Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

head. The Public, the unprejudiced Public, has been tried and appealed to for many centuries, and throughout almoft all civilized nations. It has pronounced its verdict; it has given its fanction to these writers; and from this tribunal there lies no farther appeal.

difon. It is not to commentators and uni-
verfities, that the claffics are indebted for
their fame. They became claffics and
school-books in confequence of the high
admiration which was paid them by the best
judges in their own country and nation.
As early as the days of Juvenal, who
wrote under the reign of Domitian, we find
Virgil and Horace become the ftandard
books in the education of youth.

Quod ftabant pueri, cum totus decolor effet
Flaccus, & hæreret nigro fuligo Maroni.
SAT. 7.*

From this general principle, then, of the reputation of great ancient Claffics being fo early, fo lafting, fo extenfive, among all the moft polished nations, we may juftly and boldly infer, that their reputation can not be wholly unjust, but must have a folid foundation in the merit of their writings.

Ibid.

In matters of mere reasoning, the world may be long in an error; and may be convinced of the error by ftronger reafonings, when produced. Pofitions that depend upon fcience, upon knowledge, and matters of fact, may be overturned according as fcience and knowledge are enlarged, and new matters of fact are brought to light. For this reafon, a fyftem of philofophy receives no fufficient fanction from its antiquity, or long currency. The world, as it grows older, may be justly expected to become, if not wifer, at leaft more knowing; and fuppofing it doubtful whether Ariftotle, or Newton, were the greater genius, yet Newton's philofophy may prevail over Ariftotle's, by means of later difcoveries, § 116. In what Refpe&ts the Moderns excel to which Ariftotle was a ftranger. But nothing of this kind holds as to matters of Tafte; which depend not on the progrefs of knowledge and fcience, but upon fentiment and feeling. It is in vain to think of undeceiving mankind, with respect to errors committed here, as in Philofophy. For the univerfal feeling of mankind is the natural feeling; and because it is the natural, it is, for that reafon, the right feeling. The reputation of the Iliad and the Eneid muft therefore ftand upon fure ground, because it has flood fo long; though that of the Ariftotelian or Platonic philofophy, every one is at liberty to call in question.

Blair.

§ 115. The Reputation of the Ancients not

oving to Pedantry.

Moderns.

the Ancients.

and implicit veneration for the Ancients in
Let us guard, however, against a blind
every thing, I have opened the general
principle, which muft go far in inftituting
a fair comparison between them and the
cients may have had in point of genius,
Whatever fuperiority the An-
yet in all arts, where the natural progress
of knowledge has had room to produce
any confiderable effects, the Moderns can-
not but have some advantage. The world
may, in certain refpects, be confidered as
by advancing in years. Its improvements
a perfon, who muft needs gain fomewhat
have not, I confefs, been always in propor-
tion to the centuries that have paffed over
it; for, during the courfe of fome ages, it
has funk as into a total lethargy. Yet
when roufed from that lethargy, it has ge-
nerally been able to avail itself, more or
lefs, of former difcoveries. At intervals,
there arose fome happy genius, who could
both improve on what had gone before,
and invent fomething new. With the ad-
vantage of a proper stock of materials, an
inferior genius can make greater progress

It is in vain alfo to alledge, that the reputation of the ancient poets and orators, is owing to authority, to pedantry, and to the prejudices of education, tranfmitted from age to age. Thefe, it is true, are the authors put into our hands at fchools and colleges, and by that means we have now an early prepoffeffion in their favour; but how came they to gain the poffeffion of colleges and fchools? Plainly, by the high« Then thou art bound to fmell, on either fame which thefe authors had among their own cotemporaries. For the Greek and Latin were not always dead languages. There was a time, when Homer, and Virgil, and Horace, were viewed in the fame light as we now view Dryden, Pope, and Ad

<< hand,

"As many ftinking lamps as fchool-bays

stand,

"When Horace could not read in his ow "fully'd book,

"And Virgil's facred page was all befimear'd " with fmoke."

DRYDEN.

than

than a much fuperior one, to whom these materials are wanting.

