(•/ ,-^,i r^*" ;^^'f!^ » -V's V. \^-,^ \f '4 4 //. 2.^.cS~, Srom f^e £i6rarg of (profesBor ^dmuef (gXifPer in (pernors of 3ubge ^amuef (^tiffer QBrecftinribge (JJrc0enfeb 6|? ^amuef (gliffer QBrecftinribge feon^ fo f^e £i6rarg of Qprinceton S^eofo^tcaf ^eminarg r'.)a?£aEU£:f<<.( H^ltiBAsri , "ffl;*! PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. A SA TIRICAL POEM. PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. A SATIRICAL POEM I J^ FOUR DIALOGUES, WITH NOTES. TO WHICH ARE ANNEXED, A VINDICATION OF THE WORK, >' AND TRANSLATIONS OF ALL THE GREEK, LATIN, ITALIAN, AND FRENCH QUOTATIONS. Xoyoti iTTinivirxri. Athenagorae Atheniensts Legatio Imperatoribus Antonino et Commodo. — ad fin. Op. Justin. Jlam-i*. Ed. Paris. 1636. pag. 39. PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED BY H. MAXWELL, FOR J. NANCREDE, BOSTON; AND A. DICKINS AND J. ORMROD, PHILADELPHIA. 1800. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library http://www.archive.org/details/pursuitsofliteraOOmatt ABVER TISEMEJSTT SEVENTH EDITION. March 30, 1798. 1 HE Poem on the Pursuits of Literature being out of print, I have revised it with great care. I have indeed incurred some censure from the very attention wbicb I have repeatedly given to it. Tet I am still of opinion, that no man of candour and reflection could wish to see any mistakes continued without correction, or the various parts of it again presented to the public, without improvements and additions to the poetry and notes, as circumstances arose to prompt or to require them. This is all which I have done from time to time. Though words are irrevocable, yet the last corrections of any author should be considered as the sense which he [ vi ] tvisbes to express or to enforce. Impertijience and falsbood I have at all times despised and neglected. It will be seen however^ that, by omissions and alter- ations, I have expressed a liberal concern for my unintentional mistakes^ with the spirit and breeding of a gentleman. Additions made to a history^ or to any professed tvork of science., may (if it be thought worth the trouble) be printed separately. But in a composition of this nature., a moment's consideration will sug- gest to a?iy man., that it is impracticable. The following., or similar., words are recorded to have been once delivered in Parliament a few years before the Rebellion in 1745. / shall apply the spirit of them to the enemies of the principles of this work., but not to the enemies of the work itself. The words are these. " The heat which Jbas offended them is the ardour of cojivictiott, and that zeal for the service of my country, which neither hope nor fear shall influence me to suppress. I will not sit uncojicerned when (public) liberty is threatened or invaded., nor look in silence upon (intended) Public Robbery. / will exert my en* C vii ] deavotirs, at whatever hazard, to drag the agressors to justice, whoever may protect them, and who- ever may (uhimately) partake of the (national) plunder !" It is remarkable: the Speaker was William Pitt; the Reporter, Samuel Johnson.* No more. * See Dr. Johnson's Parliamentary Debates in 1741' Vol. I. p. 307. Am Ava-pyifticcT »«£<• Eyf5);i-4««!;. TO THE READER. I RECOMMEND the following anecdote to sagacious persons who know all authors (and me among the rest) by their style, or by any other certain or infallible sign. The anecdote is known to those who are accurately versed in literary history. Julius Scaliger wrote and published an oration, without his name, against the famous tract by Erasmus, called Ciceronianus. Erasmus, having perused it, immediately, (and upon con- viction as he thought) fixed upon Hieronimus Aleander, who was afterwards made an Arch- bishop by Leo X. and a Cardinal by Pope Paul the Third, as the author of the whole, or of the greatest part of it, by signs which he conceived to [ 10 ] be certain and infallible. These signs were strong indeed. His phraseology, his manner of speak- ing, his peculiar diction, his habits of life, and even the very intercourse which Erasmus had daily with him. Nay, his genius and disposition were so evident, that Aleander could not be more intimately known to himself, than he was to Eras- mus. Yet Erasmus was mistaken entirely. His judgment and sagacity will not be questioned. But hear his own words, for on such an occasion as the present they are particularly remarkable. " Ex pbrasi, ex ore, ex lociitione, aliisque complu- ribus, mibi persuasi hoc opus maxima saltern ex parte, esse Hieronimi Aleandri. Nam mibi Genius illius ex domestico convictu adeo cognitus per spec- tusque est, ut ipse sibi non possit esse notior!^^^ I recommend this anecdote to the considera- tion of those persons, who from random conjec- ture, without any knowledge, or any proof what- soever, continue to ascribe the following work, to men, who are all equally guiltless of my labours, and all equally ignorant of my intentions. But * Erasrni Epist. 370. c. 1755. Op. Fol. Ed. Opt. l.u c. C H ] I believe, no gentleman to whom it either has been, or may hereafter be, liberally or illiberally attributed, will so far forget his character, as to appropriate my composition to himself. " The Town's inquiring yet;" and will inquire, as I think, for a long time. I am of opinion, that if the Poem is read once without reference to the notes, the plan, connec- tion, and manner of it will be perceived. I may add, that. The First Dialogue was ^r^^ published in May 1794, the Second and Third in June 1796, and the Fourth in July 1797. AN INTRODUCTORY LETTER* TO A FRIEND, 07i THE GENERAL SUBJECT OF THE FOLLOWIKG POEM ON THE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. Ncl cerchio accolto, Mormoro potentissime parole Giro tre volte aW Oriente il volto, Tre volte ai regni ove dechina il Sole; *' Onde tanto indugiar ? forse attendete " Voci ancor piii potenti, o piu secre !" Tasso, G. L. Cant. 13. DEAR SIR, xVS the public have thought proper to pay some attention to the following Poem on the Pursuits of Literature, the parts of which I have presented to their consideration, and for their use, at various intervals ; I have now collected the whole into one volume, after such a revision and correction as appeared to be necessary. It gives me pleasure to address this Introduction to you. As a mark of my friendship, I trust it is deci- sive. I always thought with Junius, that a printed paper receives very little consideration from the most respectable signature. But I would * This Letter vfdisjirst prefixed to the Fifth Edition of the P. of L. collected for the first time into one volume in December 1797; and pub- lished in January 1798. C 14 ] not be understood to insinuate, with that great and consummate writer, that mj name would cany any weight with it. I must own however, that I smile at the various authors to whom my work is ascribed. Doc- tors, Dramatic Writers, Royal Treasurers, Divines, Orators, Lawyers, Greek Professors, Schoel-masters, Bath guides, and Physicians, have all been named with confidence. Sometimes the whole is written by one man, at others, ten or perhaps twenty are concerned in it. Criticisms and dissenting conjectures on the subject are alike the object of my ineffable contempt. More sagacity must be exerted than the Ardelios of the day are masters of, who are so kind as to think of me, who most certainly never think of them. It is however my resolutioi;, that not one of these idle conjectures shall ever be extended to you. " Quid de me alii loquan- tur, ipsi viDEANT ; sed loquentur tamen." It is a voice ; nothing more. Prudence indeed suggests a caution which I unwillingly adopt, and restrains the eagerness I feel for the display oiyour virtues and of yoxir talents. But those virtues must at present be left to the testimony of your own con- science ; and your talents within those limits of exertion, in which an un- discerning spirit has too long suffered them to be confined. The bird of day however always looks to the sun. In regard to writing in general, the public expect neither thanks nor gratitude from an author for their favourable reception of his work* If it is unworthy of their notice, it is left to perish with the poetiy of Knight or the prose of Lauderdale. " I cannot indeed affect to believe, that nature has wholly disqualified me for all literary pursuits." * Yet I would not trouble the public, or myself, with this new edition of my Poem, if I did not think it agreeable to their wishes. I am satisfied with the attention which has been given to it. And when I have commanded a silence within my own breast, I think a still small voice may whisper those gratulatlons, from which an honest man may best derive comfort from the past, and motives for future action. The wayward nature of the time, and the paramount necessity of secur- ing to this kingdom her political and religious existence, and the rights of society, hare urged and stimulated me, as you well know, to offer this en- deavour to preserve them, by a solemn, laborious, and disinterested appeal * The words of Mr. Gibbon. Posthumous Works, 4. to vol. I. C 15 ] to my countrymen. It it designed to conduct them through the labyrinth* ot" literature ; to convince them of the manner in which the understanding and affections are either bewildered, darkened, enervated, or degraded; and to point out the fatal paths which would lead us all either to final de- $truction, or to complicated misery. I am not yet so old as to say, with the desponding bard, " Vita est avidus^ quisquisnon vult, 'M.vubo secum pereunte, mori." Yet I see, with sorrow and fear, the political constitutions of Europe falling around us, or crum- bling into dust, under the tyrannical Republic of France. She commenced with an imperious injunction to the surrounding nations not to interpose in her domestic government, while at the very same moment, she herself was interfering and disturbing them all. She has indeed terminated in the change or overthrow of each of them, but of this kingdom. Frenchmen were always brutal, when unrestrained. With their own domestic misery and wickedness they never were satisfied. In these latter days, they have been neighing after the constitutions of their neighbours in their lawless lustihood. They first deflower the purity of the struggling or half-consenting victims, and then with their ruffian daggers they stifle at once the voice and the remembrance of the pollution. Such are their abominations. Such are their orgies of blood and lust. And when their cruelty is at last wearied out and exhausted, and demands a pause, they call it clemency. France had been long looking for that, which her philo- sophers had taught her to term the parallelism of the sword. She has indeed found it. That sword has indeed swept down not only eveiy royal crest, but every head which raised itself above the plain of their equality. Such is their quaint and ferocious language. And now, when Englishmen are to be warned against the introduction of the horrid system, no appeal is to be made to the common feelings and passions of our nature, (this, it seems, is declamation;) no scenes of terror, and cruelty, and deso- lation are to be laid before them, but dry reasoning and mathematical cal- culations of the quantum of misery, plunder, and blood, necessar}' for the production and establishment in England of this blessed revolutionary go- vernment. But we will not be insulted and fooled out of our existence, or of our understanding. " Our sentence is for open war," till we can be safe. England is still prepared, and alert, and vigorous, and opulent, and generous, and bold, and undismayed. She has not cast away her confi. C 16 ] dcnce. Among the bands and associated energies of England, I also, in my degree and very limited capacity, will struggle for the principle of her life. I feel, in common with the wise and reflecting, that the consti- tution of Great Britain, even with it's real or apparent defects, is worthy of continuance, and I hope of perpetuity. Our ancestors in 1688 once adopted the words of the aged Patriarch, " We have blessed it, yea, and it shall be blessed." In this one response, I trust we shall all be orthodox; and with one heart and voice condemn all the heresies of Galllck policy, in tlie words of the Alexandrian Liturgy of old, T»v utficriav KxruXviroi in tpfvxy/^XTX."* Government and Literature are now more than ever intimately con- nected. The history of the last thirty years proves it beyond a contro- versy. Still it is difficult to rouse the attention of men, and to persuade them of the fact. But I have attempted it. I thought It just and right to set before them excellence opposed to excellence,! as well as error contrasted to error. In the present change of manners, opinions, govern- ment, and learning, you may remember I gave It as my opinion, in which after some consideration you concurred, that a variation is now required in the mode of conducting satirical writing. I mean, by calling in the reciprocal assistance of poetry and prose in the same work, for the great end ; if It is designed for general perusal and extended application. I think this work is the first attempt of the kind, In th? sense which I pro- pose. Jlvfyua-xi^ o-Ti^xp^ FimTOS E» ivtn-i^.\ I know not whether I am mistaken, but as it appears to me, the power of legitimate Satire thus extended and strengthened with the ram- part of prose, and fully understood, is the best, if not the only literar}' support left. I am sure it cannot be construed Into an hired service. It has nothing In it of professional labour: and as to interested views oi * Liturgia Sanctl Gregorll Alexandrina. Llturg. Oriental. Collect. Vol. I. p. 107. Edit. Paris. 1716. t AyxSui xyxhn xvti^itx^ui. Dion. Halicarn. ad Cne. Pompeiuir* de Platone Eplst. p. 757. Sect. I. Vol. 6. Ed. Reiske. 1777. ^ Adapted from the Antholcgl. p. 393. Ed. Brodxi. Fol. C 17 ] personal profit or promotion how can they be consistent with it? It is as true in our time, as in that of Diyden, (I will give you his own words,) that '' the common libellers of the day, are as free from the imputation " of wit as of morality." Satire has another tone and another character, All public men, however distinguished, must in their turns submit to it if necessary to the welfare of the state. The altar and the throne, the minister and the statesman, may feel and own its influence. I would ex- press myself with diffidence of any Satirist: yet of the office itself, and of its higher functions, I would speak as becomes it's dignity and the excellency of it's ancient character. Magnificabo apostolatum meuni. In my opinion, the office of a Satirist is by no means pleasant or desi- rable, but in times like the present it is peculiarly necessary. It is indeed difficult to exercise the talent without an appearance of severity in the character and disposition. Even playfulness and humour are called by other appellations. Learning is ostentation, censure is malignity, and reprehension is abuse. There remains a more formidable objection. On a first and partial view, it might deter any man from engaging in Satire; at least any man who feels himself (and v/ho does not feel himself, if he examines his own heart?) unworthy and wretched before the unerring judgment. It is said to be incompatible, if not with the profession, yet certainly with the practice, of Christianity. I am sure, if that is true, the praise of wit, or learning, or talents, is nothing worth. If private malig- nity is the motive, it is essentially contrary to the precepts and practice of this religion. It cannot be defended for a moment. But if Satire is an instrument, and a powerful instrument, to maintain and enforce public order, morality, religion, literature, and good manners, in those cases, in which the pulpit and the courts of law can seldom interfere, and rarely with effect; the community may authorize and approve it. The autho- rized instruments of lawful war are lawful. Satire never can have effect, without a personal application. It must come home to the bosoms, and often to the offences of particular men. ■ It never has its full force, if the author of it is known or stands forth; for the unworthiness of any man lessens the strength of his objections. This is a full answer to those who require the name of a satirical poet. What I have written, is delivered to the public in this spirit. If I had any private end or malignity in any part of it, I would have burned the C [ 18 ] work with ir.dignaiion before it should have appeaiccl. J make no idic appeal to 3"ou, or to any man, for the truth of my assertion; it is enough for me to feel that I speak truth in the sincerity of my heart. If I am believed, I am believed. But I may ask with confidence ; Is tliere, in this work on the Pursuits of Literature, any sentence or any sentiment, by wiiich the mind may be depraved, degraded, or corrupted ? Is there a principle of classical criti- cism in any part of it, which is not just and defensible by the greatest masters of ancient and legitimate composition? Is there any passage Avhich pandars to the vitiated taste, or to the polluted affections and passions of bad men? On the contrary; Are not the heart and under- standing fortified unto virtue, and exalted into independence? Is there any idle depreciating declamation, against the real and solid advantages of birth, fortune, learning, wit, talents, and high station? Is there any doctrine, which a teacher of morality, I mean Christian morality, might refuse to sanction ? A moralist and a divine have not the same office with the satirist; personality is foixign to them. But it is not sufficiently attended to or believed, that when the understanding is enervated, when it once loses, what one of the Fathers* calls emphatically, the t«5 (ppowio-ius c-vyvav Kxi TrtTrvxv^iusvov, when that solid, tenacious power of the mind is dissolved, it is then open to all manner of deception, and to the impressions of sophistry in literature, government, philosophy, and religion. On this account, many works and manv actions must be considered, wholly un- worthy of reprehension or notice in any other point of view. Ignorant men will cry out, it is a vexatious suit, when it is a just pro- secution at the tribunal of public opinion. They who would consider my reprehensions of authors and of the tendency of their writings, as libels, or as libellous matter, are as ignorant of common law, »s they are forget- ful of common sense, or common integrity and candour. With such men, every piece of criticism is a species of libel. If they are inclined to indict any part of my work as libellous.^ it will be incumbent on them to contradict the great sage of the law, who declares that, " In a criminal " PROSECUTION, the tendency which all libels have to create animosities * Basil. Archiepisc. Cjesarese. Op. Vol. 2. p. 698. Ed. Par. 16:8. C 19 3 *' cmd distU7-b the public peace .f is the whole which the laiv considers."* I am content to be at I^-sue with them on this point. If any part of my work is " blasphemous, immoral, treasonable, schismatical, seditious, or *' scandalous," let it be produced publicly, and publicly punished. But I maintain that, under these restrictions, I have an undoubted right to lay my sentiments before the world, on public subjects, public men, and public books, in any manner I think proper. If I am denied this right, there is an end of the freedom of the prefs, and of the rational and guarded liberty of England. If the matter of my book is criminal, let it be shewn. I appeal to the courts and the sages of the law. But I will not be intimi- dated by the war-whoop of jacobins and democratic writers, or the feeble shrieks of witlings and poetasters. While I have power, I will plead in behalf of learning, and in the cause of my countr}% I have not, in this work, violated the precepts of Christianity, or the law of the land ; and till 1 have done both or either, it is not in the power of any man to de- grade my character and reputation with my countiy. If I have drawn any supposed characters, without a name or designation, I have done no more than Theophrastus or La Bruyere. I shall not condescend to a dis- cussion of such a subject. Many passages, and perhaps trifling or sportive allusions, in this work to persons and events, are best defended by the general apology of Horace, " Egosi risi quod ineptus Pastillos Rufillus olet, lividits st mordaxvidear?" I shall offer no other apology. I would not descend to such minutis, if they were not connected with my general design. Yet Sporus and Lord Fanny must be noticed, as Avell as Bufo and iVtticus. Perhaps such pas- sages and allusions as these meet with the least indulgence. The works of Pope abound in them. To contem.poraries they are pleasing and inter- esting, and to posterity they are often curious. But though I stoop to such trifles rather unwillingly, yet I feel they are often necessary to the full eifect and completion of Satire. A Gentleman Usher is not the prin- cipal figure in the etiquette of a court, but he must stand in his place. As to any supposed arrogance or presumption; a writer, especially a poet, will be sometimes warmed with the dignity and importance of his subject, and may express himself in terms rather strong. The " sume * Blackstone Commtnt. B. 4. Ch, 11. C 20 ] «uperbiam" of a poet is seldom severely examined. It is an extravaganza at most, and understood as such. Much has been observed as to the defect of plan in my Poem. I will say a few words. I wish not to vindicate, but to explain myself. The object of the whole, is a View of Literature. The Poem itself is, " A con- '* versation on the various subjects of Literature, in a very extended sense, " as it affects public order, regulated government, and polished society." Nothing is introduced which is not directly or indirectly, to that main purpose. It does not appear in the form of an Epistle, a mock-epic, or a didactic poem; but as a conversation in which subjects are discussed, as they arise naturally and easily ; and the notes illustrate and enforce the general and particular doctrines. There Is as much method and con- nection, as is consistent with what I state to be my plan, or design., if you like that word better. There is unity in the design. Conversation has it's laws, but they are pleasant, not severe restraints. Consuls indeed do not now meet Consuls in Tusculum ; and, if I am rightly informed, the symposiacs at Wimbledon and Holwood have not too much severity of method, or equality in the glasses. 1 am willing to give my adversaries the full benefit of the sarcastic pleasantly of Lord Shaftesbury, " that it " would be a belying of the age, to put so much good sense together in any ••' one conversation, as to make it hold out steadily, and with plain cohe- " rence, for an hour's time*." I never desired to exhaust any subject, but to leave matter for the reader's own suggestion. I may add, that it would be difficult to analyze one of the most finished Satires in our language. I mean Pope's Two Dialogues, or as they are strangely called, the Epilogue to the Satires. I am represented, as having threatened any person who makes inquiry after me or my name. It was not my intention to do so. I said, " it '• will be more than foolish to be very inquisitive." I say so still; for when the avenue to any knowledge is strongly and effectually closed, who would labour after it fruitlessly? To waste our time to no manner of use, is not surely one of the discriminating marks of wisdom. I main- lain it boldly ; no man has a right to demand either my name or my situa- tion. It has been observed on such occasions, that "some might fight, * Shaftesbury's Moralists, Sec. I. [ 21 ] "^ but others would assassinate." For I believe 1 have no real enemies, but the lovers of confusion and the troublers of states. I v/ill acknow- ledge it, I come armed into their confines, and I come in the darkness of the night. But if I were required or called upon to choose my companion, j,au know I am prepared with the answer of Dlomede. E* ^4=y Si) ireipov yi xsAsyj;; fi'ccvrtv iMvha, n«j cc'i sz-sir' OAY2HOS iycj ©EIOIO hcJoiiAYiv ; 'Ov TTi^i f/AV TTpo'p^oJ-J H.^o!.dtyi K9it Svung xy^vM^ Ev TruvTiva-i TvcjoiTt.* And if I am forced to descend into the lower regions of sorrow and con- fusion, among the perturbed spirits of anarchy and democracy, I shall hope for the safe conduct of the Sibyll. She might produce the branch to the ferryman of France and Tartarus. I would wish her to exhibit this Poem, as the " Donum fatalis virgx, longo post tempore visum." But to leave these allusions. My book is open to all the accumulated severity of public criticism and public reprehension. I shrink from neither of them. When I am wrong, (I have never been so intentionally) 1 will correct myself, and have done so frequently. In a field to extensive, can- dour, I think, will allow that my mistakes have not been very numerous. As to my poetry or versification, it was not written as a vehicle for the notes, but the notes were composed to accompany the text. I oflfer the poetry to those who are conversant with the strength^ simplicity, and dignity of Dryden and Pope, and them alone. I submit both iny Poems, " The Pursuits of Literature, and the Imperial Epistle," in this spirit and with this confidence to the public. There are men, (and women too) who understand. But as to the lovers of exotic poetry, I refer tbem to the Botanic Garden of Dr. Darwin. My plants and flowers are produced and cherished by the natural invigorating influence of the common sun ; I have not raised them by artificial heat. If the root of a tree is sound and vigorous, you strengthen the shoots by repressing their luxuriance. I approve and would uphold our sacred and civil establishment. I would therefore mark the aberrations and mis- conduct even of men of talents and virtue, who compose it. I would shew, that I am strictly impartial. I can censure, witli discrimination, even where * II. ID. V. 242. [ 22 ] I g-enerally approve, and consider nothing but the interest of the state upon the whole. It is to misunderstand or to misrepresent me, when it is asserted that I attack alike friends and foes. I attack no man in liis individual capacity. 1 has'e nothing to do with the vanity or injudicious conduct of friends, but as they affect the community ; and I can have no personal malignity against those of whom 1 am personally ignorant. But they shall neither disturb nor overthrow the state of England, civil or religious, if any observations of mine can avail. They may wish to know me ; but they may depend upon it, I will never give a proof of mv spirit at the ex- pence of my understanding. I would not have you or any man think, that I enter into a defence of my work, as if I thought it required one. No. I have vindicated, in a day of turbulence and terror, the authority of our national govern- ment and constitution; I have defended the purity and dignity of relip-ion and our sacred establishment ; I have pleaded tlie cause of sound litera- ture and true philosophy; I have recalled the public attention to poetry without conceit, and to criticism without affectation ; I have endeavoured to secure to women their honour, social rank and happiness, by an attempt to turn the thoughts and hearts of the inhabitants of this island from works of obscenity and indecency, from the morals and manners of atheists and democratic spoilers, to the wisdom of the just; I have boldly invaded the strong holds of impiety and anarchy, plebeian or tribunitian. I have done all this ; and I have offended many. 1 have brushed away the insects of literature whether flattering or creeping; I have shaken the little stems of many a plant, and the flowerets have fallen. I have almost degraded myself by an attention to minute objects in the service of the public; and 1 am called upon to defend myself. No.. ..My countenance is unaltered ; my perseverance is unbroken ; the spirit and tenour of my speech is yet the same. My words are firm. Semd causam dixi, (vel itcrum dicturus,J quo semper agerc omnia soUtus sum, accusatorio spiritu.* As to political matters v,e shall never want observers. I hate deser- ters of their dutyf on any principle whatever. But I suppose some states- men think, there is a laudable obliquity and a seasonable fear. For my own part I shall not, on this occasion, invade the retreat of St. Ann's Hill, * Liv. Lib. 2. sect. 6i. t H. of C. Nov. 1797. C 23 ] or violate the purity of Drury Lane. H such statesmen are resolved to free at once both the senate and the throne, the " Ssvi Splraciila Ditis'.' are open to them; they may descend in safety, and disburthen the land. I do not believe that the possession of absolute power is in the reach of Mr. Pitt, or of any man. But the continuance of such a minister in office will be approved, as I think, while the security, and independence, and dignity of the crown, the parliament, and of the people of Gfeat Britain, are maintained against the tyrannical pretensions of pirates, buccaneers, and plunderers. I would say to Mr. Pitt, as Cicero said to Torquatus, " Tibi nullum periculum esse perspicio, quod quidem sejunctura sit ab " omnium interitu."* That minister has not looked submissively, at any period of his long administration, for personal protection in any quarter. There is a hardihood about the man, which I love. On the broad general question of the time, the public esteem has been commensurate with the royal approbation. In this, the policy of the closet, of the senate, and of the people, seems to have been one. I am sure, I hope, that wherever Mr. Pitt, or any minister, proceeds, he will always find a board of controll ; nor would I by any means disapprove the advice of an honest Mandarin. But the stairs of the palace have noiv but one flight ; the gate is in front and the ascent direct. The noble Marquis, who is now no more in office, may brood safely over beads and relicks. There is some propriety in this amusement. It is pleasing to preserve the memorial of departed dignity. In my opinion the Moor's head might have adorned our coin with the royal Gallic lillies, though the sovereignty of France and of Corsica is passed. I can stand aloof from the scene itself, but I am no stranger to the moving principle. I was not formed to wait in the anti- chamber ot a duke of Lerma, or a Don Calderone. A little experience is sufficient for the observing. It is either my advantage, or my misfortune, not to have adopted any prefession. I never could decide that point. But, as you well know, I framed an early and an undaunted resolution, (perhaps not wholly justifiable, but certainly not degrading to the character) that I never would do personal suit and service, for convenience or emolument, to any man however high, in a subordinate station. I framed that reso- * Clc. Ep. ad F-am. Lib. 6. Ep. i. [ 24 ] lution ; I adhered to it. Privacy is my lot. Be it so: it is the soil in which learning and reflection strike deepest. In these days it is my de- sire that obscurity should gather round me. Now and then indeed the thoughts of times, which are no more, will bring- with them a casual, momentary, doubtful glimpse of what might have been; and often, with the poet of Valclusa by the fountain of Sorga, I have regretted some periods of inactivity, not of sloth, which have passed, Senza hvarrdi a xolo^ avend'io I'ale, Per dar forse di me non bassi esempi. But if the laurel, which I have now planted, should thicken round the temple of my retirement, the pillars will support it. The materials are solid, and the ground is firm. I have indeed a few memoirs by me, written in other days and with other liopes ; and if I could polish the style, and reduce them a little into form, I am convinced they would not be uninteresting. " Le Rot et " ses illi)2istres j eutLtresefairoienl lire ces Memolres, qui assii/eineyit ne sont "■^ pas ceiix d'lin ignorant." But let this pass for the present. I am for practicable politics. I would not be driven into measures from which there is no retreat. 1 smile when I am told of love and hate in politicians and ministers. These are passions which they never felt. Circumstances alone unite and separate them. I would wish to act with those states- men who would, as far as is consistent with the dignity and safety of the country, by a timely concession and a rational departure from too rigid principles, prevent those calamities which result from authority without power, and expense without supplies. But my hour for treating these subjects, in the manner I propose, is not yet come. I must turn to other thoughts for a season. When Philosophy saw the Muses standing by Boethius in his affliction, she spoke in terms of some surprise and indignation.* In our time this indignation would have been retorted by the sisters of the song. Philo- sophy has appeared, not. to console, but to deject. When 1 have read and thought deeply on the accumulated horrors, and all the gradations of wickedness and misery, through which the modern systematic philosopliy * Bueth. de Consolat. Phllos. L. I. Pr. i. \ [ 25 ] of Europe has conducted her illuminated votaries, to the confines of politi- cal death and mental darkness, my mind for a space feels a convulsion, and suffers the nature of an insurrection. I look around me. I look to human actions, and to human principles. I consider again and again, what is the nature and effect of learning and of instruction ; what is the doc- trine of evidence, and the foundation of truth. I ask myself, are all these changed? Have the moral and the natural laws of God to his creatures another basis? Has the lapse of fifty years made an alteration in Him, who is declared to be the same to day, yesterday, and forever? Can the violence, the presumption, the audacity, the arrogance, the tyranny of man, drunk with self-idolatry and temporary success, change the nature and essence of God and of his works, by calling good evil and evil good? I am told, that human reason is nearly advanced to full perfection ; I am assured, that she is arrived at the haven, where slie would be. I again look around me. I ask, where is that haven? where is that steady gale which has conducted her? I listen, but it is to the tempest: I cast my view abroad, but the ocean is every where perturbed. I pause again. Perhaps, it is " ths wind and storm fulJiHing his word!" I resume the reflections of suffering humanity amid the wreck of intel- lect. This was not the ancient character of philosophy. The lovers of wisdom, in the best ages of Athens and of Rome, always discoursed with reverence and submission to the Author and Governor of the world. They considered of whom they spoke. If they turned to the origin of evil, or to any dark and unfathomable question, they^^r^^ called upon man to con- sider the limits of his understanding. They warned him, with most peculiar emphasis, to beware of those xXvroi x^opixi, those difficulties of hard solution,' which are but increased by defences or arguments 111 con- structed. The/ implored him affectionately, to avoid all that tends to overthrow, to trouble or disturb those principles, which conduct to peace and to right action. Their advice was to strengthen the intellect, and to compose the passions, not by braving and insulting the all-powerful, all- wise, and all-merciful Creator, but by an humble, patient inquiry into his works, and by submission to his dispensations. They seemed to be well aware, that to him who understood all tlie bearings and relations of the word, Re- signation to the will of God was the whole of piety. If upon sages like these tlie light of revelation should appear, as the regent of tbeir nlillosophicai D C 26 ] day, nothing can be conceived more august, nothing more ennobling, nothing more dignified. Poetry and philosc^phy may then speak a lan- guage worthy of themselves: Alt ills bis nihil est; hczc sunt fasti gia miincji I PuBLicA katuRjI: Dosirs his contenta lenetur Finibus* When we have read such writers, it is hardly possible not to turn from modern sceptics and sciolists with something more than neglect. If to their philosophy they add witticism and ribaldry, they are nauseous. If to their ribaldry they join folly and gross ignorance, they should be driven from our fellowship with contempt. The continued labours of the arch Theomachist of the age, the records of that perpetual conflict which he maintained, during the course of fifty years of a long and impious life, against the spiritual " kingdoms of God and of his Christ," and the me- morials of his desolating days, will all be entombed in the French Pan- theon with the mouldering remnant of his bones.f Dust to dust, ashes to ashes! He sowed unto the flesh, and of the flesh he and his disciples have reaped death and corruption. All the minor powers of infidelit}'-, anarchy, sedition, rebellion, and democracy, mayje^ be dispersed in England: from their leaders Voltaire, D'Alembert, aad Condorcet, to the vulgar illiterate blasphemy of Thomas Paine, and the contem]3tible nonsense of William Godwin. I feel for mankind when they are insulted by such writers. I make common cause with my fellow creatures, and call upon them to rally round the constitution of our human nature, and to support its dignity. From writers of this character, my thoughts are directed to the pro- fessors of that superstitious corruption of Christianity, ^^Vch originally gave occasion to those attempts, to which it has jJeasea Providence to * Manil. Astron. L. i. t To the w'ritings of Voltaire the strong words of Eusebius are applicable: " AuT«< «< TOY 0EOMAXOY (pwi/ow 45r< y.a.xiX'; iiry^vt (/.iyot,'Kot,vy\iy.ivH, x.Xi Tcci Ts-pc^ TH T"4/«(rT» rot? ccy/iXot? 7sxfctdo6ii(rxg rmi ihcat ojioOKrixg OiecBTreco'cn KXt G-Vy^iiV OiTruXUVrC;) Trp&VOyAVC-ilV TS TJJF OlKHI^iVnV, KCii VCCV T« TIUV CtV^UTTUV yivo? ^liKo-nc-iiv y,cii f-urci^miriiv rvi? ^poTSpov £vr«|<«5 (tTrxvSKOtxi^ofiiVH." liuseb. Demonstrat. Evang. Lib. 4. Sect. 9. ( C 27 ] permife a tempora;y success, to scourge the nations of Europe. I am sure tlie plain simplicity of the protestanc religion of England could never have suggested so daring, so extensive a project. I have therefore spoken at large of the Roman Catholic religion, and its professors, and the emigrants and French priests. From some observations I have heard and seen on this part of my v/ork, you may remember I was tempted to think, that I had advanced something new on this subject. I am sure the principles are as old and as moderate as those of the reformation. I know that ' every page of our histoiy confirms their truth. Have we forgotten the < history of that Reformation? Is " the Preservative against Popery" • buried in oblivion and unmerited neglect? Do we remember Mede and 1^ Chillingworth, and Hooker, and Tillotson, and Hoadly and Sherlock? -j Can we pass by the phalanx of statesmen, and bishops, and lawyers, who | stood forth in 1688 ? What I have advanced is in substance very old; i in manner it may perhaps be new. All I have advised, ig on the side ; of caution. I only declared and pronounced solemnly in the face of my country, that a college of Romish priests of a religion hostile in prin- ciple and in action too, whenever it has the power, against the established church of this kingdom, should not be set upon a hill-) and authorised and maintained by the ministers of the crown, and the public money of the land. They have been dispersed since that warning was given. I only said, let support be administered to them privately, and in detached situ- ations. I have pity for them, and relief too, according to my ability. But, " though I give all my goods (said an apostle) to feed th€ poor " and the distressed, and haxe not charity., it profiteth me nothing." What does he mean? He surely means something. Alms alone, it seems, however liberal, however extended, neither are, nor can be, the whole or the essence of Christian charity. They are indeed a material part, and one of the best external proofs of its existence. Charity is in reality a principle of general safety, of kindness, of active benevol&nce, of discern- ment, of prudence, of moderation, and of guarded virtue. It originated from Him, who commanded his disciples to join the innocence of the dove "with the wisdom of the serpent. We may depend upon it; the system of Christianity is not inconsistent v,-lth itself. Surely this is not to teach persecution or intolerance. My language and arguments are designed only to shew, that the spirit of the system of Popery yet reraain^ iinal- [ 28 ] tered in its great and leading principles. If it perishes, it will perish altogether. I love toleration in the constitutional sense of the word, as much as the most designing patriot of the day: but indifference to the public form of religion is the first step to its neglect, and to its consequent abolition. I cannot think it a mark of intolerance, when I deprecate the revival of the Romish superstition in England.* There is an enthusiasm, an o^y(x,7iA,t>r,, in the professors of it, which, 1 know, never forsakes them. It is active, where its influence can hardly be supposed. It is said to pervade even the squabbles of a society set apart for the preservation of our national antiquity. With a cat-like watch, it peers and pries over every paper on ecclesiastical reliques, and garbles the slightest casual effusions of protestant zeal, before it is presented to the world. If it . * " From obvious causes (indeed) the cruelty, the tyranny, the impiety of I " the church of Rome have almost faded from our memory ; but ive must f" bring them back to our recollection, if ive would understand " the judg- " HENTS OF GOD WHICH ARE ABROAD IN THE EARTH." She is noW " persecuted in her turn. As Englishmen, we forget her injuries; as " Christians, we pity and give alms to her exiled adherents, regardless of " the malicious endeavours of our adversaries to represent the Church of " England, as itself interested in her preservation. But let us only advert " to tile principles, religious and civil, upon wliich we are separated from " that idolatrous and intolerant power; and it will be evident that, as a " national Church, v/e have neitlier part nor lot in this matter. Our " CAUSES ARE DISTINCT AND MUST EVER REMAIN SO: and We havC " now more abundant reason than ever to rejoice in our reformed religion. " Our fathers obeyed the warning voice, and left her corrupt communion " w hen she had risen to the zenith of her glory ; and we have hitherto " escaped tlie plagues by which she is now tormented." And it may be added, that " as England was formerly (and I trust is still) the bulwark of • *' the Protestant faith, so must she now be the bulwark of Christianity ; " itself." See the Bishop of Lincoln Dr. Pretyman's sermon before the \ King and Parliament at St. Paul's on the public thanksgiving on the 19th \ December, 1797. (Published in February, 1798.) It is a composition written with great judgment, eloquence, and discernment of the Hgns of the times. C 29 ] cannot be openly recommended, it Avill effectually guard against the least reproach or insinuation of its subtlety. Romish baronets will be busy, and Romish priests will meddle. Perhaps the Secretaiy to that society knows, whether these hints are true and justifiable. It surely will be understood, I am only speaking of the spirit and tendency of the system itself. I w^ould carry charity with me in my heart and in my hand, but I know that charity is, and must be, consistent with a love to my country, and to her rights civil and religious. If I am wrong, I fear, 1 must con- tinue so. I have yet seen no argument to shake mv conviction. I would say a few words on another part of my work. I have been under the necessity, at least as I thought, of appealing for illustration to writers of all ages and in various languages. There Is an appearance of ostentation in it, to which I must submit. I certainly am of opinion with Casaubon, that it cannot be supposed, " facere aliquid ad veram "pietatem seu doctrinam, Grseca potius qum alia lingua loqui."* Certainly not. But to enforce and to illustrate any position, the language of poets, and the dignity and spirit of ancient eloquence and history, in the original words, are of no mean assistance. The nature and full force of this work could not have been sustained without the notes, in which the most important subjects, sacred, moral, and political, are occasionally discussed. But I have generally given, in English, the substance of the allusions, contaiaed in the learned languages which are brought forward. I would not have any one thiiik, that an appeal to the higher poets of modern Italy is either trifling or disgraceful. No man ever felt the power of poetry, if he refused his homage to Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, and Tasso; I mean, if their language was familiar to him. In their prirual poet their is an originality and a hardihood of antiquity. His soul was dark and sullen; it was proud and full of his wrongs. Frons Ixta parum et dejecto lumina vultu. He passed through imaginary realms without the sun, to the confines of light and hope. The day shone full upon him, and the beams were from on high. His draught of men and their passions is eternal. His language was like himself, deep and full of matter; its strength and harmony may be best expressed by his Tuscan brother: *Is. Casaub. Exercitat. i6. ad. Annales Ecclesiast. Baronii. C 30 ] Aspro conccnto, orribile armonia D'alte querele, d'ululi, e tli strida, Istranamente concordar s'udia.* As to Petrarch ; we are led by every milder feeling to the retreat of Val- clusa. The strain of the poet is yet softer than the breeze, or the mur- mur of his fountain.! Yet was he not without energy. His subject was sometimes high and holy. He was familiar with death, and his breath- ings were after immortality. He too could describe the disruption of the mortal V€il, and the departure of the soul, S'oegliatafra gli sjiirti eletti^ Ove nel suo Fat tor I' Alma s' interna! I will not pursue this theme ; and of Ariosto and Tasso it would be idle to speak. But, by the way, I may observe, that the three greatest mas- ters of heroic verse, in unlaboured ease and flowing dignity, are to my apprehensioH and judgment. Homer, Ariosto, and the glory of Spain, Alonzo d'Ercilla.:}: I have without intention indeed, but with the privi- lege of a letter, descanted a little on a favourite incidental topic. For when I hear the language of Italy under these mighty masters, called frivolous and light, I cannot pass it without a moment's vindication. In my opinion they strengthen and harmonize both the intellect and the ear. My references to them are however very few. I am told, I am forgiven for my Latin ; but for the Greek, not so easily. In this particular indeed, I am rather surprised that no man ofivit has said of my notes, " They are Greek invocations to call fools into a " circle. "II Certainly there will be halos round the brightest luminaries ; and it must be confessed, that many of my notes have such a circular appearance. If some galled theologian were disposed to banter, and to question the validity of my Greek ordination, he would perhaps shrewdly * Ariosto. O. F. c. 16. Such is the harmonious prose which distinguishes the critical writings of the great Halicarnassian. Epist. ad. Cn. Pompeium. de Platone. Sect. 2. I Shakespeare's As you like it. act 2. II Tlie author of Araucav.a. [ 31 ] remind me of the Council of Florence in 1439, when the Greek and Latin churches proposed, as a principle of union, that the Gi-ec^hs should alter their manuscripts y"ro;K tbe Latin. He might tell me of that celebrated " Fcedus cum Grxcis," so Avell known among the sacred mantisurlpt critics. And if I were to adduce from the great Erasmus, my " Capita *' argumentorum contra morosos quosdam et indoctos;"* I should be re- minded by Dr. Parr, that I have not the erudition of Erasmus, or the gentle manners of the serene Sepulveda. Mr. Knight would remand me to the Greek alphabet (to any one, I hope, but his own,) and his modesty would attempt some jucundity from the Lusus Priapi. I will endure them all. I have patience and pity too. I know you were surprised, when you found me beset with poetas- ters, and rhetoricians, and commentators, and old seventh form boys, that I was so patient. In truth I thought there might be some remedy. Yet I will own, that when I see so many heads around me deprived of the substance of sense, I am perpetually calling for the ampolla of Astolpho, that sacred vessel which he brought from the upper regions. *' Che tempo e ormai, C/6' ai capi voti 0 macri " Di senno, si soccorri con /' ampolla.