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George Dsve Pinxit RA.i8i«.
W. Skehon Sculpnt.
REV? SAMIT^L PARR,LX.D,
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THE
WORKS
OP
SAMUEL PARR, LL.D.
PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, CURATE OF HATTON, &c.
WITH
MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS,
AND
A SELECTION FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE,
BY
JOHN JOHNSTONE, M.D.
PILLOW OP THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AND OP THE ROYAL COLLEGE
OP PHYSICIAN* OP LONDON, &C.
IN EIGHT VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND QREEN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1828.
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J. 1. NICHOLS AND SON, 95, PARLIAMENT-STREET.
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CONTENTS OF VOL III.
ftp-
Notice of Dr. Combe's Horace . . 1
Prefetio ad Bellendeni Librae . • .81
Miscellaneous Remarks on Politics, Jurisprudence,
Morals, &c. . . . . .211
Letter from Irenopolis to the Inhabitants of Eleu-
theropolis . 299
Warburtonian Tracts .... 347
Letter to the Rev. Dr. Milner . . . 485
Extracts from a pamphlet published in answer to
Dr. Combe's statement respecting his Vario-
rum Horace. .... 465
• Notes on Rapin's Dissertation on Whigs and Tories 529
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NOTICE
OF
Q. HORAT1I FLACCI OPERA,
Cum variu Lectionibus, notis Variorum, et Indicc locupletissimo.
Tom. II. Londini.
When this splendid edition of Horace was first
presented to our view, we exclaimed, in the words of
Catullus,
" Chart© regis, novi libri,
Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana
Directa plumbo, et pumice omnia aequata "
The brightness of the paper, the amplitude of the
margin, and the elegance of the type displayed in
this work, are nearly unrivalled. They do honour
to the taste and liberality of the editors. They
show that, by encouragement and exertion, the art
of printing is in a high and progressive state of im-
provement, and we are confident that many of our
readers will be eager to purchase an edition which
has so many recommendations from novelty and
magnificence.
A variorum edition of Horace has been long
among the desiderata of literature, and therefore
great commendation is due to the enterprizing spirit
which produced the work now under our considera-
vol. in. b
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2 NOTICE OF
tion. It is well known that scholars of the first
eminence have often been employed in preparing
editions of this kind. Among other instances, we
are indebted to J. G. Graevius for the variorum edi-
tions of Justin and Suetonius ; to J. F. Gronovius
for those of Plautus and Livy ; to Peter Burman
for those of Quintilwn and Ovid. But similar pub-
lications have often been undertaken with zeal, and
executed with success, by persons of less intellectual
prowess, and less literary celebrity, than the critics
whom we have just now enumerated. If an editor
unites a large share of accuracy even with a mode-
rate portion of erudition ; if he collects materials
with industry, and uses them with judgment ; if he
distinguishes' between ingenuity and refinement, and
separates useful information from ostentatious pe-
dantry, he will have a claim to public favour, though
he should not possess the exquisite taste of a Heyne,
the profound erudition of a Hemsterhuis, or the
keen penetration of a Porson.
The writings of Horace are familiar to us frbm
our earliest boyhood. They carry with them at-
tractions which are felt in every period of life, arid
almost every rank of soeiety. They charm alike by
the harmbny of the numbers, and the purity of' the
diction. They exhilarate the gay and interest the
serious, according to the different kinds of subjects
upon which the poet is employed. Professing nei-
ther the precision of analysis, nor the copiousness
of system, they have advantages, which, among the
ordinary classes of writers, analysis and system
rarely attain. They exhibit human imperfections
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 3
as they really are, and human excellence as it prac-
tically ought to be. They develope every principle
of the virtuous in morals, and describe every modi*
fication of the decorous in manners. They please
without the glare of ornament, and they instruct
without the formality of precept. They are the
produce of a mind enlightened by study, invigorated
fay observation ; comprehensive, but not visionary ;
delicate, but not fastidious ; too sagacious to be
warped by prejudice, and too generous to be cramped
by suspicion. They are distinguished by language
adapted to the sentiment, and by effort proportioned
to the occasion. They contain elegance without
affectation, grandeur* without bombast, satire with-
out buffoonery, and philosophy without jargon.
Hence it is that the writings of Horace are more
extensively read, and more clearly understood, than
those of almost any other classical author. The
explanation of obscure passages, and the discussion
of conjectural readings, form a part of the educa-
tion which is given in our public schools. The
merits of commentators, as well as of the poet him-
self, are the subjects of our conversation ; and Ho-
race, like our own countryman Shakspeare, has
conferred celebrity upon many a scholar, who has
been able to adjust his text, or to unfold his allusions.
The works of some Roman, and more Greek
writers, are involved in such obscurity, that no lite-
* We use the word Grandeur, because we think that Horace
is seldom sublime. Under the article Grandeur, in the British
Encyclopaedia, our readers will find the distinction between
grandeur and sublimity stated with great perspicuity and pre-
cision.
b2
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4 NOTICE OF
rary adventurer should presume to publish a vario-
rum edition of them, unless he has explored the
deepest recesses of criticism. But in respect to
Horace, every man of letters knows where infor-
mation is to be had, and every man of judgment
will feel little difficulty in applying it to useful and
even ornamental purposes.
Of such a writer as Horace, such an edition as
that which has lately appeared may be well sup-
posed to have excited a considerable share of public
curiosity. We mean, therefore, to bestow more
than a common degree of attention upon the con-
tents of the present work, and we shall endeavour
to conduct our enquiry in such a manner as will
not expose us to the imputation of undistinguishing
praise, or acrimonious censure.
The edition now offered to the public bears at
first view the name of Dr. Combe only. The Dr.
however, informs us that his late friend Mr. Homer
had some * concern in the beginning of his task ; but
we could wish that the Dr. had been pleased to
favour us with a more particular account of the
share which really belonged to Mr. Homer ; and
this wish is suggested to us by motives, not of idle
curiosity, but of substantial justice. We mean not
to depreciate the abilities, or to arraign the since-
rity of Dr. Combe. But we have weighty reasons
for supposing, and no contemptible authority even
for asserting, that the work was chiefly planned by
Mr. Homer, that he had procured and arranged ma-
* The Doctor's brief expression is, Mecum hancce operam
inceperat.
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DR. COMBES HORACE. 5
terials nearly for the whole, and that jointly with
Dr. C. he superintended the execution, till the
fourth book of the Odes was far advanced in the
press.
Prefixed to the first volume is an admirable en-
graving of the late Earl of Mansfield, with this motto
subjoined to it :
" Virtutis verae custos. — —
Quo mult® magnaeque secantur judice lites.'*
Now a critic, without the imputation of fastidi-
ousness, might pronounce it rather unusual to com-
pliment the same person in words so remote from
each other ; for the first passage is to be found in
the first Epistle, and the second in the 16th Epistle
of Horace. He might doubt how far Lord Mans-
field could with propriety be called "Virtutis verse
Custos," according to the sense in which Horace
originally wrote the expression about himself; and
to the vague application of it, either to the judicial
or the political character of Lord M. he might op-
pose many pertinent and formidable objections.
Remembering the occasion upon which the second
line was written, he might be led, by a very natural
association of ideas, to suspect that an enemy of the
noble Lord would pursue to his disadvantage the
very quotation which Dr. Combe had begun for the
purpose of doing him honour. We cannot ourselves
forget a very unfortunate introduction of a part of
the passage in the House of Commons;* and we
were, as Plautus says, oculati testes, of the ridicu-
* By Mr. C-n-w-y.
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6 NOTICE Of
lous effect produced by the statement of the whole
in a literary company. For the satisfaction then of
Dr. C. and the vindication of ourselves, we will lay
before our readers the words of Horace :
— " Vir bonus est quia ?
Qui consulta patrum, qui leges juraque servat,
Quo multae magnsque secantur judice lites ;
Quo res sponsore,* et quo causae teste tenentur $
SED videt hunc omnis domus, et vicinia tota
Introrsus turpem, speciosum pelle decora.*9
That Lord Mansfield deserved the commendation
rather than the censure implied in these lines, and
that Dr. Combe had, what he would call a right, to
separate the one from the other, we readily allow.
But we contend that an encomiast, uniting wariness
with taste, would have been deterred from selecting
any line in such a passage, for the description of a
person whom he meant to hold up to admiration.
They who read a part may remember the whole ;
and among those who remember the whole may be
found prejudiced and mischievous persons, who will
admit the suitableness of the verse which the Dr.
has applied, and then proceed to apply the context,
which the Dr. has overlooked, or forgotten, or defied.
The dedication to Lord Mansfield is written in
Latinity almost-^ unexceptionable. We learn from
* We follow the reading of Cuningham ; but, in most edi-
tions, it is printed Responsore.
f We say almost, because Lord M. is called " ob multipli-
cem et exquisitam erudition em spectatissimus." This we think
a very unauthorized use of the word spectatus. It answers (as
Dr. C. may learn from the dictionary of torcellinus) to cogni-
tus, exploratus, probatus, SoKipatrQeis, (misprinted in Forcellinus
boKipairOrjs.) Homo in rebus judicandis spectatus et cognitus.
Cic. Orat. in Verrem, lib. ii. In perfecto et spectato viro, Cic.
de amicitia, sect. ii. Utebatur medico ignobili, sed spectato
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DR. COMBES HORACE. 7
i% that the noble Lord was " ob ruultiplicem et ex*
quisitam eruditionem spectatissimus," that he was
" ob benignos et suavissimos mores admodiim dili-
gendus," that in eloquence he surpassed all his con-
temporaries in the Senate, as well as at the Bat,
that with great fame be joined great titles, and that
he was the Maecenas of Dr. Combe. Much in this
panegyric is said with truth, and all is said with
some degree of elegance. But, while we commend
Dr. C. for what he has done in the way of dedica-
tion, we must not cancel from our readers what Mr.
Homer intended to do. If that judicious and dili-
gent scholar bad been living, the illustrious names
of Mr. Windham and Mr. Burke would have adornecj
the page in which we now find the venerable name
of Lord Mansfield ; and the Dedication itself woukj
homine Cleopharito. Cic. pro Cluentio. Applied to things, it
answers to in&ignis, nobihs, pulcher. Aulus Gellius, indeed,
lib. xiii. cap. 21. writes thus: T. Castricius rhetorics discipline
doctor, qui habuit Roma? locum principem declamandi ac do-
cendj, summa vir auctoritate gravitateque, et a Divo Hadriano
in mores atgue literas spectrins. But we observe, first, that the
21e of Aulus Oellius is not famous for its purity, nor well
ipted to panegyric. Secondly, that the phraseology of spec-
tatus in mores is very singular. Thirdly, that mores is joined
with literas. Fourthly, that Hadrian, the person approving, is
meotioned as well as Castricius, the person approved; and,
lastly, that Castricius professed and practised the art of rheto-
ric, and therefore that his knowledge of that art could be ascer-
tained. Upon the whole, then, a person may be called Specta-
tus, for his moral qualities displayed in practice, for his skill in
the exercise of arts, or his probity and judgment in the con-
duct of business, as brought to the test of experience. But for
the mere acquisition, or the mere possession, or even the mere
display of learning, no man, we believe, is styled Spectatus by
the pure writers of Latin. We shall just observe by the way,
that Gesner refers in bis Thesaurus to the 20th chapter of J^\i~
las Gellius, instead of the 21st; and, indeed, his numerical re-
ferences are often erroneous.
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8 NOTICE OF
have been written by a person, the whole force of
whose mind would have been exerted upon such an
occasion, and whose advice, during the earlier stages
of this publication, was repeatedly asked, and gene-
rally followed, by Mr* Henry Homer.
To the Dedication succeeds the Preface, contain-
ing three pages. The Editor there tells us, that
among the numerous and splendid* editions of Ho-
race, no one has yet appeared with the variorum
notae ; that in this new edition care has been taken
to assist the studies of scholars, and to adorn the
libraries of collectors, by the introduction of such
notes as are approved for their utility by the
docti judices ; that Baxter's edition, republished by
Gesnerj-f" has been preferred by the editor in his
choice of a text ; that this choice was made on ac-
count of the accuracy of Gesner's text, and the ex-
cellence of the notes ; and that the text of the Vari-
orum Edition uniformly follows that of Baxter, ex-
cept in passages manifestly corrupted by the blun-
ders of printers. Upon this assertion we beg leave
to remark, that the text of the Variorum, in many
places not so corrupted, by no means corresponds to
the text of Baxter, and that the want of correspond-
ence is to be imputed, sometimes, it should seem, to
inadvertency, and sometimes to design. We shall
hereafter support this general position by the detail
of particular proofs.
* Dr. Combe's words are, Quamvis et eruditione et orna-
mentis summis nonnulla? abundant.
f Gesner's edition of Baxter was first published at Gottin •
gen, in 1757; and afterwards at Leipsic, in 1772. The cata-
logue of Var. Edit, notices the last.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 9
Dr. C. proceeds to inform us, that the notes pro-
duced from other authors belong "vel ad explica-
tionem vel ad rem criticam, aliis in quibus vel de re
mythologica vel historic^ agitur, et quae ubique
sunt in propatulo, omissis."
Dr. C. has carefully read through seven manu-
scripts preserved in the British Museum. They arg
distinguished in the Var. Edit, by these letters, A,
B, C, D, E, F, G.
The MS. marked E, contains only the three first
books of the Odes, and u quatuor Odas libri quarti."
The MS. marked 6, contains the Epistle, the Art
of Poetry, and "primos sermones novem." We
think that Dr. Combe should have said the tour first
Odes of the fourth book, and the nine first Satires
of the first book ; and, upon examining the w. LI.
of the Var. Edit, we find our opinion confirmed.
We shall present to our readers Dr. C.'s cata-
logue of these Harleian Manuscripts.
A 2725 Sec. 10.
B 3534 Sec. 12.
C 272* Sec. 13.
D 3754 Sec. 15.
E 2609 Sec. 15.
F 4862 Sec. 15.
G 2621 Sec. 13.
The foregoing enumeration is, we doubt not, very
accurate. But it were to be wished that Dr. C. had
given in his preface a specimen of every manuscript,
and enabled his readers to judge for themselves of
their respective antiquity, and consequently of their
authority.
The Dr. speaks with gratitude, and even triumph,
of the politeness which he experienced from the
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10 NOTICE OF •
persons who attend at the Royal Library, where he
had access tt> the Editio princeps of Horace, and he
bestows many jufct encomiums upon a collection,
which reflects the highest lustre on royal munifi-
cence. He makes also very proper acknowledg-
ment* to the Curators of the British Museum,
"pro humanitate qu& codices manuscriptos omnes
quibus ope* fuft, ei accommod&runt "
The Dr. tells us, that his notes are chiefly taken
from the writings of Bentley, Cuningham, Baxter,
Qesner, Klotzius, Janus, Waddelus, Wakefield, and
others, whom it Was scarce accessary to parties
larise, " praesertim," says he, " ciim nomina singu-
lorum quorum notis tfsus sum ad cakem hujusce
proeemii subjunxi* We shall in due time produce
very strolig objections to the accuracy of this state-
merit.
The Dr. proceeds thus : Quod ad loca in notis
citata spectat, h«c quidem accurate recognita et
collata, saepenumero castigata, in vestras manus
trado. This is a bold declaration indeed, and, for
the present, we are content with saying, in the
words of Longinus, to oe ^v apa ow^i toowtov, oJ8£
ox/you 8c?.-— -Longin, Sec, 32.
Of the Index, Dr. C. thus speaks : " Indicem vo-
cabulorum omnium copiosum, et aliis pracedentibus
locupletiorem adjeci ; Index enim k Thoma Tretero
collectus, ter mille in locis, et ultra, auctus et emen*
datus est." Our readers, we doubt not, are well
acquainted with the correctness of the late Mr. Ho-
mer, in the very useful office of making Indexes.
We trust that Dr. C. has profited by the example
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. 11
of Us friend. We think the Index to the Var. Ho-
race very copious ; and, without professing to have
undergone the drudgery of a minute inquiry, we
have found it it many instances very exact.
In the close of the preface Dr. C. adverts to the
memory of Mr. Homer ; and, because etar 6wn opi-
nions and our otf n feelings entirely harmonize with
the Doctor's, we lay before our readers the following
sentences :
" Huic procemio finem blc imponere reUem, sed amici, qui
mecum hancce operam inceperat, quique mecum familiariter,
dum superstes, vixerat, prematura mora hoe in loco boh est
prstereunda silentio.
" Fungamur igitur non inani munere, et merita egregii viri
Henrici Homer, consiliorum omnium societate mecum nuper
ConjunctisBimi, in memoriam rerocemus. Fuit ille literarum*
artiumque humaniorum scientissimus, vit& sanctus, probitatis,
fidei, et amicitiarum tenax, in prosequendis studiis pertinacissi-
mus> et, dum vires manebant, labore et vigilft indomitus; nihil
tamen gravitati severs serviebat, intervaJla enim negotiorum
faceto lepore, ut mos est amicorum, dispnngebat jucunditer.
*« Viri tali ingenio, tanift rerum cognitione, qui Doctorum
studiis se adjutorem prseatabat, qui bibliothecis tot omamenta
addidit, quia desiderio sit pudor aut modus? Lugeatis £um
inecum omnes, quibuscunque cordi sunt litem, quibvscunque
candor, et fides et honestas in pretio habentur, lugeatis.
a 0 JaUacem kominum spent, Jragilemqrue fortunam, et inane*
nostras contentiones: qtue in medio spatio sape jranguntur, et
corruunt, et ante in ipso cursu obruuntur quamportutn consjdcere
potuerunt"
The eulogy upon Mr. Homer is well founded,
and well timed. The quotation from Cicero is per-
tinent and pathetic. But we cannot help observ-
ing, that the style in the conclusion of the preface
seems rather different from that of the preceding
part, and bears some resemblance to the declama-
tions we have heard in colleges.
As to the style of the preface, it is neither deco-
rated by splendour, nor disgraced by quaintness.
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12 NOTICE OF
It is grave without dignity, and intelligible without
elegance. It deserves some praise, and provokes
little censure. But if the Latinity of Lipsius was
sometimes arraigned with justice by Henry Ste-
phens, that of Strada by Gaspar Scioppius, and that
of Bentley by Richard Johnson, the authors of the
British Critic may stand acquitted by Dr. C. of pre-
sumption, when they take the liberty of saying,
that in the compass of three pages they have found
two passages which are written ill, and two which
might have been written better. The Dr. speaking
of the Royal Library, says, " utpote per fevorem et
gratiam regii possessoris nihil abest, quod a studio-
sis et literatis in hac elegantissima et locupletissim&
bibliothecd desiderari possit." We assure Dr. C.
that he will find no authority for this use of utpote
with nihil abest in Forcellinus, in Gesner, in Tur-
8elline, (vid. pages 895 and 1097. Edit. Schwartz,
Leipsic, 1719.) Noltenius, p. 1889, gives this plain
and just canon : utpote " non habet verbum, nisi
intercedente qui vel quum, aut certfc jungitur adjec-
tivis sine verbo."
Intervalla enim negotiorum faceto lepore, says
the Doctor, ut mos est amicorum, dispungebat jwczm-
diter. We find dulciter in Appuleius, in quo (says
Rhunkenius, in his admirable preface) inest anti-
quitatis affectatio molesta eum legentibus. Again,
cupienter cupit, Ennius in Phoenice. Ampliter,
Plautus in CistelL Cupienter, Accius in Fhiloctete.
Avariter, Plaut. in Ruden. (vid. Funccius de adoles-
cent^ ling. Lat. p. 298. and Laurenburgii antiqua-
rius.) In p. 2007, of Putschius Gram. Lat. auct.
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DR. COMBE'fl HORACE. 13
antiq. Augustin lays down some judicious rules
for the formation of adverbs, and in p. 2008, he
thus proceeds : " san& circa has regulas auctoritas
usa est, et in paucis presumsit, ut diceret Cicero
humaniter cilm humanfe dicere debuit; et Teren-
tius, Vitam parc& ac duriter agebat." Gesner gives-
three instances from Cicero of humaniter for hu-
man£. Nizolius produces four; but in the second
humaniter feremus, the true reading, perhaps,* is
humanitus. In Forcellinus there is a fourth in-
stance quoted from Nonius, where humaniter is
used for moderate, comiter, facile — "invitus literas
tuas scinderem, ita sunt humaniter scripts." As
to the passage quoted by Augustin from Terence,
our readers know well that it occurs in the first
scene, first act of the Andria, and they also remem-
ber in the Adelphi,
Semper parce ac duriter
Se habere. Act i. sc. 1.
Augustin goes on : Sed tamen ipsi auctores mo-
destiiis et cum quodam pudore contra regulam pau-
ca prasumserunt. Jucunditcr, we are confident, is
not one of those few.
Dr. C. writes, "codex G. continet solummodd
Epistolas," &c. If the Doctor will take the trouble of
looking at the Curse Posteriores Cellarii, p. 168, or
at Scheller's Praecep. Styli Ben£ Latin, p. 355. or
at Noltenii Lexicon L. L. Antibarbarum, p. 1205,
* Ernestiu quotes humaniter in this passage, and explains it
aequo animo. Ernestus adds a fifth instance from Lib. i. de
Dmnatione, Sect, 7. Docebo profectb quid sit humaniter vi-
▼ere; and he explains it by "hilarfe." V. Clav. Ciceron.
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14 NOTICE OF
he will find that solummod6 is not used by any
writer of the Augustan age, and in future he may
he inclined to employ lantnmmodd, which is equi-
valent in sense, and superior in purity.
When we compare the size of the .preface with
the extent and variety of the work itself, we are
compelled to remark, that conciseness sometimes
produces obscurity ; and that obscurity is not always
inconvenient to editors, who may know more of
facts than it is convenient for them to detail, and
less of criticism than it might be safe for them to
disclose.
The preface is followed by the Nomina Aucto-
rum et Operum, ex quibus Dr. C. notas desumsit.
The index is said to have been that which was
prepared by T. Treter, and of which we are to in-
form our readers that it was printed at Antwerp,
1575, by Christopher Plantin.
Nomina auctorum et operum ex quibus notas desumsi.
Barnes — Josh. Barnesii Edit Homeri, 2 torn. 4to. 1711*
Bast.— Gal. Baxteri Edit. Horatii, 8vo. 1725.
Bent.— Rich. Bentleii Edit. Horatii, 4to. 1711.
Bond — Joh. Bond Edit. Horatii, 8vo. 1670.
Bowyer — Explicationes veterum aliquot auctorum ad finery,
Etywirtfov 'Itch-ties, 4to. 1763.
Cruqu.— Jacobi Cruquii Edit. Horatii, 4to. 1611.
Cumng.— Alex. Cuningamii aniinadversiones in Rich. Bentleii
Notas et Emendationes ad Horatium, 12rao. 1721.
Dae— And. Dacier Edit. Horatii, 8 torn. 12mo. 1709.
Desp.— Lud. Desprez Edit. Horatii, in. usum Delphini, 4to. 1691.
Gesn^-Jo. Matt Gesneri Edit. Horatii, 8vo. 1772.
Hare — Jo. Hare Epistola Critica, 4to. 1726.
Hurd — R. Hurd S. T. Pr. Edit. Epi&tolarum Horatii ad Pisones
et Augustum, 3 torn. 12mo. 1766.
Jan. — M. Christ. David Jaiii Edit. Carminum Horatii, 2 torn.
8vo. 1778.
Jas. de Nor. — Jason de Noris in Epistolam Q. Horatii, de arte
poetica, 8vo. 1553.
Klotz. — Chr. Adolph. Klotzii Lectiones Venusinae, 8vo. 1770.
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DR. COMBE** HORACE. 95
Lamb.— Dkm. Lanbini Edit. Horatii, foL J577.
Lin. — Car. Linne Systema Vegetabilium, 8vo. 1784.
— — Systema Naturae, 8vo. 1766.
MureU— M. Ant. Mureti Edit. Horatii, Sro. 1561.
MarkL— Jer. Markland Epistola Crittca, 8vo. 1723.
Pulmv— Theod. Pulmanni Edit Horatii, 12mo. 1564.
Rutg. — Jani Rutgersii Lectiones Venutanae, 12mo. 1699.
Sanad.— Sanadon Edit Horatii, .2 torn. 4to. 1728.
Taylor — Jo. Taylor de Jure Civili Angliae, 4to. 1756.
Torr.— Lauren. Torrentii Edit. Horatii, 4to. 1608.
Waddel. — Georgii Waddeli Animadversiones in loca quaedara
Horatii, &c. l2mo. 1734.
Wake. — Gilberti Wakefield in Horatium Observations .Criti-
cs, editae cum poematibus puis partim scriptis, partim reddi-
tis, 4to. 1776.
8yhra Critica, 2 torn. 8vo. 1789.
2eun. — Jo. Car. Zeunii Edit Horatii, Jo* Mathias Gesneri, 8vo.
1718.
After the catalogue, we next meet with the life
of Horace ascribed to Suetonius, and accompanied
by very copious notes from Janus. Gesner, aqd Bax-
ter. This is succeeded by a life of Horace " in eo-
dem codice," says the Var. Edit, ".alitor descripta*
But we read in Gesner, " in alio exemplari brevihs
deseripta." This seeming contradiction is nqt ex-
plained. But in the notes we read, " eadem paucis
mutatis £ eo'dice -antyquo J.Sicardi, legitur in Edit,
Basil. 1527." Then • follow three different readings
from the Basil edition. M igtavit is in the Basil
for commigravit. De Arte PoeticS. is wanting in
the Basil, and for "optime Acron," the Basil reads
a optime jEmilius." In Gesner there are no various
readings ; but we find migravit (which is a various
reading in the Basil) inserted in the text of the
Variorum, and we also find in line 10. of Gesner,
* scripsit," but in line 8. of the Variorum, " scripsit
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19 NOTICE OF
autem " These variations are of little consequence,
nor shall we attempt to account for them.
In the Var. Edit, we next meet with vita Hora-
tii, " in tribus codd. Bland, aliter descripta." This
life is not in Gesner, but Dr. C. found it in Janus.*
There is a fourth life in the Variorum, called Q.
Horatii Flacci Vita per annos digesta. Dr. C. does
not explain whence he took it, but we imagine that
it was from Janus.
We could wish that Dr. C. had favoured us with
what Johannes Masson has written on the chrono-
logy of Horace; vid. Fabric. Bib. Lat. vol. i. p.
234. with Dacier's Chronologia Horatiana, prefixed
to the Delphin edition by Desprez ; and, above all,
with a tract called de Temporibus Librorum Hora-
tii et poematum adeo Ricardi Bentleii sententia.
Gesner has inserted it, and Dr. C. should have at-
tended to these words of Gesner : " Sed opera pre-
tium est, h. e. Studiosis Horatii, qui Bentleianum
exemplar ad manus hon habent accommodatum,
poni post hanc praefationem locum integrum ex
praefatione viri magni, quo tempora librorum Hora-
tii ordinat : hoc cert£ confirmare possum, me, dum
* Mitscherlich, whose first Vol. of Horace was published at
Leipsic in 1800, has not mentioned the Variorum Edition. He
has judiciously subjoined, as did the Variorum Editors, " Vi-
tam poets a Massono ampla doctrina instructam, a Jani scite
in Compendium redactam ;" and he adds, *' Quae Tel sola areu-
mentorum affatim suppedidat, quam infirma omnino Bentleii
temporum sit ratio qua Ho rati urn primum, idque annis aetatis
suae 26, S3, sermonibus, postea biennio Epodis, deinde septem
annis tribus prioribus Carminum libris, turn Epistolarum libro
primo inde Carminum libro 4, et Seculari, denique Arti et
Epistolarum libro secundo uni vacasse demonstrare conatus
est.'— -Vide Prafat. p. 21.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 17
recenseo singulas eclogas> diligenter attendisse, si
quid esset, Bentleianis temporum rationibus adver-
sum, nee deprehendisse quidquam, quod momentum
aliquod ad eas evertendas haberet, lic£t quibusdam
eclogis non improbabili ratione fortfe tempus etiam
aliud, recentius prasertim, possit adscribi."
Bentley's Sententia, if produced, might have il-
lustrated and confirmed the observations of the very
learned Dr. Warton, in p. 7. of his Dedication to
the Essay upon Pope. " Horace," says Dr. Warton,
u has more than once disclaimed all right and title
to the name of poet, on the score of his ethic and
satiric pieces :
Neque enim concludere versum
Dixerit esse satis.
are lines often repeated, but whose meaning is not
extended and weighed as it ought to be." Now
Horace, according to Bentley's calculation, wrote
the first book of the Satires in the 26th, 27th, and
28th years of his age ; the second in the 31st, 32d
and 33d ; the Epodes in 34 and 35 ; the first book
of the Odes in 36, 37, 38. From the interval, there-
fore, between the date of the first book of the Sa-
tires, from which Dr. Warton quotes, and the sub-
sequent publication of the Odes, it appears, accord-
ing to Bentley, Horace had not been distinguished
in the character of a lyric poet, when he said :
Primum ego me illorum, dederim quibus esse poetis,
Excerpam numero.
Whence Dr. Combe took the fourth life of Horace
inserted in the Variorum, why he inserted it, and
why he omitted the above-mentioned work of Bent-
ley, we are not informed.
VOL. III. c
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18 NOTICE OF
We afterwards come to a tract Dc Amicis Ho-
ratii ; and, as Dr. Combe is silent here too, we are
abandoned to conjecture, when we ascribe that tract
to Janus, in consequence of the following words,
which we read in Part IV* of the Bibliotheca Cri-
tica, p. 86 : " Horatii amicos recenset sic, ut omnia
festinanter corrasisse videatur. Conferant harum
literarum studiosi ab eo dicta de Q. Dellio cum ani-
madversatione Ruhnkeniana ad Veil. Pat. 2. 84. 3.
ut intelligant quid sit temer6 effundere, quid accu-
rate cogitatfeque scribere." Upon the authority of
of report, and from the signature of H. W. in p. 96
of the Bibliotheca Critica, we have been accustomed
to ascribe the learned but severe review of Janus's
Horace to Mr. Wagner.
The Variorum Edition, after the little tract, De
Amicis Horatii, presents us with two Odes, which
some time ago were published from a manuscript
in the Vatican, and which are properly rejected in
p. 28 of the Prolegomena of the Variorum, as un-
worthy of Horace. This sentence appears to be
adopted from Janus.
After the Odes, we come to the Testimonia An-
tiqua de Horatio, two of which are found in Ges-
ner, but the other three, from Ovid, Petronius, and
Persius, are not in Gesner, but transferred from
Janus.
We next meet with a valuable tract of Aldus
Manutius, De Undeviginti Generibus Metrorum
Horatii, and the Metra Horatiana, as drawn up by
Christopher Wase. The former is in Janus, but
the latter is inserted in Gesner.
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DR. COMAE'S HORACE. 19
Many readers would perhaps have commended
the editor for having followed the example of Schroe-
der in his edition of Seneca's Tragedies ; of Haver-
camp, in his edition of Lucretius; and of many
other scholars, who have accumulated metrical in-
formation in their editions of classical authors.
We hope to be pardoned for stating that the Bibl.
Lat, of Fabricius points out several sources of me-
trical criticism not unworthy our editor's attention.
"Metrorum Horationorum rationem explicarunt,
ex antiquis Diotnedes, 3 Art. Gram. p. 517 — 528;
e recentioribus, Nic. Perottus et Aldus Manutius,
quos jam supra memoravi, turn Franciscus Patricius
qui MS. fuit in Bibl. Heinsiana, ut Dan. Bamber-
gium aliosque* omittam." Vid. Fabric. Bibl. Lat
vol. i. p. 250.
We have now finished our detail of the prelimi-
nary matter found in the Van Edit. It is with
great concern that we notice the omission of the
prcesidia, as Gesner calls them, of his edition of
Baxter. This little work is replete with informa-
tion very necessary to be communicated to the
readers of Gesner's Horace. It gives a clear ac-
count of the Princeps Editio, which Gesner prefers
to every manuscript, and which Maittaire by conjec-
ture assigns to Antonius Zarotus Parmensis. Scho-
lars will be the more interested in the history and
description of that edition, because, before the ap-
* Dr. Charles Burney, whose learning, taste, and penetra-
tion, are justly admired by every scholar, has drawn up a most
excellent system upon the metre of Horace. The work is re-
plete with accuracy, perspicuity, and elegance ; and we hope
that the author will not long withhold it from the public.
c*2
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20 NOTICE OF
pearance of Gcsner, it was the only one in which
we could find the celebrated reading of pretium
mentis, for per vim mentis, in v. 140. Epist. 2.
Lib. 2.
To depreciate what we know not, and to over-
value what we know, are failings from which hu-
man nature is rarely exempted by the strongest
powers of genius, and the most confirmed habits of
reflection. He that has attained excellence is ani-
mated with fresh enthusiasm upon every fresh con-
templation of the science in which he excels. With
a dim and imperfect remembrance of the motives
and the circumstances which accompanied the ear-
lier stages of his enquiries, he confounds simple
choice with complex comparison, and ascribes to
judgment what was the result of accident. He con-
siders the object chosen as peculiarly adapted to the
extent of his own views, and the vigour of his own
faculties. He is persuaded, that the same attain-
ments which are most agreeable and most orna-
mental to himself, must be the most advantageous
and interesting to mankind. Upon comparing
self with other men, he is conscious of real su-
periority ; and then, by an easy delusion, in which
fancy is ductile to pride, he transfers the same su-
periority from his talents to his studies ; and he
looks down upon every other part of human know-
ledge as unworthy of his notice, or subordinate and
subsidiary to those pursuits which habit has facili-
tated, and success endeared.