Hence, in Natural Philofophy, Aftro nomy, Chemistry, and other fciences that depend on an extenfive knowledge and obfervation of facts, modern philofophers have an unquestionable fuperiority over the ancient. I am inclined alfo to think, that in matters of pure reasoning, there is more precifion among the moderns, than in fome inftances there was among the ancients; owing perhaps to a more extenfive literary intercourfe, which has improved and fharpened the faculties of men. In fome ftudies too, that relate to taste and fine writing, which is our object, the progrefs of fociety muft, in equity, be admitted to have given as fome advantages. For instance, in hiftoty; there is certainly more political knowledge in feveral European nations at prefent, than there was in ancient Greece and Rome. We are better acquainted with the nature of government, because we have feen it under a greater variety of forms and revolutions. The world is more laid open than it was in former times; commerce is greatly enlarged; more countries are civilized; pofts are every where eftablished; intercourfe is become more eafy; and the knowledge of facts, by confequence, more attainable. All these are great ad. vantages to historians; of which, in fome meature, as 1 fhall afterwards fhew, they have availed themfelves. In the more comp'ex kinds of poetry, likewife, we may have gained fomewhat, perhaps, in point of regularity and accuracy. In dramatic performances, having the advantage of the ancient models, we may be allowed to have made fome improvements in the variety of the characters, the conduct of the plot, attentions to probability, and to decorums.

Blair.

$117. We must look to the Ancients for elegant Compofitien, and to the Moderns for accurate Philofophy.

generally fpeaking, drawn from the ancients. In epic poetry, for inftance, Homer and Virgil, to this day, ftand not within many degrees of any rival. Orators, fuch as Cicero and Demofthenes, we have none. In history, notwithstanding fome defects, which I am afterwards to mention in the ancient historical plans, it may be fafely afferted, that we have no fuch hiftorical narration, fo elegant, fo picturesque, so animated, and interefting as that of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Livy, Tacitus, and Salluft. Although the conduct of the drama may be admitted to have received fome improvements, yet for poetry and fentiment, we have nothing to equal Sophocles and Euripides; nor any dialogue. in comedy, that comes up to the correct, graceful, and elegant fimplicity of Terence. We have no fuch love-elegies as thofe of Tibullus; no fuch paftorals as fome of Theocritus's; and for Lyric poetry, Horace ftands quite unrivalled. The name of Horace cannot be mentioned without a particular encomium. That "curiofa felicitas," which Petronius has remarked in his expreffion; the sweetness, elegance, and fpirit of many of his odes, the thorough knowledge of the world, the excellent fentiments, and natural eafy manner which diinguifh his Satires and Epiftles, all contribute to render him one of those very few authors whom one never tires of reading; and from whom alone, were every other monument deftroyed, we should be led to form a very high idea of the taste and genius of the Auguftan age. Ibid.

$118. The afiduous Study of the Greek and Roman Claffics recommended.

To all fuch then, as wish to form their tafte, and nourish their genius, let me warmly recommend the affiduous ftudy of the ancient claffics, both Greek and Roman.

Nocturna verfate manu, verfate diurna *.

Without a confiderable acquaintance with them, no man can be reckoned a polite fcholar; and he will want many affiftances for writing and fpeaking well, which the knowledge of fuch authors would afford him. Any one has great reafon to fufpect his own tafte, who receives little or no pleafure from the perufal of writings, which many ages and nations have confented Read them by day, and study them by night.” FRANCIS

From whatever caufe it happens, fo it is, that among fome of the ancient writers, we must look for the highest models in most of the kinds of elegant compofition. For accurate thinking and enlarged ideas, in feveral parts of philofophy, to the moderns we ought chiefly to have recourfe. Of correct and finished writing in fome works of tafte, they may afford ufeful pat-o teras; but for all that belongs to originalgenius, to fpirited, mafterly, and high execution, our belt and most happy ideas are,

[ocr errors]

in holding up as fubjects of admiration. And I am perfuaded, it will be found, that in proportion as the ancients are generally ftudied and admired, or are unknown and difegarded in any country, good taste and good compofition will flourish, or decline. They are commonly none but the ignorant or fuperficial, who undervalue them.