^ But I should have too much on my hands, and I recall my wish. In the political, as well as in the mere literary world, there is more to do in that way than I can attempt. A few drops from this ampolla might nov*^ and then, on particular occasions, fall on the Minister himself, who now in his taxes appears as the political Hecate, |; or Diana, in their tripk forms. Some of it also * Nov. Test, by Erasmus in 1595. 5th Edit. t Arlosto. O. F. Cant. 38. \ Hecate is termed in the Argonauticks of Orpheus, Tp;j-5-«x«j)j5ves ioiiv.) oXoo)i Tep«f, art ^xr,Toy, TetfTecfOTTxi? ExxTvil (v. 974.) Edit. Eschenback. p. 66. For the Diana rfuf^oftpo;, look at the gems of Fulvius Ursinus.— It is odd, that Lycophron, in all the darkness of his prophetic song, chanting forth the powers a? Ap>i? i(pi ;\«t6, couples together Bellona and Minerva, "K«; " h' Evtv Htci Tfiymr,Tf? Qict," Cassand. v. 519. — What is the allege- C 32 3 might be spared fcr Earl Fitzwllliam with good effect; but I should be unwilling to waste the precious liquor on the noble head of his Grace of Bedford. Some crests are indeed vulnerable : but the natural constitu- tion is sometimes so radically impaired, that when the head is once open- ed, it is in vain to think of closing it. Mr. Home Tooke, for instance, is out of the reach of art. I would only set up the bidental at the book- seller's door at Wimbledon. It will at least serve as a land-mark for the French, on their first invasion. As to the mendicij 'inimiy dalatronesj what can be done? The mast infamous are the most contented. But there are minor members of the great democratic body, and all have not the same office. Yet there is a marvellous use (and they understand it better than we do) in that which every joint supplieth. 1 should leave Mr. Tierney (c), with some little hope, to the discipline of Cocker and Oldfield {6). He may perhaps improve in calculation ; but I think it will be some time before his anti-professional prattle Avill impose on ano- ther boy-committee on a contested election. The drops of the ampolla would never penetrate the thick rotundity of Mr. NichpUs (c) ; but they might insinuate themselves through the zig-zag crevices of Sir John Sin- clair's head. If we pass to subjects of lighter moment, even the Bavian drops from Mr. Gifford have fallen off, like ail, from the plumage of the Florence and Cruscan geese. At home also, I am sorry that his success is imperfect. I am told, that Mr. Greathead and Mr. Merry yet write and talk; and Mr. Ternikgha:.i (poor man 1) still continues ^////er than bis sheep. But a truce to this badinage. Like the warrior of Ithaca, I would appear but for a season, and for a peculiar purpose, in such a garb. It is necessary novj to assume those higher functions to which I am called, to claim for myself, and to vindicate the undoubted right* and hereditar)' dignity of the satiric muse. ry? It seems as if war and wisdom might be joined together ; but the sooner the union can be dissolved, the better. (a) M. P. for the Borough, {b) An obscure writer on the Bo- roughs, " The sad historian of that tainted plain." (c) M. P. for Tregony. * SyvS," From an Irish Archbishop, by an easy transition, Mr. Barrington introduces an English Fishmonger, and declares with great solemnity, " I have shewn " the stomach to Mr. Everett of Clare Market, a very intelligent fish- " monger, who declares, that though he has cut up thousands of trouts " and salmons, he never observed anything similar in the inside I" See (what are called) Philosophical Transactions, itjai page ii6. Eugc, bene, recte. I cannot help saying to Mr. B. on this occasion, Propera stomachum laxare saginis, Ettua servatum consume in ssecula rhombum. Juv. S. iv. V. 67. The reader will observe the rhetorical beauties in this short extract. Mr. B. darts from Ireland to England with incredible swiftness, from Ballynrobe to Clare-murket; then come in long array, incredulous Irish judges, and rumps of beef, with dozens of claret, not tempered, I would swear, with water from any trout stream. Next appear Irish Arch- bishops and INTELLIGENT English Fishmongers, (an epithet, by the bye, he denies the Archbishop) and all tihs waste of beautiful language and deep research is expended to convince the Royal Society of the existence of [ 68 ] AUTHOR. Hear me yet once : (oh might these labours end, And I to peace and privacy descend !) Must I, Uke Chatterton, ^ that varlet bright, ^ gizzard-stcMiiach'd trouts. Yet this Royal Society not only receives all this nonsensical ichthyological farrago, but selects it for publication Br THEIR Council. Of Mr. Harrington's talents and erudition 1 could speak, and have often spoken, with pleasure. But when such a learned man will write, and a Rpyal Philosophical Society will publish such stuff, for the edification of Europe, I think it proper to select this (from myriads of late similar pieces of stuff) for public notice, that men of real learn- ing and abilities (and such I acknowledge Mr. Barrlngton) may be ren- dered cautious how they commit themselves and the societies to which they belong. The Royal Society has been, and migbt again be, of na- tional utility and honour ; it has my best wishes, and therefore I have written this note. (1794.) — All learned societies must noiv look to their original principles, and consider well the characters of the candidates who are offered for their choice, as associates. If they will not, the busts of Newton and of Boyle should be veiled. (1797.) p It is by no means intimated that Doctor (I beg pardon) Sir Charles Blagden (the Secretary to the Royal Society 1794.) is given to profane swearing when he is tried on such occasions, but such works damn themselves. It cannot be otherwise, till "The Coukcil will exert some discrimination, and refuse to shelter themselves under their foolish decla- ration of not answering, as a bodj, for the works they publish. Eveiy sociely must be answerable for its own sense or nonsense, as a noor, unle&K they choose to inscribe, in large gold letters, over their meeting room, '•'■Corpus sine PeiTore!" (1794.) q 1 draw my humble information of Chatterton from his life in the Nf w ]'irigraphia Britannica, though 1 cannot compliment Dr. Gregory nn ?uch a meagre performance. They who have time may read Mr. Tyrr- C 69 ] Rouse some new Rowley ' from a steeple's height ? Like Hardwicke, * shelveswith gossip volumes clog, Of Baby Charles^ and Jemmy's slave and clog; Of Lorkin's ^ diligence for lords' arrears, With trumpery notes of long forgotten peers? 160 ■whit, Mr. Bryant, Dr. Milles, Mr. Thomas Warton, and all the tribe | of major and of minor critics {of single and of double pinks,, as Mr. Sheri- | dan says in his Critic) on this important subject : but I have read '] something about vita summa brevis, Sec. Ecc. and confine myself to the general view of this controversy in Mr. Mathias's candid and comprehen- § sive Essay. | r "I am the veriest varlet that e'er chew'd;" says Falstaff, in Henry IV. Part I. Act 2.^— il/r. Horace JValpole^ now Lord Orford, did not however seem to think it necessary that this varlet CHAf'TERi'os should chew at all. See the Starvation Act, dated at Strawrerrt Hill. Vide Gregory's Life as above, 8cc. (1796.) s x\s to this strange subject, the worst that can be said of it is, " magno conatu magnas nugas;" but they are trifles rather pleasant and instructive. I am sure Dr. Milles proved a pleasant subject for that chci- A'ccuwe the Arcbceological Epistle, written by Mr. Mason. t Sec the Miscellaneous State Papers, published in 1773, ^Y ^^^^ late Lord Hardwicke, in 2 vols. 4to. Letters from Baby Charles's dear Dad and Gossip, James the First, and his slave and dog, Steenic Buckingham, Sec. Sec. There are however some curious and valuable papers in the collection. The noble editor was a man of learning. V Mr. LoRKiN doth use miraciilaus diligence about your " Lord- " ship'sr arrears." State Papers vol. i. p. 631. N. B. It often requires miraculous diligence, even in these days, to get at one's arrears. See Mr. Pitt and the Lords of the Treasury, if you can get a sight of them. I never could. [ 70 ] Shall I new anecdotes from Darkness draw, That Strawb'ry Horace on the Hill "^ ne'er saw, With wit^-wove ^ bot-press'^d paper's glossy glare Blind all the wise, and make the stupid stare ; w The Honourable Horace Walpole, now Lord Orford; the owner of the Gothic mansion called Strawberry-Hill near Twickenham. (1796.) X All books of all kinds are now advertised to be printed, on a ivire- nvove paper and hot-pressed, with cuts, down to the Philosophical Trans- actions, (the uniformity of which work is destroyed by this folly unwor- thy of such a Society) and Major Rennkll's learned Memoir on Hindostan; as if the intention were, that they should be looked at and not read. As to the fury iov prints and cuts, the folly and rapacity for gain in some booksellers, have degraded many works of established fame, and subjected some learned editors to unmerited ridicule. I feel for the injury and injustice which a Gentleman, I mean Mr. Christian, Pro- fessor of the Laws of England at Cambridge, and Editor of Blackstone's Commentaries with valuable notes and illustrations, and who has well deserved from his profession, suffered on this occasion. It was a transac- tion shameful and unjustifiable. As to the wire-weavers or drawers of paper and hot-pressers, I must say to the public, in the indignant words of Apuleius, " Quousque frustra pascetis ignigenos Istos?" (Apuleii Metamorph. L. 7. page 157. Ed. Bipont. 1788.) Surely this/00/ery must soon cease. I wish every author who prints and publishes his own luorks on a ivire-iiwoe paper, glazed and hot-pressed, would imitate the honesty of the late Sir William Chambers, Knight of the Polar Star, who says, in a letter to Voltaire, which accompanied his wonderful book on Oriental Gardening; " It contains (says the knight) besides a great deal of non- sense, two very pretty prints hy Bartolozzi." European Magazine ior Sep- tember, 1 79^... .While this note was printing, I was informed that Coke uros LrffLEfoN irirH Harorave's No'Tes, is advertising to be pub- lished on a -ivire-wove paper aud hoi-pressed. Tliis folly, by such a pro- [ -1 ] Or on imperial foolscap with vignettes Engrave like Staunton, my Chinese Gazettes? Or must I, as a wit with learned air, Like Doctor Dewlap, ^ to Tom Payne's ^ repair, Meet Cyril Jackson ^ and mild Cracherode, ^ 'Mid literary gods myself a god? 170 ceeding, must surely sign its own death-warrant. I wish, to be sure, some of our Statutes at Large could be a little ivire-dranvn and kot-presscd by a Committee of Parliamentary Printers and Compositors. y Put for any portly Divine, n^ pour la digest ion^ as Bruycre would say. The reader will supply one to his fancy. But he must not imagine, that I mean mere London Divines, frequenters of routs, plays, operas, Bond-street and Kensington Gardens, or chatterers in bookseller's shops, as the representatives of the British Clergy, who, as a class of men, are in general distinguished for literature and philosophy, and for manners correspondent to their profession. z Not that detestable fellow Tom Paine the Democrat, whom we all execrate, and who is now, with or without a head in France, I hope in the late fashion of that country (in 1794) — but one of the best and honestest men living, the veiy respectable Mr. Thomas Payne, Senior, to whom as a bookseller, learning is under considerable obligations. L mention this Trypbo Emeritus with great satisfaction. a The present Dean of Christ-church, Oxford, exemplary for Ir.i dlFigence and learning " in our Uulversity," as the Dean loves to talk. (^794-) b The Reverend CiArros Cracherode, M. A. Student of Christ- Church, Oxford, and one of the Trustees of the British rvluieum. A rich, learned, and most amiable man (to use the words of the son of Siracll) " furnished with ability, living peaceably in his habitaticr.." His library- is allowed to be the choicest in old Greek and Latin aothoj-*, of any pri- vate collection in this country. I 72 ] There make folks wonder at th' extent of genius In the Greek Aldus or the Dutch Forbenius, And then to edify their learned souls, Quote pleasaunt sayings from The sbippe of Poles. Hold ! cries Tom Payne, that margin let me measure, And rate the separate value of each treasure. Eager they gaze : Well Sirs, the feat is done ; " Cracherode's Po'eta Principes " have won:" In silent exultation down he sits, 'Mong well be-Chaucer'd Winkyn-Wordian wits. Or shall I thence by mock-appointment stop, 181 And joke with Bryant at his Elmsly's shop? And hear it whisper'd, while I'm wondrous pliant, 'Twas Doctor Dewlap spoke to Mister Bryant.^ OCTAVIUS. How just was he, who in this sapient age. When learning's varied cares the mind engage, cc The famous edition, by H. Stephens, of the principal Greek poets, called Poctx Graci Principes. All literary men, from the little Reverend Blbliopolish Dr. Gosset, -well known at sales, to the humblest cdllector, understand this farce of »u7/-^/«-measuring, and the profit of it. (See also V. of L. Dialogue 4.) d. When I name Mr. Bryant, it Is a sufficient eulogv. But see nipre in the Second Dialogue of this poem. C 73 ] Stood up self-taught, and in mankind's defence Pray'd for professors of plain common sense. But say, what think you of the tragic stage? '^'^ AUTHOR. No. ...you'll excuse me there, I know this age. What from the French ^ Aristotelian school, 191 Must I plan tragedies by line and rule ; To the high Gods address my first appeal, Then bid the press my hidden worth reveal, While round my temples many a tendril plays Of owlish ivy with the Meevian bays ; dd As to the modern comedies of the day by Mr Reynolds, and the rapid School, they are below criticism. Farce and O'Keefe have seized tipon the stage. " The players and I, thank Heaven, are no friends." (1797.) I wish our present writers would consider with attention the emphatic words of the Duke of Buckingham in his essay on Poetry. " But to write plays! why, 'tis a bold pretence *' To judgment, breeding, wit, and eloquence; " Nay more ; for they must look within, to find " Those secret turns of nature in the mind : See. See. Sec, The author of T/je Heiress remembered this. It is the production of 2 man of fashion, delicacy, wit, and judgment. e There are some deep critics who read Aristotle in French and quote him in Greek I know not what to say now: vhe French have proscribed Corneiile, Racine, Sec. K C '4 ] And close in mournful pomp the tragic rear, Though Jephson "'*' scarce can gain the public ear. OCTAVIUS. Still there are works which lead to sure renown, In the lay habit or the sacred gown ; 200 Will stamp your credit at an easy price, Learn'd and ingenious, "^ or a Vir Clariss : Take Markham's Armorie, ^ John Taylor's Sculler,^ Or Sir Giles Goosecap, ^ or proverbial Fuller : cc Jephson ......Author of Braganza, The Count of Narbonp.e, 8cc. My wish is, Grande muniis Cecropio repetat cothurno.* but no more dull Roman Portraits in 4to. d Any person who communicates even a single note, however silly or whimsical, to the modern editors of Shakspeare, is stiled the learned and ingenious Mr. two stars** : the title of ViR Clarrissimus is appro- priated to the commentators on the Greek and Roman Classics, and often ■with the same propriety. e The names of some few books of that vast svstem of coglionerie^ or Gorgeous Gallery of gallant Inventions^ which Is called forth to illustrate our old dramatic writers. It is high time that the reader of sense should see what may be called in the old language, " the untrussing of THESE HUMOROUS CRITICS." namely the Commentators on Shakspeare, from George Steevens, Esq. doivnivards. " Ces propos, dlras tu, sont bons dans la Satire, ** Pour ^gayer d' abord un lecteur qui vent rirc : * Hor. Lib. 2. Od. i. v, ii. C '/5 ] With Upton, Fabell, Dodypoll the nice, Of Gibbe our cat,^' white Devils, or ^'' Old Vice ; " Mais 11 faiit les prouver. En forme. J'y consens. " Repons raols done, Docteur, et mets toi sur les bancs. " Qu'KST CK QU' UN COMMENTATEUR ?"* What is a Shakspearean Commentator? a specimen of the notes will best explain the name, dignity, and import. I shall therefore begin. The extracts will be as plenty (and as valuable) as blackberries; though I do not give my reasons upon compulsion. Sir John Falstaff's advice is good. The first chapter of Markhani's Booke of Armorie is intitled, " The *' difference between Charles and Gentleman;'" and it ends thus: '" From the " offspring of Gentlemanly Japbet came Abraham, Moses, Aaron and the " Prophets, isfc. isfc; also the King of the right line of Marjr, of whom " that only absolute Gentleman Jesus was born, gentleman by his mother " Mary, Princesse of coat armour, &c." Reader, Mr. Steevens ani Dr. Farmer will tell you " all this is so" and quoted too. Hen. V. vol. ix. p. 441, edit. 1793 ; though you may begin with a staring doubt. f John Taylor thus dedicates his Sculler ; '' To the whole Kennel of " Antichrist's Hounds, Priests, Friars, Monks, and Jesuits, Mastiffs, *' Mongrels, Islands, and Bloodhounds, Bob-tail'd Tykes." !cc. 8cc. &c. g Old plays intitled, " Sir Giles Goosecap, Banks's Bay Horse in a Trance, Pierce Pennyless's ' Supplication to the Devil, Webster's IVhite ' Devil, The Merry Devil of Edmonton, kc. Sec Sec. ; in short, toute la ' diablerie dramatique." h Of Gibbe our Cc^. ..Falstaff says, " I am as melancholy as a Gibbe " Cat." H. IV. p. i. a. i. sc. 2. On this the commentators are right pleasant. Dr. Johnson begins, " A Gibbe cat means, / know not why, an " old cat." Dr. Percy Informs us next, that a Gib-cdt in Northampton- shire, means a iZe-cat, which in some parts of England Is called a rojn-cat, and in Shropshire a tup-c?it. Then follow other wise critics, and last of all appears Mr. Thomas Warton, who brings a train of authorities on this Important question, shewing how Gib is short for Gilbert, and Tib for * Boileau sat. 8. [ 76 ] Then lead your readers many a precious dance, Cap'ring with Banks's ' Bay Horse in a Trance :' Tibert; Z^ow Jack is appropriated to a horse, aiid Tom to a pigeon: Z>ow Chaucer, in his Ronraunt de la Rose, mentions Gibbe our Cat, to which Tib was synonimoiis, as it is at this day; bcw we read in Grammar Gur- ton's i^VcJ/t (which is a right pleasant, witty and merry comedy, written by Mr. S. Master of Arts) viz. " Ilath no man stolen her ducks, or gelded Gibbe her cat?" Upon which Dslr. Warton very ^rciv/)' observes, " the composure cf a cat, is almost characteristic, and / know not, (see " Dr. Johnson's words above) wliether there is not a superior solemnity " in t be gravity of a He Cat." Mr. Steevens says, " A Gib Cat is a " cat qualified for the Seraglio, ' for all animals so mutilated become drowsf ' or melancboly." Mr. Warton and Mr. Steevens have left it a matter of doubt whether tbeir onvn droivsiness and gravity, and that of their brotber-commentators, was in consequence of Sec. 8cc. Etc. (See Abul- Pharagi's great Babylonish chapter, " De Semiramide, Saplentibus ejus ct Eunucbis, Sec") To be fure they do sympathize with Grammar Gurton, and her poor unfortunate Gibbe-cat. For my own part, I neither can, nor (if I could) would I decide this momentous question ; and will only add, (without being in the least melancboly or drowsy myself) in the words of an author who imparted a manly vigour to the Roman muse, " Propria " quce maribius tribuuntur, mascula dicas." hh Old Vice was a personage very frequent in our ancient come- dies. I beg leave to present my reader with z part, (and a very short part) of Mr. Upton's account of him. " Old Vice was a droll character " in our old plays, accoutred with a long coat, a cap, a pair of asses ears, " and a dagger of lath. This buiFoon character was used to make fun with " tbe devil, and he had several trite expressions, as, ' I'll be with you in " a trice — ah-hah, boy, are you there?" &c. and this was great cnter- " tainment to the ayuience to see their old enemy so belaboured in effig-ju " Vice seems to be an abbreviation of Vice-devil, a s Vice-roy, Vice-doge, &c. " and fHEHEFORE called very properly The Vice. He makes very free " with his master like most other Vice-roys or Frimc-minister, so THAr -[ 77 ] The Housewife's Jewel read with care exact, Wit from old Books of Cookery ' extract: 210 Thoughts to stew'd prunes and kissing comfits suit, Or the potatoe,"^ vigour stirring root: " he is the devil's Vice or Prime-minister. And, (adds Mr. Upton) t/bis " it is which makes bim so saucy," Extract from Mr. Upton's note on Richard III. Act iii. sc. i. N. B. I make no doubt but the reader will observe the beautiful compliment to monarchy and aristocracy most logi- cally deduced. This personage has been much patronized of late in France, where eveiy species of Vice, old or new, is exercised and used •oitboiit eny abbreviation, to speak with Mr. Upton. i Books of Cookery. — I am afraid that these extracts will prove what Decker, in his Gut's Hornbook, calls, " The sinfu! Suburbs of Cookery.'* Mr. Collins, (in his PoTATOE-note, at the end of Troilus and Cressida) extracts without a blush, from the Good Housewife's Jewel, a receipt with all the ingredients at" full leng'Th, To make a tart that is a courage tp ^^ a man or woman." And this is but a specimen. Non moreprobo; cum carmina lumbum Intrant, et tremulo scalpuntur ubi intima versu.* k The commentators on Shakspeare are peculiarly, and even zea- lously, studious in minutely explaining and declaring all the various modes and receipts which the age of the Virgin C>ueen afforded or recommended for the service of the Qu^een of Love and soft desire. Whole pages are abso- lutely filled with venereal provocatives, with the power of kissing comfits, stewed pnmes, the virtues of potatoes, eringo root. Sec. Sec. Must these com- ments be stiled the " Pauca suo Gallo qux vel legat ipsa Lycoris?"t I sometimes doubt what book 1 have in my hand. '1 hese fair editors give all they can, nor let us dream the rest. Mr. Steevens in his advertise- ment to the edition of Shakspeare in 1778, seems to have had his scruples on the subject of these pious prunes, and virtuous bulbs; " Such (says * Pers. Sat. i, v. 20. t Virg. Eel. 10. v. 2. C 78 ] And then returning from that antique waste, Be hail'dby Parr, ' the guide of public taste. he) as would be acquainted with the propriety of FalstafF's alkision to stewed prunes, should not be disgusted at a multitude of instances," &c. &.C. £vc. Some folks are very sagacious, and cry out first; but it will not do. Alter a very long note on stewed prunes, by Mr. Steevens, vol. v. p. 375, edit. 1778, and vol. viii. p. 529, edit. 1793, (which see and read,) The Reverend Doctor Farmer adds, very properly, " that Mr. " Steevens has so fully discussed tlie subject of stewed prunes^ that one " can add nothing but the price;" (Right: — Hoc defuit unum Fabricio:* Juv. S. 4.) and therefore adds the Reverend Doctor, in a piece called Banks's Bay Horse in a Trance, 1795, " ^^ have a stock of wenches set *' up with their stewed prunes, nine for a tester." At other times these subjects are explained in the learned languages, for the use of scholars, as in vol. iv. p. 211, edit. 177S, and in vol. iv. p. 80, edit. 1793, ^Y ^^' Steevens. " Urtics ms-frnTR omnes prtiritum quendam movent, etacrimo- " nia sua Vencrem sopitam et extuictam excitant." Johnston Hist. Nat. de Exang. Aq. p. 56. I protest I sometimes think these reverend or irreverend commentators are about to change sexes, or have done so, and set up for (what Milton in his Apology for Smectymnus calls) '■'•Old Pre- " Litcsses with all their young Corinthian Laity." I wonder we have never yet had The Beauties of Mr. Steevens, of The Reverend Doctor Farmer, of Mr. Collins, (the potatoc-crltic,) &c. &c. as a convenient manual for young or old men, who would be young. Mr. Collins has given the public four pages in 8vo. small print, on the astonishing virtues of pota- TOKS, (a tempest of provocati(.n) printed by themselves at the end of Troilus and Cresslda. This useful note would have been placed with better grace at the end of '' Love's Labour Lost." — It is indeed matter of great and offensive scandal to obtrude such refuse and filth upon tliis nation, and upon all the countries in the East and West who read Shakspeare's works. It lij highly injurious to make Shakspeare tlie vehicle of so muck * Fibrlcius, i.e. George Steevens, Esquire 1!! [ 79 3 AUTHOR. What?. ...must I enter the dramatic course; Burst thro' the countless squadrons foot and horse ? obscene trash, raked together from old plays, old cookery books, and trumpery novels. But, I am told, the poet must be illustrated. In these particulars, Mr. Steevens, Dr. Farmer, Mr. Collins, and Mr. (I know not whom) may as well illustrate the latter part of the fourth book of Lucretius. The corruptions of our nature are the most mortifying com- ment. They need neither incitement nor illustration. Whoever con- siders, seriously or politically, the dominion of lust and lewdness, and the wide-wasting desolation and irreversible misery which they throw among the defenceless and much-suffering sex, left to destitution, and disease, and poverty, and despair, and contempt, and barren sorrow; will be cautious how he adds even one unnecessary or heedless incitement to this overbearing fury. A man of sense, if not of morality, in remark- ing on all such passages as I have noted, and many others, would con- tent himself with saying, " This or that passage contains an indecent " allusion not uncommon in the novels or plays of the time ;" or at least would be satisfied with a single instance to shew it. Whatever is more than this, cometh from a source which is net good. At present, there really should be an epurgatory index to the best edition, (and in many respects it is the best) of Shakspeare, before it is put into the hands of ladies and the younger part of the readers of Shakspeare. I believe there is not one reflecting scholar in this learned kingdom, who will not join in this and in the following criticisms on the present subject, whether the criti- cisms are severe, jocular, or indignant. Carminaque Aonidum, yus'TAMQUZ probaverat iram!* 1 The Reverend Doctor Parr, in his dedication of " Tracts of War- " burton and a Warburtonian," Sec. (reprinted in 1789) note 8, p. 150, kas most kindly pointed out to such undiscerning persons as myself, that * Ovid. Metam. L. 6. v. 2. C 80 ] All that for Massinger and Beaumont fight, But leave their authors m a wretched plight ; " MalonCy Reed, Farmer y and Tyrivhitt, have come forward as the " Guides of the Public Taste." To be sure he has added, " Mr. " Stccvens^ the two Wartons^ Burke, and in his critical capacity, Dr. " Johnson." But even in this latter part I must remark a strange coali- tion. With the names of Burke and Johnson who can place a third modern in the same rank? Of Mr. Steevens's classical erudition and in- genuity much might be said ; yet all which he has acknowledged as his own writing, consists of notes on Shakspeare. Every one must regret that the History of English Poetry was left unfinished by it's lamented and deeply learned author: and as to his brother Joseph's pleasant Com- mon-PJace Book on Pope, it was always amusing to me. But when the title of Guides of the Public Taste is given to Jllalone, Reed, Farmer, (and Tjrrjhitt,) who are note-makers alone by profession, I find myself con- strained to look into my English Dictionary for the meaning of the words guide and taste. Indeed I have often wondered how so deeply learned a scholar as Mr. Tyrwhitt ever suffered himself to be enrolled with these note-makers on Shakspeare. But the leader of them has a tongue to flatter and wheedle. Homer explains it best: n«()(2^7.•»)(■» yvoii Aoyy^cciq urroa-TiXZovrK;. Oiuuyvi di fiti Ev »(7< TTvpywy i\ xy,fci)y »yo«AAiTc«t, n^05 uihpoq KvpSa-x y/iyifiisg lapai, TtuyvyotiKUiif y.oc.t y.ocTxh'pxyxK; rriTrXav, AXXnv tjr' xXX-;i woes: 70 I could.... OCTAVIUS. Do what?. ...where will your vaunting reach? Is this a prelude to your parting speech? AUTHOR. Spare, spare; till time subdues my hapless rage AVith blast autumnal, or the damp of age. even allows the superiority of his genius, and gives his own verses in Mr. Gray's measure. The obliquity of the principles and of the understanding is sometimes unaccountable. X Spartan Pye. — Mr. Pye, the present poet Laureat, with the best intentions at this momentous period, if not with the very best poetry, translated the verses of Tyrtaeus the Spartan. They were designed to pro- cluce animation throughout the kingdom, and among the Militia in par- ticular. Several of the Reviewing Generals (I do not mean the Monthly or Critical) were much impressed with their iveight and importance, and at a board of General Officers, an experiment was agreed upon, which unfortunately failed. They were read aloud at Warley Common, and at Barham Downs by the Adjutants, at the head of five different regi- ments, at each camp, and much was expected. But before they were half finished, all the front ranks, and as many of the others as were within hearingor verse-shot, dropped their arms suddenly, and were all found fast asleep!!! Marquis Townshend, who never approved of the scheme, said, with his usual pleasantry, that the first of all poets observed, that " Sleep is the brother oi Death." (1796. )-~N. B. Certain kinds of y^offry and writing (to which 1 have been too much accustomed) may be added 10 the number of the 'Xtiw Ayuya, or Soporifcs, which great medical [ 109 3 What poet will refuse to drink, or sing, Since Helicon is now an Irish spring? All thirst alike ; which made Sam Johnson think. That no man visits, where he cannot drink. >'y Why should I faint, when all with patience hear, 80 writers affirm to be, accustomed noises, motions, 8cc. &c. in short the ■rteo-i Tec, ^vniioc. The acute physician Aretxus thus speaks:— T7rv««y«;vse tfxetu-i ret ^vv/idict. NasvTJXty fAiv >i ev cix.ix.ru> x.ctrxx.Xiaig, xxt iv 6xXxira-Y) frifi(pofx, KXi etiyiciXuv '4%9?, x-Xi xvuxro/v x.rv7rog, MVSfci-Jv n Zour>oi x.rX. Aretsi De Morbis Acutis Cap. i. p. 75. Edit. Boerhaave 173 1. The whole passage is uncommonly eloquent and sensible. My medical readers, will thank me for pointing it out. Aretaeus, is perhaps, the first descrip- tive painter in his art. Such accomplished scholars as the venerable Dr. Heberden, Dr. Glynn, Sir George Baker, Dr. Turton, Dr. Milman, Dr. Littlehales, Dr. Vivian, and a few others, (ApoUineo 7ioniina digna choro) will confirm my opinion. y A tale from the German, translated by the Laureat, H. J. Pye, Esq. by J. T. Stanly, Esq, M. P. 8cc. Ecc. Sec. Sec. a sort of Blue-Beard story for the nursery. I am ashamed to think, that the public curiosity (I will not say, taste) should have been occupied with such Diablerie 'Tudesque. (1796.) — But I should be imwilling not to do justice to the elegant and fascinating pencil of Lady Di. Beauclerc who has honoured and decorated the subjedl. But the painter and the musician are often employed in illustrating silly subjects and silly words. Still It will be most true mutatis mutandis, of both these divine arts ; II cantar, che nell'anima si sente 1 II p ill ne sente I' alma, il men Vorecchio. yy Dr. Johnson's character of the Irish hospitality, in one of his letters or among the Bosivelliana, I forget which. It is not wholly inap- plicable to some of our own countrymen. — " Feiv young men visit, ivhere " tbey cannot drink." 'Tis a pity. [ 110 ] And Laureat Pye sings more than twice a year?>'>'y OCTAVIUS. Truce with the Laureat. AUTHOR. 'Tis but what I think; For once I hop'd to see the title sink, 82 While piety and virtue grac'd the throne, And genius in lamented Warton shone: Aye, while Britannia cries from shore to shore, Augustus reigns; Maecenas is no more. Pitt views alike, from Holwood's sullen brow, (As near-observing^ friendship dares avow) yyy " They scarce can bear their Laureat twice a year." So said Pope. In these times we can bear our harmless fluttering birth day odes, better than the French Dithyrambics in the orgies of democracy. — Mr. Pye is a man of learning, and some little fancy; but I wish his poetry had more force. z I must own, that unless the Province of encouraging Letters, which should belong to the great, is administered with wisdom and dis- cretion, it is more desirable that there were no encouragement at all. In confirmation however of my opinion of the minister, I refer the reader to a pamphlet published in 1795, entitled, " Friendly Remarks on Mr. Pitt's Administration, by a Near Observer." It is written by a good scholar, a man of fortune, of an upright mind, of an independent spirit, and the principles of a gentleman. It has been ascribed to M. Montague, Esq. [ 111 ] The fount of Pindus or Boeotia's bog, With nothing of Mcecenas, but his frog. * 90 late M. P. and it is, 1 believe, acknowledged by him. He boldly tells the Minister of his fault, namely, an improvident and systematic contempt and neglect of all ability and literary talents. " They had no poet, and they died." I would by no means apply to Mr. Pitt what Spenser said of the Lord Treasurer Burleigh, once Chancellor of the University of Cam- bridge, because it would neither be true nor just. But the Muse of satire may, with more respect and delicacy, win an easier way to the region of his sensibility in the words of a Roman poet; Felix curarum! cui non Hcliconia cordi Serta.) nee imbelles Parnassi e vert ice laurus ; Sed viget ingenium, et magnos accinctus in usus, Fert animus qiiascunque vices! These are the virtues of a minister in times of change, and of general con- vulsion. History indeed may say of Mr. Pitt in the words of Tacitus, H. 4. S. 5. " Ingenium illustre altioribus studiis juvenis admodum dedit, non, ut plerique, ut nomine magnifico segne otium velaret, sed quo Jirmior adversus fortuita Rempudlicam capesseret." — I might pro- ceed and describe him as '■^ Opum* contemptor, recti jiervicax, constans " adversus metus;" but I cannot pursue him through the integral charac- ter of Helvidius Priscus, because I conceive Power, and not Fame, to be the principle of this mighty minister of Great Britain. a In the time of Augustus, daring the administraton of Maecenas that minister's seal, bearing the figure of a frog, was annexed to all money-bills. * Though Mr. P. despises monev, yet I wish he v/ould give more at- tention to economy^ private as well as public, than he has hitherto done. He is deserving of much censure in tliis respect. He seems to have for- gotten what Mr. Burke once thundered in the ears of one of his predeces- sors, (Lord North) in the H. of C. " Magnum est Vectigal Farsi- monia." (1797.) C 112 ] OCTAVIUS. Mere spleen to Pitt; *" he's liberal, but by stealth. AUTHOR. Yes, and he spares a nation's inborn wealth, I mention this anecdote as curious, and perhaps not generally known. It is recorded in the 37th book of Pliny's Natural History, ch. i. " Mxcenatis Rana, ob coUationem peciiiiiarum, in magiio terrore erat." I also refer the reader to the Duke of Marlborough's Gems, vol. 2. engraved privately, and the elegent Latin descriptions of them by the Rev. Dr. Cole, late Fellow of Kings College in Cambridge. — Nothing is so like as one Minis- ter to another in this respect ; but it is difficult to refrain from remarking, that Frogs were one of the plagues of Egypt. b Octavlus is wrong. I am neither a personal nor a political enemy to Mr. Pitt. I think him a powerful and efficient Minister, eminently adorned with natural gifts and endowments, and solemnly marked out and elected to his great office. He has talents to conduct, to persuade, and to command. He is a scholar ; / know him to be such, and a ripe and good one. The low passion of avarice has no root in his mind; but the sin, by which the angels fell, rages in him without measure and without control. To tell a minister, that pride was not madeybr him or for anv man, because he has nothing which he has not received, would be to argue a gross ignorance of our fallen nature. He has no servility in him. Pirm, constant, and unbending, he has the principles of a man, who knows and feels what is demanded of him by liis country. He comes into the House of Commons, not to bow, but to do the business of the state, and he does it. There is not a subject presented to him, even casually, in "whicli his ability is not conspicuous. He treats it as if it had been the i C 113 3 Another Adam*' in economy, For all, but Burke, '^ escape his searching eye-. subject of his coutinued * meditation. In the conduct of the French lyar, he, his colleagues, and his allies have been a!! found tu anting ; but in the principle just, if not steady. — I will add, that in respect to personal indi- vidual gratif cation.) I regard Mr. Pitt as the most fortunate man upon record. Called by the circumstances of the times beyond human control, and by events not in the wildest range of expectation, he was placed, almost without his seeking it, in the highest public station. He passed at once to the innermost of the temple, without treading the vesti- bule. In the bloom and vigour of his faculties (for he bore the blossom and the fruit at once) and in the prime of life, when every thing can charm, that which can charm the most, Power, was voluntarily ofTered to him, confirmed, continued, and established by his King and by his country. His faults, his follies, and his blemishes, (for he has all) might be easily removed.) but I think he will not remove them. He felt at once, as many men have done before him, the highest ability in him- self; and he found, what is denied to most men of genius, a full and ade- quate exertion of it in high office. My hope and earnest prayer is, that the termination of his political labours, and the result of this just and tre- mendous war with the Republic of France, may be finally to establish " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace." — Is this the language ©f an enemy? I respect, nay, I would defend him: I wish him along con- tinuance in office: but I never can entertain a personal regard or affec- tion for Mr. Pitt. (1796.) c Adam Smith, the great writer on wealth and finance, from whom Mr. Pitt learned his art. d This is not mentioned as a censure on Mr. Pitt for his liberality, for I think the whole of his pension merited by Mr. Burke, though I * In this respect Mr. Pitt always reminded me of Tliemistocles, as recorded by the great historian " 0V7iUi ycunuctrivi ■/,», T«v y.x^cciiav ctTros^ip^^wj ng Nfn. Suidas de Vet. Auct. t Mr. Ireland asserts that he has the '■ctry library efShakspeare, with his signature, his notes and remarks, kc. in the margin of the books, all in his OTJn hdnd-ivritin^i^. C 122 ] The very gibes he scribbled, and the joke That from the laughing bard on margins broke. But where's the dark array, the vesture plain, With many a mould'ring venerable stain ? All fled : a wonder opens to our view ; The shield is scower'd, and the books are new:" In her own hues great Nature best is seen, So Ireland spoke ; and made the black.... 0«^ Green, Eternal verdure bloom in Shakspeare's grove ! Where led by light from heav'n, he oft would rove In solitude and sacred silence blest; 161 And in the musings of his mighty breast, All as he scann'd the volume of the past. O'er Greece and Rome one wishful glance would cast; Mournnotpleas'dnaturecriedtheirsoundsunknown, My universal language is your own. X Mr. Ireland has not thought proper to preserve the books of Shak- speare's Library in then* original and curious old black binding, (as could have been wished;) but, like the nurse employed by Dr. Cornelius Scri- blerus, he has scowered them well, and made them all new; and with singular felicity has re-bound them all in green morocco.'.'.' — N. B. I have written this whole passage in the Poem and the Notes, to perpetuate thf memory of this extraordinary event in literary history, which seems to be passing into oblivion. — I cannot think that any subject relating to Shak- speare should be wholly disregarded. (1796.) C 123 ] OCTAVIUS. Enough for me great Shakspeare's words to hear, Though but in common with the vulgar ear, Without one note, or horn-book in my head, Ritson's coarse trash, or ktmber of the dead. 170 Can flippant wit, and book-learn'd confidence, Alone give right to science, taste and sense ? Is modest worth by idle boasting shewn? Then, nor till then, will I approve Malone : ^ y See Mr. Malone's Inquiry into the authenticity of Mr. Ireland's Shakspeare MSS. £cc. which he calls (not improperly) a Vindication of Shakspeare. The subject is indeed rather overlaid by the learned critic, but there is much sagacity and ingenuity in the treatment of it, and I think it is satisfactory and proves the point. Still Mr. Malone is too con- fident and presumptuous, and not always attentive to th^t politeness of character -which at least all amateur critics should maintain. I think Mr. Ireland will now hardly say of these manuscripts and original plays ©f Shakspeare, Nunc non e manibus illis. Nunc non e tumulo, fortiuiataquefavitla, Nascentur violac?* No, Mr. Ireland, neither •violets nor guineas. — "Go to bed, Basil ; good night, go to bed." (See the Spanish Barber.) I have just read tv/o pamphlets on this subject, the firsit by Mr. Ireland's son, and the second by Mr. Ireland himself. The shameless effrontery of thk bov, in avowing himself the author of these manuscripts, is only equalled by * Pers. Sat. i. v. -,8. C 124 ] See on the critic, " in his .pride of place," Laborious Chalmers drops his leaden mace. >'^ the tender solicitude of the father tor their credit and authenticity. Mr. Ireland senior originally rested tlie whole with his son, who, as he constantly affirmed, gave the collection to him, plays, receipts, drawings, deeds, " white, black and grey, and all the trumpery," but declined naming the person from whom he received them. Mr. Ireland senior now presents us with the testimony of the Rev. Dr. Parr, Sir Isaac Heard, Mr. Pinkerton, Mr. Laurent Pye, Mr. Boswell, &:c. who all signed a paper {very wisely to be sure) that they were convinced of the authenticity of the papers. What can that prove? — The boy's tale is simple; he ab- solutely asserts that he forged the whole collection, and gave the papers to his father, to please at once and to deceive him, and the world. A very dutiful and very modest ladl Do we believe the boy? If we do, the business is at an end. The Father again and again asserts, that lie is ignorant of the person or the place from whence they came, and refers to his son's information. Now he disbelieves his own son, and defends the authenticity of the papers. Utrum Horum? In short, between them both.) Father and Son, there appears to me, what the Greeks call a Srepy*;, a sort of natural parental affection for these manuscripts, which is very strange, and which I cannot explain, but which quite satisfied me as to the nature of their originality. Mr. Malone's learning and politeness have not much to do with the business as a matter of fact; and the whole question now turns upon this momentous point: " whether Mr. Ireland cr Mr. Malone is the greatest scholar?* — This is what the logi- cians call the Reductio ad Absurdum; and there the question may sleep, and Shaksj-Kjare tot-). Such titles as these are soon shaken from his monu- ment; Ad qux Discutienda valent sterills mala robora ficus. f (J^"* Si i7970 * See Mr. Ireland's farewell pamphlet on Mr. Malone's Scholarship. July 1797. t Juv. Sat. ID, v. 144* C 125 ] In the wild squabbles of a wordy war, Let rabid ^ Porson tell, or griesly Parr,* Coombe, Travis, Ireland, or whate'er the name, The breeding of mere critics is the same : 180 From royal Phalaris let your views extend To Bristol's wizard stripling, and his end. Hear Catcott ^ cry, in chearless life's decline, Thus Rowley once, and Chatterton were mine. yy See " The Apology for the Believers in — (Mr. Ireland's) Shak- speare Papers." " So fbrc'd from wind-guns lead itself can fly, " And pond'rous slugs cut swiftly through the sky."* Mr. Chalmers is a well informed, very useful, and well-meaning writer, but too " laborious, heavy, and busy" in his works. It was but a waste of erudition to throw it away on this composition. He always has my thanks for his political information ; but I wish he had more spirit and a more animated manner ; for he is a gentleman of great learning and re- spectability. z Mr. Professor Porson's Letters to Archdeacon Travis are conspi- cuous for their erudition, acuteness, accuracy, virulence, bitterness, and invective. a I allude to Dr. Parr's Controversy with Dr. Coombe, critic and man- midwife, about Horace. It seems Dr. Parr was angry that he did no assist the little critical man-midwife at the labour, " rite maturos aperire partus." Dr. Parr is more fond of a Caesarian operation in criticism. See more in a future note to the Third Dialogue of this Poem. b When IJirst published the first part of this poem (in 1794) I had casually glanced on the subject of Rowky. See P. of L. part I. but * Dunciad. C 126 3 He saw bis Bard by Milles's ponderous lengdi ^^ O'erlaid, revive in splendor, fame, and strengdi, For Bryant "" came ; die Muses all return, And light their lamps at Rowley's fruitful urn ; since that time having had some leisure and more curiosity, I have peru- sed many of the learned treatises upon it. I neither have, nor will have, any thing to do with the decision of such a controversy as this, which is even now scarcely at rest; but having the feelings of a gentleman, I was struck, as I was reading, with the cruel treatment of poor Mr. Catcott of Bristol, the sneers upon the peivterer, and the illiberal reflections on a plain, curious, honest, and in^Hensive man, without whose zeal and soli- citude, (I speak from the printed accounts) these singular poems never would have appeared. He seems to say with justice ; Ore, miserere laborum Tantorum, miserere anhni non dignaferentis,* bb The edition of Rowley's Poems by the Rev. Dr. Milles. c No man of literature can pass by the name of Mr. Bryant without gratitude and reverence. He is a gentleman of attainments peculiar to himself, and of classical erudition without an equal in Europe. His vrhole life has been spent in laborious researches, and the most curi- ous investigations. He has a youthful fancy, and a playful wit : with the mind, and occasionaly with the pen, of a poet; and with an ease and simplicity of style aiming only at perspicuity, and, as I think attaining it. He has contended in various fields of controversy Avith various success ; but always with a zeal for truth and a soberness of inquiry. In speaking of Mr. Bryant, I have no necessity, as I too often have, to qualify my com- mendations. He has lived to see his eightieth winter (and may he yet long live) with the esteem of the wise and good; in honourable retire- ment from the cares of life ; with a gentleness of manners, and a readiness and willingness of literary communication seldom found. He is admired * Virg. -En. 2. v. 143. y [ 127 ] While Cam receiv'd the Bard with all his train, Though Isis turn'd her current in disdain. 