The attention of the present age has been very
generally directed to experimental philosophy, to
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 21
historical investigation, and to the discussion of the'
profoundest subjects in politics, in morals, and in
metaphysics.
_ Quod magis ad nos
Pertinet, et nescire malum est, agitamus.
As members of civilised society, and as friends to
the whole commonwealth of literature and science,
we acknowledge the utility of such researches ; we
are sensible of the difficulties attending them, and
we admire all the judicious and intense exertions of
the human understanding by which those difficul-
ties are gradually surmounted. But, however exten-
sive may be the importance of the studies which are
now most prevalent, and however brilliant the suc-
cess with which they have been prosecuted, we feel
no diminution of our reverence for the labours of
those scholars who have employed their abilities in
explaining the sense, and in correcting the text of
ancient writers. Verbal criticism has been seldom
despised sincerely by any man who was capable of
cultivating it successfully ; and if the comparative
dignity of any kind of learning is to be measured
by the talents of those who are most distinguished
for the acquisition of it, philology will hold no in-
considerable rank in the various and splendid classes
of human knowledge. By a trite and frivolous sort
of pleasantry, verbal critics are often holden up to
ridicule as noisy triflers, as abject drudges, as arbi-
ters of commas, as measurers of syllables, as the very
lacqueys and slaves of learning, whose greatest am-
bition is, " to pursue the triumph, and partake the
gale/' which wafts writers of genius into the wished-
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22 NOTICE OF
for haven of fame. But even in this subordinate
capacity, so much derided, and so little understood,
they frequently have occasion for more extent and
variety of information, for more efforts of reflection
and research, for more solidity of judgment, more
strength of memory, and, we are not ashamed to
add, more vigour of imagination, than we see dis-
played by many sciolists, who, in their own estima-
tion, are original authors. Some of the very satel-
lites of Jupiter are superior in magnitude, and
perhaps in lustre, to such primary planets as Mars
and the Earth.
To a correct and comprehensive view of the
learned languages, a critic must add a clear concep-
tion of the style, and a quick feeling of the manner
by which his author is distinguished. He must
often catch a portion of the spirit with which that
author is animated. And who, that has perused the
various writings of Grotius, of Erasmus, of Casau-
bon, of Salmasius, of the two Scaligers, of Mure-
tus, of Bentley, of Ernestus, of Hemsterhuis, will
venture to deny, that they had abilities to produce
works, equal, and sometimes more than equal, to
those which they have explained ? On some occa-
sions, indeed, they hold a secondary rank ; but they
are secondary, it should be remembered, to Virgil,
to Horace, to Cicero, the Dii Majorum gentium of
literature, and by inferiority to such writers the hu-
man intellect is not degraded.
When we reflect upon the patronage with which
the British Critic has already been honoured by the
members of the Established Church, we are con-
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 23
vinced that no formal and elaborate apology will be
required by them for the extent to which any philo-
logical disquisitions may be occasionally carried in
our Review. In the days which are past indeed,
but to which every scholar looks back with grati-
tude and triumph, the Church of England was
adorned by a Gataker, a Pearson, a Casaubon, * a
Vossius/f- a Bentley, a Wasse, and an Ashton.£
Within our memory it has boasted of Pearce and
Burton, of Taylor and Musgrave, of Toup and Fos-
ter, of Markland and Tyrwhitt, and of Porson. At
the present hour,§ we recount with honest pride the
literary merits of Burney, of Huntingford, of Routh,
of Cleaver, of Burgess; and when the name of
Wakefield occurs to us, who does not heave a mo-
mentary sigh, and catching the spirit with which
Jortin once alluded to the productions of learned
and ingenious Dissenters, repeat the emphatical
quotation of that most accomplished and amiable
scholar, " Qui tales sunt, utinam essent nostri ?"
See Preface to the Remarks upon Ecclesiastical
History, vol. i.
After these preliminary observations, which are
evidently intended to justify both the length and the
minuteness of our remarks upon the Variorum Edi-
* Isaac Casaubon had a Prebend at Canterbury, and at
Westminster.
f Isaac Vossius, son of Gerrard, was Canon of Windsor.
% Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, of whom we ouote
Mr. Wakefield's words : " Venerabilis viri Caroli Ashton, D.D.
viri, vel Bentleio judice, qui semper eum et laudibus et amore
prosequebatur, doctissimi, et coliegii Jesu, apud Cantabrigien-
ses, per quinquaginta annos magistri." Silva Critica, part iii.
page 90. § 1812.
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24 NOTICE OF
tion of Horace, we shall proceed to support these
strictures, which have already been laid before our
readers.
Dr. Combe speaks thus of Baxters edition, im-
proved by Gesner : " Hujusce editionis contextum,
nisi in locis quihusdam, ab incuria typographorum,
manifest^ pravis, nihil prorstis mutare ausus, pro
exemplari adhibui."
The Doctor says, that he has made no change what-
soever, except in passages corrupt. But it seems
to us, that in passages not corrupted, changes have
now and then been made ; nor can we always assign
the reason which induced the learned editor to
make them.
Lib. i. Od. iii. 1. 21.— Od. xv. 1. IS and 16. Gesner reads Ne-
quicauam, the Variorum nequidquam.*
Lin. i. Od. iv. 1. 19. Gesner Lycidam, Variorum Lycidan.
The Variorum here differs from Baxter's text in
opposition to the spirit of Baxter's note, in which
we are told that it is of no consequence whether we
admit the Latin or the Greek termination, and in
which Bentley is attacked for the favour he shows
to Hellenisms and Archaisms, in writing Latin
words.
Lib. i. Od. xiv. 1. 17. Gesner solicitura, the Variorum solli-
citum.
Lib. i. Od. xviii. 1. 4. Gesner solicitudines, the Variorum
sollicitudines.
Lib. iii. Od. vii. 1. 9. Gesner solicits, the Variorum sollicitae.
* This variation occurs in the first volume of the Variorum,
but in the second volume there are two instances where Dr. C.
seems to forget the Variorum edition, and follows Gesner.
Lib. ii. Sat. 7. 1. 27. and Lib. i. Epist. 3. 1. 32. Nequicquam
occurs both in Gesner and the Variorum.
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DR. CpMBES HORACE. 25
Lib. iii. Od. xxix. 1. 16. Gesner solicitara, the Variorum sol-
licitam.
Lib. ir. Od. i. 1. 14. Gesner solicits, the Variorum soilicitis.
Lib. iv. Od. xiii. 1. 6. Gesner solicitas, the Variorum sollicitas.
Lib.i. Sat. ii. 1. S. Gesner solicitum, the Variorum sollicitum.
Lib. ii. Sat. ▼iii. 1. 68. Gesner solicitudine, the Variorum sol*
licitudine.
Lib. ii. Ep. i. 221. Gesner solicito, the Variorum sollicito.
In the foregoing, and perhaps some other similar
instances, the Variorum differs from Gesner ; and,
in the following instances, either Gesner, agreeing
with the Variorum, differs from himself; or the Va-
riorum editors, agreeing with Gesner, differ from
themselves.
Lib. i. Od. xxxv. 1. 5. Gesner and the Variorum give solli-
cita : but Epod. xiii. 1. 10. Gesner solicitudinibus, and the Va-
riorum give solicitudinibus.
Lib. ii. Sat. iii. 253. Gesner and the Variorum give solicitus.
Lib. ii. Sat. ii. 1. 43. Gesner and the Variorum give solicitat.*
Lib. i. Sat. vi. 1. 119. Gesner and the Variorum give solicitus*
Lib. i. Ep. ▼. 18. Gesner and the Variorum give solicitis.
Upon comparing the accuracy of Gesner with that
of our editors, in the foregoing words, we find that
Gesner once differs from himself; that in nine in-
stances our editors differ from Gesner, and that in
five instances their text corresponds with Gesner's,
and varies from the orthography which more fre-
quently occurs in their own. In a work professing
to follow Gesner we had a right to look for uni-
formity ; and, in point of fact, we find differences
unexplained, and to us inexplicable, except on the
supposition that our editors were ignorant -^ of the
* This word is printed in the Index of the Variorum solli-
citet.
f We have heard that Mr. H. was neither ignorant, nor in-
different ; that he often consulted the orthography of Cellarius,
and often applied to his friends in cases of difficulty. In all pro-
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26 NOTICE OF
dispute about the spelling of these words, or indiffer-
ent to the opinion of critics who may prefer one mode
of spelling to the other. But upon Gesner it would
be presumptuous to charge such ignorance, or such in-
difference ; for in his text only one variation is found,
and as that one may with probability be imputed
to the printer, we commend him for preserving that
uniformity which our editors have neglected. From
the uncertainty of the derivation in the word solici-
tus, and from the unwillingness of the antiqui libra-
rii to double letters, we admit with Gesner that the
orthography of the word is doubtful, and yet we
would recommend to every editor the preservation
of uniformity. Vid. Heineccii fund. Stil. Cult. p.
38. Cellarii Orthograp. p. 127. Schelleri Precept,
p. 41.
That the practice of Gesner sometimes over-ruled
the doubts of our editors, we may infer from the
correspondence of their text in one word to that of
Gesner, where the text of Gesner is not correspon-
dent in orthography to itself.
Lib. i. Od. vi. 1. 16. Gesner and the Variorum give Tydeiden ;
and in Od. xv. 1. 28. both give Tydides.
We shall bring forward other variations for which
Dr. C. has not accounted.
bability the Preface, if he had lived to write it, would have been
satisfactory to every candid scholar, and the profession of fol-
lowing Gesner would have been made with some limitations
and restrictions. We beg leave to add, that Lambin, in the
Preface to his Horace, 1568. and Heyne also in the Preface to
the 2d edition of Virgil, seem to have considered it as part of
their editorial duty, not to leave the subject of orthography
wholly unnoticed.
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DR. COMBES HORACE. 27
Lib. i. Od. xxii. 1. 14. Gesner esculetis, the Variorum aescu-
letis.
Lib. i. Od. xxxvi. 1. 17. Gesner Damalim, the Variorum Da-
Lib. i. Od. xxxviii. 1. 5. Gesner adlabores, the Variorum
allabores.
Lib. ii. Od. v. 1. 14. Gesner dempserit, the Variorum demserit.
lib. ii. Od. xy. 1. 4. Gesner ccelebs, the Variorum caelebs.*
Lib. iv. Od. xi. 1. 34. Gesner foemina, the Variorum femina.
Lib. iii. Od. x.Ll. Gesner Tanaim, the Variorum Tanain.
Lib. iii. Od. xxvL 1. 10. Gesner Memphim, the Variorum
Memphin.
Epod. Od. i. 1. 20. Gesner adlapsus, the Variorum allapsus.
Carmen Seculare, 1. 19. Gesner fceminis, the Variorum
feminis.
Carmen Seculare, 1. 72. Gesner adplicet, the Variorum ap-
plicet.
From the substitution of the Greek for the Latin
termination in Damalin, Tanain, Memphin, and from
the doubtful letters in allabores and applicet, we
suspect that one of the editors had adopted some
principles of orthography rather different from those
which Gesner followed ; and that in the Epodes and
Carmen Seculare, Dr. C. acceded to the practice
of his coadjutor without observing, or, it may be,
without regarding, the deviation from Gesner.
We shall point out a few other words in which
the texts of Gesner and our editors are at variance.
Lib. i. Od. xxviii. 1. 3. Gesner littus, the Variorum litus.
Lib. ii. Od. x. 1. 4. Gesner littus, the Variorum litus.
Lib. iii. Od. xvii. 1. 8. Gesner littoribus, the Variorum lito-
ribus.
Thus far the editors differ from Gesner; but in
* We desire our readers to observe, that in this word the
text of the Odes once diners from Gesner, and once agrees with
him. Vid. Od. 8. 1. 3. and the text of the Epistles agrees with
him ; for in B. i. Epist. i. 1. 88. Ccelibe is found both in Gesner
and the Variorum.
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28 NOTICE OF
Epod. xvi. 1. 63. the surviving editor forgets the
rule of his coadjutor, and, returning to Gesner,
prints littora. Again, in the 38th line of the Car-
men Seculare he abandons Gesner's text, which
gives littus, and in his own text he prints litus.
Lib. i. Od. xxxiii. 1. 11. Gesner ahenea, the Variorum aenea.
Lib. i. Od. xxxv. 1. 19. Gesner ahena, the Variorum aena.
Lib. iii. Od. ix.4. 18. Gesner aheneo, the Variorum aeneo.
Lib. i. Ep. i. 60. Gesner aheneus, the Variorum aeneus.
If our editors had no rale for the orthography of
this word, why did they differ from Gesner in the
preceding examples, where they omit h ? and if they
had a rule, why do they break it to follow Gesner
in one example, where h is inserted ? for in Lib. iii.
Od. iii. 1. 65. we find aAeneus both in .Gesner and
the Variorum.
We are under the necessity of bringing forward
other instances of inattention, or inconsistency.
Lib. i. Od. ii. 1. 28. Gesner rettulit,* the Variorum retulit.
Lib. iv. Od. xv. L 5. Gesner rettulit, the Variorum retulit.
Thus we see that in the Odes the Variorum edi-
tion differs in this word from Gesner, and, in the
Epistles, we shall now see that it follows Gesner
implicitly, even in the variations of his text.
Lib. I. Ep. xvii. 1. 32. Gesner retuleris, do Variorum.
Lib. ii. Ep. i. 1. 234?. Gesner rettulit, f do Variorum.
* On this passage we find in the Variorum, p. 158, vol. i. the
following note from Janus ;
Rettulit (ut alias relligio, relliquiae, &c.) scribere solent.
Male hoc, v. 111. Heyn. ad Virg. Mtl. 5. 598. in V. L. — Jan. (in
var. lect.) It should seem that one of the editors of the first
volume adopted Janus's opinion, because the text is conforma-
ble to it. but the editor of the second volume appears to have
forgotten the words of Janus.
t This word occurs in the Index of the Variorum, but we do
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 29
It is, we believe, generally agreed, that ocior is
more correct than ocyor, and, perhaps, this will ac-
count for the accuracy and consistency of our edi-
tors. In the text of Gesner, the i, instead of the y,
is always found, except once; see lib. ii. od. xi. 1. 18.
where we meet with ocyus ; but the Variorum gives
ocius.
In the word lacryma, and its derivatives, we ob-
serve, that the Variorum edition sometimes agrees,
and sometimes disagrees, with the text of Gesner ;
and that neither the text of Gesner, nor that of the
Variorum, agrees with itself.
Lib. i. Od. viii. 1. 14. Gesner lacrimosa, do Variorum.
Lib.i. Od. xxi. 1. 13. Gesner lacrimosum, do Variorum.
Lib. iii. Od. vii. 1. 8. Gesner lacrimis, do Variorum.
Lib. i. Ep. x*ii. 1. 60. Gesner lacryma, do Variorum.
Lib. i. Ep. i. ]. 67. Gesner lacrimosa, do Variorum.
Lib. ii. Od. vi. 1. 23. Gesner lacryma, the Variorum lacriraa.
Lib. ii. Od. xiv. 1. 6. Gesner illacrymabilem, the Variorum
illacrimabilem.
Lib. iv. Od. i. I. 34. Gesner lacryma, the Variorum lacrima.
We consider both methods of orthography as
equally defensible ; but we think that our editors,
in conformity to the profession of the preface-
writer, ought regularly to have followed Gesner in
both.
In the orthography of the word paulo our editors
are not consistent.
Lib. iii. Od. xx. 1. 3. Gesner paulo, the Variorum paullo.
Lib. ii. Sat. iii. 1. 265. Gesner paulo, the Variorum paulo.
In two other instances of the Satires, in four of
the Epistles, and in one in the Art of Poetry, the
not find there the two instances from the Odes, nor retuleris
from the 17th Epistle, Book 1st.
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30 NOTICE OF
same agreement is found between the text of Gesner
and the Variorum. But in the Odes, where the word
occurs only once, the Variorum differs from Gesner.
Our readers then will be pleased to remember, that
through the greater part of the first volume the text
of the Variorum was conducted by Dr. C. and Mr.
Homer, jointly, and through the whole of the se-
cond volume by Dr. C. alone. Dr. C. follows Ges-
ner s text in printing paulo ; and Mr. H. in not fol-
lowing it, might have some reason for preferring
paullo.
We shall now remark a class of words, in the or-
thography of which the Variorum differs, more or
less, from Gesner's text, and as the difference in one
of these words is uniform, we suppose that it is
founded upon some principle, which, though unex-
plained, may be very just.
Lib. ii. Od. ix. 1, 9. Gesner urgues, the Variorum urges.
Lib. iv. Od. 9. 1. 27. Gesner urguentur, the Variorum ur-
gentur.
Lib. ii. Sat. iv. 1. 77. Gesner urguere, the Variorum urgere.
Lib. ii. Sat. iii. 1. 30. Gesner urguet, the Variorum urget.
Lib. i. Epist. xiv. 1. 26. Gesner urgues, the Variorum urges.
A. P. 1. 434. Gesner urguere, the variorum urgere.
Lib. ii. Od. xiv. 1. 27. Gesner tinguet, do Variorum.
Lib. iii. Od. xxiii. 1. 13. Gesner tinguet, do Variorum.
Lib. iv. Od. xii. 1. 23. Gesner tinguere, the Variorum tmgere.
Gesner is consistent with himself in the use of
both words. Our editors are consistent with them-
selves, and at variance with Gesner, in the ortho-
graphy of urgeo. Once they differ from Gesner,
and twice they agree with him, in the word tingo.
Inter virtutes grammatici habebitur aliqua ne-
scire. So said Quintilian ;* so, perhaps, would some
* Vide Rollin's Quintilian, p. 99*
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DR. COMBE^ HORACE. 31
of our contemporaries say of the controversies
which have been agitated by scholars on the sub-
ject of orthography. But when an editor professes
to follow the text of a work, which he has delibe-
rately chosen as the best model for his own edition,
we hope to give no offence by applying to him the
observation which Quintilian makes upon another
occasion, * Ilium ne in minimis quidem oportet falli.
Of the alterations admitted into the text of the
first volume, we should not always disapprove, if the
preface-writer had not forbidden us to expect them.
We know that some of those alterations are made
in conformity to the best rules of orthography ; we
believe that one of the persons who sometimes made
them, understood clearly, and deliberately followed,
those rules. But we contend that, in point of fact,
the text of the Variorum does not correspond to
the text of Baxter.
The indispensable and appropriate excellence of
an edition like that which we are now examining
consists in accuracy ; and one of the rules, accord-
ing to which our preface-writer has professed to be
accurate, is the text of Gesner. Now, in our for-
mer Review, we asserted, that the Variorum edition
had deviated from this rule, and, on the present oc-
casion, we have supported our assertion by more
than forty instances of variation from the text of
Gesner, where that text is not manifestly corrupted
by the carelessness of printers. We are perfectly
aware that a detail of this kind is not very usual in
periodical publications, nor very interesting to less
* Vide Rollin's Quintilian, p. 31.
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32 NOTICE OF
learned readers. But we appeal with confidence to
the Variorum edition itself for the truth of our as-
sertion, and to the judgment of scholars for the
importance of our proofs.
We trust that the good sense and the candour of
the editor will induce him to consider us as dis-
charging the duty which we owe to the public,
when we point out some errors in the breathings and
accents of Greek words.
VOL. I.
P. 13. itaXof wants the grave on the ult.
P. 16. ctyoproi wants an acute on the antepen.
— • woe wants an acute on the penult. ; and rovr' stands
before tybolre.
P. 26. ovbe wok9 vorcpov for ovh£iroKy vtrrefoy*
P. 28. xpvffovt wants a circumflex on the ultimate.
P. 29. AterAc is printed with a rough, instead of a smooth
breathing.
P. 40. We observe, that the penult, of the word wXripes wants
a circumflex.
P. 44. rwv wants the circumflex.
P. 48. Janus produces a note from Lambin, which contains
a passage from Philostratus in his first book of Icones. Now
we find the passage neither produced nor referred to in the im-
mediate text of our Lambin, which was published, Lutetiae,
1567 ; but Torrentius, in his note on the passage, says, fabulam
lepidissime referri Philostratus imaginum, Lib. i. The reader
will find the story in the 26th Icon of Philostratus, and the
words of Philostratus in the omissa of our edition, p. 351. *
P. 53. tqv wants the circumflex.
P. 54. ixovva is thus falsely printed as to the second accent.
P. 62. rwv wants the circumflex.
P. 65. fii\T&rr6pr)OL wants the t subscript in the penult,
P. 66. pev wants the grave. .
P. 70. KpeMHTuv wants the acute on the penult.
P. 72. there is no comma at olros in the lines quoted from
Plato.
* We write this paragraph in favour of Janus's note, which
we suppose agrees with Lambin's edition of 1577.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 33
P. 72. &OT?pe wants a circumflex ; and, perhaps, an t sub*
script * in the penult.
P. 84. y\avx<#*is has no circumflex on the penult, and is
spelled wrong with a v. Uptj wants the rough breathing, and
toe acute on the penult, ivwrtyatos is spelled with a single y,
instead of a double. The error is indeed in Lambin, but ought
to have been corrected by Dr. C.
P. 85. ri be pot. re is put for rt. In Baxter it is rl.
P. 101. opjffii wants the smooth breathing, and an acute on
the antepen. Lambin gives Spvpt for the iEolic verb Unas-
pirated. •
— — droac poi, an acute is wanting on the final of atoat.
In Lambin it is printed right.
• P. 107. afi^drjToy for hfivdrjrov.
P. 145. yeXuvn wants the circumflex on the penult. ; and if
the Doctor had examined Theocritus, as well as the note of Ja-
nus, he would have avoided the mistake in the Variorum. As we
are not for the present in possession of Janus's edition, we know
not whether this and other errors were committed by him.
P. 183. opxos wants the aspirate and acute.
P. 199. dfwtficcrOai has no acute on the antepen. : perhaps it
was absorbed in the /?.
P. 210. x$oyos should have an acute, not a grave on the ult.,
for it is the end of a sentence.
P. 227- oi*b IcXl jrw fie. As w« throws the accent on the
final of aXe, we think that pc should be accented with a grave.
See p. 76 of the Treatise on Greek Accents, by Messrs. Port
Poyal, published in London, 1729. But this error, if it be
one, is slight ; and our editors followed Dr. Bentley.
P. 242. nay is not accented.
P. 250. yywfirj fill KaOaoivoi. Here, in the Variorum, yywprf
wants the i subscript. If Janus quotes icadapevot, he is wrong j
and if Dr. C. had consulted Bergler's edition of Aristophanes,
* Caniniut maintains, that %pa and ijpra, of At/ow, should not
have the e subscript ; because, say Messrs. Port Royal in their
Gr. Grammar, apw, the future has no t subscript. See Port
Royals Gr. Grammar, p. 105. We find fjpxa without the < sub*
script, p. 155, of Caninius. But to those who have read Len-
nep de Analogia, Gr. L. any arguments drawn from the modern
method of deriving tenses from each other will not be quite
satisfactory. The opinion of Caninius probably was not pre-
sent to the mind of our editors when they printed anqpe with*
out the e, and the general practice of editors is to print with it.
f In our edition somebody has written in the margin aprr
8ifrov.
VOL. III. D
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34 NOTICE OF
instead of Kuster's, he would have found, and, we trust, would
also have adopted, the better reading xadapevet.
P. 251. KvavkoHTtv eV 6<f>py<Tt. This is a great error. It is
committed, we grant, in uesner's note ; and there, doubtless,
the blame is to be laid on the printers. We should have been
glad to find Kvaveriatv in the Variorum edition, which is the true
and obvious reading.
Ibidem. Kvavfym wants the i subscript.
P. 264. e&ei is erroneously put for ijdei, but in Gesner it is
right.
P. 38 1* tfXaicdirri for J/XaKaTt).
P. 503. x«* printed with a % instead of a k.
Ibidem. pe6v instead of peov. The same mistake is in Klot-
zius, from whom the note is taken.
Ibidem. Stay re for J ca re. This error is also in Klotzius ;
but the text of Museeus is right.
Ibidem. XevKOTraptjos wants the i subscript.
P. 505. Trrepiyviov for nrepvywv. This very gross mistake
occurs in the Venusinae Lectiones of Klotzius, p. 383.*
P. 508. oriov should be separated.
Ibidem, ris ttqt9 ktniv. We are confident that e<mv should
have an accent upon the final syllable ; and we refer Dr. Combe
to the Treatise upon Accents above mentioned. Upon exa-
mining Lambin, we find the accent faintly marked ; and, upon
looking into Johnson's Sophocles, we find it distinctly marked.
P. 541. tpep6evres put erroneously for lpep6€VTes.
P. 569. topvytov is without an accent.
P. 580. Negl enter in the notes for Negligenter.
P. 615. &fJ€T€pijtn twice wants the i subscript; but in Lambin
from whom the note is taken, the word is right in both places.
In the second note, Lambin refers to Lucian in his Dialogi
Meretricii, where the dialogue begins Ei riv litr&a. Our editor
has made the reference more clear by referring to the fourth
dialogue in the third volume ; but, he might have added, of
Reitzius's edition.
P. 616. *vi has a circumflex accent instead of a smooth
breathing on the first syllable, and fjuiyapots should be ficyapois.
P. 617. t$<tlv is once without the circumflex on the penult.
* While we lament the frequent mistakes which occur in
Greek words, we see great commendation due to the editor for
the care with which Latin words have nearly in all instances
been printed ; we heard with much satisfaction that on the -dis-
covery of a few mistakes after the publication of the work, tbe
editor cancelled p. 124 of the 1st volume, and pp. 265 and 481
of the 2d volume.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 35
P. 630. ovbtv is erroneously put for ohbtv.
P. 634. &iro is erroneously printed for Ato.
Ibidem, worviat erroneously printed for xdrvtat. The error
is in Bentley's note ; but a slight glance upon the text of Aris-
tophanes would would have enabled Dr. C. to correct it.
VOL. II.
P. 9. rjfiipar wants the rough breathing, though we find it
rightly placed in Baxter.
. P. 20. \oib6 pupa is improperly separated.
P. 34. rtjv bdpa TaXKos €\oi- . These four words are without
accents, and the apostrophic mark is wanted at h befpre fya.
P. 87. vfjivuv has a grave accent instead of an acute on the
penultimate, and of this strange error we shall find more in-
stances in the second volume of the Variorum Edit.
P. 38. vrdrtf has a grave instead of a rough breathing upon
the antepenult. ; but in Gesner, from whom the note is taken,
the word is printed right.
. P. 85. ana has no accent nor breathing, but is right in
Baxter.
P. 1 15. ffvy , before haluopit should have a grave accent in-
stead of the apostrophic mark.
• P. 117. froreorrat has the mark of a smooth breathing in-
stead of an acute on the antepenult. In Gesner the word is
printed right.
P. 169. Upon line 85. Sat. ii. lib. ii. Dr Combe produces,
from Lambin, a note which we cannot find in our edition, printed
by T. Maccaeus, 1567. The Doctor, in his catalogue of authors,
speaks of Lambin's edition, published 1577 ; we have not that
edition; but we fir d it mentioned in the Bibliotheca Latina of
Fabricius, who says, that it was published at Franckfort, 1577 ;
and Harles, in his Jntroductio in notitiam Literature Romance,
says of the second and improved edition of Lambin, " Francof.
typis Wechelianis aliquoties repetita in forma maxima et quarta."
The folio, says Fabricius, was printed at Franckfort, 1577, and
the quarto in 1596. We therefore suppose the folio to contain
the passage which is not found in our Paris edition. Dr. C.
quotes Lambin's note thus : wws bu rvv viov n-oci??,* which to
us is unintelligible. If Dr. C. had turned from Lambin to Plu-
tarch, he would have written ic&s bit rbv viov icoiripaTtav atcoveivy
and he would have found the passage which Lambin quotes in
p. 33 of Xylander*8 edition. The text there gives bairavats
* We are told that iroirjv occurs in the edition of Lambin,
printed by Bartholo. Maccseus, Paris, 1605.
D2
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36 NOTICE OF
la&crat, but among (he vv. LL. the Basil Codex gives hax&yaun
cr&ffai, and this reading Lambin follows.
P. 169. p&cr&y, with a circumflex ou the final, most impro-
perly following the acute on the penult.
P. 175. vvv Kht Mcwinrov. Dr. C. prints Mewnrov without
an accent, * and he also substitutes jccu for to. This monstrous
blunder is in Baxter's note, which the Doctor transcribed, instead
of correcting, and which he would have corrected, surely, if
he had consulted Lucian, to whom the epigram is ascribed.
Every school-boy reads that epigram in Farnaby's collection,
and every editor must acknowledge that to is the true reading.
We do not suppose that Dr. C. holds the heretical opinion of
those critics, who maintain that a rand at final may be made
short before a word beginning with a consonant, and whom
Bentley has entirely confuted in his notes upon the first hymn
of Callimachus. The sense, too, no less than the metre, re*
quires to.
Ibidem. oHMs. Dr. C. gives this word two accents, though
Gesner f prints only one, and Gesner is right.
P. 179. ph^XaufiavofAipov row xadovs. What title has this,
or any other word, to two accents, where an enclitic does not
follow ? or, bow can a grave be placed on the sixth syllable
from the ultimate of any word ? We fear that Dr. C. has been
a little misguided by Gesner, in whose edition pera and Xa/i-
fiavofjLtvov are printed in two lines, and joined by an hyphen.
P. 186. eipw vims. Dr. C. makes two words of one, and he
puts a circumflex upon the final of elpw, but leaves yiKws unac-
cented. Gesner is not to be blamed here, for he prints vlpwutfr.
P. 200. tiucovtrats is left without an accent.
P. 210. fepdfievos has a grave, instead of an acute, upon the
antepen.
P. 225. wro^exTMfA. This word is printed with three mis-
takes : on the first syllable there is a grave accent for a rough
breathing ; in the third there is a % for a r; and on the fifth
there is a smooth breathing instead of a grave accent ; yet Dr.
Bentley, from whom the note is taken, prints the word right ;
and in Strides, whom Dr. Bentley quotes, it is equally right.
P. 261. fyof. Baxter gives an accent to the final syllable,
and upon the initial he places a rough breathing, where Dr. C.
* Qr. why are the ends of both Hexameters separated from
the rest of die lines ?
t In speaking of Baxter's edition, republished by Gesner,
we indifferently use their names. We observe by the way, that
the very learned Dr. Edwards convicts Dr. K. of lavishing "an
accent on the antepenult, of ^cXo^vdif.
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DK. COMBE'S HORACE. 37
gives a smooth ; and he puts no accent on the first syllable,
where Dr. C. has added a second circumflex.
s P. 265. lav has no accent, and rvicAortpijf is printed with a
circumflex instead of a grave. The error is not in Bentley.
P. 270. fier Ktihopevov and jcvvrepor are without accents ;
l/ie has a rough, instead of a smooth breathing; hXko has a
grave, instead of an acute.
P. 271. reOaXarrw/xevot wants the acute on the penult; ei<n
wants a grave on the ult.; and \bov*i* is marked with a rough
breathing instead of an acute accent.
P. 273. fii|Xa wants the circumflex on the first syllable.
P. 283. oi jcai wodevvres. Here we have another instance of
sac for he, to the violation both of the metre and the Greek.
P. 286. Kar ij Xtfiarw. Here we have two words instead of
one, $\i(iaT»v ; and a grave upon the penult., instead of an
acute; yet the word in Gesner is printed right, as one word.
Ibidem. +eiryovra with a smooth breathing, instead of an
acute accent on the antepenult.
P. 303. xpfidcu for xp**0<" ; but the mistake is in Baxter also.
P. 307. KaXXt/iaxo«nas no accent; and n}v is put for rt^r.
P. 319. Kpirrrcbe. We are not happy enough to be ac-
quainted with this word. Sophocles wrote Kpvrrerai with an
acute, not a grave, on the antepenult. ; and, as Sophocles wrote,
so has Torrentius printed.
Ibidem. £* yi?. Surely yij should be yrjs.
P. 320. & rMijivr ifen}. Here Dr. C. follows the typogra-
phical blunder in Baxter. But an ear accustomed to the sound
of an Iambic verse would have been alarmed at rXiy/wv, and
Dr. C. if he had looked into Dio Cassius, would have found
rXffjioi'y which suits both the metre and the construction.
P. 325. The accent on he before rlprvov is omitted, and /«m,
an enclitic after Sre is very improperly accented. In both
these instances Dr. C. was misled by Baxter's note, where we
find the same errors.
P. 330. if? has neither its accent nor its smooth breathing.
P. 335. ypvp-apia for ypvrapia. Our Lambin, from whom
the note is taken, prints the word right, and the word occurs in
the very next note of the Varior. where it is printed right from
Baxter.
. P. 337. yeyvyvas irayrjp. The first word should be accented
on the penult.; and waynp should be xarijp, with an acute on
the ult.
Ibidem, to ptv htKcucv are left without their respective
accents.