Blair.

$119. The ancient Hiflorians excel in

picturefque Narration.

felves caught, and no hope of escape left, we are made to fee, firft, their astonishment, next, their indignation, and then, their dejection, painted in the moft lively manner, by fuch circumstances and actions as were natural to perfons in their fitua tion. The reftlefs and unquiet manner in which they pafs the night; the confultations of the Samnites; the various meafures proposed to be taken; the meffages between the two armics, all heighten the scene. At length, in the morning, the confuls return to the camp, and inform them that they could receive no other terms but that of furrendering their arms, and paffing under the yoke, which was confidered as the laft mark of ignominy for a conquered army.

Ibid.

121. TACITUS remarkable for Hifto rical Painting.

In all the virtues of narration, particularly in that of picturefque defcriptive narration, feveral of the ancient hiftorians eminently excel. Hence, the pleasure that is found in reading Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Livy, Salluft, and Tacitus. They are all confpicuous for the art of narration. Herodotus is, at all times, an agreeable writer, and relates every thing with that naïveté and fimplicity of manner, which never fails to intereft the reader. Though the manner of Thucydides be more dry and harsh, yet, on great occa fions, as when he is giving an account of the plague of Athens, the fiege of Platea, the fedition in Corcyra, the defeat of the Athenians in Sicily, he difplays a very ftrong and mafterly power of defcription. Xenophon's Cyropædia, and his Anabafis, or retreat of the ten thousand, are extremely beautiful. The circumftances are finely felected, and the narration is eafy and engaging; but his Hellenics, or continuation of the history of Thucydides, is a much«filicis et templis, lugubri profpectu, inferior work. Salluft's art of historical painting in his Catilinarian, but, more efpecially, in his Jugurthine war, is well known; though his ftyle is liable to cenfure, as too ftudied and affected.

Ibid.

120. LIVY remarkable for Hiftorical

Painting.

Tacitus is another author eminent for hiftorical painting, though in a manner altogether different from that of Livy. Livy's defcriptions are more full, more plain, and natural; thofe of Tacitus confift in a few bold ftrokes. He felects one or two remarkable circumftances, and fets them before us in a strong, and, generally, in a new and uncommon light. Such is the following picture of the fituation of Rome, and of the Emperor Galba, when Otho was advancing against him: "Age"batur huc illuc Galba, vario turbæ flec"tuantis impulfu, completis undique ba

"Neque populi aut plebis ulla vox; fed "attoniti vultus, et converfæ ad omnia "aures. Non tumultus, non quies; fed "quale magni metûs, et magnæ iræ, fi«<lentium eft *." No image, in any poet, is more ftrong and expreffive than this lat ftroke of the defcription: "Non tumultus, "non quies, fed quale," &c. This is a conception of the fublime kind, and discovers high genius. Indeed, throughout all his work, Tacitus fhews the hand of a mafter. As he is profound in reflection, fo he is ftriking in defcription, and pathetic in fentiment. The philofopher, the poet,

Livy is more unexceptionable in his manner; and is excelled by no hiftorian whatever in the art of narration: feveral remarkable examples might be given from him. His account, for inftance, of the famous defeat of the Roman army by the Samnites, at the Furcæ Caudinæ, in the beginning of the ninth book, affords one" of the most beautiful exemplifications of hiftorical painting, that is any where to be met with. We have firft, an exact defcription of the narrow pafs between two mountains, into which the enemy had decoyed the Romans. When they find them

and

"Galba was driven to and fro by the tide of the multitude, fhoving him from place to place. The "temples and public buildings were filled with "crowds, of a difmal appearance. No clamours were "heard, either from the citizens, or from the rabble. "Their countenances were filled with confternation;

their ears were employed in liftening with anxiety. "It was not a tumult ; it was not quietness; it was the filence of terror, and of wrath." the

