] We +have just seen that Hume went farther, and sighed to fly to a retreat +beyond that country which knew not to reward genius.--What, if Dryden +felt the dignity of that character he supported, dare we blame his +frankness? If the age be ungenerous, shall contemporaries escape the +scourge of the great author, who feels he is addressing another age +more favourable to him? + +Johnson, too, notices his "Self-commendation; his diligence in +reminding the world of his merits, and expressing, with very little +scruple, his high opinion of his own powers." Dryden shall answer in +his own words; with all the simplicity of Montaigne, he expresses +himself with the dignity that would have become Milton or Gray:-- + +"It is a vanity common to all writers to overvalue their own +productions; and it is better for me to own this failing in myself, +than the world to do it for me. _For what other reason have I spent +my life in such an unprofitable study? Why am I grown old in seeking +so barren a reward as fame?_ The same parts and application which have +made me a poet, might have raised me to any honours of the gown, which +are often given to men of as little learning, and less honesty, than +myself." + +How feelingly Whitehead paints the situation of Dryden in his old +age:-- + + Yet lives the man, how wild soe'er his aim, + Would madly barter fortune's smiles for fame? + Well pleas'd to shine, through each recording page, + The hapless Dryden of a shameless age! + + Ill-fated bard! where'er thy name appears, + The weeping verse a sad memento bears; + Ah! what avail'd the enormous blaze between + Thy dawn of glory and thy closing scene! + When sinking nature asks our kind repairs, + Unstrung the nerves, and silver'd o'er the hairs; + When stay'd reflection came uncall'd at last, + And gray experience counts each folly past! + +MICKLE'S version of the Lusiad offers an affecting instance of the +melancholy fears which often accompany the progress of works of +magnitude, undertaken by men of genius. Five years he had buried +himself in a farm-house, devoted to the solitary labour; and he closes +his preface with the fragment of a poem, whose stanzas have +perpetuated all the tremblings and the emotions, whose unhappy +influence the author had experienced through the long work. Thus +pathetically he addresses the Muse:-- + + ----Well thy meed repays thy worthless toil; + Upon thy houseless head pale want descends + In bitter shower; and taunting scorn still rends + And wakes thee trembling from thy golden dream: + In vetchy bed, or loathly dungeon ends + Thy idled life---- + +And when, at length, the great and anxious labour was completed, the +author was still more unhappy than under the former influence of his +foreboding terrors. The work is dedicated to the Duke of Buccleugh. +Whether his Grace had been prejudiced against the poetical labour by +Adam Smith, who had as little comprehension of the nature of poetry as +becomes a political economist, or from whatever cause, after +possessing it for six weeks the Duke had never condescended to open +the volume. It is to the honour of Mickle that the Dedication is a +simple respectful inscription, in which the poet had not compromised +his dignity,--and that in the second edition he had the magnanimity +not to withdraw the dedication to this statue-like patron. Neither was +the critical reception of this splendid labour of five devoted years +grateful to the sensibility of the author: he writes to a friend-- + +"Though my work is well received at Oxford, I will honestly own to +you, some things have hurt me. A few grammatical slips in the +introduction have been mentioned; and some things in the notes about +Virgil, Milton, and Homer, have been called the arrogance of +criticism. But the greatest offence of all is, what I say of blank +verse." + +He was, indeed, after this great work was given to the public, as +unhappy as at any preceding period of his life; and Mickle, too, like +Hume and Dryden, could feel a wish to forsake his native land! He +still found his "head houseless;" and "the vetchy bed" and "loathly +dungeon" still haunted his dreams. "To write for the booksellers is +what I never will do," exclaimed this man of genius, though struck by +poverty. He projected an edition of his own poems by subscription. + +"Desirous of giving an edition of my works, in which I shall bestow +the utmost attention, which, perhaps, will be my final farewell to +that blighted spot (worse than the most bleak mountains of Scotland) +yclept Parnassus; after this labour is finished, if Governor Johnstone +cannot or does not help me to a little independence, _I will certainly +bid adieu to Europe, to unhappy suspense, and perhaps also to the +chagrin of soul which I feel to accompany it_." + +Such was the language which cannot now be read without exciting our +sympathy for the author of the version of an epic, which, after a +solemn devotion of no small portion of the most valuable years +of life, had been presented to the world, with not sufficient +remuneration or notice of the author to create even hope in the +sanguine temperament of a poet. Mickle was more honoured at Lisbon +than in his own country. So imperceptible are the gradations of +public favour to the feelings of genius, and so vast an interval +separates that author who does not immediately address the tastes +or the fashions of his age, from the reward or the enjoyment of +his studies. + +We cannot account, among the lesser calamities of literature, that of +a man of genius, who, dedicating his days to the composition of a +voluminous and national work, when that labour is accomplished, finds, +on its publication, the hope of fame, and perhaps other hopes as +necessary to reward past toil, and open to future enterprise, all +annihilated. Yet this work neglected or not relished, perhaps even the +sport of witlings, afterwards is placed among the treasures of our +language, when the author is no more! but what is posthumous +gratitude, could it reach even the ear of an angel? + +The calamity is unavoidable; but this circumstance does not lessen it. +New works must for a time be submitted to popular favour; but +posterity is the inheritance of genius. The man of genius, however, +who has composed this great work, calculates his vigils, is best +acquainted with its merits, and is not without an anticipation of the +future feeling of his country; he + + But weeps the more, because he weeps in vain. + +Such is the fate which has awaited many great works; and the heart of +genius has died away on its own labours. I need not go so far back as +the Elizabethan age to illustrate a calamity which will excite the +sympathy of every man of letters; but the great work of a man of no +ordinary genius presents itself on this occasion. + +This great work is "The Polyolbion" of MICHAEL DRAYTON; a poem +unrivalled for its magnitude and its character.[135] The genealogy of +poetry is always suspicious; yet I think it owed its birth to +Leland's magnificent view of his intended work on Britain, and was +probably nourished by the "Britannia" of Camden, who inherited the +mighty industry, with out the poetical spirit, of Leland; Drayton +embraced both. This singular combination of topographical erudition +and poetical fancy constitutes a national work--a union that some may +conceive not fortunate, no more than "the slow length" of its +Alexandrine metre, for the purposes of mere delight. Yet what +theme can be more elevating than a bard chanting to his "Fatherland," +as the Hollanders called their country? Our tales of ancient glory, +our worthies who must not die, our towns, our rivers, and our +mountains, all glancing before the picturesque eye of the naturalist +and the poet! It is, indeed, a labour of Hercules; but it was not +unaccompanied by the lyre of Apollo. + +This national work was ill received; and the great author dejected, +never pardoned his contemporaries, and even lost his temper.[136] +Drayton and his poetical friends beheld indignantly the trifles of the +hour overpowering the neglected Polyolbion. + +One poet tells us that + + --------------------they prefer + The fawning lines of every pamphleter. + GEO. WITHERS. + +And a contemporary records the utter neglect of this great poet:-- + + Why lives Drayton when the times refuse + Both means to live, and matter for a muse, + Only without excuse to leave us quite, + And tell us, durst we act, he durst to write? + W. BROWNE. + +Drayton published his Polyolbion first in eighteen parts; and the +second portion afterwards. In this interval we have a letter to +Drummond, dated in 1619:-- + +"I thank you, my dear sweet Drummond, for your good opinion of +Polyolbion. I have done twelve books more, that is, from the 18th +book, which was Kent (if you note it), all the east parts and north to +the river of Tweed; _but it lieth by me, for the booksellers and I are +in terms_; they are a company of base knaves, whom I scorn and kick +at." + +The vengeance of the poet had been more justly wreaked on the buyers +of books than on the sellers, who, though knavery has a strong +connexion with trade, yet, were they knaves, they would be true to +their own interests. Far from impeding a successful author, +booksellers are apt to hurry his labours; for they prefer the crude to +the mature fruit, whenever the public taste can be appeased even by an +unripened dessert. + +These "knaves," however, seem to have succeeded in forcing poor +Drayton to observe an abstinence from the press, which must have +convulsed all the feelings of authorship. The second part was not +published till three years after this letter was written; and then +without maps. Its preface is remarkable enough; it is pathetic, till +Drayton loses the dignity of genius in its asperity. In is inscribed, +in no good humour-- + + "TO ANY THAT WILL READ IT! + +"When I first undertook this poem, or, as some have pleased to term +it, this Herculean labour, I was by some virtuous friends persuaded +that I should receive much comfort and encouragement; and for these +reasons: First, it was a new clear way, never before gone by any; that +it contained all the delicacies, delights, and rarities of this +renowned isle, interwoven with the histories of the Britons, Saxons, +Normans, and the later English. And further, that there is scarcely +any of the nobility or gentry of this land, but that he is some way or +other interested therein. + +"But it hath fallen out otherwise; for instead of that comfort which +my noble friends proposed as my due, I have met with barbarous +ignorance and base detraction; such a cloud hath the devil drawn over +the world's judgment. Some of the stationers that had the selling of +the first part of this poem, because _it went not so fast away in the +selling_ as some of their beastly and abominable trash (a shame both +to our language and our nation), have despightfully left out the +epistles to the readers, and so have cousened the buyers with +imperfected books, which those that have undertaken the second part +have been forced to amend in the first, for _the small number that are +yet remaining in their hands_. + +"And some of our outlandish, unnatural English (I know not how +otherwise to express them) stick not to say that there is nothing in +this island worth studying for, and take a great pride to be ignorant +in anything thereof. As for these cattle, _odi profanum vulgus, et +arceo_; of which I account them, be they never so great." + +Yet, as a true poet, whose impulse, like fate, overturns all +opposition, Drayton is not to be thrown out of his avocation; but +intrepidly closes by promising "they shall not deter me from going on +with Scotland, if means and time do not hinder me to perform as much +as I have promised in my first song." Who could have imagined that +such bitterness of style, and such angry emotions, could have been +raised in the breast of a poet of pastoral elegance and fancy? + + Whose bounding muse o'er ev'ry mountain rode, + And every river warbled as it flow'd. + KIRKPATRICK. + +It is melancholy to reflect that some of the greatest works in our +language have involved their authors in distress and anxiety: and that +many have gone down to their grave insensible of that glory which soon +covered it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [133] A letter found among the papers of the late Mr. Windham, which + Mr. Malone has preserved. + + [134] There is an affecting _remonstrance_ of Dryden to Hyde, Earl of + Rochester, on the state of his poverty and neglect--in which + is this remarkable passage:--"It is enough for one age to have + _neglected_ Mr. Cowley and _starved_ Mr. Butler." + + [135] The author explains the nature of his book in his title-page + when he calls it "A Chorographicall Description of tracts, + rivers, mountaines, forests, and other parts of this renowned + Isle of Great Britaine, with intermixture of the most + remarquable stories, antiquities, wonders, rarityes, + pleasures, and commodities of the same; digested in a Poem." + The maps with which it is illustrated are curious for the + impersonations of the nymphs of wood and water, the sylvan + gods, and other characters of the poem; to which the learned + Selden supplied notes. Ellis calls it "a wonderful work, + exhibiting at once the learning of an historian, an antiquary, + a naturalist, and a geographer, and embellished by the + imagination of a poet."--ED. + + [136] In the dedication of the first part to Prince Henry, the author + says of his work, "it cannot want envie: for even in the birth + it alreadie finds that."--ED. + + + + +THE ILLUSIONS OF WRITERS IN VERSE. + + +Who would, with the awful severity of Plato, banish poets from the +Republic? But it may be desirable that the Republic should not be +banished from poets, which it seems to be when an inordinate passion +for writing verses drives them from every active pursuit. There is no +greater enemy to domestic quiet than a confirmed versifier; yet are +most of them much to be pitied: it is the _mediocre_ critics they +first meet with who are the real origin of a populace of _mediocre_ +poets. A young writer of verses is sure to get flattered by those who +affect to admire what they do not even understand, and by those who, +because they understand, imagine they are likewise endowed with +delicacy of taste and a critical judgment. What sacrifices of social +enjoyments, and all the business of life, are lavished with a +prodigal's ruin in an employment which will be usually discovered to +be a source of early anxiety, and of late disappointment![137] I say +nothing of the ridicule in which it involves some wretched Mævius, but +of the misery that falls so heavily on him, and is often entailed on +his generation. Whitehead has versified an admirable reflection of +Pope's, in the preface to his works:-- + + For wanting wit be totally undone, + And barr'd all arts, for having fail'd in one? + +The great mind of BLACKSTONE never showed him more a poet than when he +took, not without affection, "a farewell of the Muse," on his being +called to the bar. DRUMMOND, of Hawthornden, quitted the bar from his +love of poetry; yet he seems to have lamented slighting the profession +which his father wished him to pursue. He perceives his error, he +feels even contrition, but still cherishes it: no man, not in his +senses, ever had a more lucid interval:-- + + I changed countries, new delights to find; + But ah! for pleasure I did find new pain; + Enchanting pleasure so did reason blind, + That father's love and words I scorn'd as vain. + I know that all the Muses' heavenly lays, + With toil of spirit which are so dearly bought, + As idle sounds of few or none are sought, + That there is nothing lighter than vain praise; + Know what I list, this all cannot me move, + But that, alas! I both must write and love! + +Thus, like all poets, who, as Goldsmith observes, "are fond of +enjoying the present, careless of the future," he talks like a man of +sense, and acts like a fool. + +This wonderful susceptibility of praise, to which poets seem more +liable than any other class of authors, is indeed their common food; +and they could not keep life in them without this nourishment. NAT. +LEE, a true poet in all the excesses of poetical feelings--for he was +in such raptures at times as to lose his senses--expresses himself in +very energetic language on the effects of the praise necessary for +poets:-- + +"Praise," says Lee, "is the greatest encouragement we chamelions can +pretend to, or rather the manna that keeps soul and body together; we +devour it as if it were angels' food, and vainly think we grow +immortal. There is nothing transports a poet, next to love, like +commending in the right place." + +This, no doubt, is a rare enjoyment, and serves to strengthen his +illusions. But the same fervid genius elsewhere confesses, when +reproached for his ungoverned fancy, that it brings with itself its +own punishment:-- + +"I cannot be," says this great and unfortunate poet, "so ridiculous a +creature to any man as I am to myself; for who should know the house +so well as the good man at home? who, when his neighbour comes to see +him, still sets the best rooms to view; and, if he be not a wilful +ass, keeps the rubbish and lumber in some dark hole, where nobody +comes but himself, to mortify at melancholy hours." + +Study the admirable preface of POPE, composed at that matured period +of life when the fever of fame had passed away, and experience had +corrected fancy. It is a calm statement between authors and readers; +there is no imagination that colours by a single metaphor, or conceals +the real feeling which moved the author on that solemn occasion, of +collecting his works for the last time. It is on a full review of the +past that this great poet delivers this remarkable sentence:-- + +"_I believe, if any one, early in his life, should contemplate the +dangerous fate of AUTHORS, he would scarce be of their number on any +consideration._ The life of a wit is a warfare upon earth; and to +pretend to serve the learned world in any way, one must have the +constancy of a martyr, and a resolution to suffer for its sake." + +All this is so true in literary history, that he who affects to +suspect the sincerity of Pope's declaration, may flatter his sagacity, +but will do no credit to his knowledge. + +If thus great poets pour their lamentations for having devoted +themselves to their art, some sympathy is due to the querulousness of +a numerous race of _provincial bards_, whose situation is ever at +variance with their feelings. These usually form exaggerated +conceptions of their own genius, from the habit of comparing +themselves with their contracted circle. Restless, with a desire of +poetical celebrity, their heated imagination views in the metropolis +that fame and fortune denied them in their native town; there they +become half-hermits and half-philosophers, darting epigrams which +provoke hatred, or pouring elegies, descriptive of their feelings, +which move derision: their neighbours find it much easier to ascertain +their foibles than comprehend their genius; and both parties live in a +state of mutual persecution. Such, among many, was the fate of the +poet HERRICK; his vein was pastoral, and he lived in the elysium of +the west, which, however, he describes by the sullen epithet, "Dull +Devonshire," where "he is still sad." Strange that such a poet should +have resided near twenty years in one of our most beautiful counties +in a very discontented humour. When he quitted his village of +"Deanbourne," the petulant poet left behind him a severe "farewell," +which was found still preserved in the parish, after a lapse of more +than a century. Local satire has been often preserved by the very +objects it is directed against, sometimes from the charm of the wit +itself, and sometimes from the covert malice of attacking our +neighbours. Thus he addresses "Deanbourne, a rude river in Devonshire, +by which, sometime, he lived:"-- + + Dean-bourn, farewell! + Thy rockie bottom that doth tear thy streams, + And makes them frantic, e'en to all extremes. + Rockie thou art, and rockie we discover + Thy men,-- + O men! O manners!-- + O people currish, churlish as their seas-- + +He rejoices he leaves them, never to return till "rocks shall turn to +rivers." When he arrives in London, + + From the dull confines of the drooping west, + To see the day-spring from the pregnant east, + +he, "ravished in spirit," exclaims, on a view of the metropolis-- + + O place! O people! manners form'd to please + All nations, customs, kindreds, languages! + +But he fervently entreats not to be banished again:-- + + For, rather than I'll to the west return, + I'll beg of thee first, here to have mine urn. + +The Devonians were avenged; for the satirist of the _English Arcadia_ +was condemned again to reside by "its rockie side," among "its rockie +men." + +Such has been the usual chant of provincial poets; and, if the +"silky-soft Favonian gales" of Devon, with its "Worthies," could not +escape the anger of such a poet as Herrick, what county may hope to be +saved from the invective of querulous and dissatisfied poets? + +In this calamity of authors I will show that a great poet felicitated +himself that poetry was not the business of his life; and afterwards I +will bring forward an evidence that the immoderate pursuit of poetry, +with a very moderate genius, creates a perpetual state of illusion; +and pursues grey-headed folly even to the verge of the grave. + +Pope imagined that PRIOR was only fit to make verses, and less +qualified for business than Addison himself. Had Prior lived to finish +that history of his own times he was writing, we should have seen how +far the opinion of Pope was right. Prior abandoned the Whigs, who had +been his first patrons, for the Tories, who were now willing to adopt +the political apostate. This versatility for place and pension rather +shows that Prior was a little more "qualified for business than +Addison." + +Johnson tells us "Prior lived at a time when the rage of party +detected all which was any man's interest to hide; and, as little ill +is heard of Prior, it is certain that not much was known:" more, +however, than Johnson supposes. This great man came to the pleasing +task of his poetical biography totally unprepared, except with the +maturity of his genius, as a profound observer of men, and an +invincible dogmatist in taste. In the history of the times, Johnson is +deficient, which has deprived us of that permanent instruction and +delight his intellectual powers had poured around it. The character +and the secret history of Prior are laid open in the "State +Poems;"[138] a bitter Whiggish narrative, too particular to be +entirely fictitious, while it throws a new light on Johnson's +observation of Prior's "propensity to sordid converse, and the low +delights of mean company," which Johnson had imperfectly learned from +some attendant on Prior. + + A vintner's boy, the wretch was first preferr'd + To wait at Vice's gates, and pimp for bread; + To hold the candle, and sometimes the door, + Let in the drunkard, and let out----. + But, as to villains it has often chanc'd, + Was for his wit and wickedness advanc'd. + Let no man think his new behaviour strange, + No metamorphosis can nature change; + Effects are chain'd to causes; generally, + The rascal born will like a rascal die. + His Prince's favours follow'd him in vain; + They chang'd the circumstance, but not the man. + While out of pocket, and his spirits low, + He'd beg, write panegyrics, cringe, and bow; + But when good pensions had his labours crown'd, + His panegyrics into satires turn'd; + O what assiduous pains does Prior take + To let great Dorset see he could mistake! + Dissembling nature false description gave, + Show'd him the poet, but conceal'd the knave. + +To us the poet Prior is better known than the placeman Prior; yet in +his own day the reverse often occurred. Prior was a State Proteus; +Sunderland, the most ambiguous of politicians, was the _Erle Robert_ +to whom he addressed his _Mice_; and Prior was now Secretary to the +Embassy at Ryswick and Paris; independent even of the English +ambassador--now a Lord of Trade, and, at length, a Minister +Plenipotentiary to Louis XIV. + +Our business is with his poetical feelings. + +Prior declares he was chiefly "a poet by accident;" and hints, in +collecting his works, that "some of them, as they came singly from the +first impression, have lain long and quietly in Mr. Tonson's shop." +When his party had their downfall, and he was confined two years in +prison, he composed his "Alma," to while away prison hours; and when, +at length, he obtained his freedom, he had nothing remaining but that +fellowship which, in his exaltation, he had been censured for +retaining, but which he then said he might have to live upon at last. +Prior had great sagacity, and too right a notion of human affairs in +politics, to expect his party would last his time, or in poetry, that +he could ever derive a revenue from rhymes! + +I will now show that that rare personage, a sensible poet, in +reviewing his life in that hour of solitude when no passion is +retained but truth, while we are casting up the amount of our past +days scrupulously to ourselves, felicitated himself that the natural +bent of his mind, which inclined to poetry, had been checked, and not +indulged, throughout his whole life. Prior congratulated himself that +he had been only "a poet by accident," not by occupation. + +In a manuscript by Prior, consisting of "An Essay on Learning," I find +this curious and interesting passage entirely relating to the poet +himself:-- + +"I remember nothing farther in life than that I made verses; I chose +Guy Earl of Warwick for my first hero, and killed Colborne the giant +before I was big enough for Westminster School. But I had two +accidents in youth which hindered me from being quite possessed with +the Muse. I was bred in a college where prose was more in fashion +than verse,--and, as soon as I had taken my first degree, I was sent +the King's Secretary to the Hague; there I had enough to do in +studying French and Dutch, and altering my Terentian and Virgilian +style into that of Articles and Conventions; so that _poetry, which by +the bent of my mind might have become the business of my life, was, by +the happiness of my education, only the amusement of it_; and in this, +too, having the prospect of some little fortune to be made, and +friendships to be cultivated with the great men, I did not launch much +into _satire_, which, however agreeable for the present to the writers +and encouragers of it, does in time do neither of them good; +considering the uncertainty of fortune, and the various changes of +Ministry, and that every man, as he resents, may punish in his turn of +greatness and power." + +Such is the wholesome counsel of the Solomon of Bards to an aspirant, +who, in his ardour for poetical honours, becomes careless of their +consequences, if he can but possess them. + +I have now to bring forward one of those unhappy men of rhyme, who, +after many painful struggles, and a long querulous life, have died +amid the ravings of their immortality--one of those miserable bards of +mediocrity whom no beadle-critic could ever whip out of the poetical +parish. + +There is a case in Mr. Haslam's "Observations on Insanity," who +assures us that the patient he describes was insane, which will appear +strange to those who have watched more poets than lunatics! + +"This patient, when admitted, was very noisy, and importunately +talkative--reciting passages from the Greek and Roman poets, or +talking of his own literary importance. He became so troublesome to +the other madmen, who were sufficiently occupied with their own +speculations, that they avoided and excluded him from the common room; +so that he was at last reduced to the mortifying situation of being +the sole auditor of his own compositions. He conceived himself very +nearly related to Anacreon, and possessed of the peculiar vein of that +poet." + +Such is the very accurate case drawn up by a medical writer. I can +conceive nothing in it to warrant the charge of insanity; Mr. Haslam, +not being a poet, seems to have mistaken the common orgasm of poetry +for insanity itself. + +Of such poets, one was the late PERCIVAL STOCKDALE, who, with the most +entertaining simplicity, has, in "The Memoirs of his Life and +Writings," presented us with a full-length figure of this class of +poets; those whom the perpetual pursuits of poetry, however +indifferent, involve in a perpetual illusion; they are only discovered +in their profound obscurity by the piteous cries they sometimes utter; +they live on querulously, which is an evil for themselves, and to no +purpose of life, which is an evil to others. + +I remember in my youth Percival Stockdale as a condemned poet of the +times, of whom the bookseller Flexney complained that, whenever this +poet came to town, it cost him twenty pounds. Flexney had been the +publisher of Churchill's works; and, never forgetting the time when he +published "The Rosciad," which at first did not sell, and afterwards +became the most popular poem, he was speculating all his life for +another Churchill, and another quarto poem. Stockdale usually brought +him what he wanted--and Flexney found the workman, but never the +work. + +Many a year had passed in silence, and Stockdale could hardly be +considered alive, when, to the amazement of some curious observers of +our literature, a venerable man, about his eightieth year, a vivacious +spectre, with a cheerful voice, seemed as if throwing aside his shroud +in gaiety--to come to assure us of the immortality of one of the worst +poets of the time. + +To have taken this portrait from the life would have been difficult; +but the artist has painted himself, and manufactured his own colours; +else had our ordinary ones but faintly copied this Chinese grotesque +picture--the glare and the glow must be borrowed from his own +palette. + +Our self-biographer announces his "Life" with prospective rapture, at +the moment he is turning a sad retrospect on his "Writings;" for this +was the chequered countenance of his character, a smile while he was +writing, a tear when he had published! "I know," he exclaims, "that +this book will live and _escape the havoc that has been made of my +literary fame_." Again--"Before I die, I _think my literary fame may +be fixed on an adamantine foundation_." Our old acquaintance, Blas of +Santillane, at setting out on his travels, conceived himself to be _la +huitième merveille du monde_; but here is one, who, after the +experience of a long life, is writing a large work to prove himself +that very curious thing. + +What were these mighty and unknown works? Stockdale confesses that all +his verses have been received with negligence or contempt; yet their +mediocrity, the absolute poverty of his genius, never once occurred to +the poetical patriarch. + +I have said that the frequent origin of bad poets is owing to bad +critics; and it was the early friends of Stockdale, who, mistaking his +animal spirits for genius, by directing them into the walks of poetry, +bewildered him for ever. It was their hand that heedlessly fixed the +bias in the rolling bowl of his restless mind. + +He tells us that while yet a boy of twelve years old, one day talking +with his father at Branxton, where the battle of Flodden was fought, +the old gentleman said to him with great emphasis-- + +"You may make that place remarkable for your birth, if you take care +of yourself. My father's understanding was clear and strong, and he +could penetrate human nature. He already saw that _I had natural +advantages above those of common men_." + +But it seems that, at some earlier period even than his twelfth year, +some good-natured Pythian had predicted that Stockdale would be "a +poet." This ambiguous oracle was still listened to, after a lapse of +more than half a century, and the decree is still repeated with fond +credulity:--"Notwithstanding," he exclaims, "_all that is past_, O +thou god of my mind! (meaning the aforesaid Pythian) I still hope that +my future fame will decidedly _warrant the prediction_!" + +Stockdale had, in truth, an excessive sensibility of temper, without +any control over it--he had all the nervous contortions of the Sybil, +without her inspiration; and shifting, in his many-shaped life, +through all characters and all pursuits, "exalting the olive of +Minerva with the grape of Bacchus," as he phrases it, he was a lover, +a tutor, a recruiting officer, a reviewer, and, at length, a +clergyman; but a poet eternally! His mind was so curved, that nothing +could stand steadily upon it. The accidents of such a life he +describes with such a face of rueful simplicity, and mixes up so much +grave drollery and merry pathos with all he says or does, and his +ubiquity is so wonderful, that he gives an idea of a character, of +whose existence we had previously no conception, that of a sentimental +harlequin.[139] + +In the early part of his life, Stockdale undertook many poetical +pilgrimages; he visited the house where Thomson was born; the +coffee-room where Dryden presided among the wits, &c. Recollecting the +influence of these local associations, he breaks forth, "Neither the +unrelenting coldness, nor the repeated insolence of mankind, can +prevent me from thinking that _something like this enthusiastic +devotion may hereafter be paid to ME_." + +Perhaps till this appeared it might not be suspected that any unlucky +writer of verse could ever feel such a magical conviction of his +poetical stability. Stockdale, to assist this pilgrimage to his +various shrines, has particularised all the spots where his works were +composed! Posterity has many shrines to visit, and will be glad to +know (for perhaps it may excite a smile) that "'The Philosopher,' a +poem, was written in Warwick Court, Holborn, in 1769,"--"'The Life of +Waller,' in Round Court, in the Strand."--A good deal he wrote in +"May's Buildings, St. Martin's Lane," &c., but + +"In my lodgings at Portsmouth, in St. Mary's Street, I wrote my 'Elegy +on the Death of a Lady's Linnet.' It will not be uninteresting to +sensibility, to thinking and elegant minds. It deeply interested me, +and therefore produced not one of my weakest and worst written poems. +It was directly opposite to a noted house, which was distinguished by +the name of _the green rails_; where the riotous orgies of Naxos and +Cythera contrasted with my quiet and purer occupations." + +I would not, however, take his own estimate of his own poems; because, +after praising them outrageously, he seems at times to doubt if they +are as exquisite as he thinks them! He has composed no one in which +some poetical excellence does not appear--and yet in each nice +decision he holds with difficulty the trepidations of the scales of +criticism--for he tells us of "An Address to the Supreme Being," that +"it is distinguished throughout with a natural and fervid piety; it is +flowing and poetical; it is not without its pathos." And yet, +notwithstanding all this condiment, the confection is evidently good +for nothing; for he discovers that "this flowing, fervid, and poetical +address" is "not animated with that vigour which gives dignity and +impression to poetry." One feels for such unhappy and infected +authors--they would think of themselves as they wish at the moment +that truth and experience come in upon them and rack them with the +most painful feelings. + +Stockdale once wrote a declamatory life of Waller. When Johnson's +appeared, though in his biography, says Stockdale, "he paid a large +tribute to the abilities of Goldsmith and Hawkesworth, yet _he made no +mention of my name_." It is evident that Johnson, who knew him well, +did not care to remember it. When Johnson was busied on the Life of +Pope, Stockdale wrote a pathetic letter to him _earnestly imploring_ +"a generous tribute from his authority." Johnson was still obdurately +silent; and Stockdale, who had received many acts of humane kindness +from him, adds with fretful _naïveté_, + +"In his sentiments towards me he was divided between a benevolence to +my interests, and a _coldness to my fame_." + +Thus, in a moment, in the perverted heart of the scribbler, will ever +be cancelled all human obligation for acts of benevolence, if we are +_cold to his fame_! + +And yet let us not too hastily condemn these unhappy men, even for the +violation of the lesser moral feelings--it is often but a fatal effect +from a melancholy cause; that hallucination of the intellect, in +which, if their genius, as they call it, sometimes appears to sparkle +like a painted bubble in the buoyancy of their vanity, they are also +condemned to see it sinking in the dark horrors of a disappointed +author, who has risked his life and his happiness on the miserable +productions of his pen. The agonies of a disappointed author cannot, +indeed, be contemplated without pain. If they can instruct, the +following quotation will have its use. + +Among the innumerable productions of Stockdale, was a "History of +Gibraltar," which might have been interesting, from his having resided +there: in a moment of despair, like Medea, he immolated his +unfortunate offspring. + +"When I had arrived at within a day's work of its conclusion, in +consequence of some immediate and mortifying accidents, _my literary +adversity_, and all my other misfortunes, took _fast hold of my mind; +oppressed it extremely; and reduced it to a stage of the deepest +dejection and despondency_. In this unhappy view of life, I made a +sudden resolution--_never more to prosecute the profession of an +author_; to retire altogether from the world, and read only for +consolation and amusement. _I committed to the flames my History of +Gibraltar and my translation of Marsollier's Life of Cardinal +Ximenes_; for which the bookseller had refused to pay me the fifty +guineas, according to agreement." + +This claims a tear! Never were the agonies of literary disappointment +more pathetically told. + +But as it is impossible to have known poor deluded Stockdale, and not +to have laughed at him more than to have wept for him--so the +catastrophe of this author's literary life is as finely in character +as all the acts. That catastrophe, of course, is his last poem. + +After many years his poetical demon having been chained from the +world, suddenly broke forth on the reports of a French invasion. The +narrative shall proceed in his own inimitable manner. + +"My poetical spirit excited me to write my poem of 'The Invincible +Island.' I never found myself in a happier disposition to compose, nor +ever wrote with more pleasure. I presumed warmly to hope that unless +_inveterate prejudice and malice_ were as invincible as our island +itself, it would have _the diffusive circulation_ which I earnestly +desired. + +"Flushed with this idea--borne impetuously along _by ambition and by +hope, though they had often deluded me_, I set off in the mail-coach +from Durham for London, on the 9th of December, 1797, at midnight, and +in a severe storm. On my arrival in town my poem was advertised, +printed, and published with great expedition. It was printed for +Clarke in New Bond-street. For several days the sale was very +promising; and my bookseller as well as myself entertained sanguine +hopes; _but the demand for the poem relaxed gradually_! From this last +of many literary misfortunes, I inferred that _prejudice_ and +_malignity_, in my fate as an _author_, seemed, indeed, to be +invincible." + +The catastrophe of the poet is much better told than anything in the +poem, which had not merit enough to support that interest which the +temporary subject had excited. + +Let the fate of Stockdale instruct some, and he will not have written +in vain the "Memoirs of his Life and Writings." I have only turned the +literary feature to our eye; it was combined with others, equally +striking, from the same mould in which that was cast. Stockdale +imagined he possessed an intuitive knowledge of human nature. He says, +"everything that constituted my nature, my acquirements, my habits, +and my fortune, conspired to let in upon me a complete knowledge of +human nature." A most striking proof of this knowledge is his +parallel, after the manner of Plutarch, between Charles XII. and +himself! He frankly confesses there were some points in which he and +the Swedish monarch did not exactly resemble each other. He thinks, +for instance, that the King of Sweden had a somewhat more fervid and +original genius than himself, and was likewise a little more robust in +his person--but, subjoins Stockdale, + +"Of our reciprocal fortune, achievements, and conduct, some parts will +be to _his_ advantage, and some to _mine_." + +Yet in regard to _Fame_, the main object between him and Charles XII., +Stockdale imagined that his own + +"Will not probably take its fixed and immoveable station, and shine +with its expanded and permanent splendour, till it consecrates his +ashes, till it illumines his tomb!" + +POPE hesitated at deciding on the durability of his poetry. PRIOR +congratulates himself that he had not devoted all his days to rhymes. +STOCKDALE imagines his fame is to commence at the very point (the +tomb) where genius trembles its own may nearly terminate! + +To close this article, I could wish to regale the poetical Stockdales +with a delectable morsel of fraternal biography; such would be the +life, and its memorable close, of ELKANAH SETTLE, who imagined himself +to be a great poet, when he was placed on a level with Dryden by the +town-wits, (gentle spirits!) to vex genius. + +Settle's play of _The Empress of Morocco_ was the very first "adorned +with sculptures."[140] However, in due time, the Whigs despising his +rhymes, Settle tried his prose for the Tories; but he was a magician +whose enchantments never charmed. He at length obtained the office of +the city poet, when lord mayors were proud enough to have laureates in +their annual pageants. + +When Elkanah Settle published any _party poem_, he sent copies round +to the chiefs of the party, accompanied with addresses, to extort +pecuniary presents. He had latterly one standard _Elegy_ and +_Epithalamium_ printed off with blanks, which, by the ingenious +contrivance of filling up with the names of any considerable person +who died or was married, no one who was going out of life or entering +it _could pass scot-free_ from the _tax levied by his hacknied muse_. +The following letter accompanied his presentation copy to the Duke of +Somerset, of a poem, in Latin and English, on the Hanover succession, +when Elkanah wrote for the Whigs, as he had for the Tories:-- + + "SIR,--Nothing but the greatness of the subject could encourage my + presumption in laying the enclosed Essay at your Grace's feet, + being, with all profound humility, your Grace's most dutiful + servant, + + "E. SETTLE." + +In the latter part of his life Settle dropped still lower, and became +the poet of a booth at Bartholomew Fair, and composed drolls, for +which the rival of Dryden, it seems, had a genius!--but it was little +respected--for two great personages, "Mrs. Mynns and her daughter, +Mrs. Leigh," approving of their great poet's happy invention in one of +his own drolls, "St. George for England," of a green dragon, as large +as life, insisted, as the tyrant of old did to the inventor of the +brazen bull, that the first experiment should be made on the artist +himself, and Settle was tried in his own dragon; he crept in with all +his genius, and did "act the dragon, enclosed in a case of green +leather of his own invention." The circumstance is recorded in the +lively verse of Young, in his "Epistle to Pope concerning the authors +of the age." + + Poor Elkanah, all other changes past, + For bread in Smithfield dragons hiss'd at last, + Spit streams of fire to make the butchers gape, + And found his manners suited to his shape; + Such is the fate of talents misapplied, + So lived your prototype, and so he died. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [137] An elegant poet of our times alludes, with due feeling, to these + personal sacrifices. Addressing Poetry, he exclaims-- + + "In devotion to thy heavenly charms, + I clasp'd thy altar with my infant arms; + For thee neglected the wide field of wealth; + The toils of interest, and the sports of health." + + How often may we lament that poets are too apt "to clasp the + altar with infant arms." Goldsmith was near forty when he + published his popular poems--and the greater number of the + most valued poems were produced in mature life. When the poet + begins in "infancy," he too often contracts a habit of writing + verses, and sometimes, in all his life, never reaches poetry. + + [138] Vol. ii. p. 355. + + [139] My old favourite cynic, with all his rough honesty and acute + discrimination, Anthony Wood, engraved a sketch of Stockdale + when he etched with his aqua-fortis the personage of a + brother:--"This Edward Waterhouse wrote a rhapsodical, + indigested, whimsical work; and not in the least to be taken + into the hand of any sober scholar, unless it be to make him + laugh or wonder at the simplicity of some people. He was a + cock-brained man, and afterwards took orders." + + [140] It was published in quarto in 1673, and has engravings of the + principal scene in each act, and a frontispiece representing + the Duke's Theatre in Dorset Gardens, where it was first acted + publicly; it had been played twice at court before this, by + noble actors, "persons of such birth and honour," says Settle, + "that they borrowed no greatness from the characters they + acted." The prologues were written by Lords Mulgrave and + Rochester, and the utmost _éclat_ given to the five long acts + of rhyming bombast, which was declared superior to any work of + Dryden's. As City Poet afterwards Settle composed the + pageants, speeches, and songs for the Lord Mayor's Shows from + 1691 to 1708. Towards the close of his career he became + impoverished, and wrote from necessity on all subjects. One of + his plays, composed for Mrs. Mynns' booth in Bartholomew Fair, + has been twice printed, though both editions are now + uncommonly rare. It is called the "Siege of Troy;" and its + popularity is attested by Hogarth's print of Southwark Fair, + where outside of Lee and Harper's great theatrical booth is + exhibited a painting of the Trojan horse, and the announcement + "The Siege of Troy is here."--ED. + + + + +QUARRELS OF AUTHORS; + +OR, + +SOME MEMOIRS FOR OUR LITERARY HISTORY. + + "The use and end of this Work I do not so much design for + curiosity, or satisfaction of those that are the lovers of + learning, but chiefly for a more grave and serious purpose: + which is, that it will _make learned men wise in the use and + administration of learning_."--LORD BACON, "Of Learning." + + + + +PREFACE. + + +THE QUARRELS OF AUTHORS may be considered as a continuation of the +CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS; and both, as some Memoirs for Literary +History. + +These Quarrels of Authors are not designed to wound the Literary +Character, but to expose the secret arts of calumny, the malignity of +witty ridicule, and the evil prepossessions of unjust hatreds. + +The present, like the preceding work, includes other subjects than the +one indicated by the title, and indeed they are both subservient to a +higher purpose--that of our Literary History. + +There is a French work, entitled "Querelles Littéraires," quoted in +"Curiosities of Literature," many years ago. Whether I derive the idea +of the present from the French source I cannot tell. I could point out +a passage in the great Lord BACON which might have afforded the hint. +But I am inclined to think that what induced me to select this topic +was the interest which JOHNSON has given to the literary quarrels +between _Dryden_ and _Settle_, _Dennis_ and _Addison_, &c.; and which +Sir WALTER SCOTT, who, amid the fresh creations of fancy, could delve +for the buried truths of research, has thrown into his narrative of +the quarrel of _Dryden_ and _Luke Milbourne_. + +From the French work I could derive no aid; and my plan is my own. I +have fixed on each literary controversy to illustrate some principle, +to portray some character, and to investigate some topic. Almost every +controversy which occurred opened new views. With the subject, the +character of the author connected itself; and with the character were +associated those events of his life which reciprocally act on each +other. I have always considered an author as a human being, who +possesses at once two sorts of lives, the intellectual and the vulgar: +in his books we trace the history of his mind, and in his actions +those of human nature. It is this combination which interests the +philosopher and the man of feeling; which provides the richest +materials for reflection; and all those original details which spring +from the constituent principles of man. JOHNSON'S passion for literary +history, and his great knowledge of the human heart, inspired at once +the first and the finest model in this class of composition. + +The Philosophy of Literary History was indeed the creation of BAYLE. +He was the first who, by attempting a _critical dictionary_, taught us +to think, and to be curious and vast in our researches. He ennobled a +collection of facts by his reasonings, and exhibited them with the +most miscellaneous illustrations; and thus conducting an apparently +humble pursuit with a higher spirit, he gave a new turn to our +studies. It was felt through Europe; and many celebrated authors +studied and repeated BAYLE. This father of a numerous race has an +English as well as a French progeny. + +JOHNSON wrote under many disadvantages; but, with scanty means, he +has taught us a great end. Dr. BIRCH was the contemporary of +JOHNSON. He excelled his predecessors; and yet he forms a striking +contrast as a literary historian. BIRCH was no philosopher, and I +adduce him as an instance how a writer, possessing the most ample +knowledge, and the most vigilant curiosity--one practised in all the +secret arts of literary research in public repositories and in +private collections, and eminently skilled in the whole science of +bibliography--may yet fail with the public. The diligence of BIRCH +has perpetuated his memory by a monument of MSS., but his, touch +was mortal to genius! He palsied the character which could never +die; heroes sunk pusillanimously under his hand; and in his torpid +silence, even MILTON seemed suddenly deprived of his genius. + +I have freely enlarged in the _notes_ to this work; a practice which +is objectionable to many, but indispensable perhaps in this species of +literary history. + +The late Mr. CUMBERLAND, in a conversation I once held with him on +this subject, triumphantly exclaimed, "You will not find a single note +through the whole volume of my 'Life.' I never wrote a note. The +ancients never wrote notes; but they introduced into their text all +which was proper for the reader to know." + +I agreed with that elegant writer, that a fine piece of essay-writing, +such as his own "Life," required notes no more than his novels and his +comedies, among which it may be classed. I observed that the ancients +had no literary history; this was the result of the discovery of +printing, the institution of national libraries, the general literary +intercourse of Europe, and some other causes which are the growth +almost of our own times. The ancients have written history without +producing authorities. + +Mr. CUMBERLAND was then occupied on a review of Fox's History; and of +CLARENDON, which lay open before him,--he had been complaining, +with all the irritable feelings of a dramatist, of the frequent +suspensions, and the tedious minuteness of his story. + +I observed that _notes_ had not then been discovered. Had Lord +CLARENDON known their use, he had preserved the unity of design in his +text. His Lordship has unskilfully filled it with all that historical +furniture his diligence had collected, and with those minute +discussions which his anxiety for truth, and his lawyer-like mode of +scrutinising into facts and substantiating evidence, amassed. Had +these been cast into _notes_, and were it now possible to pass them +over in the present text, how would the story of the noble historian +clear up! The greatness of his genius will appear when disencumbered +of its unwieldy and misplaced accompaniments. + +If this observation be just, it will apply with greater force to +literary history itself, which, being often the mere history of the +human mind, has to record opinions as well as events--to discuss as +well as to narrate--to show how accepted truths become suspicious--or +to confirm what has hitherto rested in obscure uncertainty, and to +balance contending opinions and opposite facts with critical nicety. +The multiplied means of our knowledge now opened to us, have only +rendered our curiosity more urgent in its claims, and raised up the +most diversified objects. These, though accessories to the leading one +of our inquiries, can never melt together in the continuity of a text. +It is to prevent all this disorder, and to enjoy all the usefulness +and the pleasure of this various knowledge, which has produced the +invention of _notes_ in literary history. All this forms a sort of +knowledge peculiar to the present more enlarged state of literature. +Writers who delight in curious and rare extracts, and in the discovery +of new facts and new views of things, warmed by a fervour of research +which brings everything nearer to our eye and close to our touch, +study to throw contemporary feelings in their page. Such rare extracts +and such new facts BAYLE eagerly sought, and they delighted JOHNSON; +but all this luxury of literature can only be produced to the public +eye in the variegated forms of _notes_. + + + + +WARBURTON, AND HIS QUARRELS; + +INCLUDING AN ILLUSTRATION OF +HIS LITERARY CHARACTER + + The name of Warburton more familiar to us than his Works--declared + to be "a Colossus" by a Warburtonian, who afterwards shrinks the + image into "a human size"--Lowth's caustic retort on his + Attorneyship--motives for the change to Divinity--his first + literary mischances--Warburton and his Welsh Prophet--his + Dedications--his mean flatteries--his taste more struck by the + monstrous than the beautiful--the effects of his opposite + studies--the SECRET PRINCIPLE which conducted Warburton through all + his Works--the _curious_ argument of his Alliance between Church and + State--the _bold_ paradox of his Divine Legation--the demonstration + ends in a conjecture--Warburton lost in the labyrinth he had + ingeniously constructed--confesses the harassed state of his + mind--attacked by Infidels and Christians--his SECRET PRINCIPLE + turns the poetical narrative of Æneas into the Eleusinian + Mysteries--Hurd attacks Jortin; his Attic irony translated into + plain English--Warburton's paradox on Eloquence; his levity of ideas + renders his sincerity suspected--Leland refutes the whimsical + paradox--Hurd attacks Leland--Leland's noble triumph--Warburton's + SECRET PRINCIPLE operating in Modern Literature: on Pope's Essay on + Man--Lord Bolingbroke the author of the Essay--Pope received + Warburton as his tutelary genius--Warburton's systematic treatment + of his friends and rival editors--his literary artifices and little + intrigues--his Shakspeare--the whimsical labours of Warburton on + Shakspeare annihilated by Edwards's "Canons of Criticism"--Warburton + and Johnson--Edwards and Warburton's mutual attacks--the concealed + motive of his edition of Shakspeare avowed in his justification--his + SECRET PRINCIPLE further displayed in Pope's Works--attacks Akenside; + Dyson's generous defence--correct Ridicule is a test of Truth, + illustrated by a well-known case--Warburton a literary + revolutionist; aimed to be a perpetual dictator--the ambiguous + tendency of his speculations--the Warburtonian School supported by + the most licentious principles--specimens of its peculiar style--the + use to which Warburton applied the Dunciad--his party: attentive to + raise recruits--the active and subtle Hurd--his extreme + sycophancy--Warburton, to maintain his usurped authority, adopted + his system of literary quarrels. + + +The name of WARBURTON is more familiar to us than his works: thus was +it early,[141] thus it continues, and thus it will be with posterity! +The cause may be worth our inquiry. Nor is there, in the whole compass +of our literary history, a character more instructive for its +greatness and its failures; none more adapted to excite our curiosity, +and which can more completely gratify it. + +Of great characters, whose actions are well known, and of those who, +whatever claim they may have to distinction, are not so, ARISTOTLE has +delivered a precept with his accustomed sagacity. If _Achilles_, says +the Stagirite, be the subject of our inquiries, since all know what he +has done, we are simply to indicate his actions, without stopping to +detail; but this would not serve for _Critias_; for whatever relates +to him must be fully told, since he is known to few;[142]--a critical +precept, which ought to be frequently applied in the composition of +this work. + +The history of Warburton is now well known; the facts lie dispersed in +the chronological biographer;[143] but the secret connexion which +exists between them, if there shall be found to be any, has not yet +been brought out; and it is my business to press these together; hence +to demonstrate principles, or to deduce inferences. + +The literary fame of Warburton was a portentous meteor: it seemed +unconnected with the whole planetary system through which it rolled, +and it was imagined to be darting amid new creations, as the tail of +each hypothesis blazed with idle fancies.[144] Such extraordinary +natures cannot be looked on with calm admiration, nor common +hostility; all is the tumult of wonder about such a man; and his +adversaries, as well as his friends, though differently affected, are +often overcome by the same astonishment. + +To a Warburtonian, the object of his worship looks indeed of colossal +magnitude, in the glare thrown about that hallowed spot; nor is the +divinity of common stature; but the light which makes him appear so +great, must not be suffered to conceal from us the real standard by +which only his greatness can be determined:[145] even literary +enthusiasm, delightful to all generous tempers, may be too prodigal of +its splendours, wasting itself while it shines; but truth remains +behind! Truth, which, like the asbestos, is still unconsumed and +unaltered amidst these glowing fires. + +The genius of Warburton has called forth two remarkable anonymous +criticisms--in one, all that the most splendid eloquence can bring to +bear against this chief and his adherents;[146] and in the other, all +that taste, warmed by a spark of Warburtonian fire, can discriminate +in an impartial decision.[147] Mine is a colder and less grateful +task. I am but a historian! I have to creep along in the darkness of +human events, to lay my hand cautiously on truths so difficult to +touch, and which either the panegyrist or the writer of an invective +cover over, and throw aside into corners. + +Much of the moral, and something too of the physical dispositions of +the man enter into the literary character; and, moreover, there are +localities--the place where he resides, the circumstances which arise, +and the habits he contracts; to all these the excellences and the +defects of some of our great literary characters may often be traced. +With this clue we may thread our way through the labyrinth of Genius. + +Warburton long resided in an obscure provincial town, the articled +clerk of a country attorney,[148] and then an unsuccessful practising +one. He seems, too, once to have figured as "a wine-merchant in the +Borough," and rose into notice as "the orator of a disputing club;" +but, in all his shapes, still keen in literary pursuits, without +literary connexions; struggling with all the defects of a desultory +and self-taught education, but of a bold aspiring character, he +rejected, either in pride or in despair, his little trades, and took +Deacon's orders--to exchange a profession, unfavourable to continuity +of study, for another more propitious to its indulgence.[149] In a +word, he set off as a literary adventurer, who was to win his way by +earning it from patronage. + +His first mischances were not of a nature to call forth that +intrepidity which afterwards hardened into the leading feature of his +character. Few great authors have begun their race with less +auspicious omens, though an extraordinary event in the life of an +author happened to Warburton--he had secured a patron before he was an +author. + +The first publication of his which we know, was his "Translations in +Prose and Verse from Roman Poets, Orators, and Historians." 1724. He +was then about twenty-five years of age. The fine forms of classic +beauty could never be cast in so rough a mould as his prose; and his +turgid unmusical verses betrayed qualities of mind incompatible with +the delicacy of poetry. Four years afterwards he repeated another +bolder attempt, in his "Critical and Philosophical Inquiry into the +Causes of Prodigies and Miracles." After this publication, I wonder +Warburton was ever suspected of infidelity or even scepticism.[150] So +radically deficient in Warburton was that fine internal feeling which +we call taste, that through his early writings he acquired not one +solitary charm of diction,[151] and scarcely betrayed, amid his +impurity of taste, that nerve and spirit which afterwards crushed all +rival force. His translations _in imitation of Milton's style_ betray +his utter want of ear and imagination. He attempted to suppress both +these works during his lifetime. + +When these unlucky productions were republished by Dr. Parr, the +_Dedications_ were not forgotten; they were both addressed to the same +opulent baronet, not omitting "the virtues" of his lady the Countess +of Sunderland, whose marriage he calls "so divine a union." Warburton +had shown no want of judgment in the choice of his patrons; for they +had more than one living in their gift--and perhaps, knowing his +patrons, none in the dedications themselves. They had, however, this +absurdity, that in freely exposing the servile practices of +dedicators, the writer was himself indulging in that luxurious sin, +which he so forcibly terms "Public Prostitution." This early +management betrays no equivocal symptoms of that traffic in +_Dedications_, of which he has been so severely accused,[152] and of +that paradoxical turn and hardy effrontery which distinguished his +after-life. These dedications led to preferment, and thus hardily was +laid the foundation-stone of his aspiring fortunes. + +Till his thirtieth year, Warburton evinced a depraved taste, but a +craving appetite for knowledge. His mind was constituted to be more +struck by the Monstrous than the Beautiful, much like that Sicilian +prince who furnished his villa with the most hideous figures +imaginable:[153] the delight resulting from harmonious and delicate +forms raised emotions of too weak a nature to move his obliquity of +taste; roused, however, by the surprise excited by colossal ugliness. +The discovery of his intellectual tastes, at this obscure period of +his life, besides in those works we have noticed, is confirmed by one +of the most untoward accidents which ever happened to a literary man; +it was the chance-discovery of a letter he had written to one of the +heroes of the Dunciad, forty years before. At the time that letter +was written, his literary connexions were formed with second-rate +authors; he was in strict intimacy with Concanen and Theobald, and +other "ingenious gentlemen who made up our last night's conversation," +as he expresses himself.[154] This letter is full of the heresies of +taste: one of the most anomalous is the comment on that well-known +passage in Shakspeare, on "the genius and the mortal instruments;" +Warburton's is a miraculous specimen of fantastical sagacity and +critical delirium, or the art of discovering meanings never meant, and +of illustrations the author could never have known. Warburton declares +to "the ingenious gentlemen," (whom afterwards with a Pharaoh's heart +he hanged by dozens to posterity in the "Dunciad,") that "Pope +borrowed for want of genius;" that poet, who, when the day arrived, he +was to comment on as the first of poets! His insulting criticisms on +the popular writings of Addison,--his contempt for what Young calls +"sweet elegant Virgilian prose,"--show how utterly insensible he was +to that classical taste in which Addison had constructed his +materials. But he who could not taste the delicacy of Addison, it may +be imagined might be in raptures with the rant of Lee. There is an +unerring principle in the false sublime: it seems to be governed by +laws, though they are not ours; and we know what it will like, that +is, we know what it will mistake for what ought not to be liked, as +surely as we can anticipate what will delight correct taste. Warburton +has pronounced one of the raving passages of poor Nat "to contain not +only the most sublime, but the most judicious imagery that poetry +could conceive or paint." JOSEPH WARTON, who indignantly rejects it +from his edition of Pope, asserts that "we have not in our language a +more striking example of true turgid expression, and genuine fustian +and bombast."[155] Yet such was the man whom ill-fortune (for the +public at least) had chosen to become the commentator of our greater +poets! Again Churchill throws light on our character:-- + + He, with an all-sufficient air + Places himself in the critic's chair, + And wrote, to advance his Maker's praise, + Comments on rhymes, and notes on plays-- + A judge of genius, though, confest, + With not one spark of genius blest: + Among the first of critics placed, + Though free from every taint of taste. + +Not encouraged by the reception his first literary efforts received, +but having obtained some preferment from his patron, we now come to a +critical point in his life. He retreated from the world, and, during a +seclusion of near twenty years, persevered in uninterrupted studies. +The force of his character placed him in the first order of thinking +beings. This resolution no more to court the world for literary +favours, but to command it by hardy preparation for mighty labours, +displays a noble retention of the appetite for fame; Warburton scorned +to be a scribbler! + +Had this great man journalised his readings, as Gibbon has done, we +should perhaps be more astonished at his miscellaneous pursuits. He +read everything, and, I suspect, with little distinction, and equal +delight.[156] Curiosity, even to its delirium, was his first passion; +which produced those new systems of hypothetical reasoning by which he +startled the world; and his efforts to save his most ingenious +theories from absurdity resembled, to use his own emphatic words +applied to the philosophy of Leibnitz, "a contrivance against +Fatalism," for though his genius has given a value to the wildest +paradoxes, paradoxes they remain. + +But if Warburton read so much, it was not to enforce opinions already +furnished to his hands, or with cold scepticism to reject them, +leaving the reader in despair. He read that he might write what no one +else had written, and which at least required to be refuted before it +was condemned. He hit upon a SECRET PRINCIPLE, which prevails through +all his works, and this was INVENTION; a talent, indeed, somewhat +dangerous to introduce in researches where Truth, and not Fancy, was +to be addressed. But even with all this originality he was not free +from imitation, and has even been accused of borrowing largely without +hinting at his obligations. He had certainly one favourite model +before him: Warburton has delineated the portrait of a certain author +with inimitable minuteness, while he caught its general effect; we +feel that the artist, in tracing the resemblance of another, is +inspired by all the flattery of a self-painter--he perceived the +kindred features, and he loved them! + +This author was BAYLE! And I am unfolding the character of Warburton, +in copying the very original portrait:-- + +"Mr. Bayle is of a quite different character from these Italian +sophists: a writer, whose strength and clearness of _reasoning_ can be +equalled only by the gaiety, easiness, and delicacy of his _wit_; +_who, pervading human nature with a glance, STRUCK INTO THE PROVINCE +OF PARADOX, as an exercise for the restless vigour of his mind_: who, +with a soul superior to the sharpest attacks of fortune, and a heart +practised to the best philosophy, had _not yet enough of real +greatness to overcome that last foible of superior geniuses_, the +temptation of honour, which the ACADEMIC EXERCISE OF WIT is conceived +to bring to its professors."[157] + +Here, then, we discover the SECRET PRINCIPLE which conducted Warburton +through all his works, although of the most opposite natures. I do not +give this as an opinion to be discussed, but as a fact to be +demonstrated. + +The faculties so eminent in Bayle were equally so in Warburton. In his +early studies he had particularly applied himself to logic; and was +not only a vigorous reasoner, but one practised in all the _finesse_ +of dialectics. He had wit, fertile indeed, rather than delicate; and a +vast body of erudition, collected in the uninterrupted studies of +twenty years. But it was the SECRET PRINCIPLE, or, as he calls it, +"_the Academic exercise of Wit_," on an enlarged system, which carried +him so far in the new world of INVENTION he was creating. + +This was a new characteristic of investigation; it led him on to +pursue his profounder inquiries beyond the clouds of antiquity; for +what he could not _discover_, he CONJECTURED and ASSERTED. Objects, +which in the hands of other men were merely matters resting on +authentic researches, now received the stamp and lustre of original +invention. Nothing was to be seen in the state in which others had +viewed it; the hardiest paradoxes served his purpose best, and +this licentious principle produced unlooked-for discoveries. He +humoured his taste, always wild and unchastised, in search of the +monstrous and the extravagant; and, being a wit, he delighted in +finding resemblances in objects which to more regulated minds had no +similarity whatever. _Wit_ may exercise its ingenuity as much in +combining _things_ unconnected with each other, as in its odd +assemblage of _ideas_; and Warburton, as a literary antiquary, +proved to be as witty in his combinations as BUTLER and CONGREVE +in their comic images. As this principle took full possession of +the mind of this man of genius, the practice became so familiar, +that it is possible he might at times have been credulous enough +to have confided in his own reveries. As he forcibly expressed +himself on one of his adversaries, Dr. STEBBING, "Thus it is to +have to do with a head whose _sense is all run to system_." "His +Academic Wit" now sported amid whimsical theories, pursued bold +but inconclusive arguments, marked out subtile distinctions, and +discovered incongruous resemblances; but they were maintained by an +imposing air of conviction, furnished with the most prodigal +erudition, and they struck out many ingenious combinations. The +importance or the curiosity of the topics awed or delighted his +readers; the principle, however licentious, by the surprise it +raised, seduced the lovers of novelties. Father HARDOUIN had +studied as hard as Warburton, rose as early, and retired to rest +as late, and the obliquity of his intellect resembled that of +Warburton--but he was a far inferior genius; he only discovered +that the classical works of antiquity, the finest compositions +of the human mind, in ages of its utmost refinement, had been +composed by the droning monks of the middle ages; a discovery which +only surprised by its tasteless absurdity--but the absurdities +of Warburton had more dignity, were more delightful, and more +dangerous: they existed, as it were, in a state of illusion, but +illusion which required as much genius and learning as his own +to dissipate. His spells were to be disturbed only by a magician, +great as himself. Conducted by this solitary principle, Warburton +undertook, as it were, a magical voyage into antiquity. He passed +over the ocean of time, sailing amid rocks, and half lost on +quicksands; but he never failed to raise up some _terra incognita_; +or point at some scene of the _Fata Morgana_, some earthly spot, +painted in the heaven one knows not how. + +In this secret principle of resolving to _invent_ what no other had +before conceived, by means of _conjecture_ and _assertion_, and of +maintaining his theories with all the pride of a sophist, and all the +fierceness of an inquisitor, we have the key to all the contests by +which this great mind so long supported his literary usurpations. + +The first step the giant took showed the mightiness of his stride. His +first great work was the famous "Alliance between Church and State." +It surprised the world, who saw the most important subject depending +on a mere _curious_ argument, which, like all political theories, was +liable to be overthrown by writers of opposite principles.[158] The +term "Alliance" seemed to the dissenters to infer that the _Church_ +was an independent power, forming a contract with the _State_, and not +acknowledging that it is only an integral part, like that of the +_army_ or the _navy_.[159] Warburton had not probably decided, at that +time, on the principle of ecclesiastical power: whether it was +paramount by its divine origin, as one party asserted; or whether, as +the new philosophers, Hobbes, Selden, and others, insisted, the +spiritual was secondary to the civil power.[160] + +The intrepidity of this vast genius appears in the plan of his greater +work. The omission of a future state of reward and punishment, in the +Mosaic writings, was perpetually urged as a proof that the mission was +not of divine origin: the ablest defenders strained at obscure or +figurative passages, to force unsatisfactory inferences; but they were +looking after what could not be found. Warburton at once boldly +acknowledged it was not there; at once adopted all the objections of +the infidels: and roused the curiosity of both parties by the hardy +assertion, that this very _omission_ was a _demonstration_ of its +divine origin.[161] + +The first idea of this new project was bold and delightful, and the +plan magnificent. Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity, the three great +religions of mankind, were to be marshalled in all their pomp, and +their awe, and their mystery. But the procession changed to a battle! +To maintain one great paradox, he was branching out into innumerable +ones. This great work was never concluded: the author wearied himself, +without, however, wearying his readers; and, as his volumes appeared, +he was still referring to his argument, "as far as it is yet +advanced." The _demonstration_ appeared in great danger of ending in a +_conjecture_; and this work, always beginning and never ending, proved +to be the glory and misery of his life.[162] In perpetual conflict +with those numerous adversaries it roused, Warburton often shifted +his ground, and broke into so many divisions, that when he cried out, +Victory! his scattered forces seemed rather to be in flight than in +pursuit.[163] + +The same SECRET PRINCIPLE led him to turn the poetical narrative of +Æneas in the infernal regions, an episode evidently imitated by Virgil +from his Grecian master, into a minute description of the initiation +into the Eleusinian Mysteries. A notion so perfectly new was at least +worth a commonplace truth. Was it not delightful to have so many +particulars detailed of a secret transaction, which even its +contemporaries of two thousand years ago did not presume to know +anything about? Father Hardouin seems to have opened the way for +Warburton, since he had discovered that the whole Æneid was an +allegorical voyage of St. Peter to Rome! When Jortin, in one of his +"Six Dissertations," modestly illustrated Virgil by an interpretation +inconsistent with Warburton's strange discovery, it produced a +memorable quarrel. Then Hurd, the future shield, scarcely the sword, +of Warburton, made his first sally; a dapper, subtle, and cold-blooded +champion, who could dexterously turn about the polished weapon of +irony.[164] So much our _Railleur_ admired the volume of Jortin, that +he favoured him with "A Seventh Dissertation, addressed to the Author +of the Sixth, on the Delicacy of Friendship," one of the most +malicious, but the keenest pieces of irony. It served as the +foundation of a new School of Criticism, in which the arrogance of the +master was to be supported by the pupil's contempt of men often his +superiors. To interpret Virgil differently from the modern Stagirite, +was, by the aggravating art of the ridiculer, to be considered as the +violation of a moral feeling.[165] Jortin bore the slow torture and +the teasing of Hurd's dissecting-knife in dignified silence. + +At length a rising genius demonstrated how Virgil could not have +described the Eleusinian Mysteries in the sixth book of the Æneid. One +blow from the arm of Gibbon shivered the allegorical fairy palace into +glittering fragments.[166] + +When the sceptical Middleton, in his "Essay on the Gift of Tongues," +pretended to think that "an inspired language would be perfect in its +kind, with all the purity of Plato and the eloquence of Cicero," and +then asserted that "the style of the New Testament was utterly rude +and barbarous, and abounding with every fault that can possibly deform +a language," Warburton, as was his custom, instantly acquiesced; but +hardily maintained that "_this very barbarism was one certain mark of +a divine original_."[167]--The curious may follow his subtile argument +in his "Doctrine of Grace;" but, in delivering this paradox, he struck +at the fundamental principles of eloquence: he dilated on all the +abuses of that human art. It was precisely his utter want of taste +which afforded him so copious an argument; for he asserted that the +principles of eloquence were arbitrary and chimerical, and its various +modes "mostly fantastical;" and that, consequently, there was no such +thing as a good taste,[168] except what the _consent of the learned_ +had made; an expression borrowed from Quintilian. A plausible and a +consolatory argument for the greater part of mankind! It, however, +roused the indignation of Leland, the eloquent translator of +Demosthenes, and the rhetorical professor at Trinity College, in +Dublin, who has nobly defended the cause of classical taste and +feeling by profounder principles. His classic anger produced his +"Dissertation on the Principles of Human Eloquence;" a volume so much +esteemed that it is still reprinted. Leland refuted the whimsical +paradox, yet complimented Warburton, who, "with the spirit and energy +of an ancient orator, was writing against eloquence," while he showed +that the style of the New Testament was defensible on surer grounds. +Hurd, who had fleshed his polished weapon on poor Jortin, and had been +received into the arms of the hero under whom he now fought, +adventured to cast his javelin at Leland: it was dipped in the cold +poison of contempt and petulance. It struck, but did not canker, +leaves that were immortal.[169] Leland, with the native warmth of his +soil, could not resist the gratification of a reply; but the nobler +part of the triumph was, the assistance he lent to the circulation of +Hurd's letter, by reprinting it with his own reply, to accompany a +new edition of his "Dissertation on Eloquence."[170] + +We now pursue the SECRET PRINCIPLE, operating on lighter topics; when, +turning commentator, with the same originality as when an author, his +character as a literary adventurer is still more prominent, extorting +double senses, discovering the most fantastical allusions, and making +men of genius but of confined reading, learned, with all the lumber of +his own unwieldy erudition. + +When the German professor CROUSAZ published a rigid examen of the +doctrines in POPE'S "Essay on Man," Warburton volunteered a defence of +Pope. Some years before, it appears that Warburton himself, in a +literary club at Newark, had produced a dissertation against those +very doctrines! where he asserted that "the Essay was collected from +the worst passages of the worst authors." This probably occurred at +the time he declared that Pope had no genius! BOLINGBROKE really WROTE +the "Essay on Man," which Pope _versified_.[171] His principles may be +often objectionable; but those who only read this fine philosophical +poem for its condensed verse, its imagery, and its generous +sentiments, will run no danger from a metaphysical system they will +not care to comprehend. + +But this serves not as an apology for Warburton, who now undertook an +elaborate defence of what he had himself condemned, and for which +purpose he has most unjustly depressed Crousaz--an able logician, and +a writer ardent in the cause of religion. This commentary on the +"Essay on Man," then, looks much like the work of a sophist and an +adventurer! Pope, who was now alarmed at the tendency of some of those +principles he had so innocently versified, received Warburton as his +tutelary genius. A mere poet was soon dazzled by the sorcery of +erudition; and he himself, having nothing of that kind of learning, +believed Warburton to be the Scaliger of the age, for his gratitude +far exceeded his knowledge.[172] The poet died in this delusion: he +consigned his immortal works to the mercy of a ridiculous commentary +and a tasteless commentator, whose labours have cost so much pains to +subsequent editors to remove. Yet from this moment we date the worldly +fortunes of Warburton.--Pope presented him with the entire property of +his works; introduced him to a blind and obedient patron, who bestowed +on him a rich wife, by whom he secured a fine mansion; till at +length, the mitre crowned his last ambition. Such was the large +chapter of accidents in Warburton's life! + +There appears in Warburton's conduct respecting the editions of the +great poets which he afterwards published, something systematic; he +treated the several editors of those very poets, THEOBALD, HANMER, +and GREY, who were his friends, with the same odd sort of kindness: +when he was unknown to the world, he cheerfully contributed to all +their labours, and afterwards abused them with the liveliest +severity.[173] It is probable that he had himself projected these +editions as a source of profit, but had contributed to the more +advanced labours of his rival editors, merely as specimens of his +talent, that the public might hereafter be thus prepared for his +own more perfect commentaries. + +Warburton employed no little art[174] to excite the public curiosity +respecting his future Shakspeare: he liberally presented Dr. BIRCH +with his MS. notes for that great work the "General Dictionary," no +doubt as the prelude of his after-celebrated edition. Birch was here +only a dupe: he escaped, unlike Theobald, Hanmer, and Grey, from being +overwhelmed with ridicule and contempt. When these extraordinary +specimens of emendatory and illustrative criticism appeared in the +"General Dictionary," with general readers they excited all the +astonishment of perfect novelty. It must have occurred to them, that +no one as yet had understood Shakspeare; and, indeed, that it required +no less erudition than that of the new luminary now rising in the +critical horizon to display the amazing erudition of this most +recondite poet. Conjectural criticism not only changed the words but +the thoughts of the author; perverse interpretations of plain matters. +Many a striking passage was wrested into a new meaning: plain words +were subtilised to remove conceits; here one line was rejected, and +there an interpolation, inspired alone by critical sagacity, pretended +to restore a lost one; and finally, a source of knowledge was opened +in the notes, on subjects which no other critic suspected could, by +any ingenuity, stand connected with Shakspeare's text. + +At length the memorable edition appeared: all the world knows its +chimeras.[175] One of its most remarkable results was the production +of that work, which annihilated the whimsical labours of Warburton, +Edwards's "Canons of Criticism," one of those successful facetious +criticisms which enliven our literary history. Johnson, awed by the +learning of Warburton, and warmed by a personal feeling for a great +genius who had condescended to encourage his first critical labour, +grudgingly bestows a moderated praise on this exquisite satire, which +he characterises for "its airy petulance, suitable enough to the +levity of the controversy." He compared this attack "to a fly, which +may sting and tease a horse, but yet the horse is the nobler +animal."[176] Among the prejudices of criticism, is one which hinders +us from relishing a masterly performance, when it ridicules a +favourite author; but to us, mere historians, truth will always +prevail over literary favouritism. The work of Edwards effected its +purpose, that of "laughing down Warburton to his proper rank and +character."[177] + +Warburton designates himself as "a critic by profession;" and tells +us, he gave this edition "to deter the _unlearned writer_ from +wantonly trifling with an art he is a stranger to, at the expense of +the integrity of the text of established authors." Edwards has placed +a N.B. on this declaration:--"A writer may properly be called +_unlearned_, who, notwithstanding all his other knowledge, does not +understand the subject which he writes upon." But the most dogmatical +absurdity was Warburton's declaration, that it was once his design to +have given "a body of canons for criticism, drawn out in form, with a +glossary;" and further he informs the reader, that though this has not +been done by him, if the reader will take the trouble, he may supply +himself, as these canons of criticism lie scattered in the course of +the notes. This idea was seized on with infinite humour by Edwards, +who, from these very notes, has framed a set of "Canons of Criticism," +as ridiculous as possible, but every one illustrated by authentic +examples, drawn from the labours of our new Stagirite.[178] + +At length, when the public had decided on the fact of Warburton's +edition, it was confessed that the editor's design had never been to +explain Shakspeare! and that he was even conscious he had frequently +imputed to the poet meanings which he never thought! Our critic's +great object was to display his own learning! Warburton wrote for +Warburton, and not for Shakspeare! and the literary imposture almost +rivals the confessions of Lander or Psalmanazar! + +The same SECRET PRINCIPLE was pursued in his absurd edition of Pope. +He formed an unbroken Commentary on the "Essay on Criticism," to show +that that admirable collection of precepts had been constructed by a +systematical method, which it is well known the poet never designed; +and the same instruments of torture were here used as in the "Essay on +Man," to reconcile a system of fatalism to the doctrines of +Revelation.[179] Warton had to remove the incumbrance of his +Commentaries on Pope, while a most laborious confederacy zealously +performed the same task to relieve Shakspeare. Thus Warburton pursued +ONE SECRET PRINCIPLE in all his labours; thus he raised edifices which +could not be securely inhabited, and were only impediments in the +roadway; and these works are now known by the labours of those who +have exerted their skill in laying them in ruins. + +Warburton was probably aware that the SECRET PRINCIPLE which regulated +his public opinions might lay him open, at numerous points, to the +strokes of ridicule. It is a weapon which every one is willing to use, +but which seems to terrify every one when it is pointed against +themselves. There is no party or sect which have not employed it in +their most serious controversies: the grave part of mankind protest +against it, often at the moment they have been directing it for their +own purpose. And the inquiry, whether ridicule be a test of truth, is +one of the large controversies in our own literature. It was opened by +Lord Shaftesbury, and zealously maintained by his school. Akenside, in +a note to his celebrated poem, asserts the efficacy of ridicule as a +test of truth: Lord Kaimes had just done the same. Warburton levelled +his piece at the lord in the bush-fighting of a note; but came down in +the open field with a full discharge of his artillery on the luckless +bard.[180] + +Warburton designates Akenside under the sneering appellative of "The +Poet," and alluding to his "sublime account" of the use of ridicule, +insultingly reminds him of "his Master," Shaftesbury, and of that +school which made morality an object of taste, shrewdly hinting that +Akenside was "a man of taste;" a new term, as we are to infer from +Warburton, for "a Deist;" or, as Akenside had alluded to Spinoza, he +might be something worse. The great critic loudly protested against +the practice of ridicule; but, in attacking its advocate, he is +himself an evidence of its efficacy, by keenly ridiculing "the Poet" +and his opinions. Dyson, the patron of Akenside, nobly stepped +forwards to rescue his Eagle, panting in the tremendous gripe of the +critical Lion. His defence of Akenside is an argumentative piece of +criticism on the nature of ridicule, curious, but wanting the graces +of the genius who inspired it.[181] + +I shall stop one moment, since it falls into our subject, to record +this great literary battle on the use of ridicule, which has been +fought till both parties, after having shed their ink, divide the +field without victory or defeat, and now stand looking on each other. + +The advocates for the use of RIDICULE maintain that it is a natural +sense or feeling, bestowed on us for wise purposes by the Supreme +Being, as are the other feelings of beauty and of sublimity;--the +sense of beauty to detect the deformity, as the sense of ridicule the +absurdity of an object: and they further maintain, that no real +virtues, such as wisdom, honesty, bravery, or generosity, can be +ridiculed. + +The great Adversary of Ridicule replied that they did not dare to +ridicule the virtues openly; but, by overcharging and distorting them +they could laugh at leisure. "Give them other names," he says, "call +them but Temerity, Prodigality, Simplicity, &c., and your business is +done. Make them ridiculous, and you may go on, in the freedom of wit +and humour (as Shaftesbury distinguishes ridicule), till there be +never a virtue left to laugh out of countenance." + +The ridiculers acknowledge that their favourite art may do mischief, +when _dishonest men obtrude circumstances foreign to the object_. But, +they justly urge, that the use of reason itself is full as liable to +the same objection: grant Spinoza his false premises, and his +conclusions will be considered as true. Dyson threw out an ingenious +illustration. "It is so equally in the mathematics; where, in +reasoning about a circle, if we join along with its real properties +others that do not belong to it, our conclusions will certainly be +erroneous. Yet who would infer from hence that _the manner of proof_ +is defective or fallacious?" + +Warburton urged the strongest _case_ against the use of ridicule, in +that of Socrates and Aristophanes. In his strong and coarse +illustration he shows, that "by clapping a fool's coat on the most +immaculate virtue, it stuck on Socrates like a San Benito, and at last +brought him to his execution: it made the owner resemble his direct +opposite; that character he was most unlike. The consequences are well +known." + +Warburton here adopted the popular notion, that the witty buffoon +Aristophanes was the occasion of the death of the philosopher +Socrates. The defence is skilful on the part of Dyson; and we may +easily conceive that on so important a point Akenside had been +consulted. I shall give it in his own words:-- + +"The Socrates of Aristophanes is as truly ridiculous a character as +ever was drawn; but it is not the character of Socrates himself. The +object was perverted, and the mischief which ensued was owing to +the dishonesty of him who persuaded the people that that was the +real character of Socrates, not from any error in the faculty of +ridicule itself."--Dyson then states the fact as it concerned +Socrates. "The real intention of the contrivers of this ridicule +was not so much to mislead the people, by giving them a bad opinion of +Socrates, as to sound what was at the time the general opinion of him, +that from thence they might judge whether it would be safe to bring +a direct accusation against him. The most effectual way of making +this trial was by ridiculing him; for they knew, if the people saw +his character in its true light, they would be displeased with the +misrepresentation, and not endure the ridicule. On trial this +appeared: the play met with its deserved fate; and, notwithstanding +the exquisiteness of the wit, was absolutely _rejected_. A second +attempt succeeded no better; and the abettors of the poet were so +discouraged from pursuing their design against Socrates, that it was +not till ABOVE TWENTY YEARS after _the publication of the play_ that +they brought their accusation against him! It was not, therefore, +ridicule that did, or could destroy Socrates: he was rather +sacrificed for the right use of it himself, against the Sophists, who +could not bear the test." + +Thus, then, stands the argument.--Warburton, reasoning on the abuses +of ridicule, has opened to us all its dangers. Its advocate concedes +that Ridicule, to be a test of Truth, must not impose on us +circumstances which are foreign to the object. No object can be +ridiculed that is not ridiculous. Should this happen, then the +ridicule is false; and, as such, can be proved as much as any piece of +false reasoning. We may therefore conclude, that ridicule is a taste +of congruity and propriety not possessed by every one; a test which +separates truth from imposture; a talent against the exercise of which +most men are interested to protest; but which, being founded on the +constituent principles of the human mind, is often indulged at the +very moment it is decried and complained of. + +But we must not leave this great man without some notice of that +peculiar style of controversy which he adopted, and which may be +distinguished among our LITERARY QUARRELS. He has left his name to a +school--a school which the more liberal spirit of the day we live in +would not any longer endure. Who has not heard of THE WARBURTONIANS? + +That SECRET PRINCIPLE which directed Warburton in all his works, and +which we have attempted to pursue, could not of itself have been +sufficient to have filled the world with the name of Warburton. Other +scholars have published reveries, and they have passed away, after +showing themselves for a time, leaving no impression; like those +coloured and shifting shadows on a wall, with which children are +amused; but Warburton was a literary Revolutionist, who, to maintain a +new order of things, exercised all the despotism of a perpetual +dictator. The bold unblushing energy which could lay down the most +extravagant positions, was maintained by a fierce dogmatic spirit, and +by a peculiar style of mordacious contempt and intolerant insolence, +beating down his opponents from all quarters with an animating shout +of triumph, to encourage those more serious minds, who, overcome by +his genius, were yet often alarmed by the ambiguous tendency of his +speculations.[182] + +The Warburtonian School was to be supported by the most licentious +principles; by dictatorial arrogance,[183] by gross invective, and by +airy sarcasm;[184] the bitter contempt which, with its many little +artifices, lowers an adversary in the public opinion, was more +peculiarly the talent of one of the aptest scholars, the cool, the +keen, the sophistical Hurd. The lowest arts of confederacy were +connived at by all the disciples,[185] prodigal of praise to +themselves, and retentive of it to all others; the world was to be +divided into two parts, the _Warburtonians_ and the _Anti_. + +To establish this new government in the literary world, this great +Revolutionist was favoured by Fortune with two important aids; the one +was a _Machine_, by which he could wield public opinion; and the other +a _Man_, who seemed born to be his minister or his viceroy. + +The _machine_ was nothing less than the immortal works of Pope; as +soon as Warburton had obtained a royal patent to secure to himself the +sole property of Pope's works, the public were compelled, under the +disguise of a Commentary on the most classical of our Poets, to be +concerned with all his literary quarrels, and have his libels and +lampoons perpetually before them; all the foul waters of his anger +were deposited here as in a common reservoir.[186] + +Fanciful as was the genius of Warburton, it delighted too much in its +eccentric motions, and in its own solitary greatness, amid abstract +and recondite topics, to have strongly attracted the public attention, +had not a party been formed around him, at the head of which stood +the active and subtle Hurd; and amid the gradations of the votive +brotherhood, the profound BALGUY,[187] the spirited BROWN,[188] till +we descend-- + + To his tame jackal, parson TOWNE.[189] + _Verses on Warburton's late Edition._ + +This Warburtonian party reminds one of an old custom among our elder +poets, who formed a kind of freemasonry among themselves, by adopting +younger poets by the title of their _sons_.--But that was a domestic +society of poets; this, a revival of the Jesuitic order instituted by +its founder, that-- + + By him supported with a proper pride, + They might hold all mankind as fools beside. + Might, like himself, teach each adopted son, + 'Gainst all the world, to quote a Warburton.[190] + CHURCHILL'S "Fragment of a Dedication." + +The character of a literary sycophant was never more perfectly +exhibited than in Hurd. A Whig in principle, yet he had all a +courtier's arts for Warburton; to him he devoted all his genius, +though that, indeed, was moderate; aided him with all his ingenuity, +which was exquisite; and lent his cause a certain delicacy of taste +and cultivated elegance, which, although too prim and artificial, was +a vein of gold running through his mass of erudition; it was Hurd who +aided the usurpation of Warburton in the province of criticism above +Aristotle and Longinus.[191] Hurd is justly characterised by Warton, +in his Spenser, vol. ii. p. 36, as "the _most sensible_ and +_ingenious_ of modern critics."--He was a lover of his studies; and he +probably was sincere, when he once told a friend of the literary +antiquary Cole, that he would have chosen not to quit the university, +for he loved retirement; and on that principle Cowley was his +favourite poet, which he afterwards showed by his singular edition of +that poet. He was called from the cloistered shades to assume the +honourable dignity of a Royal Tutor. Had he devoted his days to +literature, he would have still enriched its stores. But he had other +more supple and more serviceable qualifications. Most adroit was he in +all the archery of controversy: he had the subtlety that can evade the +aim of the assailant, and the slender dexterity, substituted for +vigour, that struck when least expected. The subaltern genius of Hurd +required to be animated by the heroic energy of Warburton; and the +careless courage of the chief wanted one who could maintain the +unguarded passages he left behind him in his progress. + +Such, then, was WARBURTON, and such the quarrels of this great author. +He was, through his literary life, an adventurer, guided by that +secret principle which opened an immediate road to fame. By opposing +the common sentiments of mankind, he awed and he commanded them; and +by giving a new face to all things, he surprised, by the appearances +of discoveries. All this, so pleasing to his egotism, was not, +however, fortunate for his ambition. To sustain an authority which he +had usurped; to substitute for the taste he wanted a curious and +dazzling erudition; and to maintain those reckless decisions which so +often plunged him into perils, Warburton adopted his _system of +Literary Quarrels_. These were the illegitimate means which raised a +sudden celebrity, and which genius kept alive, as long as that genius +lasted; but Warburton suffered that literary calamity, too protracted +a period of human life: he outlived himself and his fame. This great +and original mind sacrificed all his genius to that secret principle +we have endeavoured to develope--it was a self-immolation! + +The learned SELDEN, in the curious little volume of his "Table-Talk," +has delivered to posterity a precept for the learned, which they ought +to wear, like the Jewish phylacteries, as "a frontlet between their +eyes." _No man is the wiser for his learning: it may administer matter +to work in, or objects to work upon; but wit and wisdom are born with +a man._ Sir THOMAS HANMER, who was well acquainted with Warburton, +during their correspondence about Shakspeare, often said of him:--"The +only use he could find in Mr. Warburton was _starting the game_; he +was not to be trusted in _running it down_." A just discrimination! +His fervid curiosity was absolutely creative; but his taste and his +judgment, perpetually stretched out by his system, could not save him +from even inglorious absurdities! + +Warburton, it is probable, was not really the character he appears. It +mortifies the lovers of genius to discover how a natural character may +be thrown into a convulsed unnatural state by some adopted system: it +is this system, which, carrying it, as it were, beyond itself, +communicates a more than natural, but a self-destroying energy. All +then becomes reversed! The arrogant and vituperative Warburton was +only such in his assumed character; for in still domestic life he was +the creature of benevolence, touched by generous passions. But in +public life the artificial or the acquired character prevails over the +one which nature designed for us; and by that all public men, as well +as authors, are usually judged by posterity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [141] One of his lively adversaries, the author of the "Canons of + Criticism," observed the difficulty of writing against an + author whose reputation so much exceeded the knowledge of his + works. "It is my misfortune," says EDWARDS, "in this + controversy, to be engaged with a person who is better known + by his _name_ than his _works_; or, to speak more properly, + whose _works are more known than read_."--_Preface to the + Canons of Criticism._ + + [142] Aristotle's Rhetoric, B. III. c. 16. + + [143] The materials for a "Life of Warburton" have been arranged by + Mr. NICHOLS with his accustomed fidelity.--_See his Literary + Anecdotes._ + + [144] It is probable I may have drawn my meteor from our volcanic + author himself, who had his lucid moments, even in the + deliriums of his imagination. Warburton has rightly observed, + in his "Divine Legation," p. 203, that "_Systems_, _Schemes_, + and _Hypotheses_, all bred of heat, in the warm regions of + _Controversy_, like meteors in a troubled sky, have each its + turn to _blaze_ and _fly_ away." + + [145] It seems, even by the confession of a Warburtonian, that his + master was of "a human size;" for when Bishop LOWTH rallies + the Warburtonians for their subserviency and credulity to + their master, he aimed a gentle stroke at Dr. BROWN, who, in + his "Essays on the Characteristics," had poured forth the most + vehement panegyric. In his "Estimate of Manners of the + Times," too, after a long _tirade_ of their badness in regard + to taste and learning, he thus again eulogizes his mighty + master:--"Himself is abused, and his friends insulted for his + sake, by those who never read his writings; or, if they did, + could neither taste nor comprehend them; while every little + aspiring or despairing scribbler eyes him as Cassius did + Cæsar: and whispers to his fellow-- + + 'Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world + Like a Colossus; and we petty men + Walk under his huge legs, and peep about + To find ourselves dishonourable graves.' + + No wonder, then, if the malice of the Lilliputian tribe be + bent against this dreaded GULLIVER; if they attack him with + poisoned arrows, whom they cannot subdue by strength." + + On this Lowth observes, that "this Lord Paramount in his + pretensions _doth bestride the narrow world_ of literature, + and has cast out his shoe over all the regions of science." + This leads to a ludicrous comparison of Warburton, with King + Pichrochole and his three ministers, who, in URQUHART'S + admirable version of the French wit, are Count Merdaille, + the Duke of Smalltrash, and the Earl Swashbuckler, who set up + for universal monarchy, and made an imaginary expedition + through all the quarters of the world, as Rabelais records, + and the bishop facetiously quotes. Dr. Brown afterwards + seemed to repent his panegyric, and contrives to make his + gigantic hero shrink into a moderate size. "I believe + still, every little aspiring fellow continues thus to eye + him. For myself, I have ever considered him as _a man_, + yet considerable among his species, as the following part of + the paragraph _clearly demonstrates_. I speak of him here + as _a Gulliver_ indeed; yet still of _no more than human + size_, and only apprehended to be of _colossal magnitude_ by + certain of his Lilliputian enemies." Thus subtilely would poor + Dr. Brown save appearances! It must be confessed that, in a + dilemma, never was a giant got rid of so easily!--The plain + truth, however, was, that Brown was then on the point of + quarrelling with Warburton; for he laments, in a letter to + a friend, that "he had not avoided all personal panegyric. I + had thus saved myself the trouble of setting right a + character which I far over-painted." A part of this letter + is quoted in the "Biographia Britannica." + + [146] "Tracts by Warburton and a Warburtonian, not admitted into the + collections of their respective works," itself a collection + which our shelves could ill spare, though maliciously + republished by Dr. PARR. The dedication by Parr stands + unparalleled for comparative criticism. It is the eruption of + a volcano; it sparkles, it blazes, and scatters light and + destruction. How deeply ought we to regret that this Nazarite + suffered his strength to be shorn by the Delilahs of spurious + fame. Never did this man, with his gifted strength, grasp the + pillars of a temple, to shake its atoms over Philistines; but + pleased the childlike simplicity of his mind by pulling down + houses over the heads of their unlucky inhabitants. He + consumed, in local and personal literary quarrels, a genius + which might have made the next age his own. With all the + stores of erudition, and all the eloquence of genius, he + mortified a country parson for his politics, and a London + accoucheur for certain obstetrical labours performed on + Horace; and now his collected writings lie before us, volumes + unsaleable and unread. His insatiate vanity was so little + delicate, as often to snatch its sweetmeat from a foul plate; + it now appears, by the secret revelations in Griffith's own + copy of his "Monthly Review," that the writer of a very + elaborate article on the works of Dr. Parr, was no less a + personage than the Doctor himself. His egotism was so + declamatory, that it unnaturalized a great mind, by the + distortions of Johnsonian mimicry; his fierceness, which was + pushed on to brutality on the unresisting, retreated with a + child's terrors when resisted; and the pomp of petty pride in + table triumphs and evening circles, ill compensated for the + lost century he might have made his own! + + Lord o'er the greatest, to the least a slave, + Half-weak, half-strong, half-timid, and half-brave; + To take a compliment of too much pride, + And yet most hurt when praises are denied. + Thou art so deep discerning, yet so blind, + So learn'd, so ignorant, cruel, yet so kind; + So good, so bad, so foolish, and so wise;-- + By turns I love thee, and by turns despise. + MS. ANON. (said to be by the late Dr. HOMER.) + + [147] The "Quarterly Review," vol. vii. p. 383.--So masterly a piece + of criticism has rarely surprised the public in the leaves of + a periodical publication. It comes, indeed, with the feelings + of another age, and the reminiscences of the old and vigorous + school. I cannot implicitly adopt all the sentiments of the + critic, but it exhibits a highly-finished portrait, enamelled + by the love of the artist.--This article was written by the + late Dr. Whitaker, the historian of Craven, &c. + + [148] When Warburton, sore at having been refused academical + honours at Oxford, which were offered to Pope, then his + fellow-traveller, and who, in consequence of this refusal, + did himself not accept them--in his controversy with Lowth + (then the Oxford Professor), gave way to his angry spirit, + and struck at the University itself, for its political + jesuitism, being a place where men "were taught to distinguish + between _de facto_ and _de jure_," caustic was the retort. + Lowth, by singular felicity of application, touched on + Warburton's original designation, in a character he hit on in + Clarendon. After remonstrating with spirit and dignity on + this petulant attack, which was not merely personal, Lowth + continues:--"Had I not your lordship's example to justify me, + I should think it a piece of extreme impertinence to inquire + where YOU were bred; though one might justly plead, in + excuse for it, a natural curiosity to know _where_ and _how_ + such a phenomenon was produced. It is commonly said that your + lordship's education was of that particular kind, concerning + which it is a remark of that great judge of men and manners, + Lord Clarendon (on whom you have, therefore, with a wonderful + happiness of allusion, justness of application, and elegance + of expression, conferred 'the unrivalled title of the + Chancellor of Human Nature'), that it peculiarly disposes + men to be proud, insolent, and pragmatical." Lowth, in a + note, inserts Clarendon's character of Colonel Harrison: "He + had been bred up in the place of a clerk, under a lawyer of + good account in those parts; which kind of education + introduces men into the language and practice of business; + and if it be not resisted by the great ingenuity of the + person, inclines young men to more pride than any other kind + of breeding, and disposes them to be pragmatical and + insolent." "Now, my lord (Lowth continues), as you have in + your whole behaviour, and in all your writings, remarkably + distinguished yourself by your humility, lenity, meekness, + forbearance, candour, humanity, civility, decency, good + manners, good temper, moderation with regard to the + opinions of others, and a modest diffidence of your own, this + unpromising circumstance of your education is so far from + being a disgrace to you, that it highly redounds to your + praise."--_Lowth's Letter to the Author of the D. L._ p. 63. + + Was ever weapon more polished and keen? This Attic style of + controversy finely contrasts with the tasteless and fierce + invective of the Warburtonians, although one of them is + well known to have managed too adroitly the cutting + instrument of irony; but the frigid malignancy of Hurd + diminishes the pleasure we might find in his skill. + Warburton ill concealed his vexation in the contempt he + vented in a letter to Hurd on this occasion. "All you say + about Lowth's pamphlet breathes the purest spirit of + friendship. His _wit_ and his _reasoning_, God knows, and + I also, (as a certain critic said once in a matter of the + like great importance), are much below the qualities that + deserve those names."--He writes too of "this man's boldness + in publishing his letters."--"If he expects an answer, he + will certainly find himself disappointed; though I believe I + could make _as good sport with this devil of a vice_, for + the public diversion, as ever was made with him in the old + Moralities."--But Warburton did reply! Had he ever possessed + one feeling of taste, never would he have figured the elegant + Lowth as this grotesque personage. He was, however, at that + moment sharply stung! + + This circumstance of _Attorneyship_ was not passed over in + Mallet's "Familiar Epistle to the Most Impudent Man Living." + Comparing, in the Spirit of "familiarity," Arnall, an impudent + scribbling attorney and political scribe, with Warburton, he + says, "You have been an attorney as well as he, but a little + more impudent than he was; for Arnall never presumed to + conceal his turpitude under the gown and the scarf." But this + is mere invective! + + [149] I have given a tempered opinion of his motive for this sudden + conversion from Attorneyship to Divinity; for it must not be + concealed, in our inquiry into Warburton's character, that he + has frequently been accused of a more worldly one. He was so + fierce an advocate for some important causes he undertook, + that his sincerity has been liable to suspicion; the pleader, + in some points, certainly acting the part of a sophist. Were + we to decide by the early appearances of his conduct, by the + rapid change of his profession, by his obsequious servility to + his country squire, and by what have been termed the hazardous + "fooleries in criticism, and outrages in controversy," which + he systematically pursued, he looks like one not in earnest; + and more zealous to maintain the character of his own genius, + than the cause he had espoused. Leland once exclaimed, "What + are we to think of the writer and his intentions? Is he really + sincere in his reasonings?" Certain it is, his paradoxes often + alarmed his friends, to repeat the words of a great critic, by + "the absurdity of his criticism, the heterodoxy of his tenets, + and the brutality of his invectives." Our Juvenal, who, + whatever might be the vehemence of his declamation, reflected + always those opinions which floated about him, has drawn a + full-length figure. He accounts for Warburton's early motive + in taking the cassock, as being + + "------------thereto drawn + By some faint omens of the Lawn, + And on the truly Christian plan, + To make himself a gentleman: + A title, in which Form arrayed him, + Tho' Fate ne'er thought of when she made him. + To make himself a man of note, + He in defence of Scripture wrote: + So long he wrote, and long about it, + That e'en believers 'gan to doubt it. + He wrote too of the Holy Ghost; + Of whom, no more than doth a post, + He knew; nor, should an angel show him, + Would he or know, or choose to know him." + CHURCHILL'S "Duellist." + + I would not insinuate that Warburton is to be ranked among the + class he so loudly denounced, that of "Free-thinkers;" his + mind, warm with imagination, seemed often tinged with + credulity. But from his want of sober-mindedness, we cannot + always prove his earnestness in the cause he advocated. He + often sports with his fancies; he breaks out into the most + familiar levity; and maintains, too broadly, subtile and + refined principles, which evince more of the political than + the primitive Christian. It is certain his infidelity was + greatly suspected; and Hurd, to pass over the stigma of + Warburton's sudden conversion to the Church, insinuates that + "_an early seriousness of mind_ determined him to the + ecclesiastical profession."--"It may be so," says the critic + in the "Quarterly Review," no languid admirer of this great + man; "but the symptoms of that _seriousness were very + equivocal afterwards_; and the _certainty of an early + provision, from a generous patron in the country_, may perhaps + be considered by those who are disposed to assign human + conduct to ordinary motives, as quite adequate to the + effect." + + Dr. Parr is indignant at such surmises; but the feeling is + more honourable than the decision! In an admirable character + of Warburton in the "Westminster Magazine" for 1779, it is + acknowledged, "at his outset in life he was suspected of + being inclined to infidelity; and it was not till many + years had elapsed, that the orthodoxy of his opinions was + generally assented to." On this Dr. Parr observes, "Why Dr. + Warburton was _ever_ suspected of secret infidelity I know + not. What he was _inclined to think_ on subjects of + religion, before, perhaps, he had leisure or ability to + examine them, depends only upon obscure surmise, or vague + report." The words _inclined to think_ seems a periphrase + for _secret infidelity_. Our critic attributes these reports + to "an English dunce, whose blunders and calumnies are now + happily forgotten, and repeated by a French buffoon, whose + morality is not commensurate with his wit."