^ P. 338. We find \dtpelv and 'wparretr. Dr. C. to \atpeiv
gives two accents instead of one ; and to irparreiv, though a
dissyllable, he gives a circumflex and two acutes, though other
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38 NOTICE OF
editors would have been contented with accenting the penult,
only. In this page yvudi is without an accent.
Ibidem, vvip has an acute, instead of a grave, on the ult.
P. S39. ijTreiXrjaa has a rough instead of a smooth breathing,
and biKaiovs has no accent at all.
Ibidem, eav yap wyicoirdf fj Ppex,<r6rj. These words are
quoted from a note in Lambin, which is not in the edition we
have : but did Dr. C. find vvyKoivQy in his Lambin ; or, finding
it, did he hesitate, and consult Theophrastus ? We maintain
that no such word exists. Upon reading avyKotrdrj in the Vari-
orum, we conjectured <rvy*:av0fj, and, upon examiniug the 22d
chap, of the 1st book of Theophrastus, we found our conjecture
confirmed.
P. 363. varaKprifiyot is printed for KaraKp^ttvot, • jcat before
paxets has no accent, and loiffwi is printed with two blunders ;
for fyrifioi, and eureXurfiosy nas a circumflex on the first, instead
of a smooth breathing.
P. 375. voirfTucoTepov for woiTiTucurepor. It has no accent on
the aiitepen., and substitutes o for *>.
P. 376. ijOos wants the smooth breathing.
P. 383. re before ^ wants an acute; and in the same note,
epyaerf has a rough, instead of a smooth.
P. 384. et jccv. ei here wants an acute and a smooth breath-
ing ; and iifiioovTa should have a rough breathing, instead of a
smooth.
Ibidem, orav has neither accent nor rough breathing.
P. 386. hhvpibv. This strange word is printed for hvhpwv, and
destroys the sense which is preserved in Lambin, though ut-
terly abandoned in the Variorum. In the very same note the
metre and the sense arc destroyed in the following line, EcuJ)
nlffi/jos rvYiy ytvoiro pot ; fjuj has here a rough breathing on the
final syllable, instead of the apostrophic mark, which ought to
have been prefixed to WuTtpos ; ciritripos is printed for twlarjfjios ;
a rough breathing is given to rv\r), instead of an acute accent ;
a wants the smooth breathing, and the feminine article, which
is necessary to the sense and metre, is wholly omitted.
P. 390. Hotijjy wants a circumflex on the ult.
P. 397. In this page we have discovered several mistakes,
which it is our duty to state as we have done elsewhere.
cvrvxtifiara has an acute accent upon the initial syllable, in-
stead of the smooth breathing ; aXX* before Iva has a grave ac-
cent, instead of a smooth breathing ; and X&fluxriy has a smooth
breathing, instead of an acute, upon the first syllable.
P. 404. iniiv has a smooth, instead of a rough breathing.
P. 409. Dr. C. who, we know, is a very excellent botanist,
and who with uncommon solicitude has spread the Linnaean
phraseology over the Variorum edition, does not seem pecu-
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 39
Hariy fortunate in his quotations from Greek writers upon bo-
tanical subjects. We shall present our readers with a wonder-
ful passage quoted by Lambin from Dioscorides, and thus
printed in p. 409 of the Variorum ; rphrei &l xal -xpabrhflin to
•rvpfcepov vivoftevov re, Kal evyxpiofieyov. After a copious dose
of cummin we could not have turned more pale, than we were
at the sight of this ugly and strange word xpaMflri, and we
defy the united sagacity of Rhunkenius and Porson to solve the
difficulty by mere conjecture. In Lambin all is right, rpcVei
&k xal xpwrcu iwl to ir^poWeooy *iv6pev6v re, Kal myyjpioptvov.
Our readers will observe, that in the Variorum avy^ptofievoy
has a smooth breathing, instead of an acute accent upon the
antepenult.
P. 411. Kapferai has no accent.
P. 420. Zwancaffiv is printed as one word, instead of Z£<n
watrtv ; TeOv€wras and k\Qpt*v are without accents.
P. 462. r*y has no accent.
P. 459. cot and axavevde are without accents, and Bopiij
and Zetpvov are without the i subscript. But the line in Lam*
bin is printed correctly.
P. 465. Kapwiftov has a grave upon the first, instead of an
acute.
P. 466. We have klr\yj}at$ with a wrong breathing, and no
accent, ttjs in the same page is without the circumflex.
P. 467. has once is without the grave on the final.
P. 475. taXws wants the circumflex on the ult.
P. 482. lapfliieiy has no mark of the smooth breathing on
the first syllable, nor an acute on the penult. This page we
hear was cancelled.
P. 491 . opos has a grave, instead of an acute, upon the first
syllable.
P. 510. avrot has a wrong breathing and no accent: Toiqral
has an acute upon the first, and a grave upon the last, but
ought to have the grave only ; tov before Qeaxiv is without an
accent; apviy in the same page has a grave on the first sylla-
ble, instead of an acute.
P. 513. Kadipofxai is printed for KaOalpopai, rfc has a grave
instead of a circumflex, and i\ has neither accent nor breathing.
P. 531. kavrhv has an acute accent, instead of a rough
breathing, on the first syllable.
Here we close our toil in pointing out some of
the errors which occur in the Greek typography of
this edition, and we fear that the patience of our
readers will he equally exercised and equally ex-
hausted with our own.
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40 NOTICE OF
May not the Greek language be understood with-
out a knowledge of accents? Yes. May not an editor
understand accents, and yet decline the use of
them ?* Yes. May he not understand and employ
them, and yet sometimes err ? Yes. But such errors,
when frequent and gross, ought not to be over-
looked in an edition which professes, like the pre-
sent, to correct the mistakes of Baxter, Gesner, and
all preceding editors, by comparing their quotations
with the text of original authors. A sense of the
duty which we owe to the public, extorts from us
these remarks : we do not mean to offer any wan-
a ton insult to the feelings of the editor: wc give him
credit for real and great proficiency in various
branches of useful and even ornamental knowledge;
but we cannot dissemble our opinion upon the
claims which he in his Preface has laid to correct-
ness. If those claims had not been made so delibe-
rately, and so positively ; if writers were not accus-
tomed to hold in contempt the general observations
of critics ; if readers were not prone to admit the
general assertions of writers ; we.should not have
submitted to the drudgery of examining, or the
mortification of producing, particulars, so minute
indeed in appearance, but, in a question about the
merits of an editor, so very pertinent and decisive.
Horace abounds with imitations of Greek writers,
and allusions to them. The commentators upon
• * Mr. Wakefield omits accents : but, in die Variorum, we
have seldom or never Greek works quoted from Mr. Wake-
field's observations*
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 41
Horace have, with great industry and great judg-
ment, collected a multitude of these imitations and
allusions. Every editor of Horace ought to under-
stand them clearly, and to print them correctly.
The editor of the Variorum appears to have been
sensible of this duty, and he professes to have dis-
charged it with diligence and fidelity.
We formerly expressed our doubts, not so much
upon the reality, as the success, of his researches,
and we have now brought forward a long and appo-
site series of proofs, in order to convince our readers,
and to justify ourselves.
We now proceed to support our assertion, that
the notes produced in the Variorum Edition of
Horace do not correspond to the Catalogue of Au-
thors, with which Dr. Combe has favoured his
readers. We there find,
" Bowyer — Explications veterum aliquot auctorum, ad finem
Evpixtbov Ueribts, 4to. 1763."
" Markl.— Jer. Markland, Epistola Critica, 8vo. 1723."
We discharge the duty we owe to our readers,
when we assure them that Bowyer never wrote any
such work as the Explications veterum aliquot
Auctorum ; and that out of the Epistola Critica,
which Markland did write, not one observation nor
emendation is immediately selected, from the first
page of the first volume to the last page of the last
volume of the Variorum edition. Dr. Combe must
have seen the Explicationes veterum aliquot Aucto-
rum, yet through the Epodes, and the whole of the
second volume, he has ascribed to Bowyer what
Bowyer never wrote, nor was supposed to have
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42 NOTICE OF
written; what Markland did write, and is known
by every scholar to have written : and this error is
the more strange, because the very book which was
used in the Variorum edition was lent in the name
of Markland; and because the very observations
selected from that book in the first, second, third,
and fourth book of the Odes, are properly and uni-
formly ascribed to Mr. Markland.
To an editor who professes to have consulted
every passage quoted from every writer by every
commentator, great attention is due. We pay it
cheerfully; and yet we must state the difficulties
which have occurred to us, and, doubtless, to some
of our readers.
Epod. ii. v. 27. Fontesque lymphis obstrepunt maoantibus.
The Variorum produces a note upon this line, to
which the name of Bowyer is subjoined : but in p.
253 of the quarto work, which Markland published
in London 1763, the very same conjectural reading
of frondes for fontes is made by Markland in the
very words which Dr. C. ascribes to Bowyer.
Odes. Lib. i. Carm. 35. v. 5.
Te pauper ambit sollicita prece
Ruris colonus.
Markland says, Colonus ruris est quasi diceret
nauta maris. He puts a stop at prece, and another
at ruris ; and he says that dominam must be under-
stood before ruris, as well as aequoris. AH this
matter occurs in the 254th page of Markland. It
is found in p. 135, vol. i. of the variorum edition ;
and there we read, as we ought to read, the name
of Markland. We shall now point out an omission
in the Epodes ; and probably such an omission as
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I>R. COMBERS HORACE. 43
the deceased editor would have avoided, for reasons
which we know to be solid.
A. P. v. 439 and 440. Melius te posse negates,
Bis terque expertum frustra.
Markland, in the very page where he corrects
the punctuation of Ode xxxv. Book 1. proposes a
semicolon at expertum, and a colon at frustra. Dr.
C. passes over this in silence ; and his silence is the
more remarkable, because on the 5th Hne of the
A. P. he quotes from the very same page of Mark-
land a new punctuation, and erroneously assigns it
to Bowyer.
Epist. vii. Lib. i. 1. 80. — — mutua septem
Promittit, persuadet uti mercetur agellum.
Mercatur ; ne te longis, &c.
Markland, in p. 255, would read mercatus ; and
Dr. C. again puts Bowyer's name to Markland's
words. .
Epist. vii. Lib. i. 1. 92. Pol, me miserum, patrone, vocares, &c.
Markland, in p. 255, says that Horace, in the 93d
line of this epistle, alluded to v. 499 of Iphigen. in
Tauris ; and here again the Variorum edition, vol. ii.
p. 337, confounds Markland with Bowyer.
Epist. i. Lib. i. L 55-
haec recinunt juvenes dictate senesque,
Laevo suspensi loculos tabulatnque lacerto.
Markland, in p. 255, puts et after senesque, and
in p. 287 of the Variorum we meet Bowyer. We
must here remark a second omission ; for in the
very paragraph, part. of which the Variorum edition
quotes upon the 55th line of the first epistle, Mark-
land proposes a similar addition of et, in the 100th
line of Sat. ii. Lib. 2.
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44 NOTICE OF
Ego vectigalia magna et
Diritias babeo,
Instead of e. v. m. Divitiaaque habeo.
We ascribe this omission not to choice, but to
inadvertence, unless some reason be assigned for
admitting it in one of the above-mentioned places,
and rejecting et in the other.
Odea. B. iii. Carra. 3. ▼. 54. — — visere gestiens.
Markland conjectures, in p. 256, vincere for vi-
sere ; and in p. 276, vol. i. of the Variorum, we
have Markland's conjecture and Markland's name.
He reads also, debacchontur for debacchmtur.
A. P. v. 431. Ut qui conducti, &c.
Markland, in p. 256, would read quae for qui ;
and in p. 527, of the Var. vol. ii. Bowyer appears
vice Markland.
Odes. Lib. iii. Carm. 2. v. 14. Mors et fugacem, &c.
Markland, in p. 257, would read efficacem, and
for this he is rightly quoted in p. 260 of the 1st
vol. of the Var.
We now produce a third, perhaps justifiable,
omission ; for in A. P. 244th line, Markland, in p~
957, instead of Sylvis deducti, proposes educti, i. e.
educati. But this conjecture is left unnoticed in
the Variorum edition, and was unmarked in the
book sent to Mr. H.
Sat. i. Lib. i. v. 19. Atqui licet ease beatia.
Quid causae est, &c.
Markland, in p. -258, would read "at queis " (pro
quibus) and would substitute a comma for the fall
stop at beatis. But in p. 3, vol. ii. of the Vario-
rum, we again meet with Mr. Bowyer.
Odea. Lib. iii. Carm. 29. v. 5. — — - Eripe te morse j
Nee semper udum —
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 45
Markland, in p. 258, produces a noble emenda-
tion of this passage, made by his learned friend Ni-
cholas Hardinge, and the same reading is also men-
tioned by Dr. Taylor, in his elements of Civil Law,
p. 37, ut semper-ttdum Tibur. In the notes on the
Odes of the Variorum are produced Taylor's words,
and Hardinge's emendation, to which, however, is
improperly affixed the name of Markland only,
though Markland expressly acknowledges Hardinge
to be the author.
Epodes iii. v. 20. Jocose Maecenas, precor
Manum puella suavio opponat tuo.
Markland, p. 258, reads jocosa for jocose, and
joins it with puella, and Dr. C. brings forward
Bowyer.
Epod. xvi. v. 51. Nee vespertinus circuragemit ursus ovile.
Markland, p. 258, would substitute vespertinum
for vespertinus ; and in p. 611, vol. i. of the Vario-
rum, the editor falls into the same error as before.
Odes. Lib. iv. Cairo. 10. v. 2.
Inaperata tuas cum veniet pluma guperbiae.
Markland reads poena, and to Markland the read-
ing is assigned in p. 490, vol. i. of the Variorum.
Epist. 12. Lib. i. 1. 22. g — et si quid petet, ultro
Defer:
' Markland, p. 260, would transfer the comma
from petet to ultro, which he separates from defer,
and joins with petet. But in p. 356, vol. ii. of the
Variorum, Bowyer is represented as the author of
this punctuation.
We now state a fourth instance of omission:
for in
Epist. xiv. Lib. i. v. 19. Nam quae deserta et inhospita tesqua.
Markland, in p. 260, would read tu for nam, and
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46 NOTICE OF
of this conjecture, though marked, no mention is
made in the Variorum.
Epist. 10. Lib. i. v. 14. Novistine locum potiorem rure beato?
Markland, p. 260, reads Sabino for beato j and
in p. 345, vol. ii. of the Variorum, Bowycr is pro-
duced.
A. P. y. 65. Sterilisque diu palus, aptaque remis.
Markland, p. 263, conjectures sterilisve palus pul-
sataque remis ; and in p. 481, vol. ii. of the Vario-
rum, the name of Bowyer recurs.
Sat. ii. Lib. i. v. ISO.
Miseram se conscia claraet ;
Cruribus haec metuat, doti deprensa ; egomet mi ;
Discincta tunica fugiendum est, ac pede nudo,
Ne nummi pereant, aut pyga, aut denique fama.
Markland, p. 263, would substitute commas for
semicolons after deprensa and mi. He throws out
the line discincta tunica, &c. and in the close of
the next line he would transpose pyga and fama,
for all which changes the Variorum, p. 35, vol. ii.
gives the name of Bowyer.
We have laid before our readers four (we do not
say improper) instances of omission in the Vario-
rum, twelve instances of error in the Epodes, Sa-
tires, and Epistles, where. Bowyer is put for Mark-
land, four instances of right quotation from Mark-
land in the Odes, and one instance in which Mark-
land's name is by mere oversight subjoined to an
emendation which M. himself ascribes to N. Har-
dinge. We formerly stated that Mr. H., to the
best of our recollection, lived till part of the fourth
book of the Odes was advanced in the press. After
his death, Dr. C. may, in many respects, be consi-
dered as the sole editor, and by him the name of
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 47
Bowyer is first introduced into the Epodes, and
continued to the close of the second volume. Bijt
why then did he overlook the name of Markland,
when it so often occurs in the Odes, and when it
there relates to the very book which contains the
very- emendations produced by Dr. C. himself in
the works of Horace which follow the Odes ? Nei-
ther the title-page of the quarto volume, which Dr.
C. ascribes to Bowyer, contains the name of Mark-
land, nor the dedication which follows the title-
page, nor Dr. Heberden's Address to the Reader
which follows the dedication, nor the Explications
veterum aliquot Auctorum, which follow the tract
upon the third Latin declension. But every learned
reader must know that Markland was the author*
The joint editor of the Odes had again and again
produced the name of Markland,* and surely when
Dr. Combe perused the first volume of the Vario-
rum, to the dedication of which his own name is
subjoined, he. must again and again have met with
Markland's notes and Markland's name. Did he
then suspect . any error in his coadjutor? We be-
lieve not. Has he given any reason why the Odes
speak of Markland, and the Epodes, Satires, and
Epistles of Bowyer ? No. How then can he ac-
count for the inconsistency between Mr. Homer
and Dr. C? We know that Mr. Homer considered
Markland as the author of these emendations.. We
imagine that Dr. C, by some means or other, was
* He only produces the name, without referring explicitly
to the observations.
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48 NOTICE OF
not well informed about the author ; and we further
imagine, that he might ascribe the Explications
veterum aliquot Auctorum to Mr. Bowyer because
he found the names of Mr. Bowyer at the bottom
of the title-page to Markland's work. We certainly
wish the mistake about the name had not been
committed at all ; and if committed earlier, it might
have deprived Markland of all praise ; though, by
the insertion of the matter, the instruction of readers
is provided for. It is scarcely necessary for us to
state that Mr. Markland's conjectures, &c. are con*
tained in a work subjoined to his edition of the
Supplices, and dedicated to his friend William Hall.
Of the grammatical treatises de imparisyllab. declin.
Gr. et Lat. forty copies were printed in 1761, and
in 1763 the whole was reprinted and annexed to
the Supplices Mulieres. As we have never seen
the. first book of 1761, we are left to infer, from a
passage at the beginning of the Explications, that
they were not originally published with the above-,
mentioned treatises, "ut argumentum precedens,
inamcenum per se, laetiore aliquA materia distingua-
tur, admittente simul vel poscente talem additionem
libelli mole, visum est explicanda sumere et adjicere
pauca veterum auctorum loca "—Markland, p. 244*
We shall now see how far the Var. Editor has
availed himself of Markland's Epistola Critica,
which he mentions in the catalogue, and which we
suppose him to have seen, because he is correct in
saying that it was printed in 1763. We shall fol-
low the order in which Mr. Markland has written
his emendations on Horace. We shall produce all
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 49
of them for the purpose of proving that the editor
has produced none; and, as the Letter to Bishop
Hare is referred to in the catalogue, we, in quoting
from it, shall consider ourselves as furnishing sup-
plemental matter to the Variorum edition.
Sat. i. Lib. i. v. 29. Perfidus hie caupo.
For which Markland, p. 7, reads, Causidicus
vafer hie.
Sat. i. Lib. ii. v. 63.
Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem.
M. p. 11, reads hanc formam for hunc morem.
Sat. iii. L. xi. v. 154. Ingens accedit stomacho fultura ruenti.
M. reads in p. 69. Ingesta for ingens.
Ibid. ▼. 182. In cicere atque faba bona tu perdasque lupinis,
Lotus ut in circo spatiere, et aeneus ut stes.
(We follow Bentley's reading et aeneus for aut
aeneus.)
M. p. 81, reads largos for latus.
Ep. i. 1. 2. 207. Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.
M. p. 91, reads kena for lana.
In p. 91, M. resumes the passage in which he
had before proposed largus for latus.
V. 184. Sat. iii. Lib. ii.
Nudus agris, nudus numrais, insane, paternis ?
Scilicet ut plausus, quos fert Agrippa, feras tu.
Mutatione distinctions, says M. in p. 92, et ad-
ditione liters unius, et sensum Horatio, et partem
suam Tiberio restituisse me confido :
In cicere atque faba bona tu (Aule) perdasque lupinis,
Largus ut in circo spatiere, et aeneus ut stes
Nudus agris, nudus nummis, insane, paternis,
Scilicet ? aut plausus quos fert Agrippa, feras tu,
(i. e. Tiberii)
Whatever may be the merit of Mr. Markland's
conjectures on the foregoing passage, the Var. edit,
silet.
vol. in. E
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50 NOTICE OF
Sat. vi. B. ii. v, SO. — >- tu pukes omoe quod obstat,
Ad Meecenatem memori si mente recurra*.
Markland, in p. 93, would take away the comma
at obstat, s^nd place a mark of interrogation at re-
curras.
Epist. ii. Lib. i. v. 25.
Sub domtna meretrioe fiiisset turpis et excors.
M. p. 100^ proposes for excors, exsors.
Od. vi. Lib. i. Scriberis Vario fortis, et h ostium
Victor, Maeonii carminis aliti,
M. p. 107, proposes alteri for aliti.
Sat. 10. Libt i. v. 63. librisque
Arabustum propriis.
M. p. Ill, reads combustum.
Epist. vi. Lib. i. v. Improvisa simul species exterret utrumque.
M. p. 115, for exterret reads exercet.
Epist. vii. Lib. L v. 40, — — proles patientis Ulyssei.
M. p. 134, reads sapientis for patientis.
Epist. xvii. Lib. i. v. 62.
Quaere peregrinum, vicinia rauca reclamat.
M. p. 138, reads cauta.
Epist* U. Lib. ii. v. 28.
— — post hoc veheroens lupus, et sibi et hosti
Iratus pariter.
M. p. 166, reads,
— post hoc (vehemens lupus ut) sibi et hosti
Iratus.
Epist. i. (>tb. i. v. 85. — — Cui si vitios* Ubidp
Fecerit auspicium.
M. p. 169, would substitute ventosa for vitiosa.
We will now balance accounts between the Epis-
tola Critica and the Variorum catalogue. Mark-
land's Epistola Critica contains fifteen conjectural
emendations. The catalogue of the Variorum re-
fers to the Epistola Critica, and in the notes of the
Variorum, we find of these fifteen emendations — not
one. Though Dr. C. may have seen the Critica
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 51
Epistola, he does not appear to hare used it, and
therefore we may be forgiven for expressing ottr
wish that he had not mentioned it in the catalogue
of books from which the notes of the Variorum are
taken. We imagine that in the course of the work
Mr. H. intended, or was advised, to consult the
Epistola Critica, that it was procured by him or for
him, and perhaps put down in some list, and that
the successor, forgetting to inspect the Epistola
Critica, and finding in the notes of the Variorum
edition that Markland's name had been several
times quoted, inferred that the passages under which
his name appeared, were taken from the Epistola
Critica, and we have already stated that the word
observations is not joined with the word Markland,
even where they are cited in the Odes.
Of Bp. Hare we find the following account in
the catalogue :
Hate— Jo. Hare Epistola Critica, 4to. 1726.
Bp. Hare is quoted three times in the first vo-
lume of the Variorum, and in the second he is not
quoted once.
OH. t. Lib. f. v. SB. Quod tl me Lyrieitf Tatibua iasereft;
The editor's note teHs us, that Hare proposed to
mad te for me, and very properly refers us to the
263d page of Bishop Hare's work called the " Scrip*
ture Vindicated?
Ibid. Ve 5. — palmaque nobilia
Terrerom domino* evehit ad deos.
Here again the joint editor of the Ode*, with be-
coming accuracy and perspicuity, informs his readers
that Bishop Hare accedes to the opinion of those
learned men who would remove the point from deos
e2
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52 NOTICE OF
in the sixth verse to nobilis in the fifth ; and for
this he properly refers to the 264th page of Scrip-
ture Vindicated.
Od. xxvii. Lib. iii. v. 39.
An vitiis carentem
Ludit imago
Vana, que port& fugiens eburnft
Somnium ducit.
The Editor of the Odes, p. 405, quotes in Hare's
words an emendation which a friend of Hare's sug-
gested to him, and which Hare improved. The friend
proposed quam for quae, and Hare would add k before
porta. Upon this occasion, the editor very justly re-
fers to the Epistola Critica of Hare, but without men-
tioning the page. (It is the 423d, in the 2d vol. of
Hare's works.) Let us compare the different treat-
ment which Markland and Hare have experienced.
Markland's Epistola Critica is referred to in the cata-
logue, but never quoted in the Variorum edition.
Hare's Scripture Vindicated is twice quoted in the
edition, but never mentioned in the catalogue. As
to the Epistola Critica of Hare, it is used and
quoted once by the editor of the Odes, and in all
probability, if he had lived, it would have been used
and quoted again. We, however, shall supply the
emendation which the sole editor of the Satires has
omitted.
Sat. iii. Lib. ii. v. 316. ilia rogare,
Quantane ? num tan turn, sufflans se, magna fuisset ?
Dr. Hare, after rejecting the opinions of Bentley
and Cuningham, would read
■ ' Ilia rogare
Quantane ? num tantum sufflans se, magna fuit? turn
Major dimidio, num tantum ?
Vide 328 p. vol. ii. Hares Works.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 53
Our learned readers will thank us for digressing
a little from Dr. C. and stating the words of Wad-
delus, who accuses Bishop Hare of plagiarism.
u Sic,w says Waddelus, u distinguendus est locus"
Illarogare
Quantane? num tantum, sufflans se, magna fuisset?
Major dimidio, num tantum.
In qmbusdam codd. extat, num tantum se inflans, sic magna
Juisset.
Qua? lectio maxime perspicuum habet sensum, scilicet ranam,
primum, ubi se leviter tantum infiasset, rogasse ; deinde cum
perstitisset se inflare donee dimidio major facta esset, tunc ite-
rum rogasse. Waddelus goes on :
Anno 1722 ineunte, cum jam ab omnibus tereretur Cuninga-
mii editio Horatiana quae nuperrime in lucem prodierat, ego
banc meam de boc loco opinionem, cum celebemmo Snapio, et
eruditis&imis collegii Etonensis rectoribus et magi'stris, atque
pleriaque aliis viris doctis communicavi, ill! omnes earn novam
judicabant, et plerique tanauam verissimam probabant. Hoc
ideo monendum putavi quia vidi nuper (si probe memini in
Epistola Criticain Phssdrum Bentleji), locum nunc eodem modo
explicatum. Vide Waddeli Animadversationes, p. 68.
Wishing so far as we can to rescue so learned
and illustrious a prelate as Bishop Hare from the
imputation of gross plagiarism, we shall first pro-
duce the Bishop's words in his letter to Dr. Bland,
and afterwards state our own opinion upon the
complaints of Waddelus.
" Nihil mirum, tanta? eruditionis tantique acuminis viros in
hoc loco restituendo frustra insudasse, cum toti animum eb
intenderent, ubi nihil erat vitii ; id enira in versa pracedente
latet, et levi mutatione omne tollitur, si pro Juisset leg&musjuit t
turn. Et hue ipsa constructionis ratio eos ducere debebat,
cum num Juisset, nisi plurimum fallor, dici nequeat, sed, num
fuit ? jam autem vide, quam recte omnia incedant
— — Ilia rdgare
Quantane? num tantum, sufflans se, magna fuit? turn (cum
ex pulli silentio mentem ejus satis intelligent) se iterum vehe-
menter sufflans, et jam major dimidio facta, iterum interrogat,
num tantum f pullus etiam-num tacet; quod cum toties repeti-
tis vicibus frustra fecisset, turn demum pullus,
Non si te ruperis, inquit,
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54 NOTICE OF
Par eris^-Vicfcs fgcili emendatione Horatium liberari ab In-
ftuni ilia macula, quam nee librariis imputari, nee ipsi condo-
nari posse noster credidit ?— V. p. 328, vol. ii. of Hare's Works.
Upon comparing the words of Hare with thoae
of Waddelus, we think that the memory of the lat-
ter was defective, or that his judgment was con-
fused. About the 318th line they agree entirely,
hut about the preceding line they differ widely.
Hare rejects Cuningbam's conjecture, fuisset, which
Waddelus approves, and he proposes fmt turn,
which did not occur to Waddelus, nor to Cuning-
ham. Whether the Bishop was led by his own
sagacity in the reading of line 318, or had heard
foam his Eton friends the opinion which Waddelua
had communicated to Dr. Sn^pe, we cannot deter-
mine. We certainly accede to the opinion of Hare
and Waddelus, who would read major dimidio, nam
tantum: But we think that Bishop Hare's chief
merit is in correcting the foregoing line, and the
merit of that correction surely is quite his own.
We return to Dr. Combe's catalogue of the arti-
cles which he has admitted. Waddeli Animadver-
tiones critics in Loca quaedam Virgilii, Horatii,
Qvidii, Lucani, et super illis emendandis Conjec-
tures. Having long ago readWaddelus, we were anx-
ious to know how much information he had supplied
for the Variorum edition : we shall place then the
general result of our inquiries before our readers,
and we shall produce, with all possible conciseness,
the matter which our editor has neglected to use.
Waddelus considers forty passages of Horace.
Upon thirty-four he offers conjectural emendations
of the text, in two he would alter the punctuation,
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 55
in three he suggests interpretations of the sense,
and in one he would transpose the words.
Nine emendations relate to such parts of Horace
as are found in the first volume of the Variorum,
and of these nine one only is omitted. In the se-
cond volume of the Variorum, Dr. C. out of 25
emendations has noticed only one, and as to the in-
terpretations, the punctuations, and the transposi-
tion, they are passed by entirely. Now, if so much
use was made of Waddelus in the first volume, we
are naturally led to inquire why so little was made
of him in the second. We ate at a loss to deter-
mine whether the absence of so many articles is to
he imputed to deliberate rejection, or accidental in-
advertency, to the disapprobation or forgetfulness of
Dr. C. If to disapprobation, we ask how a critic,
who had deserved attention through the first volume,
had forfeited his claim to it in the second ; if to in-
advertency, we lament the relaxation of diligence in
the editor of the second volume, after so laudable
an example of perseverance in the use made of
Waddelus through the first. Again, if Dr. C.'s copy
of Waddelus Was marked, why did he not, like his
coadjutor, avail himself of this advantage ? and if it
was not marked, why had he greater reluctance to
select from Waddelus, through the whole of the se-
cond volume, thanl from Bentley, Lairibin, Torren-
tius, Wakefield, Bp. Hurd, and Jason de Nores ? we
do not extend this question to Guningham and the
Exphcatioaea of Bowye* (i. e. Markhnd), because
the Editor, perhaps, had a chart to guide him in the
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56 NOTICE OF
whole of his voyage through these little bays and
shallows of criticism.
As we do not find any great disparity of excel-
lence between the articles omitted in the Variorum
by Dr. C. and those which are contained in it, we
shall do Waddelus the same justice, which we have
already done to Markland, and we trust that our
readers will not be 'displeased with us for extracting
so much matter from a book, which perhaps is not
very easy for many scholars to procure.
Od. xii. Lib. i. v. 19. Occupavit Pallas honores.
W. would read occupabit. In vol. i. of the Var.
this is the only emendation omitted, and it is (by
mistake doubtless) unmarked, so as to leave no
blame with Mr. H.
Sat. ii. B. i. v. 81. Hoc Cerinthe tuum tenerum est femur.
W. would read O Cerinthe tuae tenerum est femur.
Sat. v. B. i. v. 6. — Minus est gravis Appia tardis.
W. would read nimis for minus, and he found his
conjecture supported by a Vatican manuscript.
Sat. vi. B. i. v. 53. Quo pueri magnis h centurionibus orti.
W. interprets the passage thus : u Quidam, per
magnos pueros ortos b magnis centurionibus, intel-
ligunt filios natalibus claros. An autem centuriones
ita eminebant in Republica * * ? Flavius docebat
artein numerandi et ratiocinandi. Minime dubium
quin poeta, hie, genus quoddam hominum sordido-
rum, nummos imprimis sectantium, taxet, qui, ut
ipsi lucro tantum intend sunt, liberos suas etiam
discere volebant artes, quibus pecuniam coacervare
possent * *. Itaque mihi videtur respicere foenera-*
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 57
tores, quos ideo forsan appellat centuriones, quia
usura est centesima pars sortis."
Sat. vi. B. i. t. 116. Coena ministratur pueris tribus.
W. supposing Horace not to have ordinarily em-
ployed three slaves at table, once thought of reading
pueris scabris, and afterwards he conjectured putris
tripos, to which he gives the preference, and quotes
the old commentator on the place, who speaks of a
mean marble table, or rpitrKO^s rpamga, called a
Delphic table.
Sat. ix. B. i. v. 45. Nemo dexterius fortuna est usus.
W. would read deterius, and part of his interpre-
tation runs thus : miror te nescire uti fortuna : ad-
jutar aliquis tibi assumendus.
Sat. ix. B. i. v. 55. — et est qui vincit ; eoque
Difficiles aditus primus nabet. Haud mihi deero.
W. would put a comma at habet, instead of a full
stop, and for eoque he would read eo qu6d. By an
error of his memory or his printer, he puts non in-
stead of haud after habet.
Sat. x. B. i. ▼. 48. Neque ego illi detrahere ausim, &c.
For ego illi detrahere, W. p. 62. would read, Lu-
cili abstrahere.
Sat. x. B. i. t. 50. — — saepe ferentem
Plura quidem tollenaa relinquendis.
We give the substance of W.'s interpretation: De
sensu horum verborum non convenit inter inter-
pretes. Quidam dicta putant in favorem Lucilii,
alii e contra in ejus vituperium. * * * Culpabatur
Horatius qudd dixisset, Sat. iv. " Lucilium fluere lu-
tulentum," verum etiam tunc addidit fuisse " qudd
tollere posses ;" Sat. iv. v. 11. quod hie fusius repe-
at, u saepe ferentem plura relinquendis." Nisi autem
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58 NOTICE OF
haec in bonam partem accipiantttr, nullatenus diloit
objecta.
B. ii. Sot. ii. v. 75. *t simul assis
Miscueris elixa, simul conchyiia turdis ;
Dulcia se in bilem vertent.
Male distinctus, says W. videtur locus, et dulcia jungendum
cum conchyiia in nunc modum.
■■ simul conchylia turdis
Dulcia.
Sat. iii. B. ii. v. 220. — ergo ubi prava
Stultitia, hie summa est insanta.
W. would read ibi parva, and reasons thus. Si
quis agnam gestet lectica, eamque tractet pro filia,
illi destinando maritum, ab omnibus tenebitur pro
mente capto : Sed hujus levis et tolerabilis est stul-
titia, si cum scelere illius conferatur, qui gnatam
suam devovet pro agna " haec summa erit insania."
Sat. iii. B. ii. v. 318. Major dimidio nam tanto ? We have
aiready given W/s reading num tantum.
Sat. vi. B. ii. v. 29* Quid vis insane, et quas res agis ?
W. after rejecting the opinions of Bentley and
Cuningbam, would read quid tibi vis? isne? ec-
quas res agis ?
Satvii. B.ii.v. 10.
Vixit inequalis, clavum ut mataret in horas :
iEdibus ex magnis subito se conderet,
W. alters the punctuation thus :
Vixit inaequalis : clavum ut mutaret in horas
JEdibos ex magnis :—
Lib. i. Epist. i. v. 84. Si dixit dives.
W. would read Davus. Ad nomen heri quaere-
bam, says he, an aliquid dictum esset de servis, idque
mihi videor deprehendisse, exigua mutatione pro
Dives legendo Davus, quod nomen vulgo ponitur
pro servo subdolo et callido, qui semper se immncet
negotiis dbmini. Saltern sensus noa repugnabit ; at
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DR. COMBE^ HORACE. 59
servos prasenti domino Baias laudaverit, ille statim
ifluc commigrabit.
Epist. x. t. 47. Imperat aut servit collecta pecunia cuique ;
Pro aut9 says W. rix dubitem reponere hand. Per pecuniam
collectam nic intelligit earn quae non in usum comparator, ted
in arcam asserranda reponitur.
Epist. xiii. t. 12. Sic positum serrabis onus.
W. would read si for sic.
Epist. xt. y. 11. Non mini Cumas
Est iter aut Baias, leyastomachosus habena,
Dicet eques.
Cur equo succenseat Horatius, says W. qui suetum iter pro-
sequitur ? M ajori cum ratione quereretur equus se ▼erberari,
cum rectam insisteret viam Quare forte pro eques legen*
dum equus : Quamvis et eques etiam pro jumento usurpatur.
Though we approve not of Waddelus's conjecture,
we will give an instance or two of the use of eques
for equus.
Denique vi magna quadrupes eques, atque elephantei
Projiciunt sese. Ennius.
At non quadrupedes equhes. ^ Idem.
Equitem docuere sub armis
Insultare solo. Virg. Georg. Hi, v. 116.
Where Servius says, Hie equitem sine dubio
equurn dicit, maxime cum inferat, insultare solo.
Epist. xv. v. 29. Impransus qui non civem dignosceret hoste.
W. interprets impransus by bene pransus.*
Epist xviii. v. S. Ut matrona meretrici dispar erat atque
Discolor, infido scurra distabit amicus.
W. reads Ut matrons meretrici dispar erit, ceque
Discolor infido scurree, &c.
Upon the last line of this epistle, the Editor has
honoured a less probable conjecture than the fore-
going with a place in the Variorum Edition. For
det vitam det opes, W. reads, det vel non det opes.
* Marcilims interpretatur itnprensum bene suhurratum, et in-
die petulant**— eed destiUiiiur, at poto> ab exempta.— Gea-
ner s note in h. L
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60 NOTICE OF
Epist. xix. v. IS. Exiguaeque togas simulet textore Catonem
Quidam codices, says W. habent exiguaque toga. Quid si
forte scriptum,
— Si quis vultu torvo ferus, ac pede nudo
Exiguaque toga, simuletque ex ore Catonem ;
vel admittendo Caesuram,
Exiguaque toga simulet, exque ore Catonem.
Huic lectioni favet, quod Lambinus dicit quosdam viros doc-
tos affirmare scriptum in quodam cod. tesquore.
Lib. ii. Epist. i, v. 31.
Nil intra est oleam, nil extra est in nuce duri.
W. proposes nil intra est olea in, and for the po-
sition of in, he quotes, among other instances, the
following :
— Quibus e corpus nobis et viscera constent. Lucret. iii. 376.
Injiciunt ipsis ex vincula sertis. Virg. Eel. vi. 19.
Sed fugam in se tamen nemo convertitur.
Plaut. Amph. A. i. S. v. v. 83.*
Nee quo ah caveas. Plaut. Asm. i. i. 106.
Epist. i. B. ii. v. 70. Memini quae plagosum mihi parvo
Orbilium dictare.
For quae Wad. proposes quia, and assigns a reason
more likely, we fear, to have weight with school-
boys, than their masters.
Epist. i. B. ii. 143.
— — Sylvanum lacte piabant,
Floribus et vino genium memorem brevis aevi.
W. would read memores, referring to Agricola,
v. 139.
Mr. Wakefield, as will be hereafter seen, has the
same conjecture.
Epist. i. B. ii. v. 158. et crave virus
Munditiae pepulere.
W. long doubted the genuineness of this reading,
but suppressed his doubts in obedience to the autho-
rity of consenting manuscripts. Upon reading the
notes of Rutgersius he found that critic proposing
vi rus, and then he modestly offers his own, raris.
We, upon casting our eye into the Variorum, were
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 61
forcibly struck with the following words among the
w. LL. grave virus conj. Rutgersius* First, we
saw that virus was not a various reading ; and se-
condly, we had read in Waddelus that Rutgersius
separated the words into vi rus; we turned to Bent-
ley's note, and there we found that Waddelus is right,
and that the Var. Edit, is wrong. — Bentley's words
are these: Infelix sane acumen Aurati et Rutgersii
qui pro virus divisis syllabis vi rus substituere volue-
runt. We have produced Bentley's words because
Dr. C. has not produced them, and because we are
under the necessity of observing an instance in which
the division of syllables is, perhaps, confounded with
their union. As the Editor consults original writers
in order to correct the annotators, the readers of the
Var. Edit, must now and then consult the annotators
in order to adjust the text.
Epist. i. B. ii. ▼. 164.
Tentavit quoque rem si digne vertere posset ;
W. for rem, would read dein.
Lib. ii. Epist. ii. v. SO.
— Cuactata, or as the Va* reads, contracts sequi vestigia vatum.
W. after noticing Bentley's reading non facta,
proposes non cuncta.
A. P. ▼. 63. Sive receptus
Terra Neptunus, classes aquilonibus arcet
Regis opus.
W. found in a Turin manuscript receptos, with
the letters in different ink. In a Vatican manu-
script he observed that the original writing had been
changed, and that different ink had been employed
* Query, does conj. in the Var. Edit, mean conjungit or
conjicit?
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62 NOTICE OF
to write receptus Neptunus. He thus proceeds —
Forte ergo legendum,
Sive recepto
Terra Neptuno, classes aquilonibus arcet
Regis opus.
Id est, sive agger ab August© extructus, opus vere Regium,
imraisso man naves tuetur contra ventos.
A. P. 1 14s ■ Davusne loquatur an heros»
W. would read herusne.
A. P. 248. Offenduntur enim quibus est equus et pater et res.
Verba, says W. videntar trsnsposita, et unius vocis in suum
locum reductione forsan vera restituetar lectio ; ita acil. *
Offendentur enim pater, et quibus est equus et res.
Sic planus erit sensus, offenditur pater, sive per banc vocem
iiteHiga* senatores, sive eos qui tiberoe habent ; iili enim can
maxima conspicui sint in rep. exemplo modestis alHs prstire
debent ; hi quia metuunt fihis, ne ipsorum mores corrumpan-
tnr, dtun obtcoinis assuescant. Qfenduntur etiass <pubus est
equus et res, id est, equites et locupletes, qui honestionem. lo-
cum obtinent inter cives.
A. P. r. 4G1. Si curet quis opem fferre et dhnittere ftmem.
W. found curat in some manuscripts, and there-
fore he would read currat, which approaches to cur-
ret, quoted by Dr. C, in w. LLu from Zeunins.
Upon the merit of the preceding emendations we
shall neither attempt to direcf the judgment of our
readers, nor in detail insist upon our own. But we
contend generally, that they are not more impro-
bable than those which are admitted into the first
volume of the Variorum, and if Dr. C. selected one
in the second volume, he might, without any im-
peachment of his sagacity, have selected more*
In. the Catalogue Dr. C* mentions Taylor's £3e^
meats of Civil Law. Upon the 6dt line of Od.
xxix. B» UL Taylor is very properly introduced to
illustrate and defend semper-udum. But in the se-
cond volume of the Var. the learned critic totally
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 63
disappears, and as the Var. Editor has omitted the
only two remaining conjectures which occur in
Taylor's book, we shall produce them, especially as
we have no hesitation in acknowledging that we
think both ingenious.
Sal. L tib. i. t. 89. Perfidus hie caupo.
Taylor in p. 220, gives the conjecture of a learned
lawyer, Perfidus hie Cautor.* He decides not upon
the reading, but produces a number of passages to
illustrate the technical words respoudere and cavere
in the Roman Law, and as we have mentioned the
conjecture, we will subjoin, from Taylor, a few in-
stances of the use of cavere to support it.
Cicero, in his letter to Appius Pulcher.
L. Valerium Juris consulting vajde tibi commendo ; sed ita
etiam, si non est Juris consultus. Melius enim e? cavere volo,
quant ipse aliia solet. Fam, Epist. iii. 1.
He writes thu$ in a letter to Trebatius* the great
lawyer:
To qui ceteris cavere didicisti, in Britannia ne ab essedariis
deefptaris, caveto. Fam. Epist. vii. 6.
Ovi4 de Arte Amsodi B. i. 83.
— - capitur consultu* amore.
Quique aKis cavit, non cavit ipse sib!,
Plaiilq* io Captir. 1 A. ii. S. 2. 5.
Etiam cum carisse ratus est, s«pe is cautor csutus est.
Taylor, p. 421, writes thup ;
a Slaves in the Greek and Roman comedies, are
often very distinct characters. Nay, they have been
so well contrasted upon the stage, that some critics
have ventured to restore this passage in Horace, in
conformity to that opposition of character. A. P. v.
* Sobr*4er, p. 71, of the Emendations, reads providus hie
cautor, and seems not to have known that part of his conjec-
ture was anticipated.
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64 NOTICE OF
114. Intererit multum Davusne loquatur, Erosne.
Every one that looks into inscriptions or reads the
Digest, will find, that Eros was a very common
name for a servant, as well as Davus. And this is
also, I apprehend, more conformable to the MSS.
Davus was a crafty knave, and Eros a plain servant."
Whether Dr. C. knew of these passages in Tay-
lor, we decide not ; why he omitted them we con-
jecture not. But we mean to give no offence by
saying, that Dr. C.'s coadjutor was apprised of their
existence.
Dr. C. in his Catalogue has given a place to the
Sylva Critica of Mr. Wakefield; and we, upon com-
paring Wakefield's Sylva with the Variorum Edition,
find new reason for bringing forward supplemental
matter. The first volume of Wakefield contains
eight emendations, and of these eight Dr. C. pro-
duces not one. The second volume of Wakefield
contains three emendations and three changes of
punctuation. The three emendations are omitted in
the Var. Two of those changes of punctuation are
omitted also, and one of them is produced, not from
the Sylva Critica, where it occurs, p. 99, but from
the Observationes in Horatium, where it may also
be found, 79th page ; and this we affirm the more
positively, because the Variorum exhibits every word
contained in the Observations, and omits every word
contained in the Sylva Critica. From these pre-
mises we infer, without any hesitation, that the
Var. Editor has not very carefully consulted the two
books of the Sylva Critica, though in the catalogue
he professes to have employed them in his selections
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DR. COMBES HORACE. 65
for the Var. Edit. In justice to Mr. Wakefield
and for the conviction of our readers, we enter upon
the following detail — Sylva Critica, p. 1st.
Epist. ii. B. ii. v. 105. Obturem patulas impunelegentibus aures.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 19. proposes obtundem (which
we consider as a mere typographical error for ob-
tundam) instead of obturem.
Horat. B. ii. Od. 3. v. IS.
Hue vina, et unguenta, et niniium breves
Flores amcense ferre jube rosee.
For amoenae, Mr. Wakefield, p. 149, would read
Amyntae.
His words are, Puerum scilicet ejus pro more
alloquitur Horatius, cujus nomen infelicem immu-
tationem passum est. — He then quotes, Serta mihi
Phyllis legeret, cantaret Amyntas. — Virg.
This emendation reminds us of a note in the No-
titia Poetarum Anthologicorum, p. 66,* which we
will bring forward, as it contains a verbal emenda-
tion of Horace. Maxim& frequens in pueris Melea-
gri, Muisci nomen. Quod frequens in vernarum
nominibus, praesertim nondum adultorum, fuisse
constat ex Polybio, page 424. 1. 9. edit. Wechel. et
Horatii, B. 2. 9, 10. ubi vulgo prave editum cir-
cumfertur Mystem, sed Muiscum restituendum est.
Tu semper urges Abilibus modis
Muiscum ademptum.
Od. 38. v. 5. b. 1. Simplici myrto nihil allabores
Sedulus, euro.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 150, would read curae ; after
making this conjecture, he turned to Bentley's Ho-
race, and found it confirmed, a quodam codice ma-
* Subjoined to Anthologiae Graeae a Constant. Cephala con-
fute libri ires. Oxford, 1766*
VOL. III. F
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66 NOTICE OF
nuseripto, quern nriror,say8he,summumcriticum suae
correctioni posthabuisse, cum ipsissimum dederit At-
ticum leporem, cujus potissimum fait studiosus nos-
ter. It is curious to observe the opinions of great
critics on the reading of this line. Even Baxter
upon this place praises Bentley, and reads cura.
Cuningham, like Wakefield, would read curae. Ges-
ner is contented with euro, and Klotzius says, illud
euro exercuit interpretum ingenium, et exercebit.
Lib. ii. Od. xi. v. 15. Canos odorati capillos.
Wakefield, p. 51, proposes coronati.
Lib. iii. Od. iv. v. 21. — — vester in arduos
Tollor Sabinos.
Wakefield, p. 151, reads arduum et Sabinus.
Od. xiv. L. iii. v. 11. Jam virum experts.
Wakefield, p. 152, reads jam virfira expertes.
The Var. mentions not Wakefield, though it gives
the same reading from Cuningham and Sanadon.
Od. ix. L. iii. v. 11. ■ decedunt amores.
Wakefield, in p. 152, reads labores for amores.
Od. x. L. iii. v. 16. supplicibus tuis
Parcas.
Wakefield, p. 153, reads suppliciis.
Od. iv. L. iv. v. 29. Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis :
Est in juvencis, est in equis vigor
Patrum.
Wakefield, p. 154, puts a comma at fortibus, and
joins bonis with juvencis. In the Variorum not the
least notice is taken of Mr. Wakefield ; in the notes,
however, we have the same reading from Bentley,
Cuningham, and Janus.
Epist. ii. L. i. v. 144. — memorem brevis «vi.
Wakefield, p. 155, would read memores to be
joined with agricolae, and we have before produced
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 67
the same emendation from Waddelus. Bat the
Var. is silent about both these critics.
Syha Critica, Part 2.
L. iiL Od. 27. v. 26. et scatentem
Belliris pontum, mediasque fraudes
Palluit audax.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 17, reads thus :
— at scatentem
Belluis pontum media, atque fraudes
Palluit audax.
Od. xxxv. L. i. v. 5. Te pauper ambit sollicita prece
Runs colonus ; te dominam sequoris,
Quicunque Bithyna lacessit
Carpathium pelagus carina. — -
Wakefield, p. 41, thus alters the punctuation :
Te pauper ambit sollicita prece
Rum colonus ; te dominam, aequoris
Quicunque Bithyna lacessit
Carpathium pelagus carina,
He illustrates pelagus aequoris by «Xayos Q*\<kr-
*ijf, from Apollonius Rhodius, Lu ii. v. 610.
Sat. vii. L. ii. v. 85.
cpntemnere honores
Fortls ; et in seipso totus teres atque rotundus,
Externine quid valeat per lssve morari.
Wakefield, p. 57, points the passage thus :
. , contemnere honores
Fortis, et in seipso totus; teres atque rotundus,
Externl ne quid valeat per laeve morari.
Mr. W. ingenuously confesses, that before he
thought of this punctuation, he had not read Bent-
ley's note which proposes it ; and we add that Dr.
C. has judiciously inserted that note in the Vario-
rum edition.
Epod. xiv. v. 7. Inceptos, olim promissum carmen, Iambos.
Wakefield, p. 99, would transfer the comma from
inceptos to olim, and he does not take notice of
having proposed the same change in his observa-
f2
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68 NOTICE! OF
tions. We have already stated that Dr. C. has ad-
mitted Mr. Wakefield's conjecture into the notes
upon the Epodes, and that he took it not from the
Sylva Critica, published in 1790, but from the ob-
servations, published in 1776. We read with care
and with pleasure three parts of the Sylva Critica
soon after their respective appearance. From the
fourth part we have lately derived much instruction,
and, in due time, shall bear a fuller testimony to its
merits in the British Critic.
As Dr. C. has not inserted the third part of the
Sylva Critica, published at Cambridge 1792, in his
catalogue, he is not responsible for its contents.
We shall, however, extend our principles of intro-
ducing supplemental matter, and for this purpose
we shall enable our readers to enrich the margin of
the Variorum edition with such emendations as we
have collected from the third part of Mr. Wake-
field's Sylva Critica, and from his edition of Vir-
gil's Georgics, published at Cambridge 1788.
Are Poet', v. 99. Non satis est pulchra esse poemata, dulcia sunto.
Satis multa, si bene memini, de voce pulchra noster Hurdius,
sed vir ingeniosus nihil extricat.
We could wish that Mr. Wakefield, in speaking
of so illustrious a prelate as Dr. Hurd, would have
employed his eyes instead of trusting to his me-
mory. Whatever may be the merits of the expla-
nation, with which Mr. Wakefield is dissatisfied,
the Bishop* is answerable only for approving it,
* However rough in appearance may be the foregoing
words, which we have cited from Mr. Wakefield, he speaks
with great and just respect of the Bishop, in a note on line 46
of the third Georgic. We will quote his words, to efface any
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DR. COMBE** HORACE. 69
and if it was written, as we have heard, by an ex-
cellent and celebrated member of the Established
Church, who lives at Winchester, we agree with
the general opinion of Dr. Hurd, when he pro-
nounces him " an ingenious person who knows how
to unite philosophy with criticism, and, to all that
is elegant in taste, to add what is most just and ac-
curate in science." See Hurd's note.
As to the sense of pulcher, we shall lay before
our readers Mr. Wakefield's words : " Non satis est,
inquit summus artifex, secundum artem et regulas
mox prascriptas, poemata perfici ; non sufficit pul-
chra esse scilicet, et sine culpa: necessc est etiam,
ut sint tenera, mollia, dulcia, ad affectus excitandos
suavi artificio concinnata." Haec est mens auctoris,
quam verbis luculentissimis aperit nobis Ascensius
et Acron.
Od. iii. L. ii. t. 11. Obliquo laborat
Lympha fugax treptdare rivo.
We shall give Mr. Wakefield's words as we find
them in p. 51. Et constructionem (by an error of
the press, it is constructionam, in the Sylya Critica)
paullo perplexiorem enodatam dabimus, quam nescio
an aliquis ad hunc diem perspexerit. Et lympha
fugiens per obliquum rivum laborat trepidare, nou
sine difficultate, per obstantes scilicet lapillos et
serpentem alveum, cursum suum promovet: ideo-
que moram jucundam nectit, et suaviter interea su-
surrat.
■ ■■■—■■<■■■ ' ' ■ i .. -^
bad impression that may be made on the mind of the reader
by Mr. W.'s language, when he speaks of the word pulchra :
"Quae de his tribus versibus (i. e. Virgilii), disseruit Ricardus
Hurd, Episcopus Wigorniensis, doctrina viri istius exquisita,
atque ingenio eleganti prorsus digna sunt."
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70 NOTICE OF
Sal. i. L. i. v. 29. PerBdus hie caupo.
Wakefield, p. 77, accumulates many passages to
illustrate St. Paul's use of icaaTjXctWrcy, cap. ii.
epist. ii. ad Corinth.; and at the close he writes
what we shall quote, not from our assent to the
criticism, but from our good humour with the
pleasantry — Denique, mirari subit, doctos homines
ullo modo Telle aliam lectionem in Horatium im-
portare:
Perfidus HIC caupo :
Hie nempe, quern ante memoravimus. Nee, pieet dicere !
verbo magis apto uti poterat poeta. Utinam a se hoc oppro-
brium causidici vellent amovere, et leges cauponarent minus !
Dis aliter visum.
A. P. 1. 161. Itnberbis juvenig tandem custode remoto —
Sat. vi.l. 1. v.81. Ipse mini custos incorruptissimus.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 89, tells us, that by custos is
meant the Paedagogus in the former passage lite-
rally, and in the latter by allusion. We think him
right, and we suppose that custode in the A. P. has
been long understood by every learned reader in
the same manner.
Sat. iii. B. ii. v. 72. Malis ridentem alienis.
Mr. W. p. 105, gives this interpretation : immo-
dice ridentem, nee genis exercendis parcentem,
quasi alienis ; et proinde nihil doloris et incommodi
hinc sperantem.
He quotes from the Etyraologicum Magnum, h-epoyvaSos
twiros, 6 9K\iip6crTOpos, oloy 6 rois yyadois ws fxrj iblots xpw/uevof,
and from the Pan. of Isocrates, &<nrep ey bWorptats \l/vx<ns /i£\-
\ovres KivhwevetVy and from Thucydides, B. i. S. 70. 3r« it rvls
p.kv autfiaffiv bWoTpiuraTois vrr&p rfjs t6\€u>s xptivrai, rj ik
yyvfjtjj OLKetoTarg k$ to vpavacty tI vxkp aforjs.
We shall take the liberty of quoting Eustathius
on the passage, in order to illustrate Mr. Wakefield's
interpretation :
'Ivriov hi 6ti ro yvadfwif yeXyy AXXorpioic, cat vvv iwiwoXA-
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 71
Set XeyttrOat wapotfucucms, rove yip rot fy elf /*i) fl&ov yeXfiprat
cr Ovpov, $ iLfiifxavias rtvbs, {Ivats ^afxkv yeXpv wapelaif &9*tp
ral rove wp^s jSiaF eadtSvras, aXXorplois koBleiv yvaQjAois, its t£>v
eiceutr bifier okvovvtw rai early 6 roiovrot ylXw, irtp6s ru
*apa rbv vapb6vu>v* * * * "Ere W rat AXAw, avpfloXdv kvrt
to prflkv rod itcarrjictvai rovs fiyrj<rrypas lavrvv, &s ©Toy fitfbe
cv ei* party elvai. duo rat arniWorplvvral tvs aZrol re r&v
ouceivr rvparwy, *ai avro iicelmy, &rre bogeiy ws aXXorplois
ycXyv yvadfiots. Vide p. 7S9. Eustath. Horn. vol. ii. Edit. Ba-
sil. 1559 ; and in Odyssey xx. v. 847. OW tjbri yradfiolfft ytXfvv
aXXorpiotaty.
Od. xiv. L. ii. v. 9.
Compescit unda, scilicet omnibus,
Quicunque terra munere vescimur,
Enaviganda.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 117, would read munera for
munere.
Leaving the probability of this emendation to
the judgment of learned readers, we refer them to
an excellent note of Broukhusius, p. 264, on the
following line of Tibullus :
Sacras innoxia laurus
Vescar.
Broukhusius, with great success, vindicates the
use of an accusative after vescar.
Oct xxxi. Lib. i. 12. Vina Syra reparata merce.
Mr. Wakefield, p. 187, approves of Bentley s in-
terpretation, and adds reparata, i. e. condita, reno-
vata, Syris aromatibus, sua scilicet ipsius mercatura.
Hie est o oTvoy oiva»&]? Hippocratis.
In Mr. Wakefield's edition of the Georgics, p.
24, he reconsiders and explains, at some length, the
coalescence of vowels into one syllable, at the end
of a line, and he again mentions his conjecture of
nee for aut in
Sat. ii. B ii. v. 22. Nee ostrea
Nee scarus.
Upon thia opinion of Mr. Wakefield we shall
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72 NOTICE OF
speak at large on some future occasion, and at pre-
sent we shall only say, that Mr. W. had made the
same conjecture in his observations published m
1776, and that his words are printed faithfully in
the Variorum, p. 159, vol. ii. In p. 35 of the Geor.
Mr. W. would point the following passage in thia
manner :
Prudens futuri temporis, exitum
Caliginosa nocte premit Deus.
Wakefield joins temporis with prudens ; whereas
it is generally, and we think justly, supposed to fol-
low exitum. In p. 37 Mr. W. quotes, from the
14th ode of the fourth book, diluviem meditatur
agris, but acknowledges the force of Bentley's argu-
ments for reading minatatur. In p. 41 Mr. W.
would read tu* pulses (for pulsas) omne quod ob-
stat, in the 30th line of the 6th Sat. B. ii. Mr. W.
in p. 73 of the Georgics, offers an emendation of
the following passage in Od. xvi. B. ii.
Quid terras alio calentes
Sole mutamus ? patriae quis exsul
Se quoque fugit?
He reads patria for patriae, and points the line
thus: .
Sole mutamus patria?
P. 78. He has many emendations.
Od. ix. Lib. ii. v. 21. Medumque flumen, gentibus additum
Victis, minores volvere vertices.
He would read minorem, and quotes from Sat.
iii. B. ii. tanto certare minorem. Now he had
made the same emendation, and produced the same
line to support it, in p. 78. of his observations ; and
* Markland also reads pulses in p. 93 of the Epistola Critica.
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. 73
of this we are the more desirous to inform our
readers, because this emendation is judiciously ad-
mitted into the Variorum, and because Mr. W. in
this very note has inserted two conjectures which
occur in other parts of his writings. One we have
already given, and now we shall bring forward the
other. In Od. xxvii. 1. iii. he reads at for et before
scatentem ; but this correction is found in the Silva
Critica, p. 16. part 2.
Mr. W. objects to medias fraudes. His words
are : " Quid autem sibi vult medias fraudes, hoc
equidem nunquam potui discere, aut divinare, et
aliis explicandum vellem." We believe that fraudes
means pericula caeca. It is used for damnum or
periculum, by Horace, in Od. xix. B. ii. v. 19.
Nodo coerces viperino
Bistonidum sine fraude crines.
Where the old scholiast says, sine noxa. So Virgil,
in L 72. Mn. 10.
Quis deus in fraudem, quae dura potentia nostri est?
We shall add the note of Servius. In fraudem
autem in periculum : ita enim in jure lectum est.
Fraudi erit ilia res, id est periculo. — Heyne says, in
fraudem : est malum, anj, ut toties periculum Ser-
vius interpretatur.
Mr. W. in p. 78. would read, Ode xxxvii. Lib. i.
v. 25. Ausa ut jacentem for et. And then he writes
as follows : " Hinc etiam recte explicandus est Ho-
ratius et distinguendus ad Od. 1. 4. 4. 53. ubi misere
rem agunt interpretes pro sua sagacitate.
Gens, quae cremato fortis ab Ilio,
Jactata Tuscis aequoribus sacra,
Natoeque, raaturosque patres
Pertulit Ausonias ad urbes t
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74 NOTICE OF
Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus
Nigra feraci frondis in Algido,
Per damna, per caedes, ab ipso
Ducit opes animumque ferro.
i. e. ut ilex ducit opes, ita h«c gens fortior evasit ob crema-
tum Ilium et sacra jactata, non gens.
Raptos qui ex hoste penates
Classe veho mecum, 2En. i. v. S82.
— feror exsul in altum
Cum sociis, natoque, Penatibus, et magnis Dls. JEn. iii. 2.
Mr. W. p. 83, corrects the 38th line of Epist*
xvii. b. i.
Quid? qui pervenit, fecitne viriliter?
Mr. W. reads provenit for pervenit.
We shall give Mr. W.'s words from p. 89. upon a
very important passage in the Ars Poet.
Syllaba longa brevi subjecta vocatur Iambus
Per citus ; unde etiam trimetris accrescere jusait
Nomen Iambeis. Cum senos redderet ictus,
Primus ad extremum similis sibi, non ita pridem,
Tardior ut paulo graviorque veniret ad aures,
Spondeos stabiles in jura paterna recepit
Commodus et patiene, v. 251,
i. e. Longa syllaba post brevem vocatur Iambus ; pes citus,
unde (ex qua celeritate, ut optime vetus interpres) nomen citia
(v. Od. 1. 16. 24. ut a x^Xotf idfifiois distinguerentur) jussit dari
trimetris Iambeis. Cum vero hie Iambus ab initio versus ad
finem similis sibi ictus omnes suos redderet, non ita pridem, Ac.
quae sequuntur enim plana per se cuivis sunt.
We believe that Mr. W.'s interpretation is not to
be found in any edition of Horace ; but we assure
him that, long before the publication of his Virgil,
it had occurred to us, and that we were accustomed
to illustrate it by the following verses of Ovid : *
• Burman, in his notes on these lines, mentions the strange opinion of a
critic, who supposed .Ovid to speak of the oatalectic iambic, and refers him to
Morula, and the notes of Bersman, to be convinced, or rather informed, that
the poet speaks of the Scazon.
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DR. COMBft's HORACE. 75
liber in adveraos bostes • triogatur Iambus,
Sea celer, extremum seu trahat ille pedem.
Remed. Amor. v. 377.
It aany be worth while to remark, h «•*&?, that Milton, in forty- one Latin
Tflw*r^, baa fallen into twenty-three mistakes; for in nineteen instances be
me* the spondee, and in four instances he uses the anapaest, in the fifth place
before the final spondee. This licence is admitted into Greek seasons (vid. He-
phsBst. p. 17. Ed. Pan.) but never into Latin. We shall give the words of Te-
icatiantts Manms :
Sed quia jngatos scandimos pedes iatos,
Pseona fieri perspiois pedem in fine :
Epttritos nam primus implet hanc partem
firevis locata qnom sit ante tres longas.
Qnare cavendnm est, ne licentia socta
Spondeon, ant qui procreantnr ex illo,
Dari putemus posse nunc loco qninto)
Ne deprehensee qnatnor simul longas
Parum eonoro fine destruant versnm.
See P. L 263. Mattaire, Corp. Poet.
Avantius and Fabricius, in their dissertation upon the metre of Seneca, pre-
fixed to Scbroeder*s edition of the Tragedies, give one instance of n season with
an aaapsse* in the fifth place.
Cum Dardana tecta Dorici raperent ignes.
L. 618. Agamemnon.
Bos they are mistaken t for the true reading is raperetis. The verse occurs in n
cboros of Monostrophies. It is an iambic trimeter hypercatalectic, and follows
a treefa. trim, hyperc. Here we should have an additional instance of the
i between Greek and Roman verse $ for if Dardana be the true read-
ing, two syllables of the second foot are in the first hyperdissyllabic word, where
the loot ia an anapssst. Now Dawes, in the fifth section of the Miscellanea
Critaca, maintains, that in Greek or Latin iambics the ictus rhythmicus falls on
the last syllable of iambics, spondees, and anapaests, and on the penultimate of
Dactyls and Tribrach* admitted into Iambic verse : ahrlxa jabX* is, we believe,
an exception in Greek ; but the rule certainly holds good in the tragic and comic
writers among the Greeks, and in Terence. Let us pursue this subject a little
farther : Avantiua and Fabricius tell us, that in Seneca there are only two in*
■lances of she soazon iambus, and that these two occur in the Agamemnon :
Cum Dardana tecta Dorici raperent ignes,
Fatale munus Danautn traximus nostra.
It has been already observed, that the true reading in the former line is rape*
retU, and that the verse, therefore, ceases to be a season, and becomes an iamb*
trimet. hypercat. Now in the text of Seneca the second line is thus read,
Danaumque fatale munus duximus nostra.
Hem tint metre is corrupt. It is of little consequence whether we read traxkmu)
with Avantcua, or duximus with Schroeder ; but que, which Avantius omits, is
necessary to the construction. The transposition of one word will restore the
metre, Danaumque munus duximus fatal* nostra.
Here we must observe, that lines 61 1 and 612 correspond to lines 626 and 627;
in each instance we have a trim, troch. hypercat. followed by a trim, iambi
hypercat.
In the earlier part of this note, we said Terence, because Mr. Dawes, who
had corrected Andr. Prol. 28. and Eunuch. 2. 2. 23. says, (p. 2 12. Ed. Burgess,)
" Nullns dubito quin panes admodum, quae hodie spud Terent. contra reprse-
ssntantnr, ad **p*0n«* a Grsscis servatam sint exigenda; prsesertim cum levi
nbiqna menu fieri possit." We shall not for the present controvert the position
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76 NOTICE OF . ;
But upon further consideration we abandoned
our opinion, and we think that upon the meaning
about Terence; but we deliberately omitted the name of Plautus, and we shall
now justify that omission by a series of examples, in which Plautus has not con*
formed to the rule which Dawes affirm* to have been observed by Terence.
Hanc fabulam, inqnam, hinc Jnppiter hod'ie ipse aget.
Prologue to Araphitryo, v. 94.
Ita mihi videntur omnia, nurre, terra, coelum consequi.
Amphlt. Act 5. Sc. 1. v 8.
Cum que in potestate habutmvs, ea amisimus. Captiv. A. 1. S. 3. t. 40.
Multis et multigenerifau opus est tibi. Id. v. 56.
Oculorum prststringat aciem in acie hostibus. Mil. Qlor. A. 1 . S. 1. v. 4.
Objurgare pater hsec me noctes et dies. Merest Act. 1 . Sc. 1.
We know that with very little trouble we could collect more instances from
Plautus ; but those which we have adduced are sufficient to show that implicit
credit is not to be given to Dawes, when he tells us, without any qualification,
" Nee vero in accentuum ratione vel comicis Latinis majorem permitti liceutiam
mihi persuasum est." (p. 315.) From the very imperfect state in which the
fragments of Pacuvius, Afranius, Accius, and other old dramatic writers have
Come down to us, it is often difficult to speak with confidence upon the structure
of their verse ; but in justice to Mr. Dawes, we must state that, with one or two
doubtful exceptions, their general practice is strictly conformable to his opinion.
We shall ever admire the sagacity of Dawes in his remarks on the Greek writers;
and our ears are exquisitely sensible of the effect which their delicacy and cor-
rectness must have produced upon an Athenian audience : hence, with- the ex-*
ception mentioned above to abrl*a /eufx*, we shall admit the canon of Dawes,
and recommend it, if recommendation be necessary, to the Editors of Greek dra-
matic writers t "Severiores Musas coloisse video poetas Atticos quam quae in
vocis hyperdissyllabse ultimam correptam accentnm cadere paterentur." (P. 81 1.
Misc. Cril.) The ground of this practice, as we have above remarked, was a
canon laid down in p. 190, where Dawes tells us: '* In metris iambicis iambi,
spondei, et anapsssti in ultimam, tribrachi, et dactyli, in mediam ictus ca-
dit." Our ears are prepared for accuracy in the iambics of the older writers,
Solon, Simonides, && though the recitation of their verses was not accompanied
with music. But, when we consider the gradual changes which have been in-
troduced into the iambic measure of the Greeks, and even of the pronunciation
of the language, we must feel some degree of surprise, as well as delight, that
even in compositions not dramatic, the canon of Dawes was generally observed
for so many ages. To those who take an interest in these metrical questions,
and admire, as we do, the discernment of Dawes, the following references made
in support of what he has just now said on the long continued practice of the
Greeks, will not be unacceptable. See the iambics of Solon, vol. i. p. 73. and
of Simonides, p. 194. the seasons of Aischrio, p. 189. the iambics of Phsedi-
mus, p. 961. tne scszons of Theocritus, p. 381. 389. and his iambics, p. 380.
the trimeter catalectics of Phalecus, p. 491. the iambics of Philippus, vol. ii.
p. 916. 919. 991. of Heraciides, p. 961. of Pallas, p. 490. 499. 430. of Co-
msetas, vol. iii. p. 1 6. In the inscriptions, p. 96. 97. 99. 80. the verses of Leo,
p. 198. 199. 180. the avaOn'/xara, p. 140. the imygapjuara a&'cnwa,
p. 945. 948. 956. 963. 966. 967. 978. 981. 986. 989. 300. 801. 314. the
alflyuotrat p. 390. 894. 839.
To the foregoing passages, which are to be round in Brunck's Analecta, may
be added the dimeter trochees of Archilochus, p. 49. vol. 1 . corrected by
J3ruack ; the iambics trimeter ibid., the tetrameter trocliaics ibid. p. 43. In
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DR. COMB£'s HORACE. 77
of Horace light may be thrown from Terentidnus
Maurus. After the invocation of the Iambic, in six
pure stanzas, Terentianus thus proceeds !
Yides ut icta verba raptet impetus ;
Brevemque crebra consequendo longula
Citum subinde volvat arctius sonum ;
Iambus ipse sex enim locis manet,
Et inde nomen in di turn est senario.
Sed ter feritur, hinc trimetrus dicitur,
Scandendo binos qubd pedes conjungimus ;
Quae causa cogat non morabor edere.
Nam mox poets (ne nimis secans brevis
Lex base iambi verba pauca admitteret,
Dam parva longam semper alterno gradu
Urget, nee aptis exprimi verbis sinit
Sensus, aperte dissidente regula,
Spondeon, et quos iste pes esse creat,
carat. 16. Brunck properly correct! the 7th line, by reading tar for »«: he
leaves the 8th line uncorrected ; but for iUcL\loi we mast reed crayon, end for
er^l, <r^>»». See eJto trochees of Archilochus in carm, 18. p. 44, limbics, p.
45. 46. 47.
The learned reader must be well aware, that some of the passages, to which we
have referred in Brunck's Analects, were written when the pronunciation of the
Greek language was very corrupt, and when the ordinary rules of the iambic
verse were either not known or not understood. Yet, amidst all these corrup-
tions, and all that ignorance, the Greek writers were ltd by their ear not to let
what Dawes calls the metrical ictus fall upon the " ultimam correptam vocis
hyperdissyllabie/' No scholar will be displeased with us for extending our refer?
encee to verses, which are scattered over the Bibliotheca Grmca of Fabricius.
See Emanuelis Philes Iambi Sepulchxales in Phacrasen, p. 549. vol. x. Ed.
Hamburgi, 1791. the Carm. of Eman. Phile. in Obitum G. Pachymeras, p. 1719.
vot. x. the verses erroneously ascribed to Pisidas, p. 477. vol. i. the Sphsera
Empedoclis, p. 478. where in the 4th line we must read yovdvi for ymvetot,
though in the 87th line the writer uses you/W» as necesssry to the verse. See
many Greek iambics, from p. 98. to p. 30. in the first Dissertation of Leo Alla-
tius de Libris Ecclesiasticis Grsscorum, published at Hamb. 1719. and inserted
by Fabricius in vol. 5. of Bibl. Gr. See a Menologia in p. 64. of the same Dis-
sertation. See Eman. Phile de Animalibus, from p. 697 to p. 709. and his
tviy^afxfdMra, from p. 710 to p. 715. See also the verses of Joannis Geome*
use, p. 716. and Joannis Mauropi, p. 718 to p. 799. vol. vii. See Jenesius, p.
699. voL vi. and Heliodori Carmen de Chrysopoeia, p. 790 to p. 797. We really
do not mean to make any ostentatious parade of references, or quotations ; but
we were anxious to impress very strongly upon the minds of our readers* that pro-
perty of the iambic verse, which, amidst so many and so gross corruptions of it
in other respects, was still preserved in the point which Dawes had the merit of
reducing to rule. He would not have been displeased to find, that his own re-
mark upon the Attic writers of the Drama was capable of being extended to so
many ty*,6oVpa$o« to other kinds of poetry.
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78 NOTICE OF
Admiscuerunty imparl tamen loco.
Pedemque primum, tertium, quintum quoque
Junxere paulo Syllabis majoriDus.
At qui cothurnis regios actus levant,
Ut sermo Pompae regie capax foret :
Magis magisque latioribus sonis
Pedes frequentant, lege servata tamen.
Dum pes secundus, quartus, et novissimus,
Semper dicatus uni Iambo senriat :
Nam nullus alius ponitur, tantum solet
Temporibus sequus non repelli Tribrachys.
Ovid, indeed, calls the Iambic celer in contradis-
tinction to the scazon. But Horace uses citus of
the pure Iambic verse, as distinguished from the
more slow verses, which the tragic writers adopted,
and into which spondees were admitted in the 1st,
3d, and 5th places. It is somewhat remarkable,
that, according to the schema trimetrorum Senecae,
drawn up by Avantius, the iambic in the fifth place
occurs only nine times, and the tribrach thrice.
The spondee, generally, and sometimes an anapaest,
are used in that part of the verse. By an error, we
suppose, of the press, a dactyl is put in the Metri-
cal Table, for the anapaest.
Mr. W. p. 124. of the Geor. corrects a word in
line 113. 6th Sat. B. 1.
Fallacem circum vespertinumque pererro
Ssspe forum.
See Mattaire, Corp. Poet, vol II. p. 1261.
For vespertinum he reads vespertinus : we think
this correction far more probable than that of Mark-
land, on the 16th Epode, where he proposes ves-
pertinum for vespertinus, and quotes the very line
which Wakefield here would alter. As to the po-
sition of que, no objection can be drawn from it
against Mr. W. ; for Horace writes,
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DR. COMBES HORACE. 79
Ore pedes tetigitque crura.
Moribua hie meliorque fama.
— parvi me quodque pusilli
Finxerunt animi —
To the learned reader no apology is necessary for
the introduction of the conjectures which we have
found in Mr. Wakefield's third part of the Silva
Critica, and in his edition of the Georgics. Dr. C.
does not profess to have consulted them, and there-
fore he is not to be blamed for omitting what is
contained in them. But the good wishes we have
for the Var. Ed. induce us to 6ay that we should
have been happy to find this labour anticipated.
The Georgics were published in 1788, and of
course the observations contained in them might
have been somewhere inserted in the Var. edit. The
third part of the Silva Critica appeared in 1792,
and as the Var. edit, was then far advanced, Dr. C.
might have thrown together Mr. W.'s conjectures
at the end of his edition, which came out in the win-
ter of 1793.
Dr. C. does not mention in his catalogue the
conjectures upon Horace, which are to be found in
Mr. Markland's edition of the Silvae of Statius. But
in conformity to our principle of bringing forward
supplemental matter to the Variorum edition, we
shall lay before our readers the substance of what
Mr. Markland has written about Horace, in the
work above mentioned.
B. iii. Od. xxiii. v. 7. — aut dulces alumni
Pomifero grave tempus anno.
Markland, in his Statius, p, 35, reads, pomi-
feri anni. Tempus pomiferi anni, says he, ut tern*-
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80 NOTICE OF
pus teneri anni seu veris, apud Martialem, Epig. xiv.
1. 19. de Earino.
Nomen habes teneri quod tempora nuncupat anni.
Epod. i. v. 29. Nee ut superni villa candens Tusculi.
M. prefers in p. 50. superbi to superni.
Epist. i. Lib. ii. v. 207.
Lana Tarentino violas imitata veneno.
• M . p. 101. would read Laena, shortly adding, that
he had made the same emendations, p. 87. of the
Epist. Crit. This epistle was published at Cam-
bridge, 1723, and the Statius in London, 1728. It
is always of importance to mark the interval be-
tween the different appearances of the same criti-
cism, for we ought to presume, that a critic, after
reconsideration, acquiesces in his first opinion.
Lib. i. Od. 31. v. 3. non opimas
Sardinia? segetes feracis.
The common reading is opimae, and so we find it
in Cuningham, Bentley, Torrentius, and Lambin.
Mr. M. p. 225. in his Statius, would read opimas,
and so it is printed in Gesner, the Delphin edition,
and the Variorum.
Are Poet, v. 40. cui lecta potenter erit res.
Markland; p. 232, would read pudenter, and this
reading is, in the Variorum, produced from a note
of Bishop Hurd, who introduces it from the learned
editor of Statius. The Bishop says, a similar pas-
sage in the Epistle to Augustus adds some weight
to this conjecture.
— Nee metis audet
Rem tentare pudor, quam vires ferre recusent.
But in justice to Mr. Markland, we must add,
that he has himself quoted this very passage, and
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. *81
yet the words of the Bishop might lead his readers
to suppose, that they were indebted to him only for
the quotation. We do not mean to insinuate that
the Bishop intended to misguide us. We observe
by the way, Dr. Combe, in translating the words of
the Bishop, seems to have made an unnecessary and
incorrect addition. The Bishop says plainly, " the
learned Editor* of Statius:" but the Variorum Edi-
tor says, "Editor doctissimiis Papilii Statii.n With
submission to the Doctor, we remembered, and we
have since found, that Markland, Veenhusen, and
Cruquius, write Papinius, not Papilius; and we
would remark, that our poet, invested with the tri-
ple dignity of names, was called Publius Papinius
Statius. In Grater's inscriptions we find Papinius
and Papirius, but not Papilius. Again, in the Ta-
bulae Coss. and Triumph of Verrius Flaccus, we
find Popilius, and Papirius, but not Papilius.
Lib. ii. Od. iv. v. 13. Nescias an te generum beati.
Markland, p. 247. would read, qui scis an te, &c.
and quotes from the Ars Poet. 462. Qui scis an
prudens.
* We quote from the Cambridge edition of 1757, but we
believe that a more enlarged edition has since been published,
in which, however, it is not very probable that the Bishop has
inserted the word Papilius. We wish Dr. C. had told his read-
ers the particular work of Statius, for though the Bishop men-
tions it not, yet in p. 460. vol. i. of the Variorum, we nave a
note, wherein Klotzius expressly speaks of Markland as non-
firming, in p. 192 of his notes ad Statii Silvam. lib. iv. i. the
opinion which Klotzius holds about Dux bone, lib. iv. Od. 5.
v. 37. where he defends Dux in opposition to Bentley, who
would read Rex, and adds, that Dux is not confined to the sig-
nification of military glory ; referring for the justness of this
remark to Horace, lib. iii. Od. xiv. v. 7. and to the note of
Markland above mentioned.
VOL. III. F 9
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♦82 NOTICE OF
Epist. i. B. ii. v. 110. Fronde comas vincti ccenant.
Markland, p. 247. would read certant, quia Ho-
ratius hie agit de studio scribendi : sed quid ad rem
utrum coenent vel non coencnt ?
Od. xv. B. i. ▼. 35. Post certas hyemes.
M. in p. 247. would read denas for certas.
Sat. iii. B. ii. v. 2S4*. In nive Lucana dormis ocreatus.
M. in p. 248. would read duras for dormis. He
prints tu for in before nive, and so does Cuning*-
ham in his text, but with this note, " Tu nive," ita
citat. H. Johnson, ad Gratium, p. 20. et ita R. B.
In nive MSS. edd.
We have now laid before our readers a series of
emendations, many of which we should have been
more happy to see in the Variorum edition, than to
insert in our Review; and if any excuse be required
for the length of this article, we shall find one in
the spirit of Markland's words, Leve est quod die-
turns sum, nisi qu6d ad Horatium pertinet ; et
ideo non est leve. Markland's Epist. Crit. p. 164.
At the close of this critique, we return to the
Var. Editor. In the catalogue, he says, Lsvinii
Torrentii edit. Horatii, 4to. 1608. But it would
have been useful to add, cum Commentario Petri
Nannii Alcmariani in Hor. de Art. Poet. Nannius
is first introduced by Dr. C. to his readers in a note
upon line 34. de Art. Poet, and he is quoted in the
same work of Horace on no less than thirty pas-
sages. We must therefore state, what Dr. C. ought
to have explained for the information of such per-
sons as may purchase the Variorum, but are not in
possession of Torrentius's edition. The notes of
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. *83
Torrentius are not continued beyond the second
epistle of the second book. But the commentary
of Nannius is subjoined to Horace de Art. Poet,
and begins p. 783. of Torrentius's edition. See Fa-
bricii Bib. Lat. vol. i. p. 254. and Harles's Intro-
duct, ad Notit. Lig. Rom. part ii. page 384.
The purchasers of a Variorum edition may in se-
veral respects be compared to jurymen, who are
supposed only to know what the occasion immedi-
ately brings before them ; and the writer of the pre-
face to such an edition seems to resemble a judge,
whose office it is to hold up every striking circum-
stance of the case, to exhibit a clear view of its ge-
neral merits, and to assist those to whom he ad-
dresses himself, in forming correct conceptions, and
passing an impartial sentence. But lest we should
ourselves be likened to Lord Biron, and " proclaimed
for men full of comparisons and wounding flouts,"
we will not press these resemblances any further.
Reasonable, however, we do call it, that he, who se-
lects notes from various critics, who, with various
degrees of talent, and for various purposes of illus-
tration, have endeavoured to explain the same an-
cient author, should be expected to favour his
readers with some intimation of his own opinions
upon their comparative excellencies, to give a short
representation of the character, by which they are
severally distinguished ; to unfold, now and then,
the order of their succession to each other; to
touch upon circumstances, if there be any, of lite-
rary or personal hostility, and perspicuously, if not
FlO
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*84 NOTICE OF
copiously, to lay open the principles of selection,
which may have prevailed through his own work.
There is a medium between conciseness and pro-,
lixity, which men of sense are at no loss to pre-
serve ; and he, who from false delicacy, or conscious
incapacity, says too little, sometimes multiplies those
difficulties, which, in point of fact, are removed by
him, who says too much, whether he be impelled by
• motives of petty ostentation or superfluous soli-
citude.
General celebrity excites general curiosity, and by
exciting it, makes the explanation, of which we are
speaking, more necessary. What is distinctly
known by an editor, may be known very imperfectly
by many readers, and before they can determine
with propriety upon the execution of the work, they
must enter fully into the views of the person by
whom it is conducted. They must see the reasons
which operated upon his mind in the different struc-
ture of different parts, and then, by examining them
both separately and collectively, they will under-
stand the whole with precision, and with justice will
approve of the correspondence between profession
and performance, between that which raises expect-
ation and that which gratifies it, between general
rules and their particular application.
It is the custom of scholars, and perhaps the duty
of reviewers, to compare the materials of a Variorum:
edition, with the contents of those learned works,
from which they are extracted. But such toil
ought not to be imposed upon the general classes of
readers ; and indeed one great and characteristic use
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. *85
of such an edition is, to supersede the necessity of
laborious and complicated inquiry, to collect what
. was before scattered, and to throw within the reach of
many, that information which in the ordinary course
of things is accessible only to few. The superficial
and the learned are alike expected to read it, and the
same explanations which add to the knowledge of
the one, tend at the same time to guide the decisions
of the other.
We admit without reluctance, and without re-
serve, the discretionary right of an editor to reject
one critic, and employ another; to use the works of
the same critic more or less ; to dismiss and recal
him at will, or at will to retain him in perpetual ser-
vice. But there are cases where we may also insist
upon the right of a reader to be informed of the
causes which have produced such preference, and
we conceive, that in stating such causes, an editor
would meet with many valuable opportunities for
showing the justness of his choice, the delicacy of
his taste, and the adaptation of ' his previous re-
searches to his immediate design. They who deny
this right, are governed by rules which are to us
totally unknown ; and they who contend for it, will
have on their side the general wishes of those who
read, and the general practice of those who write.
As to the exceptions which might be adduced, and
of which we are ourselves well aware, they are
not very formidable, either from number or au-
thority ; and the plea which they furnish may easily
be invalidated, by the examples of Gravius, of Gro-
novius, and other illustrious scholars, whose charac-
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*66 NOTICE OP
ters the learned world has long contemplated with
reverence ; and whose works have spread before in-
ferior writers such models of regularity, as may be
understood without difficulty, and imitated with ad-
vantage.
Of the critics, whose observations are admitted
into the Variorum edition of Horace, many stand in
the highest class of literary eminence ; and upon the
whole, we are convhiced that they who have written
most ably, appear most frequently. But in order to
secure the assent of our readers to this general posi-
tion, and at the same time to preserve that accuracy
which, in justice to the editor, and to the public,
We have attempted in every part of our observations
upon this splendid work, we must descend to a more
particular statement.
In the former part of our Review, which was chiefly
employed on the catalogue, we took the liberty of
remarking, that one conjecture of Bishop Hare, otoe
explanation by Dr. Taylor, and one emendation by
Taylor's friend, are omitted in the second volume of
the Var. edit. ; that in neither volume can be found
the contents of Wakefield's Silva Critica, P&rts I.
and II. nor of Markland's Epistola Critica; that
from the Epodes, to the end of Horace's work De
Arte Poetica, the Observations published by Markv-
land, at the end of the liceriScp, are by mistake as-
cribed to the very learned Mr. Bowycr ; and that
from Waddelus, who in thirty-one places might have
furnished interpretations, or conjectural readings,
for the second volume, only one emendation is pro-
duced, videlicet, on verse 112 of the 18th Epist. Kb.
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. *87
1. Now we leave it with our readers to decide on
the comparative merits of the criticisms which are,
and of those which are not, inserted from Waddelus.
Bat we are confident that they will not blame our
fidelity, in vindicating Markland's claims to Mark-
land's observations ; and we trust, that they will be
disposed to praise our industry, in communicating
from Hare, Taylor, Wakefield,* and Markland, those
materials, which it would have given us great plea*
sure to see in the Variorum edition, and which,
from their intrinsic worth, are intitled to the notice
of scholars.
After careful inquiry, we are compelled to ac-
knowledge that the fate of several other critics is
not only various, but to us, more than once inex-
plicable. Some, like the ayycXoi, or the t£a'yy€7lol>
in the ancient drama, come forward, tell their tale,
depart, and return no more. Others, like the leading
Dramatis Personam appear and disappear, as occa-
sion may seem to require. A third class, like the
chorus, when they have once taken their station,
preserve it to the close. Something like this, in an
uncommon manner, and to a degree uncommon,
may be done with the distinct knowledge and deli-
berate choice of an editor. But wheresoever it is
done, we could wish to have been previously in-
* Knowing that Mr. W. does not use accents in his Silva
Critics, in his Translation of St. Matthew, and many other of his
learned writings, we, in our Review for February, excepted him
from those who used them. But, on consulting his Observations,
we find accents used there, though not in any passage quoted
by the correctors of the Var. Edit, of Horace.
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1*88 NOTICE OF
formed of peculiarities, which, however irregular in
appearance, may in reality be quite judicious.
The names of Desprez, Sanadon, Dacier, Muretus,
Bond, and Pulman, as subjoined to their respective
notes, do not occur again after a few first odes of
the first book. Barnes's Homer is quoted once on
the second Ode of the same book, and no more.
The notes of Rutgersius do not appear beyond the
same book. Zeunius is for the first time introduced
in the first Ode of the second book, and is used,
more or less, to the conclusion of the second vo-
lume. The notes of Lambin, Cruquius, and Tor-
rentius, qre employed in the first and second books
of the Odes. No traces are to be found of them in
the third book. But in the fourth, they re-appear,
and do not again vanish in the succeeding parts of
Horace. Baxter, Gesner, Cuningham, and Bent-
ley, are happily found through- the whole work.
The same, probably, may be said of Linnaeus, from
whom we learn, among other particulars, that palma,
the third text word in the second line of page 2,
vol. i. means Phoenix Dactylifera ; and that hirudo,
the last text word, in the last line of the last page
of vol. ii. means Hirudo Medicinalis. The Venu-
sinae Lectiones of Klotzius are very properly em-
ployed through the Odes, and, so far as they could
be, in other parts of Horace. From Janus copious
extracts are made through the four first books of
the Odes, and his edition, it is well known, extends
no further. Markland's conjectures, subjoined to
the quarto edition of the Supplices Mulieres, and
Wakefield's Observations, published in 1776, are
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. *89
turned to a very good account. Waddelus is seen
about eight times in the first volume, and once in
the second. A few detached remarks,* from Bos,
Toup, Schrader, Mr. Gray, and the Adventurer, oc-
cur in the first volume of the Var. Edit, and in the
second we find a note from Dr. Warton's Essay on
Pope, vol. ii. where the Doctor had in view the
Epigram of Philodemus in Reiske's Anthologia.
To these we may add two original and very un-
important explanations, communicated to the editor,
on the first and second Odes of the first book ; one
statement, accompanied with disapprobation, of Mr.
Wakefield's interpretation of the word grave, in
Ode ii. lib. i.; one alteration in a line of Ennius,
quoted by Baxter on line 1 1 of Epode xvii. ; and
one very disputable change of punctuation on line 4,
Ode xxxvii. of the first book, which may or may
not be seen in any of the printed editions, and was
from memory imparted to Mr. Homer, by a person
who had no claim to the merit of proposing it. Of
the information derived from Taylor's Civil Law,
and Hare's Epistola Critica, which are mentioned in
the catalogue, and from a book of the latter, called
" Scripture vindicated," which is not mentioned in
the catalogue, but referred to in the notes, we have
already spoken. It remains for us to express our
firm conviction, that the value of the Var. edit, is
* All these notes, and, those which follow, in our Review,
down to the transposition of a stop, which we have noticed in
Ode xxxvii. lib. i. together with two notes in pace 338. verse 1.
are signed Editor. Two notes on Ode i. from Hare, have the
! signature*
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*90 NOTICE OF
considerably increased by the readings which Dr.
Combe has produced from six manuscripts in the
British Museum.
In regard to Muretus, Rutgersius, Desprez, Sana-
don, Dacier, Bond, Pulman, and Schrader, we would
be understood to have spoken of the notes, which
are immediately and expressly taken from their re-
spective writings, and inserted in the Vas. edit. ; for
we find the names of most or all of them occasion-
ally and concisely mentioned, either in the W. LL.
of the work before us, or in notes selected for that
work from other writers, and especially in the notes
of Janus and Bentley.
Here we think it incumbent upon us to notice a
few circumstances with respect to Janus. In pp. 93
and 94 of the Bibliotheca Critica, part iv, the
learned and acute Mr. Wagner has written several
strictures upon Janus, some of which we shall enu-
merate. Janus, on v. 32, Od. ii. lib. i. seems to
say, that Horace drew his imagery from Quintus
Calaber, quod puero vix ignoscendum, says Wag-
ner. The age of this writer is not distinctly known,
though it is highly probable that he lived long
after Horace. Vixisse eum Seculo quinto post
Christum natum Rhpdomanus ex stylo satis proba*
bilker colligit. Vid. Prefat Pauw. ad Quint. Cal.
Saxius, in his Onomasticon literarimn, p. 21, vol. ii.
places Calaber among the carminum scriptores qui
ad tempora Principatus Anastasii Aug. referri pos-
sunt, and of course brings him down to the sixth
century. The Oxford editor of Aristotle's Poetics,
in duodecimo, supposes the work ascribed to Quia-
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. *91
tus Calaber, to be the little Iliad, and upon this hy-
pothesis, to which few of our readers, we believe
will assent, the lines of Calaber might be known to
Horace. Imaginem hanc, are the words of Wag-
ner, ductam esse ait (Janus) h Q. Calabro ; and,
with Wagner, we think that a strange error has
been committed in chronology, which, however, for
our own parts, we are disposed to forgive, on ac-
count of the high respect we feel for Janus. We
are told that Janus complains of an error in the
press, though with what justice we cannot deter-
mine. Klotzius quotes the same lines, and pro-
perly says, compara cum his apud Q. Calabrum, lib.
v. ver. 71. Ktfrpip cuVW^ayo? *• r. X. Vid. p. 13.
vol. i. Var. Edit.
Upon Ode iii. lib. i. v. 9. Janus ascribes to Mar-
cihus some lines which, as Wagner says, really were
written by Pindar, and we add, that they are quoted
by Plutarch, in the work de tarda Dei vindicta, and
may be found, p. 494, in the Oxford edition of
Pindar. Janus, upon Ode xiv. lib. ii. v. 26, men*
tions Toup's reading of superbis for superbum, but
omits the line which Toup had produced from Ion
of Chios, to illustrate that reading. In Ode i. lib. i.
Janus explains Sunt quos juvat, by €iciv ov? riq-rrerou.
But Wagner substitutes re^rci. In stanza the first,
Ode ii. lib. i. Dira joined with grando is explained
by Janus, fle>^oX»roy, for which Wagner proposes
fafxaro?. On stanza the 11th of the same Ode,
patiens vocari Caesaris ultor, Janus writes vw#p€f>wv
jcaXtio'dtu KaiVogor IjcSucqrq? ; but, according to
Wagner s opinion, rXo? is more proper than uro$€-
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*92 • NOTICE OF
paw, and rifuvpos than ^Si/afnjr. In Ode iv. lib* i.
Janus explains choros ducit, by j(ipws agrvyei, and
Wagner exclaims, augeantur Lexica hac nova lo-
quendi formula. In Ode xvi. stanza 3. Deterret is im- '
properly explained by iraf c«rto)W**v, which literally
signifies perperam pulsare et ferire, ut mali Citha-
roedi dicuntur jrafaft-Xq'rrciy, cum inconcinne citha-
ram pulsant, and is metaphorically applied to per-
sons who are mente perculsi et attoniti ; vid. Con-
stantini Lexicon. On Ode xi. lib. 2. Janus explains
devium, joined with scortum, by koltcuO^httos, a
word, which, in the fragments of Callimachus, is
used de Virgine, and which Janus, says W. infeli-
citer transtulit ad scortum. In Ode xix. lib. ii.
Janus explains pervicaces, by oTtfuj^au^cvas', a word,
says Wagner, which occurs in the Old and New.
Testament, and which was familiar to the Judoei
Grcecissantes, but not to the Veteres Graeci, whom
Horace read. We assent to the justness of Mr.
Wagner's criticisms, and we have detailed them for
the benefit of those purchasers of the. Var. Edit,
who may not have in their possession, or within
their reach, the Bibliotheca Critica, from which
they are taken. Our motive for adverting to them,
is to state that, through tl^e good fortune or good
sense of those who were concerned in the Var.
Edit, of Horace, only one of the foregoing passages,
to which Wagner objects, is found in that edition,
and occurs there p. 212, vol. i. in Var. Lect. taken
from Janus.*
• The length to which the Review of Horace has been already extended,
compels us to omit many observations of our own, upon the sense and the readr
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. *93
The preface writer of the Var. Edit, informs us,
that in those parts of Horace's works, to which the
labours of Janus were not extended, he has endea-
Toured to lessen this defect, by choosing the best
ings of controverted passages, upon peculiarities in the style of the Epodes, not
hitherto, we believe, remarked, end upon the authenticity of two lines in the
work de Arte Poetics, which we should not hare presumed to call in question,
if our doubts had not been founded upon numerous, and, we think, weighty
reasons. We cannot* however, refuse ourselret the satisfaction of laying before
our readers an interpretation of a passage in Jerome which occurred to us as wo
were going through the notes upon Horace, and the praise of which is due to
the very sagacious and learned Mr. Oaches, late Fellow of King's College, Cam-
bridge. In p. 985 of the Var. Edit. vol. L are these words : Sanctus Hieronymua
scxibtt se duos Scotos (h. e. Hibernos) in Gallia vidisse humano cadavere vesceo-
tes. The passage which the writer of this note probably had in view runs, we
believe, thus : Cum ipse adolesceotulos in Gallia viderim Attacottos gentem
Britaunicam bumanis vesci earnibus ; et cum per sllvas porcorum greges, et
arssentorum, pecudumque reperiant, pasiorum note* etfoeminarum papUlas solera
abscindere ; et has solas ciborum delicias arbitrari.
Mr. Gibbon falls into a great error about this passage; he writes thus:
" When they hunted the woods for prey, it is said that they attacked the shcp-
herd rather than his flock ; and that they curiouslf selected the most delicate
and brawny parts both of malei and females, which they prepared for their hor-
rid repasts." — Vol. ii. p. 581. Now Mr. Gaches, suo marte, and without con*
suiting Jerome, conjectured that pastorum natei et fosminarum papillae were used
by Jerome, not of human beings, but of the porcorum et armentorum pecu-
dumqoe greges, which the Attacotti found in the woods ; and upon examining
the context in Jerome, we are convinced that his conjecture isjtul, as well as
ingenious. The general proposition which Jerome layi down is this: Quit
ignoret unamquamque gentem non communi lege naturae, sed iis quorum spud
ee copia est, vesci. solitam. If our readers will be pleased to look at the iiluttra«
trations of this position, in chapter vi. book ii. adversus Jovinianum, they will
probably accede to the opinion of Mr. Gaches, when they find that Jerome men-
tions incidentally the eating of human flesh, and that he was led by his subject
more immediately to speak of the food which was found in abundance, by the
Attacotti, in uncultivated forests.
Camden cites this passage from Jerome, but as his book was written origi-
nally in Latin, we cannot decide what sense he affixed to the words. The old
translator of Camden, Philemon Holland, renders them according to the sense
given by Mr. Gibbon ; but on turning to page 99 of Mr. Gough's translation,
we were surprised and pleased to find that his opinion coincides with that of Mr.
Gaches, and we are happy to praise the sagacity of both. Now Mr. Gough'e
Camden was published in 1789 } but we understand the conjecture of Mr. Ga-
ches to have* oeen made not long after the appearance of Mr. Gibbon's second
volume in 1781. It is therefore clear that hit conjecture was original, and
doubtless Mr. Gough also was indebted to his own penetration only, for an
opinion which he, like every other scholar, would be glad to have confirmed by
such authority as that of Mr. Gaches.
We have not Mr. Colmau't book; but if our memory does not deceive us, be
lays a strong and -proper stress upon the transition which Horace makes in line
366* to O major juvenum. Now the following note, which we extract from the*
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•94 NOTICE OF
and most useful notes of other interpreters. Ac-
cordingly, we find that, from Torrentius, Lambin,
Cruquius, and perhaps Zeunius, larger selections
seem to have been made in the Epodes, the Carmen
Seculare, the Satires, and the Epistles, than in the
Odes, and this is a fact which deserves notice and
commendation. The art of poetry is enriched by
large quotations from Nannius, and from Jason de
Nores, the whole of whose very scarce and excellent
work, might have been inserted, we think, without
any great injury to the credit of the Var. Edit.