the hiftorian, all meet in him. Though the period of which he writes may be reckoned unfortunate for an historian, he has made it afford us many interefting exhibitions of human nature. The relations which he gives of the deaths of feveral eminent pertonages, are as affecting as the deepeft tragedies. He paints with a glowing pencil; and poffeffes, beyond all writers, the talent of painting, not to the imagination merely, but to the heart. With many of the most distinguished beauties, he is, at the fame time, not a perfect model for hiftory; and fuch as have formed themfelves upon him, have feldom been faccefsful. He is to be admired, rather than imitated. In his reflections he is too refined; in his ftyle too concife, fometimes quaint and affected, often abrupt and obfure. Hiftory feems to require a more natural, flowing, and popular manner.

Blair.

§ 122. On the Beauty of Epiftolatory Writing.

Its first and fundamental requifite is, to be natural and fimple; for a ftiff and laboured manner is as bad in a letter, as it is in converfation. This does not banish

prightlinefs and wit. Thefe are graceful in letters, just as they are in converfation: when they flow eafily, and without being fudied; when employed fo as to feafon, not to cloy. One who, either in converfa

tion or in letters, affects to shine and to

parkle always, will not pleafe long. The dyle of letters fhould not be too highly polished. It ought to be neat and correct, but no more. All nicety about words, be trays ftudy; and hence mufical periods, and appearances of number and harmony in arrangment, fhould be carefully avoided in letters. The beft letters are commonly fuch as the authors have written with molt facility. What the heart or the imagination dictates, always flows readily; but where there is no fubject to warm or intereft thefe, constraint appears; and hence, thofe letters of mere compliment, congratulation, or affected condolance, which have coft the authors moft labour in compofing, and which, for that reafon, they perhaps confider as their mafter-pieces, never fail of being the moft difagreeable and infipid to the readers.

Ibid.

123. Eafe in writing Letters must not

degenerate to careleness.

It ought, at the fame time, to be remembered, that the ease and fimplicity which

I have recommended in epiftolary correfpondence, are not to be understood as importing entire carelefinefs. In writing to the most intimate friend, a certain degree of attention, both to the fubject and the ftyle, is requifite and becoming. It is no more than what we owe both to ourselves, and to the friend with whom we correfpond. A flovenly and negligent manner of writing, is a difobliging mark of want of refpect. The liberty, befides, of writing letters with too careless a hand, is apt to betray perfons into imprudence in what they write. The first requifite, both in conver fation and correfpondence, is to attend to all the proper decorums which our own character, and that of others, demand. An imprudent expreffion in converfation may be forgotten and pafs away; but when we take the pen into our hand, we must remember, that "Litera fcripta manet." Ibid.

§ 124. On PLINY's Letters. Pliny's letters are one of the most celebrated collections which the ancients have given us, in the epiftolary way. They are elegant and polite; and exhibit a very pleafing and amiable view of the author. But, according to the vulgar phrase, they fmell too much of the lamp. They are too elegant and fine; and it is not easy to avoid thinking, that the author is cafting an eye towards the Public, when he is appearing to write only for his friends. Nothing indeed is more difficult, than for an author, who publithes his own letters, to divet himself altogether of attention to the opinion of the world in what he says; by which means, he becomes much lefs agreeable than a man of parts would be, if, without any constraint of this fort, he were writing to his intimate friend.

Ibid.

§ 125. On CICERO's Letters.

Cicero's Epiftles, though not fo fhowy as thofe of Pliny, are, on feveral accounts, a far more valuable collection; indeed, the most valuable collection of letters extant in any language. They are letters of real bufinefs, written to the wifeft men of the age, compofed with purity and elegance, but without the leaft affectation; and, what adds greatly to their merit, written without any intention of being published to the world. For it appears that Cicero never kept copies of his own letters; and we are wholly indebted to the care of his freed man Tyro, for the large collection that was

G g

made,

made, after his death, of thofe which are now extant, amounting to near a thoufand. They contain the most authentic materials of the hiftory of that age; and are the laft monuments which remain of Rome in its free ftate; the greatest part of them being written during that important crifis, when the republic was on the point of ruin; the most interesting fituation, perhaps, which is to be found in the affairs of mankind. To his intimate friends, efpecially to Atticus, Cicero lays open himself and his heart, with entire freedom. In the courfe of his correfpondence with others, we are introduced into acquaintance with feveral of the principal pertonages of Reme; and it is remarkable that molt of Cicero's correfpondents, as well as himself, are elegant and polite writers; which ferves to heighten our idea of the taile and manners of that age. Blair.

