Part 3

History is designed to instruct Mankind by Example, to shew what Men were by what they did, and from particular Instances to form general Lessons in all the various Stations of Life; and our Historian has so far a just Conception of its Dignity and Use, that he speaks of his own Performance as if he had formed a regular noble Design, with a regular and noble View, and executed it with equal Beauty and Perfection. Very great Talents are requisite to succeed in it, especially that of Judgement, to relate only what is worth relating, and to make proper Reflections upon Events for the Instruction of the Reader. _Nothing is more necessary for an Historian_, says _Pere Rapin_, _than Judgement: Nothing requires so much Sense, so much Reason, so much Wit, so much Wisdom, and other good Qualities, as History, to succeed in writing it; and above all,_ Un Heureux Naturel, _a happy Genius, which endowed with all these Qualifications, will not do without,_ Un Grand Commerce du Monde, _a great Knowledge of the World_. _Pere Bouhours_, whom Mr. _Addison_ thought the most judicious and penetrating of all the _French_ Criticks, has an admirable Remark on the Reflections of Historians, in his _Maniere de bien penser_. The _Historian ought to shine most in his Reflections: Nothing is so irregular as to reflect falsely on Events that are true_. He mentions a pleasant Instance of a _French_ Priest, who said in a Sermon, _The Heart of Man being of a triangular Figure, and the World of a round one; It is plain, that all worldly Greatness cannot fill the Heart of Man_. We have been told a thousand Times, that the _Presbyterians_ had a Quarrel with King _Charles_ the First, and that those who had a Quarrel with him, took him and cut off his Head. The Fact is true as to the Quarrel, but nothing can be more false, than that the _Presbyterians_ beheaded him. The Fact is true, that the Act of Toleration put a Stop to the Persecuting of Dissenters; but the Reflection from it, _That the Church was in Danger_, is false. If I would rifle the _Grand Rebellion_, and Mr. _Echard_'s History, I might have the Honour of being Author of a Folio too, by taking from them Examples of this Kind; and I cannot but think, if the Archdeacon had duely weighed the Difficulties inseparable from his Undertaking, the indispensable Duty of Sincerity and Truth, and the great Talents necessary for an Historian, he would have transferred the Work to another, not a Dealer in Records only, from whom one can expect nothing but the naked Facts without Form or Order, without Ornament, or even cloathing; very proper for Evidence in Tryals at Law, but too rude and unpolished for the Beauty and Elegance of History: Yet I am satisfied, there is not one Man in a Thousand in _England_, but thinks there are no Writers so fit to make Historians as your Record Keepers and Library Keepers, who are just as necessary in such Work as Masons and Carpenters are in Architecture, and no more in Comparison with the Architect, than the _Axe_ or the _Chissel_ are in Comparison with them. _An excellent Historian_, says Mons. _Pellisson_, Pref. to _Sar._ _ought to have a general Knowledge of the World and of Affairs, and a subtle and penetrating Wit, to distinguish the true Causes of humane Actions, from the Pretexts and Colours which are given them_. Thus our Historian should have distinguish'd Archbishop _Laud_'s natural Pride and Severity, from that Piety and Zeal which are the _Pretexts and Colours_ that are given them. He should also have distinguish'd the Pique and Partiality in the Grand Rebellion from Truth and Sincerity, which are the Pretexts and Colours. Again,

_Tacitus_, said he, wrote _Sine studio Partium & Ira_; if the same may be said of the two Historians in Question, I have done them much Wrong. The late Earl of _Shaftsbury_, in his Letter of _Enthusiasm_, has this Expression: _We have few modern Writers, who, like_ Xenophon _or_ Cicero, _can write their own Commentaries, and the raw Memoir Writings, and uninformed Pieces of modern Statesmen full of their own interested and private Views, will, in another Age, be of little Service to support their Memory or Name, since already the World begins to sicken with them_.