Bishop Hurd, whose criticisms upon many particular
passages are justly admired by those who may not
agree with him in his general view of Horace's de-
sign, is quoted four or five times on the Book de
Arte Poetica, and once on the Epistle to Augustus.
Thus have we endeavoured to give a faithful account
of the multifarious matter contained in the Var.
Edit, we hope to have been guilty of no material
error or omission, and we believe that the most cap-
tious critic will hardly accuse us of having ventured
upon one unfounded objection, or one ungracious
reproach.
Let us, however, hope to be excused for express-
407th page, vol. v. of the Mtscellanese Observations, published at Amsterdam,
1745, may Induce our readers to imagine that Horace had a particular view to
the poetical labours of the elder son of Piso, even in an earlier part of the work.
We will produce the whole passage.
Art. Poet. v. 128. Tuque
Rectius Iliacum carmen deducts in actus.
Plerique sic intelligi volunt, quasi scriptum sit, deduces, et omnibus dictum
Poetis, qui operam locant Theatre. At melius aliquid offerebat vetus Scholias-
tes, in vers. 316. Scriprit enim, inquit, Piso, Tragcedias. Earn opinor, earn
hanc Horatius Epistolam componeret in Iliade tragoedia fuisse occupatum. Quia
ratio apparetj cur de tragoedia longe plura hie sunt, quam de ejus operibus
poeticis.
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. *95
ing at least our well-founded wishes, that in the ab-
sence of J an us, a little more use had, in the second
volume of the Var. Edit, been now and then made
of some of the critics, whose notes disappear after
the first Book of the Odes. From Dacier we
-parted with much regret : but when Janus was no
longer at hand, we think that, as a poet of antiquity
is said to have extracted ex Enni stercore gemmas,
so a modern editor might here and there have
gleaned valuable matter from Sanadon, Rutgersius,
<&c. for the notes of the second volume ; and in this
opinion we are the more confirmed, because the Sa-
tires and Epistles of Horace, are often involved in
obscurities, which, however they may escape the at-
tention of superficial readers, are known and con-
fessed by accurate scholars. The quick feeling, and
the explicit acknowledgment of difficulties in an
ancient writer, may be considered as a most sure, as
well as most honourable criterion, not only of the
ingenuousness, but of the judgment, for which a
critic can deserve our respect and confidence. Hac-
tenus de Horatio, says Markland, in his Explica-
tiones, p. 261. in quo auctore, post omnia quae in
eum scripta vidi, innamera sunt, quae non intelligo.
In toto opere vix una est ode, sermo, vel epistola, in
quibus hoc non seutio dum lego. We applaud the
spirit of this concession, without acceding to the
strict letter of it. But, after repeated and diligent
perusals of the writings of Horace, we know where
the greatest embarrassments are experienced, and
where the most urgent necessity exists for every
kind and every degree of aid in removing or alle-
viating them.
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•96 KOTICK OF
We formerly read with much pleasure Mr. Col-
man's translation of the Book de Arte Poetica, and
from some of his notes we derived very useful in-
formation. This work had been mentioned to Mr.
Homer, and we are inclined to believe that he
would not have refused to notice at least two trans-
positions, which Mr. Colman proposed.* It is not
in our power to decide whether these transpositions
were known to the surviving editor, or disapproved
by him, and therefore omitted ; possible it is that
he thought of Colman, as Gesner thought of Da-
niel Heinsius, upon a similar occasion : " Danielis
Heinsii transpositionibus "f» aequo nos animo carere
posse arbitrabar." See Gesner's note upon line 79
de Arte Poetica.
• Mr. Colman wonld carry back lines 911 and 819. Indoctai quid cnim
superet, &c. and insert them immediately after the 207th line, £t frugi castus-
aue. He thinks, also, that much embarrassment would be removed by taking
lie lines begiuning at ver. 951.*Verum ubi plura nitent, &c. down to line 974,
ending with non concessere columuss, from the order in which they now stand,
and putting them after the 884 th line, ending with vitioque remote* ab omni.
f Though, like Gesner, we disapprove of Heinsius's transpositions, we beg
leave to lay before our readers the text of Horace, in the order which Heinsius
recommends, and which they may easily compare with that of other editions.
Quis tamen exiguos elegos emiserit autor,
Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice lis est.
Musa dedit fidibus Dives puerosque Dcorum,
£t pugilem victorem et equum oertanine prijnum,
Et juvenum curas et libera vina referre.
Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.
Hunc socci cepere pedem, grandesque cothurni,
Alternis aptum sermonibus, et populares
Vincentem strepitus, et natum rebus agendis.
Versibus exponi tragicu res comics non vult.
Jndignatur item privatis ao prope socco
Dignis carminihus, narrari ccsna Thyestss.
Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decanter,
Descriptas servare vices operumque colons,
Cur ego si nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor ?
Cur nescire pudeos prave quam discere malo ?
Interdum tamen, &c*
Heinsius seems to have great confidence in the propriety of the three forego-
ing transpositions, and assigns his reasons for making them in page 198 of his
Notes upon Horace, published at Leyden, 1699, and often subjoined to his cele-
brated work de Satyra Horatian*.
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DR. COMBERS HORACE. *97
Great commendation is due to the industry and
fidelity of the Variorum editors, in their collation
of the first edition of Horace, preserved in the
King's library. The faults of that edition are stated
by Gesner, in his Praesidia, and in his note upon
line 140. of the Second Epistle of the Second Book of
Horace. They prove, in his opinion, that the edition
was formed only from one manuscript, which the
printers implicitly followed: and from this singular
circumstance he judiciously infers that the good
readings which occur in it may be depended upon
as proceeding ab antiquo codice, non ab ingenio cor-
rectoris. He pronounces the exemplum of that edi-
tion, with which he had been furnished by a friend,
libro cuivis manuscripto facile comparandum, and
by these words fre Understand, not, as we errone-
neoiisly stated in our first Review of the Variorum
Horace, that " he prefers it to every manuscript/*
but, as we now state, that he puts it upon an equal
footing of credit with any manuscript. Such, upon
re-consideration, seems to us the sense of Gesner's
words, and in regard to the faults which are justly
imputed to it as an edition, they do not shake the
opinion which we conceive Gesner to have enter-
tained and expressed of it as a mere manuscript
The propriety of this distinction will be obvious to
every reader who considers the difference between
the contents of single manuscripts and the contents
of editions which are usually formed from more ma-
nuscripts than one, and into the text of which con-
jectures are sometimes admitted, after they have
VOL. III. f 17
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98* NOTICfe Ot
long Blood the test of examination, and hare been
generally approved by scholars.
It ftab not without solid teadfttis that we, in our
first Review, lamented the omission of Gesner's
Frasidia, in the Vat. Edit., and for oar own justifi-
cation we shall now bring forward one of those
fc&tsons. Chi Ode vii. v. 15. book the 1st, are
these words in Gesner's edition : Hie novae Ode
inititlM Zarot. Now a reader who has met with
Vhe PHfrsidia, in that edition, would immediately
kfto*r that these words refer to the Editio Prin-
icfeps of Hftrtice. The same words occur on the
•sataie fine in the Var. Edit. ; but in the Var. Edit.
We hbve not been prepared for saying that the edi-
tion of ^arotus, and the Editio Princeps, are the
■same, atod therefore a reader of the Var. Edit, only
tyotttd look iti vain to the catalogue, when he is
desirous of knowing what the word Zarot. means.
*This difficulty wiH not be rembved, even when he
das advanced so far as the 140th line off the Second
Epistle of the Second Sotok, for Gesner there says,
puldierrimam sententiam |>arit lectio Zafroti, but
without telling his readers again what he liad told
them before in the ft'aesidia, that by a conjecture <)f
Mattaire, the first edition of Horace fa ascribed An-
tonio Zaroto Parmensi et Mediolano. Our traders,
Tiowever, when they meet the name of Zarbtus m
the Var. Edit, will now see that k is equivalent to
(he words Editio Princeps, and 8tirely they will not
Ijlame us for this attempt to give thfe information,
which might with ease and with propriety luflre been
communicated from another quarter.
The introduction of Bentley's notes highly en-
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DR. COMBE'S HORACE. *99
hances the value of the Var. Edit, and does honour
to the judgment of those by whom it was con-
ducted. Through the Odes, through the EpodeB,
through the Carmen Seculare, through the Satires,
through the Epistles, and the work de Arte Poetica,
the scenery wean a bright and cheerful appearance,
from the irradiations of fientley's genius. Perhaps,
in the first volume of the Var. Edit, we recognise
many clear vestiges of a regular and systematic se-
lection, which aimed at the production of such pas-
sages as might display to advantage the sagacity of
Bentley, in the establishment of general canons, and
the emendation of particular words, — of such as
are discussed most frequently in the conversation
or the writings of learned men, and of such, we
Venture to add, as have furnished his numerous and
fierce antagonists with the most favourable occa-
sions of confuting him, and contributing by their
remarks to the public stores of useful criticism. In
the second volume, also, we meet with Bentley
often, and in various instances, too, where a scholar
would be glad to meet with him. How far, indeed,
he might with propriety have been introduced upon
Other passages, where we looked for him, and look-
ed in vain, is a question upon which We have em-
ployed the most accurate examination, and formed
the most decided opinion. But reasons of delicacy
mil not pettntt us either to announce that opinion
in brand and strong genevafities, or to support it by
pertinent and minute detail.
From the perusal of Bentley we now rise, and
upon former occasions too we have risen, as from a
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♦100 NOTICE OF DR. COMBE*S HORACE.
coena dubia, where the keenest or most fastidious
appetite may find gratification in a profusion of va-
rious and exquisite viands, which not only please
the taste, but invigorate the constitution. We leave
him, as we often have left him before, with renewed
and increased conviction, that amidst all his blun-
ders and refinements, all his frivolous cavils and
hardy conjectures, all his sacrifices of taste to acute-
ness, and all his rovings from poetry to prose, still
he is the first Critic whom a true scholar would
wish to consult in adjusting the text of Horace.
Yes, the memory of Bentley has ultimately tri-
umphed over the attacks of his enemies, and his
mistakes are found to be light in the balance, when
weighed against his numerous, his splendid, and
matchless discoveries. He has not much to fear,
even from such rivals in literary fame as Cuning-
ham, Baxter, and Dawes. He deserved to obtain,
and he has obtained, the honourable suffrages of
kindred spirits, a Lennep, a Ruhnken, a Hemster-
huis, and a Porson. In fine, he was one of those
rare and exalted personages, who, whether right or
wrong in detached instances, always excite attention
and reward it — always inform where they do not
convince — always send away their readers with en-
larged knowledge — with animated curiosity, and
with wholesome exercise to those general habits of
thinking, which enable them, upon maturer reflec-
tion, and after more extensive inquiry, to discern
and avoid the errors of their illustrious guides.
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* *101
PRjEFATIONIS
AO TRKS
GULIELMI BELLENDENI
LIBROS,
D E STATU,
EDITIO SECUNDA.
VOL. ill.
f!9
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PROEMIUM.
Qvje me causae potissimum impulerint ad hancce
praefationem, denuo et separatim edendam, dilucide
qua potero, et simpliciter exponam.
Priori editione dum prelum fervebat, gravissimis
nonnunquam impeditus sum negotiis, quo minus
S<potXjiuxra vf/ajxfxa/coo-ioyapyapaTypothetarum quanta,
et vellem et deberem, diligentia corrigerem. Pro-
fecto oculos mihi parum Lynceos ipsa natura con-
cessit ; nee vero, artem preli regendi, maxime illam
quidem ex usu et exercitationependentem,ut exco-
lerem, mihi, qui in libris et curis vitam fere totam
contriverim, unquam contigit. Ad hancce, sive ig-
. norantiam rei Typographical, sive insolentiam, aliud
nescio quo pacto accessit, quod candide, necesse est,
aperteque de me confitear.
Equidem de Henrico Stephano saepius accepi,
manum ei in scribendo fiiisse, quae elegantissima a
Scaligero pronuntiata esset, et in litteris Graecis La-
tinisque exarandis felicissime versaretur. De Angelo
etiam Vergecio memoriae proditum est, quicquid ab
eo manu scriptum esset, tanquam exemplar quod-
dam pulcherrimum inserviisse typis* regiis. At
nostra est, fateor, cum ab hac parte, turn etiam cete-
ris ingenii ac doctrinae laudibus, sors longe iniquior*
* Vide Almelovenium in Vit. Henrici Stephani, p. 30.
VOL. III. G
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82 PROEMIUM.
Quin idem nobis vel accidit, vel usu venit, quod de
Porphyrione est a Plotino hisce verbis memoratum:
*Eypa<P€ cure €iy JcaXXo? aToro7roujX€yos* rot ypajxp-ara,
oure euenjjuwoy ray <rwXXaj3ay hiaipaiv. * Quae cum ita
essent, curse hoc mihi vel in primis esse debuit, ut,
quae animo meo ipse distincte et accurate complexus
essem, sed confuse et permiste in chartis identidem
conscribillassem, ea in publicam lucem nunc demum
prodirent, et a me, et a Typographis, minus quaro
antea fuissent, deformata.
IUud quoque a rumore hominum cognovi, non-
nullos, etsi de Bellendeni opere quod edidissem
non magnopere laborarent, impensius tamen cupere
ea inspicere, qtiae de quibusdam Politicis viris paulo
studiosius scripsissem. Horum ego votis ut satis-
facerem, illud opusculum meura recensui totum ;
graviterque tuli, meo id Marte mihi faciendum esse,
praesertim cum ad manum nullus mihi esset subtilis
atque acer judex, qui -f- vel ambitiose ornata reci-
* Vit. Plotin.
f Uno de versiculo, in quo, contra legem quandam metricam,
a Dawesio positam atque il lustra tara, imprudenter peccassem,
peropportune me perque officiose monuit 6 vdvv Burneius. Ilium
ego canon em, etsi Bentleio parum cognitus fuerit, itemque a
Cel. Brunckio nusquam, quod sciam, memoratus sit, statuo ta-
men verissimum esse* Nee vero, quae ei repugnantia primo as-
pectu, sed, mendis, ni fallor, laborantia, e Menandro, Aristo~
pbane, Damoxeno, Antiphane, aliisque scriptoribus, collegi loca,
unquam me moverint, quo minus credam, Poetas, /cum Graecos,
turn Latinos, qui Iambos scripserint, " accentum cadere non patt
in vocis hyperdissyllabse ultimam correptam."— Vide Dawes,
Misc. Crit. pp. 190, 211, etSOO, edit. Burgess. Atqui credide-
rim verba, avrUa fxa\a, et alias, si qua? sint, istiusmodi formu-
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PROKMIUM. 83
deret, vel dure composite pcrpoliret, vel ea, quae aut
incondita, aut subobscura, aut minus emendate et
Latine scripta essent, calamo transverso notaret.
Alia igitur statui, ut inter legendum fit, addi opor-
tere : alia etiam, quae mihi aliquantulum vel corri-
genda, vel illuminanda esse viderentur, in melius,
pro virili parte, immutavi; quod quidem aequus
harum rerum et inteUigens ^estimator, minime, ut
spero, mihi vitio verterit.
Profecto S&rrepmv Qpovrliwv vis, quanta sit, probe
teneo. Et vero is ego semper fui, aut esse volui, qui
illud, in quo me vel minime delinquere sensissem,
vertere diligenter mallem, quam pudens prave dissi-
mulate, odioseque defenders Gravissimos styli sui
et acerrimos Censores quondam habuerunt, Henri-
cum quidem Stephanuin Justus Lipsius, Scioppium
vero Famianus Strada. Etenim quamvis et ingenio
admirabili, et exquisite doctrina, et singular! indus-
tria fuerunt, Scriptis tamen eorum quasdam macu-
las hie illic afiudit, vel incuria, vel quaedam in edo-
las excipi oportere ; qua de re, cum ea Dawesium fefellisse vi-
deatur, monilos lectores veltm. Pace doctorum virorum dixe-
rixn me, ad hasce Grammaticorum argutias, rcique metrics
paulo subtiliorea rationes, posse aures afferre, quae arte et usu
aliquantulum tritae 6int. Illam vero ipsam regulam, quam
Dawesii quaedam admirabilis d*p//3eca olim extuderat, gumma
cum ▼oluptate bis terve legi, aliisque, ut eandem lege rent, lec-
tamque religiose in scribendo servarent, identidem praecepi.
Hocce igitur quicquid est peccati profluxit, vel a nimia festi-
natione, vel a vitio aliquo memoriae, " quae perquam labilis esse
solet et infidelis, unde non inscite Arabes ductum ab oblivione
noraen homini indiderunt." — Vide Tib. Hemsterbuis. in addend,
ad Jul. Poll. Sed manum, quod aiunt, de Tabula.
g2
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84 PROEMIUM.
landis, elimandisque operibus nimia morositas, vel
denique ipsa humanae imbecillitas naturae. Horum
sane virorum a laudibus, longo illud meum, quicquid
est, quod in scribendo facere volui, longo, inquam,
intervallo abest. At vero declamatoruui ineptias
pueriles, et importuna conviciatorura maledicta, et
eorum,qui sibi soli sapere videntur, strenuam in nugis
difficilibus venditandis inertiam, facile conteinserim.
Atque idem ego, homines, quos vel eruditione prae-
clara vere ornatos, vel judicio, quod sincerum et
subtile esset, praedit03 cognoverim, illos, quo decuit
studio summo, et quidem summa reverentia semper
prosecutus sum. Talium itaque lectorum ut in re-
prehensiones ipse incurram, committere tarn nolim,
quam qui maxime, Hac de causa, pondera omnium
verborum, quo potui labore maximo, examinavi. *
Semel me memoria, id quod. Marcus etiam Cicero
nonnunquam passus est, lapsum esse sensi.-f- Stylum
autem meum comperi, quamvis uno aut altero in loco
paululum a Latini sermonis consuetudine aberrasset,
longe tamen ab eadem abhorruisse perraro.
At ne cui forte videar quandam quasi Alcinoi
apologiam, | compositam et fucatam concinnare
velle, quid in hoc corrigendi generfe viri clarissimi
semel atque iterum ac saepius fecerint, idque magna
cum laude, dicere supersedeo. Verba autem ScheU
leri, cum ad rationes meas accommodatissima dint,
* In voc. Marianum, p. 54, edit. prin. Pref. corrig. Mem-
mianum.
f Vid. A. Gellii, lib. xv. cap. 6. et Epist. ad Attic, lib. xii.
Epist. 6. •
J Vid. Suid. jn voce 'Aw6\oyos.
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moEMiuM. 85
quae tandem religio est, quo minus in medium pro-
feram ? " Nostra, ut omnium rerum, ita et lingua-
ram cognitio in dies crescit, modo earn cresccre veli-
mus, nee inepta superbia inflati, opinemur ipsam ad
summum jam fastigium ascendisse, neque ita incre-
mentum amplius admittere."*
Quod ea quae Latine scripseram, Anglice jam, me
neque hortante, neque sciente, conversa sint, vehe-
menter doleo. Aures quippe meae solent respuere
Euge-f illud et Sophos,^ quod ab infima plebecula
captant ii, qui de rebus Politicis raptim et turbu-
lente scriptitant: qui famam virorum politicorum
illotis manibus tractant atteruntque : quibus denique
nihil magis est cordi, quam ut quaelibet in quemvis,
cui popularis aura f aver it, maledicta ex trivio arrepta
conferant.
Hujusmodi ego ab ineptiis ac vitiis cum alienus
essem, paucis volui contentus esse lectoribus ; idque
eo magis, quod in Juvene illo, qui navis gubernandae
aliquantum inscius clavum tenet, § quicquid pruden-
tiores in eodem reprehendissent, nihil tamen vidi,
quod contemnere deberet turba indocta atque im-
perita. Hoc igitur me assequi turn, cum Latine
scriberem, posse existimavi, ut Praefatio mea in mul-
titudinis manus non veniret ; qua quidem in re, cum
versio ejus ex improviso facta sit, frustra fui. Quis
autem sit ille, qui alienara in messem falcem immi-
serit suam, vix, aut ne vix quidem, suspicari ausim.
* Praefat. edit, secund. pnecept. Styl. bene Latin.
t Pers. Sat. i. lin. 49 et 75. J Martial, lib. i. ep. 4 et 50.
§ Vid. Adag. Junii, p. 1390.
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86 PROEMIUM.
Sed quicunque is demum fuerit, aut quo se cunque
modo in scripta mea animatum esse senserit, me qui-
dem certe, neque Aristarchum,* neque Phalarim
Grammaticum habebit. Atque vereor, ut possit, viris,
qui linguae turn Latins, tarn Anglicanae litterate
periti sint, consilii illius sui causam et rationem satis
probare. Mihi interea in eo laborandum esse arbi-
tror, ut sentential, quae vel a fidissimo interprete
redditae, saepe inconcinnae, saepe putida?, saepe frigid®,
saepe mutilae, et quasi decurtatae, non possibt non
videri, illae, suo quaeque vestitu, suo loco, sua qua-
licunque vi et pondere, oculis legentium proponan-
tur.
Molestissima est omnia arrogantia, cum ingenii,
quod in me,sentio, quain exiguum, aut plane nullum
sit, turn doctrinae, in qua excolenda multum tempo*
ris multumquc Iaboris me iihpendisse non inficior.
Quare suo, per me licet, sale nigro ii delectentur,
suaeque superbiae morem gerant, qui me dictitant,
veluti quendam Ludimagistrum,^ ex alienis orati*
onibus librum meum composuisse. Neutiquam me
fallit, quid potissimum velint, mea cum scripta car-
pant nugis armati, neque tamen edant sua. Mgre et
acerbe ferunt, si, quale sit id, quod usu ac litteris
quisquam, paulo diligentius, quam ipsi, efficere et
eniti possit, in conspectu hominum ponatur. IUud
etiam reformidant, ne heec de rebus Politicis judi-
candi consuetudo, ab umbratilibua istis praecepto-
ribus, ineptisque Iaboris ac fori discipulis, ad viros
fortes et litterarum studiosos aliquando traducatur.
* Vid. Orat. in L. Pison. . f Divin. C. CaeciJ. p. 211.
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PROfiMIUM. 87
At vero exdtant quaedam de me magis grata, magis
honesta, magisquc, ut spero, probabilia testimonia
aliorum, qui et ingenio ipsi subacto sunt, et magna
rerum et verborum doctrina disciplinaque instructi.
Hi, at intelligo, fatentur causse meae et officio, aliqua
ex parte me satisfecisse. Ne illud quidem, pro suo,
sive animi candore, sive judicii acumine, addere
gravantur, me, in iis, quae vel mihi ad imitandum
proposuissem, vel ad rem, quam tractarem, quadam
mediocti arte et diiigentia accommodassem, als cbro-
ypoupw £1; fltg^€ruirou oVuT€f€u€iv.*
Per rumores, satis illos quidem constantes, sed
sine auctore, comperi non defiiisse, qui me, quid de
Beilo Americano sentirem, apertius et planius ex-
plicavisse cuperent. Quibus ego respondere possem
his Sallustii verbis : " De Carthagine silere melius
puto,quam parum dicere/'-f-
In iis autem, quae scripsi de Oratione in Asiae
quendam Praefectum nuper habita, sciant, velim,
Lectores me nullam de moribus ejus rebusve gestis
sententiam, quae mea ipsius esset, proferre voluisse.
Sheridani profecto eloquentiam plena manu laudavi.
Sed me, et nequities quorundam hominum, et vafri
juris inscitia satis monent, ne, vel de lite, quae sub
judicibus gravissimis integerrimisque sit, temere ali-
quid effutiam, vel committam, ut laqueis legum ipsa
Veritas capiatur.
De bonis sane oratoribus, qui mortui essent, nul-
* Vid. Suid. in voce Airoypafrj, et Diog. Laert. lib. vi.
Segm. 24>
f Sallust. Bell. Jug. par. 22.
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88 PROEMIUM.
lam unquam vidi populo esse cum doctis dissentio-
nem, quae permaneret diu. Nimirum in iis, qui jam
naturae concesserunt, parum ponderis habent odium,
benevolentia, spes, timor, et alia omnia quae homi-
num voluntates et judicia transversa agunt. Quam-
obrem, de Burkii, et Northii, et Foxii, cum oratoriis,
turn politicis virtutibus, recte ego, an prave judi-
caverim, erunt aliquando, ut cum Pindaro loquar,
'Afxepai ctiXoitoi fjidpTvpc? <ro$c&Taroi.*
In lis, quae de consiliis row 8eT?a et orationibus,
modo disserendi causa, modo meae de eo sentential
ferendae, disputavi, suum cuique judicium liberum
esto — mihi etiain ipsi meum. Sunt ea quidem a
me constanter, et fortiter scripta, imo etiam fortasse
acrius et vehementius, quam vel ipsius, vel Orato-
rum, qui ei favent, elumbium et prope elinguium,
auriculas patienter acceperint. At de eo tamen mihi
vel maxime gratulandum esse arbitror, quod omnia,
quae dixerim, honesta sint, et bono ac libero cive
haud indigna. Enimvero conscius mihi sum, me,
cum, in tali ac tanto viro qui dnotandum esset, dili-
genter, et prope fastidiose inquirerem, d^uhei Tpoy
aKfxovi xa\K€ti<rai yKwa-arav.^ Persuasissimum igi-
tur habeo, meae nee prudentise, nee dignitatis esse,
ne uno quidem verbo ad ulla unquam respondere
convicia, quae intellexerim in me falso et petulanter
a quibusdam maledicis homuncionibus jactari.
Dabam 17 Calend. Januarii 1788.
* Pindar, Olymp. 1. f Pindar. Pythi. 1.
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PRiEFATIO.
Tres, qui hoc volumine continentur, libri a Bel-
lendeno conscripti, vel inter rarissimos jam olim nu-
merati sunt. Quod autem effecimus, ut excitati e
tenebria Bibliothecarum publici juris nec-opinato
fierent, magisque quam antea parabiles, fore com-
pertum habemus ob nostram hancce <r;rov&i)v, ut
gratiam cum eruditis omnibus baud mediocrem
ineamus.
De scriptore ipso, deque ordine, quo haec opus-
cola ediderit, paucula rejecimus ad calcem hujusce
Praefationis ; quae tamen veremur ut iis satisfaciant,
qui intelligentiam ponant in legendi quodam fastidio.
Sibi interea, velimus, sic persuaderi sinant, sylvam
satis amplam errorum, qui in editionem priorem ir-
repsissent, e nostrae et textu et margine sublatam
esse : loca fere omnia, ad quae colligenda animuin
intendisset Bellendenus, diligenter a nobis inspecta :
in eo denique nostram operam sedulo navatam, ut
editio haec prodiret, turn accurata maxime, turn
etiam ad nitoris laudein, quoad ejus fieri posset, in-
structa et composita.
Aliud esse opus a Bellendeno inchoatum affec-
tumque, cui titulus sit " De tribus luminibus Roma-
nonun," quotus est qulsque vir mediocriter doctus,
qui fando non acceperit? illud etiam qui viderit,
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90 PRJEFATIO
atque adeo visum, sua ut abderet in jctijx^Xia, avi-
dissime arripuerit, potest certe reperiri unus et al-
ter ex lis, quibus libri sint in deliciis rari, suoque in
genere exquisiti. Operis ejus quidem ilia in parte,
quae ad manus nostras pervenit, de Cicerone agitur
solo ; idque, non raodo incorrupta Latini sermonis
integritate, verum etiam singulis pene verbis, puris
putis, ut aiunt, Ciceronianis. Talis autem vir tan-
tusque cum agmen duceret, magna esse debebat
hominum expectatio de reliquis duobus, quos' Ci-
ceroni, quasi ejus imitatores quosdam studiorum et
socios famse, Bellendenus adjungere instituisset.
Verum enimvero illi quinam fuerint, diu mul-
tumque a nobis qusesitum est, sed frustra tamen.
Tandem aliquando in viros quosdam incidimus rei
litterariae peritissimos, qui certiores nos facerent
voluisse nostrum, de Seneca et Plinio majore justum
librum conficere. Colligimus autem ex operis ip-
sius ratione, fuisse eum e Scriptoribus, quos sibi
sive ad laudandum sive ad imitandum proposuisset,
copiam verborum suos in usus comparaturum.
Egregium hoc consilium, quo minus ex sententia
ejus cederet, in causa fuit mors Scriptoris ; ipsa ilia
quidem haud immatura, doctis eadem bonisque om-
nibus nunquam non deflenda. Ut studiorum, ad
quae diu ille feliciterque incubuisset, fructos uberrU
mos nosmetipsi perciperemus, id sane fortuna nobis
invidit. Est autem cum Bellendeno actum pras-
clare, siquidem morte a Deo Opt. Max. donatus
non bello viderit ardentem Britanniam, non fla-
Jgrantes invidiaregni Proceres,non Ecclesiam fundi-
tus eversam, non civium optimorum internecioneio,
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 91
aon sceleratissimum Regis parricidium, non denique
segram et prope depositam earn civitatem, in qua,
Henricum ille saum olim voluisset regiis omnibus
virtutibus instruere atque ornare.
Insedit profecto et pene inveteravit in animis eru-
ditorum haec opinio, Middletonum, cum de Cicero-
nis vita opus scriberet, Bellendeni hisce e fontibus
irrigasse bortulos suos. Ferunt etiam ilium de in*
dustria, quo furtum suum melius celaret, nomen
Bellendeni silentio jam turn praetermisisse, cum
varios, qui sibi aliquid adjumenti suppeditassent,
Scriptores, suo quemque ordine, recensere profitere-
tar. His ego rurausculis, cum in Middletono lau-
dando solerem multus esse, inter audiendum subi-
rascehar, Ita enim semper animum induxi, ut de
tanto viro caute et modeste pronuntiandum esse sta-
tuerim. Praeterea, haud nescius eram, quam acris
esse soleat doctorum invidia, quam sint avidae et ca-
paces auriculae indoctorum, quam firma ad memo-
nam rerum levissimarum, et in calumniis propa-
gandis veteratoria sint vapparum et nebulonum in-
genia. Famam quippe videram incendere etiam
convicia non credentium, quoties certamen factum
esset inquinandi laudes eorum, qui artes infra se
positas existimarentur pragravare. Causas igitur
hujusce, quae de Middletono incidisset, suspicionis
s&penumero sum et acerrime perscrutatus ; sem-
perque sensi aquam haerere etiam illis, inter quos
odium nominis Middletoniani glisceret vehementis-
aime. Ita profecto Caium suspicatum essesuspica-
batur Titius. Ita se multis ante annis, aut legisse
nescio quo libro, aut voces, ut fit, eruditorum sub-
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92 PRiEFATIO
auscultando excepisse Sempronius credebat. Bel-
lendeni vero libram qui vidissent, perpaucos reperi :
qui eum contulisset cum Middletoni opere, (War-
tonum si excipias) plane neminem. Hac autem a
me diligentissime facta collatione, res illico omnis
adliquidum perducta est.
Litterae fuerunt M iddletono, non vulgares hae et
quotidians, sed uberrima^ et maxime exquisitae.
Fuit judicium subtile limatumque. Teretes et reli-
giosae fuerunt aures. Stylus est ejus ita purus ac
suavis, ita sine salebris ullis profluens quiddam et
canorum habet, numeros ut videatur complecti,
quales in alio quopiam, praeter Addisonum, frustra
quaesiveris. Animum fuisse ejusdem parum candi-
dum ac sincerum, id vero, fateor invitus, dolens,
coactus.
Equidem de fide hominis in rebus sacris fastidio-
sius et acerbius loqui nolim. Permoleste autem
fero, potuisse eum, qui ingenii tarn acris elegan-
tisque esset, laudibus Bellendenum meritis ac de-
bitis privare. Fidentissime enim confirmaverim,
Middletonum non modo ex Bellendeni opere supel-
lectilem sibi sublegisse satis lautam atque amplam,
sed libri ipsius prope formaui, qua res ferret, adum-
brasse. Cum in media Cantabrigiae luce viveret,
suique operis instrumenta undique colligeret, ad
manum habebat Bibliothecas Cantabrigienses, libris
eas quidem plurimis et exquisitissimis refertas. Qui
autem "Academicae Bibliothecae ordinandi me-
tbodum quandam proposuisset,"* ei, pene dixerim,
* Opera Middleton, torn. iv.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 93
in propatulo erant scripta fere omnia Bellendeni.
Quin Bellendeni ad hoc ipsum opus, etsi obscura
sint omnia et occulta, respexisse ilium tamen in
Praefatione sua haud negaverim : in iis praesertim
quae dixerit de " temporum eorum Historia, quam
contexere esset cuivis integrum, qui Ciceroni**
Epistolas diligenter evolvisset :" de tsedio, quod in
Cicerone bis terque legendo, ipse, si Diis placet, so-
lus devorasset : de cura, quam in condendo et com •
ponendo, quae posset mox depromere, animo ad
commentandum et corrigendum prorsus obstinato,
impendisset: de verbis ipsissimis Ciceronis, quae
auctoritatem secum afferrent maximam, apteque po-
sita in Orationis serie plurimum haberent venustatis.
Nimirum, quod Middletonus paulo ambitiosius
praedicat, sese et velle facere et debere, illud ipsum
est summa fide summaque arte a Bellendeno factum,
jam inde ab ultimo principio opens, usque ad pagi-
nam extremam.
Estat Stephani Forcatuli " De raptu animorunT
Dialogus festivissimus, in quo " alienae inventionis
praedones reprehendit.n Scripsit etiam Thomasius
de Plagiis Litterariis librum, cui, ut Morhofio * vi-
sum est, multa adjungi possunt. Horum utrumque
librornm, prelo si quia denuo subjecerit, Middletono
inuri eadem infamia debebit, quae Salmasio, quae
Lipsio, quae Wouwerio, aliisque Plagiariis ingenio
et doctrina eximiis, haud immerito inusta est. At
manes ejus, qui famae Ciceronianae custodem se ad-
jutoremque egregium praestiterit, liceat mihi, verbis
* Morhof. Polyhiator. lib* i. cap. 5,
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94 PRiEFATIO
ex ipso Cicerone* depromtis, extremum alloqui.
" Satis haec multa" de Middletono : " ac sine odio
omnia, nihil sine dolore."
Quod ad tres hosce libellos attinet, multis pro-
fecto nominibus dignos illos judicavimus, qui in
conspectum hominum proferrentur ; neque enim
dubitandum est, quin ii se possint cordatiori cnique
satis probare, non modo rerum ipsarum, quae trac-
tantur, gravitate ; sed argumentorum lucido online,
et luminibus sententiarum, et sermonis varietate
atque elegantia plane admirabili.
In primo, res multas et Tarias ab ultima antiqui-
tate repetiyit Bellendenus, situque eas infonni ob-
rutas atque oppressas, in lucem protulit. Mate-
riem illam de Persarum et iEgyptiorum disciplinis,
rudem latissimeque sparsam collegit undique, et
quodammodo coagmentavit in unum, et acumine
styli diligenter limavit. Civitatum ortus et incre-
mental quae fuerit cuique peculiaris forma, quantum
aliae ab aliis discreparint, luculentissime descripsit.
Quas in historia mendax Graecia excogitaverat far-
bellas, diluit refellitque. Philosophise, cum diliraa*
tis redarguit commenta, turn sanioris illius quae
Pietati famulabatur, placita enodarit. Quae qui-
dem omnia e£ pertinebant, ut religionis revelatas
veritatem solidis gravibusque argumentis BeUende-
nus confirmaret. Qui autem res hasce e ruderibus
vetustatis emit, is neutiquam antiquarii partes agit
frigide et jejune : neque divertitur ad spinosas illas
et exiles quaesthincuks, quibus in explicandis, est
— — — V
• Philipp. ii. p. 521, edit. Grut.
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AD BELLBNDKNI LI BROS. 95
ubi Theologi male feriati* torqueht se miserrime,
atque operam frustra conterunt. Stylus est Bel-
lendeni, per librum huncce, dilueidus in primis, ne-
que exquisitus nimis. Sententiae hie illic occur-
runt reconditae, quibus adhibita, tanquam obrussayf-
est ratio. Opens porro totius ita sunt aptae inter
se colligataeque partes, nihil ut sit asperum, vel
hiulcum, vel dissolutum ; nihil in alienum irruerit
locum ; nihil nan positum sit in suo.
Ostendit in secundo, aliis qui praeesse velit, ilium
ipsiun quam potentem esse deceat sui ; quam me-
morem servantemque rerum omnium quae a legibus
imperentur; quam audientem dictis sapientissimi
cujusque; corruptelarum ab illecebris quam alie-
num ; a blanditiis adulatorum quam abhorrentem ;
quam dignitate sua, turn in retinenda constantem,
turn in augenda cautum et moderatum ; quanta de-
nique innocentia et in rebus omnibus temperantia,
ut ab alienis videatur manus, oculos mentemque
ipsam abstinere.
Senatoris quod sit officium, quibus potissimum
fimdamentis innitatur ilia OpvXTtoujuicin) populi salus,
quam sacrosancta habenda sint omnia, quae fiant ex
institutis et. more majorum, in tertio docet Bellen-
denua: et quidem ita docet, difficile ut sit dictu,
utrum res verbis magis, an verba sententiis illus-
trentur.
De tribis illis L<uminibui Anglorum, quibus
haecce editio dicatur, religioni nobis non habendum
est, perhonorifice et sentire, et fari. Horum in
* Aul. Gell. lib. y. cap. 22. t Cic. Brutus, p. 150.
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96 pilefatio
uno virorum, insigne utriusque fortunae exemplum*
vidimus. Cujus enim dicentis ex ore Senatus quon-
dam pendebat, illius jam oratio, etsi nivibus hyber-
nis simillima est, sibi tamen audientiam vix ullam
facit. Indignitas rei hujusce et atrocitas, quanta
-sit, cum considero, saepe illud animo recursat, quod
de Druso est a Paterculo-f- scriptum pulcherrime.
" In iis ipsis quae pro Senatu moliebatur, Senatum
habuit adversarium. Denique ea fortuna Drusi
fait, ut malefacta" adversariorum, " quam ejus opti-
me ab ipso cogitata, Senatus probaret magis ; et
honorem, qui ab eo deferebatur, sperneret; inju-
rias, quae ab aliis intendebantur, aequo animo reci-
peret; et hujus summae gloriae invideret, illorum
modicam ferret"
Architectum quendam verborum esse scio, qui a
vulgo numeretur inter optimos oratores, propter
expeditam ac profluentem quodammodo celerita-
tern, et J Commissiones meras. Fremant ejus fau-
tores licet, dicam de Burkii eloquentia, quod sentio.
Hujus suavitate maxime hilaratae essent doctrina-
rum omnium illae inventrices Athenae : hujus maxi-
me admiratae ubertatem et copiam : hujus in labris
Suadam§ sessitantem maxime veneratae.
Fuerunt inter Romanos, qui || siccitatem et in-
opiam, dummodo esset polita, dum urbana, dum
elegans, in Attico genere ponerent, orationemque
amplam, copiosam, excelsam, magnificam plane
* Liv. lib. xxviii. cap. 42. edit. Var. f Lib. ii. cap. IS.
J Suet. 1. iv. c. 53. § Cic. Brut, p. 140.
|| Brut. p. 152. et de opt. gen. Or. p. 183.
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AD BELLENDEN1 LIBROS. 97
contemnerent. Qui autem se credebant eruditas
habere aures, intelligensque judicium, illi ipsi et
gradus, et diasimilitudines, et varietatem Atticorum
ignorabant. Marcum tamen Ciceronem* incessere
audebant, ut tumidum, Asianumque, et redundan-
tem. Nostra etiam in state non desunt, qui ean-
dem de Burkio nobis insusurraverint insulsam, et
frigidam cantilenam. Sed melius de hoc nomine
sentiant, qui Atticos se volunt esse, cum clariorem
vim eloquentiae ferre non possint. Burkium si
quis imitetur, eum credant et Attice dicturum, et
optime. In litteris ipsi se sciant plurimum profe-
cisse, quibus Burkius valde placuerit.
Illud etiam addo, vehementerque ad rem perti-
nere arbitror, Burkium, quicquid ageret, et quo-
cunque se animo et cogitatione flecteret, maxima-
rum semper videri rerum scientiam consecutum
esse, deque artibus fere omnibus, quae cum humani-
tate conjunctae sint, optime et pulcherrime scrip-
sisse. Sunt tamen, qui eloquentiae rationes ab ele-
gantia doctrinae segregandas-f- putent, et in quodam
ingenii atque exercitationis genere ponendas. Gra-
tulemur illis quidem, sine litteris et sine disciplina
disertis. Verum enim in Burkio, cum admirabilis
quaedam ad dicendum natura elucet, turn ratio inest
bonis artibus instituta, multisque curis ac vigiliis
elaborata. Graecae nimirum linguae Latinaeque ser-
monibus animum is suum penitus imbutum esse
idcirco voluit, quod ii ornamenta propria et quasi
* Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 12. f De 0rat- lib« *• P- 88-
VOL. III. H
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98 PR^EFATIO
legitima Oratoris potissimum suppeditant, et consu-
etudinem similiter Anglice dicendi sensim afferunt.
Lectitavisse Platonem,* atque etiam audivisse di-
citur Demosthenes, quod quidera gravissimus Auc-
tor Marcus Cicero contendit ex genere et granditate
verborum apparere. Burkius autem, quam sit
plane perfecteque eruditus, quot Poetas noverit,
quot Oratorum scripta sit ilia divina memoria corn-
plexus, liquido patet ejus ex orationibus, in quibus
unctius quoddam,-^ et litteratius dicendi genus esse
doctissimu8 quisque senserit. Ingenium profecto
illius admodum adolescentis, sicut Phidias J signum,
simul aspectum et probatum est. Quoniam vero
multos intelligebat de facilitate et gloria tantum de-
traxisse, quantum imminuissent industrial, summum
illud suum studium nunquam remisit, et summo la-
bore superavit sui satietatem.
In dicendo quid rectum sit, paucorum est via et
arte intelligere. Qualis autem ipse Orator sit, ex
eo, quod effecit, facile quivis judicare poterit.
Quare ad ea respiciamus, de quibus, antequam in
banc Senatus noctem incidimus, eadem semper full
populi acerrimorumque sestimatorum sententia.
Nemo igitur, inter viros, vel erudites, vel disertos,
inveniri potest, qui diligentius quam Burkius, litte-
rarum scientiae se dederit — nemo qui philosophiam
illam matrem omnium bene factonim, beneque die-
torum, coluerit exquisitius, nemo qui exercitationem
mentis a studiis, que reconditis in artibus versan-
tur, facilius transtulerit ad causas populares — nemo
* Brutus, p. 143. t lb- p. 140. J lb. p. 149.
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AD BELLENDENJ LIBROS. 99
qui rerum, et veteram et recentiorum memoriam
vel arctius vel copiosius tenuerit — nemo qui delec-
tandi gratia jucundius sit a proposito parumper
egressus, et a severitate ad risum lenius deduxerit
animos audientium — nemo qui ad fletum eosdem, si
res postularet, atque ad misericordiam vehementius
deflexerit— nemo denique qui aut omni lepore et
urbanitate conditior fuerit, aut magnificentia et
splendore elatior. Haec cui contingant, eum iterum
ac saepius dixerim Attice loqui, stylumque afferre,
qui, cum suavitate sensus miiltitudinis perfundat,
turn verborum cocinnitate et pondere sententiarum
mentes doctoram attenteque audientium perfringat.
Peringeniosis neque satis doctis hominibus pie-
mmque contingit, ut melius putent se dicere posse
quam scribere, eaque de causa satis magnam se cre-
dant adeptOB esse gloriam, etiamsi, quid in eloquentia
profecerint, in arbitrium docti atque intelligent ex-
istimatoris nonquam venerit. Magno etiam plausu
saepe excipiuntur orationes, qua? pervulgatae mox,
et in manibus jactatae et excussae frigent, atque, ut
ita dicam, flaccescunt, Chatamus erat ille quidem
fortis vir, animosusque et metuendus Orator, et ve-
rissimis politici hominis laudibus exornatus: sed
dicendi lenociniis opinionem faciebat majorem,
qu4m quanta in eo erat facultas.* Eadem sane illi,
quae Cromwellio, dy^lvout erat, ut pene ipsa oculo-
rum cotttentione et conjectu perspiceret, quid ii,
quibus persuadere aliquid vellet, aut cogitarent, aut
sentirent, aut opinarentur, aut expectarent, aut exti-
* Brutus, p. 149.
H 2
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100 FJIMFATIO
mescerent. Gum hac autein facilitate sagaciter per-
vestigandi consilia hominum intimosque sensus, alia
quaedam conjuncta sunt, quae Cromwellio, quern ac-
cepimus, cuui in senatu diceret, tardum in cogitando
et instruendo dissipatum fuisse, minus contigerunt.
Etenim in Chatamo inerat jam turn, cum ad dicen-
dum dvopvj<r€,* praeproperum et fervidum ingenium,
verborumque cursus quidam concitatior, et interdum
sonitus, quo completae adversariorum aures obsur-
duerunt. Ipso in homine quoque naturalem quan-
dam auctoritatem fuisse memini, quae et Orationi
audientiam faceret, et Oratori fidem maximam con-
ciliaret, et ab auditorum animis victis atque expug^-
natis, quas vellet sententias, extorqueret. Etsi ad
docendum videtur, atque ad delectandum minus pa-
ratus fuisse, erat tamen lateribus pugnans, conci-
tans ■f- aminos, sese jactans atque ostentans, vehe-
mens, stomachosus, victoria denique ipsa ferocior
impotentiorque. Saepe erat in laudando gravis,
saepius in vituperando acer et acerbus, in altercando
idem cum aculeo aliquo et maledicto nonnunquam
facetus. At remove ista augustiora, quae in nomine
pene ipso Chatami continentur — tolle illud quod
Demostheni videbatur in Oratore esse primum, se-
cundum^ tertium, et quidem in Chatamo ad
laudem, atque admirationem consequendam emine-
bat singulare, et prope incredibile — tolle dignitatem
formae — tolle vocis splendorem et magnitudinem —
tolle corporis istos motus plenissimos semper artis,
et interdum molestos, et ad Scenam potius quam
* Iliad, i. 248. f Brutus, p. H8. J Orat. p. 158,
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 101
ad Senatum institutos — nae, in orationibus illis ipsis,
quibus nihil unquam perfectius exstitisse, auditores
aiebant, vix quidquam invenies, vel quod aurium
sensnm feriat suaviterve afficiat, vel quod ad intel-
ligentium judicium argute et distincte expositum
sit, vel denique quod lente et fastidiose acquus lector
probaverit, aut poscere semel inspectum velit.
Cbatami fateor tantam animi* magnitudinem
fiiisse, ut sibi omnia, quae clarissimorum civium es-
sent, vindicaret, et summa dignitate obtineret. Ad
hanc egregiam et praeclaram virtutis indolem, ac-
cess it quaedam ad amplitudinem et gloriam et ad res
magnas bene gerendas, divinitus adjuncta fortuna.-f-
De munere porro quod sibi mandatum esset, ita
magno " et elato animo, Scipionis J instar, in Se-
natu disseruit, ut ardorem eum, qui resederat, exci-
taret rursus novaretque : et impleret homines cer-
tioris spei, quam quantam fides promissi humani,
aut ratio ex fiducia rerum subjicere" vel " solet," vel
in alio quopiam debuisset. At vero gravissime ii
falluntur, a quibus Chatamus existimatur, non modo
cum primis eloquens, sed tanquam germanus quidam
Demosthenes. Erat ille Graecus ab omni laude fe-
licior ; nam eo, cum ntinquam gravior quisquam
exstitit, turn neque callidior neque temperantior.§
Qui autem in hoc solo se exercet, ut praeceps ar-
densque et grandiloquus sit ; qui nihil solet leniter,
nihil explicate, nihil definite dicere, is stomacho
plus dare quam consilio videtur, et prope abesse a
* Brutus, p. 151. t Orat. pro Leg. Man. p. 313,
X Liv. lib. xxvi. c. 19. § Orat. p. 156.
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102 prjEfatio
quadam orationis insania. Chatamus quicquid ha*
buit, quantum fuit, illud fere totum habuit vel ana-
tura, vel ab usu. Quamobrem, etsi volubilis atque
incitatus in dicendo fuit, idem illi accidit, quod et
Galbae * acciderat, ut, cujus in verbis mens arden-
tior spirasset, ejus in scriptis oranis ilia vis, et quasi
flamma Oratoris extingueretur.
Jam vero in Burkio, ut ad illud, quod in dicendo
summum esset, excurrere atque evolare videreturyf*
domesticus etiam labor ad Senatorium accessit.
Quibus regionibus vitae spatium est circumscriptum,
iisdem eloquential suae commemorationem Burkius
terminari noluit. Posterorum qui et sine odio, et
sine gratia judicabunt, gravissimam illam de ingenio
suo sententiam Burkius nequaquam aut extimuit,
aut certe defugit.
Permultos esse scio, qui, cum stylum esse videant
optimum dicendi effectorem et magistrum, maxima
concinnitate, maximaque arte inter scribendum trac-
tent omnia, iidemque ex umbraculis doctorum ho-
minum in solem traducti, non modo praeclare ab
ipsis cogitata eloqui nequeant, sed inopes et prope
hebetes videantur. Burkius autem, etsi persuasum
habuit nihil magis ad loquendum proficere quam
scriptionem, armis tamen est pariter ac palaestra in-
stitutus.^; Quern vero non ingenii solum vis, sed
etiam naturalis quidam impetus in dicendo inflam-
mavit, eundem, cum otiosus stylum prehenderet,
motus ille animi ardorque nunquam defecit. Quae
cum ita sint, quod de historia, quam ipse summo
* Brut. p. 141. f Id. p. 151. J Id. p. 138.
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AD BELLENDKNI LIBROS. 103
labore confecisset, Thucydides* praedicavit, illud
ipsum de orationibus suis merito Burkius prsedica-
verit — Kriifka h de) juiaXXov 19 ayaiwa-j&a is to irapa^pr)-
fia dicooeiv <riiyK€i<r()ai.
Hominum hie mos est, ut nolint eundem pluri-
mis rebus excellere. Opera autem quae Burkius
edidit, varia et in suo quaeque genere egregia, quis
non legit suramo cum fructu summaque voluptate ?
Verum de Oratore, qualis et quantus sit, jam non
quserimus, sed de Critico, ac Philosopho.
Critic® arris scientiam, ab aliis illam quidem ex-
ceptant, sed auctam per sese, plurimis et illustriori-
bus litteris Burkius explicavit ; atque hac quidem
in parte stylus est illius limatus facetusque, neque
tamen nimia religione attenuatus. Jam quis ignorat
Philosophorum sermonem plerumque contractiorem
esse atque horridiorem, quam trite? hominum aures
patiantur ? At grave illud virus sordesque, ut ita di-
cam, orationis, Burkius sua elegantia et munditia
omnino pepulit, et rebus, quae spinosiora omnia et
exiliora quondam pepererant, iis nunc demum ac-
commodavit fusius quoddam, et uberius, et splendi-
dius explicandi genus. Qui autem tot praeclara ipse
scripsit, alios etiam, quemadmodum bene et ornate
scribere possent, cum praeceptis,tum exemplo docuit.
Etenim sive orationes verbis sonantibus et exquisi-
tis sententiis plenissimas concinnat, sive judicium
illud suum acre et subtile ad artes componendas
transfert, scripta sunt ejus omnino omnia hujus-
* Thucyd. p. 18, edit* Duker.
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104 prjefatio
modi, ut legentium ingenia Don solum acuere po&-
sint, verum etiam alere, atque informare.
In quo autem homine, cum ilia, quae jucunda et
grata, turn etiam ilia, quae mirabilia sunt in virtute,
elucent, ejus de moribus hoc solum dicere necesse
habeo, semper innocentiam Burkii et integritatem
singularem fuisse, vitaeque rationem justissime ab
aliis reposcere eum, qui reddere non reformidet suae.
Intelligo quam in lubrico et difficili loco verser :
neque enim defuturos esse arbitror, qui clamitent
nos nostris verbis nimis haec magna facere, quibus
videamur etiam nimio quodam Burkii studio atque
amore abripi, qui denique non erubescant conqueri,
nos ea, quae in Burkio prorsus non sint, impensius
et verbosius collaudare. Atqui possunt de eo dici
longe plura, et longe majora. Haec etiam ipsa quae
a me vere dicta sunt, vellem quispiam alius vel ube-
rius dixisset, vel pro rei magnitudine ornatius. Illud
tamen considerate et constanter dico de iis, qui si-
mul distincte et ornate dicendo, periteque scribendo
scienterque, magni sunt aut fuerunt, neminem esse,
qui vel ob ingenium, vel ob doctrinam, vel ob bene-
volentiam, vel ob pietatem, vel ob ullaa viri sapientis
et boni virtutes, Burkio anteponi debeat.
De uno eorum hominum, quorum est multis mag-
nisque rebus spectata virtus, esto hoc non magis
benevolentiae meae, quam judicii testimonium sim-
plex ac sincerum.
Meliore in omnia mente et ingenio, quam for-
tuna, alter est usus ; neque in omni ejus vita aliquid
est ad laudem illustrius, quam quod gravissima ca-
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 105
lamitate non fractus est, summamque in rebus aspe-
ris retinuit dignitatem.
Atqui verissimum est illud quod a Cicerone dici-
tur,* minimis saepe momentis, maximas inclina-
tiones temporum fieri, cum in omni casu reipublicae,
turn in bello, et maxime civili, quod opinione pie-
rumque et fama gubernatur.
Habet Northius a natura plurimum acuminis,
quod etiam arte limavit. Habet cum gravitate mis-
tos sales, turn facetos, qui in narrando aliquid ve-
nuste versantur, turn dicaces, quorum, in jaciendo
mittendoque ridiculo, vis omnis perspecta est. Me-
moriam etiam habet, quae commemoratione anti-
quitatis et exemplorum prolatione valet maxime.
Per id scitum est quoque in orationibus ejus, quod
ineptias hominum et stultitias patientia perquam
amabili devorandas esse statuit, ita tamen ut tristi-
tiam quorundam, et acerbitatem mirifica urbanitate
saepe perstringat.
Verbis utitur non illis quidem ornatis, sed tamen
non abjectis. Rem quamque videt acute, diligen-
terque et enodate explicat. Inter caeteras ejus lau-
des haec certe non minima est, eum non solum,
quod -f- opus sit, dicere, sed etiam quod non opus
sit, non dicere: omnibus in rebus;}; sentire quid
sit satis: § malle desinere ne taedium creet, quam
nimium loquendo deficere. Civilis autem scien-
tial ratio sic Northio suppetit, ut ei vix ullam de-
esse virtutem viri politici existimem. His ad di-
* Phil. 5. pag. 154. t Cic. Orator, pag. 169.
X De Orator. 1. ii. pag. 119. § Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 11.
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106 PILEFATIO
cendum instrumentis, quae vel ab ingenio vel ab
industria profecta sunt, summus accedit et prope
singularis amor in patriam, cujus morem discipli-
namque optime intelligit, et constantissime, quoties
veniunt in disceptationem, defendit.
Animus hominis et mores quales sint, si quaeris,*
civis fuit jam turn, cum haberet famae suae parem,
surama in dignitate modestissimus. Amicitiarum
est apprime tenax: in offensis idem exorabilis:
in reconcilianda gratia fidelissimus: potentia sua
ad impotentiam usus nunquam : omnium denique
vitiorum pene expers, nisi numeretur inter maxima,
bellum Americanum spe lentius gessisse. Atqui
bellum iilud aliorum consiliis antea commotum et
affectum, aegre ipsum et gravate suscepisse ferunt,
cum ad arma uncta cruoribus nondum expiatis, ad
arma eum cessantem, et Rex, et Senatus, et Populus
certatim concitarent.
Causae eorum, qui in honorum contentione ver-
santur, saepe possunt videri prope pares. Saepe inter
clarorum ac potentium virorum odia et discordiaa,
aliquid est in utraque parte, quod boni cives proba-
verint. Sed cum rerum ipsarum incerti sint exi-
tus, earumque fontes in profundo abditi, nihil me
videre fateor, quod illas leniores privates vitae et sua-
viores virtutes jure impediat — nihil, quod in officiis
grati animi fungendis, anceps vel lubricum sit-— nihil,
quod debeat beneficiorum in quempiam collatorum,
praesertim nulla unquam injuria interposita, memo*
riara penitus delere. Ecquidnam igitur, magis ut
* Vel. Pater, lib. ii. cap. 29.
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AD BELLENDKNI LIBROS. 107
▼ellem, accidere potuit, quain quod ea, quae de
Northii proditoribus * dixi, minus sunt probata?
Equidem non magnopere studeo, quo hominibus
placere possim, quorum prsecordia, bene novi, inter
legendum tacita culpa sudaverint. At mea in se
moderatio et modestia, quae et quanta sit, nunc de-
mum a me ipso intelligant licebit.
Qui inter academise spatia et sylvas, quid verum
et decens sit, quserere se profitentur, pacis, otii,
tranquillitatis studiosi volunt videri ; neque banc
ego laudem detrahere ausim multis et bonis, quos
doctrinae magis quam divitiarum cupidos esse, et in
spernendis honoribus quam captandis fortiores cog-
noverim. Sed in subita ilia, quae in Northium era-
perat, calamitate, serpsit mali contagio, et pene dix-
erim, invasit in hasce amoenas Musarum sedes, in
hoc bonarum artium domicilium et quasi sacrarium,
in hunc ipstun bonorum morum prope portum et
perfugium.
Alii clam quidem mussitantes, vulgo tamen aie*
bant, indignum esse facinus, quod Northius diceret,
se, quo temporibus reipublicae et communi civium
saluti inserviret, odium, quod inter se et Foxium ex-
stitisset, ex animo velle deponere— alii contra gratiam
ejus et dignitatem caecas insidias tendebant — alii in
ejusdem famam immanibus atque importunis con-
viciis invehebantur. At cujus viri ? nempe ejus,
quern satis comiter et benigne salutaverant, rw ou
apo xoXXou trmrripa tea) cutf yci-ip avTaiv yeytrqp&o*^
Quamobrem, teterrima horum facinora cum recor-
* Vid. Dcdicat. ad Dora. North. f Lucian. in Timone.
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108 . PR-flEFATIO
dabar, saepe meum animum gravis atque acerbus
angebat dolor; saepe ilia incendebat Uberrima indig-
natio, qua conficere potui, et fortasse debui, ut non
solum in rem ipsam magna offensio, verum etiam
odium in quosdam homines concitaretur, sane jus-
turn et debitum, omnium bonorum.
Vereor ne, haec qui non viderint, omnia me nimis
augerearbitrentur: quae tamen ita esse, ut a me
dicta sunt, liquido ipse non tarn auritus quam ocu-
latus testis confirmare ausim. Verum eniinvero
cum hisce desertoribus domini et regis sui, quam
quidem potero leniter et remisse, agam. Quam
magna cum libertate notabo rem, ea, quorsum perti-
neat, in medio relinquatn, Neminem in tanta tam-
que foeda perfugarum colluvie, neminem, inquam,
plane et diserte nominabo — quare nemo mecum,
vel apertas inimicitias, vel obscuras simultates susci-
pere poterit, * nisi qui ante de se voluerit confiteri."
Quod ad Northium attinet, documentum is qui-
dem grave et luctuosum dedit, quantulum optimis
viris beneficiorum memoria prosit : quantum nocere
iisdem possit levis et falsa opinio sceleris excogitati.
Mentis vero in Sanctis recessibus, habet quo se ex
maximis molestiarum molibus recreet ac reficiat.
Quoties enim secum reputat, sua ipsius quae sit in-
nocentia, quoties contumelias, quibus laceratus est,
insignes et acerbas memoria repetit, quoties ad infi-
dum respicit ingratumque optimatium gregem, quos
opibus quondam honoribusque ipse auxit atque am-
plificavit, toties ejus ex pectore Lycurgeae illae erum-
pent voces, tows1 tis1 ufoi* 8oko> e?va» toXitijs1, o$ totou-
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 109
to* ;£$<ww, tA Sijjuwtria irparrcov Tap9 Jjxiv, SiSous1 pax*
Xoy aS/fca>?, ^ Xajx0ava>v efo^pf&au.*
Animum habet tertius, cum magnum et excelsum,
turn etiam simplicem et apertum, eminetque unus
inter omnes in omni fere genere dicendi.
Sed quoniam oppressi sumus opinionibus non
solum vulgi, verum etiam hominum leviter erudito-
rum ; nostrum de stylo ejus judicium, quod tandem
sit, paulo fusius jam, et accuratius explicabimus.
Multos vidi oratores,-f- quos in verbis aegre per-
pendendis coagmentandisque, sollicitudo infelix mar
ceraret. Foxii autem animus varias in res conti-
nuas ita intenditur, ut eas tanquam provisas aptissi-
mae voces haud invite sequantur. Omnia is quidem
novit verba esse alicubi optima. Itaque, quae cul-
tiore^ in parte viderentur sordida et humilia, ea
nonnunquam in orationibus ejus suam quandam
vim habent, et locum suum. At sunt in promtu, si
res poscit, aut magis ornata, aut plus efficientia, aut
melius et plenius sonantia. Exprimit quamque dif-
ficiliorem cogitationem quaedam aXoyo? rgi/3^, § in-
terque exprimendum expolit atque amplificat. Vi-
vunt omnia moventurque. || Spiritu ipso ejus qui
dicit, excitantur auditores, nee imagine solum et
ambitu rerum, sed rebus ipsis novis et veluti nas-
centibus incenduntur. Plurimum igitur sanguinis
nervorumque ejus in sermone esse, nemo est qui in-
ficias eat. Aiunt autem nonnulli paulo morosiores
* Vid. Praef. Taylori ad Lycurg. et loc. laudat.
f Quint. 1. xii. c. 10. J Quint. 1. x. c. 1.
i Lib. x. c. 7. II Cap. 1.
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110 PR^FATIO
abesse * illi, et quidem deesse plane atque omnino,
stylum nitidum et laetum, qui omnes undique flos-
culos carpat et delibet. Sed meminerint ii, velim,
judicio ilium potius refugisse hasce dicendi delicias
et ineptias, quam formidine ulla desperasse. Ete-
nim, quae attentum quemque, dum oudiuntur, et
docilem reddunt validae aptissimaeqne sententiae,
illis sane ipsis, cum leguntur, suavitas <f inest, non
dulcia et decocta, sed, quae a Cicerone merito lau-
dator, solida et austera.
Habet Foxius hoc etiam vere adinirabile : quod
salubritatem dictionis Anglicans et quasi sanita-
tem nunquam perdit, ut eos qui in calamistris adhi-
bendis peregrinam quandam insolentiam consectan-
tur, simplicitate prorsus inaffectata, et tanquam
orationis sapore vernaculo obruat. Novit enim,
qui non dicat quod intelligamus, eundem minus
posse, quod admiremur, dicerc. Novit etiam, quae
maximam utilitatera in se contineant, eadem in ora-
tione habere plurimum vel dignitatis, vel saepe etiam
venustatis.
Jam vero eloquentiae fulmina £ intelligit vibrari
non posse, nisi numeris quibusdam contorqueantur.
Hac de causa verborum perpetuitate, et conversions
nonnunquam utitur, ut severos per ilia ungues junc-
ture effundat. Saepe orationem carpit membris mi-
nutioribus, quae tamen ipsa rhythmo quodam suo
vinctuntur. Facile tamen in hac parte deprehendes
negligentiam quandam haud ingratam, quae homi-
* Cic. Brut. p. 152. t De Or. 1. iii. p. 129.
% Or. p. 169.
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AD BELLENDEM LIBROS. Ill
nem magis de judicii certamine, quam de ullo aucu-
pio delectationis laborantem indicet — roXus1 fUv o
rwo?> avrdpKT]^ 8% 13 xdpw.* Scilicet numeros illos
minutOB nun quam ita sequitur,ut sentential concidat
delumbetque. Nunquam verba inferciens inania et
canora, quasi rimas orationis explere studet. Otio-
sis ornamentis nunquam onerat delassatque aures,
quamm est superbissimum judicium. Inde fit, ut
neque diffluens sit aliquid et solutum, neque infrac-
turn, aut amputatum, aut hians. In conficiendo au-
tern verborum orbe non aperte omnia, nee eodem
mode semper, sed varie-f* dissimulanterque conclu-
duntur.
Cum rerum ipsarum usus Foxius percalleat, regi-
ones ^ videtur nosse omnes, intra quas venari quod
quseratur, et pervestigare oporteat. Qua de re agi-
tur autem illud, quod Juris-consultorum formulis et
argutns Dialecticorum includitur, turn quo valeat,
turn ubi situm sit, prudentissime videt ; semperque
de eo ample disserit copioseque, aut distincte atque
articnlatim disputat Quae divulsa et dissipatasunt,
ea omnia conglutinat, et ratione quadam constringit*
Si quid involutum paulo-ve insolentius est, notitiam
ejus aperit, non exiliter et jejune, aut ampullarum
ope et sesquipedalium verborum, sed dilucide, expe-
dite, et commune ad judicium popularemque intelli-
gentiam accommodatissime.
Si in exordiis auditores primo movet leviter, re-
liqua illis jam mctinatis graviter incumbit acris et
* Dion. Hal Judic. Demosth. p. 171. edit. Sylburg.
t Br. p. 151. J De Or. 1. ii, p. 111.
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112 PRiEFATIO
contorta Oratio. Ipsae porro prolusiones non ad
speciem illae quidem compositae, ut Samnitum,* qui
hastis ante pugnam vibratis nihil in pugnando ute-
bantur ; sed ejusmodi sunt, ut ei magno usui esse
possint, cum ad victoriam acerrime nitatur. Res
eum si qua premit vehementer, ita cedit, ut non
modo non abjecto,-f- sed ne rejecto quidem scuto,
fugiat ; suoque in presidio consistens, loci eligendi
causa e vrpoiroi\ur<i<rdou ^ videatur. Ad refellendos
autem adversarios tela confert omnia. Digitos
modo coinprimit, et aculeis Dialectices, quae tan-
quam contracta et adstricta eloquentia putanda est,
pungit homines in disputando perpugnaces : modo
dilatat manus, et Orationis illius, quae amplior mag-
nificentiorque et splendidior est, omnes habenas ef-
fundit. Ingenii autem magnitudo ejus omnis fere
elucet, cum ante occupat§ quod opponi posse videat ;
cum sermones hominum moresque describit ; cum
exemplis utitur ; cum denuntiat, quid adversarii ca-
veant ; cum fraudes civium ad perniciem, et inte-
gritatem ad salutem vocat ; cum liberius quid an-
det ; cum supplicat, optat, execratur.