§ 126. On POPE's and SWIFT's Letters. The most diftinguished collection of letters in the English language, is that of Mr. Pope, Dean Swift, and their friends; partly published in Mr. Pope's works, and partly in thofe of Dean Swift. This collection is, on the whole, an entertaining and agreeable one; and contains much wit and ingenuity. It is not, however, altogether free of the fault which I imputed to Pliny's Epifles, of too much ftudy and refinement. In the variety of letters from different perfons, contained in that collection, we find rany that are written with cafe, and a beautiful fimplicity. Thofe of Dr. Arbuthnot, in particular, always deferve that praife. Dean Swift's alio are unaffected; and as a proof of their being fo, they exhibit his character fully, with all its defc&ts; though it were to be wifhed, for the honour f his memory, that his erif olary correfpondence had rot been drained to the dregs, by fo many fucceffive publications, as have been given to the world. Several of Lord Bolingbroke's, and of Bifhop Atterbury's Letters, are mafterly. The cenfure of writing letters in too artificial a manner, falls heavieft on Mr. Pope himfelf. There is vifitly more ftudy, and lefs of nature and the heart in his letters, than in thofe of fome of his correfpondents. He had formed himself on the manner of Voi

See his Letter to Atticus, which was written a year or two before his death, in which he tells

Fim, in antwer to fome enquiries concerning his epitiles, that he had no collection of them, and that Tyro had only about feventy of them.

Ad ATT. 16. 5.

ture, and is too fond of writing like a wit His letters to ladies are full of affectation. Even in writing to his friends, how forced an introduction is the following, of a letter to Mr. Addison: "I am more joyed at "your return, than I fhould be at that of the Sun, as much as I wish for him in "this melancholy wet feafon; but it is his fate too, like yours, to be difpleafing to "owls and obscene animals, who camot "bear his luftre." How fliff a compli ment is it, which he pays to Bihop terbury: "Though the ncife and daily "buftie for the Public be now over, I dare "fay, you are fill tendering its welfare; "as the Sun in winter, when feeming to "retire from the world, is preparing "warmth and benedictions for a better "feafon." This fentence might be tole rated in an harangue; but is very u able to the ftyle of one friend correfpend ing with another.

[ocr errors]

$127. On the Letters of BALZAC, VerTURE, SEVIGNE; and Lady MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE.

The gaiety and vivacity of the French genius appear to much advantage in ther letters, and have given birth to feveral agreeable publications. In the laft age, Balzac and Voiture were the two most celebrated epiftolary writers. Balzac's reputation indeed foon declined, on account of his fwelling periods and pompous ftyle. But Voiture continued long a favourite author. His compofition is extremely sparkling; he shows a great deal of wit, and can trifle in the moft entertaining manner. His only fault is, that he is too open and profeffed a wit, to be thoroughly agreeable as a letter-writer. The letters of Madame de Sevignè are now efteemed the most ac complished model of a familiar correfpondence. They turn indeed very much upon trifles, the incidents of the day, and the news of the town; and they are overloaded with extravagant compliments, and expref fions of fondnefs, to her favourite daugh ter; but withal, they fhew fuch perpetual fprightlinefs, they contain fuch eafy and varied narration, and fo many ftrokes of the moft lively and beautiful painting, per fectly free from any affectation, that they are juftly entitled to high praife. The Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montague are not unworthy of being named after thofe of Mad. de Sevigne. They have much of the French eafe and vivacity, and retain more the character of agreeable

epiftolary

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »