perpetual ebb and falling stream, but never floweth again; our leaf once fallen springeth no more, neither doth the sun or the summer adorn us again with the garments of new leaves and flowers.

"Redditur arboribus florens revirentibus ætas,
Ergo non homini quod fuit ante, redit.'

To which I give this sense :

"The plants and trees, made poor and old
By winter envious,

The spring-time bounteous

Covers again from shame and cold;
But never man repaired again
His youth and beauty lost,

Though art, and care, and cost,

Do promise Nature's help in vain.""

The conclusion deduced in a former chapter from these premises, namely, that considering the baseness and frailty of our bodies we should prefer to them the care of the soul, is in the highest strain of Christian philosophy: "In this time it is, when we for the most part, and never before, prepare for our eternal habitation, which we pass on unto with many sighs, groans, and sad thoughts. * * And though our own eyes do every where behold the sudden and resistless assaults of death, and nature assureth us by never-failing experience, and reason by infallible demonstration, that our times upon the earth have neither certainty nor durability; that our bodies are but the anvils of pain and diseases, and our minds the hives of unnumbered cares, sorrows, and passions; yet such is the true unhappiness of our condition, and the dark ignorance which covereth the eyes of our understanding, that we only prize, pamper, and exalt this vassal and slave of death, and forget altogether (or only remember at our cast-away leisure) the imprisoned immortal soul, which can neither die with the reprobate, nor perish with the mortal parts of virtuous men, seeing God's justice in the one, and his goodness in the other, is exercised for evermore as the ever-living subjects of his reward and punishment. But when is it that we examine this great account? Never while we

* *

have one vanity left us to spend. We plead for titles, till our breath fail us; dig for riches, while our strength enableth us; exercise malice, while we can revenge; and then, when time hath beaten from us both youth, pleasure, and health, and that nature itself hateth the house of old age, we remember with Job, that we must go the way from whence we shall not return, and that our bed is made ready for us in the dark,' and then, I say, looking over-late into the bottom of our conscience, (which pleasure and ambition had locked up from us all our lives,) we behold therein the fearful images of our actions past, and withal this terrible inscription, That God will bring every work into judgment that man hath done under the sun.' But let us not

6

*

flatter our immortal souls herein; for to neglect God all our lives, and know that we neglect him,—to offend God voluntarily, and know that we offend him,-(casting our hopes on the peace which we trust to make at parting), is no other than a rebellious presumption, and (that which is worst of all), even a contemptuous laughing to scorn and deriding of God, his laws, and precepts. Frustra sperant qui sic de misericordia Dei sibi blandiuntur,- They hope in vain,' saith Bernard, which in this sort flatter themselves with God's mercy.'

In his translations of the poetical passages, quoted in the earlier part of his history, Raleigh is often very happy, keeping close to the original, and giving both the spirit and meaning with much brevity and elegance. Thus in those fine lines of Virgil—

"Principio cœlum, ac terras, camposque liquentes,
Lucentemque globum lunæ, Titaniaque astra,
Spiritus intus alit; totamque infusa per artus,
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet."
"The heaven, the earth, and all the liquid main,—
The moon's bright globe, and stars Titanian,
A spirit within maintains; and their whole mass,—
A mind, which through each part infused doth pass,
Fashions and works, and wholly doth transpierce
All this great body of the universe."+

* Hist. World, vol. ii. pp. 58-61, 54-56.

+Ibid. pp. 13, 14.

Another example is to be found in his translation of the following verses of Lucan :

"Primum cana salix, madefacto vimine, parvam
Texitur in puppim, cæsoque induta juvenco,
Vectoris patiens tumidum supernatat amnem.
Sic Venetus stagnante Pado, fusoque Britannus
Navigat oceano.

"The moisten'd osier of the hoary willow

Is woven first into a little boat,

Then, clothed in bullock's hide, upon the billow
Of a proud river lightly doth it float
Under the waterman:

So on the lakes of overswelling Po
Sails the Venetian; and the Briton so
On the outspread ocean."*

From these remarks, supported by the extracts we have given, some idea may be formed of the style and execution of this great work. To pursue the criticism further, or to attempt to follow the author into the wide ocean of Assyrian, Grecian, and Roman history, would carry us much beyond our limits. To characterize, in a few sentences, so extensive a performance, so diversified in its subjects, and presenting so many features of excellence, is impossible. It is laborious without being heavy, learned without being dry, acute and ingenious without degenerating into the subtile but trivial distinctions of the schoolmen. Its narrative is clear and spirited, and the matter collected from the most authentic sources which were then accessible. The opinions given on state policy, on the causes of great events, on the different forms of government, on naval or military tactics, on agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and other sources of national greatness, are not the mere echo of other minds, they are results drawn from the experience of a long life spent in constant action and vicissitude in various climates and countries, and from personal observation in offices of high trust and responsibility. But perhaps its most striking feature is the sweet tone of

* History of the World, vol. ii. p. 259.

philosophic melancholy which pervades the whole. Written in prison during the quiet evening of a tempestuous life, we feel, in its perusal, that we are the companions of a superior mind, nursed in contemplation, and chastened and improved by sorrow, in which the bitter recollection of injury, and the asperity of resentment, have passed away, leaving only the heavenly lesson, that all is vanity. It may be remarked, lastly, that the work contains the most complete and satisfactory evidence of the absolute groundlessness of the charges of infidelity brought against Sir Walter at his trial, and since countenanced by the authority of Hume. That distinguished writer could not have advanced this opinion had he consulted the History of the World, throughout which runs a uniform strain of Christian faith and Christian doctrine, evinced by a learned reference to the Scriptures as the Word of God, and an unhesitating condemnation of all those ingenious but mischievous inventions of ancient or of modern philosophy, which would allegorize their meaning, circumscribe their inspiration, or impair their authority. Had this been otherwise, Bishop Hall, an author as eminent for piety as for eloquence, would not have commended the work so highly in his treatise entitled, "Balm of Gilead, or Comforts for the Distrest," with whose eulogium we shall conclude these remarks. "A wise man, as Laurentius, the presbyter, observed well, does much in solitude. So mayst thou employ the hours of thy close retiredness, and bless God for so happy an opportunity. How memorable an instance has our age afforded us of an eminent person, to whose imprisonment we are all obliged, besides many philosophical experiments, for that noble History of the World now in our hands. The court had his youthful and freer years, and the Tower his latter age; the Tower reformed the courtier in him, and produced those worthy monuments of art and industry, which we should have in vain expected from his freedom and jollity. It is observed that shining wood, when it is kept within doors, loses its light; it is other

wise with this and many other active wits, which had never shined so much if not for closeness."

During these literary occupations Raleigh never intermitted his efforts to recover his liberty; but the animosity of Cecil, the indifference of the king, and the influence of Somerset, who enjoyed the spoils of the captive, rendered all ineffectual. Under this severe disappointment, aggravated by the strictness with which he was guarded, and the cold and discomfort of his apartments, his health became seriously affected; his breathing began to be short and laboured; and in an affecting letter to the queen, he complains, that after eight years he was as straitly locked up as on the first day; that he had in vain petitioned for so much grace as to walk with his keeper up the hill within the Tower. These symptoms soon grew more alarming. The whole of his left side was seized with a partial paralysis, his speech was perceptibly affected, and his physician, Dr Turner, sent a statement of his case to Cecil, entreating that he might have the accommodation of a warmer room, which, when permitted more liberty, he had built near his laboratory in the garden. The proof of this is contained in a curious document preserved in the Statepaper Office, which exhibits the secretary in the character of a jailor, heartlessly weighing the sufferings of his prisoner, and considering whether his illness demanded a little more indulgence. It is addressed to the Earl of Salisbury, being indorsed in his own handwriting, "The Judgment of Sir W. Raleigh's Case ;" and is evidently an abridgment of the physician's memorial, which, after detailing the symptoms, prays that Raleigh should be removed from his cold lodging, "if it might stand with his honour's lyking."*

Whether this miserable favour was granted does not appear; but it was evident, that so long as Cecil retained his power there was no liberty for his victim. By the death of this minister, however, which happened soon

* Mrs Thomson, Life of Raleigh, Annendiv. letter UT.