It is somewhat strange, that Mr. _Echard_ should not be so well acquainted with the Weakness of the vulgar Humour in _England_, as a Foreigner; who was so sensible of the Peoples Fondness to hear Stories, that he excuses those of a better Taste amongst them, who cannot relish such as relate to Ghosts, Devils, Prophecies, and the like, with which the Archdeacon's History abounds. The Author of the _Paris Journal des Sçavans_, speaking of _English_ History Writers, and their bringing in Prophecies and strange Stories, says, _Granting it to be true, it is not so much to be attributed to their Want of Skill, as to their Compliance with the Humour of the People, that attend too much to Prophecies, and are too much affected with Tales_; which Humour our Historian has rather indulged than discountenanced, and it must surely be for Want of Judgement, after the indulging them in it, had been so much exploded. The _French_ Historian _Maimbourg_ participates of the same Character, and his Zeal for the Church, could not procure him a better one abroad, than what was given him in _Italy_, that he was among Historians, what _Momus_ is among the Gods, _only to tell Tales_; with which the Vulgar are as well contented, as with Relations that are truly historical. But we should be as cautious of reading such Histories, as _Menage_ tells us he was of reading _Morreri_'s, for Fear we should remember them. _Collier_ knew better than _Menage_, and therefore translated _Morreri_'s three Folio's into _English_, as a rich Store for the Memories of his Countrymen.

Having so little Reason to commend the Historian for his _Design_, I should make him amends in the Sentiments, if there was the least Room for it. It is true, in History, if the Facts are fairly related, the Sentiments must be brought along with them, and the Author is not accountable for them as in Poetry: But if the Sentiments do not correspond with the Facts; if Meekness and Holiness are seated to give Judgement in the _High Commission_ and _Star Chamber_ Courts; if Piety is mounted on Horseback with the Lord High Treasurer's Staff in her Hand; if the most noble Characters are ascribed to Persons engaged in the most unjustifiable Actions, we may depend upon it, these Persons, either did not think, or did not act as they are represented, and consequently that the History is false and vicious: The Historians Reflections upon Events are entirely his own, and we shall see in the following Pages, how wise and how weighty they are: But as they bear all on one Side, like an ill ballasted Ship, it is much, if in the Course of a few Years, it does not overset the History.

There is no greater Vice in Historians, than poor and common Reflections. The Poverty of the Archdeacon's appears in the _After Wit_, which makes a good Part of them; and the _Vulgarisms_, which will be further explain'd as Occasions often.

Indeed we do not enough acquaint ourselves in _England_, with what Father _Bouhours_ calls the _Manner of Right Thinking_, in his Treatise before mentioned; which _Fontenelle_ recommends as one of the most agreeable and useful Books in the _French_ Tongue: We have nothing like it in _English_, or in any other Language antient or modern, Wit and Humour, Wit and good Sense, Wit and Wisdom, Wit and Reason, Wit and Craft; nay, Wit and Philosophy, are with us almost the same things. How often have I heard it said, there is a great Deal of Wit in _Homer_, a great Deal of Humour in _Virgil_. We take all Thoughts in the Gross; the Sublime, the Grand, the Noble, the Pretty, the Agreeable, the Fine, the Delicate, are all alike witty with us; and the Vulgar are ignorant of all other Distinction, but that of a _Jest_ and a _Bull_. Sir _Samuel Garth_, who was extreamly fond of Father _Bouhours_'s Treatise, did often wish that it was translated, and the Examples the _French_ Critick takes from _Greek_, _Latin_, _Italian_, _Spanish_ and _French_ Authors, not to be turned into _English_, but _English_ Examples to be put instead of them. I am satisfied nothing would be of more Advantage towards the Refinement of our Manner, both of Thinking and Writing. I know the Undertaking would be very difficult, and the greatest Part of the Difficulty be to preserve the Spirit and Turn of Thought in the _English_ Examples, to make it answer Father _Bouhours_'s Remarks. Who is there, that does not take a sublime Thought, a noble Thought, a grand Thought, to be synonymous Terms, though they differ from one another, almost as much as from the Agreeable and the Delicate. I am my self afraid to attempt any Thing like Examples of Kinds, and probably my Conceptions of them may be wrong; what they are I shall offer them to the Reader, with the Caution and Submission which becomes me in a Matter so intricate and nice.

The first Example of the _Sublime_ is so well known, that if there was any other so good in any other Author, I should not have made use of it. It is in the 7th Chapter of _Longinus_. We will not borrow it from _Boileau_, because we are forbidden by the _Spectator_ to make Use of a Quotation which has been made Use of before. Dr. _Gregory_, in the Preface to his Works, printed about sixty Years ago, at what Time _Boileau_ had not thought of translating _Longinus_, writes thus: Dionysius Longinus, _one that knew what belonged to Expression_; having first of all cast a Scorn upon his _Homer_. The Translator does not dwell much upon this, _says_ [Greek: Tôn Ioudaiôn thesmothetês] _that the Law-givers of the Jews_, [Greek: Oych ho tychôn anêr], _no ordinary Man, was in the Right when he brought in his God_, saying, [Greek: Genesthô phôs, kai egeneto]