--_Tracts_ by + Warburton, &c., p. 186. + + "The English Dunce" I do not recollect; of this sort there are + so many! Voltaire is "the French buffoon;" who, indeed, + compares Warburton in his bishopric, to Peachum in the + Beggar's Opera--who, as Keeper of Newgate, was for hanging all + his old accomplices! + + [150] Warburton was far more extravagant in a later attempt which he + made to expound the odd visions of a crack-brained Welshman, a + prophesying knave; a knave by his own confession, and a + prophet by Warburton's. This commentary, inserted in Jortin's + "Remarks on Ecclesiastical History," considerably injured the + reputation of Jortin. The story of Warburton and his Welsh + Prophet would of itself be sufficient to detect the shiftings + and artifices of his genius. RICE or ARISE EVANS! was one of + the many prophets who rose up in Oliver's fanatical days; and + Warburton had the hardihood to insert, in Jortin's learned + work, a strange commentary to prove that Arise Evans, in + Cromwell's time, in his "Echo from Heaven," had manifestly + _prophesied the Hanoverian Succession_! The Welshman was a + knave by his own account in subscribing with his _right_ hand + the confession he calls his prophecy, before a justice, and + with his _left_, that which was his recantation, signed before + the recorder, adding, "I know the bench and the people thought + I recanted; but, alas! they were deceived;" and this Warburton + calls "an uncommon fetch of wit," to save the truth of the + prophecy, though not the honour of the prophet. If Evans meant + anything, he meant what was then floating in all men's minds, + the probable restoration of the Stuarts. By this prelude of + that inventive genius which afterwards commented, in the same + spirit, on the Æneid of Virgil, and the "Divine Legation, + itself," and made the same sort of discoveries, he fixed + himself in this dilemma: either Warburton was a greater + impostor than Arise Evans, or he was more credulous than even + any follower of the Welsh prophet, if he really had any. But + the truth is, that Warburton was always writing for a present + purpose, and believed, and did not believe, as it happened. + "Ordinary men believe _one_ side of a contradiction at a time, + whereas his lordship" (says his admirable antagonist) + "frequently believes, or at least defends _both_. So that it + would have been no great wonder if he should maintain that + Evans was both a real prophet and an impostor." Yet this is + not the only awkward attitude into which Warburton has here + thrown himself. To strain the vision of the raving Welshman to + events of which he could have no notion, Warburton has plunged + into the most ludicrous difficulties, all which ended, as all + his discoveries have done, in making the fortune of an + adversary who, like the Momus of Homer, has raised through the + skies "inextinguishable laughter," in the amusing tract of + "Confusion worse Confounded, Rout on Rout, or the Bishop of + G----'s Commentary on Arise Evans; by Indignatio," 1772. The + writer was the learned Henry Taylor, the author of Ben + Mordecai's Apology. + + [151] The correct taste of Lowth with some humour describes the last + sentence of the "Enquiry on Prodigies" as "the Musa Pedestris + got on horseback in a high prancing style." He printed it in + measured lines, without, however, changing the place of a + single word, and it produced blank verse. Thus it reads-- + + "Methinks I see her like the mighty Eagle + renewing her immortal youth, and purging + her opening sight at the unobstructed beams + of our benign meridian Sun," &c. + + Such a glowing metaphor, in the uncouth prose of Warburton, + startled Lowth's classical ear. It was indeed "the Musa + Pedestris who had got on horseback in a high prancing style;" + for as it has since been pointed out, it is a well-known + passage towards the close of the Areopagitica of Milton, whose + prose is so often purely poetical. See Birch's Edition of + Milton's Prose Works, I. 158. Warburton was familiarly + conversant with our great vernacular writers at a time when + their names generally were better known than their works, and + when it was considered safe to pillage their most glorious + passages. Warburton has been convicted of snatching their + purple patches, and sewing them into his coarser web, without + any acknowledgment; he did this in the present remarkable + instance, and at a later day, in the preface to his "Julian," + he laid violent hands on one of Raleigh's splendid metaphors. + + [152] When Warburton was considered as a Colossus of literature, + RALPH, the political writer, pointed a severe allusion to the + awkward figure he makes in these Dedications. "The Colossus + himself creeps between the legs of the late Sir Robert Sutton; + in what posture, or for what purpose, need not be explained." + + CHURCHILL has not passed by unnoticed Warburton's humility, + even to weakness, combined with pride which could rise to + haughtiness. + + "He was so proud, that should he meet + The twelve apostles in the street, + He'd turn his nose up at them all, + And shove his Saviour from the wall." + + Yet this man + + ----"Fawned through all his life + For patrons first, then for a wife; + Wrote _Dedications_, which must make + The heart of every Christian quake." + _The Duellist._ + + It is certain that the proud and supercilious Warburton long + crouched and fawned. MALLET, at least, well knew all that + passed between Warburton and Pope. In the "Familiar Epistle" + he asserts that Warburton was introduced to Pope by his + "nauseous flattery." A remarkable instance, besides the + dedications we have noticed, occurred in his correspondence + with Sir Thomas Hanmer. He did not venture to attack "The + Oxford Editor," as he sarcastically distinguishes him, without + first demanding back his letters, which were immediately + returned, from Sir Thomas's high sense of honour. Warburton + might otherwise have been shown strangely to contradict + himself, for in these letters he had been most lavish of his + flatteries and encomiums on the man whom he covered with + ridicule in the preface to his Shakspeare. See "An Answer to + certain Passages in Mr. W.'s Preface to Shakspeare," 1748. + + His dedication to the plain unlettered Ralph Allen of Bath, + his greatest of patrons, of his "Commentary on Pope's Essay on + Man," is written in the same spirit as those to Sir Robert + Sutton; but the former unlucky gentleman was more publicly + exposed by it. The subject of this dedication turns on "the + growth and progress of _Fate_, divided into four principal + branches!" There is an episode about _Free-will_ and _Nature_ + and _Grace_, and "a _contrivance_ of Leibnitz about + _Fatalism_." Ralph Allen was a good Quaker-like man, but he + must have lost his temper if he ever read the dedication! Let + us not, however, imagine that Warburton was at all insensible + to this violation of literary decorum; he only sacrificed + _propriety_ to what he considered a more urgent principle--his + own personal interest. No one had a juster conception of the + true nature of _dedications_; for he says in the famous one + "to the Free-thinkers:"--"I could never approve the custom of + dedicating books to men whose professions made them strangers + to the subject. A Discourse on the Ten Predicaments to a + Leader of Armies, or a System of Casuistry to a Minister of + State, always appeared to me a high absurdity." + + All human characters are mixed--true! yet still we feel + indignant to discover some of the greatest often combining the + most opposite qualities; and then they are not so much mixed + as the parts are naturally joined together. Could one imagine + that so lofty a character as Warburton could have been liable + to have incurred even the random stroke of the satirist? + whether true or false, the events of his life, better known at + this day than in his own, will show. Churchill says that + + "He could cringe and creep, be civil, + And hold a stirrup to the devil, + If, _in a journey to his mind_, + He'd let him mount, and ride behind." + + The author of the "Canons of Criticism," with all his + sprightly sarcasm, gives a history of Warburton's later + Dedications. "The first edition of 'The Alliance' came out + without a dedication, but was presented to the bishops; and + when nothing came of that, the second was addressed to both + the Universities; and when nothing came of that, the third was + dedicated to a noble Earl, and nothing has yet come of that." + Appendix to "Canons of Criticism," seventh edit. 261. + + [153] The palace here alluded to is fully described in a volume of + "Travels through Sicily and Malta," by P. Brydone, F.R.S., in + 1770. He describes it as belonging to "the Prince of Palermo, + a man of immense fortune, who has devoted his whole life to + the study of monsters and chimeras, greater and more + ridiculous than ever entered into the imagination of the + wildest writers of romance and knight-errantry." He tells us + this palace was surrounded by an army of statues, "not one + made to represent any object in nature. He has put the heads + of men to the bodies of every sort of animal, and the heads of + every other animal to the bodies of men. Sometimes he makes a + compound of five or six animals that have no sort of + resemblance in nature. He puts the head of a lion on the neck + of a goose, the body of a lizard, the legs of a goat, the tail + of a fox; on the back of this monster he puts another, if + possible still more hideous, with five or six heads, and a + bush of horns. There is no kind of horn in the world he has + not collected, and his pleasure is to see them all flourishing + upon the same head." The interior of the house was decorated + in the same monstrous style, and the description, unique of + its kind, occupies several pages of Mr. Brydone's book.--ED. + + [154] This letter was written in 1726, and first found by Dr. Knight + in 1750, in fitting up a house where Concanen had probably + lodged. It was suppressed, till Akenside, in 1766, printed it + in a sixpenny pamphlet, entitled "An Ode to Mr. Edwards." He + preserved the curiosity, with "all its peculiarities of + grammar, spelling, and punctuation." The insulted poet took a + deep revenge for the contemptuous treatment he had received + from the modern Stagirite. The "peculiarities" betray most + evident marks of the self-taught lawyer; the orthography and + the double letters were minted in the office. [Thus he speaks + of Addison as this "exact _Mr._ of propriety," and of his own + studies of the English poets "to trace them to their sources; + and observe what _oar_, as well as what slime and gravel they + brought down with them."] When I looked for the letter in + _Akenside's Works_, I discovered that it had been silently + dropped. Some interest, doubtless, had been made to suppress + it, for Warburton was humbled when reminded of it. Malone, + fortunately, has preserved it in his Shakspeare, where it may + be found, in a place not likely to be looked into for it, at + the close of _Julius Cæsar_: this literary curiosity had + otherwise been lost for posterity; its whole history is a + series of wonderful escapes. + + By this document we became acquainted with the astonishing + fact, that Warburton, early in life, was himself one of those + very dunces whom he has so unmercifully registered in their + Doomsday-book; one who admired the genius of his brothers, and + spoke of Pope with the utmost contempt! [Thus he says, + "Dryden, I observe, borrows for want of leisure, and Pope for + want of genius!"] + + [155] Lee introduces Alexander the Great, saying, + + "When Glory, like the dazzling eagle, stood + Perch'd on my beaver in the Granic flood, + When Fortune's self my standard trembling bore, + And the pale Fates stood frighted on the shore; + When the Immortals on the billows rode, + And I myself appear'd the leading god!" + + In the province of taste Warburton was always at sea without + chart or compass, and was as unlucky in his panegyric on + Milton as on Lee. He calls the "Paradise Regained" "a charming + poem, _nothing inferior_ in the _poetry_ and the _sentiments_ + to the Paradise Lost." Such extravagance could only have + proceeded from a critic too little sensible to the essential + requisites of poetry itself. + + [156] Such opposite studies shot themselves into the most fantastical + forms in his rocket-writings, whether they streamed in "The + Divine Legation," or sparkled in "The Origin of Romances," or + played about in giving double senses to Virgil, Pope, and + Shakspeare. CHURCHILL, with a good deal of ill-nature and some + truth, describes them:-- + + "A curate first, he read and read, + And laid in, while he should have fed + The souls of his neglected flock, + Of rending, such a mighty stock, + That he o'ercharged the weary brain + With more than she could well contain; + More than she was with spirit fraught + To turn and methodise to thought; + And which, _like ill-digested food, + To humours turn'd, and not to blood_." + + The opinion of BENTLEY, when he saw "The Divine Legation," was + a sensible one. "This man," said he, "has a monstrous + appetite, with a very bad digestion." + + The Warburtonians seemed to consider his great work, as the + Bible by which all literary men were to be sworn. LOWTH + ridicules their credulity. "'The Divine Legation,' it seems, + contains in it all knowledge, divine and human, ancient and + modern: it is a perfect Encyclopædia, including all history, + criticism, divinity, law, politics, from the law of Moses down + to the Jew bill, and from Egyptian hieroglyphics to modern + Rebus-writing, &c." + + "In the 2014 pages of the unfinished 'Divine Legation,'" + observes the sarcastic GIBBON, "four hundred authors are + quoted, from St. Austin down to Scarron and Rabelais!" + + Yet, after all that satire and wit have denounced, listen to + an enlightened votary of Warburton. He asserts that "The + 'Divine Legation' has taken its place at the head, not to say + of English theology, but almost of English literature. To the + composition of this prodigious performance, HOOKER and + STILLINGFLEET could have contributed the erudition, + CHILLINGWORTH and LOCKE the acuteness, TAYLOR an imagination + even more wild and copious, SWIFT, and perhaps, EACHARD, the + sarcastic vein of wit; but what power of understanding, except + WARBURTON'S, could first have amassed all these materials, and + then compacted them into a bulky and elaborate work, so + consistent and harmonious."--_Quarterly Review._ vol. vii. + + [157] "The Divine Legation of Moses Demonstrated," vol. i. sec. iv. + Observe the remarkable expression, "that last foible of + superior genius." He had evidently running in his mind + Milton's line on Fame-- + + "That last infirmity of noble minds." + + In such an exalted state was Warburton's mind when he was + writing this, his own character. + + [158] The author of "The Canons of Criticism" addressed a severe + sonnet to Warburton; and alludes to the "Alliance":-- + + "Reign he sole king in paradoxal land, + And for Utopia plan his idle schemes + Of _visionary leagues, alliance vain + 'Twixt_ Will _and_ Warburton--" + + On which he adds this note, humorously stating the grand + position of the work:--"The whole argument by which the + _alliance between Church and State_ is established, Mr. + Warburton founds upon this supposition--'That people, + considering themselves in a religious capacity, may contract + with themselves, considered in a civil capacity.' The conceit + is ingenious, but is not his own. _Scrub_, in the _Beaux + Stratagem_, had found it out long ago: he considers himself as + acting the different parts of all the servants in the family; + and so _Scrub_, the coachman, ploughman, or justice's clerk, + might contract with _Scrub_, the butler, for such a quantity + of ale as the other assumed character demanded."--Appendix, p. + 261. + + [159] "Monthly Review," vol. xvi. p. 324, the organ of the + dissenters. + + [160] See article HOBBES, for his system. The great Selden was an + _Erastian_; a distinction extremely obscure. _Erastus_ was a + Swiss physician of little note, who was for restraining the + ecclesiastical power from all temporal jurisdiction. Selden + did him the honour of adopting his principles. Selden wrote + against the _divine right_ of tithes, but allowed the _legal_ + right, which gave at first great offence to the clergy, who + afterwards perceived the propriety of his argument, as Wotton + has fully acknowledged. + + [161] It does not always enter into the design of these volumes to + examine those great works which produced _literary quarrels_. + But some may be glad to find here a word on this original + project. + + The grand position of the _Divine Legation_ is, that the + knowledge of the immortality of the soul, or a future + state of reward and punishment, is absolutely necessary in + the moral government of the universe. The author shows how it + has been inculcated by all good legislators, so that no + religion could ever exist without it; but the Jewish could, + from its peculiar government, which was theocracy--a + government where the presence of God himself was perpetually + manifested by miracles and new ordinances: and hence + temporal rewards and punishments were sufficient for that + people, to whom the unity and power of the Godhead were + never doubtful. As he proceeded, he would have opened a new + argument, viz., that the Jewish religion was only the + _part_ of a revelation, showing the necessity of a further one + for its _completion_, which produced Christianity. + + When Warburton was in good spirits with his great work (for he + was not always so), he wrote thus to a friend:--"You judge + right, that the _next_ volume of the D. L. will not be the + _last_. I thought I had told you that I had divided the work + into three parts: the first gives you a view of Paganism; the + second, of Judaism; and the third, of Christianity. _You will + wonder_ how this last inquiry can come into _so simple an + argument_ as that which I undertake to enforce. I have not + room to tell you more than this--that after I have proved a + future state not to be, _in fact_ in the Mosaic dispensation, + I next show that, if Christianity be true, _it could not + possibly be there_; and this necessitates me to explain the + nature of Christianity, with which the whole ends. But this + _inter nos_. If it be known, I should possibly have somebody + writing against _this part too_ before it appears."--Nichols's + "Literary Anecdotes," vol. v. p. 551. + + Thus he exults in the true tone, and with all the levity of a + sophist. It is well that a true feeling of religion does not + depend on the quirks and quibbles of human reasonings, or, + what are as fallible, on masses of fanciful erudition. + + [162] Warburton lost himself in the labyrinth he had so ingeniously + constructed. This work harassed his days and exhausted his + intellect. Observe the tortures of a mind, even of so great a + mind as that of Warburton's, when it sacrifices all to the + perishable vanity of sudden celebrity. Often he flew from his + task in utter exhaustion and despair. He had quitted the + smooth and even line of truth, to wind about and split himself + on all the crookedness of paradoxes. He paints his feelings in + a letter to Birch. He says--"I was so disgusted with an old + subject, that I had deferred it from month to month and year + to year." He had recourse to "an expedient;" which was, "to + set the press on work, and so oblige himself to supply copy." + Such is the confession of the author of the "Divine Legation!" + this "encyclopædia" of all ancient and modern lore--all to + proceed from "a simple argument!" But when he describes his + sufferings, hard is the heart of that literary man who cannot + sympathise with such a giant caught in the toils! I give his + words:--"Distractions of various kinds, inseparable from human + life, joined with a naturally melancholy habit, contribute + greatly to increase my indolence. This makes my reading wild + and desultory; and I seek refuge from _the uneasiness of + thought_, from any book, let it be what it will. _By my manner + of writing upon subjects, you would naturally imagine they + afford me pleasure, and attach me thoroughly. I will assure + you_, No!"--Nichols's "Literary Anecdotes," vol. v. p. 562. + + Warburton had not the cares of a family--they were merely + literary ones. The secret cause of his "melancholy," and his + "indolence," and that "want of attachment and pleasure to his + subjects;" which his friends "naturally imagined" afforded him + so much, was the controversies he had kindled, and the + polemical battles he had raised about him. However boldly he + attacked in return, his heart often sickened in privacy; for + how often must he have beheld his noble and his whimsical + edifices built on sands, which the waters were perpetually + eating into! + + At the last interview of Warburton with Pope, the dying poet + exhorted him to proceed with "The Divine Legation." "Your + reputation," said he, "as well as your duty, is concerned in + it. People say you can get no farther in your proof. Nay, Lord + Bolingbroke himself bids me expect no such thing." This + anecdote is rather extraordinary; for it appears in "Owen + Ruffhead's Life of Pope," p. 497, a work written under the eye + of Warburton himself; and in which I think I could point out + some strong touches from his own hand on certain important + occasions, when he would not trust to the creeping dulness of + Ruffhead. + + [163] His temerity had raised against him not only infidels, but + Christians. If any pious clergyman now wrote in favour of the + opinion that God's people believed in the immortality of the + soul--which can we doubt they did? and which Menasseh Ben + Israel has written his treatise, "De Resurrectione Mortuorum," + to prove--it was a strange sight to behold a bishop seeming to + deny so rational and religious a creed! Even Dr. Balguy + confessed to Warburton, that "there was one thing in the + argument of the 'Divine Legation' that stuck more with candid + men than all the rest--how a religion without a future state + could be worthy of God!" This Warburton promised to satisfy, + by a fresh appendix. His volatile genius, however, was + condemned to "the pelting of a merciless storm." Lowth told + him--"You give yourself out as _demonstrator_ of the _divine + legation_ of Moses; it has been often demonstrated before; a + young student in theology might undertake to give a + better--that is, a more satisfactory and irrefragable + demonstration of it in five pages than you have done in five + volumes."--Lowth's "Letter to Warburton," p. 12. + + [164] Hurd was the son of a Staffordshire farmer, and was placed by + him at Rugely, from whence he was removed to Emmanuel College, + Cambridge. At the age of twenty-six he published a pamphlet + entitled "Remarks on a late Book entitled 'An Inquiry into the + Rejection of the Christian Miracles by the Heathens, by + William Weston,'" which met with considerable attention. In + 1749, on the occasion of publishing a commentary on Horace's + "Ars Poetica," he complimented Warburton so strongly as to + ensure his favour. Warburton returned it by a puff for Hurd in + his edition of Pope, and the two became fast friends. It was a + profitable connexion to Hurd, for by the intercession of + Warburton he was appointed one of the Whitehall preachers, a + preacher at Lincoln's Inn, and Archdeacon of Gloucester. He + repaid Warburton by constant praises in print, and so far + succeeded with that vain man, that when he read the dedication + he made to him of his "Commentary on the Epistle to Augustus," + he wrote to him with mock humility--"I will confess to you how + much satisfaction the groundless part of it, that which + relates to myself, gave me." When Dr. Jortin very properly + spoke of Warburton with less of subserviency than the + overbearing bishop desired, Hurd at once came forward to fight + for Warburton in print, in a satirical treatise on "The + Delicacy of Friendship," which highly delighted his patron, + who at once wrote to Dr. Lowth, stating him to be "a man of + very superior talents, of genius, learning, and virtue; + indeed, a principal ornament of the age he lives in." Hurd was + made Bishop of Lichfield in 1775, and of Winchester in 1779. + He died in the year 1808.--ED. + + [165] The Attic irony was translated into plain English, in "Remarks + on Dr. Warburton's Account of the Sentiments of the Early + Jews," 1757; and the following rules for all who dissented + from Warburton are deduced:--"You must not write on the same + subject that he does. You must not glance at his arguments, + even without naming him or so much as referring to him. If you + find his reasonings ever so faulty, you must not presume to + furnish him with better of your own, even though you prove, + and are desirous to support his conclusions. When you design + him a compliment, you must express it in full form, and with + all the circumstance of panegyrical approbation, without + impertinently qualifying your civilities by assigning a reason + why you think he deserves them, as this might possibly be + taken for a hint that you know something of the matter he is + writing about as well as himself. You must never call any of + his _discoveries_ by the name of _conjectures_, though you + allow them their full proportion of elegance, learning, &c.; + for you ought to know that this capital genius never proposed + anything to the judgment of the public (though ever so new and + uncommon) with diffidence in his life. Thus stands the decree + prescribing our demeanour towards this sovereign in the + Republic of Letters, as we find it promulged, and bearing date + at the palace of Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 25, 1755."--From whence + Hurd's "Seventh Dissertation" was dated. + + [166] Gibbon's "Critical Observations on the Design of the Sixth Book + of the Æneid." Dr. Parr considers this clear, elegant, and + decisive work of criticism, as a complete refutation of + Warburton's discovery. + + [167] It is curious enough to observe that Warburton himself, + acknowledging this to be a paradox, exultingly exclaims, + "Which, _like so many others_ I have had the ODD FORTUNE to + advance, will be seen to be only another name for Truth." This + has all the levity of a sophist's language! Hence we must + infer that some of the most important subjects could not be + understood and defended, but by Warburton's "_odd fortune_!" + It was this levity of ideas that raised a suspicion that he + was not always sincere. He writes, in a letter, of "living in + mere spite, to rub another volume of the 'Divine Legation' in + the noses of bigots and zealots." He employs the most + ludicrous images, and the coarsest phrases, on the most solemn + subjects. In one of his most unlucky paradoxes with Lowth, on + the age and style of the writings of Job, he accuses that + elegant scholar of deficient discernment; and, in respect to + style, as not "distinguishing partridge from horseflesh;" and + in quoting some of the poetical passages, of "paying with an + old song," and "giving rhyme for reason." Alluding to some one + of his adversaries, whom he calls "the weakest, as well as the + wickedest of all mankind," he employs a striking image--"I + shall hang him and his fellows, as they do vermin in a warren, + and leave them to posterity, to stink and blacken in the + wind." + + [168] Warburton, in this work (the "Doctrine of Grace,") has a curious + passage, too long to quote, where he observes, that "The + Indian and Asiatic eloquence was esteemed hyperbolic and + puerile by the more phlegmatic inhabitants of Rome and Athens: + and the Western eloquence, in its turn, frigid or insipid, to + the hardy and inflamed imaginations of the East. The same + expression, which in one place had the utmost simplicity, had + in another the utmost sublime." The jackal, too, echoes the + roar of the lion; for the polished Hurd, whose taste was far + more decided than Warburton's, was bold enough to add, in his + Letter to Leland, "That which is thought supremely _elegant_ + in one country, passes in another for _finical_; while what in + this country is accepted under the idea of _sublimity_, is + derided in that other as no better than _bombast_." So + unsettled were the _no-taste_ of Warburton, and the + _prim-taste_ of Hurd! + + [169] The Letter to Leland is characterised in the "Critical Review" + for April, 1765, as the work of "a preferment-hunting + toad-eater, who, while his patron happened to go out of his + depth, tells him that he is treading good ground; but at the + same time offers him the use of a cork-jacket to keep him + above water." + + [170] Dr. Thomas Leland was born in Dublin in 1722, and was educated + in Trinity College, in that city. Having obtained a Fellowship + there, he depended on that alone, and devoted a long life to + study, and the production of various historical and + theological works; as well as a "History of Ireland," + published in 1773. He died in 1785.--ED. + + [171] In a rough attack on Warburton, respecting Pope's privately + printing 1500 copies of the "Patriot King" of Bolingbroke, + which I conceive to have been written by Mallet, I find a + particular account of the manner in which the "Essay on Man" + was written, over which Johnson seems to throw great doubts. + + The writer of this angry epistle, in addressing Warburton, + says: "If you were as intimate with Mr. Pope as you pretend, + you must know the truth of a fact which several others, as + well as I, who never had the honour of a personal acquaintance + with Lord Bolingbroke or Mr. Pope, have heard. The fact was + related to me by a certain Senior Fellow of one of our + Universities, who was very intimate with Mr. Pope. He started + some objections, one day, at Mr. Pope's house, to the doctrine + contained in the Ethic Epistles: upon which Mr. Pope told him + that he would soon convince him of the truth of it, by laying + the argument at large before him; for which purpose he gave + him _a large prose manuscript_ to peruse, telling him, at the + same time, the author's name. From this perusal, whatever + other conviction the doctor might receive, he collected at + least this: that Mr. Pope had from his friend not only the + _doctrine_, but even the _finest and strongest ornaments of + his Ethics_. Now, if this fact be true (as I question not but + you know it to be so), I believe no man of candour will + attribute such merit to Mr. Pope as you would insinuate, for + acknowledging the wisdom and the friendship of the man who was + his instructor in philosophy; nor consequently that this + acknowledgment, and the _dedication of his own system, put + into a poetical dress by Mr. Pope_, laid his lordship under + the necessity of never resenting any injury done to him by the + poet afterwards. Mr. Pope told no more than literal truth, in + calling Lord Bolingbroke his _guide, philosopher, and + friend_." The existence of this very manuscript volume was + authenticated by Lord Bathurst, in a conversation with Dr. + Blair and others, where he said, "he had read the MS. in Lord + Bolingbroke's handwriting, and was at a loss whether most to + admire the elegance of Lord Bolingbroke's prose, or the beauty + of Mr. Pope's verse."--See the letter of Dr. Blair in + "Boswell's Life of Johnson." + + [172] Of many instances, the following one is the most curious. When + Jarvis published his "Don Quixote," Warburton, who was prompt + on whatever subject was started, presented him with "A + Dissertation on the Origin of the Books of Chivalry." When it + appeared, it threw Pope, their common friend, into raptures. + He writes, "I knew you as certainly as the ancients did the + gods, by the first pace and the very gait." True enough! + Warburton's strong genius stamped itself on all his works. But + neither the translating painter, nor the simple poet, could + imagine the heap of absurdities they were admiring! Whatever + Warburton here asserted was false, and whatever he conjectured + was erroneous; but his blunders were quite original.--The good + sense and knowledge of Tyrwhitt have demolished the whole + edifice, without leaving a single brick standing. The absurd + rhapsody has been worth preserving, for the sake of the + masterly confutation: no uncommon result of Warburton's + literary labours! + + It forms the concluding note in Shakspeare's _Love's Labour + Lost_. + + [173] Of THEOBALD he was once the companion, and to Sir THOMAS HANMER + he offered his notes for his edition. [Hanmer's Shakspeare was + given in 1742 to the University of Oxford, for its benefit, + and was printed at the University Press, under the management + of Dr. Smith and Dr. Shippon. Sir Thomas paid the expenses of + the engravings by Gravelot prefixed to each play. The edition + was published in 4to. in 1744, it was printed on the "finest + royal paper," and does not warrant the severity of Pope, whose + editing was equally faulty.] Sir Thomas says he found + Warburton's notes "sometimes just, but mostly wild and out of + the way." Warburton paid a visit to Sir Thomas for a week, + which he conceived was to assist him in perfecting his darling + text; but hints were now dropped by Warburton, that _he_ might + publish the work corrected, by which a greater sum of money + might be got than could be by that plaything of Sir Thomas, + which shines in all its splendour in the Dunciad; but this + project did not suit Hanmer, whose life seemed greatly to + depend on the magnificent Oxford edition, which "was not to go + into the hands of booksellers." On this, Warburton, we are + told by Hanmer, "flew into a great rage, and there is an end + of the story." With what haughtiness he treats these two + friends, for once they were such! Had the Dey of Algiers been + the editor of Shakspeare, he could not have issued his orders + more peremptorily for the decapitation of his rivals. Of + Theobald and Hanmer he says, "the one was recommended to me as + a poor man, the other as a poor critic: and to each of them at + different times I communicated a great number of observations, + which they managed, as they saw fit, to the relief of their + several distresses. Mr. Theobald was naturally turned to + industry and labour. What he read he could transcribe; but as + to what he thought, if ever he did think, he could but ill + express, so he read on: and by that means got a character of + learning, without risking to every observer the imputation of + wanting a better talent."--See what it is to enjoy too close + an intimacy with a man of wit! "As for the Oxford Editor, he + wanted nothing (alluding to Theobald's want of money) but what + he might very well be without, the reputation of a critic," + &c. &c.--_Warburton's Preface to Shakspeare._ + + His conduct to Dr. GREY, the editor of Hudibras, cannot be + accounted for by any known fact. I have already noticed their + quarrels in the "Calamities of Authors." Warburton cheerfully + supplied Grey with various notes on Hudibras, though he said + he had thought of an edition himself, and they were gratefully + acknowledged in Grey's Preface; but behold! shortly afterwards + they are saluted by Warburton as "an execrable heap of + nonsense;" further, he insulted Dr. Grey for the _number_ of + his publications! Poor Dr. Grey and his "Coadjutors," as + Warburton sneeringly called others of his friends, resented + this by "A Free and Familiar Letter to that Great Preserver of + Pope and Shakspeare, the Rev. Mr. William Warburton." The + doctor insisted that Warburton had had sufficient share in + those very notes to be considered as one of the "Coadjutors." + "I may venture to say, that whoever was the _fool of the + company_ before he entered (or _the fool of the piece_, in his + own diction) he was certainly so after he engaged in that + work; for, as Ben Jonson observes, 'he that _thinks_ himself + the _Master-Wit_ is commonly the _Master-Fool_.'" + + [174] Warburton certainly used little intrigues: he trafficked with + the obscure Reviews of the times. He was a correspondent in + "The Works of the Learned," where the account of his first + volume of the Divine Legation, he says, is "a nonsensical + piece of stuff;" and when Dr. Doddridge offered to draw up + an article for his second, the favour was accepted, and it + was sent to the miserable journal, though acknowledged "to be + too good for it." In the same journal were published all + his specimens of Shakspeare, some years after they had + appeared in the "General Dictionary," with a high character of + these wonderful discoveries.--"The Alliance," when first + published, was announced in "The Present State of the + Republic of Letters," to be the work of a gentleman whose + capacity, judgment, and learning deserve some eminent dignity + in the Church of England, of which he is "now an inferior + minister."--One may presume to guess at "the gentleman," a + little impatient for promotion, who so much cared whether + Warburton was only "now an inferior minister." + + These are little arts. Another was, that Warburton sometimes + acted Falstaff's part, and ran his sword through the dead! In + more instances than one this occurred. Sir Thomas Hanmer was + dead when Warburton, then a bishop, ventured to assert that + Sir Thomas's letter concerning their intercourse about + Shakspeare was "one continued falsehood from beginning to + end." The honour and veracity of Hanmer must prevail over the + "liveliness" of Warburton, for Hurd lauds his "_lively_ + preface to his Shakspeare." But the "Biographia Britannica" + bears marks of Warburton's violence, in a cancelled sheet. See + the _Index_, art. HANMER; [where we are told "the sheet being + castrated at the instance of Mr., now Dr. Warburton, Bishop of + Gloucester, it has been reprinted as an appendix to the work," + it consisted in the suppression of one of Hanmer's letters.] + He did not choose to attack Dr. Middleton in form, during his + lifetime, but reserved his blow when his antagonist was no + more. I find in Cole's MSS. this curious passage:--"It was + thought, at Cambridge, that Dr. Middleton and Dr. Warburton + did not cordially esteem one another; yet both being keen and + thorough sportsmen, they were mutually afraid to engage to + each other, for fear of a fall. If that was the case, the + bishop judged prudently, however fairly it may be looked upon, + to stay till it was out of the power of his adversary to make + any reply, before he gave his answer." Warburton only replied + to Middleton's "Letter from Rome," in his fourth edition of + the "Divine Legation," 1765.--When Dyson firmly defended his + friend Akenside from the rude attacks of Warburton, it is + observed, that he bore them with "prudent patience:" he never + replied! + + [175] These critical _extravaganzas_ are scarcely to be paralleled by + "Bentley's Notes on Milton." How Warburton turned "an + allegorical mermaid" into "the Queen of Scots;"--showed how + Shakspeare, in one word, and with one epithet "the majestic + world," described the _Orbis Romanus_, alluded to the Olympic + Games, &c.; yet, after all this discovery, seems rather to + allude to a story about Alexander, which Warburton happened to + recollect at that moment;--and how he illustrated Octavia's + idea of the fatal consequences of a civil war between Cæsar + and Antony, who said it would "cleave the world," by the story + of Curtius leaping into the chasm;--how he rejected + "_allowed_, with absolute power," as not English, and read + "_hallowed_," on the authority of the Roman Tribuneship being + called _Sacro-sancta Potestas_; how his emendations often rose + from puns; as for instance, when, in _Romeo and Juliet_, it is + said of the Friar, that "the city is much obliged to _him_," + our new critic consents to the sound of the word, but not to + the spelling, and reads _hymn_; that is, to laud, to praise! + These, and more extraordinary instances of perverting + ingenuity and abused erudition, would form an uncommon + specimen of criticism, which may be justly ridiculed, but + which none, except an exuberant genius, could have produced. + The most amusing work possible would be a real Warburton's + Shakspeare, which would contain not a single thought, and + scarcely an expression, of Shakspeare's! + + [176] Had Johnson known as much as we do of Warburton's opinion of his + critical powers, it would have gone far to have cured his + amiable prejudice in favour of Warburton, who really was a + critic without taste, and who considered literature as some do + politics, merely as a party business. I shall give a + remarkable instance. When Johnson published his first critical + attempt on _Macbeth_, he commended the critical talents of + Warburton; and Warburton returned the compliment in the + preface to his Shakspeare, and distinguishes Johnson as "a man + of parts and genius." But, unluckily, Johnson afterwards + published his own edition; and, in his editorial capacity, his + public duty prevailed over his personal feelings: all this + went against Warburton; and the opinions he now formed of + Johnson were suddenly those of insolent contempt. In a letter + to Hurd, he writes: "Of _this Johnson_, you and I, I believe, + think alike!" And to another friend: "The remarks he makes, in + every page, on _my Commentaries_, are full of _insolence and + malignant reflections_, which, had they not in them _as much + folly as malignity_, I should have reason to be offended + with." He consoles himself, however, that Johnson's notes, + accompanying his own, will enable even "the trifling part of + the public" not to mistake in the comparison.--NICHOLS'S + "Literary Anecdotes," vol. v. p. 595. + + And what became of Johnson's noble Preface to Shakspeare? Not + a word on that!--Warburton, who himself had written so many + spirited ones, perhaps did not like to read one finer than his + own,--so he passed it by! He travelled through Egypt, but held + his hands before his eyes at a pyramid! + + [177] Thomas Edwards chiefly led the life of a literary student, + though he studied for the Bar at Lincoln's-Inn, and was + fully admitted a member thereof. He died unmarried at the age + of 58. He descended from a family of lawyers; possessed a + sufficient private property to ensure independence, and + died on his own estate of Turrick, in Buckinghamshire. Dr. + Warton observes, "This attack on Mr. Edwards is not of weight + sufficient to weaken the effects of his excellent 'Canons of + Criticism,' all impartial critics allow these remarks to have + been decisive and judicious, and his book remains unrefuted + and unanswerable."--ED. + + [178] Some grave dull men, who did not relish the jests, doubtless the + booksellers, who, to buy the _name of Warburton_, had paid + down 500_l._ for the edition, loudly complained that Edwards + had injured both him and them, by stopping the sale! On this + Edwards expresses his surprise, how "a little twelvepenny + pamphlet could stop the progress of eight large octavo + volumes;" and apologises, by applying a humorous story to + Warburton, for "puffing himself off in the world for what he + is not, and now being discovered."--"I am just in the case of + a friend of mine, who, going to visit an acquaintance, upon + entering his room, met a person going out of it:--'Prythee, + Jack,' says he, 'what do you do with that fellow?' 'Why, 'tis + Don Pedro di Mondongo, my Spanish master.'--'Spanish master!' + replies my friend; 'why, he's an errant Teague; I know the + fellow well enough: 'tis Rory Gehagan. He may possibly have + been in Spain; but, depend on't, he will sell you the + Tipperary brogue for pure Castilian.' Now honest Rory has just + the same reason of complaint against this gentleman as Mr. + Warburton has against me, and I suppose abused him as heartily + for it; but nevertheless the gentleman did both parties + justice." + + Some secret history is attached to this publication, so fatal + to Warburton's critical character in English literature. This + satire, like too many which have sprung out of literary + quarrels, arose from _personal motives_! When Edwards, in + early life, after quitting college, entered the army, he was + on a visit at Mr. Allen's, at Bath, whose niece Warburton + afterwards married. Literary subjects formed the usual + conversation. Warburton, not suspecting the red coat of + covering any Greek, showed his accustomed dogmatical + superiority. Once, when the controversy was running high, + Edwards taking down a Greek author, explained a passage in a + manner quite contrary to Warburton. He did unluckily something + more--he showed that Warburton's mistake had arisen from + having used a French translation!--and all this before Ralph + Allen and his niece! The doughty critic was at once silenced, + in sullen indignation and mortal hatred. To this circumstance + is attributed Edwards's "Canons of Criticism," which were + followed up by Warburton with incessant attacks; in every new + edition of Pope, in the "Essay on Criticism," and the Dunciad. + Warburton asserts that Edwards is a very dull writer (witness + the pleasantry that carries one through a volume of no small + size), that he is a libeller (because he ruined the critical + character of Warburton)--and "a libeller (says Warburton, with + poignancy), is nothing but a Grub-street critic run to + seed."--He compares Edwards's wit and learning to his ancestor + Tom Thimble's, in the _Rehearsal_ (because Edwards read Greek + authors in their original), and his air of good-nature and + politeness, to Caliban's in the _Tempest_ (because he had so + keenly written the "Canons of Criticism").--I once saw a great + literary curiosity: some _proof-sheets_ of the Dunciad of + Warburton's edition. I observed that some of the bitterest + notes were _after-thoughts_, written on those proof-sheets + after he had prepared the book for the press--one of these + additions was his note on Edwards. Thus Pope's book afforded + renewed opportunities for all the personal hostilities of this + singular genius! + + [179] In the "Richardsoniana," p. 264, the younger Richardson, who was + admitted to the intimacy of Pope, and collated the press for + him, gives some curious information about Warburton's + Commentary, both upon the "Essay on Man" and the "Essay on + Criticism." "Warburton's discovery of the 'regularity' of + Pope's 'Essay on Criticism,' and 'the whole scheme' of his + 'Essay on Man,' I happen to _know_ to be mere absurd + refinement in creating conformities; and this from Pope + himself, though he thought fit to adopt them afterwards." The + genius of Warburton might not have found an invincible + difficulty in proving that the "Essay on Criticism" was in + fact an Essay on Man, and the reverse. Pope, before he knew + Warburton, always spoke of his "Essay on Criticism" as "an + irregular collection of thoughts thrown together as Horace's + 'Art of Poetry' was." "As for the 'Essay on Man,'" says + Richardson, "I _know_ that he never dreamed of the scheme he + afterwards adopted; but he had taken terror about the clergy, + and Warburton himself, at the general alarm of its fatalism + and deistical tendency, of which my father and I talked with + him frequently at Twickenham, without his appearing to + understand it, or ever thinking to alter those passages which + we suggested."--This extract is to be valued, for the + information is authentic; and it assists us in throwing some + light on the subtilty of Warburton's critical impositions. + + [180] The postscript to Warburton's "Dedication to the Freethinkers," + is entirely devoted to Akenside; with this bitter opening, + "The Poet was too full of the subject and of himself." + + [181] "An Epistle to the Rev. Mr. Warburton, occasioned by his + Treatment of the Author of 'The Pleasures of the Imagination,'" + 1744. While Dyson repels Warburton's accusations against "the + Poet," he retorts some against the critic himself. Warburton + often perplexed a controversy by a subtile change of a word; + or by breaking up a sentence; or by contriving some absurdity in + the shape of an inference, to get rid of it in a mock + triumph. These little weapons against the laws of war are + insidiously practised in the war of words. Warburton never + replied. + + [182] The paradoxical title of his great work was evidently designed + to attract the unwary. "The Divine Legation of Moses + demonstrated--_from the omission of a future state_!" It + was long uncertain whether it was "a covert attack on + Christianity, instead of a defence of it." I have here no + concern with Warburton's character as a polemical theologist; + this has been the business of that polished and elegant + scholar, Bishop Lowth, who has shown what it is to be in + Hebrew literature "a Quack in Commentatorship, and a + Mountebank in Criticism." He has fully entered into all the + absurdity of Warburton's "ill-starred Dissertation on Job." + It is curious to observe that Warburton in the wild chase of + originality, often too boldly took the bull by the horns, + for he often adopted the very reasonings and objections of + infidels!--for instance, in arguing on the truth of the + Hebrew text, because the words had no points when a living + language, he absolutely prefers the Koran for correctness! On + this Lowth observes: "You have been urging the same + argument that _Spinoza_ employed, in order to destroy the + authority of the Hebrew Scriptures, and to introduce + infidelity and atheism." Lowth shows further, that "this was + also done by 'a society of gentlemen,' in their 'Sacerdotism + Displayed,' said to be written by 'a select committee of the + Deists and Freethinkers of Great Britain,' whose author + Warburton himself had represented to be 'the forwardest + devil of the whole legion.'" Lowth, however, concludes that + all the mischief has arisen only from "your lordship's + undertaking to treat of a subject with which you appear to + be very much unacquainted."--LOWTH'S _Letter_, p. 91. + + [183] Lowth remonstrated with Warburton on his "supreme + authority:"--"I did not care to protest against the + authoritative manner in which you proceeded, or to question + _your investiture in the high office of Inquisitor General and + Supreme Judge of the Opinions of the Learned_, which you had + long before assumed, and had _exercised with a ferocity and a + despotism without example in the Republic of Letters, and + hardly to be paralleled among the disciples of Dominic_; + exacting their opinions to the standard of your infallibility, + and prosecuting with implacable hatred every one that presumed + to differ from you."--LOWTH'S _Letter to W._, p. 9. + + [184] Warburton had the most cutting way of designating his + adversaries, either by the most vehement abuse or the light + petulance that expressed his ineffable contempt. He says to + one, "Though your teeth are short, what you want in teeth you + have in venom, and know, as all other creatures do, where your + strength lies." He thus announces in one of the prefaces to + the "Divine Legation" the name of the author of a work on "A + Future State of Rewards and Punishments," in which were some + objections to Warburton's theory:--"I shall, therefore, but do + what indeed would be justly reckoned the cruellest of all + things, _tell my reader the name of this miserable_; which we + find to be J. TILLARD." "Mr. Tillard was first condemned (says + the author of 'Confusion Worse Confounded,') as a ruffian that + stabs a man in the dark, because he did _not_ put his name to + his book against the 'Divine Legation;' and afterwards + condemned as lost to shame, both as a man and a writer, + because he _did_ put his name to it." Would not one imagine + this person to be one of the lowest of miscreants? He was a + man of fortune and literature. Of this person Warburton says + in a letter, "This is a man of fortune, and it is well he is + so, for I have spoiled his trade as a writer; and as he was + very abusive, free-thinking, and anonymous, I have not spared + to expose his ignorance and ill faith." But afterwards, having + discovered that he was a particular friend to Dr. Oliver, he + makes awkward apologies, and declares he would not have _gone + so far_ had he known this! He was often so vehement in his + abuse that I find he confessed it himself, for, in preparing a + new edition of the "Divine Legation," he tells Dr. Birch that + he has made "several omissions of passages which were thought + _vain_, _insolent_, and _ill-natured_." + + It is amusing enough to observe how he designates men as great + as himself. When he mentions the learned Hyde, he places him + "at the head of a rabble of lying orientalists." When he + alludes to Peters, a very learned and ingenious clergyman, he + passes by him as "The Cornish Critic." A friend of Peters + observed that "he had given Warburton 'a Cornish hug,' of + which he might be sore as long as he lived." Dr. Taylor, the + learned editor of Demosthenes, he selects from "his fellows," + that is, other dunces: a delicacy of expression which offended + scholars. He threatens Dr. Stebbing, who had preserved an + anonymous character, "to catch this Eel of Controversy, since + he hides his head by the tail, the only part that sticks out + of the mud, more dirty indeed than slippery, and still more + weak than dirty, as passing through a trap where he was forced + at every step to leave part of his skin--that is, his system." + Warburton has often true wit. With what provoking contempt he + calls Sir Thomas Hanmer always "The Oxford Editor!" and in his + attack on Akenside, never fails to nickname him, in derision, + "The Poet!" I refer the reader to a postscript of his + "Dedication to the Freethinkers," for a curious specimen of + supercilious causticity in his description of Lord Kaimes as a + critic, and Akenside as "The Poet!" Of this pair he tells us, + in bitter derision, "they are both men of taste." Hurd + imitated his master successfully, by using some qualifying + epithet, or giving an adversary some odd nickname, or + discreetly dispensing a little mortifying praise. The + antagonists he encounters were men sometimes his superiors, + and these he calls "sizeable men." Some are styled "insect + blasphemers!" The learned Lardner is reduced to "the laborious + Dr. Lardner;" and "Hume's History" is treated with the + discreet praise of being "the most readable history we have." + He carefully hints to Leland that "he had never read his + works, nor looked into his translations; but what he has + _heard_ of his writings makes him think favourably of him." + Thus he teases the rhetorical professor by mentioning the + "elegant translation which, _they say_, you have made of + Demosthenes!" And he understands that he is "a scholar, who, + _they say_, employs himself in works of learning and taste." + + Lowth seems to have discovered this secret art of Warburton; + for he says, "You have a set of names always at hand, a kind + of infamous list, or black calendar, where every offender is + sure to find a niche ready to receive him; nothing so easy as + the application, and slight provocation is sufficient." + + [185] Sometimes Warburton left his battles to be fought by subaltern + genius; a circumstance to which Lowth, with keen pleasantry, + thus alludes:--"Indeed, my lord, I was afterwards much + surprised, when, having been with great civility dismissed + from your presence, I found _your footman at your door, armed + with his master's cane, and falling upon me without mercy_, + yourself looking on and approving, and having probably put the + weapon with proper orders into his hands. You think, it seems, + that I ought to have taken my beating quietly and patiently, + in respect to the livery which he wore. I was not of so tame a + disposition: I wrested the weapon from him, and broke it. Your + lordship, it seems, by an oblique blow, got an unlucky rap on + the knuckles; though you may thank yourself for it, you lay + the blame on me."--LOWTH'S _Letter to W._, p. 11. + + Warburton and Hurd frequently concerted together on the manner + of attack and defence. In one of these letters of Hurd's it is + very amusing to read--"Taylor is a more creditable dunce than + Webster. What do you think to do with the Appendix against + Tillard and Sykes? Why might not Taylor rank with them," &c. + The Warburtonians had also a system of _espionage_. When Dr. + Taylor was accused by one of them of having _said_ that + Warburton was no scholar, the learned Grecian replied that he + did not recollect ever _saying_ that Dr. Warburton was no + scholar, but that indeed he had always _thought_ so. Hence a + tremendous quarrel! Hurd, the Mercury of our Jupiter, cast the + first light shaft against the doctor, then Chancellor of + Lincoln, by alluding to the Preface of his work on Civil Law + as "_a certain thing_ prefatory to a learned work, intituled + 'The Elements of Civil Law:'" but at length Jove himself + rolled his thunder on the hapless chancellor. The doctor had + said in his work, that "the Roman emperors persecuted the + first Christians, not so much from a dislike of their tenets + as from a jealousy of their nocturnal assemblies." Warburton's + doctrine was, that "they held nocturnal assemblies because of + the persecution of their enemies." One was the fact, and the + other the consequence. But the Chancellor of Lincoln was to be + outrageously degraded among the dunces! that was the real + motive; the "nocturnal assemblies" only the ostensible one. A + pamphleteer, in defence of the chancellor, in reply, thought + that in "this literary persecution" it might be dangerous "if + Dr. Taylor should be provoked to _prove in print_ what he only + _dropped in conversation_." How innocent was this gentleman of + the arts and stratagems of logomachy, or book-wars! The + _proof_ would not have altered the cause: Hurd would have + disputed it tooth and nail; Warburton was running greater + risks, every day of his life, than any he was likely to + receive from this flourish in the air. The great purpose was + to make the Chancellor of Lincoln the butt of his sarcastic + pleasantry; and this object was secured by Warburton's forty + pages of preface, in which the chancellor stands to be + buffeted like an ancient quintain, "a mere lifeless block." + All this came upon him for only _thinking_ that Warburton was + no _scholar_! + + [186] See what I have said at the close of the note, pp. 262-3. In a + collection entitled "Verses occasioned by Mr. Warburton's late + Edition of Mr. Pope's Works," 1751, are numerous epigrams, + parodies, and similes on it. I give one:-- + + "As on the margin of Thames' silver flood + Stand little _necessary_ piles of wood, + So Pope's fair page appears with _notes_ disgraced: + Put down the nuisances, ye men of taste!" + + Lowth has noticed the use Warburton made of his patent for + vending Pope. "I thought you might possibly whip me at the + cart's-tail in a note to the 'Divine Legation,' the ordinary + place of your literary executions; or _pillory me in the + Dunciad_, another engine which, as legal proprietor, you have + very ingeniously and judiciously applied to the same purpose; + or, perhaps, have ordered me a kind of Bridewell correction, + by one of your beadles, in a pamphlet."--LOWTH'S _"Letter to + Warburton,"_ p. 4. + + Warburton carried the licentiousness of the pen in all these + notes to the _Dunciad_ to a height which can only be + paralleled in the gross logomachies of Schioppius, Gronovius, + and Scaliger, and the rest of that snarling crew. But his wit + exceeded even his grossness. He was accused of not sparing-- + + "Round-house wit and Wapping choler." + [Verses occasioned by Mr. W.'s late Edition of Pope.] + + And one of his most furious assailants thus salutes + him:--"Whether you are a wrangling Wapping attorney, a + pedantic pretender to criticism, an impudent paradoxical + priest, or an animal yet stranger, an heterogeneous medley of + all three, as your farraginous style seems to confess."--An + Epistle to the Author of a Libel entitled "A Letter to the + Editor of Bolingbroke's Works," &c.--See NICHOLS, vol. v. p. + 651. + + I have ascertained that Mallet was the author of this + furious epistle. He would not acknowledge what he dared + not deny. Warburton treated Mallet, in this instance, as + he often did his superiors--he never replied! The silence + seems to have stung this irascible and evil spirit: he + returned again to the charge, with another poisoned + weapon. His rage produced "A _Familiar_ Epistle to the Most + Impudent Man Living," 1749. The style of this second + letter has been characterised as "bad enough to disgrace + even gaols and garrets." Its virulence could not well + exceed its predecessor. The oddness of its title has made + this worthless thing often inquired after. It is merely + personal. It is curious to observe Mallet, in this pamphlet, + treat Pope as an object of pity, and call him "this poor man." + [David Mallet was the son of an innkeeper, who, by means of + the party he wrote for, obtained lucrative appointments + under Government, and died rich. He was unscrupulous in his + career, and ready as a writer to do the most unworthy + things. The death of Admiral Byng was hastened by the + unscrupulous denunciations of Mallet, who was pensioned in + consequence.] Orator Henley took some pains, on the first + appearance of this catching title, to assure his friends + that it did not refer to _him_. The title proved contagious; + which shows the abuse of Warburton was very agreeable. Dr. + Z. Grey, under the title of "A Country Curate," published + "A Free and _Familiar_ Letter to the Great Refiner of Pope and + Shakspeare," 1750; and in 1753, young Cibber tried also at + "A _Familiar_ Epistle to Mr. William Warburton, from Mr. + Theophilus Cibber," prefixed to the "Life of Barton Booth." + Dr. Z. Grey's "freedom and _familiarity_" are designed to + show Warburton that he has no wit; but unluckily, the doctor + having none himself, his arguments against Warburton's are not + decisive. "The _familiarity_" of Mallet is that of a + scoundrel, and the _younger_ Cibber's that of an idiot: the + genius of Warburton was secure. Mallet overcharged his gun + with the fellest intentions, but found his piece, in + bursting, annihilated himself. The popgun of the _little_ + Theophilus could never have been heard! + + [Warburton never lost a chance of giving a strong opinion + against Mallet; and Dr. Johnson says, "When Mallet undertook + to write the 'Life of Marlborough,' Warburton remarked that he + might perhaps forget that Marlborough was a general, as he had + forgotten that Bacon was a philosopher."] + + But Warburton's rage was only a part of his _secret + principle_; for can anything be more witty than his attack on + poor COOPER, the author of "The Life of Socrates?" Having + called his book "a late worthless and now forgotten thing, + called 'The Life of Socrates,'" he adds, "where the head of + the author has just made a shift to do the office of a _camera + obscura_, and represent things in an inverted order, himself + _above_, and Rollin, Voltaire, and every other author of + reputation, _below_." When Cooper complained of this, and of + some severer language, to Warburton, through a friend, + Warburton replied that Cooper had attacked him, and that he + had only taken his revenge "with a slight joke." Cooper was + weak and vain enough to print a pamphlet, to prove that this + was a serious accusation, and no joke; and if it was a joke, + he shows it was not a correct one. In fact, Cooper could never + comprehend how his head was like a _camera obscura_! Cooper + was of the Shaftesburian school--philosophers who pride + themselves on "the harmony" of their passions, but are too + often in discords at a slight disturbance. He equalled the + virulence of Warburton, but could not attain to the wit. "I + found," says Cooper, "previous to his pretended witticism + about the _camera obscura_, such miserable spawn of wretched + malice, as nothing but the inflamed brain of a rank monk could + conceive, or the oyster-selling maids near London Bridge could + utter." One would not suppose all this came from the school of + Plato, but rather from the tub of Diogenes. Something must be + allowed for poor Cooper, whose "Life of Socrates" had been so + positively asserted to be "a late worthless and forgotten + thing." It is curious enough to observe Cooper declaring, + after this sally, that Warburton "has very unfortunately used + the word _impudent_ (which epithet Warburton had applied to + him), as it naturally reminds every reader that the pamphlet + published about two years ago, addressed 'to the most impudent + man living,' was universally acknowledged to be dedicated to + our commentator." Warburton had always the _Dunciad_ in his + head when a new quarrel was rising, which produced an odd + blunder on the side of Edwards, and provoked that wit to be as + dull as Cooper. Warburton said, in one of his notes on + Edwards, who had entitled himself "a gentleman of Lincoln's + Inn,"--"This gentleman, as he is pleased to call himself, is + in reality a gentleman only of the _Dunciad_, or, to speak him + better, in the plain language of our honest ancestors to such + mushrooms, a _gentleman of the last edition_." Edwards + misunderstood the allusion, and sore at the personal attack + which followed, of his having "eluded the solicitude of his + careful father," considered himself "degraded of his + gentility," that it was "a reflection on his birth," and + threatened to apply to "Mr. Warburton's Masters of the Bench, + for degrading a 'barrister of their house.'" This afforded a + new triumph to Warburton, in a new note, where he explains his + meaning of these "mushrooms," whom he meant merely as literary + ones; and assures "Fungoso and his friends, who are all + gentlemen, that he meant no more than that Edwards had become + a gentleman _of the last edition of the Dunciad_!" Edwards and + his fungous friends had understood the phrase as applied to + new-fangled gentry. One of these wits, in the collection of + verses cited above, says to Warburton:-- + + "This mushroom has made sauce for you. + He's meat; thou'rt poison--plain enough-- + If he's a _mushroom_, thou'rt a _puff_!" + + Warburton had the full command over the _Dunciad_, even when + Pope was alive, for it was in consequence of Warburton's being + refused a degree at Oxford, that the poet, though one had been + offered to himself, produced the celebrated lines of "Apollo's + Mayor and Aldermen," in the fourth _Dunciad_. Thus it is that + the personal likes and dislikes of witty men come down to + posterity, and are often mistaken as just satire, when, after + all, they are nothing but LITERARY QUARRELS, seldom founded on + truth, and very often complete falsehoods! + + [187] Dr. Thomas Balguy was the son of a learned father, at whose + rectory of Northallerton he was born; he was appointed + Archdeacon of Salisbury in 1759, and afterwards Archdeacon of + Winchester. He died at the prebendal house of the latter city + in 1795, at the age of 74. His writings are few--chiefly on + church government and authority, which brought him into + antagonism with Dr. Priestley and others, who objected to the + high view he took of its position. With Hurd and Warburton he + was always intimate; his sermon on the consecration of the + former was one of the sources of adverse attack; the latter + notes his death as that of "an old and esteemed friend."--ED. + + [188] Dr. Brown was patronised and "pitied" by Warburton for years. He + used him, but spoke of him disparagingly, as "a helpless + creature in the ways of the world." Nichols speaks of him as + an "elegant, ingenious, and unhappy author." His father was a + native of Scotland; his son was born at Rothbury, in + Northumberland, educated at Cambridge, made minor canon at + Carlisle, but resigned it in disgust, living in obscurity in + that city several years, till the Rebellion of 1745, when he + acted as a volunteer at the siege of the Castle, and behaved + with great intrepidity. His publication of an "Essay on + Satire," on the death of Pope, led to his acquaintance with + Warburton, who helped him to the rectory of Horksley, near + Colchester; but he quarrelled with his patron, as he + afterwards quarrelled with others. He then settled down to the + vicarage of St. Nicholas, Newcastle, but not for long, as an + educational scheme of the Empress of Russia offered him + inducements to leave England; but his health failed him before + he could carry out his intentions, irritability succeeded, and + his disappointments, real and imaginary, led him to commit + suicide in the fifty-first year of his age. He seems to have + been a continual trouble to Warburton, who often alludes to + his unsettled habits--and schooled him occasionally after his + own fashion. Thus he writes in 1777:--"Brown is here; I think + rather faster than ordinary, but no wiser. You cannot imagine + the tenderness they all have of his tender places, and with + how unfeeling a hand I probe them."--ED. + + [189] Towne is so far "unknown to fame" that his career is unrecorded + by our biographers; he was content to work for, and under the + guidance of Warburton, as a literary drudge.--ED. + + [190] Warburton, indeed, was always looking about for fresh recruits: + a circumstance which appears in the curious Memoirs of the + late Dr. Heathcote, written by himself. Heathcote, when young, + published anonymously a pamphlet in the Middletonian + controversy. By the desire of Warburton, the bookseller + transmitted his compliments to the anonymous author. "I was + greatly surprised," says Heathcote, "but soon after perceived + that Warburton's state of authorship being a state of war, _it + was his custom to be particularly attentive to all young + authors, in hopes of enlisting them into his service_. + Warburton was more than civil, when necessary, on these + occasions, and would procure such adventurers some slight + patronage."--NICHOLS'S "Literary Anecdotes," vol. v. p. 536. + + [191] We are astonished at the boldness of the minor critic, when, + even after the fatal edition of Warburton's Shakspeare, he + should still venture, in the life of his great friend, to + assert that "this fine edition must ever be highly valued by + men of sense and taste; a spirit congenial to that of the + author breathing throughout!" + + Is it possible that the man who wrote this should ever have + read the "Canons of Criticism?" Yet is it to be supposed that + he who took so lively an interest in the literary fortunes of + his friend should _not_ have read them? The Warburtonians + appear to have adopted one of the principles of the Jesuits in + their controversies, which was to repeat arguments which had + been confuted over and over again; to insinuate that they had + not been so! But this was not too much to risk by him who, in + his dedication of "Horace's Epistle to Augustus," with a + Commentary, had hardily and solemnly declared that "Warburton, + in his _enlarged view of things_, had not only revived the two + models of Aristotle and Longinus, but had rather struck out _a + new original plan of criticism_, which should unite the + virtues of each of them. This experiment was made on the two + greatest of our own poets--Shakspeare and Pope. Still (he + adds, addressing Warburton) _you went farther_, by joining to + those powers a perfect insight into human nature; and so + ennobling the exercise of literary by the justest moral + censure, _you have now, at length, advanced criticism to its + full glory_." + + A perpetual intercourse of mutual adulation animated the + sovereign and his viceroy, and, by mutual support, each + obtained the same reward: two mitres crowned the greater and + the minor critic. This intercourse was humorously detected by + the lively author of "Confusion Worse Confounded."--"When the + late Duke of R.," says he, "kept wild beasts, it was a common + diversion to make two of his bears drunk (not metaphorically + with flattery, but literally with strong ale), and then daub + them over with honey. It was excellent sport to see how + lovingly (like a couple of critics) they would lick and claw + one another." It is almost amazing to observe how Hurd, who + naturally was of the most frigid temperament, and the most + subdued feelings, warmed, heated, and blazed in the + progressive stages "of that pageantry of praise spread over + the Rev. Mr. Warburton, when the latter was advancing fast + towards a bishoprick," to use the words of Dr. Parr, a + sagacious observer of man. However, notwithstanding the + despotic mandates of our Pichrocole and his dapper minister, + there were who did not fear to meet the greater bear of the + two so facetiously described above. And the author of + "Confusion Worse Confounded" tells a familiar story, which + will enliven the history of our great critic. "One of the + bears mentioned above happened to get loose, and was running + along the street in which a tinker was gravely walking. The + people all cried, 'Tinker! tinker! beware of the bear!' Upon + this Magnano faced about with great composure; and raising his + staff, knocked down Bruin, then setting his arms a-kimbo, + walked off very sedately; only saying, 'Let the bear beware of + the tinker,' which is now become a proverb in those + parts."--"Confusion Worse Confounded," p. 75. + + + + +POPE, + +AND HIS MISCELLANEOUS QUARRELS. + + POPE adopted a system of literary politics--collected with + extraordinary care everything relative to his Quarrels--no + politician ever studied to obtain his purposes by more oblique + directions and intricate stratagems--some of his manœuvres--his + systematic hostility not practised with impunity--his claim to his + own works contested--CIBBER'S facetious description of POPE'S + feelings, and WELSTED'S elegant satire on his genius--DENNIS'S + account of POPE'S Introduction to him--his political prudence + further discovered in the Collection of all the Pieces relative to + the _Dunciad_, in which he employed SAVAGE--the THEOBALDIANS and + the POPEIANS; an attack by a Theobaldian--The _Dunciad_ + ingeniously defended, for the grossness of its imagery, and its + reproach of the poverty of the authors, supposed by POPE himself, + with some curious specimens of literary personalities--the + Literary Quarrel between AARON HILL and POPE distinguished for its + romantic cast--a Narrative of the extraordinary transactions + respecting the publication of POPE'S Letters; an example of + Stratagem and Conspiracy, illustrative of his character. + + +POPE has proudly perpetuated the history of his Literary Quarrels; and +he appears to have been among those authors, surely not forming the +majority, who have delighted in, or have not been averse to provoke, +hostility. He has registered the titles of every book, even to a +single paper, or a copy of verses, in which their authors had +committed treason against his poetical sovereignty.[192] His ambition +seemed gratified in heaping these trophies to his genius, while his +meaner passions could compile one of the most voluminous of the +scandalous chronicles of literature. We are mortified on discovering +so fine a genius in the text humbling itself through all the depravity +of a commentary full of spleen, and not without the fictions of +satire. The unhappy influence his _Literary Quarrels_ had on this +great poet's life remains to be traced. He adopted a system of +literary politics abounding with stratagems, conspiracies, manœuvres, +and factions. + +Pope's literary quarrels were the wars of his poetical ambition, more +perhaps than of the petulance and strong irritability of his +character. They were some of the artifices he adopted from the +peculiarity of his situation. + +Thrown out of the active classes of society from a variety of causes +sufficiently known,[193] concentrating his passions into a solitary +one, his retired life was passed in the contemplation of his own +literary greatness. Reviewing the past, and anticipating the future, +he felt he was creating a new era in our literature, an event which +does not always occur in a century: but eager to secure present +celebrity, with the victory obtained in the open field, he combined +the intrigues of the cabinet: thus, while he was exerting great means, +he practised little artifices. No politician studied to obtain his +purposes by more oblique directions, or with more intricate +stratagems; and Pope was at once the lion and the fox of Machiavel. A +book might be written on the Stratagems of Literature, as Frontinus +has composed one on War, and among its subtilest heroes we might place +this great poet. + +To keep his name alive before the public was one of his early plans. +When he published his "Essay on Criticism," anonymously, the young and +impatient poet was mortified with the inertion of public curiosity: he +was almost in despair.[194] Twice, perhaps oftener, Pope attacked +Pope;[195] and he frequently concealed himself under the names of +others, for some particular design. Not to point out his dark familiar +"Scriblerus," always at hand for all purposes, he made use of the +names of several of his friends. When he employed SAVAGE in "a +collection of all the pieces, in verse and prose, published on +occasion of the _Dunciad_," he subscribed his name to an admirable +dedication to Lord Middlesex, where he minutely relates the whole +history of the _Dunciad_, "and the weekly clubs held to consult of +hostilities against the author;" and, for an express introduction to +that work, he used the name of Cleland, to which is added a note, +expressing surprise that the world did not believe that Cleland was +the writer![196] Wanting a pretext for the publication of his +letters, he delighted CURLL by conveying to him some printed +surreptitious copies, who soon discovered that it was but a fairy +treasure which he could not grasp; and Pope, in his own defence, had +soon ready the authentic edition.[197] Some lady observed that Pope +"hardly drank tea without a stratagem!" The female genius easily +detects its own peculiar faculty, when it is exercised with inferior +delicacy. + +But his systematic hostility did not proceed with equal impunity: in +this perpetual war with dulness, he discovered that every one he +called a dunce was not so; nor did he find the dunces themselves +less inconvenient to him; for many successfully substituted, for +their deficiencies in better qualities, the lie that lasts long +enough to vex a man; and the insolence that does not fear him: they +attacked him at all points, and not always in the spirit of +legitimate warfare.[198] They filled up his asterisks, and accused +him of treason. They asserted that the panegyrical verses prefixed +to his works (an obsolete mode of recommendation, which Pope +condescended to practise), were his own composition, and to which +he had affixed the names of some dead or some unknown writers. +They published lists of all whom Pope had attacked; placing at the +head, "God Almighty; the King;" descending to the "lords and +gentlemen."[199] A few suspected his skill in Greek; but every +hound yelped in the halloo against his Homer.[200] Yet the more +extraordinary circumstance was, their hardy disputes with Pope +respecting his claim to his own works, and the difficulty he more +than once found to establish his rights. Sometimes they divided public +opinion by even indicating the real authors; and witnesses from +White's and St. James's were ready to be produced. Among these +literary coteries, several of Pope's productions, in their anonymous, +and even in their MS. state, had been appropriated by several +pseudo authors; and when Pope called for restitution, he seemed to be +claiming nothing less than their lives. One of these gentlemen had +enjoyed a very fair reputation for more than two years on the +"Memoirs of a Parish-Clerk;" another, on "The Messiah!" and there were +many other vague claims. All this was vexatious; but not so much as +the ridiculous attitude in which Pope was sometimes placed by his +enraged adversaries.[201] He must have found himself in a more +perilous situation when he hired a brawny champion, or borrowed the +generous courage of some military friend.[202] To all these troubles +we may add, that Pope has called down on himself more lasting +vengeance; and the good sense of Theobald, the furious but often +acute remarks of Dennis; the good-humoured yet keen remonstrance of +Cibber; the silver shaft, tipped with venom, sent from the injured +but revengeful Lady Mary; and many a random shot, that often struck +him, inflicted on him many a sleepless night.[203] The younger +Richardson has recorded the personal sufferings of Pope when, one +day, in taking up Cibber's letter, while his face was writhing with +agony, he feebly declared that "these things were as good as +hartshorn to him;" but he appeared at that moment rather to want a +little. And it is probably true, what Cibber facetiously says of +Pope, in his second letter:--"Everybody tells me that I have made you +as uneasy as a rat in a hot kettle, for a twelvemonth together."[204] + +Pope was pursued through life by the insatiable vengeance of Dennis. +The young poet, who had got introduced to him, among his first +literary acquaintances, could not fail, when the occasion presented +itself, of ridiculing this uncouth son of Aristotle. The blow was +given in the character of Appius, in the "Art of Criticism;" and it is +known Appius was instantaneously recognised by the fierce shriek of +the agonised critic himself. From that moment Dennis resolved to write +down every work of Pope's. How dangerous to offend certain tempers, +verging on madness![205] Dennis, too, called on every one to join him +in the common cause; and once he retaliated on Pope in his own way. +Accused by Pope of being the writer of an account of himself, in +Jacob's "Lives of the Poets," Dennis procured a letter from Jacob, +which he published, and in which it appears that Pope's own character +in this collection, if not written by him, was by him very carefully +corrected on the proof-sheet; so that he stood in the same ridiculous +attitude into which he had thrown Dennis, as his own trumpeter. +Dennis, whose brutal energy remained unsubdued, was a rhinoceros of a +critic, shelled up against the arrows of wit. This monster of +criticism awed the poet; and Dennis proved to be a Python, whom the +golden shaft of Apollo could not pierce. + +The political prudence of Pope was further discovered in the +"Collection of all the Pieces relative to the _Dunciad_," on which +he employed Savage: these exemplified the justness of the satire, +or defended it from all attacks. The precursor of the _Dunciad_ +was a single chapter in "The Bathos; or, the Art of Sinking in +Poetry;" where the humorous satirist discovers an analogy between +flying-fishes, parrots, tortoises, &c., and certain writers, whose +names are designated by initial letters. In this unlucky alphabet of +dunces, not one of them but was applied to some writer of the day; +and the loud clamours these excited could not be appeased by the +simplicity of our poet's declaration, that the letters were placed at +random: and while his oil could not smooth so turbulent a sea, every +one swore to the flying-fish or the tortoise, as he had described +them. It was still more serious when the _Dunciad_ appeared. Of that +class of authors who depended for a wretched existence on their +wages, several were completely ruined, for no purchasers were to be +found for the works of some authors, after they had been inscribed +in the chronicle of our provoking and inimitable satirist.[206] + +It is in this collection by Savage I find the writer's admirable +satire on the class of literary prostitutes. It is entitled "An Author +to be Let, by Iscariot Hackney." It has been ably commended by Johnson +in his "Life of Savage," and on his recommendation Thomas Davies +inserted it in his "Collection of Fugitive Pieces;" but such is the +careless curiosity of modern re-publishers, that often, in preserving +a decayed body, they are apt to drop a limb: this was the case with +Davies; for he has dropped the preface, far more exquisite than the +work itself. A morsel of such poignant relish betrays the hand of the +master who snatched the pen for a moment. + +This preface defends Pope from the two great objections justly raised +at the time against the _Dunciad_: one is, the grossness and +filthiness of its imagery; and the other, its reproachful allusions to +the poverty of the authors. + +The _indelicacies_ of the _Dunciad_ are thus wittily apologised +for:-- + +"They are suitable to the subject; a subject composed, for the most +part, of authors whose writings are the refuse of wit, and who in +life are the very excrement of Nature. Mr. Pope has, too, used dung; +but he disposes that dung in such a manner that it becomes rich +manure, from which he raises a variety of fine flowers. He deals in +rags; but like an artist, who commits them to a paper-mill, and brings +them out useful sheets. The chemist extracts a fine cordial from the +most nauseous of all dung; and Mr. Pope has drawn a sweet poetical +spirit from the most offensive and unpoetical objects of the +creation--unpoetical, though eternal writers of poetry." + +The reflections on the _poverty_ of its heroes are thus ingeniously +defended:--"Poverty, not proceeding from folly, but which may be owing +to virtue, sets a man in an amiable light; but when our wants are of +our own seeking, and prove the motive of every ill action (for the +poverty of bad authors has always a bad heart for its companion), is +it not a vice, and properly the subject of satire?" The preface then +proceeds to show how "all these _said writers_ might have been _good +mechanics_." He illustrates his principles with a most ungracious +account of several of his contemporaries. I shall give a specimen of +what I consider as the polished sarcasm and caustic humour of Pope, on +some favourite subjects. + +"Mr. Thomas _Cooke_.--His enemies confess him not without merit. To do +the man justice, he might have made a tolerable figure as a _Tailor_. +'Twere too presumptuous to affirm he could have been a _master_ in any +profession; but, dull as I allow him, he would not have been +despicable for a third or a fourth hand journeyman. Then had his wants +have been avoided; for, he would at least have learnt to _cut his coat +according to his cloth_. + +"Why would not Mr. _Theobald_ continue an attorney? Is not _Word-catching_ +more serviceable in splitting a cause, than explaining a fine poet? + +"When Mrs. _Haywood_ ceased to be a strolling-actress, why might not +the lady (though once a theatrical queen) have subsisted by turning +_washerwoman_? Has not the fall of greatness been a frequent distress +in all ages? She might have caught a beautiful bubble, as it arose +from the suds of her tub, blown it in air, seen it glitter, and then +break! Even in this low condition, she had played with a bubble; and +what more is the vanity of human greatness? + +"Had it not been an honester and more decent livelihood for Mr. +_Norton_ (Daniel De Foe's son of love by a lady who vended oysters) +to have dealt in a _fish-market_, than to be dealing out the dialects +of Billingsgate in the Flying-post? + +"Had it not been more laudable for Mr. _Roome_, the son of an +_undertaker_, to have borne a link and a mourning-staff, in the long +procession of a funeral--or even been more decent in him to have sung +psalms, according to education, in an Anabaptist meeting, than to have +been altering the _Jovial Crew, or Merry Beggars_, into a _wicked_ +imitation of the _Beggar's Opera_?" + +This satire seems too exquisite for the touch of Savage, and is quite +in the spirit of the author of the _Dunciad_. There is, in Ruffhead's +"Life of Pope," a work to which Warburton contributed all his care, a +passage which could only have been written by Warburton. The strength +and coarseness of the imagery could never have been produced by the +dull and feeble intellect of Ruffhead: it is the opinion, therefore, +of Warburton himself, on the _Dunciad_. "The _good purpose_ intended +by this satire was, to the _herd_ in general, of less efficacy than +our author hoped; for _scribblers_ have not the common sense of _other +vermin_, who usually abstain from mischief, when they see any of their +kind _gibbeted_ or _nailed up_, as terrible examples."--Warburton +employed the same strong image in one of his threats. + +One of Pope's Literary Quarrels must be distinguished for its romantic +cast. + +In the Treatise on the _Bathos_, the initial letters of the bad +writers occasioned many heartburns; and, among others, Aaron Hill +suspected he was marked out by the letters A. H. This gave rise to a +large correspondence between Hill and Pope. Hill, who was a very +amiable man, was infinitely too susceptible of criticism; and Pope, +who seems to have had a personal regard for him, injured those nice +feelings as little as possible. Hill had published a panegyrical +poem on Peter the Great, under the title of "The Northern Star;" and +the bookseller had conveyed to him a criticism of Pope's, of which +Hill publicly acknowledged he mistook the meaning. When the Treatise +of "The Bathos" appeared, Pope insisted he had again mistaken the +initials A. H.--Hill gently attacked Pope in "a paper of very +pretty verses," as Pope calls them. When the _Dunciad_ appeared, +Hill is said "to have published pieces, in his youth, bordering upon +the bombast." This was as light a stroke as could be inflicted; and +which Pope, with great good-humour, tells Hill, might be equally +applied to himself; for he always acknowledged, that when a boy, he +had written an Epic poem of that description; would often quote absurd +verses from it, for the diversion of his friends; and actually +inserted some of the most extravagant ones in the very Treatise on +"The Bathos." Poor Hill, however, was of the most sickly delicacy, +and produced "The Caveat," another gentle rebuke, where Pope is +represented as "sneakingly to approve, and want the worth to cherish +or befriend men of merit." In the course of this correspondence, +Hill seems to have projected the utmost stretch of his innocent +malice; for he told Pope, that he had almost finished "An Essay on +Propriety and Impropriety in Design, Thought, and Expression, +illustrated by examples in both kinds, from the writings of Mr. +Pope;" but he offers, if this intended work should create the least +pain to Mr. Pope, he was willing, with all his heart, to have it run +thus:--"An Essay on Propriety and Impropriety, &c., illustrated by +Examples of the first, from the writings of Mr. Pope, and of the +rest, from those of the author."--To the romantic generosity of this +extraordinary proposal, Pope replied, "I acknowledge your generous +offer, to give _examples of imperfections_ rather out of _your own +works_ than mine: I consent, with all my heart, to your confining them +to _mine_, for two reasons: the one, that I fear your sensibility +that way is greater than my own: the other is a better; namely, +that I intend to correct the faults you find, if they are such as I +expect from Mr. Hill's cool judgment."[207] + +Where, in literary history, can be found the parallel of such an offer +of self-immolation? This was a literary quarrel like that of lovers, +where to hurt each other would have given pain to both parties. Such +skill and desire to strike, with so much tenderness in inflicting a +wound; so much compliment, with so much complaint; have perhaps never +met together, as in the romantic hostility of this literary chivalry. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [192] Pope collected these numerous literary libels with extraordinary + care. He had them bound in volumes of all sizes; and a range + of twelves, octavos, quartos, and folios were marshalled in + portentous order on his shelves. He wrote the names of the + writers, with remarks on these _Anonymiana_. He prefixed to + them this motto, from Job: "Behold, my desire is, that mine + adversary had written a book: surely I would take it upon my + shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me." xxxi. 35. Ruffhead, + who wrote Pope's Life under the eye of Warburton, who revised + every sheet of the volume, and suffered this mere lawyer and + singularly wretched critic to write on, with far inferior + taste to his own--offered "the entire collection to any public + library or museum, whose search is after _curiosities_, and + may be desirous of enriching their common treasure with it: it + will be freely at the service of that which asks first." Did + no one accept the invitation? As this was written in 1769, it + is evidently pointed towards the British Museum; but there I + have not heard of it. This collection must have contained much + of the Secret Memoirs of Grub-street: it was always a fountain + whence those "waters of bitterness," the notes in the + _Dunciad_, were readily supplied. It would be curious to + discover by what stratagem Pope obtained all that secret + intelligence about his Dunces, with which he has burthened + posterity, for his own particular gratification. Arbuthnot, it + is said, wrote some notes merely literary; but Savage, and + still humbler agents, served him as his _Espions de Police_. + He pensioned Savage to his last day, and never deserted him. + In the account of "the phantom Moore," Scriblerus appeals to + Savage to authenticate some story. One curious instance of the + fruits of Savage's researches in this way he has himself + preserved, in his memoirs of "An Author to be Let, by Iscariot + Hackney." This portrait of "a perfect Town-Author" is not + deficient in spirit: the hero was one Roome, a man only + celebrated in the _Dunciad_ for his "funereal frown." But it + is uncertain whether this fellow had really so dismal a + countenance; for the epithet was borrowed from his profession, + being the son of an undertaker! Such is the nature of some + satire! Dr. Warton is astonished, or mortified, for he knew + not which, to see the pains and patience of Pope and his + friends in compiling the Notes to the _Dunciad_, to trace out + the lives and works of such paltry and forgotten scribblers. + "It is like walking through the darkest alleys in the dirtiest + part of St. Giles's." Very true! But may we not be allowed to + detect the vanities of human nature at St. Giles's as well as + St. James's? Authors, however obscure, are always an amusing + race to authors. The greatest find their own passions in the + least, though distorted, or cramped in too small a compass. + + It is doubtless from Pope's great anxiety for his own literary + celebrity that we have been furnished with so complete a + knowledge of the grotesque groups in the _Dunciad_. "Give me a + shilling," said Swift, facetiously, "and I will insure you + that posterity shall never know one single enemy, excepting + those whose memory you have preserved." A very useful hint for + a man of genius to leave his wretched assailants to dissolve + away in their own weakness. But Pope, having written a + _Dunciad_, by accompanying it with a commentary, took the only + method to interest posterity. He felt that Boileau's satires + on bad authors are liked only in the degree the objects + alluded to are known. But he loved too much the subject for + its own sake. He abused the powers genius had conferred on + him, as other imperial sovereigns have done. It is said that + he kept the whole kingdom in awe of him. In "the frenzy and + prodigality of vanity," he exclaimed-- + + "--------Yes, I am proud to see + Men, not afraid of God, afraid of me!" + + Tacitus Gordon said of him, that Pope seemed to persuade the + nation that all genius and ability were confined to him and + his friends. + + [193] Pope, in his energetic Letter to Lord HERVEY, that "masterpiece + of invective," says Warton, which Tyers tells us he kept long + back from publishing, at the desire of Queen Caroline, who was + fearful her counsellor would become insignificant in the + public esteem, and at last in her own, such was the power his + genius exercised;--has pointed out one of these causes. It + describes himself as "a private person under penal laws, and + many other disadvantages, not for want of honesty or + conscience; yet it is by these alone I have hitherto lived + _excluded from all posts of profit or trust_. I can interfere + with the views of no man." + + [194] The first publisher of the "Essay on Criticism" must have been + a Mr. Lewis, a Catholic bookseller in Covent-garden; for, + from a descendant of this Lewis, I heard that Pope, after + publication, came every day, persecuting with anxious + inquiries the cold impenetrable bookseller, who, as the poem + lay uncalled for, saw nothing but vexatious importunities + in a troublesome youth. One day, Pope, after nearly a + month's publication, entered, and in despair tied up a + number of the poems, which he addressed to several who had a + reputation in town, as judges of poetry. The scheme + succeeded, and the poem, having reached its proper circle, + soon got into request. + + [195] He was the author of "The Key to the Lock," written to show that + "The Rape of the Lock" was a political poem, designed to + ridicule the Barrier Treaty; [so called from the arrangement + made at the Peace of Utrecht between the ministers of Great + Britain and the States General, as to the towns on the + frontiers of the Dutch, which were to be permanently + strengthened as barrier fortresses. Pope, in the mask of + Esdras Barnivelt, apothecary, thus makes out his poem to be a + political satire. "Having said that by the _lock_ is meant the + _Barrier Treaty_--first then I shall discover, that Belinda + represents Great Britain, or (which is the same thing) her + late Majesty. This is plainly seen in the description of her, + + "On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore." + + Alluding to the ancient name of Albion, from her white cliffs, + and to the cross which is the ensign of England. The baron who + cuts off the lock, or Barrier Treaty, is the Earl of Oxford. + Clarissa, who lent the scissors, my Lady Masham. Thalestris, + who provokes Belinda to resent the loss of the lock or treaty, + the Duchess of Marlborough; and Sir Plume, who is moved by + Thalestris to re-demand it of Great Britain, Prince Eugene, + "who came hither for that purpose." He concludes 32 pages of + similar argument by saying, "I doubt not if the persons most + concerned would but order Mr. Bernard Lintott, the printer and + publisher of this dangerous piece, to be taken into custody + and examined, many further discoveries might be made both of + this poet's and his abettors secret designs, which are + doubtless of the utmost importance to Government." Such is a + specimen of Pope's chicanery.] Its innocent extravagance could + only have been designed to increase attention to a work, which + hardly required any such artifice. [In the preface to this + production, "the uncommon sale of this book" is stated as one + reason for the publication; "above six thousand of them have + been already vended."] In the same spirit he composed the + "Guardian," in which Phillips's Pastorals were insidiously + preferred to his own. Pope sent this ironical, panegyrical + criticism on Phillips anonymously to the "Guardian," and + Steele not perceiving the drift, hesitated to publish it, till + Pope advised it. Addison detected it. I doubt whether we have + discovered all the _supercheries_ of this kind. After writing + the finest works of genius, he was busily employed in + attracting the public attention to them. In the antithesis of + his character, he was so great and so little! But he knew + mankind! and present fame was the great business of his life. + + [196] Cleland was the son of Colonel Cleland, an old friend of Pope; + he and his son had served in the East Indian army; but the + latter returned to London, and became a sort of literary + jackal to Pope, and a hack author for the booksellers. He + wrote several moral and useful works; but as they did not pay + well, he wrote an immoral one, for which he obtained a better + price, and a pension of 100_l._ a-year, on condition that he + never wrote in that manner again. This was obtained for him by + Lord Granville, after Cleland had been cited before the Privy + Council, and pleaded poverty as the reason for such + authorship.--ED. + + [197] The narrative of this dark transaction, which seems to have been + imperfectly known to Johnson, being too copious for a note, + will be found at the close of this article. + + [198] A list of all the pamphlets which resulted from the _Dunciad_ + would occupy a large space. Many of them were as grossly + personal as the celebrated poem. The poet was frequently + ridiculed under the names of "Pope Alexander" (from his + dictatorial style), and "Sawney." In "an heroic poem + occasioned by the _Dunciad_," published in 1728, the poet's + snug retreat at Twickenham is thus alluded to:-- + + "Sawney! a mimic sage of huge renown, + To Twick'nam bow'rs retir'd, enjoys his wealth, + His malice and his muse: in grottoes cool, + And cover'd arbours, dreams his hours away." + + A fragment of Pope's celebrated grotto still remains; the + house is destroyed. Pope spent all his spare cash over his + Twickenham villa. "I never save anything," he said once to + Spence; and the latter has left a detailed account of what he + meant to do in the further decoration of his garden if he had + lived. As he gained a sum of money, he regularly spent it in + this way.--ED. + + [199] Pope is, perhaps, the finest _character-painter_ of all + satirists. Atterbury, after reading the portrait of Atticus, + advised him to proceed in a way which his genius had pointed + out; but Arbuthnot, with his dying breath, conjured him "to + reform, and not to chastise;" that is, not to spare the vice, + but the person. It is said, Pope answered, that, to correct + the world with due effect, they become inseparable; and that, + deciding by his own experience, he was justified in his + opinion. Perhaps, at first, he himself wavered; but he strikes + bolder as he gathers strength. The two first editions of the + _Dunciad_, now before me, could hardly be intelligible: they + exhibit lines after lines gaping with an hiatus, or obscured + with initial letters: in subsequent editions, the names stole + into their places. We are told, that the personalities in his + satires quickened the sale: the portraits of Sporus, Bufo, + Clodius, Timon, and Atossa, were purchased by everybody; but + when he once declared, respecting the _characters_ of one of + his best satires, that no real persons were intended, it + checked public curiosity, which was felt in the sale of that + edition. Personality in his satires, no doubt, accorded with + the temper and the talent of Pope; and the malice of mankind + afforded him all the conviction necessary to indulge it. Yet + Young could depend solely on abstract characters and pure wit; + and I believe that his "Love of Fame" was a series of + admirable satires, which did not obtain less popularity than + Pope's. Cartwright, one of the poetical sons of Ben Jonson, + describes, by a beautiful and original image, the office of + the satirist, though he praises Jonson for exercising a virtue + he did not always practise; as Swift celebrates Pope with the + same truth, when he sings:-- + + "Yet malice never was his aim; + He lash'd the vice, but spared the name." + + Cartwright's lines are:-- + + "--------'tis thy skill + To strike the vice, and spare the person still; + As he who, when he saw the serpent wreath'd + About his sleeping son, and as he breathed, + Drink in his soul, did so the shot contrive, + To kill the beast, but keep the child alive." + + [200] Cooke, the translator of Hesiod, published a letter in Mist's + Journal, insisting that Pope had _mistaken the whole character + of Thersites_, from ignorance of the language. I regret I have + not drawn some notes from that essay. The subject might be + made curious by a good Greek scholar, if Pope has really erred + in the degree Cooke asserts. Theobald, who seems to have been + a more classical scholar than has been allowed, besides some + versions from the Greek tragic bards, commenced a translation + of the _Odyssey_ as soon as Pope's _Iliad_ appeared. + + [201] In one of these situations, Pope issued a very grave, but very + ludicrous, advertisement. They had the impudence to publish an + account of Pope having been flagellated by two gentlemen in + Ham Walks, during his evening promenade. This was avenging + Dennis for what he had undergone from the narrative of his + madness. In "The Memoirs of Grub-street," vol. i. p. 96, this + tingling narrative appears to have been the ingenious forgery + of Lady Mary! On this occasion, Pope thought it necessary to + publish the following advertisement in the _Daily Post_, June + 14, 1728:-- + + "Whereas, there has been a scandalous paper cried aloud about + the streets, under the title of 'A Pop upon Pope,' insinuating + that I was whipped in Ham Walks on Thursday last:--This is to + give notice, that I did not stir out of my house at Twickenham + on that day; and the same is a malicious and ill-founded + report.--A. P." + + [Spence, on the authority of Pope's half-sister, says: "When + some of the people that he had put into the _Dunciad_ were so + enraged against him, and threatened him so highly, he loved to + walk alone to Richmond, only he would take a large faithful + dog with him, and pistols in his pocket. He used to say to us + when we talked to him about it, that 'with pistols the least + man in England was above a match for the largest.'"] + + It seems that Phillips hung up a birchen-rod at Button's. + Pope, in one of his letters, congratulates himself that he + never attempted to use it. [His half-sister, Mrs. Rackett, + testifies to Pope's courage; she says, "My brother never knew + what fear was."] + + [202] According to the scandalous chronicle of the day, Pope, shortly + after the publication of the _Dunciad_, had a tall Irishman to + attend him. Colonel Duckett threatened to cane him, for a + licentious stroke aimed at him, which Pope recanted. Thomas + Bentley, nephew to the doctor, for the treatment his uncle had + received, sent Pope a challenge. The modern, like the ancient + Horace, was of a nature liable to panic at such critical + moments. Pope consulted some military friends, who declared + that his _person_ ought to protect him from any such + redundance of valour as was thus formally required; however, + one of them accepted the challenge for him, and gave Bentley + the option either of fighting or apologising; who, on this + occasion, proved, what is usual, that the easiest of the two + was the quickest done. + + [203] I shall preserve one specimen, so classically elegant, that Pope + himself might have composed it. It is from the pen of that + Leonard Welsted whose "Aganippe" Pope has so shamefully + characterised-- + + "Flow, Welsted, flow, like thine inspirer, beer!" + + Can the reader credit, after this, that Welsted, who was clerk + in ordinary at the Ordnance Office, was a man of family and + independence, of elegant manners and a fine fancy, but who + considered poetry only as a passing amusement? He has, + however, left behind, amid the careless productions of his + muse, some passages wrought up with equal felicity and power. + There are several original poetical views of nature scattered + in his works, which have been collected by Mr. Nichols, that + would admit of a comparison with some of established fame. + + Welsted imagined that the spirit of English poetry was on its + decline in the age of Pope, and allegorises the state of our + poetry in a most ingenious comparison. The picture is + exquisitely wrought, like an ancient gem: one might imagine + Anacreon was turned critic:-- + + "A flask I rear'd whose sluice began to fail, + And told, from Phærus, this facetious tale:-- + Sabina, very old and very dry, + Chanced, on a time, an EMPTY FLASK to spy: + The flask but lately had been thrown aside, + With the rich grape of Tuscan vineyards dyed; + But lately, gushing from the slender spout, + Its life, in purple streams, had issued out. + _The costly flavour still to sense remain'd_, + And still its sides the violet colour stain'd: + A sight so sweet taught wrinkled age to smile; + Pleased, she imbibes the generous fumes awhile, + Then, downwards turn'd, the vessel gently props, + And drains with patient care the lucid drops: + O balmy spirit of Etruria's vine! + O fragrant flask, she said, too lately mine! + _If such delights, THOUGH EMPTY, thou canst yield_, + What wondrous raptures hadst thou given if filled!" + _Paloemon to Coelia at Bath, or the Triumvirate._ + + "The empty flask" only retaining "the costly flavour," was the + verse of Pope. + + [204] Pope was made to appear as ridiculous as possible, and often + nicknamed "Poet Pug," from the frontispiece to an attack in + reply to his own, termed "Pope Alexander's Supremacy and + Infallibility examined." It represents Pope as a misshapen + monkey leaning on a pile of books, in the attitude adopted by + Jervas in his portrait of the poet.--ED. + + [205] Dennis tells the whole story. "At his first coming to town he + was importunate with Mr. Cromwell to introduce him to me. The + recommendation engaged me to be about thrice in company with + him; after which I went to the country, till I found myself + most insolently attacked in his very superficial 'Essay on + Criticism,' by which he endeavoured to destroy the reputation + of a man who had published pieces of criticism, and to set up + his own. I was moved with indignation to that degree, that I + immediately writ remarks on that essay. I also writ upon part + of his translation of 'Homer,' his 'Windsor Forest,' and his + infamous 'Temple of Fame.'" In the same pamphlet he + says:--"Pope writ his 'Windsor Forest' in envy of Sir John + Denham's 'Cooper's Hill;' his infamous 'Temple of Fame' in + envy of Chaucer's poem upon the same subject; his 'Ode on St. + Cecilia's Day,' in envy of Dryden's 'Feast of Alexander.'" In + reproaching Pope with his peculiar rhythm, that monotonous + excellence, which soon became mechanical, he has an odd + attempt at a pun:--"Boileau's Pegasus has all his paces; the + Pegasus of Pope, like a _Kentish post-horse_, is always upon + the _Canterbury_."--"Remarks upon several Passages in the + Preliminaries to the _Dunciad_," 1729. + + [206] Two parties arose in the literary republic, the _Theobaldians_ + and the _Popeians_. The "Grub-street Journal," a kind of + literary gazette of some campaigns of the time, records the + skirmishes with tolerable neutrality, though with a strong + leaning in favour of the prevailing genius. + + The _Popeians_ did not always do honour to their great leader; + and the _Theobaldians_ proved themselves, at times, worthy of + being engaged, had fate so ordered it, in the army of their + renowned enemy. When Young published his "Two Epistles to + Pope, on the Authors of the Age," there appeared "One Epistle + to Mr. A. Pope, in Answer to two of Dr. Young's." On this, a + Popeian defends his master from some extravagant accusations + in "The Grub-street Memoirs." He insists, as his first + principle, that all accusations against a man's character + without an attestor are presumed to be slanders and lies, and + in this case every gentleman, though "Knight of the Bathos," + is merely a liar and scoundrel. + + "You assure us he is not only a bad poet, but a stealer from + bad poets: if so, you have just cause to complain of invasion + of property. You assure us he is not even a versifier, but + steals the _sound_ of his verses; now, to _steal a sound_ is + as ingenious as to _paint an echo_. You cannot bear + _gentlemen_ should be treated as vermin and reptiles; now, to + be impartial, you were compared to _flying-fishes_, + _didappers_, _tortoises_, and _parrots_, &c., not vermin, but + curious and beautiful creatures"--alluding to the abuse, in + this "Epistle," on such authors as Atterbury, Arbuthnot, + Swift, the Duke of Buckingham, &c. The Popeian concludes:-- + + "After all, _your poem_, to comfort you, is more innocent than + the _Dunciad_; for in the one there's no man abused but is + very well pleased to be abused in such company; whereas in the + other there's no man so much as named, but is extremely + affronted to be ranked with such people as style each other + the _dullest of men_." + + The publication of the _Dunciad_, however, drove the + _Theobaldians_ out of the field. Guerillas, such as the "One + Epistle," sometimes appeared, but their heroes struck and + skulked away. A _Theobaldian_, in an epigram, compared the + _Dunciad_ of Pope to the offspring of the celebrated Pope + Joan. The neatness of his wit is hardly blunted by a pun. He + who talks of Pope's "stealing a sound," seems to have + practised that invisible art himself, for the verse is musical + as Pope's. + + TO THE AUTHOR OF THE DUNCIAD. + + "With rueful eyes thou view'st thy wretched race, + The child of guilt, and destined to disgrace. + Thus when famed Joan usurp'd the Pontiff's chair, + With terror she beheld her new-born heir: + Ill-starr'd, ill-favour'd into birth it came; + In vice begotten, and brought forth with shame! + In vain it breathes, a lewd abandon'd hope! + And calls in vain, the unhallow'd father--Pope!" + + The answers to this epigram by the Popeians are too gross. The + "One Epistle" is attributed to James Moore Smyth, in alliance + with Welsted and other unfortunate heroes. + + [207] The six Letters are preserved in Ruffhead's Appendix, No. 1. + + + + +A NARRATIVE + +OF THE EXTRAORDINARY TRANSACTIONS RESPECTING THE PUBLICATION OF POPE'S +LETTERS. + + +JOHNSON observes, that "one of the passages of POPE'S life which seems +to deserve some inquiry, was the publication of his letters by CURLL, +the rapacious bookseller."[208] Our great literary biographer has +expended more research on this occasion than his usual penury of +literary history allowed; and yet has only told the close of the +strange transaction--the previous parts are more curious, and the +whole cannot be separated. Joseph Warton has only transcribed +Johnson's narrative. It is a piece of literary history of an uncommon +complexion; and it is worth the pains of telling, if Pope, as I +consider him to be, was the subtile weaver of a plot, whose texture +had been close enough for any political conspiracy. It throws a strong +light on the portrait I have touched of him. He conducted all his +literary transactions with the arts of a Minister of State; and the +genius which he wasted on this literary stratagem, in which he so +completely succeeded, might have been perhaps sufficient to have +organised rebellion. + +It is well known that the origin of Pope's first letters given to the +public, arose from the distresses of a cast-off mistress of one of his +old friends (H. Cromwell),[209] who had given her the letters of +Pope, which she knew how to value: these she afterwards sold to Curll, +who preserved the originals in his shop, so that no suspicions could +arise of their authenticity. This very collection is now deposited +among Rawlinson's MSS. at the Bodleian.[210] + +This single volume was successful; and when Pope, to do justice to the +memory of Wycherley, which had been injured by a posthumous volume, +printed some of their letters, Curll, who seemed now to consider that +all he could touch was his own property, and that his little volume +might serve as a foundation-stone, immediately announced _a new +edition_ of it, with _Additions_, meaning to include the letters of +Pope and Wycherley. Curll now became so fond of _Pope's Letters_, that +he advertised for any: "no questions to be asked." Curll was willing +to be credulous: having proved to the world he had some originals, he +imagined these would sanction even spurious one. A man who, for a +particular purpose, sought to be imposed on, easily obtained his wish: +they translated letters of Voiture to Mademoiselle Rambouillet, and +despatched them to the eager Bibliopolist to print, as Pope's to Miss +Blount. He went on increasing his collection; and, skilful in catering +for the literary taste of the town, now inflamed their appetite by +dignifying it with "Mr. Pope's Literary Correspondence!" + +But what were the feelings of Pope during these successive surreptitious +editions? He had discovered that his genuine letters were liked; the +grand experiment with the public had been made for him, while he was +deprived of the profits; yet for he himself to publish his own +letters, which I shall prove he had prepared, was a thing unheard of in +the nation. All this was vexatious; and to stop the book-jobber and open +the market for himself, was a point to be obtained. + +While Curll was proceeding, wind and tide in his favour, a new and +magnificent prospect burst upon him. A certain person, masked by the +initials P. T., understanding Curll was preparing _a Life of Pope_, +offered him "divers Memoirs gratuitously;" hinted that he was well +known to Pope; but the poet had lately "treated him as a stranger." +P. T. desires an answer from E. C. by the _Daily Advertiser_, which +was complied with. There are passages in this letter which, I think, +prove Pope to be the projector of it: his family is here said to be +allied to Lord Downe's; his father is called a merchant. Pope could +not bear the reproach of Lady Mary's line:-- + + Hard as thy heart, and as _thy birth obscure_. + +He always hinted at noble relatives; but Tyers tells us, from the +information of a relative, that "his father turns out, at last, to +have been a linen-draper in the Strand:" therefore P. T. was at least +telling a story which Pope had no objection should be repeated. + +The second letter of P. T., for the first was designed only to break +the ice, offers Curll "a large Collection of Letters from the early +days of Pope to the year 1727." He gives an excellent notion of their +value: "They will open very many scenes new to the world, and make the +most authentic Life and Memoirs that could be." He desires they may be +announced to the world immediately, in Curll's precious style, that he +"might not appear himself to have set the whole thing a-foot, and +afterwards he might plead he had only sent some letters to complete +the Collection." He asks nothing, and the originals were offered to be +deposited with Curll. + +Curll, secure of this promised addition, but still craving for more +and more, composed a magnificent announcement, which, with P. T.'s +entire correspondence, he enclosed in a letter to Pope himself. The +letters were now declared to be a "Critical, Philological, and +Historical Correspondence."--His own letter is no bad specimen of his +keen sense; but after what had so often passed, his impudence was +equal to the better quality. + + "SIR,--To convince you of my readiness to oblige you, the inclosed + is a demonstration. You have, as he says, disobliged a gentleman, + the initial letters of whose name are P. T. I have some other + papers in the same hand, relating to your _family_, which I will + show, if you desire a sight of them. Your letters to Mr. Cromwell + are out of print; and I intend to print them very beautifully, in + an octavo volume. I have more to say than is proper to write; and + if you will give me a meeting, I will wait on you with pleasure, + and close all differences between you and yours, + + "E. CURLL." + +Pope, surprised, as he pretends, at this address, consulted with his +friends; everything evil was suggested against Curll. They conceived +that his real design was "to get Pope to look over the former edition +of his 'Letters to Cromwell,' and then to print it, as _revised_ by +Mr. Pope; as he sent an _obscene book_ to a _Bishop_, and then +advertised it as _corrected_ and _revised_ by him;" or perhaps to +extort money from Pope for suppressing the MS. of P. T., and then +publish it, saying P. T. had kept another copy. Pope thought proper to +answer only by this public advertisement:-- + +"Whereas A. P. hath received a letter from E. C., bookseller, +pretending that a person, the initials of whose name are P. T., hath +offered the said E. C. to print a large Collection of Mr. P.'s +letters, to which E. C. required an answer: A. P. having never had, +nor intending to have, any private correspondence with the said E. C., +gives it him in this manner. That he knows no such person as P. T.; +that he believes he hath no such collection; and that he thinks the +whole a forgery, and shall not trouble himself at all about it." + +Curll replied, denying he had endeavoured to _correspond_ with Mr. +Pope, and affirms that he had written to him by _direction_. + +It is now the plot thickens. P. T. suddenly takes umbrage, accuses +Curll of having "betrayed him to 'Squire Pope,' but you and he both +shall soon be convinced it was no forgery. Since you would not comply +with my proposal to advertise, I have printed them at my own expense." +He offers the books to Curll for sale. + +Curll on this has written a letter, which takes a full view of the +entire transaction. He seems to have grown tired of what he calls +"such jealous, groundless, and dark negotiations." P. T. now found it +necessary to produce something more than a shadow--an agent appears, +whom Curll considered to be a clergyman, who assumed the name of R. +Smith. The first proposal was, that P. T.'s letters should be +returned, that he might feel secure from all possibility of detection; +so that P. T. terminates his part in this literary freemasonry as a +nonentity. + +Here Johnson's account begins.--"Curll said, that one evening a man in +a clergyman's gown, but with a lawyer's band, brought and offered to +sale a number of printed volumes, which he found to be Pope's +Epistolary Correspondence; that he asked no name, and was told none, +but gave the price demanded, and thought himself authorised to use his +purchase to his own advantage." Smith, the clergyman, left him some +copies, and promised more. + +Curll now, in all the elation of possession, rolled his thunder in an +advertisement still higher than ever.--"Mr. Pope's Literary +Correspondence regularly digested, from 1704 to 1734:" to lords, +earls, baronets, doctors, ladies, &c., with their respective answers, +and whose names glittered in the advertisement. The original MSS. were +also announced to be seen at his house. + +But at this moment Curll had not received many books, and no MSS. The +advertisement produced the effect designed; it roused public notice, +and it alarmed several in the House of Lords. Pope doubtless +instigated his friends there. The Earl of Jersey moved, that to +publish letters of Lords was a breach of privilege; and Curll was +brought before the House. + +This was an unexpected incident; and P. T. once more throws his dark +shadow across the path of Curll to hearten him, had he wanted courage +to face all the lords. P. T. writes to instruct him in his answers to +their examination; but to take the utmost care to conceal P. T.; he +assures him that the lords could not touch a hair of his head if he +behaved firmly; that he should only answer their interrogatories by +declaring he received the letters from different persons; that some +were given, and some were bought. P. T. reminds one, on this occasion, +of Junius's correspondence on a like threat with his publisher. + +"Curll appeared at the bar," says Johnson, "and knowing himself in no +great danger, spoke of Pope with very little reverence. 'He has,' said +Curll, 'a knack at versifying; but in prose I think myself a match for +him.' When the Orders of the House were examined, none of them +appeared to have been infringed: Curll went away triumphant, and Pope +was left to seek some other remedy." The fact, not mentioned by +Johnson, is, that though Curll's flourishing advertisement had +announced _letters written by lords_, when the volumes were examined +not one written by a lord appeared. + +The letter Curll wrote on the occasion to one of these dark familiars, +the pretended clergyman, marks his spirit and sagacity. It contains a +remarkable passage. Some readers will be curious to have the +productions of so celebrated a personage, who appears to have +exercised considerable talents. + + _15th May, 1735._ + + "DEAR SIR,--I am just again going to the Lords to finish Pope. I + desire you to send me the _sheets_ to _perfect_ the first fifty + books, and likewise the _remaining three hundred books_; and pray + be at the Standard Tavern this evening, and I will pay you twenty + pounds more. My defence is right; I only told the lords I did not + know from whence the books came, and that my wife received them. + This was strict truth, and prevented all further inquiry. _The + lords declared they had been made Pope's tools._ I put myself on + this single point, and insisted, as there was not any Peer's + letter in the book, I had not been guilty of any breach of + privilege. I depend that the _books_ and the _imperfections_ will + be sent; and believe of P. T. what I hope he believes of me. + + "For the Rev. Mr. SMITH." + +The reader observes that Curll talks of a great number of _books not +received_, and of _the few_ which he has received, as _imperfect_. The +fact is, the whole bubble is on the point of breaking. He, masked in +the initial letters, and he, who wore the masquerade dress of a +clergyman's gown with a lawyer's band, suddenly picked a quarrel with +the duped bibliopolist: they now accuse him of a design he had of +betraying them to the Lords! + +The tantalized and provoked Curll then addressed the following letter +to "The Rev. Mr. Smith," which, both as a specimen of this celebrated +personage's "prose," in which he thought himself "a match for Pope," +and exhibiting some traits of his character, will entertain the +curious reader. + + _Friday, 16 May, 1735._ + + "SIR,--1st, I am falsely accused. 2. I value not any man's change + of temper; I will never change my VERACITY for falsehood, in + owning a fact of which I am innocent. 3. I did not own the books + came from _across the water_, nor ever _named you_; all I said + was, that the books came _by water_. 4. When the books were + seized, I sent my son to convey a letter to you; and as you told + me everybody knew you in Southwark, I bid him make a strict + inquiry, as I am sure you would have done in such an exigency. 5. + Sir, _I have acted justly_ in this affair, and that is what I + shall always think wisely. 6. I will be kept no longer in the + dark; P. T. is _Will o' the Wisp_; all the books I have had are + imperfect; the first fifty had no titles nor prefaces; the last + five bundles seized by the Lords contained but thirty-eight in + each bundle, which amounts to one hundred and ninety, and fifty, + is in all but two hundred and forty books. 7. As to the loss of a + future copy, I despise it, nor will I be concerned with any more + such dark suspicious dealers. But now, sir, I'll tell you what I + will do: when I have the _books perfected_ which I have already + received, and _the rest of the impression_, I will pay you for + them. But what do you call this usage? First take a note for a + month, and then want it to be changed for one of Sir Richard + Hoare's. My note is as good, for any sum I give it, as the Bank, + and shall be as punctually paid. I always say, _gold is better + than paper_. But if this dark converse goes on, I will instantly + reprint the whole book; and, as a supplement to it, all the + letters P. T. ever sent me, of which I have exact copies, together + with all your originals, and give them in upon oath to my Lord + Chancellor. You talk of _trust_--P. T. has not reposed any in me, + for he has my money and notes for imperfect books. Let me see, + sir, either P. T. or yourself, or you'll find the Scots proverb + verified, _Nemo me impune lacessit_. + + "Your abused humble servant, + "E. CURLL. + + "P.S. Lord ---- I attend this day. LORD DELAWAR I SUP WITH + TO-NIGHT. Where _Pope_ has one lord, I have twenty." + +After this, Curll announced "Mr. Pope's Literary Correspondence, with +the _initial correspondence_ of P. T., R. S. &c." But the shadowy +correspondents now publicly declared that they could give _no title_ +whatever to Mr. Pope's letters, with which they had furnished CURLL, +and never pretended any; that therefore any bookseller had the same +right of printing them: and, in respect to money matters between them, +he had given them notes not negotiable, and had never paid them fully +for the copies, perfect and imperfect, which he had sold. + +Thus terminated this dark transaction between Curll and his _initial_ +correspondents. He still persisted in printing several editions of the +letters of Pope, which furnished the poet with a modest pretext to +publish an authentic edition--the very point to which the whole of +this dark and intricate plot seems to have been really directed.[211] + +Were Pope not concerned in this mysterious transaction, how happened +it that the letters which P. T. actually printed were genuine? To +account for this, Pope promulgated a new fact. Since the first +publication of his letters to his friend Cromwell, wrenched from the +distressed female who possessed them, our poet had been advised to +collect his letters; and these he had preserved by inserting them in +two books; either the originals or the copies. For this purpose an +amanuensis or two were employed by Pope when these books were in the +country, and by the Earl of Oxford when they were in town. Pope +pretended that Curll's letters had been extracted from these two +books, but sometimes imperfectly transcribed, and sometimes +interpolated. Pope, indeed, offered a reward of twenty pounds to +"P. T." and "R. Smith, who passed for a clergyman," if they would come +forward and discover the whole of this affair; or "if they had acted, +as it was reported, by the _direction_ of any other person." They +never appeared. Lintot, the son of the great rival of Curll, told Dr. +Johnson, that his father had been offered the same parcel of printed +books, and that Pope knew better than anybody else how Curll obtained +the copies. + +Dr. Johnson, although he appears not to have been aware of the subtle +intricacy of this extraordinary plot, has justly drawn this inference: +"To make the copies perfect was the only purpose of Pope, because the +numbers offered for sale by the private messengers, showed that hope +of gain could not have been the motive of the impression. It seems +that Pope, being desirous of printing his letters, and not knowing how +to do, without imputation of vanity, what has in this country been +done very rarely, contrived an appearance of compulsion; when he could +complain that his letters were surreptitiously printed, he might +decently and defensively publish them himself." + +I have observed, how the first letter of P. T. pretending to be +written by one who owed no kindness to Pope, bears the evident +impression of his own hand; for it contains matters not exactly true, +but exactly what Pope wished should appear in his own life. That he +had prepared his letters for publication, appears by the story of the +two MS. books--that the printed ones came by water, would look as if +they had been sent from his house at Twickenham; and, were it not +absurd to pretend to decipher initials, P. T. might be imagined to +indicate the name of the owner, as well as his place of abode. + +Worsdale, an indifferent painter, was a man of some humour in +personating a character, for he performed Old Lady Scandal in one of +his own farces. He was also a literary adventurer, for, according to +Mrs. Pilkington's Memoirs, wishing to be a poet as well as a mimic, he +got her and her husband to write all the verses which passed with his +name; such a man was well adapted to be this clergyman with the +lawyer's band, and Worsdale has asserted that he was really employed +by his friend Pope on this occasion. + +Such is the intricate narrative of this involved transaction. Pope +completely succeeded, by the most subtile manœuvres imaginable; the +incident which perhaps was not originally expected, of having his +letters brought before the examination at the House of Lords, most +amply gratified his pride, and awakened public curiosity. "He made the +House of Lords," says Curll, "his tools." Greater ingenuity, +perplexity, and secrecy have scarcely been thrown into the conduct of +the writer, or writers, of the Letters of Junius. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [208] Curll was a bookseller, from whose shop issued many works of an + immoral class, yet he chose for his sign "The Bible and Dial," + which were displayed over his shop in Fleet-street. The satire + of Pope's Dunciad seems fairly to have been earned, as we may + judge from the class of books still seen in the libraries of + curious collectors, and which are certainly unfitted for more + general circulation. For these publications he was fined by + the Court of King's Bench, and on one occasion stood in the + pillory as a punishment. Yet himself and Lintot were the chief + booksellers of the era, until Tonson arose, and by taking a + more enlarged view of the trade, laid the foundation of the + great publishing houses of modern times.--ED. + + [209] Cromwell was one of the gay young men who frequented + coffee-houses and clubs when Pope, also a young man, did the + same, and corresponded freely with him for a few years, when + the intimacy almost entirely ceased. The lady was a Mrs. + Thomas, who became a sort of literary hack to Curll, and is + celebrated in the Dunciad under the name of Corinna. Roscoe, + in his edition of Pope, says, "Of Henry Cromwell little is + known, further than what is learnt from this correspondence, + from which he appears to have been a man of respectable + connections, talents, and education, and to have intermingled + pretty freely in the gallantries of fashionable life." He + seems to have been somewhat eccentric, and the correspondence + of Pope only lasted from 1708 to 1711.--ED. + + [210] Pope, in his conversations with Spence, says, "My letters to + Cromwell were written with a design that does not generally + appear: they were not written in sober sadness."--ED. + + [211] Pope's victory over Curll is represented by Hogarth in a print + ostentatiously hung in the garret of his "Distressed + Poet."--ED. + + + + +POPE AND CIBBER; + +CONTAINING +A VINDICATION OF THE COMIC WRITER. + + POPE attacked CIBBER from personal motives--by dethroning Theobald, + in the _Dunciad_, to substitute CIBBER, he made the satire not + apply--CIBBER'S facetious and serious remonstrance--CIBBER'S + inimitable good-humour--an apology for what has been called his + "effrontery"--perhaps a modest man, and undoubtedly a man of + genius--his humorous defence of his deficiency in Tragedy, both + in acting and writing--Pope more hurt at being exposed as a + ridiculous lover than as a bad man--an account of "The Egotist, or + Colley upon Cibber," a kind of supplement to the "Apology for his + life," in which he has drawn his own character with great freedom + and spirit. + + +Pope's quarrel with Cibber may serve to check the haughtiness of +genius; it is a remarkable instance how good-humour can gently draw a +boundary round the arbitrary power, whenever the wantonness of satire +would conceal calumny. But this quarrel will become even more +interesting, should it throw a new light on the character of one whose +originality of genius seems little suspected. Cibber showed a happy +address in a very critical situation, and obtained an honourable +triumph over the malice of a great genius, whom, while he complained +of he admired, and almost loved the cynic. + +Pope, after several "flirts," as Cibber calls them, from slight +personal motives, which Cibber has fully opened,[212] at length from +"peevish weakness," as Lord Orford has happily expressed it, closed +his insults by dethroning Theobald, and substituting Cibber; but as he +would not lose what he had already written, this change disturbed the +whole decorum of the satiric fiction. Things of opposite natures, +joined into one, became the poetical chimera of Horace. The hero of +the _Dunciad_ is neither Theobald nor Cibber; Pope forced a dunce to +appear as Cibber; but this was not making Cibber a dunce. This error +in Pope emboldened Cibber in the contest, for he still insisted that +the satire did not apply to him;[213] and humorously compared the +libel "to a purge with a wrong label," and Pope "to an apothecary who +did not mind his business."[214] + +Cibber triumphed in the arduous conflict--though sometimes he felt +that, like the Patriarch of old, he was wrestling, not with an +equal, but one of celestial race, "and the hollow of his thigh was +out of joint." Still, however, he triumphed, by that singular +felicity of character, that inimitable _gaieté de cœur_, that +honest simplicity of truth, from which flowed so warm an admiration +of the genius of his adversary; and that exquisite _tact_ in the +characters of men, which carried down this child of airy humour to +the verge of his ninetieth year, with all the enjoyments of strong +animal spirits, and all that innocent egotism which became frequently +a source of his own raillery.[215] He has applied to himself the +epithet "impenetrable," which was probably in the mind of Johnson when +he noticed his "impenetrable impudence." A critic has charged him with +"effrontery."[216] Critics are apt to admit too much of traditional +opinion into their own; it is necessary sometimes to correct the +knowledge we receive. For my part, I can almost believe that +Cibber was a _modest man_![217] as he was most certainly a man of +genius. Cibber had lived a dissipated life, and his philosophical +indifference, with his careless gaiety, was the breastplate which +even the wit of Pope failed to pierce. During twenty years' +persecution for his unlucky Odes, he never lost his temper; he +would read to his friends the best things pointed against them, +with all the spirit the authors could wish; and would himself +write epigrams for the pleasure of hearing them repeated while +sitting in coffee-houses; and whenever they were applauded as +"Palpable hits!"--"Keen!"--"Things with a spirit in them!"--he +enjoyed these attacks on himself by himself.[218] If this be vanity, +it is at least "_Cibberian_." + +It was, indeed, the singularity of his personal character which so +long injured his genius, and laid him open to the perpetual attacks of +his contemporaries,[219] who were mean enough to ridicule undisguised +foibles, but dared not be just to the redeeming virtues of his genius. +Yet his genius far exceeded his literary frailties. He knew he was no +poet, yet he would string wretched rhymes, even when not salaried for +them; and once wrote an Essay on Cicero's character, for which his +dotage was scarcely an apology;--so much he preferred amusement to +prudence.[220] Another foible was to act tragedies with a squeaking +voice[221], and to write them with a genius about the same size for +the sublime; but the malice of his contemporaries seemed to forget +that he was creating new dramatic existences in the exquisite +personifications of his comic characters; and was producing some of +our standard comedies, composed with such real genius, that they still +support the reputation of the English stage. + +In the "Apology for his Life," Cibber had shown himself a generous +and an ill-treated adversary, and at all times was prodigal of his +eulogiums, even after the death of Pope; but, when remonstrance and +good temper failed to sheathe with their oil the sharp sting of the +wasp, as his weakest talent was not the ludicrous, he resolved to +gain the laughers over, and threw Pope into a very ridiculous +attitude.[222] It was extorted from Cibber by this insulting line +of Pope's:-- + + And has not Colley, too, his Lord and w--e? + +It seems that Pope had once the same! But a ridiculous story, suited +to the taste of the loungers, nettled Pope more than the keener +remonstrances and the honest truths which Cibber has urged. Those who +write libels, invite imitation. + +Besides the two letters addressed by Cibber to Pope, this quarrel +produced a moral trifle, or rather a philosophical curiosity, +respecting Cibber's own character, which is stamped with the full +impression of all its originality. + +The title, so expressive of its design, and the whim and good-humour +of the work, which may be considered as a curious supplement to the +"Apology for his Life," could scarcely have been imagined, and most +certainly could not have been executed, but by the genius who dared +it. I give the title in the note.[223] It is a curious exemplification +of what Shaftesbury has so fancifully described as "self-inspection." +This little work is a conversation between "Mr. Frankly and his old +acquaintance, Colley Cibber." Cibber had the spirit of making this Mr. +Frankly speak the bitterest things against himself; and he must have +been an attentive reader of all the keenest reproaches his enemies +ever had thrown out. This caustic censor is not a man of straw, set +up to be easily knocked down. He has as much vivacity and wit as +Cibber himself, and not seldom has the better of the argument. But the +gravity and the levity blended in this little piece form admirable +contrasts: and Cibber, in this varied effusion, acquires all our +esteem for that open simplicity, that unalterable good-humour which +flowed from nature, and that fine spirit that touches everything with +life; yet, as he himself confesses, the main accusation of Mr. +Frankly, that "his philosophical air will come out at last mere vanity +in masquerade," may be true. + +I will attempt to collect some specimens of this extraordinary +production, because they harmonise with the design of the present +work, and afford principles, in regard to preserving an equability of +temper, which may guide us in Literary Quarrels. + +_Frankly_ observes, on Cibber's declaration that he is not uneasy at +Pope's satire, that "no blockhead is so dull as not to be sore when he +is called so; and (you'll excuse me) if that were to be your own case, +why should we believe you would not be as uneasy at it as another +blockhead? + +_Author._ This is pushing me pretty home indeed; but I wont give out. +For as it is not at all inconceivable, that a blockhead of my size may +have a particular knack of doing some useful thing that might puzzle a +wiser man to be master of, will not that blockhead still have +something in him to be conceited of? If so, allow me but the vanity of +supposing I may have had some such possible knack, and you will not +wonder (though in many other points I may still be a blockhead) that I +may, notwithstanding, be contented with my condition. + +_Frankly._ Is it not commendable, in a man of parts, to be warmly +concerned for his reputation? + +_Author._ In what regards his honesty or honour, I will make some +allowance; but for the reputation of his parts, not one tittle. + +_Frankly._ How! not to be concerned for what half the learned world +are in a continual war about. + +_Author_. So are another half about religion; but neither Turk or +Pope, swords or anathemas, can alter truth! There it stands! always +visible to reason, self-defended and immovable! Whatever it _was_, or +_is_, it ever _will be_! As no attack can alter, so no defence can add +to its proportion. + +_Frankly._ At this rate, you pronounce all controversies in wit to be +either needless or impertinent. + +_Author._ When one in a hundred happens _not_ to be so, or to make +amends for being either by its pleasantry, we ought in justice to +allow it a great rarity. A reply to a just satire or criticism will +seldom be thought better of. + +_Frankly._ May not a reply be a good one? + +_Author._ Yes, but never absolutely necessary; for as your work (or +reputation) must have been good or bad, before it was censured, your +reply to that censure could not alter it: it would still be but what +it was. If it was good, the attack could not hurt it: if bad, the +reply could not mend it.[224] + +_Frankly._ But slander is not always so impotent as you seem to +suppose it; men of the best sense may be misled by it, or, by their +not inquiring after truth, may never come at it; and the vulgar, as +they are less apt to be good than ill-natured, often mistake malice +for wit, and have an uncharitable joy in commending it. Now, when this +is the case, is not a tame silence, upon being satirically libelled, +as liable to be thought guilt or stupidity, as to be the result of +innocence or temper?--Self-defence is a very natural and just excuse +for a reply. + +_Author._ Be it so! But still that does not always make it necessary; +for though slander, by their not weighing it, may pass upon some few +people of sense for truth, and might draw great numbers of the vulgar +into its party, the mischief can never be of long duration. _A +satirical slander, that has no truth to support it, is only a great +fish upon dry land: it may flounce and fling, and make a fretful +pother, but it wont bite you; you need not knock it on the head; it +will soon lie still, and die quietly of itself._ + +_Frankly._ The single-sheet critics will find you employment. + +_Author._ Indeed they wont. I'm not so mad as to think myself a match +for the invulnerable. + +_Frankly._ Have a care; there's Foulwit; though he can't feel, he can +bite. + +_Author._ Ay, so will bugs and fleas; but that's only for sustenance: +everything must feed, you know; and your creeping critics are a sort +of vermin, that if they could come to a king, would not spare him; +yet, whenever they can persuade others to laugh at their jest upon me, +I will honestly make one of the number; but I must ask their pardon, +if that should be all the reply I can afford them." + +This "boy of seventy odd," for such he was when he wrote "The +Egotist," unfolds his character by many lively personal touches. He +declares he could not have "given the world so finished a coxcomb as +Lord Foppington, if he had not found a good deal of the same stuff in +himself to make him with." He addresses "A Postscript, To those few +unfortunate Readers and Writers who may not have more sense than the +Author:" and he closes, in all the fulness of his spirit, with a piece +of consolation for those who are so cruelly attacked by superior +genius. + +"Let us then, gentlemen, who have the misfortune to lie thus at the +mercy of those whose natural parts happen to be stronger than our +own--let us, I say, make the most of our sterility! Let us double and +treble the ranks of our thickness, that we may form an impregnable +phalanx, and stand every way in front to the enemy! or, would you +still be liable to less hazard, lay but yourselves down, as I do, flat +and quiet upon your faces, when Pride, Malice, Envy, Wit, or Prejudice +let fly their formidable shot at you, what odds is it they don't all +whistle over your head? Thus, too, though we may want the artillery of +missive wit to make reprisals, we may at least in security bid them +kiss the tails we have turned to them. Who knows but, by this our +supine, or rather prone serenity, their disappointed valour may become +their own vexation? Or let us yet, at worst, but solidly stand our +ground, like so many defensive stone-posts, and we may defy the +proudest Jehu of them all to drive over us. Thus, gentlemen, you see +that Insensibility is not without its comforts; and as I give you no +worse advice than I have taken myself, and found my account in, I hope +you will have the hardness to follow it, for your own good and the +glory of + + "Your impenetrable humble servant, + "C. C." + +After all, one may perceive, that though the good-humour of poor +Cibber was real, still the immortal satire of Pope had injured his +higher feelings. He betrays his secret grief at his close, while he +seems to be sporting with his pen; and though he appears to confide in +the falsity of the satire as his best chance for saving him from it, +still he feels that the caustic ink of such a satirist must blister +and spot wherever it falls. The anger of Warburton, and the sternness +of Johnson, who seem always to have considered an actor as an inferior +being among men of genius, have degraded Cibber. They never suspected +that "a blockhead of his size could do what wiser men could not," and, +as a fine comic genius, command a whole province in human nature. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [212] Johnson says, that though "Pope attacked Cibber with acrimony, + the provocation is not easily discoverable." But the + statements of Cibber, which have never been contradicted, + show sufficient motives to excite the poetic irascibility. It + was Cibber's "fling" at the unowned and condemned comedy + of the triumvirate of wits, Pope, Gay, and Arbuthnot, + _Three Hours after Marriage_, when he performed Bayes in the + _Rehearsal_, that incurred the immortal odium. There was no + malice on Cibber's side; for it was then the custom to restore + the zest of that obsolete dramatic satire, by introducing + allusions to any recent theatrical event. The plot of this + ridiculous comedy hinging on the deep contrivance of two + lovers getting access to the wife of a virtuoso, "one + curiously swathed up like an Egyptian mummy, and the other + slily covered in the pasteboard skin of a crocodile," was an + incident so _extremely natural_, that it seemed congenial + with the high imagination and the deep plot of a Bayes! + Poor Cibber, in the gaiety of his _impromptu_, made the + "fling;" and, unluckily, it was applauded by the audience! + The irascibility of Pope too strongly authenticated one of + the three authors. "In the swelling of his heart, after the + play was over, he came behind the scenes with his lips pale + and his voice trembling, to call me to account for the insult; + and accordingly fell upon me with all the foul language that + a wit out of his senses would be capable of, choked with the + foam of his passion." Cibber replied with dignity, insisted + on the privilege of the character, and that he would repeat + the same jest as long as the public approved of it. Pope + would have certainly approved of Cibber's manly conduct, + had he not been the author himself. To this circumstance may + be added the reception which the town and the court bestowed + on Cibber's "Nonjuror," a satire on the politics of the + jacobite faction; Pope appears, under the assumed name of + _Barnevelt_, to have published "an odd piece of wit, + proving that the Nonjuror, in its design, its characters, and + almost every scene of it, was a closely-couched jacobite + libel against the Government." Cibber says that "this was so + shrewdly maintained, that I almost liked the jest myself." + Pope seems to have been fond of this new species of irony; + for, in the Pastorals of Phillips, he showed the same sort of + ingenuity, and he repeated the same charge of political + mystery against his own finest poem; for he proved by many + "merry inuendoes," that "The Rape of the Lock" was as + audacious a libel as the pretended Barnevelt had made out the + Nonjuror to be. See note, p. 280. + + [213] Cibber did not obtrude himself in this contest. Had he been + merely a poor vain creature, he had not preserved so long + a silence. His good-temper was without anger, but he + remonstrates with no little dignity, when he chooses to be + solemn; though to be playful was more natural to him. "If I + have lain so long stoically silent, or unmindful of your + satirical favours, it was not so much for want of a proper + reply, as that I thought there never needed a public one; + for all people of sense would know what truth or falsehood + there was in what you said of me, without my wisely + pointing it out to them. Nor did I choose to follow your + example, of being so much a self-tormentor, as to be + concerned at whatever opinion of me any published invective + might infuse into people unknown to me. Even the malicious, + though they may like the libel, don't always believe it." + His reason for reply is, that his silence should not be + farther reproached "as a plain confession of my being a + bankrupt in wit, if I don't immediately answer those bills + of discredit you have drawn upon me." There is no doubt that + Cibber perpetually found instigators to encourage these + attacks; and one forcible argument he says was, that "a + disgrace, from such a pen, would stick upon me to posterity." + He seems to be aware that his acquaintance cheer him to the + lists "for their particular amusement." + + [214] "His edition of Shakspeare proved no better than a foil to set + off the superiority of Theobald's; and Cibber bore away the + palm from him in the drama. We have an account of two attempts + of Pope's, one in each of the two principal branches of this + species of poetry, and both unsuccessful. The fate of the + comedy has been already mentioned (in page 300), and the + tragedy was saved from the like fate by one not less + ignominious, being condemned and burnt by his own hands. It + was called _Cleone_, and formed upon the same story as a late + one wrote and published by Mr. Dodsley with the same title in + 1759. See Dodsley's Preface."--_Biographia Britannica_, 1760. + + [215] Armstrong, who was a keen observer of man, has expressed his + uncommon delight in the company of Cibber. "Beside his + abilities as a writer (as a writer of comedies, Armstrong + means), and the singular variety of his powers as an + actor, he was to the last one of the most agreeable, + cheerful, and best-humoured men you would ever wish to + converse with."--Warton's _Pope_, vol. iv. 160. + + Cibber was one of those rare beings whose dispositions Hume + describes "as preferable to an inheritance of 10,000_l._ a + year." + + [216] Dr. Aikin, in his Biographical Dictionary, has thus written on + Cibber: "It cannot be doubted, that, at the time, the contest + was more painful to Pope than to Cibber. But Pope's satire is + immortal, whereas Cibber's sarcasms are no longer read. + _Cibber may therefore be represented to future times with less + credit for abilities than he really deserves_; for he was + certainly no dunce, though not, in the higher sense of the + word, a man of genius. _His effrontery and vanity_ could not + be easily overcharged, even by a foe. Indeed, they are + striking features in the portrait drawn by himself." Dr. + Aikin's political morality often vented its indignation at the + successful injustice of great power! Why should not the same + spirit conduct him in the Literary Republic? With the just + sentiments he has given on Cibber, it was the duty of an + intrepid critic to raise a moral feeling against the despotism + of genius, and to have protested against the arbitrary power + of Pope. It is participating in the injustice to pass it by, + without even a regret at its effect. + + As for Cibber himself, he declares he was _not impudent_, and + I am disposed to take his own word, for he _modestly_ asserts + this, in a remark on Pope's expression, + + "'Cibberian forehead,' + + "by which I find you modestly mean _Cibberian impudence_, as a + sample of the strongest.--Sir, your humble servant--but pray, + sir, in your 'Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot' (where, by the way, in + your ample description of a great Poet, you slily hook in a + whole hat-full of virtues to your own character) have not you + this particular line? + + 'And thought a _Lie_, in verse or prose, the same--'" + + Cibber laments it is not so, for "any accusation in smooth + verse will always sound well, though it is not tied down to + have a tittle of truth in it, when the strongest defence in + poor humble prose, not having that harmonious advantage, takes + nobody by the ear--very hard upon an innocent man! For suppose + in prose, now, I were as confidently to insist that you were + an _honest_, _good-natured_, _inoffensive creature_, would my + barely saying so be any proof of it? No sure. Why then, might + it not be supposed an equal truth, that both our assertions + were equally false? _Yours_, when you call me _impudent_; + _mine_, when I call you _modest_, &c. While my superiors + suffer me occasionally to sit down with them, I hope it will + be thought that rather the _Papal_ than the _Cibberian_ + forehead ought to be out of countenance." I give this as a + specimen of Cibber's serious reasonings--they are poor; and + they had been so from a greater genius; for ridicule and + satire, being only a mere abuse of eloquence, can never be + effectually opposed by truisms. Satire must be repelled by + satire; and Cibber's _sarcasms_ obtained what Cibber's + _reasonings_ failed in. + + [217] Vain as Cibber has been called, and vain as he affects to be, he + has spoken of his own merits as a comic writer,--and he was a + very great one,--with a manly moderation, very surprising + indeed in a vain man. Pope has sung in his _Dunciad_, most + harmoniously inhuman, + + "How, with less reading than makes felons scape, + Less human genius than God gives an ape, + Small thanks to France, and none to Rome or Greece, + A patch'd, vamp'd, future, old, revived new piece; + 'Twixt Plautus, Fletcher, Congreve, and Corneille, + Can make a CIBBER, JOHNSON, and OZELL." + + Blasting as was this criticism, it could not raise the anger + of the gay and careless Cibber. Yet what could have put it to + a sharper test? Johnson and Ozell are names which have long + disappeared from the dramatic annals, and could only have been + coupled with Cibber to give an idea of what the satirist meant + by "the human genius of an ape." But listen to the mild, yet + the firm tone of Cibber--he talks like injured innocence, and + he triumphs over Pope, in all the dignity of truth.--I appeal + to Cibber's posterity! + + "And pray, sir, why my name under this scurvy picture? I + flatter myself, that if you had not put it there, nobody else + would have thought it like me; nor can I easily believe that + you yourself do: but perhaps you imagined it would be a + laughing ornament to your verse, and had a mind to divert + other people's spleen with it as well as your own. Now let me + hold up my head a little, and then we shall see how the + features hit me." He proceeds to relate, how "many of those + plays have lived the longer for my meddling with them." He + mentions several, which "had been dead to the stage out of all + memory, which have since been in a constant course of acting + above these thirty or forty years." And then he adds: "Do + those altered plays at all take from the merit of those _more + successful pieces_, which were _entirely my own_?--When a man + is abused, he has a right to speak even laudable truths of + himself, to confront his slanderer. Let me therefore add, that + my first Comedy of _The Fool in Fashion_ was as much (though + not so valuable) an original, as any work Mr. Pope himself has + produced. It is now forty-seven years since its first + appearance on the stage, where it has kept its station, to + this very day, without ever lying one winter dormant. Nine + years after this, I brought on _The Careless Husband_, with + still greater success; and was that too + + 'A patch'd, vamp'd, future, old, revived new piece?' + + Let the many living spectators of these plays, then, judge + between us, whether the above verses came from the honesty of + a satirist, who would be thought, like you, the upright censor + of mankind. Sir, this libel was below you! Satire, without + truth, recoils upon its author, and must, at other times, + render him suspected of prejudice, even where he may be just; + as frauds, in religion, make more atheists than converts; and + the bad heart, Mr. Pope, that points an injury with verse, + makes it the more unpardonable, as it is not the result of + sudden passion, but of an indulged and slowly-meditating + ill-nature. What a merry mixed mortal has nature made you, + that can debase that strength and excellence of genius to the + lowest human weakness, that of offering unprovoked injuries, + at the hazard of your being ridiculous too, when the venom you + spit falls short of your aim!" I have quoted largely, to show + that Cibber was capable of exerting a dignified remonstrance, + as well as pointing the lightest, yet keenest, shafts of + sarcastic wit. + + [218] Ayre's "Memoirs of Pope," vol. ii. p. 82. + + [219] Even the "Grub-street Journal" had its jest on his appointment + to the laureateship. In No. 52 was the following epigram:-- + + "Well, said Apollo, still 'tis mine + To give the real laurel: + For that my Pope, my son divine, + Of rivals ends the quarrel. + But guessing who would have the luck + To be the birth-day fibber, + I thought of Dennis, Tibbald, Duck, + But never dreamt of Cibber!"--ED. + + [220] It may be reasonably doubted, however, if vanity had not + something to do with this--the vanity of appearing as a + philosophical writer, and astonishing the friends who had + considered him only as a good comedian. The volume was + magnificently printed in quarto on fine paper, "for the + author," in 1747. It is entitled, "The Character and Conduct + of Cicero Considered, from the History of his Life by the Rev. + Dr. Middleton; with occasional Essays and Observations upon + the most Memorable Facts and Persons during that Period." The + entire work is a series of somewhat too-familiar notes on the + various passages of "Cicero's Life and Times," as narrated by + Middleton. He terms the unsettled state after the death of + Sylla "an uncomfortable time for those sober citizens who had + a mind and a right to be quiet." His professional character + breaks forth when he speaks of Roscius instructing Cicero in + acting; and in the very commencement of his grave labour he + rambles back to the theatre to quote a scene from Vanbrugh's + _Relapse_, as a proof how little fashionable readers _think_ + while they _read_. Colley's well-meaning but free-and-easy + reflections on the gravities of Roman history, in the progress + of his work, are remarkable, and have all the author's coarse + common sense, but very little depth or refinement--ED. + + [221] With what good-humour he retorts a piece of sly malice of + Pope's; who, in the notes to the _Dunciad_, after quoting + Jacob's account of Cibber's talents, adds--"Mr. Jacob omitted + to remark that he is particularly admirable in tragedy." To + which Cibber rejoins--"Ay, sir, and your remark has omitted, + too, that (with all his commendations) I can't dance upon the + rope, or make a saddle, nor play upon the organ. My dear, dear + Mr. Pope, how could a man of your stinging capacity let so + tame, so low a reflection escape him? Why, this hardly rises + above the petty malice of Miss Molly. 'Ay, ay, you may think + my sister as handsome as you please, but if you were to see + her legs!' If I have made so many crowded theatres laugh, and + in the right place, too, for above forty years together, am I + to make up the number of your dunces, because I have not the + equal talent of making them cry too? Make it your own case. Is + what you have excelled in at all the worse for your having so + dismally dabbled in the farce of _Three Hours after Marriage_? + What mighty reason will the world have to laugh at my weakness + in tragedy, more than at yours in comedy?" + + I will preserve one anecdote of that felicity of temper--that + undisturbed good-humour which never abandoned Cibber in his + most distressful moments. When he brought out, in 1724, his + _Cæsar in Egypt_, at a great expense, and "a beggarly account + of empty boxes" was the result, it raised some altercations + between the poet and his brother managers, the bard still + struggling for another and another night. At length he closed + the quarrel with a pun, which confessed the misfortune, with + his own good-humour. In a periodical publication of the times + I find the circumstance recorded in this neat epigram:-- + + _On the Sixth Night of CIBBER'S "Cæsar in Egypt."_ + + When the pack'd audience from their posts retired, + And Julius in a general hiss expired; + Sage Booth to Cibber cried, "Compute our gains! + These dogs of Egypt, and their dowdy queans, + But ill requite these habits and these scenes, + To rob Corneille for such a motley piece: + His geese were swans; but zounds! thy swans are geese!" + Rubbing his firm invulnerable brow, + The bard replied--"The critics must allow + 'Twas ne'er in _Cæsar's destiny_ TO RUN!" + Wilks bow'd, and bless'd the gay pacific pun. + + [222] A wicked wag of a lord had enticed Pope into a tavern, and laid + a love-plot against his health. Cibber describes his resolute + interference by snatching "our little Homer by the heels. This + was done for the honour of our nation. Homer would have been + too serious a sacrifice to our evening's amusement." He has + metamorphosed our Apollo into a "Tom-tit;" but the Ovidian + warmth, however ludicrous, will not _now_ admit of a + narrative. This story, by our comic writer, was accompanied by + a print, that was seen by more persons, probably, than read + the _Dunciad_. In his second letter, Cibber, alluding to the + vexation of Pope on this ridiculous story, observes--"To have + been exposed as _a bad man_, ought to have given thee thrice + the concern of being shown a _ridiculous lover_." And now that + he had discovered that he could touch the nerves of Pope, he + throws out one of the most ludicrous analogies to the figure + of our bard:--"When crawling in thy dangerous deed of + darkness, I gently, with a finger and a thumb, picked off thy + small round body by thy long legs, like a spider making love + in a cobweb." + + [223] "The EGOTIST, or Colley upon Cibber; being his own picture + retouched to so _plain_ a likeness that no one _now_ would + have the face to own it BUT HIMSELF. + + 'But one stroke more, and that shall be my last.' + + _London_, 1743. + DRYDEN." + + [224] How many good authors might pursue their studies in quiet, would + they never reply to their critics but on matters of fact, in + which their honour may be involved. I have seen very + tremendous criticisms on some works of real genius, like + serpents on marble columns, wind and dart about, and spit + their froth, but they die away on the pillars that enabled + them to erect their malignant forms to the public eye. They + fall in due time; and weak must be the substance of that + pillar which does not stand, and look as beautiful, when the + serpents have crawled over it, as before. Dr. Brown, in his + "Letter to Bishop Lowth," has laid down an axiom in literary + criticism:--"_A mere literary attack_, however well or + ill-founded, would not easily have drawn me into a _public + expostulation_; for every man's true literary character is + best seen in his own writings. Critics may rail, disguise, + insinuate, or pervert; yet still the object of their censures + lies equally open to all the world. Thus the world becomes a + competent judge of the merits of the work animadverted on. + Hence, the mere _author_ hath a fair chance for a fair + decision, at least among the judicious; and it is of no mighty + consequence what opinions the _injudicious_ form concerning + mental abilities. For this reason, I have never replied to any + of those numerous critics who have on different occasions + honoured me with their regard." + + + + +POPE AND ADDISON. + + The quarrel between POPE and ADDISON originated in one of the + infirmities of genius--a subject of inquiry even after their + death, by Sir WILLIAM BLACKSTONE--POPE courts ADDISON--suspects + ADDISON of jealousy--ADDISON'S foible to be considered a great + poet--interview between the rivals, of which the result was the + portrait of ATTICUS, for which ADDISON was made to sit. + + +Among the Literary Quarrels of POPE one acquires dignity and interest +from the characters of both parties. It closed by producing the +severest, but the most masterly portrait of one man of genius, +composed by another, which has ever been hung on the satiric Parnassus +for the contemplation of ages. ADDISON must descend to posterity with +the dark spots of ATTICUS staining a purity of character which had +nearly proved immaculate. + +The friendship between Pope and Addison was interrupted by one of +the infirmities of genius. Tempers of watchful delicacy gather up in +silence and darkness motives so shadowy in their origin, and of such +minute growth, that, never breaking out into any open act, they +escape all other eyes but those of the parties themselves. These +causes of enmity are too subtle to bear the touch; they cannot be +inquired after, nor can they be described; and it may be said that +the minds of such men have rather quarrelled than they themselves: +they utter no complaints, but they avoid each other. All the world +perceived that two authors of the finest genius had separated from +motives on which both were silent, but which had evidently operated +with equal force on both. Their admirers were very general, and at a +time when literature divided with politics the public interest, the +best feelings of the nation were engaged in tracking the obscure +commencements and the secret growth of this literary quarrel, in which +the amiable and moral qualities of Addison, and the gratitude and +honour of Pope, were equally involved. The friends of either party +pretended that their chiefs entertained a reciprocal regard for each +other, while the illustrious characters themselves were living in +a state of hostility. Even long after these literary heroes were +departed, the same interest was general among the lovers of +literature; but those obscure motives which had only influenced +two minds--those imperceptible events, which are only events as +they are watched by the jealousy of genius--eluded the most anxious +investigation. Yet so lasting and so powerful was the interest +excited by this literary quarrel, that, within a few years, the +elegant mind of Sir WILLIAM BLACKSTONE withdrew from the severity of +profounder studies to inquire into the causes of a quarrel which was +still exciting the most opposite opinions. Blackstone has judged +and summed up; but though he evidently inclines to favour Addison, by +throwing into the balance some explanation for the silence of +Addison against the audible complaints of Pope; though sometimes he +pleads as well as judges, and infers as well as proves; yet even +Blackstone has not taken on himself to deliver a decision. His happy +genius has only honoured literary history by the masterly force and +luminous arrangement of investigation, to which, since the time of +Bayle, it has been too great a stranger.[225] + +At this day, removed from all personal influence and affections, and +furnished with facts which contemporaries could not command, we take +no other concern in this literary quarrel but as far as curiosity and +truth delight us in the study of human nature. We are now of no +party--we are only historians! + +Pope was a young writer when introduced to Addison by the intervention +of that generously-minded friend of both, Steele. Addison eulogised +Pope's "Essay on Criticism;" and this fine genius covering with his +wing an unfledged bardling, conferred a favour which, in the +estimation of a poet, claims a life of indelible gratitude. + +Pope zealously courted Addison by his poetical aid on several +important occasions; he gave all the dignity that fine poetry could +confer on the science of medals, which Addison had written on, and +wrote the finest prologue in the language for the Whig tragedy of his +friend. Dennis attacked, and Pope defended _Cato_[226]. Addison might +have disapproved both of the manner and the matter of the defence; but +he did more--he insulted Pope by a letter to Dennis, which Dennis +eagerly published as Pope's severest condemnation. An alienation of +friendship must have already taken place, but by no overt act on +Pope's side. + +Not that, however, Pope had not found his affections weakened: the +dark hints scattered in his letters show that something was gathering +in his mind. Warburton, from his familiar intercourse with Pope, must +be allowed to have known his literary concerns more than any one; and +when he drew up the narrative,[227] seems to me to have stated +uncouthly, but expressively, the progressive state of Pope's feelings. +According to that narrative, Pope "reflected," that after he had first +published "The Rape of the Lock," then nothing more than a hasty _jeu +d'esprit_, when he communicated to Addison his very original project +of the whole sylphid machinery, Addison chilled the ardent bard with +his coldness, advised him against any alteration, and to leave it as +"a delicious little thing, _merum sal_." It was then, says Warburton, +"Mr. Pope began to _open his eyes_ to Addison's character." But when +afterwards he discovered that Tickell's Homer was opposed to his, and +judged, as Warburton says, "by _laying many odd circumstances_ +together," that Addison,[228] and not Tickell, was the author--the +alienation on Pope's side was complete. No open breach indeed had yet +taken place between the rival authors, who, as jealous of dominion as +two princes, would still demonstrate, in their public edicts, their +inviolable regard; while they were only watching the advantageous +moment when they might take arms against each other. + +Still Addison publicly bestowed great encomiums on Pope's _Iliad_, +although he had himself composed the rival version, and in private +preferred his own.[229] He did this with the same ease he had +continued its encouragement while Pope was employed on it. We are +astonished to discover such deep politics among literary Machiavels! +Addison had certainly raised up a literary party. Sheridan, who wrote +nearly with the knowledge of a contemporary, in his "Life of Swift," +would naturally use the language and the feelings of the time; and in +describing Ambrose Phillips, he adds, he was "one of Mr. Addison's +little senate." + +But in this narrative I have dropt some material parts. Pope believed +that Addison had employed Gildon to write against him, and had +encouraged Phillips to asperse his character.[230] We cannot, now, +quite demonstrate these alleged facts; but we can show that Pope +believed them, and that Addison does not appear to have refuted +them.[231] Such tales, whether entirely false or partially true, may +be considered in this inquiry of little amount. The greater events +must regulate the lesser ones.[232] + +Was Addison, then, jealous of Pope? Addison, in every respect, then, +his superior; of established literary fame when Pope was yet young; +preceding him in age and rank; and fortunate in all the views of human +ambition. But what if Addison's foible was that of being considered a +great poet? His political poetry had raised him to an undue elevation, +and the growing celebrity of Pope began to offend him, not with the +appearance of a meek rival, with whom he might have held divided +empire, but as a master-spirit, that was preparing to reign alone. It +is certain that Addison was the most feeling man alive at the fate of +his poetry. At the representation of his _Cato_, such was his +agitation, that had _Cato_ been condemned, the life of Addison might, +too, have been shortened. When a wit had burlesqued some lines of this +dramatic poem, his uneasiness at the innocent banter was equally +oppressive; nor could he rest, till, by the interposition of a friend, +he prevailed upon the author to burn them.[233] + +To the facts already detailed, and to this disposition in Addison's +temper, and to the quick and active suspicions of Pope, irritable, and +ambitious of all the sovereignty of poetry, we may easily conceive +many others of those obscure motives, and invisible events, which none +but Pope, alienated every day more and more from his affections for +Addison, too acutely perceived, too profoundly felt, and too +unmercifully avenged. These are alluded to when the satirist sings-- + + Damn with faint praise; assent with civil leer; + And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; + Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike; + Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike, &c. + +Accusations crowded faster than the pen could write them down. Pope +never composed with more warmth. No one can imagine that Atticus was +an ideal personage, touched as it is with all the features of an +extraordinary individual. In a word, it was recognised instantly by +the individual himself; and it was suppressed by Pope for near twenty +years, before he suffered it to escape to the public. + +It was some time during their avowed rupture, for the exact period has +not been given, that their friends promoted a meeting between these +two great men. After a mutual lustration, it was imagined they might +have expiated their error, and have been restored to their original +purity. The interview did take place between the rival wits, and was +productive of some very characteristic ebullitions, strongly +corroborative of the facts as they have been stated here. This +extraordinary interview has been frequently alluded to. There can be +no doubt of the genuineness of the narrative but I know not on what +authority it came into the world.[234] + +The interview between Addison and Pope took place in the presence of +Steele and Gay. They met with cold civility. Addison's reserve wore +away, as was usual with him, when wine and conversation imparted some +warmth to his native phlegm. At a moment the generous Steele deemed +auspicious, he requested Addison would perform his promise in renewing +his friendship with Pope. Pope expressed his desire: he said he was +willing to hear his faults, and preferred candour and severity rather +than forms of complaisance; but he spoke in a manner as conceiving +Addison, and not himself, had been the aggressor. So much like their +humblest inferiors do great men act under the influence of common +passions: Addison was overcome with anger, which cost him an effort to +suppress; but, in the formal speech he made, he reproached Pope with +indulging a vanity that far exceeded his merit; that he had not yet +attained to the excellence he imagined; and observed, that his verses +had a different air when Steele and himself corrected them; and, on +this occasion, reminded Pope of a particular line which Steele had +improved in the "Messiah."[235] Addison seems at that moment to have +forgotten that he had trusted, for the last line of his own dramatic +poem, rather to the inspiration of the poet he was so contemptuously +lecturing than to his own.[236] He proceeded with detailing all the +abuse the herd of scribblers had heaped on Pope; and by declaring that +his Homer was "an ill-executed thing," and Tickell's had all the +spirit. We are told, he concluded "in a low hollow voice of feigned +temper," in which he asserted that he had ceased to be solicitous +about his own poetical reputation since he had entered into more +public affairs; but, from friendship for Pope, desired him to be more +humble, if he wished to appear a better man to the world. + +When Addison had quite finished schooling his little rebel, Gay, mild +and timid (for it seems, with all his love for Pope, his expectations +from the court, from Addison's side, had tethered his gentle heart), +attempted to say something. But Pope, in a tone far more spirited than +all of them, without reserve told Addison that he appealed from his +judgment, and did not esteem him able to correct his verses; upbraided +him as a pensioner from early youth, directing the learning which had +been obtained by the public money to his own selfish desire of power, +and that he "had always endeavoured to cut down new-fledged merit." +The conversation now became a contest, and was broken up without +ceremony. Such was the notable interview between two rival wits, which +only ended in strengthening their literary quarrel; and sent back the +enraged satirist to his inkstand, where he composed a portrait, for +which Addison was made to sit, with the fine _chiar' oscuro_ of +Horace, and with as awful and vindictive features as the sombre hand +of Juvenal could have designed. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [225] Sir William Blackstone's Discussion on the Quarrel between + Addison and Pope was communicated by Dr. Kippis in his + "Biographia Britannica," vol. i. p. 56. Blackstone is there + designated as "a gentleman of considerable rank, to whom the + public is obliged for works of much higher importance." + + [226] Dennis asserts in one of his pamphlets that Pope, fermenting + with envy at the success of Addison's _Cato_, went to Lintot, + and persuaded him to engage this redoubted critic to write the + remarks on _Cato_--that Pope's gratitude to Dennis for having + complied with his request was the well-known narrative of + Dennis "being placed as a lunatic in the hands of Dr. Norris, + a curer of mad people, at his house in Hatton-garden, though + at the same time I appeared publicly every day, both in the + park and in the town." Can we suppose that Dennis tells a + falsehood respecting Pope's desiring Lintot to engage Dennis + to write down _Cato_? If true, did Pope wish to see Addison + degraded, and at the same time take an opportunity of + ridiculing the critic, without, however, answering his + arguments? The secret history of literature is like that of + politics? + + [Dennis took a strong dislike to Addison's _Cato_, and his + style of criticism is thus alluded to in the humorous account + of his frenzy written by Pope: "On all sides of his room were + pinned a great many sheets of a tragedy called _Cato_, with + notes on the margin by his own hand. The words _absurd_, + _monstrous_, _execrable_, were everywhere written in such + large characters, that I could read them without my + spectacles." Warton says that "Addison highly disapproved of + this bitter satire on Dennis, and Pope was not a little + chagrined at this disapprobation; for the narrative was + intended to court the favour of Addison, by defending his + _Cato_: in which seeming defence Addison was far from thinking + our author sincere."] + + [227] In the notes to the Prologue to the Satires. + + [228] Pope's conjecture was perfectly correct. Dr. Warton confirms it + from a variety of indisputable authorities.--Warton's "Pope," + vol. iv. p. 34. + + [229] In the "Freeholder," May, 1716. + + [230] Pope himself thus related the matter to Spence: "Phillips seemed + to have been encouraged to abuse me in coffee-houses and + conversations; and Gildon wrote a thing about Wycherly, in + which he had abused both me and my relations very grossly. + Lord Warwick himself told me one day that it was in vain for + me to endeavour to be well with Mr. Addison; that his jealous + temper would never admit of a settled friendship between us, + and to convince me of what he had said, assured me that + Addison had encouraged Gildon to publish those scandals, and + had given him ten guineas after they were published."--ED. + + [231] The strongest parts of Sir William Blackstone's discussion turn + on certain inaccurate dates of Ruffhead, in his statements, + which show them to be inconsistent with the times when they + are alleged to have happened. These erroneous dates had been + detected in an able article in the Monthly Review on that + work, April, 1769. Ruffhead is a tasteless, confused, and + unskilful writer--Sir William has laid great stress on the + incredible story of Addison paying Gildon to write against + Pope, "a man so amiable in his moral character." It is + possible that the Earl of Warwick, who conveyed the + information, might have been a malicious, lying youth; but + then Pope had some knowledge of mankind--he believed the + story, for he wrote instantly, with honest though heated + feelings, to Addison, and sent him, at that moment, the first + sketch of the character of Atticus. Addison used him very + civilly ever after--but it does not appear that Addison ever + contradicted the tale of the officious Earl. All these facts, + which Pope repeated many years after to Spence, Sir William + was not acquainted with, for they were transcribed from + Spence's papers by Johnson, after Blackstone had written. + [This is fully in accordance with his previous conduct, as he + described it to Spence; on the first notification of the Earl + of Warwick's news, "the next day when I was heated with what I + had heard, I wrote a letter to Mr. Addison, to let him know + that I was not unacquainted with this behaviour of his; that + if I was to speak severely of him, in return for it, it should + not be in such a dirty way; and that I should rather tell + himself freely of his faults, and allow his good qualities; + and that it should be something in the following manner: I + then adjoined the first sketch of what has since been called + my Satire on Addison. Mr. Addison used me very civilly ever + after, and never did me any injustice that I know of from that + time to his death, which was about three years after."] + + [232] That Addison did occasionally divert Pope's friends from him, + appears from the advice which Lady Mary Wortley Montague says + he gave to her--"Leave him as soon as you can, he will + certainly play you some devilish trick else: he has an + appetite to satire." Malone thinks this may have been said + under the irritation produced by the verses on Addison, which + Pope sent to him, as described above. Pope's love of satire, + and unflinching use of it, was as conspicuous as Addison's + nervous dislike to it.--ED. + + [233] From Lord Egmont's MS. Collections.--See the "Addenda Kippis's + Biographia Britannica." + + [234] The earliest and most particular narrative of this remarkable + interview I have hitherto only traced to "Memoirs of the + Life and Writings of A. Pope, Esq., by William Ayre, Esq.," + 1745, vol. i. p. 100. This work comes in a very suspicious + form; it is a huddled compilation, yet contains some + curious matters; and pretends, in the title-page, to be + occasionally drawn from "original MSS. and the testimonies + of persons of honour." He declares, in the preface, that he + and his friends "had means and some helps which were never + public." He sometimes appeals to several noble friends of + Pope as his authorities. But the mode of its publication, + and that of its execution, are not in its favour. These + volumes were written within six months of the decease of + our poet; have no publisher's name; and yet the author, + whoever he was, took out "a patent, under his majesty's royal + signet," for securing the copyright. This Ayre is so + obscure an author, though a translator of Tasso's "Aminta," + that he seems to have escaped even the minor chronicles of + literature. At the time of its publication there appeared + "Remarks on Squire Ayre's Memoirs of Pope." The writer + pretends he has discovered him to be only one of the + renowned Edmund Curll's "squires," who, about that time, had + created an order of literary squires, ready to tramp at + the funeral of every great personage with his life. The + "Remarker" then addresses Curll, and insinuates he speaks + from personal knowledge of the man:--"You have an adversaria + of title-pages of your own contrivance, and which your authors + are to write books to. Among what you call _the occasional, + or black list_, I have seen Memoirs of Dean Swift, Pope, + &c." Curll, indeed, was then sending forth many pseudo + squires, with lives of "Congreve," "Mrs. Oldfield," &c.; all + which contained some curious particulars, picked up in + coffee-houses, conversations, or pamphlets of the day. This + William Ayre I accept as "a squire of low degree," but a real + personage. As for this interview, Ayre was certainly + incompetent to the invention of a single stroke of the + conversations detailed: where he obtained all these + interesting particulars, I have not discovered. Johnson + alludes to this interview, states some of its results, but + refers to no other authority than floating rumours. + + [235] The line stood originally, and nearly literally copied from + Isaiah-- + + "He wipes the tears for ever from our eyes;" + + which Steele retouched, as it now stands-- + + "From every face he wipes off every tear." + + Dr. Warton prefers the rejected verse. The latter, he thinks, + has too much of modern quaintness. The difficulty of choice + lies between that naked simplicity which scarcely affects, and + those strokes of art which are too apparent. + + [236] The last line of Addison's tragedy read originally-- + + "And oh! 'twas this that ended Cato's life." + + A very weak line, which was altered at the suggestion of Pope + as it stands at present:-- + + "And robs the guilty world of Cato's life."--ED. + + + + +BOLINGBROKE AND MALLET'S POSTHUMOUS QUARREL WITH POPE. + + Lord BOLINGBROKE affects violent resentment for Pope's pretended + breach of confidence in having printed his "Patriot King"--WARBURTON'S + apology for POPE'S disinterested intentions--BOLINGBROKE instigates + MALLET to libel POPE, after the poet's death--The real motive for + libelling POPE was BOLINGBROKE'S personal hatred of WARBURTON, for the + ascendancy the latter had obtained over the poet--Some account of + their rival conflicts--BOLINGBROKE had unsettled POPE'S religious + opinions, and WARBURTON had confirmed his faith--POPE, however, + refuses to abjure the Catholic religion--Anecdote of POPE'S anxiety + respecting a future state--MALLET'S intercourse with POPE: anecdote of + "The Apollo Vision," where MALLET mistook a sarcasm for a + compliment--MALLET'S character--Why LEONIDAS GLOVER declined writing + the Life of Marlborough--BOLINGBROKE'S character hit off--WARBURTON, + the concealed object of this posthumous quarrel with POPE. + + +On the death of POPE, 1500 copies of one of Lord BOLINGBROKE'S works, +"The Patriot King," were discovered to have been secretly printed by +Pope, but never published. The honest printer presented the whole to +his lordship, who burned the edition in his gardens at Battersea. The +MS. had been delivered to our poet by his lordship, with a request to +print a few copies for its better preservation, and for the use of a +few friends. + +Bolingbroke affected to feel the most lively resentment for what he +chose to stigmatise as "a breach of confidence." "His thirst of +vengeance," said Johnson, "incited him to blast the memory of the man +over whom he had wept in his last struggles; and he employed Mallet, +another friend of Pope, to tell the tale to the public with all its +aggravations. Warburton, whose heart was warm with his legacy, and +tender by the recent separation," apologised for Pope. The irregular +conduct which Bolingbroke stigmatised as a breach of trust, was +attributed to a desire of perpetuating the work of his friend, who +might have capriciously destroyed it. Our poet could have no selfish +motive; he could not gratify his vanity by publishing the work as his +own, nor his avarice by its sale, which could never have taken place +till the death of its author; a circumstance not likely to occur +during Pope's lifetime.[237] + +The vindictive rage of Bolingbroke; the bitter invective he permitted +MALLET to publish, as the editor of his works; and the two anonymous +pamphlets of the latter, which I have noticed in the article of +WARBURTON; are effects much too disproportionate to the cause which is +usually assigned. JOHNSON does not develope the secret motives of what +he has energetically termed "Bolingbroke's thirst of vengeance." He +and Mallet carried their secret revenge beyond all bounds: the lordly +stoic and the irritated bardling, under the cloak of anonymous +calumny, have but ill-concealed the malignity of their passions. Let +anonymous calumniators recollect, in the midst of their dark work, +that if they escape the detection of their contemporaries, their +reputation, if they have any to lose, will not probably elude the +researches of the historian;--a fatal witness against them at the +tribunal of posterity. + +The preface of Mallet to the "Patriot King" of Bolingbroke, produced a +literary quarrel; and more pamphlets than perhaps I have discovered +were published on this occasion. + +Every lover of literature was indignant to observe that the vain and +petulant Mallet, under the protection of Pope's + + Guide, philosopher, and friend! + +should have been permitted to have aspersed Pope with the most +degrading language. Pope is here always designated as "This Man." Thus +"_This Man_ was no sooner dead than Lord Bolingbroke received +information that an entire edition of 1500 copies of these papers had +been printed; that this very _Man_ had corrected the press, &c." Could +one imagine that this was the Tully of England, describing our Virgil? +For Mallet was but the mouthpiece of Bolingbroke. + +After a careful detection of many facts concerning the parties now +before us, I must attribute the concealed motive of this outrage +on Pope to the election the dying poet made of Warburton as his +editor. A mortal hatred raged between Bolingbroke and Warburton. The +philosophical lord had seen the mighty theologian ravish the prey +from his grasp. Although Pope held in idolatrous veneration the +genius of Bolingbroke, yet had this literary superstition been +gradually enlightened by the energy of Warburton. They were his good +and his evil genii in a dreadful conflict, wrestling to obtain the +entire possession of the soul of the mortal. Bolingbroke and +Warburton one day disputed before Pope, and parted never to meet +again. The will of Pope bears the trace of his divided feelings: he +left his MSS. to Bolingbroke as his executor, but his works to +Warburton as his editor. The secret history of Bolingbroke and +Warburton with Pope is little known: the note will supply it.[238] + +But how did the puny Mallet stand connected with these great men? By +the pamphlets published during this literary quarrel he appears to +have enjoyed a more intimate intercourse with them than is known. In +one of them he is characterised "as a fellow who, while Mr. Pope +lived, was as diligent in licking his feet, as he is now in licking +your lordship's; and who, for the sake of giving himself an air of +importance, in being joined with you, and for the vanity of saying +'the Author and I,'--'the Editor and me,'--has sacrificed all his +pretensions to friendship, honour, and humanity."[239] An anecdote in +this pamphlet assigns a sufficient motive to excite some wrath in a +much less irritable animal than the self-important editor of +Bolingbroke's Works. The anecdote may be distinguished as + + +THE APOLLO VISION. + +"The editor (Mallet) being in company with the person to whom Mr. Pope +has consigned the care of his works (Warburton), and who, he thought, +had some intention of writing Mr. Pope's life, told him he had an +anecdote, which he believed nobody knew but himself. I was sitting one +day (said he) with Mr. Pope, in his last illness, who coming suddenly +out of a reverie, which you know he frequently fell into at that time, +and fixing his eyes steadfastly upon me; 'Mr. M. (said he), I have had +an odd kind of vision. Methought I saw my own head open, and Apollo +came out of it; I then saw your head open, and Apollo went into it; +after which our heads closed up again.' The gentleman (Warburton) +could not help smiling at his vanity; and with some humour replied, +'Why, sir, if I had an intention of writing _your_ life, this might +perhaps be a proper anecdote; but I don't see, that in Mr. Pope's it +will be of any consequence at all.'" P. 14. + +This exhibits a curious instance of an author's egotism, or rather of +Mallet's conceit, contriving, by some means, to have his name slide +into the projected Life of Pope by Warburton, who appears, however, +always to have treated him with the contempt Pope himself evidently +did.[240] What opinion could the poet have entertained of the taste +of that weak and vain critic, who, when Pope published anonymously +"The Essay on Man," being asked if anything new had appeared, replied +that he had looked over a thing called an "Essay on Man," but, +discovering the utter want of skill and knowledge in the author, had +thrown it aside. Pope mortified him by confiding to him the secret. + +"The Apollo Vision" was a stinging anecdote, and it came from +Warburton either directly or indirectly. This was followed up by +"A Letter to the Editor of the Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, +the Idea of a Patriot King," &c., a dignified remonstrance of +Warburton himself; but "The Impostor Detected and Convicted, or the +Principles and Practices of the Author of the Spirit of Patriotism +(Lord Bolingbroke) set forth in a clear light, in a Letter to a +Member of Parliament in Town, from his Friend in the Country, 1749," +is a remarkable production. Lord Bolingbroke is the impostor and +the concealed Jacobite. Time, the ablest critic on these party +productions, has verified the predictions of this seer. We discover +here, too, a literary fact, which is necessary to complete our +present history. It seems that there were omissions and corrections +in the edition Pope printed of "The Patriot King," which his caution +or his moderation prompted, and which such a political demagogue as +Bolingbroke never forgave. They are thus alluded to: "Lord B. may +remember" (from a conversation held, at which the writer appears +to have been present), "that a difference in opinion prevailed, and +a few points were urged by that gentleman (Pope) in opposition to some +particular tenets which related to the limitation of the English +monarchy, and to the ideal doctrine of a patriot king. These were Mr. +P.'s reasons for the emendations he made; and which, together with +the consideration that both their lives were at that time in a +declining state, was the true cause, and no other, of his care to +preserve those letters, by handing them to the press, with the +precaution mentioned by the author." Indeed the cry raised against +the _dead man_ by Bolingbroke and Mallet, was an artificial one: +that it should ever have tainted the honour of the bard, or that it +should ever have been excited by his "Philosopher and Friend," are +equally strange; it is possible that the malice of Mallet was more at +work than that of Bolingbroke, who suffered himself to be the dupe +of a man held in contempt by Pope, by Warburton, and by others. But +the pamphlet I have just noticed might have enraged Bolingbroke, +because his true character is ably drawn in it. The writer says that +"a person in an eminent station of life abroad, when Lord B---- +was at Paris to transact a certain affair, said, _C'est certainement +un homme d'esprit, mais un coquin sans probité_." This was a very +disagreeable truth! + +In one of these pamphlets, too, Bolingbroke was mortified at his +dignity being lessened by the writer, in comparing his lordship with +their late friend Pope.--"I venture to foretell, that the name of Mr. +Pope, in spite of your unmanly endeavours, shall revive and blossom in +the dust, from his own merits; and presume to remind you, that +_yours_, had it not been for _his_ genius, _his_ friendship, _his_ +idolatrous veneration for _you_, might, in a short course of years, +have died and been forgotten." Whatever the degree of genius +Bolingbroke may claim, doubtless the verse of Pope has embalmed his +fame. I have never been able to discover the authors of these +pamphlets, who all appear of the first rank, and who seem to have +written under the eye of Warburton. The awful and vindictive +Bolingbroke, and the malignant and petulant Mallet, did not long brood +over their anger: he or they gave it vent on the head of Warburton, in +those two furious pamphlets, which I have noticed in the "Quarrels of +Warburton." All these pamphlets were published in the same year, 1749, +so that it is now difficult to arrange them according to their +priority. Enough has been shown to prove, that the loud outcry of +Bolingbroke and Mallet, in their posthumous attack on Pope, arose from +their unforgiving malice against him, for the preference by which the +poet had distinguished Warburton; and that Warburton, much more than +Pope, was the real object of this masked battery. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [237] At the time, to season the tale for the babble of Literary + Tattlers, it was propagated that POPE intended, on the death + of BOLINGBROKE, to sell this eighteenpenny pamphlet at a + guinea a copy; which would have produced an addition of as + many hundreds to the thousands which the poet had honourably + reaped from his Homer. This was the ridiculous lie of the day, + which lasted long enough to obtain its purpose, and to cast an + odium on the shade of Pope. Pope must have been a miserable + calculator of _survivorships_, if ever he had reckoned on + this. + + [238] Splendid as was the genius of Bolingbroke, the gigantic force of + Warburton obtained the superiority. Had the contest solely + depended on the effusions of genius, Bolingbroke might have + prevailed; but an object more important than human interests + induced the poet to throw himself into the arms of Warburton. + + The "Essay on Man" had been reformed by the subtle aid of + Warburton, in opposition to the objectionable principles which + Bolingbroke had infused into his system of philosophy: this, + no doubt, had vexed Bolingbroke. But another circumstance + occurred of a more mortifying nature. When Pope one day showed + Warburton Bolingbroke's "Letters on the Study and Use of + History," printed, but not published, and concealing the name + of the author, Warburton not only made several very free + strictures on that work, but particularly attacked a + digression concerning the authenticity of the Old Testament. + Pope requested him to write his remarks down as they had + occurred, which he instantly did; and Pope was so satisfied + with them, that he crossed out the digression in the printed + book, and sent the animadversions to Lord Bolingbroke, then at + Paris. The style of the great dogmatist, thrown out in heat, + must no doubt have contained many fiery particles, all which + fell into the most inflammable of minds. Pope soon discovered + his officiousness was received with indignation. Yet when + Bolingbroke afterwards met Warburton he dissimulated: he used + the language of compliment, but in a tone which claimed + homage. The two most arrogant geniuses who ever lived, in vain + exacted submission from each other: they could allow of no + divided empire, and they were born to hate each other. + Bolingbroke suppressed his sore feelings, for at that very + time he was employed in collecting matter to refute the + objections; treasuring up his secret vengeance against Pope + and Warburton, which he threw out immediately on the death of + Pope. I collect these particulars from Ruffhead, p. 527, and + whenever, in that volume, Warburton's name is introduced, it + must be considered as coming from himself. + + The reasonings of Bolingbroke appear at times to have + disturbed the religious faith of our poet, and he owed much to + Warburton in having that faith confirmed. But Pope rejected, + with his characteristic good sense, Warburton's tampering with + him to abjure the Catholic religion. On the belief of a future + state, Pope seems often to have meditated with great anxiety; + and an anecdote is recorded of his latest hours, which shows + how strongly that important belief affected him. A day or two + before his death he was at times delirious, and about four + o'clock in the morning he rose from bed and went to the + library, where a friend who was watching him found him busily + writing. He persuaded him to desist, and withdrew the paper he + had written. The subject of the thoughts of the delirious poet + was a new theory on the "Immortality of the Soul," in which he + distinguished between those material objects which tended to + strengthen his conviction, and those which weakened it. The + paper which contained these disordered thoughts was shown to + Warburton, and surely has been preserved. + + [239] "A letter to the Lord Viscount B----ke, occasioned by his + treatment of a deceased friend." Printed for A. Moore, without + date. This pamphlet either came from Warburton himself, or + from one of his intimates. The writer, too, calls Pope his + friend. + + [240] We find also the name of Mallet closely connected with another + person of eminence, the Patriot-Poet, Leonidas Glover. I take + this opportunity of correcting a surmise of Johnson's in his + Life of Mallet, respecting Glover, and which also places + Mallet's character in a true light. + + A minute life of Mallet might exhibit a curious example of + mediocrity of talent, with but suspicious virtues, brought + forward by the accident of great connexions, placing a + bustling intriguer much higher in the scale of society than + "our philosophy ever dreamt of." Johnson says of Mallet, that + "It was remarkable of him, that he was the only Scot whom + Scotchmen did not commend." From having been accidentally + chosen as private tutor to the Duke of Montrose, he wound + himself into the favour of the party at Leicester House; he + wrote tragedies conjointly with Thomson, and was appointed, + with Glover, to write the Life of the Duke of Marlborough. Yet + he had already shown to the world his scanty talent for + biography in his "Life of Lord Bacon," on which Warburton so + acutely animadverted. + + According to Johnson's account, the Duchess of Marlborough + assigned the task of writing the Life of the Duke to Glover + and to Mallet, with a remuneration of a thousand pounds. She + must, however, have mortified the poets by subjoining the + sarcastic prohibition that "no verses should be inserted." + Johnson adds, "Glover, _I suppose, rejected with disdain the + legacy_, and devolved the whole work upon Mallet." + + The cause why Glover declined this work could not, indeed, be + known to Johnson: it arose from a far more dignified motive + than the petty disdain of the legacy, which our great literary + biographer has surmised. It can now be told in his own words, + which I derive from a very interesting extract communicated to + me by my friend Mr. Duppa, from that portion of the MS. + Memoirs of Glover not yet published. + + I shall first quote the remarkable codicil from the original + will of her Grace, which Mr. Duppa took the pains to consult. + She assigns her reasons for the choice of her historians, and + discriminates between the two authors. After bequeathing the + thousand pounds for them, she adds: "I believe Mr. Glover is a + very honest man, who wishes, as I do, all the good that can + happen, to preserve the liberties and laws of England. Mr. + Mallet was recommended to me by the late Duke of Montrose, + whom I admired extremely for his great steadiness and + behaviour in all things that related to the preservation of + our laws and the public good."--Thus her Grace has expressed a + personal knowledge and confidence in Glover, distinctly marked + from her "recommended" acquaintance Mallet. + + Glover refused the office of historian, not from "disdain of + the legacy," nor for any deficient zeal for the hero whom he + admired. He refused it with sorrowful disappointment; for, + besides the fantastical restrictions of "not writing any + verses;" and the cruel one of yoking such a patriot with the + servile Mallet, there was one which placed the revision of the + work in the hands of the Earl of Chesterfield: this was the + _circumstance_ at which the dignified genius of Glover + revolted. Chesterfield's mean political character had excited + his indignation; and he has drawn a lively picture of this + polished nobleman's "eager prostitution," in his printed + Memoirs, recently published under the title of "Memoirs of a + celebrated Literary and Political Character," p. 24. + + In the following passage, this great-minded man, for such he + was, "unburthens his heart in a melancholy digression from his + plain narrative." + + "Composing such a narrative (alluding to his own Memoirs) + and endeavouring to establish such a temper of mind, I + cannot at intervals refrain from regret that the _capricious + restrictions_ in the Duchess of Marlborough's will, + appointing me to write the life of her illustrious husband, + compelled me to reject the undertaking. There, conduct, + valour, and success abroad; prudence, perseverance, + learning, and science, at home; would have shed some portion + of their graces on their historian's page: a mediocrity of + talent would have felt an unwonted elevation in the bare + attempt of transmitting so splendid a period to succeeding + ages." Such was the dignified regret of Glover! + + Doubtless, he disdained, too, his colleague; but Mallet reaped + the whole legacy, and still more, a pension: pretending to be + always occupied on the Life of Marlborough, and every day + talking of the great discoveries he had made, he contrived to + make this nonentity serve his own purposes. Once hinting to + Garrick, that, in spite of chronology, by some secret device + of anticipation, he had reserved a niche in this great work + for the Roscius of his own times, the gratitude of Garrick was + instant. He recollected that Mallet was a tragedy-writer; and + it also appeared that our dramatic bardling had one ready. As + for the pretended Life of Marlborough, not a line appears ever + to have been written! + + Such was the end of the ardent solicitude and caprice of the + Duchess of Marlborough, exemplified in the last solemn act of + life, where she betrayed the same warmth of passion, and the + same arrogant caprice she had always indulged, at the cost of + her judgment, in what Pope emphatically terms "the trade of + the world." She was + + "The wisest fool much time has ever made." + + Even in this darling project of her last ambition, to + immortalise her name, she had incumbered it with such arrogant + injunctions, mixed up such contrary elements, that they were + certain to undo their own purpose. Such was the barren harvest + she gathered through a life of passion, regulated by no + principle of conduct. One of the most finished portraits of + Pope is the Atossa, in his "Epistle on Woman." How admirably + he shows what the present instant proves, that she was one + who, always possessing the _means_, was sure to lose the + _ends_. + + + + +LINTOT'S ACCOUNT-BOOK. + + +An odd sort of a literary curiosity has fallen in my way. It throws +some light on the history of the heroes of the _Dunciad_; but such +_minutiæ literariæ_ are only for my bibliographical readers. + +It is a book of accounts, which belonged to the renowned BERNARD +LINTOT, the bookseller, whose character has been so humorously +preserved by Pope, in a dialogue which the poet has given as having +passed between them in Windsor Forest. The book is entitled "_Copies, +when Purchased_." The power of genius is exemplified in the ledger of +the bookseller as much as in any other book; and while I here +discover, that the moneys received even by such men of genius as Gay, +Farquhar, Cibber, and Dr. King, amount to small sums, and such authors +as Dennis, Theobald, Ozell, and Toland, scarcely amount to anything, +that of Pope much exceeds 4000_l._ + +I am not in all cases confident of the nature of these "Copies +purchased;" those works which were originally published by Lintot may +be considered as purchased at the sums specified: some few might have +been subsequent to their first edition. The guinea, at that time, +passing for twenty-one shillings and sixpence, has occasioned the +fractions. + +I transcribe Pope's account. Here it appears that he sold "The Key to +the Lock" and "Parnell's Poems." The poem entitled, "To the Author of +a Poem called _Successio_," appears to have been written by Pope, and +has escaped the researches of his editors. The smaller poems were +contributed to a volume of Poetical Miscellanies, published by +Lintot.[241] + +MR. POPE. + + £ s. d. + _19 Feb. 1711-12._ + Statius, First Book } 16 2 6 + Vertumnus and Pomona } + + _21 March, 1711-12._ + First Edition Rape 7 0 0 + + _9 April, 1712._ + To a Lady presenting Voiture } + Upon Silence } 3 16 6 + To the Author of a Poem called _Successio_ } + + _23 Feb. 1712-13._ + Windsor Forest 32 5 0 + + _23 July, 1713._ + Ode on St. Cecilia's day 15 0 0 + + _20th Feb. 1713-14._ + Additions to the Rape 15 0 0 + + _1 Feb. 1714-15._ + Temple of Fame 32 5 0 + + _30 April, 1715._ + Key to the Lock 10 15 0 + + _17 July, 1716._ + Essay on Criticism[242] 15 0 0 + + _13 Dec. 1721._ + Parnell's Poems 15 0 0 + + _23 March, 1713._ + Homer, vol. i. 215 0 0 + 650 books on royal paper 176 0 0 + + _9 Feb. 1715-16._ + Homer, vol. ii. 215 0 0 + + _7 May, 1716._ + 650 royal paper 150 0 0 + This article is repeated to the sixth volume of + of Homer. To which is to be added another sum + of 840_l._, paid for an assignment of all + the copies. The whole of this part of the + account amounting to 3203 4 0 + + Copy-moneys for the Odyssey, vols. i. ii. iii., + and 750 of each vol. royal paper, 4to. 615 6 0 + + Ditto for the vols. iv. v. and 750 do. 425 18 7-1/2 + ---------------- + £4244 8 7-1/2 + ================ + +MR. GAY. + + £ s. d. + _12 May, 1713._ + Wife of Bath 25 0 0 + + _11 Nov. 1714._ + Letter to a Lady 5 7 6 + + _14 Feb. 1714._ + The What d'ye call it? 16 2 6 + + _22 Dec. 1715._ + Trivia 43 0 0 + Epistle to the Earl of Burlington 10 15 0 + + _4 May, 1717._ + Battle of the Frogs 16 2 6 + + _8 Jan. 1717._ + Three Hours after Marriage 43 2 6 + The Mohocks, a Farce, 2_l._ 10_s._ + (Sold the Mohocks to him again.[243]) + Revival of the Wife of Bath 75 0 0 + ------------ + £234 10 0 + +MR. DENNIS. + + £ s. d. + _Feb. 24, 1703-4._ + Liberty Asserted, one half share[245] 7 3 0 + + _10 Nov. 1708._ + Appius and Virginia 21 10 0 + + _25 April, 1711._ + Essay on Public Spirit 2 12 6 + + _6 Jan. 1711._ + Remarks on Pope's Essay 2 12 6 + +Dennis must have sold himself to criticism from ill-nature, and not +for pay. One is surprised that his two tragedies should have been +worth a great deal more than his criticism. Criticism was then worth +no more than too frequently it deserves; Dr. Sewel, for his +"Observations on the Tragedy of _Jane Shore_," received only a +guinea. + +I had suggested a doubt whether Theobald attempted to translate from +the original Greek: one would suppose he did by the following entry, +which has a line drawn through it, as if the agreement had not been +executed. Perhaps Lintot submitted to pay Theobald for _not doing_ the +Odyssey when Pope undertook it. + +MR. THEOBALD. + + £ s. d. + _23 May, 1713._ + Plato's Phædon 5 7 6 + For _Æsculus's_ Trag. 1 1 6 + being part of Ten Guineas. + + _12 June, 1714._ + La Motte's Homer 3 4 6 + + _April_ 21, 1714. Articles signed by Mr. Theobald, to translate + for B. Lintot the 24 books of Homer's Odyssey into English blank + verse. Also the four Tragedies of Sophocles, called Œdipus + Tyrannus, Œdipus Coloneus, Trachiniæ, and Philoctetes, into + English blank verse, with Explanatory Notes to the twenty-four + Books of the Odyssey, and to the four Tragedies. To receive, for + translating every 450 Greek verses, with Explanatory Notes + thereon, the sum of 2_l._ 10_s._ + + To translate likewise the Satires and Epistles of Horace into + English rhyme. For every 120 Latin lines so translated, the sum of + 1_l._ 1_s._ 6_d._ + + These Articles to be performed, according to the time specified, + under the penalty of fifty pounds, payable by either party's + default in performance. + + Paid in hand, 2_l._ 10_s._ + +It appears that Toland never got above 5_l._, 10_l._, or 20_l._, for +his publications. See his article in "Calamities of Authors," p. +155. I discovered the humiliating conditions that attended his +publications, from an examination of his original papers. All this +author seems to have reaped from a life devoted to literary +enterprise, and philosophy, and patriotism, appears not to have +exceeded 200_l._ + +Here, too, we find that the facetious Dr. King threw away all his +sterling wit for five miserable pounds, though "The Art of Cookery," +and that of "Love," obtained a more honourable price. But a mere +school-book probably inspired our lively genius with more real +facetiousness than any of those works which communicate so much to +others. + + DR. KING. + + £ s. d. + _18 Feb. 1707-8._ + Paid for Art of Cookery 32 5 0 + + _16 Feb. 1708-9._ + Paid for the First Part of Transactions 5 0 0 + Paid for his Art of Love 32 5 0 + + _23 June, 1709._ + Paid for the Second Part of the Transactions[246] 5 0 0 + + _4 March, 1709-10._ + Paid for the History of Cajamai 5 0 0 + + _10 Nov. 1710._ + Paid for King's Gods 50 0 0 + + _1 July, 1712._ + Useful Miscellany, Part I 1 1 6 + Paid for the Useful Miscellany 3 0 0 + +Lintot utters a groan over "The Duke of Buckingham's Works" +(Sheffield), for "having been _jockeyed_ of them by Alderman Barber +and Tonson." Who can ensure literary celebrity? No bookseller would +_now_ regret being _jockeyed_ out of his Grace's works! + +The history of plays appears here somewhat curious:--tragedies, then +the fashionable dramas, obtained a considerable price; for though +Dennis's luckier one reached only to 21_l._, Dr. Young's _Busiris_ +acquired 84_l._ Smith's _Phædra and Hippolytus_, 50_l._; Rowe's _Jane +Shore_, 50_l._ 15_s._; and _Jane Gray_, 75_l._ 5_s._ Cibber's +_Nonjuror_ obtained 105_l._ for the copyright. + +Is it not a little mortifying to observe, that among all these +customers of genius whose names enrich the ledger of the bookseller, +Jacob, that "blunderbuss of law," while his law-books occupy in space +as much as Mr. Pope's works, the amount of his account stands next in +value, far beyond many a name which has immortalised itself! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [241] "Miscellaneous Poems and Translations, by several Hands," + 1712.--The second edition appeared in 1714; and in the + title-page are enumerated the poems mentioned in this account, + and Pope's name affixed, as if he were the actual editor--an + idea which Mr. Nichols thought he affected to discountenance. + It is probable that Pope was the editor. We see, by this + account, that he was paid for his contributions. + + [242] This was a new edition, published conjointly by Lintot and + Lewis, the Catholic bookseller and early friend of Pope, of + whom, and of the first edition, 1711, I have preserved an + anecdote, p. 280. + + [243] The late Isaac Reed, in the Biog. Dramatica, was uncertain + whether Gay was the author of this unacted drama. It is a + satire on the inhuman frolics of the bucks and bloods of + those days, who imitated the savageness of the Indians + whose name they assumed.[244] Why Gay repurchased "The + Mohocks," remains to be discovered. Was it another joint + production with Pope?--The literary co-partnership between + Pope and Gay has never been opened to the curious. It is + probable that Pope was consulted, if not concerned, in + writing "The What d'ye call it?" which, Jacob says in his + "Poetical Register," "exposes several of our eminent + poets." Jacob published while Gay was living, and seems to + allude to this literary co-partnership; for, speaking of + Gay, he says: "that having an inclination to poetry, by the + strength of his own genius, and the _conversation_ of Mr. + Pope, he has made some progress in poetical writings." + + This tragi-comical farce of "The Mohocks" is satirically + dedicated to Dennis, "as a _horrid_ and _tremendous_ piece, + formed on the model of his own 'Appius and Virginia.'" This + touch seems to come from the finger of Pope. It is a + mock-tragedy, for the Mohocks themselves rant in blank verse; + a feeble performance, far inferior to its happier predecessor, + "The What d'ye call it?" + + [244] The brutal amusements of these "Mohocks," and the helpless + terror of London, is scarcely credible in modern days. Wild + bands of drunken men nightly infested the streets, attacking + and ill-using every passer-by. A favourite pastime was to + surround their victim with drawn swords, pricking him on every + side as he endeavoured to escape. Many persons were maimed and + dangerously wounded. Gay, in his _Trivia_, has noted some of + their more innocent practical jokes; and asks-- + + "Who has not trembled at the Mohock's name? + Was there a watchman took his hourly rounds, + Safe from their blows or new invented wounds?" + + Swift, in his notes to Stella, has expressed his dread, while + in London, of being maimed, or perhaps killed, by them.--ED. + + [245] Bought of Mr. George Strahan, bookseller. + + [246] For an account of these humorous pieces, see the following + article on "The Royal Society." + + + + +POPE'S EARLIEST SATIRE. + + +We find by the first edition of Lintot's "Miscellaneous Poems," that +the anonymous lines "To the Author of a Poem called _Successio_," was +a literary satire by Pope, written when he had scarcely attained his +fourteenth year. This satire, the first probably he wrote for the +press, and in which he has succeeded so well, that it might have +induced him to pursue the bent of his genius, merits preservation. The +juvenile composition bears the marks of his future excellences: it has +the tune of his verse, and the images of his wit. Thirty years +afterwards, when occupied by the _Dunciad_, he transplanted and pruned +again some of the original images. + +The hero of this satire is Elkanah Settle. The subject is one of those +Whig poems, designed to celebrate the happiness of an uninterrupted +"Succession" in the Crown, at the time the Act of Settlement passed, +which transferred it to the Hanoverian line. The rhymer and his theme +were equally contemptible to the juvenile Jacobite poet. + +The hoarse and voluminous Codrus of Juvenal aptly designates this +eternal verse-maker;--one who has written with such constant +copiousness, that no bibliographer has presumed to form a complete +list of his works.[247] + +When Settle had outlived his temporary rivalship with Dryden, and was +reduced to mere Settle, he published party-poems, in folio, composed +in Latin, accompanied by his own translations. These folio poems, +uniformly bound, except that the arms of his patrons, or rather his +purchasers, richly gilt, emblazon the black morocco, may still be +found. These presentation-copies were sent round to the chiefs of the +party, with a mendicant's petition, of which some still exist. To have +a clear conception of the _present views_ of some politicians, it is +necessary to read their history backwards. In 1702, when Settle +published "Successio," he must have been a Whig. In 1685 he was a +Tory, commemorating, by a heroic poem, the coronation of James II., +and writing periodically against the Whigs. In 1680 he had left the +Tories for the Whigs, and conducted the whole management of burning +the Pope, then a very solemn national ceremony.[248] A Whig, a +pope-burner, and a Codrus, afforded a full draught of inspiration to +the nascent genius of our youthful satirist. + +Settle, in his latter state of wretchedness, had one standard _elegy_ +and _epithalamium_ printed off with _blanks_. By the ingenious +contrivance of inserting the name of any considerable person who died +or was married, no one who had gone out of the world or was entering +into it but was equally welcome to this dinnerless livery-man of the +draggled-tailed Muses. I have elsewhere noticed his last exit from +this state of poetry and of pauperism, when, leaping into a green +dragon which his own creative genius had invented, in a theatrical +booth, Codrus, in hissing flames and terrifying-morocco folds, +discovered "the fate of talents misapplied!" + + TO THE AUTHOR OF A POEM ENTITLED "SUCCESSIO." + + Begone, ye critics, and restrain your spite; + Codrus writes on, and will for ever write. + The heaviest Muse the swiftest course has gone, + As clocks run fastest when most lead is on.[249] + What though no bees around your cradle flew, + Nor on your lips distill'd their golden dew; + Yet have we oft discover'd in their stead, + A swarm of drones that buzz'd about your head. + When you, like Orpheus, strike the warbling lyre, + Attentive blocks stand round you, and admire. + Wit past through thee no longer is the same, + As meat digested takes a different name;[250] + But sense must sure thy safest plunder be, + Since no reprisals can be made on thee. + Thus thou mayst rise, and in thy daring flight + (Though ne'er so weighty) reach a wondrous height: + So, forced from engines, lead itself can fly, + And pond'rous slugs move nimbly through the sky.[251] + Sure Bavius copied Mævius to the full, + And CHÆRILUS[252] taught CODRUS to be dull; + Therefore, dear friend, at my advice give o'er + This needless labour, and contend no more + To prove a _dull Succession_ to be true, + Since 'tis enough we find it so in you. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [247] The fullest account we have of Settle, a busy scribe in his day, + is in Mr. Nichols's "Literary Anecdotes," vol. i. p. 41. + + [248] It was the custom when party feeling ran high on the subject of + papacy, towards the close of the reign of Charles the Second, + to get up these solemn mock-processions of the Pope and + Cardinals, accompanied with figures to represent Sir + Edmundbury Godfrey, and other subjects well adapted to heat + popular feelings, and parade them through the streets of + London. The day chosen for this was the anniversary of the + Coronation of Queen Elizabeth (Nov. 17), and when the + procession reached Temple-bar, the figure of the Pope was + tossed from his chair by one dressed as the Devil into a great + bonfire made opposite the statue of Queen Elizabeth, on the + city side of Temple-bar. Two rare tracts describe these + "solemn mock-processions," as they are termed, in 1679 and + 1680. Prints were also published depicting the whole + proceedings, and descriptive pamphlets from the pen of Settle, + who arranged these shows.--ED. + + [249] Thus altered in the _Dunciad_, book i., ver. 183-- + + "As clocks to weight their nimble motions owe, + The wheels above urged by the load below." + + [250] This original image a late caustic wit (Horne Tooke), who + probably had never read this poem, employed on a certain + occasion. Godwin, who had then distinguished himself by his + genius and by some hardy paradoxes, was pleading for them as + hardily, by showing that they did not originate in him--that + they were to be found in Helvetius, in Rousseau, and in other + modern philosophers. "Ay," retorted the cynical wit; "so you + eat at my table venison and turtle, but from you the same + things come quite changed!" The original, after all, is in + Donne, long afterwards versified by our poet. See Warton's + edition, vol. iv. p. 257. Pope must have been an early reader + of Donne. + + [251] Thus altered in the _Dunciad_, book i. ver. 181-- + + "As, forced from wind-guns, lead itself can fly, + And pond'rous slugs cut swiftly through the sky." + + [252] Perhaps, by _Chærilus_, the juvenile satirist designated + _Flecknoe_, or _Shadwell_, who had received their immortality + of dulness from his master, catholic in poetry and opinions, + Dryden. + + + + +THE ROYAL SOCIETY. + + THE ROYAL SOCIETY at first opposed from various quarters--their + Experimental Philosophy supplants the Aristotelian methods--suspected + of being the concealed Advocates of Popery, Arbitrary Power, and + Atheism--disappointments incurred by their promises--the simplicity + of the early Inquirers--ridiculed by the Wits and others--Narrative + of a quarrel between a Member of the Royal Society and an + Aristotelian--Glanvill writes his "Plus Ultra," to show the + Improvements of Modern Knowledge--Character of Stubbe of + Warwick--his Apology, from himself--opposes the "Plus Ultra" by the + "Plus Ultra reduced to a Nonplus"--his "Campanella revived"--the + Political Projects of Campanella--Stubbe persecuted, and menaced + to be publicly whipped; his Roman spirit--his "Legends no + Histories"--his "Censure on some Passages of the History of the + Royal Society"--Harvey's ambition to be considered the Discoverer of + the Circulation of the Blood, which he demonstrates--Stubbe describes + the Philosophy of Science--attacks Sprat's Dedication to the + King--The Philosophical Transactions published by Sir Hans Sloane + ridiculed by Dr. King--his new Species of Literary Burlesque--King's + character--these attacks not ineffectually renewed by Sir John Hill. + + +The Royal Society, on its first establishment, at the era of the +Restoration, encountered fierce hostilities; nor, even at later +periods, has it escaped many wanton attacks. A great revolution in the +human mind was opening with that establishment; for the spirit which +had appeared in the recent political concussion, and which had given +freedom to opinion, and a bolder scope to enterprise, had now reached +the literary and philosophical world; but causes of the most opposite +natures operated against this institution of infant science. + +In the first place, the new experimental philosophy, full of +inventions and operations, proposed to supplant the old scholastic +philosophy, which still retained an obscure jargon of terms, the most +frivolous subtilties, and all those empty and artificial methods by +which it pretended to decide on all topics. Too long it had filled the +ear with airy speculation, while it starved the mind that languished +for sense and knowledge. But this emancipation menaced the power of +the followers of Aristotle, who were still slumbering in their +undisputed authority, enthroned in our Universities. For centuries +the world had been taught that the philosopher of Stagira had thought +on every subject: Aristotle was quoted as equal authority with St. +Paul, and his very image has been profanely looked on with the +reverence paid to Christ. BACON had fixed a new light in Europe, and +others were kindling their torches at his flame. When the great +usurper of the human understanding was once fairly opposed to Nature, +he betrayed too many symptoms of mere humanity. Yet this great triumph +was not obtained without severe contention; and upon the Continent +even blood has been shed in the cause of words. In our country, the +University of Cambridge was divided by a party who called themselves +_Trojans_, from their antipathy to the _Greeks_, or the Aristotelians; +and once the learned Richard Harvey, the brother of Gabriel, the +friend of Spenser, stung to madness by the predominant powers, to +their utter dismay set up their idol on the school-gates, with his +heels upwards, and ass's ears on his head. But at this later period, +when the Royal Society was established, the war was more open, and +both parties more inveterate. Now the world seemed to think, so +violent is the reaction of public opinion, that they could reason +better without Aristotle than with him: that he had often taught them +nothing more than self-evident propositions, or had promoted that +dangerous idleness of maintaining paradoxes, by quibbles and other +captious subtilties. The days had closed of the "illuminated," the +"profound," and the "irrefragable," titles, which the scholastic +heroes had obtained; and the Aristotelian four modes, by which all +things in nature must exist, of _materialiter_, _formaliter_, +_fundamentaliter_, and _eminenter_, were now considered as nothing +more than the noisy rattles, or chains of cherry-stones, which had too +long detained us in the nursery of the human mind.[253] The world had +been cheated with words instead of things; and the new experimental +philosophy insisted that men should be less loquacious, but more +laborious. + +Some there were, in that unsettled state of politics and religion, in +whose breasts the embers of the late Revolution were still hot: they +were panic-struck that the advocates of popery and arbitrary power +were returning on them, disguised as natural philosophers. This new +terror had a very ludicrous origin:--it arose from some casual +expressions, in which the Royal Society at first delighted, and by +which an air of mystery was thrown over its secret movements: such was +that "Universal Correspondence" which it affected to boast of; and the +vaunt to foreigners of its "Ten Secretaries," when, in truth, all +these magnificent declarations were only objects of their wishes. +Another fond but singular expression, which the illustrious BOYLE had +frequently applied to it in its earliest state, when only composed of +a few friends, calling it "The Invisible College," all concurred to +make the Royal Society wear the appearance of a conspiracy against +the political freedom of the nation. At a time, too, when, according +to the historian of the Royal Society, "almost every family was widely +disagreed among themselves on matters of religion," they believed that +this "new experimental philosophy was subversive of the Christian +faith!"[254] and many mortally hated the newly-invented optical +glasses, the telescope and the microscope, as atheistical inventions, +which perverted our sight, and made everything appear in a new and +false light! Sprat wrote his celebrated "History of the Royal +Society," to show that experimental philosophy was neither designed +for the extinction of the Universities, nor of the Christian religion, +which were really imagined to be in danger. + +Others, again, were impatient for romantic discoveries; miracles were +required, some were hinted at, while some were promised. In the +ecstasy of imagination, they lost their soberness, forgetting that +they were but the historians of nature, and not her prophets.