190 The Boy whom once patrician pens adorn'd, First meanly flatter 'd, ^^ then as meanly scorn'd, Drooping he "^^ rais'd, and lent his little aid, The gleanings of a hard and humble trade. Innoxious man : yet what may truth avail ! Blameless his life, and simple as his tale ; Each rude inquirer's sneering taunt he feels, Contempt or insult dogs him at his heels, No kind support subscribing fondness pours. For him no wealth descends in fost'ring showr's ; 200 and sought after by the young who are entering on a course of study ; and revered, and often followed, by those who have completed it. Above all, he has gone forth in the strength imparted unto him, in defence of the holy law made and given by God ; he has put on the panoply from above, and having enlarged hi? mind and sanctified his studies, he may expect with humble confidence the consummation of his reward. NOMEN IN EXEMPLUM SERO SERVABIJIUS ^VC* (1796.) cc Alluding to the letters written by the Honourable Horace "Wal- pole (now Lord Orford) to Thomas Chatterton, printed in some magazines or newspapers. I remember to have seen them, but I cannot point out at present the time or date of them : I think they were written from Strnw- berry Hill, but 1 am not sure. dd i. e. Mr. Catcott. * Milton ad Patrem v. 2c5i. X »j a [ 128 ] Yet be this truth to future times reveal'd, " The wound a Varro gave, Iapis heal'd." Go now for moths, and rolls, and parchments search; Ransac the chest, the closet, or the church; Brave all the joint associates of A. S. The jest insipid, and the idle guess; Bind, copy, comment, manuscript and print, Take from good natur'd friends some useful hint. From Bewick's ^ magic wood throw borrow'd rays O'er many a page in gorgeous Bulmer's blaze ; 210 Alas, for thee! nor profit hope, nor fame, Contempt your lot, and solitary shame. Go rather and indulge Dramatic rage ; All love a public or a private stage : a See Bishop Atterbiuy's comment on the DiLECfus Iapis of Vir- gil. I shall add, lATPIKfiTATOS ^iXo^a>^o% y.cii xau^a^OKrirc;, ^iXoirraj^o;, ytvyxL0i,viaivdii>^d6)7-/ii,ci(^i(i;, ^ix.x(o<;, syc-eov)?, EIS AKPON THS IlAIAEIAi: d Mr. Bewick, the great restorer of the long lost art of engraving upon wood. I need only mention his figures of the quadrupeds, and his plates to Bulmer's edition of Goldsmith's poems. Mr. Bulmer is the in- genious printer of Boydell's magnificent edition of Shakspeare; a work which, having been uniformly conducted on liberal principles and intend- ed for the honour of the country, should be patronised by the English nation. C 129 ] Our nobles now, as players^ will be seen, A Duke's chaste daughter or a Margravine: Fled is the soft reserve and nicer sense, Those primal guards of love and innocence; Unzon'd the nymphs, like Highland Charlotte clad. AUTHOR. Why not a// bare? less shame's in being mad.^ 220 OCTAVIUS. Soft: and o'er female failings lightly pass; And may Aglaia ^ lead them to their glass, Connubial glories rising o'er their head. As life's domestic happier stage they tread; e The dress of the preaent period has warranted the caricatures of the day, particularly one, which is called " The dress of Ladies as it will " be." I write in A. D. Seventeen Hundred and Ninety-six. Juvenal, who wrote about the year Ninety-six^ said on a similar subject, " Niulus " agas; minus est insania turpis." Sat. 2. v. 71. But strange to say, he •was speaking of the dress of men. f Aglaia is the name of one of the Graces ; she dictated to Mr. Pope the following lines: Let not each beauty every where be spied, Where half the skill is decently to hide.* The ladies should remember that the imagination is a busy power. * Moral Epistles, Ep. 4. v. 53. 11 [ 130 ] There may they look, well pleas'd themselves to find The guardians, comforts, teachers of mankind. AUTHOR. I listen with delight: that strain again; I'll bless the sex. OCTAVIUS. Now pass to titled men. Mark, as Thalia calls in graceful air, 230 The soft patrician of St. James's square ;S Her 7iiiptial^ voice at Blenheim Marlb'rough heard, While lyric Carlisle purrs ' o'er love transferr'd. g His Grace the Duke of Leeds, one of the very best bred men in the kingdom, and the most polite ; a great patron of the drama and its concerns. h A private theatre often proves a convenient cliapel of ease to ffymen.— Families of rank, distinction, and fortune, will at last be convinced, what is the natural and inevitable conclusion of boys and girls making love to one another upon any stage, public or private, particularly in a private theatre. If it terminate in marriage, the Fathers and Mothers should not be surprised or angry. If the end of it, is intrigue ; if the girls are debauched, and the boys come into life with the manners and morals of Players, the parents maybe sorry; but it is their own work. i Purrs. — Dr. Johnson says, *' to purr is to murmur as a cat or leopard in pleasure." I have heard that Lord Carlisl ■ f^cel d'amor C 131 ] Nay Thurlow once, ('tis said) could sing or swear, Like Polypbeme^ "I cannot cannot bear;"^ For ah ! presumptuous Acis ^^ wrests the prize. And ravishes' the nympb before his eyes: travagliato Sacripante) is writing an opera entitled, " Angelica e Medoro." Angelica is supposed to be rather advanced in life; and I think htr grand-daughter hhvow^ht on the stage. — 'Lvmoifft (1796.) — The Opera, as it is conjectured, is to be dedicated to The Right HoirouRABLE Lady "Jersey^ in memory and in imitation of the gallant and accomplished Medoro, as recorded by Ariosto: " Delia Comodita che qui m'c data, lo povero Medor, kc. Ariosto adds, of the noble Earl^ or Count, " Era scritto in arabice^ che il Conte Intendea cost ben come I.atine." O. F. Cant. 23. s. 108. N. B. If my romantic memory does not deceive me Sacripante was jilted by Angelica. See Ariosto. But subjects of the highest importance are pressing on me so fast, that I am obliged to dismiss Lord Carlisle, Lady Jersey, &c. &c. and all thejottths who are dying for places or for love, in the words of the poet, Ne sono a Ferrau, ne a Sacripante, (O sia Carliglio) per donar piii rima. Da lor mi leva // Principe d'Anghmte, Sec. O. F. Cant. 12. 3. 96. k " Torture, fury, rage, despair, " I cannot, cannot, bear." Air (by Polypheme) in the Serc7iata of Acis and Galatea, kk Presumptuous Acis. (i. e. Mr. Pitt.) — I allude to a circumstance not generally known; but Avhich, as I Iinve never seen anv public notice C 132 ] Such feats his honour Uttle Pepper"^ saw, In all the pride of music and of law. 240 of it, these lines are meant to record. About ttvo years ago the Serenata* of Acis AND Galatea (with some violation, I believe, of the fable, and not a little of the harmony and of the melody) was performed in Downing-street to a private company. The part of Acis by Mr. Pitt, Poljpheme by Lord Thurlow, and Galatea by Lord Loughborough. Mezzi Soprani, Lord Kenyon and Pepper Arden, with a sort oi Alessa Bassa\ by Edmund Burke ; the other vocal parts hy a select committee of both Houses a due cori. I was not present at the entertainment my- self, but was informed, that Mr. Pitt, in the execution of the difficult passages, did not sufficiently attend to his appoggiatiiras, which indeed he seldom does; that the baritonooi Lord Thurlow was quite Polyphemish, and fully sustained; but that it was impossible to do justice to hovd Loughborough's diminuendo, when — he died aivay in the arjns of Acis. (1796.) N. B Bishop Hurd would say this note is allegorical, or elcusinian: the late Mr. Gibbon and Lord Sheffield would as stoutly deny it. For * Mr. Pitt patronizes musical performances on the principle of ?Z>e gods according to Plato; but with Apollo, Dionusus is not forgotten. " 0< ©E(5< oix.TiiDXVTii myCoM'Trb'v (some MS. insert iroXiiTK6)v) ivnTro'Jov 7ri:pv!coi " yivoc, rcci hi^trxg x.oii AttoAAaivs^ iceti Aiovvs-ov ^vvit^rxff-Tstg s'^ofxv." Plat. de Legibus, 1. 2.* In Mr. Pitt's musical ministry, the famous terms of the Ex-Atio-jj and the EkS«A>) of Bacchius and Aristides are familiar and viuch used by this great modern artist. The -i-xXuoi AvT< I sit, and think I read my Pope anew. ' But grant the stage is noble; I believe Greek is plebeian, with Lord" Belgrave's leave: 1 The author of the Baviad and the Mxviad. Mr. GifFord is the most correct poetical writer I have read, since the days of Pope. Upon the whole I give the preference to the Baviad after much consideration, though both the Poems may be studied with pleasure and advantage. — I have not the honour of Mr. Gifford's acquaintance; and indeed, from the nature of my retirement, I probably may never see him. (1796.) n Lord Belgrave; a learned and accomplished young nobleman of the present time. At his first entrance into the House of Commons, in all [ 136 ] Though now some high imperial critics chafe, To think not jEschylus himself is safe. 280 Go to his text: revise, digest, compare, With Porson's shrewdness, or with Valknaer's care ; But is the learned page once out of sight? Some Scotch Greek swindling printer ° steals your right. the honest enthusiasm of his heart, in academic freshness and classic vigour, he quoted a passage from Demosthenes in Greek. This subjected him to the idle and impotent ridicule oi the Dramatist of the House of Commons.^ whose school-boy memory on that occasion happened to be more accurate. Lord Belgrave had done no more than I have often heard from Mr. Fox himself, who loves and understands Greek. As to the long and illustrious train of our young nobility and gentry, distinguished for tlieir conduct and attachment to their country, I will say with some spirit and animation ; Dii patrii, quorum semper sub numine Troga esl, Non tamen omnino Teucros delere paratis. Cum tales aniraos Juvenum, et tarn certa tulistls Pectora 1* o I allude to a transaction which seems to be unwairantable. Mr. Porson, the Greek Professor at Cambridge, lent his manuscript corrections and conjectures on the text ^schylus, to a friend in Scotland ; for he once, had and I hope still has, an intention of publishing that tragedian, though it may now be suspended. His corrected text fell into the hands of the Scotch printer Fowlis, and without the Professor's leave or even knowledge, he published a magnificent edition of iEschylus from it with- out notes. I believe my statement is tolerably correct. I am sure I * Yirg. -En. 9. v. 247. C 137 ] But mark, the sea-birds sound the note of doom, And venom'd insects p chister round the tomb, The Grecian billows foam along the strand, In angry murmurs deaf'ning all the land; Ranging for vengeance from his native shore, AiicHiLocHus is rous'd, to sleep no more, 290 would not misrepresent any fact wliatever, nor ever have done so inten- tionally, and I would retract any mistake with the utmost willingness.* I hope however that Mr- Person will not be discouraged, but continue his labours on the Greek Lexicon of Pbotius^ as the learned world are in eager expectation of a Avork so long, and hitherto so vainly, desired. But, in my opinion, the lovers of literature would be infinitely more obliged to him, or to any other illustrious critic, for a new edition of the Greek Bibliotheca of Photius^ which abounds with the most curious and valuable Excerpta of Writers whose integral works are lost forever. At present it is troublesome even to read the remains of the laborious erudition of the Patriarch of Byzantium. (1796.) p The tomb of Archilochus was placed on the sea-shore, (I think in the island of Paros,) and the poets feigned that in the cavities of the stone, worn away by the waves, a swarm of wasps was concealed, ready to avenge the least insult that could be offered to it. — The subject of Greek learning Is carried on in the Third Part of this Poem. * 1 was mistaken when I said (In \\\t first edition of the Third Dia- logue of the P. of L.) that Mr. Porson either translated or corrected any part of Alciphron's Epistles. I omitted it In the second edition. But I never mentioned it as an object of censure. How could I ? END OF THE SECOND DIALOGUE. PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. DIALOGUE THE THIRD. AvTK KivrtSivroi'v a' vih N«xt< ioiKug. E^£t' S^iiT* XTTXVivh ViOIV, fiiTCC §' lOi I»XS, Asjvij Ss y.Xxyy/t ySVEr' «pyiipee»a €<9EAPOS BTSEO0EN iliov(Tiii\* From every other state, but England, the sceptre has fallen by the arms, or the principles, or the treachery of France. What she can effect by war and invasion, tliat she most readily and most willingly accomplishes. But she has other means, nor less terrible, nor less certain. The Sub- terranean wind of this fierce democracy has force enough to overthrow,-- * Callim. Hvmn. ad Deum. 125. The imagery of this Hymn is peculiarly splendid and awful. The whole may be perused with pleasure. The sentiments and expressions have often a sublime piety. Tii^ix jttei/ XXI ASs; itttxi ptTy); ys ^S(7«<£» 2TpVMflV»a B'jOiXO' ©S4J S' «£< XS'TvPiX(>iTO;\ ^7i\i ^iM, T«ig a-i ZoyiSooi xufi^i'^viKii. ver. 25. C 143 ] or to transport, hills and rocks torn from Pclonis (a) and by this explo- sion they too often have perished. la the agony of these reflections lan- guage will labour, and the images of nature and all her elements in con- flict and convulsion will present themseWes. When indeed I consider this great, powerful, and yet opulent kingdom, with all its bearings and dependencies, I know not which to reprobate most, the folly or the wickedness of its internal enemies, and of the des- perate French faction in the heart of its metropolis. When I think on these things, and at the same time reflect, that the eyes of a whole nation were originally opened by One Man, and the systems of internal destruc- tion and of irreversible misery, which awaited us, were displayed* and confounded by his powers, I pardon and forget his eccentricities, and even his partiality for the Romish faith and its professors, and the heat and violence which too frequently and too fatally attend upon the uncon- trolled Genius of Edmund Burke. Sometimes indeed, (it is when my heart burn^ within rae) I pour out my thoughts by myself in contempla- tion of MY COUNTRY, which I love with ardour unabated, and of its GREAT Citizen, whom I approach with reverence, in the words of the poet : Quae cum magna modis multis miranda videtur Gentibus humanis Regio, visendaque fertur, Rebus opima bonis, multa m.unita virum vi, Nil tamennoc habuisse Viro PRiECLARius in jf, Nee sanctum magis etmirum carumque videtur.-\ But still on such a subject, of such a man, and at such a time, I would speak with precision, and admire with sircumspection. Let us call to mind for a moment the few years just past and the txansactions, the traces of •which are felt and visible. I would pass over them rapidly, but I could a " L'alpestro monte, ond'^ tronco Peloro.'" Dant. Purg. C. 14. Whence Milton took his famous words P. L. b. i. 232. * " Animo vidit, ingenio complexus est, eloquentia illuminavit." These are the words of Paterculus concerning Cicero. How natural to transfer thera to Edmund Burke! (1796.) t Lucret. L. I. v. 728. [ 144 ] ■wish the view to be impressive. We have been delivered from a state of much internal terror and impending- anarchy, and from the confusion of a new political chaos, where all was brute and disorderly. Our constitu- tion, our liberties, and our rights, (I fear not to name the word, we have and enjoy them all, rights public and private) all these have been preserved and confirmed. Eveiy rank in society, the peasant, the lawyer, the mechanic, the farmer, the tradesman, the private gentleman, have all felt and acknowledged, and obeyed the paramount call of their country. Peace is within our walls, and it is their work. In the higher orders of tiie state, and in the sovereign, we have seen a gracious behaviour, a common interest, and equal exertion, and a regular, defined, limited power. Of such a conduct security is the natural production ; it blossoms Into fruit. But with this, though man might be happy, he will not always, or indeed long be satisfied. He will reach at perfection absolute and unqualified. He forgets, that theoretical perfection in government and practical opression are closely allied. He will be more than man, and he becomes less. In the year 1788 and '8g, the visionary prospect from the shore of France opened on the eyes of our modern Reformers. England looked upon these Reformers, and the government neglected them. Societies, in the very face of an insulted legislature, boldly multiplied, and magnified, and consolidated each other. All grew up in silence. There was no public apprehension among the well-affected, no distrust. We laughed at metaphysical distinctions, and idle terms of scho- lastic art, and revolutionary dinners and republican toasts. It was an hour of general and of unaccountable indifference. The great chain of posts, and a species of telegraphic communicaiion had been established unperceived. The English Revolution in 1688 was held up to seeming- approbation and reverence, but in reality to secret or rather to open con- tempt ; and the Revolution in France 17S8, was the Revolution which they intended to re-alize and to celebrate. The Reformers strove to buy golden opinions of their fellow citizens, and to wear them in the newest gloss. The external decoration deceived the eye. The painted sepulchre was prepared and whited without, the vault and receptacle of all our ancient liberties, and rights, and securities, and properties, and common comforts. Still we beheld all this, but went our way, and forgot what manner of ni(-n these Reformers were. At this very hour, when tlie I C 145 ] public mind was darkened that It could not discern, when in every quarter of the heaven appeared vapour, and mist, and cloud, and exhalation ; Lapiovamaladetta,fredda, e greve^ ( Regola e qualita ('estrana e nuova) Grandine grossa, e acqua tinta, e neve, Per I'aer tenebroso si riversa; (a) at this very hour the morning horizon began suddenly to redden. It was the dawn. Then indeed, " First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, Regent of Dayl" This luminary was Edjiund Burke. Light broke upon them all. The features of misrule and malignity, of tyranny and of opression, the fabled sceptres and hostile powers figured by poets and orators, were realized in the spirits of turbulence, dissatisfaction, sedition, rebellion, and democracy. But they were seen to be dispersed. The rays of the orb were direct, collected and concentrated: they had power to illuminate and to consume. But the course of this orb, though marked, was short. It is set ; never to return.* ETAEIi;! «AA'a Hao AsA^s-^sno* £!r^,H» AXIAAEYl But I must proceed....! confess, that I am not such a desperate lover of what is brought to me for abstract political truth, as never to make an inquiry into the character of the proposers of it, their personal views, and the men and measures with which they are connected. I feel myself a member of regulated society, and I would maintain an established order. I acknowledge myself a subject of a mild and equitable government, (though under a most severe temporaiy pressure) and I would preserve that government which gives us all protection. And when I adopt the, great rule, that " we should love our neighbour as ourselves," I have not— > yet made such advances in the theory of political justice and in the new \ Avisdom, as coolly to assert, that " this maxim, though possessing considera-^ <( " ble merit as a popular principle, is not strictly modelled ivitb philqsophi- . i li ■-J' a Dante Inf. C. 6. From w bat other Poet, ancient or modern, could I draw forth such expressions? * (August 1797.) b Horn. II. 23. V. 6g. / [ 146 ] y " C3\ precision." (a) I have not yet learned to treat the Revelation of Gor», .' or the uistltutions of my country, with contumely. I have no romantic ideas of virtues without motives, and of actions witliout regulations. I believe it to be a matter of general safety, that crimes should be discerned, as well as repressed, by legal sanctions; and that the nature of justice and of injustice should be declared, taught, and enforced, by law, by reli- gion, and by education. Experience has instructed me, and reason and reflec- tion have confirmed me in the belief, that Conscience may be erroneous; that it is a monitor wliich needs advice, and a guide which often calls for superior direction. I look upon justice as the foundation (b) and support, but not as the ivhok of human duty; and I cannot, in insulting language, 4 resolve the sum and substance of all governnsent and civil society into " Laws proclaimed by Heralds, and expounded by Curates." (c) V Yet do I not s-pc^k prafessional/j. I liave no personal interference in \, the church, the law, or the state. But I speak again and again, with e;do6voov IIoTjiS^vo?, ««yAa:c.-iis^ov. E» tS yx^ ILvvoiint vxtti, ■AXTiyv.ircn t£, Av f/.ccripct hx(rvju.vfiov. Ev 2i Mom-' u^uTrvooi, m ^' Ap»ij v'.a'v vXictK; xi^^uZi^riv xvd^S'iy. Find. Olymp. O. 13. c See Godwin on Justice as above, vol. 2. p. 299. Hi otx TYf> ccvwyxiiv " thtxii ocftfcui Kxrofiaxrxvrii rov 7teMju.6y, aoivi xoivucuuivoi rrti o«|»i?." Diou. Halicarn. Rom. Hist. I. 5. S. 6c. C 149 ] that I win declare ; and Avhat I feel it to be my duty to represent, that I will have the boldness to publish. Through the whole course of my life, in every trying circumstance, and in every wayward event, public and private, J have held fast the concise and strong admonition of the poet: Tu NE CEDE MALis; sed contra audentior ito, ^10771 tua te Fortune sinet. My learning and researches, such as they are, I submit to scholars ; my opinions, my labour, and my services, in the integrity of affection, I offer TO MY country; my errors and defects I leave to public reprehen- sion, in a respectful silence. Whether men will hear, or whether they will not hear, is not strlctlv mv personal concern; but my intention no man taketh from «je. PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. DIALOGUE THE THIRD* OCTAVIUS. ^W^HAT then, shall none remain, to whom belongs The care of Attic bards and Dorian songs? ^ Shall England boast no more, in order'd clans, Her owls from Athens and her Delian swans? Is no memorial left of ancient fame, No dirge funeral, nor ofie Grecian game? * First printed in May, 1796. t Athenxi Dcipnosophist: L. 14. p. 617. Ed. Casaub. a The subject of Greek Literature is resumed. See the conclusion, of the Second Dialogue. C 152 ] AUTHOR. There is: lo, learned dllZX^^ in sable stole, Graceful inyears^ pant eager for the goal. ^^ Old Norb'ry ^ starts, and with the seventh-form ^ boys In weeds of Greek the church-yard's peace annoys. With classic Weston, ^^ Charley Coote, and Tew, ^ In dismal dance about the mournful yew. 12 aa I allude to the rage for translating Gray's Elegy into Greek verse, by so many combatants for the prize, of whom more in the following notes. b The Reverend Doctor Norbury, late one of the Assistants and now one of the Fellows (or old boys) at Eton, publised the first Greek translation of the Elegy. c In Eton School there are but six forms for the boys — These Reverend Divines, it seems, have only taken one step since they left school. cc The Rev. Mr. Stephen Weston is a man of much ingenuity, great classical knowledge, and skilled in various languages. d Monsieur Peltier (Editor of the Tableau de Paris, Sec.) favoured me with the following record and extract, which I give in his own French terms, as they are very significant and forcible. " Place de la Traduction. " Jean NoRnuar, Docteur en Theologie, Chanoine et associe a " Eton. ^4ge soixante et huit ans. " EriENNE JVeston, Bachelier en Theologie, Abbe, Voyageur, " Versificateu;-, c! devant Recteur. Ag^ cinquante ans. " Charles CooTe,* Docteur en Theologie, Doien Irlandois. Age " cinquante et deux ans, selon le registre. * P. S. J'ai recue une lettre tres obligeante de la part de Monsieur Pi-'ticr, dont j'ai la pin? haute con'^ideration, qui m'a informc, qu'il y a une C 153 ] But first in notes Sicilian ^ plac'd on high, Bates sounds the soft preluding symphony ; " Edquard Tei^, Bachelier en Theologie, Chanolne et Associe a Eton, Jige cinquante et sept ans. Guillotines a la Grecquc^ 23 Floreal ^intidi, 1796. Extrait du Registre de la Guillotine Literaire." N. B. lis sont month sur I' ecbaffaut avec assez de courage; a dix- beures et un quart du matin leurs tetes sont tonibh." Extrait du Rapport fait au conseil des anciens, par I'Executeur de la haute justice lite'raire. e Notes Sicilian — Joah Bates, Esquire, as an old Etonian, and once Fellow and Tutor of King's College, Cambridge, was io obliging as to offer himself as Musical Conductor on the occasion. Some persons may think, that the "notes Sicilian" allude to the Ap;^^£Tg ILiy.ii^txmi Tu mvSio?, ctp)(^iri Mtua-xi:* but they are no musicians, if they think so. Mr. Bates's judgment naturally led him to adopt the Siciliana for this famous solemnity, as it is a movement slower and more marked than the Giga. While the Siciliana was playing, the combatants, before they entered the lists, approached the Critic's throne moving in a sort of mea- sured step. The Reverend Mr. Nares, (editor of the British Critic, and in my estimation, and I believe in that of every member of Lincoln's petite meprise dans le Registre au sujetde Monsieur le Docteur Coote, Traducteur celebre. Qu'il n'etoit pas Doien Irlandois and, par consequent, grand theologien, mais Docteur en Droit Civil en Angleterre, tres instruit dans la grammaire Grecque. Monsieur Peltier avec le zele le plus edifiant pour la verite, et avec beaucoup d'onction, m'a prie de corriger le registre et la poe'sie la desus; et m'a informe, que Monsieur Nares Auteur tre's aimable en son genre, et editeur de I'ouvrage periodi- que, (The British Critic) la voulut aussi avec beaucoup d' empressement. Malheureusement c'est impossible; et j'ai repondu tres franchement: " Mon cher Peltier, quand une fois la tete doctorale est tombcc ; eh I que " fairer" (Nov. i-jc,-j.J * Moschi Epit. in Bion. v. i. U [ 154 ] And in sad cadence, as the bands condense, The curfew tolls the knell o^ parting Sense. Nares ^ holds the prize, and stops the Doric din^ Elmsley s without and Rivington within; Jm?j, a gentleman of worth, learning and ability, and to wlioin not the slightest disrespect is here intended) was appointed the judge or Bpct^iv^ an the occasion, and beheld them without emotion, though the sight was luxuriant in the extreme.^ O'er their warm cheeks, and rising bosoms move T/be bloom of young desire, and purple light of love.* — Had the combatants been political personages, I would have described the whole game, and the characters, and their speeches in the poem. But I learned earlv from Cervantes the necessity of limitation and propriety \n fiction; though this is a mere record of a matter of fact. f I always admired the solemn irony, with which the Revle^vers in The British critic treated this Grecian game among the old boys. It appeared to me as if I saw their exercises looked over at Eton by Dr» Davies, who said, " Norbury, you have 6.one pretty well;'' — "Tew, you " had a few faults, but a little more spirit than Norbury;" — " Weston, " you have translated with some elegance, but you have no authority for your " genitive absolute.'' — " Master Coote, I think you have one false quantity, " but it is a doubtful syllable, and I sha]l/)a5.v it this time.'' It is something odd, that a Westminster man, (I mean Mr. Nares,) should be the Judge of these old Eton boys. g Elmsley t and Rivington, two London booksellers, one famed for shrewdness, and the other for orthodoxy. Very proper assessors to the * Cray's Progress of Poetry. t I know not why I should withliold the Testimonia Doctorum to Mr Elmsley. To begin; — " Mr. Elmsley, whose zeal for his Author can " never be sufiiciently commended," Sec. — See Mr. Bryant's letter to Mr. Richardson at the end. Hear Mr. Cibbon: " Je trouve dans le Libraire Elmsley, un Conseiller sage, instruit, et discret." Mr. Gibbon to Mr. Deyverdun. Letters, vol. 2. 4to. p. 596. Again: " I was j^rsud and [ 155 ] The volumes are arrang'd in order meet, And all their ears erect these accents greet: 20 " Hail, my fond masters of the Grecian lyre ! " Hear a Reviewer's verse yourselves inspire: " These books are yours, (oh, heed my tunefidvoice) " Take'em, or ' damn'em, as best suits your choice ; Crstic. Mr. Elmsley Avas stiitioned at the door to keep the peace among the combatants, who were rather noisy and troublesome from their number. Afterwards Mr. Elmsley took his seat with the Critic. The place of the meeting was the celebrated Musical Room in Hanover Square. See a subsequent note. i Damn'em. — " This (word) is to be understood in a very sober and " decent sense." See Bishop Warburton's note on one of the concluding lines of Pope's Story of Sir Balaam, Moral Ep. 3. v. 401. Pope's Works edit. Warb. 8vo.vol. 3. p. 269. " The Devil and the King divide the " prize;" which line the bishop with the utmost gravity declares to be "a " satire only on such ministers of state, which history informs us have been " found, ivbo aided the devil in his temptations, in order to, Sec. Sec." See the remainder of the note. This it is to be a commentator on a mere badinage ! I ! There certainly are books which may make a Reviewer or a Divine swear a little. I readily excuse Mr. Nares (as I do Mr. Grubb in the farce) for being a little hasty in his expressions. Longinus (who *^ happy, if I could prevail on £/wj/ey, to enliven the dullness of the evening." lb. p. 653. Booksellers of reputation have been always mentioned with respect; The Socii by Horace, and Trybbo by Quintilian: Mr. Tonson is recorded by a man of talents,* Mr. Bkckkt by Sterne, Mr. Elmsley by Mr. Bryant and Mr. Gibbon, and finally by his humble servant, the Author of the Pursuits of Literature. * George Steevens, Esq. editor of Shakespeare, in his Preface to the Poet's works. [ 156 ] " For some are new, some foolish, and some old, " Some pert in calf, and some i7i sheets are bold. " Twelve British Critics, new or little read; " Horsley's chaste sermon, ^ and his copper head; gives excellent directions^ in his treatise on the sublime for swearing te the best advantage) observes " E(7tS i7nyax:pig-9eit rst, o Apples, Sec. — There Is ?jow an affectation in mcd^rn joung gentle- men, as soon as they have left school or college, particularly in young lawyers and boy -members of parliament, oi forgetting their Greek, if they ever knew any. I shall therefore without ceremony remind them of the ancient rewards in the Grecian games, which consisted of some apples con- secrated to Apollo in the Pythian, of a chaplet oi parsley in the Nemsean, of an olive garland in the Olympic games, and of a wreath of j&Zne-leaves in the Isthmian solemnity. p I am sure Pindar* very seldom had so good a subject for his deep rriouth. Mr. White, of Fleet street, and Mr. Edwards of Pall-mall, * Not that detestable writer calling himself Peter Pindar, of whom see the First Part of the Pursuits of L. " There on the rack of satire let him lie, " Fit garbage for the hell-hound Infamy." Heroic Post- eript to the Public, by the author of the H. Epistle to Sir W. Chambers. C 160 ] " Of beauteous Gibbon's fair proportion'd shape, ^ " An old baboon, or foetus of an ape ; booksellers, would furnish me with much better materials for an ode than Pindar's, in their florid descriptions, (so animating to purchasers) of gor- geous binding, little Dr. Gosset's milk-ivhite vellum, and all its insignia, q See in the title page to the posthumous Works of Edward Gibbon, Eaquire, in 2 v. 4to. published by Lord Sheffield, an engraving of The Historian of the Roman Empire, which his lordship declares to be " as complete a likeness of Mr. Gibbon, as to person, face, and manner, " as can be conceived." iV. I have no doubt of Lord S.'s friendship for Mr. Gibbon, but why hang up ones friend in effigy to the ridicule of the pre- sent age and of all posterity? " Figuram animi magis qusm corporis com- "plectantur,"* said Tacitus; and could Mr. Gibbon have seen this print, he certainly would have wished such a simulacrum vultus as this, to be imbe- cillum et mortale, or in plain English, to see the impressions burned and the plate broken. — I just remind all collectors of prints, that there is not only to be had the head of Dr. Gillies and other historic cooks, of Dr. Denman the man-midwife, of Mr. William Coxe, traveller and friend to half the crowned heads in Europe, with bis age at the bottom of the print, and of other great personages ; but there are still left some choice proof impressions of the striking bead arjd likeness of Mr. Jobn Farley PRINCIPAL COOK at the London Tavern, to be had seperate from his great culinary work, being all that were left unsubscribed for by the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen, by the East India and Bank Directors, and by Mr. Pitt and the elder Brethren of the Trinity House. But I cannot ascertain the age of Mr. John Farley, which is a matter of the last im- portance, and for which I am truly sorry. The Homeric jucundity from Martial should have been the motto to our modern Myrtillus ; " Si tibi Mistjllus cocus, JEmilianc, vocatur: '" Dicetur quare non T'arat'alla] mihi? Mart Ep. 1. i. * Tacit. Vit. Agric. Sect. 46. t Mis-TyAAof TciQcc r'cihXi/^j ktX, Horn. II. passim. C 161 ] " No robe, that waves in many a Tuscan fold ; " No lawn, that wraps a bishop from the cold ; 50 " But fine broad cloth, in choicest fashion wrought, " By modern hands to full perfection brought ; " 'Tis His — ^to luear four Sundays in the Park '^ " The best black suit of Doctor Courtney's Clerk!!!'' "^ Nares rising paus'd; then gave (the contest done,) To Weston, Taylor's Hymns and Alciphron; The reader of taste in print-collecting -will thank me for reminding him of Mr. John Farley's bead, whose works are more rdisked than any traveller's or historian's that I know. q Or in Kensington Gardens. r I informed my readers in a former note, that the scene of action •was the celebrated Musical Room in Hanover Square. I must now add, that the room was decorated on the occasion with appropriate scenery, Jaid out in belts and clumps of funereal trees, to represent a church-yard with the belfry, the yew tree, not forgetting the oivl, with distant views of groups of labourers, and cattle returning home by moonlight, highly picturesque. This was the scene of the famed solemnity, where Mr. Nares, with his assessors " Messrs. Elmsley and Rivington booksellers, and the combatants, the Doctors Norbury, Coote, Sec. assembled. Dr. Courtney, then Bishop of* Bristol, now of Exeter, (August, 1797.) and Rector of St. George's Hanover square, was veiy kind on the occasion, as the decision was made in his parish ; and nvitb the consent of the Parish * Doctor Courtney was then on the eve of a translation to Exeter. (Jan. 12, 1797.) — I also wish the Bishop health to wear bis own best black suit, as well as another old Eton acquaintance, 'Bishop Cornwall, bis successor. X [ 162 ] To Tew, Par's sermon, and the game of goose, And Rochester's ' address to lemans ^^ loose ; To Coote, the foolscap, as the best relief A Dean could hope; last to the hoary Chief 60 He fillji a cup; thenplac'd on Norb'ry's back The Sinulay suit ^ of customary black. " Clerk, made a liberal and voluntary offer of "The Sunday Suit*" furnished at the expense of ihe parish, and which, I understand, is worn by the Clerk during divine service in the morning only on that day, and is very becoming. After the morning service the parish clerk appears in his ordinary dress, as a common man. Such was the Ecclesiastical suit of armour made by the episcopal taylor, and hung up as the Conqueror's prize (not pleno jure, but iisufruciuario,) for the jEneas of the Sunday. (1796.) s Not Lord Rochester, but my good Lx)rd Bishop of Rochester, Bishop Horsley's Address or Sermon to the Magdalens, mentioned above ; not forgetting his lordship's Greek prosody for Lord Thurlow and the ladies. ss Leman is the old word for a lover or a mistress. t All my Eton friends well know Dr. Norbury's celebrated black wardrobe, and the suits which appear in tiie order of the Pythagoric rota- tion from the chest or ark. " Supera ut convexa revisantf " Rursus et incipiant in corpora veils reverii !" Witli whai propriety did the Reverend Mr. Nares make and pronounce this famous decree ! tt I must transcribe the concluding sentence of the Review of these famous translations, in the British Critic for March i 795. p. 243. I * They who are actjuainted with the dignity and magnificent deport- ment of Dr. Cr.urtnev's present Clerk of St. George's Church, Hanover C 163 ] The gabbling ceas'd: withfix'd and serious look Gray glanc'd from high, andown'd his rival, Cook. ^' give the Critic the fullest credit for the conduct of this solemn h-ony, and confess that I can conceive nothing superior in this species of wit, namely that of looking gravely in men's faces and telling them how foolish they are. The British Critic thus concludes: " We wish to avoid miy invidious " distinction, any undue preference. But were we absolutely called on " to decide, we should from the purest and most unbiassed motives (see " II. 23. V. 615) fill the golden cup with the most exquisite oivo^ i^atroiy " and not considering it as left without a claimant, by the fall of any " Eumelus, we should respectfully place it in the hands of the Etonian " Nestor ; " TiJ vvv, xxi troi TUTo TEPON KSifi/iXiov ia-TU." v. I select this extraordinary genius, poet, critic, scholar, and orator, William Cook, m. a. late Fellow of King's College, and Greek Profes- sor in the University of Cambridge. " I knew him well, Horatio." me- lioribus olim auspiciis. I select him, as well for the singular and original excellency of his performances, (though there are some oversights and even verbal faults in it) as for the manner in which he published it. There was a spare leaf or two at the end of his very sensible edition of Aristotle's Poetics, and there he printed it. Not in the pompous manner, and with dedications to Lord Chancellors and I know not whom, as somp of tbese Old Boys have done. I must own that in many passages. Nature, Gray, and Cook seem to contend for the mastery; but above all in that famous stanza; " The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r, " And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, " Await alike the inevitable hour; " The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Gray. Square, when in bis full canonical Sunday dress will best know how to esti- mate the prize offered to these Grecian combatants by Mr. Nares. Too happy, if in such a garment, fHK VictoR might be mistaken for r///? CREAf MAN. (1796.) [ 164 ] OCTAVIUS. Contract your smile, and quit this playful '^ search; These are the lay amusements of the church, Aufx rv)(,oii, ^pvdiTOig x.xXot, ret, aaipx^ IlxvS' ctftx rxvTDt rtSvxxi, x.xi vtv&iv ^offftfAov x^xf' Hpa&iv kXi' oXuXi, x.xi a^tro * |«v9» e? A^xv. Cook. Bion or Moschus never exceeded these lines : I think, they never equalled them. I write this Note, I will confess it, with all the friendly fond- ness which an Etonian could express. Hoc JUVENEM EGREGIUM PR^STANTI MUNERE DONCf X This subject from v. i, to v. 63, of this part of my poem, is per- liaps in itself a very trifling one. The names of some of the parties are obscure and of little note, and the concerns of Reviewers should in general be confined to their own little monthly blue books. But this example is of deepest consequence, that men, who aspire to be thought scholars, should be warned, even to all posterity, how they conduct their learning, and expend their time ; and be taught from this ridiculous instance (which I have selected) to value themselves on such attainments alone, as are truly valuable, sri yiytvx ANHP, x«Tj)py»«« rx ra Nn7r<« It cannot surely be conceived, that the slightest animadversion is here intended to be made on the exercises in the Greek and Latin languages, whether * Some persons object to the 0 being made short before the |. It may be so. I defend no faults, in any man's works. I leave Dr. Davies and Mr. Stephen Weston, the Hero of the Ge7iitive absolute^ to substitute Kotvov if they please. " The rule is absolute," Lord Kenyon cries; " Brisk from his genitive let Stephen rise." t Virg. ^n. 4. v. 361. C 165 ] Mere cobweb labours of their learned thought; Tho' sometimes teachers must themselves be taught To weigh their office, raise their pow'rful breath, Nor leave the world to darkness and to death. 70 translations or originals, in the public or private schools or in the Univer- sities of this kingdom. The anthor of the P. of L. is of opinion, that the utility or rather the absolute necessity of them is so great and so in- dispensable, that they cannot be too much commended and too much encouraged. I will also say, that notwithstanding the accurate and un- relenting severity of Dr. Charles Burney's most learned and acute criticism on Mr. Glass's Greek trans laTjons of Milton's Agonistes and Mason's Caractacus.)'isi\]\ continue to admire the poetical and animated spirltso con- spicuous in that very ingenious Gentleman's bold and laudable attempt at an early period of life. There were some mistakes, how could it be otherwise? Pluranitent. The comoosition intitled 0e»A«T«5 'Eopta, by the late Dr. Cooke, Provost of King's College, published when he was almost a boy, has peculiar merit. I will add here, that if a?y young man of genius, classical learning, and poetical ardour, would present the world with a Greek translation of Ake:^side's " Hymn to the Naiads," and submit it to the correction of an experienced Greek scholar before publica- tion, he might establish a learned and honourable reputation for himself, and add another composition worthy of Homer or Callimachus. " Sic liceat magnas Graiorum impkre catervasi" Compositions in Greek or Latin handed about in private circles of friends are indeed useless, but free from much reprehension, though at best rather idle in mea of a certain age. But when men, dignified by their years and their sacred profession, the youngest having passed his fiftieth^ and the eldest entering his sixtj-eighth year, appear as rival can- didates for public fame from the translation of some excellent English verses into their own Greek; what can we say ? " 1 unc cum ad catiitiem, tunc, tunc, ignoscere — Noi.o." Pcrsius. C 166 ] Short be their folly: let example tell Their life, their morals pure, and all is well. But should proud churchmen vie in sumptuous halls In wines and soups, Carthusian Bacchanals, Nor think th' unwieldly superflux to shake, Where curates starve, and helpless orphans quake, Wav'ring I ask, in this dark scene beneath, Why lightnings scathe yon desolated heath ?y And hark the voice has thunder'd : and the word, Borne on the blast, a trembling world has heard 80 y The unbounded luxury and extravagance of the French and Italian Ecclesiastics should be a warning to the priests and ministers of all Chris- tian alrars, however dignified or disting-uished, of whatever church or of whatever persuasion, Mankind will know, and value them by their fruits. " For noiv is the axe laid to the root of the trees, and every tree which " bringeth not forth good fruit will (most assuredly) be hewn down." This is the warning voice which should be heard, and heard aloud in assemblies frequent and full, in all churclies and in all cathedrals; but chief in those twin-sisters of learning, the Universities of England, Oxford and Cambridge, which can be supported on those principles alone, on which they were founded, and by which they have flourished. — While your place may yet be found, I will honour and will hail you both, " Mothers of arts " And eloquence, native to famous wits, " Or hospitable '\nyour sweet recess, " City or suburban, studious walks and .:h?.de3 1"* But chief with pious gratitude, and with filial reverence, Salve magka P.iRCNs! 1796.. * Milt. P. Reg. b. 4. V. 24c. I 167 ] In consummation dread! the bonds of Rome Are burst, and Babylon's prophetic doom, With more than mortal ruin headlong cast, Proclaims the measure full: she groans her last. From climes where Piety no more was found, Where Superstition wither'd all around, The rights of nature barr'd, by heav'n resign'd To vile affections, in corruption blind, While in the terrors of the world beneath, Permittedfiendsofdarkness round them breathe; Britain securely fix 'd, invites from high 91 With charity's sedate, unalter'd eye. The sacred, exil'd, melancholy band. Passing from death and France, revere the land. Where streams of inexhausted bounty pour. And Christ still reigns, and bigots are no more. " AUTHOR. Blest h(-jhQ voice of mercy, and the hand Stretch'do'er affliction's wounds with healing bland, z I aliude to the grand emigration of French Priests and others to England, at the late Revolution in France. (1796.) [ 168 ] In holiest sympathy! our best of man Gave us to tears, ere misery began. 100 Yet pause : " for mere ^^ good-nature ^ is a fool," Now slave to party, and now faction's tool : Attend, nor heedless slight a poet's name : Poet and prophet once were deem'd the same. Say, are these fertile streams thus largely spread KJilial tribute o'er a mother bed? zz W^e must remember, that the very frame and spirit of the laws, ordinances, and constitution of England are in the most direct opposition to the Roman Catholic religion., and all its doctrines, practices, opinions, superstitions, and tyranny. I am astonished that we can forget their histo- ry and effects. I know what has been done in other countries. The only hospitable and unsuspecting asylum for thir priests and professors has been, and is, in England. On their expulsion from the continent, and their recep- tion in this kingdom under poAverful protection and systematic influence, a warning voice may be heard, not without effect. This is the sole reason of all which 1 am about to offer on this subject. It is not an anathema, but a warning in the spirit of mercy, moderation, and the most reflecting policy. We may depend upon it, wherever the Roman Catholic Religion is introduced, or permitted, or fostered, or pitied, or encouraged, the words of the poet will be found eminently true: Spiritus intiis alit, ToTamoue infusa per JKnTS JIIeNS JGltAT MOLEM, ET MAGNO SE CORPORE MlSChr. a " Virtue (for mere Good-nature is a fool J " Is sense and spirit with liumanity: " Virtue and sense I mean not to disjoin, " Virtue and sense are one." Dr. Armstrong, Art of Health, B. 4. a Poem which tan never be suffititiitly praised, read, and recommended. [ 169 ] Say are these streams (think,while avails the thought) To Rome through Gallic channels subtly brought ?''' Rome touches, tastes, and takes; and nothing loth; But have zve virtues? yes, of pagan growth. 110 Ask where Rome's church is founded ? on a steep, Which heresy's wild winds in vain may sweep, Alone where sinners may have rest secure, One only undefil'd, one only pure. aa This Is one of the most important points in the present situation of England and of Europe, in regard to national policy. I propose these questions, i. How far, are the ministers of the public treasure of any Protestant kingdom justified in issuing large sums of money, for the express purpose of maintaiiihig emigvcint Catholic priests^ as a body? 2. If they are justified in issuing any sums, in what manner and under what control should this public money be expended and distributed? 3. Whether in England at this time, there are not peculiar and paramount considerations ^vhich call for wisdom and prudence to regulate and restrain the first natu- ral and honourable impetuosity of mercy and humanity, to the end that fdE coNsrituTiON OF ENGLAND^ IN HER CHURCH AND sfAfE^ be preserved inviolate from open attacks, or from insidious attempts? — These questions are proposed for the public security, with sobriety, seriousness, and charity to all, as of common importance. Dlxerat Anchises; natumque unaque Sibyllam Conventus trahit in medics, turbamque sonantem ; Et tumulum capit, unde omnes longo ordine possit Adversos legere, et venientum discere vultus ! (1796.) a It is well known that rigid Catholics hold, that the virtues of heretics, or protestants, are to be considered in the light of pagan virtues. I think the bishop of St. Pol. de Leon would agree to this opinion. (1796.) C i"o 3 Blame you her cumbrous pomp, her iron rod, Or trumpery reUcs of her saints half-shod ? Lo Confessors, in every hamlet found, With sacred sisters walk their cloister 'd round: There read the list : ^ and calm the fate expect, When crafty, meddling, thankless priests direct. 120 b See ^^ The LaiTt's DiRECtoRr for 1796, (printed for J. P. " Coghlan, Duke street, Grosvenor square) to which is added ' The ' Colours of the Church ;" words rather ominous. It is a pamphlet at the low price of sixpence^ which I recommend to public notice and to which I refer the reader. It is a matter of some surprise and concern, to read the list of the almost incredible number of little books and tracts at the smallest prices, publ-;hed and to be published, calculated for the gene- ral dissemination of PoPERrm these realms; — the fatal display of all the existing and rising Romish seminaries, Romish boarding houses, and Romish schools for youth; the plenary indulgences (for one another;) — and the settlement of Nuns Professed in monasteries erected in this kingdom, Clares, Benedictines, Sepulcharins, Austins, and Dominica- nesses. Then, in this very same pamphlet, as if by a strange fatality and ill the blunder of papal metaphor, they advertise even their drugs. The very medicine, it seems, is papal. Behold their " Laxative sulphurated *' pills once exhibited in another form in these realms," " The Medicated " SnulT, a Ceplialic of many virtues, prepared from the original receipt " found in the Jesuit's Library;" — " The Jesuit's nervous pill," — " The "• Jesuits Balsamic cordial." In short, decernunt quodcunque volunt df. CORPORE NOSTRo; body and soul, fortune and state. I understand them but too well. They know their hour, their Protectors of noble RANK, their opportunity, tl'.eir advantages, their revenue from the state. They advance by approaches, not desultory, but regular. The papal genius never sleeps, no, not for a moment; but directs, and animates, and acts, tinifornily and constantly, at home and abroad, in cities, m towns, t 171 ] Think you, their hate unquench'd can ere expire ? The torch not tipt with sleeping sulphurous fire ? Their doctrines round a careless land are blown ; They blast the cottage, and would sap the throne. in villages; it takes aid from stupidity and from ability, from above and from beneath. Their bishops, as yet, are but titular., but depend upon it^ Per solis radios, Tarpeiaque fulmina jurant, Quidquid habent telorum armamentaria cxli,* Depend upon it, I say they swear: but what the oath is, I shall not take upon me to describe. It may be well understood, and for aught I know, it is already registered. — I have compassion for the unfortunate; I have charity for plundered exiles; I have pity, and would wish and would give relief to the wretched and the suffering ; I have veneration for the truly pious of every persuasion in the Christian faith. " There is one Lordl" But I have, and it as an Englishman's duty to have, a watchful eye upon the insinuating or domineering spirit of the Romish church. I have no opinion of the sincerity of their attachment to us, or of their gratitude for our favours. I insist upon it, they regard fnEMSELVES as the original and rightful inheritors of our land. I call upon the guardians of our church and state to be watchful, and to regard with attention the proceedings of ALL fHE EMiGRANrs. If they refusc to hear, I wish most fervently, that Great Britain may never, in the anguish of an Inconsiderate spirit, say of these numerous emigrant priests, and of all the rest sacred or profane ; Ejectos littore, egenos Excepi, et regni demens in parte locavil I send THIS note into the world, v/hatever be its fate, with the famous papal inscription, but without the spirit, of Sixtus the Fourth to the Florentine Synod under Lorenzo the Magnificent, " In Futura?i REi memoriam!" and the Bishop of St. Pol. de Leon, and his Consis- toiy, resident and acting in England, may reply to it, if they tliink proper. — (Written in the year 1796.) * Juv. Sat. t;,. V. 78. [ 172 ] What ? are my words too warm ?— I love my King, My Country, and my God ! the sounds shall ring Ceaseless, till Pitt (with all his host awake) In our great cause a nation's inquest take. Look from that vale what tribes the fortress *^ fill ! Then frown indignant o'er the opprobrious HilL^ 130 c T he greet College of Priests, and Ht ad-quarters of the Catholic Cause ill the Castle or King's House at Winchester, tenanted by priests emigrant and non-emigrant, publicly maintained at the expense of the state. Read the preceding note. I am not speaking to these, who are indifferent about all cr any religion; but to these, Avho from their sta- tion, political or sacred, should understand the importance of the cause, the interests of Christianity and its purity, the evidence of history, the nature and tl^.e essential and unaltered spirit of the Romisii priesthood, and t'.ieir subtiity and peculiar arls by persuasion, or by terror over weak consciences. I am speaking to the governors of Great-Britain, to the ministers of the crown, who should guard, and who 1 trust will guard, against the rcvin:al of the Romish Church now vrcrking in secret; as well as against the more open and more terrible democracy of some descriptions of the Dissenters. What is said to us all, is said at this Iiour to ministers and rulers of states with a more important and a more sacred emphasis, " WAfCH^for ye know -not the noun ti-hen destruction cometh." — (1796.) d Finally: I propose one plain ?uid significant question to Mr. Pitt, or to "x".y great minister of state. It is this: '■ Is there a single instance " in the records of any modern history of Europe, where the governing " and directing power of the state ever authorized, patronised, and sup- " ported with the public money, under any circumstances whatsoever, a " COLLKGK or PRIESTS, in the heart of a kingdom, whose tenets and " pruicipka vvcre not only dlflferent from the established religion of the •• country, biit v.-ere in direct opposition and avowed hostility to itr — And •' parti'. ulariy, v.-hen it was the original and fundamental purpose and t i73 ] OCTAVIUS. These thoughts are for the state: enough of Rome, Her Gallic altars, and approaching doom. But if from themes so grave ^ you never roam, Ask at St. Paul's, is Pretyman ^^ at home ? " constitution of that established church, to discountenance and extin- " guish the superstitious doctrines, and the political ecclesiastical tenets " of that College of Priests, so authorized, patronised, and supported by " the public money, as a body?" If this question must be answered, as I apprehend it must, In the negative, I maintain, (and if necessary will maintain more solemnly, if possible, and more at large,) that the College OF PUJESTS IN tUN KiNG'S HoUSE AT WINCHESTER SHOULD BE IMME- diaTelt DISPERSED,* and not suffered to stand In that offensive, conspi- cuous, and opprobrious light in the face of the country. I am really speaking In mercy to them, and to us all, if I am vlghtly understood. I would support and preserve them from eveiy want, privately, and In de- tached situations ; but I would not suffer the ministry of a Catholic Bishop to direct the expenditure of that public money so granted, ybr 77iere Catholic purposes: but with the most perfect toleration of all persuasions In reli- gion, the Governors of the state should defend and exclusively support their own. This Is prudence, this is policy, this it is to remember the beginning and progress of all great events. f (May, 1796.) e I am not in the habit of perusing many of the various single ser- mons which are published; but I cannot resist the opportunity of recom- * This was effected In December 17-96. t Though the French priests were removed, by order of the Govern- ment, from the King's House at Winchester, at tlie close of the year 1796, yet I have strong and Important reasons for leaving this whole passage. In poetry and prose, text and comment, unaltered upon record to posterity. C 174 ] The Dean might smile, when you with happiest care Blend Horsley's acid with the cream of Blair ; You'd rise at last. mending three, which I think are at this time important, and written ■with ability and spirit. One, by the Reverend Dr. Vincent, head mas- ter of Westminster school, (a gentleman of very considerable erudition, diligence, ability, and most exemplary conduct) preached for the West- minster Dispensary; another by Dr. Watson, Bishop of Landaff, for the Westminster Dispensary also, with an Appendix, containing Reflections on the present state of England and France ; the Appendix is of peculiar merit; and a third, <'0n Gaming," written with great energy, erudition, piety, patriotism, and eloquence, by the Reverend Thomas Rennell, D.D. Prebendaryof Winchester.— Willie I am speaking on this subject, I think, it may be curious and pleasing, and perhaps useful to some persons, to see the list of books which William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, recommended in some posthumous MSS. Directions for the study of Theology, which Bishop Hurd published in the 4to edition and in the 8vo supplement to his works. I refer to the tract, and merely give the books in the divisions, and in the order in which Warburton placed them, and recommended them to be read. " Locke on the Human Understanding: " Quintilian's Institutions. — Grotius de Jure belli et pacis; Woollaston's " Religion of Nature ; Cumberland on the Law of Nature; Cudworth's " Intellectual System. — Maimonides Ductor Dubitantium ; Spencer de " Legibus Hcbrjeoriim Ritualibus: Walton's Polyglot Bible; Critic " Sacri. Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity ; Burnet de fide et '* officlis Christianorum ; Grotius's Comment on the Gospels ; Locke on "the Epistles; Joseph Mede on the Apocalypse; Episcopii Instituta •' Cbristianx Theologia; ; Limborch's Theologia Christiana; Grotius dc " Veritate Religionis Christiansc; Stillingfieet's Origines Sacra:, ist ed. " Limborch de Veritate Religionis Christianx Arnica Collatio cum Eru- " dito Judxo, i. c. isaaco Orobio ; Chilllngworth's Religion of Protes- " tauts a safe way to salvation; Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, 4 first '' books. Taylor'^; Liberty of Prophecylng ; Stlllingtlcet's Irenicum ; [ 175 ] AUTHOR. How strangely you mistake; The dream deceives not, when the man's awake. " Locke's Letters on Toleration; Bayle's Comment on the words < Com- " pel them to come in.' — Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History; Collier's " Church History; Fuller's Church History; Sleidan Commentarii de " statu Religionis et Reipublicac Carolo Quinto C^sare Commentarii ; Bur- " nett's History of the Reformation; Dr. Clark's Sermons; Dr. Barrow's " Sermons ; Sermons du Pere Bourdaloue." The Second Part of these directions could not be found ; but it may surprise some people to hear that Bishop Warburton's vigorous intellect regarded this plan, but as an introduction to the study of Theology. Hac limina Victor Alcides subiit! Through such a vestibule did this High Priest pass into the temple. — But if the reader is disposed to attend to the humbler suggestions of a very private layman on this subject, I think he would find great advantage, in studying and considering the fol- lowing works in English.) (which are very few in number) and in the order in which they are arranged, i. The View of the Internal Evidence of _!, the Christian Religion, by Soame Jenyns, Esquire. 2. The Evidences of Christianity in three parts, by W. Paley, D.D. 3. Grotius on the truth of the Christian Religion, in any translation. 4. The Evidences of Natu- -4- ral and Revealed Religion, by Dr. Samuel Clarke. 5. Mr. Locke's Rea- sonableness of Christianity, particularly the latter part of the tract. 6. -j^ Bishop Hurd's Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies. 7. Lord _|-<^- Lyttleton's Disertation on the Conversion of St. Paul, and 8. Dr. Butler's 4, Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the constitution and course of nature. — From these few volumes.^ if they are studied with care ^ and an upright intention, I think it may be said, that " They shall see, " to whom HE was not (before) spoken of; and they that have not (before) " heard, shall understand." These volumes are the works of laymen as well as of divines; and if I am not mistaken, I think I perceive the follow- ing connection in the short plan which I have offered. Mr. Jenyns's [ 170 ] Once in the morn of life, a wizard said ; " He ne'er shall rise by benefice, or trade; 140 View prepares the mind to think worthily of the Religion which is pro- posetl, and demonstrates tliat there is the highest reason to think and con- clude, that its origin is from above, and not from man. Dr. Paley's View of tlie subject displays, confirms, and establishes the direct historical evidenceand proof, with all the plainness and candor of which it is capa- ble, and independent of the particular tenets of any church or sect. Gro- Tius and Dr. Clarke present to us the faith, doctrine, and evidence in form of propositions, with ample and learned illustrations, with force of reasoning, and with logical precision. Mr. Locke has been peculiarly happy in representing the consonance of the Christian doctrine to reason properly understood, and its necessity from the defects of all philosophy however distinguished. Bishop Hurd, with the hand of a master, has opened the general View of the subject of prophecy, and freed it from the intricacies of speculation, and shewn its time, nature, end, and intent. Lord Littleton has discussed the most illustrious instance of the con- version to this religion, in the person of St. Paul, a man of the highest natural talents, and profoundest reasoning and erudition; and he has accompanied the whole with remarks of weight and dignity on the general subject of Revelation. And last^ to a mind disposed to view with calm- ness, humility and reverence, the whole system of Providence as far as it is permitted to man ro view " the work which God worketh from " the beginning to the end," Dr. Butler has unfolded the Analogy or relation of the Course of Nature to Religion, by which all tilings are found to proceed in harmony from Him who hath made noth- ing imperfect. 1 think this great performance of Butler has peculiar force when it is considered in the conclusion of our religious researches, and not as part of the or/^ma/ proof, or as Lord Bacon expresses himself, *' tmquam portum et sibbathum humanarum contcmplationum omnium." ( Oc Augm. Scient. Lib. v)""-^ speak merely my own sentiments to those who have not much time or leisure for deep study, (but we are all bound to tiud some time for this subject,) and 1 speak in submission to scholars [ 177 ] " But find, remote from consequence or fame, " A local something, and a shadowy name ; " Shall brave neglect; in England's cause contend; " Hopeless himself of virtue, but her friend; " Through crowds shall mark his solitary way, " Ardent, though secret, and though serious, gay; " Erect, without a pension, to his end "Unknown, unheard, unhonour'd, shall descend; " Bow to no minister for golden views, 149 " His portion. Memory, and best gift, the Muse." OCTAVIUS. This of yourself? AUTHOR. 'Tis so. better informed than myself.— Reader, whoever thou art, if thou shouldst approve these introductory ideas to this great subject, inexhausted as it is and inexhaustible, prepare thyself, thy understanding, and thy affections. " Te quoque dignuin Jinge Deo!" ee The "Rt, Rev. George Pretyman, D.D. Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of St. Paul's; Tutor and Secretary to the Rt. Hon. William Pitt, before he was raised to the Prelacy. A man of great learning, discern- ment, and ability. Z [ 173 ] OCTAVIUS. You're turn'd plain fool: A vain pert prater, bred in ^ Erskine's school; Talk of yourself? AUTHOR. Why yes; I would be heard: Mere talkers now, not writers, are preferr'd. Look at that paper : ^ if you print the speeches, Pitt seemsGeorge Rose, or like Sir Richard, preaches, Nor tone, nor majesty, nor patriot fires ; Methinks the wit of Sheridan expires ; Lost in Dundas the Caledonian twang. Though Pitt, and port, and property he sang; 160 Print negro speeches, and in reason's spite, Lo, Wilberforce is black, and Francis white; Who wonders at buffoons, or Courtney's joke; And we scarce slumber, though Sir William spoke ; f The Hon. Thomas Erskine, the celebrated Barrister. For a fur- ther account of his talents, abilities, legal knowledge, &c. see and ask— Mr. Erskine himself. (See also P. of L. Dial. 4.) g Any newspaper or report of the Debates in Parliament. [ 1-9 ] 'Tis Grey and grumbling ; Ciirwen ^ all and clatter ; And Dent ' and Dogs ; and Pewter ^ pot and platter. Shall I not talk ?— Few politics will read^ The' Lauderdale should sketchhis Scottish creed;^ h All the changes rung upon feudality, and tyranny, and I know not what, when the Game Laws were discussed at the close of the last parliament, April 1796, on the motion of Mr. Curwen. i Alluding to the long debates on the Dog and Bitch bill, brought into parliament in 1796, by Mr. Dent. 7'he bill is a little allegorical, sometimes unintelligible, and often ludicrous. For instance ; I shall not look to Mr. Pitt or Mr. Wilberforce for an explanation of the following clause in it: namely, " Provided always, that no person tvho shall keep " ANT BITCH, whelp, 8cc. shall be charged with the payment of the said " sum until such bitch &c. shall be of the age of- ."* Sect. 2. Cer- tainly the bill is allegorical, and The Keepers of bitches^ Sec. complain, that they had taxes enough to pay for them before. Mr. Fox objected to it in the H. of Cs. ; so did Lord William Gordon, and many other respecta- ble and playful members ; but in the H. of L. the Duke of Q£ensbury said, " It did not much signify." If Mr. Pitt means that taxes should be an object of nvit., I shall soon expect to bear Mr. Sheridan, in the House, call the District of Downing street " The Borgo Allegro." (1796.) k This is another curious subject brought into the House in April 1796, and shews that Mr. Fox has eloquence of all materials and of all metals. Gold, for his pension: brass /or his opinions; and pewter for his constituents. 1 See his letters to the Scotch peers. All his affc^cting eloquence •was thrown away upon them, even when they understood many of the passages, which they did rrow and then. (1796.) * See the Act for granting to His Majesty, certain duties on Bitches, Whelps, 8cc. Sec. passed May ig, 1796. C 180 J Tho' Abram Jones '' and Jasper Wilson preach, With names uncouth, but not unpolish'd speech. Few mark the 'Journals of the dubious Moore, "^171 We scent the tainted gale from Gallia's shore ; Through England as his Various Views advance, We smile, but trace the Mannerist of France. Godwin's dry page p no statesman e'er believ'd, Though fiction aids, what sophistry conceiv'd ; 11 Two assumed names of political writers, instead of Cato, Brutus, Sec. but it is a foolish custom and should cease. Of Abram Jones I have no conjecture ; and jasper Wilson is still dubious. m John Moore, M. D. the celebrated author of Travels into France, and Italy, of Zeluco, of Edward, or Various V/eivs of life and manners in England, Sec. he. &c. I speak of him only as a public author. He is a sensible and entertaining companion. His style is easy, always agreea- ble and pleasing, and his wit is playful. His pleasantry on physicians is little inferior to Moliere. Vin-^ta ccedit sua.* But 1 dislike the tendency of various parts of his writings when he speaks of the Frencli affairs, I mean of the principles of the Jirst Revolution, wliich led to the cruelties, misery and distress, which have been s'mcs felt by France and by all Eu- rope. It is impossible that Dr. Moore or ?-,ny other man of sense, can be an advocate for their present system. I dislike the perpetual ridicule which Dr. Moore throws upon hereditary honour, at a time like the present. (1796.) p I have given some attention to Mr. Godwin's work, " on Poli- " TiCAL Justice,"! as conceiving it to be the code o{ improved mof^ern ethics, morality, and legislation. I confess I looked not for the Republic of Plato, or even for the Oceana of Harrington, but for sometliing difler- * Hor. Ep. ad Aug. v. 220. t First published in 2 vols, .-jto and since in 2 vols. 8vo. [ 181 3 Genius may droop o'er Falkland's funeral cry ; ent from them all. I looked indeed for a superstructure raised on the revolutionary ground of equality, watered with blood from the guillotine; and such I found it. I cannot discuss a work in two large volumes in a note, (tliough some would dispatch it with a single word) but in general I can speak as much of it, as it deserves, in a short compass ; I mean, as it appears to me. The first trait of th,e work is, a certain cold-blooded indifference to all the mild, pious, and honourable feelings of our common nature, like all the Philosophers of the new Sect, The next thing observable, is, a most affectionate concern and regard for the welfare of mankind, who are to exist ^cmp centuries hence^ when the endless perfectibility of the human species (for such is their jargon) shall receive its completion upon earth ; Avhen the disciples of Dr. Darwin have learned to manage the vjinds, and direct their currents at pleasure, and the descendents of Abbe Sieyes have calmed the v.aves of a stormy people with the essential oil of democracy. Another trait is, that all political justice is essentially founded upon in- justice ; if plunder, robbery, and spoliation of all property in the outset may be termed injustice ;* though to be sure the latter end of his com- monwealth rather forgets the beginning. But I must say, he is not with- out some kind apprehension, that the population of states may be too great under the blessings of equal diffusion of property under the proposed government, for which he provides a remedy ; though, for my own part, I think such a government, like Saturn of old,- will be reduced to the necessity of eating up its children. Again : another discovery seems to be, that as hitherto we have had recourse to the agency and interference of the Deity and his unalterable laws, to account even for the fall of a stone to the ground, the germination of a blade of grass, or the propaga- tion of the meanest insect; we are now to discard the superintendence of God in human and terrestrial affairs, and to believe in no providence but our own, and to remake ourselves and our faculties. He seems to realize a * i. e. If Mr. Godwin's principles are to be adopted in any country, ,' where property is noiv secured bj> the laws. i 182 ] No patriot weeps, when gifted villains die. modern fiction I once read, which supposes an assembly of certain philoso- / phers before the Deity, when some of them are said to whisper in his ear, I " Between friends, we do not believe that you exist at all." Further: as to suppose a divine sanction without a divinity would be absurd, there- fore^ every institution such as marriage, which in all civilized nations has been hallowed for the great end for which it was ordained, is to be vilified ridiculed, argued away, and abolished. The tender sex, deprived of the support, comfort, and protection of their natural guardian, is to be deli- vered over to fancied freedom and wild independence, but in reality to misery and destitution beyond all calculation. Then by ivay of corollary, a few vulgar virtues and once honourable affections, as piety to parents and love to children, as such, are to be erased from tlie breast. Grati- tude for kindness and tears for the unfortunate are but weakness; there is nothing soothing in compassion, and friendship has no consolation. It would seem, that a well of water, an apple tree, or any th'wg productive, is more valuable than man to man, abstracted from the mere use which one raan can derive from another. " These are thy gods, O Israel, and this " is the worship to which you are called!" Nevertheless I shall still venture to mention with reverence and humi- lity THE GREAT MORAL CODE, intended for all mankind, once delivered and ratified by Hui, who knew what was in man. In that code all is practicable, all virtue is founded in mercy, kindness, benevolence, and comfort, alike to him that gives and him that takes. There man plants, and God, not man, gives the increase; there we find no wild supposition of an interest which cannot be described, as it does not exist; no actions without a motive direct and reflected. I speak here of perhaps the least part of the Gospel Code, even of that Revelation which was given unto men in a manner at once clear and perspicuous, pure and unmixed, uniform and consistent, persuasive and convincing, powerful and authoritative, in the name and in the majesty of Him who is from everlasting to everlast- ing. The Almighti-.' But if we regard mere human Institutions. If a man wishes to see a practicable system of policy and government, founded and confirmed in [ 183 ] Who now reads Parr ? whose title who shall give ? the experience of ages, let him, if he has been awhile led astray by the meteors of Godwin, walk for a season in the steady light which Black- stone has diffused. Let him study the Commentaries on the English Laws, as they exist and uphold all that is valuable, or perhaps attainable, in a rational and civilized nation ; and then let him consider the Theories of Godwin on political justice, and contemplate the government which '\ would be raised on his principles. To me there seems to be no more com- parison than between light and darkness. What the great Burnet* affirms of the Deist and the Atheist, considered merely as two sects in phi- j losophy, is, I am convinced, not wholly inapplicable to the two political Sects in question. "The hypothesis of the Deist reaches from top to " bottom, both through the intellectual and material world, with a clear- ? " and distinct light ever)'^ where; is genuine, comprehensive, satisfactory'; " has nothing forced, nothing confused, nothing precarious. "Whereas " the hypothesis of the Atheist is strained and broken ; dark and uneasy " to the mind, commonly precarious, often incongruous and irrational, and *' sometimes plainly ridiculous.''' I can allow Mr. Godwin and other speculative writers on government \ ' to be ingenious. They must, in the course of their investigation, now and then throw out a neiv idea, but in general the greatest part of their works consists of very old ideas, which have been discussed again and again. They astonish by paradoxes, and allure the imagination by pros- pects without a limit ; and when they have alternately heated and con- , ybwTZc/ecf the minds of men, theij c^iWlh^m i'^ the great ivork, namely, the ( subversion of, what they call, prejudices, and the overthrow of the govern- ; ment, which is, "/^ Nosmos Fabric Af a est" machiwa muros." I can { laugh at their metaphysics, and even be amused with their pantomime fancies, as such. But when I know that their theories are designed to be * Burnet's Theory of the earth, b. 2, ch. 10. — See the tenth and eleventh chapters of that great man's work: "On the Author of Nature, '* and on Natural Providence;" — a master treatise of reason and elo- quence. I wish these two chapters were published in 1 separate pamphlet. [ 184 ] Doctor Sententious hight, or positive?^ 180 brought into action, and when they tell us, that they hate violence, blood- shed, revolution, and misery, and that truth and happiness are their ob- jects; I open niy eyes to see, and my ears to hear; and having honestly exerted both faculties, I declare, from private conviction and from pub- lic experience, that 1 oppose the admission of their doctrines, whether recommended by Thomas Paine or William Godwin. Yet a moment. Take Mr. Godwin as a natural philofopher, and from his doctrines let the reader consider the state of his understanding. Let him also consider, how such a man is qualified not merely to reform, but first to overthrow and then to rebuild, the whole system of govern- ment, morality, and religion in such a kingdom as Great Britain. What opinion can we entertain of a man who seriously thinks that, at some iuture period, the necessity of sleep in an animal body maj/ be superseded: — that men die merely by their o-am fault and mismanagement^ but, that the immortality of the organized human body, as it is now formed, might be attained by proper attention and care: — or who thinks " that, hereafter " it is by no means clear, that the most extensive operations may not be " within the reach of one man, or to make use of a familiar instance, " that a plough may not be turned into afeld, and perform its ofjice^ without " the need of superintendence !! !'' and then adds, "It was in this sense " that the Celebrated Franklin conjectured, that " mind would one day " become omnipotent over matter 1!!*" — Surely we may say with the poet of Epicurus : Natural Perturbatur Ibi totum sic corpus, et omnes Commutantur ibi positurjE PRiNciPiORUM.f I have referred to the last edition of Mr. Godwin's work, as he has corrected or omitted many passages which were in the 4to edition. If he will but go on with more last thoughts, I think he will shortly reduce it to a very little pamphlet. 1 could make such a collection of Beauties (or what Rabelais might call, " Antidoted Conundrums'') from this work, as * Godwin, v. 2. p. 494. Ed. 8vo. t Lucret. L. 4. v. 670. C 185 ] From Greek, or French, or any Roman ground, would dazzle even a modern philosopher, whose " mind is omnipotent overi •' matter," in Mr. Godwin's and Dr. Franklin's sense. I think these'' Beauties would form an assemblage of the most curious and incongruous ideas ever exhibited, fully sufficient, (as Mr. Godwin expresses it) to " rouse (any man) from the lethargic oblivious Pool, out of nvbicb " every finite intellect originally rose!" (vol. 2. p. 88. 8vo ed.) Good heaven! what can Mr. Godwin mean by such ideas, and such words! except he seriously believes that human souls are dipped in the river of oblivion, or drink of that stream as described by Virgil. Yet even this will not help or explain Mr. Godwin's words, for he says, that they " ORiGiNALLr rose from the oblivious pool." Into what whirlpools of desolating nonsense are we to be hurried, as the sport, the scorn, the ludibria, the puppets of these Mew Creators of the moral world? Alas for man! wherever they lead us and themselves, methinks it is deeper and deeper, confusion worse confounded ! The further I proceed, the more I learn to distrust swelling men and swelling words and swelling ideas, but above all in political subjects, from which most is to be dreaded. Political writers of this class are not to be considered as the speculators of former times. The lucubrations of Montesquieu and Locke were given as the result of long experience and continued meditation; and were not designed to produce subversion, but slow and gradual reformation, as the various states of Europe would admit. The writers of these days on the contrary, throw out their ideas at a heat, and intend they should be brought into immediate aAion. They are not friends " to the world, or the world's laiv." For I would inculcate it again and again, that whatever may be held forth to us, or disguised, by these philosophers, neither their plans, nor their reforms, nor their systems, can ever be erected or established in the kingdom of Great Britain, but upon the overthrow of the Christian Religion, and upon the annihilation or the disturbance of all orders and ranks in society, as they now exist. And this cannot be effected, but through the necessary and unavoidable medium of plunder, confiscation, revolutionar)' diurnal A a C 186 ] In mazy progress and eternal round inurders, and the insurrection of the enterprising talents of gifted, bold, and bad men upox all property, public and private^ upon which all modern Revolutionists rest as their corner stone, and their final hope. * N.B. if this 7iote is too long, I have no inclination to make any apology for it. My conviction and my fears on this most awful subject, (while it may jet avail us to consider it) sometimes overpower me till I absolutely sink under them. It is written, I hope we all know where, rivojuiveg sv u.yuiKX. EKTENESTEFON Tp«(7-/5v^£To. s Though the reader may possibly have a very good idea of a sententious or positive Doctor, in general; yet my specific allusion is to the theology of the twelfth century, when the Doctors were divided into Doctores Dog- matici et Positivi, and the Doctores Stntentiariiy or exjiounders of the famous Book of Sentences by Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris. — At present Bishop Gregoire and Bishop Sie)*es at Paris, give their Doctors some famous books of sentences to expound, notis et comme-ntariis perpe- tuis DocToRis GfiLLOTiNi, who causes great unanimity of sentiment among the Doctors, and arranges their several heads with admirable pre- cision. (1796.) * To such of my readers us are conversant in those authors of antiquity whose precision, of thought and of language, has conferred dignity and stability on those principles by which all that is sacred, or venerable, or useful, or necessary to well-being is maintained, I would offer the words of an ancient Christian Philosopher in the early ages. The uncertainty, and weakness, and futility of modern end revived doctrines were never better exposed or expressed. h5» yccp /^ot a-x.&To; xyjotx? u-rxurx, kui xttxty! f/,tXxiycc, xxt x-ruoci TrXxv/,, kxi ccnXYii ^avreco'ict, xcci ofxasTacAjj^rTOf ccyvoiu. TxvTX TOivvv dii^riXfoy, €»Aejt«£v«5 Oiii,xt T>iy iv TOif 2oyu,X(riv aa-xt xxiTut iyx*Ti6Tnrx, text Ui «; X7:rUB6y xvroi? kxi xoparTov Trpona-iv tj ^yiTr,s-ii tu-j ItfXyuXTUv, KXl TO T5>iOJ XVTUy XTlKfUtfTOV KXl X^ftjS-TOV, tfiyU /^yiOiVi ■7ri(thf,\»i KXt XoyM CX^Si oi^XlHiliVOV. Hermix Atxs-vo/^oi (sive Irrisio) tuiv i%u ^iXccrc^m. Page i75..,.Sul4. fin: Ed. Paris. Justin. Martyris Op. 1636. [ 187 ] Quotations dance, and wonder at their place, Buzz through his wig, and give the bush more grace. But on the mitred oath that Tucker * swore Parr wisely ponder'd, and his oath forbore. He prints a Sermon: "Hurd with judging eye Reads, and rejects with critic dignity : Words upon words ! and most against their will, And honied globules dribble through his quill, 1 90 Mawkish, and thick; earth scarce the tropes supplies, Heav'n lends her moon and crouded galaxies ;^ t Josiah Tucker, D. D. Dean of Gloucester, o vctva, once took an oath in a pamphlet that he would refuse a bishopric. tt The unfortunate Education Sermon, which Bishop Hurd hap- pened to dislike. Hinc illx lacryma! This produced the re-publication of Warburton's and Hurd's tracts, with the splendid and astonishing dedi- cation by Dr. Parr. See the First Dialogue of the P. of L. See also Rabelais's great Chapter, '' How Gargantua spent his time in rainy " weather," and the comment by Du Chat. V Dr. Pan-'s own words. See the P. of L. Dialogue i. and Dr. Parr's own Dedication of Warburton's tracts, p. 151, Sec. with all the display of beautiful earthly and celestial imagery, and all the melliti ver- borum globuli, which were exhibited on the occasion in such admirable confusion, " ut majus sit basce contortiones orationis, quam signorum ortus " obitusque, perdiscere." Cic. de Fato, Sect. 8. Dr. Parr's -strange ver- biage* reminds me of some persons in Toe Hasps of Aristophanes; * I have been misunderstood. I hold up none of Dr. Pan's 3c;squi- pedalia verba to ridicule; it is his verbiage and pbra:;eo!op;y whicli I re- probate. It would be ridiculous indeed to compure tbc Binnivghani [ 188 ] Polemic phrenzy and irreverent rage, And dotard impotence, deform the page. Ap^xiof^iXYiai^a)V6Pfvvi^vipotTii> 3 '5* S^jjxe?, Or as Plautus expresses himself in one of his comedies ; " Salva res est, philosophalur quoque jam: " Quod erat ei nomen ? — 7'hesaurocbrjsonicocbrysides." Captiv. A. 2. S. 2. The Doctor can construe all this, I believe, and the meaning of it. — Dr. Parr is so very learned, and has such a deep mouth, that some con- jecture he was not born til! the end of the eleventh month, like the great Gargantua ; or ■Tripi-rXouiva tvixurov, at the eiid of a twelfth month, as "Homer speaks (Od. xi. v. 247.) of one of Neptune's children, and for which Aulus Gellius, (a favourite author with Dr. Parr) gravely assigns a reason, " Convenisse Neptuno majestatique ejus, ut longiore tempore " satus ex eo grandesceret. Lib. 3. Cap. 16. itth ax. xTn^tiXtct iwxt A6xvx- *' T4)vl!l" — A few months after the Doctor's birth, he was found like Gargantua to be "a fine boy, and had a burly physiognomy ; he monochor- " dized with his fingers, and barytonized with his tail." Rabel. B. i. C. 7. This was a presage of the noise the Doctor was to make hereafter; but from the nature of his boyish diet, (for his masters were stiled Tubal Holofernes and Panocrates Matseologus) it appeared that he was better fed than taught. If the child wanted a bit of bread, or a slice of mutton, or any common vegetable, he was not suffered to have any, till he had Doctor with Dr. Samuel Johnson. I am not his Biographer. It is not his life, but his writings which I criticise. What has Dr. Parr written? A Sermon or two, rather long; a Latin Preface to Bellendenus, (rather long too) consisting- of a cento cf Latin xnd Greek expressions applied to political snbi"cts: another preface to some English tracts, and two or three English pamphlet? about his own private quarrels. And this is the man to be compared with Dr. Samuel Johnson III (Added, 1797.) Why am I forced into a confirmation cf my opinion stronger and stronger ? [ 189 ] Let him but wrangle, and in any shape Not insignificance itself can 'scape : Horace and Coombe '' go forth a gentle pair, Splendid and silly, to unequal war ; quoted all the Greek or Latin authors who had mentioned these natural substances, Pliny, Athenjeus, Julius Pollux, Galen, Porphyry, Oppian, Polybius, Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Heliodorus, Aristotle, Plato, Aulus Gellius, ^lian, Theophrastus,* and Dioscorides, down to BufFon and Sir John Hill. This habit the child never lost in his riper years, to the great edification of his hearers or readers, when he was furnished with pen and ink. When he was advanced to the Doctorate, the child was still the same, as appeared in his complimentary and satirical preface to Bellende- nus, in which, as usual, he discharged all the literary food he ever atey ofter the Greek fashion of his masters Tubal Holofernes and Ponocrates Matxologus, and as prescribed by that great and consummate Theologian, " Joanninus de Barrauco in libro dc copiositate reverentiarum," a writer who cannot be sufficiently recommended, and who is as ivell knonvn as " MusAMBEUTius in Commonitorio ad Ramiresium de Prado," quoted by Mr. Porson in his title page of his Letters, to regale Archdeacon Travis. X See the ridiculous controversy between Dr. Parr and Dr. Coombe, the little man-midwife and critic, about a pompous edition of Horace, published to be sure for no purpose that I can discover; which the Doctor Positivus mangled and destroyed in the British Critic without any mercy. See also Dr. Parr's strange Letter to Dr. C. on this occasion, signed " By an Occasional Writer in the British Critic." * I recommend to Dr. Parr the following passage from Theophras- tus's History of Plants, which he will understand: Eiru.i'; cc/c/Jca^ •^w^cni, Tpoj re MH YAAOMANEIN, i7ri'jtti^7i icc(,t iTTiKur^^s-i t«v s-irav, Theo- phrast. Hist. Plant. Lib. 8. c. -. [ 190 ] But while the midwife to Lucina prays, 199' The Gorgon glares, and blasts the critic's bays. Parr prints a Paper ^ well ; in all things equal, Sense,taste,wit, judgment; but pray read The Sequel: Sequel to what? the Doctor only knows; Morsels of politics, most chosen prose. Of Nobles, Priestley, Plato, Democrats, Pitt, Plutarch, Curtis, Burke, and Rous, and Rats; The scene ? 'tis Birmingham, renown'd afar At once for half-pence, and for Doctor Parr. OCTAVIUS. Well if none read such works, yet all admire — AUTHOR. The paper ? y Dr. Parr published at Birmingham what he called a " Printed " Paper;" and after that, " a Sequel to a Printed Paper," a very large pamphlet, de omni scibili, as usual. — N. B. T really think it is impossible to point out any man of learning and ability, (and Dr. Parr has both,) ■who has hitherto wasted his powers and attainments in such a desultory, unmeaning, wild, unconnected, and useless manner, as Dr. Parr. — In riullum reipublicx usum ambitiosa loquela inclaruit."* — I have done with him. * Tacit. Ann. L. 4. Sect. 20. [ 191 ] OCTAVIUS. Yes; ten shillings every quire: ^210 The type is Bulmer's,7«5^ like Boydell's plays : So Mister Hayley shines in Milton's ^ rays. In one glaz'd glare tracts, sermons, pamphlets vie, And hot-press'd nonsense claims a dignity. AUTHOR. Nonsense or sense, I'll bear in any shape, In gown, in lawn, in ermine, or in crape; What's a fine type, where truth exerts her rule ? Science is science, and a fool's a fool. a Not Dr. Parr's paper or printing, which in some of his works is sometimes scarce legible; but I allude to and condnr.n the general need- lessly expensive manner of publishing most pamphlets and books at this time. See the Pursuits of Literature Dialogue i. If the present rage of printing on fine, ereamy wire-wove, vellum, hot-pressed paper is not stop- ped, the injury done to the eye from reading, and the shameful expense of the books, will in no very long time annihilate the desire of reading, and the possibility of purchasing. No new work wbatsoever should be published in this manner, or Literature "vvill destroy itself. b Mr. Hayley wrote a long life, or rather a sort of defence of Mil- ton, as I think, prefixed to Boydell's grand edition of the poet. I like neither the spirit nor the execution of Mr. H's work. C 192 ] Tet all shall read, and all that page approve, When public spirit meets with public love. 220 Thus late, ^ where Poverty with rapine dwelt, Rumford's kind genius the Bavarian felt, Not by romantic charities beguil'd But calm in project, and in mercy ^ mild; Where'er his wisdom guided, none withstood, Content with peace and practicable good ; Round him the labourers throng, the nobles wait, Friend of the poor, and guardian of the state. Tet all shall read^ "^ when bold in strength divine, Prelatic virtue guards the Christian shrine, 230 c See the Experimental Essays, Political, Economical, and Philoso- phical, by Benjamin Count of Rumford, Sec. &c. Sec. I hope the Directors of the interior Government of this country will have the sense and wisdom to profit from this most valuable and important work, whose truly, philosophic and benevolent author must feel a joy and self-satisfac- tion, far superior to any praise which man can bestow. d A distlnguising feature in all his plans for the relief of the poor, the idle, the abandoned, and the wretched. Tbe mode of conferring 7nercy and apparent kindness is not always mild and merciful. I have too much respect for my readers to enlarge on this virtue. May they all feel expe- riroentally, that the merciful, in the true sense, shall obtain mercy. e See the important, convincing, and eloquent Letters addressed to Thomas Paine, author of the Age of Reason second part, by the Right Reverend Richard Watson, Bishop of LandafF, stiled, " An apology for the Bible." Every person, wishes, that the Bisliop had changed, or v,'oulci [ 193 ] Pleas'd from the pomp of science to descend, And teach the people^ as their hallow'd friend; In gentle warnings to the unsettled breast, In all its wand'rings from the realms of rest, From impious scoffs and ribaldry to turn, And Reason's Age by reason's light discern ; Refix insulted truth with temper'd zeal And feel that joy which Watson best can feel. True Genius marks alone the path to life. And Fame invites, and prompts the noble strife, Her temple's everlasting doors unbarr'd; 241 Desert is various, various the reward: even now change, the word " Apology" to " Defence," or any other; not that the word " apology" is absolutely improper, but becausj the original meaning of it is obsolete. To write such a book as this is to do a real SERVICE TO MANKIND. A cheap edition of it is printed, and it is hoped, will be circulated throughout the kingdom....! would also particularly recommend the perusal of the Sixth Letter of the Series of Letters which the Bishop addressed to Mr. Gibbon. To young men of fashion and of abilities, originally goody but obscured by libertine life and conversation, it will be peculiarly serviceable, as well as to those who are led astray by some modern pretended discoveries in natural philosophy, now a favourite mode of introducing and enforcing scepticism and infidelity. I think also that his " Defence of Revealed Religion" in two short Sermons is of great merit and general utility. Bishop Watson should often write but with the utmost caution and accuracy and consideration, because his works Will always be read. Bb [ 19^ ] No little jealousy, no ill-tim'd sneer, No envy there is found, or rival fear. Methinks on Babylon fond fancy dreams, Her vale of willows by the mournful streams, A¥he.re Hebrew's lyres hung *'*^ mute ! O'er Sion's hill Blows the chill blast, and baneful dews distill, ^'^ cc " The banks of t/je rivers of Babylon^ the Euphrates, Sec. were " so thickly pl.vitcd with vjilloiv ti-tes, as the learned Bochart inferms us, " that the country of Babylon was thence called, ' The Vale of Wil- " lows,' and on those trees were suspended the lyres of the captive " Hebrews neglected and unstrung." See Persian Miscellanies., by William Ouseley, Esquire, 4to. p. ioi. abounding with learned, pleasing, and curious information. It is one of those works, which not being adapted to general reading should be patronised and purchased by men of fortune and education. I beg leave for the same reasons, to recom- mend the ingenious Mr. Maurice's History of Hindostan in 4to. and his Indian Antiquities in 8vo. The subject is indeed in the region of fancy and of conjecture, and Mr. M's work abounds with both. But such erudition, ingenuity, and unremitting diligence, shouH not fail of an honourable reward. Sint hic etiam sua prxmia laudi.* (See also P. of L. Dial. IV.) dd I read, with the greatest concern, the following passages in the very learned, ingenious, and venerable bishop of Worcester's Preface to tlie quarto edition of Warburton's Works, concerning Dr. Lowtb, one of the greatest men whom our times have produced. Dr. Hurd says ; " Bishop Lowth's reputation, as a writer, was raised chiefly on his Hebrew Litera- ture, as displayed in those two works, his Latin Lectures on the Hebrew poetr)', and his English version of the prophet Isaiah. The former is well and elegantly composed, but in a vein of criticism not above the com- mon: the latter, I think, is chiefly valuable, as it shews how little may b^ * Virg. Kn. i. v. 6i. [ 195 ] Where is the charm, that sense to virtue binds, The social sympathy of learned minds, :250 The common int'rest, universal cause, And all that piety to genius draws ? How sweet to hear, on that Parnassian mount, Mild waters welling from the favour'd fount : Oh, never may Castalia's streams divide From Siloa's brook, and Jordan's hallow'd tide. But hark what solemn strains from Arno's vales Breathe raptures wafted on the Tuscan gales ! Lorenzo rears again his awful head, And feels his ancient glories round him spread ; 260 The Muses starting from their trance revive, And at their Roscoe's bidding, wake and live. * expected from Dr. Kennicott's Wark, and from a new translation of the Bible for public use." Pref. to Warb. 4to edition, p. 94. The necessity of any observation from me, in this note, is precluded by a very able Let- ter to Bishop Hurd, occasioned by his Strictures on Archbishop Seeker and Bishop Lowth, by a member of the University of Oxford, which I recommend to the reader. It is one of the few pamphlets which should be preserved. e See " The Life of Lorenzo de Medici, called the Magnificent, by " William Roscoe," two volumes 4to. I cannot but congratulate the public upon this great and important addition to Classical History, which I regard as a phsenomenon in Literature, in every point of view. It is pleasant to consider a gentleman, not under the auspices of an university, C 196 ] The Latian genius vindicates his state, And proudly hails the great Triumvirate,^ Lords of the lyre, and fathers of the song, In Fancy's order as they pass along. There musing deep in philosophic groves, His Tuscan Academe, s Lorenzo roves; or beneath the shelter of academic bowers, but in the practice of the law and business of great extent, and resident in a remote commercial town, (where nothing is heard of but Guinea ships, slaves, blacks, and merchan- dise, in the town of Liverpool;) investigating and describing the rise and progress of every polite art in Italy at the revival of learning with acute- ness, depth, and precision ; with the spirit of the poet, and the solidity of the historian. It is pleasant to consider this. For my own part, I have not terms sufficient to express my admiration of his genius and erudition, or my gratitude for the amusement and information I have received. I may add, that the manner in which Mr. Roscoe procured, from the libra- ries at Florence, many of the various inedited manuscripts with which he has enriched the appendix to his history, was singularly curious; not from a Fellow or Traveller of the Dilettanti, but from a commercial man in the intervals of his employment. I shall not violate the dignity of the work by slight objections to some modes of expression, or to a few words, or to some occasional sentiments in the Historian of a Republic. But I recomm.end it to our country as a work of unquestionable genius, and of uncommrn merit. It adds the name of Roscoe to the very first rank of English classical Historians. MUSAKUM SPONDET CHORUS, ET RoM ANU S ApOLLC* (1796.) f Dante, Bcccacio, and Petrarch. g See Mr. Roscoe's account of the institution of the Platonic Aca- demy at Florence, and the Platonic festival, and the effects of it. Vol. I. p. 160, S o^i^xr' im, TO AE TETPATON iy.i7» TiKy.uf Aiyxs, tv6x di at kXvtx iu^xrx BEN0ESI AIMNHS X^vfftx, fAXfuxiDcvTX Ttnvy^xrxi, x^dtrx xtn. Hoin. II. i^. V. ic. gc PREFACE TO THE FOURTH DIALOGUE"^ PURSUITS OF LITERATURE. l'ombra sua tornach'era dipartitaI Dante. " Hear bis speech., but say thou nought J' " But one word more : — " " He will not be commanded!" Macbeth. xVS I have now brought my Poem to the conclusion which I intended, it is proper and, as I think, respectful to offer some conside- rations to the public, for whose use it was written. No imitation of any writer or of any poem was proposed, unless the adherence to the principles of just composition, and a general observation of the finished models of classical literature, be considered as sucli. In the Preface to the First Dialogue 1 said, what I now repeat, that I would not have printed it, but from a full conviction of its tendency to promote the public welfare. My particular ideas on che nature and subject of Satire I expressed clearly and fully in the Preface to the Second Dialogue, and under the influence and impression of those sentiments 1 wrote the work. I have since enlarged on that subject in the Introductory Letter to this Poem. In my Intro- duction to the Third Dialogue, feeling the importance of my subject in its various branches, I asserted that, " Literature, well or ill conduct- " ed, IS The great engine by which, I am fully persuaded, all civi- '• LIZED States must ultimately be supported or overthrown." I am now * First printed in July, 1797. [ 204 ] more and more deeply impressed with this truth, if we consider the nature, variety, and extent of the word, Literature. We are no longer in an age of ignorance, and information is not partially distributed according to the ranks, and orders, and functions, and dignities of social life. All learning has an index, and every science its abridgment. I am scarcely able to name any man whom I consider as wholly ignorant. We no longer look exclusively for learned authors in the usual place, in the retreats of academic erudition, and in the seats of religion. Our peasan- try now read the Rights of Man on mountains, and moors, and by the way-side ; and shepherds make the analogy between their occupation and that of their governors. Happy indeed, had they been taught to make no other comparison. Our itnsexed female writers now instruct, or con- fuse, us and themselves in the labyrinth of politics, or turn us wild with Gallic frenzy. But there is one publication of the time too peculiar, and too impor- tant to be passed over in a general reprehension. There is nothing with which it may be compared. A legislator in our own parliament, a member of the House of Commons of Great-Britain, an elected guardian and defender of the laws, the religion, and the good manners of the country, has neither scrupled nor blushed to depict, and to publish to the world, the arts of lewd and systematic seduction, and to thrust upon the nation the most open and unqualified blasphemy against the very code and volume of our religion. And all this, with his name, style, and title, prefixed to the novel or romance called "The Momk." (b) And one of our public b " The Monk, a Romance in three volumes hy M. I,ewis, Esq. M. P." printed for Bell, Oxford Street. At first I thought that the name and title of the author were fictitious, and some of the public papers hinted it. But I have been solemnly and repeatedly assured by the Bookseller himself, that it is the writing and publication of M. Lewis, Esq. Member of Parliament. It is sufficient for me to point out Chapter 7 of Volume 2. As a composition, the work would have been better, if the offensive and scandalous passages had been omitted, and it is disgraced by a diablerie and nonsense fitted only to frighten children in the nursery. I believe this 7tb Chapter of Volume 2. is indictable at Common Laiv. Edmund Curl in the first year of George II. was prosecuted by the Attorney Gene- [ 205 ] theatres has allured the public attention still more to this novel, by a scenic representation of an Episode in It. " 0 Proceres Censore opus esty ral (Sir Philip Yorke, afterwards Lord Hardwicke) for printing- two obscene books. The Attorney General set forth the several obscene pas- sages, and concluded that it was an offence against the King's peace. The defendant was found guilty and set in the pillory. See Str. 788. i Bar- nardist 29. The indictment (in Mich. Term i G. II.) begins thus: " Edmund Curl, Existens homoiniquuset sceleratus, nequiter machinans " et intendens bonos mores subditorum hujus regni corrumpere, et eos ad " nequitiam Inducere, quendam obscenum libellum Intltulat." kc. &c. — See Sir John Strange's Rep. p. 777. Ed. 1782. In tivo or three days after the point had been solemnly argued, and the judges had given their respective opinions, Sir J. Strange observes, " They gave It as their unani- " mous opinion, that this was a temporal offence." And they declared also that if the famous case of the Queen against Read {6 Ann. in B. R.) was to be adjudged (by them) they should rule it otherwise; I. e. contrary to Lord Ch. J. Holt's opinion. The Judges were Sir Robert (afterwards Lord) Raymond, Fortescue, Reynolds, and Probyn. We know the pro- ceedings against the book, entitled " Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure," by John Cleland. To the passages of obscenity, (which certainly I shall not copy in this place) Mr. Lewis has added blasphemy against the Scrip- tures; if the following passage may be considered as such. " He (the " Monk) examined the book which she (Antonia) had been reading, and " had now placed upon the table. It was the' Bible. ' How,' said the " Prior to himself, 'Antonia reads the Bible, and is still so ignorant?' " But upon further Inspection, he found that Elvira (the mother of Anto- " nia) had made exactly the same remark. That prudent mother, while " she admired the beauties of the sacred writings, was convinced, that *' unrestricted no reading more improper could be permitted a young " woman. Many of the naratives can only tend to excite ideas the worst " calculated for a female breast; every thing is called roundly and plainly " by its own name; and the annals of a brothel would scarcely furnish a " greater choice of indecent expressions. Yet this is the book which young " women are recommended to study, which is put into the hands of chil- [ 206 ] r " a7i Hai-uspice nobis?*" I consider this as a new species of legislative or state-parricide. What is it to the kingdom at large, or what is it to all " dren, able to comprehend little more than those passages of which they " had better remain ignorant, and which but too frequently inculcate the " first rudiments of vice, and give the first alarm to the still sleeping pas- " sions. Of this Elvira was so fully convinced, that she Avould have " preferred putting into her daughter's hands Amadis de Gaul, or the " Valiant Champion Tirante the White ; and would sooner have author- " ised her studying the lewd exploits of Don Galaor, or the lascivious jokes " of the Damzel Plazer de mi vida." (p. 247, 248.)! Sec. I state only what is printed. It is for others to read it and to judge. The falshood of this passage is not more gross than its impiety. In the case of Thomas Woolston, in the zd. ©f George II. for blasphemous discourses against our Saviour's miracles, when arrest of judgment was moved; Lord Raymond and the whole Court declared they would not suffer it to be debated, "whether to write against Chjietianity in general (not concerning contro- verted points between the learned, but in general) was not an offence punishable in the temporal Courts of Common law. Woolston was im- prisoned one year, and entered into a large recognizance for his good behaviour during life. Sir Philip Yorke, afterwards Lord Hardwicke, was Attorney General at the time. The case of the King against Annet, when the Honourable Charles Yorke was Attorney General, (3d of Geo. III.) for a blasphemous book entitled " The Free Inquirer," tending, among other points, to ridicule, traduce and discredit the Holy Scriptures^ is well known to the profession. The punishment was uncommonly severe. Whether the passge I have quoted in a popular novel has not a tendency to corrupt the minds of the people, and of the younger unsuspecting part of the female sex, by traducing and discrediting the Holy Scriptures, is a matter of public consideration. — '• This book goes all over the kingdom ;" * Juv. Sat. 2. . t I refer to the third Edition of The Monk. Three editions of this novel have been circulated through the kingdom, without any alteration whatsoever. [ 207 ] thqse whose office it is to maintain truth, and to instruct the rising abili- ties and hope of England, that the author of it is a I'ery young man? That forsooth he is a man of genius and fancy? So much the worse. That there arc very poetical descriptions of castles and abbies in this novel? so much the worse again, the novel is more alluring on that ac- count. Is this a time to poison the waters of our land in their springs and fountains? Are we to add incitement to incitement, and corruption to corruption, till there neither is, nor can be, a return to virtuous action and to regulated life? Who knows the age of this author? I presume, very few. Who does not know, that he is a Member of Parliament? He has told us all so himself. I pretend not to know, (Sir John Scott does know, and practises too, whatever is honourable, and virtuous, and dig- nified in learning and professional ability) I pretend not, I say, to know, whether this be an object of parliamentary animadversion. Prudence may possibly forbid it. But we can feel that it is an object of moral and of national reprehension, when a Senator openly and daringly violates his first duty to his (b) country. There are wounds, and obstructions, and diseases in the political, as well as in the natural, body, fbr which the removal of the part affected is alone efficacious. At an hour like this, are we to stand in consultation on the remedy, when not only the disease is ascer- tained, but the very stage of the disease, and its specific symptoms? Arc are the words of Judge Reynolds, in the case of E. Curl. What Mr. Lewis has printed publicly with liis name, that I state publicly to the nation. Few will dissent from the opinion of Lord Raymond and the Court, in the case of Curl above stated, as reported by Strange and Barnar- diston to this effect ; " Religion is part of the common law, and therefore " whatever is an offence against that, is an offence against the Common " Law." With this opinion, I conclude the note. d All members of the legislature, Peers or Commoners, should join in sentiment and in character with the Athenian orator, and be consider- ed as speaking to their country in these words: " Hun?, ok; i-tx y-oa ra^ei *' Vfoyovtuv vn-xp^ariy iv ry, UxT^i^i, kch aixT^tZxi, y.xi e-jyy,hixi ui6' vftan *' ihivhgci, y.xi yxf*.tn xxix ras nof^H?, xxi >ir,^ifTXi, x.Xi T£x»«, xhoi t>i| " v^sTEfflc; 5r<«-TS«?. xtA. iEschin: v.^i Ux^xTr^iT^nx;." Sect, r I. [ 208 ] we to spare the sharpest instruments of authority and of censure, when public establishments are gangrened in the life -organs? I fear, if our legislators are wholly regardless of such writings, and of such principles, among their o%vn members, it may be said to them, as the Roman Satirist said to the patricians of the empire, for offences slight indeed, when compared to these: " At vos Trojugenas vobis ignoscitisy et quae " Turpia cerdoni Yoltsos Brutosqae decebu?it. e. There is surely something peculiar in these days; something wholly un- known to our ancestors. But men, however dignified in their political station, or gifted with genius, and fortune, and accomplishments, may at least be made ashamed, or alarmed, or convicted before the tribunal of public opinion. Before that tribunal, and to the law of reputation, and every binding and powerful sanction by which that law is enforced, is Mr. Lewis this day called to answer. I would also, in this place, select a work by a Roman Catholic Divine, for that animadversion it so solemny demands. I mean the Preface to the Second volume of Dr. Geddes's Translation of the Bible. I really would not trust myself to critcise the Translation itself, after I had read the fifth Chapter of Judges, v. 30, where for the words, " To every man a " damsel or two," Dr. Geddes translates, by way of a spirited and invit- ing urt-provement, " A Girl, A COUPLE OF GIRLS, to each brave man!" I will have nothing to do with ruE Doctor's Bravery; but I Intend to make a few observations on the Preface alone, which is very extraordinary in- deed, and by no means in the spirit which the sacred writings seem to recommend. I am always pleased with every serious attempt to elucidate the Scriptures, and am as ready as any man to acknowledge the merit and learning of an industrious and ingenious scholar. But though 1 dif- fer essentially from Dr. Geddes, I am sure I shall never call him " apos- " tate, infidel, or heretic" in general terms, as he knoius some persons will do ; (Pref. p. 4.) but I may oppose an opinion to an opinion. The Cause in which he is engaged is not a trifling cause, nor is it, as we are sometimes told, an object of mere classical criticism. I think there is an unbecoming levity in the Doctor's manner more frequently than 1 could e Juv. Sat. 8.V. 181. [ 209 ] vvi«h, and he expresses his sentiments in language not easily understood at all times, nor according to the genius and conunon grammar of the EnglisV tongue. But his meaning and opinion is, that " the Historical Books of " the Old Testament were 7iot divinely inspired." He tells us (p. 12.) of " a partial and putative inspiration," and that the ^vriters had not " a per- " petual and unerring sufflation." I do not quite understand the terms, as they are too sublime for a plain Englishman, but I suppose they are very fine, and 1 suppose their meaning from other sentences in the preface. He says, (p. 3.) tliat " The Hebrew Historians wrote them from susb " human documents as they could find, popular traditions^ old songSf ana " public registers." Singular materials truly for divine inspiration! But he says also, " I venture (and it is indeed venturing a great deal) I venture *' to lay it down as a certain truth, that there is no intrinsic evidence of " the Jewish Historians being divinely inspired; that there is nothing in " the style, or arrangement, in the whole colour or complection of their " compositions, that speaks the guidance of an unerring spirit, but that " on the contrary^ every thing proclaims the fallible and failing writer." (p. 5.) Dr. G. declares also, " After reading the Hebrew writings, and " finding to his full conviction so many intrinsic marks of fallibility, error " and inconsistency, not to say downright absurdity," (p. ii.) he could not believe their inspiration, even if he were taught it by an angel. I have thus introduced the reader to the Doctor's most explicit opinion; but I will also present him with his solemn affirmation, and he will easily decide on the propriety, the reasoning, and the consistency of it. " / " value them not the less" (says Dr. Geddes) " because I deem them nat *' divinely inspired." (p. 12.) If a man can seriously assert, that the Scriptures inspired by God (upon that supposition being granted) are not more valuable than the productions of a mere fallible wretched creature like man, in his best estate, I really coidd not lose my time in argument with that man however learned, or however gifted. He has degraded himself from that rank of literature and of sound understanding, which gives him a title to be answered. Dr. Geddes, as a scholar, should re- consider his character, and as a professed Christian, he should re-examine his principles. I cannot discuss the doctrine of inspiration in this place j it cannot be expected that I should. But the tendency of all the proceed- ings of our scholars and guides in literature, and in the state, and in reli- Dd C 210 3 gion, should be carefully watched. The open blasphemy and low scur- rility of Thomas Paine has been set aside by just argument, and the law of the land has armed itself against its effect in sociery.* Mr. Lewis, Jrlember of Parliament, has attacked tbe Bible, as I have just shewn, in another and in a shorter manner,t blasphemous as far as it goes, and tend- ing to discredit and traduce its authority. And last Dr. Geddes, a Translator of tlie Bible, versed in the original language and in Hebrew criticism, has new begun his attack also on the historical parts, which, if they are not part of the inspired writings, are not intitled to the name of sacred Scriptures. It is difficult to say, where these attacks will end. The times are so precarious, and revolt from all authority human and divine so frequent, that the magistrate, the satirist, and the critic have an united office, i/'the i6 /^^or/cc/ parts of the Bible are given up, another man will arise and object to the poetical parts. These will be allowed to have sublimity and dignity ; but it will be asked, nvhy should they be con- sidered as inspired? All poetry, we shall be told, is in some sense inspired ; Homer and jEschylus and Shakspeare, and %vby not the Hebrew bards. The moral portion of the Scriptures is evidently full of wisdom and of the soundest sense, and I suppose we shall soon hear it may be the work of a pbiloscpher, and that morality is not matter of inspiration. A fourth writer may first insinuate ivitb great respect, and tlien prove that all pro- phecy is ambiguous; and that the prophecies in the Bible may be conjec- tural, and therefore no reliance can be had on their inspiration. Lastly we may be loosely and indiscriminately told, that the doctrinal parts are so much above as well as contrary j. to human reason, that they could not * I am glad to bear testimony to the excellence of Mr. Erskine's elo- quent declamation in the court of K. B. in the cause, on Newton, Boyle, Locke, and other great men, the defenders of Christianity — But my getie- ral opinion of Mr. Erskine's talent for writing and public political speak- ing is very different. Westminster Hall is his theatre. We might almost say : Tanquam in pistrimim aliquod detrudi et compingi videtur. (See a future note on this Poem, Dial. 4.) t In " The Monk, a Romance." See above. Pref. :j: As the subject is so important, and words are so frequently mis- applied or misapprehended, it is always of use to remember the words [ 211 ] con:e froyn God. Thus might the whole fabric vanish into air, into tbin air: or to reverse Mr. Gibbon's phrase, thus might " the triumphant ban- " ner of the heathen Capitol be again erected on the ruins of the Churck " of Christ." Still we are to sit silent, still we are to hear with pntience the outrageous presumption of man before his merciful Creator I while " The world and its adorable Author, /.its attributes and essence, Lis " power, and rights, and duty (I tremble to pronounce the word) be ail " brought together to be judged — before us."* We are to assemble in Faith and Reason, as contradisting'uished to each other. Mr. Locke has defined them with a clearness and a precision which can never be exceed- ed, and which should never be forgotten, in thought or in conversation. " Reason, as contradistinguished to Faith, I take to be the discovery " of the certainty or probability of such propositions or truths, which the " mind arrives at by deductions made from such ideas which it has got by " the use of its natural faculties, namely, by sensation or reflection. *' Faith, on the otlier side, is the assent to any proposition not thus " made out by the deductions of reason, but upon the credit of the proposer, " as coming from God, in some extraordinary way of communication. " This way of discovering truths to men, we call Revelation." Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, B. 4, C. 18. An attention to this accurate definition would prevent all confusion, and oftentimes, very idle or profane jargon in conversation. Mr. Locke's ivhole chapter on this subject should be studied. * Ogden's Sermons, Hallifax's edit. vol. i. p. 2. — There was some- thing peculiarly amiable in the kind and disinterested office which the late Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Hallifax, undertook in the vindication of the memory and writings of two great men (quales et quantos viros.'J Bishop Butler and Dr. Ogden. It will be an eternal honour to that very acute, learned, and most judicious prelate. Cicero shall speak for this prelate. No man once better understood the strength and application of his language, when he filled the professorial chair of Civil Law, as the ULPiAN of his day, in the University of Cambridge. " Idoneus mea *' quidem sententiaj prjescrtim quum et Ipse Eum aiidi-cerit et scribat de " mortuo; ex quo nulla suspicio est amicitise causa euni esse men itum." Cic. de Clar. Orat. Sect, 15. What ^uch a writer as Dr. Hallifax has [ 212 ] the Temple with all our princes, and lords, and potentates, and venerable oiders, and our high officers, in all the gradations and dignities of our state and hierarchy, till some Champion of anarchy and infidelity be brought forth as in sport, and placed between the pillars. He may bow himself •with all his might, but his strength, 1 trust, will not be from above ; he will ^^feel the nature of the pillars nvhereupon the house standeth !" I speak this in general. I do not apply it to Dr. Geddes or any such scholar. It is not now 6)r the first time that the Canon, and the inspiration, and the authen- ticity of the Scriptures have been examined; and their internal evidence has often taught a diiTerent lesson. I cannot help offering one suggestion, as it is new to me. If there is a subject in the Bible which has been par- ticularly singled out for prof ane ridicule, it is that of Jonah being swal- lowed up in the whale's belly three days and three nights. Yet, as if to confound human wisdom, or sagacity, or vanity, and as an eternal lesson to human presumption on the fitness and unfitness of the subjects of inspira- tion, The Saviour of the World himself thought proper to choose and to appropriate this event To himself.* " As Jonah was three days and " three nights in the whale's belly, so shall The Son of Man be three " days and three nights in the heart of the earth I" St. Matthew, c. 12. v. 40. — I solemnly protest, I have no other object in view in w'hatever I have written, but the good of man in all his best interests, complicated as they are, at this awful and pressiiig hour. More hyet in our power than we may even imagine; but all the orders of the state must unite vigorously and powerfully in their specif c functions to preserve it. The priests and ministers of the Lord must also stand between theporcli and the altar, and exert themselves "before their eyes begin to warjdim that they may not " see, and ej-e the lamp of God goeth out in \^t temple of the Lord, told, who would tell again? I only speak in honour to the memory of a Scholar, whose name, and high attainments in science, should be record- ed. To yxf yi^ct'; t(rri Savovruv. * Sji^Ejev I&ipas Tn npeat, by the disastrous consent of the * Tacit. Agric. ap. init. f Boileau Eo. to. C 215 ] rendered dubious. I would particularly recommend the serious perusal of the account given by Tbiicydides of the democratic sedition in Corcyre. The reader would be convinced, that the same peculiarities mark all popu- lar seditions and insurrections, the same pretexts, the same motives. The insurgents declare the friends of the lawful and established government enemies to the popular representation and interest. Some of these insur- gents have private enmities to revenge, and others have debts to cancel. whole nation and its Parliament, tbinkino- rightly, proposing soundly, and n^eaning honestly, are nothing without speaking well — Let me add a word or two on a subject not quite foreign to this note. The ex- ample of a very learned and, in my opinion, a very virtuous and honour- able man, to whom the country is under much obligation, j\Ir. Reeves, Avill deter any man from volunteer effusions in favour of any Minister. It v'ould not be amiss, to be sure, if Mr. R. or any other writer, would read Aristotle and Quintllian on tropes and metaphors, before he adorns his native language with all the richness of imagery, and exerts the com- mand, which nature gives him, over the figures of speech. T'riinco, non frondlbus, efficit umbram. For my own part, when his pamphlet, " The " Thoughts on the English Government," was published, I never felt more indignation than when I sav/ this gentleman ungenerously and shamefully aba.ndoned and given up by Mr. Pitt in the House of Commons to the malice of his avowed enemies and to a criminal prosecution in the Court of King's Bench. He was solemnly acquitted of any libellous in- tentions; but his language was imprudtnt. He fell a victim to metapho- rical luxLii lance and state-botany.— (See " Thoughts" Sec. as above, p. 1 2 and 13, for Mr. Reeve's Simile of the Constitutional Tree and its Branch- es. J It was the deep and important obf.ervation of Aristotle; E» furx- ^ipiiv i7Ti V iv Qiii)^iiv. See also the tenth chapter of Aristotle's Rheto- ric, Book 3. which I recommend to all political v»'riters and speakers ; De Urbanis Metaphoris, or Tnot tcjv xs'tumv, y-ca ruv ii,^oKiy,^yzi»'j. Those great critics, Messrs. Fox and Sheridan, differed however essentially from Aristotle in this point, in their Commentaries read publicly in the House of Comm.ons on this text: T&» hUm^po^m iuicy.iti^ci fAnXie-Tei. ui x«r« «>«Afiy;«v. Rhet. L. 3^ c. 10. s. 3. C 216 ] Death Is the universal solvcnt.(ff ) The historian observes, they held forth either the specious offer of greater equality of power among the citizens^ or a more temperate form of aristocracy^ or some state expedient varying ■with the l;our; but each leader in reality had his own private views of ambition, or power, or riches, but accommodated his speeches to the pre- vailing humour of the day.(g) This as we have all known, has been trans- acted step by step upon a great and tremendous scale in France. The Italian and Belgian states are following them with headstrong and infuri- ate revolution. We have indeed more to preserve than any oTher CoUNfRT under Heaven ; and we may, by wise regulations, hereafter re- store even the finances of the state. We must never forget that the sta- bility of our present Constitution is the sole stability of all property', pub- lic and private. I speak from awful and trembling conviction Our Ruin can be effected bt political Reform alone, and our Enemies at home, and in France, know that I speak the truth. We in Great Bri- tain, who are yet in a condition to preserve ourselves, see and read and feel these things. The grant of one demand leads necessarily to another "when any material alteration in a state or government is conceded. If the second is refused after the first has been granted, we are then told, that there is a want of consistence in the plan, and that it were more advise- able to have kept the state as it was, than to admit only a partial reform. We surely cannot be said to be duped -^wX fooled by Reformers, without warning from histon,- and from experience. The constitutional sX2.ltsxx\tr\ of Great Britain cannot notv be ignorant of the nature of " a Modern Reform in any state of Europe." The greater the difficulty and danger, the greater the fury of the Revolutionists. Pindar was a poet and a ff Hear the great Historian: " Ty,v ^ttsv untccv iTripipovn? ret? tov hinfi»v xcir»Xvv(7lv. Avifxvov nvi? iOiX? £;^^^p«? zvikx, kcci xXhoi y^^fiftxrat e-d:i(riv e^U\6Uivo)v Itto rwv Xx-sovToiy. L. 3. Sect. 8li g Hear Thucydides again in his ow'n language. " 0« iv rxig "^cMfiv TrpecravTi; ^er' ovouxroc ix.x(r~oi ivTrfi-rnf, vAfi^ag l(rc>cy.txi 7ro>.iT(x?)5, xxt Api(7~aK(xrtai (m^ccvog ■7riO'riju.r,trii, rx f^iv x.oi;x Asya (ifxmvoni; xi>.x zveivvrc, 7r«;'T< o- rodTru xyuvt^citsvci xXXaXuv •xioiyiyvis-ixi' — Kut ■/, fiirx •^r,p\t ctoi,x.v x.xrxyyu7iui, 'A /i£'^' xrxfAivoi to y-fxrin, iToiuoi y,orxy Ttii xvTtKtt ^tXoMiKixy i/n-TTiUTrXiiyxi." lb Sect. 82. C 217 ] Statesman; he said, Air^oGiTuv Eptorav o|yTSp«< ftxvixi.* A man of a poetical mind either wanders into futurity, or recals the images of other times and of otb.cr empires. He can sometimes even descend into the regions of terrific fable, and give to his own country the sentiments and passions of antiquity, and body forth contending parties which are no more, of the virtuous and the valiant, of the wicked, the desperate and the frantic. At such an hour as the present, and with the objects which we see and hear and feel, with the exultation of the bad, and the dejec- tion of the good, and the labours of great statesmen to preserve us from Jinal misery^ can we forbear to contemplate the picture drawn by that poet, whose only Muses were Cxsar, and Brutus, and Cato, and the genius of expiring Rome.f Tristis FELICIBUS umbris Vidtus erat; vidi Decios natumque patremque, Lustrales bellis animas, Jlsntemque Camillum. Abruptis Catilina minax fractisque catenis Exultat, Mariique truces nudique Cethegi : Vidi ego Ixtantes, popularia nomina, Drusos Leglbus immodlcos, ausosque ingentia Gracchos. iEternis chalybum nodis, et carcere Ditis Constricts plaiiserc manus^ campos^ue fiorum PoSCIT TURBA NOCENS ! (gg) gg In the great question of a Reform in Parliment (i. e. in the House of Commons) I certainly do not merai to call figuratively the Ministerial ground, the Campi Piorum, but I call the Constitution of England and its defenders, in or out of Parliment, by that name. Nor would I by any means rank the gentlemen of opposition with the Turba nocens. That Turba nocens are the levellers and the patricians of democra- cy and revolution. But the licence of poetry we are told is considerable, if assumed with modesty. The question itself has nothing to do with invention, though as I think \-i\\\c\\ fiction is employed in the support of it. I am of opinion, tliat in the outset there is a fiction or a deceit. We are told, we must recur to the original principle of the H. of Commons; the principle, as I suppose, on v/hith it was founded, and that principle is * Nem. Od. ii. t I-ucan. Pharsal. L. 6. v. 784. » E e C 218 ] The present Poem was not composed for a trivial purpose, or without mature thought. It is the fruit and study of an independent and disin- declared to he popular in the modern sense of that word. In this argument historical truth is not asserted; I would maintain, that it is violated. It is contrary to matttrr of fact. The very origin of the House itself (the best antiquaries will tell you so) is rather doubtful. The more remote your inquiry, the greater the demonstration of its original weakness, nay (I say it with grief) of its political insignificance. It was a Council, which grew out of a greater Council. I will not insult my reader with information on the subject. But it is matter of plain historical knowledge that its powers, its functions, its freedom, and its consequence have been all progressive to a certain period. That period was the Revolution (as it is foolishly and improperly called) in 1688. At that Kra the House of Commons under the O.'d Whigs, attained to the consummation of its glory and to the fullness of its dignity. As I here speak of the original principle, I have nothing to do with the subsequent corruptions. I must own I do not wish for the famous Roman plate of brass; I am for no un- qualified Lex Regia.* Let it rest in the Capitoline Museum, that splen- did effort of Michael Angelo. I abhor abject servility and all its monu- ments. I never wished, I am sure I do not now wish, to see a?y' Senate divest itself of all power. I would not see a Vespasian in any country make and repeal laws, or exercise unlimited authority, without the advice and consent of a well-constituted Senate. I venerate the institution of the House of Commons, and would preserve it with my life; but I shall raise up no tree, trunk or branches, for a fatal simile, like Mr. Reeves. * See a Dissertation " de Mnta. Tabula CanitoUna Romae 1757." Heineccius and Gravina also published this "Lex Regia." It may be read at full length in Gruterl Inscrlpt : Antiq. By this Law the Roman Senate, in the most abject stile, authcrised Vespasian to make and repeal lavjs, to declare peace and war, and to exercise everj act of an absolute sovereign, without waiting for their consent or even asking their advice. — This authority however was not granted to all the Emperors indiscri- minately; they selected (before Vespasian) Augustus, Tiberius, and Clau- dius. I leave the reader to his own reflections. [ 219 ] terested life, passed without the inciimbrancs of a profession or the em- barrassment of business. It was not intended merely to raise a smile at I look for no pasture in the fields of Ministers or of Booksellers: nor would I be turned out by Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan to graze on the verdant lawns of the King's Bench, (once intended for the Chief Justice of Newfoundland,) or at best to grub and delve in Mr. Pitt's Strc-v- yard. I neither recur to Montesquieu nor to Machiavel. I want not to be told by the former, that ^'' our system was found in the " woods," or to hear from Signor Machiavel and Mr. Fox, that " States " may groiv out of shape." Such were the \vords of Machiavel quoted by Mr. Fox in the House of Commons on May 26, 1797, in his speech on the Reform of Parliament. The founders of the French Republic, and the i?f-founders of it (for it has heen founded three times already) seem ahvays to have had ^Machiavel's Discourses on Livy in their view. He says, that if cny power or powers, (princes, warriors, or demagogues) take or subdue any city, province, or realm, '■'they should make all things " new in the state." The words are most particular. " Fare ogni cosa " di nuovo in quello stato, nelle Citta fare nuovi govertii con nuovi nomi, *' con nuova autorita, con nuovi nomini, fare i poveri ricchi, disfare delle " vecchie citta, cambiare gli abitatori da un luogo ad un altro, e in somma, " non lasciare cosa niuna intatta, e che non vi sia ne grado, ne ordine, n^ " stato., ng richezza, che chi la tiene non la riconosca date'"* The French have religiously observed the advice. IFe are told in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox, that the authority of Machiavel is great. In my opinion, all Tyranny is uniform in its maxims. But the Sig- nori, Machiavel and Fox, still tells us th^it'"' States may gronv out of shape." For my own part indeed I would rather find a system in the woods, than in modern France ; and I do not look for a nevj political Dancing Master every time there is a twist in the body. To hear Mr. Fox, as \ perpetu- ally do in the House, one would really think he was a rival to Vestris or Didelot. He has been long trying his art and giving lessons to Mr. Pitt gratis. That Right Honourable Gentleman's gait still continues as aukward and stiff as usual. He will not bend. A graceful bow is not his ambition, arid Mr. Fox dances before him every day tuithoiit the least * Machiavel, Diicor-.i Lib. i. Cap. 6. [ 220 ] folly or conceit; br.t it was written with indignation against wickedness, against the prostitution of superior talents, and the profane violence of effect, Mr. Fox, I believe, is of the opinion and principle of Monsieur Marcel, the famous dancing master in Queen Anne's reign, who said, ■when the Earl of Oxford was made Prime Minister, " He was surprised, *' and could not tell what the Oneen could see in him, for his own part " he never could make any thing of him." To be sure Mr. Pitt is every day placed between fHE dancing master and his man, but he has not learned ^rare from Mr. Fox, or ivit from Mr. Sheridan. In- deed I have been informed that, the three celebrated Dancers and Ballet masters, Messrs. Fox, Sheridan, and Grey, are preparing a new Serious Divertisement, or Pas de Trois, with neiv scenes, dresses and decorationsy called, " Le jDiRECTOiRE Executif." If it can be ^ot zip time enough, it will be brought forward this season; but as there is a necessity for a re- inforcement of the troops from Paris, it is feared the old dances must cont.nue to the end of the season, (June 1797.) It is proposed that light should be thrown on the stage in a quite new manner; but the BalJet- Masters will suffer no persons to be on the stage, or to view the machine- ry, behind the scenes. Lord Galloway and Lady ^Mary Duncan have ex- pressed their approbation of this rule, so much for the interest of fHE Grand Opera: though the noble Earl is contented with the present Grand Ballet- Master. (June 1797.) — On a kindred topic I would observe to the classical reader another singular circumstance in ancient times. It is from the Roman State. Since we have been all arming at home with alacrity and prudence, and (what is consequent to that) with effect, against our enemy, and the militia laws have been extended, it is curious to call to mind the emphatic clause in the ancient Roman law concerning the exemption of particular persons from military service, called " De " VACjfiONE" as learned civilians well know. The clause is this: ^'■Nisi " Bellum Gallicum exariatiir;" in which case not even the Priests were exempted. I will illustrate this law from Plutarch and Cicero, buc v/ill not translate the passages. Pleitarch has this singular remark in the life of Marcellus: " Ov yyav «,\?i« yAyxv >i riy,xfcc -Trxpii^t (peSov, 2;cc t«v " yiiTvixs-iy, ou,onci> xxt rrootrbiKU rroXitta) ffviioKrouivan;, xan to rrxXciiov ot^tufAei " ri)'j TcAXecTay, (the Gauls or French) ov? fixXi(rTcc ?t.-i4.x.ioi ouaat ^oKntriv, [ 221 ] bad men. It was incleed (to use a poet's aliiislon) poured forth as a liba- tion from the cup of Achilles, consecrated and appropriated : OtiTS Ttu a-TTtvaia-Ki &SUV, ots /an All YlecTDt, (h) It is proposed, in its degree and according to its subject, for the defence of truth, and wiih an honest wish to uphold society and the best interests of mankind, but chiefly those of our own country. In it there are no imaginary subjects. I have raised no phantoms of absurdity merely to disperse them ; but the words, the works, the sentiments, and often the actions of the authors are before us. It might be known hereafter from this poem how we wrote and thought in this age, and not unfrequently how. we conducted ourselves. There is one subject* which I have pressed upon the attention of the nation, Avhich in this respect seems to be in a state between slumber and *' ttri o/i Kdi T/jv IIoAiv ut' eiVTC'Jv «^o-oasAovTSj, s| iKiiva di Sifiivot Nof^ov, aiiXltg " uvcit CTpsSTJffls? TXj li^iccg, 7rXr,v it f^Yi raXxrixog rrxXiv iTTiXOoi OoASjCtos. " E^/jAg di Koii TO'j ^o-nov oivTOJ)) n ri Tlxpx,(rx.i'jyi. Mv^ixoe? yasp iv OTrXot? ku..pf{uv, tpiXctviprnTro^, EXXTivmyii 'rxiaitctg KXt Xoyiay, ct^pi " Ts* rtfiZv XXI Sxvfix^iiv THi xxTo^Suvru?, ipxa-rrii." Plut. Vit. Marcel), p. 242, vol. 2, Ed. Bryan. — As we have now so many gentlemen of for- tune, family, education, and ability among the officers of the army and the militia, I wish they may read this note, and be induced to employ some of their vacant hours in valuable studies; and, like the great chiefs among the ancients, resume and vindicate the honour of learned military leisure. A [ 229 ] never yet heard such an objection to my work. If it can be pointed out, I will erase it with much concern and with great indignation. I should also give a few words to the manner of the notes which I have annexed, and which are so frequent and so copious. I wish not, as Boi- leau expresses it, to prepare tortures for any future Sat'masius, (f) and I too well know my own insignificance to expect any comment on my writings, but from my own pen. I have made no allusions which I did not mean to explain. But I had something further in my intention. The notes are not always merely explanatory ; they are (if I have been able to exe- cute my intention) of a structure rather peculiar to themselves. Many of them are of a nature between an essay and an explanatory comment. There is much matter in a little compass, suited to the exigency of the times. As they take no particular form of composition, they are not matter of criticism in that particular respect. I expatiated on the casual subject which presented itself; and when ancient or modern writers ex- pressed the thoughts better than I could myself, I have given the original languages. No man has a greater contempt for the parade of quotation (as such) than I have. My design is not to quote words, but to enforce right sentiments in the manner which I think best adapted to the pur- pose, after much reflection. To most of my readers those languages are familiar; and if any person, not particularly conversant in them, should honour the notes with a perusal, I think the force of the observations may be felt without attending to the Greek or Latin. In all regular composi- tions I particularly dislike a mixture of languages. It is uncouth or inele- gant, and sometimes marks a want of power in the writer. In works of any dignity or consequence, it is adviseable, if a passage from any ancient author is quoted, to translate that passage in the text, and put the origi- nal at the bottom of the page, if necessar}-. We have in this respect the authorit)' and example of Cicero, Bishop Hurd, and Sir William Jones. . In general, I could say all I wished in the text and comment. Some ) subjects are indeed so important, that they should be held forth to public \ light, and viewed in every point. Satire, in this respect, has peculiar i force. Vice is not unfrequently repressed, and folly, presumptuous igno- i f " Aux Saumaises fiiturs preparer des tortures." I Boil. Sat. 9. V. 64. I C 230 ] ranee, and conceit sometimes yield or vanish at the first attack, and like the fabled spirits before the spell of the enchanter, Prima vel voce Canentis Concedunt, cakmenque timent audire secundum, g I again declare to the public, that neither my name., nor my situation in life iviU ever be revealed. Conjectures are free and open to the world. Every one is at liberty to fancy cases, and make wliatever comparisons he thinks proper. But suppositions will never amount to facts, nor wild conjectures have the force of argument. I pretend not to be " the sole " depository of my ov,'n secret;" but where it is confided, there it will be preserved and locked up forever. 1 have an honourable confidence in the human character, when properly educated and rightly instructed. My secret will forever be preserved, I know, under every change of fortune or of political tenets, while honour, and virtue, and religion, and friend- ly affection, and erudition, and the principles of a gentleman, have bind- ing force and authority upon minds so cultivated and so dignified. My Poem and all and each of the notes to it were written without any co-operation whatsoever. 1 expect the fullest assent and credit to this my solemn assertion. I expect it, because I speak the truth. I have not been assisted by any Doctors in any faculty. If indeed I had written to please a particular man, a minister, a chief in opposition, a party, any set, or any description of men exclusively, literary or political, there is not a man of understanding in the country who does not perceive that I should, or rather that I must, have written in another style, thought and argument. Of such motives I profess myself nor skilled nor studious. My appeal is direct to my country. I know and feel the situation in which at this moment she stands. There is now no balance left in Europe. All is preparing to sink under One desolating Tyranny. My opinion hov/ever is, that by the mercy of Providence, and by the unremitted attention and labours of our constitutional statesmen, and tlie united efforts of all that are loyal, brave, opulent, powerful, or dignified, we may yet " be able to stand in this evil day, and having done all " TO STAND." Let us stand therefore, as the chosen nation of old, the insulated memorial of true Religion, and the only asylum of balanced g iAican, L. 6. V. 527. [ 231 3 Liberty. I profess myself convinced, and therefore have I written. I entered into the sanctuaiy of the Hebrews und beard the voice of their prophet: " Credidi, propter quod locutus sum:" This was the voice which I hfard, and it was a voice, as Milton would express it, '• thundering out " of Sion." Under this persuasion and conviction, 1 will say of this work, there is in it but one hand, and one intention. It will be idle to conjecture concerning the author, and more than foolish to be very inqui- sitive. To my adversaries I have nothing to reply. I never will reply. I could with the most perfect charity sing a requiem over their deceased criticisms, if I were master of what Statius calls the " Exequiale sacrum, " carmenque minoribus iimbris utile." (h) Those whom I wished to please, I have pleased. If I have diffused any light, it hfrom a s'.ngle orb, whether temperate in the horizon, or blazing in the meridian. If I culminate at all, it is from the Equator. Thus much to silly curiosity and frivolous garrulity. But to persons of higher minds, and of more exalted and more generous principles, who have the spirit to understand, and the patience to consider, the nature and the labour of my work, I would address myself In other language, and with other arguments, I would declare to thein, that when I con- sider the variety and importance and extent of the subjects, I might say that it was written, " though for no other cause, yet for this, that pos- " terity may know", that we have not loosely through silence permitted " things to pass away as in a dream." I would declare also to thim, that I deliver it as a literary manifesto to this kingdom in a season unpropitious to learning or to poetry, in a day of darkness and of thick gloominess, and in an hour of turbulence, of terror, and of uncertainty. Such persons will be satisfied, if the great cause of mankind, of regulated society, of religion, of government, and of good manners, is attempted to be maintained with strength and with the application of learning. To them it is a matter of vp'-- little, or rather of no moment at all by whom it is effected. They have scarce a transitory question to make on the subject. To such understandings I Avillingly submit my composition. and to them I dedicate the T^ork. h Stat. Theb. L. 6. v. 12:^. [ 232 ] I shall only add, that //"they should read all the Parts of this Poem on the Pursuits of Literature with candour and with attention, whatever the connection between them, or whatever the method may be, they will most assuredly find " that uniformity of thought and design, which will " always be found in the writings of the same person, jvhen he writes " n'irii siMFLicirr and in earnest." PURSUITS OF LITERATURE DIALOGUE THE FOURTH* AUTHOR. Oh, for that sabbath's dawn ere Britain wept, And France before the Cross beUev'd and slept! (Rest to the state, and skimber to the soul !) Ere yet the brooding storm was heard to roll In fancy's ear o'er many an Alpine rock, Or Europe trembled at the fated shock ; Ere by his lake Geneva's angel stood, And wav'd his scroll prophetic "" o'er the flood, * First printed in July 1797. t Lycophron. CassanJ. v. t, a It is remarkable that m Sivitzerland appeared the three per- sons, whose principles, doctrines, and practice, fas it seems to me J have primarily and ultinutelv effected the great change and downfall of regal and C 234 ] With names (as yet unheard) and symbols drear, Calvin in front, and Neckar in the rear; 10 of all lawful po%ver in Eiircpe. Calvin, in religion ; Rousseau, in politics ; and Neckar by his administration. Calvin and his disciples were never friends to monarchy and episcopacy; but I shall notbere contend politi- cally or theologically with Bishop Horsley concerninjj Calvin. A poet's words arc better for a poet. I have looked into history and, as I think, have found them true. Dryden speaks of Calvin thus, and remarkably enough ; *' The last of all the Utter scap'd by chance, " And from Geneva first infested Frakce.'" Hind and Panther. B. i. v. 172. RovssEAV^ (I speak of liim only as a political writer) by the unjustifiable, arbitrary, and cruel proceedings against him, his writings and his person, in France, (where he was a stranger and to whose tribunals he was not amenable) was stimulated to pursue his researches into the origin and ex- pedience of sucb government, and 0I such oppression, which, otherwise, he probably never would have discussed; till he reasoned himself into the desperate doctrine of political equality, and gave to the world his fatal present, " The Social Contract." Of this work the French, since the Re- volution, have never once lost sight. With them it is first and last, and midst, and without end in all their thoughts and public actions. Rous- seau is, I believe, the only man to whom they have paid an implicit and undeviating reverence; and, without a figure, have worshipped in the Pantheon of tlicir new idolatry, like another Chemos, " the obsceiie dread " of Gallia's sons." — Different from these, came I^eckar, With inten- tions, as I am still inclined to think, upriglit, pure and just, but with a mind impotent and unequal to the great work, and with principles foreign to the nature of the government he was called to regulate, reform and conduct; a fatal stranger for France. He oppressed c\ery subject sacred and civil with too much verbiage. He was sanctioned by popular rre- judice, and marked by aristocratical hatred; a sort of '■'■ Arpinas Volsco- " rtnn a mo7itc." Pie came to lav open and disclose (and he did lay them [ 235 ] But chief Equality's vain priest, Rousseau, A sage in sorrow nurs'd, and gaunt with woe. open to the very bottom) the mystery and iniquity of French finance and of French treasuries. But he brought v/ith him to the concerns of a great and tottering empire, (which perhaps might Iiave been maintained and funsolidated) the little mind of a provincial banker, and tlie vanity in- separable from human nature, when elevated beyond hope or expectation. What was the consequence? For a while indeed, Hie Ciinbros et summa pericula rerum Excipit, et SOLUS trepidantem /iro^e^/t Urbem.* But the original leaven in his political composition was popular ; and that leavened the whole lump. We know the rest. His advice, first in the calling together (at all) of the States General, and afterwards in the for- mation and distribution of them, gave the devoted King to the scaffold, and the monarchy of France to irreversible dissolution. I speak this independently of the grand conspiracy against Christianity, regal power, and social order, which has been so awfully and so convincingly disclosed by the eloquent Abbe Barruelf, and Professor Robison; since 1 first wrote the preceding reflections. ...For my own part when I contemplate the con- vulsions of Europe, and the fatal desolation which attends republican prin- ciples, wherever they are introduced, I cannot but rest with a momentary pleasure on the picture, which Plato, in his imaginary republic, (the only one I ever could bear) has drawn of a man fatigued with the view of pub- lic affairs, and retiring from them in the hope of tranquility. The sen- timents are such as the French formerly would have called, " Les " Delassemens de I'bomme sensible." The words are these: " TciVTX TtctvTX XoynTf/.a Xxtoiv, yn^v^ixv i')co^') y.cti ret «vt» TpacTTs^i', yiov iv * Juv. Sat. 8. v. 249. t See Memoires pour servir a I'Histoire du Jacobinisme, par Mr. L'Abbe Barruel: and ''Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and " Governments in Europe, in the secret Meetings of Free Masons, lllu- '' Eiinati, he. Sec." by Professor Robison of Edinburgh. (1797O [ 236 ] By persecution train'd and popish zeal, Ripe with his wrongs to frame the dire ^ appeal, What time bis work the Citizen began, And gave to France the social savage, Man. Was it for this, in Leo's fost'ring reign Learning uprose with tempests in her train ; Was every gleam deceitful, every ray But idle splendor from the orb of day? 20 Say, were the victims mark'd from earliest time, The Flamens conscious of a nation's crime ? Why smoak'd the altars Avith the new perfume, If heav'n's own fire descends but to consume? Alas, proud Gallia's fabric to the ground What arm shall level, or what might confound! Oh for that hand, which o'er the walls of Troy '^ His lightning brandish'd witb a furious joy, " TJf? eiXXni xxTccTTif^Ti-Xei/iiiyiii ccvof^icci, ccyt^-Tvot it vyt ecvTog xxSctp»i ecotx-ttti " T8 x«< eivo' regal ruins lie In Desolation's sullen majesty; Or where Carthusian '' towr's the pilgrim draw, And bow the soul w^ith unresisted awe, Whence Bruno, from the mountain's pine-cladbrow, Survey'd the world's inglorious toil below ; Then, as down ragged cliffs the torrent roar'd. Prostrate great Nature's present God ador'd 150 And bade, in solitude's extremest bourn, Religion hallow the severe sojourn. To HIM the Painter gives his pencil's might; No gloom too dreadful and no blaze too bright. What time to mortal ken he dares unveil The inexpressive fokm^ in semblance frail. Mais j'en jure et Virgile et ses accords sublimes, J'irai: cle I'Apennin je franchirai les cimes, j'irai, plein de son nom, plein de ces vers sacres, Les lire aux menies lieux qui les out inspires. Les Jardins L. i. y '' He built Tadmnr in the Wilderness." Chron. B. 2. ch. 8. v. 4. It is remarkable that Mr. Wood observes, that the natives, at this day, call Falinvya by the original appellation of Tadmor. z The famous monastery, called " The Gr^mde Chartreuse." The retirement of Saint Bruno. a The pictures of the Supreme Being by Raphael and Michael Angelo. There is one picture of thk Suprkme Being separating the C 253 3 To the strain'd view presents the yawning tomb, Substantial horrors, and eternal doom. To HIM the Pow'rs of harmony ^ resort, And as the Bard, with high commanding port, 160 Scans all th' ethereal wilderness around, Pour on his ear the thrilling stream of sound; Strains, from that full-strung chord at distance swell, Notes, breathing soft from music's inmost cell, While to their numerous pause, or accent deep, His choral passions dread accordance keep. Thence musing, lo he bends his weary eyes On life and all its sad realities ; Marks how the prospect darkens in the rear, 169 Shade blends with shade, and fear succeeds to fear. Mid forms that rise, and flutter through the gloom, 'Till Death unbar the cold sepulchral room. Such is the Poet: bold, without confine, Imagination's ''^ charter' d libertine !'' ^ light from the darkness, in the Vault of the Capella Sestina in Rome, by Michael Angelo -which, I believe, has never been engraved. Mr. Fuceli, I tbinkf said so when I inquired about it. I allude also to the picture of the Last Judgment, by the same Master. b The powers of Music on the mind of the Pcet. c " The air, a chartered libertine^ is still." Shakspeare, H. V. C 254 3 He scorns, in apathy, to float or dream On listless Satisfaction's torpid stream. But dares alone in vent'rous bark to ride Down turbulent Delight's tempestuous tide; While tho'ts encount'ring tho'ts in conflict fierce Tumultuous rush, and labour into verse, 180 Then, as the swelling numbers round him roll. Stamps on th' immortal page the visions of the soul. OCTAVIUS. Nay, if you feed on this ccelestial strain. You may with gods hold converse, not with men: Sooner the people's right shall Horsley ^ teach, In judgment delicate, with prudence preach, And o'er his bosom broad forget to spread Bath's dangling pride, and ribband rosy-red ; ^ d I alluae to Bishop Horsiey's iiitcniperate and unadvised speecbes in Parliament. An injudicious friend is worse than an enemy. I believe Mr. Pitt t!:inks so. — Inconsiderate sentences uttered publicly by members of either House are very dangerous, and do much harm. The dogma is remembered, and the comment is forgotten. Bishop Horsley and Mr. Wyndham (both men of great natural and acquired ability) should be more attentive in this particular. e Bishop Horsley is De?.n cf the Order of the Bath, and is a bold rival to the lute learned knight, Sir Vv illiam Draper, iu making " that [ 255 ] Friend of the Church the pious Grafton ^ prove ; Or Sutton ^ cease to claim the pubUc love, 190 And e'er forego, from dignity of place, His polish'd mind and reconciling grace ; Or Yorke, ^ regardless of his sacred trust, To unobtrusive merit be unjust; Porteous, the royal ' prelate, firm to truth. Forget the primal patron of his youth ; ^^ blushing ribband the perpetual ornament of bis person," See Junius, in his third Letter, and Bishop Horsley every where. I See the Duke's Hints. — Rather broad. g The Right Reverend Charles Manners Sutton, Bishop of Nor- wich. A Prelate whose amiable demeanour, useful learning, and con- ciliating habits of life, particularly recommend his episcopal character. No man appears to me so peculiarly marked out for the highest dig- y/rr of the church, sede vacant e, as Dr. SuTToy. July 1797. h The Right Reverend James Yorke, D.D. Bishop of Ely. The vol- untarj unsolicited offer of the Mastership of Jesus College in Cambridge, to the Reverend Dr. Paley, so well known in the literary and ecclesiastical world, deserves to be publicly mentioned as an instance, almost solitary, of generous liberal discernment in the important collation of academical dignity. The University regrets the absence of Dr. Paley, one of the ablest instructors she ever could boast; and Bishop Yorke must be record- ed as one of " the friends of learning." It is no mean honour to associate the name of Paley with that of Yorke. " Et niea, si quid loquar audien- " dum, vocis accedet bona pars." Nov. 1797. i The Right Reverend Beilby Porteous, Bishop of London. See the Dedication of his Sermons. I th.ink him right in recording his eleva- tion as the immediate voluntary gift of ROi'AL, and not of ministerial, favour. [ 256 ] Moore to his synod call of unction full ; Or Barrington be meek; or Watson dull. Sooner Stentorian '^ Davies cease to talk, And for bis Eton quit his Bond-street walk ; 200 Sic gemmas vagime infronte solebat Poueie zelotypo Juvenis PRiELATUS Htarbse ! The choice was approved unanimously by the country, and justified by his own merits and conduct. But I admire still more Dr. Porteous's affectionate, grateful, and elegant tribute to the memory of his venerable patron, Archbishop Secker,* a name never to be uttered but with reverence, as the great exemplar of metropolitan strictness, erudition, and dignity. — The union of such patrons must forever mark the charac- ter of Bishop Porteous. (1798.) k The Rev. Jonathan Davies, D. D. Provost of Eton College; a learned pleasant, generous, open-hearted, good tempered man, but In conversation rather too much of a Stentor, who is declared by Homer to have had a voice equal to fifty other men. The Epithets of Homer are all significant, and I therefore give the lines. "Znvrofi iiffeifAivog fAiyccXriTorii y^oiXKit^coyu O? TOffDV xv^a-xa-x' OSONAAAOI HENTHKONTA. Mr. Provost has an invincible partiality for the charms of London, whenever his duty does not oblige him to be at his Lodge. The reason is simple. The air at Eton now and then bites shrewdly. Sec. &c. Sec. Extract from a MS. found in Long Chamber at Eton ; the hand writing conjectured to be by Dr. Heath the Head Master, and one of the Assistants. It was found on one of Mrs. Heath's Ball nights du- ring Lent, given to the Lautirum Puerio for the advantage and credit of the School. (Nov. 1797.) Vicinas alii Veneres, Charitumque choreas Carmine concelebrent nos Veri dogma severum, Triste sonant pulsa nostra testudine chorda. * See his Life, just re-published, with a proper attention to the time. C 257 ] Sumner Mrink deep of the Castalian spring; Eton School, like many great and other useful public Shools, stands in need of many new and strong regulations, which the interests of this kingdom, in common with the demands of the time, call for with a voice not to be disregarded by the masters and governors. Perhaps ths very existence of the kingdom, in its present constitution, depends upon the undeviating compliance with the present form and mode of classical (and 1 hope of religious) instruction, so long and so wisely established in our public schools. If we desert and abandon it, the prin- ciples and strength of the English character for sense, discretion, solid learning, and siund understanding will fall, to rise- no more. We shall be destroyed, over-run, or disgraced with National Institutes, French morality, French learning, and French jargon, political and metaphysical. No illustration can purify us any more. " 0<«» » ru VoA>i»ii9? ieru> 7ro5< OIBOS afxa-asi.* This is a subject which should be considered by every Father and Guardian of young Persons in this country, with the most impressive seriousness. Undoubtedly the expense attending an education at any great public school, (I speak not only r.f Eton) is now felt in such a man- ner, as I fear it will be difficult for Parents long to supply, or to continue. Whence does it arise? Is there a remedy, in part? I think there is. To my certain knowledge, the expenses of any public school, as such are increased but in a small and in a verv reasonable proportion to the exigencies of the times. Mode, fashion, custom, vanity, and inconsider- ateness occasion the chief causes of complaint. Fashionable private tuition is indeed now as expensive or rather more so in some cases. I would first propose, that no master or instructor in any of our public schools, should be suffered to keep a Boarding House, or have boys, to board with him. The character of the " De lodia parandd attoniiits " Doctor," should be done away, and the custom wholly abolisliesl. Ali * Callim. Hymn, ad Apoll. K k [ 258 ] Or Longford leave off preaching to the Kmg; Boys, of every description and rank, should board at the general Board- ing Houses as established, the expenses of which are liberal, unvarying and regulated. From such an equality of education nothing is to be •apprehended. The next question may be this; Is there a necessity for a Boy to have a Tutor in any public school? Why must he have one? It is perhaps a source of unnecessary expense (and sometimes of traffic) and which is still worse, it promotes negligence and idleness in boys, and prevents their reliance on their own faculties and indispensable application. Thirdly, I am confident that by attention and superintendance on the part of the parents or guardians, the expense of bills might be considerably- lessened. In regard to books in particular. For Avant of precaution, there is often no limit in the elegance of the editions or of the binding;. School-books are never costly. This is a single Instance; but on such and similar instances I cannot condescend to expatiate. I would be useful; and therefore not tedious. The greatest, most serious, and most alarming cause is behind, over •which the masters can have no control. It is this. Private or pocket money given with a heedless, wanton, and inconsiderate profusion un- known in former times. We are told in tlie liberal spirit of the day, that all boys must be gentlemen ; that they must act as other boys, and have no temptation to be mt:an. Suppose this granted. How is this enormous expense to be supplied? By the argument, it is no part of the unavoidable expense of education. But a boy's purse, it seems, should be always full ; that — That what? that he may be under- no temptation to be mean. Can we be now ignorant what is the sense affixed to meanness by a modern pampered boy? Well then: he has no temptation to be mean. But, from a full purse, has he no temptation to be M'icked? no temptation to be idle and negligent? A horse, perhaps I may be told, is sometimes allowable. Why? thut he may attend races, I suppose, or be in town, now and then, perhaps for a whole night. His purse must be full. Why? that he may go to the tavern, drink his bottle like a gentleman, and novr and then slink to the gaming table, and become a man of itonour in good time. Liquors are rebellious in the blood, and then, as the purse is full, [ 259 ] ^"^ Or good Palamo7i^ """ worn with classic toil, the forehead will not be long bashful. The means of weakness and debility need not be ivooed; they are every where obvious and obtrusive. Such is the education of Boys with a full purse. A poet once spoke of moderation, -znA government in expense.^ in other terms. O nondum cognita Divum Munera ! virtutis custos et arnica pudori^ Luxurix franum, vit(Z tutela! But such expenses, it may be said, are for patrician boys. Are they then separated from the rest? Is there no contagion of example? What are our public streets by day, or our theatres by night? The eye may see, but the ear might distrust the report. But a full purse, it seems, is very necessary for a boy, that be may not be mean. Surely this is contemp- tible sophistry. In education, and in the government of a state, every obstacle should be opposed to wickedness, and to the means of wickedness. There should be a double restraint. All passions submit ultimately (with the great majority of mankind) to the inability of gratifying them, and the dis- position is best prepared by the discipline of necessity. In boys and ycuths of ingenuous tempers, sometimes filial piety, a regard for their nearest relatives, the advantage of a good character, and the pleasure of a good conscience, operate with the better and more honourable part. But human infirmity is not to be trusted: it never yet was trusted with security. Laws, regnlations, and strong institutions have the greatest power to enforce good manners, when the Parents, Guardians, Instruc- tors and Masters co-operate fully in their several functions. It must be remembered, I am speaking of the education of boys, and not of con- firmed habits of expense, of wickedness, or of depravity in men. The wisdom and experience of those to whom I am addressing myself, in pub- lie schools, will easily supply what I have omitted ; for I have omitted much. Every gentleman in the country may co-operate in this important and patriouc attention, at such a period as the present. It is also not to be dissembled, (it is my office to speak openly and boldly) that Boys now actually divide theraielves into political parties. There is [ 260 ] Complain of plants ungrateful to the soil ; indeed a general licentiousness of spirit ainong modern boys, which the public good requires to be tff^ciually and poivtrfuUy repressed. It is not by false and s'^tziowz liberality that this evil is to be subdued. If masters and governors are firm and Inflexible in their regulations, what can the cbildren do? I laugh at the idle apprehension of rebellion in a School. If I were the Head-mafter of Eton, I would begin by ftiE jibolit'ion OF fHE mosTem immediately. It is very improper, and very foolish. There is a meanness, and sometimes an audacity, in this authorised mode of col- lecting money on the highway, which I wonder jozf/;^ Gentlemen cf birth and family are not ashamed of, and can even ivisb to continue. It is SOMETHING BETWEEN ALMS AND PLUNDER. Harrow school has no longer its ancient and dangerous custom of "shooting for the silver arrow." I mention the aboliton of The mon7'em (though it now occurs but once in three years,) only as an introduction to 7nany other salutary and neces- saiy restrictions in all public schools. I have seen the nature of a re- bellion (as it is called) in a college and a school, and nothing can be more foolish and impotent. If the Parents, Friends, and Guardians co-operate •with Masters of Schools and Colleges, what can children and young men ultimately effect, when it is considered, by v.'hat laws and hopes their future interest and advancement in life are bound-in, cabined, and con- fined? The majority of such petty Revolutionists and embryo Democrats are always restrained in a short time, and their successors never feel the absence of what they never expected. Let every Master of a College and a public School boldly, and vigorously, and instantly adopt the words and spirit of Cicero to his friend Atticus. " In qua Ego nactus, " ut mihi videbar, locum resecand^ libidinis et coercend-c " juvENTUTis, vehemens fui, et omnes profudi vires animi atque ingenii " mei, non odio adductus ^.Wcujns sedspe reipublica corrigenda et sananda " civitatis. Afflicta est Respublica!" — Cic. Ep. ad Attic. L. i. E. i8. I hope this rote will be regarded ivitb the attention it calls for from the public, — At all events, now and ever; ^^ Sahe, magna Parens ^^ doctrinx, Etonia Tellus, Magna VirumJ" (Nov. 1797.) [ 261 ] *? Or Warren ° in his well-curv'd palm confound 1 The Reverend Humphry Sumner, D. D. lately elected (November 1797) Provost of King's College in the University of Cambridge. So it is : Mussat tacito DocTrina timore. I can have no personal objection to a very worthy and a very good-natured man, but public considerations make me reflect deeply on such a subject. Wd lament the loss of a Pro- Tost venerable in advanced age, dignilied in his deportment, and of classi- cal erudition, deep, useful, and extensive. In the extremest boundary of human life, without the throbs of agony, or the cold gradations of dis- solution and decay, and supported and sustained by female filial piety, (that blessed bounden duty!) he came as a shock of corn to the ground in his season. Such was William Cooke, D. D. Provost of King's College. But when 1 think on all the eligible doctors and learned men, worthy of succeeding to the ofHce, who belong to our paramount and royal Col- lege, I must own the choice surprises me at such a time as this. I com- fort myself that I have no vote. At the very moment when defence is more than ever called for, it seems as if we had recourse to the system of ine^ciencji for public support. I know not into what form our Univer- sity may at last be changed. It may be turned, for aught I can tell, into an Academia degli Arcadi e degli Buffi, carlcati. It may be supported by the violation of every principle of Academic dignity, and by an un- worthy familiarity of learned gowns-m»en with mechanics and shop-folks. It may become an appendage to the Corporation of the Town of Cam- bridge. Are lue not elbowed on the floor of our own Senate House by an impudent, unqualified intrusion of Borough mongering Mercers and rustling Men-milliners? Oxford might teach us better lessons. She knows her dignity, and preserves it. I have nothing left but to deplore the change among ourselves. Would to heaven, I could avert it. " Uni " quippe vacat, studiisque odiisque carenti, Nev/toni lugere genus 1" Let the University of Cambridge however be converted into any thing, but a seminary for French principles and tutorial democracy. Let us consider a little to whom we give our confidence. Should the revenues of any College be entrusted to the administration of the partisans of democracy? [ 262 ] An atieiefif guinea with a modern p pound; 200 Should the insigne of a Chancellor's authority be borne by a satellite of a French Directory ? I think not. The robe of Cxsur was folded grace- fully, when he fell in the Senate. Let us at least remember that. I con- fess it boldly ; my principles are strong unto salvation : and if I had autho- rity, 1 would thoroughly purge the floor. It may be done noiv; but how long the power may be continued to us, I fear to conjecture. The Monasteries were dissolved, when they became useless. His Grace of Grafton, our Chancellor, has indeed given Hints; but they are for Dis- senters and Sociniaiis ; the orthodoxy of the High Steward, Mr. Pitt, might yet support the establishment. Some Colleges have watched over the principles of the men proposed for the tutors; but all have not so watched. Must I say, as the Poet did of Achilles? Stupet Acre primo: Qiix loca? qui fluctus? ubi Pelion? omnia "versa, Aiit ignota tiidet; DUBlfAr^uK agnoscere MAfREMl* I would not suffer the Muse of Satire to descend among Schools and Colleges, but upon the most mature and the most weighty deliberation. Perhaps this is the last public remonstrance which will ever be made. I would not scatter my words lightly in ever}- ear, but I would graft them where they might grow and bear. At this hour the State is shaking through all her departments. Nothing is indifferent, which can supply aliment for health, or remedies for a mortal distemperature. The grand and chief supporters of our Country in the Parliament, the Law, and the Church must proceed from the Universities. Upon them, primarily and ultimately, as to our governors and legislators, Domus inclinata recumbit. Nothing should be suffered to diminish or to sully the character of our Athens, and pollute the fountains of Ilyssus. Li these retirements, every science, and every art, and every accomplishment which is good and essential to man in civilized society, may be pursued with effect; and a solemn account rendered to the kingdom. Li them, the Youth of this Kingdom may best learn the foundation of all knowledge ; the principles of '' Stat. Achill. Lib. j. [ 263 ] Sooner one Prelate hate th' unequal glabs, evidence in sacied and human affairs; the nature of legitimate argument; the eternal power of truth opposed to the subtleties of sophistry ; the proofs of revelation, and the best introduction to it, the higher philosophy of Greece and Rome; the sources of history; tlie finished models of classi- cal literature, and those alone ; the principles and laws of ancient com- position ; the abhorrence of conceit and forced thought; and the life- springs of taste and of good conduct. Wliatever can bring forth, strength- en, amplify, cultivate, enlighten, purify, and direct the powers of the human mind, within those limits which arc prescribed by its great Crea- tor, and not beyond them ; all these, and if tliere be any other praise, or any other virtue, which preserves and continues to man the blessings of lawful government, and of subjection to God, the Author of all Order, it should be there prosecuted, recommended, taught, and enforced. I call upon the servants of the crown, upon the solemn Council of the Nation, upon every one who bears legal rule and legislative authority in the kingdom, to hear me, and to answer me. Has the state nothing to do with the Governors and Tutors of such hallowed and important retreats of arts, and eloquence, and wisdom, and religion? By their very nature they are consecrated to a high and holy ministry, to a strict fealty, and bounden service to their country. Their dignity and necessity can be laid prostrate by themselves alone. If they are true to theiv own cause, if they will rouse themselves into a vindication of the great, original, master principles on which they were founded, tl^ey may continue to be the lights of the kingdom. They will again be, what they always should be. a Feve? iKXiy.rov, a A«e{ £' appall an z;2;zof^;z^ Macbeth ; 218 Or, by the wayward justice of the land, Great Mansfield fall by an Attorney's hand; ^ the same thirst of blood against these innocent victims of popish and arbi- trar)' violence. Crimine ab uno discf. o>inesI (1796.) t Nothing can be more ofFer.slve, more injudicious, and in some instan- ces more profane, than when a Barrister appeals to God for the truth of every assertion made in a court of law, and in many cases when the facts have been doubtful, and sometimes have been afterwards proved to be false. I call this a prime disgrace; and I hope no Barrister of ability vill follow this flippant and ra:h habit of Mr. Erskine, in the Court of King's Bench, which ive have all so repeatedly witnessed. Mr. Erskine's own better sense and serious thought (for I believe he has some serious thoughts) will restrain him in future. But public men must be told of their faults publicly. tt The fate of the present Duke of Grafton is singular. He has been celebrated by the first prose writer and the firit poet of the age. (1797-) X 2.?i«(vo>i»? was grecised from the Roman word Pxnula^ This is no more than was done frequently in other lan- guages and in other countries. Particularly when the seat of Empire was transferred from Rome to Byzantium, the lawyers of the Imperial Courts ' ■were obliged to grecise many terms of law; as «I><3erx9^^«r(r«p<»5 for Jidei commissarios, Vitth^iov for repudiiim, (as in this passage, *' EvXoya? ii ywn *' Tfl ViTra^ioy a-TiiXin' sctX." Justinian. Novell. 22.) Krjva-ivitv, ior Censere ] 'E^TFiiirov for Expeditum or Expeditio, x.of^.'Tr^oi/.Kjtroi for compromissum, and other words, as may be seen in Du Fresne's and other Lexicons, but in particular in a most singular and scarce Glossary by Meursius.* And in the East, before the accession of the House of Timour, the Arabian\z.vi,- * " Joannis Meursii Glossarium Grxco — Barbarum, in quo prseter *' vocabula quinque millia quadringenta. Officia atque Dignitates Im- " peril Constantinop. tarn in Platio, quam in Ecclesia aut Militia expli- " cantur et illustrantur." Lugd. Bat. 1614. It is worthy the attention ©f any scholar. [ 279 ] Prudent, as Newton, 'i in domestic care, With no Scriblerian "i^i scruples for his Heir, guage was prevalent in Hindostan, when the Hindoo Rajas had commu- nication with the Mahommedan princes ; and it is remarkable, that the Arabian language is used technically in the code of Gentoo laws. Ch. 2. S. 3. " That is a woman's property, during the Ayammi Shaddee." These words are the Arabic terms for the Days of Marriage. The trial of Ma- horajah Nundocomar for forgery before the Supreme Court of Judicature in Bengal, will furnish many singular instances. — But to return to the went his twelve miles round. X SaniiK-] Lysons, Esq. F. R. S. and A. S. The most judicicus, best informed, and most learned amateur Antiquary in this kingdom, in his department. Do lubcns manus Yitruvio. His work on the remains of the Roman Villa and pavements at Woodchester, near Gloucester, (which a friend has just shewn me) is such a specimen of ingenuity, unwearied zeal, and critical accuracy in delineating and illustrating the fragments of antiquity, as rarely has been equalled, certainly never surpassed. Kis Majesty was so pleased with some of Mr. Lysons's attempts (near Dor- chester I think,) tliat a party of the militia was detached to assist him in digging among tlie ruins. A friend of mine was much entertained with the three tents erected on the spot, and a detachment of soldiers storming a fort underground, under the orders of an Antiquary. Hence my allu- sion to the military spade,— Of the genius, judgment, knowledge, and perseverance of this Gentleman in the department he has undertaken, it is difficult to speak in terms of sufficient approbation. (November, 1797.) y The Reverend Daniel Lysoiis, M. A. the brother of Samuel Ly- sons, Esq. An ingenious and diligent Antiquary, but of an inferior class ; 1 mean as to the respective subjects of their works. He is author of The Environs, twelve miles round London. But really in these hard times. Four large Volumes in 4to. ivire-tvove and hot-pressed, and Six Guineas paid down on the table, and the books unbound, (and an appen- dix threatened) are rather too much for parish-registers, births, deaths, and marriages, or even for the delights of Islington, Homerton, Hackney, Clapton, Acton, and all the rural retreats of City innocence and pure air, in the neighbourhood of Town. The work should have been printed in 8vo. My only objection is to the typographic pomp and expense of a book on such a subject. I think most persons will agree with me. (No- vember, 1797.) [ 284 ] On Sundays at Sir Joseph's ^ never fail'cl, So regular, you might have thought him bail'd. With Jones a hnguist, Sanscrit, Greek, or Manks, And could with Watson play some chemic pranks; Yet far too wise to roast a diamond ^ whole, And for a treasure find at last a coal. Would sometimes treat, his wines of chosen sort; Will Pitt, with honest Harry, lov'd his ^' port ; 3 10 z Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. Knight of the Bath, President of the Royal Society, Privy Chancellor, See. Sec. has instituted a meeting at his house in Soho Square, every Sunday evening, at which the Literati and men of rank and consequence, and men of no consequence at all, find equally a polite and pleasing reception from that justly distinguished Gen- tleman. Sir Joseph Banks is fitted for his station in the learned world not more from his attainments and the liberality of his mind, than by his particular awd unremitted attention to the interest and advancement of natural knowledge, and his generous patronage of the Arts. FORTUNE MAJORIS HONOS, ERECTUb ET ACEr!* a The ingenious Mr. Tenant has shewn, in a paper read at the Royal Society, that he can reduce a Diamond by evaporation to Charcoal. I hear Mrs. Hastings, and other great possessors of diamonds, have a kind of Tenanto-pbobia^ and are shy of this gentleman. A poor Poet ^ like myielf, w4io has neither diamonds nor any thing precious belonging to him, can only remind Mr. Tenant and the Royal Society of ihe old proverb, " Carbonem pro T/jcsauro." b I can give no better character of his old Port. — We all know on 3uch occasions, " Baccbum in reniotis rtipibus" is the song of honest Harry Dundas, in all the wildness of bigbland Dithyrambic; while Mr. * Claudian. [ 285 ] The Bengal Squad '^ he fed, though wondrous nice, Baring his currie took, and Scott his rice. In Scrip : not Hemings' "^ self more vers'd than he, The Solomons, or Nathan, or E. P.; Loyal and open, liberal of cash, (Not your damn'd dollars ^ or Bank-paper trash) Pitt, on the battlements of Walmer, in his own and Virgil's sober majesty, " oceako licemus, ait." c " Privatis ni:ijora focis." — I can have nothing to say to them. Dr. Morosophos, was bolder than I can venture to be. I c«uld write down a pleasant collection. Several of them are Reformers, Mr. Philip Francis, little Michael Angelo, Sec. Sec. Sec. but none of them are disposed to extend the question of Reform in a more important department. D'ou ce Visage enfin, plus pale qu'un Rentier, A Taspect d'un arret * qui retrancbe un quartier? Qiii vous a pu plonger dans cet humeur chagrine? A-t-on par quelque edit reforme la cuisine? Boilcau, Sat. 3. d Dr. Morosophos now and then dabbled in the funds. The Gentle- men of the stock Exchange, or the College, (as it is termed in City-wit) are much indebted to that eminent calculator of the different payments, Mr. Hemings. Boyd, Benfield, Solomon Solomon, Nathan Solomon, E. P. Solomon, Thelusson, Old Daniel Giles, Mr. Battie, Lord Linsdowne, Dr. Moore, Little Count Rupee, and all those who look an eighth better or nvorse for the opening, know that I am wright, in pronouncing the pane- gyric of this learned classic on the Stock Exchange. " Prens moi le bon parti ; laisse la tous les livres. " Exerce-toi, mon fils, dans ces hautes sciences; "■ Prens, an lieu d'un Platon, ce Guidon des Finances." Avis de Boileau, Sat. 8. * Mr. Pitt is supposed to have taken his hint of the quadruple tsscss- mcnt from Boileau, and to have improved upon it. [ 286 ] Nor tax, nor loan he fear'd, at table free, And drank the Minister with three times three; ^ Till with a pun old Caleb ^ crown'd the whole, " Consols^ and not philosophy, console.'" 320 He talk'd, like Indian ^' Rennell, rather long; And would at times regale you with a song: But seldom that ; in music though a prig, The little Doctor swell'd andlook'dsobig: Nay to Greek ' notes would trill a Grecian ode. In diatonic kind and Lydian mode, e This verse was f^vidently written after the 26th ot" Feb. 1797, after the order of Council was sent to the Bank of England, when the whole nation was made to pass through the pillars of Hercules. f Certainly Dr. Morosophos did this, before Mr. Pitt (fame rabicld tri A guttur a pandens J conceived the idea of the triple assessment, or, perhaps, three times three. — (Nov. 1797.) Sir Robert Herries, though no great poet, understands this subject better than I do. We read, aurea prima sata est tetas, et vindice nullo, 8cc. Sec. Ovid, and compare Sir Robert's very sensible Autumnal Sketch of Finances in 1 797. The tiiits of Autumn are favourable to painters of sketches. See also, "• An Address to Mr. Pitt on the Triple Assessment." g Caleb Whltefoord, Esq. — N. B. If you do but touch him, puns stand as ready as quills upon the fretful porcupine. I wish him health and spirits for many a year, in a green old age; and then with the Epinicion of Horace, Vita ccdat, mi conviva satur. h Major James Rennell, the great Geographer of India, 0 ti-xvv. A gentleman to whose accuracy and extent of knowledge this country is considerably indebted. But this has nothing to do ivith his conversation. i Dr. Morosophos, the man of metliod, was rather troublesome to his friends on this subject of Greek Music. He wished to pass for [ 287 3 And then with Burney, as his fit grevNT warmer, Convers'd of Stentor the great ' throat performer; And with Raimondi's fire, and warUke art, Play'd some French General's obligato ^^ part. 330 another Meibomius. Bat there is stiii reason to think that he never saw the three hymns to Calliope, Apollo, and Nemesis, printed with the Greek musical notes to which they were sum,-, at the end of the Oxford edition of Aratus in 1672, by Dr. Fell, or the more accurate copy of these hymns in Mr. Burette's Memoire on this subject. Menioires de I'Acade- mie des Inscriptions To'.r.. 5. — Dr. Morcsophos knew but little of the system of the Lydian mode in the diatonic gc-nus. There is also reason to think that he knew as little, as Bishop Horsley, of the npairA««S«»3j«jy9j, the T-TfliT?! v~a,ruy.f or the Tlcff-jTrxrvi ft-icuy, 5v;c. k " Stentor is celebrated by Homer as the most illustrious t.bro::*- ^er/brwc-r of antiquity." Burney's Hist, of Music 4to. vol. r. p. :;50. kk I allude to Signer Raimoiidi's exquisite and interesting piece of insti-umental music intended to express a rattle. It :s called A Bat- tle Symphoni". It consists of eight different movements, in which Genera! Raimondi powerfully calls on the imagination of the hearer to assist the composer. The third movement amuses and alarms m.e the most. " It announces The Council of War^ composed of Eight Gene- " rals. represented by EighT different issTrcaiekts ooiigati, which " at last, in their accord, in a general cadence, express Their unani- *' Mous RESOLUTION OF GIVING BattleI" Bravo, Maestro ! ! ! E Gu- glielmi cbe ti to dice. In this manner, Dumourier, Custine, Pichegru, Miranda, Hoche, Berthier, Angereau, and Buonaparte, have each played their o'jligato parts in Europe, as assigned themi, con fur ia, by the Con- vention and the musical Directory of France. Europe has by no means approved of the general cadence: but The Qoncert is still proceeding- in all the harmony of horror and barbaric symphony. Rendono un alto suon, ch' a quel s'accorda Con che i vicin cadtndo il Nilo assorda !* * Ariosto. O. Furioio. L. 16. [ 288 ] Banks ^ gave him morning lessons how to dress, And Morgan '" whisper'd courage and finesse. A Poet too he was, not very bright, Something between a Jerningham and " Knight: He dealt in tragic, epic, critic lore, V/ith half, whole plans, and episodes in store, Method was all; yet would he seldom write, He fear'd the ground-plot wrong, or — out of sight. At last THE Doctor gave his friends av/orkl 339 (Not verse, like Cowper, or high prose, like Burke,) Chambers abridg'd ! in sooth 'twas all he read, From fruitful A to unproductive Zed. But with respect to Great Britain, I hope and trust that a Sand of our own British musicians will put to silence and dronvn all their obligata parts on their citizen rafts and barges, by a general cadence, and a wcU- executed, masterly, choral performance of our oifn IVai'er Music. (February, 1798.) 1 Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. Sec. I speak only of " 3Iorning habili- " ments." m Maurice Morgan, Esq. an ingenious writer, author of the pleasant Extravaganza on tlie Courage of Sir John Falstaff. Mr. Morgan is known to his friends by the name of Sir John. In his politics, he is of the Lans- doivn School. n Knight and Jerningham. " Soycz pliitot mafjn, si c'est votre talent, " Ouvrier estinie dans un art necessaire, " ^ ^ffcrivain du commnn, et p'o'ete vulgaire.'" Avis de Boileau, A. P. ch. 4. [ 289 ] OCTAVIUS. What then? forever shall we wildly stray, And pluck each hare-bell in the flow'ry way. Or void of judgment, fire, or critic force. Stoop to each golden apple in the course ? I never can with argument dispense ; Pope gave the verse, but Warburton ° the sense. AUTHOR. 'Tis true ; by plan and syllabus ? confin'd. Knight thus composes first the reader's mind. 350 To rouse attention is the poet's art. Knight calls to sleep, and acts a civil part, Save to his view when foul Priapus "^ rose, He wak'd to lust, in stimulating prose. o Octavious is right in some degree. The commentary of Warbur- ton on Pope's moi-al Poems is peculiarly valuable, and explains many seeming inconsistencies. Pope thought so himself. p Par classes et par titres, Dogmatizer en vers et rim.er par chapitres. Bolleau Sat. 8. 115. q Concerning Mr. Knight's Treatise on the Worship of Priapus, in addition to what I before said (P. of L. Dial. i. v. 134. Note (g) I shall offer the spirited words of Clemens Alexandrlnui, from liis Aayes nperps- O o [ 290 ] But though that Garcleti-God forsaken dies; Another Cleland *" see in Lewis ^ rise. VTiKcg iig rug EXXr.va;, or '■'•Admonitio ad Gentes:" "T«4yT«s vfiojii tijj *' ii'^vTrcifiimg zu, £ip%sryT«, 'xtiTOL'. rng vkpicoi kt CioXoymi., ctvrat ruv a-vuTro- " avivovfoiv vuiv ©emv «< oioctG'x.uAicci' Tlei»K7iiei, r.c.i yvfivxt y.ooctt, y.cci ** MOPIQN ENTA2EI2 nraig yi^x.'^oi.ii ei7royv/u.v^f^'acci: — HT«.x rnv xvxi2iixv an t» f^iTU7r\i rrfooiZXyiimvo;, pxs^rx ri y-xi KOiv< -ttovu i% *' T«v 5rpst|=*'i' T«? (iixotiirxTxc ^aipn." Procop. Histor. Artan. Lib. 9. p. C 291 ] Why sleep the ministers of truth and law ? Has the State no controul, no decent awe, 46. Ed. Fol. LuQ,clun. 1623.— I "W'sh Mr. Lewis may read and profit from this passage. (July 1797.) Novels of this seductive and libidinous tendency excite disgust, fear and horror, in every man and woman who reflect upon thoje virtues which alone give support, comfort and continuance, to human Society. The interests of society and the essential welfare, and even the very existence, of this kingdom, authorise any man, though conscious of manifold frailties, to speak in the manner I have done. For we cannot long deceive ourselves. Poetical men, of loose and ungoverned morals, can offer to us or to themselves but feeble consolations from wit and imager)'', when left to solitary reflection and the agony of remorse. I never found this subject so well represented, and so unanswerablv enforced to everj' under- standing, capable of recalling itself from vicious conduct and irrecrular inclinations, as in this short sentence : " Whoever v^holly give themselves " tip to Lust, ivillsoonf.nd it to be the least fault they are guilty of." In this place I cannot help recommending, with peculiar earnestness, the attentive perusal of one of the most instructive and useful short pieces of Biography which I ever read, in the life of Dr. Johnson, by the learned ■ Sir John Hawkins: from p. 222 top. 232. It is particularly important to many young men who live in the allurements of a great and high- viced town, or among freethinking literati and the more calm and sober \ Sensualists. It is the account of J/r. John Dyer, a man of genius, polite- | ness and learning. The conclusion of it in the words of Sir John Haw- •. kins is veiy impressive. " I have been thus particular in the history of I " this accomplished and hopeful young man, whom I once loved with the \ " affection of a brother, with a view to shew the tendency of idleness, and > " to point out at what avenue Vice may gain admittance in minds seemingly f " the most strongly fortified. The assailable part of hi=; mind was laxity | " of principle ; at this entered infidelity, which was followed by such / " temptations to pleasure as he could see no reason to resist. These led on | [ 292 ] While eaph with each in madd'ning orgies vie, Pandars to lust and licens'd blasphemy? 360 Can Senates hear without a kindred rage ? Oh may a poet's light'ning blast the page, Nor with the bolt of Nemesis in vain Supply the laws, that wake not to restrain. Is ignorance the plea? since Blackstone drew The lucid chart, each labyrinth has a clue. Each law an index : students aptly turn To Williams, Hale, judicious * Cox, and Burn; Obscenity has now^ her code and priest. While Anarchy prepares the dire Digest. 370 " desires after the means of gratification, and the pursuit of them was " his destruction." To conclude. Whatever I have said on the subject of this Novel, called THE Monk, I shall leave as matter of record, whether the Novel is altered, or not. The tenor of the whole is reprehensible. I leave it as a protest against such a work, published in such a manner, by a Gentle- man in the high, honourable, and responsible station of a Member of Parliament. It is hoped and expected that no similar work will ever again be given to this country. (Added November, 1797.) t Samuel Cox, Esq. of the Court of Chancery, the Editor (at his leisure hours) of the reports of Pcere Williams. I am not very coversant with professional law books, but a learned person shewed me Mr. Cox's mode of illustration, and desired me to consider it. I really think, it seems as a model for all future Editors of Rejxirts of former years. This plan is evidently the mode of a most judicious understanding and of a well-read Lawyer. Transeat in exemplum! [ 293 ] Methinks as in a theatre I stand, Where Vice and Folly saunter hand in hand, With each strange form in motley masquerade, Featur'd grimace, and impudence pourtray'd ; While Virtue, hov'ring o'er th' unhallow'd room, Seems a dim speck thro' Sin's surrounding gloom. As thro' the smoak-soil'd glass " we spy from far The circling radiance of the Sirian Star, Faint wax the beams, if strong the fumy tint. Till the star fades, a mathematic point. 