_Let there be Light, And there was Light._

But least it may be said, the _Spectator_ has entered a Caveat against my using any Quotation, which he or any one else had used, I shall add another Instance of the Sublime taken out of the same divine Book the Bible, that has not been blown upon:

_He spake, And it was: He commanded, And it stood firm._

The whole _Psalm_ xxxiiid is full of the _Sublime_:

_By the Word of the Lord were the Mountains made, And all the Host of them by the Breath of his Mouth._

What in all profane Learning comes up to the _Sublime_ in the xxxviiith Chapter of _Job_, where the Almighty is introduced speaking to him out of the Whirlwind:

_Gird up thy Loins like a Man, for I will demand of thee. Where wast thou when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? Declare, If thou hast Understanding. Who laid the Measures thereof? Who hath stretched the Line upon it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof fastened?_ or, _Who laid the Corner Stone? When the Morning Stars sang, and the Sons of God shouted for Joy!_

Happily imitated by _Milton_.

_Up he rode, Follow'd with Acclamations, and the Sound Symphonious of ten thousand Harps, that tuned Angelick Harmonies, the Earth, the Air Resounding. Thou rememberest; for thou heardest The Heavens, and all the Constellations ring: The Planets in their Stations listening stood, While the bright Pomp ascended jubilant. Open ye everlasting Gates: They sung, Open ye Heavens, your living Doors; Let in The great Creator from his Work returned Magnificent, his Six Days Work, a World._

Of the sublime Kind is the Ode in the _Spectator_, Nº 465; being a Paraphrase on that of the _Psalmist_. _The Heavens declare_:

_The spacious Firmament on high, With all the blue Ethereal Sky; And spangled Heavens, a shining Frame, Their great Original proclaim._

Some very scrupulous Persons may be apt to object against the third Line as an Anteclimax, the _spangled Heavens_ having much more Lustre than _shining Frame_. The following _Stanza_ is extreamly sublime:

_What tho' in solemn Silence all Move round the dark terrestrial Ball; What tho', nor real Voice, nor Sound Amid their radiant Orbs be found, In Reason's Ear they all rejoice, And utter forth a glorious Voice; For ever singing as they shine, The Hand that made me is divine._

I cannot omit here some Lines of Mr. _Waller_'s upon the Holy Scriptures, where there is more of the Sublime than in all other Books whatsoever.

_The_ Græcian _Muse has all their gods surviv'd, Nor_ Jove _at us, nor_ Phoebus _is arriv'd; Frail Deities, which first the Poets made, And then invok'd to give their Fancies Aid. Yet, if they still divert us with their Rage, What may be hop'd for in a better Age, When not from_ Helicon_'s imagin'd Spring, But sacred Writ we borrow what we sing? This with the Fabrick of the World begun Elder than Light, and shall out-last the Sun._

There are not ten finer Verses together in Mr. _Waller_'s Poems, yet he wrote them when he was above fourscore Years old.

Are not these two Verses of a Manuscript Poem in the sublime Kind? the young Author, a Lad at _Eaton_ School, wrote it on the Birth of his Royal Highness the Duke of _Cumberland_:

_Gods how he springs like Whirlwinds charg'd with Fire, He lays War waste, and Makes the World retire._

And these Verses out of _Tamerlane_:

_The dreadful Business of the War is over, And Slaughter, that from yester Morn till Even, With Gyant Steps past striding o'er the Field Besmear'd, and horrid with the Blood of Nations, Now weary sits among the mangled Heaps, And slumbers o'er her Prey._

I cou'd easily fill many Volumes of Quotations out of the Antients and Moderns, in all the Kinds of Thinking; but as I am doubtful of the Success of my Attempt, so the Fewer I insert, the Less I shall offend.

The _French_ perhaps have been a little too scrupulous and exact in dividing the _Noble_ and the _Grand_ in the Manner of Thinking. However, as to the Noble, let us see whether this Passage borrow'd of Scripture by _Milton_, will not serve for an Instance:

_All Night he will pursue, but his Approach, Darkness defends between till Morning Watch, Then thro' the fiery Pillar and the Cloud, God looking forth will trouble all his Host, And craze their Chariot Wheels; when, by Command,_ Moses _once more, his potent Rod erects Over the Sea: The Sea his Rod obeys On their embattled Ranks, the Waves return, And overwhelm their War._

There would be no End of it, if one should go about to enumerate such Instances as these out of _Milton_. His Poem of _Paradise lost_ is so full of them, that almost out of one Book one might collect as many such noble Passages, as out of all the _Æneis_; and I would add the _Ilias_ too, if I understood _Greek_ half so well as the Translator.

Among the many Sketches of the glorious Character of King _William_ in that of _Tamerlane_, Mr. _Row_ has this, which I take to be a very noble Image:

_No Lust of Rule, the common Vice of Kings; No furious Zeal inspir'd by hot-brain'd Priests: Ill hid beneath Religions specious Name, E'er drew his temp'rate Courage to the Field. But to redress an injur'd Peoples Wrongs, To save the weak One from the strong Oppressour Is all his End of War; and when he draws The Sword to punish, like relenting Heav'n, He seems unwilling to deface Mankind._

The Opposition in the following Passage, carries with it its own Application:

_As oft regardless Of plighted Faith, with most unkingly Baseness Without a War proclaim'd, or Cause pretended, He has t'ane Advantage of their absent Arms To waste with Sword and Fire their fruitful Fields, Like some accursed Fiend, who 'scap'd from Hell, Poisons the balmy Air thro' which he flies, He blasts the bearded Corn, and loaded Branches, The lab'ring Hind's best Hopes, and marks his Way with Ruin._

Is there not something noble in what Mr. _Waller_ says to the Duke of _Monmouth_, at his Return from suppressing a Rebellion in _Scotland_:

_But seeing Envy like the Sun does beat, With scorching Rays, on all that's high and great, This, ill requited_ Monmouth, _is the Bough The Muses send to shade thy conqu'ring Brow; Lampoons like Squibs may make a present Blaze, But Time and Thunder pay Respect to Bays._

I hope I may make Use of Part of Mr. _Addison_'s Translation of the _Justum & Tenacem_ of _Horace_. The Translator having done me the Honour to render it in _English_ at my Request:

_The Man resolv'd and steady to his Trust, Inflexible to Ill, and obstinately just; May the rude Rabble's Insolence despise Their senseless Clamours, and tumultuous Cries. The Tyrant's Fierceness he beguiles. And the stern Brow, and the harsh Voice defies, And with superiour Greatness smiles._

Again,

_Should the whole Frame of Nature round him break In Ruin and Confusion hurl'd, He unconcern'd would hear the mighty Crack, And stand secure amidst a falling World._

Si fractus illabatur Orbis, Impavidum ferient Ruinæ.

Is not this noble Thought the Original of that which ends the noted _Siloloquy_ of _Cato_:

_The Soul secure in his Resistance smiles At the drawn Dagger, and defies its Point: The Stars shall fade away, the Sun himself Grow dim with Age, and Nature sink in Years? But thou shalt flourish in immortal Youth, Unhurt amidst the War of Elements, The Wrecks of Matter, and the Crush of Worlds._

The two Verses quoted out of _Horace_:

Si fractus, _&c._

are not so well imitated by the Gentleman that turned _Cato_'s _Siloloquy_ into _Latin_, as to defy a Comparison;

Orbesque fractis ingerentur orbibus Illæsa tu sedebis extra fragmina

But not to be always running back to the Antients, let us have Recourse to the Moderns, particularly _Quillet_, and we shall find something in this Kind of Thinking. _Tons. Callip._ p. 72.

_As far as thou may'st Nature's Depths explore Still inexhaustible, thou find'st the Store; Thee let the Order she observes suffice, What Laws controul our Earth, and what the Skies. Mark how a thousand starry Orbs on high Around the Void with equal Motion fly; Mark how the huge Machine one Order keeps, And how the Sun th' Etherial Champian sweeps. Both Earth and Air with genial Heat he warms, Gives ev'ry Grace, and every Beauty forms; Whether around the lazy Globe he rolls. Or Earth is whirl'd about him on her Poles; God is the Mover, God the living Soul, That made, that acts, that animates the Whole. Hence with thy Atoms, Epicurus; hence: Was all this wond'rous Frame the Sport of Chance! Of Solids, they, 'tis true, the Matter make, Can Matter from itself its Figure take! Can the bright Order in the World we see, The blind Effect of wanton Fortune be! Did jumbling Atoms form the various Kind Of Beings, or did one Almighty Mind? Guess what you will, you must at last resort To a first Cause, and not to Chance's Sport. This Cause is God--------_

I must not omit this _Noble_ Thought of _Milton_'s:

_Then crown'd, again their golden Harps, they took Harps ever tun'd, that glitt'ring by their Side Like Quivers hung, and with Preamble sweet Of charming Symphony, they introduce The sacred Song, and waken Raptures high: No one exempt, no Voice but well cou'd joyn Melodious Part, such Concord is in Heav'n._

Having mention'd so many noble Thoughts in Verse, I shall conclude this Article, with a very plain but very noble one in Prose, the Saying of _Leonidas_ to _Xerxes_: _If you had not been too powerful and too happy, you might have been an honest Man._

Tho' it is a very hard Matter to distinguish the _Grand_ from the _Noble_ in the Manner of Thinking, yet we shall endeavour it by the following Examples; and sure nothing can be more _Grand_, than the Saying of _Alexander the Great_, to the Greatest of his Captains _Parmenio_, _Darius_, King of _Persia_, having offer'd the _Macedonian_ Monarch half _Asia_ in Marriage with his Daughter _Statira_. _As for me_, says _Parmenio_, _if I were_ Alexander, _I would accept of these Offers_: _And so would I_, reply'd that Prince, _If I were_ Parmenio. But why should we be always dealing in _Heroicks_, and running back into Antiquity to borrow Example from the Conquerors of the World. Why may not we propose one in the lowest Life, which will at the same Time prove, that the Excellencies of both Thought and Expression are in Nature, and not in the Rules of Art only. A Sergeant of the Guards, _What a terrible Fall is this, from_ Alexander the Great, _to a Sergeant of the Guards!_ who was in the last Attack upon the Castle of _Namur_ in King _William_'s War, after he had fir'd his Grenades at the Enemy behind the Palisadoes, leapt over them, and had been slaughter'd, had not a _French_ Officer prevented it. The Sergeant being a Prisoner in the Castle was sent for by the Governour Count _Guiscard_, and the Mareschal _de Boufflers_. The Latter demanding how he durst attempt to leap the Palisadoes with the Enemy behind them, when he could hardly have done it had there been none? _Perhaps, Sir, I might not,_ reply'd the brave _English_ Soldier, _but there is nothing too difficult for me to come at my Enemy._ A Saying worthy of _Alexander_ or _Cæsar_, of _Marlborough_ or _Eugene_.

I have seen something like these Verses of Mr. _Waller_'s, quoted as in the grand Way of Thinking:

_Great_ Maro _could no greater Tempest feign, When the loud Winds usurping on the Main, For angry_ Juno _labour'd to destroy The hated Relicks of confounded_ Troy.

But the Image, as grand as it is, does not seem to be so noble as the Instances before-mentioned; there is too much Terrour in it to participate of that Kind of Thought, which is not confident with what is terrible.

I cannot help thinking there is something _Grand_ in this _Epitaph_:

_Underneath this Marble Hearse, Lies the Subject of all Verse;_ Sidney_'s Sister,_ Pembroke_'s Mother, Death 'ere thou hast kill'd another, Fair and learn'd, and good as she, Time shall throw a Dart at thee._

To descend to the lower Kinds, we meet with what Father _Bouhours_ calls _Pensées Jolliées_ pretty Thoughts; and we have of that Kind too in _English_, perhaps to a greater Degree of Excellence, than is to be found in any other Language; especially those Verses in the _Spectator_, which are said there to be Originals, as indeed they are, and inimitable. I question whether a Poet might not as easily imitate _Milton_ or _Butler_. There are ten _Stanza_'s, and they all of a like pretty, and natural Turn with the

IIId STANZA.

_The Fountain that wont to run sweetly along, And dance to soft Murmurs the Pebbles among; Thou know'st little Cupid, if_ Phoebe _was there, 'Twere Pleasure to look at, 'twere Musick to hear: But now she is absent I walk by its Side, And still as it murmurs do nothing but chide; Must you be so chearful, while I go in Pain, Peace there with your Bubbling, and hear me complain._

How the _French_ may compare with us, as to this _pretty_ Manner, let us see by a Comparison. _Menage_ says, that this _Triolet_, as he calls it, a Sort of low Poetry where one or two Verses are repeated three Times, was the King of _Triolet_'s, and written by the famous Mons. _Ranchin_:

Le premier Jour de May Fut le plus Heureux de ma Vie, Le beau Design que je formay Le premier Jour de May.

_The first Day of the Month of_ May _Was the Happiest of my Life, Ah the fair Design I form'd The first Day if the Month of_ May. _Then saw you, then I lov'd, If you like this fair Design, The first Day of the Month of_ May _Was the Happiest of my Life._