[255] But +amid these dreams of hope and fancy, the creeping experimentalist was +still left boasting of improvements, so slow that they were not +perceived, and of novelties so absurd that they too often raised the +laugh against their grave and unlucky discoverers. The philosophers +themselves seemed to have been fretted into the impatient humour which +they attempted to correct; and the amiable Evelyn becomes an irritated +satirist, when he attempts to reply to the repeated question of that +day, "What have they done?"[256] + +But a source of the ridicule which was perpetually flowing against the +Royal Society, was the almost infantine simplicity of its earliest +members, led on by their honest zeal; and the absence of all +discernment in many trifling and ludicrous researches, which called +down the malice of the wits;[257] there was, too, much of that unjust +contempt between the parties, which students of opposite pursuits and +tastes so liberally bestow on each other. The researches of the +Antiquarian Society were sneered at by the Royal, and the antiquaries +avenged themselves by their obstinate incredulity at the prodigies of +the naturalists; the student of classical literature was equally +slighted by the new philosophers; who, leaving the study of words and +the elegancies of rhetoric for the study merely of things, declared as +the cynical ancient did of metaphors, "Poterimus vivere sine +illis"--We can do very well without them! The ever-witty South, in his +oration at Oxford, made this poignant reflection on the Royal +Society--"Mirantur nihil nisi pulices, pediculos, et seipsos." They +can admire nothing except fleas, lice, and themselves! And even Hobbes +so little comprehended the utility of these new pursuits, that he +considered the Royal Society merely as so many labourers, who, when +they had washed their hands after their work, should leave to others +the polishing of their discourses. He classed them, in the way they +were proceeding, with apothecaries, and gardeners, and mechanics, who +might now "all put in for, and get the prize." Even at a later period, +Sir William Temple imagined the virtuosi to be only so many Sir +Nicholas Gimcracks; and contemptuously called them, from the place of +their first meeting, "the Men of Gresham!" doubtless considering them +as wise as "the Men of Gotham!" Even now, men of other tempers and +other studies are too apt to refuse the palm of philosophy to the +patient race of naturalists.[258] Wotton, who wrote so zealously at +the commencement of the last century in favour of modern knowledge, is +alarmed lest the effusions of wit, in his time, should "deaden the +industry of the philosophers of the next age; for," he adds, "nothing +wounds so effectually as a jest; and when men once become ridiculous, +their labours will be slighted, and they will find few imitators." The +alarm shows his zeal, but not his discernment: since curiosity in +hidden causes is a passion which endures with human nature. "The +philosophers of the next age" have shown themselves as persevering as +their predecessors, and the wits as malicious. The contest between men +of meditation and men of experiment, is a very ancient quarrel; and +the "divine" Socrates was no friend to, and even a ridiculer of, those +very pursuits for which the Royal Society was established.[259] + +In founding this infant empire of knowledge, a memorable literary war +broke out between Glanvill, the author of the treatise on "Witches," +&c., and Stubbe, a physician, a man of great genius. It is the +privilege of genius that its controversies enter into the history of +the human mind; what is but temporary among the vulgar of mankind, +with the curious and the intelligent become monuments of lasting +interest. The present contest, though the spark of contention flew out +of a private quarrel, at length blazed into a public controversy. + +The obscure individual who commenced the fray, is forgotten in the +boasted achievements of his more potent ally; he was a clergyman +named Cross, the Vicar of Great Chew, in Somersetshire, a stanch +Aristotelian. + +Glanvill, a member of the Royal Society, and an enthusiast for the new +philosophy, had kindled the anger of the peripatetic, who was his +neighbour, and who had the reputation of being the invincible +disputant of his county.[260] Some, who had in vain contended with +Glanvill, now contrived to inveigle the modern philosopher into an +interview with this redoubted champion. + +When Glanvill entered the house, he perceived that he was to begin an +acquaintance in a quarrel, which was not the happiest way to preserve +it. The Vicar of Great Chew sat amid his congregated admirers. The +peripatetic had promised them the annihilation of the new-fashioned +virtuoso, and, like an angry boar, had already been preluding by +whetting his tusks. Scarcely had the first cold civilities passed, +when Glanvill found himself involved in single combat with an +assailant armed with the ten categories of Aristotle. Cross, with his +_Quodam modo_, and his _Modo quodam_, with his _Ubi_ and his _Quando_, +scattered the ideas of the simple experimentalist, who, confining +himself to a simple recital of _facts_ and a description of _things_, +was referring, not to the logic of Aristotle, but to the works of +nature. The imperative Aristotelian was wielding weapons, which, says +Glanvill, "were nothing more than like those of a cudgel-player, or +fencing-master."[261] + +The last blow was still reserved, when Cross asserted that Aristotle +had more opportunities to acquire knowledge than the Royal Society, or +all the present age had, or could have, for this definitive reason, +"because Aristotle did, _totam peragrare Asiam_." Besides, in the Chew +philosophy, where novelty was treason, improvements or discoveries +could never exist. Here the Aristotelian made his stand; and at +length, gently hooking Glanvill between the horns of a dilemma, the +entrapped virtuoso threw himself into an unguarded affirmation; at +which the Vicar of Great Chew, shouting in triumph, with a sardonic +grin, declared that Glanvill and his Royal Society had now avowed +themselves to be atheistical! This made an end of the interview, and a +beginning of the quarrel.[262] + +Glanvill addressed an expostulatory letter to the inhuman Aristotelian, +who only replied by calling it a recantation, asserting that the affair +had finished with the conviction. + +On this, Glanvill produced his "Plus Ultra,"[263] on the modern +improvements of knowledge. The quaint title referred to that Asian +argument which placed the boundaries of knowledge at the ancient +limits fixed by Aristotle, like the pillars of Hercules, on which was +inscribed _Ne plus ultra_, to mark the extremity of the world. But +Glanvill asserted we might advance still further--_plus ultra_! To +this book the Aristotelian replied with such rancour, that he could +not obtain a licence for the invective either at Oxford or London. +Glanvill contrived to get some extracts, and printed a small number of +copies for his friends, under the sarcastic title of "The Chew +Gazette,"--a curiosity, we are told, of literary scolding, and which +might now, among literary trinkets, fetch a Roxburgh prize. + +Cross, maddened that he could not get his bundle of peripatetic +ribaldries printed, wrote ballads, which he got sung as it chanced. +But suppressed invectives and eking rhymes could but ill appease so +fierce a mastiff: he set on the poor F.R.S. an animal as rabid, but +more vigorous than himself--both of them strangely prejudiced against +the modern improvements of knowledge; so that, like mastiffs in the +dark, they were only the fiercer. + +This was Dr. Henry Stubbe, a physician of Warwick--one of those ardent +and versatile characters, strangely made up of defects as strongly +marked as their excellences. He was one of those authors who, among +their numerous remains, leave little of permanent value; for their +busy spirits too keenly delight in temporary controversy, and they +waste the efforts of a mind on their own age, which else had made the +next their own. Careless of worldly opinions, these extraordinary men, +with the simplicity of children, are mere beings of sensation; +perpetually precipitated by their feelings, with slight powers of +reflection, and just as sincere when they act in contradiction to +themselves, as when they act in contradiction to others. In their +moral habits, therefore, we are often struck with strange contrasts; +their whole life is a jumble of actions; and we are apt to condemn +their versatility of principles as arising from dishonest motives; yet +their temper has often proved more generous, and their integrity +purer, than those who have crept up in one unvarying progress to an +eminence which they quietly possess, without any of the ardour of +these original, perhaps whimsical, minds. The most tremendous menace +to a man of this class would be to threaten to write the history of +his life and opinions. When Stubbe attacked the Royal Society, this +threat was held out against him. But menaces never startled his +intrepid genius; he roved in all his wild greatness; and, always +occupied more by present views than interested by the past events of +his life, he cared little for his consistency in the high spirit of +his independence. + +The extraordinary character of Stubbe produced as uncommon a +history. Stubbe had originally been a child of fortune, picked up +at Westminster school by Sir Henry Vane the younger, who sent him +to Oxford; where this effervescent genius was, says Wood, "kicked, +and beaten, and whipped."[264] But if these little circumstances +marked the irritability and boldness of his youth, it was equally +distinguished by an entire devotion to his studies. Perhaps one of +the most anomalous of human characters was that of his patron, Sir +Henry Vane the younger (whom Milton has immortalised in one of the +noblest of sonnets), the head of the Independents, who combined with +the darkest spirit of fanaticism the clear views of the most sagacious +politician. The gratitude of Stubbe lasted through all the changeful +fortunes of the chief of a faction--a long date in the records of +human affection! Stubbe had written against monarchy, the church, the +university, &c.; for which, after the Restoration, he was accused +by his antagonists. He exults in the reproach; he replies with all +that frankness of simplicity, so beautiful amid our artificial +manners. He denies not the charge; he never trims, nor glosses over, +nor would veil, a single part of his conduct. He wrote to serve his +patrons, but never himself. I preserve the whole of this noble +passage in the note.[265] Wood bears witness to his perfect +disinterestedness. He never partook of the prosperity of his patron, +nor mixed with any parties, loving the retirement of his private +studies; and if he scorned and hated one party, the Presbyterians, it +was, says Wood, because his high generous nature detested men "void +of generous souls, sneaking, snivelling, &c." Stubbe appears to have +carried this philosophical indifference towards objects of a higher +interest than those of mere profit; for, at the Restoration, he found +no difficulty in conforming to the Church[266] and to the Government. +The king bestowed on him the title of his physician; yet, for the +sake of making philosophical experiments, Stubbe went to Jamaica, +and intended to have proceeded to Mexico and Peru, pursuing his +profession, but still an adventurer. At length Stubbe returned +home; established himself as a physician at Warwick, where, though he +died early, he left a name celebrated.[267] The fertility of his pen +appears in a great number of philosophical, political, and medical +publications. But all his great learning, the facility of his genius, +his poignant wit, his high professional character, his lofty +independence, his scorn of practising the little mysterious arts of +life, availed nothing; for while he was making himself popular +among his auditors, he was eagerly depreciated by those who would +not willingly allow merit to a man who owned no master, and who +feared no rival. + +Literary coteries were then held at coffee-houses;[268] and there +presided the voluble Stubbe, with "a big and magisterial voice, while +his mind was equal to it," says the characterising Wood; but his +attenuated frame seemed too delicate to hold long so unbroken a +spirit. It was an accident, however, which closed this life of toil +and hurry and petulant genius. Going to a patient at night, Stubbe was +drowned in a very shallow river, "his head (adds our cynic, who had +generously paid the tribute of his just admiration with his strong +peculiarity of style) being then intoxicated with bibbing, but more +with talking and snuffing of powder." + +Such was the adversary of the Royal Society! It is quite in character +that, under the government of Cromwell, he himself should have spread +a taste for what was then called "The New Philosophy" among our youth +and gentlemen, with the view of rendering the clergy contemptible; or, +as he says, "to make them appear egregious fools in matters of common +discourse." He had always a motive for his actions, however opposite +they were; pretending that he was never moved by caprice, but guided +by principle. One of his adversaries, however, has reason to say, that +judging him by his "printed papers, he was a man of excellent +contradictory parts." After the Restoration, he furnished as odd, but +as forcible a reason, for opposing the Royal Society. At that time the +nation, recent from republican ardours, was often panic-struck by +papistical conspiracies, and projects of arbitrary power; and it was +on this principle that he took part against the Society. Influenced by +Dr. Fell and others, he suffered them to infuse these extravagant +opinions into his mind. No private ends appear to have influenced his +changeable conduct; and in the present instance he was sacrificing his +personal feelings to his public principles; for Stubbe was then in the +most friendly correspondence with the illustrious Boyle, the father of +the Royal Society, who admired the ardour of Stubbe, till he found its +inconvenience.[269] + +Stubbe opened his formidable attacks, for they form a series, by +replying to the "Plus Ultra" of Glanvill, with a title as quaint, +"The _Plus Ultra_ reduced to a _Non-plus_, in animadversions on +Mr. Glanvill and the Virtuosi." For a pretence for this violent +attack, he strained a passage in Glanvill; insisting that the honour +of the whole faculty of which he was a member was deeply concerned +to refute Glanvill's assertion, that "the ancient physicians could not +cure a cut finger."--This Glanvill denied he had ever affirmed or +thought;[270] but war once resolved on, a pretext as slight as the +present serves the purpose; and so that an odium be raised against +the enemy, the end is obtained before the injustice is acknowledged. +This is indeed the history of other wars than those of words. The +present was protracted with an hostility unsubduing and unsubdued. +At length the malicious ingenuity, or the heated fancy, of Stubbe, +hardly sketched a political conspiracy, accusing the ROYAL SOCIETY of +having adopted the monstrous projects of CAMPANELLA;--an anomalous +genius, who was confined by the Inquisition the greater part of his +life, and who, among some political reveries, projected the +establishment of a universal empire, though he was for shaking off +the yoke of authority in the philosophical world. He was for one +government and one religion throughout Europe, but in other respects +he desired to leave the minds of men quite free. Campanella was one +of the new lights of the age; and his hardy, though wild genius +much more resembled our Stubbe, who denounced his extravagancies, +than any of the Royal Society, to whom he was so artfully compared. + +This tremendous attack appeared in Stubbe's "Campanella Revived, or an +Enquiry into the History of the Royal Society; whether the Virtuosi +there do not pursue the projects of Campanella, for reducing England +into Popery; relating the quarrel betwixt H. S. and the R. S., &c. +1670."[271] + +Such was the dread which his reiterated attacks caused the Royal +Society, that they employed against him all the petty persecutions of +power and intrigue. "Thirty legions," says Stubbe, alluding to the +famous reply of the philosopher, who would not dispute with a crowned +head, "were to be called to aid you against a young country physician, +who had so long discontinued studies of this nature." However, he +announces that he has finished three more works against the Royal +Society, and has a fourth nearly ready, if it be necessary to prove +that the rhetorical history of the Society by Sprat must be bad, +because "no eloquence can be complete if the subject-matter be +foolish!" His adversaries not only threatened to write his life,[272] +but they represented him to the king as a libeller, who ought to be +whipped at a cart's tail; a circumstance which Stubbe records with the +indignation of a Roman spirit.[273] They stopped his work several +times, and by some stratagem they hindered him from correcting the +press; but nothing could impede the career of his fearless genius. He +treated with infinite ridicule their trivial or their marvellous +discoveries in his "Legends no Histories," and his "Censure on some +Passages of the History of the Royal Society." But while he ridiculed, +he could instruct them; often contributing new knowledge, which the +Royal Society had certainly been proud to have registered in their +history. In his determination of depreciating the novelties of his +day, he disputes even the honour of HARVEY to the discovery of the +circulation of the blood: he attributes it to ANDREAS CÆSALPINUS, who +not only discovered it, but had given it the name of _Circulatio +Sanguinis_.[274] + +Stubbe was not only himself a man of science, but a caustic satirist, +who blends much pleasantry with his bitterness. In the first ardour +of philosophical discovery, the Society, delighted by the acquisition +of new facts, which, however, rarely proved to be important, and were +often ludicrous in their detail, appear to have too much neglected the +arts of reasoning; they did not even practise common discernment, or +what we might term philosophy, in its more enlarged sense.[275] +Stubbe, with no respect for "a Society," though dignified by the +addition of "Royal," says, "a cabinet of virtuosi are but pitiful +reasoners. Ignorance is infectious; and 'tis possible for men to grow +fools by contact. I will speak to the virtuosi in the language of the +Romish Saint Francis (who, in the wilderness, so humbly addressed his +only friends,) '_Salvete, fratres asini! Salvete, fratres lupi!_'" As +for their Transactions and their History, he thinks "they purpose to +grow famous, as the Turks do to gain Paradise, _by treasuring up all +the waste paper they meet with_." He rallies them on some ridiculous +attempts, such as "An Art of Flying;" an art, says Stubbe, in which +they have not so much as effected the most facile part of the attempt, +which is to break their necks! + +Sprat, in his dedication to the king, had said that "the establishment +of the Royal Society was an enterprise equal to the most renowned +actions of the best princes." One would imagine that the notion of a +monarch founding a society for the cultivation of the sciences could +hardly be made objectionable; but, in literary controversy, genius +has the power of wresting all things to its purpose by its own +peculiar force, and the art of placing every object in the light it +chooses, and can thus obtain our attention in spite of our conviction. +I will add the curious animadversion of Stubbe on Sprat's compliment +to the king:-- + +"Never Prince acquired the fame of great and good by any knickknacks--but +by actions of political wisdom, courage, justice," &c. + +Stubbe shows how Dionysius and Nero had been depraved by these +_mechanic philosophers_--that + +"An Aristotelian would never pardon himself if he compared _this_ +heroical enterprise with the actions of our Black Prince or Henry V.; +or with Henry VIII. in demolishing abbeys and rejecting the papal +authority; or Queen Elizabeth's exploits against Spain; or her +restoring the Protestant religion, putting the Bible into English, and +supporting the Protestants beyond sea. But the reason he (Sprat) gives +why the establishment of the Royal Society of experimentators equals +the most renowned actions of the best princes, is such a pitiful one +as Guzman de Alfarache never met with in the whole extent of the +_Hospital of Fools_--'To increase the power, by new arts, of conquered +nations!' These consequences are twisted like the _cordage of Ocnus_, +the God of Sloth, in hell, which are fit for nothing but _to fodder +asses with_. If our historian means by _every little invention to +increase the powers of mankind_, as an enterprise of such renown, he +is deceived; this glory is not due to such as go about with a dog and +a hoop, nor to the practicers of legerdemain, or upon the high or low +rope; not to every mountebank and his man Andrew; all which, with many +other mechanical and experimental philosophers, do in some sort +increase the powers of mankind, and differ no more from some of the +virtuosi, than _a cat in a hole_ doth from _a cat out of a hole_; +betwixt which that inquisitive person ASDRYASDUST TOSSOFFACAN found a +very great resemblance. 'Tis not the increasing of the _powers of +mankind_ by a pendulum watch, nor spectacles whereby divers may see +under water, nor the new ingenuity of apple-roasters, nor every petty +discovery or instrument, must be put in comparison, much less +preferred, before _the protection and enlargement of empires_."[276] + +Had Stubbe's death not occurred, this warfare had probably continued. +He insisted on a complete victory. He had forced the Royal Society to +disclaim their own works, by an announcement that they were not +answerable, as a body, for the various contributions which they gave +the world: an advertisement which has been more than once found +necessary to be renewed. As for their historian Sprat, our intrepid +Stubbe very unexpectedly offered to manifest to the parliament that +this courtly adulator, by his book, was chargeable with high treason; +if they believed that the Royal Society were really engaged so deeply +as he averred in the portentous Cæsarean Popery of Campanella. +Glanvill, who had "insulted all university learning," had been +immolated at the pedestal of Aristotle. "I have done enough," he adds, +"since my animadversions contain more than they all knew; and that +these have shown that the _virtuosi_ are very great impostors, or men +of little reading;" alluding to the various discoveries which they +promulgated as novelties, but which Stubbe had asserted were known to +the ancients and others of a later period. This forms a perpetual +accusation against the inventors and discoverers, who may often +exclaim, "Perish those who have done our good works before us!" "The +Discoveries of the Ancients and Moderns" by Dutens, had this book been +then published, might have assisted our keen investigator; but our +combatant ever proudly met his adversaries single-handed. + +The "Philosophical Transactions" were afterwards accused of another +kind of high treason, against grammar and common sense. It was long +before the collectors of facts practised the art of writing on them; +still later before they could philosophise, as well as observe: Bacon +and Boyle were at first only imitated in their patient industry. When +Sir HANS SLOANE was the secretary of the Royal Society, he, and most +of his correspondents, wrote in the most confused manner imaginable. A +wit of a very original cast, the facetious Dr. KING,[277] took +advantage of their perplexed and often unintelligible descriptions; +of the meanness of their style, which humbled even the great objects +of nature; of their credulity that heaped up marvels, and their vanity +that prided itself on petty discoveries, and invented a new species of +satire. SLOANE, a name endeared to posterity, whose life was that of +an enthusiast of science, and who was the founder of a national +collection; and his numerous friends, many of whose names have +descended with the regard due to the votaries of knowledge, fell the +victims. Wit is an unsparing leveller. + +The new species of literary burlesque which King seems to have +invented, consists in selecting the very expressions and absurd +passages from the original he ridiculed, and framing out of them a +droll dialogue or a grotesque narrative, he adroitly inserted his own +remarks, replete with the keenest irony, or the driest sarcasm.[278] +Our arch wag says, "The bulls and blunders which Sloane and his +friends so naturally pour forth cannot be misrepresented, so careful +I am in producing them." King still moves the risible muscles of his +readers. "The Voyage to Cajamai," a travestie of Sloane's valuable +"History of Jamaica," is still a peculiar piece of humour; and it has +been rightly distinguished as "one of the severest and merriest +satires that was ever written in prose."[279] The author might indeed +have blushed at the labour bestowed on these drolleries; he might have +dreaded that humour so voluminous might grow tedious; but King, often +with a LUCIANIC spirit, with flashes of RABELAIS, and not seldom with +the causticity of his friend Swift, dissipated life in literary +idleness, with parodies and travesties on most of his contemporaries; +and he made these little things often more exquisite at the cost of +consuming on them a genius capable of better. A parodist or a +burlesquer is a wit who is perpetually on the watch to catch up or to +disguise an author's words, to swell out his defects, and pick up his +blunders--to amuse the public! King was a wit, who lived on the +highway of literature, appropriating, for his own purpose, the +property of the most eminent passengers, by a dextrous mode no other +had hit on. What an important lesson the labours of King offer to real +genius! Their temporary humour lost with their prototypes becomes like +a paralytic limb, which, refusing to do its office, impedes the action +of the vital members. + +WOTTON, in summing up his "Reflections upon Ancient and Modern +Learning," was doubtful whether knowledge would improve in the next +age proportionably as it had done in his own. "The humour of the age +is visibly altered," he says, "from what it had been thirty years ago. +Though the Royal Society has weathered the rude attacks of Stubbe," +yet "the sly insinuations of the _Men of Wit_," with "the _public +ridiculing_ of all who spend their time and fortunes in scientific or +curious researches, have so taken off the edge of those who have +opulent fortunes and a love to learning, that these studies begin to +be contracted amongst physicians and mechanics."--He treats King with +good-humour. "A man is got but a very little way (in philosophy) that +is concerned as often as such a merry gentleman as Dr. King shall +think fit to make himself sport."[280] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [253] Some may be curious to have these monkish terms defined. + _Causes_ are distinguished by Aristotle into four kinds:--The + material cause, _ex qua_, out of which things are made; + the formal cause, _per quam_, by which a thing is that + which it is, and nothing else; the efficient cause, _a qua_, + by the agency of which anything is produced; and the final + cause, _propter quam_, the end for which it is produced. Such + are his notions in his Phys. 1. ii. c. iii., referred to by + Brucker and Formey in their Histories of Philosophy. Of the + Scholastic Metaphysics, _Sprat_, the historian of the Royal + Society, observes, "that the lovers of that cloudy knowledge + boast that it is an excellent instrument to refine and + make subtle the minds of men. But there may be _a greater + excess in the subtlety of men's wits_ than in their + _thickness_; as we see those threads, which are of too fine + a spinning, are found to be more useless than those which are + homespun and gross."--_History of the Royal Society_, p. 326. + + In the history of human folly, often so closely connected with + that of human knowledge, some of the schoolmen (the + commentators on Aquinas and others) prided themselves, and + were even admired for their impenetrable obscurity! One of + them, and our countryman, is singularly commended by Cardan, + for that "only one of his arguments was enough to puzzle all + posterity; and that, when he had grown old, he wept because he + could not understand his own books." Baker, in his Reflections + upon Learning, who had examined this schoolman, declares that + his obscurity is such, as if he never meant to be understood. + The extravagances of the schoolmen are, however, not always + those of Aristotle. Pope, and the wits of that day, like these + early members of the Royal Society, decried Aristotle, who did + not probably fall in the way of their studies. His great + imperfections are in natural philosophy; but he still + preserves his eminence for his noble treatises of Ethics, and + Politics, and Poetics, notwithstanding the imperfect state in + which these have reached us. Dr. Copleston and Dr. Gillies + have given an energetic testimony to their perpetual value. + Pope, in satirising the University as a nest of dunces, + considered the followers of Aristotle as so many stalled oxen, + "_fat bulls of Basan_." + + "A hundred head of Aristotle's friends." + DUNCIAD. + + Swift has drawn an allegorical personage of Aristotle, by + which he describes the nature of his works. "He stooped much, + and made use of a staff; his visage was meagre, his hair lank + and thin, and his voice hollow;" descriptive of his abrupt + conciseness, his harsh style, the obscurities of his + dilapidated text, and the deficiency of feeling, which his + studied compression, his deep sagacity, and his analytical + genius, so frequently exhibit. + + [254] Sprat makes an ingenious observation on the notion of those who + declared that "_the most learned ages are still the most + atheistical, and the ignorant the most devout_." He says this + had become almost proverbial, but he shows that piety is + little beholden to those who make this distinction. "The + Jewish law forbids us to offer up to God a sacrifice that has + a blemish; but these men bestow the most excellent of men on + the devil, and only assign to religion those men and those + times which have the greatest blemish of human nature, even a + defect in their knowledge and understanding."--_History of the + Royal Society_, p. 356. + + [255] Science, at its birth, is as much the child of imagination as + curiosity; and, in rapture at the new instrument it has + discovered, it impatiently magnifies its power. To the + infant, all improvements are wonders; it chronicles even its + dreams, and has often described what it never has seen, + delightfully deceived; the cold insults of the cynics, the + wits, the dull, and the idle, maliciously mortify the + infant in its sports, till it returns to slow labour and + patient observation. It is rather curious, however, that + when science obtains a certain state of maturity, it is + liable to be attacked by the same fits of the marvellous + which affected its infancy;--and the following extract from + one of the enthusiastic _Virtuosi_ in the infancy of science, + rivals the visions of "the perfectibility of man" of which we + hear so much at this late period. Some, perhaps, may consider + these strong tendencies of the imagination, breaking out at + these different periods in the history of science, to + indicate results, of which the mind feels a consciousness, + which the philosopher should neither indulge nor check. + + "Should these heroes go on (the Royal Society) as they + have happily begun, they will fill the world with wonders; + and posterity will find many things that are now but + _rumours_, verified into practical _realities_. It may be, + some ages hence, a _voyage_ to the southern unknown tracts, + yea, possibly the _Moon_, will not be more strange than one + to America. To them that come after us, it may be as + ordinary to _buy a pair of wings_ to fly into remotest + regions, as now _a pair of boots_ to ride a journey. And to + confer at the distance of the Indies, by _sympathetic + conveyances_, may be as usual to future times, as to us in a + literary correspondence. The restoration of _grey hairs to + juvenility_, and renewing the _exhausted marrow_, may at + length, be effected without a miracle; and the turning the + now-comparative _desert world_ into a _paradise_, may not + improbably be expected from late _agriculture_. + + "Those that judge by the narrowness of former principles and + successes, will smile at these paradoxical expectations. But + the great inventions of latter ages, which altered the face of + all things, in their naked proposals and mere suppositions, + were to former times as ridiculous. To have talked of a new + earth to have been discovered, had been a romance to + antiquity; and to sail without sight of stars or shores, by + the guidance of a mineral, a story more absurd than the + flight of Dædalus. That men should speak after their tongues + were ashes, or communicate with each other in differing + hemispheres, before the invention of letters, could not but + have been thought a fiction. Antiquity would not have + believed the almost incredible force of our cannons, and + would as coldly have entertained the wonders of the + telescope."--GLANVILL, _Scepsis Scientifica_, p. 133. + + [256] Evelyn, whose elegant mind, one would have imagined, had been + little susceptible of such vehement anger, in the preface + to his "Sylva," scolds at no common rate: "Well-meaning + people are led away by the noise of a few ignorant and + comical buffoons, who, with an insolence suitable to their + understanding, are still crying out, _What have the Society + done?_" He attributes all the opposition and ridicule the + Society encountered to a personage not usual to be introduced + into a philosophical controversy--"The Enemy of Mankind." But + it was well to denounce the devil himself, as the Society had + nearly lost the credit of fearing him. Evelyn insists that + "next to the propagation of our most holy faith," that of the + new philosophy was desirable both for the king and the + nation; "for," he adds, "it will survive the triumphs of + the proudest conquerors; since, when all their pomp and + noise is ended, they are those _little things in black_, whom + now in scorn they term philosophers and fops, to whom they + must be obliged for making their names outlast the pyramids, + whose founders are as unknown as the heads of the Nile." Why + Evelyn designates the philosophers as _little things in + black_, requires explanation. Did they affect a dress of + this colour in the reign of Charles II., or does he allude + to the dingy appearance of the chemists? + + [257] It is not easy to credit the simplicity of these early + inquirers. In a Memorial in Sprat's History, entitled, + "Answers returned by Sir Philliberto Vernatti to certain + Inquiries sent by order of the Royal Society;" among some of + the most extraordinary questions and descriptions of + nonentities, which must have fatigued Sir Philliberto, who + then resided in Batavia, I find the present:--"Qy. 8. What + ground there may be for that relation concerning _horns + taking root, and growing about Goa_?" It seems the question + might as well have been asked at London, and answered by + some of the members themselves; for Sir Philliberto + gravely replied--"Inquiring about this, a friend laughed, + and told me it was a jeer put upon the Portuguese, because + the women of Goa are counted none of the chastest." Inquiries + of this nature, and often the most trivial objects set off + with a singular minuteness of description, tempted the laugh + of the scoffers. Their great adversary, Stubbe, ridiculing + their mode of giving instructions for inquiries, regrets + that the paper he received from them had been lost, otherwise + he would have published it. "The great Mr. Boyle, when he + brought it, tendered it with blushing and disorder," at the + simplicity of the Royal Society! And indeed the royal founder + himself, who, if he was something of a philosopher, was much + more of a wit, set the example. The Royal Society, on the day + of its creation, was the whetstone of the wit of their + patron. When Charles II. dined with the members on the + occasion of constituting them a Royal Society, towards the + close of the evening he expressed his satisfaction in being + the first English monarch who had laid a foundation for a + society who proposed that their sole studies should be + directed to the investigation of the arcana of nature; and + added with that peculiar gravity of countenance he usually + wore on such occasions, that among such learned men he now + hoped for a solution to a question which had long perplexed + him. The case he thus stated:--"Suppose two pails of water + were fixed in two different scales that were equally + poised, and which weighed equally alike, and that two live + bream, or small fish, were put into either of these pails, he + wanted to know the reason why that pail, with such addition, + should not weigh more than the other pail which stood + against it." Every one was ready to set at quiet the royal + curiosity; but it appeared that every one was giving a + different opinion. One, at length, offered so ridiculous a + solution, that another of the members could not refrain from + a loud laugh; when the King, turning to him, insisted that he + should give his sentiments as well as the rest. This he did + without hesitation, and told his majesty, in plain terms, that + he denied the fact! On which the King, in high mirth, + exclaimed--"Odds fish, brother, you are in the right!" The + jest was not ill designed. The story was often useful, to cool + the enthusiasm of the scientific visionary, who is apt + often to account for what never has existed. + + [258] Pope was severe in his last book of the _Dunciad_ on the + students of insects, flowers, &c.; and R.O. Cambridge followed + out the idea of a mad virtuoso in his "Scribleriad," which he + has made up from the absurd or trifling parts of natural + history and philosophy. His hero is-- + + "A much-enduring man, whose curious soul + Bore him with ceaseless toil from pole to pole; + Insatiate endless knowledge to obtain, + Thro' woes by land, thro' dangers on the main." + + He collects curiosities from all parts of the world; studies + occult and natural sciences; and is at last beatified by + electrical glories at a meeting of hermetical philosophers. + This poem is elucidated by notes, which point the allusions to + the works or doings of the old philosophers.--ED. + + [259] Evelyn, who could himself be a wit occasionally, was, however, + much annoyed by the scorners. He applies to these wits a + passage in Nehemiah ii. 19, which describes those who laughed + at the _builders of Jerusalem_. "These are the Sanballats, + the Horonites, who disturb our men upon the wall; but _let + us rise up and build_!" He describes these Horonites of wit as + "magnificent fops, whose talents reach but to the adjusting of + their perukes." But the Royal Society was attacked from other + quarters, which ought to have assisted them. Evelyn, in his + valuable treatise on forest-trees, had inserted a new + project for making cider; and Stubbe insisted, that in + consequence "much cider had been spoiled within these three + years, by following the directions published by the + commands of the Royal Society." They afterwards announced + that they never considered themselves as answerable for + their own memoirs, which gave Stubbe occasion to boast that + he had forced them to deny what they had written. A passage + in Hobbes's "Considerations upon his Reputation, &c.," is as + remarkable for the force of its style as for that of sense, + and may be applicable to _some_ at this day, notwithstanding + the progress of science, and the importance attached to + their busy idleness. + + "Every man that hath spare money can get furnaces, and buy + coals. Every man that hath spare money can be at the charge of + making great moulds, &c., and so may have the best and + greatest telescopes. They can get engines made, recipients + made, and try conclusions; but they are never the more + philosophers for all this. 'Tis laudable to bestow money on + curious or useful delights, but that is none of the praises of + a philosopher." p. 53. + + [260] Glanvill was a learned man, but evidently superstitious, + particularly in all that related to witchcraft and apparitions; + the reality of both being insisted on by him in a series of + books which he published at various periods of his life, and + which he continually worked upon with new arguments and + instances, in spite of all criticism or opposition. He was a + member of the Royal Society, prebend of Worcester, and rector + of Bath, where he died, October 4, 1680.--ED. + + [261] The ninth chapter in the "Plus Ultra," entitled "The Credit of + Optic Glasses vindicated against a disputing man, who is + afraid to believe his eyes against Aristotle," gives one of + the ludicrous incidents of this philosophical visit. The + disputer raised a whimsical objection against the science of + optics, insisting that the newly-invented glasses, the + telescope, the microscope, &c., were all deceitful and + fallacious; for, said the Aristotelian, "take two spectacles, + use them at the same time, and you will not see so well as + with one singly--_ergo_, your microscopes and telescopes are + impostors." How this was forced into a syllogism does not + appear; but still the conclusion ran, "We can see better + through one pair than two, therefore all perspectives are + fallacious!" + + One proposition for sense, + And t'other for convenience, + + will make a tolerable syllogism for a logician in despair. The + Aristotelian was, however, somewhat puzzled by a problem which + he had himself raised--"Why we cannot see with two pair of + spectacles better than with one singly?" for the man of axioms + observed, "_Vis unita fortior_," "United strength _is + stronger_." It is curious enough, in the present day, to + observe the sturdy Aristotelian denying these discoveries, and + the praises of optics, and "the new glasses," by Glanvill. "If + this philosopher," says the member of the Royal Society, "had + spared some of those thoughts to the profitable doctrine of + optics which he hath spent upon _genus_ and _species_, we had + never heard of this objection." And he replies to the paradox + which the Aristotelian had raised by "Why cannot he write + better with _two pens_ than with a _single one_, since _Vis + unita fortior_? When he hath answered this _Quære_, he hath + resolved his own. The reason he gave why it should be so, is + the reason why 'tis not." Such are the squabbles of infantine + science, which cannot as yet discover causes, although it has + ascertained effects. + + [262] This appears in chap. xviii. of the "Plus Ultra." With great + simplicity Glanvill relates:--"At this period of the + conference, the disputer lost all patience, and with sufficient + spite and rage told me 'that I was an atheist!--that he had + indeed desired my acquaintance, but would have no more on't,' + and so turned his back and went away, giving me time only to + answer that 'I had no great reason to lament the loss of an + acquaintance that could be so easily forfeited.'" The + following chapter vindicates the Royal Society from the + charge of atheism! to assure the world they were not to be + ranked "among the black conspirators against Heaven!" We see + the same objections again occurring in the modern system of + geology. + + [263] This book was so scarce in 1757, that the writer in the + "Biographia Britannica" observes that this "small but elegant + treatise is still very much esteemed by the curious, being + become so scarce as not to be met with in other hands." Oldys, + in 1738, had, in his "British Librarian," selected this work + among the scarce and valuable books of which he has presented + us with so many useful analyses. + + The history of books is often curious. At one period a book is + scarce and valuable, and at another is neither one nor the + other. This does not always depend on the caprice of the + public, or what may be called literary fashions. Glanvill's + "Plus Ultra" is probably now of easy occurrence; like a + prophecy fully completed, the uncertain event being verified, + the prophet has ceased to be remembered. + + [264] His early history is given by Wood in his usual style. His + father had been a Lincolnshire parson, who was obliged to + leave his poor curacy because "anabaptistically inclined," and + fled to Ireland, whence his mother and her children were + obliged to return on the breaking out of the rebellion of + 1641, and landed at Liverpool; afterward, says Wood, "they all + beated it on the hoof thence to London, where she, gaining a + comfortable subsistence by her needle, sent her son Henry, + being then ten years of age, to the collegiate school at + Westminster. At that time Mr. Richard Busbie was the chief + master, who finding the boy have pregnant parts to a miracle, + did much favour and encourage him. At length Sir Henry Vane, + junior (the same who was beheaded on Tower Hill, 1662), coming + casually into the school with Dr. Lambert Osbaldiston, he did, + at the master's motion, take a kindness to the said boy, and + gave him the liberty to resort to his house, and to fill that + belly which otherwise had no sustenance but what one penny + could purchase for his dinner: and as for his breakfast, he + had none, except he got it by making somebody's exercise. Soon + after, Sir Henry got him to be a king's scholar; and his + master perceiving him to be beyond his years in proficiency, + he gave him money to buy books, clothes, and his teaching for + nothing." Such was the humble beginning of a learned man, who + lived to be a formidable opponent to the whole body of the + Royal Society.--ED. + + [265] When Sprat and Glanvill, and others, had threatened to write his + life, Stubbe draws this apology for it, while he shows how + much, in a time of revolutions, the Royal Society might want + one for themselves. + + "I was so far from being daunted at those rumours and threats, + that I enlarged much this book thereupon, and resolved to + charge the enemy home when I saw how weak a resistance I + should meet with. I knew that recriminations were no answers. + I understood well that the passages of a life like mine, spent + in different places with much privacy and obscurity, was + unknown to them; that even those actions they would fix their + greatest calumnies upon, were such as that they understood not + the grounds, nor had they learning enough and skill to + condemn. I was at Westminster School when the late king was + beheaded. I never took covenant nor engagement. In sum, _I + served my patron_. I endeavoured to express my _gratitude_ to + him who had relieved me, being a _child_, and in great poverty + (the rebellion in Ireland having deprived my parents of all + means wherewith to educate me); who made me a king's scholar; + preferred me to Christchurch College, Oxon.; and who often + supplied me with money when my tender years gave him little + hopes of any return; and who protected me amidst the + _Presbyterians_, and _Independents_, and other _sects_. With + none thereof did I contract any relation or acquaintance; my + familiarity never engaged me with ten of that party; and my + genius and humour inclined me to fewer. I neither enriched, + nor otherwise advanced myself, during the late troubles; and + shared the common _odium_ and _dangers_, not _prosperity_, + with my _benefactor_. I believe no generous man, who hath the + least sense of bravery, will condemn me; and I profess I am + ashamed rather to have done so little, than that I have done + so much, for him that so frankly obliged a _stranger_ and a + _child_. When Gracchus was put to death for sedition, that + faithful friend and accomplice of his was dismissed, and + mentioned with honour by all posterity, who, when he was + impeached, _justified his treason_ by the avowing a + _friendship_ so great that, whatever Gracchus had commanded + him, he would not have declined it. And being further + questioned, whether he would have burned the capitol at his + bidding? he replied again, that he should have done it; but + Gracchus would not bid such a thing. They that knew me + heretofore, know I have a thousand times thus apologised for + myself; adding, that in _vassals_ and _slaves_, and persons + _transcendently obliged_, their fidelity exempted them from + all ignominy, though the principal _lords_, _masters_, and + _patrons_, might be accounted _traitors_. My youth and other + circumstances incapacitated me from rendering him any great + services; but _all that I did_, and _all that I writ_, had no + other aim than _his interest_; nor do I care how much any man + can inodiate my former writings, as long as they were + subservient to him. + + "Having made this declaration, let them (or more able men + than they) write the life of a man who hath some virtues of + the most celebrated times, and hath preserved himself free + from the vices of these. My reply shall be a scornful + silence."--Preface to Stubbe's "Legends no Histories," 1670. + + [266] His reasons for conformity on these important objects are given + with his usual simplicity. "I have at length removed all the + umbrages I ever lay under. I have joined myself to the Church + of England, not only upon account of its being _publicly + imposed_ (which in _things indifferent_ is no small + consideration, as I learned from the Scottish transactions at + Perth), but because it is _the least defining_, and + consequently _the most comprehensive and fitting to be + national_." + + [267] He died at Bath in 1676, where he had gone in attendance upon + several of his patients from the neighbourhood of Warwick, + where he for a long time practised as a physician. His old + antagonist Glanvill was at that time rector of the Abbey + Church in which he was buried, and so became the preacher of + his funeral sermon. Wood says he "said no great matter of + him."--ED. + + [268] Pope said to Spence, "It was Dryden who made Will's coffee-house + the great resort for the wits of his time. After his death + Addison transferred it to Button's, who had been a servant of + his." Will's coffee-house was at the corner of Bow-street, + Covent-garden, and Button's close by in Russell-street.--ED. + + [269] "Some years after the king's restoration he took pet against the + Royal Society, (for which before he had a great veneration,) + and being encouraged by Dr. Jo. Fell, no admirer of that + society, became in his writings an inveterate enemy against it + for several pretended reasons: among which were, first, that + the members thereof intended to bring a contempt upon ancient + and solid learning, upon Aristotle, to undermine the + universities, and reduce them to nothing, or at least to be + very inconsiderable. Secondly, that at long running to destroy + the established religion, and involve the nation in popery, + and I know not what, &c. So dexterous was his pen, whether + _pro_ or _con_, that few or none could equal, answer, or come + near him. He was a person of most admirable parts, had a most + prodigious memory, though his enemies would not acknowledge + it, but said he read indexes; was the most noted Latinist and + Grecian of his age; and after he had been put upon it, was so + great an enemy to the _virtuosi_ of his time, I mean those of + the Royal Society, that, as he saith, they alarmed him with + dangers and troubles even to the hazard of his life and + fortunes."--_Wood._ + + [270] The aspersed passage in Glanvill is this: "The philosophers of + elder times, though their wits were excellent, yet the way + they took was not like to bring much advantage to knowledge, + or any of the uses of human life, being, for the most part, + that of _Notion_ and _Dispute_, which still runs round in a + labyrinth of talk, but advanceth nothing. _These methods_, in + so many centuries, _never brought the world so much practical + beneficial knowledge as could help towards the cure of a cut + finger_." Plus Ultra, p. 7.--Stubbe, with all the malice of a + wit, drew his inference, and turned the point unfairly against + his adversary! + + I shall here observe how much some have to answer, in a + literary court of conscience, when they unfairly depreciate + the works of a contemporary; and how idly the literary + historian performs his task, whenever he adopts the character + of a writer from another who is his adversary. This may be + particularly shown in the present instance. + + MORHOFF, in his _Polyhistor Litteraria_, censures the _Plus + Ultra_ of Glanvill, conceiving that he had treated with + contempt all ages and nations but his own. The German + bibliographer had never seen the book, but took its character + from Stubbe and Meric Casaubon. The design of the _Plus + Ultra_, however, differs little from the other works of + Glanvill, which Morhoff had seen, and has highly commended. + + [271] The political reverie of Campanella was even suspected to cover + very opposite designs to those he seemed to be proposing to + the world. He attempted to turn men's minds from all inquiries + into politics and religion, to mere philosophical ones. He + wished that the passions of mankind might be so directed, as + to spend their force in philosophical discussions, and in + improvements in science. He therefore insisted on a uniformity + on those great subjects which have so long agitated modern + Europe; for the ancients seem to have had no wars merely for + religion, and perhaps none for modes of government. One may + discover an enlightened principle in the project; but the + character of Campanella was a jumble of sense, subtlety, and + wildness. He probably masked his real intentions. He appears + an advocate for the firm establishment of the papal despotism; + yet he aims to give an enlightened principle to regulate the + actions of mankind. The intentions of a visionary are + difficult to define. If he were really an advocate for + despotism, what occasioned an imprisonment for the greater + part of his days? Did he lay his project much deeper than the + surface of things? Did Campanella imagine that, if men were + allowed to philosophise with the utmost freedom, the despotism + of religion and politics would dissolve away in the weakness + of its quiescent state? + + The project is a chimera--but, according to the projector, the + political and religious freedom of _England_ formed its + greatest obstacle. Part of his plan, therefore, includes the + means of weakening the Insular heretics by intestine + divisions--a mode not seldom practised by the continental + powers of France and Spain. + + The political project of this fervid genius was, that his + "Prince," the Spanish king, should be the mightiest sovereign + in Europe. For this, he was first to prohibit all theological + controversies from the Transalpine schools, those of Germany, + &c. "A controversy," he observes, "always shows a kind of + victory, and may serve as an authority to a bad cause." He + would therefore admit of no commentaries on the Bible, to + prevent all diversity of opinion. He would have revived the + ancient philosophical sects, instead of the modern religious + sects. + + The _Greek_ and the _Hebrew_ languages were not to be taught! + for the republican freedom of the ancient Jews and Grecians + had often proved destructive of monarchy. Hobbes, in the bold + scheme of his _Leviathan_, seems to have been aware of this + fatality. Campanella would substitute for these ancient + languages the study of the _Arabic_ tongue! The troublesome + Transalpine wits might then employ themselves in confuting the + Turks, rather than in vexing the Catholics; so closely did + sagacity and extravagance associate in the mind of this wild + genius. But _Mathematical_ and _Astronomical_ schools, and + other institutions for the encouragement of the _mechanical + arts_, and particularly those to which the northern genius is + most apt, as navigation, &c., were to occupy the studies of + the people, divert them from exciting fresh troubles, and + withdraw them from theological factions. Campanella thus would + make men great in science, having first made them slaves in + politics; a philosophical people were to be the subjects of + despots--not an impossible event! + + His plan, remarkable enough, of _weakening the English_, I + give in his words:--"No better way can possibly be found than + by causing divisions and dissensions among them, and by + continually keeping up the same; which will furnish the + Spaniard and the French with advantageous opportunities. As + for their religion, which is a moderated Calvinism, that + cannot be so easily extinguished and rooted out there, unless + there were some schools set up in Flanders, where the English + have great commerce, by means of which there may be scattered + abroad the seeds of schism and division. These people being of + a nature which is still desirous of novelties and change, they + are easily wrought over to anything." These _schools_ were + tried at Douay in Flanders, and at Valladolid in Spain, and + other places. They became nests of rebellion for the English + Catholics; or for any one, who, being discontented with + government, was easily converted to any religion which aimed + to overturn the British Constitution. The _secret history_ of + the Roman Catholics in England remains yet to be told: they + indeed had their martyrs and their heroes; but the _public + effects_ appear in the frequent executions which occurred in + the reigns of Elizabeth and James. + + Stubbe appears to have imagined that the ROYAL SOCIETY was + really formed on the principle of Campanella; to withdraw the + people from intermeddling with _politics_ and _religion_, by + engaging them merely in philosophical pursuits.--The reaction + of the public mind is an object not always sufficiently + indicated by historians. The vile hypocrisy and mutual + persecutions of the numerous fanatics occasioned very relaxed + and tolerant principles of religion at the Restoration; as, + the democratic fury having spent itself, too great an + indulgence was now allowed to monarchy. Stubbe was alarmed + that, should Popery be established, the crown of England would + become feudatory to foreign power, and embroil the nation in + the restitution of all the abbey lands, of which, at the + Reformation, the Church had so zealously been plundered. He + was still further alarmed that the _virtuosi_ would influence + the education of our youth to these purposes; "an evil," says + he, "which has been guarded against by our ancestors in + founding _free-schools_, by uniformity of instruction + cementing men's minds." We now smile at these terrors; perhaps + they were sometimes real. The absolute necessity of strict + conformity to the prevalent religion of Europe was avowed in + that unrivalled scheme of despotism, which menaced to efface + every trace of popular freedom, and the independence of + nations, under the dominion of Napoleon. + + [272] To this threat of writing his life, we have already noticed the + noble apology he has drawn up for the versatility of his + opinions. See p. 347. At the moment of the Restoration it + was unwise for any of the parties to reproach another for + their opinions or their actions. In a national revolution, + most men are implicated in the general reproach; and Stubbe + said, on this occasion, that "he had observed worse faces in + the society than his own." Waller, and Sprat, and Cowley had + equally commemorated the protectorship of Cromwell and the + restoration of Charles. Our satirist insidiously congratulates + himself that "_he_ had never compared Oliver the regicide to + Moses, or his son to Joshua;" nor that he had ever written any + Pindaric ode, "dedicated to the happy memory of the most + renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector:" nothing to recommend + "the sacred urn" of that blessed spirit to the veneration of + posterity; as if + + "His _fame_, like men, the elder it doth grow, + Will of itself turn _whiter_ too, + Without what needless art can do." + + These lines were, I think, taken from Sprat himself! Stubbe + adds, it would be "imprudent in them to look beyond the act of + indemnity and oblivion, which was more necessary to the Royal + Society than to me, who joined with no party, &c."--_Preface + to "Legends no Histories."_ + + [273] He has described this intercourse of his enemies at court with + the king, where, when this punishment was suggested, "a + generous personage, altogether unknown to me, being present, + bravely and frankly interposed, saying, that 'whatever I was, + I was a Roman; that Englishmen were not so precipitously to be + condemned to so exemplary a punishment; that representing that + book to be a libel against the king was too remote a + consequence to be admitted of in a nation free-born, and + governed by laws, and tender of ill precedents.'" It was a + noble speech, in the relaxed politics of the court of Charles + II. He who made it deserved to have had his name more + explicitly told: he is designated as "that excellent + Englishman, the great ornament of this age, nation, and House + of Commons; he whose single worth balanceth much of the + debaucheries, follies, and impertinences of the kingdom."--_A + Reply unto the Letter written to Mr. Henry Stubbe, Oxford, + 1671_, p. 20. + + [274] Stubbe gives some curious information on this subject. Harvey + published his Treatise at Frankfort, 1628, but Cæsalpinus's + work had appeared in 1593. Harvey adopted the notion, and more + fully and perspicuously proved it. I shall give what Stubbe + says. "Harvey, in his two Answers to Riolan, nowhere asserts + the invention so to himself, as to deny that he had the + intimation or notion from Cæsalpinus; and his silence I take + for a tacit confession. His _ambition of glory_ made him + _willing to be thought the author of a paradox_ he had so + illustrated, and brought upon the stage, where _it lay + unregarded_, and in all probability buried in oblivion; yet + such was his modesty, as not to vindicate it to himself by + telling a lie."--STUBBE'S _Censure_, &c., p. 112. + + I give this literary anecdote, as it enters into the history + of most discoveries, of which the _improvers_, rather than the + _inventors_, are usually the most known to the world. Bayle, + who wrote much later than Stubbe, asserts the same, and has + preserved the entire passage, art. _Cæsalpinus_. It is said + Harvey is more expressly indebted to a passage in Servetus, + which Wotton has given in the preface to his "Reflections on + Ancient and Modern Learning," edition 1725. The notion was + probably then afloat, and each alike contributed to its + development. Thus it was disputed with Copernicus, whether his + great discovery of a fixed sun, and the earth wheeling round + that star, was his own; others had certainly observed it; yet + the invention was still Copernican: for that great genius + alone corrected, extended, and gave perfection to a hint, till + it expanded to a system. + + So gradual have often been the great inventions of genius. + What others _conjectured_, and some _discovered_, Harvey + _demonstrated_. The fate of Harvey's discovery is a curious + instance of that patience and fortitude which genius must too + often exert in respect to itself. Though Harvey lived to his + eightieth year, he hardly witnessed his great discovery + established before he died; and it has been said, that he was + the only one of his contemporaries who lived to see it in some + repute. No physician adopted it; and when it got into vogue, + they then disputed whether he was the inventor! Sir William + Temple denied not only the discovery, but the doctrine of the + Circulation of the Blood. "Sense can hardly allow it; which," + says he, "in this dispute must be satisfied as well as reason, + before mankind will concur." + + [275] Stubbe has an eloquent passage, which describes the philosophy + of science. The new Experimental School had perhaps too wholly + rejected some virtues of the old one; the cultivation of the + human understanding, as well as the mere observation on the + facts that they collected; an error which has not been + entirely removed. + + "That art of reasoning by which the prudent are discriminated + from fools, which methodiseth and facilitates our discourses, + which informs us of the validity of consequences and the + probability of arguments, and manifests the fallacies of + impostors; that art which gives life to solid eloquence, and + which renders Statesmen, Divines, Physicians, and Lawyers + accomplished; how is this cried down and vilified by the + ignoramuses of these days! What contempt is there raised upon + the disputative Ethics of Aristotle and the Stoics; and those + moral instructions, which have produced the Alexanders and the + Ptolemies, the Pompeys and the Ciceroes, are now slighted in + comparison of _day-labouring_! Did we live at Sparta, where + the daily employments were the exercises of substantial virtue + and gallantry, and _men_, like _setting dogs_, were rather + _bred up_ unto, than _taught_ reason and worth, it were a more + tolerable proposal (though the different policy of these times + would not admit of it); but this _working_, so recommended, is + but the _feeding of carp in the air_, &c. As for the study of + Politics, and all critical learning, these are either + pedantical, or tedious, to those who have _a shorter way of + studying men_."--_Preface to "Legends no Histories."_ + + [276] "Legends no Histories," p. 5. + + [277] Dr. King was allied to the families of Clarendon and Rochester; + he took a degree as Doctor of Civil Law, and soon got into + great practice. "He afterwards went with the Earl of Pembroke, + Lord-Lieutenant, to Ireland, where he became Judge Advocate, + Sole Commissioner of the Prizes, Keeper of the Records, + Vicar-General to the Lord Primate of Ireland; was countenanced + by persons of the highest rank, and might have made a fortune. + But so far was he from heaping up riches, that he returned to + England with no other treasure than a few merry poems and + humorous essays, and returned to his student's place in Christ + Church."--_Enc. Brit._ He was assisted by Bolingbroke; but + when his patronage failed, Swift procured him the situation of + editor to "Barber's Gazette." He ultimately took to drinking; + Lintot the bookseller, told Pope, "I remember Dr. King could + write verses in a tavern three hours after he could not + speak." His last patron was Lord Clarendon, and he died in + apartments he had provided for him in London, Dec. 25, 1712, + and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey at the + expense of his lordship.--ED. + + [278] Sloane describes Clark, the famous posture-master, "Phil. + Trans." No. 242, certainly with the wildest grammar, but with + many curious particulars; the gentleman in one of Dr. King's + Dialogues inquires the secretary's opinion of the causes of + this man's wonderful pliability of limbs; a question which + Sloane had thus solved, with colloquial ease: it depended upon + "bringing the body to it, by using himself to it." + + In giving an account of "a child born without a brain"--"Had + it lived long enough," said King, "it would have made an + excellent publisher of Philosophical Transactions!" + + Sloane presented the Royal Society with "a figure of a + Chinese, representing one of that nation using an ear-picker, + and expressing great satisfaction therein."--"Whatever + pleasure," said that learned physician, "the Chinese may take + in thus picking their ears, I am certain most people in these + parts, who have had their hearing impaired, have had such + misfortune first come to them by picking their ears too + much."--He is so _curious_, says King, that the secretary took + as much satisfaction in looking upon the ear-picker, as the + Chinese could do in picking their ears! + + But "What drowning is"--that "Hanging is only apoplexy!" that + "Men cannot swallow when they are dead!" that "No fish die of + fevers!" that "Hogs s--t soap, and cows s--t fire!" that the + secretary had "Shells, called _Blackmoor's-teeth_, I suppose + from their _whiteness_!" and the learned RAY'S, that grave + naturalist, incredible description of "a very curious little + instrument!" I leave to the reader and Dr. King. + + [279] Sir Hans Sloane was unhappily not insensible to these ludicrous + assaults, and in the preface to his "History of Jamaica," + 1707, a work so highly prized for its botanical researches, + absolutely anticipated this fatal facetiousness, for thus he + delivers himself:--"Those who strive to make ridiculous + anything of this kind, and think themselves great wits, but + are very ignorant, and understand nothing of the argument, + these, if one were afraid of them, and consulted his own ease, + might possibly hinder the publication of any such work, the + efforts to be expected from them, making possibly some + impression upon persons of equal dispositions; but considering + that I have the approbation of others, whose judgment, + knowledge, &c., I have great reason to value; and considering + that these sorts of men have been in all ages ready to do the + like, not only to ordinary persons and their equals, but even + to abuse their prince and blaspheme their Maker, I shall, as I + have ever since I seriously considered this matter, think of + and treat them with the greatest contempt." + + [280] Dr. King's dispersed works have fortunately been collected by + Mr. Nichols, with ample illustrations, in three vols. 8vo, + 1776. The "Useful Transactions in Philosophy and other sorts + of Learning," form a collection of ludicrous dissertations + of Antiquarianism, Natural Philosophy, Criticism, &c., where + his own peculiar humour combines with his curious reading. [In + this he burlesqued the proceedings of the Royal and + Antiquarian Societies with some degree of spirit and humour. + By turning vulgar lines into Greek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon, + a learned air is given to some papers on childish subjects. + One learned doctor communicates to another "an Essay proving, + by arguments philosophical, that millers, falsely so reputed, + are not thieves, with an interesting argument that taylors + likewise are not so." A Welsh schoolmaster sends some + "natural observations" made in Wales, in direct imitation of + the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1707, and with humorous + love for genealogy, reckons that in his school, "since the + flood, there have been 466, and I am the 467th master: before + the flood, they living long, there were but two--Rice ap Evan + Dha the good, and Davie ap Shones Gonnah the naught, in + whose time the flood came." The first paper of the collection + is an evident jest on John Bagford and his gatherings for + the history of printing, now preserved among the manuscripts + of the British Museum. It purports to be "an Essay on the + invention of samplers, communicated by Mrs. Judith Bagford, + with an account of her collections for the same:" and + written in burlesque of a paper in the "Philosophical + Transactions" for April, 1697. It is a most elaborate + performance, deducing with mock-seriousness the origin of + samplers from the ancient tales of Arachne, who "set forth + the whole story of her wrongs in needlework, and sent it to + her sister;" and our author adds, with much humour, "it is + very remarkable that the memory of this story does at present + continue, for there are no samplers, which proceed in any + measure beyond the first rudiments, but have a tree and a + nightingale sitting on it." Such were the jests of the day + against the Royal philosophers.] He also invented _satirical + and humorous indexes_, not the least facetious parts of + his volumes. King had made notes on more than 20,000 books + and MSS., and his _Adversaria_, of which a portion has been + preserved, is not inferior in curiosity to the literary + journals of Gibbon, though it wants the investigating spirit + of the modern philosopher. + + + + +SIR JOHN HILL, + +WITH +THE ROYAL SOCIETY, FIELDING, SMART, &c. + + A Parallel between Orator HENLEY and Sir JOHN HILL--his love of the + Science of Botany, with the fate of his "Vegetable System"--ridicules + scientific Collectors; his "Dissertation on Royal Societies," and his + "Review of the Works of the Royal Society"--compliments himself + that he is NOT a Member--successful in his attacks on the + Experimentalists, but loses his spirit in encountering the + Wits--"The Inspector"--a paper war with FIELDING--a literary + stratagem--battles with SMART and WOODWARD--HILL appeals to the + Nation for the Office of Keeper of the Sloane Collection--closes + his life by turning Empiric--Some Epigrams on HILL--his + Miscellaneous Writings. + + +In the history of literature we discover some who have opened their +career with noble designs, and with no deficient powers, yet unblest +with stoic virtues, having missed, in their honourable labours, those +rewards they had anticipated, they have exhibited a sudden transition +of character, and have left only a name proverbial for its disgrace. + +Our own literature exhibits two extraordinary characters, indelibly +marked by the same traditional odium. The wit and acuteness of Orator +HENLEY, and the science and vivacity of the versatile Sir JOHN HILL, +must separate them from those who plead the same motives for abjuring +all moral restraint, without having ever furnished the world with a +single instance that they were capable of forming nobler views. + +This _orator_ and this _knight_ would admit of a close parallel;[281] +both as modest in their youth as afterwards remarkable for their +effrontery. Their youth witnessed the same devotedness to study, with +the same inventive and enterprising genius. Hill projected and pursued +a plan of botanical travels, to form a collection of rare plants: the +patronage he received was too limited, and he suffered the misfortune +of having anticipated the national taste for the science of botany by +half a century. Our young philosopher's valuable "Treatise on Gems," +from Theophrastus, procured for him the warm friendship of the eminent +members of the Royal Society. To this critical period of the lives of +Henley and of Hill, their resemblance is striking; nor is it less from +the moment the surprising revolution in their characters occurred. + +Pressed by the wants of life, they lost its decencies. Henley +attempted to poise himself against the University; Hill against the +Royal Society. Rejected by these learned bodies, both these Cains of +literature, amid their luxuriant ridicule of eminent men, still evince +some claims to rank among them. The one prostituted his genius in his +"Lectures;" the other, in his "Inspectors." Never two authors were +more constantly pelted with epigrams, or buffeted in literary +quarrels. They have met with the same fate; covered with the same +odium. Yet Sir John Hill, this despised man, after all the fertile +absurdities of his literary life, performed more for the improvement +of the "Philosophical Transactions," and was the cause of diffusing a +more general taste for the science of botany, than any other +contemporary. His real ability extorts that regard which his +misdirected ingenuity, instigated by vanity, and often by more +worthless motives, had lost for him in the world.[282] + +At the time that Hill was engaged in several large compilations for +the booksellers, his employers were desirous that the honours of an +F.R.S. should ornament his title-page. This versatile genius, however, +during these graver works, had suddenly emerged from his learned +garret, and, in the shape of a fashionable lounger, rolled in his +chariot from the Bedford to Ranelagh; was visible at routs; and +sate at the theatre a tremendous arbiter of taste, raising about him +tumults and divisions;[283] and in his "Inspectors," a periodical +paper which he published in the _London Daily Advertiser_, retailed +all the great matters relating to himself, and all the little +matters he collected in his rounds relating to others. Among other +personalities, he indulged his satirical fluency on the scientific +collectors. The Antiquarian Society were twitted as medal-scrapers and +antediluvian knife-grinders; conchologists were turned into +cockleshell merchants; and the naturalists were made to record +pompous histories of stickle-hacks and cockchafers. Cautioned by +Martin Folkes, President of the Royal Society,[284] not to attempt +his election, our enraged comic philosopher, who had preferred +his jests to his friends, now discovered that he had lost three +hundred at once. Hill could not obtain three signatures to his +recommendation. Such was the real, but, as usual, not the ostensible, +motive of his formidable attack on the Royal Society. He produced his +"Dissertation on Royal Societies, in a letter from a Sclavonian +nobleman to his friend," 1751; a humorous prose satire, exhibiting a +ludicrous description of a tumultuous meeting at the Royal Society, +contrasted with the decorum observed in the French Academy; and +moreover, he added a _conversazione_ in a coffee-house between some +of the members. + +Such was the declaration of war, in a first act of hostility; but the +pitched-battle was fought in "A Review of the Works of the Royal +Society, in eight parts," 1751. This literary satire is nothing less +than a quarto volume, resembling, in its form and manner, the +Philosophical Transactions themselves; printed as if for the +convenience of members to enable them to bind the "Review" with the +work reviewed. Voluminous pleasantry incurs the censure of that +tedious trifling which it designs to expose. In this literary facetia, +however, no inconsiderable knowledge is interspersed with the +ridicule. Perhaps Hill might have recollected the successful attempts +of Stubbe on the Royal Society, who contributed that curious knowledge +which he pretended the Royal Society wanted; and with this knowledge +he attempted to combine the humour of Dr. King.[285] + +Hill's rejection from the Royal Society, to another man would have +been a puddle to step over; but he tells a story, and cleanly passes +on, with impudent adroitness.[286] + +Hill, however, though he used all the freedom of a satirist, by +exposing many ridiculous papers, taught the Royal Society a more +cautious selection. It could, however, obtain no forgiveness from the +parties it offended; and while the respectable men whom Hill had the +audacity to attack, Martin Folkes, the friend and successor of Newton, +and Henry Baker, the naturalist, were above his censure,--his own +reputation remained in the hands of his enemies. While Hill was +gaining over the laughers on his side, that volatile populace soon +discovered that the fittest object to be laughed at was our literary +Proteus himself. + +The most egregious egotism alone could have induced this versatile +being, engaged in laborious works, to venture to give the town the +daily paper of _The Inspector_, which he supported for about two +years. It was a light scandalous chronicle all the week, with a +seventh-day sermon. His utter contempt for the genius of his +contemporaries, and the bold conceit of his own, often rendered the +motley pages amusing. _The Inspector_ became, indeed, the instrument +of his own martyrdom; but his impudence looked like magnanimity; for +he endured, with undiminished spirit, the most biting satires, the +most wounding epigrams, and more palpable castigations.[287] His vein +of pleasantry ran more freely in his attacks on the Royal Society than +in his other literary quarrels. When Hill had not to banter ridiculous +experimentalists, but to encounter wits, his reluctant spirit soon +bowed its head. Suddenly even his pertness loses its vivacity; he +becomes drowsy with dulness, and, conscious of the dubiousness of his +own cause, he skulks away terrified: he felt that the mask of quackery +and impudence which he usually wore was to be pulled off by the hands +now extended against him. + +A humorous warfare of wit opened between Fielding, in his _Covent-Garden +Journal_, and Hill, in his _Inspector_. _The Inspector_ had made the +famous lion's head, at the Bedford, which the genius of Addison and +Steele had once animated, the receptacle of his wit; and the wits +asserted, of this now _inutile lignum_, that it was reduced to a mere +state of _blockheadism_. Fielding occasionally gave a facetious +narrative of a paper war between the forces of Sir Alexander Drawcansir, +the literary hero of the _Covent-Garden Journal_, and the army of +Grub-street; it formed an occasional literary satire. Hill's lion, no +longer Addison's or Steele's, is not described without humour. +Drawcansir's "troops are kept in awe by a strange mixed monster, not +much unlike the famous chimera of old. For while some of our +Reconnoiterers tell us that this monster has the appearance of a lion, +others assure us that his ears are much longer than those of that +generous beast." + +Hill ventured to notice this attack on his "blockhead;" and, as was +usual with him, had some secret history to season his defence with. + +"The author of 'Amelia,' whom I have only once seen, told me, at that +accidental meeting, he held the present set of writers in the +utmost contempt; and that, in his character of Sir Alexander +Drawcansir, he should treat them in the most unmerciful manner. He +assured me he had always excepted me; and after honouring me with +some encomiums, he proceeded to mention a conduct which would be, +he said, useful to both; this was, the amusing our readers with a +mock fight; giving blows that would not hurt, and sharing the +advantage in silence."[288] + +Thus, by reversing the fact, Hill contrived to turn aside the frequent +stories against him by a momentary artifice, arresting or dividing +public opinion. The truth was, more probably, as Fielding relates it, +and the story, as we shall see, then becomes quite a different affair. +At all events, Hill incurred the censure of the traitor who violates a +confidential intercourse. + + And if he lies not, must at least betray. + POPE. + +Fielding lost no time in reply. To have brought down the _Inspector_ +from his fastnesses into the open field, was what our new General only +wanted: a battle was sure to be a victory. Our critical Drawcansir has +performed his part, with his indifferent puns, but his natural +facetiousness. + +"It being reported to the General that a _hill_ must be levelled, +before the Bedford coffee-house could be taken, orders were given; but +this was afterwards found to be a mistake; for this _hill_ was only a +little paltry _dunghill_, and had long before been levelled with the +dirt. The General was then informed of a report which had been spread +by his _lowness_, the Prince of Billingsgate, in the Grub-street army, +that his Excellency had proposed, by a _secret treaty_ with that +Prince, to carry on the war only in appearance, and so to betray the +common cause; upon which his Excellency said with a smile:--'If the +betrayer of a private treaty could ever deserve the least credit, yet +his Lowness here must proclaim himself either a liar or a fool. None +can doubt but that he is the former, if he hath feigned this treaty; +and I think few would scruple to call him the latter, if he had +rejected it.' The General then declared the fact stood thus:--'His +Lowness came to my tent on an affair of his own. I treated him, though +a commander in the enemy's camp, with civility, and even kindness. I +told him, with the utmost good-humour, I should attack his Lion; and +that he might, if he pleased, in the same manner defend him; from +which, said I, no great loss can happen on either side--'" + +_The Inspector_ slunk away, and never returned to the challenge. + +During his inspectorship, he invented a whimsical literary stratagem, +which ended in his receiving a castigation more lasting than the +honours performed on him at Ranelagh by the cane of a warm Hibernian. +Hill seems to have been desirous of abusing certain friends whom he +had praised in the _Inspectors_; so volatile, like the loves of +coquettes, are the literary friendships of the "Scribleri." As this +could not be done with any propriety there, he published the first +number of a new paper, entitled _The Impertinent_. Having thus +relieved his private feelings, he announced the cessation of this new +enterprise in his _Inspectors_, and congratulated the public on the +ill reception it had given to the _Impertinent_, applauding them for +their having shown by this that "their indignation was superior to +their curiosity." With impudence all his own, he adds--"It will not be +easy to say too much in favour of the candour of the town, which has +despised a piece that cruelly and unjustly attacked Mr. Smart the +poet." What innocent soul could have imagined that _The Impertinent_ +and _The Inspector_ were the same individual? The style is a specimen +of _persiflage_; the thin sparkling thought; the pert vivacity, that +looks like wit without wit; the glittering bubble, that rises in +emptiness;--even its author tells us, in _The Inspector_, it is "the +most pert, the most pretending," &c.[289] + +Smart, in return for our Janus-faced critic's treatment, balanced the +amount of debtor and creditor with a pungent Dunciad _The Hilliad_. +Hill, who had heard of the rod in pickle, anticipated the blow, to +break its strength; and, according to his adopted system, introduced +himself and Smart, with a story of his having recommended the bard to +his bookseller, "who took him into salary on my approbation. I +betrayed him into the profession, and having starved upon it, he has a +right to abuse me." This story was formally denied by an advertisement +from Newbery, the bookseller. + +"The Hilliad" is a polished and pointed satire. The hero is thus +exhibited on earth, and in heaven. + +On earth, "a tawny sibyl," with "an old striped curtain--" + + And tatter'd tapestry o'er her shoulders hung-- + Her loins with patchwork cincture were begirt, + That more than spoke diversity of dirt. + Twain were her teeth, and single was her eye-- + Cold palsy shook her head---- + +with "moon-struck madness," awards him all the wealth and fame she +could afford him for sixpence; and closes her orgasm with the sage +admonition-- + + The chequer'd world's before thee; go, farewell! + Beware of Irishmen; and learn to spell! + +But in heaven, among the immortals, never was an unfortunate hero of +the vindicative Muses so reduced into nothingness! Jove, disturbed at +the noise of this thing of wit, exclaims, that nature had never proved +productive in vain before, but now, + + On mere privation she bestow'd a frame, + And dignified a nothing with a name; + A wretch devoid of use, of sense, of grace, + The insolvent tenant of incumber'd space! + +Pallas hits off the style of Hill, as + + The neutral nonsense, neither false nor true-- + Should Jove himself, in calculation mad, + Still negatives to blank negations add; + How could the barren ciphers ever breed; + But nothing still from nothing would proceed. + Raise, or depress, or magnify, or blame, + Inanity will ever be the same. + +But Phœbus shows there may still be something produced from inanity. + + E'en blank privation has its use and end-- + From emptiness, how sweetest music flows! + How absence, to possession adds a grace, + And modest vacancy, to all gives place. + So from Hillario, some effect may spring; + E'en him--that slight penumbra of a thing! + +The careless style of the fluent Inspectors, beside their audacity, +brought Hill into many scrapes. He called Woodward, the celebrated +harlequin, "the meanest of all characters." This Woodward resented in +a pamphlet-battle, in which Hill was beaten at all points.[290] But +Hill, or the Monthly Reviewer, who might be the same person, for that +journal writes with the tenderness of a brother of whatever relates to +our hero, pretends that the Inspector only meant, that "the character +of Harlequin (if a thing so unnatural and ridiculous ought to be +called a character) was the _meanest_ on the stage!"[291] + +I will here notice a characteristic incident in Hill's literary life, +of which the boldness and the egotism is scarcely paralleled, even by +Orator Henley. At the time the Sloane Collection of Natural History +was purchased, to form a part of our grand national establishment, the +British Museum, Hill offered himself, by public advertisement, in one +of his _Inspectors_, as the properest person to be placed at its head. +The world will condemn him for his impudence. The most reasonable +objection against his mode of proceeding would be, that the thing +undid itself; and that the very appearance, by public advertisement, +was one motive why so confident an offer should be rejected. Perhaps, +after all, Hill only wanted to _advertise himself_. + +But suppose that Hill was the man he represents himself to be, and he +fairly challenges the test, his conduct only appears eccentric, +according to routine. Unpatronised and unfriended men are depressed, +among other calamities, with their quiescent modesty; but there is a +rare spirit in him who dares to claim favours, which he thinks his +right, in the most public manner. I preserve, in the note, the most +striking passages of this extraordinary appeal.[292] + +At length, after all these literary quarrels, Hill survived his +literary character. He had written himself down to so low a degree, +that whenever he had a work for publication, his employers stipulated, +in their contracts, that the author should conceal his name; a +circumstance not new among a certain race of writers.[293] But the +genius of Hill was not annihilated by being thrown down so violently +on his mother earth; like Anthæus, it rose still fresh; and like +Proteus, it assumed new forms.[294] Lady Hill and the young Hills were +claimants on his industry far louder than the evanescent epigrams +which darted around him: these latter, however, were more numerous +than ever dogged an author in his road to literary celebrity.[295] His +science, his ingenuity, and his impudence once more practised on the +credulity of the public, with the innocent quackery of attributing all +medicinal virtues to British herbs. He made many walk out, who were +too sedentary; they were delighted to cure headaches by feverfew tea; +hectic fevers by the daisy; colics by the leaves of camomile, and +agues by its flowers. All these were accompanied by plates of the +plants, with the Linnæan names.[296] This was preparatory to the +_Essences_ of Sage, _Balsams_ of Honey, and _Tinctures_ of Valerian. +Simple persons imagined they were scientific botanists in their walks, +with Hill's plates in their hands. But one of the newly-discovered +virtues of British herbs was, undoubtedly, that of placing the +discoverer in a chariot. + +In an Apology for the character of Sir John Hill, published after his +death, where he is painted with much beauty of colouring, and elegance +of form, the eruptions and excrescences of his motley physiognomy, +while they are indicated--for they were too visible to be entirely +omitted in anything pretending to a resemblance--are melted down, and +even touched into a grace. The Apology is not unskilful, but the real +purpose appears in the last page; where we are informed that Lady +Hill, fortunately for the world, possesses all his valuable recipes +and herbal remedies! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [281] The moral and literary character of Henley has been developed in + "Calamities of Authors." + + [282] The twenty-six folios of his "Vegetable System," with many + others, testify his love and his labour. It contains 1600 + plates, representing 26,000 different figures of plants _from + nature only_. This publication ruined the author, whose widow + (the sister of Lord Ranelagh) published "An Address to the + Public, by the Hon. Lady Hill, setting forth the consequences + of the late Sir John Hill's acquaintance with the Earl of + Bute," 1787. I should have noticed it in the "Calamities of + Authors." It offers a sad and mortifying lesson to the votary + of science who aspires to a noble enterprise. Lady Hill + complains of the _patron_; but a patron, however great, cannot + always raise the public taste to the degree required to afford + the only true patronage which can animate and reward an + author. Her detail is impressive:-- + + "Sir John Hill had just wrote a book of great elegance--I + think it was called 'Exotic Botany'--which he wished to have + presented to the king, and therefore named it to Lord Bute. + His lordship waived that, saying that 'he had a greater object + to propose;' and shortly after laid before him a plan of the + most voluminous, magnificent, and costly work that ever man + attempted. I tremble when I name its title--because I think + the severe application which it required killed him; and I am + sure the expense ruined his fortune--'The Vegetable System.' + This work was to consist of twenty-six volumes folio, + containing sixteen hundred copper-plates, the engraving of + each cost four guineas; the paper was of the most expensive + kind; the drawings by the first hands. The printing was also a + very weighty concern; and many other articles, with which I am + unacquainted. Lord Bute said that 'the expense had been + considered, and that Sir John Hill might rest assured his + circumstances should not be injured.' Thus he entered upon and + finished his destruction. The sale bore no proportion to the + expense. After 'The Vegetable System' was completed, Lord Bute + proposed another volume to be added, which Sir John + strenuously opposed; but his lordship repeating his desire, + Sir John complied, lest his lordship should find a pretext to + cast aside repeated promises of ample provision for himself + and family. But this was the crisis of his fate--he died." + Lady Hill adds:--"He was a character on which every virtue was + impressed." The domestic partiality of the widow cannot alter + the truth of the narrative of "The Vegetable System," and its + twenty-six tomes. + + [283] His apologist forms this excuse for one then affecting to be a + student and a rake:--"Though engaged in works which required + the attention of a whole life, he was so exact an economist of + his time that he scarcely ever missed a public amusement for + many years; and this, as he somewhere observes, was of no + small service to him; as, without indulging in these respects, + he could not have undergone the fatigue and study inseparable + from the execution of his vast designs."--Short Account of the + "Life, Writings, and Character of the late Sir John Hill, + M.D." Edinburgh: 1779. + + [284] Hogarth has painted a portrait of Folkes, which is still hanging + in the rooms of the Royal Society. He was nominated + vice-president by the great Sir Isaac Newton, and succeeded + him as president. He wrote a work on the "English Silver + Coinage," and died at the age of sixty-four, 1754.--ED. + + [285] Hill planned his Review with good sense. He says:--"If I am + merry in some places, it ought to be considered that the + subjects are too ridiculous for serious criticism. That the + work, however, might not be without its _real use_, an _Error_ + is nowhere exposed without establishing a _Truth_ in its + place." He has incidentally thrown out much curious + knowledge--such as his plan for forming a _Hortus Siccus_, &c. + The Review itself may still be considered both as curious and + entertaining. + + [286] In exposing their deficiencies, as well as their redundancies, + Hill only wishes, as he tells us, that the Society may by this + means become ashamed of what it has been, and that the world + may know that _he is NOT a member of it till it is an honour + to a man to be so_! This was telling the world, with some + ingenuity, and with no little impudence, that the Royal + Society would not admit him as a member. He pretends to give a + secret anecdote to explain the cause of this rejection. Hill, + in every critical conjuncture of his affairs, and they were + frequent ones, had always a story to tell, or an evasion, + which served its momentary purpose. When caned by an Irish + gentleman at Ranelagh, and his personal courage, rather than + his stoicism, was suspected, he published a story of _his_ + having once caned a person whom he called Mario; on which a + wag, considering Hill as a Prometheus, wrote-- + + "To beat one man great Hill was fated. + What man?--a man whom he created!" + + We shall see the story he turned to his purpose, when pressed + hard by Fielding. In the present instance, in a letter to a + foreign correspondent, who had observed his name on the list + of the _Correspondents_ of the Royal Society, Hill said--"You + are to know that _I have the honour NOT to be a member of the + Royal Society of London_."--This letter lay open on his table + when a member, upon his accustomed visit, came in, and in his + absence read it. "And we are not to wonder," says Hill, "that + he who could obtain intelligence in this manner could also + divulge it. _Hinc illæ lachrymæ!_ Hence all the animosities + that have since disturbed this philosophic world." While Hill + insolently congratulates himself that he is _not_ a member of + the Royal Society, he has most evidently shown that he had no + objection to be the member of any society which would enrol + his name among them. He obtained his medical degree from no + honourable source; and another title, which he affected, he + mysteriously contracted into barbaric dissonance. Hill + entitled himself-- + + _Acad. Reg. Scient. Burd. &c. Soc._ + + To which Smart, in the "Hilliad," alludes-- + + "While _Jargon_ gave his titles on a _block_, + And styled him M.D. Acad. Budig. Soc." + + His personal attacks on Martin Folkes, the president, are + caustic, but they may not be true; and on Baker, celebrated + for his microscopical discoveries, are keen. He reproaches + Folkes, in his severe dedication of the work, in all the + dignity of solemn invective.--"The manner in which you + represented me to a noble friend, while to myself you made me + much more than I deserved; the ease with which you had + excused yourself, and the solemnity with which, in the + face of Almighty God, you excused yourself again; when we + remember that the whole was done within the compass of a day; + these are surely virtues in a patron that I, of all men, + ought not to pass over in silence." Baker, in his early + days, had unluckily published a volume of lusory poems. Some + imitations of Prior's loose tales Hill makes use of to + illustrate _his_ "Philosophical Transactions." All is food for + the malicious digestion of Wit! + + His anecdote of Mr. Baker's _Louse_ is a piece of secret + scientific history sufficiently ludicrous. + + "The Duke of Montague was famous for his love to the whole + animal creation, and for his being able to keep a very grave + face when not in the most serious earnest. Mr. Baker, a + distinguished member of the Royal Society, had one day + entertained this nobleman and several other persons with the + sight of the peristaltic motion of the bowels in a louse, by + the microscope. When the observation was over, he was going + to throw the creature away; but the Duke, with a face that + made him believe he was perfectly in earnest, told him it + would be not only cruel, but ungrateful, in return for the + entertainment that creature had given them, to destroy it. + He ordered the boy to be brought in from whom it was procured, + and after praising the smallness and delicacy of Mr. Baker's + fingers, persuaded him carefully to replace the animal in its + former territories, and to give the boy a shilling not to + disturb it for a fortnight."--"A Review of the Works of the + Royal Society," by John Hill, M.D., p. 5. + + [287] These papers had appeared in the London _Daily Advertiser_, + 1754. At their close he gleaned the best, and has preserved + them in two volumes. But as Hill will never rank as a + classic, the original nonsense will be considered as most + proper for the purposes of a true collector. Woodward, the + comedian, in his lively attack on Hill, has given "a mock + Inspector," an exquisite piece of literary ridicule, in + which he has hit off the egotisms and slovenly ease of the + real ones. Never, like "The Inspector," flamed such a + provoking prodigy in the cloudy skies of Grub-street; and + Hill seems studiously to have mortified his luckless rivals + by a perpetual embroidery of his adventures in the "Walks + at Marybone," the "Rotunda at Ranelagh," spangled over with + "my domestics," and "my equipage." [One of his adventures + at Ranelagh was sufficiently unfortunate to obtain for him the + unenviable notoriety of a caricature print representing him + enduring a castigation at the Rotunda gate from an Irish + gentleman named Brown, with whose character he had made + far too free in one of his "Inspectors." Hill showed much + pusillanimity in the affair, took to his bed, and gave out + that the whole thing was a conspiracy to murder him. This + occasioned the publication of another print, in which he + is represented in bed, surrounded by medical men, who treat + him with very little respect. One insists on his fee, because + Hill has never been acknowledged as one of themselves; and + another, to his plea of want of money, responds, "Sell your + sword, it is only an encumbrance."] + + [288] It is useful to remind the public that they are often played + upon in this manner by the artifices of _political writers_. + We have observed symptoms of this deception practised at + present. It is an old trick of the craft, and was greatly used + at a time when the nation seemed maddened with political + factions. In a pamphlet of "A View of London and Westminster, + or the Town-spy," 1725, I find this account:--"The _seeming + quarrel_, formerly, between _Mist's Journal_ and the _Flying + Post_ was _secretly concerted_ between themselves, in order to + decoy the eyes of all the parties on both their papers; and + the project succeeded beyond all expectation; for I have been + told that the former narrowly missed getting an estate by + it."--p. 32. + + [289] Isaac Reed, in his "Repository of Fugitive Pieces of Wit and + Humour," vol. iv., in republishing "The Hilliad," has + judiciously preserved the offending "Impertinent" and the + abjuring "Inspector." The style of "The Impertinent" is + volatile and poignant. His four classes of authors are not + without humour. "There are men who write because they have + wit; there are those who write because they are hungry; there + are some of the modern authors who have a constant fund of + both these causes; and there are who will write, although they + are not instigated either by the one or by the other. The + first are all spirit; the second are all earth; the third + disclose more life, or more vapidity, as the one or the other + cause prevails; and for the last, having neither the one nor + the other principle for the cause, they show neither the one + nor the other character in the effect; but begin, continue, + and end, as if they had neither begun, continued, nor ended at + all." The first class he instances by Fielding; the second by + Smart. Of the third he says:--"The mingled wreath belongs to + Hill," that is himself; and the fourth he illustrates by the + absurd Sir William Browne. + + "Those of the first rank are the most capricious and lazy of + all animals. The monkey genius would rarely exert itself, if + even idleness innate did not give way to the superior love of + mischief. The ass (that is Smart), which characters the + second, is as laborious as he is empty; he wears a ridiculous + comicalness of aspect (which was, indeed, the physiognomy of + the poor poet), that makes people smile when they see him at a + distance. His mouth opens, because he must be fed, while we + laugh at the insensibility and obstinacy that make him prick + his lips with thistles." + + [290] Woodward humorously attributes Hill's attack on him to his + _jealousy_ of his successful performance of _Harlequin_, and + opens some of the secret history of Hill, by which it appears + that early in life he trod the theatrical boards. He tells us + of the extraordinary pains the prompter had taken with Hill, + in the part of Oroonoko; though, "if he had not quite + forgotten it, to very little purpose." He reminds Hill of a + dramatic anecdote, which he no doubt had forgotten. It seems + he once belonged to a strolling company at May-fair, where, in + the scene between Altamont and Lothario, the polite audience + of that place all chorused, and agreed with him, when dying he + exclaimed, "Oh, Altamont, thy genius is the stronger." He then + shows him off as the starved apothecary in _Romeo and Juliet_, + in one of his botanic peregrinations to Chelsea Garden; from + whence, it is said, he was expelled for "culling too many rare + plants"-- + + "I do remember an apothecary, + Culling of simples----." + + Hill, who was often so brisk in his attack on the wits, had no + power of retort; so that he was always buffeting and always + buffeted. + + [291] He was also satirised in a poem termed "The Pasquinade," + published in 1752, in which the goddesses of Pertness and + Dulness join to praise him as their favourite reflex. + + "Pertness saw her form distinctly shine + In none, immortal Hill! so full as thine." + + Dulness speaks of him thus rapturously:-- + + "See where my son, who gratefully repays + Whate'er I lavish'd on his younger days; + Whom still my arm protects to brave the town + Secure from Fielding, Machiavel, or Brown; + Whom rage nor sword e'er mortally shall hurt, + Chief of a hundred chiefs o'er all the pert! + Rescued an orphan babe from common sense, + I gave his mother's milk to Confidence; + She with her own ambrosia bronz'd his face, + And changed his skin to monumental brass. + Whom rage nor sword e'er mortally shall hurt, + Chief of a hundred chiefs o'er all the pert! + Rescued an orphan babe from common sense, + I gave his mother's milk to Confidence; + She with her own ambrosia bronz'd his face, + And changed his skin to monumental brass." + + [292] Hill addresses the Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury, + and the Speaker, on Sir Hans Sloane's Collection of Natural + History, proposing himself as a candidate for nomination in + the principal office, by whatever name that shall be + called:--"I deliver myself with humility; but conscious also + that I possess the liberties of a British subject, I shall + speak with freedom." He says that the only means left for a + Briton is to address his sovereign and the public. "That + foreigners will resort to this collection is certain, for it + is the most considerable in the world; and that our own people + will often visit it is as sure, because it may be made the + means of much useful as well as curious knowledge. One and the + other will expect a person in that office who has sufficient + knowledge: he must be able to give account of every article, + freely and fluently, not only in his own, but in the Latin and + French languages. + + "This the world, and none in it better than your lordship, + sees is not a place that any one can execute: it requires + knowledge in a peculiar and uncommon kind of study--knowledge + which very few possess; and in which, my lord, the bitterest + of my enemies (and I have thousands, although neither myself + nor they know why) will not say I am deficient----. + + "My lord, the eyes of all Europe are upon this transaction. + What title I have to your lordship's favour, those books which + I have published, and with which (pardon the necessary boast) + all Europe is acquainted, declare. Many may dispute by + interest with me; but if there be one who would prefer + himself, by his abilities, I beg the matter may be brought to + trial. The collection is at hand; and I request, my lord, such + person and myself may be examined by that test, together. It + is an amazing store of knowledge; and he has most, in this + way, who shall show himself most acquainted with it. + + "What are my own abilities it very ill becomes me thus to + boast; but did they not qualify me for the trust, my lord, I + would not ask it. As to those of any other, unless a man be + conjured from the dead, I shall not fear to say there is not + any one whoever that is able so much as to call the parts of + the collection by their names. + + "I know I shall be accused of ostentation in giving to myself + this preference; and I am sorry for it: but those who have + candour will know it could not be avoided. + + "Many excel, my lord, in other studies: it is my chance to + have bestowed the labour of my life on this: those labours may + be of some use to others. This appears the only instance in + which it is possible that they should be rewarded----." + + In a subsequent _Inspector_, he treated on the improvement of + botany by raising plants, and reading lectures on them at the + British Museum, with the living plants before the lecturer and + his auditors. Poor Sir John! he was born half a century too + early!--He would, in this day, have made his lectures + fashionable; and might have secured at the opera every night + an elegant audience for the next morning in the gardens of the + Museum. + + [293] It would be difficult to form a list of his anonymous works or + compilations, among which many are curious. Tradition has + preserved his name as the writer of Mrs. Glasse's Cookery, and + of several novels. There is a very curious work, entitled + "Travels in the East," 2 vols. 8vo, of which the author has + been frequently and in vain inquired after. These travels are + attributed to a noble lord; but it now appears that they are a + very entertaining narrative manufactured by Hill. Whiston, the + bookseller, had placed this work in his MS. catalogue of + Hill's books. + + There is still another production of considerable merit, + entitled "Observations on the Greek and Roman Classics," 1753. + A learned friend recollects, when young, that this critical + work was said to be written by Hill. It excels Blackwell and + Fenton; and aspires to the numerous composition of prose. The + sentimental critic enters into the feelings of the great + authors whom he describes with spirit, delicacy of taste, and + sometimes with beautiful illustration. It only wants a + chastening hand to become a manual for the young classical + student, by which he might acquire those vivid emotions, which + many college tutors may not be capable of communicating. + + I suspect, too, he is the author of this work, from a passage + which Smart quotes, as a specimen of Hill's puffing himself, + and of those smart short periods which look like wit, without + being witty. In a letter to himself, as we are told, Hill + writes:--"You have discovered many of the beauties of the + ancients--they are obliged to you; we are obliged to you: were + they alive, they would thank you; we who are alive do thank + you." If Hill could discriminate the most hidden beauties of + the ancients, the _tact_ must have been formed at his + leisure--in his busy hours he never copied them; but when had + he leisure? + + Two other works, of the most contrasted character, display the + versatility and dispositions of this singular genius, at + different eras. When "The Inspector" was rolling in his + chariot about the town, appeared "Letters from the Inspector + to a Lady," 1752. It is a pamphlet, containing the amorous + correspondence of Hill with a reigning beauty, whom he first + saw at Ranelagh. On his first ardent professions he is + contemptuously rejected; he perseveres in high passion, and is + coldly encouraged; at length he triumphs; and this proud and + sullen beauty, in her turn, presents a horrid picture of the + passions. Hill then becomes the reverse of what he was; weary + of her jealousy, sated with the intercourse, he studiously + avoids, and at length rejects her; assigning for his final + argument his approaching marriage. The work may produce a + moral effect, while it exhibits a striking picture of all the + misery of illicit connexions: but the scenes are coloured with + Ovidian warmth. The original letters were shown at the + bookseller's: Hill's were in his own handwriting, and the + lady's in a female hand. But whether Hill was the publisher, + as an attempt at notoriety--or the lady admired her own + correspondence, which is often exquisitely wrought, is not + known. + + Hill, in his serious hours, published a large quarto volume, + entitled "Thoughts Concerning God and Nature," 1755. This + work, the result of his scientific knowledge and his moral + reasoning, was never undertaken for the purpose of profit. He + printed it with the certainty of a considerable loss, from its + abstract topics, not obvious to general readers; at a time, + too, when a guinea quarto was a very hazardous enterprise. He + published it purely from conscientious and religious motives; + a circumstance mentioned in that Apology of his Life which we + have noticed. The more closely the character of Hill is + scrutinised, the more extraordinary appears this man, so often + justly contemned, and so often unjustly depreciated. + + [294] Through the influence of Lord Bute he became connected with the + Royal Gardens at Kew; and his lordship also assisted him in + publishing his botanical works. See note, p. 363. + + [295] It would occupy pages to transcribe epigrams on Hill. One of + them alludes to his philosophical as well as his literary + character:-- + + "Hill puffs himself; forbear to chide! + An insect vile and mean + Must first, he knows, be magnified + Before it can be seen." + + Garrick's happy lines are well known on his farces:-- + + "For physic and farces his equal there scarce is-- + His farces are physic, his physic a farce is." + + Another said-- + + "The worse that we wish thee, for all thy vile crimes, + Is to take thy own physic, and read thy own rhymes." + + The rejoinder would reverse the wish-- + + "For, if he takes his physic first, + He'll never read his rhymes." + + [296] Hill says, in his pamphlet on the "Virtues of British + Herbs":--"It will be happy if, by the same means, the + knowledge of plants also becomes more general. The study of + them is pleasant, and the exercise of it healthful. He who + seeks the herb for its cure, will find it half effected by the + walk; and when he is acquainted with the useful kinds, he may + be more people's, besides his own, physician." + + + + +BOYLE AND BENTLEY. + + A Faction of Wits at Oxford the concealed movers of this + Controversy--Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE'S opinions the ostensible cause; + Editions of classical Authors by young Students at Oxford the + probable one--BOYLE'S first attack in the Preface to his + "Phalaris"--BENTLEY, after a silence of three years, betrays his + feelings on the literary calumny of BOYLE--BOYLE replies by the + "Examination of Bentley's Dissertation"--BENTLEY rejoins by + enlarging it--the effects of a contradictory Narrative at a + distant time--BENTLEY'S suspicions of the origin of the + "Phalaris," and "The Examination," proved by subsequent + facts--BENTLEY'S dignity when stung at the ridicule of Dr. + KING--applies a classical pun, and nicknames his facetious and + caustic Adversary--KING invents an extraordinary Index to dissect + the character of BENTLEY--specimens of the Controversy; BOYLE'S + menace, anathema, and ludicrous humour--BENTLEY'S sarcastic reply + not inferior to that of the Wits. + + +The splendid controversy between BOYLE and BENTLEY was at times a +strife of gladiators, and has been regretted as the opprobrium of our +literature; but it should be perpetuated to its honour; for it may be +considered, on one side at least, as a noble contest of heroism. + +The ostensible cause of the present quarrel was inconsiderable; the +concealed motive lies deeper; and the party feelings of the haughty +Aristarchus of Cambridge, and a faction of wits at Oxford, under the +secret influence of Dean Aldrich, provoked this fierce and glorious +contest. + +Wit, ridicule, and invective, by cabal and stratagem, obtained a +seeming triumph over a single individual, but who, like the Farnesian +Hercules, personified the force and resistance of incomparable +strength. "The Bees of Christchurch," as this conspiracy of wits has +been called, so musical and so angry, rushed in a dark swarm about +him, but only left their fine stings in the flesh they could not +wound. He only put out his hand in contempt, never in rage. The +Christchurch men, as if doubtful whether wit could prevail against +learning, had recourse to the maliciousness of personal satire. They +amused an idle public, who could even relish sense and Greek, seasoned +as they were with wit and satire, while Boyle was showing how Bentley +wanted wit, and Bentley was proving how Boyle wanted learning. + +To detect the origin of the controversy, we must find the seed-plot +of Bentley's volume in Sir William Temple's "Essay upon Ancient and +Modern Learning," which he inscribed to his alma mater, the +University of Cambridge. Sir William, who had caught the contagion +of the prevalent literary controversy of the times, in which the +finest geniuses in Europe had entered the lists, imagined that the +ancients possessed a greater force of genius, with some peculiar +advantages--that the human mind was in a state of decay--and that +our knowledge was nothing more than scattered fragments saved out of +the general shipwreck. He writes with a premeditated design to dispute +the improvements or undervalue the inventions of his own age. Wotton, +the friend of Bentley, replied by his curious volume of "Reflections +on Ancient and Modern Learning." But Sir William, in his ardour, had +thrown out an unguarded opinion, which excited the hostile contempt of +Bentley. "The oldest books," he says, "we have, are still in their +kind the best; the two most ancient that I know of, in prose, are +'Æsop's Fables' and 'Phalaris's Epistles.'"--The "Epistles," he +insists, exhibit every excellence of "a statesman, a soldier, a wit, +and a scholar." That ancient author, who Bentley afterwards asserted +was only "some dreaming pedant, with his elbow on his desk." + +Bentley, bristled over with Greek, perhaps then considered that to +notice a vernacular and volatile writer ill assorted with the critic's +_Fastus_. But about this time Dean Aldrich had set an example to the +students of Christchurch of publishing editions of classical authors. +Such juvenile editorships served as an easy admission into the +fashionable literature of Oxford. Alsop had published the "Æsop;" and +Boyle, among other "young gentlemen," easily obtained the favour of +the dean, "to _desire_ him to undertake an edition of the 'Epistles of +Phalaris.'" Such are the modest terms Boyle employs in his reply to +Bentley, after he had discovered the unlucky choice he had made of an +author. + +For this edition of "Phalaris" it was necessary to collate a MS. in +the king's library; and Bentley, about this time, had become the royal +librarian. Boyle did not apply directly to Bentley, but circuitously, +by his bookseller, with whom the doctor was not on terms. Some act of +civility, or a Mercury more "formose," to use one of his latinisms, +was probably expected. The MS. was granted, but the collator was +negligent; in six days Bentley reclaimed it, "four hours" had been +sufficient for the purpose of collation. + +When Boyle's "Phalaris" appeared, he made this charge in the preface, +that having ordered the Epistles to be collated with the MS. in the +king's library, the collator was prevented perfecting the collation by +the _singular humanity_ of the library-keeper, who refused any further +use of the MS.; _pro singulari suâ humanitate negavit_: an expression +that sharply hit a man marked by the haughtiness of his manners.[297] + +Bentley, on this insult, informed Boyle of what had passed. He +expected that Boyle would have civilly cancelled the page; though he +tells us he did not require this, because, "to have insisted on +the cancel, might have been forcing a gentleman to too low a +submission;"--a stroke of delicacy which will surprise some to +discover in the strong character of Bentley. But he was also too +haughty to ask a favour, and too conscious of his superiority to +betray a feeling of injury. Boyle replied, that the bookseller's +account was quite different from the doctor's, who had spoken +slightingly of him. Bentley said no more. + +Three years had nearly elapsed, when Bentley, in a new edition of his +friend Wotton's book, published "A Dissertation on the Epistles of the +Ancients;" where, reprehending the false criticism of Sir William +Temple, he asserted that the "Fables of Æsop" and the "Epistles of +Phalaris" were alike spurious. The blow was levelled at Christchurch, +and all "the bees" were brushed down in the warmth of their +summer-day. + +It is remarkable that Bentley kept so long a silence; indeed, he had +considered the affair so trivial, that he had preserved no part of the +correspondence with Boyle, whom no doubt he slighted as the young +editor of a spurious author. But Boyle's edition came forth, as +Bentley expresses it, "with a sting in its mouth." This, at first, +was like a cut finger--he breathed on it, and would have forgotten it; +but the nerve was touched, and the pain raged long after the stroke. +Even the great mind of Bentley began to shrink at the touch of +literary calumny, so different from the vulgar kind, in its extent and +its duration. He betrays the soreness he would wish to conceal, when +he complains that "the false story has been spread all over England." + +The statement of Bentley produced, in reply, the famous book of +Boyle's "Examination of Bentley's Dissertation." It opens with an +imposing narrative, highly polished, of the whole transaction, with the +extraordinary furniture of documents, which had never before entered +into a literary controversy--depositions--certificates--affidavits--and +private letters. Bentley now rejoined by his enlarged "Dissertation on +Phalaris," a volume of perpetual value to the lovers of ancient +literature, and the memorable preface of which, itself a volume, +exhibits another Narrative, entirely differing from Boyle's. These +produced new replies and new rejoinders. The whole controversy became +so perplexed, that it has frightened away all who have attempted to +adjust the particulars. With unanimous consent they give up the +cause, as one in which both parties studied only to contradict each +other. Such was the fate of a Narrative, which was made out of the +recollections of the parties, with all their passions at work, after +an interval of three years. In each, the memory seemed only retentive +of those passages which best suited their own purpose, and which were +precisely those the other party was most likely to have forgotten. +What was forgotten, was denied; what was admitted, was made to refer to +something else; dialogues were given which appear never to have been +spoken; and incidents described which are declared never to have taken +place; and all this, perhaps, without any purposed violation of +truth. Such were the dangers and misunderstandings which attended a +Narrative framed out of the broken or passionate recollections of the +parties on the watch to confound one another.[298] + +Bentley's Narrative is a most vigorous production: it heaves with the +workings of a master-spirit; still reasoning with such force, and +still applying with such happiness the stores of his copious +literature, had it not been for this literary quarrel, the mere +English reader had lost this single opportunity of surveying that +commanding intellect. + +Boyle's edition of "Phalaris" was a work of parade, designed to confer +on a young man, who bore an eminent name, some distinction in the +literary world. But Bentley seems to have been well-informed of the +secret transactions at Christchurch. In his first attack he mentions +Boyle as "the young gentleman of great hopes, whose name is set to the +edition;" and asserts that the editor, no more than his own +"Phalaris," has written what was ascribed to him. He persists in +making a plurality of a pretended unity, by multiplying Boyle into a +variety of little personages, of "new editors," our "annotators," our +"great geniuses."[299] Boyle, touched at these reflections, declared +"they were levelled at a learned society, in which I had the happiness +to be educated; as if 'Phalaris' had been made up by contributions +from several hands." Pressed by Bentley to acknowledge the assistance +of Dr. John Freind, Boyle confers on him the ambiguous title of "The +Director of Studies." Bentley links the Bees together--Dr. Freind and +Dr. Alsop. "The Director of Studies, who has lately set out Ovid's +'Metamorphoses,' with a paraphrase and notes, is of the same size for +learning with the late editor of the Æsopian Fables. They bring the +nation into contempt abroad, and themselves into it at home;" and adds +to this magisterial style, the mortification of his criticism on +Freind's Ovid, as on Alsop's Æsop. + +But Boyle assuming the honours of an edition of "Phalaris," was but a +venial offence, compared with that committed by the celebrated volume +published in its defence. + +If Bentley's suspicions were not far from the truth, that "the +'Phalaris' had been _made up by contributions_," they approached still +closer when they attacked "The Examination of his Dissertation." Such +was the assistance which Boyle received from all "the Bees," that +scarcely a few ears of that rich sheaf fall to his portion. His +efforts hardly reach to the mere narrative of his transactions with +Bentley. All the varied erudition, all the Attic graces, all the +inexhaustible wit, are claimed by others; so that Boyle was not +materially concerned either in his "Phalaris," or in the more +memorable work.[300] + +The Christchurch party now formed a literary conspiracy against the +great critic; and as treason is infectious when the faction is strong, +they were secretly engaging new associates; Whenever any of the party +published anything themselves, they had sworn to have always "a fling +at Bentley," and intrigued with their friends to do the same. + +They procured Keil, the professor of astronomy, in so grave a work as +"The Theory of the Earth," to have a fling at Bentley's boasted +sagacity in conjectural criticism. Wotton, in a dignified reproof, +administered a spirited correction to the party-spirit; while his love +of science induced him generously to commend Keil, and intimate the +advantages the world may derive from his studies, "as he grows older." +Even Garth and Pope struck in with the alliance, and condescended to +pour out rhymes more lasting than even the prose of "the Bees." + +But of all the rabid wits who, fastening on their prey, never drew +their fangs from the noble animal, the facetious Dr. King seems to +have been the only one who excited Bentley's anger. Persevering +malice, in the teasing shape of caustic banter, seems to have affected +the spirit even of Bentley. + +At one of those conferences which passed between Bentley and the +bookseller, King happened to be present; and being called on by Boyle +to bear his part in the drama, he performed it quite to the taste of +"the Bees." He addressed a letter to Dean Aldrich, in which he gave +one particular: and, to make up a sufficient dose, dropped some +corrosives. He closes his letter thus:--"That scorn and contempt which +I have naturally for pride and insolence, makes me remember that which +otherwise I might have forgotten." Nothing touched Bentley more to the +quick than reflections on "his pride and insolence." Our defects seem +to lose much of their character, in reference to ourselves, by habit +and natural disposition; yet we have always a painful suspicion of +their existence; and he who touches them with no tenderness is never +pardoned. The invective of King had all the bitterness of truth. +Bentley applied a line from Horace; which showed that both Horace and +Bentley could pun in anger:-- + + Proscripti _Regis Rupili_ pus atque venenum.[301]--_Sat._ i. 7. + The filth and venom of _Rupilius King_. + +The particular incident which King imperfectly recollected, made +afterwards much noise among the wits, for giving them a new notion of +the nature of ancient MSS. King relates that Dr. Bentley said--"If the +MS. were collated, it would be worth nothing for the future." Bentley, +to mortify the pertness of the bookseller, who would not send his +publications to the Royal Library, had said that he ought to do +so, were it but to make amends for the damage the MS. would sustain +by his printing the various readings; "for," added Bentley, "after +the various lections were once taken and printed, _the MS. would +be like a squeezed orange, and little worth for the future_." This +familiar comparison of a MS. with a squeezed orange provoked the +epigrammatists. Bentley, in retorting on King, adds some curious facts +concerning the fate of MSS. after they have been printed; but is +aware, he says, of what little relish or sense the Doctor has of MSS., +who is better skilled in "the catalogue of ales, his Humty-Dumty, +Hugmatee, Three-threads, and the rest of that glorious list, than +in the catalogue of MSS." King, in his banter on Dr. Lister's +journey to Paris, had given a list of these English beverages. It +was well known that he was in too constant an intercourse with them +all. Bentley nicknames King through the progress of his Controversy, +for his tavern-pleasures, Humty-Dumty, and accuses him of writing more +in a tavern than in a study. He little knew the injustice of his +charge against a student who had written notes on 22,000 books and +MSS.; but they were not Greek ones. + +All this was not done with impunity. An irritated wit only finds +his adversary cutting out work for him. A second letter, more +abundant with the same pungent qualities, fell on the head of +Bentley. King says of the arch-critic--"He thinks meanly, I find, +of my reading; yet for all that, I dare say I have read more than any +man in England besides _him_ and _me_; for I have read his book all +over."[302] Nor was this all; "Humty-Dumty" published eleven +"Dialogues of the Dead," supposed to be written by a student at +Padua, concerning "one Bentivoglio, a very troublesome critic in the +world;" where, under the character of "Signior Moderno," Wotton +falls into his place. Whether these dialogues mortified Bentley, I +know not: they ought to have afforded him very high amusement. But +when a man is at once tickled and pinched, the operation requires +a gentler temper than Bentley's. "Humty-Dumty," indeed, had Bentley +too often before him. There was something like inveteracy in his wit; +but he who invented the remarkable index to Boyle's book, must have +closely studied Bentley's character. He has given it with all its +protuberant individuality.[303] + +Bentley, with his peculiar idiom, had censured "all the stiffness and +stateliness, and operoseness of style, quite alien from the character +of 'Phalaris,' a man of business and despatch." Boyle keenly turns his +own words on Bentley. "_Stiffness and stateliness, and operoseness of +style_, is indeed quite _alien from the character of a man of +business_; and being but a _library-keeper_, it is not over-modestly +done, to oppose his judgment and taste to that of Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE, +who knows more of these things than Dr. Bentley does of Hesychius and +Suidas. Sir William Temple has spent a good part of his life in +transacting affairs of state: he has written to kings, and they to +him; and this has qualified him to judge how kings should write, much +better than the _library-keeper at St. James's_."--This may serve as a +specimen of the Attic style of the controversy. Hard words sometimes +passed. Boyle complains of some of the _similes_ which Bentley +employs, more significant than elegant. For the new readings of +"Phalaris," "he likens me to a bungling tinker mending old kettles." +Correcting the faults of the version, he says, "The first epistle cost +me four pages in scouring;" and, "by the help of a Greek proverb, he +calls me downright ass." But while Boyle complains of these +sprinklings of ink, he himself contributes to Bentley's "Collection of +Asinine Proverbs," and "throws him in one out of Aristophanes," of "an +ass carrying mysteries:" "a proverb," says Erasmus, (as 'the Bees' +construe him.) "applied to those who were preferred to some place they +did not deserve, as when a _dunce_ was made a _library-keeper_." + +Some ambiguous threats are scattered in the volume, while others are +more intelligible. When Bentley, in his own defence, had referred to +the opinions which some learned foreigners entertained of him--they +attribute these to "the foreigners, because they are foreigners--we, +that have the happiness of a nearer conversation with him, know him +better; and we may perhaps take an opportunity of setting these +mistaken strangers right in their opinions." They threaten him with +his character, "in a tongue that will last longer, and go further, +than their own;" and, in the imperious style of Festus, add:--"Since +Dr. Bentley has appealed to foreign universities, to foreign +universities he must go." Yet this is light, compared with the odium +they would raise against him by the menace of the resentments of a +whole society of learned men. + +"_Single adversaries_ die and drop off; but _societies_ are immortal: +their resentments are sometimes delivered down from hand to hand; and +when once they have begun with a man, there is no knowing when they +will leave him." + +In reply to this literary anathema, Bentley was furnished, by his +familiarity with his favourite authors, with a fortunate application +of a term, derived from Phalaris himself. Cicero had conveyed his idea +of Cæsar's cruelty by this term, which he invented from the very name +of the tyrant.[304] + +"There is a certain temper of mind that Cicero calls _Phalarism_; a +spirit like Phalaris's. One would be apt to imagine that a portion of +it had descended upon some of his translators. The gentleman has given +a broad hint more than once in his book, that if I proceed further +against Phalaris, I may draw, perhaps, a duel, or a stab upon myself; +a generous threat to a divine, who neither carries arms nor principles +fit for that sort of controversy. I expected such usage from the +spirit of Phalarism." + +In this controversy, the amusing fancy of "the Bees" could not pass by +Phalaris without contriving to make some use of that brazen bull by +which he tortured men alive. Not satisfied in their motto, from the +Earl of Roscommon, with wedging "the great critic, like Milo, in the +timber he strove to rend," they gave him a second death in their +finis, by throwing Bentley into Phalaris's bull, and flattering their +vain imaginations that they heard him "bellow." + +"He has defied Phalaris, and used him very coarsely, under the +assurance, as he tells us, that 'he is out of his reach.' Many of +Phalaris's enemies thought the same thing, and repented of their vain +confidence afterwards in his _bull_. Dr. Bentley is perhaps, by this +time, or will be suddenly, satisfied that he also has presumed a +little too much upon his distance; but it will be too late to repent +when he begins to bellow."[305] + +Bentley, although the solid force of his mind was not favourable to +the lighter sports of wit, yet was not quite destitute of those airy +qualities; nor does he seem insensible to the literary merits of "that +odd work," as he calls Boyle's volume, which he conveys a very good +notion of:--"If his book shall happen to be preserved anywhere as an +useful commonplace book for ridicule, banter, and all the topics of +calumny." With equal dignity and sense he observes on the ridicule so +freely used by both parties--"I am content that what is the greatest +virtue of his book should be counted the greatest fault of mine." + +His reply to "Milo's fate," and the tortures he was supposed to pass +through when thrown into Phalaris's bull, is a piece of sarcastic +humour which will not suffer by comparison with the volume more +celebrated for its wit. + +"The facetious examiner seems resolved to vie with Phalaris himself in +the science of _Phalarism_; for his revenge is not satisfied with one +single death of his adversary, but he will kill me over and over +again. He has slain me twice by two several deaths! one, in the first +page of his book; and another, in the last. In the title-page I die +the death of Milo, the Crotonian:-- + + ----Remember Milo's end, + Wedged in that timber which he strove to rend. + +"The application of which must be this:--That as Milo, after his +victories at six several Olympiads, was at last conquered and +destroyed in wrestling with a _tree_, so I, after I had attained to +some small reputation in letters, am to be quite baffled and run down +by _wooden antagonists_. But in the end of his book he has got me into +Phalaris's bull, and he has the pleasure of fancying that he hears me +_begin to bellow_. Well, since it is certain that I am in the bull, I +have performed the part of a sufferer. For as the cries of the +tormented in old Phalaris's bull, being conveyed through pipes lodged +in the machine, were turned into music for the entertainment of the +tyrant, so the complaints which my torments express from me, being +conveyed to Mr. Boyle by this answer, are all dedicated to his +pleasure and diversion. But yet, methinks, when he was setting up to +be _Phalaris junior_, the very omen of it might have deterred him. As +the old tyrant himself at last bellowed in his own bull, his imitators +ought to consider that at long run their own actions may chance to +overtake them."--p. 43. + +Wit, however, enjoyed the temporary triumph; not but that some, in +that day, loudly protested against the award.[306] "The Episode of +Bentley and Wotton," in "The Battle of the Books," is conceived with +all the caustic imagination of the first of our prose satirists. There +Bentley's great qualities are represented as "tall, without shape or +comeliness; large, without strength or proportion." His various +erudition, as "armour patched up of a thousand incoherent pieces;" his +book, as "the sound" of that armour, "loud and dry, like that made by +the fall of a sheet of lead from the roof of some steeple;" his +haughty intrepidity, as "a vizor of brass, tainted by his breath, +corrupted into copperas, nor wanted gall from the same fountain; so +that, whenever provoked by anger or labour, an atramentous quality of +most malignant nature was seen to distil from his lips." Wotton is +"heavy-armed and slow of foot, lagging behind." They perish together +in one ludicrous death. Boyle, in his celestial armour, by a stroke of +his weapon, transfixes both "the lovers," "as a cook trusses a brace +of woodcocks, with iron skewer piercing the tender sides of both. +Joined in their lives, joined in their death, so closely joined, that +Charon would mistake them both for one, and waft them over Styx for +half his fare." Such is the candour of wit! The great qualities of an +adversary, as in Bentley, are distorted into disgraceful attitudes; +while the suspicious virtues of a friend, as in Boyle, not passed over +in prudent silence, are ornamented with even spurious panegyric. + +Garth, catching the feeling of the time, sung-- + + And to a Bentley 'tis we owe a Boyle. + +Posterity justly appreciates the volume of Bentley for its stores +of ancient literature; and the author, for that peculiar sagacity +in emending a corrupt text, which formed his distinguishing +characteristic as a classical critic; and since his book but for this +literary quarrel had never appeared, reverses the names in the +verse of the "Satirist." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [297] Haughtiness was the marking feature of Bentley's literary + character; and his Wolseyan style and air have been played on + by the wits. Bentley happened to express himself on the King's + MS. of Phalaris in a manner their witty malice turned against + him. "'Twas a surprise (he said) to find that OUR MS. was not + perused."--"OUR MS. (they proceed) that is, his Majesty's and + mine! He speaks out now; 'tis no longer the King's, but OUR + MS., _i.e._ Dr. Bentley's and the King's in common, _Ego et + Rex meus_--much too familiar for a library-keeper!"--It has + been said that Bentley used the same Wolseyan egotism on + Pope's publications:--"This man is always abusing _me_ or the + _King_!" + + [298] Bentley, in one place, having to give a positive contradiction + to the statement of the bookseller, rising in all his dignity + and energy, exclaims, "What can be done in this case? Here are + two contrary affirmations; and the matter being done in + private, neither of us have any witness. I might plead, as + Æmilius Scaurus did against one Varius, of Sucro. _Varius + Sucronensis ait, Æmilius Scaurus negat. Utri creditis + Quirites?_" p. 21.--The story is told by Valerius Maximus, + lib. iii. c. 7. Scaurus was insolently accused by one Varius, + a Sucronian, that he had taken bribes from Mithridates: + Scaurus addressed the Roman people. "He did not think it just + that a man of his age should defend himself against + accusations, and before those who were not born when he filled + the offices of the republic, nor witnessed the actions he had + performed. Varius, the Sucronian, says that Scaurus, corrupted + by gold, would have betrayed the republic; Scaurus replies, It + is not true. Whom will you believe, fellow-Romans?"--This + appeal to the people produced all the effect imaginable, and + the ridiculous accuser was silenced. + + Bentley points the same application, with even more + self-consciousness of his worth, in another part of his + preface. It became necessary to praise himself, to remove the + odium Boyle and his friends had raised on him--it was a + difficulty overcome. "I will once more borrow the form of + argument that Æmilius Scaurus used against Varius Sucronensis. + Mr. Spanheim and Mr. Grævius give a high character of Dr. B.'s + learning: Mr. Boyle gives the meanest that malice can furnish + himself with. _Utri creditis, Quirites?_ Whether of the + characters will the present age or posterity believe?"--p. 82. + It was only a truly great mind which could bring itself so + close to posterity. + + [299] It was the fashion then to appear very unconcerned about one's + literary reputation; but then to be so tenacious about it when + once obtained as not to suffer, with common patience, even the + little finger of criticism to touch it. Boyle, after defending + what he calls his "honesty," adds, "the rest _only_ touches my + learning. This will give me _no concern_, though it may put me + to some little trouble. I shall enter upon this with _the + indifference of a gamester who plays but for a trifle_." On + this affected indifference, Bentley keenly observes:--"This + was entering on his work a little ominously; for a gamester + who plays with indifference never plays his game well. Besides + that, by this odd comparison, he seems to give warning, and is + as good as his word, that he will put the dice upon his + readers as often as he can. But what is worse than all, this + comparison puts one in mind of a general rumour, that there's + another set of gamesters who _play him_ in his dispute while + themselves are safe behind the curtain."--BENTLEY'S + _Dissertation on Phalaris_, p. 2. + + [300] Rumours and conjectures are the lot of contemporaries; truth + seems reserved only for posterity; and, like the fabled + Minerva, she is born of age at once. The secret history of + this volume, which partially appeared, has been more + particularly opened in one of Warburton's letters, who + received it from Pope, who had been "let into the secret." + Boyle wrote the Narrative, "which, too, was corrected for + him." Freind, who wrote the entire Dissertation on Æsop in + that volume, wrote also, with Atterbury, the body of the + Criticisms; King, the droll argument, proving that Bentley was + not the author of his own Dissertation, and the extraordinary + index which I shall shortly notice. In Atterbury's "Epistolary + Correspondence" is a letter, where, with equal anger and + dignity, Atterbury avows his having written _about half, and + planned the whole_ of Boyle's attack upon Bentley! With these + facts before us, can we read without surprise, if not without + indignation, the passage I shall now quote from the book to + which the name of Boyle is prefixed. In raising an artful + charge against Bentley, of appropriating to himself some MS. + notes of Sir Edward Sherburn, Boyle, replying to the argument + of Bentley, that "Phalaris" was the work of some sophist, + says:--"The sophists are everywhere pelted by Dr. Bentley, for + putting out what they wrote in other men's names; but I did + not expect to hear so loudly of it from one that has so far + outdone them; for _I think 'tis much worse to take the honour + of another man's book to one's self_, than to entitle one's + own book to another man."--p. 16. + + I am surprised Bentley did not turn the point of his + antagonist's sword on himself, for this flourish was a most + unguarded one. But Bentley could not then know so much of the + book, "made up by contributions," as ourselves. + + Partial truths flew about in rumours at the time; but the + friends of a young nobleman, and even his fellow-workmen, + seemed concerned that his glory should not be diminished by a + ruinous division. Rymer, in his "Essay concerning Curious and + Critical Learning," judiciously surmised its true origin. "I + fancy this book was written (as most public compositions in + that college are) by a _select club_. Every one seems to have + thrown in a repartee or so in his turn; and the most ingenious + Dr. Aldrich (he does not deserve the epithet in its most + friendly sense) no doubt at their head, smoked and punned + plentifully on this occasion." The arrogance of Aldrich + exceeded even that of Bentley. Rymer tells further, that + Aldrich was notorious for thus employing his "young + inexperienced students;" that he "_betrayed_ Mr. Boyle into + the controversy, and is still involving others in the + quarrel." Thus he points at the rival chieftains; one of whom + never appeared in public, but was the great mover behind the + curtain. These lively wits, so deeply busied among the + obscurest writers of antiquity, so much against their will, + making up a show of learning against the formidable array of + Bentley, exhilarated themselves in their dusty labours by a + perpetual stimulus of keen humour, playful wit, and angry + invective. No doubt they were often enraged at bearing the + yoke about their luxuriant manes, ploughing the darkest and + heaviest soil of antiquity. They had been reared-- + + "Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos." + "Georg." Lib. iii. 117. + + "To insult the ground, and proudly pace the plain." + TRAPP. + + Swift, in "The Battle of the Books," who, under his patron, + Sir William Temple, was naturally in alliance with "the + Bees," with ingenious ambiguity alludes to the glorious + manufacture. "Boyle, clad in a suit of armour, _which had + been given him by all the GODS_." Still the truth was only + floating in rumours and surmises; and the little that Boyle + had done was not yet known. Lord Orrery, his son, had a + difficulty to overcome to pass lightly over this allusion. The + literary honour of the family was at stake, and his filial + piety was exemplary to a father, who had unfortunately, in + passion, deprived his lordship of the family library--a + stroke from which his sensibility never recovered, and which + his enemies ungenerously pointed against him. Lord Orrery, + with all the tenderness of a son, and the caution of a + politician, observes on "the armour given by the Gods"--"I + shall not _dispute_ about the _gift_ of the armour. The Gods + never bestowed celestial armour except upon heroes, whose + courage and superior strength distinguished them from the + rest of mankind." Most ingeniously he would seem to + convert into a classical fable what was designed as a plain + matter of fact! + + It does credit to the discernment of Bentley, whose taste was + not very lively in English composition, that he pronounced + Boyle was _not the author_ of the "Examination," from _the + variety of styles in it_.--p. 107. + + [301] This short and pointed satire of Horace is merely a pleasant + story about a low wretch of the name of King; and Brutus, + under whose command he was, is entreated to get rid of him, + from his hereditary hatred to _all kings_. I suppose this pun + must be considered legitimate, otherwise Horace was an + indifferent punster. + + [302] A keen repartee! Yet King could read this mighty volume as "a + vain confused performance," but the learned DODWELL declared + to "the Bees of Christchurch," who looked up to him, that "he + had never learned so much from any book of the size in his + life." King was as unjust to Bentley, as Bentley to King. Men + of genius are more subject to "unnatural civil war" than even + the blockheads whom Pope sarcastically reproaches with it. The + great critic's own notion of his volume seems equally modest + and just. "To undervalue this dispute about 'Phalaris,' + because it does not suit one's own studies, is to quarrel with + a circle because it is not a square. If the question be not of + vulgar use, it was writ therefore for a few; for even the + greatest performances, upon the most important subjects, are + no entertainment at all to _the many of the world_."--p. 107. + + [303] This index, a very original morsel of literary pleasantry, is at + once a satirical character of the great critic, and what it + professes to be. I preserve a specimen among the curiosities I + am collecting. It is entitled-- + + "_A Short Account of +Dr. BENTLEY+, by way of Index._ + + "Dr. Bentley's true story proved false, by the + testimonies of, &c., p. -- + + "His civil language, p. -- + + "His nice taste, + in wit, p. -- + in style, p. -- + in Greek, p. -- + in Latin, p. -- + in English, p. -- + + "His modesty and decency in contradicting great + men"--a very long list of authors, concluding with + '_Everybody_,' p. -- + + "His familiar acquaintance with books he never saw," + p. -- + + And lastly, "his profound skill in criticism--from + beginning to THE END." + + Which thus terminates the volume. + + [304] Cicero ad Atticum, Lib. vii., Epist. xii. + + [305] No doubt this idea was the origin of that satirical Capriccio, + which closed in a most fortunate pun--a literary caricature, + where the doctor is represented in the hands of Phalaris's + attendants, who are putting him into the tyrant's bull, while + Bentley exclaims, "I had rather be _roasted_ than _Boyled_." + + [306] Sir Richard Blackmore, in his bold attempt at writing "A Satire + against Wit," in utter defiance of it, without any, however, + conveys some opinions of the times. He there paints the great + critic, "crowned with applause," seated amidst "the spoils of + ruined wits:" + + "Till his rude strokes had thresh'd the empty sheaf, + Methought there had been something else than chaff." + + Boyle, not satisfied with the undeserved celebrity conceded to + his volume, ventured to write poetry, in which no one appears + to have suspected the aid of "The Bees"-- + + "See a fine scholar sunk by wit in Boyle! + After his foolish rhymes, both friends and foes + Conclude they know _who did not write his prose_." + _A Satire against Wit._ + + + + +PARKER AND MARVELL. + + MARVELL the founder of "a newly-refined art of jeering + buffoonery"--his knack of nicknaming his adversaries--PARKER'S + Portrait--PARKER suddenly changes his principles--his declamatory + style--MARVELL prints his anonymous letter as a motto to "The + Rehearsal Transprosed"--describes him as an "At-all"--MARVELL'S + ludicrous description of the whole posse of answers summoned + together by PARKER--MARVELL'S cautious allusion to MILTON--his + solemn invective against PARKER--anecdote of MARVELL and + PARKER--PARKER retires after the second part of "The Rehearsal + Transprosed"--The Recreant, reduced to silence, distils his secret + vengeance in a posthumous libel. + + +One of the legitimate ends of satire, and one of the proud triumphs of +genius, is to unmask the false zealot; to beat back the haughty spirit +that is treading down all; and if it cannot teach modesty, and raise a +blush, at least to inflict terror and silence. It is then that the +satirist does honour to the office of the executioner. + + As one whose whip of steel can with a lash + Imprint the characters of shame so deep, + Even in the brazen forehead of proud Sin, + That not eternity shall wear it out.[307] + +The quarrel between PARKER and MARVELL is a striking example of the +efficient powers of genius, in first humbling, and then annihilating, +an unprincipled bravo, who had placed himself at the head of a +faction. + +Marvell, the under-secretary and the bosom-friend of Milton, whose +fancy he has often caught in his verse, was one of the greatest wits +of the luxuriant age of Charles II.; he was a master in all the arts +of ridicule; and his inexhaustible spirit only required some permanent +subject to have rivalled the causticity of Swift, whose style, in +neatness and vivacity, seems to have been modelled on his.[308] But +Marvell placed the oblation of genius on a temporary altar, and the +sacrifice sunk with it; he wrote to the times, and with the times his +writings have passed away; yet something there is incorruptible in +wit, and wherever its salt has fallen, that part is still preserved. + +Such are the vigour and fertility of Marvell's writings, that our old +Chronicler of Literary History, Anthony Wood, considers him as the +founder of "the then newly-refined art (though much in mode and +fashion almost ever since) of sportive and jeering buffoonery;"[309] +and the crabbed humorist describes "this pen-combat as briskly managed +on both sides; a jerking flirting way of writing entertaining the +reader, by seeing two such right cocks of the game so keenly engaging +with sharp and dangerous weapons."--Burnett calls Marvell "the +liveliest droll of the age, who writ in a burlesque strain, but with +so peculiar and entertaining a conduct, that from the king to the +tradesman, his books were read with great pleasure." Charles II. was a +more polished judge than these uncouth critics; and, to the credit of +his impartiality,--for that witty monarch and his dissolute court +were never spared by Marvell, who remained inflexible to his +seduction--he deemed Marvell the best prose satirist of the age. But +Marvell had other qualities than the freest humour and the finest wit +in this "newly-refined art," which seems to have escaped these grave +critics--a vehemence of solemn reproof, and an eloquence of invective, +that awes one with the spirit of the modern Junius,[310] and may give +some notion of that more ancient satirist, whose writings are said to +have so completely answered their design, that, after perusal, their +victim hanged himself on the first tree; and in the present case, +though the delinquent did not lay violent hands on himself, he did +what, for an author, may be considered as desperate a course, +"withdraw from the town, and cease writing for some years."[311] + +The celebrated work here to be noticed is Marvell's "Rehearsal +Transprosed;" a title facetiously adopted from Bayes in "The Rehearsal +Transposed" of the Duke of Buckingham. It was written against the +works and the person of Dr. Samuel Parker, afterwards Bishop of +Oxford, whom he designates under the character of Bayes, to denote the +incoherence and ridiculousness of his character. Marvell had a +peculiar knack of calling names,--it consisted in appropriating a +ludicrous character in some popular comedy, and dubbing his +adversaries with it. In the same spirit he ridiculed Dr. Turner, of +Cambridge, a brother-genius to Parker, by nicknaming him "Mr. Smirk, +the Divine in Mode," the name of the Chaplain in Etherege's "Man of +Mode," and thus, by a stroke of the pen, conveyed an idea of "a neat, +starched, formal, and forward divine." This application of a +fictitious character to a real one, this christening a man with +ridicule, though of no difficult invention, is not a little hazardous +to inferior writers; for it requires not less wit than Marvell's to +bring out of the real character the ludicrous features which mark the +factitious prototype. + +Parker himself must have his portrait, and if the likeness be justly +hit off, some may be reminded of a resemblance. Mason applies the +epithet of "Mitred Dullness" to him: but although he was at length +reduced to railing and to menaces, and finally mortified into silence, +this epithet does not suit so hardy and so active an adventurer. + +The secret history of Parker may be collected in Marvell,[312] and his +more public one in our honest chronicler, Anthony Wood. Parker was +originally educated in strict sectarian principles; a starch Puritan, +"fasting and praying with the Presbyterian students weekly, and who, +for their refection feeding only on thin broth made of oatmeal and +water, were commonly called _Gruellers_." Among these, says Marvell, +"it was observed that he was wont to put more graves than all the rest +into his porridge, and was deemed one of the _preciousest_[313] young +men in the University." It seems that these mortified saints, both the +brotherhood and the sisterhood, held their chief meetings at the house +of "Bess Hampton, an old and crooked maid that drove the trade of +laundry, who, being from her youth very much given to the godly party, +as they call themselves, had frequent meetings, especially for those +that were her customers." Such is the dry humour of honest Anthony, +who paints like the Ostade of literary history. + +But the age of sectarism and thin gruel was losing all its coldness in +the sunshine of the Restoration; and this "preciousest young man," +from praying and caballing against episcopacy, suddenly acquainted +the world, in one of his dedications, that Dr. Ralph Bathurst had +"rescued him from the chains and fetters of an unhappy education," +and, without any intermediate apology, from a sullen sectarian turned +a flaming highflyer for the "supreme dominion" of the Church.[314] + +It is the after-conduct of Parker that throws light on this rapid +change. On speculative points any man may be suddenly converted; for +these may depend on facts or arguments which might never have occurred +to him before. But when we watch the weathercock chopping with the +wind, so pliant to move, and so stiff when fixed--when we observe this +"preciousest grueller" clothed in purple, and equally hardy in the +most opposite measures--become a favourite with James II., and a +furious advocate for arbitrary power; when we see him railing at and +menacing those, among whom he had committed as many extravagances as +any of them;[315] can we hesitate to decide that this bold, haughty, +and ambitious man was one of those who, having neither religion nor +morality for a casting weight, can easily fly off to opposite +extremes? and whether a puritan or a bishop, we must place his zeal to +the same side of his religious ledger--that of the profits of barter! + +The quarrel between Parker and Marvell originated in a preface,[316] +written by Parker, in which he had poured down his contempt and abuse +on his old companions, the Nonconformists. It was then Marvell clipped +his wings with his "Rehearsal Transprosed;" his wit and humour were +finely contrasted with Parker's extravagances, set off in his +declamatory style; of which Marvell wittily describes "the volume and +circumference of the periods, which, though he takes always to be his +chiefest strength, yet, indeed, like too great a line, weakens the +defence, and requires too many men to make it good." The tilt was now +opened, and certain masqued knights appeared in the course; they +attempted to grasp the sharp and polished weapon of Marvell, to turn +it on himself.[317] But Marvell, with malicious ingenuity, sees Parker +in them all--they so much resembled their master! "There were no +less," says the wit, "than six scaramouches together on the stage, all +of them of the same gravity and behaviour, the same tone, the same +habit, that it was impossible to discern which was the true author of +the 'Ecclesiastical Polity.' I believe he imitated the wisdom of some +other princes, who have sometimes been persuaded by their servants to +disguise several others in the regal garb, that the enemy might not +know in the battle whom to single." Parker, in fact, replied to +Marvell anonymously, by "A Reproof to the Rehearsal Transprosed," with +a mild exhortation to the magistrate to crush with the secular arm the +pestilent wit, the servant of Cromwell, and the friend of Milton. But +this was not all; something else, anonymous too, was despatched to +Marvell: it was an extraordinary letter, short enough to have been an +epigram, could Parker have written one; but short as it was, it was +more in character, for it was only a threat of assassination! It +concluded with these words: "If thou darest to print any lie or libel +against Dr. Parker, by the Eternal God I will cut thy throat." Marvell +replied to "the Reproof," which he calls a printed letter, by the +second part of "the Rehearsal Transprosed;" and to the unprinted +letter, by publishing it on his own title-page. + +Of two volumes of wit and broad humour, and of the most galling +invective, one part flows so much into another, that the volatile +spirit would be injured by an analytical process. But Marvell is now +only read by the curious lovers of our literature, who find the +strong, luxuriant, though not the delicate, wit of the wittiest age, +never obsolete: the reader shall not, however, part from Marvell +without some slight transplantations from a soil whose rich vegetation +breaks out in every part. + +Of the pleasantry and sarcasm, these may be considered as specimens. +Parker was both author and licenser of his own work on "Ecclesiastical +Polity;"[318] and it appears he got the licence for printing Marvell's +first _Rehearsal_ recalled. The Church appeared in danger when the +doctor discovered he was so furiously attacked. Marvell sarcastically +rallies him on his dual capacity:-- + +"He is such an _At-all_, of so many capacities, that he would +excommunicate any man who should have presumed to intermeddle with any +one of his provinces. Has he been an author? he is too the licenser. +Has he been a father? he will stand too for godfather. Had he acted +_Pyramus_, he would have been _Moonshine_ too, and the _Hole in the +Wall_. That first author of 'Ecclesiastical Polity,' (such as his) +Nero, was of the same temper. He could not be contented with the Roman +empire, unless he were too his own precentor; and lamented only the +detriment that mankind must sustain at his death, in losing so +considerable a fiddler." + +The satirist describes Parker's arrogance for those whom Parker calls +the vulgar, and whom he defies as "a rout of wolves and tigers, apes +and buffoons;" yet his personal fears are oddly contrasted with his +self-importance: "If he chance but to sneeze, he prays that the +_foundations of the earth_ be not shaken.--Ever since he crept up to +be but the _weathercock of a steeple_, he trembles and cracks at every +puff of wind that blows about him, as if the _Church of England_ were +falling." Parker boasted, in certain philosophical "Tentamina," or +essays of his, that he had confuted the atheists: Marvell declares, +"If he had reduced any atheist by his book, he can only pretend to +have converted them (as in the old Florentine wars) by mere tiring +them out, and perfect weariness." A pleasant allusion to those mock +fights of the Italian mercenaries, who, after parading all day, rarely +unhorsed a single cavalier. + +Marvell blends with a ludicrous description of his answerers great +fancy:-- + +"The whole _Posse Archidiaconatus_ was raised to repress me; and great +rising there was, and sending post every way to pick out the ablest +ecclesiastical droles to prepare an answer. Never was such a hubbub +made about a sorry book. One flattered himself with being at least a +surrogate; another was so modest as to set up with being but a +paritor; while the most generous hoped only to be graciously smiled +upon at a good dinner; but the more hungry starvelings generally +looked upon it as an immediate call to a benefice; and he that could +but write an answer, whatsoever it were, took it for the most +dexterous, cheap, and legal way of simony. As is usual on these +occasions, there arose no small competition and mutiny among the +pretenders." + +It seems all the body had not impudence enough, and had too nice +consciences, and could not afford an extraordinary expense in wit for +the occasion. It was then + +"The author of the 'Ecclesiastical Polity' altered his lodgings to a +calumny-office, and kept open chamber for all comers, that he might be +supplied himself, or supply others, as there was occasion. But the +information came in so slenderly, that he was glad to make use of +anything rather than sit out; and there was at last nothing so slight, +but it grew material; nothing so false, but he resolved it should go +for truth; and what wanted in matter, he would make out with invention +and artifice. So that he and his remaining comrades seemed to have set +up a glass-house, the model of which he had observed from the height +of his window in the neighbourhood, and the art he had been initiated +into ever since from the manufacture (he will criticise because not +orifacture) of _soap-bubbles_, he improved by degrees to the mystery +of making _glass-drops_, and thence, in running leaps, mounted by +these virtues to be Fellow of the Royal Society, Doctor of Divinity, +Parson, Prebend, and Archdeacon. The furnace was so hot of itself, +that there needed no coals, much less any one to blow them. One burnt +the weed, another calcined the flint, a third melted down that +mixture; but he himself fashioned all with his breath, and polished +with his style, till, out of a mere jelly of sand and ashes, he had +furnished a whole cupboard of things, so brittle and incoherent, that +the least touch would break them again in pieces, and so transparent, +that every man might see through them." + +Parker had accused Marvell with having served Cromwell, and being the +friend of Milton, then living, at a moment when such an accusation not +only rendered a man odious, but put his life in danger.[319] Marvell, +who now perceived that Milton, whom he never looked on but with the +eyes of reverential awe, was likely to be drawn into his quarrel, +touches on this subject with infinite delicacy and tenderness, but not +with diminished energy against his malignant adversary, whom he shows +to have been an impertinent intruder in Milton's house, where indeed +he had first known him. He cautiously alludes to our English Homer by +his initials: at that moment the very name of Milton would have +tainted the page! + +"J. M. was, and is, a man of great learning and sharpness of wit, as +any man. It was his misfortune, living in a tumultuous time, to be +tossed on the wrong side; and he writ, _flagrante bello_, certain +dangerous treatises. But some of his books, upon which you take him at +advantage, were of no other nature than that one writ by your own +father; only with this difference, that your father's, which I have by +me, was written with the same design, but with much less wit or +judgment, for which there was no remedy, unless you will supply his +judgment with his high Court of Justice. At his Majesty's happy +return, J. M. did partake, even as you yourself did, for all your +huffing, of his royal clemency, and has ever since expiated himself in +a retired silence. Whether it were my foresight, or my good fortune, I +never contracted any friendship or confidence with you; but then it +was you frequented J. M. incessantly, and haunted his house day by +day. What discourses you there used, he is too generous to remember. +But for you to insult over his old age, to traduce him by your +scaramouches, and in your own person, as a schoolmaster, who was born +and hath lived more ingenuously and liberally than yourself!" + +Marvell, when he lays by his playful humour and fertile fancy for more +solemn remonstrances, assumes a loftier tone, and a severity of +invective, from which, indeed, Parker never recovered. + +Accused by Parker of aiming to degrade the clerical character, Marvell +declares his veneration for that holy vocation, and that he reflected +even on the failings of the men, from whom so much is expected, with +indulgent reverence:-- + +"Their virtues are to be celebrated with all encouragement; and if +their vices be not notoriously palpable, let the eye, as it defends +its organ, so conceal the object by connivance." But there are cases +when even to write satirically against a clergyman may be not only +excusable, but necessary:--"The man who gets into the church by the +belfry or the window, ought never to be borne in the pulpit; and so +the man who illustrates his own corrupt doctrines with as ill a +conversation, and adorns the lasciviousness of his life with an equal +petulancy of style and language."--In such a concurrence of +misdemeanors, what is to be done? The example and the consequence so +pernicious! which could not be, "if our great pastors but exercise the +wisdom of common shepherds, by parting with one to stop the infection +of the whole flock, when his rottenness grows notorious. Or if our +clergy would but use the instinct of other creatures, and chastise the +blown deer out of their herd, such mischiefs might easily be +remedied. In this case it is that I think a clergyman is laid open to +the pen of any one that knows how to manage it; and that every person +who has either wit, learning, or sobriety, is licensed, if debauched, +to curb him; if erroneous, to catechise him; and if foul-mouthed and +biting, to muzzle him. Such an one would never have come into the +church, but to take sanctuary; rather wheresoever men shall find the +footing of so wanton a satyr out of his own bounds, the neighbourhood +ought, notwithstanding all his pretended capering divinity, to hunt +him through the woods, with hounds and horse, home to his harbour." + +And he frames an ingenious apology for the freedom of his humour, in +this attack on the morals and person of his adversary:-- + +"To write against him (says Marvell) is the odiousest task that ever I +undertook, and has looked to me all the while like the cruelty of a +living dissection; which, however it may tend to public instruction, +and though I have picked out the noxious creature to be anatomised, +yet doth scarce excuse the offensiveness of the scent and fouling of +my fingers: therefore, I will here break off abruptly, leaving many a +vein not laid open, and many a passage not searched into. But if I +have undergone the drudgery of the most loathsome part already (which +is his personal character), I will not defraud myself of what is more +truly pleasant, the conflict with, if it may be so called, his +reason." + +It was not only in these "pen-combats" that this Literary Quarrel +proceeded; it seems also to have broken out in the streets; for a tale +has been preserved of a rencontre, which shows at once the brutal +manners of Parker, and the exquisite wit of Marvell. Parker meeting +Marvell in the streets, the bully attempted to shove him from the +wall: but, even there, Marvell's agility contrived to lay him +sprawling in the kennel; and looking on him pleasantly, told him to +"lie there for a son of a whore!" Parker complained to the Bishop of +Rochester, who immediately sent for Marvell, to reprimand him; but he +maintained that the doctor had so called himself, in one of his recent +publications; and pointing to the preface, where Parker declares "he +is 'a true son of his mother, the Church of England:' and if you read +further on, my lord, you find he says: 'The Church of England has +spawned two bastards, the Presbyterians and the Congregationists;' +ergo, my lord, he expressly declares that he is the _son of a +whore_!" + +Although Parker retreated from any further attack, after the second +part of "The Rehearsal Transprosed," he in truth only suppressed +passions to which he was giving vent in secrecy and silence. That, +indeed, was not discovered till a posthumous work of his appeared, in +which one of the most striking parts is a most disgusting caricature +of his old antagonist. Marvell was, indeed, a republican, the pupil of +Milton, and adored his master: but his morals and his manners were +Roman--he lived on the turnip of Curtius, and he would have bled at +Philippi. We do not sympathise with the fierce republican spirit of +those unhappy times that scalped the head feebly protected by a mitre +or a crown. But the private virtues and the rich genius of such a man +are pure from the taint of party. We are now to see how far private +hatred can distort, in its hideous vengeance, the resemblance it +affects to give after nature. Who could imagine that Parker is +describing Marvell in these words?-- + +"Among these insolent revilers of great fame for ribaldry was one +Marvell. From his youth he lived in all manner of wickedness; and +thus, with a singular petulancy from nature, he performed the office +of a satirist for the faction, not so much from the quickness of his +wit, as from the sourness of his temper. A vagabond, ragged, hungry +poetaster, beaten at every tavern, where he daily received the rewards +of his impudence in kicks and blows.[320] By the interest of Milton, +to whom he was somewhat agreeable for his malignant wit, he became the +under-secretary to Cromwell's secretary." + +And elsewhere he calls him "a drunken buffoon," and asserts that "he +made his conscience more cheap than he had formerly made his +reputation;" but the familiar anecdote of Marvell's political honesty, +when, wanting a dinner, he declined the gold sent to him by the king, +sufficiently replies to the calumniator. Parker, then in his retreat, +seems not to have been taught anything like modesty by his silence, as +Burnet conjectured; who says, "That a face of brass must grow red when +it is burnt as his was." It was even then that the recreant, in +silence, was composing the libel, which his cowardice dared not +publish, but which his invincible malice has sent down to posterity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [307] Randolph's _Muses' Looking-glass_. Act 1, Scene 4. + + [308] Swift certainly admired, if he did not imitate Marvell: for in + his "Tale of a Tub" he says, "We still read Marvell's answer + to Parker with pleasure, though the book it answers be sunk + long ago." + + [309] This is a curious remark of Wood's: How came raillery and satire + to be considered as "a newly-refined art?" Has it not, at all + periods, been prevalent among every literary people? The + remark is, however, more founded on truth than it appears, and + arose from Wood's own feelings. Wit and Raillery had been so + strange to us during the gloomy period of the fanatic + Commonwealth, that honest Anthony, whose prejudices did not + run in favour of Marvell, not only considers him as the + "restorer of this newly-refined art," but as one "hugely + versed in it," and acknowledges all its efficacy in the + complete discomfiture of his haughty rival. Besides this, _a + small book_ of controversy, such as Marvell's usually are, was + another novelty--the "aureoli libelli," as one fondly calls + his precious books, were in the wretched taste of the times, + rhapsodies in folio. The reader has doubtless heard of + Caryll's endless "Commentary on Job," consisting of 2400 folio + pages! in small type. Of that monument of human perseverance, + which commenting on Job's patience, inspired what few works do + to whoever read them, the exercise of the virtue it + inculcated, the publisher, in his advertisement in Clavel's + Catalogue of Books, 1681, announces the two folios in 600 + sheets each! these were a republication of the first edition, + in twelve volumes quarto! he apologises "that it hath been _so + long a doing_, to the great vexation and loss of the + proposer." He adds, "indeed, _some few lines_, no more than + what may be contained _in a quarto page_, are expunged, _they + not relating to the Exposition_, which nevertheless some, by + malicious prejudice, have so unjustly aggravated, as if the + whole work had been disordered." He apologises for curtailing + _a few lines_ from 2400 folio pages! and he considered that + these few lines were the only ones that did not relate to the + Exposition! At such a time, the little books of Marvell must + have been considered as relishing morsels after such + indigestible surfeits. + + [310] The severity of his satire on Charles's court may be well + understood by the following lines:-- + + "A colony of French possess the court, + Pimps, priests, buffoons, in privy-chamber sport; + Such slimy monsters ne'er approached a throne + Since Pharaoh's days, nor so defil'd a crown; + In sacred ear tyrannick arts they croak, + Pervert his mind, and good intentions choak." + + "The Historical Poem," given in the poems on State affairs, is + so personal in its attacks on the vices of Charles, that it is + marvellous how its author escaped punishment. "Hodge's Vision + from the Monument" is equally strong, while the "Dialogue + between two Horses" (that of the statue of Charles I. at + Charing-cross, and Charles II., then in the city), has these + two strong lines of regret:-- + + "----to see _Deo Gratias_ writ on the throne, + And the king's wicked life say God there is none." + + The satire ends with the question:-- + + "But canst thou devise when things will be mended?" + + Which is thus answered:-- + + "When the reign of the line of the Stuarts is ended!".--ED. + + [311] So Burnet tells us. + + [312] See "The Rehearsal Transprosed, the second part," p. 76. + + [313] One of the canting terms used by the saints of those days, and + not obsolete in the dialect of those who still give themselves + out to be saints in the present. + + [314] Marvell admirably describes Parker's journey to London at the + Restoration, where "he spent a considerable time in creeping + into all corners and companies, horoscoping up and down + concerning the duration of the government." This term, so + expressive of his political doubts, is from "Judicial + Astrology," then a prevalent study. "Not considering anything + as best, but as most lasting and most profitable; and after + having many times cast a figure, he at last satisfied himself + that the episcopal government would endure as long as this + king lived, and from thenceforwards cast about to find the + highway to preferment. To do this, he daily enlarged not only + his conversation but his conscience, and was made free of some + of the town vices; imagining, like Muleasses, King of Tunis + (for I take witness that on all occasions I treat him rather + above his quality than otherwise), that by hiding himself + among the onions he should escape being traced by his + perfumes." The narrative proceeds with a curious detail of all + his sycophantic attempts at seducing useful patrons, among + whom was the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then began "those + pernicious books," says Marvell, "in which he first makes all + that he will to be law, and then whatsoever is law, to be + divinity." Parker, in his "Ecclesiastical Polity," came at + length to promulgate such violent principles as these, "He + openly declares his submission to the government of a Nero and + a Caligula, rather than suffer a dissolution of it." He says, + "it is absolutely necessary to set up a more severe government + over men's consciences and religious persuasions than over + their vices and immoralities;" and that "men's vices and + debaucheries may lie more safely indulged than their + consciences." Is it not difficult to imagine that this man had + once been an Independent, the advocate for every congregation + being independent of a bishop or a synod? + + [315] Parker's father was a lawyer, and one of Oliver's most + submissive sub-committee men, who so long pillaged the nation + and spilled its blood, "not in the hot and military way (which + diminishes always the offence), but in the cooler blood and + sedentary execution of an high court of justice." He wrote a + very remarkable book (after he had been petitioned against for + a misdemeanour) in defence of that usurped irregular state + called "The Government of the People of England." It had "a + most hieroglyphical title" of several emblems: two hands + joined, and beneath a sheaf of arrows, stuffed about with + half-a-dozen mottoes, "enough," says Marvell, "to have + supplied the mantlings and achievement of this (godly) + family." An anecdote in this secret history of Parker is + probably true. "He shortly afterwards did inveigh against his + father's memory, and in his mother's presence, before + witnesses, for a couple of whining fanatics."--_Rehearsal + Transprosed_, second part, p. 75. + + [316] This preface was prefixed to Bishop Bramball's "Vindication of + the Bishops from the Presbyterian Charge of Popery." + + [317] As a specimen of what old Anthony calls "a jerking flirting way + of writing," I transcribe the titles of these answers which + Marvell received. As Marvell had nicknamed Parker, Bayes, + the quaint humour of one entitled his reply, "Rosemary and + Bayes;" another, "The Transproser Rehearsed, or the Fifth + Act of Mr. Bayes's Play;" another, "Gregory Father Greybeard, + with his Vizard off;" another formed "a Commonplace Book out + of the Rehearsal, digested under heads;" and lastly, "Stoo him + Bayes, or some Animadversions on the Humour of writing + Rehearsals."--_Biog. Brit._ p. 3055. + + This was the very Bartlemy-fair of wit! + + [318] The title will convey some notion of its intolerant principles: + "A Discourse of Ecclesiastical Polity, wherein the authority + of the Civil Magistrate _over the Consciences of Subjects_, in + matters of external Religion, is asserted." + + [319] Milton had become acquainted with Marvell when travelling in + Italy, where he had gone to perfect his studies. He returned + to England in 1653, and was connected with the Cromwellian + party, through the introduction of Milton, in 1657. The great + poet was at that time secretary to Cromwell, and he became his + assistant-secretary. He afterwards represented his native town + of Hull in Parliament.--ED. + + [320] Vanus, pannosus, et famelicus poetaster oenopolis quovis + vapulans, fuste et calce indies petulantiæ poenas tulit--are + the words in Parker's "_De Rebus sui Temporis Commentariorum_," + p. 275. + + + + +D'AVENANT + +AND A CLUB OF WITS. + + CALAMITIES of Epic Poets--Character and Anecdotes of + D'AVENANT--attempts a new vein of invention--the Critics + marshalled against each other on the "Gondibert"--D'AVENANT'S + sublime feelings of Literary Fame--attacked by a Club of Wits in + two books of Verses--the strange misconception hitherto given + respecting the Second Part--various specimens of the Satires on + Gondibert, the Poet, and his Panegyrist HOBBES--the Poet's + silence; and his neglect of the unfinished Epic, while the + Philosopher keenly retorts on the Club, and will not allow of any + authority in WIT. + + +The memoirs of epic poets, in as far as they relate to the history of +their own epics, would be the most calamitous of all the suitors of +the Muses, whether their works have reached us, or scarcely the names +of the poets. An epic, which has sometimes been the labour of a life, +is the game of the wits and the critics. One ridicules what is +written; the other censures for what has not been written:--and it has +happened, in some eminent instances, that the rudest assailants of him +who "builds the lofty rhyme," have been his ungenerous contemporaries. +Men, whose names are now endeared to us, and who have left their +ΚΤΗΜΑ ΕΣ ΑΕΙ, which HOBBES so energetically translates "a possession +for everlasting," have bequeathed an inheritance to posterity, of +which they have never been in the receipt of the revenue. "The first +fruits" of genius have been too often gathered to place upon its tomb. +Can we believe that MILTON did not endure mortification from the +neglect of "evil days," as certainly as Tasso was goaded to madness by +the systematic frigidity of his critics? He who is now before us had a +mind not less exalted than Milton or Tasso; but was so effectually +ridiculed, that he has only sent us down the fragment of a great +work. + +One of the curiosities in the history of our poetry, is the GONDIBERT +of D'AVENANT; and the fortunes and the fate of this epic are as +extraordinary as the poem itself. Never has an author deserved more +copious memoirs than the fertility of this man's genius claims. His +life would have exhibited a moving picture of genius in action and in +contemplation. With all the infirmities of lively passions, he had all +the redeeming virtues of magnanimity and generous affections; but with +the dignity and the powers of a great genius, falling among an age of +wits, he was covered by ridicule. D'Avenant was a man who had viewed +human life in all its shapes, and had himself taken them. A poet and a +wit, the creator of the English stage with the music of Italy and the +scenery of France; a soldier, an emigrant, a courtier, and a +politician:--he was, too, a state-prisoner, awaiting death with his +immortal poem in his hand;[321] and at all times a philosopher! + +That hardiness of enterprise which had conducted him through life, +brought the same novelty, and conferred on him the same vigour in +literature. + +D'Avenant attempted to open a new vein of invention in narrative +poetry; which not to call _epic_, he termed _heroic_; and which we who +have more completely emancipated ourselves from the arbitrary mandates +of Aristotle and Bossu, have since styled romantic. Scott, Southey, +and Byron have taught us this freer scope of invention, but +characterised by a depth of passion which is not found in D'Avenant. +In his age, the title which he selected to describe the class of his +poetical narrative, was a miserable source of petty criticism. It was +decreed that every poem should resemble another poem, on the plan of +the ancient epic. This was the golden age of "the poet-apes," till +they found that it was easier to produce epic writers than epic +readers. + +But our poet, whose manly genius had rejected one great absurdity, had +the folly to adopt another. The first reformers are always more heated +with zeal than enlightened by sagacity. The four-and-twenty chapters +of an epic, he perceived, were but fantastical divisions, and +probably, originally, but accidental; yet he proposed another form as +chimerical; he imagined that by having only five he was constructing +his poem on the dramatic plan of five acts. He might with equal +propriety have copied the Spanish comedy which I once read, in +twenty-five acts, and in no slender folio. "Sea-marks (says D'Avenant, +alluding to the works of antiquity) are chiefly useful to _coasters_, +and serve not those who have the ambition of _discoverers_, that love +to sail in untried seas;" and yet he was attempting to turn an epic +poem into a monstrous drama, from the servile habits he had contracted +from his intercourse with the theatre! This error of the poet has, +however, no material influence on the "Gondibert," as it has come down +to us; for, discouraged and ridiculed, our adventurer never finished +his voyage of discovery. He who had so nobly vindicated the freedom of +the British Muse from the meanness of imitation, and clearly defined +what such a narrative as he intended should be, "a perfect glass of +nature, which gives us a familiar and easy view of ourselves," did not +yet perceive that there is no reason why a poetical narrative should +be cast into any particular form, or be longer or shorter than the +interest it excites will allow. + +More than a century and a half have elapsed since the first +publication of "Gondibert," and its merits are still a subject of +controversy; and indubitable proof of some inherent excellence not +willingly forgotten. The critics are marshalled on each side, one +against the other, while between these formidable lines stands the +poet, with a few scattered readers;[322] but what is more surprising +in the history of the "Gondibert," the poet is a great poet, the work +imperishable! + +The "Gondibert" has poetical defects fatal for its popularity; the +theme was not happily chosen; the quatrain has been discovered by +capricious ears to be unpleasing, though its solemnity was felt by +Dryden.[323] The style is sometimes harsh and abrupt, though often +exquisite; and the fable is deficient in that rapid interest which the +story-loving readers of all times seem most to regard. All these are +diseases which would have long since proved mortal in a poem less +vital; but our poet was a commanding genius, who redeemed his bold +errors by his energetic originality. The luxuriancy of his fancy, the +novelty of his imagery, the grandeur of his views of human life; his +delight in the new sciences of his age;--these are some of his +poetical virtues. But, above all, we dwell on the impressive solemnity +of his philosophical reflections, and his condensed epigrammatic +thoughts. The work is often more ethical than poetical; yet, while we +feel ourselves becoming wiser at every page, in the fulness of our +minds we still perceive that our emotions have been seldom stirred by +passion. The poem falls from our hands! yet is there none of which we +wish to retain so many single verses. D'Avenant is a poetical +Rochefoucault; the sententious force of his maxims on all human +affairs could only have been composed by one who had lived in a +constant intercourse with mankind.[324] + +A delightful invention in this poem is "the House of Astragon," a +philosophical residence. Every great poet is affected by the +revolutions of his age. The new experimental philosophy had revived +the project of Lord Bacon's learned retirement, in his philosophical +romance of the _Atalantis_; and subsequently in a time of civil repose +after civil war, Milton, Cowley, and Evelyn attempted to devote an +abode to science itself. These tumults of the imagination subsided in +the establishment of the Royal Society. D'Avenant anticipated this +institution. On an estate consecrated to philosophy stands a retired +building on which is inscribed, "Great Nature's Office," inhabited by +sages, who are styled "Nature's Registers," busily recording whatever +is brought to them by "a throng of Intelligencers," who make "patient +observations" in the field, the garden, the river, on every plant, and +"every fish, and fowl, and beast." Near at hand is "Nature's Nursery," +a botanical garden. We have also "a Cabinet of Death," "the Monument +of Bodies," an anatomical collection, which leads to "the Monument of +vanished Minds," as the poet finely describes the library. Is it not +striking to find, says Dr. Aikin, so exact a model of _the school of +Linnæus_? + +This was a poem to delight a philosopher; and Hobbes, in a curious +epistle prefixed to the work, has strongly marked its distinct +beauties. "Gondibert" not only came forth with the elaborate panegyric +of Hobbes, but was also accompanied by the high commendatory poems of +Waller and Cowley; a cause which will sufficiently account for the +provocations it inflamed among the poetical crew; and besides these +accompaniments, there is a preface of great length, stamped with all +the force and originality of the poet's own mind; and a postscript, as +sublime from the feelings which dictated it as from the time and place +of its composition. + +In these, this great genius pours himself out with all that "glory of +which his large soul appears to have been full," as Hurd has nobly +expressed it.[325] Such a conscious dignity of character struck the +petulant wits with a provoking sense of their own littleness. + +A club of wits caballed and produced a collection of short poems +sarcastically entitled "Certain Verses written by several of the +Author's Friends, to be reprinted in the Second Edition of 'Gondibert,'" +1653. Two years after appeared a brother volume, entitled "The +Incomparable Poem of Gondibert vindicated from the Wit-Combats of Four +Esquires; Clinias, Dametas, Sancho and Jack Pudding;"[326] with these +mottoes: + + Κοτεει και αοιδος αοιδω. + Vatum quoque gratia, rara est. + Anglicè, + One wit-brother + Envies another. + +Of these rare tracts, we are told by Anthony Wood and all subsequent +literary historians, too often mere transcribers of title-pages, that +the second was written by our author himself. Would not one imagine +that it was a real vindication, or at least a retort-courteous on +these obliging friends. The irony of the whole volume has escaped +their discovery. The second tract is a continuation of the satire: a +mock defence, where the sarcasm and the pretended remonstrance are +sometimes keener than the open attack. If, indeed, D'Avenant were the +author of a continuation of a satire on himself, it is an act of _felo +de se_ no poet ever committed; a self-flagellation by an iron whip, +where blood is drawn at every stroke, the most penitent bard never +inflicted on himself. Would D'Avenant have bantered his proud labour, +by calling it "incomparable?" And were it true, that he felt the +strokes of their witty malignity so lightly, would he not have secured +his triumph by finishing that "Gondibert," "the monument of his mind?" +It is too evident that this committee of wits hurt the quiet of a +great mind. + +As for this series of literary satires, it might have been expected, +that since the wits clubbed, this committee ought to have been more +effective in their operations. Many of their papers were, no doubt, +more blotted with their wine than their ink. Their variety of attack +is playful, sarcastic, and malicious. They were then such exuberant +wits, that they could make even ribaldry and grossness witty. My +business with these wicked trifles is only as they concerned the +feelings of the great poet, whom they too evidently hurt, as well as +the great philosopher who condescended to notice these wits, with wit +more dignified than their own. + +Unfortunately for our "jeered Will," as in their usual court-style +they call him, he had met with "a foolish mischance," well known among +the collectors of our British portraits. There was a feature in his +face, or rather no feature at all, that served as a perpetual +provocative: there was no precedent of such a thing, says Suckling, in +"The Sessions of the Poets"-- + + In all their records, in verse or in prose, + There was none of a Laureat who wanted a nose. + +Besides, he was now doomed-- + + Nor could old Hobbes + Defend him from dry bobbs. + +The preface of "Gondibert," the critical epistle of Hobbes, and the +poems of the two greatest poets in England, were first to be got rid +of. The attack is brisk and airy. + + UPON THE PREFACE. + + Room for the best of poets heroic, + If you'll believe two wits and a Stoic. + Down go the _Iliads_, down go the _Æneidos_: + All must give place to the _Gondiberteidos_. + For to _Homer_ and _Virgil_ he has a just pique, + Because one's writ in Latin, the other in Greek; + Besides an old grudge (our critics they say so) + With _Ovid_, because his sirname was _Naso_. + If fiction the fame of a poet thus raises, + What poets are you that have writ his praises? + But we justly quarrel at this our defeat; + You give us a stomach, he gives us no meat. + A preface to no book, a porch to no house; + Here is the mountain, but where is the mouse? + +This stroke, in the mock defence, is thus warded off, with a slight +confession of the existence of "the mouse." + + Why do you bite, you men of fangs + (That is, of teeth that forward hangs), + And charge my dear Ephestion + With want of meat? you want digestion. + We poets use not so to do, + To find men meat and stomach too. + You have the book, you have the house, + And mum, good Jack, and catch the mouse. + +Among the personal foibles of D'Avenant appears a desire to disguise +his humble origin; and to give it an air of lineal descent, he +probably did not write his name as his father had done. It is said he +affected, at the cost of his mother's honour, to insinuate that he was +the son of Shakspeare, who used to bait at his father's inn.[327] +These humorists first reduce D'Avenant to "Old Daph." + + Denham, come help me to laugh, + At old Daph, + Whose fancies are higher than chaff. + +Daph swells afterwards into "Daphne;" a change of sex inflicted on the +poet for making one of his heroines a man; and this new alliance to +Apollo becomes a source of perpetual allusion to the bays-- + + Cheer up, small wits, now _you_ shall crowned be,-- + Daphne himself is turn'd into a tree. + +One of the club inquires about the situation of _Avenant_-- + + ----where now it lies, + Whether in Lombard,[328] or the skies. + +Because, as seven cities disputed for the birth of Homer, so after +ages will not want towns claiming to be _Avenant_-- + + Some say by _Avenant_ no place is meant, + And that our Lombard is without descent; + And as, by _Bilk_, men mean there's nothing there, + So come from _Avenant_, means from _no where_. + Thus _Will_, intending _D'Avenant_ to grace, + Has made a notch in's name like that in's face. + +D'Avenant had been knighted for his good conduct at the siege of +Gloucester, and was to be tried by the Parliament, but procured his +release without trial. This produces the following sarcastic +epigram:-- + + UPON FIGHTING WILL. + + The King knights Will for fighting on his side; + Yet when Will comes for fighting to be tried, + There is not one in all the armies can + Say they e'er felt, or saw, this fighting man. + Strange, that the Knight should not be known i' th' field; + A face well charged, though nothing in his shield. + Sure fighting Will like _basilisk_ did ride + Among the troops, and all that _saw_ Will died; + Else how could Will, for fighting, be a Knight, + And none alive that ever saw Will fight? + +Of the malignancy of their wit, we must preserve one specimen. They +probably harassed our poet with anonymous despatches from the Club: +for there appears another poem on D'Avenant's anger on such an +occasion:-- + + A LETTER SENT TO THE GOOD KNIGHT. + + Thou hadst not been thus long neglected, + But we, thy four best friends, expected, + Ere this time, thou hadst stood corrected. + But since that planet governs still, + That rules thy tedious fustain quill + 'Gainst nature and the Muses' will; + When, by thy friends' advice and care, + 'Twas hoped, in time, thou wouldst despair + To give ten pounds to write it fair; + Lest thou to all the world would show it, + We thought it fit to let thee know it: + Thou art a damn'd insipid poet! + +These literary satires contain a number of other "pasquils," +burlesquing the characters, the incidents, and the stanza, of the +GONDIBERT: some not the least witty are the most gross, and must not +be quoted; thus the wits of that day were poetical suicides, who have +shortened their lives by their folly. + +D'Avenant, like more than one epic poet, did not tune to his ear the +_names_ of his personages. They have added, to show that his writings +are adapted to an easy musical singer, the names of his heroes and +heroines, in these verses:-- + + Hurgonil, Astolpho, Borgia, Goltha, Tibalt, + Astragon, Hermogild, Ulfinor, Orgo, Thula. + +And "epithets that will serve for any substantives, either in this +part or the next." + +Such are the labours of the idlers of genius, envious of the nobler +industry of genius itself!--How the great author's spirit was +nourished by the restoratives of his other friends, after the bitter +decoctions prescribed by these "Four," I fear we may judge by the +unfinished state in which "Gondibert" has come down to us. D'Avenant +seems, however, to have guarded his dignity by his silence; but Hobbes +took an opportunity of delivering an exquisite opinion on this Club of +Wits, with perfect philosophical indifference. It is in a letter to +the Hon. EDWARD HOWARD, who requested to have his sentiments on +another heroic poem of his own, "The British Princes." + +"My judgment in poetry hath, you know, been once already censured, by +very good wits, for commending 'Gondibert;' but yet they have not, I +think, disabled my testimony. For, _what authority is there in wit_? +A jester may have it; a man in drink may have it, and be fluent +over-night, and wise and dry in the morning. What is it? or who can +tell whether it be better to have it, or be without it, especially if +it be a pointed wit? I will take my liberty to praise what I like, as +well as they do to reprehend what they do not like." + +The stately "Gondibert" was not likely to recover favour in the court +of Charles the Second, where man was never regarded in his true +greatness, but to be ridiculed; a court where the awful presence of +Clarendon became so irksome, that the worthless monarch exiled him; a +court where nothing was listened to but wit at the cost of sense, the +injury of truth, and the violation of decency; where a poem of +magnitude with new claims was a very business for those volatile +arbiters of taste; an epic poem that had been travestied and +epigrammed, was a national concern with them, which, next to some new +state-plot, that occurred oftener than a new epic, might engage the +monarch and his privy council. These were not the men to be touched by +the compressed reflections and the ideal virtues personified in this +poem. In the court of the laughing voluptuary the manners as well as +the morals of these satellites of pleasure were so little heroic, that +those of the highest rank, both in birth and wit, never mentioned each +other but with the vulgar familiarity of nicknames, or the coarse +appellatives of Dick, Will, and Jack! Such was the era when the +serious "Gondibert" was produced, and such were the judges who seem to +have decided its fate. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [321] D'Avenant commenced his poem during his exile at Paris. The + preface is dated from the Louvre; the postscript from Cowes + Castle, in the Isle of Wight, where he was then confined, + expecting his immediate execution. The poem, in the first + edition, 1651, is therefore abruptly concluded. There is + something very affecting and great in his style on this + occasion. "I am here arrived at the middle of the third book. + But it is high time to strike sail and cast anchor, though I + have run but half my course, when at the helm I am threatened + with _death_; who, though he can visit us but once, seems + troublesome; and even in the innocent may beget such a + gravity, as diverts the music of verse. Even in a worthy + design, I shall ask leave to desist, when I am interrupted by + so great an experiment as _dying_;--and 'tis an experiment to + the most experienced; for no man (though his mortifications + may be much greater than mine) can say _he has already + died_."--D'Avenant is said to have written a letter to Hobbes + about this time, giving some account of his progress in the + third book. "But why (said he) should I trouble you or myself + with these thoughts, when I am pretty certain I shall be + hanged next week?"--A stroke of the gaiety of temper of a very + thoughtful mind; for D'Avenant, with all his wit and fancy, + has made the profoundest reflections on human life. + + The reader may be interested to know, that after D'Avenant's + removal from Cowes to the Tower, to be tried, his life was + saved by the gratitude of two aldermen of York, whom he had + obliged. It is delightful to believe the story told by + Bishop Newton, that D'Avenant owed his life to Milton; Wood, + indeed, attributes our poet's escape to both; at the + Restoration D'Avenant interposed, and saved Milton. Poets, + after all, envious as they are to a brother, are the most + generously-tempered of men: they libel, but they never hang; + they will indeed throw out a sarcasm on the man whom they + saved from being hanged. "Please your Majesty," said Sir + John Denham, "do not hang George Withers--that it may not + be said I am the worst poet alive." + + [322] It would form a very curious piece of comparative criticism, + were the opinions and the arguments of all the critics--those + of the time and of the present day--thrown into the + smelting-pot. The massiness of some opinions of great + authority would be reduced to a thread of wire; and even what + is accepted as standard ore might shrink into "a gilt + sixpence." On one side, the condemners of D'Avenant would be + Rymer, Blackwall, Granger, Knox, Hurd, and Hayley; and the + advocates would be Hobbes, Waller, Cowley, Dr. Aikin, Headley, + &c. Rymer opened his Aristotelian text-book. He discovers that + the poet's first lines do not give any light into his design + (it is probable D'Avenant would have found it hard to have + told it to Mr. Rymer); that it has neither proposition nor + invocation--(Rymer might have filled these up himself); so + that "he chooses to enter into the top of the house, because + the mortals of mean and satisfied minds go in at the door;" + and then "he has no hero or action so illustrious that the + _name_ of the poem prepared the reader for its reception." + D'Avenant had rejected the marvellous from his poem--that is, + the machinery of the epic: he had resolved to compose a tale + of human beings for men. "This was," says Blackwall, another + of the classical flock, "like lopping off a man's limb, and + then putting him upon running races." Our formal critics are + quite lively in their dulness on our "adventurer." But poets, + in the crisis of a poetical revolution, are more legitimate + judges than all such critics. Waller and Cowley applaud + D'Avenant for this very omission of the epical machinery in + this new vein of invention:-- + + "Here no bold tales of gods or monsters swell, + But human passions such as with us dwell; + _Man is thy theme_, his virtue or his rage, + Drawn to the life in each elaborate page." + WALLER. + + "Methinks heroic poesy, till now, + Like some fantastic fairy-land did show, + _And all but man, in man's best work had place_." + COWLEY. + + Hurd's discussion on "Gondibert," in his "Commentaries," is + the most important piece of criticism; subtle, ingenious, and + exquisitely analytical. But he holds out the fetter of + authority, and he decides as a judge who expounds laws; not + the best decision, when new laws are required to abrogate + obsolete ones. And what laws invented by man can be immutable? + D'Avenant was thus tried by the laws of a country, that of + Greece or Rome, of which, it is said, he was not even a + denizen. + + It is remarkable that all the critics who condemn D'Avenant + could not but be struck by his excellences, and are very + particular in expressing their admiration of his genius. I + mean all the critics who have read the poem: some assuredly + have criticised with little trouble. + + [323] It is written in the long four-lined stanzas, which Dryden + adopted for his _Annus Mirabilis_; nearly 2000 of such stanzas + are severe trials for the critical reader.--ED. + + [324] I select some of these lines as examples. + + Of Care, who only "seals her eyes in cloisters," he says, + + "She visits cities, but she dwells in thrones." + + Of learned Curiosity, eager, but not to be hurried--the + student is + + "Hasty to know, though not by haste beguiled." + + He calls a library, with sublime energy, + + "The monument of vanish'd minds." + + Never has a politician conveyed with such force a most + important precept: + + ------------"The laws, + Men from themselves, but not from power, secure." + + Of the Court he says, + + "There prosperous power sleeps long, though suitors wake." + + "Be bold, for number cancels bashfulness; + Extremes, from which a King would blushing shrink, + Unblushing senates act as no excess." + + And these lines, taken as they occur: + + "Truth's a discovery made by travelling minds." + "Honour's the moral conscience of the great." + "They grow so certain as to need no hope." + "Praise is devotion fit for mighty minds." + + I conclude with one complete stanza, of the same cast of + reflection. It may be inscribed in the library of the student, + in the studio of the artist, in every place where excellence + can only be obtained by knowledge. + + "Rich are the diligent, who can command + Time, nature's stock! and, could his hour-glass fall, + Would, as for seed of stars, stoop for the sand, + And by incessant labour gather all!" + + [325] Can one read such passages as these without catching some of the + sympathies of a great genius that knows itself? + + "He who writes an heroic poem leaves an estate entailed, and + he gives a greater gift to posterity than to the present age; + for a public benefit is best measured in the number of + receivers; and our contemporaries are but few when reckoned + with those who shall succeed. + + "If thou art a malicious reader, thou wilt remember my preface + boldly confessed, that a main motive to the undertaking was a + desire of fame; and thou mayest likewise say, I may very + possibly not live to enjoy it. Truly, I have some years ago + considered that Fame, like Time, only gets a reverence by long + running; and that, like a river, 'tis narrowest where 'tis + bred, and broadest afar off. + + "If thou, reader, art one of those who have been warmed with + poetic fire, I reverence thee as my judge; and whilst others + tax me with vanity, I appeal to thy conscience whether it be + more than such a necessary assurance as thou hast made to + thyself in like undertakings? For when I observe that writers + have many enemies, such inward assurance, methinks, resembles + that forward confidence in men of arms, which makes them + proceed in great enterprise; since the right examination of + abilities begins with inquiring whether we doubt ourselves." + + Such a composition is injured by mutilation. He here also + alludes to his military character: "Nor could I sit idle and + sigh with such as mourn to hear the drum; for if the age be + not quiet enough to be taught virtue a pleasant way, the next + may be at leisure; nor could I (like men that have civilly + slept till they are old in dark cities) think war a novelty." + Shakspeare could not have expressed his feelings, in his own + style, more eloquently touching than D'Avenant. + + [326] It is said there were four writers. The Clinias and Dametas were + probably Sir John Denham and Jo. Donne; Sir Allan Broderick + and Will Crofts, who is mentioned by the clubs as one of their + fellows, appear to be the Sancho and Jack Pudding. Will Crofts + was a favourite with Charles II: he had been a skilful agent, + as appears in Clarendon. [In the accounts of moneys disbursed + for secret services in the reign of Charles II., published by + the Camden Society, his name appears for 200_l._, but that of + his wife repeatedly figures for large sums, "as of free + guift." In this way she receives 700_l._ with great regularity + for a series of years, until the death of Charles II.] Howell + has a poem "On some who, blending their brains together, + plotted how to bespatter one of the Muses' choicest sons, Sir + William D'Avenant." + + [327] The story was current in D'Avenant's time, and it is certain he + encouraged the believers in its truth. Anthony Wood speaks of + the lady as "a very beautiful woman, of a good wit and + conversation, in which she was imitated by none of her + children but by this William." He also notes Shakspeare's + custom to lodge at the Crown Inn, Oxford, kept by her husband, + "in his journies between Warwickshire and London." Aubrey + tells the same tale, adding that D'Avenant "would sometimes, + when he was pleasant over a glass of wine with his most + intimate friends, _e.g._ Sam. Butler (author of 'Hudibras,' + &c.,) say, that it seemed to him that he writ with the very + same spirit that Shakspeare did, and was contented enough to + be thought his son;" he adds that "his mother had a very light + report." It was Pope who told Oldys the jesting story he had + obtained from Betterton, of little Will running from school to + meet Shakspeare, in one of his visits to Oxford, and being + asked where he was running, by an old townsman, replied, to + "see my godfather Shakspeare." "There's a good boy," said the + old gentleman, "but have a care that you don't take God's name + in vain."--ED. + + [328] The scene where the story of "Gondibert" is placed, which the + wits sometimes pronounced _Lumber_ and _Lumbery_. + + + + +THE +PAPER-WARS OF THE CIVIL WARS. + + The "Mercuries" and "Diurnals," archives of political fictions--"The + Diurnals," in the pay of the Parliament, described by BUTLER and + CLEVELAND--Sir JOHN BIRKENHEAD excels in sarcasm, with specimens + of his "Mercurius Aulicus"--how he corrects his own lies--Specimens + of the Newspapers on the side of the Commonwealth. + + +Among these battles of logomachy, in which so much ink has been spilt, +and so many pens have lost their edge--at a very solemn period in our +history, when all around was distress and sorrow, stood forwards the +facetious ancestors of that numerous progeny who still flourish among +us, and who, without a suspicion of their descent, still bear the +features of their progenitors, and inherit so many of the family +humours. These were the MERCURIES and DIURNALS--the newspapers of our +Civil Wars. + +The distinguished heroes of these Paper-Wars, Sir John Birkenhead, +Marchmont Needham, and Sir Roger L'Estrange, I have elsewhere +portrayed.[329] We have had of late correct lists of these works; but +no one seems as yet to have given any clear notion of their spirit and +their manner. + +The London Journals in the service of the Parliament were usually the +_Diurnals_. These politicians practised an artifice which cannot be +placed among "the lost inventions." As these were hawked about the +metropolis to spur curiosity, often languid from over-exercise, or to +wheedle an idle spectator into a reader, every paper bore on its front +the inviting heads of its intelligence. Men placed in the same +circumstances will act in the same manner, without any notion of +imitation; and the passions of mankind are now addressed by the same +means which our ancestors employed, by those who do not suspect they +are copying them. + +These _Diurnals_ have been blasted by the lightnings of Butler and +Cleveland. Hudibras is made happy at the idea that he may be + + Register'd by fame eternal, + In deathless pages of DIURNAL. + +But Cleveland has left us two remarkable effusions of his satiric and +vindictive powers, in his curious character of "A Diurnal Maker," and +"A London Diurnal." He writes in the peculiar vein of the wit of those +times, with an originality of images, whose combinations excite +surprise, and whose abundance fatigues our weaker delicacy. + +"A Diurnal-Maker is the Sub-Almoner of History; Queen Mab's Register; +one whom, by the same figure that a North-country pedler is a +merchantman, you may style an author. The silly countryman who, seeing +an ape in a scarlet coat, blessed his young worship, and gave his +landlord joy of the hopes of his house, did not slander his compliment +with worse application than he that names this shred an historian. To +call him an Historian is to knight a Mandrake; 'tis to view him +through a perspective, and, by that gross hyperbole, to give the +reputation of an engineer to a maker of mousetraps. When these weekly +fragments shall pass for history, let the poor man's box be entitled +the Exchequer, and the alms-basket a Magazine. Methinks the Turke +should license Diurnals, because he prohibits learning and books." He +characterises the Diurnal as "a puny chronicle, scarce pin-feathered +with the wings of time; it is a history in sippets; the English Iliads +in a nutshell; the Apocryphal Parliament's Book of Maccabees in single +sheets." + +But Cleveland tells us that these Diurnals differ from a _Mercurius +Aulicus_ (the paper of his party),--"as the Devil and his Exorcist, or +as a black witch doth from a white one, whose office is to unravel her +enchantments." + +The _Mercurius Aulicus_ was chiefly conducted by Sir JOHN BIRKENHEAD, +at Oxford, "communicating the intelligence and affairs of the court to +the rest of the kingdom." Sir John was a great wag, and excelled in +sarcasm and invective; his facility is equal to repartee, and his +spirit often reaches to wit: a great forger of tales, who probably +considered that a romance was a better thing than a newspaper.[330] +The royal party were so delighted with his witty buffoonery, that Sir +John was recommended to be Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford. +Did political lying seem to be a kind of moral philosophy to the +feelings of a party? The originality of Birkenhead's happy manner +consists in his adroit use of sarcasm: he strikes it off by means of a +parenthesis. I shall give, as a specimen, one of his summaries of what +the _Parliamentary Journals_ had been detailing during the week. + +"The Londoners in print this week have been pretty copious. They say +that _a troop of the Marquess of Newcastle's horse have submitted to +the Lord Fairfax_. (They were part of the _German_ horse which came +over in the _Danish_ fleet.)[331] That the Lord _Wilmot hath been dead +five weeks, but the Cavaliers concealed his death_. (Remember this!) +That _Sir John Urrey[332] is dead and buried at Oxford_. (He died the +same day with the Lord Wilmot.) That the _Cavaliers, before they have +done, will HURREY all men into misery_. (This quibble hath been six +times printed, and nobody would take notice of it; now let's hear of +it no more!) That _all the Cavaliers which Sir William Waller took +prisoners (besides 500) tooke the National Covenant_. (Yes, all he +took (besides 500) tooke the Covenant.) That 2000 _Irish Rebels landed +in Wales_. (You called them English Protestants till you cheated them +of their money.) That _Sir William Brereton left 140 good able men in +Hawarden Castle_. ('Tis the better for Sir Michael Earnley, who hath +taken the Castle.) That _the Queen hath a great deafnesse_. (Thou hast +a great blister on thy tongue.) That _the Cavaliers burned all the +suburbs of Chester, that Sir William Brereton might find no shelter to +besiedge it_. (There was no hayrick, and Sir William cares for no +other shelter.)[333] The SCOTTISH DOVE says (there are Doves in +Scotland!) that _Hawarden Castle had but forty men in it when the +Cavaliers took it_. (Another told you there were 140 lusty stout +fellows in it: for shame, gentlemen! conferre Notes!) That _Colonel +Norton at Rumsey took 200 prisoners_. (I saw them counted: they were +just two millions.) Then the _Dove_ hath this sweet passage: _O +Aulicus, thou profane wretch, that darest scandalize GOD'S saints, +darest thou call that loyal subject Master Pym a traitor_? (Yes, +pretty _Pigeon_,[334] he was charged with six articles by his +Majesty's Atturney Generall.) Next he says, that _Master Pym died like +Moses upon the Mount_. (He did not die upon the mount, but should have +done.) Then he says _Master Pym died in a good old age, like Jacob in +Egypt_. (Not like Jacob, yet just as those died in Egypt in the days +of Pharaoh.")[335] + +As Sir John was frequently the propagator of false intelligence, it +was necessary at times to seem scrupulous, and to correct some slight +errors. He does this very adroitly, without diminishing his +invectives. + +"We must correct a mistake or two in our two last weeks. We advertised +you of certain money speeches made by Master _John_ Sedgwick: on +better information, it was not _John_, but _Obadiah_, Presbyter of +Bread-street, who in the pulpit in hot weather used to unbutton his +doublet, which John, who wanteth a thumbe, forbears to practise. And +when we told you last week of a committee of _Lawyers_ appointed to +put their new _Seale_ in execution, we named, among others, Master +George Peard.[336] I confess this was no small errour to reckon +Master Peard among the _Lawyers_, because he now lies sicke, and so +farre from being their new _Lord Keeper_, that he now despairs to +become their _Door Keeper_, which office he performed heretofore. But +since Master Peard has become desperately sick; and so his vote, his +law, and haire have all forsook him, his corporation of Barnstable +have been in perfect health and loyalty. The town of Barnstable having +submitted to the King, this will no doubt be a special cordial for +their languishing Burgess. And yet the man may grow hearty again when +he hears of the late defeat given to his Majesty's forces in +Lincolnshire." + +This paper was immediately answered by MARCHMONT NEEDHAM, in his +"Mercurius Britannicus," who cannot boast the playful and sarcastic +bitterness of Sir John; yet is not the dullest of his tribe. He opens +his reply thus: + +"Aulicus will needs venture his soule upon the other _half-sheet_; and +this week he _lies_, as completely as ever he did in _two full +sheets_; full of as many scandals and fictions, full of as much +stupidity and ignorance, full of as many tedious untruths as ever. And +because he would _recrute_ the reputation of his wit, he falls into +the company of our _Diurnals_ very furiously, and there lays about him +in the midst of our weekly pamphlets; and he casts in the few squibs, +and the little wildfire he hath, dashing out his conceits; and he +takes it ill that the poore scribblers should tell a story for their +living; and after a whole week spent at Oxford, in inke and paper, to +as little purpose as _Maurice_ spent his shot and powder at +_Plimouth_, he gets up, about Saturday, into a jingle or two, for he +cannot reach to a full jest; and I am informed that the three-quarter +conceits in the last leafe of his Diurnall cost him fourteen pence in +_aqua vitæ_." + +Sir John never condescends formally to reply to Needham, for which he +gives this singular reason:--"As for this libeller, we are still +resolved to take no notice till we find him able to spell his own +name, which to this hour BRITANNICUS never did." + +In the next number of Needham, who had always written it _Brittanicus_, +the correction was silently adopted. There was no crying down the +etymology of an Oxford malignant. + +I give a short narrative of the political temper of the times, in +their unparalleled gazettes. + +At the first breaking out of the parliament's separation from the +royal party, when the public mind, full of consternation in that +new anarchy, shook with the infirmity of childish terrors, the +most extravagant reports were as eagerly caught up as the most +probable, and served much better the purposes of their inventors. +They had daily discoveries of new conspiracies, which appeared in a +pretended correspondence written from Spain, France, Italy, or +Denmark: they had their amusing literature, mixed with their grave +politics; and a dialogue between "a Dutch mariner and an English +ostler," could alarm the nation as much as the last letter from +their "private correspondent." That the wildest rumours were +acceptable appears from their contemporary Fuller. Armies were +talked of, concealed under ground by the king, to cut the throats of +all the Protestants in a night. He assures us that one of the most +prevailing dangers among the Londoners was "a design laid for a mine +of powder under the Thames, to cause the river to drown the city." +This desperate expedient, it seems, was discovered just in time to +prevent its execution; and the people were devout enough to have a +public thanksgiving, and watched with a little more care that the +Thames might not be blown up. However, the plot was really not so +much at the bottom of the Thames as at the bottom of their purses. +Whenever they wanted 100,000_l._ they raised a plot, they terrified +the people, they appointed a thanksgiving-day, and while their +ministers addressed to God himself all the news of the week, and +even reproached him for the rumours against their cause, all ended, +as is usual at such times, with the gulled multitude contributing +more heavily to the adventurers who ruled them than the legal +authorities had exacted in their greatest wants. "The Diurnals" had +propagated thirty-nine of these "Treasons, or new Taxes," according +to one of the members of the House of Commons, who had watched their +patriotic designs. + +These "Diurnals" sometimes used such language as the following, from +_The Weekly Accompt_, January, 1643:-- + +"This day afforded no newes at all, but onely what was _heavenly_ and +_spiritual_;" and he gives an account of the public fast, and of the +grave divine Master Henderson's sermon, with his texts in the morning; +and in the afternoon, another of Master Strickland, with his +texts--and of their spiritual effect over the whole parliament![337] + +Such news as the following was sometimes very agreeable:-- + +"From Oxford it is informed, that on Sunday last was fortnight in the +evening, Prince Rupert, accompanied with some lords, and other +cavaliers, _danced through the streets openly, with music before +them_, to one of the colleges; where, after they had stayed about half +an houre, they returned back again, dancing with the same music; and +immediately there followed _a pack of women, or curtizans_, as it may +be supposed, for they were hooded, and could not be knowne; and this +the party who related affirmed he saw with his own eyes." + +On this the Diurnal-maker pours out severe anathemas--and one with a +_note_, that "_dancing_ and _drabbing_ are inseparable companions, and +follow one another close at the heels." He assures his readers, that +the malignants, or royalists, only fight like sensual beasts, to +maintain their dancing and drabbing!--Such was the revolutionary tone +here, and such the arts of faction everywhere. The matter was rather +peculiar to our country, but the principle was the same as practised +in France. Men of opposite characters, when acting for the same +concealed end, must necessarily form parallels. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [329] "Curiosities of Literature," vol. i. p. 158 (last edition). + + [330] There is a small poem, published in 1643, entitled "The Great + Assizes holden in Parnassus," in the manner of a later work, + "The Sessions of the Poets," in which all the Diurnals and + Mercuries are arraigned and tried. An impartial satire on them + all; and by its good sense and heavy versification, is so much + in the manner of GEORGE WITHER, that some have conjectured it + to be that singular author's. Its rarity gives it a kind of + value. Of such verses as Wither's, who has been of late + extolled too highly, the chief merit is their sense and truth; + which, if he were not tedious, might be an excellence in + prose. Antiquaries, when they find a poet adapted for their + purposes, conjecture that he is an excellent one. This prosing + satirist, strange to say, in some pastoral poetry, has opened + the right vein. + + Aulicus is well characterized:-- + + --------------"hee, for wicked ends, + Had the Castalian spring defiled with gall, + And changed by Witchcraft most satyricall, + The bayes of Helicon and myrtles mild, + To pricking hawthornes and to hollies wild. + --------------with slanders false, + With forged fictitious calumnies and tales-- + He added fewel to the direful flame + Of civil discord; and domestic blowes, + By the incentives of malicious prose. + For whereas he should have composed his inke + Of liquors that make flames expire, and shrink + Into their cinders-- + --He laboured hard for to bring in + The exploded doctrines of the Florentine, + And taught that to dissemble and to lie + Were vital parts of human policie." + + [331] Alluding to a ridiculous rumour, that the King was to receive + foreign troops by a Danish fleet. + + [332] Col. Urrey, _alias_ Hurrey, deserted the Parliament, and went + over to the King; afterwards deserted the King, and discovered + to the Parliament all he knew of the King's forces.--_See + Clarendon._ + + [333] This Sir William Brereton, or, as Clarendon writes the name, + Bruerton, was the famous Cheshire knight, whom Cleveland + characterizes as one of those heroes whose courage lies in + their teeth. "Was Brereton," says the loyal satirist, "to + fight with his teeth, as he in all other things resembles the + beast, he would have odds of any man at this weapon. He's a + terrible slaughterman at a Thanksgiving dinner. Had he been + cannibal enough to have eaten those he vanquished, his gut + would have made him valiant." And in "Loyal Songs" his valiant + appetite is noticed: + + "But, oh! take heed lest he do eat + The Rump all at one dinner!" + + And Aulicus, we see, accuses him of concealing his bravery in + a hayrick. It is always curious and useful to confer the + writers of intemperate times one with another. Lord Clarendon, + whose great mind was incapable of descending to scurrility, + gives a very different character to this pot-valiant and + hayrick runaway; for he says, "It cannot be denied but Sir + William Brereton, and the other gentlemen of that party, + albeit their educations and course of life had been very + different from their present engagements, and for the most + part very unpromising in matters of war, and therefore were + too much contemned enemies, executed their commands with + notable sobriety and indefatigable industry (virtues not so + well practised in the King's quarters), insomuch as the best + soldiers who encountered with them had no cause to despise + them."--_Clarendon_, vol. ii. p. 147. + + [334] "The Scotch Dove" seems never to have recovered from this + metamorphosis, but ever after, among the newsmen, was known to + be only a Widgeon. His character is not very high in "The + Great Assizes." + + "The innocent _Scotch Dove_ did then advance, + Full sober in his wit and countenance: + And, though his book contain'd not mickle scence, + Yet his endictment shew'd no great offence. + Great wits to perils great, themselves expose + Oft-times; but the _Scotch Dove_ was none of those. + In many words he little matter drest, + And did laconick brevity detest. + But while his readers did expect some Newes, + They found a Sermon--" + + The Scotch Dove desires to meet the classical Aulicus in the + duel of the pen:-- + + ------------"to turn me loose, + A _Scottish Dove_ against a _Roman Goose_." + + "The Scotch Dove" is condemned "to cross the seas, or to + repasse the Tweede." They all envy him his "easy mulet," but + he wofully exclaims at the hard sentence, + + "For if they knew that _home_ as well as he, + They'd rather die than there imprison'd be!" + + [335] This stroke alludes to a rumour of the times, noticed also by + Clarendon, that Pym died of the _morbus pediculosus_. + + [336] "Peard, a bold lawyer of little note."--_Clarendon._ + + [337] These divines were as ready with the sword as the pen; thus, we + are told in "The Impartial Scout" for July, 1650--"The + ministers are now as active in the military discipline as + formerly they were in the gospel profession, Parson Ennis, + Parson Brown, and about thirty other ministers having received + commissions to be majors and captains, who now hold forth the + Bible in one hand, and the sword in the other, telling the + soldiery that they need not fear what man can do against + them--that God is on their side--and that He hath prepared an + engine in heaven to break and blast the designs of all + covenant-breakers."--ED. + + + + +POLITICAL CRITICISM + +ON LITERARY COMPOSITIONS. + + ANTHONY WOOD and LOCKE--MILTON and SPRAT--BURNET and his + History--PRIOR and ADDISON--SWIFT and STEELE--WAGSTAFFE and + STEELE--STEELE and ADDISON--HOOKE and MIDDLETON--GILBERT + WAKEFIELD--MARVEL and MILTON--CLARENDON and MAY. + + +VOLTAIRE, in his letters on our nation, has hit off a marked feature +in our national physiognomy. "So violent did I find parties in London, +that I was assured by several that the Duke of MARLBOROUGH was a +coward, and Mr. POPE a fool." + +A foreigner indeed could hardly expect that in collecting the +characters of English authors by English authors (a labour which has +long afforded me pleasure often interrupted by indignation)--in a +word, that a class of literary history should turn out a collection of +personal quarrels. Would not this modern Baillet, in his new _Jugemens +des Sçavans_, so ingeniously inquisitive but so infinitely confused, +require to be initiated into the mysteries of that spirit of party +peculiar to our free country! + +All that boiling rancour which sputters against the thoughts, the +style, the taste, the moral character of an author, is often nothing +more than practising what, to give it a name, we may call _Political +Criticism in Literature_; where an author's literary character is +attacked solely from the accidental circumstance of his differing in +opinion from his critics on subjects unconnected with the topics he +treats of. + +Could Anthony Wood, had he not been influenced by this political +criticism, have sent down LOCKE to us as "a man of a turbulent spirit, +clamorous, and never contented, prating and troublesome?"[338] But +Locke was the antagonist of FILMER, that advocate of arbitrary power; +and Locke is described "as bred under a fanatical tutor," and when in +Holland, as one of those who under the Earl of Shaftesbury "stuck +close to him when discarded, and carried on the _trade of faction_ +beyond and within the seas several years after." In the great original +genius, born, like BACON and NEWTON, to create a new era in the +history of the human mind, this political literary critic, who was not +always deficient in his perceptions of genius, could only discover "a +trader in faction," though in his honesty he acknowledges him to be "a +noted writer." + +A more illustrious instance of party-spirit operating against works of +genius is presented to us in the awful character of MILTON. From +earliest youth to latest age endowed with all the characteristics of +genius; fervent with all the inspirations of study; in all changes +still the same great literary character as Velleius Paterculus writes +of one of his heroes--"Aliquando fortunâ, semper animo maximus:" while +in his own day, foreigners, who usually anticipate posterity, were +inquiring after Milton, it is known how utterly disregarded he lived +at home. The divine author of the "Paradise Lost" was always connected +with the man for whom a reward was offered in the _London Gazette_. +But in their triumph, the lovers of monarchy missed their greater +glory, in not separating for ever the republican Secretary of State +from the rival of Homer. + +That the genius of Milton pined away in solitude, and that all the +consolations of fame were denied him during his life, from this +political criticism on his works, is generally known; but not perhaps +that this spirit propagated itself far beyond the poet's tomb. I give +a remarkable instance. Bishop Sprat, who surely was capable of feeling +the poetry of Milton, yet from political antipathy retained such an +abhorrence of his _name_, that when the writer of the Latin +Inscription on the poet JOHN PHILIPS, in describing his versification, +applied to it the term _Miltono_, Sprat ordered it to be erased, as +polluting a monument raised in a church.[339] A mere critical opinion +on versification was thus sacrificed to political feeling:--a stream +indeed which in its course has hardly yet worked itself clear. It +could only have been the strong political feeling of Warton which +could have induced him to censure the prose of Milton with such +asperity, while he closed his critical eyes on its resplendent +passages, which certainly he wanted not the taste to feel,--for he +caught in his own pages, occasionally, some of the reflected warmth. +This feeling took full possession of the mind of Johnson, who, with +all the rage of political criticism on subjects of literature, has +condemned the finest works of Milton, and in one of his terrible +paroxysms has demonstrated that the Samson Agonistes is "a tragedy +which ignorance has admired and bigotry applauded." Had not Johnson's +religious feelings fortunately interposed between Milton and his +"Paradise," we should have wanted the present noble effusion of his +criticism; any other Epic by Milton had probably sunk beneath his +vigorous sophistry, and his tasteless sarcasm. Lauder's attack on +Milton was hardily projected, on a prospect of encouragement, from +this political criticism on the literary character of Milton; and he +succeeded as long as he could preserve the decency of the delusion. + +The Spirit of Party has touched with its plague-spot the character of +Burnet; it has mildewed the page of a powerful mind, and tainted by +its suspicions, its rumours, and its censures, his probity as a man. +Can we forbear listening to all the vociferations which faction has +thrown out? Do we not fear to trust ourselves amid the multiplicity of +his facts? And when we are familiarised with the variety of his +historical portraits, are we not startled when it is suggested that +"they are tinged with his own passions and his own weaknesses?" Burnet +has indeed made "his humble appeal to the great God of Truth" that he +has given it as fully as he could find it; and he has expressed his +abhorrence of "a lie in history," so much greater a sin than a lie in +common discourse, from its lasting and universal nature. Yet these +hallowing protestations have not saved him! A cloud of witnesses, from +different motives, have risen up to attaint his veracity and his +candour; while all the Tory wits have ridiculed his style, impatiently +inaccurate, and uncouthly negligent, and would sink his vigour and +ardour, while they expose the meanness and poverty of his genius. Thus +the literary and the moral character of no ordinary author have fallen +a victim to party-feeling.[340] + +But this victim to political criticism on literature was himself +criminal, and has wreaked his own party feelings on the _Papist_ +Dryden, and the _Tory_ Prior; Dryden he calls, in the most unguarded +language, "a monster of immodesty and impurity of all sorts." There +had been a literary quarrel between Dryden and Burnet respecting a +translation of Varillas' "History of Heresies;" Burnet had ruined the +credit of the papistical author while Dryden was busied on the +translation; and as Burnet says, "he has wreaked his malice on me for +spoiling his three months' labour." In return, he kindly informs +Dryden, alluding to his poem of "The Hind and the Panther," "that he +is the author of the _worst_ poem the age has produced;" and that as +for "his morals, it is scarce possible to grow a worse man than he +was"--a personal style not to be permitted in any controversy, but to +bring this passion on the hallowed ground of history, was not "casting +away his shoe" in the presence of the divinity of truth.[341] It could +only have been the spirit of party which induced Burnet, in his +History, to mention with contempt and pretended ignorance so fine a +genius as "_one Prior_, who had been Jersey's secretary." It was the +same party-feeling in the Tory Prior, in his elegant "Alma," where he +has interwoven so graceful a wreath for Pope, that could sneer at the +fine soliloquy of the Roman Cato of the Whig Addison: + + I hope you would not have me die + _Like simple Cato in the play_, + For anything that he can say. + +It was the same spirit which would not allow that Garth was the author +of his celebrated poem-- + + Garth did not write his own Dispensary, + +as Pope ironically alludes to the story of the times:--a contemporary +wit has recorded this literary injury, by repeating it.[342] And +Swift, who once exclaimed to Pope, "The deuce take party!" was himself +the greatest sinner of them all. He, once the familiar friend of +Steele till party divided them, not only emptied his shaft of quivers +against his literary character, but raised the horrid yell of the +war-whoop in his inhuman exultation over the unhappy close of the +desultory life of a man of genius. Bitterly has he written-- + + From perils of a hundred jails, + Withdrew to starve, and die in Wales. + +When Steele published "The Crisis," Swift attacked the author in so +exquisite a piece of grave irony, that I am tempted to transcribe his +inimitable parallels of a triumvirate composed of the writer of the +_Flying Post_, Dunton the literary projector, and poor Steele: the +one, the Iscariot of hackney scribes; the other a crack-brained +scribbling bookseller, who boasted he had a thousand projects, fancied +he had methodised six hundred, and was ruined by the fifty he +executed. The following is a specimen of that powerful irony in which +Swift excelled all other writers; that fine Cervantic humour, that +provoking coolness which Swift preserves while he is panegyrising the +objects of his utter contempt. + +"Among the present writers on the Whig side, I can recollect but +_three_ of any great distinction, which are the _Flying Post_, Mr. +Dunton, and the Author of 'The Crisis.' The first of these seems to +have been much sunk in reputation since the sudden retreat of the only +true, genuine, original author, Mr. Ridpath, who is celebrated by the +_Dutch Gazetteer_ as one of _the best pens in England_. Mr. Dunton +hath been longer and more conversant in books than any of the three, +as well as more voluminous in his productions: however, having +employed his studies in so great a variety of other subjects, he hath, +I think, but lately turned his genius to politics. His famous tract +entitled 'Neck or Nothing' must be allowed to be the shrewdest piece, +and written with the most spirit of any which hath appeared from that +side since the change of the ministry. It is indeed a most cutting +satire upon the Lord Treasurer and Lord Bolingbroke; and I wonder none +of our friends ever undertook to answer it. I confess I was at first +of the same opinion with several good judges, who from the style and +manner suppose it to have issued from the sharp pen of the Earl of +Nottingham; and I am still apt to think it might receive his +lordship's last hand. The third and principal of this triumvirate is +the author of 'The Crisis,' who, although he must yield to the _Flying +Post_ in knowledge of the world and skill in politics, and to Mr. +Dunton in keenness of satire and variety of reading, hath yet other +qualities enough to denominate him a writer of a superior class to +either, provided he would a little regard the propriety and +disposition of his words, consult the grammatical part, and get some +information on the subject he intends to handle."[343] + +So far this fine ironical satire may be inspected as a model; the +polished weapon he strikes with so gracefully, is allowed by all the +laws of war; but the political criticism on the literary character, +the party feeling which degrades a man of genius, is the drop of +poison on its point. + +Steele had declared in the "Crisis" that he had always maintained an +inviolable respect for the clergy. Swift (who perhaps was aimed at in +this instance, and whose character, since the publication of "The Tale +of a Tub," lay under a suspicion of an opposite tendency) turns on +Steele with all the vigour of his wit, and all the causticity of +retort:-- + +"By this he would insinuate that those papers among the _Tatlers_ and +_Spectators_, where the whole order is abused, were not his own. I +will appeal to all who know the flatness of his style, and the +barrenness of his invention, whether he doth not grossly prevaricate? +_Was he ever able to walk without his leading-strings, or swim without +bladders, without being discovered by his hobbling or his sinking?_" + +Such was the attack of Swift, which was pursued in the _Examiner_, and +afterwards taken up by another writer. This is one of the evils +resulting from the wantonness of genius: it gives a contagious example +to the minor race; its touch opens a new vein of invention, which the +poorer wits soon break into; the loose sketch of a feature or two from +its rapid hand is sufficient to become a minute portrait, where not a +hair is spared by the caricaturist. This happened to Steele, whose +literary was to be sacrificed to his political character; and this +superstructure was confessedly raised on the malicious hints we have +been noticing. That the _Examiner_ was the seed-plot of "The Character +of Richard St--le, Esq.," appears by its opening--"It will be no +injury, I am persuaded, to the _Examiner_ to _borrow him_ a little +(Steele), upon promise of returning him safe, as children do their +playthings, when their mirth is over, and, they have done with them." + +The author of the "Character of Richard St--le, Esq.," was Dr. +Wagstaffe, one of those careless wits[344] who lived to repent a +crazy life of wit, fancy, and hope, and an easy, indolent one, whose +genial hours force up friends like hot-house plants, that bloom and +flower in the spot where they are raised, but will not endure the +change of place and season--this wit caught the tone of Swift, and +because, as his editor tells us, "he had some friends in the ministry, +and thought he could not take a better way to oblige them than by +showing his dislike to a gentleman who had so much endeavoured to +oppose them," he sat down to write a libel with all the best humour +imaginable; for, adds this editor, "he was so far from having any +personal pique or enmity against Mr. Steele, that at the time of his +writing he did not so much as know him, even by sight." This principle +of "having some friends in the ministry," and not "any knowledge" of +the character to be attacked, has proved a great source of invention +to our political adventurers;--thus Dr. Wagstaffe was fully enabled to +send down to us a character where the moral and literary qualities of +a genius, to whom this country owes so much as the father of +periodical papers, are immolated to his political purpose. This severe +character passed through several editions. However the careless Steele +might be willing to place the elaborate libel to the account of party +writings, if he did not feel disturbed at reproaches and accusations, +which are confidently urged, and at critical animadversions, to which +the negligence of his style sometimes laid him too open, his +insensibility would have betrayed a depravity in his morals and taste +which never entered into his character.[345] + +Steele was doomed even to lose the friendship of Addison amid +political discords; but on that occasion Steele showed that his taste +for literature could not be injured by political animosity. It was at +the close of Addison's life, and on occasion of the Peerage Bill, +Steele published "The Plebeian," a cry against enlarging the +aristocracy. Addison replied with "The Old Whig," Steele rejoined +without alluding to the person of his opponent. But "The Old Whig" +could not restrain his political feelings, and contemptuously +described "little Dicky, whose trade it was to write pamphlets." +Steele replied with his usual warmth; but indignant at the charge of +"vassalage," he says, "I will end this paper, by firing every free +breast with that noble exhortation of the tragedian-- + + Remember, O my friends! the laws, the rights, + The generous plan of power deliver'd down + From age to age, &c." + +Thus delicately he detects the anonymous author, and thus energetically +commends, while he reproves him! + +Hooke (a Catholic), after he had written his "Roman History," +published "Observations on Vertot, Middleton, &c., on the Roman +Senate," in which he particularly treated Dr. Middleton with a +disrespect for which the subject gave no occasion: this was attributed +to the Doctor's _offensive_ letter from Rome. Spelman, in replying to +this concealed motive of the Catholic, reprehends him with equal +humour and bitterness for his desire of _roasting a Protestant +parson_. + +Our taste, rather than our passions, is here concerned; but the moral +sense still more so. The malice of faction has long produced this +literary calamity; yet great minds have not always degraded +themselves; not always resisted the impulse of their finer feelings, +by hardening them into insensibility, or goading them in the fury +of a misplaced revenge. How delightful it is to observe Marvell, the +Presbyterian and Republican wit, with that generous temper that +instantly discovers the alliance of genius, warmly applauding the +great work of Butler, which covered his own party with odium and +ridicule. "He is one of an excellent wit," says Marvell, "and +whoever dislikes the choice of his subject, cannot but commend the +performance."[346] + +Clarendon's profound genius could not expand into the same liberal +feelings. He highly commends May for his learning, his wit and +language, and for his Supplement to Lucan, which he considered as "one +of the best epic poems in the English language;" but this great spirit +sadly winces in the soreness of his feelings when he alludes to May's +"History of the Parliament;" then we discover that this late +"ingenious person" performed his part "so meanly, that he seems to +have lost his wit when he left his honesty." Behold the political +criticism in literature! However we may incline to respect the +feelings of Clarendon, this will not save his judgment nor his +candour. We read May now, as well as Clarendon; nor is the work of May +that of a man who "had lost his wits," nor is it "meanly performed." +Warburton, a keen critic of the writers of that unhappy and that +glorious age for both parties, has pronounced this "History" to be "a +just composition, according to the rules of history; written with much +judgment, penetration, manliness, and spirit, and with a candour that +will greatly increase your esteem, when you understand that he wrote +by order of his masters the Parliament." + +Thus have authors and their works endured the violations of party +feelings; a calamity in our national literature which has produced +much false and unjust criticism.[347] The better spirit of the present +times will maintain a safer and a more honourable principle,--the true +objects of LITERATURE, the cultivation of the intellectual faculties, +stand entirely unconnected with POLITICS and RELIGION, let this be the +imprescriptible right of an author. In our free country unhappily they +have not been separated--they run together, and in the ocean of human +opinions, the salt and bitterness of these mightier waves have +infected the clear waters from the springs of the Muses. I once read +of a certain river that ran through the sea without mixing with it, +preserving its crystalline purity and all its sweetness during its +course; so that it tasted the same at the Line as at the Poles. This +stream indeed is only to be found in the geography of an old romance; +literature should be this magical stream! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [338] A forcible description of Locke may be found in the curious + "Life of Wood," written by himself. I shall give the passage + where Wood acknowledges his after celebrity, at the very + moment the bigotry of his feelings is attempting to degrade + him. + + Wood belonged to a club with Locke and others, for the purpose + of hearing chemical lectures. "John Locke of Christchurch was + afterwards a noted writer. This John Locke was a man of a + turbulent spirit, clamorous, and never contented. The club + wrote and took notes from the mouth of their master, who sat + at the upper end of a table, but the said John Locke scorned + to do it; so that while every man besides of the club were + writing, he would be prating and troublesome." + + [339] This anecdote deserves preservation. I have drawn it from the + MSS. of Bishop KENNET. + + "In the Epitaph on JOHN PHILIPS occurs this line on his metre, + that + + 'Uni in hoc laudis genere Miltono secundus, + Primoque pene par.' + + These lines were ordered to be razed out of the monument by + Dr. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester. The word Miltono being, as he + said, not fit to be in a Christian church; but they have since + been restored by Dr. ATTERBURY, who succeeded him as Bishop of + Rochester, and who wrote the epitaph jointly with Dr. + FREIND."--Lansdowne MSS., No. 908, p. 162. + + The anecdote has appeared, but without any authority. Dr. + SYMMONS, in his "Life of Milton," observing on what he calls + Dr. Johnson's "biographical libel on Milton," that Dr. Johnson + has mentioned this fact, seems to suspect its authenticity; + for, if true, "it would cover the respectable name of Sprat + with eternal dishonour." Of its truth the above gives + sufficient authority; but at all events the prejudices of + Sprat must be pardoned, while I am showing that minds far + greater than his have shared in the same unhappy feeling. Dr. + Symmons himself bears no light stain for his slanderous + criticism on the genius of THOMAS WARTON, from the motive we + are discussing; though Warton, as my text shows, was too a + sinner! I recollect in my youth a more extraordinary instance + than any other which relates to Milton. A woman of no + education, who had retired from the business of life, became a + very extraordinary reader; accident had thrown into her way a + large library composed of authors who wrote in the reigns of + the two Charleses. She turned out one of the _malignant_ + party, and an abhorrer of the Commonwealth's men. Her opinion + of CROMWELL and MILTON may be given. She told me it was no + wonder that the rebel who had been secretary to the usurper + should have been able to have drawn so finished a character of + SATAN, and that the Pandæmonium, with all the oratorical + devils, was only such as he had himself viewed at Oliver's + council-board. + + [340] I throw into this note several curious notices respecting + BURNET, and chiefly from contemporaries. + + Burnet has been accused, after a warm discussion, of returning + home in a passion, and then writing the character of a person. + But as his feelings were warm, it is probable he might have + often practised the reverse. An anecdote of the times is + preserved in "The Memoirs of Grub-street," vol. ii. p. 291. "A + noble peer now living declares he stood with a very ill grace + in the history, till he had an opportunity put into his hands + of obliging the bishop, by granting a favour at court, upon + which the bishop told a friend, within an hour, that he was + mistaken in such a lord, and must go and alter his whole + character; and so he happens to have a pretty good one." In + this place I also find this curious extract from the MS. + "Memoirs of the M---- of H----." "Such a day Dr. B----t told + me King William was an obstinate, conceited man, that would + take no advice; and on this day King William told me that Dr. + B----t was a troublesome, impertinent man, whose company he + could not endure." These anecdotes are very probable, and lead + one to reflect. Some political tergiversation has been laid to + his charge; Swift accused him of having once been an advocate + for passive obedience and absolute power. He has been + reproached with the deepest ingratitude, for the purpose of + gratifying his darling passion of popularity, in his conduct + respecting the Duke of Lauderdale, his former patron. If the + following piece of secret history be true, he showed too much + of a compliant humour, at the cost of his honour. I find it in + Bishop Kennet's MSS. "Dr. Burnet having _over night_ given in + some important depositions against the Earl of Lauderdale to + the House of Commons, was, _before morning_, by the + intercession of the D----, made king's chaplain and preacher + at the Rolls; so he was bribed to hold the peace."--Lansdowne + MSS., 990. This was quite a politician's short way to + preferment! An honest man cannot leap up the ascent, however + he may try to climb. There was something morally wrong in this + transaction, because Burnet notices it, and acknowledges--"I + was much blamed for what I had done." The story is by no means + refuted by the _naïve_ apology. + + Burnet's character has been vigorously attacked, with all the + nerve of satire, in "Faction Displayed," attributed to + Shippen, whom Pope celebrates-- + + ----"And pour myself as plain + As honest Shippen or as old Montaigne." + + Shippen was a Tory. In "Faction Displayed," Burnet is + represented with his Cabal (so some party nicknames the + other), on the accession of Queen Anne, plotting the + disturbance of her government. "Black Aris's fierceness," that + is Burnet, is thus described:-- + + "A Scotch, seditious, unbelieving priest, + The brawny chaplain of the calves'-head feast, + Who first his patron, then his prince betray'd, + And does that church he's sworn to guard, invade, + Warm with rebellious rage, he thus began," &c. + + One hardly suspects the hermit Parnell capable of writing + rather harsh verses, yet stinging satire; they are not in his + works; but he wrote the following lines on a report of a fire + breaking out in Burnet's library, which had like to have + answered the purpose some wished--of condemning the author and + his works to the flames-- + + "He talks, and writes, that Popery will return, + And we, and he, and all his works will burn; + And as of late he meant to bless the age + With _flagrant prefaces of party rage_, + O'ercome with passion and the subject's weight, + Lolling he nodded in his elbow-seat; + Down fell the candle! Grease and zeal conspire, + Heat meets with heat, and pamphlets burn their sire; + Here crawls a _preface_ on its half-burn'd maggots, + And there an _introduction_ brings its fagots; + Then roars the prophet of the northern nation, + Scorch'd by a flaming speech on moderation." + + Thomas Warton smiles at Burnet for the horrors of Popery which + perpetually haunted him, in his "Life of Sir T. Pope," p. 53. + But if we substitute the term arbitrary power for popery, no + Briton will join in the abuse Burnet has received on this + account. A man of Burnet's fervid temper, whose foible was + strong vanity and a passion for popularity, would often rush + headlong into improprieties of conduct and language; his + enemies have taken ample advantage of his errors; but many + virtues his friends have recorded; and the elaborate and + spirited character which the Marquis of Halifax has drawn of + Burnet may soothe his manes, and secure its repose amid all + these disturbances around his tomb. This fine character is + preserved in the "Biographia Britannica." Burnet is not the + only instance of the motives of a man being honourable, while + his actions are frequently the reverse, from his impetuous + nature. He has been reproached for a want of that truth which + he solemnly protests he scrupulously adhered to; yet, of many + circumstances which were at the time condemned as "lies," when + Time drew aside the mighty veil, Truth was discovered beneath. + Tovey, with his visual good humour, in his "Anglia Judaica," + p. 277, notices "that pleasant copious imagination which will + for ever rank our _English Burnet_ with the _Grecian + Heliodorus_." Roger North, in his "Examen," p. 413, calls him + "a busy Scotch parson." Lord Orford sneers at his hasty + epithets, and the colloquial carelessness of his style, in his + "Historic Doubts," where, in a note, he mentions "_one_ + Burnet" tells a ridiculous story, mimicking Burnet's + chit-chat, and concludes surprisingly with, "So the Prince of + Orange mounted the throne." + + After reading this note, how would that learned foreigner + proceed, who I have supposed might be projecting the + "Judgments of the Learned" on our English authors? Were he to + condemn Burnet as an historian void of all honour and + authority, he would not want for documents. It would require a + few minutes to explain to the foreigner the nature of + political criticism. + + [341] Dryden was very coarsely satirised in the political poems of his + own day; and among the rest, in "The Session of the Poets,"--a + general onslaught directed against the writers of the time, + which furnishes us with many examples of unjust criticism on + these literary men, entirely originating in political feeling. + One example may suffice; + + "Then in came Denham, that limping old bard, + Whose fame on _the Sophy_ and _Cooper's-hill_ stands, + And brought many stationers, who swore very hard + That nothing sold better except 'twere his lands. + But Apollo advised him to write something more, + To clear a suspicion which possessed the Court, + That _Cooper's-hill_, so much bragg'd on before, + Was writ by a vicar, who had forty pounds for't." + + [342] Dr. Wagstaffe, in his "Character of Steele," alludes to the + rumour which Pope has sent down to posterity in a single + verse: "I should have thought Mr. Steele might have the + example of his _friend_ before his eyes, who _had the + reputation of being the author of The Dispensary_, till, by + two or three unlucky after-claps, he proved himself incapable + of writing it."--WAGSTAFFE'S _Misc. Works_, p. 136. + + [343] I know not how to ascertain the degree of political skill which + Steele reached in his new career--he was at least a spirited + Whig, but the ministry was then under the malignant influence + of the concealed adherents to the Stuarts, particularly of + Bolingbroke, and such as Atterbury, whose secret history is + now much better known than in their own day. The terrors of + the Whigs were not unfounded. Steele in the House disappointed + his friends; from his popular Essays, it was expected he would + have been a fluent orator; this was no more the case with him + than Addison. On this De Foe said he had better have continued + the _Spectator_ than the _Tatler_.--LANSDOWNE'S _MSS._ 1097. + + [344] Wagstaffe's "Miscellaneous Works," 1726, have been collected + into a volume. They contain satirical pieces of humour, + accompanied by some Hogarthian prints. His "Comment upon the + History of Tom Thumb," ridicules Addison's on the old ballad + of "Chevy Chase," who had declared "it was full of the + majestic simplicity which we admire in the greatest of the + ancient poets," and quoted passages which he paralleled with + several in the Æneid. Wagstaffe tells us he has found "in the + library of a schoolboy, among other undiscovered valuable + authors, one more proper to adorn the shelves of Bodley or the + Vatican than to be confined to the obscurity of a private + study." This little Homer is the chanter of Tom Thumb. He + performs his office of "a true commentator," proving the + congenial spirit of the poet of Thumb with that of the poet of + Æneas. Addison got himself ridiculed for that fine natural + taste, which felt all the witchery of our ballad-Enniuses, + whose beauties, had Virgil lived with Addison, he would have + inlaid into his mosaic. The bigotry of classical taste, which + is not always accompanied by a natural one, and rests securely + on prescribed opinions and traditional excellence, long + contemned our vernacular genius, spurning at the minstrelsy of + the nation; Johnson's ridicule of "Percy's Reliques" had its + hour, but the more poetical mind of Scott has brought us back + to home feelings, to domestic manners, and eternal nature. + + [345] I shall content myself with referring to "The Character of + Richard St--le, Esq.," in Dr. Wagstaffe's Miscellaneous Works, + 1726. Considering that he had no personal knowledge of his + victim, one may be well surprised at his entering so deeply + into his private history; but of such a character as Steele, + the private history is usually too public--a mass of scandal + for the select curious. Poor Steele, we are told, was + "arrested for the maintenance of his bastards, and afterwards + printed a _proposal_ that the public should take care of + them;" got into the House "not to be arrested;"--"his _set_ + speeches there, which he designs to get _extempore_ to speak + in the House." For his literary character we are told that + "Steele was a jay who borrowed a feather from the peacock, + another from the bullfinch, and another from the magpye; so + that _Dick_ is made up of borrowed colours; he borrowed his + humour from Estcourt, criticism of Addison, his poetry of + Pope, and his politics of Ridpath; so that his qualifications + as a man of genius, like Mr. T----s, as a member of + Parliament, _lie in thirteen parishes_." Such are the pillows + made up for genius to rest its head on! + + Wagstaffe has sometimes delicate humour; Steele, who often + wrote in haste, necessarily wrote incorrectly. Steele had this + sentence: "And ALL, as one man, will join in a common + indignation against ALL who would perplex our obedience:" on + which our pleasant critic remarks--"Whatever contradiction + there is, as some suppose, in _all joining against all_, our + author has good authority for what he says; and it may be + proved, in spite of Euclid or Sir Isaac, that everything + consists of _two alls_, that these _alls_ are capable of being + divided and subdivided into as many _alls_ as you please, and + so _ad infinitum_. The following lines may serve for an + illustration:-- + + 'Three children sliding on the ice + Upon a summer's day; + As it fell out, they all fell in; + The rest they ran away.' + + "Though this polite author does not directly say there are + _two alls_, yet he implies as much; for I would ask any + _reasonable_ man what can be understood by _the rest they ran + away_, but the _other all_ we have been speaking of? The world + may see that I can exhibit the beauties, as well as quarrel + with the faults, of his composition, but I hope he will not + value himself on his _hasty productions_." + + Poor Steele, with the best humour, bore these perpetual + attacks, not, however, without an occasional groan, just + enough to record his feelings. In one of his wild, yet + well-meant projects, of the invention of "a Fish-pool, or + Vessel for Importing Fish Alive," 1718, he complains of + calumnies and impertinent observations on him, and seems to + lay some to the account of his knighthood:--"While he was + pursuing what he believed might conduce to the common good, he + gave the syllables _Richard Steele_ to the publick, to be used + and treated as they should think fit; he must go on in _the + same indifference_, and allow the TOWN _their usual liberty + with his name_, which I find they think they have much more + room to sport with than formerly, as it is lengthened with the + monosyllable SIR." + + [346] "Rehearsal Transprosed," p. 45. + + [347] The late Gilbert Wakefield is an instance where the political + and theological opinions of a recluse student tainted his pure + literary works. Condemned as an enraged Jacobin by those who + were Unitarians in politics, and rejected because he was a + Unitarian in religion by the orthodox, poor Wakefield's + literary labours were usually reduced to the value of + waste-paper. We smile, but half in sorrow, in reading a + letter, where he says, "I meditate a beginning, during the + winter, of my criticisms on all the ancient Greek and Latin + authors,_ by small piecemeals, on the cheapest possible paper, + and at the least possible expense of printing_. As I can never + do more than barely indemnify myself, I shall print only 250 + copies." He half-ruined himself by his splendid edition of + Lucretius, which could never obtain even common patronage from + the opulent friends of classical literature. Since his death + it has been reprinted, and is no doubt now a marketable + article for the bookseller; so that if some authors are not + successful for themselves, it is a comfort to think how + useful, in a variety of shapes, they are made so to others. + Even Gilbert's "contracted scheme of publication" he was + compelled to abandon! Yet the classic erudition of Wakefield + was confessed, and is still remembered. No one will doubt that + we have lost a valuable addition to our critical stores by + this literary persecution, were it only in the present + instance; but examples are too numerous! + + + + +HOBBES, AND HIS QUARRELS; + +INCLUDING +AN ILLUSTRATION OF HIS CHARACTER. + + Why HOBBES disguised his sentiments--why his philosophy degraded + him--of the sect of the HOBBISTS--his LEVIATHAN; its principles + adapted to existing circumstances--the author's difficulties on + its first appearance--the system originated in his fears, and was + a contrivance to secure the peace of the nation--its duplicity and + studied ambiguity illustrated by many facts--the advocate of the + national religion--accused of atheism--HOBBE'S religion--his + temper too often tried--attacked by opposite parties--Bishop + FELL'S ungenerous conduct--makes HOBBES regret that juries do not + consider the quarrels of authors of any moment--the mysterious + panic which accompanied him through life--its probable cause--he + pretends to recant his opinions--he is speculatively bold, and + practically timorous--an extravagant specimen of the anti-social + philosophy--the SELFISM of HOBBES--his high sense of his works, in + regard to foreigners and posterity--his monstrous egotism--his + devotion to his literary pursuits--the despotic principle of the + LEVIATHAN of an innocent tendency--the fate of systems of + opinions. + + +The history of the philosopher of Malmesbury exhibits a large +picture of literary controversy, where we may observe how a +persecuting spirit in the times drives the greatest men to take +refuge in the meanest arts of subterfuge. Compelled to disguise their +sentiments, they will not, however, suppress them; and hence all +their ambiguous proceedings, all that ridicule and irony, and even +recantation, with which ingenious minds, when forced to their +employ, have never failed to try the patience, or the sagacity, of +intolerance.[348] + +The character of Hobbes will, however, serve a higher moral design. +The force of his intellect, the originality of his views, and the +keenest sagacity of observation, place him in the first order of +minds; but he has mortified, and then degraded man into a mere selfish +animal. From a cause we shall discover, he never looked on human +nature but in terror or in contempt. The inevitable consequence of +that mode of thinking, or that system of philosophy, is to make the +philosopher the abject creature he has himself imagined; and it is +then he libels the species from his own individual experience.[349] +More generous tempers, men endowed with warmer imaginations, awake to +sympathies of a higher nature, will indignantly reject the system, +which has reduced the unlucky system-maker himself to such a pitiable +condition. + +Hobbes was one of those original thinkers who create a new era in the +philosophical history of their nation, and perpetuate their name by +leaving it to a sect.[350] + +The eloquent and thinking Madame de Staël has asserted that "Hobbes +was an _Atheist_ and a _Slave_." Yet I still think that Hobbes +believed, and proved, the necessary existence of a Deity, and that he +loved freedom, as every sage desires it. It is now time to offer an +apology for one of those great men who are the contemporaries of all +ages, and, by fervent inquiry, to dissipate that traditional cloud +which hangs over one of "those monuments of the mind" which Genius has +built with imperishable materials. + +The author of the far-famed "Leviathan" is considered as a vehement +advocate for absolute monarchy. This singular production may, however, +be equally adapted for a republic; and the monstrous principle may be +so innocent in its nature, as even to enter into our own constitution, +which presumes to be neither.[351] + +As "The Leviathan" produced the numerous controversies of Hobbes, a +history of this great moral curiosity enters into our subject. + +Hobbes, living in times of anarchy, perceived the necessity of +re-establishing authority with more than its usual force. But how were +the divided opinions of men to melt together, and where in the State +was to be placed _absolute power_? for a remedy of less force he could +not discover for that disordered state of society which he witnessed. +Was the sovereign or the people to be invested with that mighty power +which was to keep every other quiescent?--a topic which had been +discussed for ages, and still must be, as the humours of men +incline--was, I believe, a matter perfectly indifferent to our +philosopher, provided that whatever might be the government, absolute +power could somewhere be lodged in it, to force men to act in strict +conformity. He discovers his perplexity in the dedication of his work. +"In a way beset with those that contend on one side for too great +liberty, on the other side for too much authority, 'tis hard to pass +between the points of both unwounded." It happened that our cynical +Hobbes had no respect for his species; terrified at anarchy, he seems +to have lost all fear when he flew to absolute power--a sovereign +remedy unworthy of a great spirit, though convenient for a timid one +like his own. Hobbes considered men merely as animals of prey, living +in a state of perpetual hostility, and his solitary principle of +action was self-preservation at any price. + +He conjured up a political phantom, a favourite and fanciful notion, +that haunted him through life. He imagined that the _many_ might be +more easily managed by making them up into an artificial _One_, and +calling this wonderful political unity the _Commonwealth_, or the +_Civil Power_, or the _Sovereign_, or by whatever name was found most +pleasing; he personified it by the image of "Leviathan."[352] + +At first sight the ideal monster might pass for an innocent conceit; +and there appears even consummate wisdom in erecting a colossal power +for our common security; but Hobbes assumed that _Authority_ was to be +supported to its extreme pitch. _Force_ with him appeared to +constitute _right_, and _unconditional submission_ then became a +_duty_: these were consequences quite natural to one who at his first +step degraded man by comparing him to a watch, and who would not have +him go but with the same nicety of motion, wound up by a great key. + +To be secure, by the system of Hobbes, we must at least lose the glory +of our existence as intellectual beings. He would persuade us into the +dead quietness of a commonwealth of puppets, while he was consigning +into the grasp of his "Leviathan," or sovereign power, the wire that +was to communicate a mockery of vital motion--a principle of action +without freedom. The system was equally desirable to the Protector +Cromwell as to the regal Charles. A conspiracy against mankind could +not alarm their governors: it is not therefore surprising that the +usurper offered Hobbes the office of Secretary of State; and that he +was afterwards pensioned by the monarch. + +A philosophical system, moral or political, is often nothing more than +a temporary expedient to turn aside the madness of the times by +substituting what offers an appearance of relief; nor is it a little +influenced by the immediate convenience of the philosopher himself; +his personal character enters a good deal into the system. The object +of Hobbes in his "Leviathan" was always ambiguous, because it was, in +truth, one of these systems of expediency, conveniently adapted to +what has been termed of late "existing circumstances." His sole aim +was to keep all things in peace, by creating one mightiest power in +the State, to suppress instantly all other powers that might rise in +insurrection. In his times, the establishment of despotism was the +only political restraint he could discover of sufficient force to +chain man down, amid the turbulence of society; but this concealed end +he is perpetually shifting and disguising; for the truth is, no man +loved slavery less.[353] + +The system of Hobbes could not be limited to politics: he knew +that the safety of the people's morals required an _Established +Religion_. The alliance between Church and State had been so +violently shaken, that it was necessary to cement them once more. +As our philosopher had been terrified in his politics by the view of +its contending factions, so, in religion, he experienced the same +terror at the hereditary rancours of its multiplied sects. He could +devise no other means than to attack the mysteries and dogmas of +theologians, those after-inventions and corruptions of Christianity, +by which the artifices of their chiefs had so long split them into +perpetual factions:[354] he therefore asserted that the religion +of the people ought to exist, in strict conformity to the will of +the State.[355] + +When Hobbes wrote against mysteries, the mere polemics sent forth a +cry of his impiety; the philosopher was branded with Atheism;--one of +those artful calumnies, of which, after a man has washed himself +clean, the stain will be found to have dyed the skin.[356] + +To me it appears that Hobbes, to put an end to these religious wars, +which his age and country had witnessed, perpetually kindled by crazy +fanatics and intolerant dogmatists, insisted that the _crosier_ should +be carried in the _left_ hand of his Leviathan, and the _sword_ in +his right.[357] He testified, as strongly as man could, by his public +actions, that he was a Christian of the Church of England, "as by law +established," and no enemy to the episcopal order; but he dreaded the +encroachments of the Churchmen in his political system; jealous of +that _supremacy_ at which some of them aimed. Many enlightened bishops +sided with the philosopher.[358] At a time when Milton sullenly +withdrew from every public testimonial of divine worship, Hobbes, with +more enlightened views, _attended Church service_, and strenuously +supported _an established religion_; yet one is deemed a religious +man, and the other an Atheist! Were the actions of men to be decisive +of their characters, the reverse might be inferred. + +The temper of our philosopher, so ill-adapted to contradiction, was +too often tried; and if, as his adversary, Harrington, in the +"Oceana," says, "Truth be a spark whereunto objections are like +bellows," the mind of Hobbes, for half a century, was a very forge, +where the hammer was always beating, and the flame was never allowed +to be extinguished. Charles II. strikingly described his worrying +assailants. "Hobbes," said the king, "was a bear against whom the +Church played their young dogs, in order to exercise them."[359] A +strange repartee has preserved the causticity of his wit. Dr. Eachard, +perhaps one of the prototypes of Swift, wrote two admirable ludicrous +dialogues, in ridicule of Hobbes's "State of Nature."[360] These were +much extolled, and kept up the laugh against the philosophic +misanthropist: once when he was told that the clergy said that +"Eachard had crucified Hobbes," he bitterly retorted, "Why, then, +don't they fall down and _worship_ me?"[361] + +"The Leviathan" was ridiculed by the wits, declaimed against by the +republicans, denounced by the monarchists, and menaced by the clergy. +The commonwealth man, the dreamer of equality, Harrington, raged at +the subtile advocate for despotic power; but the glittering bubble of +his fanciful "Oceana" only broke on the mighty sides of the Leviathan, +wasting its rainbow tints: the mitred Bramhall, at "The Catching of +Leviathan, or the Great Whale," flung his harpoon, demonstrating +consequences from the principles of Hobbes, which he as eagerly +denied. But our ambiguous philosopher had the hard fate to be attacked +even by those who were labouring to the same end.[362] The literary +wars of Hobbes were fierce and long; heroes he encountered, but heroes +too were fighting by his side. Our chief himself wore a kind of +magical armour; for, either he denied the consequences his adversaries +deduced from his principles, or he surprised by new conclusions, which +many could not discover in them; but by such means he had not only the +art of infusing confidence among the _Hobbists_, but the greater one +of dividing his adversaries, who often retreated, rather fatigued than +victorious. Hobbes owed this partly to the happiness of a genius which +excelled in controversy, but more, perhaps, to the advantage of the +ground he occupied as a metaphysician: the usual darkness of that spot +is favourable to those shiftings and turnings which the equivocal +possessor may practise with an unwary assailant. Far different was the +fate of Hobbes in the open daylight of mathematics: there his hardy +genius lost him, and his sophistry could spin no web; as we shall see +in the memorable war of twenty years waged between Hobbes and Dr. +Wallis. But the gall of controversy was sometimes tasted, and the +flames of persecution flashed at times in the closet of our +philosopher. The ungenerous attack of Bishop Fell, who, in the Latin +translation of Wood's "History of the University of Oxford," had +converted eulogium into the most virulent abuse,[363] without the +participation of Wood, who resented it with his honest warmth, was +only an arrow snatched from a quiver which was every day emptying +itself on the devoted head of our ambiguous philosopher. Fell only +vindicated himself by a fresh invective on "the most vain and waspish +animal of Malmesbury," and Hobbes was too frightened to reply. This +was the Fell whom it was so difficult to assign a reason for not +liking: + + I don't like thee, Dr. Fell, + The reason why I cannot tell, + But I don't like thee, Dr. Fell! + +A curious incident in the history of the mind of this philosopher, was +the mysterious panic which accompanied him to his latest day. It has +not been denied that Hobbes was subject to occasional terrors: he +dreaded to be left without company; and a particular instance is told, +that on the Earl of Devonshire's removal from Chatsworth, the +philosopher, then in a dying state, insisted on being carried away, +though on a feather-bed. Various motives have been suggested to +account for this extraordinary terror. Some declared he was afraid of +spirits; but he was too stout a materialist![364]--another, that he +dreaded assassination; an ideal poniard indeed might scare even a +materialist. But Bishop Atterbury, in a sermon on _the Terrors of +Conscience_, illustrates their nature by the character of our +philosopher. Hobbes is there accused of attempting to destroy the +principles of religion against his own inward conviction: this would +only prove the insanity of Hobbes! The Bishop shows that "the +disorders of _conscience_ are not a _continued_, but an _intermitting_ +disease;" so that the patient may appear at intervals in seeming +health and real ease, till the fits return: all this he applies to the +case of our philosopher. In reasoning on human affairs, the shortest +way will be to discover human motives. The spirit, or the assassin of +Hobbes, arose from the bill brought into Parliament, when the nation +was panic-struck on the fire of London, against Atheism and +Profaneness; he had a notion that a writ _de heretico comburendo_ was +intended for him by Bishop Seth Ward, his _quondam_ admirer.[365] His +spirits would sink at those moments; for in the philosophy of Hobbes, +the whole universe was concentrated in the small space of SELF. There +was no length he refused to go for what he calls "the natural right of +preservation, which we all receive from the uncontrollable dictates of +NECESSITY." He exhausts his imagination in the forcible descriptions +of his extinction: "the terrible enemy of nature, Death," is always +before him. The "inward horror" he felt of his extinction, Lord +Clarendon thus alludes to: "If Mr. Hobbes and some other man were both +condemned to death (which is the most formidable thing Mr. Hobbes can +conceive)"--and Dr. Eachard rallies him on the infinite anxiety he +bestowed on his _body_, and thinks that "he had better compound to be +kicked and beaten twice a day, than to be so dismally tortured about +an old rotten carcase." Death was perhaps the only subject about which +Hobbes would not dispute. + +Such a materialist was then liable to terrors; and though, when his +works were burnt, the author had not a hair singed, the convulsion of +the panic often produced, as Bishop Atterbury expresses it, "an +intermitting disease." + +Persecution terrified Hobbes, and magnanimity and courage were no +virtues in his philosophy. He went about hinting that he was not +obstinate (that is, before the Bench of Bishops); that his opinions +were mere conjectures, proposed as exercises for the powers of +reasoning. He attempted (without meaning to be ludicrous) to make his +_opinions_ a distinct object from his _person_; and, for the good +order of the latter, he appealed to the family chaplain for his +attendance at divine service, from whence, however, he always departed +at the sermon, insisting that the chaplain could not teach him +anything. It was in one of these panics that he produced his +"Historical Narrative of Heresy, and the Punishment thereof," where, +losing the dignity of the philosophic character, he creeps into a +subterfuge with the subtilty of the lawyer; insisting that "The +Leviathan," being published at a time when there was no distinction of +creeds in England (the Court of High Commission having been abolished +in the troubles), that therefore none could be heretical.[366] + +No man was more speculatively bold, and more practically timorous;[367] +and two very contrary principles enabled him, through an extraordinary +length of life, to deliver his opinions and still to save himself: +these were his excessive vanity and his excessive timidity. The one +inspired his hardy originality, and the other prompted him to protect +himself by any means. His love of glory roused his vigorous intellect, +while his fears shrunk him into his little self. Hobbes, engaged in +the cause of truth, betrayed her dignity by his ambiguous and abject +conduct: this was a consequence of his selfish philosophy; and this +conduct has yielded no dubious triumph to the noble school which +opposed his cynical principles. + +A genius more luminous, sagacity more profound, and morals less +tainted, were never more eminently combined than in this very man, who +was so often reduced to the most abject state. But the anti-social +philosophy of Hobbes terminated in preserving a pitiful state of +existence. He who considered nothing more valuable than life, degraded +himself by the meanest artifices of self-love,[368] and exulted in the +most cynical truths.[369] The philosophy of Hobbes, founded on fear +and suspicion, and which, in human nature, could see nothing beyond +himself, might make him a wary politician, but always an imperfect +social being. We find, therefore, that the philosopher of Malmesbury +adroitly retained a friend at court, to protect him at an extremity; +but considering all men alike, as bargaining for themselves, his +friends occasioned him as much uneasiness as his enemies. He lived in +dread that the Earl of Devonshire, whose roof had ever been his +protection, should at length give him up to the Parliament! There are +no friendships among cynics! + +To such a state of degradation had the selfish philosophy reduced one +of the greatest geniuses; a philosophy true only for the wretched and +the criminal.[370] But those who feel moving within themselves the +benevolent principle, and who delight in acts of social sympathy, are +conscious of passions and motives, which the others have omitted in +their system. And the truth is, these "unnatural philosophers," as +Lord Shaftesbury expressively terms them, are by no means the monsters +they tell us they are: their practice is therefore usually in +opposition to their principles. While Hobbes was for chaining down +mankind as so many beasts of prey, he surely betrayed his social +passion, in the benevolent warnings he was perpetually giving them; +and while he affected to hold his brothers in contempt, he was +sacrificing laborious days, and his peace of mind, to acquire +celebrity. Who loved glory more than this sublime cynic?--"_Glory_," +says our philosopher, "by those whom it displeaseth, is called +_Pride_; by those whom it pleaseth, it is termed _a just valuation of +himself_."[371] Had Hobbes defined, as critically, the passion of +_self-love_, without resolving all our sympathies into a single +monstrous one, we might have been disciplined without being degraded. + +Hobbes, indeed, had a full feeling of the magnitude of his labours, +both for foreigners and posterity, as he has expressed it in his life. +He disperses, in all his works, some Montaigne-like notices of +himself, and they are eulogistic. He has not omitted any one of his +virtues, nor even an apology for his deficiency in others. He notices +with complacency how Charles II. had his portrait placed in the royal +cabinet; how it was frequently asked for by his friends, in England +and in France.[372] He has written his life several times, in verse +and in prose; and never fails to throw into the eyes of his +adversaries the reputation he gained abroad and at home.[373] He +delighted to show he was living, by annual publications; and +exultingly exclaims, "That when he had silenced his adversaries, he +published, in the eighty-seventh year of his life, the Odyssey of +Homer, and the next year the Iliad, in English verse." + +His greatest imperfection was a monstrous egotism--the fate of those +who concentrate all their observations in their own individual +feelings. There are minds which may think too much, by conversing too +little with books and men. Hobbes exulted he had read little; he had +not more than half-a-dozen books about him; hence he always saw things +in his own way, and doubtless this was the cause of his mania for +disputation. + +He wrote against dogmas with a spirit perfectly dogmatic. He liked +conversation on the terms of his own political system, provided +absolute authority was established, peevishly referring to his own +works whenever contradicted; and his friends stipulated with +strangers, that "they should not dispute with the old man." But what +are we to think of that pertinacity of opinion which he held even with +one as great as himself? Selden has often quitted the room, or Hobbes +been driven from it, in the fierceness of their battle.[374] Even to +his latest day, the "war of words" delighted the man of confined +reading. The literary duels between Hobbes and another hero celebrated +in logomachy, the Catholic priest, Thomas White, have been recorded by +Wood. They had both passed their eightieth year, and were fond of +paying visits to one another: but the two literary Nestors never met +to part in cool blood, "wrangling, squabbling, and scolding on +philosophical matters," as our blunt and lively historian has +described.[375] + +His little qualities were the errors of his own selfish philosophy; +his great ones were those of nature. He was a votary to his +studies:[376] he avoided marriage, to which he was inclined; and +refused place and wealth, which he might have enjoyed, for literary +leisure. He treated with philosophic pleasantry his real contempt of +money.[377] His health and his studies were the sole objects of his +thoughts; and notwithstanding that panic which so often disturbed +them, he wrote and published beyond his ninetieth year. He closes the +metrical history of his life with more dignity than he did his life +itself; for his mind seems always to have been greater than his +actions. He appeals to his friends for the congruity of his life with +his writings; for his devotion to justice; and for a generous work, +which no miser could have planned; and closes thus:-- + + And now complete my four-and-eighty years, + Life's lengthen'd plot is o'er, and the last scene appears.[378] + +Of the works of Hobbes we must not conclude, as Hume tells us, that +"they have fallen into neglect;" nor, in the style with which they +were condemned at Oxford, that "they are pernicious and damnable." The +sanguine opinion of the author himself was, that the mighty +"Leviathan" will stand for all ages, defended by its own strength; for +the rule of justice, the reproof of the ambitious, the citadel of the +Sovereign, and the peace of the people.[379] But the smaller +treatises of Hobbes are not less precious. Locke is the pupil of +Hobbes, and it may often be doubtful whether the scholar has rivalled +the nervous simplicity and the energetic originality of his master. + +The genius of Hobbes was of the first order; his works abound with the +most impressive truths, in all the simplicity of thought and language, +yet he never elevates nor delights. Too faithful an observer of the +miserable human nature before him, he submits to expedients; he acts +on the defensive; and because he is in terror, he would consider +security to be the happiness of man. In _Religion_ he would stand by +an established one; yet thus he deprives man of that moral freedom +which God himself has surely allowed us. Locke has the glory of having +first given distinct notions of the nature of toleration. In +_Politics_ his great principle is the establishment of _Authority_, +or, as he terms it, an "entireness of sovereign power:" here he seems +to have built his arguments with such eternal truths and with such a +contriving wisdom as to adapt his system to all the changes of +government. Hobbes found it necessary in his day to place this +despotism in the hands of his colossal monarch; and were Hobbes now +living, he would not relinquish the principle, though perhaps he might +vary the application; for if Authority, strong as man can create it, +is not suffered to exist in our free constitution, what will become of +our freedom? Hobbes would now maintain his system by depositing his +"entireness of sovereign power" in the Laws of his Country. So easily +shifted is the vast political machine of the much abused "Leviathan!" +The _Citizen_ of Hobbes, like the _Prince_ of Machiavel, is alike +innocent, when the end of their authors is once detected, amid those +ambiguous means by which the hard necessity of their times constrained +their mighty genius to disguise itself. + +It is, however, remarkable of _Systems of Opinions_, that the +founder's celebrity has usually outlived his sect's. Why are systems, +when once brought into practice, so often discovered to be fallacies? +It seems to me the natural progress of system-making. A genius of +this order of invention long busied with profound observations and +perpetual truths, would appropriate to himself this assemblage of his +ideas, by stamping his individual mark on them; for this purpose he +strikes out some mighty paradox, which gives an apparent connexion to +them all: and to this paradox he forces all parts into subserviency. +It is a minion of the fancy, which his secret pride supports, not +always by the most scrupulous means. Hence the system itself, with all +its novelty and singularity, turns out to be nothing more than an +ingenious deception carried on for the glory of the inventor; and when +his followers perceive they were the dupes of his ingenuity, they are +apt, in quitting the system, to give up all; not aware that the parts +are as true as the whole together is false; the sagacity of Genius +collected the one, but its vanity formed the other! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [348] Shaftesbury has thrown out, on this head, some important + truths:--"If men are forbid to speak their minds _seriously_, + they will do it _ironically_. If they find it dangerous to + do so, they will then redouble their disguise, _invoke + themselves into mysteriousness_, and talk so as hardly to be + understood. The _persecuting_ spirit has raised the + _bantering_ one. The higher the slavery, the more exquisite + the buffoonery."--Vol. i. p. 71. The subject of our present + inquiry is a very remarkable instance of "involving himself + into mysteriousness." To this cause we owe the strong raillery + of Marvell; the cloudy "Oracles of Reason" of Blount; and + the formidable, though gross burlesque, of Hickeringill, the + rector of All-Saints, in Colchester. "Of him (says the + editor of his collected works, 1716), the greatest writers of + our times trembled at his pen; and as great a genius as + Sir Roger L'Estrange's was, it submitted to his _superior + way of reasoning_"--that is, to a most extraordinary + burlesque spirit in politics and religion. But even he who + made others tremble felt the terrors he inflicted; for he + complains that "some who have thought his pen too sharp and + smart, those who have been galled, sore men where the skin's + off, have long lain to catch for somewhat to accuse me--upon + such touchy subjects, a man had need have the _dexterity to + split a hair_, to handle them pertinently, usefully, and + yet _safely_ and _warily_."--Such men, however, cannot + avoid their fate: they will be persecuted, however they + succeed in "splitting a hair;" and it is then they have + recourse to the most absurd _subterfuges_, to which our + Hobbes was compelled. Thus also it happened to Woolston, who + wrote in a ludicrous way "Blasphemies" against the miracles of + Christ; calling them "tales and rodomontados." He rested his + defence on this subterfuge, that "it was meant to place the + Christian religion on a better footing," &c. But the Court + answered, that "if the author of a treasonable libel should + write at the conclusion, _God save the king!_ it would not + excuse him." + + [349] The moral axiom of Solon "KNOW THYSELF" (_Nosce teipsum_), + applied by the ancient sage as a corrective for our own pride + and vanity, Hobbes contracts into a narrow principle, when, in + his introduction to "The Leviathan," he would infer that, by + this self-inspection, we are enabled to determine on the + thoughts and passions of other men; and thus he would make the + taste, the feelings, the experience of the individual decide + for all mankind. This simple error has produced all the dogmas + of cynicism; for the cynic is one whose insulated feelings, + being all of the selfish kind, can imagine no other stirrer of + even our best affections, and strains even our loftiest + virtues into pitiful motives. Two noble authors, men of the + most dignified feelings, have protested against this + principle. Lord Shaftesbury keenly touches the characters of + Hobbes and Rochester:--"Sudden courage, says our modern + philosopher (Hobbes), is anger. If so, courage, considered as + constant, and belonging to a character, must, in his account, + be defined constant anger, or anger constantly recurring. All + men, says a witty poet (Rochester), would be cowards, if they + durst: that the poet and the philosopher both were cowards, + may be yielded, perhaps, without dispute! they may have spoken + the best of their knowledge."--SHAFTESBURY, vol. i. p. 119. + + With an heroic spirit, that virtuous statesman, Lord + Clarendon, rejects the degrading notion of Hobbes. When _he_ + looked into his own breast, he found that courage was a real + virtue, which had induced him, had it been necessary, to have + shed his blood as a patriot. But death, in the judgment of + Hobbes, was the most terrible event, and to be avoided by any + means. Lord Clarendon draws a parallel between a "man of + courage" and one of the disciples of Hobbes, "brought to die + together, by a judgment they cannot avoid." "How comes it to + pass, that one of these undergoes death, with no other + concernment than as if he were going any other journey; and + the other with such confusion and trembling, that he is even + without life before he dies; if it were true that all men fear + alike upon the like occasion?"--_Survey of the Leviathan_, p. + 14. + + [350] They were distinguished as _Hobbists_, and the opinions as + _Hobbianism_. Their chief happened to be born on a Good + Friday; and in the metrical history of his own life he seems + to have considered it as a remarkable event. An atom had its + weight in the scales by which his mighty egotism weighed + itself. He thus marks the day of his birth, innocently + enough:-- + + "Natus erat noster Servator Homo-Deus annos + Mille et quingentos, octo quoque undecies." + + But the _Hobbists_ declared more openly (as Wood tells us), + that "as our Saviour Christ went out of the world on that day + to save the men of the world, so another saviour came into the + world on that day to save them!" + + That the sect spread abroad, as well as at home, is told us + by Lord Clarendon, in the preface to his "Survey of the + Leviathan." The qualities of the author, as well as the + book, were well adapted for proselytism; for Clarendon, + who was intimately acquainted with him, notices his + confidence in conversation--his never allowing himself to + be contradicted--his bold inferences--the novelty of his + expressions--and his probity, and a life free from scandal. + "The humour and inclination of the time to all kind of + paradoxes," was indulged by a pleasant clear style, an + appearance of order and method, hardy paradoxes, and + accommodating principles to existing circumstances. + + Who were the sect composed of? The monstrous court of Charles + II.--the grossest materialists! The secret history of that + court could scarcely find a Suetonius among us. But our author + was frequently in the hands of those who could never have + comprehended what they pretended to admire; this appears by a + publication of the times, intituled, "Twelve Ingenious + Characters, &c." 1686, where, in that of a town-fop, who, "for + genteel breeding, posts to town, by his mother's indulgence, + three or four wild companions, half-a-dozen bottles of + Burgundy, _two leaves of Leviathan_," and some few other + obvious matters, shortly make this young philosopher nearly + lose his moral and physical existence. "He will not confess + himself an Atheist, yet he boasts aloud that he holds his + _gospel_ from _the Apostle of Malmesbury_, though it is more + than probable he never read, at least understood, ten leaves + of _that unlucky author_." If such were his wretched + disciples, Hobbes was indeed "an unlucky author," for their + morals and habits were quite opposite to those of their + master. EACHARD, in the preface to his Second Dialogue, 1673, + exhibits a very Lucianic arrangement of his disciples--Hobbes' + "Pit, Box, and Gallery Friends." The _Pit-friends_ were sturdy + practicants who, when they hear that "Ill-nature, Debauchery, + and Irreligion were Mathematics and Demonstration, clap and + shout, and swear by all that comes from Malmesbury." The + _Gallery_ are "a sort of small, soft, little, pretty, fine + gentlemen, who having some little wit, some little modesty, + some little remain of conscience and country religion, could + not hector it as the former, but quickly learnt to chirp and + giggle when t'other clapt and shouted." But "the Don-admirers, + and _Box-friends_ of Mr. Hobbes are men of gravity and + reputation, who will scarce simper in favour of the + philosopher, but can make shift to nod and nod again." Even + amid this wild satire we find a piece of truth in a dark + corner; for the satirist confesses that "his Gallery-friends, + who were such resolved practicants in _Hobbianism_ (by which + the satirist means all kinds of licentiousness) would most + certainly have been so, had there never been any such man as + Mr. Hobbes in the world." Why then place to the account of the + philosopher those gross immoralities which he never + sanctioned? The life of Hobbes is without a stain! He had + other friends besides these "Box, Pit, and Gallery" + gentry--the learned of Europe, and many of the great and good + men of his own country. + + [351] Hobbes, in defending Thucydides, whom he has so admirably + translated, from the charge of some obscurity in his design, + observes that "Marcellinus saith he was obscure, on purpose + that the common people might not understand him; and not + unlikely, for a wise man should so write (though in words + understood by all men), that wise men only should be able to + commend him." Thus early in life Hobbes had determined on a + principle which produced all his studied ambiguity, involved + him in so much controversy, and, in some respects, preserved + him in an inglorious security. + + [352] Hobbes explains the image in his Introduction. He does not + disguise his opinion that _Men_ may be converted into + _Automatons_; and if he were not very ingenious we might lose + our patience. He was so delighted with this whimsical fancy of + his "artificial man," that he carried it on to government + itself, and employed the engraver to impress the monstrous + personification on our minds, even clearer than by his + reasonings. The curious design forms the frontispiece of "The + Leviathan." He borrowed the name from that sea-monster, that + mightiest of powers, which Job has told is not to be compared + with any on earth. The sea-monster is here, however, changed + into a colossal man, entirely made up of little men from all + the classes of society, bearing in the right hand the sword, + and in the left the crosier. The compartments are full of + political allegories. An expression of Lord Clarendon's in the + preface to his "Survey of the Leviathan," shows our + philosopher's infatuation to this "idol of the Den," as Lord + Bacon might have called the intellectual illusion of the + philosopher. Hobbes, when at Paris, showed a proof-sheet or + two of his work to Clarendon, who, he soon discovered, could + not approve of the hardy tenets. "He frequently came to me," + says his lordship, "and told me his book (_which he would call + LEVIATHAN_) was then printing in England. He said, that he + knew when I read his book I would not like it, and mentioned + some of his conclusions: upon which I asked him, why he would + publish such doctrine: to which, after a discourse, _between + jest and earnest_, he said, _The truth is, I have a mind to go + home!_" Some philosophical systems have, probably, been raised + "between jest and earnest;" yet here was a text-book for the + despot, as it is usually accepted, deliberately given to the + world, for no other purpose than that the philosopher was + desirous of changing his lodgings at Paris for his old + apartments in London! + + [353] The duplicity of the system is strikingly revealed by Burnet, + who tells of Hobbes, that "he put all the law in the will of + the _prince_ or the _people_; for he writ his book _at first_ + in favour of _absolute monarchy_, but turned it afterwards to + gratify the _republican party_. These were his true + principles, though he had disguised them for deceiving unwary + readers." It is certain Hobbes became a suspected person among + the royalists. They were startled at the open extravagance of + some of his political paradoxes; such as his notion of the + necessity of extirpating all the _Greek_ and _Latin_ authors, + "by reading of which men from their childhood have gotten a + habit of licentious controuling the actions of their + sovereigns."--p. 111. But the doctrines of liberty were not + found only among the Greeks and Romans; the _Hebrews_ were + stern republicans; and liberty seems to have had a nobler + birth in the North among our German ancestors, than perhaps in + any other part of the globe. It is certain that the Puritans, + who warmed over the Bible more than the classic historians, + had their heads full of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea; + the hanging of the five kings of Joshua; and the fat king of + the Moabites, who in his summer-room received a present, and + then a dagger, from the left-handed Jewish Jacobin. Hobbes + curiously compares "The _tyrannophobia_, or fear of being + strongly governed," to the _hydrophobia_. "When a monarchy is + once bitten to the quick by those democratical writers, and, + by their poison, men seem to be converted into dogs," his + remedy is, "a strong monarch," or "the exercise of entire + sovereignty," p. 171; and that the authority he would + establish should be immutable, he hardily asserts that "the + ruling power cannot be punished for mal-administration." Yet + in this elaborate system of despotism are interspersed some + strong republican axioms, as The safety of the people is the + supreme law,--The public good to be preferred to that of the + individual:--and that God made the one for the many, and not + the many for the one. The effect the LEVIATHAN produced on the + royal party was quite unexpected by the author. His hardy + principles were considered as a satire on arbitrary power, and + Hobbes himself as a concealed favourer of democracy. This has + happened more than once with such vehement advocates. Our + philosopher must have been thunderstruck at the insinuation, + for he had presented the royal exile, as Clarendon in his + "Survey" informs us, with a magnificent copy of "The + Leviathan," written on vellum; this beautiful specimen of + calligraphy may still be seen, as we learn from the + _Gentleman's Magazine_ for January, 1813, where the curiosity + is fully described. The suspicion of Hobbes's principles was + so strong, that it produced his sudden dismissal from the + presence of Charles II. when at Paris. The king, indeed, said + he believed Hobbes intended him no hurt; and Hobbes said of + the king, "that his majesty understood his writings better + than his accusers." However, happy was Hobbes to escape from + France, where the officers were in pursuit of him, amid snowy + roads and nipping blasts. The lines in his metrical life open + a dismal winter scene for an old man on a stumbling horse:-- + + "Frigus erat, nix alta, senex ego, ventus acerbus, + Vexat equus sternax, et salebrosa via--" + + A curious spectacle! to observe, under a despotic government, + its vehement advocate in flight! + + The ambiguity of "The Leviathan" seemed still more striking, + when Hobbes came, at length, to place the right of government + merely in what he terms "the Seat of Power,"--a wonderful + principle of expediency; for this was equally commodious to + the republicans and to the royalists. By this principle, the + republicans maintained the right of Cromwell, since his + authority was established, while it absolved the royalists + from their burdensome allegiance; for, according to "The + Leviathan," Charles was the English monarch only when in a + condition to force obedience; and, to calm tender consciences, + the philosopher further fixed on that precise point of time, + "when a subject may obey an unjust conqueror." After the + Restoration, it was subtilely urged by the Hobbists, that this + very principle had greatly served the royal cause; for it + afforded a plea for the emigrants to return, by compounding + for their estates, and joining with those royalists who had + remained at home in an open submission to the established + government; and thus they were enabled to concert their + measures in common, for reinstating the old monarchy. Had the + Restoration never taken place, Hobbes would have equally + insisted on the soundness of his doctrine; he would have + asserted the title of Richard Cromwell to the Protectorate, if + Richard had had the means to support it, as zealously as he + afterwards did that of Charles II. to the throne, when the + king had firmly re-established it. The philosophy of Hobbes, + therefore, is not dangerous in any government; its sole aim is + to preserve it from intestine divisions; but for this purpose, + he was for reducing men to mere machines. With such little + respect he treated the species, and with such tenderness the + individual! + + I will give Hobbes's own justification, after the Restoration + of Charles II., when accused by the great mathematician, + Dr. Wallis, a republican under Cromwell, of having written + his work in defence of Oliver's government. Hobbes does not + deny that "he placed the right of government wheresoever + should be the strength." Most subtilely he argues, how this + very principle "was designed in behalf of the faithful + subjects of the king," after they had done their utmost to + defend his rights and person. The government of Cromwell + being established, these found themselves without the + protection of a government of their own, and therefore + might lawfully promise obedience to their victor for the + saving of their lives and fortunes; and more, they ought even + to protect that authority in war by which they were + themselves protected in peace. But this plea, which he so ably + urged in favour of the royalists, will not, however, + justify those who, like Wallis, voluntarily submitted to + Cromwell, because they were always the enemies of the king; + so that this submission to Oliver is allowed only to the + royalists--a most admirable political paradox! The whole of + the argument is managed with infinite dexterity, and is thus + unexpectedly turned against his accusers themselves. The + principle of "self-preservation" is carried on through the + entire system of Hobbes.--_Considerations upon the Reputation, + Loyalty, &c., of Mr. Hobbes._ + + [354] The passage in Hobbes to which I allude is in "The Leviathan," + c. 32. He there says, sarcastically, "It is with the + _mysteries of religion_ as with wholesome pills for the sick, + which, swallowed whole, have the virtue to cure; but, chewed, + are for the most part cast up again without effect." Hobbes is + often a wit: he was much pleased with this thought, for he had + it in his _De Cive_; which, in the English translation, bears + the title of "Philosophical Rudiments Concerning Government + and Society," 1651. There he calls "the wholesome pills," + "bitter." He translated the _De Cive_ himself; a circumstance + which was not known till the recent appearance of Aubrey's + papers. + + [355] Warburton has most acutely distinguished between the intention + of Hobbes and that of some of his successors. The bishop does + not consider Hobbes as an enemy to religion, not even to the + Christian; and even doubts whether he has attacked it in "The + Leviathan." At all events, he has "taken direct contrary + measures from those of Bayle, Collins, Tindal, Bolingbroke, + and all that school. They maliciously endeavoured to show the + Gospel was _unreasonable_; Hobbes, as reasonable as his + admirable wit could represent it: they contended for the most + unbounded _toleration_, Hobbes for the most rigorous + _conformity_." See the "Alliance between Church and State," + book i. c. v. It is curious to observe the noble disciple of + Hobbes, Lord Bolingbroke, a strenuous advocate for his + political and moral opinions, enraged at what he calls his + "High Church notions." Trenchard and Gordon, in their + _Independent Whig_, No. 44, that libel on the clergy, accuse + them of _Atheism_ and _Hobbism_; while some divines as + earnestly reject Hobbes as an Atheist! Our temperate sage, + though angried at that spirit of contradiction which he had + raised, must, however, have sometimes smiled both on his + advocates and his adversaries! + + [356] The odious term of _Atheist_ has been too often applied to many + great men of our nation by the hardy malignity of party. Were + I to present a catalogue, the very names would refute the + charge. Let us examine the religious sentiments of Hobbes. The + materials for its investigation are not common, but it will + prove a dissertation of facts. I warn some of my readers to + escape from the tediousness, if they cannot value the + curiosity. + + Hobbes has himself thrown out an observation in his "Life of + Thucydides" respecting Anaxagoras, that "his opinions, being + of a strain above the apprehension of the vulgar, procured him + the estimation of an _Atheist_, which name they bestowed upon + all men that thought not as they did of their ridiculous + religion, and in the end cost him his life." This was a + parallel case with Hobbes himself, except its close, which, + however, seems always to have been in the mind of our + philosopher. + + Bayle, who is for throwing all things into doubt, acknowledging + that the life of Hobbes was blameless, adds, One might, + however, have been tempted to ask him this question: + + Heus age responde; minimum est quod scire laboro; + _De Jove quid sentis?_--PERSIUS, Sat. ii. v. 17. + + Hark, now! resolve this one short question, friend! + _What are thy thoughts of Jove?_ + + But Bayle, who compared himself to the Jupiter of Homer, + powerful in gathering and then dispersing the clouds, + dissipates the one he had just raised, by showing how "Hobbes + might have answered the question with sincerity and belief, + _according to the writers of his life_."--But had Bayle known + that Hobbes was the author of all the lives of himself, so + partial an evidence might have raised another doubt with the + great sceptic. It appears, by Aubrey's papers, that Hobbes did + not wish his biography should appear when he was living, that + he might not seem the author of it. + + Baxter, who knew Hobbes intimately, ranks him with Spinosa, by + a strong epithet for materialists--"The _Brutists_, Hobbes, + and Spinosa." He tells us that Selden would not have him in + his chamber while dying, calling out, "No Atheists!" But by + Aubrey's papers it appears that Hobbes stood by the side of + his dying friend. It is certain his enemies raised stories + against him, and told them as suited their purpose. In the + Lansdowne MSS. I find Dr. Grenville, in a letter, relates how + "Hobbes, when in France, and like to die, betrayed such + expressions of repentance to a great prelate, from whose mouth + I had this relation, that he admitted him to the sacrament. + But Hobbes afterwards made this a subject of ridicule in + companies."--_Lansdowne MSS._ 990--73. + + Here is a strong accusation, and a fact too; yet, when fully + developed, the result will turn out greatly in favour of + Hobbes. + + Hobbes had a severe illness at Paris, which lasted six months, + thus noticed in his metrical life: + + Dein per sex menses morbo decumbo propinque + Accinctus morti; nec fugio, illa fugit. + + It happened that the famous Guy Patin was his physician; and + in one of these amusing letters, where he puts down the events + of the day, like a newspaper of the times, in No. 61, has + given an account of his intercourse with the philosopher, in + which he says that Hobbes endured such pain, that he would + have destroyed himself--"_Qu'il avoit voulu se tuer._"--Patin + is a vivacious writer: we are not to take him _au pied de la + lettre_. Hobbes was systematically tenacious of life: and, so + far from attempting suicide, that he wanted even the courage + to allow Patin to bleed him! It was during this illness that + the Catholic party, who like to attack a Protestant in a state + of unresisting debility, got his learned and intimate friend, + Father Mersenne, to hold out all the benefits a philosopher + might derive from their Church. When Hobbes was acquainted + with this proposed interview (says a French contemporary, + whose work exists in MS., but is quoted in Joly's folio volume + of Remarks on Bayle), the sick man answered, "Don't let him + come for this; I shall laugh at him; and perhaps I may convert + him myself." Father Mersenne did come; and when this + missionary was opening on the powers of Rome to grant a + plenary pardon, he was interrupted by Hobbes--"Father, I have + examined, a long time ago, all these points; I should be sorry + to dispute now; you can entertain me in a more agreeable + manner. When did you see Mr. Gassendi?" The monk, who was a + philosopher, perfectly understood Hobbes, and this interview + never interrupted their friendship. A few days after, Dr. + Cosin (afterwards Bishop of Durham), the great prelate whom + Dr. Grenville alludes to, prayed with Hobbes, who first + _stipulated_ that the prayers should be those authorised by + the _Church of England_; and he also received the sacrament + with reverence. Hobbes says:--"Magnum hoc erga disciplinam + Episcopalem signum erat reverentiæ."--It is evident that the + conversion of Father Mersenne, to which Hobbes facetiously + alluded, could never be to Atheism, but to Protestantism: and + had Hobbes been an Atheist, he would not have risked his + safety, when he arrived in England, by his strict attendance + to the _Church of England_, resolutely refusing to unite with + any of the sects. His views of the national religion were not + only enlightened, but in this respect he showed a boldness in + his actions very unusual with him. + + But the religion of Hobbes was "of a strain beyond the + apprehension of the vulgar," and not very agreeable to some of + the Church. A man may have peculiar notions respecting the + Deity, and yet be far removed from Atheism; and in his + political system the Church may hold that subordinate place + which some Bishops will not like. When Dr. Grenville tells us + "Hobbes ridiculed in companies" certain matters which the + Doctor held sacred, this is not sufficient to accuse a man of + Atheism, though it may prove him not to have held orthodox + opinions. From the MS. collections of the French contemporary, + who well knew Hobbes at Paris, I transcribe a remarkable + observation:--"Hobbes said, that he was not surprised that the + Independents, who were enemies of monarchy, could not bear it + in heaven, and that therefore they placed there three Gods + instead of one; but he was astonished that the English + bishops, and those Presbyterians who were favourers of + monarchy, should persist in the same opinion concerning the + Trinity. He added, that the Episcopalians ridiculed the + Puritans, and the Puritans the Episcopalians; but that the + wise ridiculed both alike."--_Lantiniana MS._ quoted by Joly, + p. 434. + + The _religion_ of Hobbes was in _conformity_ to _State and + Church_. He had, however, the most awful notions of the + Divinity. He confesses he is unacquainted with "the nature of + God, but not with the _necessity_ of the existence of the + Power of all powers, and First Cause of all causes; so that we + know that God is, though not what he is." See his "Human + Nature," chap. xi. But was the God of Hobbes the inactive + deity of Epicurus, who takes no interest in the happiness or + misery of his created beings; or, as Madame de Staël has + expressed it, with the point and felicity of French + antithesis, was this "an Atheism with a God?" This consequence + some of his adversaries would draw from his principles, which + Hobbes indignantly denies. He has done more; for in his _De + Corpore Politico_, he declares his belief of all the + fundamental points of Christianity, part i. c. 4, p. 116. Ed. + 1652. But he was an open enemy to those "who presume, out of + Scripture, by their own interpretation, to raise any _doctrine + to the understanding_, concerning those things which are + incomprehensible;" and he refers to St. Paul, who gives a good + rule "_to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every + man_ the measure of faith."--Rom. xii. 3. + + [357] This he pictures in a strange engraving prefixed to his book, + and representing a crowned figure, whose description will be + found in the note, p. 440. It is remarkable that when Hobbes + adopted the principle that the _ecclesiastical_ should be + united with the _sovereign_ power, he was then actually + producing that portentous change which had terrified Luther + and Calvin; who, even in their day, were alarmed by a new kind + of political Antichrist; that "Cæsarean Popery" which Stubbe + so much dreaded, and which I have here noticed, p. 358. + Luther predicted that as the pope had at times seized on the + political sword, so this "Cæsarean Popery," under the pretence + of policy, would grasp the ecclesiastical crosier, to form a + _political church_. The curious reader is referred to Wolfius + _Lectionum Memorabilium et reconditarum_, vol. ii. cent. x. p. + 987. Calvin, in his commentary on Amos, has also a remarkable + passage on this _political church_, animadverting on Amaziah, + the priest, who would have proved the Bethel worship + warrantable, because settled by the royal authority: "It is + the king's chapel." Amos, vii. 13. Thus Amaziah, adds Calvin, + assigns the king a double function, and maintains it is in his + power to transform religion into what shape he pleases, while + he charges Amos with disturbing the public repose, and + encroaching on the royal prerogative. Calvin zealously + reprobates the conduct of those inconsiderate persons, "who + give the civil magistrate a sovereignty in religion, and + dissolve the Church into the State." The supremacy in Church + and State, conferred on Henry VIII., was the real cause of + these alarms; but the passage of domination raged not less + fiercely in Calvin than in Henry VIII.; in the enemy of kings + than in kings themselves. Were the _forms_ of religion more + celestial from the sanguinary hands of that tyrannical + reformer than from those of the reforming tyrant? The system + of our philosopher was, to lay all the wild spirits which have + haunted us in the chimerical shapes of _nonconformity_. I have + often thought, after much observation on our Church history + since the Reformation, that _the devotional feelings_ have not + been so much concerned in this bitter opposition to the + National Church as the rage of dominion, the spirit of vanity, + the sullen pride of sectarism, and the delusions of madness. + + [358] Hobbes himself tells us that "some bishops are content to hold + their authority from _the king's letters patents_; others will + needs have somewhat more they know not what of _divine + rights_, &c., _not acknowledging the power of the king_. It is + a relic still remaining of the venom of popish ambition, + lurking in that _seditious distinction and division_ between + the power _spiritual_ and _civil_. The safety of the State + does not depend on the safety of the clergy, but on the + _entireness of the sovereign power_."--_Considerations upon + the Reputation, &c., of Mr. Hobbes_, p. 44. + + [359] This royal observation is recorded in the "Sorberiana." Sorbiere + gleaned the anecdote during his residence in England. By the + "Aubrey Papers," which have been published since I composed + this article, I find that Charles II. was greatly delighted by + the wit and repartees of Hobbes, who was at once bold and + happy in making his stand amidst the court wits. The king, + whenever he saw Hobbes, who had the privilege of being + admitted into the royal presence, would exclaim, "Here comes + the bear to be baited." This did not allude to his native + roughness, but the force of his resistance when attacked. + + [360] See "Mr. Hobbes's State of Nature considered, in a Dialogue + between Philautus and Timothy." The second dialogue is not + contained in the eleventh edition of Eachard's Works, 1705, + which, however, was long after his death, so careless were the + publishers of those days of their authors' works. The literary + bookseller, Tom Davies, who ruined himself by giving good + editions of our old authors, has preserved it in his own. + + [361] "A Discourse Concerning Irony," 1729, p. 13. + + [362] Men of very opposite principles, but aiming at the same purpose, + are reduced to a dilemma, by the spirit of party in + controversy. Sir Robert Filmer, who wrote against "The + Anarchy of a Limited Monarchy," and "Patriarcha," to + re-establish _absolute power_, derived it from the scriptural + accounts of the patriarchal state. But Sir Robert and Hobbes, + though alike the advocates for supremacy of power, were as + opposite as possible on theological points. Filmer had the + same work to perform, but he did not like the instruments of + his fellow-labourer. His manner of proceeding with Hobbes + shows his dilemma: he refutes the doctrine of the "Leviathan," + while he confesses that Hobbes is right in the main. The + philosopher's reasonings stand on quite another foundation + than the scriptural authorities deduced by Filmer. The result + therefore is, that Sir Robert had the trouble to confute the + very thing he afterwards had to establish! + + [363] It may be curious to some of my readers to preserve that part of + Hobbes's Letter to Anthony Wood, in the rare tract of his + "Latin Life," in which, with great calmness, the philosopher + has painfully collated the odious interpolations. All that was + written in favour of the morals of Hobbes--of the esteem in + which foreigners held him--of the royal patronage, &c., were + maliciously erased. Hobbes thus notices the amendments of + Bishop Fell:-- + + "Nimirum ubi mihi tu ingenium attribuis _Sobrium_, ille, + deleto _Sobrio_, substituit _Acri_. + + "Ubi tu scripseras _Libellum scripsit de Cive_, + interposuit ille inter _Libellum_ et _de Cive, rebus + permiscendis natum_, de _Cive_, quod ita manifestè falsum + est, &c. + + "Quod, ubi tu de libro meo _Leviathan_ scripsisti, primò, + quod esset, _Vicinis gentibus notissimus_ interposuit + ille, _publico damno_. Ubi tu scripseras, _scripsit + librum_, interposuit ille _monstrosissimum_." + + A noble confidence in his own genius and celebrity breaks out + in this Epistle to Wood. "In leaving out all that you have + said of my character and reputation, the dean has injured you, + but cannot injure me; for long since has my fame winged its + way to a station from which it can never descend." One is + surprised to find such a Miltonic spirit in the contracted + soul of Hobbes, who in his own system might have cynically + ridiculed the passion for fame, which, however, no man felt + more than himself. In his controversy with Bishop Bramhall + (whose book he was cautious not to answer till ten years after + it was published, and his adversary was no more, pretending he + had never heard of it till then!) he breaks out with the same + feeling:--"What my works are, he was no fit judge; but now he + has provoked me, I will say thus much of them, that neither + he, if he had lived, could--nor I, if I would, can--extinguish + the light which is set up in the world by the greatest part of + them." + + It is curious to observe that an idea occurred to Hobbes, + which some authors have attempted lately to put into practice + against their critics--to prosecute them in a court of law; + but the knowledge of mankind was one of the liveliest + faculties of Hobbes's mind; he knew well to what account + common minds place the injured feelings of authorship; yet + were _a jury of literary men_ to sit in judgment, we might + have a good deal of business in the court for a long time; the + critics and the authors would finally have a very useful body + of reports and pleadings to appeal to; and the public would be + highly entertained and greatly instructed. On this attack of + Bishop Fell, Hobbes says--"I might perhaps have an action on + the case against him, if it were worth my while; but juries + seldom consider the Quarrels of Authors as of much moment." + + [364] Bayle has conjured up an amusing theory of apparitions, to show + that Hobbes might fear that a certain combination of atoms + agitating his brain might so disorder his mind that it would + expose him to spectral visions; and being very timorous, and + distrusting his imagination, he was averse to be left alone. + Apparitions happen frequently in dreams, and they may happen, + even to an incredulous man, when awake, for reading and + hearing of them would revive their images--these images, adds + Bayle, might play him some unlucky trick! We are here + astonished at the ingenuity of a disciple of Pyrrho, who in + his inquiries, after having exhausted all human evidence, + seems to have demonstrated what he hesitates to believe! + Perhaps the truth was, that the sceptical Bayle had not + entirely freed himself from the traditions which were then + still floating from the fireside to the philosopher's closet: + he points his pen, as Æneas brandished his sword at the + Gorgons and Chimeras that darkened the entrance of Hell; + wanting the admonitions of the sibyl, he would have rushed + in-- + + _Et frustra ferro diverberet umbras._ + + [365] The papers of Aubrey confirm my suggestion. I shall give the + words--"There was a report, and surely true, that in + parliament, not long after the king was settled, some of the + bishops made a motion to have the good old gentleman burned + for a heretique; which he hearing, feared that his papers + might be searched by their order, and he told me he had burned + part of them."--p. 612. When Aubrey requested Waller to write + verses on Hobbes, the poet said that he was afraid of the + Churchmen. Aubrey tells us--"I have often heard him say that + he was not afraid of _Sprights_, but afraid of being knocked + on the head for five or ten pounds which rogues might think he + had in his chamber." This reason given by Hobbes for his + frequent alarms was an evasive reply for too curious and + talkative an inquirer. Hobbes has not concealed the cause of + his terror in his metrical life-- + + "Tunc venit in mentem mihi Dorislaus et Ascham, + Tanquam proscripto terror ubique aderat." + + Dr. Dorislaus and Ascham had fallen under the daggers of + proscription. [The former was assassinated in Holland, whither + he had fled for safety.] + + [366] It is said that Hobbes completely recanted all his opinions; and + proceeded so far as to declare that the opinions he had + published in his "Leviathan," were not his real sentiments, + and that he neither maintained them in public nor in private. + Wood gives this title to a work of his--"An Apology for + Himself and his Writings," but without date. Some have + suspected that this Apology, if it ever existed, was not his + own composition. Yet why not? Hobbes, no doubt, thought that + "The Leviathan" would outlast any recantation; and, after all, + that a recantation is by no means a refutation!--recantations + usually prove the force of authority, rather than the force of + conviction. I am much pleased with a Dr. Pocklington, who hit + the etymology of the word _recantation_ with the spirit. + Accused and censured, for a penance he was to make a + recantation, which he began thus:--"If _canto_ be to sing, + _recanto_ is to sing again:" so that he _re-chanted_ his + offensive principles by his _recantation_! + + I suspect that the apology Wood alludes to was only a + republication of Hobbes's Address to the King, prefixed to the + "Seven Philosophical Problems," 1662, where he openly disavows + his opinions, and makes an apology for the "Leviathan." It is + curious enough to observe how he acts in this dilemma. It was + necessary to give up his opinions to the clergy, but still to + prove they were of an innocent nature. He therefore + acknowledges that "his theological notions are not his + opinions, but propounded with submission to the power + ecclesiastical, never afterwards having maintained them in + writing or discourse." Yet, to show the king that the regal + power incurred no great risk in them, he laid down one + principle, which could not have been unpleasing to Charles II. + He asserts, truly, that he never wrote against episcopacy; + "yet he is called an Atheist, or man of no religion, because + he has made the authority of the Church depend wholly upon the + regal power, which, I hope, your majesty will think is neither + Atheism nor Heresy." Hobbes considered the _religion_ of his + country as a subject of _law_, and not _philosophy_. He was + not for _separating_ the Church from the State; but, on the + contrary, for _joining them_ more closely. The bishops ought + not to have been his enemies; and many were not. + + [367] In the MS. collection of the French contemporary, who personally + knew him, we find a remarkable confession of Hobbes. He said + of himself that "he sometimes made openings to let in light, + but that he could not discover his thoughts but by half-views: + like those who throw open the window for a short time, but + soon closing it, from the dread of the storm." _"Il disoit + qu'il faisoit quelquefois des ouvertures, mais qu'il ne + pouvoit découvrir ses pensées qu'à-demi; qu'il imitoit ceux + qui ouvrent la fenêtre pendant quelques momens, mais qui la + referment promptement de peur de l'orage."_--Lantiniana MSS., + quoted by Joly in his volume of "Remarques sur Bayle." + + [368] Could one imagine that the very head and foot of the stupendous + "Leviathan" bear the marks of the little artifices practised + for self by its author? This grave work is dedicated to + Francis Godolphin, a person whom its author had never seen, + merely to remind him of a certain legacy which that person's + brother had left to our philosopher. If read with this fact + before us, we may detect the concealed claim to the legacy, + which it seems was necessary to conceal from the Parliament, + as Francis Godolphin resided in England. It must be confessed + this was a miserable motive for dedicating a system of + philosophy which was addressed to all mankind. It discovers + little dignity. This secret history we owe to Lord Clarendon, + in his "Survey of the Leviathan," who adds another. The + postscript to the "Leviathan," which is only in the English + edition, was designed as an easy summary of the principles: + and his lordship adds, as a sly address to Cromwell, that he + might be induced to be master of them at once, and "as a pawn + of his new subject's allegiance." It is possible that Hobbes + might have anticipated the sovereign power which the _general_ + was on the point of assuming in the _protectorship_. It was + natural enough, that Hobbes should deny this suggestion. + + [369] The story his antagonist (Dr. Wallis) relates is perfectly in + character. Hobbes, to show the Countess of Devonshire his + attachment to life, declared that "were he master of all the + world to dispose of, he would give it to live one day." "But + you have so many friends to oblige, had you the world to + dispose of!" "Shall I be the better for that when I am dead?" + "No," repeated the sublime cynic, "I would give the whole + world to live one day." He asserted that "it was lawful to + make use of ill instruments to do ourselves good," and + illustrated it thus:--"Were I cast into a deep pit, and the + devil should put down his cloven foot, I would take hold of it + to be drawn out by it." It must be allowed this is a + philosophy which has a chance of being long popular; but it is + not that of another order of human beings! Hobbes would not, + like Curtius, have leaped into a "deep pit" for his country; + or, to drop the fable, have died for it in the field or on the + scaffold, like the Falklands, the Sidneys, the Montroses--all + the heroic brotherhood of genius! One of his last expressions, + when informed of the approaches of death, was--"I shall be + glad to find a hole to creep out of the world at." Everything + was seen in a little way by this great man, who, having + reasoned himself into an abject being, "licked the dust" + through life. + + [370] In our country, Mandeville, Swift, and Chesterfield have trod in + the track of Hobbes; and in France, Helvetius, Rochefoucault + in his "Maxims," and L'Esprit more openly in his "Fausetté des + Vertus Humaines." They only degrade us--they are polished + cynics! But what are we to think of the tremendous cynicism of + Machiavel? That great genius eyed human nature with the + ferocity of an enraged savage. Machiavel is a vindictive + assassin, who delights even to turn his dagger within the + mortal wound he has struck; but our Hobbes, said his friend + Sorbiere, "is a gentle and skilful surgeon, who, with regret, + cuts into the living flesh, to get rid of the corrupted." It + is equally to be regretted that the same system of degrading + man has been adopted by some, under the mask of religion. + + Yet Hobbes, perhaps, never suspected the arms he was placing + in the hands of wretched men, when he furnished them with + such fundamental positions as, that "Man is naturally an evil + being; that he does not love his equal; and only seeks the + aid of society for his own particular purposes." He would at + least have disowned some of his diabolical disciples. One of + them, so late as in 1774, vented his furious philosophy in "An + Essay on the Depravity and Corruption of Human Nature, + wherein the Opinions of Hobbes, Mandeville, Helvetius, &c. are + supported against Shaftesbury, Hume, Sterne, &c. by Thomas + O'Brien M'Mahon." This gentleman, once informed that he was + _born wicked_, appears to have considered that wickedness + was his paternal estate, to be turned to as profitable an + account as he could. The titles of his chapters, serving as + a string of the most extraordinary propositions, have been + preserved in the "Monthly Review," vol. lii. 77. The + demonstrations in the work itself must be still more + curious. In these axioms we find that "Man has an _enmity_ to + all beings; that had he _power_, the first victims of his + revenge would be his wife, children, &c.--a sovereign, if + he could reign with the _unbounded authority_ every man _longs + for_, free from apprehension of punishment for misrule, + would slaughter all his subjects; perhaps he would not + leave one of them alive at the end of his reign." It was + perfectly in character with this wretched being, after having + quarrelled with human nature, that he should be still more + inveterate against a small part of her family, with whom + he was suffered to live on too intimate terms; for he + afterwards published another extraordinary piece--"The + Conduct and Good-Nature of Englishmen Exemplified in their + charitable way of Characterising the Customs, Manners, &c. + of Neighbouring Nations; their Equitable and Humane Mode of + Governing States, &c.; their Elevated and Courteous + Deportment, &c. of which their own Authors are everywhere + produced as Vouchers," 1777. One is tempted to think that + this O'Brien M'Mahon, after all, is only a wag, and has + copied the horrid pictures of his masters, as Hogarth did + the School of Rembrandt by his "Paul before Felix, designed + and _scratched_ in the true Dutch taste." These works + seem, however, to have their use. To have carried the + conclusions of the Anti-social Philosophy to as great lengths + as this writer has, is to display their absurdity. But, as + every rational Englishman will appeal to his own heart, in + declaring the one work to be nothing but a libel on the + nation; so every man, not destitute of virtuous emotions, + will feel the other to be a libel on human nature itself. + + [371] "Human Nature," c. ix. + + [372] Hobbes did not exaggerate the truth. Aubrey says of Cooper's + portrait of Hobbes, that "he intends to borrow the picture of + his majesty, for Mr. Loggan to engrave an accurate piece by, + which will sell well at home and abroad." We have only the + rare print of Hobbes by Faithorne, prefixed to a quarto + edition of his Latin Life, 1682, remarkable for its expression + and character. Sorbiere, returning from England, brought home + a portrait of the sage, which he placed in his collection; and + strangers, far and near, came to look on the physiognomy of a + great and original thinker. One of the honours which men of + genius receive is the homage the public pay to their images: + either, like the fat monk, one of the heroes of the _Epistolæ + obscurorum Virorum_, who, standing before a portrait of + Erasmus, spit on it in utter malice; or when they are looked + on in silent reverence. It is alike a tribute paid to the + masters of intellect. They have had their shrines and + pilgrimages. + + None of our authors have been better known, nor more highly + considered, than our Hobbes, abroad. I find many curious + particulars of him and his conversations recorded in French + works, which are not known to the English biographers or + critics. His residence at Paris occasioned this. See + Ancillon's Mélange Critique, Basle, 1698; Patin's Letters, 61; + Sorberiana; Niceron, tome iv.; Joly's Additions to Bayle.--All + these contain original notices on Hobbes. + + [373] To his Life are additions, which nothing but the self-love of + the author could have imagined. + + "Amicorum Elenchus."--He might be proud of the list of + foreigners and natives. + + "Tractuum contra Hobbium editorum Syllabus." + + "Eorum qui in Scriptis suis Hobbio contradixerunt Indiculus." + + "Qui Hobbii meminerunt seu in bonam seu in sequiorem partem." + + "In Hobbii Defensionem."--Hobbes died 1679, aged 91. These two + editions are, 1681, 1682. + + [374] This fact has been recorded in one of the pamphlets of Richard + Baxter, who, however, was no well-wisher to our philosopher. + "Additional Notes on the life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale," + 1682, p. 40. + + [375] "Athen. Oxon.," vol. ii. p. 665, ed. 1721. No one, however, knew + better than Hobbes the vanity and uselessness of _words_: in + one place he compares them to "a spider's web; for, by + contexture of words, tender and delicate wits are insnared and + stopped, but strong wits break easily through them." The + pointed sentence with which Warburton closes his preface to + Shakspeare, is Hobbes's--that "words are the counters of the + wise, and the money of fools." + + [376] Aubrey has minutely preserved for us the manner in which Hobbes + composed his "Leviathan:" it is very curious for literary + students. "He walked much, and contemplated; and he had in the + head of his cane a pen and inkhorn, and carried always a + note-book in his pocket; and as soon as a thought darted, he + presently entered it into his book, or otherwise might have + lost it. He had drawn the design of the book into chapters, + &c., and he knew whereabouts it would come in. Thus that book + was made."--Vol. ii. p. 607. Aubrey, the little Boswell of his + day, has recorded another literary peculiarity, which some + authors do not assuredly sufficiently use. Hobbes said that he + sometimes would set his thoughts upon researching and + contemplating, always with this proviso: "that he very much + and deeply considered one thing at a time--for a week, or + sometimes a fortnight." + + [377] A small annuity from the Devonshire family, and a small pension + from Charles II., exceeded the wants of his philosophic life. + If he chose to compute his income, Hobbes says facetiously of + himself, in French sols or Spanish maravedis, he could + persuade himself that Croesus or Crassus were by no means + richer than himself; and when he alludes to his property, he + considers wisdom to be his real wealth:-- + + "An quàm dives, id est, quàm sapiens fuerim?" + + He gave up his patrimonial estate to his brother, not wanting + it himself; but he tells the tale himself, and adds, that + though small in extent, it was rich in its crops. Anthony + Wood, with unusual delight, opens the character of Hobbes: + "Though he hath an ill name from some, and good from others, + yet he was a person endowed with an excellent philosophical + soul, was a contemner of riches, money, envy, the world, &c.; + a severe lover of justice, and endowed with great morals; + cheerful, open, and free of his discourse, yet without offence + to any, which he endeavoured always to avoid." What an + enchanting picture of the old man in the green vigour of his + age has Cowley sent down to us! + + "Nor can the snow which now cold age does shed + Upon thy reverend head, + Quench or allay the noble fires within; + But all which thou hast been, + And all that youth can be, thou'rt yet: + So fully still dost thou + Enjoy the manhood and the bloom of wit, + And all the natural heat, but not the fever too. + So contraries on Ætna's top conspire: + Th' embolden'd snow next to the flame does sleep.-- + To things immortal time can do no wrong; + And that which never is to die, for ever must be young." + + [378] + + "Ipse meos nôsti, Verdusi candide, mores, + Et tecum cuncti qui mea scripta legunt: + Nam mea vita meis non est incongrua scriptis; + Justitiam doceo, Justitiamque colo. + Improbus esse potest nemo qui non sit avarus, + Nec pulchrum quisquam fecit avarus opus. + Octoginta ego jam complevi et quatuor annos; + Pene acta est vitæ fabula longa meæ." + + [379] Hobbes, in his metrical (by no means his poetical) life, says, + the more the "Leviathan" was written against, the more it was + read; and adds, + + "Firmiùs inde stetit, spero stabitque per omne + Ævum, defensus viribus ipse suis. + Justitiæ mensura, atque ambitionis elenchus, + Regum arx, pax populo, si doceatur, erit." + + The term _arx_ is here peculiarly fortunate, according to the + system of the author--it means a citadel or fortified place on + an eminence, to which the people might fly for their common + safety. + + His works were much read; as appears by "The Court Burlesqued," + a satire attributed to Butler. + + "So those who wear the holy robes + That rail so much at _Father Hobbs_, + Because he has exposed of late + _The nakedness of Church and State_; + Yet tho' they do his books condemn, + They love to buy and read the same." + + Our author, so late as in 1750, was still so commanding a + genius, that his works were collected in a handsome folio; but + that collection is not complete. When he could not get his + works printed at home, he published them in Latin, including + his mathematical works, at Amsterdam, by Blaew, 1668, 4to. His + treatises, "De Cive," and "On Human Nature," are of perpetual + value. Gassendi recommends these admirable works, and + Puffendorff acknowledges the depth of his obligations. The + Life of Hobbes in the "Biographia Britannica," by Dr. + Campbell, is a work of curious research. + + + + +HOBBES'S QUARRELS + +WITH +DR. WALLIS THE MATHEMATICIAN. + + HOBBES'S passion for the study of Mathematics began late in + life--attempts to be an original discoverer--attacked by + WALLIS--various replies and rejoinders--nearly maddened by the + opposition he encountered--after four years of truce, the war + again renewed--character of HOBBES by Dr. WALLIS, a specimen of + invective and irony; serving as a remarkable instance how the + greatest genius may come down to us disguised by the arts of an + adversary--HOBBES'S noble defence of himself; of his own great + reputation; of his politics; and of his religion--a literary + stratagem of his--reluctantly gives up the contest, which lasted + twenty years. + + +The Mathematical War between HOBBES and the celebrated Dr. WALLIS is +now to be opened. A series of battles, the renewed campaigns of more +than twenty years, can be described by no term less eventful. Hobbes +himself considered it as a war, and it was a war of idle ambition, in +which he took too much delight. His "Amata Mathemata" became his +pride, his pleasure, and at length his shame. He attempted to maintain +his irruption into a province he ought never to have entered in +defiance, by "a new method;" but having invaded the powerful natives, +he seems to have almost repented the folly, and retires, leaving "the +unmanageable brutes" to themselves: + + Ergo meam statuo non ultra perdere opellam + Indocile expectans discere posse pecus. + +His language breathes war, while he sounds his retreat, and confesses +his repulse. The Algebraists had all declared against the Invader. + + Wallisius contra pugnat; victusque videbar + Algebristarum Theiologumque scholis, + Et simul eductus Castris exercitus omnis + Pugnæ securus Wallisianus ovat. + +And, + + Pugna placet vertor-- + Bella mea audisti--&c. + +So that we have sufficient authority to consider this Literary Quarrel +as a war, and a "Bellum Peloponnesiacum" too, for it lasted as long. +Political, literary, and even personal feelings were called in to heat +the temperate blood of two Mathematicians. + + What means this tumult in a Vestal's veins? + +Hobbes was one of the many victims who lost themselves in squaring the +circle, and doubling the cube. He applied, late in life, to +mathematical studies, not so much, he says, to learn the subtile +demonstrations of its figures, as to acquire those habits of close +reasoning, so useful in the discovery of new truths, to prove or to +refute. So justly he reasoned on mathematics; but so ill he practised +the science, that it made him the most unreasonable being imaginable, +for he resisted mathematical demonstration, itself![380] + +His great and original character could not but prevail in everything +he undertook; and his egotism tempted him to raise a name in the world +of Science, as he had in that of Politics and Morals. With the ardour +of a young mathematician, he exclaimed, "_Eureka!_" "I have found it." +The quadrature of the circle was indeed the common Dulcinea of the +Quixotes of the time; but they had all been disenchanted. Hobbes alone +clung to his ridiculous mistress. Repeatedly confuted, he was +perpetually resisting old reasonings and producing new ones. Were only +genius requisite for an able mathematician, Hobbes had been among the +first; but patience and docility, not fire and fancy, are necessary. +His reasonings were all paralogisms, and he had always much to say, +from not understanding the subject of his inquiries. + +When Hobbes published his "De Corpore Philosophico," 1655, he there +exulted that he had solved the great mystery. Dr. Wallis, the Savilian +professor of mathematics at Oxford,[381] with a deep aversion to +Hobbes's political and religious sentiments, as he understood them, +rejoiced to see this famous combatant descending into his own arena. +He certainly was eager to meet him single-handed; for he instantly +confuted Hobbes, by his "Elenchus Geometriæ Hobbianæ." Hobbes, who saw +the newly-acquired province of his mathematics in danger, and which, +like every new possession, seemed to involve his honour more than was +necessary, called on all the world to be witnesses of this mighty +conflict. He now published his work in English, with a sarcastic +addition, in a magisterial tone, of "_Six Lessons to the Professors of +Mathematics in Oxford_." These were Seth Ward[382] and Wallis, both no +friends to Hobbes, and who hungered after him as a relishing morsel. +Wallis now replied in English, by "Due Correction for Mr. Hobbes, or +School-discipline for not saying his Lessons Right," 1656. That part +of controversy which is usually the last had already taken place in +their choice of phrases.[383] + +In the following year the campaign was opened by Hobbes with +"ΣΤΙΓΜΑΙ; or, _marks_ of the absurd Geometry, _rural Language_, +Scottish Church-politics, and Barbarisms, of John Wallis." Quick was +the routing of these fresh forces; not one was to escape alive! for +Wallis now took the field with "Hobbiani Puncti dispunctio! or, the +undoing of Mr. Hobbes's Points; in answer to Mr. Hobbes's ΣΤΙΓΜΑΙ, +_id est_, Stigmata Hobbii." Hobbes seems now to have been reduced to +great straits; perhaps he wondered at the obstinacy of his adversary. +It seems that Hobbes, who had been used to other studies, and who +confesses all the algebraists were against him, could not conceive a +point to exist without quantity; or a line could be drawn without +latitude; or a superficies be without depth or thickness; but +mathematicians conceive them without these qualities, when they exist +abstractedly in the mind; though, when for the purposes of science +they are produced to the senses, they necessarily have all the +qualities. It was understanding these figures, in the vulgar way, +which led Hobbes into a labyrinth of confusions and absurdities.[384] +They appear to have nearly maddened the clear and vigorous intellect +of our philosopher; for he exclaims, in one of these writings:-- + +"I alone am mad, or they are all out of their senses: so that no third +opinion can be taken, unless any will say that we are all mad." + +Four years of truce were allowed to intervene between the next battle; +when the irrefutable Hobbes, once more collecting his weak and his +incoherent forces, arranged them, as well as he was able, into "Six +Dialogues," 1661. The utter annihilation he intended for his +antagonist fell on himself. Wallis borrowing the character of "The +Self-tormentor" from Terence, produced "Hobbius Heauton-timorumenos +(Hobbes the Self-tormentor); or, a Consideration of Mr. Hobbes's +Dialogues; addressed to Robert Boyle," 1662. + +This attack of Wallis is of a very opposite character to the arid +discussion of abstract blunders in geometry. He who began with points, +and doubling the cube, and squaring the circle, now assumes a loftier +tone, and carrying his personal and moral feelings into a mere +controversy between two idle mathematicians, he has formed a solemn +invective, and edged it with irony. I hope the reader has experienced +sufficient interest in the character of Hobbes to read the long, but +curious extract I shall now transcribe, with that awe and reverence +which the old man claims. It will show how even the greatest genius +may be disguised, when viewed through the coloured medium of an +adversary. One is, however, surprised to find such a passage in a +mathematical work. + +"He doth much improve; I mean he doth, _proficere in pejus_; more, +indeed, than I could reasonably have expected he would have +done;--insomuch, that I cannot but profess some relenting thoughts +(though I had formerly occasion to use him somewhat coarsely), to +see an old man thus fret and torment himself to no purpose. You, +too, should pity your antagonist; not as if he did deserve it, but +because he needs it; and as Chremes, in Terence, of his Senex, his +self-tormenting Menedemus-- + + Cum videam miserum hunc tam excruciarier + Miseret me ejus. Quod potero adjutabo senem. + +"Consider the temper of the man, to move your pity; a person _extremely +passionate and peevish, and wholly impatient of contradiction_. A +temper which, whether it be a greater fault or torment (to one who must +so often meet with what he is so ill able to bear), is hard to say. + +"And to this fretful humour you must add another as bad, which feeds +it. You are therefore next to consider him as _one highly opinionative +and magisterial_. _Fanciful_ in his conceptions, and deeply enamoured +with those _phantasmes_, without a rival. He doth not spare to +profess, upon all occasions, how incomparably he thinks himself to +have _surpassed all_, ancient, modern, schools, academies, persons, +societies, philosophers, divines, heathens, Christians; how despicable +he thinks all their writings in comparison of his; and what hopes he +hath, that, by _the sovereign command of some absolute prince, all +other doctrines being exploded, his new dictates should be_ +_peremptorily imposed, to be alone taught in all schools and pulpits, +and universally submitted to_. To recount all which he speaks of +himself _magnificently_, and _contemptuously_ of others, would fill a +volume. Should some idle person read over all his books, and +collecting together his arrogant and supercilious speeches, applauding +himself, and despising all other men, set them forth in one +_synopsis_, with this title, _Hobbius de se_--what a pretty piece of +pageantry this would make! + +"The admirable sweetness of your own nature has not given you the +experience of such a temper: yet your contemplation must have needs +discerned it, in those symptoms which you have seen it work in others, +like the strange effervescence, ebullition, fumes, and fetors, which +you have sometimes given yourself the content to observe, in some +active _acrimonious_ chymical _spirits_ upon the injection of some +contrariant _salts_ strangely vexing, fretting, and tormenting itself, +while it doth but administer _sport_ to the unconcerned spectator. +Which temper, being so eminent in the person we have to deal with, +your generous nature, which cannot but pity affliction, how much +soever deserved, must needs have some compassion for him: who, besides +those exquisite _torments_ wherewith he doth afflict himself, like +that + + ----quo Siculi non invenere Tyranni + Tormentum majus-- + +is unavoidably exposed to those two great _mischiefs_; an incapacity +to be _taught what he doth not know_, or to be _advised when he thinks +amiss_; and moreover, to this _inconvenience_, that he must never +_hear his faults but from his adversaries_; for those who are willing +to be reputed _friends_ must either not advertise what they see amiss, +or incommode themselves. + +"But, you will ask, what need he thus torment himself? What need of +pity? If _he have hopes_ to be admitted the _sole dictator in +philosophy_, civil and natural, in schools and pulpits, and to be +owned as the only _magister sententiarum_, what would he have more? + +"True, _if he have_; but what _if he have not_? That he _had_ some +hopes of such an honour, he hath not been sparing to let us know, and +was providing against the _envy_ that might attend it (_nec deprecabor +invidiam, sed augendo, ulciscar_, was his resolution); but I doubt +these hopes are at an end. He did not find (as he expected) that the +_fairies and hobgoblins_ (for such he reputes all that went before +him) did vanish presently, upon the first appearance of his +_sunshine_: and, which is worse, while he was on the one side guarding +himself against _envy_, he is, on the other side, unhappily +_surprised_ by a worse enemy, called _contempt_, and with which he is +less able to grapple. + +"I forbear to mention (lest I might seem to reproach that age which I +reverence) the _disadvantages_ which he may sustain by his old age. +'Tis possible that time and age, in a person somewhat _morose_, may +have riveted faster that preconceived opinion of his own worth and +excellency beyond others. 'Tis possible, also, that he may have +_forgotten_ much of what once he knew. He may, perhaps, be sometimes +more _secure_ than _safe_; while trusting to what he thinks a firm +foundation, his footing fails him; nor always so vigilant or +quicksighted as to discern the _incoherence_ or _inconsequence_ of his +own discourses; unwilling, notwithstanding, to make use of the eyes of +other men, lest he should seem thereby to disparage his own; but +certainly (though his _will_ may be as good as ever) his _parts_ are +less vegete and nimble, as to _invention_ at least, than in his +younger days. + +"While he had endeavoured only to _raise an expectation_, or put the +world in hopes of what great things he had in hand (_to render all +philosophy as clear and certain as Euclid's Elements_), if he had then +_died_, it might, perhaps, have been thought by some that the world +had been deprived of _a great philosopher_, and learning sustained an +invaluable loss, by the abortion of _so desired a piece_. But since +that _Partus Montis_ is come to light, and found to be no more than +what little animals have brought forth, and that _deformed_ enough and +_unamiable_, he might have sooner gone off the stage with more +advantage than now he is like to do; such is the misfortune for a man +to _outlive his reputation_! + +"By this time, perhaps, you may see cause to _pity_ him while you see +him _falling_. But if you consider him _tumbling headlong_ from so +great a height, 'twill make some addition to that _compassion_ which +doth already begin to work. You are therefore next to consider that +when, upon the account of _geometry_, he was unsafely mounted to that +height of vanity, he did unhappily fall into the hands of two +mathematicians, who have used him so unmercifully as would have put a +person of _greater patience_ into _passion_, and meeting with such a +_temper_, have so discomposed him that he hath ever since _talked +idly_: and to augment the grief, these mathematicians were both +divines--he had rather have fallen by any other hand. These +_mathematical divines_ (a term which he had thought incomponible) +began to unravel the wrong end; and while he thought they should have +first _untiled the roof_, and by degrees gone downward, they strike at +the _foundation_, and make the building tumble all at once; and that +in such confusion, that by dashing one part against another, they make +each help to destroy the whole. They first fall upon his _last +reserve_, and rout his _mathematics_ beyond a possibility of +_rallying_; and by _firing his magazine_ upon the first assault, make +his own weapons _fight against him_. Not contented herewith, they +enter the _breach_, and pursue the _rout_ through his Logics, Physics, +Metaphysics, Theology, where they find all in confusion." + +This invective and irony from this celebrated mathematician, so much +out of the path of his habitual studies, might have proved a +tremendous blow; but the genius of Hobbes was invulnerable to mere +human opposition, unless accompanied by the supernatural terrors of +penal fires or perpetual dungeons. Our hero received the whole +discharge of this battering train, and stood invulnerable, while he +returned the fire in "Considerations upon the Reputation, Loyalty, +Manners, and Religion of Thomas Hobbes, of Malmesbury, written by way +of Letter to a learned person, Dr. Wallis," 1662. + +It is an extraordinary production. His lofty indignation retorts on +the feeble irony of his antagonist with keen and caustic accusations; +and the green strength of youth was still seen in the old man whose +head was covered with snows. + +From this spirited apology for himself I shall give some passages. +Hobbes thus replied to Dr. Wallis, who affected to consider the old +man as a fit object for commiseration. + +"You would make him contemptible, and move Mr. Boyle to pity him. This +is a way of railing too much beaten to be thought witty: besides, 'tis +no argument of your contempt to spend upon him so many angry lines, as +would have furnished you with a dozen of sermons. If you had in good +earnest despised him, you would have let him alone, as he does Dr. +Ward, Mr. Baxter, Pike, and others, that have reviled him as you do. +As for his reputation beyond the seas, it fades not yet; and because, +perhaps, you have no means to know it, I will cite you a passage of an +epistle written by a learned Frenchman to an eminent person in +France, in a volume of epistles." Hobbes quotes the passage at length, +in which his name appears joined with Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, and +Gassendi. + +In reply to Wallis' sarcastic suggestion that an idle person should +collect together Hobbes's arrogant and supercilious speeches +applauding himself, under one title, _Hobbius de se_, he says-- + +"Let your idle person do it; Mr. Hobbes shall acknowledge them under +his hand, and be commended for it, and you scorned. A certain Roman +senator having propounded something in the assembly of the people, +which they, misliking, made a noise at, boldly bade them hold their +peace, and told them he knew better what was good for the commonwealth +than all they; and his words are transmitted to us as an argument of +his virtue; _so much do truth and vanity alter the complexion of +self-praise_. You can have very little skill in morality, that cannot +see the justice of commending a man's self, as well as of anything +else, in his own defence; and it was want of prudence in you to +constrain him to a thing that would so much displease you. + +"When you make his _age_ a reproach to him, and show no cause that +might impair the faculties of his mind, but only age, I admire how you +saw not that you reproached all old men in the world as much as him, +and warranted all young men, at a certain time which they themselves +shall define, to call you _fool_! Your dislike of old age you have +also otherwise sufficiently signified, in venturing so fairly as you +have done to escape it. But that is no great matter to one that hath +so many marks upon him of much greater reproaches. By Mr. Hobbes's +calculation, that derives prudence from experience, and experience +from age, you are a very young man; but, by your own reckoning, you +are older already than Methuselah. + +"During the late trouble, who made both Oliver and the people mad but +the preachers of your principles? But besides the wickedness, see the +folly of it. You thought to make them mad, but just to such a degree +as should serve your own turn; that is to say, mad, and yet just as +wise as yourselves. Were you not very imprudent to think to govern +madness?"--p. 15. + +"The king was hunted as a partridge in the mountains, and though the +hounds have been hanged, yet the hunters were as guilty as they, and +deserved no less punishment. And the decypherers (Wallis had +decyphered the royal letters),[385] and all that blew the horn, are to +be reckoned among the hunters. Perhaps you would not have had the prey +killed, but rather have kept it tame. And yet who can tell? I have +read of few kings deprived of their power by their own subjects that +have lived any long time after it, for reasons that every man is able +to conjecture." + +He closes with a very odd image of the most cynical contempt:-- + +"Mr. Hobbes has been always far from provoking any man, though, when +he is provoked, you find his pen as sharp as yours. All you have said +is error and railing; that is, _stinking wind_, such as a jade lets +fly when he is too hard girt upon a full belly. I have done. I have +considered you now, but will not again, whatsoever preferment any of +your friends shall procure you." + +These were the pitched battles; but many skirmishes occasionally took +place. Hobbes was even driven to a _ruse de guerre_. When he found his +mathematical character in the utmost peril, there appeared a pamphlet, +entitled "Lux Mathematica, &c., or, Mathematical Light struck out from +the clashings between Dr. John Wallis, Professor of Geometry in the +celebrated University of Oxford (celeberrima Academia), and Thomas +Hobbes, of Malmesbury; augmented with many and shining rays of the +Author, R. R." 1672. + +Here the victories of Hobbes are trumpeted forth, but the fact is, +that R. R. should have been T. H. It was Hobbes's own composition! +R. R. stood for _Roseti Repertor_, that is, the Finder of the Rosary, +one of the titles of Hobbes's mathematical discoveries. Wallis asserts +that this R. R. may still serve, for it may answer his own book, +"Roseti Refutator, or, the Refuter of the Rosary." + +Poor Hobbes gave up the contest reluctantly; if, indeed, the +controversy may not be said to have lasted all his life. He +acknowledges he was writing to no purpose; and that the medicine was +obliged to yield to the disease. + + Sed nil profeci, magnis authoribus Error + Fultus erat, cessit sic Medicina malo. + +He seems to have gone down to the grave, in spite of all the +reasonings of the geometricians on this side of it, with a firm +conviction that its superficies had both depth and thickness.[386] +Such were the fruits of a great genius, entering into a province out +of his own territories; and, though a most energetic reasoner, so +little skilful in these new studies, that he could never know when he +was confuted and refuted.[387] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [380] The origin of his taste for mathematics was purely accidental: + begun in love, it continued to dotage. According to Aubrey, he + was forty years old when, "being in a gentleman's library, + Euclid's Elements lay open at the 47th Propos. lib. i., which, + having read, he swore 'This is impossible!' He read the + demonstration, which referred him back to another--at length + he was convinced of that truth. This made him in love with + geometry. I have heard Mr. Hobbes say that he was wont to draw + lines on his thighs and on the sheets a-bed." + + [381] The author of the excellent Latin grammar of the English + language, so useful to every student in Europe, of which work + that singular patriot, Thomas Hollis, printed an edition, to + present to all the learned Institutions of Europe. Henry + Stubbe, the celebrated physician of Warwick, to whom the + reader has been introduced, joined, for he loved a quarrel, in + the present controversy, when it involved philosophical + matters, siding with Hobbes, because he hated Wallis. In his + "Oneirocritica, or an Exact Account of the Grammatical Parts + of this Controversy," he draws a strong character of Wallis, + who was indeed a great mathematician, and one of the most + extraordinary decypherers of letters; for perhaps no new + system of character could be invented for which he could not + make a key; by which means he had rendered the most important + services to the Parliament. Stubbe quaintly describes him as + "the sub-scribe to the tribe of Adoniram" (_i.e._ Adoniram + Byfield, who, with this cant name, was scribe to the fanatical + Assembly of Divines), and "as the glory and pride of the + Presbyterian faction." + + [382] Dr. Seth Ward, after the Restoration made Bishop of Salisbury, + said, some years before this event was expected, that "he had + rather be the author of one of Hobbes's books than be king of + England." But afterwards he seemed not a little inclined to + cry out _Crucifige_! He who, to one of these books, the + admirable treatise on "Human Nature," had prefixed one of the + highest panegyrics Hobbes could receive!--_Athen. Oxon._ vol. + ii. p. 647. + + [383] It is mortifying to read _such language_ between two + mathematicians, in the calm inquiries of square roots, and the + finding of mean proportionals between two straight lines. I + wish the example may prove a warning. Wallis thus opens on + Hobbes:--"It seems, Mr. Hobbs, that you have a mind to _say + your lesson_, and that the mathematic professors of Oxford + should _hear_ you. You are too old to learn, though you have + as much need as those that be younger, and yet will think much + to be whipped. + + "What moved you to say your lessons in English, when the + books against which you do chiefly intend them were + written in Latin? Was it chiefly for the perfecting your + natural rhetoric whenever you thought it convenient to repair + to Billingsgate?--You found that the oyster-women could not + teach you to rail in Latin. Now you can, upon all occasion, + or without occasion, give the titles of _fool_, _beast_, + _ass_, _dog_, &c., which I take to be but barking; and + they are no better than a man might have at Billingsgate for a + box o' the ear. + + "You tell us, 'though the beasts that think our railing to be + roaring have for a time admired us; yet now you have showed + them our ears, they will be less affrighted.' Sir, those + persons (the professors themselves) needed not the sight of + _your ears_, but could tell by the _voice_ what kind of + creature _brayed_ in your books: you dared not have said this + to their faces."--He bitterly says of Hobbes, that "he is a + man who is always writing what was answered before he had + written." + + [384] Dr. Campbell's art. on Hobbes, in "Biog. Brit." p. 2619. + + [385] Found in the king's tent at Naseby, and which were written to + the queen on important political subjects, in a cypher of + which they only had the key. They were afterwards published in + a quarto pamphlet, and did much mischief to the royal + cause.--ED. + + [386] The strange conclusions some mathematicians have deduced from + their principles concerning the _real quantity of matter_, and + the _reality of space_, have been noticed by Pope, in the + _Dunciad_:-- + + "Mad _Mathésis_ alone was unconfined, + Too mad for mere material chains to bind: + Now to _pure space_ lifts her ecstatic stare; + Now running round _the circle_, finds its _square_." + _Dunciad_, Book iv. ver. 31. + + [387] When all animosities had ceased, after the death of Hobbes, I + find Dr. Wallis, in a very temperate letter to Tenison, + exposing the errors of Hobbes in mathematical studies; Wallis + acknowledges that philology had never entered into his + pursuits,--in this he had never designed to oppose his + superior genius: but it was Hobbes who had too often turned + his mathematical into a philological controversy. Wallis has + made a just observation on the nature of mathematical + truths:--"Hobbes's argumentations are destructive in one part + of what is said in another. This is more convincingly evident, + and more unpardonable, in mathematics than in other + discourses, which are things capable of cogent demonstration, + and so evident, that though a good mathematician may be + subject to commit an error, yet one who understands but little + of it cannot but see a fault when it is showed him." + + Wallis was an eminent genius in scientific pursuits. His art + of decyphering letters was carried to amazing perfection; and + among other phenomena he discovered was that of teaching a + young man, born deaf and dumb, to speak plainly. He humorously + observes, in one of his letters:--"I am now employed upon + another work, as hard almost as to make Mr. Hobbes understand + mathematics. It is to teach a person dumb and deaf to speak, + and to understand a language." + + [388] The gross convivialities of the times, from the age of + Elizabeth, were remarkable for several circumstances. + Hard-drinking was a foreign vice, imported by our military men + on their return from the Netherlands: and the practice, of + whose prevalence Camden complains, was even brought to a kind + of science. They had a dialect peculiar to their orgies. See + "Curiosities of Literature," vol. ii. p. 294 (last edition). + + Jonson's inclinations were too well suited to the prevalent + taste, and he gave as largely into it as any of his + contemporaries. Tavern-habits were then those of our poets and + actors. Ben's _Humours_, at "the Mermaid," and at a later + period, his _Leges Convivales_ at "the Apollo," the club-room + of "the Devil," were doubtless one great cause of a small + personal unhappiness, of which he complains, and which had a + very unlucky effect in rendering a mistress so obdurate, who + "through her eyes had stopt her ears." This was, as his own + verse tells us, + + "His mountain-belly and his rocky face." + + He weighed near twenty stone, according to his own avowal--an + Elephant-Cupid! One of his "Sons," at the "Devil," seems to + think that his _Catiline_ could not fail to be a miracle, by a + certain sort of inspiration which Ben used on the occasion. + + "With strenuous sinewy words that _Catiline_ swells, + I reckon it not among men-miracles. + How could that poem heat and vigour lack, + _When each line oft cost BEN a cup of sack_?" + R. BARON'S _Pocula Castalia_, p. 113, 1650. + + Jonson, in the Bacchic phraseology of the day, was "a + Canary-bird." "He would (says Aubrey) many times exceed in + drink; canary was his beloved liquor; then he would tumble + home to bed; and when he had thoroughly perspired, then to + study." + + Tradition, too, has sent down to us several tavern-tales of + "Rare Ben." A good-humoured one has been preserved of the + first interview between Bishop Corbet, when a young man, and + our great bard. It occurred at a tavern, where Corbet was + sitting alone. Ben, who had probably just drank up to the + pitch of good fellowship, desired the waiter to take to the + gentleman "a quart of _raw_ wine; and tell him," he added, "I + _sacrifice_ my service to him."--"Friend," replied Corbet, "I + thank him for his love; but tell him, from me, that he is + mistaken; for _sacrifices are always burned_." This pleasant + allusion to the mulled wine of the time by the young wit could + not fail to win the affection of the master-wit himself. Harl. + MSS. 6395. + + Ben is not viewed so advantageously, in an unlucky fit of + ebriety recorded by Oldys, in his MS. notes on Langbaine; but + his authority is not to me of a suspicious nature: he had + drawn it from a MS. collection of Oldisworth's, who appears to + have been a curious collector of the history of his times. He + was secretary to that strange character, Philip, Earl of + Pembroke. It was the custom of those times to form collections + of little traditional stories and other good things; we have + had lately given to us by the Camden Society an amusing one, + from the L'Estrange family, and the MS. already quoted is one + of them. There could be no bad motive in recording a tale, + quite innocent in itself, and which is further confirmed by + Isaac Walton, who, without alluding to the tale, notices that + Jonson parted from Sir Walter Raleigh and his son "not in cold + blood." Mr. Gifford, in a MS. note on this work, does not + credit this story, it not being accordant with dates. Such + stories may not accord with dates or persons, and yet may be + founded on some substantial fact. I know of no injury to Ben's + poetical character, in showing that he was, like other men, + quite incapable of taking care of himself, when he was sunk in + the heavy sleep of drunkenness. It was an age when kings, as + our James I. and his majesty of Denmark, were as often laid + under the table as their subjects. My motive for preserving + the story is the incident respecting _carrying men in + baskets_: it was evidently a custom, which perhaps may have + suggested the memorable adventure of Falstaff. It was a + convenient mode of conveyance for those who were incapable of + taking care of themselves before the invention of hackney + coaches, which was of later date, in Charles the First's + reign. + + Camden recommended Jonson to Sir Walter Raleigh as a tutor to + his son, whose gay humours not brooking the severe studies of + Jonson, took advantage of his foible, to degrade him in the + eyes of his father, who, it seems, was remarkable for his + abstinence from wine: though, if another tale be true, he was + no common sinner in "the true Virginia." Young Raleigh + contrived to give Ben a surfeit, which threw the poet into a + deep slumber; and then the pupil maliciously procured a + buck-basket, and a couple of men, who carried our Ben to Sir + Walter, with a message that "their young master had sent home + his tutor." There is nothing improbable in the story; for the + circumstance of _carrying drunken men in baskets_ was a usual + practice. In the Harleian MS. quoted above, I find more than + one instance; I will give one. An alderman, carried in _a + porter's basket_, at his own door, is thrown out of it in a + _qualmish_ state. The man, to frighten away the passengers, + and enable the grave citizen to creep in unobserved, exclaims, + that the man had the _falling sickness_! + + [389] These were Marston and Decker, but as is usual with these sort + of caricatures, the originals sometimes mistook their + likenesses. They were both town-wits, and cronies, of much the + same stamp; by a careful perusal of their works, the editor of + Jonson has decided that Marston was Crispinus. With him Jonson + had once lived on the most friendly terms: afterwards the + great poet quarrelled with both, or they with him. + + Dryden, in the preface to his "Notes and Observations on the + Empress of Morocco," in his quarrel with Settle, which has + been sufficiently narrated by Dr. Johnson, felt, when poised + against this miserable rival, who had been merely set up by a + party to mortify the superior genius, as Jonson had felt when + pitched against _Crispinus_. It is thus that literary history + is so interesting to authors. How often, in recording the + fates of others, it reflects their own! "I knew indeed (says + Dryden) that to write against him was to do him too great an + honour; but I considered Ben Jonson had done it before to + Decker, our author's predecessor, whom he chastised in his + Poetaster, under the character of _Crispinus_." Langbaine + tells us the subject of the "Satiromastix" of Decker, which I + am to notice, was "the witty Ben Jonson;" and with this agree + all the notices I have hitherto met with respecting "the + Horace Junior" of Decker's _Satiromastix_. Mr. Gilchrist has + published two curious pamphlets on Jonson; and in the last, p. + 56, he has shown that Decker was "the poet-ape of Jonson," and + that he avenged himself under the character of _Crispinus_ in + his "Satiromastix;" to which may be added, that the _Fannius_, + in the same satirical comedy, is probably his friend Marston. + + Jonson allowed himself great liberty in _personal satire_, by + which, doubtless, he rung an alarum to a waspish host; he + lampooned _Inigo Jones_, the great machinist and architect. + The lampoons are printed in Jonson's works [but not in their + entirety. The great architect had sufficient court influence + to procure them to be cancelled; and the character of + _In-and-in Medley_, in "The Tale of a Tub," has come down to + us with no other satirical personal traits than a few + fantastical expressions]; and I have in MS. an answer by Inigo + Jones, in verse, so pitiful that I have not printed it. That + he condescended to bring obscure individuals on the stage, + appears by his character of _Carlo Buffoon_, in _Every Man out + of his Humour_. He calls this "a second untruss," and was + censured for having drawn it from personal revenge. The Aubrey + Papers, recently published have given us the character of this + _Carlo Buffoon_, "one Charles Chester, a bold impertinent + fellow; and they could never be at quiet for him; a perpetual + talker, and made a noise like a drum in a room. So one time at + a tavern Sir Walter Raleigh beats him, and seals up his mouth; + _i.e._, his upper and nether beard, with hard wax."--p. 514. + Such a character was no unfitting object for dramatic satire. + Mr. Gilchrist's pamphlets defended Jonson from the frequent + accusations raised against him for the freedom of his muse, in + such portraits after the life. Yet even our poet himself does + not deny their truth, while he excuses himself. In the + dedication of "The Fox," to the two Universities, he boldly + asks, "Where have I been particular? Where personal?--Except + to a mimic, cheater, bawd, buffoon, creatures (for their + insolencies) worthy to be taxed." The mere list he here + furnishes us with would serve to crowd one of the "twopenny + audiences" in the small theatres of that day. + + [390] Alluding, no doubt, to the price of seats at some of the minor + theatres. + + [391] It was the fashion with the poets connected with the theatre to + wear long hair. Nashe censures Greene "for his fond (foolish) + disguising of a Master of Arts (which was Greene's degree) + with ruffianly hair."--ED. + + [392] Alluding to the trial of the Poetasters, which takes place + before Augustus and his poetical jury of Virgil, Ovid, + Tibullus, &c., in Ben's play. + + [393] Decker alludes here to the bastard of Burgundy, who considered + himself unmatchable, till he was overthrown in Smithfield by + Woodville, Earl Rivers. + + [394] Horace acknowledges he played Zulziman at Paris-garden. "Sir + Vaughan: Then, master Horace, you played the part of an honest + man--" + + Tucca exclaims: "Death of Hercules! he could never play that + part well in 's life!" + + [395] Among those arts of imitation which man has derived from the + practice of animals, naturalists assure us that he owes _the + use of clysters_ to the Egyptian Ibis. There are some who + pretend this medicinal invention comes from the stork. The + French are more like _Ibises_ than we are: _ils se donnent des + lavements eux-mêmes_. But as it is rather uncertain what the + Egyptian _Ibis_ is; whether, as translated in Leviticus xi. + 17, the cormorant, or a species of stork, or only "a great + owl," as we find in Calmet; it would be safest to attribute + the invention to the unknown bird. I recollect, in Wickliffe's + version of the Pentateuch, which I once saw in MS. in the + possession of my valued friend Mr. Douce, that that venerable + translator interpolates a little, to tell us that the Ibis + "giveth to herself a purge." + + + + +JONSON AND DECKER. + + BEN JONSON appears to have carried his military spirit into + the literary republic--his gross convivialities, with anecdotes + of the prevalent taste in that age for drinking-bouts--his + "Poetaster" a sort of _Dunciad_, besides a personal attack on the + frequenters of the theatres, with anecdotes--his Apologetical + Dialogue, which was not allowed to be repeated--characters of + DECKER and of MARSTON--DECKER'S Satiromastix, a parody on JONSON'S + "Poetaster"--BEN exhibited under the character of "Horace + Junior"--specimens of that literary satire; its dignified + remonstrance, and the honourable applause bestowed on the great + bard--some foibles in the literary habits of BEN, alluded to by + DECKER--JONSON'S noble reply to his detractors and rivals. + + +This quarrel is a splendid instance how genius of the first order, +lavishing its satirical powers on a number of contemporaries, may +discover, among the crowd, some individual who may return with a right +aim the weapon he has himself used, and who will not want for +encouragement to attack the common assailant: the greater genius is +thus mortified by a victory conceded to the inferior, which he himself +had taught the meaner one to obtain over him. + +JONSON, in his earliest productions, "Every Man in his Humour," and +"Every Man out of his Humour," usurped that dictatorship, in the +Literary Republic, which he so sturdily and invariably maintained, +though long and hardily disputed. No bard has more courageously +foretold that posterity would be interested in his labours; and often +with very dignified feelings he casts this declaration into the teeth +of his adversaries: but a bitter contempt for his brothers and his +contemporaries was not less vehement than his affections for those who +crowded under his wing. To his "sons" and his admirers he was warmly +attached, and no poet has left behind him, in MS., so many testimonies +of personal fondness, in the inscriptions and addresses, in the copies +of his works which he presented to friends: of these I have seen more +than one fervent and impressive. + +DRUMMOND of Hawthornden, who perhaps carelessly and imperfectly +minuted down the heads of their literary conference on the chief +authors of the age, exposes the severity of criticism which Ben +exercised on some spirits as noble as his own. The genius of Jonson +was rough, hardy, and invincible, of which the frequent excess +degenerated into ferocity; and by some traditional tales, this +ferocity was still inflamed by large potations: for Drummond informs +us, "Drink was the element in which he lived."[388] Old Ben had +given, on two occasions, some remarkable proofs of his personal +intrepidity. When a soldier, in the face of both armies, he had +fought single-handed with his antagonist, had slain him, and carried +off his arms as trophies. Another time he killed his man in a duel. +Jonson appears to have carried the same military spirit into the +Literary Republic. + +Such a genius would become more tyrannical by success, and naturally +provoked opposition, from the proneness of mankind to mortify usurped +greatness, when they can securely do it. The man who hissed the poet's +play had no idea that he might himself become one of the dramatic +personages. Ben then produced his "Poetaster," which has been called +the _Dunciad_ of those times; but it is a _Dunciad_ without notes. +The personages themselves are now only known by their general +resemblance to nature, with the exception of two characters, those of +_Crispinus and Demetrius_.[389] + +In "The Poetaster," Ben, with flames too long smothered, burst over +the heads of all rivals and detractors. His enemies seem to have been +among all classes; personages recognised on the scene as soon as +viewed; poetical, military, legal, and histrionic. It raised a host in +arms. Jonson wrote an apologetical epilogue, breathing a firm spirit, +worthy of himself; but its dignity was too haughty to be endured by +contemporaries, whom genius must soothe by equality. This apologetical +dialogue was never allowed to be repeated; now we may do it with +pleasure. Writings, like pictures, require a particular light and +distance to be correctly judged and inspected, without any personal +inconvenience. + +One of the dramatic personages in this epilogue inquires + + I never saw the play breed all this tumult. + What was there in it could so deeply offend, + And stir so many hornets? + +The author replies: + + ------------I never writ that piece + More innocent, or empty of offence; + Some salt it had, but neither tooth nor gall. + ------------Why, they say you tax'd + The law and lawyers, captains, and the players, + By their particular names. + ------------It is not so: + I used no names. My books have still been taught + To spare the persons, and to speak the vices. + +And he proceeds to tell us, that to obviate this accusation he had +placed his scenes in the age of Augustus. + + To show that Virgil, Horace, and the rest + Of those great master-spirits, did not want + Detractors then, or practisers against them: + And by this line, although no parallel, + I hoped at last they would sit down and blush. + +But instead of their "sitting down and blushing," we find-- + + That they fly buzzing round about my nostrils; + And, like so many screaming grasshoppers + Held by the wings, fill every ear with noise. + +Names were certainly not necessary to portraits, where every day the +originals were standing by their side. This is the studied pleading +of a poet, who knows he is concealing the truth. + +There is a passage in the play itself where Jonson gives the true +cause of "the tumult" raised against him. Picturing himself under the +character of his favourite Horace, he makes the enemies of Horace thus +describe him, still, however, preserving the high tone of poetical +superiority. + +"Alas, sir, Horace is a mere sponge. Nothing but humours and +observations he goes up and down sucking from every society, and when +he comes home squeezes himself dry again. He will pen all he knows. He +will sooner lose his best friend than his least jest. What he once +drops upon paper against a man, lives eternally to upbraid him." + +Such is the true picture of a town-wit's life! The age of Augustus was +much less present to Jonson than his own; and Ovid, Tibullus, and +Horace were not the personages he cared so much about, as "that +society in which," it was said, "he went up and down sucking in and +squeezing himself dry:" the formal lawyers, who were cold to his +genius; the sharking captains, who would not draw to save their own +swords, and would cheat "their friend, or their friend's friend," +while they would bully down Ben's genius; and the little sycophant +histrionic, "the twopenny[390] tear-mouth, copper-laced scoundrel, +stiff-toe, who used to travel with pumps full of gravel after a blind +jade and a hamper, and stalk upon boards and barrel-heads to an old +crackt trumpet;" and who all now made a party with some rival of +Jonson. + +All these personages will account for "the tumult" which excites the +innocent astonishment of our author. These only resisted him by +"filling every ear with noise." But one of the "screaming grasshoppers +held by the wings," boldly turned on the holder with a scorpion's +bite; and Decker, who had been lashed in "The Poetaster," produced his +"Satiromastix, or the untrussing of the humorous Poet." Decker was a +subordinate author, indeed; but, what must have been very galling to +Jonson, who was the aggressor, indignation proved such an inspirer, +that Decker seemed to have caught some portion of Jonson's own genius, +who had the art of making even Decker popular; while he discovered +that his own laurel-wreath had been dexterously changed by the +"Satiromastix" into a garland of "stinging nettles." + +In "The Poetaster," _Crispinus_ is the picture of one of those +impertinent fellows who resolve to become poets, having an equal +aptitude to become anything that is in fashionable request. When +Hermogenes, the finest singer in Rome, refused to sing, _Crispinus_ +gladly seizes the occasion, and whispers the lady near him--"Entreat +the ladies to entreat me to sing, I beseech you." This character is +marked by a ludicrous peculiarity which, turning on an individual +characteristic, must have assisted the audience in the true +application. Probably Decker had some remarkable head of hair,[391] +and that his locks hung not like "the curls of Hyperion;" for the +jeweller's wife admiring among the company the persons of Ovid, +Tibullus, &c., _Crispinus_ acquaints her that they were poets, and, +since she admires them, promises to become a poet himself. The simple +lady further inquires, "if, when he is a poet, his looks will change? +and particularly if his hair will change, and be like those +gentlemen's?" "A man," observes _Crispinus_, "may be a poet, and yet +not change his hair." "Well!" exclaims the simple jeweller's wife, "we +shall see your cunning; yet if you can change your hair, I pray do +it." + +In two elaborate scenes, poor Decker stands for a full-length. +Resolved to be a poet, he haunts the company of Horace: he meets him +in the street, and discovers all the variety of his nothingness: he +is a student, a stoic, an architect: everything by turns, "and +nothing long." Horace impatiently attempts to escape from him, but +_Crispinus_ foils him at all points. This affectionate admirer is +even willing to go over the world with him. He proposes an ingenious +project, if Horace will introduce him to Mæcenas. _Crispinus_ offers +to become "his assistant," assuring him that "he would be content +with the next place, not envying thy reputation with thy patron;" +and he thinks that Horace and himself "would soon lift out of favour +Virgil, Varius, and the best of them, and enjoy them wholly to +ourselves." The restlessness of Horace to extricate himself from +this "Hydra of Discourse," the passing friends whom he calls on to +assist him, and the glue-like pertinacity of _Crispinus_, are richly +coloured. + +A ludicrous and exquisitely satirical scene occurs at the trial of +_Crispinus_ and his colleagues. Jonson has here introduced an +invention, which a more recent satirist so happily applied to our +modern Lexiphanes, Dr. Johnson, for his immeasurable polysyllables. +Horace is allowed by Augustus to make _Crispinus_ swallow a certain +pill; the light vomit discharges a great quantity of hard matter, to +clear + + His brain and stomach of their tumorous heats. + +These consist of certain affectations in style, and adulteration of +words, which offended the Horatian taste: "the basin" is called +quickly for and _Crispinus_ gets rid easily of some, but others were +of more difficult passage:-- + + 'Magnificate!' that came up somewhat hard! + + _Crispinus._ 'O barmy froth----' + + _Augustus._ What's that? + + _Crispinus._ 'Inflate!--Turgidous!--and Ventositous'-- + + _Horace._ 'Barmy froth, inflate, turgidous, and ventosity are come + up.' + + _Tibullus._ O terrible windy words! + + _Gallus._ A sign of a windy brain. + +But all was not yet over: "Prorumpt" made a terrible rumbling, as if +his spirit was to have gone with it; and there were others which +required all the kind assistance of the Horatian "light vomit." This +satirical scene closes with some literary admonitions from the grave +Virgil, who details to _Crispinus_ the wholesome diet to be observed +after his surfeits, which have filled + + His blood and brain thus full of crudities. + +Virgil's counsels to the vicious neologist, who debases the purity of +English diction by affecting new words or phrases, may too frequently +be applied. + + You must not hunt for wild outlandish terms + To stuff out a peculiar dialect; + But let your matter run before your words. + And if at any time you chance to meet + Some Gallo-Belgick phrase, you shall not straight + Rack your poor verse to give it entertainment, + But let it pass; and do not think yourself + Much damnified, if you do leave it out + When not the sense could well receive it. + +Virgil adds something which breathes all the haughty spirit of Ben: he +commands _Crispinus_: + + ------------Henceforth, learn + To bear yourself more humbly, nor to swell + Or breathe your insolent and idle spite + On him whose laughter can your worst affright: + +and dismisses him + + To some dark place, removed from company; + He will talk idly else after his physic. + +"The Satiromastix" may be considered as a parody on "The Poetaster." +Jonson, with classical taste, had raised his scene in the court of +Augustus: Decker, with great unhappiness, places it in that of William +Rufus. The interest of the piece arises from the dexterity with which +Decker has accommodated those very characters which Jonson has +satirised in his "Poetaster." This gratified those who came every day +to the theatre, delighted to take this mimetic revenge on the arch +bard. + +In Decker's prefatory address "To the World," he observes, "Horace +haled his Poetasters to the bar;[392] the Poetasters untrussed Horace: +Horace made himself believe that his Burgonian wit[393] might +desperately challenge all comers, and that none durst take up the +foils against him." But Decker is the Earl Rivers! He had been blamed +for the personal attacks on Jonson; for "whipping his fortunes and +condition of life; where the more noble reprehension had been of his +mind's deformity:" but for this he retorts on Ben. Some censured +Decker for barrenness of invention, in bringing on those characters in +his own play whom Jonson had stigmatised; but "it was not improper," +he says, "to set the same dog upon Horace, whom Horace had set to +worry others." Decker warmly concludes with defying the Jonsonians. + +"Let that mad dog Detraction bite till his teeth be worn to the +stumps; Envy, feed thy snakes so fat with poison till they burst; +World, let all thy adders shoot out their Hydra-headed forked stings! +I thank thee, thou true Venusian Horace, for these good words thou +givest me. _Populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo._" + +The whole address is spirited. Decker was a very popular writer, +whose numerous tracts exhibit to posterity a more detailed narrative +of the manners of the town in the Elizabethan age than is elsewhere to +be found. + +In Decker's Satiromastix, Horace junior is first exhibited in his +study, rehearsing to himself an ode: suddenly the Pindaric rapture is +interrupted by the want of a rhyme; this is satirically applied to an +unlucky line of Ben's own. One of his "sons," Asinius Bubo, who is +blindly worshipping his great idol, or "his Ningle," as he calls him, +amid his admiration of Horace, perpetually breaks out into digressive +accounts of what sort of a man his friends take him to be. For one, +Horace in wrath prepares an epigram: and for _Crispinus_ and +_Fannius_, brother bards, who threaten "they'll bring your life and +death on the stage, as a bricklayer in a play," he says, "I can bring +a prepared troop of gallants, who, for my sake, shall distaste every +unsalted line in their fly-blown comedies." "Ay," replies Asinius, +"and all men of my rank!" _Crispinus_, Horace calls "a light +voluptuous reveller," and _Fannius_ "the slightest cobweb-lawn piece +of a poet." Both enter, and Horace receives them with all friendship. + +The scene is here conducted not without skill. Horace complains that + + ----------------When I dip my pen + In distill'd roses, and do strive to drain + Out of mine ink all gall-- + Mine enemies, with sharp and searching eyes, + Look through and through me. + And when my lines are measured out as straight + As even parallels, 'tis strange, that still, + Still some imagine that they're drawn awry. + The error is not mine, but in their eye, + That cannot take proportions. + +To the querulous satirist, _Crispinus_ replies with dignified +gravity-- + + Horace! to stand within the shot of galling tongues + Proves not your guilt; for, could we write on paper + Made of these turning leaves of heaven, the clouds, + Or speak with angels' tongues, yet wise men know + That some would shake the head, though saints should sing; + Some snakes must hiss, because they're born with stings. + ------------Be not you grieved + If that which you mould fair, upright, and smooth, + Be screw'd awry, made crooked, lame, and vile, + By racking comments.-- + So to be bit it rankles not, for Innocence + May with a feather brush off the foul wrong. + But when your _dastard wit will strike at men + In corners, and in riddles fold the vices + Of your best friends_, you must not take to heart + If they take off all gilding from their pills, + And only offer you the bitter core.-- + +At this the galled Horace winces. _Crispinus_ continues, that it is in +vain Horace swears, that + + --------------He puts on + The office of an executioner, + Only to strike off the swoln head of sin, + Where'er you find it standing. Say you swear, + And make damnation, parcel of your oath, + That when your lashing jests make all men bleed, + Yet you whip none--court, city, country, friends, + Foes, all must smart alike.-- + +_Fannius_, too, joins, and shows Ben the absurd oaths he takes, when +he swears to all parties, that he does not mean them. How, then, of +five hundred and four, five hundred + + Should all point with their fingers in one instant, + At one and the same man? + +Horace is awkwardly placed between these two friendly remonstrants, to +whom he promises perpetual love. + +Captain Tucca, a dramatic personage in Jonson's Poetaster, and a copy +of his own Bobadil, whose original the poet had found at "Powles," the +fashionable lounge of that day, is here continued with the same +spirit; and as that character permitted from the extravagance of its +ribaldry, it is now made the vehicle for those more personal retorts, +exhibiting the secret history of Ben, which perhaps twitted the great +bard more than the keenest wit, or the most solemn admonition which +Decker could ever attain. Jonson had cruelly touched on Decker being +out at elbows, and made himself too merry with the histrionic tribe: +he, who was himself a poet, and had been a Thespian! The blustering +captain thus attacks the great wit:--"Do'st stare, my Saracen's head +at Newgate? I'll march through thy Dunkirk guts, for shooting jests at +me." He insists that as Horace, "that sly knave, whose shoulders were +once seen lapp'd in a player's old cast cloak," and who had reflected +on _Crispinus's_ satin doublet being ravelled out; that he should wear +one of _Crispinus's_ "old cast sattin suits," and that _Fannius_ +should write a couple of scenes for his own "strong garlic comedies," +and Horace should swear that they were his own--he would easily bear +"the guilt of conscience." "Thy Muse is but a hagler, and wears +clothes upon best be trust (a humorous Deckerian phrase)--thou'rt +_great_ in somebody's books for this!" Did it become Jonson to gibe at +the histrionic tribe, who is himself accused of "treading the stage, +as if he were treading mortar."[394] He once put up--"a supplication +to be a poor journeyman player, and hadst been still so, but that thou +couldst not set _a good face_ upon't. Thou hast forget how thou +ambled'st in leather-pilch, by a play-waggon in the highway; and +took'st mad Jeronimo's part, to get service among the mimics," &c. + +Ben's person was, indeed, not gracious in the playfulness of love or +fancy. A female, here, thus delineates Ben:-- + +"That same Horace has the most ungodly face, by my fan; it looks for +all the world like a rotten russet-apple, when 'tis bruised. It's +better than a spoonful of cinnamon-water next my heart, for me to hear +him speak; he sounds it so i' th' nose, and talks and rants like the +poor fellows under Ludgate--to see his face make faces, when he reads +his songs and sonnets." + +Again, we have Ben's face compared with that of his favourite, +Horace's--"You staring Leviathan! look on the sweet visage of Horace; +look, parboil'd face, look--he has not his face punchtfull of +eyelet-holes, like the cover of a warming-pan." + +Joseph Warton has oddly remarked that most of our poets were handsome +men. Jonson, however, was not poetical on that score; though his bust +is said to resemble Menander's. + +Such are some of the personalities with which Decker recriminated. + +Horace is thrown into many ludicrous situations. He is told that +"admonition is good meat." Various persons bring forward their +accusations; and Horace replies that they envy him, + + Because I hold more worthy company. + +The greatness of Ben's genius is by no means denied by his rivals; +and Decker makes _Fannius_ reply, with noble feelings, and in an +elevated strain of poetry:-- + + Good Horace, no! my cheeks do blush for thine, + As often as thou speakst so; where one true + And nobly virtuous spirit, for thy best part + Loves thee, I wish one, ten; even from my heart! + I make account, I put up as deep share + In any good man's love, which thy worth earns, + As thou thyself; we envy not to see + Thy friends with bays to crown thy poesy. + No, here the gall lies;--We, that know what stuff + Thy very heart is made of, know the stalk + On which thy learning grows, and can give life + To thy, once dying, baseness; yet must we + Dance anticke on your paper--. + But were thy warp'd soul put in a new mould, + I'd wear thee as a jewel set in gold. + +To which one adds, that "jewels, master Horace, must be hanged, you +know." This "Whip of Men," with Asinius his admirer, are brought to +court, transformed into satyrs, and bound together: "not lawrefied, +but nettle-fied;" crowned with a wreath of nettles. + + With stinging-nettles crown his stinging wit. + +Horace is called on to swear, after Asinius had sworn to give up his +"Ningle." + +"Now, master Horace, you must be a more horrible swearer; for your +oath must be, like your wits, of many colours; and like a broker's +book, of many parcels." + +Horace offers to swear till his hairs stand up on end, to be rid of +this sting. "Oh, this sting!" alluding to the nettles. "'Tis not your +sting of conscience, is it?" asks one. In the inventory of his oaths, +there is poignant satire, with strong humour; and it probably exhibits +some foibles in the literary habits of our bard. + +He swears "Not to hang himself, even if he thought any man could write +plays as well as himself; not to bombast out a new play with the old +linings of jests stolen from the _Temple's Revels_; not to sit in a +gallery, when your comedies have entered their actions, and there make +vile and bad faces at every line, to make men have an eye to you, and +to make players afraid; not to venture on the stage, when your play is +ended, and exchange courtesies and compliments with gallants to make +all the house rise and cry--'That's Horace that's he that pens and +purges humours.' When you bid all your friends to the marriage of a +poor couple, that is to say, your Wits and Necessities--_alias_, a +poet's Whitsun-ale--you shall swear that, within three days after, you +shall not abroad, in bookbinders' shops, brag that your viceroys, or +tributary-kings, have done homage to you, or paid quarterage. +Moreover, when a knight gives you his passport to travel in and out to +his company, and gives you money for God's sake--you will swear not to +make scald and wry-mouthed jests upon his knighthood. When your plays +are misliked at court, you shall not cry Mew! like a puss-cat, and +say, you are glad you write out of the courtier's element; and in +brief, when you sup in taverns, amongst your betters, you shall swear +not to dip your manners in too much sauce; nor, at table, to fling +epigrams or play-speeches about you." + +The king observes, that + + --------------------He whose pen + Draws both corrupt and clear blood from all men + Careless what vein he pricks; let him not rave + When his own sides are struck; blows, blows do crave. + +Such were the bitter apples which Jonson, still in his youth, plucked +from the tree of his broad satire, that branched over all ranks in +society. That even his intrepidity and hardiness felt the incessant +attacks he had raised about him, appears from the close of the +Apologetical Epilogueto "The Poetaster;" where, though he replies with +all the consciousness of genius, and all its haughtiness, he closes +with a determination to give over the composition of comedies! This, +however, like all the vows of a poet, was soon broken; and his +masterpieces were subsequently produced. + + _Friend._ Will you not answer then the libels? + + _Author._ No. + + _Friend._ Nor the Untrussers. + + _Author._ Neither. + + _Friend._ You are undone, then. + + _Author._ With whom? + + _Friend._ The world. + + _Author._ The bawd! + + _Friend._ It will be taken to be stupidity or tameness in you. + + _Author._ But they that have incensed me, can in soul + Acquit me of that guilt. They know I dare + To spurn or baffle them; or squirt their eyes + With ink or urine: or I could do worse, + Arm'd with Archilochus' fury, write iambicks, + Would make the desperate lashers hang themselves.-- + +His Friend tells him that he is accused that "all his writing is mere +railing;" which Jonson nobly compares to "the salt in the old comedy;" +that they say, that he is slow, and "scarce brings forth a play a +year." + + _Author._ ------------'Tis true, + I would they could not say that I did that. + +He is angry that their + + ------------Base and beggarly conceits + Should carry it, by the multitude of voices, + Against the most abstracted work, opposed + To the stufft nostrils of the drunken rout.-- + +And then exclaims with admirable enthusiasm-- + + O this would make a learn'd and liberal soul + To rive his stained quill up to the back, + And damn his long-watch'd labours to the fire; + Things, that were born, when none but the still night, + And the dumb candle, saw his pinching throes. + +And again, alluding to these mimics-- + + This 'tis that strikes me silent, seals my lips, + And apts me rather to sleep out my time, + Than I would waste it in contemned strifes + With these vile Ibides, these unclean birds, + That make their mouths their clysters, and still purge + From their hot entrails.[395] But I leave the monsters + To their own fate. And since the Comic Muse + Hath proved so ominous to me, I will try + If Tragedy have a more kind aspect. + Leave me! There's something come into my thought + That must and shall be sung, high and aloof, + Safe from the wolf's black jaw, and the dull ass's hoof. + + _Friend._ I reverence these raptures, and obey them. + +Such was the noble strain in which Jonson replied to his detractors in +the town and to his rivals about him. Yet this poem, composed with all +the dignity and force of the bard, was not suffered to be repeated. It +was stopped by authority. But Jonson, in preserving it in his works, +sends it "TO POSTERITY, that it may make a difference between their +manners that provoked me then, and mine that neglected them ever." + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [396] This work was not given to the public till 1724, a small + quarto, with a fine portrait of Brooke. More than a century + had elapsed since its forcible suppression. Anstis printed it + from the fair MS. which Brooke had left behind him. The + author's paternal affection seemed fondly to imagine its + child might be worthy of posterity, though calumniated by + its contemporaries. + + [397] "Verum enimverò de his et hoc genere hominum ne verbum amplius + addam, tabellam tamen summi illius artificis Apellis, cùm + colorum vivacitate depingere non possim, verbis leviter + adumbrabo et proponam, ut Antiphilus noster, suique similes, + et qui calumniis credunt, hanc, et in hac seipsos semel + simulque intueantur. + + "Ad dextram sedet quidam, quia credulus, auribus prælongis + insignis, quales ferè illæ Midæ feruntur. Manum porrigit + procul accedenti Calumniæ. Circumstant eum mulierculæ duæ, + Ignorantia ac Suspicio. Adit aliunde propiùs Calumnia eximiè + compta, vultu ipso et gestu corporis efferens rabiem, et iram + æstuanti conceptam pectore præ se ferens: sinistra facem + tenens flammantem, dextra secum adolescentem capillis + arreptum, manus ad superos tendentem, obtestantemque + immortalium deorum fidem, trahit. Anteit vir pallidus, in + specium impurus, acie oculorum minimè hebeti, cæterùm planè + iis símilis, qui gravi aliquo morbo contabuerunt. Hic livor + est, ut facilè conjicias. Quin, et mulierculæ aliquot Insidiæ + et Fallaciæ ut comites Calumniam comitantur. Harum est munus, + dominam hortari, instruere, comere, et subornare. A tergo, + habitu lugubri, pullato, laceroque Poenitentia subsequitur, + quæ capite in tergum deflexo, cum lachrymis, ac pudore procul + venientem Veritatem agnoscit, et excipit." + + [398] A _Fletcher_ is a maker of bows and arrows.--ASH. + + [399] Brooke died at the old mansion opposite the Roman town of + Reculver in Kent. The house is still known as Brooke-farm; and + the original gateway of decorative brickwork still exists. He + was buried in Reculver Church, now destroyed, where a mural + monument was erected to his memory, having a rhyming + inscription, which told the reader:-- + + "Fifteenth October he was last alive, + One thousand six hundred and twenty-five, + Seaventy-three years bore he fortune's harms, + And forty-five an officer of armes." + + Brooke was originally a painter-stainer. His enmity to Camden + appears to have originated in the appointment of the latter to + the office of Clarencieux on the death of Richard Lee; he + believing himself to be qualified for the place by greater + knowledge, and by his long connexion with the College of Arms. + His mode of righting himself lacked judgment, and he was twice + suspended from his office, and was even attempted to be + expelled therefrom.--ED. + + [400] In Anstis's edition of "A Second Discoverie of Errors in the + Much-commended 'Britannia,' &c.," 1724, the reader will find + all the passages in the "Britannia" of the edition of 1594 to + which Brooke made exceptions, placed column-wise with the + following edition of it in 1600. It is, as Anstis observes, a + debt to truth, without making any reflections. + + [401] There is a sensible observation in the old "Biographia + Britannica" on Brooke. "From the splenetic attack originally + made by Rafe Brooke upon the 'Britannia' arose very _great + advantages to the public_, by the shifting and bringing to + light as good, perhaps a better and more authentic account of + our nobility, than had been given at that time of those in any + other country of Europe."--p. 1135. + + + + +CAMDEN AND BROOKE. + + Literary, like political history, is interested in the cause of an + obscure individual, when deprived of his just rights--character of + CAMDEN--BROOKE'S "Discovery of Errors" in the "Britannia"--his + work disturbed in the printing--afterwards enlarged, but never + suffered to be published--whether BROOKE'S motive was personal + rancour!--the persecuted author becomes vindictive--his keen reply + to CAMDEN--CAMDEN'S beautiful picture of calumny--BROOKE furnishes + a humorous companion-piece--CAMDEN'S want of magnanimity and + justice--when great authors are allowed to suppress the works of + their adversary, the public receives the injury and the insult. + + +In the literary as well as the political commonwealth, the cause of an +obscure individual violently deprived of his just rights is a common +one. We protest against the power of genius itself, when it strangles +rather than wrestles with its adversary, or combats in mail against a +naked man. The general interests of literature are involved by the +illegitimate suppression of a work, of which the purpose is to correct +another, whatever may be the invective which accompanies the +correction: nor are we always to assign to malignant motives even this +spirit of invective, which, though it betrays a contracted genius, may +also show the earnestness of an honest one. + +The quarrel between CAMDEN, the great author of the "Britannia," and +BROOKE, the "York Herald," may illustrate these principles. It has +hitherto been told to the shame of the inferior genius; but the +history of Brooke was imperfectly known to his contemporaries. Crushed +by oppression, his tale was marred in the telling. A century sometimes +passes away before the world can discover the truth even of a private +history. + +Brooke is aspersed as a man of the meanest talents, insensible to the +genius of Camden, rankling with envy at his fame, and correcting the +"Britannia" out of mere spite. + +When the history of Brooke is known, and his labours fairly estimated, +we shall blame him much less than he has been blamed; and censure +Camden, who has escaped all censure, and whose conduct, in the +present instance, was destitute of magnanimity and justice. + +The character of the author of "Britannia" is great, and this error of +his feelings, now first laid to his charge, may be attributed as much +to the weakness of the age as to his own extreme timidity, and perhaps +to a little pride. Conscious as was Camden of enlarged views, we can +easily pardon him for the contempt he felt, when he compared them with +the subordinate ones of his cynical adversary. + +Camden possessed one of those strongly directed minds which early in +life plan some vast labour, while their imagination and their industry +feed on it for many successive years; and they shed the flower and +sweetness of their lives in the preparation of a work which at its +maturity excites the gratitude of their nation. His passion for our +national antiquities discovered itself even in his school-days, grew +up with him at the University; and, when afterwards engaged in his +public duties as master at Westminster school, he there composed his +"Britannia," "at spare hours, and on festival days." To the perpetual +care of his work, he voluntarily sacrificed all other views in life, +and even drew himself away from domestic pleasures; for he refused +marriage and preferments, which might interrupt his beloved studies! +The work at length produced, received all the admiration due to so +great an enterprise; and even foreigners, as the work was composed in +the universal language of learning, could sympathise with Britons, +when they contemplated the stupendous labour. Camden was honoured by +the titles (for the very names of illustrious genius become such), of +the Varro, the Strabo, and the Pausanias of Britain. + +While all Europe admired the "Britannia," a cynical genius, whose +mind seemed bounded by his confined studies, detected one error +amidst the noble views the mighty volume embraced; the single one +perhaps he could perceive, and for which he stood indebted to his +office as "York Herald." Camden, in an appendage to the end of +each county, had committed numerous genealogical errors, which he +afterwards affected, in his defence, to consider as trivial +matters in so great a history, and treats his adversary with all the +contempt and bitterness he could inflict on him; but Ralph Brooke +entertained very high notions of the importance of heraldical +studies, and conceived that the "Schoolmaster" Camden, as he +considered him, had encroached on the rights and honours of his +College of Heralds. When particular objects engage our studies, we +are apt to raise them in the scale of excellence to a degree +disproportioned to their real value; and are thus liable to incur +ridicule. But it should be considered that many useful students +are not philosophers, and the pursuits of their lives are never +ridiculous to them. It is not the interest of the public to degrade +this class too low. Every species of study contributes to the +perfection of human knowledge, by that universal bond which connects +them all in a philosophical mind. + +Brooke prepared "A Discovery of Certain Errors in the Much-commended +Britannia." When we consider Brooke's character, as headstrong with +heraldry as Don Quixote's with romances of chivalry, we need not +attribute his motives (as Camden himself, with the partial feelings +of an author, does, and subsequent writers echo) to his envy at +Camden's promotion to be Clarencieux King of Arms; for it appears +that Brooke began his work before this promotion. The indecent +excesses of his pen, with the malicious charges of plagiarism he +brings against Camden for the use he made of Leland's collections, +only show the insensibility of the mere heraldist to the nobler +genius of the historian. Yet Brooke had no ordinary talents: his +work is still valuable for his own peculiar researches; but his +_naïve_ shrewdness, his pointed precision, the bitter invective, and +the caustic humour of his cynical pen, give an air of originality, +if not of genius, which no one has dared to notice. Brooke's first +work against Camden was violently disturbed in its progress, and +hurried, in a mutilated state, into the world, without licence or a +publisher's name. Thus impeded, and finally crushed, the howl of +persecution followed his name; and subsequent writers servilely traced +his character from their partial predecessors. + +But Brooke, though denied the fair freedom of the press, and a victim +to the powerful connexions of Camden, calmly pursued his silent labour +with great magnanimity. He wrote his "Second Discovery of Errors," an +enlargement of the first. This he carefully finished for the press, +but could never get published. The secret history of the controversy +may be found there.[396] + +Brooke had been loudly accused of indulging a personal rancour against +Camden, and the motive of his work was attributed to envy of his great +reputation; a charge constantly repeated. + +Yet this does not appear, for when Brooke first began his "Discovery +of Errors," he did not design its publication; for he liberally offered +Camden his Observations and Collections. They were fastidiously, perhaps +haughtily, rejected; on this pernicious and false principle, that to +correct his errors in genealogy might discredit the whole work. On +which absurdity Brooke shrewdly remarks--"As if healing the sores would +have maimed the body." He speaks with more humility on this occasion +than an insulted, yet a skilful writer, was likely to do, who had his +labours considered, as he says, "worthy neither of thanks nor +acceptance." + +"The rat is not so contemptible but he may help the lion, at a pinch, +out of those nets wherein his strength is hampered; and the words of +an inferior may often carry matter in them to admonish his superior of +some important consideration; and surely, of what account soever I +might have seemed to this learned man, yet, in respect to my +profession and courteous offer, (I being an officer-of-arms, and he +then but a schoolmaster), might well have vouchsafed the perusal of my +notes." + +When he published, our herald stated the reasons of writing against +Camden with good-humour, and rallies him on his "incongruity in his +principles of heraldry--for which I challenge him!--for depriving some +nobles of issue to succeed them, who had issue, of whom are descended +many worthy families: denying barons and earls that were, and making +barons and earls of others that were not; mistaking the son for the +father, and the father for the son; affirming legitimate children to +be illegitimate, and illegitimate to be legitimate; and framing +incestuous and unnatural marriages, making the father to marry the +son's wife, and the son his own mother." + +He treats Camden with the respect due to his genius, while he +judiciously distinguishes where the greatest ought to know when to +yield. + +"The most abstruse arts I profess not, but yield the palm and victory +to mine adversary, that great learned Mr. Camden, with whom, yet, a +long experimented navigator may contend about his chart and compass, +about havens, creeks, and sounds; so I, an ancient herald, a little +dispute, without imputation of audacity, concerning the honour of +arms, and the truth of honourable descents." + +Brooke had seen, as he observes, in four editions of the "Britannia," +a continued race of errors, in false descents, &c., and he continues, +with a witty allusion:-- + +"Perceiving that even the brains of many learned men beyond the seas +had misconceived and miscarried in the travail and birth of their +relations, being gotten, as it were, with child (as Diomedes's mares) +by the blasts of his erroneous puffs; I could not but a little +question the original father of their absurdities, being so far blown, +with the trumpet of his learning and fame, into foreign lands." + +He proceeds with instances of several great authors on the Continent +having been misled by the statements of Camden. + +Thus largely have I quoted from Brooke, to show, that at first he +never appears to have been influenced by the mean envy, or the +personal rancour, of which he is constantly accused. As he proceeded +in his work, which occupied him several years, his reproaches are +whetted with a keener edge, and his accusations are less generous. But +to what are we to attribute this? To the contempt and persecution +Brooke so long endured from Camden: these acted on his vexed and +degraded spirit, till it burst into the excesses of a man heated with +injured feelings. + +When Camden took his station in the Herald's College with Brooke, +whose offers of his notes he had refused to accept, they soon found +what it was for two authors to live under the same roof, who were +impatient to write against each other. The cynical York, at first, +would twit the new king-of-arms, perpetually affirming that "his +predecessor was a more able herald than any who lived in this age:" a +truth, indeed, acknowledged by Dugdale. On this occasion, once the +king-of-arms gave malicious York "the lie!" reminding the crabbed +herald of "his own learning; who, as a scholar, was famous through all +the provinces of Christendom." "So that (adds Brooke) now I learnt, +that before him, when we speak in commendation of any other, to say, I +must always except Plato." Camden would allow of no private +communication between them; and in _Sermonibus Convivalibus_, in his +table-talk, "the heat and height of his spirit" often scorched the +contemned Yorkist, whose rejected "Discovery of Errors" had no doubt +been too frequently enlarged, after such rough convivialities. Brooke +now resolved to print; but, in printing the work, the press was +disturbed, and his house was entered by "this learned man, his +friends, and the stationers." The latter were alarmed for the sale of +the "Britannia," which might have been injured by this rude attack. +The work was therefore printed in an unfinished state: part was +intercepted; and the author stopped, by authority, from proceeding any +further. Some imperfect copies got abroad. + +The treatment the exasperated Brooke now incurred was more provoking +than Camden's refusal of his notes, and the haughtiness of his +"Sermonibus Convivalibus." The imperfect work was, however, laid +before the public, so that Camden could not refuse to notice its +grievous charges. He composed an angry reply in Latin, addressed _ad +Lectorem_! and never mentioning Brooke by name, contemptuously alludes +to him only by a _Quidam_ and _Iste_ (a certain person, and He!)--"He +considers me (cries the mortified Brooke, in his second suppressed +work) as an _Individuum vagum_, and makes me but a _Quidam_ in his +pamphlet, standing before him as a schoolboy, while he whips me. Why +does he reply in Latin to an English accusation? He would disguise +himself in his school-rhetoric; wherein, like the cuttle-fish, being +stricken, he thinks to hide and shift himself away in the ink of his +rhetoric. I will clear the waters again." + +He fastens on Camden's former occupation, virulently accusing him of +the manners of a pedagogue:--"A man may perceive an immoderate and +eager desire of vainglory growing in hand, ever since he used to +teach and correct children for these things, according to the opinion +of some, _in mores et naturam abeunt_." He complains of "the +school-hyperboles" which Camden exhausts on him, among which Brooke +is compared to "the strumpet Leontion," who wrote against "the divine +Theophrastus." To this Brooke keenly replies: + +"Surely, had Theophrastus dealt with women's matters, a woman, though +mean, might in reason have contended with him. A king must be content +to be laughed at if he come into Apelles's shop, and dispute about +colours and portraiture. I am not ambitious nor envious to carp at +matters of higher learning than matters of heraldry, which I profess: +that is the slipper, wherein I know a slip when I find it. But see +your cunning; you can, with the blur of your pen, dipped in copperas +and gall, make me learned and unlearned; nay, you can almost change my +sex, and make me a whore, like Leontion; and, taking your silver pen +again, make yourself the divine Theophrastus." + +At the close of Camden's answer, he introduced the allegorical picture +of Calumny, that elegant invention of the Grecian fancy of Apelles, +painted by him when suffering under the false accusations of a rival. +The picture is described by Lucian; but it has received many happy +touches from the classical hand of the master of Westminster School. +As a literary satire, he applies it with great dignity. I give here a +translation, but I preserve the original Latin in the note as Camden's +reply to Brooke is not easily to be procured. + +"But though I am not disposed to waste more words on these, and this +sort of men, yet I cannot resist the temptation of adding a slight +sketch, for I cannot give that vivacity of colouring of the picture of +the great artist Apelles that our Antiphilus and the like, whose ears +are ever open to calumny, may, in contemplating it, find a reflection +of themselves. + +"On the right hand sits a man, who, to show his credulity, is +remarkable for his prodigious ears, similar to those of Midas. He +extends his hand to greet Calumny, who is approaching him. The two +diminutive females around him are Ignorance and Suspicion. Opposite to +them, Calumny advances, betraying in her countenance and gesture the +savage rage and anger working in her tempestuous breast: her left hand +holds a flaming torch; while with her right she drags by the hair a +youth, who, stretching his uplifted hands to Heaven, is calling on the +immortal powers to bear testimony to his innocence. She is preceded by +a man of a pallid and impure appearance, seemingly wasting away under +some severe disease, except that his eye sparkles, and has not the +dulness usual to such. That Envy is here meant, you readily +conjecture. Some diminutive females, frauds and deceits, attend her as +companions, whose office is to encourage and instruct, and studiously +to adorn their mistress. In the background, Repentance, sadly arrayed +in a mournful, worn-out, and ragged garment, who, with averted head, +with tears and shame, acknowledges and prepares to receive Truth, +approaching from a distance."[397] + +This elegant picture, so happily introduced into a piece of literary +controversy, appears to have only slightly affected the mind of +Brooke, which was probably of too stout a grain to take the folds of +Grecian drapery. Instead of sympathising with its elegance, he breaks +out into a horse-laugh; and, what is quite unexpected among such grave +inquiries into a ludicrous tale in verse, which, though it has not +Grecian fancy, has broad English humour, where he maliciously +insinuates that Camden had appropriated to his own use, or "new-coated +his 'Britannia'" with Leland's MSS., and disguised what he had +stolen. + +Now, to show himself as good a painter as he is a herald, he +propounded, at the end of his book, a table (_i.e._ a picture) of +his own invention, being nothing comparable to "Apelles," as he +himself confesseth, and we believe him; for, like the rude painter +that was fain to write, 'This is a Horse,' upon his painted horse, +he writes upon his picture the names of all that furious rabble +therein expressed--which, for to requite him, I will return a tale of +John Fletcher (some time of Oxford) and his horse. Neither can this +fable be any disparagement to his table, being more ancient and +authenticall, and far more conceipted than his envious picture. And +thus it was:-- + + A TALE (NOT OF A ROASTED) BUT OF A PAINTED HORSE. + + JOHN FLETCHER, famous, and a man well known, + But using not his sirname's trade alone,[398] + Did hackney out poor jades for common hire, + Not fit for any pastime but to tire. + + His conscience, once, surveying his jade's stable, + Prick'd him, for keeping horses so unable. + "Oh why should I," saith John, "by scholars thrive, + For jades that will not carry, lead, nor drive?" + + To mend the matter, out he starts, one night, + And having spied a palfrey somewhat white, + He takes him up, and up he mounts his back, + Rides to his house, and there he turns him black; + + Marks him in forehead, feet, in rump, and crest, + As coursers mark those horses which are best. + So neatly John had coloured every spot, + That the right owner sees him, knows him not. + + Had he but feather'd his new-painted breast, + He would have seemèd Pegasus at least. + Who but John Fletcher's horse, in all the town, + Amongst all hackneys, purchased this renown? + + But see the luck; John Fletcher's horse, one night, + By rain was wash'd again almost to white. + His first right owner, seeing such a change, + Thought he should know him, but his hue was strange! + + But eyeing him, and spying out his steed, + By flea-bit spots of his now washèd weed, + Seizes the horse; so Fletcher was attainted, + And did confess the horse--he stole and painted. + +To close with honour to Brooke; in his graver moments he warmly repels +the accusation Camden raised against him, as an enemy to learning, and +appeals to many learned scholars, who had tasted of his liberality at +the Universities, towards their maintenance; but, in an elevated tone, +he asserts his right to deliver his animadversions as York Herald. + +"I know (says Brooke) the great advantage my adversary has over me, in +the received opinion of the world. If some will blame me for that my +writings carry some characters of spleen against him, men of pure +affections, and not partial, will think reason that he should, by ill +hearing, lose the pleasure he conceived by ill speaking. But since I +presume not to understand above that which is meet for me to know, I +must not be discouraged, nor fret myself, because of the malicious; +for I find myself seated upon a rock, that is sure from tempest and +waves, from whence I have a prospect into his errors and waverings. I +do confess his great worth and merit, and that we Britons are in some +sort beholding to him; and might have been much more, if God had lent +him the grace to have played the faithful steward, in the talent +committed to his trust and charge." + +Such was the dignified and the intrepid reply of Ralph Brooke, a man +whose name is never mentioned without an epithet of reproach; and who, +in his own day, was hunted down, and not suffered, vindictive as he +was no doubt, to relieve his bitter and angry spirit, by pouring it +forth to the public eye.[399] + +But the story is not yet closed. Camden, who wanted the magnanimity to +endure with patient dignity the corrections of an inferior genius, had +the wisdom, with the meanness, silently to adopt his useful +corrections, but would never confess the hand which had brought +them.[400] + +Thus hath Ralph Brooke told his own tale undisturbed, and, after the +lapse of more than a century, the press has been opened to him. +Whenever a great author is suffered to gag the mouth of his +adversary, Truth receives the insult. But there is another point more +essential to inculcate in literary controversy. Ought we to look +too scrupulously into the motives which may induce an inferior +author to detect the errors of a greater? A man from no amiable +motive may perform a proper action: Ritson was useful after Warton; +nor have we a right to ascribe it to any concealed motives, which, +after all, may be doubtful. In the present instance, our much-abused +Ralph Brooke first appears to have composed his elaborate work +from the most honourable motives: the offer he made of his Notes to +Camden seems a sufficient evidence. The pride of a great man first led +Camden into an error, and that error plunged him into all the +barbarity of persecution; thus, by force, covering his folly. +Brooke over-valued his studies: it is the nature of those peculiar +minds adapted to excel in such contracted pursuits. He undertook an +ungracious office, and he has suffered by being placed by the side +of the illustrious genius with whom he has so skilfully combated +in his own province; and thus he has endured contempt, without +being contemptible. The public are not less the debtors to such +unfortunate, yet intrepid authors.[401] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [396] This work was not given to the public till 1724, a small quarto, + with a fine portrait of Brooke. More than a century had + elapsed since its forcible suppression. Anstis printed it + from the fair MS. which Brooke had left behind him. The + author's paternal affection seemed fondly to imagine its + child might be worthy of posterity, though calumniated by + its contemporaries. + + [397] "Verum enimverò de his et hoc genere hominum ne verbum amplius + addam, tabellam tamen summi illius artificis Apellis, cùm + colorum vivacitate depingere non possim, verbis leviter + adumbrabo et proponam, ut Antiphilus noster, suique similes, + et qui calumniis credunt, hanc, et in hac seipsos semel + simulque intueantur. + + "Ad dextram sedet quidam, quia credulus, auribus prælongis + insignis, quales ferè illæ Midæ feruntur. Manum porrigit + procul accedenti Calumniæ. Circumstant eum mulierculæ duæ, + Ignorantia ac Suspicio. Adit aliunde propiùs Calumnia eximiè + compta, vultu ipso et gestu corporis efferens rabiem, et iram + æstuanti conceptam pectore præ se ferens: sinistra facem + tenens flammantem, dextra secum adolescentem capillis + arreptum, manus ad superos tendentem, obtestantemque + immortalium deorum fidem, trahit. Anteit vir pallidus, in + specium impurus, acie oculorum minimè hebeti, cæterùm planè + iis símilis, qui gravi aliquo morbo contabuerunt. Hic livor + est, ut facilè conjicias. Quin, et mulierculæ aliquot Insidiæ + et Fallaciæ ut comites Calumniam comitantur. Harum est munus, + dominam hortari, instruere, comere, et subornare. A tergo, + habitu lugubri, pullato, laceroque Poenitentia subsequitur, + quæ capite in tergum deflexo, cum lachrymis, ac pudore procul + venientem Veritatem agnoscit, et excipit." + + [398] A _Fletcher_ is a maker of bows and arrows.--ASH. + + [399] Brooke died at the old mansion opposite the Roman town of + Reculver in Kent. The house is still known as Brooke-farm; and + the original gateway of decorative brickwork still exists. He + was buried in Reculver Church, now destroyed, where a mural + monument was erected to his memory, having a rhyming + inscription, which told the reader:-- + + "Fifteenth October he was last alive, + One thousand six hundred and twenty-five, + Seaventy-three years bore he fortune's harms, + And forty-five an officer of armes." + + Brooke was originally a painter-stainer. His enmity to Camden + appears to have originated in the appointment of the latter to + the office of Clarencieux on the death of Richard Lee; he + believing himself to be qualified for the place by greater + knowledge, and by his long connexion with the College of Arms. + His mode of righting himself lacked judgment, and he was twice + suspended from his office, and was even attempted to be + expelled therefrom.--ED. + + [400] In Anstis's edition of "A Second Discoverie of Errors in the + Much-commended 'Britannia,' &c.," 1724, the reader will find + all the passages in the "Britannia" of the edition of 1594 to + which Brooke made exceptions, placed column-wise with the + following edition of it in 1600. It is, as Anstis observes, a + debt to truth, without making any reflections. + + [401] There is a sensible observation in the old "Biographia + Britannica" on Brooke. "From the splenetic attack originally + made by Rafe Brooke upon the 'Britannia' arose very _great + advantages to the public_, by the shifting and bringing to + light as good, perhaps a better and more authentic account of + our nobility, than had been given at that time of those in any + other country of Europe."--p. 1135. + + + + +MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. + + Of the two prevalent factions in the reign of Elizabeth, the + Catholics and the Puritans--Elizabeth's philosophical indifference + offends both--Maunsell's Catalogue omits the books of both + parties--of the Puritans, "the mild and moderate, with the fierce + and fiery," a great religious body covering a political + one--Thomas Cartwright, the chief of the Puritans, and his rival + Whitgift--attempts to make the Ecclesiastical paramount to the + Civil Power--his plan in dividing the country into comitial, + provincial, and national assemblies, to be concentrated under the + secret head at Warwick, where Cartwright was elected "perpetual + Moderator!"--after the most bitter controversies, Cartwright + became very compliant to his old rival Whitgift, when Archbishop + of Canterbury--of MARTIN MAR-PRELATE--his sons--specimens of their + popular ridicule and invective--Cartwright approves of this mode + of controversy--better counteracted by the wits than by the grave + admonishers--specimens of the ANTI-MARTIN MAR-PRELATES--of the + authors of these surreptitious publications. + + +The Reformation, or the new Religion, as it was then called, under +Elizabeth, was the most philosophical she could form, and therefore +the most hateful to the zealots of all parties. It was worthy of her +genius, and of a better age! Her sole object was, a deliverance from +the Papal usurpation. Her own supremacy maintained, she designed to be +the great sovereign of a great people; and the Catholic, for some +time, was called to her council-board, and entered with the Reformer +into the same church. But wisdom itself is too weak to regulate human +affairs, when the passions of men rise up in obstinate insurrection. +Elizabeth neither won over the Reformers nor the Catholics. An +excommunicating bull, precipitated by Papal Machiavelism, driving on +the brutalised obedience of its slaves, separated the friends. This +was a political error arising from a misconception of the weakness of +our government; and when discovered as such, a tolerating dispensation +was granted "till better times;" an unhealing expedient, to join again +a dismembered nation! It would surprise many, were they aware how +numerous were our ancient families and our eminent characters who +still remained Catholics.[402] The country was then divided, and +Englishmen who were heroic Romanists fell the terrible victims. + +On the other side, the national evil took a new form. It is +probable that the Queen, regarding the mere ceremonies of religion, +now venerable with age, as matters of indifference, and her fine +taste perhaps still lingering amid the solemn gorgeousness of the +Roman service, and her senses and her emotions excited by the +religious scenery, did not share in that abhorrence of the paintings +and the images, the chant and the music, the censer and the altar, +and the pomp of the prelatical habits, which was prompting many +well-intentioned Reformers to reduce the ecclesiastical state into +apostolical nakedness and primitive rudeness. She was slow to meet +this austerity of feeling, which in this country at length extirpated +those arts which exalt our nature, and for this these pious Vandals +nicknamed the Queen "the untamed heifer;" and the fierce Knox +expressly wrote his "First Blast Against the Monstrous Government of +Women." Of these Reformers, many had imbibed the republican +notions of Calvin. In their hatred of Popery, they imagined that they +had not gone far enough in their wild notions of reform, for they +viewed it, still shadowed out in the new hierarchy of the bishops. +The fierce Calvin, in his little church at Geneva, presumed to rule a +great nation on the scale of a parish institution; copying the +apostolical equality at a time when the Church (say the Episcopalians) +had all the weakness of infancy, and could live together in a +community of all things, from a sense of their common poverty. Be +this as it may, the dignified ecclesiastical order was a vulnerable +institution, which could do no greater injury, and might effect as +much public good as any other order in the state.[403] My business +is not with this discussion. I mean to show how the republican system +of these Reformers ended in a political struggle which, crushed in +the reign of Elizabeth, and beaten down in that of James, so +furiously triumphed under Charles. Their history exhibits the +curious spectacle of a great religious body covering a political +one--such as was discovered among the Jesuits, and such as may again +distract the empire, in some new and unexpected shape. + +Elizabeth was harassed by the two factions of the intriguing Catholic +and the disguised Republican. The age abounded with libels.[404] Many +a _Benedicite_ was handed to her from the Catholics; but a portentous +personage, masked, stepped forth from a club of PURITANS, and +terrified the nation by continued visitations, yet was never visible +till the instant of his adieus--"starting like a guilty thing upon a +fearful summons!" + +Men echo the tone of their age, yet still the same unvarying human +nature is at work; and the Puritans,[405] who in the reign of +Elizabeth imagined it was impossible to go too far in the business of +reform, were the spirits called _Roundheads_ under Charles, and who +have got another nickname in our days. These wanted a Reformation of a +Reformation--they aimed at reform, but they designed Revolution; and +they would not accept of toleration, because they had determined on +predominance.[406] + +Of this faction, the chief was THOMAS CARTWRIGHT, a person of great +learning, and doubtless of great ambition. Early in life a +disappointed man, the progress was easy to a disaffected subject. At a +Philosophy Act, in the University of Cambridge, in the royal presence, +the queen preferred and rewarded his opponent for the slighter and +more attractive elegances in which the learned Cartwright was +deficient. He felt the wound rankle in his ambitious spirit. He began, +as Sir George Paul, in his "Life of Archbishop Whitgift," expresses +it, "to kick against her Ecclesiastical Government." He expatriated +himself several years, and returned fierce with the republican spirit +he had caught among the Calvinists at Geneva, which aimed at the +extirpation of the bishops. It was once more his fate to be poised +against another rival, Whitgift, the Queen's Professor of Divinity. +Cartwright, in some lectures, advanced his new doctrines; and these +innovations soon raised a formidable party, "buzzing their conceits +into the green heads of the University."[408] Whitgift regularly +preached at Cartwright, but to little purpose; for when Cartwright +preached at St. Mary's they were forced to take down the windows. Once +our sly polemic, taking advantage of the absence of Whitgift, so +powerfully operated, in three sermons on one Sunday, that in the +evening his victory declared itself, by the students of Trinity +College rejecting their surplices, as Papistical badges. Cartwright +was now to be confuted by other means. The University refused him his +degree of D.D.; condemned the lecturer to silence; and at length +performed that last feeble act of power, expulsion. In a heart already +alienated from the established authorities, this could only envenom a +bitter spirit. Already he had felt a personal dislike to royalty, and +now he had received an insult from the University: these were motives +which, though concealed, could not fail to work in a courageous mind, +whose new forms of religion accorded with his political feelings. The +"Degrees" of the University, which he now declared to be "unlawful," +were to be considered "as limbs of Antichrist." The whole hierarchy +was to be exterminated for a republic of Presbyters; till, through the +church, the republican, as we shall see, discovered a secret passage +to the Cabinet of his Sovereign, where he had many protectors. + +Such is my conception of the character of Cartwright. The reader is +enabled to judge for himself by the note.[409] + +But Cartwright, chilled by an imprisonment, and witnessing some of +his party condemned, and some executed, after having long sustained +the most elevated and rigid tone, suddenly let his alp of ice +dissolve away in the gentlest thaw that ever occurred in political +life. Ambitious he was, but not of martyrdom! His party appeared once +formidable,[410] and his protection at Court sure. I have read +several letters of the Earl of Leicester, in MS., that show he always +shielded Cartwright, whenever in danger. Many of the ministers of +Elizabeth were Puritans; but doubtless this was before their state +policy had detected the politicians in mask. When some of his +followers had dared to do what he had only thought, he appears to +have forsaken them. They reproached him for this left-handed +policy, some of the boldest of them declaring that they had neither +acted nor written anything but what was warranted by his principles. +I do not know many political ejaculations more affecting than that +of Henry Barrow, said to have been a dissipated youth, when +Cartwright refused, before Barrow's execution, to allow of a +conference. The deluded man, after a deep sigh, said: "Shall I be +thus forsaken by him? Was it not he that brought me first into +these briars? and will he now leave me in the same? Was it not from +him alone that I took my grounds? Or did I not, out of such +premises as he pleased to give me, infer those propositions, and +deduce those conclusions, for which I am now kept in these bonds?" He +was soon after executed, with others. + +Then occurred one of those political spectacles at which the +simple-minded stare, and the politic smile; when, after the most cruel +civil war of words,[411] Cartwright wrote very compliant letters to +his old rival, Whitgift, now Archbishop of Canterbury; while the +Archbishop was pleading with the Queen in favour of the inveterate +Republican, declaring that had Cartwright not so far engaged himself +in the beginning, he thought he would have been, latterly, drawn into +conformity. To clear up this mysterious conduct, we must observe that +Cartwright seems to have graduated his political ambition to the +degree the government touched of weakness or of strength; and besides, +he was now growing prudent as he was growing rich. For it seems that +he who was for scrambling for the Church revenues, while telling the +people of the Apostles, _silver and gold they had none_, was himself +"feeding too fair and fat" for the meagre groaning state of a +pretended reformation. He had early in life studied that part of the +law by which he had learned the marketable price of landed property; +and as the cask still retains its old flavour, this despiser of +bishops was still making the best interest for his money by +land-jobbing.[412] + +One of the memorable effects of this attempted innovation was that +continued stream of libels which ran throughout the nation, under the +portentous name of Martin Mar-Prelate.[413] This extraordinary +personage, in his collective form, for he is to be splitted into more +than one, long terrified Church and State. He walked about the kingdom +invisibly, dropping here a libel, and there a proclamation for +sedition; but wherever _Martinism_ was found, _Martin_ was not. He +prided himself in what he calls "Pistling the Bishops." Sometimes he +hints to his pursuers how they may catch him, for he prints, "within +two furlongs of a bouncing priest," or "in Europe;" while he acquaints +his friends, who were so often uneasy for his safety, that "he has +neither wife nor child," and prays "they may not be anxious for him, +for he wishes that his head might not go to the grave in peace."--"I +come, with the rope about my neck, to save you, howsoever it goeth +with me." His press is interrupted, he is silent, and Lambeth seems to +breathe in peace. But he has "a son; nay, five hundred sons!" and +_Martin Junior_ starts up! He inquires + +"Where his father is; he who had studied the art of pistle-making? Why +has he been tongue-tied these four or five months? Good Nuncles (the +bishops), have you closely murthered the gentleman in some of your +prisons? Have you choaked him with a fat prebend or two? I trow my +father will swallow down no such pills, for he would thus soon purge +away all the conscience he hath. Do you mean to have the keeping of +him? What need that? he hath five hundred sons in the land. My father +would be sorry to put you to any such cost as you intend to be at with +him. A meaner house, and less strength than the Tower, the Fleet, or +Newgate, would serve him well enough. He is not of that ambitious vein +that many of his brethren the bishops are, in seeking for more costly +houses than even his father built for him." + +This same "Martin Junior," who, though he is but young, as he says, +"has a pretty smattering gift in this pistle-making; and I fear, in a +while, I shall take a pride in it." He had picked up beside a bush, +where it had dropped from somebody, an imperfect paper of his +father's:-- + +"Theses Martinianæ--set forth as an after-birth of the noble gentleman +himselfe, by a pretty stripling of his, Martin Junior, and dedicated +by him to his good nuncka, Maister John Cankerbury (i.e. Canterbury). +Printed without a sly privilege of the Cater Caps"--(i.e. the square +caps the bishops wore). + +But another of these five hundred sons, who declares himself to be his +"reverend and elder brother, heir to the renowned _Martin Mar-Prelate_ +the Great," publishes + +"The just Censure and Reproof of Martin Junior; where, lest the +Springall should be utterly discouraged in his good meaning, you shall +finde that he is not bereaved of his due commendation." + +_Martin Senior_, after finding fault with _Martin Junior_ for "his +rash and indiscreet headiness," notwithstanding agrees with everything +he had said. He confirms all, and cheers him; but charges him, + +"Should he meet their father in the street, never to ask his blessing, +but walke smoothly and circumspectly; and if anie offer to talk with +thee of Martin, talke thou straite of the voyage into Portugal, or of +the happie death of the Duke of Guise, or some such accident; but +meddle not with thy father. Only, if thou have gathered anie thing in +visitation for thy father, intreate him to signify, in some secret +printed pistle, where a will have it lefte. I feare least some of us +should fall into John Canterburie's hand." + +Such were the mysterious personages who, for a long time, haunted the +palaces of the bishops and the vicarages of the clergy, disappearing +at the moment they were suddenly perceived to be near. Their slanders +were not only coarse buffooneries, but the hottest effusions of +hatred, with an unparalleled invective of nicknames.[414] Levelled at +the bishops, even the natural defects, the personal infirmities, the +domestic privacies, much more the tyranny, of these now "petty popes," +now "bouncing priests," now "terrible priests," were the inexhaustible +subjects of these popular invectives.[415] Those "pillars of the +State" were now called "its caterpillars;" and the inferior clergy, +who perhaps were not always friendly to their superiors, yet dreaded +this new race of innovators, were distinguished as "halting neutrals." +These invectives were well farced for the gross taste of the +multitude; and even the jargon of the lowest of the populace affected, +and perhaps the coarse malignity of two _cobblers_ who were connected +with the party, often enlivened the satirical page. The _Martin +Mar-Prelate_ productions are not, however, effusions of genius; they +were addressed to the coarser passions of mankind, their hatred and +contempt. The authors were grave men, but who affected to gain over +the populace with a popular familiarity.[416] In vain the startled +bishops remonstrated: they were supposed to be criminals, and were +little attended to as their own advocates. Besides, they were solemn +admonishers, and the mob are composed of laughers and scorners. + +The Court-party did not succeed more happily when they persecuted +Martin, broke up his presses, and imprisoned his assistants. Never +did sedition travel so fast, nor conceal itself so closely; for they +employed a moveable press; and, as soon as it was surmised that Martin +was in Surrey, it was found he was removed to Northamptonshire, while +the next account came that he was showing his head in Warwickshire. +And long they invisibly conveyed themselves, till in Lancashire the +snake was scotched by the Earl of Derby, with all its little +brood.[417] + +These pamphlets were "speedily dispersed and greedily read," not only +by the people; they had readers and even patrons among persons of +condition. They were found in the corners of chambers at Court; and +when a prohibition issued that no person should carry about them any +of the Mar-Prelate pamphlets on pain of punishment, the Earl of Essex +observed to the Queen, "What then is to become of me?" drawing one of +these pamphlets out of his bosom, and presenting it to her. + +The Martinists were better counteracted by the Wits, in some +extraordinary effusions, prodigal of humour and invective Wit and +raillery were happily exercised against these masked divines: for the +gaiety of the Wits was not foreign to their feelings. The Mar-Prelates +showed merry faces, but it was with a sardonic grin they had swallowed +the convulsing herb; they horridly laughed against their will--at +bottom all was gloom and despair. The extraordinary style of their +pamphlets, concocted in the basest language of the populace, might +have originated less from design than from the impotence of the +writers. Grave and learned persons have often found to their cost that +wit and humour must spring from the soil; no art of man can plant them +there. With such, this play and grace of the intellect can never be +the movements of their nature, but its convulsions. + +Father Martin and his two sons received "A sound boxe of the eare," in +"a pistle" to "the father and the two sonnes, Huffe, Ruffe, and +Snuffe, the three tame ruffians of the Church, who take pepper in the +nose because they cannot marre prelates grating," when they once met +with an adversary who openly declared-- + +"I profess rayling, and think it is as good a cudgel for a Martin as a +stone for a dogge, or a whip for an ape, or poison for a rat. Who +would curry an ass with an ivory comb? Give this beast thistles for +provender. I doe but yet angle with a silken flie, to see whether +Martins will nibble; and if I see that, why then I have wormes for the +nonce, and will give them line enough, like a trowte, till they +swallow both hooke and line, and then, Martin, beware your gills, for +I'll make you daunce at the pole's end." + +"Fill thy answer as full of lies as of lines, swell like a toade, hiss +like an adder, bite like a dog, and chatter like a monkey, my pen is +prepared, and my mind; and if you chaunce to find anie worse words +than you broughte, let them be put in your dad's dictionarie. +Farewell, and be hanged; and I pray God you fare no worse.--Yours at +an hour's warning." + +This was the proper way to reply to such writers, by driving them out +of the field with their own implements of warfare. "Pasquill of +England"[418] admirably observed of the papers of this faction--"Doubt +not but that the same reckoning in the ende will be made of you which +your favourers commonly make of their old shooes--when they are past +wearing, they barter them awaie for newe broomes, or carrie them forth +to the dunghill and leave them there." The writers of these Martin +Mar-Prelate books have been tolerably ascertained,[419] considering the +secrecy with which they were printed--sometimes at night, sometimes hid +in cellars, and never long in one place: besides the artifices used in +their dispersion, by motley personages, held together by an invisible +chain of confederacy. Conspiracy, like other misery, "acquaints a +man with strange bedfellows;" and the present confederacy combined +persons of the most various descriptions, and perhaps of very opposite +views. I find men of learning, and of rigid lives, intimately +associated with dissipated, or with too ardently-tempered youths; +connected, too, with maniacs, whose lunacy had taken a revolutionary +turn; and men of rank combining with old women and cobblers.[420] +Such are the party-coloured apostles of insurrection! and thus their +honourable and dishonourable motives lie so blended together, that the +historian cannot separate them. At the moment the haughty spirit of +a conspirator is striking at the head of established authority, he +is himself crouching to the basest intimates; and to escape often +from an ideal degradation, he can bear with a real one. + +Of the heads of this party, I shall notice Penry and Udall, two +self-devoted victims to Nonconformity. The most active was John Penry, +or _Ap Henry_. He exulted that "he was born and bred in the mountains +of Wales:" he had, however, studied at both our Universities. He had +all the heat of his soil and of his party. He "wished that his head +might not go down to the grave in peace," and was just the man to +obtain his purpose. When he and his papers were at length seized, +Penry pleaded that he could not be tried for sedition, professing +unbounded loyalty to the Queen: such is the usual plea of even violent +Reformers. Yet how could Elizabeth be the sovereign, unless she +adopted the mode of government planned by these Reformers? In defence +of his papers, he declared that they were only the private memorandums +of a scholar, in which, during his wanderings about the kingdom, he +had collected all the objections he had heard against the government. +Yet these, though written down, might not be his own. He observed that +they were not even English, nor intelligible to his accusers; but a +few Welshisms could not save Ap Henry; and the judge, assuming the +hardy position, that _scribere est agere_, the author found more +honour conferred on his MSS. than his genius cared to receive. It was +this very principle which proved so fatal, at a later period, to a +more elevated politician than Penry; yet Algernon Sidney, perhaps, +possessed not a spirit more Roman.[421] State necessity claimed +another victim; and this ardent young man, whose execution had been at +first unexpectedly postponed, was suddenly hurried from his dinner to +a temporary gallows; a circumstance marked by its cruelty, but +designed to prevent an expected tumult.