380 Sure from the womb I was untimely torn. Or in some rude inclement season born; The State turns harsh on fortune's grating hinge, And I untaught to beg, or crouch, or cringe. For me the fates no golden texture weave. Though happier far to give than to receive : Yet with unvaulting sober wishes blest. Ambition fled with envy from my breast; u " If the eye-glass be tincted faintly with the smoke of a lamp or " torch to obscure the light of the star, the fainter light in the circum- " ference of the star ceases to be visible, and the star (if the glass be " sufficiently soiled with smoke) appears something more like a mathe- " raatic point." Newton's Optics, Prop. 7, Theor. 6. X [ 294 ] For friendship form'd, I feel, in realms above, My Saturn temper 'd by the beam of Jove. 390 I cannot, will not, stoop with boys to rise. And seize on Pitt, like Canning, '' by surprise, ^^ Be led through Treasury vaults in airy dance. And flatter'd into insignificance. I cannot, will not, in a college gown. Vent ray first nonsense on a patient town, Quit the dull Cam, and ponder in the park A six-weeks Epic, >' or a Joan of Arc. I leave these early transports, and the calm Complacence, and the softly trickling balm 400 X George Canning, Esq. M. P. Under Secretary' of State, an Etonian of much ingenuity, liveliness, and learning. XX The Novels, Farces, most of the Plays, Romances, Ballads, and Pantomimes, of the day, are all founded on — Surprise. Why not the ministerial Coups de Theatre? y Robert Soathy, anthor of many ingenious pieces of poetry of great promise, if the young gentleman would recollect what old Chaucer says of poetry, " 'Tis every dele " A rock of ice and not of steel." He gave the public a long quarto volume of epic verses, Joan of Arc written, as he says in the preface, in six weeks. Had he meant to write well, he should have kept it at least six years. — I mention this, for I have been much pleased with many of the young gentleman's little copies of verses. I wish also that he would review some of bis principles. [ 295 ] Self-consolation sheds ! more sweet than all Burke felt in senates, or Impeachment's Hall ; Borne to that course, where thund' ring from afar The Great Auruncian ^ drove his primal car. E'en now, when all I view aflfl.icts my sight, All that Home Tooke ^ can plot, or Godwin ^ write ; z Lucllius. a Mr. HoRNE Tooke, in the conclusion of his " Diversions of " Purley," makes an apology for applying himself to subjects so trivial as grammatical discussions, in the year 1786. He uses the words of an Italian poet, which are very remarkable, though they never have been much noticed. " Perche altrove non have " Dove voltare il viso, " Che gli e stato interciso " Mostrar con ALfRE imprese altra virtude." The hour was however approaching, when his countenance was to be turn' ed to other thoughts, and he was to display other talents which had almost slept since tlie time of Junius. At the blast of the French revolution he awoke from grammatical slumber, and found that other enterprises await- ed him. We have traced his proceedings till his trial at the Old Bailey for high treason, November 4, 1794. His plans were unfolded, and though he was acquitted, and " Execution was not done on Cawdor," yet it is not impossible that hereafter, (after his decease,) some honest chro^ nicler may be found, " Who will report (in private) " That very frankly he confess'd his treasons^ " Implor'd his country's pardon, and set forth " A deep repentance." (Macbeth.) [ 296 ] Now when Translation to a pest is grown, And Holcroff^to French treason adds his own; When Galhc Diderot in vain we shun, His blasted pencil. Fatalist, *^ and Nun; 410 When St. Pol ^ sounds the sacring bell, that calls His Priests en masse from Charles's ruin'd walls; Till that hour arrives, I shall wait for the continuation of his grammatical researches, which are promised to the world, with the celebrated wisli of the Satirist, Ut vellem his potius nugis tota ilia dedisset TeMPORA SiEVITI^El From the abilities and uncommon erudition of Mr. Home Tooke I dread mucli, and from the calmness and mildness of his conversation I should ap- prehend perhaps more. But as I think the whole Kingdom is fully, and deep- ly, and solemnly, and unalterably impressed with the nature, the malignity, the extent, the influence, and the terror of the grand Revolutionary Prin- ciple, and the desperate fury of Reforming societies and embodied factions, I trust Great Britain and her Ministers will never suiFer the arm of justice and of vigilance to remit or to relax its energies. (November, 1797.) b See an account of this weak and contemptible writer, William Godwin, and his Political Justice.^ in Dialogue III. of the P. of L. — See also a future note in this part of the Poem. c Thomas Holcroft. — An author, translator of plays and novels, and a nvould-be directing Statesman, tried for High Treason at the Old Bailey in 1794, and acquitted. He is also one of the Clairvoyans, and of the order of the Chevaliers des Lunettes in the meridian of Hyde Park. Home /$ Tooke cannot be much pleased with this compeer. Scurra degrunnit prior. Sec the fable. (1797O d The names of his posthumous novels, translated for the benefit of Great Britain. e The Bishop of St. Pol. de Leon, to whom the care of the French Emigrant priests is committed en masse. The reader may recollect they [ 297 ] When Thelwall, ^ for the season, quits the Strand To organize revolt by sea and land : When Barristers ^ turn authors ; authors ^ prate ; Charles Fox allegiance dares to calculate, And with his sulph'rous torch relumes the pile With unaverted ' face, and ghastly smile ; 418 were maintained in the old mansion built by Charles the Second at Win- chester.—The reader niav be surprised, but he will find by the papers laid on the table of the House of Commons, on the 21st of December, 1796, that 770 less a sum than 540,000!. was issued in one year for French priests and Emigrants, sacred and profane. — Seethe Preface to the P. of L. Dialogue IV. f This indefatigable Incendiary and missionary of the French Pro- paganda, John Thelwallj has now his Schools of Reason in country towns, SiCC. 8cc. Ili^ia-cw:; ififixtvo/^tve^. (1797O g Mr. Barrister Erskine. — See more of him and his pamphlet on the French war in a future note. h I refer to the House of Commons. i In ancient times among the Romans, when the public ministers oi^ funeral obsequies set f re to the pile, thej turned aside tkeir faces, Triste ministerium I subjectam more parentum Aversi tenuere facem. (Virg. iEn. 6.) Not so the Right Honourable Charles James Fox! As Mr. Fox loves Greek and reads Greek, (nugari solitiis Grace) I will give my opinion of Mr. Fox's tongue and eloquence in that language. I shall then say of it; HrXutrs-et ttv^ 0 tcocrf^oi tvi? ocO!.Ki»/;, it a-Trthaa-x iXot uKXTxe-^iray x.nx.ov, f.ii(rTn (a OxyxTA^ofH. If Mr. Fox would attend to THIS Greek author, he might learn the x.xXyi xyxirrfof/i, and the -k^uvth rt^ix?. Even Mr. Fox may possibly read what I saj. — As Mr. Fox is [ 298 ] Now when, beneath the dread fraternal '' frown 710W (June 1797,) studying Mr. Gibbon's History, he will find niany an instructive lesson for his public conduct. Mr. Fox, / know cannot always construe Mr. Gibbon's English, and is in the habit of consulting- his friends on the meaning of many passages and sentences; but without much suc- cess. His friends can confirm what 1 say, if they think proper.* I always feel an interest in Mr. Fox's studies, whether he is reading Gibbon, or culling simples on St. Ann's Hill with Aspasia, or poring on the Odyssey, in lamentation over his departed friends in the House of Commons, in the old Bard's language, AAA* «5' co; Et:«p»? ijifvcrxTO, tiiA,ivc^ ^rsp.f But his Eroiifoi or Friends are said to have left him onlj' on one accat'.nt; his good humour and ability have never forsaken him.. The account is this, deep, short, and full: " E7r2< Tpeoij tioov TTTo^uiSpov s;r»po-s.''| On tliis subject I would notv,\\ add a remark or tv/o. I would re- mind Mr. Fox, on the subject of Radical Reform, or any similar subject, that the Historian De Bella Civili has recorded this expression of Caius Gracchus; " A^p-jw? THN BOTAHN fSenatum) x.o'Jy\fr'ist." The Histo- rian proceeds to say, than wlien thf. measures of Caius Gracchus had been tried and taken ef'ect, his words were found to be true. " Ta S'spys^ '* 'zto'Uvroi ES riEIPAN, f/.i^^ovu)? in iy,^ciw,vxi re STrej ra rpeoc^a — Tu^v " Ti^ij)t7,y ANEZTPAO0AI TO KPAT05 TilS nOAITEIASlI!"** Are * Perh.aps Mr. Fox nr^.y understand and construe the following sen- tence from the luminous Historian. " An aspiring candidate may be *' tempted to build his greatness on the public confusion, but it is the inter- " est as well as the duty of the Sovereign to maintain the authority of " the laivs." Gibbon, Vol. 7, p. 80, Ed. 8vo. t Od. L. 1. I Od. L. i.v. 2. II March, 1798. *♦ Appian, De Bello Civlli, Lib. i, p. 363. Edit. H. Steph. 1592. [ 299 ] The harp revers'd grates discord on the Crown 420 tlie woids plain to this learned modern Grecian? Does Mr. Fox under- stand? Let me also add, that in after times Toe Tribune Vatinius con- ferred on Casar the government of Cisalpine Gaul; and, what is singular enough, in the very same days Gabinius, a Consul of profligate character^ assured the people^ " Errare Gives, si tuni Senatum aliquid In Republica " posse arbitrabantur." Cicero Orat. pro Sext. 12 — See the great Chapter De Mutatis Mutandis, by the nf.w Triumvirate in England.* Mirantur taciti, et dueio pro fulmise pendent.'i The further I extend my researches, political or historical, the less do I find any thing which, in governments and states, and in the revolu- tions of governments, is absolutely new in kind, but in degree, new beyond comparison. But as to the objects of fear, caution, and appre- hension, I see them more and more ; the events of which will be new and terrible indeed to Great Britain, if we do not find mercy in this day of wrath, horror, and convulsion. Yet I think I see, at the same time, our means of Defence increased, and the spirit, generosity, and resolu- tion of Our Great Nation raised and animated to act, as one man. If ever there was a time, when the Ministers of a Country might feel an * Sir R. Walpole spoke with spirit on the Seceders from Parliament in 1742. Mr. Coxe in his important and very valuable Memoirs (and original diplomatic correspondence) of that Minister, observes th:it, "The " consequence of this measure was to the Seceders disappointment and " speedy repentance, to the Ministers satisfaction and triumph. Tliey " even flattered themselves with the hopes of being called hack to their " posts. They soon experienced the ill policy of their conduct. The " nation was not inflamed by their conduct." See and read the Memoirs, of Sir R. Walpole. Vol. i. 4to, page 606. — Mr. Fox, who, as well as every other statesman, will certainly peruse this curious and instructive work, sliould remember a saying of Lord Bolingbroke tb.e enemy and opposer of Walpole : " History is Philosophy teaciiing by examples." (March 1798.) t Stat. Thebaid. L. 10. [ 300 ] When Transatlantic Emigrants can roam But to return, and praise our ^ English home ; Now, when the French defend us ' in disgrace, French swords, French fraud, French priests, and French grimace ; assiirmicc within themselves that The gbnekal principles, on which they have acted, have been ju3t and justifiable, and that they might throw themselves on the judgment of their Country; in my opinion, it is the present hour. The state of Europe has proved the intentions of France from the first moment of her Revolution ; and every historical document daily confirms the proof. Though I profess no personal predi- lection for Mr. Pitt, yet I join in the common gratitude for his firmness, unbending and inflexible perseverance m general principles, which, under Providence, may yet prove our salvation. Upon very serious and mature reflection, I feel a rooted and unconquerable veneration for this great and transcendent character. Ut te, fortissime Teucrum, Accipio agnoscoque libens! ut verba Parentis, Et vocevi Anchisce magni mentemqtie recorder! ii I allude to ftiE union ov French Brotherhood in Ireland with tlielr Book of Death. — See the Reports of the Irish Parliamentary Committee, and the memorable speech of the Right Honourable John Earl of Clare, Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, in the House of Lords on the 19th February, 1798, on the motion of the Earl of Moira. (Re-printed, Wright, Piccadilly.) The verbal variations of the editions of it are of little consequence. The whole of it should be read, as spoken by that eloquent, learned, well-informed, patriotic, and undaunted Statesman. k Sec Mr. Cooper of Manchester's Account on his return from America, and Letters of some wandering Journeyman Weaver or Car- penver, 1 forget which, Sec. &c. " Impudens liqui patrios Penates," &c. 1 I allude to the French Emigrant Regiments, enrolled in the British arniy. Surely this is a measure of government unwise, and ini- [ 301 ] When England changes arms — at such a view Must I find method^ verse, and patience too ? My verse, the thunder of a Patriot's voice, Cries loud to all who England make their choice, " Throw wide that portal ; let no Roman wait, 429 " But march with Priestly thro' the dextral ga.te. ™ accountable on any sound principle ; a project of desperation, one would think. Is this a time for Englishmen to say, Mutemus clypeos, Danaumque insignia mobis Aptemus. (July, 1797.) m " Through the dextral gate !" — My allusion is this. In ancient times, the most frequented roads to the city of Rome had double gates. They who came into the city passed through the left-hand gate ; and they who went ouf of The cifr took the right-hand gate. See Nardini Roma Antica, L. 10. c. 9. Pliny, in his Natural History, in the chap- ter de Roma^ Lib. 3. c. 5, speaking of the gates of the city, says, " that " twelve of the thirty-seven gates should only be numbered once (semel " numerari)." The expression is odd, but it alludes to such of those gates as were double in this sense. This was not unknown in other Italian cities. The Porta de' Borsari at Verona (in the opinion of the Marquese Scipio Maffei, Verona Illustrata, Part 3.) was in reality a twin or double gate, though it has been mistaken by some antiquaries for an arch of triumph. In times like the present, I would never shut those double gates in any city, when the turbulent, discontented, and factious wish to retire into foreign parts. We all remember, that Sir Arthur Hazelrig, John Hamp- den, and Oliver Cromwell, being ready to sail for America, were sfor- PfjD by order of Council! Hume's words are ver)- strong and remark- able in this Lecturing age. " They (i. e. Hampden, Hazelrig, and " Cromwell) had resolved forever to abandon their native country, and " fly to the other extremity of the globe, where they might enjoy lectures [ 302 ] OCTAVIUS. Talk thus, e'enHorsley shall applaud: proceed. AUTHOR. The tears that Britam sheds, her wounds that bleed, Call for a fost'ring hand, the balm of Peace ; Not styptics, which the sanguine tide increase, Such as State-quacks, or Barristers expose For fame and sale, and sleeping might disclose. In state affairs all Barristers are dull, And Erskine nods, the opium " in his skull. " and discourses of any length or form that pleased them." Mr. Hume adds, very significantly, " The King had afterwards full leisure to repent " this exercise of his authority." Hume's Hist. Vol. 6, p. c^ii, Ed. 8vo. 1773. n Erskine. — Mr. Barrister Erskine is famous for taking opium in great quaniities, (I have often heard him speak in praise of it) and if he proceeds in this manner, it is apprehended that his political faculties will die of too large a dose, of which there are many symptoms already. But all my observations are confined to his political conduct and career. They are not extended to his professional character, which is great, or to his private life, which no man is inclined to respect more than myself. But his political doctrines are plunging and dangerous. Mr. Erskine has in- formed tiie public, that he lias not the talents of a statesman, which, in common with the kingdom at large, I readily admit as a part of my politi- cal creed; though it is so very plain, as hardly to be an article of faith. [ 303 ] Saw'st thou, (or did my troubled fancy dream?) High o'er yon diff, in majesty supreme, 440 In his late flimsy and puerile " View of t!ie (Causes and Consequences of " the present French War,"* he comes forth to the public, /^xXx. Ta'PttrTixM? x»t a-oZxfu?, to use an expression from I'hemistius ; but I cannot stile him in the words of that orator, before the Emperor Coustantius, as Aru(pn positively will not translate this Greek, either for the Barrister himself or the country members, or the electors of the town of Portsmouth; but I shall leave it to be rendered faithfully by the Reverend Dr. Parr, or Mr. Erskine's language master. Indeed in this age we require nothing but •what we call, eloquence; though the term is miserably abused. But such as it is, eloquence in the political v/orld is like charity in the Christian character; without it a man is counted dead. In ancient times however, in one particular there v/as a great and essential difference from the present. Perhaps it may not be without use to hint or remind some persons, that in Greece and Athens, " apud " Grecian"!, (in the opinion and triumphant language of Cicero,)* qus " semper ELoqu?:NTi^ princeps esse voluit, atque illas omnium *' doctrinarum inventrices Athenas, in quibus summa dicendi vis et " inventa est et peufecta;" in Greece and Athens, I say, Orators and Barristers were never permitted to make any epilogus or peroration what- soever in the courts of law, or in the senate. " Epilogos illi mos civitatls " abstulerat," says Qu^intilian ; (L. lo. c. i.) and from whom? From Demosthenes. On which passage the learned Turnebus observes, " Non " Liccbat Athenis affectum movere, ac ne Epilogo quidem uti;" and yet Demosthenes appeared under this restriction. What does Mr. Erskine think: Has be ever read the Pleadings for the Crown, or against Midias, or Hift Ilu^ix,7rDtG-%,iiXi ?| * De Orat. L. i. f 1797. \ Themist. Orat. p. 3. Ed. fol. Harduini, 1684. |] Mr. Erskine, if he ever read this last oration, may perhaps recol- lect the allusion to the Water-Clock, by which the length of public [ 304 ] Vengeance his attribute, (and, as he trod, The conscious waves roU'd back!) the passing God, That shook old Ocean's empire ? from beneath Strange threat'ningnotes in hollow murmurs breathe, Mr. Eiskine always appears to me below his natural size, when he speaks in the House of Commons. I have too often disliked ths manner and the matter. In Westminster-Hall he is Avithout an equal. He has no rival in the eloquence adapted to the Bar and a Jury. But as he confesses him- self no Statesman, he should have spoken with more modesty and defer- ence OH political subjects, to those who are confessedly great statesmen in the esteem of the country. I will leave in Mr. Erskine's ear the words which Demosthenes thundered against Androtion. It cannot however be supposed for a moment, that I can mean to compare a gentleman of genius and distinction like Mr. Erskine, with such a being as Androtion. I only give the words, and Dr. Parr may translate them if he pleases. " E< " ecv^ixvo^av vi n«X(?, xXXce jK» tuv ctfX^'^ iTtfuv fUi vivi^io-h ix% Ti P;sjut5iCfl rapina!* (November, 1797.) * Statius, Achill. L. i. [ 306 ] Oh, strong against ourselves, and rashly bold ! No voice, as in the Hebrew fane of old, From Britain's centre to her utmost bounds, From parting ^ angels in sad accent sounds ; 450 Paine may blaspheme, Tone, Tooke, and Thelwall mourn, Our Ark "^ is still by hallow'd hands upborne ! p I tnist that Great Britain is yet firm, and that the guardians of her laws and constitution will stand bold, undaunted, and with deliberate valour. My allusion in the verse is this : After the profanation of The TEMPLE at Jerusalem, under the Roman Emperor Titus, v/e read (it is recorded by their own Historian) that the voices of guardian angels xverc heard at the dead of night, crying out through its inmost recesses, AlsnxSfiSjv- uf/.iv EvrivSiv, " Let us depart hence!" Seethe seventh bood of the Jewish War, by Josephus, p. 1282. Edit. Hudsoni Oxon. I recommend the perusal of the whole of that wonderful section (Chap. 5. L. 7.) The Historian, in some parts of it, is scarcely inferior in spirit, language, and sublimity, to .-Eschylus himself. Surely at this most awful hour when, I am almost tempted to say, the moral and the natural world seem to be breaking up together, when the most powerful European states and popu- lous cities have been convulsed or overthrown, can we hear, without secret emotion, and without a kindred horror, what the Historian calls the " Vu/Mix-av Txyf^xr6»> i»Aiflcy,tia; romQte patience and tranquillity in otber men, is all that we are con- cerned to know and to expose. He professes to write a moral work. It is miscellaneous and unconnected, whatever he may think. I would pre- mise there is a difFtrence in considering a moral and a mere metaphysical Enquiry. In the latter it is just and necessary to take in all the parts of a system to know its efficacy and apparent truth ; but in a moral work there is not the same necessity, and for this plain reason: Mankind are guided in their actions, not by system, but by single impulses; by detached maxims, by aphorisms, by sentences, which have frequently the force of whole volumes. Whatever impels to action singly and by itself, may be considered also apart, and held forth either to approbation or to censure. For this impor- tant reason I shall offer some passages from " The Enquirer, by William " Godwin." The book perhaps has been read very little ; but it is pub- lished and it may be read, and I am sure it ought to be criticised, not from its excellence or the ability of the writer, but from the subject matter. His first Chapter or Essay is, " Of awakening the Mind." He begins with so very wise a sentence, that we are naturally prepared for much instruction. I have indeed been told, that Mr. Godwin's mother, like little Isaac's in Sheridan's Duenna, used to call him " Little Solomon." What is this sentence? verbatim as follows: " If individuals were uni- " versally happy, the species would be happy!" Again. " When a child " is born, one of the earliest purposes of his institutor ought to be, to " awaken his mind, to breathe a soul into the, as yet unformed, mass," Whether the mass is the mind, or the mind the mass, and at what time the soul is to be breathed into the mind, is not quite clear ; but it is very instructive. Mr. Godwin also thinks, that " it is not the absurdest of C 310 ] Their colours gaudy, though but idly * spread. " pnrado::es to affirm, that tbc true object of juvenile education is to teach " no one thing in particular^ but (the reader will be rather surprised) to pro- " vide, against the age of Jtvc-aJid-tiventj, a mind -well regulated, active, " znd prepared to learn," It is to be remembered, that the general edu- cation of mankind is the object under consideration. If the reader's mind is not awakenedhy such an alarum ot /.onscnse, I think he must be deeply intranced, as fast as a modern watchman, or l\Ir. Godwin himself, when he wrote the chapter. Next comes Essay 2. " On the utility of talents." From this we learn, in Mr. Godwin's own words, that "The only complete protection *' against the appellation oifool, is to be the possessor of uncommon capa- " city;" and that " a self-satisfied., haf-witted fellow is the 7nost ridicu- " loits of all things." This is also very instructive, and lets us into the secret of Mr. Godwin's wits and his self-satisfaction. But I cannot think Mr. Godwin's instructions will " produce in his pupil or child" (if he has either) " one of the long-looliedfor saviours of the human race." It might perhaps produce another Anacharsis Cloots, the Orator of the human race. Then come " The Sources of Genius," in Essay -5. The senti- rnents are either so trite, or so absurd, or so wicked, that it is difficult to choose. One of them I must select. — Of the children of peasants, Mr. Godwin observes, " That at the age of fourteen the very traces of under- " standing are obliterated. They are enlisted at the crimping house of " oppression. They are brutifcdhy immoderate and uni-emitting labour. " Their hearts are hardened, and their spirits broken by all that they see, " all that they feel, and all that they look forward to. This is one of the ♦' Mos-r iNfERESfiNG poivfs OF viEiv'm which wfi consider the present " order of society I !! It is the great slaughter-house of genius, and of " mind. It is the unrelenting murderer of hope and gaiety, of the love of " reflection, and cf the love of life." (p. 16.) This is, I suppose, as this atrocious but foolish writer would call it, to promote patience and tran- quillity among mankind! Mr. Godwin has not yet done. Essay the 4th 1$ on the same Sources. Here he proves ioo much for himself. He C 311 ] Better be dull than wicked ; from the heart says, page 19. "There is an insanity among Pliilosophers, that has *' brought Philosophy itself into discredit." At the close of the eighteenth century, Mr. G. speaking of the suc- cession of events, and the manner in which we acquire ideas, delivers this sentence seriously and philosophically, with a view to be instructive as I suppose. " If any man was to tell me that if I pull the trigger of my gun " a snuift and beautiful horse will immediately appear starting from the " mouth of the tube i I can only answer, that I do not sxpect it^ and that " it is contrary to the tenor of my former experienee. But /can assign no " reason (ill) why this is an event intrinsically more absurd, or less likely " to happen than the event I have been accustomed to witness. It may be " familiarly illustrated to the unlearned reader, by remarking, that the " process of generation, in consequence of which men and horses are born, " has obviously no more perceivabl: correspondence with that event, than it " would have for me to pull the trigger of a gun !!!" I pass by the gross indecency of the illustration, that I may just hint, what it is to be a philosopher, and instruct the unlearned in the new way. I am ashamed to analyse any other opinions in this Essay ; but as Mr. G. is supposed by some to be " a man of talents" I suppose also that Mr. G. has the proper- ties of " A man of talents," as he himself has declared them to be; and that " He (himself) can recollect up to what period he was jejune, and up " to what period he was dull. He can call to mind the innumerable " errors of specul ation he has committed that would almost digrace ah " ideot," (p. 28.) For my own part, in the present instance, J have nothing to do with recollection. Mr. Godwin and his book are before me. So much for "A man of talents." I can not oppress the reader v/ith all his desolating, unfounded and silly opinions on all trades, professions, and occupations ; wholly subversive cf the order of society, and as I believe, of any supposeable order whatsoever of any regulated human society. But if the reader wishes to be amused with the acme or height of absurdity and wildness, I earnestly recommend to him to read Mr. God- win's account of " The walk of a man of talents, (Mr. Godwin himself, " for instance.) and of a man without talents^ (such %» myself) /rcw Tan- C 312 ] The life-springs issue, and their force impart. " ph Bar to Hyde Park Cor7icr." (p. 31 and 32.) It is really refreshing in the extreme. Nothing can be superior to it, but his " Gun of generation," just described, and his " self-tilling plough, without the intervention " of man," in his other book on Political Justice, vol. 2. p. 494. Ed. 8vo. I will give Mr. Godwin's own account of this famous Walk, especially as the public are accustomed to observe all kinds of men and women too between Temple Bar and Hyde Park Corner. " The chief ^omX. of difFer- " ence (says Mr. Godwin) between the man of talents and the man ivitb- " outy CONSISTS in the different nvays in which their minds are employed "during the same interval 111" (This is the proposition, ludicrous and absurd enough of Itself, but now let us hear the proof or \\\\MtVAX\on.') " They, (i. e. the man of talents and the man without) are obliged^ let us " suppose, to walk from Temple Bar to Hyde Park Corner. The dull " BIAN goes strait forward: he has so many furlongs to traverse. He " ol)se>-Tes if he meets atT}' of his acquaintance; he enquires respecting their " health and their family. He glances perhaps at the shops as he passes; " he admires the fashion of a buckle, and tlie metal of a tea urn. Ifh& " experience any fights of fancy (i. e. between Temple Bar and Hyde " Park Corner) they are of a short extent; of the same nature as the flight '•'• of a forest bird clipped of his wings, and condemned to pass the rest of " his life in z farm-yard. On the other hand, the man of talents " gives full scope to his imagination. He laughs c?2j cr/ej unindebted to *' the suggestions of the surrounding objects, his whole soul is employed 1" We are now to prepare for the employment of the whole soul of a man of talents from Temple Bar to Hyde Parke Corner, and the reader will ob' ' serve that he has enough to do. " He, (the man of talents) enters into " n/ce calculations ; he digests sagacious reasonings. (All this is done between Temple Bar and Hyde Park Corner.) " In imagination he de- " claims or describes, impressed with the deepest sympathy, ci" elevated " to the loftiest rapture. He passes through a thousand imaginary scenes, *' tries his courage, tasks bis ingenuity, and thus becomes gradually pre- " pared to meet almost any of the many-coloured events of human life. *' He consults, by the aid of memory the books he has read, (N. B. a man C 313 ] Better to write stark nonsense ; better preach " of talents never reaas in the streets,) ■a.nl \k projects others for the future " instruction and delight of mankind." (I always said Mr. Godwin him- self j6ro/ecf erf his book on Justice and this on Education in the streets; Sic tu triviis, indocte solebas.) " If he observes the passengers, (the dull " man only observes his acquaintance) he reads their countenances, con- " jectures their past history, and forms a superjicia! notion of their vjisdom " and follj^ their virtue or vice, satisfaction or misery. If he observes " the scenes that occur, it is with the eye of a connoiseur or an artist." (The dull man above minds only buckles and tea urns.) "•' Every object " is capable of suggesting to him a Volume of Refiections." (Mr. God- win must mean his own volume now before me, called Refections on man- ners, education, and literature.) " The time of these two persons in one " respect resembles ; it has brought them both to Hyde Park Corner. In " almost every other respect it is dissimilar." Here is the denouement or i Evpvixx of Philosopher Godifin^ and I have no doubt, he thinks it a dis- | covery in Terra jam congnita, as he will allow the ground to be between | Temple Bar and Hyde Park Corner. I cannot say the parallel is quite In i the manner of Plutarch; but it Is vcrj instructive. No man can ever be 1 again at a loss to know a man of talents, from a man without, in the I streets. I have of'cen been puzzled, till I met with this instructive voluine of Piefiections. When the Reader has considered this, and all the other parts I have f produced, and thousands which I have omitted, he v/ill remember that ?^ Mr. Godwin has set himself up for a Legislator, a Reformer, a Philoso- . | k pher, a destroyer of ancient prejudices, and a builder of new «ystems, a | guide through the darkness of the world by this new light, and he expects | the obeisance of mankind. I am sure, 1 cannot even conceive that any | man or woman will worship before such an image of democracy and ^ Tyranny, whoever may sound the cornet, sackbut, or dulcimer at the dedication. It is not an image of gold ; it is an image of iron mixed with miry claj. R r I [ 314 ] With silky "^ voice, and sacred flow'rs of speech, This it is to instruct the v.'orlJ, to reform it, to make it happy. Mr. G. comes in such a questionable shape, that I know not when to finish my questions. 1 might go on chapter by chapter in this manner. Let any man look at his opinions and the nature of his knowledge and his pretensions. I must copy two thirds (at the least) if I -wished to express, and to expose, all that is reprehensible in thi? volume, or wicked, or ridiculous,! or ^^^^^ beyord belief. I would hold up Mr. G's own propo- sitions, in his own words, to all persons who have understanding, and let them judg;e. I,et them fairly decide whether his impiety be not even less than his folly; and the weakness of his understanding more visible than the plunging violence of his exertions. " Dat operam ut cum ratione insaniat." Mr. Godwin is at best but a mongrel and an exotic. He is grafted upon the stock of Condorcet and the French rabble on French ground; but he has not even the raciness of that teeming soil. English minds will not long bear the grossness of such an imposition. We are better and earlier taught than he wishes we should be. Reason indeed disclaims Mr. God- win ; of eloquence, and good writing, (in spite of all his dogmatism) he knows nothing; and of the Belles Lettres nearly as much as can be attained, or rather picked up, in a modern academy in some London Square, or at Islington. But for Mr. Godwin we are to lay down Plato and Xenophon; for him we are to relinquish Aristotle and Tully ; to him Locke is to give way, and the s"mplicity and tempered humour of Mr. Addison is to be lost in Mr. Godwin's effusions. I really am fatigued with this man. Nothing but the importance of the consequences and effects of his wild, weak, wicked, and absurd notions, (I cannot dignify them with the name of principles or et^iu/fntTo.) could ha\e prevailed upon me to have wasted irretrievably so much of my time upon them. From the period when Philosopher Hume first garbled his neglected " Treatise on Human Nature," and published it in the form of Essays, and set up a kind of slop-shop of morality in the suburbs of Atheism, we have had nothing but Essays upon Essays, till — we all know the conse- quence. And last of all comes Philosopher GoDiyiy, and sets up his [ 315 ] In ^oh probation " for a Foundling's gown, 461 trumpery sbop too in the same quarter ; though he is willing to wait upon ladies and gentlemen at their own houses, with his " Gros paquet de " toile verte * et rouge " upon the principles and practice of the celebrated Fripier in Gil Bias, and with the same kind of justice. He presents you with his second-hand suits, with his " habits de drap tout uni," and his " habits de velours un peu passes," demands his soixante ducats, and then addresses you with the same cool effrontery: " Vous etes bien heureux " qu'on se soit addresse a pioi, plutot qu'a un autre. Graces au ciel, " j'exerce rondement ma profession: Je suis le seul Fripier qui ait *' de la morale."! So much for Philosopher Godwin, or Le Philoso- phe Fripier, malgre sa morale 1 To the learned world in particular (if they have ever drudged through the works of Mr. Godwin as I have done) I will address a few words from the second book of the Pyrrhonic Institutions of Sextus Empiricus, as applicable to William Godavin, after all the observa- tions I have made on his writings. " E^ouiv 3<' » TON ANGmiTON «. TOYTON ^iXKfivxi Ti XTTo Tuv u?.Xu)i Zuuv, Kcti EIAIKPINQS N0H2AI '* dvvri-cm one's oum self. Yet the town is patient: " Marcus dixit '\\ " ita est." But I will not say so. Had this been done merely by the 51 Booksellers, or by the whole ivorshipful Company of Stationers, it would V have remained without notice from me. It would have been an edition made nv'th a pair of Scissors^ nothing more. But at the end of the Advertisement to this edition I find these words: " For the rest of the " notes (except those by Mr. Pope and Dr. Warburton) I am answer- " able. JosKPH Warton." When the illustrious friend of Pope, W^illiaji Warburton, (sublii-ne even in his exorbitance, and dignified in sagacity and erudition,) condescended to become an Editor, I sliould have preferred reprinting his edition as it stood. But I am indeed ashamed of the present edition as it is now offered to the public. If Dr. Warton had neither time, nor i spirits, nor industry, nor leisure, nor incl'nation, he should not have un- j dcrtaken a ivork so important to the world. But as their is no other new I edition to be had of an elegant form, type and paper, (and this is very pretty) many persons will desire to have it and I am sure I will not refuse it a place in my library. : ff See Dr. Warton's personal notes on Pope and Warburton passim ^ througlu ut th.e v.ork, splenetic in tlie extreme. [ 323 ] Nor e'en the Bard's deformity can 'scape, " His pictur'd person and his Ubeird ^ shape ;" g Poets are often prophets. Pope little thought that, fifty years after his death, a learned Editor would revive some imputed trash, (perhaps) not his own, and actually give to the malignant curiosity of some folks, " His libelled person and his pictured shape." (Prol. to Pope's Satires, v. 353.) It is strange that Mr. Gibbon and Mr. Pope should have the same fate. The figure of Mr. G has been presented to the world and to posterity by his friend Lord Sheffield (See Mr. G's Posthu- mous Miscellanies. 4to. Vol. i.) and Mr. Pope's contemptible appearance by the kindness of his editor. I have many and great objections to this edition ; but I shall only state a few. An edition of Pope is a f.iir and a very proper subject of criti- cism. I think the title page contemptuous: " With notes and iUustra- " tions by J Warton. D. D. and others." To include William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, and author of the Divine Legation, under the title of others, required on assurance equal at least to the dilettante spirit which too frequently prevails in Dr. Warton's comments. In this instance, as he says of the great Samuel Johnson, " temulentus videtur." Mr. Pope himself said to Dr. Warburton, " No hand can set " my works in so good a light, or so well turn their best side to the day *' as jour own." Upon which Dr. Vv^arton remarks: '' Without incurring, " 1 hope, the censure of being a short-sighted and malevolent critic, I " venture to say that our yluthor's fond expectation of his commentator's " setting his works in the best light, was extremely ill-founded."* I believe Mr. Pope v/ill be found the best judge of his own interest. Dr. Warton may remember these lines: " Critics I saw, that other names deface, " And fix their own, with labour, in their place ; " Their own, like others, soon their place resign'd, " Or disappeared, and lf:ft the first behind." * Pope. Warton's Edit. Vol. 9. p. 377. C 324 ] Ah, better to unlearn'd oblivion hurl'd, Such was the inscription in a Temple, from -which it will be difficult to erase the name of William Warburton, and substitute the name of Joseph Warton. I have no personal partiality for Warburton ; he was long before my time. Nor have I the honour (such I should indeed esteem it) of an acquaintance with Bishop Hurd, his venerable friend and compeer. But I was born to admire erudition and genius, and to vindicate them when they are insulted. Dr. Warton's life of Pope is not well written as to the matter or the manner. Tlie style is defective and often vulgar. I shall Instance a pas- sage or two. The perpetual vulgarism of the term " our author." — *' Dennis pursued our author in bitter invectives, against every work he " gradualj published." p. i8. " After arriving at eminence by so many '' capital compositions, our author, &c. occ. — p. 24. " Whicli, as an " uncommon curiosity, one would have been glad to have beheld." p. 11. " Dr. Warburton's defence of the Essay on Man ultimately got him a " vjife and a bishopric." p. 45. " Into what a 7nass has he raised and " expanded so slight a hint.'" p. 21. Dr. W. is fond of " delicious lines, " and deicious passages," 8cc. I cannot specify more of them in this note. He commends Voltaire too often and too much. He is also per- petually praising the German Professor Heyne, who has insulted our Jlngiish universities and public schools in his writings. Yet nve have re- published his Virgil and all his ponderous dissertations. Professor Heyne was originally a mechanic : he was not born with taste, and he never acquired elegance. His learning is vfithout discernment. More embodied dulness or a heavier mass of matter tlian his Virgil I never saw. The shrine of the Poet is indeed loaded with offerings, but it is illuminated with rays from Gottingen. — I must observe further. It was very bold and very indecent in the Rei'erend Dr. Warton, to publish Pope's Imitation of the Second Satire of the first Book of Horace. Pope never * printed it in his v/orks himself; Dr. Warburton refused to * Dr. W. indeed says, vol. i. Life, p. 56. " Pope sufferedh\% friend " Dodsley to print it as his writing in one edition, izmo." I never saw it, but can believe the Doctor. Pope was undoubtedly ashamed of it» [ 525 3 Than give to Perry ^ what I owe the world; admit it: no common edition -whatsoever of Pope has admitted it. It Is printed only in a vulgar appendix in two volumes. But if Mr. Pope had actually described every nymph in the seraglio of " the pious Needham," must the Reverend Dr. Warton publish such a poem, merely because Mr. Pope had v/rittcn it? — This sixth volume of Dr. Warton's edition should be reprinted, and this scandalous poem, and some other parts of it, omitted. With the Commentators f on Shakspeare, Pope, Sec. of modern days, there is no such thing as an invocation to '■'■Inter miss a Venus;" for the Goddess has actually deserted her beloved Cyprus, " In bos Tota ruens." (See Horace for the rest.) " Te, Venus Regifia, pio vocantum " Thure Wartoni et Stephani decoras " Transfer in sedes." I have indeed no doubt the poem is by Pope. As to mere wit and point in the imitation, it is perhaps the best. But what then? Mr. Pope's works are distinguished for peculiar correctness in taste and morals^ and are intended for the most general and the most unqualified perusal. Dr. W. might as well have printed Mr. E's Geranium in his comments, or any other light and vigorous sally of a very young man, forgiven as such and forgotten, as the following lines, if the reader will believe they are printed in Pope's Works; " Or when a tight neat girl will serve the turn, " In errant pride continue * * * ? " I'm a plain man, whose maxim is profest, " The thing at hand is of all things the best." Vol. 6. p. 5 I. — See also p. 49, worse still. I, though an anonymous layman, refuse to print the passage in fully which the Reverend Doctor Warton has printed and sanctioned with his name as Editor of Pope's Works. " Nobis non licet esse tarn disertisy " qui musas colimus severiores." If Mr. Pope had often written tbus^ his works must have been consigned to the library of a brothel. This t Seethe P. of L. Dial. i. [ 326 ] And idly busy, in my choice perplext, edition of Pope's works will be sent into every part of the civilized world. This will be so; and can it be said, that I sj^eak withoiit reason? Surely I am not pleading for public decency in vain. The Doctor at least should hOcve dedicated this sixth volume to the Ladi'.s---of the Commons. To what other ladies could 1 present this volume? Yet so it is. " Doctors " rush in, where laymen fear to tread." But because Pope called this, Sober advice from Horace, the Doctor thought their C( uld be no harm in it. Dr. W. observes, that " the first step in the literary, as well as in the political v.orld is of the utmost consequence," &c. Pope's Life, p. 14. I would remind the Doctor of the last step in both these worlds, which he seems to have forgotten. I think th.at the political principles in the notes are frequently false, and in may instances dangerous. I cannot copy whole notes; but I wish any sensible man would refer to the passages and examine them. If they are right, in such a world as this and in such a state of society as the present, I will give up the whole of my objections. Dr. W. tells us first from Sir Thomas Browne, "That there is a certain " list of vices conuttitted in all ages, and declaimed against by all " authors, which will last as long as human nature, or digested into com- " mon places, may serve for any theme, and never be out of date till " doomsd'iy." (Vol. 4. p. 318.) Instead of a spirited vindication of inoral satire, Dr. W. laughs at the eifects of it, and very unadvisedly seems to discourage even the endeavours after a reformation of manners. IF I am as!;ed how? I answer thus: Dr. Warton tells us, from a certain JVitj " Mount in the pulpit with Bourdaloue, or take the pen witli La *' Bruyere, it is only so much time lost ; the world will go on as before." The morality of Voltaire cannot surely be the morality of Dr. Vv'^arton. He lastly informs, us, that Pope, in those Dialogues, " exhibits many " strong marks of petulance, party-spirit, and self-imix)rtance, and of " assuming to himself the character of Censor-general." (vol. 4. p. 345O As if in ansv/cr to tliis unjust and outrageous character, by a singular anticipating s'igacity. Pope seems himself to have replied to the Doctor, in bis 07vn concluding note to these Dialogues, in language, sentiment, and dignity beyond all praise. [ 327 ] Throw years of labour on a single text, 490 I may add, that if this mode of aryuing against ever)- endeavour to reform the manners of mankind and recall them to virtue and Avisdom, is to be adoJttcL we are indeed in the high road to ruin and revolution. Fortunately there is as much sense as tiiere is policy, or truth, in this in- discreet and dangerous doctrine. I might as well say; " There is always " a certain list or catalogue of diseases, infirmities and miseries attendant *' upon every human being in every stage of his earthly existence, and " which will appear, disquiet, and lay waste the species in all ages. The " art of medicine never can wholly remove them, and they will ncjcr be " out of date till doomsday. What is the use of the physician and his skill? " We should never apply to him, but suffer silently, till our dissolution " takes place, without any attempt to remove the pain or miser}' which " fiesh is heir to, even w^hen it is in our power to mitigate or perhaps to " cure th^m." I really cannot pass doctrines like these without animad- version, especially when they are either recommended, or approved, by a Doctor of the Church, whose office is to declare, pronounce, and enforce the doctrine of moral reformation. He should not forget the constitu- tion of the natural and moral world. " Good is set against evil, and life " against death. So look upon the works of the Most High; there are tivo " and two, one against another," I feel I am right in submitting such remarks as tViese to the public. As to political sentiments, I own I was surprised to read many notes, bu^ particularly these words in vol. 4. p. 3^3, on the compliment Virgil paid to Cato. " A much honester passage " (says Dr. Warton) is that in " which Virgil had the courage to represent his hero assisting the Etrus- " cans 'n\ punishing * their tyrannical king, in the 8th book of the iCneid. " V. 424." " Er^-o omnis furiis surrexit Etruria uistls, " Regem ad supplicium prffisenti marte reposcunt." Dr. W. knovv's that Julius Csesar was not Mezentius. I am sure the Doctor cannot approve and recom.mend this passage, which has been in * Punishing is the modern democratical word for murdering. [ 328 ] (Alike to me, encas'd in Grecian bronze, the mouth of every modern Reyicide from the murderers of Charles I. to the murderers of Louis XVI. But why perpetually call out these passa- ges to public notice? Why dwell upon the " morgue et grandeur des " Souverains," the authorised type of a Lion, Sec. See. (Vol. 4. p. 330.) in times like these? We all love libercy as well as Dr. W^. but a wise and good man discerns the signs of the times. These are the uniler- murmurings of a spurious, bastard, half-republicanism. I like them JlOt. I write with indignation against such an edition of such a poet. Does any Husband, or Father, think of cautioning his wife, his daughter, or his son, against any part whatsoever of Pope's works? If this edition becomes general, it will be necessary to do so. 1 have no personal dis- like to Dr. Warton: my business with him is solely, as Editrr of Pope. Nothing can justify him. Am I to spare public criticism, because of Dr. Warton's age, (is it in the title page?) or the variety and extent of his learning? Surely not. They are both strong against the deed. Dr. Warton's own words of himself are, " I am answerable.'' Pope was in his hands in double trust. First, as he is the most moral and correct poet of the nation, the consistence of his fame and character should have been preserved, even by the partiality of an editor. Secondly Dr. W. stood bound to his country, from his sacred profession, jiot to contaminate the rising youth of either sex, by such filthiuess and rank obscenity as would disgrace the vilest magazine. By this he hr^s committed a great offence against the public, which he cannot repair. I am sure I have spoken nothing of Dr. W's private character. But his edition is open to me, and to the whole world. It challenges avf notice: and executed as it is, it demands the very spirit of Satire. " Euse velut stricto Lucilius ardens infremuit." The very indecent chapter of " The Double Mistress," in this scandalous Sixth VoMme^ should have been omitted, in the Memoirs of Scriblerus. (Vol. 6. p. 150.) In the Second Volume there are a few trumpery, vulgdv copies of verses, which disgrace the pages. I am ashamed of the low taste which could suffer them to appear before the public. I aguui and again, ,[ 329 ] Koran or Vulgate, Veda, Priest, or Bonze) disc! lim any personal harshness cr severity on the character of Dr. War- ton, with wlioni I am net even acquainted. All I call for loudly is, thrtt this sixth volume should suffer what every catalogue yearly informs ms poor HoUingshead once suffered. I never before heard that tenderness Wds due to ); *' tlian nve do (or than the Doctor will hereafter do) " Tot? y.iv ofi^xT^ istv, TO AE TETPATON ty.iro rinoiojp Atyxi. xrX.\" Vol. 4. page 55. Which last is the motto to this Fourth and last Dialo,;^ue of the P. of L. I can indeed easily conceive, that after Dr. Joseph Warton has read these remarks, he will shrink back like the child in Homer, from the grey-goose plume nodding \ on the head of the ■writer of this note, and prefer luxury and repose on the deep bosoms of his •well-zoned nurses, the London Booksellers. To them and to their consol- ations I leave him. If 1 have written at large on this subject, it is because T thought it important. Nothing is intended j&erjono//)' to Dr. Joseph Warton in this note. Tt is only directed against the Fditor of Po'e's -aiorks ; and whoe- ver, with the character of a scholar, had published them in this manner •would have received the same strong reprobation from me. * Quint. Lib. 10. G. i. j Quint. Lib. 20. C. i. \ /^iivoi «57' «xfeT«fT Since Walpole ^ play'd the virtuoso's trade, Bade sober truth revers'd for fiction pass. And mus'd o'er Gothic toys through Gothic glass ? Since states, and words, and volumes, all are new. Armies have skeletons, '' and sermons ''' too; operation, there have not been above ^^'c^ or six of them which have, as it is pi etended, reproduced their beads." s Nosftsvtfc kciSo^Ztxi. St. Paul. t The late ingenious Earl of Orford, Horace Walpole. The spirit of inquiry which he introduced was rather frivolous, though pleasing, and his Otranto Ghosts have propagated their species with unequalled fecunditj^ The spawn is in every novel shop. V The language of the House of Commons. It should have been in other terms. " Sunt lacrymse rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt." Sorrow is sacred, and should have the language of consolation even from the lips of a Statesman. w See Claude'sEssay on a Sermon with an Appendix, containing one hundred Skehto?is of Sermons, Sec. By 'Charles Simeon, M. A. Fellow of King's College Cambridge. 1796. — This is as ludicrous and ab?urd in a Divine, as the term is ofTeuiive and unfeeling in parliament during the miseries of war. [ 337 ] So teach our Doctors warlike or divine, Simeon by Cam, or Wyndham on the Rhine. 5 50 Where is Invention? is the modern store, The same that old Chaldsea knew before; All that the Gallic sage, with ill-starr'd wit, Kens from his ancient "" telescopic pit? AUTHOR. All is not lost : ■' the spirit shall revive : Lowth yet instructs, and Blayney's ^ labours live ; X See the " Orig'ine des Decouvertes attribuees aux Modernes" 4to par Monsieur Dutens. 1797. The work is rather entertaining, but by no means encouraging, if the Frenchman did not generally substitute conjecture for proof. He observes page 130, in his tenth chapter, " that " the bottom of a pit, from whence we may see the stars at noon-day, " may be imagined to be the primitive telescope.^' Mr. Dutens may sit in calm contemplation at the bottom of bis ancient pit, and from that natural primitive telescope see whatever best pleases his fancy. For my own part I prefer the prospect from a cliff with the assistance of modern ingenuity, whether invented by Democritus or Dollond. y I have in various parts of this poem spoken of those writers, who have done honour to Great Britain. It is not indeed possible for me to name all those who, even now, from that constellation of ability and talents, which has been or may yet be displayed; and which Plutarch might call, in language somev/hat lofty, (I think in his Treatise de Placitis P'lilosopborum) the IloXAwy xxi crvJi^uv Atrnf^v crv^.YiXoii SYNAirASMON. z I'he deeply learned Translator and CommiCntator on Jeremiah, See. Sec. B. Blaney, D. D. Regius Professor of Hebrew and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford. Uu [ 338 ] With all who wander by the sacred fount, (x\ chosen band!) encirchng Sion's mount, Fast by the fanes and oracles of God, 55^ And mark, with King, ^ where waves his awful rod. a As the French Revolution and its Consequences must occupy and alarm the cboughts of every man who reflects, and stands in awe of the misery and desolation which have been brought upon the earth, and of the judgments which may be yet impending over Europe, I th'mk I may be excused by many persons for the note which I am now writing. But first I recommend to all those who either ignorantly, or inconsiderately, or im- piously, or presumptuously deny, reject, or vilify the Scriptures, to pass it over entirely. To them it will be foolishness. They have neither part nor lot in such a discussion. But under this restriction, and under this impression, I am inclined to extend the subject a little, and would call the public attention with much earnestness to some few parts of a book printed in the beginning of the year 1788 in 4to, intitled " Morsels of " Criticism, tending to illustrate some passages in the holy scriptures upon " philosophical principles and an enlarged view of things: by Edward " King, Esq. E.R.A.S. printed for Robson and Robinson, 1788." The I title of it is objectionable on everv account, open to ignorant ridicule, and ^ unadvised; but had a second edition of the work been called for, it might I easily have been altered. I The author of it appears to me, ( I speak from his book) to be a gen- I tleman of extensive erudition and ingenuity, and of accurate biblical I knowledge, perhaps a little too fond of theory, and sometimes a little I whimsical in his application of natural philosophy ; but never without a serious intention and a profound piety. He never forgets the nature of the subjects he is treating. He seems to approach the sacred writings Avith that prostration of mind, that distrust of his own powers, and that self-abasement, which are required of those who desire to look into the hidden things of God. I speak of the spirit by which he appears to me to be conducted, and (I repeat it) I speak from the ivork alone. I shall con- [ 339 ] The truth of evidence, the moral strain, tend for no interpretations given by Mr. King"; but I propose them to public consideration. I never observed more caution and more wariness than in this writer. We know, that it is declared, that " the, book of Prophecy is sealed *' till the time of completion.'' But tlie events of the world, of the Chris- tian world, are so awful and so alarming as to induce us to believe, that they happen not without the immediate providence and decree of the SuPRKME Being against the superstition and corruptions of man, and for the fulfilling of the preparation for those times, when *' the Kingdoms of " this world must (in defiance of all hmnan policy ) become the kingdoms *' of God and of his Christ!" The direct and circumstantial evidence for Christianity is Uideed veiy extensive, and it is also so minute and clear in many parts of it, and so cogent, as to form the strictest argument, v/hich a matter of fact can admit as a proof. But exclusive of its doctrines and specific precepts, there is one point in which this Revelation can never be sufficiently con- sidered, and which without study never will be comprehended, or even imperfectly conceived. Without seriousness, it should never be approach- ed. It is this: " The general design of ScRiPfURE., considered as histori- " cal^ may be said to be, to give us an account of the World in this one *' single view, as God's world! by which it appears essentially distin- *' guished from all other books^ except such as are copied from it."* But on this idea it is not my province to enlarge ; I mean only to present it as the grand, lummous, leading, and introductory idea on this awful subject. I would only conduct the reader into a safe and proper train of thinking, and leave him to pursue his own meditation. 1 have also read words, which are deemed apocryphal^ but worthy of the higliest power. '■'•All •' these things were made Through me alone, and through none other: " cr ME ALSO SHALL THET RE ENDED, AND Br NONE OTHER I .' l"-\ Such are the words. I will therefore ciFer to persons so disposed some passages from, this w.ork, written several years before the present events had taken place in * Butler's Analogy, part 2, ch. 7. t Esdras, B. 2, ch. 6. v. 7. [ 340 ] Nor Hurd has preach'd, nor Paley taught m vain; Europe, cr could be conceived to be possible. I am not speaking in this note of any other parts or interpretations in this work of Mr. King. I am as little disposed to superstition and enthusiasm as any man living; and I do not give them as additions to the idle prophecies and random conjectures which have appeared in such numbers. I have too much reverence for the reader and for myself on such a subject. Mr. King offers them only as his interpretations of Scripture, submitted to a calm discussion. But the circumstance which peculiarly strikes me is this; that they were written ivithout any specific reference to any nation in Europe, but simply and in general, that such times and such events might be ex- pected in some part of the Christian world. The first passage I shall present, is a part of Mr. King's explanation of the 24th chapter of St. Matthew's gospel, principally of the 29th verse.* In regard to which he says, " We may remark, if the words are to be un- " derstood, as spoken merely emblematically, then the images made use " of are such as are well known to predict (consistently with their con- " stant use in many other parts of prophecy) a great destruction and almost " annihilation of many of these lawful powers which rule on earth, how- " ever beneficial any of them may be to the earth ; and a dreadful " LESSENING OF fHE DIGNITT AND SPLENDOUR OF ALL GREATNESS, " AND A SUBVERSION OF ALL GOOD ORDER AND CIVIL GOVERNMENV. " Than which nothing can be expected more formidable. Dreadful in- " deed must be a Time, (if such an one is to come) ivhen men are let " loose upon each other, possessed of all their present improvements end " advantages, but unrestrained either by law and civil government, or by " conscience and good principle ; scorning the admonition and autliorit\'- of " those who ought to maintain justice, and assisted by the more rude and " barbarous parts of the world, whom they shall find too ready to encrease " the universal UPROAR." Page 262-3 — At the conclusion of the Remarks on the Revelations, ch. 16, v. 13 and 14, he says: "iZere while * Of course I refer the reader to the book itself for the tenor of the whole arQ^ument. [ 341 ] Sociiius droops, and baffled Priestley flies, " we maintain clue reverential/ear, our interpretation must end. Nothing " but the events themselves, ivhen they come to puss, can riglitly explain "the rest. And they will certainly speak loudlt enough for them- *' selves as those before have clone. Only I must just remark, that it •* seems, as \i persecution and the horrid influences of superstition.) and of " ignorance, and of barbarism were allowed to produce their dire effects, " during the first part of the period of the time described under the Vials; " and as if, Ihreligiqn, vaniVt, and a foTAt ivant of all serious " PRINCIPLE, AND A MISAPPLICATION, OF THE REFINEMENTS OF CIVIL- " izaTion, were to be allowed to produce Their mischief also at the " latter end of that period I" page 453. See also, p. 456 and 457, which I could wish to copy, the words are so important, and the style so digni- fied. In the conclusion of which Mr. King observes, on the finishing of the mystery of God, "that as there should be false Christs and false prophets, " so there should be also a dreadful subversion of all good government and " order, and that men should be let loose upon each other, in defiance of all civil " poiver and just rule, and of legal restraint." He subjoins some words too remarkable to be passed over.* " It will be happy for those who shall " live some years hence, if they can prove me guilty of a mistake in this " point. I speak and write vjith cautious reverence and fear; acknow- " ledging that I am liable to error, and by no means pretending to prophecy: " but still apprehending myself bound not to conceal the truth, where any " matter appears to be revealed in Holy Scripture ; and especially when " the bringing an impeiiding denunciation to Yight, f if it be truth J maybe '' an iiwial warning and caution to m-Any, and prevent their becom- " ING ACCESSARY TO THE EVIL."t * Page 461. t The following passage from the great Historian Josephus, on the in- attention and ignorance of man in regard to the divine predictions, is re- markable. The words are these : [ 342 ] And at the strength of Horsley ^ shrmks, and dies ^ I must own, 1 am so struck with these passages, that ivithout any kjiowlcdge of this most distinguished Layman but from his ivork^ I could ahiiost address him in the sublime apostrophe of one of the most eloquent Fathers of the ancient Church; AvipaiTn m Gm, Tria-n Sspx-rov scoit otx-ovai/.i Tuv ra 0g« f^va-rripiiav, Avip irti&vfAioiv ruv TH Trvivf^XTti, KoiXeo 2s oTvXov xen WiVfAccroi icciTeiyuyiov."* Thus fdid this very learned and most pious man, in a strain of serious, temperate, and impressive eloquence, deliver his opinion and his interpre- tation. They will stand before us i^nd our posterity, as the memorial of that lonely wisdom, that reverential application of the divine word, and of that silent dignity, which can only be attained by a retirement (at intervals) from the world which God hath made to Him alone, and by that worship in spirit and in trvith, which when joined to human erudi- tion and to the sober cultivation of the understanding, will produce fruit UNTO LIFE. But I conclude; humbly acknowledging and deeply feeling myself wholly unequal, and altogether unworthy, to speak of the awful sublimity of such subjects. My office can be but miaisterlal; it is mine only to lead the aspirant to the door of the temple, and to retire. b The Riglit Rev. Samuel Horsley, Bishop of Rochester. In my opinion, the controversy so ably maintained by this learned prelate against the Heresiarch Priestley, is his peculiar praise. Bishop Horsley T£ fle< ytvio-Soii -TrptXiyii' t»v ts tmv xvl^fuvo^'j AFNOIAN KAI AIIIZTIAN, lip' i? yoiv TDoioiiv sniS-^crotv ruv aTtcZvi-ofi.ivojv, AfpTAAKTOI TE TAIS STMOPAI2 nAP£AO0HSAN, aj x/n^i^avov xvreig avxi tjjv £| oivruiv Joseph. Antiq. Jud. Lib. lo. S. 3. p. 449. Ed. Hudson. Oxon. * Gregor. Naz. Orat. 19. (Op. Edit. Prunxl. p. 286. Paris 1609.) It was pronounced before the great Basil, when seated upon the archl- episcopal throne of Cxsarea. (A. D. circ. 374O fin the beginning of the year 1788. Mr. K's book was probably ■written some j'ears before it v.-as offered to the public. [ 3^3 ] Nor second stand in theologic fame Sagacious Hey, ^ and Rennell's '^ learned name, And Douglas, ^ hail'd afar from earliest youth Great victor in the well-fought field of truth. To me, all heedless of proud fashion's sneer, 569 Maurice ' is learned, and Wilberforce ^ sincere, reminds me of the celebrated Divine, Charles Leslie. He has often the same strength, the same acuteness, and sometimes the same coarseness of manner. But the argument is cogent, and the arms are irresistible. In theological controversy, Charles Lesl'e and Bishop Horsley always appear to me, " jEaeidoe similes, Vulcaniaque arma capessunt." c The Rev. John Hey, D. D. late Norrlsian professor in the Uni- versity of Cambridge. The arrangement, the learning, the accuracy the extent of his researches in theology, are conspicuous in his laborious and important work, entitled " Lectures, Sec." read as professor. d The Rev. Thomas Rennell, D. D. Author of a very able, learned, and eloquent Apology for the Church of England^ preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, before the sons of the Clergy, May lo, 1796. e The Right Rev. John Douglas, D. D. Bishop of Salisbury, a Prelate whose erudition, penetrating sagacity, and well-directed efforts have discovered and overthrown many strong holds of literary imposture. ' The names of Lauder and Bower are only remembered to their Infamy. — The Bishop's Treatise on Miracles, called " The Criterion," should be reprinted. Why is it not again presented to the public? (Oct. 1797.) | t The Reverend Thomas Maurice, Author of " Indian Antiquities, " in 6 vols. 8vo." and of " the History of Hindostan, its Arts and its " Sciences, as connected with the History of the other great Empires of " Asia, during the most ancient periods of the world." Vol. i. 4to. is only yet published. The public are well acquainted with their merits. But it is with the most serious concern, that I read what Mr. Maurice has declared in his dedication, that ^'■Tbis History commenced under the [ 344 ] (Though on his page some pause in sacred doubt) " patronage of the Ceurt of East India Directors, is dedicated to them, " in bumble hopes of their continued support of a work, Avhich must sink " v/iTuouT THAT * SUPPORT.'* Learning has felt a degradation from these words. I am not to be told, that researches like these of Mr. Mau- rice are liable to the caprice of erudition, and of uncertain application, and that his style, matter, and manner are frequently too luxuriant and diffuse. The foundation of a temple may be strong, though every orna- ment on the pillars may not be just. — (November, 1797.) V See "A Practical View of the prevailing religious system of Pro- *' fessed Christians in the higher and middle classes in this country, con- »' trasted with real Christianity." By William Wilberforce, Esq. Mem- ber of Parliament for the county of York. — Some very serious persons have their doubts as to t'..t theological principles of this work in their full extent, and 1 fear it is too rigid and exclusive in Its doctrines. There is •also too much of a sectarian language, Avhich cannot be approved. But of the intention, virtue, learning, and patriotism of the eloquent and well in- formed Senator, I have the most honourable and decided opinion. His work Is vehement, Impassioned, urgent, fervid. Instant ; though sometimes copious to prolixity, and In a few parts even to tediousness. Perhaps It Is the production of an orator rather than of a writer. I should think It had been dictated. Throughout the v,'hole, there Is a manly fortitude of thought, firm and unshrinking. But for my own part, for obvious rea- sons, I dislike the term, '■^Real Christianity," as exclusively applied to any set of propositions drawn from the Gospel. If I regard external cir- cumstances, I would not indeed take theology from Athanaslus or Bos- suet, morality from Ssneca, or polirics from Lansdown or Sieves. But I will own, that from a scrutiny Into the public and private character of Mr. V/ilberforce, I am inclined to think that his enemies would be forced into an acknowledgment, (as it is recorded in the words of a * The East India Conip;iny ?ubscribed tor a certain number of copies. This is not patronage. [ 545 ] As Gisborne ^ serious, and as Pott ^ devout. Nor yet ungrac'd may Sulivan "^ remain, Serene in fancy, nor in science vain; But still, though oft his various works I scan, I quit the volume, when I find the man. prophet,) that " they can find no occasion against this man, except " they find it against him concerning the law of his God." A reader j of his work must be good or bad in the extreme, who may not receive some advantage from such a composition. I am indeed un- worthy to praise it, and I feel myself so. If I may descend from divinity to mere philosophy, I shall add that if Mr. Wilberforce proceeds and acts upon the sublimity of such principles, we may apply to him the expressions drawn from the fountain of Plato by his most enthusiastic votary, Plotinus. " Ap' iavra f^iTarixiyii, A!;^«jM9v I'^ivotVt Eo«|e» Apas 0' Aiccvccroii; Ei)Tct Kcti (piifAtvov v/^votg Qiiiv diooiti*' Pind. Isth. O S. C 351 ] Whence is that groan? no more Britannia sleeps. But o'er her lost Musseus "^ bends and weeps. religion, and society, not the details of the war and its conduct) I say, with this allowance for the feverous frailty of the passions, and the taint of morality in all our best actions, I would record in lasting characters, and in our holiest and most honourable temple, the departed Orator of England, the Statesman, and the Christian, Edmund Burke I " Remune- " ratio ejus Cum Altissimo!'^ p I wish, (and every Etonian and every member of the University of Cambridge of good character will join me heart and hand) that this great disinterested, virtuous, and consummate Scholar and Physician, now by learning and religion conducted with dignl'-y to the close of life, may be known by this affectionate verse to all posterity, "T2»tf " lov'd Iapis on the banks of Cam." Diis DiLECTE Senex, te Jupiter sequus oportet Nascentem, et miti lustra.rit lumine Phoebus Atlantisque nepos; neque enim nisi charus ab ortu Diis siipcris poterit magno favisse poetse. Hinc longseva viret lento sub store Senectus, Nondum deciduos seruans tibi frontis honores, Ingeniumqiie vigens, et adiiltum mentis acumen. Ergo Ego te Clius et magni nomine Phoebi Manse Pater, jubeo longum salvere per ^evum! Milton ad Mansum. I know not what should restrain me on this occasion. For the eternal honour of the University of Cambridge, in this our age, to the following names which I have selected with the severest judgement of which I am capable, Grat, Hurd, Ogden, Balguy, and Bryant, I will add the name of her Dilectus lapis, — Robert Glynn! TaNTO HOMINI FIDUS, fANfAE VIRTuriS AM AfOR ! (Nov. 1797.) q The Rev. William Mason, M. A. Author of Elfrida, Caractacus, Mussus, a Monody on Mr. Pope, The English Garden, Sec. Sec. &c. Sec. C 352 ] Lo, every Grecian, every British Muse Scatters the recent flow'rs, and gracious dews, Where Masoji Ues; he sure their influence felt, And in his breast each soft affection dweh, That love and friendship know; each sister art, With all that colours, and that sounds impart. All that the sylvan theatre can grace, All in the soul o^ Mason '•^ found their place !^' 610 Low sinks the laurell'd head; in Mona's land I see them pass, 'tis Mador's drooping band, To harps of woe in holiest obsequies, ^' In yonder grave ^ they chaunt, our Druid lies! He '■ too, whom Indus and the Ganges mourn, The glory of their banks, from Isis torn. In learning's strength is fled, in judgment's prime, In science temp'rate, various, and sublime ; To him familiar every legal doom. The courts of Athens, or the halls of Rome, 620 Or Hindoo Vedas taught; for him the muse Distill'd from every flow'r Hyblsean dews ; r Sir Wtlliam Jonks. One of the Judges of the Supreme Court ef Judicature in Bengal, S;c. Sec. £<.t. Sec. [ 353 ] Firm, when exalted, in demeanour grave, Mercy and truth were his, he iov'd to save. His mind collected; at opinion's shock yoiies stood unmov'd, and from the Christian rock, Coelestial brightness beaming on his breast. He saw the Star, and worshipp'd in the East. Tbou too OcTAvius, that dread hour must feel. Nor eloquence, nor wit, nor patriot zeal, 630 Nor piety sincere without the show, Nor every grace Pierian pow'rs bestow From Pure Ilyssus and the Latian shore, What Sv/ift, or great Erasmus felt before, May save thee ! — yet, yet long, so friendship calls, May guardian angels hover round the walls, Where love and virtue fix their blest abode. Friend of thy country, servant of thy God ? ^ s In this political and depressing' period, it is some comfort to divert the attention for a moment to such characters of literar)' and poetical excellence as The Rev. William Mason, and Sir William Jones; and to be able to add my own Octavius. Octavius Optimus, are the legiti- mate words of Horace. With an allowance for the partiality of friend- ship, (and who that ever felt such an affc;ction will refuse to grant it) and with sorrow that now he must neither be understood nor named, I assert with truth, that Octavius is formed to move among the highest and the foremost in the state, though contented and submitting to act in a station, Y V [ 354 ] OcTAvius yes, it is, it shall be mine, With praise appropriate '' still to grace my line ; 640 certainly not without honour, yet inadequate to his faculties. ^^Exoniet atatis nostra gloriam /" b It is pleasing and satisfactory to think, that all books which are absolutely required, to strengthen, exalt, purify, and inform the understan- ding, and consequently to correct and enlarge the affections and the heart, are of easy access and of easy price. With the luxury of learning and the modern elegance of types and paper, I have nothing to do, but earnestly to deprecate all needless extravagance and brilliant folly in nenv publications^ if they are designed to be of service to the world, and to be purcha.sed. The august and sublime monuments of religion and of genius may be adorned without blame, or rather with great commendation. When the Bible, Shakspeare, and Milton ajjpear in all the splendour of typogra- phic art, and the magnificence of decoration from the pencil, who does not feel a secret pride in the honour reflected on the discerning liberality of his country? Such books may be considered as typographical pictures of eminent artists. Pictures however are not necessary for the closet of a student ; but they may adorn the museum of a nation or an university, and dignify the repositories of the opulent and patrician literati. Atticus is magnificent in such patronage, though Rutilus may incur some censure. This is a noble and laudable use of the superfluity of wealth. It is also political in the liighest degree. In times like these, men of talents and genius, when unemployed and let loose upon the world, become too fre- quently the pests of society, and the canker worms of the community. — It is indeed high time to awake out of sleep, and to discern the peculiar use of every blessing. In all our actions, we should have a view to the stability of society and of well-regulated government. It becomes us all to observe and separate the essential and unvarying laws of order from the principles of confusion, and the dictates of sound sense from the wildness of imgoveined fancy, and of presumptuous intellect. The grand end and aim may at last be thus effected; and we may, by choirv,- ;nd (?onviction, turn from lying vanities to the spirit of truth and of life. [ 355 ] To mark where Genius soars, beyond control, With Mantuan judgment and the Theban soul. Correct, majestic, copious, full, and strong, In arts, in arms, in eloquence, or song; Still proud to vindicate unseen, unknown, The State, the Laws, the Altar, and the Throne. OCTAVIUS. Here close the strain: and o'er your studious hour May truth preside and virtue's holiest pow'r ! Still be your knowledge temp'rate and ^ discreet. Though not as Jones sublime, as Bryant great ; 6 50 e The advice of Octavius is good, but not applicable to a man so insignificant as his friend. But to men of knowledge and of ability in every department of life it is of deep importance. I lament and am indignant, when I think of such a scholar as Dr. Parr, and the waste of erudition and talents. Let him stand for a genus. " Knowledge alone " is not our proper happiness. Men of deep research and curious inquiry " should just be put in mind, not to mistake what tbey are doing." The want of discretion and prudence has ruined more men of lear- ning and genius than the time would allow me to mention. Without this sobriety of intellect nothing is strong, nothing is great. Without this prudence, without this discernment of time and circumstance, and the habit of regularity^ without an attention to the decencies of society and of common life, and of the principles by which all men, however gifted, must indiscriminately be conducted, all our attainments are no- ticing worth. They will never procure us esteem or respectability among [ 356 ] Prepar'd to prove ^ in Senate, or the Hall, •men. The world Avill but smile at such scholars; and muilsters, ■when called upon to promote them, ^\iil tell you, not without reason, " they are " not producible.^'* Let me give two passages on this subject, one from Milton, the other from Dr. Jolmson, variously applicable and of deepest consequence. " He who reads Incessantly, and to his reading brings not A spirit and judgment equal or superior, ^ Uncertain and ur.settled still remains, Deep versed in books, and shallow in himself, Crude or intoxicate, collecting toys. As children gathering pebbles on the shore." P. R. b. 4. V. 1^2 2. To men of genius (as at least they are called) Dr. Johnson gave this solemn admonition: "This relation '(of the life of Savage) will not " be wholly without its use, if those who, in confidence of superior capa- " cities or attainments, disregard the common maxims of life^ shall " bf reminded thc.t nothing ivill supply the ivant of prudence^ and that " np.'-;,ligtnce and irregularity, long continued, will make knowledge use- " :css, If it ridiculous^ and genius contemptible," Dr. Johnson's Life of Savage, at the conclusion. " Dei^n on the passing world to cast thine eyes, " And pause aii'kile from letters^ -To r.E wise." f No factions ever proceeded to attempt a Revolution in any coun- try^ but first under the pretence and through the Medium of a Reform. "We have been told with effronter)' and with falsehood, tliat the Constitu- tion of Enjland exists only in the imagination; yet we may read the Bill * The words of the Duke of Newcastle on such an occasion, when he was Prim.e Minister in George the Second's reign. They were spoken of A MAN, whose genius, talents, eloquence, and erudition honoured and supported the Church of Lngland. And he -was not promoted. [ 357 ] That states by learning rise, by learning fall ; of Rights. Tlie fact is tliis. Modern framers of political constitutions •will never be satisfied, till they are laid down like the elements of mathe- matics in the manner of Euclid. Definitions, Axioms, Postulates, primary pro- positions, and subsequent propositions, built upon and proved by the preced- ing, with corollaries and deductions. One strange writer, (perhaps it is the first time the reader ever heard ef him) says, " A CossTiruTio:^ must be " produced intirs and at the same time; it must be simple in its construc- *' tion, and perfect in all its parts." Malkin's Essays on Civilization, 8vo. (1795) p. 122. I had fondly thought that Lord Bacon had distin- guished the works of nature from those of art, in that masterly and memo- rable sentence, " Natura omnium partium rudimenta simul parit et pro- " creat."* I suppose a political Constitution is the work of human art. Indeed if Mr. Malkin were describing a perfect poem, epic or tragic, he could not have expressed himself more critically. Yet thus it is, that our present theoretical writers sport with man and his passions. They cer- tainly consider us all as passive machines, and they apply their laws, with as much cool indifference to their fellow-creatures, and with as little feel- ing, as they would apply the axe, or any mechanical Instrument, to lop a tree or to raise a weight. Their systems uniformly proceed on this princi- ple. They never varv. Mercy is not in all their thoughts ; there is neither allowance for human frailty, nor revision of judgment. Man has offended: he must die the death. Gnossius hsc Rhadamanthus habet DURissiMA REGNA, We have all seen and felt, ".vhat the revolutionary principle is. We must never for a moment forget, that The OP,yEci' of FsAffCE^ from her first Revolution., has been and is To chasge The GovERSMEtrf IS Ei'ERr SfAfE IS Europe, and in every other part of the world which she can pervade or infuence. Look in Germany, in Belgium, in Italy, in Switzerland, in Spain, in the isles of the Eastern or of the Western Archipelago ; cast vour view, broad and unrestrained, from the dominions <.f the Porte to the banks 01 the Ohio or the Mississippi, not a state, not * De AuQ-ment. Sclent. [ 353 ] Serene, not senseless, through the awful storm, a fortress, not a work, not a fragment of nature or of art, not a cliff, not a torrent, not a precipice, but has felt the shock and impulse of revolution- aiy terror. Abyssus abyssum invocati One deep has called upon another, the winds have blown the signal of encounter, and the cataracts are roar- ing and conflicting ; or in the resounding language of the poet of Pa- nopolis,* I must claim excuse and indulgence for my expressions, if it can be required at an hour like the present. My mind is either borne down or hurried away with the terrors of impending desolation, and the overthrow or confusion of fixed, regulated, established government. My sensations are solitary; but they are deep. T«v i^v^rrj fiji ot-'^^irxi Voy.!pxtx. I have indeed the consolation of affectionate and lionourable friendship, and I am not without the approval of a few who are wise and good: but I cannot say that " in my life time I have had too much of noise and compli- " ment.*'t I have risen in silence: and in peace and privacy it is my desire to set and to depart. But can any of us see what we have seen, and not labour to avert it from our own country? If I could conceive a man of less political significance than myself, (not from my endeavours but from my situation,) I would call even on him for assistance. But I would also add still more fervently, that if all and each of us, who feel the time and the power of these days of darkness and of desolating tyranny, •can be persuaded in the spirit of seriousness and of temperate national jiiety, " to offer up prayers and supplications vrith strong cries unto HiM^ " WHO IS rEf ABLE "TO SAVE US FROM DEAfH;" who kuOWS but that " We may tet" be heard, in that we have feared ?" * Nonnus. Dionys. Lib. 41. v. 84. p. 1059. Edit. Hanov. 1610. t An expression in the affecting Will of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. What declaration, what testimony, what experience will convince us of the " Vera bona atque illis multum divcrsa, remot4 " crroris nebula?" [ 359 ] In principle sedate, to shun Reform; The object^ the undrjerted object of France is fHS ovERtHRor/ of EycLjyD.' A^o.9 NosTRAfjuE, the form of our government^ the funda- mental lavjs^ and the principles by which property is acknowledged and secured. These have been attacked by assault, by storm, by breach, by sedition, by the arms of ribaldr)', of obscenity, of blasphemy. At one time they open upon us the floodo;ates of treason and madness, at another they sap the foundation by a circuitous stream winding and working un- perceived. We appeal to facts and actions, not to promises and declara- tions. They know that a Revolution can alone be effected by a political Reform. There is no other mode. I speak not of conquest by war. A state may prove bankrupt ; but I would inculcate it with peculiar earnest- ness, that, A REVOLUTION IS NOT fHE NECESSART CONSEQUENCE OF BANiZRVPrcr. I view with fear the finances cf Great Britain, but not without a rational hope of final, though tardy restoration.* The proposal * In the year 1740, Lord Bolingbrokc v.Tote to Sir W. Wyudi:ain on the state of public affairs, during the Secession from Parliament. " The British Constitution of Government is at a great" crisis, '* which must turn either to life or death. The disease cannot be long' " borne. God knows, whether the remedies can." Coxe's Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole. Correspondence; Vol. 3, p. 351- Fifty-eight years have passed since this was written. The state of the National Debt at that period and the danger of Jacobinism, may be compared with the burthen of the present time, and the horrors of French Jacobinism. The present seceders from Parliament will do well to consider their predecessors in this ridiculous, or rather v/icked, scheme. Bolingbroke, in a subse- quent letter to Sir W. Wyndham, says ; '• The Jacobite party in Britain " is an un-o^ganized lump of inert matter without a principle o? life or ac- " tion in it, capable of mobility perhaps, but more capable of divisibilityj *' and utterly void of spontaneous motion." (Coxe's Memoirs. Vol. 3. p. 555.) If it were possible to describe a party by its opposite qualities, how curious and fearful it is to contrast the modern French Jacobin Faction ki Great Britain. Whatever be its size, or dimenF.ions, it is nothing but [ 360 ] To mark man's intellect, its strength and bound, of Reform is iny specific apprehension. I would strenuously resist all the proposers of Reform ; IMr. Pitt formerly, and Mr. Grey at present. I con- fess I never could understand the great Lord Chatham's celebrated expres- sion of " infusing a portion of neio health into the constitution to enable " it to bear its infirmities." Junius (in his veiy last letter) calls it " bril- " liant and full of intrinsic wisdom." For my own part, I think it but false glitter and full of intrinsic nonsense, when applied politically. It is mere ra^-e of metaphor. It is to call the mind a sheet of white paper, till at last we are brought to think the resemblance to be the very thing signified. The use of metaphor is to illustrate, not to prove. Government, take it in any of its complex forms, can be carried on but in three ways: by unsullied principle and undeviating virtue in the Governors, and perhaps in the people ; by force and terror; or by miiigated law and iniiuence. Who does not wish for the first? Who expects to see it? In states highly civilized, the mixed mode of law and influence on the minds of free agents appears to me the only mode in which tranquility, security, and general happiness can be tolerably preserved, with the allow- ance of human frailty. I detest corruption, open or secret, as much as any man. But when I see an assembly formed on any principles however sublime, or deep, or disinterested, I remember it is formed of men. Me- nander said long ago; Av&^mto^I ly.xv/i Trpo^pxa-i?. It is man; his name explains the rest. I never will consent to think, that Government is a matter of perpetual experiment. I would graft new regulations upon the old principles by a very gradual removal of what is absurd, obsolete, use- less, or an incumbrance. It was the boast of Citizen Lord Stanhope, that he would teach the Judges law, and the Bishops religion. I have no such am.bition : but at present I would recommend to Charles Abbott, Esq. orgiinization, quick matter^ life and action^ immobility in principle^ full of spontaneous motion^ one and indivisible. Sic furiis Caci mens efFera; nee quid Inausum Aut intractatum scclerlsve dolive I C 361 ] Nor deem stability on change to found; Member of Parliament, the new Digestar of our Laws, not to be too subtle in the process. Mr. Abbott is a gentleman of learning, virtue, ability, and upright conduct; but in such a cause the best among us must be warned of the danger of experiment. 'O^^/pa,- e|vj, » Trance, cipciM^nf said the Father of Physic in the depth of his aphori'smic wisdom. But caution is not timidity. It is not every political chemist who can throw ofFinto his work the spirit of legislation, unmingled with grosser dregs and feculence of the mass. Let us nowj and at all times, be vigilant with determinate courage. We know, beyond the possibility of a doubt, ivbat freedom, ivhat equal- ity of power among the citizens, what sameness, what fraternity, what comfort, what happiness, and what security France has offered, and given too, to all countries, who have either bowed voluntarily, or have been subjected, to her tyranny. Take Cicero's expressions. As to themselves; " Licet, quod videtur, publicum judicare: quod judicaverint, vendere." As to other nations, friend or foe; " Perspici non potest, utrum severitas " acerbior, an benignitas quxstuosior sit." Such are the words in that elaborate and consummate Oration on the Agrarian Law, which every man would do well to read and consider in the original, or in a transla- tion. It is peculiarly pertinent to the present time. When Demosthenes raised his mighty voice against a decree proposed by Aristocrates, he bespoke the attention of his audience as to a private man, who had neither part in the administration of the state, nor influence from his connections. He bespoke their favour on this ground. He thouglit the interest of Athens was alone a sufficient plea. " E-rs<3«v n^i -nav ivo^hiivTuy tiftx?, ** aoi rav •^iTrtXnivft.ivuv Koti Trumvoj^ifav •Trajg' vfny 6>v, ■rpoiyfAx ryiXtKHTov " (p»fci ^ii^ay -riTrpxyfAivov."* For my own part 'without any other preten- sion, political or literary, than the love I feel to my country, her laws, her religion, her ordinances, and her government, and the labour I have exerted to understand and to preserve them, I would earnestly and affec- tionately remind my Countrymen in this perilous and perssing hour, of * KxTsi Ap*o-rsx^«T«?. Demcsth. Op. Gr. Benen. 1570. p. 403. [ 362 ] To feel with Mirabeau that "Words are Things,"3 the eloquent words of Demonax, as they arc recorded by Luc'ian ; " Con- " stitutions and doctrines like these you ivill never decree, till you have first " removed or overthrown the altar of jiercy!" Tlie words nf the original are lull of dignity : " M.j -tt^otioov u ASiivxax, ■yyi'pnTt'yh, «v jttn t» " EAEOT Ten te&i^ov ;4«fls-A«T8."*. g A celebrated saying of the famous Mirabeau, in the beginning of the French Revolution. — I would, in this concluding note, observe with great earnestness and affection to my Country, that in all the de- partments of society, government, religion, or literature, the French" have at all times maintained ojje unvarying system of deception, when under the ancient monarchy, or now under the iron, unrelenting tyranny of their new republic. Their manner of reasoning is, and always has been, sophistical. We are in perpetual danger of being misled by the appearance of reason. We have always ground for distrust. Take a specimen from thousands and tens of thousands of instances. Many years ago, in a collection entitled " Lettres Histcriques et Politiques," & French Statesman used these words to Mr. D'Alembert. " Je ne veux " point admettre dans les arrets de Conseil un vrai trivial., un clarte trop " familiare. Je veux un vrai de recherche, une clarte elegante, une " naivete fine, toute brillante de termes pompeux^ relevcs inopinement de *' phrases arrondies, do vocatifs intcrmediaires et d' advcrbes indefinis."* Nothing can be more characteristic of French Statesmen. Be but sufPi- ciently unintelligible, have but your vocatifs intcrmediaires et, your ad- verbes indef.nis, and the business is done. Language without meaning, phrases to blind the people, and ideas to delude. But when the scheme is accomplished, and when tbey obtain the porjer, their language is per- fectly intelligible. Next ta!iuv Tuv iTriffT/iuaiv tv rxii TloXse-i, xeit TToidi iicxtmsi f/,xv$civsiv, xxi f^^XP' "*■"*?> 'ATTH AIATASSEll I am grieved to add the words which follow: 'Opuf^iv roti ivTiuorarci? ru-i Avvxuiaiv 'TIIO TAYTHN OTXAS ! | I can- not also help observing, that mutatis mutandis, the letter of h modern French General to any State resembles one from a Grecian Courtesan in Alciphron's collection. The fraternal and meretricious demand are not much unhke. Philumena says to Crito, " Why do you trouble yourself to " write so often ? I want Fifty (or fifty million) pieces of Gold; I do " not want letters : If you love me give me money 1 Farewell. (Health " and Fraternity!" ) The Greek is more emphatic : " Uiviyiy-ovrx y^ov^fuy *' h.i, x.cii yfxiJt,u.cirMv 8 hi. EI ME IAEIS, AOS." Alciphron. Lib. i. Ep. 4.0. Edit. Bergleri 1 791. p. 61. * D'Alembert Melanges de Literature et de Pliilosophie, Vol. 5. p. 526. t Arist. Metaphys. L. 10, C. 3. \ Arist. Ethic. Nicliom. L. i. C. 2. [ 364 ] Through states, or armies, in the camp, or street, losopher by confounding the Arabinc, Coptic, Sjriac, and Chinese, with the Greek, insinuates that there is an equal use in them all, that is, to the generality of scholars and to tlie world at large, little or no use at all. 71iis does not merit any answer ; but we see the nature of a French Phi- losopher's proof, and the manner of bis argument. In short, he either kno\vs every thing, or there is no manner of use at all in any thing that he does not know. 1 think from continued observation, I understand the nature of these men. Their literature, their politics, their philosophy, all terminate in the same point. " Croyez Moi," are the words, whether they speak ta an individual, or to the nations of the universe. Now, since the Revolution, /roHZ reasoning they have betaken them- selves to single nvords. Deception still. Mirabeau said true, " Words " are things." I cannot help observing that the Athenians (whose go- vernment was popular, and consequently tyrannical, and manured with the blood of her own citizens) had a custom of softening the appellation of things which naturally conveyed an idea of terror. This may be found in ;i most curious extract, preserved by the very learned Photius from tlie 4xh book of the Chrestomathia of Helladius Bf.santinous ; the words are these. " To jwti ov.i lAIOE EN KOINn TraX-n, JloXltcov t' IV iifOJiat; xoiTciiciv, Ov ■\^iva-of.i:ii. P:iul. Olvmp. 0. \},. PHILADELPHIA: PKIXTED BY H. MAXWELL, FOR A. DICKINS, BOOKS KLLEIl, NORTH SECOND STREET, OrFOSirE CHRIST-CHUKCII. 1800. A PREFATORY EPISTLE PURSUITS OF LITERATURE, &c. &c. &c. ADDRESSf:D TO L. B , ESQ. Post resides annos, longo velut excita somno, Romanis fruitur Musa {Britanna) choris : Sed magis intento studium censore laborat Qpdd legltur medio conspiciturque foro. lUi conciliat gratas impensius auras, Vel meritum belli, vel StiUchonU amor. A PREFATORY EPISTLE, ADDRESSED TO L. B , Esq. Tft) 5ro6vv. INTENDED AS A GENERAL VINDICATION OF "THE PURSUITS " OF LITERATURE, A POEM IN FOUR DIALOGUES, WITH "notes;" FROM VARIOUS REMARKS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE UPON IT. Toy roTTov oict>\it7ritV ftridi axTTrip STEpsf?, oi^rt^ctvov otr/tv otTrtg^xwoMyixi ivUffxyifD. AXXx oe« ccvro fiovoy to TCf ox.it fcivov 1,vyy^oif/,f<,x Trpas-TJj- trxf4,iviSi, irr' oi^iy xyitv rot? (T-)(/tXx^\i(Tt tyiv Tlpoha-tv, dapivvofciym, to itaoi, Tjjy vA>)y, rx ooyfiXTX