[422] + +Contrasted with this fiery Mar-Prelate was another, the learned +subtile John Udall. His was the spirit which dared to do all that +Penry had dared, yet conducting himself in the heat of action with the +tempered wariness of age: "If they silence me as a minister," said he, +"it will allow me leisure to write; and then I will give the bishops +such a blow as shall make their hearts ache." It was agreed among the +party neither to deny, or to confess, writing any of their books, lest +among the suspected the real author might thus be discovered, or +forced solemnly to deny his own work; and when the Bishop of +Rochester, to catch Udall by surprise, suddenly said, "Let me ask you +a question concerning your book," the wary Udall replied, "It is not +yet proved to be mine!" He adroitly explained away the offending +passages the lawyers picked out of his book, and in a contest between +him and the judge, not only repelled him with his own arms, but when +his lordship would have wrestled on points of divinity, Udall expertly +perplexed the lawyer by showing he had committed an anachronism of +four hundred years! He was equally acute with the witnesses; for when +one deposed that he had seen a catalogue of Udall's library, in which +was inserted "The Demonstration of Discipline," the anonymous book for +which Udall was prosecuted; with great ingenuity he observed that this +was rather an argument that he was not the author, for "scholars use +not to put their own books in the catalogue of those they have in +their study." We observe with astonishment the tyrannical decrees of +our courts of justice, which lasted till the happy Revolution. The +bench was as depraved in their notions of the rights of the subject in +the reign of Elizabeth as in those of Charles II. and James II. The +Court refused to hear Udall's witnesses, on this strange principle, +that "witnesses in favour of the prisoner were against the queen!" To +which Udall replied, "It is for the queen to hear all things when the +life of any of her subjects is in question." The criminal felt what +was just more than his judges; and yet the judge, though to be +reprobated for his mode, calling so learned a man "Sirrah!" was right +in the thing, when he declared that "you would bring the queen and the +crown under your girdles." It is remarkable that Udall repeatedly +employed that expression which Algernon Sidney left as his last legacy +to the people, when he told them he was about to die for "that _Old +Cause_ in which I was from my youth engaged." Udall perpetually +insisted on "_The Cause_." This was a term which served at least for a +watchword: it rallied the scattered members of the republican party. +The precision of the expression might have been difficult to +ascertain; and, perhaps, like every popular expedient, varied with +"existing circumstances." I did not, however, know it had so remote an +origin as in the reign of Elizabeth; and suspect it may still be +freshened up, and varnished over, for any present occasion. + +The last stroke for Udall's character is the history of his +condemnation. He suffered the cruel mockery of a pardon granted +conditionally, by the intercession of the Scottish monarch but never +signed by the Queen--and Udall mouldered away the remnant of his days +in a rigid imprisonment.[423] Cartwright and Travers, the chief movers +of this faction, retreated with haste and caution from the victims +they had conducted to the place of execution, while they themselves +sunk into a quiet forgetfulness and selfish repose. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [402] The Church History by Dodd, a Catholic, fills three vols. folio: + it is very rare and curious. Much of our own domestic history + is interwoven in that of the fugitive papists, and the + materials of this work are frequently drawn from their own + archives, preserved in their seminaries at Douay, Valladolid, + &c., which have not been accessible to Protestant writers. + Here I discovered a copious nomenclature of eminent persons, + and many literary men, with many unknown facts, both of a + private and public nature. It is useful, at times, to know + whether an English author was a Catholic. + + [403] I refer the reader to Selden's "Table Talk" for many admirable + ideas on "Bishops." That enlightened genius, who was no friend + to the ecclesiastical temporal power, acknowledges the + absolute necessity of this order in a great government. The + preservers of our literature and our morals they ought to be, + and many have been. When the political reformers ejected the + bishops out of the house, what did they gain? a more vulgar + prating race, but even more lordly! Selden says--"The bishops + being put out of the house, whom will they lay the fault upon + now? When the dog is beat out of the room, where will they lay + the stink?" + + [404] The freedom of the press hardly subsisted in Elizabeth's + reign; and yet libels abounded! A clear demonstration that + nothing is really gained by those violent suppressions and + expurgatory indexes which power in its usurpation may + enforce. At a time when they did not dare even to publish + the titles of such libels, yet were they spread about, and + even hoarded. The most ancient catalogue of our vernacular + literature is that by Andrew Maunsell, published in 1595. + It consists of Divinity, Mathematics, Medicine, &c.; but + the third part which he promised, and which to us would + have been the most interesting, of "Rhetoric, History, + Poetry, and Policy," never appeared. In the Preface, such was + the temper of the times, and of Elizabeth, we discover that + he has deprived us of a catalogue of the works alluded to in + our text, for he thus distinctly points at them:--"The books + written by the _fugitive papistes_, as also those that are + _written against the present government_ (meaning those of + the Puritans), I doe not think meete for me to meddle + withall." In one part of his catalogue, however, he contrived + to insert the following passage; the burden of the song seems + to have been chorused by the ear of our cautious Maunsell. + He is noticing a Pierce Plowman in prose. "I did not see the + beginning of this booke, but it ended thus:-- + + "God save the king, and speed the plough + And send the _prelats_ care inough, + Inough, inough, inough."--p. 80. + + Few of our native productions are so rare as the _Martin + Mar-Prelate_ publications. I have not found them in the public + repositories of our national literature. There they have been + probably rejected with indignity, though their answerers have + been preserved; yet even these are almost of equal rarity + and price. They were rejected in times less enlightened than + the present. In a national library every book deserves + preservation. By the rejection of these satires, however + absurd or infamous, we have lost a link in the great chain + of our National Literature and History. [Since the above was + written, many have been added to our library; and the Rev. + William Maskell, M.A., has published his "History of the + Martin Mar-Prelate Controversy." It is a most careful + summary of the writings and proceedings of all connected with + this important event, and is worthy the attentive perusal of + such as desire accurate information in this chapter of our + Church history.] + + [405] We know them by the name of Puritans, a nickname obtained by + their affecting superior sanctity; but I find them often + distinguished by the more humble appellative of Precisians. As + men do not leap up, but climb on rocks, it is probable they + were only _precise_ before they were _pure_. A satirist of + their day, in "Rythmes against Martin Marre-Prelate," melts + their attributes into one verse:-- + + "The sacred sect, and perfect _pure precise_." + + A more laughing satirist, "Pasquill of England to Martin + Junior," persists in calling them Puritans, _a pruritu!_ for + their perpetual itching, or a desire to do something. + Elizabeth herself only considered them as "a troublesome sort + of people:" even that great politician could not detect the + political monster in a mere chrysalis of reform. I find, + however, in a poet of the Elizabethan age, an evident change + in the public feeling respecting the _Puritans_, who being + always most active when the government was most in trouble, + their political views were discovered. Warner, in his + "Albion's England," describes them:-- + + "If ever England will in aught prevent her own mishap, + Against these Skommes (no terme too gross) let England shut + the gap; + With giddie heads-- + Their countrie's foes they helpt, and most their country + harm'd. + If _Hypocrites_ why _Puritaines_ we term, be asked, in + breefe, + 'Tis but an _ironised terme_: good-fellow so spells + theefe!" + + The gentle-humoured FULLER, in his "Church History," felt a + tenderness for the name of _Puritan_, which, after the mad + follies they had played during the Commonwealth, was then held + in abhorrence. He could not venture to laud the good men of + that party, without employing a new term to conceal the odium. + In noticing, under the date of 1563, that the bishops urged + the clergy of their dioceses to press uniformity, &c., he + adds--"Such as refused were branded with the name of + Puritans--a name which in this nation began in this year, + subject to several senses, and various in the acceptions. + _Puritan_ was taken for the opposers of hierarchy and church + service, as resenting of superstition. But the nickname was + quickly improved by profane mouths to abuse pious persons. We + will decline the word to prevent exceptions, which, if + casually slipping from our pen, the reader knoweth that only + _nonconformists_ are intended," lib. ix. p. 76. Fuller, + however, divided them into classes--"the mild and moderate, + and the fierce and fiery." HEYLIN, in his "History of the + Presbyterians," blackens them as so many political devils; and + NEALE, in his "History of the Puritans," blanches them into a + sweet and almond whiteness. + + Let us be thankful to these PURITANS for a political lesson. + They began their quarrels on the most indifferent matters. + They raised disturbances about the "Romish Rags," by which + they described the decent surplice as well as the splendid + scarlet chimere[407] thrown over the white linen rochet, + with the square cap worn by the bishops. The scarlet robe, + to please their sullen fancy, was changed into black satin; + but these men soon resolved to deprive the bishops of more + than a scarlet robe. The affected niceties of these + PRECISIANS, dismembering our images, and scratching at our + paintings, disturbed the uniformity of the religious + service. A clergyman in a surplice was turned out of the + church. Some wore square caps, some round, some abhorred all + caps. The communion-table placed in the East was considered + as an idolatrous altar, and was now dragged into the + middle of the church, where, to show their contempt, it + was always made the filthiest seat in the church. They used + to kneel at the sacrament; now they would sit, because that + was a proper attitude for a supper; then they would not + sit, but stand: at length they tossed the elements about, + because the bread was wafers, and not from a loaf. Among + their _preciseness_ was a qualm at baptism: the water was to + be taken from a basin, and not from a fount; then they + would not name their children, or if they did, they would + neither have Grecian, nor Roman, nor Saxon names, but Hebrew + ones, which they ludicrously translated into English, and + which, as Heylin observes, "many of them when they came of + age were ashamed to own"--such as "Accepted, Ashes, + Fight-the-good-Fight-of-Faith, Joy-again, Kill-sin, &c." + + Who could have foreseen that some pious men quarrelling about + the square caps and the rochets of bishops should at length + attack bishops themselves; and, by an easy transition, passing + from bishops to kings, finally close in levellers! + + [406] The origin of the controversy may be fixed about 1588. "A far + less easy task," says the Rev. Mr. Maskell, "is it to guess at + the authors. The tracts on the Mar-Prelate side have been + usually attributed to Penry, Throgmorton, Udal, and Fenner. + Very considerable information may be obtained about these + writers in Wood's 'Athenæ,' art. _Penry_; in Collier, Strype, + and Herbert's edition of 'Arnes,' to whom I would refer. After + a careful examination of these and other authorities on the + subject, the question remains, in my judgment, as obscure as + before; and I think that it is very far from clear that either + one of the three last-named was actually concerned in the + authorship of any of the pamphlets."--ED. + + [407] So Heylin writes the word; but in the "Rythmes against Martin," + a contemporary production, the term is _Chiver_. It is not in + Cotgrave. + + [408] In the "Just Censure and Reproof of Martin Junior" (circæ 1589), + we are told: "There is Cartwright, too, at Warwick; he hath + got him such a company of disciples, both of the worshipfull + and other of the poorer sort, as wee have no cause to thank + him. Never tell me that he is too grave to trouble himself + with Martin's conceits. Cartwright seeks the peace of the + Church no otherwise than his platform may stand." He was + accused before the commissioners in 1590 of knowing who wrote + and printed these squibs, which he did not deny.--ED. + + [409] I give a remarkable extract from the writings of Cartwright. + It will prove two points. First, that the _religion_ of + those men became a cover for a _political_ design; which was + _to raise the ecclesiastical above the civil power_. Just + the reverse of Hobbes's after scheme; but while theorists + thus differ and seem to refute one another, they in reality + work for an identical purpose. Secondly, it will show the not + uncommon absurdity of man; while these nonconformists were + affecting to annihilate the hierarchy of England as a + remains of the Romish supremacy, they themselves were + designing one according to their own fresher scheme. It + was to be a state or republic of Presbyters, in which _all + Sovereigns_ were to hold themselves, to use their style, as + "Nourisses, or servants under the Church; the Sovereigns + were to be as subjects; they were to vail their sceptres and + to offer their crowns as the prophet speaketh, _to lick the + dust of the feet of the Church_." These are Cartwright's + words, in his "Defence of the Admonition." But he is still + bolder, in a joint production with _Travers_. He insists + that "the _Monarchs of the World_ should give up their + _sceptres and crowns_ unto him (Jesus Christ) who is + _represented by the Officers of the Church_." See "A Full + and Plain Declaration of Ecclesiastical Discipline," p. + 185. One would imagine he was a disguised Jesuit, and an + advocate for the Pope's supremacy. But observe how these + saintly Republicans would govern the State. Cartwright is + explicit, and very ingenious. "The world is now deceived + that thinketh that the _Church_ must be framed according to + the _Commonwealth_, and the _Church Government_ according to + the _Civil Government_, which is as much as to say, as if + a man should fashion his house according to his hangings; + whereas, indeed, it is clean contrary. That as the hangings + are made fit for the house, so the Commonwealth must be made + to agree with the Church, and the government thereof with her + government; for, as the house is before the hangings, + therefore the hangings, which come after, must be framed to + the house, which was before; so the Church being before there + was a commonwealth, and the commonwealth coming after, must be + fashioned and made suitable to the Church; otherwise, God is + made to give place to men, heaven to earth."--CARTWRIGHT'S + _Defence of the Admonition_, p. 181. + + Warburton's "Alliance between Church and State," which was in + his time considered as a hardy paradox, is mawkish in its + pretensions, compared with this sacerdotal republic. It is not + wonderful that the wisest of our Sovereigns, that great + politician Elizabeth, should have punished with death + these democrats: but it is wonderful to discover that these + inveterate enemies to the Church of Rome were only trying to + transfer its absolute power into their own hands! They wanted + to turn the Church into a democracy. They fascinated the + people by telling them that there would be no beggars were + there no bishops; that every man would be a governor by + setting up a Presbytery. From the Church, I repeat, it is + scarcely a single step to the Cabinet. Yet the early + Puritans come down to us as persecuted saints. Doubtless, + there were a few honest saints among them; but they were as + mad politicians as their race afterwards proved to be, to + whom they left so many fatal legacies. Cartwright uses the + very language a certain cast of political reformers have + recently done. He declares "An establishment may be made + without the magistrate;" and told the people that "if every + hair of their head was a life, it ought to be offered for + such a cause." Another of this faction is for "registering + the names of the fittest and hottest brethren without + lingering for Parliament;" and another exults that "there are + a hundred thousand hands ready." Another, that "we may + overthrow the bishops and all the government in one day." Such + was the style, and such the confidence in the plans which the + lowest orders of revolutionists promulgated during their + transient exhibition in this country. More in this strain + may be found in "Maddox's Vindication Against Neale," the + advocate for the Puritans, p. 255; and in an admirable + letter of that great politician, Sir Francis Walsingham, who, + with many others of the ministers of Elizabeth, was a favourer + of the Puritans, till he detected their secret object to + subvert the government. This letter is preserved in + "Collier's Eccl. Hist." vol. ii. 607. They had begun to + divide the whole country into _classes_, provincial synods, + &c. They kept registers, which recorded all the heads of their + debates, to be finally transmitted to the secret head of the + _Classis_ of Warwick, where Cartwright governed as _the + perpetual moderator_! _Heylin's Hist. of Presbyt._ p. 277. + These violent advocates for the freedom of the press had, + however, an evident intention to monopolise it; for they + decreed that "no book should be put in print but by consent of + the _Classes_."--Sir G. PAUL'S _Life of Whitgift_, p. 65. The + very Star-Chamber they justly protested against, they were + for raising among themselves! + + [410] Under the denomination of _Barrowists_ and _Brownists_. I find + Sir Walter Raleigh declaring, in the House of Commons, on a + motion for reducing disloyal subjects, that "they are worthy + to be rooted out of a Commonwealth." He is alarmed at the + danger, "for it is to be feared that men not guilty will be + included in the law about to be passed. I am sorry for it. I + am afraid there is near twenty thousand of them in England; + and when they be gone (that is, expelled) who shall maintain + their wives and children?"--SIR SIMONDS D'EWES' _Journal_, p. + 517. + + [411] The controversies of Whitgift and Cartwright were of a nature + which could never close, for toleration was a notion which + never occurred to either. These rivals from early days wrote + with such bitterness against each other, that at length it + produced mutual reproaches. Whitgift complains to Cartwright: + "If you were writing against the veriest Papist, or the + ignorantest dolt, you could not be more spiteful and + malicious." And Cartwright replies: "If peace had been so + precious unto you as you pretend, you would not have brought + so many hard words and bitter reproaches, as it were sticks + and coals, to double and treble the heat of contention." + + After this it is curious, even to those accustomed to such + speculations, to observe some men changing with the times, and + furious rivals converted into brothers. Whitgift, whom + Elizabeth, as a mark of her favour, called "her black + husband," soliciting Cartwright's pardon from the Queen; and + the proud Presbyter Cartwright styling Whitgift his Lord the + Archbishop's Grace of Canterbury, and visiting him! + + [412] Sir George Paul, a contemporary, attributes his wealth "to the + benevolence and bounty of his followers." Dr. Sutcliffe, one + of his adversaries, sharply upbraids him, that "in the + persecution he perpetually complained of, he was grown rich." + A Puritan advocate reproves Dr. Sutcliffe for always carping + at Cartwright's purchases:--"Why may not Cartwright sell the + lands he had from his father, and buy others with the money, + as well as some of the bishops, who by bribery, simony, + extortion, racking of rents, wasting of woods, and such like + stratagems, wax rich, and purchase great lordships for their + posterity?" + + To this Sutcliffe replied: + + "I do not carpe alway, no, nor once, at Master Cartwright's + purchase. I hinder him not; I envy him not. Only thus much I + must tell him, that Thomas Cartwright, a man that hath more + landes of his own in possession than any bishop that I know, + and that fareth daintily every day, and feedeth fayre and + fatte, and lyeth as soft as any tenderling of that brood, and + hath wonne much wealth in short time, and will leave more to + his posterity than any bishop, should not cry out either of + persecution or of excess of bishop's livinges."--SUTCLIFFE'S + _Answer to Certain Calumnious Petitions._ + + [413] "The author of these libels," says Bishop Cooper, in his + "Admonition to the People of England," 1589, "calleth + himself by a feigned name, _Martin Mar-Prelate_, a very + fit name undoubtedly. But if this outrageous spirit of + boldness be not stopped speedily, I fear he will prove + himself to be, not only _Mar-Prelate_, but Mar-Prince, + Mar-State, Mar-Law, Mar-Magistrate, and altogether, until he + bring it to an Anabaptistical equality and community."--ED. + + [414] Cartwright approved of them, and well knew the concealed + writers, who frequently consulted him: this appears by Sir G. + Paul's "Life of Whitgift," p. 65. Being asked his opinion of + such books, he said, that "since the bishops, and others there + touched, would not amend by grave books, it was therefore meet + they should be dealt withal to their farther reproach; and + that some books must be _earnest_, some _more mild and + temperate_, whereby they may be both of the spirit of Elias + and Eliseus;" the one the great mocker, the other the more + solemn reprover. It must be confessed Cartwright here + discovers a deep knowledge of human nature. He knew the power + of ridicule and of invective. At a later day, a writer of the + same stamp, in "The Second Wash, or the _Moore_ Scoured _once + more_," (written against Dr. Henry More, the Platonist), in + defence of that vocabulary of _names_ which he has poured on + More, asserts it is a practice allowed by the high authority + of Christ himself. I transcribe the curious passage:--"It is + the practice of Christ himself to character _men_ by those + _things_ to which they assimilate. Thus hath he called _Herod_ + a _fox_; _Judas_ a _devil_; _false pastors_ he calls _wolves_; + the _buyers and sellers_, _theeves_; and those Hebrew Puritans + the _Pharisees_, _hypocrites_. This rule and justice of his + Master St. Paul hath well observed, and he acts freely + thereby; for when he reproves the Cretians, he makes use of + that ignominious proverb, _Evil beasts and slow bellies_. When + the high priest commanded the Jews to _smite_ him on the face, + he replied to him, not without some bitterness, _God shall + smite thee, thou white wall_. I cite not these places to + justify an injurious spleen, but to argue the liberty of the + truth."--_The Second Wash, or the +Moore+ Scoured once_ more. + 1651. P. 8. + + [415] One of their works is "A Dialogue, wherein is laid open the + tyrannical dealing of L. Bishopps against God's children." It + is full of scurrilous stories, probably brought together by + two active cobblers who were so useful to their junto. Yet the + bishops of that day were not of dissolute manners; and the + accusations are such, that it only proves their willingness to + raise charges against them. Of one bishop they tell us, that + after declaring he was poor, and what expenses he had been at, + as Paul's church could bear witness, shortly after hanged four + of his servants for having robbed him of a considerable sum. + Of another, who cut down all the woods at Hampstead, till the + towns-women "fell a swaddling of his men," and so saved + Hampstead by their resolution. But when _Martin_ would give a + proof that the Bishop of London was one of the bishops of the + devil, in his "Pistle to the terrible priests," he tells this + story:--"When the bishop throws his bowl (as he useth it + commonly upon the Sabbath-day), he runnes after it; and if it + be too hard, he cries _Rub! rub! rub! the diuel goe with + thee!_ and he goeth himself with it; so that by these words he + names himself the Bishop of the Divel, and by his tirannical + practice prooveth himselfe to be." He tells, too, of a parson + well known, who, being in the pulpit, and "hearing his dog + cry, he out with this text: 'Why, how now, hoe! can you not + let my dog alone there? Come, Springe! come, Springe!' and + whistled the dog to the pulpit." One of their chief objects of + attack was Cooper, Bishop of Lincoln, a laborious student, but + married to a dissolute woman, whom the University of Oxford + offered to separate from him: but he said he knew his + infirmity, and could not live without his wife, and was tender + on the point of divorce. He had a greater misfortune than even + this loose woman about him--his _name_ could be punned on; and + this bishop may be placed among that unlucky class of authors + who have fallen victims to their _names_. Shenstone meant more + than he expressed, when he thanked God that he could not be + punned on. Mar-Prelate, besides many cruel hits at Bishop + Cooper's wife, was now always "making the _Cooper's hoops to + flye off_, and the bishop's tubs to leake out." In "The + Protestatyon of Martin Marprelat," where he tells of two + bishops, "who so contended in throwing down elmes, as if the + wager had bene whether of them should most have impoverished + their bishopricks. Yet I blame not _Mar-Elme_ so much as + Cooper for this fact, because it is no less given him by his + _name_ to spoil elmes, than it is allowed him by the secret + judgment of God to mar the Church. A man of _Cooper's_ age and + occupation, so wel seene in that trade, might easily knowe + that tubs made of green timber must needs leak out; and yet I + do not so greatly marvel; for he that makes no conscience to + be a deceiver in the building of the churche, will not stick + for his game to be a _deceitfull workeman in making of + tubbs_."--p. 19. The author of the books against Bishop Cooper + is said to have been Job Throckmorton, a learned man, + affecting raillery and humour to court the mob. + + Such was the strain of ribaldry and malice which Martin + Mar-Prelate indulged, and by which he obtained full possession + of the minds of the people for a considerable time. His libels + were translated, and have been often quoted by the Roman + Catholics abroad and at home for their particular purposes, + just as the revolutionary publications in this country have + been concluded abroad to be the general sentiments of the + people of England; and thus our factions always will serve the + interests of our enemies. Martin seems to have written little + verse; but there is one epigram worth preserving for its + bitterness. + + Martin Senior, in his "Reproofe of Martin Junior," complains + that "his younger brother has not taken a little paines in + ryming with _Mar-Martin_ (one of their poetical antagonists), + that the Cater-Caps may know how the meanest of my father's + sonnes is able to answeare them both at blunt and sharpe." He + then gives his younger brother a specimen of what he is + hereafter to do. He attributes the satire of _Mar-Martin_ to + Dr. Bridges, Dean of Sarum, and John Whitgift, Archbishop of + Canterbury. + + "The first Rising, Generation, and Original of _Mar-Martin_. + + "From Sarum came a goos's egg, + With specks and spots bepatched; + A priest of Lambeth coucht thereon, + Thus was _Mar-Martin_ hatched. + + Whence hath _Mar-Martin_ all his wit, + But from that egge of Sarum? + The rest comes all from great Sir John, + Who rings us all this 'larum. + + What can the cockatrice hatch up + But serpents like himselfe? + What sees the ape within the glasse + But a deformed elfe? + + Then must _Mar-Martin_ have some smell + Of forge, or else of fire: + A sotte in wit, a beaste in minde, + For so was damme and sire." + + [416] It would, however, appear that these revolutionary publications + reached the universities, and probably fermented "the green + heads" of our students, as the following grave admonition + directed to them evidently proves:-- + + "Anti-Martinus sive monitio cujusdam Londinensis ad + adolescentes vtrimque academiæ contra personatum quendam + rabulam qui se Anglicè Martin Marprelat, &c. Londini, 1589, + 4o." + + A popular favourite as he was, yet even Martin, _in propria + persona_, acknowledges that his manner was not approved of by + _either party_. His "Theses Martinianæ" opens thus: "I see my + doings and my course misliked of many, both the good and the + bad; though also I have favourers of both sortes. The bishops + and their traine, though they stumble at the cause, yet + especially mislike my maner of writing. Those whom foolishly + men call _Puritanes_, like of the matter I have handled, but + the forme they cannot brooke. So that herein I have them both + for mine adversaries. But now what if I should take the course + in certain theses or conclusions, without _inveighing_ against + either _person_ or _cause_." This was probably written after + Martin had swallowed some of his own sauce, or taken his "Pap + (offered to him) with a Hatchet," as one of the most + celebrated government pamphlets is entitled. But these "Theses + Martinianæ," without either scurrility or invective are the + dullest things imaginable; abstract propositions were not + palatable to the multitude; and then it was, after the trial + had been made, that _Martin Junior and Senior_ attempted to + revive the spirit of the old gentleman; but if sedition has + its progress, it has also its decline; and if it could not + strike its blow when strongest, it only puled and made + grimaces, prognostics of weakness and dissolution. This is + admirably touched in "Pappe with an Hatchet." "Now Old Martin + appeared, with a wit worn into the socket, twingling and + pinking like the snuffe of a candle; _quantum mutatus ab + illo_, how unlike the knave he was before, not for malice, but + for sharpnesse! The hogshead was even come to the hauncing, + and nothing could be drawne from him but dregs; yet the emptie + caske sounds lowder than when it was full, and protests more + in his waining than he could performe in his waxing. I drew + neere the sillie soul, whom I found quivering in two sheets of + protestation paper (alluding to the work mentioned here in the + following note). O how meager and leane he looked, so crest + falne that his combe hung downe to his bill; and had I not + been sure it was the picture of Envie, I should have sworn it + had been the image of Death: so like the verie anatomie of + Mischief, that one might see through all the ribbes of his + conscience." + + In another rare pamphlet from the same school, "Pasquill of + England to Martin Junior, in a countercuffe given to Martin + Junior," he humorously threatens to write "The Owle's + Almanack, wherein your night labours be set down;" and "some + fruitful volumes of 'The Lives of the Saints,' which, maugre + your father's five hundred sons, shall be printed," with + "hays, jiggs, and roundelays, and madrigals, serving for + epitaphs for his father's hearse." + + [417] Some of these works still bear evident marks that the + "pursuivants" were hunting the printers. "The Protestatyon + of Martin Mar-Prelate, wherein, notwithstanding the + surprising of the printer, he maketh it knowne vnto the + world that he feareth neither proud priest, tirannous prelate, + nor godlesse cater-cap; but defieth all the race of them," + including "a challenge" to meet them personally; was + probably one of their latest efforts. The printing and the + orthography show all the imperfections of that haste in + which they were forced to print this work. As they lost their + strength, they were getting more venomous. Among the little + Martins disturbed in the hour of parturition, but already + christened, there were: "Episto Mastix;" "The Lives and + Doings of English Popes;" "Itinerarium, or Visitations;" + "Lambethisms." The "Itinerary" was a survey of every + clergyman of England! and served as a model to a similar + work, which appeared during the time of the Commonwealth. The + "Lambethisms" were secrets divulged by Martin, who, it seems, + had got into the palace itself! Their productions were, + probably, often got up in haste, in utter scorn of the + Horatian precept. [These pamphlets were printed with + difficulty and danger, in secrecy and fear, for they were + rigidly denounced by the government of Elizabeth. Sir George + Paul, in his "Life of Archbishop Whitgift," informs us that + they were printed with a kind of wandering press, which was + first set up at Moulsey, near Kingston-on-Thames, and from + thence conveyed to Fauseley in Northamptonshire, and from + thence to Norton, afterwards to Coventry, from thence to + Welstone in Warwickshire, from which place the letters were + sent to another press in or near Manchester; where by the + means of Henry, Earl of Derby, the press was discovered in + printing "More Work for a Cooper;" an answer to Bishop + Cooper's attack on the party, and a work so rare Mr. Maskell + says, "I believe no copy of it, in any state, remains."] + + As a great curiosity, I preserve a fragment in the _Scottish_ + dialect, which well describes them and their views. The title + is wanting in the only copy I have seen; but its extreme + rarity is not its only value: there is something venerable in + the criticism, and poignant in the political sarcasm. + + "Weil lettred clarkis endite their warkes, quoth Horace, + slow and geasoun, + Bot thou can wise forth buike by buike, at every spurt and + seasoun; + For men of litrature t'endite so fast, them doth not fitte, + Enanter in them, as in thee, their pen outrun thair witte. + The shaftis of foolis are soone shot out, but fro the merke + they stray; + So art thou glibbe to guibe and taunte, but rouest all the + way, + Quhen thou hast parbrackt out thy gorge, and shot out all + thy arrowes, + See that thou hold thy clacke, and hang thy quiver on the + gallows. + Els Clarkis will soon all be Sir Johns, the priestis craft + will empaire, + And Dickin, Jackin, Tom, and Hob, mon sit in Rabbies + chaire. + Let Georg and Nichlas, cheek by jol, bothe still on + cock-horse yode, + That dignitie of Pristis with thee may hau a long abode. + Els Litrature mon spredde her wings, and piercing welkin + bright, + To Heaven, from whence she did first wend, retire and take + her flight." + + [418] "Pasquill of England to Martin Junior, in a countercuffe given + to Martin Junior." + + [419] "Most of the books under Martin's name were composed by John + Penry, John Udall, John Field, and Job Throckmorton, who all + concurred in making Martin. See 'Answer to Throgmorton's + Letter by Sutcliffe,' p. 70; 'More Work for a Cooper;' and + 'Hay any Work for a Cooper;' and 'Some layd open in his + Colours;' were composed by Job Throckmorton."--MS. Note by + Thomas Baker. Udall, indeed, denied having any concern in + these invectives, and professed to disapprove of them. We see + Cartwright, however, of quite a different opinion. In Udall's + library some MS. notes had been seen by a person who + considered them as materials for a Martin Mar-Prelate work in + embryo, which Udall confessed were written "by a friend." All + the writers were silenced ministers; though it is not + improbable that their scandalous tales, and much of the + ribaldry, might have been contributed by their lowest + retainers, those purveyors for the mob, of what they lately + chose to call their "Pig's-meat." + + [420] The execution of Hacket, and condemnation of his party, who had + declared him "King of Europe," so that England was only a + province to him, is noted in our "General History of England." + This was the first serious blow which alarmed the Puritanic + party. Doubtless, this man was a mere maniac, and his + ferocious passions broke out early in life; but, in that day, + they permitted no lunacy as a plea for any politician. + Cartwright held an intercourse with that party, as he had with + Barrow, said to have been a debauched youth; yet we had a sect + of Barrowists; and Robert Brown, the founder of another sect, + named after him _Brownists_; which became very formidable. + This Brown, for his relationship, was patronised by Cecil, + Earl of Burleigh. He was a man of violent passions. He had a + wife, with whom he never lived; and a church, wherein he never + preached, observes the characterising Fuller, who knew him + when Fuller was young. In one of the pamphlets of the time I + have seen, it is mentioned that being reproached with beating + his wife, he replied, "I do not beat Mrs. Brown as my wife, + but as a curst cross old woman." He closed his life in prison; + not for his opinions, but for his brutality to a constable. + The old women and the cobblers connected with these Martin + Mar-Prelates are noticed in the burlesque epitaphs on Martin's + death, supposed to be made by his favourites; a humorous + appendix to "Martin's Monthminde." Few political conspiracies, + whenever religion forms a pretext, is without a woman. One + Dame Lawson is distinguished, changing her "silke for sacke;" + and other names might be added of ladies. Two cobblers are + particularly noticed as some of the industrious purveyors of + sedition through the kingdom--Cliffe, the cobbler, and one + Newman. Cliffe's epitaph on his friend Martin is not without + humour:-- + + "Adieu, both naule and bristles now for euer; + The shoe and soale--ah, woe is me!--must sever. + Bewaile, mine awle, thy sharpest point is gone; + My bristle's broke, and I am left alone. + Farewell old shoes, thumb-stall, and clouting-leather; + Martin is gone, and we undone together." + + Nor is Newman, the other cobbler, less mortified and pathetic. + "The London Corresponding Society" had a more ancient origin + than that sodality was aware. + + "My hope once was, my old shoes should be sticht; + My thumbs ygilt, that were before bepicht: + Now Martin's gone, and laid full deep in ground, + My gentry's lost, before it could be found." + + Among the Martin Mar-Prelate books was one entitled "The + Cobbler's Book." This I have not seen; but these cobblers + probably picked up intelligence for these scandalous + chronicles. The writers, too, condescended to intersperse the + cant dialect of the populace, with which the cobblers + doubtless assisted these learned men, when busied in their + buffoonery. Hence all their vulgar gibberish; the Shibboleth + of the numerous class of their admirers--such as, "O, whose + _tat_?" John _Kan_kerbury, for Canterbury; _Paltri_-politans, + for Metropolitans; _See Villains_, for Civilians; and Doctor + of _Devility_, for Divinity! and more of this stamp. Who could + imagine that the writers of these scurrilities were learned + men, and that their patrons were men of rank! We find two + knights heavily fined for secreting these books in their + cellars. But it is the nature of rebellion to unite the two + extremes; for _want_ stirs the populace to rise, and _excess_ + the higher orders. This idea is admirably expressed in one of + our elder poets:-- + + "Want made them murmur; for the people, who + To get their bread, do wrestle with their fate, + Or those, who in superfluous riot flow, + Soonest rebel. Convulsions in a State, + Like those which natural bodies do oppress, + Rise from repletion, or from emptiness." + ALEYNE'S _Henry VII_. + + [421] The writer of Algernon Sidney's Memoirs could not have known + this fact, or he would not have said that "this was the first + indictment of high treason upon which any man lost his life + for _writing anything without publishing it_."--Edit. 1751, p. + 21. It is curious to have Sidney's own opinion on this point. + We discover this on his trial. He gives it, assuming one of + his own noble principles, not likely to have been allowed by + the wretched Tories of that day. Addressing the villanous + Jeffries, the Lord Chief Justice:--"My Lord, I think it is _a + right of mankind, and 'tis exercised by all studious men_, to + write, in their own closets, what they please, for their own + memory; and no man can be answerable for it, unless they + publish it." Jeffries replied:--"Pray don't go away with _that + right of mankind_, that it is lawful for me to write what I + will in my own closet, so I do not publish it. We must not + endure men to talk thus, that by the _right of nature_ every + man may contrive mischief in his own chamber, and is not to be + punished till he thinks fit to be called to it." Jeffries was + a profligate sophist, but his talents were as great as his + vices. + + [422] Penry's unfinished petition, which he designed to have + presented to the Queen before the trial, is a bold and + energetic composition; his protestation, after the trial, a + pathetic prayer! Neale has preserved both in his "History of + the Puritans." With what simplicity of eloquence he + remonstrates on the temporising government of Elizabeth. He + thus addresses the Queen, under the title of Madam!--"Your + standing is, and has been, by the Gospel: it is little + beholden to you for anything that appears. The practice of + your government shows that if you could have ruled without the + Gospel, it would have been doubtful whether the Gospel + should be established or not; for now that you are established + in your throne by the Gospel, you suffer it to reach no + farther than the end of your sceptre limiteth unto it." Of a + milder, and more melancholy cast, is the touching language, + when the hope of life, but not the firmness of his cause had + deserted him. "I look not to live this week to an end. I + never took myself for a rebuker, much less for a reformer of + states and kingdoms. I never did anything in this cause for + contention, vainglory, or to draw disciples after me. + Great things, in this life, I never sought for: sufficiency I + had, with great outward trouble; but most content I was with + my lot, and content with my untimely death, though I leave + behind me a friendless widow and four infants."--Such is often + the pathetic cry of the simple-hearted, who fall the + victims to the political views of more designing heads. + + We could hardly have imagined that this eloquent and serious + young man was that Martin Mar-Prelate who so long played the + political ape before the populace, with all the mummery of + their low buffoonery, and even mimicking their own idioms. The + populace, however, seems to have been divided in their + opinions respecting the sanity of his politics, as appears by + some ludicrous lines, made on Penry's death, by a northern + rhymer. + + "The Welshman is hanged, + Who at our kirke flanged, + And at the state banged, + And brened are his buks. + And though he be hanged, + Yet he is not wranged; + The deil has him fanged + In his kruked kluks." + WEEVER'S _Funerall Monuments_, p. 56. Edit. 1631. + + [423] Observe what different conclusions are drawn from the same fact + by opposite writers. Heylin, arguing that Udall had been + justly condemned, adds, "the man remained a _living + monument_ of the archbishop's extraordinary goodness to + him in the preserving of that life which by the law he had + forfeited." But Neale, on the same point, considers him as + one who "died for his conscience, and stands upon record + _as a monument_ of the oppression and cruelty of the + government." All this opposition of feeling is of the nature + of party-spirit; but what is more curious in the history of + human nature, is the change of opinion in the same family in + the course of the same generation. The son of this Udall + was as great a zealot for Conformity, and as great a + sufferer for it from his father's party, when they possessed + political power. This son would not submit to their oaths + and covenants, but, with his bedridden wife, was left + unmercifully to perish in the open streets,--WALKER'S + _Sufferings of the Clergy_, part ii. p. 178. + + + + +SUPPLEMENT TO MARTIN MAR-PRELATE. + + +As a literary curiosity, I shall preserve a very rare poetical tract, +which describes with considerable force the Revolutionists of the +reign of Elizabeth. They are indeed those of wild democracy; and the +subject of this satire will, I fear, be never out of time. It is an +admirable political satire against a mob-government. In our poetical +history, this specimen too is curious, for it will show that the +stanza in alternate rhymes, usually denominated elegiac, is adapted to +very opposite themes. The solemnity of the versification is +impressive, and the satire equally dignified and keen. + +The taste of the mere modern reader had been more gratified by +omitting some unequal passages; but, after deliberation, I found that +so short a composition would be injured by dismembering extracts. I +have distinguished by italics the lines to which I desire the reader's +attention, and have added a few notes to clear up some passages which +might appear obscure. + + + RYTHMES AGAINST MARTIN MARRE-PRELATE.[424] + + _Ordo Sacerdotum fatuo turbatur ab omni, + Labitur et passim Religionis honos._ + + Since Reason, _Martin_, cannot stay thy pen, + We 'il see what rime will do; have at thee then! + + A Dizard late skipt out upon our stage, + But in a sacke, that no man might him see; + And though we know not yet the paltrie page, + Himselfe hath _Martin_ made his name to bee. + A proper name, and for his feates most fit; + The only thing wherein he hath shew'd wit. + + Who knoweth not, that Apes, men _Martins_ call,[425] + Which beast, this baggage seemes as 't were himselfe: + So as both nature, nurture, name, and all, + Of that's expressed in this apish elfe. + Which Ile make good to Martin Marre-als face, + In three plaine poynts, and will not bate an ace. + + For, first, _the Ape delights with moppes and mowes, + And mocketh Prince and Peasants all alike_; + _This jesting Jacke_, that no good manners knowes, + _With his Asse-heeles presumes all states to strike_. + Whose scoffes so stinking in each nose doth smell, + As all mouthes saie of Dolts he beares the bell. + + Sometimes his chappes do walke in poynts too high, + Wherein the Ape himself a Woodcock tries. + Sometimes with floutes he drawes his mouth awrie, + And sweares by his ten bones, and falselie lies. + Wherefore be he what he will I do not passe; + He is the paltriest Ape that euer was. + + Such fleering, leering, jeering fooles bopeepe, + Such hahas! teehees! weehees! wild colts play; + Such Sohoes! whoopes and hallowes; hold and keepe; + Such rangings, ragings, reuelings, roysters ray; + With so foule mouth, and knaue at euery catch, + 'Tis some knaue's nest did surely _Martin_ hatch. + + _Now out he runnes with Cuckowe king of May, + Then in he leapes with a wild Morrice daunce_; + Then strikes he up _Dame Lawson's_[426] lustie lay; + Then comes Sir _Jeffrie's_ ale-tub, tapp'd by chaunce, + Which makes me gesse, and I can shrewdly smell, + He loues both t' one and t'other passing well. + + _Then straight, as though he were distracted quite, + He chafeth like a cut-purse layde in warde_; + _And rudely railes with all his maine and might, + Against both knights and lords without regard_: + So as _Bridewell_ must tame his dronken fits, + And _Bedlem_ help to bring him to his wits. + + But, _Martin_, why, in matters of such weight, + Dost thou thus _play the dawe, and dauncing foole_? + O sir (quoth he) _this is a pleasant baite + For men of sorts_, to traine them to my schoole. + _Ye noble states, how can you like hereof, + A shamelesse Ape at your sage head should scoffe?_ + + Good Noddie, now leaue scribbling in such matters; + They are no tooles for fooles to tend unto; + Wise men regard not what mad monkies patters! + 'Twere trim a beast should teach men what to do. + Now _Tarleton's_ dead, the consort lackes a Vice. + For knaue and foole thou maist bear prick and price. + + The sacred sect, and perfect pure precise, + Whose cause must be by _Scoggin's_ jests mainteinde, + Ye shewe, although that Purple, Apes disguise, + Yet Apes are still, and so must be, disdainde. + _For though your Lyons lookes weake eyes escapes, + Your babling bookes bewraies you all for Apes._ + + The next point is, _Apes use to tosse and teare + What once their fidling fingers fasten on_; + _And clime aloft, and cast downe euery where, + And neuer staie till all that stands be gon!_ + Now whether this in _Martin_ be not true, + You wiser heads marke here what doth ensue. + + What is it not that _Martin_ doth not rent? + Cappes, tippets, gownes, black chiuers, rotchets white; + Communion bookes, and homelies: yea, so bent + To teare, as women's wimples feele his spite. + Thus tearing all, as all apes use to doo, + He teares withall the Church of Christ in two. + + Marke now what thinges he meanes to tumble downe, + For to this poynt to look is worth the while, + In one that makes no choice 'twixt cap and crowne, + Cathedral churches he would fain untile, + And snatch up bishops' lands, and catch away + All gaine of learning for his prouling pray. + + _And thinke you not he will pull downe at length + As well the top from tower as cocke from steeple_; + _And when his head hath gotten some more strength, + To play with Prince as now he doth with People_: + Yes, he that now saith, Why should Bishops bee? + Will next crie out, _Why Kings? The Saincts are free!_ + + The Germaine boores with Clergiemen began, + But neuer left till Prince and Peeres were dead. + _Jacke Leyden was a holy zealous man, + But ceast not till the Crowne was on his head._ + And _Martin's_ mate, _Jacke Strawe_, would alwaies ring, + The Clergie's faults, but sought to kill the King. + + "Oh that," quoth _Martin_, "_chwere_ a Nobleman!"[427] + Avaunt, vile villain! 'tis not for such swads. + And of the Counsell, too: marke Princes then: + These roomes are raught at by these lustie lads. + _For Apes must climbe, and neuer stay their wit, + Untill on top of highest hilles they sit._ + + What meane they els, in euery towne to craue + Their Priest and King like Christ himself to be: + _And for one Pope ten thousand Popes to have, + And to controll the highest he or she?_ + Aske Scotland that, whose King so long they crost, + As he was like his kingdome to haue lost. + + Beware ye States and Nobles of this lande, + The Clergie is but one of these men's buttes. + _The Ape at last on master's necke will stande: + Then gegge betimes these gaping greedie gutts._ + _Least that too soone, and then too late ye feele, + He strikes at head that first began with heele._ + + The third tricke is, _what Apes by flattering waies + Cannot come by with biting, they will snatch_; + Our _Martin_ makes no bones, but plainely saies, + Their fists shall walke, they will both bite and scratch. + He'll make their hearts to ake, and will not faile, + _Where pen cannot, their penknife shall prevail_.[428] + + But this is false, he saith he did but mock: + A foole he was, that so his words did scanne. + He only meant with pen their pates to knocke; + A knaue he is, that so turns cat in pan. + But, _Martin_, sweare and stare as deepe as hell, + Thy sprite, thy spite and mischeuous minde doth tell. + + _The thing that neither Pope with booke nor bull, + Nor Spanish King with ships could doe without, + Our MARTINS heere at home will worke at full: + If Prince curbe not betimes that rabble rout._ + That is, destroy both Church and State and all; + For if t' one faile, the other needes must fall. + + Thou England, then, whom God doth make so glad + Through Gospel's grace and Prince's prudent reigne, + Take heede lest thou at last be made as sad, + Through _Martin's_ makebates marring, to thy paine. + For he marrs all and maketh nought, nor will, + Saue lies and strife, and works for _England's_ ill. + + _And ye graue men that answere MARTIN'S mowes, + He mocks the more, and you in vain loose times. + Leaue Apes to Doggs to baite, their skins to Crowes_, + And let old _Lanam_[429] lashe him with his rimes. + _The beast is proud when men read his enditings_; + Let his workes goe the waie of all wast writings. + + Now, _Martin_, you that say you will spawne out + Your brawling brattes, in euery towne to dwell, + _We will provide in each place for your route, + A bell and whippe that Apes do loue so well._ + And if yo skippe, and will not wey the checke, + We 'il haue a springe, and catche you by the necke. + + And so adieu, mad _Martin_-mar-the-land + Leaue off thy worke, and "more work"[430] hearest thou me + Thy work's nought worth, take better worke in hand. + _Thou marr'st thy worke, and thy work will marre thee._ + Worke not anewe, least it doth work thy wracke, + And then make worke for him that worke doth lacke. + + And this I warn thee, Martin Monckies-face, + Take heed of me; my rime doth charm thee bad. + I am a rimer of the Irish race, + And haue alreadie rimde thee staring mad. + But if thou cease not thy bald jests to spread, + I'le never leave till I have rimde thee dead. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [424] In Herbert's "Typographical Antiquities," p. 1689, this tract is + intituled, "A Whip for an Ape, or Martin Displaied." I have + also seen the poem with this title. Readers were then often + invited to an old book by a change of title: in some cases, I + think the same work has been published with several titles. + + [425] _Martin_ was a name for a _bird_, and a cant term for an _Ass_; + and, as it appears here, an _Ape_. Our _Martins_, considered + as birds, were often reminded that their proper food was + "hempen seed," which at length choked them. That it meant an + _Ass_, appears from "Pappe with a Hatchet." "Be thou Martin + the bird or Martin the beast, a bird with the longest bill, or + a _beast with the longest ears_, there's a net spread for your + neck."--Sign. B. 5. There is an old French proverb, quoted by + Cotgrave, _voce_ Martin:--"_Plus d'un ASNE à la foire, a nom + +Martin+_." + + [426] Martin was a _protégé_ of this _Dame Lawson_. There appear to + have been few political conspiracies without a woman, whenever + religion forms a part. This dame is thus noticed in the mock + epitaphs on Martin's funeral-- + + "Away with silk, for I will mourn in sacke; + Martin is dead, our new sect goes to wrack. + Come, gossips mine, put finger in the eie, + He made us laugh, but now must make us crie." + DAME LAWSON. + + "Sir Jeffrie's Ale-tub" alludes to two knights who were + ruinously fined, and hardly escaped with life, for their + patronage of Martin. + + [427] _Chwere_, _i.e._ "that I were," alluding to their frequently + adopting the corrupt phraseology of the populace, to catch the + ears of the mob. + + [428] It is a singular coincidence that Arnauld, in his caustic retort + on the Jesuits, said--"I do not fear your _pen_, but your + _penknife_." The play on the word, tells even better in our + language than in the original--_plume_ and _canife_. + + [429] I know of only one _Laneham_, who wrote "A Narrative of the + Queen's Visit at Kenilworth Castle," 1575. He was probably a + redoubtable satirist. I do not find his name in Ritson's + "Bibliographia Poetica." + + [430] Alluding to the title of one of their most virulent libels + against Bishop Cooper ["Hay any worke for Cooper," which was a + pun on the Bishop's name, conveyed in the street cry of an + itinerant trader, and was followed by another entitled] "More + work for a Cooper." Cooper, in his "Admonition to the People + of England," had justly observed that this _Mar-Prelate_ ought + to have many other names. See note, p. 510. + + I will close this note with an extract from "Pappe with a + Hatchet," which illustrates the ill effects of all sudden + reforms, by an apposite and original image. + + "There was an aged man that lived in a well-ordered + Commonwealth by the space of threescore years, and finding, + at the length, that by the heate of some men's braines, and + the warmness of other men's blood, that newe alterations + were in hammering, and that it grewe to such an height, that + all the desperate and discontented persons were readie to + runne their heads against their head; comming into the midst + of these mutiners, cried, as loude as his yeeres would + allow:--'Springalls, and vnripened youthes, whose wisedomes + are yet in the blade, when this snowe shall be melted (laying + his hand on his siluer haires) then shall you find store + of dust, _and rather wish for the continuance of a long frost, + than the incomming of an vntimely thaw_.'"--_Sig. D. 3. + verso._ + + + + +LITERARY QUARRELS + +FROM +PERSONAL MOTIVES + + Anecdote of a BISHOP and a DOCTOR--Dr. MIDDLETON and Dr. + BENTLEY--WARBURTON and Dr. TAYLOR--WARBURTON and EDWARDS--SWIFT + and DRYDEN--POPE and BENTLEY--why fiction is necessary for satire, + according to Lord ROCHESTER'S confession--ROWE and ADDISON--POPE + and ATTERBURY--Sir JOHN HAWKINS and GEORGE STEEVENS--a fierce + controversial author a dangerous neighbour--a ludicrous instance + of a literary quarrel from personal motives between BOHUN and the + WYKEHAMISTS. + + +Literary Quarrels have abundantly sprung from mere personal motives; +and controversies purely literary, sometimes of magnitude, have broken +out, and been voluminously carried on, till the public are themselves +involved in the contest, while the true origin lies concealed in some +sudden squabble; some neglect of petty civility; some unlucky epithet; +or some casual observation dropped without much consideration, which +mortified or enraged the author. How greatly has passion prevailed in +literary history! How often the most glorious pages in the chronicles +of literature are tainted with the secret history which must be placed +by their side, so that the origin of many considerable works, which do +so much honour to the heads of their authors, sadly accuse their +hearts. But the heaven of Virgil was disturbed with quarrels-- + + Tantæne animis cœlestibus iræ? + _Æneid._ + + Can heavenly minds such high resentment show? + _Dryden._ + +And has not a profound observer of human affairs declared, _Ex +privatis odiis respublica crescit?_ individual hatreds aggrandize the +republic. This miserable philosophy will satisfy those who are +content, from private vices, to derive public benefits. One wishes for +a purer morality, and a more noble inspiration. + +To a literary quarrel from personal motives we owe the origin of a +very remarkable volume. When Dr. Parr delivered his memorable sermon, +which, besides the "_sesquipedalia verba_," was perhaps the longest +that ever was heard--if not listened to--Bishop Hurd, who had always +played the part of one of the most wary of politicians in private +life, and who had occasion once adroitly to explain the French word +_Retenue_, which no man better understood, in a singularly unguarded +moment, sarcastically observed that he did not like "the doctor's long +vernacular sermon." The happy epithet was soon conveyed to the +classical ear of the modern Grecian: it was a wasp in it! The bishop +had, in the days of literary adventure, published some pieces of +irony, which were thought more creditable to his wit than his +feelings--and his great patron, Warburton, certain juvenile prose and +verse--all of which they had rejected from their works. But this it is +to be an author!--his errors remain when he has outlived and corrected +them. The mighty and vindictive Grecian in rage collected them all; +exhausted his own genius in perpetuating follies; completed the works +of the two bishops in utter spite; and in "Tracts by Warburton and a +Warburtonian," has furnished posterity with a specimen of the force of +his own "vernacular" style, giving a lesson to the wary bishop, who +had scarcely wanted one all his life--of the dangers of an unlucky +epithet! + +Dr. Conyers Middleton, the author of the "Life of Cicero," seldom +wrote but out of pique; and he probably owed his origin as an author +to a circumstance of this nature. Middleton when young was a +_Dilettante_ in music; and Dr. Bentley, in contempt, applied the +epithet "fiddling Conyers." Had the irascible Middleton broken his +violin about the head of the learned Grecian, and thus terminated the +quarrel, the epithet had then cost Bentley's honour much less than it +afterwards did. It seems to have excited Middleton to deeper studies, +which the great Bentley not long after felt when he published +proposals for an edition of the New Testament in Greek. Middleton +published his "Remarks, paragraph by paragraph, upon the proposals," +to show that Bentley had neither talents nor materials proper for the +work. This opened a great paper-war, and again our rabid wolf fastened +on the majestic lion, "paragraph by paragraph." And though the lion +did affect to bear in contempt the fangs of his little active enemy, +the flesh was torn. "The proposals" sunk before the "paragraph by +paragraph," and no edition of the Greek Testament by Bentley ever +appeared. Bentley's proposals at first had met with the greatest +success; the subscription-money amounted to two thousand pounds, and +it was known that his nephew had been employed by him to travel abroad +to collect these MSS. He declared he would make use of no MS. that was +not a thousand years old, or above; of which sort he had collected +twenty, so that they made up a total of twenty thousand years. He was +four years studying them before he issued his proposals. The Doctor +rested most on eight Greek MSS., the most recent of which was one +thousand years old. All this wore a very imposing appearance. At a +touch the whole magnificent edifice fell to pieces! Middleton says, +"His twenty old MSS. shrink at once to eight, and he is forced again +to own that even of these eight there are only four which had not been +used by Dr. Mill;" and these Middleton, by his sarcastic reasoning, at +last reduces to "some pieces only of the New Testament in MS." So that +twenty MSS. and their twenty thousand years were battered by the +"fiddling Conyers" into a solitary fragment of little value! Bentley +returned the subscription-money, and would not publish; the work still +lies in its prepared state, and some good judges of its value have +expressed a hope to see it yet published. But Bentley himself was not +untainted in this dishonourable quarrel: he well knew that Middleton +was the author of this severe attack; but to show his contempt of the +real author, and desirous, in his turn, of venting his disappointment +on a Dr. Colbatch, he chose to attribute it to him, and fell on +Colbatch with a virulence that made the reply perfectly libellous, if +it was Bentley's, as was believed. + +The irascibility of Middleton, disguising itself in a literary form, +was still more manifested by a fact recorded of him by Bishop Newton. +He had applied to Sir Robert Walpole for the mastership of the +Charter-house, who honestly informed him that Bishop Sherlock, with +the other Bishops, were against his being chosen. Middleton attributed +the origin of this opposition to Bishop Sherlock, and wreaked his +vengeance by publishing his "Animadversions upon Sherlock's Discourses +on Prophecy." The book had been long published, and had passed through +successive editions; but Middleton pretended he had never seen them +before, and from this time Lambeth-house was a strong provocative for +his vindictive temper. + +Nor was the other great adversary of Middleton, he who so long +affected to be the lord paramount, the Suzerain in the feudal empire, +rather than the republic of letters--Warburton himself--less easily +led on to these murderous acts of personal rancour. A pamphlet of the +day has preserved an anecdote of this kind. Dr. Taylor, the Chancellor +of Lincoln, once threw out in company an opinion derogatory to the +scholarship of Warburton, who seems to have had always some choice +spirits of his legion as spies in the camp of an enemy, and who sought +their tyrant's grace by their violation of the social compact. The +tyrant himself had an openness, quite in contrast with the dark +underworks of his satellites. He boldly interrogated our critic, and +Taylor replied, undauntedly and more poignantly than Warburton might +have suspected, that "he did not recollect ever _saying_ that Dr. +Warburton was no scholar, but that indeed he had always _thought_ so." +To this intrepid spirit the world owes one of the remarkable prefaces +to the "Divine Legation"--in which the Chancellor of Lincoln, intrepid +as he was, stands like a man of straw, to be buffeted and tossed about +with all those arts of distortion which the wit and virulence of +Warburton almost every day was practising at his "established places +of execution," as his prefaces and notes have been wittily termed. + +Even Warburton himself, who committed so many personal injuries, has, +in his turn, most eminently suffered from the same motive. The +personal animosity of a most ingenious man was the real cause of the +utter destruction of Warburton's critical reputation. Edwards, the +author of the "Canons of Criticism," when young and in the army, was a +visitor at Allen's of Prior-park, the patron of Warburton; and in +those literary conversations which usually occupied their evenings, +Warburton affected to show his superiority in his acquaintance with +the Greek writers, never suspecting that a red coat covered more Greek +than his own--which happened unluckily to be the case. Once, Edwards +in the library, taking down a Greek author, explained a passage in a +manner which did not suit probably with some new theory of the great +inventor of so many; a contest arose, in which Edwards discovered how +Warburton came by his illegitimate knowledge of Greek authors: Edwards +attempted to convince him that he really did not understand Greek, and +that his knowledge, such as it was, was derived from French +translations--a provoking act of literary kindness, which took place +in the presence of Ralph Allen and his niece, who, though they could +not stand as umpires, did as witnesses. An incurable breach took place +between the parties, and from this trifling altercation, Edwards +produced the bitter "Canons of Criticism," and Warburton those foaming +notes in the _Dunciad_. + +Such is the implacable nature of literary irascibility! Men so +tenderly alive to intellectual sensibility, find even the lightest +touch profoundly enter into the morbid constitution of the literary +temper; and even minds of a more robust nature have given proof of a +sickly delicacy hanging about them quite unsuspected. Swift is a +remarkable instance of this kind: the foundation of the character of +this great wit was his excellent sense. Yet having, when young, +composed one of the wild Pindarics of the time, addressed to the +Athenian Society, and Dryden judiciously observing that "cousin +Jonathan would never be a poet," the enraged wit, after he had reached +the maturity of his own admirable judgment, and must have been well +aware of the truth of the friendly prediction, could never forgive it. +He has indulged the utmost licentiousness of personal rancour; he even +puns miserably on his name to degrade him as the _emptiest_ of +writers. His spirited translation of Virgil, which was admired even by +Pope, he levels by the most grotesque sarcastic images to mark the +poet's diminutive genius--he says this version-maker is so lost in +Virgil, that he is like "the lady in a lobster; a mouse under a canopy +of state; a shrivelled beau within the penthouse of a full-bottomed +perriwig." He never was generous enough to contradict his opinion, and +persisted in it to the last. Some critic, about Swift's own time, +astonished at his treatment of Dryden, declares he must have been +biassed by some prejudice--the anecdote here recorded, not then +probably known, discovers it. + +What happened to Pope on the publication of his Homer shows all the +anxious temper of the author. Being in company with Bentley, the poet +was very desirous of obtaining the doctor's opinion of it, which +Bentley contrived to parry as well as he could; but in these matters +an author who calculates on a compliment, will risk everything to +obtain it. The question was more plainly put, and the answer was as +plainly given. Bentley declared that "the verses were good verses, but +the work is not Homer--it is Spondanus!" From this interview posterity +derives from the mortified poet the full-length figure of "_the +slashing_ Bentley," in the fourth book of the Dunciad: + + The mighty Scholiast, whose unwearied pains + Made Horace dull, and humbled Milton's strains. + +When Bentley was told by some officious friend that Pope had abused +him, he only replied, "Ay, like enough! I spoke against his Homer, and +the _portentous cub_ never forgives!" Part of Pope's severe criticism +only is true; but to give full effect to their severity, poets always +infuse a certain quantity of fiction. This is an artifice absolutely +necessary to practise; so I collect from a great master in the arts of +satire, and who once honestly avowed that no satire could be composed +unless it was _personal_; and no personalities would sufficiently +adorn a poem without _lies_. This great satirist was Rochester. Burnet +details a curious conversation between himself and his lordship on +this subject. The bishop tells us that "he would often go into the +country, and be for some months wholly employed in study, or the +sallies of his wit chiefly directed to satire. And this he often +defended to me by saying, there were some people that could not be +kept in order, or admonished, but in this way." Burnet remonstrated, +and Rochester replied--"A man could not write with life unless he were +_heated by revenge_; for to make a satire without resentments, upon +the cold notions of philosophy, was as if a man would, in cold blood, +cut men's throats who had never offended him. And he said, the _lies_ +in these libels came often in as _ornaments_, that could not be spared +without _spoiling the beauty_ of the poem." It is as useful to know +how the materials of satire are put together; as thus the secret of +pulling it to pieces more readily may sometimes be obtained. + +These facts will sufficiently establish this disgraceful principle of +the personal motives which have influenced the quarrels of authors, +and which they have only disguised by giving them a literary form. +Those who are conversant in literary history can tell how many works, +and some considerable ones, have entirely sprung out of the vengeance +of authors. Johnson, to whom the feelings of the race were so well +known, has made a curious observation, which none but an author could +have made:--"The best advice to authors would be, that they should +keep out of the way of one another." He says this in the "Life of +Rowe," on the occasion of Addison's Observations on Rowe's Character. +Rowe had expressed his happiness to Pope at Addison's promotion; and +Pope, who wished to conciliate Addison towards Rowe, mentioned it, +adding, that he believed Rowe was sincere. Addison replied, "That he +did not suspect Rowe feigned; but _the levity of his heart is such, +that he is struck with any new adventure_: and it would affect him +just in the same manner as if he heard I was going to be hanged." +Warburton adds that Pope said he could not deny but Addison understood +Rowe well. Such is the fact on which Johnson throws out an admirable +observation:--"This censure time has not left us the power of +confirming or refuting; but observation daily shows that much stress +is not to be laid on hyperbolical accusations and pointed sentences, +which even he that utters them desires to be applauded, rather than +credited. Addison can hardly be supposed to have meant all that he +said. _Few characters can bear the microscopic scrutiny of WIT +quickened by ANGER._" I could heap up facts to demonstrate this severe +truth. Even of Pope's best friends, some of their severities, if they +ever reached him, must have given the pain he often inflicted. His +friend Atterbury, to whom he was so partial, dropped an expression, in +the heat of conversation, which Pope could never have forgiven; that +our poet had "a crooked mind in a crooked body." There was a rumour, +after Pope's death, that he had left behind him a satirical "Life of +Dean Swift." Let genius, whose faculty detects the foibles of a +brother, remember he is a rival, and be a generous one. In that +extraordinary morsel of literary history, the "Conversations of Ben +Jonson with his friend Drummond of Hawthornden," preserving his +opinions of his contemporaries, if I err not in my recollection, I +believe that he has not spoken favourably of a single individual! + +The personal motives of an author, influencing his literary conduct, +have induced him to practise meannesses and subterfuges. One +remarkable instance of this nature is that of Sir John Hawkins, who +indeed had been hardly used by the caustic pleasantries of George +Steevens. Sir John, in his edition of Johnson, with ingenious malice +contrived to suppress the acknowledgment made by Johnson to Steevens +of his diligence and sagacity, at the close of his preface to +Shakspeare. To preserve the panegyric of Steevens mortified Hawkins +beyond endurance; yet, to suppress it openly, his character as an +editor did not permit. In this dilemma he pretended he reprinted the +preface from the edition of 1765; which, as it appeared before +Johnson's acquaintance with Steevens, could not contain the tender +passage. However, this was unluckily discovered to be only a +subterfuge, to get rid of the offensive panegyric. On examination, it +proved not true; Hawkins did not reprint from this early edition, but +from the latest, for all the corrections are inserted in his own. "If +Sir John were to be tried at Hicks's Hall (long the seat of that +justice's glory), he would be found guilty of _clipping_," archly +remarks the periodical critic. + +A fierce controversial author may become a dangerous neighbour to +another author: a petulant fellow, who does not write, may be a +pestilent one; but he who prints a book against us may disturb our +life in endless anxieties. There was once a dean who actually teased +to death his bishop, wore him out in journeys to London, and at length +drained all his faculties--by a literary quarrel from personal +motives. + +Dr. THOMAS PIERCE, Dean of Sarum--a perpetual controversialist, and to +whom it was dangerous to refuse a request, lest it might raise a +controversy--wanted a prebend of Dr. WARD, Bishop of Salisbury, for +his son Robert. He was refused; and now, studying revenge, he opened a +controversy with the bishop, maintaining that the king had the right +of bestowing all dignities in all cathedrals in the kingdom, and not +the bishops. This required a reply from the bishop, who had been +formerly an active controversialist himself. Dean Pierce renewed his +attack with a folio volume, entitled "A Vindication of the King's +Sovereign Right, &c.," 1683.--Thus it proceeded, and the web thickened +around the bishop in replies and rejoinders. It cost him many tedious +journeys to London, through bad roads, fretting at "the King's +Sovereign Right" all the way; and, in the words of a witness, "in +unseasonable times and weather, that by degrees his spirits were +exhausted, his memory quite gone, and he was totally unfitted for +business."[431] Such was the fatal disturbance occasioned by Dean +Pierce's folio of "The King's Sovereign Right," and his son Bob being +left without a prebend! + +I shall close this article with a very ludicrous instance of a +literary quarrel from personal motives. This piece of secret history +had been certainly lost, had not Bishop Lowth condescended to preserve +it, considering it as necessary to assign a sufficient reason for the +extraordinary libel it produced. + +Bohun, an antiquarian lawyer, in a work entitled "The English Lawyer," +in 1732, in illustrating the origin of the Act of _Scandalum +Magnatum_, which arose in the time of William of Wykeham, the +chancellor and bishop of Edward III. and the founder of New College, +in Oxford; took that opportunity of committing the very crime on the +venerable manes of Wykeham himself. He has painted this great man in +the darkest colours. Wykeham is charged with having introduced "Alice +Piers, his niece or," &c., for the truth is he was uncertain who she +was, to use his peculiar language, "into the king's bosom;" to have +joined her in excluding the Black Prince from all power in the state; +and he hints at this hero having been poisoned by them; of Wykeham's +embezzling a million of the public money, and, when chancellor, of +forging an Act of Parliament to indemnify himself, and thus passing +his own pardon. It is a singularity in this libellous romance, that +the contrary of all this only is true. But Bohun has so artfully +interwoven his historical patches of misrepresentations, surmises, and +fictions, that he succeeded in framing an historical libel. + +Not satisfied with this vile tissue, in his own obscure volume, seven +years afterwards, being the editor of a work of high reputation, +Nathaniel Bacon's "Historical and Political Discourse of the Laws and +Government of England," he further satiated his frenzy by contriving +to preserve his libel in a work which he was aware would outlive his +own. + +Whence all this persevering malignity? Why this quarrel of Mr. Bohun, +of the Middle Temple, with the long-departed William of Wykeham? + + What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba? + +He took all these obscure pains, and was moved with this perpetual +rancour against William of Wykeham, merely to mortify the Wykehamists; +and slandered their founder, with the idea that the odium might be +reflected on New College. Bohun, it seems, had a quarrel with them +concerning a lease on which he had advanced money; but the holder had +contrived to assign it to the well-known Eustace Budgell: the college +confirmed the assignment. At an interview before the warden, high +words had arisen between the parties: the warden withdrew, and the wit +gradually shoved the antiquary off the end of the bench on which they +were sitting: a blow was struck, and a cane broken. Bohun brought an +action, and the Wykehamites travelled down to give bail at Westminster +Hall, where the legal quarrel was dropped, and the literary one then +began. Who could have imagined that the venerable bishop and +chancellor of Edward III. was to be involved in a wretched squabble +about a lease with an antiquary and a wit? "Fancying," says Bishop +Lowth, "he could inflict on the Society of New College a blow which +would affect them more sensibly by wounding the reputation of their +founder, he set himself to collect everything he could meet with that +was capable of being represented to his discredit, and to improve it +with new and horrible calumnies of his own invention." Thus originated +this defamatory attack on the character of William of Wykeham! And by +arts which active writers may practise, and innocent readers cannot +easily suspect, a work of the highest reputation, like that of +Nathaniel Bacon's, may be converted into a vehicle of personal +malignity, while the author himself disguises his real purpose under +the specious appearance of literature! The present case, it must be +acknowledged, is peculiar, where a dead person was attacked with a +spirit of rancour to which the living only appear subject; but the +author was an antiquary, who lived as much with the dead as the +living: his personal motive was the same as those already recorded, +and here he was acting with a double force on the dead and the +living! + +But here I stop my hand, my list would else be too complete. +Great names are omitted--Whitaker and Gibbon;[432] Pope and Lord +Hervey;[433] Wood and South;[434] Rowe, Mores, and Ames;[435] and +George Steevens and Gough.[436] + +This chapter is not honourable to authors; but historians are only +Lord Chief Justices, who must execute the laws, even on their intimate +friends, when standing at the bar. The chapter is not honourable--but +it may be useful; and that is a quality not less valuable to the +public. It lets in their readers to a kind of knowledge, which opens a +necessary comment on certain works, and enlarges our comprehension of +their spirit. + +If in the heat of controversy authors imprudently attack each other +with personalities, they are only scattering mud and hurling stones, +and will incur the ridicule or the contempt of those who, unfriendly +to the literary character, feel a secret pleasure in its degradation; +but let them learn, that to open a literary controversy from mere +personal motives; thus to conceal the dagger of private hatred under +the mantle of literature, is an expedient of short duration, for the +secret history is handed down with the book; and when once the dignity +of the author's character sinks in the meanness of his motives, +powerful as the work may be, even Genius finds its lustre diminished, +and Truth itself becomes suspicious. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [431] Lansdowne MSS. 1042-1316. + + [432] GIBBON'S _Miscellaneous Works_, vol. i. 243. + + [433] WALPOLE'S _Memoirs_, vol. iii. 40. + + [434] The Life of Wood, by GUTCH, vol. i. + + [435] NICHOLS'S _Literary Anecdotes_. + + [436] "Curiosities of Literature," vol. iii. p. 303-4. + + + + +INDEX. + + + ADDISON, quarrels with Pope, 313 + disapproves of his satire on Dennis, 315 + aids a rival version of Homer, 316 + satirized by Pope as _Atticus_, _n._ 317 + his nervous fear of criticism, 317 + his last interview with Pope, 318-320 + quarrels with Steele on political grounds, 433 + his disbelief in Rowe, 535 + + AKENSIDE exhibited as a ludicrous personage by Smollett; his real + character cast in the mould of antiquity, _n._ 114 + severely criticised by Warburton, 264 + + ALDRICH, Dean, secretly fosters the attacks on Bentley, 378, _n._ + 383 + + AMHURST, a political author, his history, 11 + + ARNALL, a great political scribe, 10 + + ASCHAM, Roger, the founder of English Prose, 19 + + ATHENÆ BRITANNICÆ, one of the rarest works, account of, _n._ 31 + + ATHENÆ OXONIENSES, an apology for, 89 + + ATTERBURY, Bp., on terrors of conscience, 451 + severe remarks on Pope, 535 + + AUBREY, gives the real reason for the fears of Hobbes the + philosopher, _n._ 452 + minutely narrates the mode in which he composed his "Leviathan," + _n._ 459 + + AUTHORS by profession, a phrase of modern origin, 8 + original letter to a Minister from one, _ib._ + Fielding's apology for them, 11 + + AUTHORS, Horace Walpole affects to despise them, 43 + their maladies, 78 + case of, stated, 15 + incompetent remuneration of, 21 + who wrote above the genius of their own age, 84 + ill reception from the public of their valuable works, 85 + who have sacrificed their fortunes to their studies, _ib._ + who commenced their literary life with ardour, and found their + genius obstructed by numerous causes, 87 + who have never published their works, 90 + provincial, liable to bad passions, 128 + + AYRE'S Memoirs of Pope, _n._ 318, 319 + + + BAKER and his microscopical discoveries, _n._ 366-367 + Rev. Thomas, his collection, 93 + + BALGUY, Dr. Thos., _n._ 273 + + BARNES, Joshua, wrote a poem to prove Solomon was the author of the + "Iliad," and why, 97 + his pathetic letter descriptive of his literary calamities, _ib._ + hints at the vast number of his unpublished works, 98 + + BAYLE, his use of paradox, 247 + his theory of apparitions, _n._ 451 + + BAYNE, Alexander, died of intense application, 72 + + BENTLEY, Dr., his controversy with Boyle, 378, 390 + his haughtiness, _n._ 379 + his dissertation on "Phalaris", 380 + satirized by Dr. Middleton, 531 + + BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA in danger of being left unfinished, 84 + + BIRKENHEAD, Sir J., a newspaper-writer, 416 + + BLACKSTONE investigates the quarrel between Pope and Addison, 314 + + BOHUN, his unjustifiable attack on William of Wykeham, 537 + + BOLINGBROKE, his share in Pope's "Essay on Man,", 256 + quarrel with Pope, 321-328 + his "Patriot King" secretly printed by Pope, 321 + his hatred of Warburton, 323-328 + + BOOKSELLERS in the reign of Elizabeth, 23 + why their interest is rarely combined with the advancement of + literature, _n._ 87 + why they prefer the crude to the matured fruit, 210 + + BOYLE, his controversy with Bentley, 378-390 + his edition of "Phalaris", 378-381 + his literary aids, _n._ 382 + + BRAMHALL opposes Hobbes' philosophy, 449 + + BRERETON, Sir W., characterised by Clarendon and Cleveland, _n._ + 418 + + BROOKE attacks errors in Camden's "Britannia", 492 + his work unfairly suppressed, 495 + his severe remarks on Camden, _ib._ + humorous rhymes on a horse, 497 + his self-defence, 498 + his real motives vindicated, 499 + biographical note, _ib._ + + BROWN, Dr., his panegyric on Warburton, and his sorrow for writing + it, _n._ 235 + account of, _n._ 273 + + BROWN, Robt., founder of a sect of Puritans, _n._ 518 + + BURNET, Bp., his character attacked, 426 + + BURTON, his laborious work, 83 + his constitutional melancholy, _n._ 182 + + + CÆSALPINUS, originally the propounder of a theory of the circulation + of the blood, 335 + + CALVIN'S opinions on government, _n._ 447 + + CALVIN, his narrowed sectarianism, 502 + + CAMDEN recommends Jonson to Raleigh, _n._ 476 + his industry, and his great work the "Britannia", 491 + Brooke points out its errors, 492 + his works suppressed through Camden's interest, 495 + his exasperation, _ib._ + his powerful picture of calumny, 496 + his quiet adoption of Brooke's corrections, 499 + + CAMPANELLA and his political works, 351-352 + + CAREY, Henry, inventor of "Namby Pamby", 101 + "Carey's Wish," a patriotic song on the Freedom of Election, by + the author of "God save the King," _n._ 102 + "Sally in our Alley," a popular ballad, its curious origin, 103 + author of several of our national poems, 104 + his miserable end, _ib._ + + CARTE, Thomas, his valuable history, 110-111 + the first proposer of public libraries, 111 + its fate from his indiscretion, 112 + + CARTWRIGHT, Thomas, chief of the Puritan faction, 505 + progress of his opinions, 506 + his great popularity, _ib._ + forsakes his party, 508-509 + + CARYLL'S voluminous commentary on Job, _n._ 392 + + CASTELL, Dr., ruined in health and fortune by the publication of his + Polyglott, _n._ 189 + + CHARLES THE SECOND'S jest at the Royal Society, _n._ 311 + an admirer of Hobbes's ability in disputation, _n._ 448 + + CHATTERTON, his balance-sheet on the Lord Mayor's death, _n._ 25 + + CHURCHILL'S satire on Warburton, 240, 242, 243, 246 + + CHURCHYARD, Thomas, an unhappy poet, describes his patrons, 26 + his pathetic description of his wretched old age, _ib._ + + CIBBER, his easy good-nature, 306 + his reasonable defence of himself, _n._ 305-307 + his "Essay on Cicero," _n._ 306 + apology for his Life, 307 + attacks on himself, 305, 308 + unjustly degraded, 312 + + CLARENDON, Lord, his prejudice against May, 434 + his opinion of Hobbes's philosophy, _n._ 438 + + CLERGY fight in the great civil wars, _n._ 422 + + CLELAND, biographical note on, 282 + + CLEVELAND'S character of a journal-maker, 416 + + COLE, Rev. William, his character, 90 + his melancholy confession on his lengthened literary labours, + 92 + his anxiety how best to dispose of his collections, 93 + + COLLINS, Arthur, historian of the Peerage, 85 + + COLLINS, Wm., the poet, quits the university suddenly with romantic + hopes of becoming an author, 172 + publishes his "Odes" without success, and afterwards indignantly + burns the edition, 180 + defended from some reproaches of irresolution, made by Johnson, + 181 + anecdote of his life in the metropolis, 182 + anecdotes of, when under the influence of a disordered intellect, + 183 + his monument described, 184 + two sonnets descriptive of Collins, 185 + his poetical character defended, 186 + + CONTEMPORARIES, how they seek to level genius, 206 + + COOPER, author of "Life of Socrates," attacked by Warburton, _n._ + 272 + + COOPER, Bishop, attacked by Mar-Prelates, _n._ 513, 514 + + COPYRIGHTS, Lintot's payments for, 328-333 + + CORBET, his humorous introduction to Ben Jonson, _n._ 475 + + COTGRAVE, Randle, falls blind in the labour of his "Dictionary", + 73 + + COURT of Charles II. satirised by Marvell, 393 + its characteristics, 414 + + COWEL incurs by his curious work "The Interpreter" the censure of + the King and the Commons on opposite principles, 193 + + COWLEY, original letter from, _n._ 36 + his essays form a part of his confessions, 37 + describes his feelings at court, _ib._ + his melancholy attributed to his "Ode to Brutus," by which he + incurred the disgrace of the court, 40 + his remarkable lamentation for having written poetry, 41 + his Epitaph composed by himself, 42 + + CRITIC, poetical, without any taste, how he contrived to criticise + poems, 143 + + CRITICISMS, illiberal, some of its consequences stated, 140 + + CROSS attacks the Royal Society, 344-346 + + CROUSAZ dissects Pope's "Essay on Man", 256 + + CURLL, and his publication of Pope's letters, 292 + + + D'AVENANT, his poem of "Gondibert", 404 + history of its composition, _n._ 404 + its merits and defects, 405-408 + a club of wits satirize it, 409 + and its author, 412 + and occasion it to be left unfinished, 413 + + DAVIES, Myles, a mendicant author, his life, 30 + + DECKER quarrels with Ben Jonson for his arrogance, 475-487 + ridicules him in his "Satiromastix", 482-487 + + DEDICATION, composed by a patron to himself, _n._ 30 + + DEDICATIONS, used in an extraordinary way, _n._ 30 + + DE LOLME'S work on the Constitution could find no patronage, and the + author's bitter complaints, 200 + relieved by the Literary Fund, _n._ 201 + + DENHAM falsely satirized, _n._ 429 + + DENNIS, John, distinguished as "The Critic", 52 + his "Original Letters" and "Remarks on Prince Arthur," his best + productions, 52 + anecdotes of his brutal vehemence, 53 + curious caricature of his personal manners, 54 + a specimen of his anti-poetical notions, _n._ 55 + his frenzy on the Italian Opera, 57 + acknowledges that he is considered as ill-natured, and complains + of public neglect, _ib._ + more the victim of his criticisms than the genius he insulted, + 58 + his insatiable vengeance toward Pope, 286 + his attack on Addison's "Cato", 315 + his account with the bookseller Lintot, 331 + + DRAKE, Dr. John, a political writer, his miserable life, 11 + + DRAYTON'S national work, "The Polyolbion," ill received, and the + author greatly dejected, 210 + angry preface addressed "To any that will read it", 211 + + DRUMMOND of Hawthornden, his love of poetry, 213 + conversation with Jonson, 475 + + DRYDEN, in his old age, complains of dying of over-study, 204 + his dramatic life a series of vexations, 205 + regrets he was born among Englishmen, 206 + remarkable confession of the poet, _ib._ + vilified by party spirit, 427 + compares his quarrel with Settle to that of Jonson with Decker, + _n._ 477 + + DUNCIAD, Pope's collections for, 278 + early editions of, _n._ 283 + rage of persons satirized in, _n._ 284 + satire on naturalists in, 342 + + DUNTON the bookseller satirized by Swift, 430 + + DYSON defends Akenside, 265 + + + EACHARD'S satire on Hobbes and his sect, _n._ 439 + + EDWARDS, Thomas, author of "Canons of Criticism", 261 + biographical notice, _n._ 532 + anecdotes of his critical sagacity, _n._ 262-263 + origin of his "Canons of Criticism", 532 + + EVANS, Arise, a fanatical Welsh prophet, patronised by Warburton, + _n._ 240 + + EVELYN defends the Royal Society, 340 + + EXERCISE, to be substituted for medicine by literary men, and which + is the best, _n._ 68 + + + FALSE rumours in the great Civil War, 421 + + FARNEWORTH'S Translation of Machiavel, 84 + + FELL, Dr., an opponent of the Royal Society, 350 + ungenerous to Hobbes, 450 + rhymes descriptive of his unpopularity, 451 + + FIELDING attacks Sir John Hill, 368-369 + + FILMER, Sir R., writes to establish despotism, _n._ 449 + + FOLKES, Martin, President of the Royal Society, _n._ 364 + attacked by Sir John Hill, _n._ 366 + + FULLER'S "Medicina Gymnastica," _n._ 71 + + + GARTH, Dr., and his Dispensary, 429 + + GAY acts as mediator with Pope and Addison, 320 + his account with Lintot the bookseller, 330 + + GIBBON, Ed., price of his copyright, 87 + + GILDON supposed by Pope to have been employed by Addison to write + against him, 316 + + GLANVILL a defender of the Royal Society, 244 + + GLOVER, Leonidas, declines to write a Life of Marlborough, _n._ + 325 + + GOLDSMITH'S remonstrance on illiberal criticism, from which the law + gives no protection, 142 + + GRANGER'S complaint of not receiving half the pay of a scavenger, + 85 + + GREENE, Robert, a town-wit, his poverty and death, 23 + awful satirical address to, _n._ 119 + + GREY, Dr. Zachary, the father of our commentators, ridiculed and + abused, 104 + the probable origin of his new mode of illustrating Hudibras, + _ib._ + Warburton's double-dealing with him, _n._ 259 + + GUTHRIE offers his services as a hackney-writer to a minister, 8 + + + HACKETT executed for attacks on the church, _n._ 518 + + HANMER, Sir T., his edition of Shakespeare, _n._ 242, _n._ 258 + + HARDOUIN supposes the classics composed by monks in the Middle Ages, + 249-252 + + HARRINGTON and his "Oceana", 449 + + HARVEY, Dr., and his discovery of the circulation of the blood, + 335 + + HARVEY, Gabriel, his character, 117 + his device against his antagonist, _n._ 119 + his portrait, 121 + severely satirised by Nash for his prolix periods, 122 + cannot be endured to be considered as the son of a rope-maker, + 123 + his pretended sordid manners, 124 + his affectation of Italian fashions, _ib._ + his friends ridiculed, 125 + his pedantic taste for hexameter verses, &c., 127 + his curious remonstrance with Nash, 126 + his lamentation on invectives, 129 + his books, and Nash's, suppressed by order of the Archbishop of + Canterbury for their mutual virulence, 120 + + HAWKESWORTH, Dr., letter on presenting his MS. of Cook's Voyages for + examination, the publication of which overwhelmed his + fortitude and intellect, 199 + + HENLEY, Orator, this buffoon an indefatigable student, an elegant + poet, and wit, 59 + his poem of "Esther, Queen of Persia", 60 + sudden change in his character, 62 + seems to have attempted to pull down the Church and the + University, 63 + some idea of his lectures, _n._ 64 + his projects to supply a Universal School, _ib._ + specimens of his buffoonery on solemn occasions, 66 + his "Defence of the Oratory," _n._ _ib._ + once found his match in two disputants, 67 + specimen of the diary of his "Oratory Transactions", _ib._ + close of his career, _n._ 68 + his character, 69 + parallel between him and Sir John Hill, 363 + + HENRY, Dr., the Historian, the sale of his work, on which he had + expended most of his fortune and his life, stopped, and + himself ridiculed, by a conspiracy raised against him, 136 + + HENRY, Dr., caustic review of his history, _n._ _ib._ + + HERON, Robert, draws up the distresses of a man of letters living by + literary industry, in the confinement of a sponging-house, + from his original letter, 81 + + HERRICK, Robert, petulant invective against Devonshire, 215 + + HILL, Aaron, and his quarrel with Pope, 290 + + HILL, Sir John, 362-396 + parallel between him and Orator Henley, 383 + his great work on Botany, _n._ _ib._ + his personalities, 364 + attacks the Royal Society, 365 + his _Inspector_, 367 + war of wit with Fielding, 368 + and Smart, 370-372 + attacks Woodward, who replies with some ridiculous anecdotes, _n._ + 372 + proposes himself as keeper of the Sloane collection, 374 + manufactures _Travels_, _n._ 374 + his death, 375 + + HOBBES contemns the Royal Society, 342 + praises D'Avenant's poem of "Gondibert", 408-412 + his quarrels, 436 + peculiarities of his character, 437 + his sect, 438 + his real opinions, 439 + his "Leviathan", 440-448 + feared and suspected by both parties, _n._ 442 + no atheist, _n._ 445 + his continual disputations, 448-450 + his terror of death, 451 + the real solution of his fears, 452 + his disciples in literature, _n._ 455 + his pride, 456 + his mode of composition, _n._ 459 + his contented poverty, and consistent conduct, _ib._ + characteristics of his writings, 461 + his passion for mathematics, 464 + leads to a quarrel with Dr. Wallis, 465-473 + + HOME and his tragedy of "Douglas", 79 + + HOWEL, nearly lost his life by excessive study, 74 + + HUME, his literary life mortified with disappointments, 202 + wished to change his name and his country, 204 + his letter to Des Maiseaux requesting his opinion of his + philosophy, 202 + + HURD, Bishop, biographical note on, 253 + imitates Warburton's style, _n._ 269 + + + _Icon Libellorum._ See _Athenæ Britannicæ_. + + + JOHNSON, Dr., his aversion to Milton's politics, 425 + + JONES, Inigo, ridiculed by Ben Jonson, _n._ 477 + + JONSON, Ben, his quarrel with Decker, 475 + his conversation with Drummond of Hawthornden, 475, 535 + his general conviviality, _n._ 475 + his play "The Poetaster", 476-481 + his powerful satire on Decker, 482-487 + his bitter allusions to his enemies, 487-488 + + + KENNET'S, Bishop, Register and Chronicle, 87 + + KENRICK, Dr., a caustic critic, treats our great authors with the + most amusing arrogance, 141 + an epigram on himself, by himself, _n._ 142 + + KING, Dr., his payments as an author, 332 + biographical notice of, _n._ 358 + ridicules the Transactions of the Royal Society, 358, 361 + aids in attacking Bentley, 384 + his satirical Index to Bentley's Characteristics, _n._ 386 + + + LAWSON, Dame, a noted female Puritan, _n._ 519, 525 + + LEE, Nat., his love of praise, 213 + + LELAND, the antiquary, an accomplished scholar, 172 + his "Strena," or New Year's Gift to Henry VIII.; an account of his + studies, and his magnificent projects, 174 + doubts that his labours will reach posterity, 175 + he values "the furniture" of his mind, _ib._ + his bust striking from its physiognomy, 177 + the ruins of his mind discovered in his library, _ib._ + the inscription on his tomb probably had been composed by himself, + before his insanity, 178 + thoughts on Eloquence, 255 + + LIBELS abounded in the age of Elizabeth, 503 + + LIGHTFOOT could not procure the printing of his work, 192 + + LINTOT'S account-book, 328-333 + + LITERARY PROPERTY, difficulties to ascertain its nature, 16 + history of, _ib._ + value of, _n._ _ib._ + + LITERARY quarrels from personal motives, 529-539 + + LLOYD'S, Bishop, collections and their fate, 93 + + LOGAN, the history of his literary disappointments, 78 + dies broken-hearted, _ib._ + his poetic genius, 80 + + LOWTH, Bishop, attack on pretensions of Warburton, _n._ 235-246, + _n._ 252-268 + + + M'DONALD, or Matthew Bramble, his tragical reply to an inquiry after + his tragedy, 77 + + MACDIARMID, John, died of over-study and exhaustion, 74 + + MALLET, his knowledge of Pope and Warburton, _n._ 242 + his attacks on Warburton, _n._ 271 + employed by Bolingbroke to libel Pope, _ib._ + anecdote of his egotism, 324 + employed by the Duchess of Marlborough on a Life of the Duke, _n._ + 325 + + M'MAHON and his anti-social philosophy, _n._ 456 + + MARSTON, John, satirised by Ben Jonson, _n._ 477 + + MARTIN MAR-PRELATE'S libels issuing from a moveable press carried + about the country, 116 + a party-name for satirists of the Church, 510 + their popularity, 513-516 + their secret printings, 515 + opposed by other wits, 517 + authors of these satires, _n._ 505, _n._ 518, 520, 523 + curious rhymes against, 524-528 + + MARVELL attacks the intolerant tenets of Bishop Parker, 392 + severity of his satire on the Court of Charles II., _n._ 393 + comments on the early career of Parker, 394-395 + origin of quarrel, 396 + his noble defence of Milton, 399 + his rencontre with Parker in the streets, 401 + his political honesty, 402 + his generous criticism on Butler, 434 + + MASKELL, Rev. W., history of the Mar-Prelate controversy, _n._ + 503 + date of its origin, and opinion on its authors, _n._ 505 + + MELANCHOLY persons frequently the most delightful companions, _n._ + 182 + + MENASSAH, Ben Israel, his treatise "De Resurrectione Mortuorum," + _n._ 252 + + MICKLE'S pathetic address to his muse, 207 + his disappointments after the publication of the "Lusiad" induce + him to wish to abandon his native country, 208 + + MIDDLETON, Dr. Conyers, quarrel with Bentley, 530 + and with Warburton, 532 + + MILTON'S works the favourite prey of booksellers, 17 + vilified by party spirit, 424-425 + + MORTIMER, Thomas, his complaint in old age of the preference given + to young adventurers, 75 + + MOTTEUX, Peter, and his patron, 30 + + MUGHOUSE, political clubs, _n._ 32 + + + NASH, Tom, the misery of his literary life, 23 + threatens his patrons, 24 + silences Mar-Prelate with his own weapons, 116 + his character as a Lucianic satirist, 120 + his "Have with you to Saffron Walden," a singular literary + invective against Gabriel Harvey, 120 + + NEEDHAM, Marchmont, a newspaper writer in the great Civil War, + 420 + + NEWSPAPERS of the great Civil War, 415, 422 + + NEWTON, of a fearful temper in criticism, _n._ 140 + + NEWTON'S "Optics" first favourably noticed in France, 84 + + + OCKLEY, Simon, among the first of our authors who exhibited a great + nation in the East in his "History of the Saracens", 163 + his sufferings expressed in a remarkable preface dated from gaol, + 187 + dines with the Earl of Oxford; an original letter of apology for + his uncourtly behaviour, 189 + exults in prison for the leisure it affords for study, _n._ _ib._ + neglected, but employed by ministers, 196 + + OLDMIXON asserts Lord Clarendon's "History" to have been interpolated, + while himself falsifies Daniel's "Chronicle," _n._ 10 + + + PALERMO, Prince of; and his Palace of Monsters, _n._ 243 + + PAPER-WARS of the Civil Wars, 415, 422 + + PARKER, Bishop of Oxford, his early career, 394-395 + the intolerance of his style, 397 + attacks Milton, 399 + and Marvell in the streets, 401 + his posthumous portrait of Marvell, 402 + + PARR, Dr., his talent and his egotism, _n._ 236 + his defence of Warburton, _n._ 239 + in revenge for Bishop Hurd's criticism, publishes his early works + of irony, 531 + + PATIN, Guy, his account of Hobbes, _n._ 445 + + PATTISON, a young poet, his college career, 98 + his despair in an address to Heaven, and a pathetic letter, 101 + + PENRY, one of the writers of Mar-Prelate tracts, _n._ 505, _n._ + 518 + his career, 520 + his execution, 521 + his petition and protest, _n._ 521 + rhymes on his death, _ib._ + + PHALARIS, Epistles of, 378 + + PHILLIPS asperses Pope, 316 + + PIERCE, Dr. T., his controversies, 537 + + POETS, _mediocre_ Critics are the real origin of _mediocre_, 212 + Nat. Lee describes their wonderful susceptibility of praise, + 213 + provincial, their situation at variance with their feelings, + 214 + + POPE, Alex., his opinion of "the Dangerous Fate of Authors", 214 + the Poet Prior, 216 + + POPE, Alexander, his high estimation of Warburton, 257, 273 + Warburton's edition of his works, 263, 270 + his miscellaneous quarrel, 278, 291 + collects libels on himself, _n._ 273 + literary stratagems, 280 + early neglect of his "Essay on Criticism," _n._ 280 + the real author of the "Key to the Lock," _n._ 280 + hostilities between him and others, 282 + the finest character-painter, _n._ 283 + his personal sufferings on Cibber's satire, 285 + his first introduction to Dennis, _n._ 286 + narrative of the publication of his letter to Curll, 292, 300 + his attacks on Cibber, 301, 312 + his condemned comedy, _n._ 301, 307 + quarrels with Addison, 313 + urges an attack on his _Cato_, _n._ 315 + believes him to have employed adverse critics, _n._ 316-317 + satirizes Addison as Atticus, _n._ 317 + his last interview with Addison, 318, 320 + surreptitiously prints Bolingbroke's "Patriot King", 321 + his bookselling account with Lintot, 329 + his earliest satire, 333-335 + his satires and their effects, 535 + + PRIDEAUX'S "Connection of Old and New Testament", 84 + + PRINCE'S "Worthies of Devon", _ib._ + + PRIOR, curious character of, from a Whig satire, 216 + felicitated himself that his natural inclination for poetry had + been checked, 217 + attacked for his political creed, 429 + + PROCLAMATION issued by James I. against Cowel's book, "The + Interpreter," a curious document in literary history, 195 + + PRYNNE, a voluminous author without judgment, but the character of + the man not so ridiculous as the author, 146 + his intrepid character, 147 + his curious argument against being debarred from pen and ink, _n._ + 148 + his interview with Laud in the Tower, _n._ 149 + had a good deal of cunning in his character, _n._ 150 + grieved for the Revolution in which he himself had been so + conspicuous a leader, 148 + his speeches as voluminous as his writings, _n._ 151 + seldom dined, _n._ 152 + account of his famous "Histriomastix", _ib._ + Milton admirably characterises Prynne's absurd learning, _n._ + _ib._ + how the "Histriomastix" was at once an elaborate work of many + years, and yet a temporary satire--the secret history of the + book being as extraordinary as the book itself, 153 + + PURITANS, origin of their name, _n._ 504 + + + RALEIGH, Sir W., an opposer of Puritanism, _n._ 508 + + REFORMATION, the, under Elizabeth, 501 + + RIDICULE described, 114 + it creates a fictitious personage, _ib._ + a test of truth, 264, 267 + + RITSON, Joseph, the late poetical antiquary, carried criticism to + insanity, 51 + + RITSON, Isaac, a young Scotch writer, perishes by attempting to + exist by the efforts of his pen, 75 + his extemporary rhapsody descriptive of his melancholy fate, 76 + + ROYAL SOCIETY, the, 335, 361 + encounters much opposition when first established, _ib._ + + RUFFHEAD'S Life of Pope, 290 + + RUSHWORTH dies of a broken heart, having neglected his own affairs + for his "Historical Collections", 85 + + RYMER'S distress in forming his "Historical Collections", 85 + + RYVES, Eliza, her extraordinary literary exertions and melancholy + end, 107 + + + SALE, the learned, often wanted a meal while translating the Koran, + _n._ 189 + + SAVAGE the Poet employed by Pope to collect materials for notes to + the _Dunciad_, _n._ 279 + + SCOT, Reginald, persecuted for his work against Witchcraft, 198 + + SCOTT, of Amwell, the Quaker and poet, offended at being compared to + Capt. Macheath by the affected witticism of a Reviewer, 143 + his extraordinary "Letter to the Critical Reviewers," in which he + enumerates his own poetical beauties, _ib._ + + SELDEN compelled to recant his opinions, and not suffered to reply + to his calumniators, 198 + refuses James I. to publish his defence of the "Sovereignty of the + Seas" till Grotius provoked his reply, _ib._ + opinions on bishops, _n._ 502 + + SETTLE, Elkanah, the ludicrous close of a scribbler's life, 146 + the hero of Pope's earliest satire, 333 + manages Pope burnings, 334 + + SHAFTESBURY, Lord, on the origin of irony, _n._ 436 + his character of Hobbes, _n._ 437 + his conversation with Hobbes in Paris on his work, "The + Leviathan," _n._ 441 + + SHUCKFORD, "Sacred and Profane History Connected", 85 + + SLOANE, Sir Hans, his peculiarities of style, 358-360 + + SMART and his satire, "The Hilliad", 371-372 + + SMOLLETT confesses the incredible labour and chagrin he had endured + as an author, 13 + + SOCRATES ridiculed by Aristophanes, 266 + + SOUTH'S poignant reflection on the Royal Society, 342 + + SPRAT'S History of the Royal Society, 337-339 + his aversion to Milton, 424 + + STEELE, his paradoxical character, 168 + satirized by Swift, 429-431 + why he wrote a laughable comedy after his "Christian Hero", 169 + his ill choice in a wife of an uncongenial character, 170 + specimens of his "Love Despatches," _n._ _ib._ + finely contrasts his own character with that of Addison, _n._ + 172 + introduces Pope to Addison, 314 + manages a friendly interview between them after a long disseverance, + 319 + his political creed loses him Addison's friendship, 433 + + STEEVENS, G., satirizes Sir John Hawkins, 535 + + STILLINGFLEET, Bishop, his end supposed to have been hastened by + Locke's confutation of his metaphysical notions, _n._ 140 + + STOCKDALE, Perceval, his character an extraordinary instance of the + illusions of writers in verse, 218 + draws a parallel between Charles XII. and himself, 224 + + STOWE, the chronicler, petitions to be a licensed beggar, 29 + + STRUTT, the antiquary, a man of genius and imagination, 86 + his spirited letters on commencing his career of authorship, 88 + + STUART, Dr. Gilbert, his envious character; desirous of destroying + the literary works of his countrymen, 131 + projects the "Edinburgh Magazine and Review;" its design, _ib._ + his horrid feelings excited by his disappointments, 132 + raises a literary conspiracy against Dr. Henry, 135 + dies miserably, 139 + + STUBBE and his attacks on the Royal Society, 346 + his early history, 347 + influenced by Dr. Fell in his attacks, _n._ 350 + specimens of them, 356 + + SYSTEMS of Opinions, often fallacies in practice, 461 + + SUBSCRIPTIONS once inundated our literature with worthless works, + 29 + + + TEMPLE, Sir W., Essay on Learning, 378 + + THEOBALD, his payments from, and literary arrangements with Lintot, + 331-332 + + TICKELL'S Homer, 316 + + TOLAND, a lover of study, 157 + defends himself from the aspersion of atheism or deism, 150 + accused of an intention to found a sect, 159 + had the art of explaining away his own words, _ib._ + a great artificer of title-pages, 160 + his "Pantheisticon", 161 + projects a new office of a private monitor to the minister, 163 + of the books he read and his MSS. _n._ 166 + his panegyrical epitaph composed by himself, 167 + Locke's admirable foresight of his character, 168 + the miserable payment for his life of literary labour, 332 + + TONSON, Jacob, bickerings with Dryden, _n._ 171 + his bookselling career, _ib._ + + + UDALL, John, a writer in the Mar-Prelate controversy, _n._ 505, + _n._ 518 + his character and career, 521-523 + + + WAGSTAFFE, Dr., his character of Steele, _n._ 429-432 + his satirical works, _n._ 431 + + WAKEFIELD, Gilbert, his works unsuccessful because of his politics, + _n._ 435 + + WALLIS, Dr., his curious narrative of a dialogue between Hobbes and + the Countess of Devonshire, _n._ 455 + his quarrel with Hobbes, 465-473 + his power of deciphering secret writing, 472 + his real opinion of Hobbes, _n._ 473 + + WALPOLE, Horace, his literary character, 43 + instances of his pointed vivacity against authors, _n._ 43 + why he attacked the fame of Sydney, and defended Richard III., + 45 + his literary mortifications, acknowledged by himself from his + original letters, 47 + how Gray treated him when invited to Strawberry-hill, _n._ 46 + extraordinary letter of, expressing his contempt of his most + celebrated contemporaries, 49 + + WALSINGHAM, Sir Francis, originally favours the Puritans, _n._ + 508 + + WARBURTON, dishonest criticism on Gray's "Hudibras", 105 + and his quarrels, 233-277 + his early career, 239 + his traffic in dedications, 241 + his contemptuous criticism on Pope and Addison, 244 + his miscellaneous reading, 245, 246 + his love of conjecture, 247 + Divine Legation, _n._ 250, 267 + unhappy in his labours, _n._ 252 + his coarseness of invective, _n._ 224, 268 + his contemptuous criticisms, 258, 269 + conjectural criticism on Shakspeare, 260 + his edition of Pope, 263, 270, 271 + his literary recruits, 274 + defends Pope against Bolingbroke, 321 + influenced Pope through his religion, _n._ 323 + his opinion of Hobbes, _n._ 444 + offends Edwards in a contest, 532 + + WARD, Dr. Seth, his double opinion of Hobbes' Works, _n._ 465 + + WARD, Dr., his quarrel with Dr. Pierce, 536 + + WHARTON, Henry, sunk under his historical studies, 74 + + WHITGIFT, Archbishop, his controversies with Cartwright the Puritan, + and ultimate friendship with him, _n._ 509 + + WILLIAM of WYKEHAM attacked by Bohun, 537 + + WOOD, Anthony, his character, 94 + an apology for the "Athenæ Oxonienses", 92 + the writers of a party whom he abhorred frequently refer to him in + their own favour, 99 + defines Marvell's style, 392 + gives Bishop Parker's early history, 394 + his prejudice against Lake, 423 + + WOODWARD the actor attacked by Hill, 372, and note + + WORKS, valuable, not completed from deficient encouragement, 84 + + WOTTON'S reflections on learning, 378 + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber Notes + +Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are listed below. + +Archaic and variable spelling and hyphenation is preserved, including +the author's use of "wont" instead of "won't". + +Author's punctuation style is preserved, except where noted below. + +Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_. + +Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=. + +Emphasized words within italics indicated by +plus signs+. + + +Transcriber Changes + +The following changes were made to the original text: + + Page 11: Added missing word (He passed through a youth of + iniquity, and was expelled =from= his college for his + irregularities) + + Page 21: Was 'ingratisude' (it seems a national =ingratitude= to + limit the existence of works for their authors) + + Page 23: Was 'roya' (passed off in currency their base metal stamped + with a =royal= head) + + Page 40: Was 'discontentd' (he retired =discontented= into + Surrey.") + + Page 62: Was smudged 'brothe' (envied their Ciceronian =brothers.=) + + Page 63: Added period (he then requested the Bishop of =London.=) + + Page 89: Was 'prosspects' (his imagination delighted to expatiate in + its future =prospects=) + + Page 105: Was 'Hubidras' (might have served as the model of Grey's + =Hudibras=.) + + Page 118: Added quote (="Harvey=, the happy above happier men, I + read) + + Page 187: Was 'sorows' (the oriental student pathetically counts + over his =sorrows=) + + Page 215: Removed quote (O people currish, churlish as their + =seas--=) + + Page 230: Changed comma to period (he gave a new turn to our + =studies.=) + + Page 281: Added quote ("and the weekly clubs held to consult of + hostilities against the =author;"=) + + Page 289: Was 'nor' (Is =not= _Word-catching_ more serviceable in + splitting a cause, than explaining a fine poet?) + + Page 327: Was 'damagogue' (which such a political =demagogue= as + Bolingbroke never forgave) + + Page 328: Added quote (which I have noticed in the ="Quarrels= of + Warburton.") + + Page 350: Was 'petulent' (which closed this life of toil and hurry + and =petulant= genius) + + Page 399: Was 'ut' (he was glad to make use of anything rather than + sit =out=;) + + Page 403: Was 'Philosoper' (while the =Philosopher= keenly retorts + on the Club) + + Page 420: Added missing i (I give a short narrative of the political + temper of the times, =in= their unparalleled gazettes.) + + Page 434: Added quote (From age to age, =&c."=) + + Page 436: Was 'montrous' (his =monstrous= egotism) + + Page 469: Changed comma to period (than in his younger =days.=) + + Page 471: Removed quote (you are older already than =Methuselah.=) + + Page 481: Added quote ('Barmy froth, inflate, turgidous, and + ventosity are come =up.'=) + + Page 483: Was 'searchin' (Mine enemies, with sharp and =searching= + eyes) + + Page 487: Added period (Nor the =Untrussers.=) + + Page 497: Removed quote (=Now=, to show himself as good a painter as + he is a herald) + + Footnote 20: Extra comma removed (his _Bibliographia =Poetica=_.) + + Footnote 140: Was 'afterwardss' (As City Poet =afterwards= Settle + composed the pageants) + + Footnote 140: Was 'Mayor' (songs for the Lord =Mayor's= Shows from + 1691 to 1708) + + Footnote 140: Original split across lines as 'im,' and 'poverished,' + (Towards the close of his career he became + =impoverished=) + + Footnote 150: Changed period to comma (by =Indignatio,"= 1772) + + Footnote 157: Added quote ("that last foible of superior + =genius."=) + + Footnote 163: Was 'Manasseh' (which =Menasseh= Ben Israel has + written his treatise) + + Footnote 183: Was 'infallibilty' (to the standard of your + =infallibility=) + + Footnote 186: Added quote (="Letter= to Warburton," p. 4.) + + Footnote 195: Added quote (Prince Eugene, ="who= came hither for + that purpose.") + + Footnote 202: Was 'Irishmant o' (had a tall Irishman =to= attend + him) + + Footnote 291: Added quote (And changed his skin to monumental + =brass."=) + + Footnote 324: Added missing word (=It= may be inscribed in the + library of the student) + + Footnote 353: Was 'caligraphy' (this beautiful specimen of + =calligraphy= may still be seen) + + Footnote 353: Was 'hi' (it produced =his= sudden dismissal from the + presence of Charles II. when at Paris) + + Footnote 354: Added quote (but, chewed, are for the most part cast + up again without =effect."=) + + Footnote 367: Added quote (="Il= disoit qu'il faisoit quelquefois + des ouvertures) + + Footnote 369: Added period (The story his antagonist (Dr. Wallis) + relates is perfectly in =character.=) + + Footnote 418: Changed comma to period (in a countercuffe given to + Martin =Junior."=) + + Index: Was 'Gilden' (=GILDON= supposed by Pope to have been employed + by Addison to write against him, 316) + + Index: Added period (JOHNSON, =Dr.,= his aversion to Milton's + politics, 425) + + Index: Was '132' (LIGHTFOOT could not procure the printing of his + work, =192=) + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Calamities and Quarrels of Authors, by +Isaac Disraeli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CALAMITIES AND QUARRELS OF AUTHORS *** + +***** This file should be named 30745-0.txt or 30745-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/4/30745/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Katherine Ward, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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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