Conciliantur vel maxime auditorum animi digni-
tatehominis, rebus gestis,vitae denique existimatione;
quae quidem omnia, licet in adversario Foxii non me-
liora sint, facilius tamen ornatiusque, finguntur ut
probus, ut bene moratus, ut bonus vir esse videatur.
Sed quoquo modo se illud habet, Foxius est orator
rere civilis, vereque sapiens. Non otiosis se dispu-
* De Or. 1. ii. p. 110. f P- 1 W- t Hpm. II. i. 1. 546.
§ Orat. p. 163.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 113
tationibus, sed Reipublicae administrationi potissi-
mum dedidit. Cum prius, quod honestum sit, in
animo suo efficere constituit, omnibus, ad efficien-
dum quod proposuerit, naturae dotibus, omnibus in-
strumentis artis, ex obnixe et decenter utitur. Hac
de causa, quos audienti mihi motus adhibere voluit,
ii semper in animo Oratoris impressi et inusti esse
videbantur.
Dicendi, sicut reliquarum artium, fundamentum
est sapientia.* Qui autem et a doctrina fuerit libe-
raliter instructus, et multo jam imbutus usu, ejus
solet animus illuc rapi, ubi non aliqua seclusa Elo-
quentiae aquula-j- tenetur, sed unde universum flu-
men erumpit. Ad res igitur humiles et tenuiores,
quae vel explanate vel subtiliter tractandae sunt,
Foxii ingenium nonnunquam summittitur. Decet J
hoc nescio quomodo ilium. Arripit, quotiescunque
vult, medium illud dicendi genus. Gravitatis ad
locos subito convertitur, ascenditque ad fortiora, et
pervenit in summum.
Praeceps et rapida ejus Oratio fit interdum, cum,
idcirco obscura, quia peracuta est, turn, celeritate
ipsa paululum caecata.§ Sed neque verbis aptio-
rem cito aliam dixeris, neque sententiis crebriorem.
Profecto maxima in rerum verborumque varietate,
unus insidet tota in oratione quasi color quidam, et
succus suus. Habet ea tamen veluti umbram || ali-
quam et recessum, quo magis ea quae illustriora
sunt, eminere solent atque exstare. Summa est
* Or. p. 159. t De Or. 1. ii. p. 111. J Br. p. 153.
§ Br. p. 151. || De Or. 1. iii. p. 128.
VOL. III. I
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1 14 PREFATIO
etiam in Foxio, perinde ac Demosthene, laus ilia
quod inter diversas et in omnem partem diffiisas
disputationes, versat* saepe multis modis eandem et
unam rem : qudd haeret in ea commoraturqae :
quod inculcat earn mentibus hominum atque infigit
altissime.
Monendi sunt ii quorum de hac re sermo impe-
ritus nimis increbruit, illud ipsum, quod in Foxio
reprehendhnt, esse artis vel intimae et ingenii haud
mediocris. Saepe sunt illius sententise, si per se
spectantur, graves, et exquisitae, et ex abdito erutae,
ut videantur e Philosophorum spatiis potius, quam
e Rhetorum officinis, profluxisse. Saepe in propria
ac definita disputatione hominum ac temporum ver-
santur. Saepe ad communem questionem universi
generis traducuntur. Quo autem capiant te magis
magisque, modo eas collocat in hoc lumine, modo
in illo. Nimirum ad sensus voluntatesque diversas
diversorum hominum inflectendas, orationis vim
consulto accommodat. Quamobrem variis illam no-
visque insignibus distinguit ; variis ex inexpectatis
confirmat argumentis; varios trahit et repentinos
in usus, ut animos etiam non faventium, aut com-
motos, in quam velit partem, alliciat, aut concitatoa
8ecum rapiat.
Quoniam vere, de Foxio, caeterisque, qui vel
eum antecesserint aetate, vel ei suppares sint, compa-
ratio quaedam et contentio incidere potest, meam
de ea re opinionem hisce summi Critici verbis to-
tam complectar.
* Or. p. 162.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 115
Toioairyjf Si) jcoraXa0ay njv yoXiTimJ* Xe£iv, our®
ntKirrnUw jroiKsXas1, *al rqXiicourois1 Areitf-cXflow avS^a-
riy, €foy oud*y&? y^laxrc ycvctrdou £i)Xamfc, out* xapauc-
rrjpo?, owt€ avSgi?' ijfu^pyou? rivets awavras olofxevos
Aeu kolL artkeif if* aravTeov S' airiv oera KganVra
joa) £gq<rifui>rara ^v, 6*X€yoft€ittff» o-uyu^awc, *a) jx/a*
e* jroXXaJy SfaXtJcroy axcreXci, fxeyaXorgcri}, X*njv
rtpiTTJQy, aregftrrov t^XXayfA^jv, <rw?jdij* vavriyvpi-
itqv, aXijdfsnpr awrrepekv, iXagav* truyroyo*, av€ijtx€Vijv
qSeuxif, Tiicpav q'dijcqy, waflijTimfv ou$& SiaXarroutrav
toS fJLCfiuQ&iUvw ragflt T©fr dtp^aiois1 ironjTflW Ilpai-
Dixi earn esse Foxio ingenii facultatem, quae
semper causis, in quas incident, parem se ostendat.
Quoties autem illae sunt dignse in quibus latins se
fondat, luminosas ad partes et quasi actuosas acce-
dens, quicquid in dicendo potest, totum expromit.
Quod quidem cum facit, veluti amnis monte decur-
rens saxa devolvi Vf» et pontem indignatur, et ripas
se coercentes undique diruit, copia atque impetu
verborum. Hanc utique dicendi vim et celerita-
tem in Pericle olim mirabatur Eupolis : ad hanc
obstupescunt auditores, qui Foxio acerbissime con-
viciantur^
Profecto indignissimam viri hujusce ad fortu-
nam cum respicio, et praeteritorum recordatio est
acerba, et quidem acerbior expectatio reliquorum.
Maxime is tamen laudandus est, qui in hoc com-
muni civium integerrimorum et prope fatali malo
* Dion. Hal. Judic. de Demosth. p. 267.
f Quint, lib. xii. c. 10. J Ibid.
I 2
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116 PRjEFATIO
consoletur se, cum conscientia mentis optimae, turn,
sanioris illius, quod de se posteritas latura sit, ju-
dicii expectatione.
Nunc de iis dicendum* est, quae mihi conspira-
tione quadam vulgi reclamari intelligo. Qui enim
reliquis in hominibus mites sunt, et cupiditates,
quas Natura juvenibus profudit, faciles et tolerabi-
les habere solent ; in hac fuerunt causa pertristes
quidam patrui, censores, magistri.
Hi sunt eorum assidui et quotidiani sermones.
" Si qui voluptatibus ducuntur, et se vitiorum ille-
cebris dedideruntyf- missos faciant honores : ne at-
tingant rempublicam ."
Quid igitur agam ? quippe magna responsi invi-
dia subeunda est, neque mitigari possunt legentium
aures. Veniam igitur petere non ausim£ — per-
fugiis non utar juventutis aut temporum. Fatebor
sane Foxium, cum in lubricas adolescentiae viaa in-
grederetur, stuperetque jam in solitis et insanis ful-
goribus, tanto mentis tobore non fuisse, ut ei aequa-
lium studia, ludique, et convivia displicuerint. Era-
pisse in eo fatebor, ilium impetum animi ardorem-
que, qui, sive ad literas humaniores, sive ad pruden-
tiam civilem, sive ad luxuriam amoresque inclinaret,
id unum ageret,§ id toto pectore arriperet, id uni-
versum hauriret. Fatebor a vera ilia et directa
ratione non gradu eum aliquo, sed praecipiti cursu
descivisse : ut patrimonium effiiderit, ut fenore* tru-
cidatus sit, et naturale quoddam stirpis bonum de-
* Quint. L xii. c. 1. f Orat. pro Sext.p.439.
J Or. pro C«l. par. 5. § Dial, de Or. par. 28.
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AD BELLENDRNI LIBROS. 117
generaverit vitio aetatis. At hae deliciae quae vocan-
tur, etsi ad illas haeserit, nunquam eum occupatum
impeditumque tenuerunt diu. At facilitate jam
fiorens, et studiis eloquentiae per intervalla fiagrans,
cum blandimentis hisce conjunxit plurimum digni-
tatis. At scelere semper caruit. At in* Luxum
se praecipitavit eum, qui a Tacito dicitur eruditus,
itemque a Cicerone habetur homine ingenuo et
libero-f- dignior. At revocavit se identidem ad cu-
ram reipublicae. At J Petronii instar, vigentem se
oetendit, et negotiis parem; effecitque, perinde ac§
Mutianus, ut, in quo nimiae essent, cum vacaret,
voluptates, in eo, quoties expediret, magnse eluce-
rent virtutes. At vixit, hodieque idem vivit, ami-
cis earns. At dulcissimus illis semper occurrit, eo
quod aequalitas et pares honorum gradus, et studio-
rum quasi finitima vicinitas, tantum absunt ab in-
vidiam obtrectatione, ut non modo non exulcerare
eorum gratiam, sed conciliare videantur. At dig-
nus est quern numeres inter multos et quidem bo-
nos, qui, cum adolescentiam fere totam voluptati-
bus dedidissent, emerserint aliquando, probique ho-
mines et illustres exstiterint.
Dum in procuratione publicorum negotiorum
versabatur, consilia sua omnia ita diligenter et ani-
mose instituit, ita fuit ad excogitandum quid e
Republica esset, solers acerque, ita in muneribus,
quae susceperat, explendis alacer et promtus, ut ne
* Tacit. Annal. xvi. cap. 18«- f Orat. in L. Pie*, par. 11.
X Tacit. Annal. xvi. cap. 18. § Hist. 1. cap. 10.
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118 PILSFATIO
aemulis quidem aut adversariis pernegantibus, osten-
derit sese
Redite mecum, lectores in memoriam rerum,
quas nuper vidimus, miserrimarum.
Cum jam prope esset, ut optabilem ex iniquis-
sima fortunam haberemus, eruperunt subito, qui
occasioned quam virtute honores petere malebant.
Fieri autem non potuit inter motus istos aniraorum,
quin obmutescereht cives boni, et quasi repentina
popularique tempestate perculsi ac prostrati tan-
turn non obtorpescerent. Quicquid enim est dic-
tum in earn sententiam, quae tunc temporis populo
deliranti perplacuit, ab eo licebat nemini, ne digi-
tum quidem transversum, discedere. At vero, cum
a strepitu illo tumultuque aures nostras paululum
conquieverint, quid tandem causae est, cur, de Re-
publica quid sentiamus, taciturnitate celemus diu-
turniore ? Pudet, mehercule, pigetque nos referre,
qualis fuerit " civium ardor prava jubentium," qui trea
illos viros de gradu et statu suo deturbarit indignis
modis, effeceritque, ut salutis suae civitas perderet
tot praesidia, atque ornamenta dignitatis. Animus
etiam nunc horret meminisse, ut Respublica, sive
ad capessendum, sive ad arripiendum, tota sit per-
missa Oratoribus, non de coelo illis quidem repente
delapsis, sed "stuhis, novis, adolescentulis ;" | et
in arcem optimae causae catervatim invadentibus.
* Horn. Iliad, ix. 443. f Llv. lib. vi. cap. 41.
X Navius in Cic. de Senectute, p. 533.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 119
Enimvero, quod in cives integerrimos prudentissi-
mosque Senatores tarn effraenate saeviit ignobile et
malignum vulgus, illud, et posteris, necesse est, et
inimicis debeat ludibrium.
Qui ad rerum gubernacula, quo jure, quave . inju-
ria, nunc assident, gloriolam ii, per nos licet, aucu-
pentur caducam et inanem. Ingenio isto suo, qua-
lecunque sit, gaudeant perfruanturque ; sibi plau-
dant mirifice; et icaXXo? illud suum kolkcdv* j/jrovXor
dictis pbaleratis ostentent. Atqui omnibus qui
libero et ingenuo fastidio judicant, videntur ad ho-
nores adipiscendos nudi venisse atque inermes,
nulla cognitione rerum, nulla scientia ornati.-f-
In rebus fere omnibus quae optimo cuique pudo-
rem incutiunt, habet profecto eoruro causa quon-
dam colores, quibus possint imperitioribus fucum
facere. Haud temere est igitur, quod sese tempesti-
vis conviviis caute subducunt, et s*]$aXiW Oeois
quam Baccho malunt litare, siquidem memoriae
proditum est, et Demosthenem irpos vZa>p ypatyat^
et Csesarem ad Rempublicam evertendam accessisse
sobrium.^ Quod leges figunt refiguntque, populo
plaudente, idcirco videntur properare ad exemplar
illius Oratoris, qui cum interrogatus esset vm i
PugavTicov €£01 vojuu)^, nulla Uflus circuitione verbo-
rum, respondit, ds eyd> 0&a>. || Si flosculis senten-
tiarum, verborumque lenociniis, et vitiosa sui jacta-
tione vulgus captant, eodem plane, quo M. Cicero,
* Sophoc. (Ed. Tyr. 1409. f De 0rat- 1- "*• P- 1S0-
X Lucian. Dem. Eoc.par. 15. edit. Reitz.
§ Sueton. lib. 1. par. 53. & Quintil. lib. viii. gap. 2.
|| Sext. Erapir. ad vers. Math. p. 71.
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120 PR/EFATIO
animi morbo laborant, Si, contortulas per qusesti-
unculas et sophismata aculeata, quantum, profece-
rint in Dialectica, ostendunt, credibile est illos pro-
diisse e familia Socraticorum, quibus id palmarium
fuerit
— rov iSrrcya
NiK&y \6yor Xiyovra rfoiKwrara.*
Si recentibus praeceptorum studiis flagrantes, si-
mulant se mores induisse panlo asperiores, quam in
Juvenibus ipsa Natura patiatur, ecquis perneget eos
meminisse Platonici illius praecepti rot coQpovaw dp-
y&vrm %(foi Sgi/ximjToy, tea) rm? irafAOT^Tos o§e*ay kol\
irpaKTiKi)? evSeurdai ?^ Ipsi cum novi sint homines,
si novis rebus student, ac recentia quaeque, insignia
ore adhuc alio indicta efiutiunt, illud ipsum " Atti-
cosj inquilinos" apprime decet; Atticique illius
V€arr€pi(TfM>u proprium redolet saporem. Sibi si vi-
dentur posse omnia, remque populi tractant tumul-
tuose, et magno cum conatu magnas nugas agunt,
vulgi in opinionibus probe sciunt perfugium esse,
quo se recipiant. Nea> jxcv yap "ceo? artoirc ica6*
"Ojxijpov s-avra' kol\ e^ovrai kcl\ ayaxawn, rob p*v fxucpa
ica) jroXXa irpa{;avTa9 Sijjxorucov Ka) $iXo'royov, rot 8*
Xajuurpa Ka) <r€p.va yewalov kol) [xeya^oQpova jeaXouvre?"
?<rn 8* o9rou Ka) rl ^iXoWjkov ical irapa£oXov, afpav e^€i
tivA icaJ £ap*v iirnrptirowav roi? $ rqXiieoJrofff. Quid
quod negotia quae susceperint ad defendendum mi-
nus apta, "rebus extrinsecus adductis," cujusmodi
* Aristoph. Nub. 914. f Stobceus, p, 319.
X Aristot. Rhet. lib. ii. cap. 17.
§ Plutarch, torn. ii. p. 793. edit. Xyl.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 121
sunt BeDum Americanum et Coalitio quae dicitur,
a circumliniunt ?* "ac si defecerint alia, conviciis
implent vacua causarum, si contingit, veris ; si mi-
nus, fictds : modo sit materia ingenii, interque. au-
diendum excitent clamores?"* Hanc ipsam male-
dicendi sartaginem, hunc nigrae «uccum loliginis et
aeruginem meram, hanc ^ caninam, uti Appius ait,
Eloqaentiam, sunt qui verbis decoris obvolvant, et
in partes snas collo obtorto trahant Pindari haec
verba,
■ Xpj way ip*
ioVT* bfiCLVpuHTCU TOV k^Qp6v, *
Ad plebeculam quod attinet, liceat ei, cum levis
sit atque infida, homunciones sui simillimos in sinu
fovere. Est utique toI? ttoXAoTt persuasissimum,
multis jactatam gravissimisque tempestatibus navem
reipublicae, tandem aliquando in tuto esse colloca-
tam. Res credunt suas nunc demum omnes leni
fluere et secundo cursu. Vota etiam, quae, haud
scio, an a numinibus exaudita sint malignis, ea jac-
titant esse ad felices exitus omnino omnia perducta.
Hujusmodi sane rumusculi nostras saepe ad aures
pervenerunt. TH/x*?? 8e toi ocj rayun^Aw. Quin usu
venit nobis, qui rerum ipsarum momenta pondera-
mus, in alia omnia ire. At enim uno ore omnes
omnia bona de Palinuro nostro certatim dicunt!
Id se ut habet, equidem haud crediderim, aut
rerum prudentiam,^ aut eloquentiam, quae solida et
robusta sit, ante pilos venire. Nee vero Reipub-
* Quintilian, lib. xii. c. 2. f Ibid. cap. S.
\ Pind. Isth. 4. § Persil. Sat. 4.
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122 PKJEFATIO
lica? is mihi gerendae patiens peritusque esse vide-
tur, qui meUitis verborum globulis, tinnituque pe-
riodorum, et manus intra pallium non content®*
ipsa majestate, multitudini fecerit silentium. Sed ni-
mirum majus est quiddam quam vulgo opinantur,
reipublicae procuranda? ratio. Non istam inanem
sine usu loquacitatem, non cantilenam ex scholia,
non orationis cincinnos et fucos ilia quidem pro*
fecto desiderat. Non assiduitatis est merae, et ope*
rarum harum quotidianarum. Contra ea plurimis
ex artibus et studiis, quae veluti comites ministrique
oratoris sunt, multis consiliis multaque exercitatione
colligi debebit.
Magnum, si quod aliud, ejus qui republics prseest,
nomen videtur, magna species, magna dignitas, ut
angustiae pectoris juvenilis, rerumque insolentia ci-
vilium non sustinere possint tantam personam, tarn
gravem, tarn severam.*^ Liceat plane Pindaro, qui
in >|/f t/8e<n s-oiiei Mis versatus sit, de Damophilo com*
posite ornateque dicere,
Keivos yap* ev iratal vior
'Ev ik (iovXais irpiafivs, kyKvp-
tras licarovracrec fiiora, $
Fuit autem, ut opinio mea fert, etiam a Tiberio,^
illud quidem certe cautum praeclare, " ut ne quia
adolescentium animos praematuris honoribus ad su-
perbiam attolleret." Etenim vix aut ne vix quidem
reperiendus est, qui ineunte aetate docuerit, " ab ex*
* Quintil.lib. xii. cap. 10. f Orat. in Pis. par. 5. ed. Delph.
t Pyth. iv. 501. § Tacit. Annal.iv. par. 17.
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AD BELLENDSNI LIBROS. 123
cellenti eximiaque * virtute progressum setatis ex-
pectari non opportere." Profecto et potest et solet
cursus militaris virtutis esse celerrimus. Inde factum
est, ut res maximas gereret Macedo ille Alexander,
utque populi Romani imperium augerent superior
Africanus ^ et Titus Flamininus, admodum adoles-
ceates consules creati. At diversa est ratio eorum,
qui pacatis in Temporibus ad Republican! aequo
citius accesserunt. Vim illi omnem ingenii pie-
rumque consumserunt in populari| levitate. Po-
tentiam inutilem, dominandique lubricam et pra-
cipitem cupiditatem verse solidaeque gloriae ante-
posuerunt. Ac mihi quidem videntur frustra ar-
gutari, qui rationibus hisce famam Luculli oppo*
nunt. Viro illi egregio contigisse fateor incredibi-
lem quandam ingenii magnitudinem, quae indocilem
usus disciplinam non desideraret, et omnium opini~
onem quae de ejus virtute fuisset, bellica laude vin-
ceret. At vero idem ille adolescentiam § in forensi
opere et Quaesturae diuturnum tempos in Asise pace
consumserat. Ad Consulatum non accessit, ante*
quam et Quaastor et iEdilis et Praetor factus fuerat,
Habuisse fertur divinam quandam rerum memo*
riam, in qua insculptum haereret, quodcunque vel
audiisset vel vidisset. Omni litterarum generi et
Philosophise deditus erat. Secum assidue habebat
Antiochum, qui ingenio scientiaque putabatur Phi-
losophos fere omnes praestare. Atque harum rerum
omnium ad laudem maxim& antecellentium, vix
unam esse puto, quae in rov beiva conveniat.
* Cic. Philipp. v. p. 515. f Ibid.
J Phil. v. p. 516. $ Ciceron. Academ. lib. iv. sub. ink.
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124 prjEfatio
Atticum* ferunt suscepti negotii nunquam pertae-
sum esse : quod quidem 6 heiva minime admirabile
statuit esse in eo, qui Reipublicae procurationem ju-
dicio fugisset. Aliam ipse viam ad laudem primus
invenit. Aliam, suo Marte, invexit regendae civitatis
rationem. Quippe profundo ipse se de industria
mersat, ut pulchrior evenisse videatur. Opes ducit
animumque ex hoc ipso, quod magnis atque imma-
nibus ausis iterum saepiusque excidit. Quinetiam
vincendi cum nee spes sibi ulla nee facultas sit, cer-
tamen, dedita opera, sibi cum hominibus disertissi-
mis instituit, ut fallendo efiugiendoque de iis trium-
phos agat. Qui autem lucro sibi apponendum putat,
quod conatus sui vel irriti cesserint sua sponte, vel
ab adversaries infract! sint et contusi, ri av cVoi'e*,
q riva? av €%re X*youp, e\ eruveBi) K<xTopbai<rai aurto
a TroXirecWdai cfbotltero.
Qui splendida ejus de se promissa exaudiunt,
eundemque vident negotiis tot tantisque implicitum
et constrictum, jure optimo possunt exclamare.
Mijr/o^oy ja€v (TT^aTYjyei, Mijtjo^o? 8e rote oSous1, Mij-
rio^oy te.apTovs AroTTTa, M^tio^o? oe rk cfo^ira, Mij-
Tw^oj 8e jravra mciTcu.$ Sin autem aliorum expec-
tationem fefellerint consilia, quae sane ab ipso sus-
cepta esse videantur, non tarn perficiendi spe quam
experiendi voluntate : si gravior aliqua facta fuerit
ex improviso, temporum perturbatio : si bellum all-
* Corn. Nep. vit. Att. cap. 15.
f Dinarch. Orat. contra Demoth.
I Plutarch, torn. iv. p. 811. edit Xyl. et Grotii excerpt.
Trag. et Com. Gr. p. 917.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 125
quando exaraerit, turn demum ills pertristes vulgi
ore increbrescent voces, Mijtio^o^ & oifuo'^erai. *
Qui sibi videntur raultum in posteram prospi-
cere, et ex usu rerum maximarum, potius quam ex
conjecture, argumenta sua instituunt, consilia to5
ociva, quantum ad speciem, et colorem civitatis ad-
junxissent, tantum a succo ejus et sanguine detrax-
isse arbitrantur. Atqui compertum ille habet se
in campum descendisse, in quo vel ingenium, vel
fiducia sui excurreret et cognosceretur. Alii inte-
rea, possint, necne, vel principium eorum, quae ipse
proposuerit, invenire, vel exitum evolvere, de ea
quidem re non magnopere laborat. Rerum quippe
ipsarum, cum magnitudinem, turn multo magis ip-
sam novitatem, eo valere intelligit,' ut animos ho-
minum vebementer percellant, et ad causas, quae in
paucorum voluntatibus abditae et retrusae sint, mag-
na cum inanitate et errore explorandas incitent.-f-
'Eti to taivovpyeiv Qipet
Toy vouv €K€ivos, tovto yiyvkxricuy Sti
IEv Kaivbv iyxeiprijia, K$y roXfirfpoy %
noXk&r waXaiGy ivrl xpyvifiArepov*
Nobis sane videntur homines Politici aeque ac
Philosophy non singulis ex vocibus judicandi, sed
ex rerum perpetuitate J et constantia. Itaque quae
vel gesta a t«5 Swot, vel tentata maxime laudantur,
ea breviter summatimque perstringamus.
Hibernicis in rebus quas trahere ad arbitrium
malebat, quam lenibus ducere imperiis aut lenibus
* Ibid. f Antiphanes in Alcestide.
J Cic. Tu8C. Quaest lib. v. cap. 10.
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126 PIL&FATIO
consiliis sequi, persaepe ab illo offensum et tituba-
turn est.
Senatus non corrigendi modo, sed nova tanquam
incude diffingendi causa, omnes effudit vires animi
et ingenii sui : omnes in hac re una nervos inten~
dit. Sed vicit, nescio quomodo, pars major earn,
quae a t<S hcim melior vocabatur. Quo quidem
facto, refrixit in mente re>5 Sciva omnis ille ardor,
diligentia omnis relanguit, et spes omnis sanandae
civitatis extenuari jam visa est ac penitus infringi*
Hinc illud est, quod ii qui specie libertatis insani-
unt, de verbis sibi datis conqueruntur, atque adeo
patronum, in quern causa omnis inclinata recumbe-
bat, ilium ipsum clamitant,
h-epov (ppetri Kevdetv, fiXXo ii fiaSeiv.*
Quod ad (rewa^de/ovf* attinet, quam Solonis nos-
tri sub auspiciis futuram esse aiunt in publicis Vec-
tigalibus, 8eo7a pj avQpoucas rov fycavpov eugcofjie*
dv€ypo[j.€VOi. J
Exteras autem inter gentes quae videntur modo
caecas struere insidias, modo consilia intendere ca-
lida et audacia, si quid mali nobis nec-opinantibus
eruperit, multa, quae ex intervallo non apparent, res
ipsa aperiet, ejpr\<r€i t€ reL traftpa rov oeiva ai/roy £
7TOX6J&0?. §
Nam quod foedus est nuper cum Gallis initum,
hujus vulgo creditur, illiusque, quod est olim Ultra-
jecti factum, non unam esse faciem, nee diversam
* Horn. Iliad, x. f Diog. Laert. Vit. Solonis. lib. i. p. 27.
X Lucian in Timon. § Demosth. Philipp. i. par. 15.
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AD BELLENDINI LIBROS. 127
tamen. Dixerft quispiam, litora Gallorom nostris
littoribus, et vero fata fetis cum consuetudine turn
legitras quibusdam prope ipsius naturae, esse con-
traria? Facile o fciya ejus argumenta hoc consilio
pervertet.
Koptvdlois a\BtaBt* Kipcetvot yl <toi
Nvy tloi xprjtrrol, xa\ av rvv \piiaros yevoD.*
u Annon Gallica vina Britannorum mercibus re*
parata, pateris de spumantibus hauriemus ?"
Olop «rpot AXAiyXa* \a\ov<riy at rokeis
A<aAAayet<rcu, *ai ye\&<riv aapevai,
Kal ravra baipovivs tnrvwiaiTfiivai
'AxaZ&icatTai, Kal KvaBois TpovKei/JLevauf
Contendunt scilicet o! raXXi^oyrt?, acriter conten-
dit o fciya, omnes denique ejus fautores opotiujxa&ay
koH o/xo(Pft>va>$» contendunt, fore, hoc foedere perfecto,
at Galli positis armis mitescant, neque ex occulto
vel insidiis aliquid agant.J Dulce fateor est no-
men pacis — Rem vero ipsam, cum jucunda et salu-
tans sit, quovis fere pretio emerim. At verba hu-
jusmodi, utrum a dolo hostium, an virtute profecta
sint, haud quisquam addubitaverit. At Gallosfy
quos aw€iXvovTa$ crediderim esse jxaXio-ra a£ioiri<r"
rw$9 eosdem illos turn maxime, cum dona ultro
ferant, timendos esse statuerim. At pacis nomine
bellum involutum reformido.
Enimvero pater rou fclva, si in vivis esset, ea
omnia, quae de hac cum Gallis familiaritate conflanda
* Aristoph. Eccles. 199. f Ibid. Pax. 538.
\ Cic. Philip. 13. § Dem. (My nth. 3.
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128 PRjEFATIO
dicta sunt a filio, perflagitiosa ad loquendum esse
clamitaret, et ad audiendum perturpia. Fulguraret
more suo et tonaret contra eos, qui propter incer-
tos exitus belli Martemque communem nimio sunt
in metu. Diceret in senatu, esse omnino* fortium
virorum, quales nos esse deberemus, virtute prae-
stare tantum, ut possent fortune culpam non exti-
mescere.
Aeyerai ti kohvov ; yevoiro ykp av ri KaworepoPy 1}
Mafce$a>v jxev avrjg rat r£v 'EXTujwov faouaSv, Kcd vrcp-
€K7T€ir\^yfjL€V0i c&s ajxa^ov riva oi 'Adijfaiot rlv <&/x«r-
irov, t/jxa? hi aurofa irpbf r^v paQupiav #ca) advjuuay
Trcidaiy edcXoynfc, #ca) $Xuaga>y, #eai <p*Xifl-*-/£<ov o A13-
jxocrdcyqs' 0 tow cOjxa>y J/xou aora> toG jxaicap/rou'"^ tiOcmt-
8' ouoctot* oTjttai \Uya ti kolI veavucov $po's*]jxa Xa-
j3riv, [MKpot Kou 0a5xa TTpaTTwras. J
Hostium promissa, quo cadant, quam fragiles
sint humanae res caducaeque, quam inanes et falla-
ces nostra de pace, quae diuturna esset fatura, co-
gitationes, ipsa belli suspicio satis comprobavit.
Videmur sane breve in tempus cura et metu esse
relevati. Nee vero dissimulandum esse arbitror,
quam diligenter 0 Ztiva ad salutem patriae aliquan-
do incubuerit ; idque ut occurreret atque obstaret
consiliis Gallonim, quos paucis ante mensibus Po-
puli Anglicani socios et amicos esse dictatasset.
Bellum cum ostendisset pacem habuit. Sed rem
tantam, tamque praeclaram subito inchoatam relin-
* Philip, xiii. f Demosth. Phil. ii. Olynth. 1.
X Demosth. Olynth. 2.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 129
quere, fortis animi et constantis non erat. Quid
enim? norunt omnes, quam sit lubrica Gallorum
fides, quam importuna eorundem ambitio, et perni-
riosa. Norunt etiam, quantae sint tenebrae et call-
go temporum nostrorum, quants rebus Europearum
gentium procellae jamdudum impendeant, quanta
jam in Borealibus regionibus concitata sit atque in-
tonuerit tempestas. Profecto hoc, quicquid est
mali, longius opinione disseminatum est, penitus-
que infixum in ipsis radicibus cupiditatum, et libi-
dinum regiaram. Sed prolatando et differendo
regum voXcpjreiovrwi' consilia, vel infringi, yel
impediri nullo modo possunt. Quacunque ratione
pracidendae sunt belli causae, celeriterque et vigi-
knter, et fortiter, ipsum bellum profligandum est.
Mt€ our a £pj) jrpa^opcr ; crciSar n ycwjTa* ; ruv 8*
ti ^pq rk yiyyop^va yyeurdar ot! yd% o7oi re €«<r)y o!
f^flpo), %j(wr€s a icar€vrgaft|x^oi €wr)v, jxeytiv «r)
Tourm* aXX* aW r* *rgo0Trepjj3aXXovrai. * opa> 8e
aurou? /ecu vuw oti£ tJarep toS jxi) iradeTy 5roX€/Jtov a?g£~
crfiou ft^AXorraff* aAX* uVfy tou KofxigerQou rqr irporepatf
wmfo» €cumh$ Sjva/tjv. -f- 'Hfjieiff 8* ^7T€j8efcv jrvdajxtda
ri yiyroftcroy, rqiujcaSra flopujSoJjxcda, #ea) ?rapa07r€ua£o'-»
p«da° ctfr* o?/xai wftjSai'rci, tow ja€V *$' a av cxOomtj,
tout !;c€4V icarA ?roXX^ v ^*ij;gf or* *J/xiv 8' vtrreplgew, Kctl
©era or 8aTai^3<ra>jw^v cwravra jxarjjv araXcoireyai. £ 6* 8i
pot jrX€*<rri]y aduft/ay cwravraiv Trapco-fflKOf, ©die axo/cpu-
>[/opar on xoXXoov *a) jxtyaXaiy ovrcov xgi}ftara>y, ica)
tou yauriKou #ca) TOgaiy owravTcov, rouraw jx€V ou8e)ff f^/*-
* Philipp. 1. f Oral, pro Megalopol.
J De rebus m Cher.
VOL. III. K
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130 PRJEFATIO
fqrai, toTv Suoiv 8e e0oXoTv * roTv lie tojcou, ical t«S* ita-
De stylo bujusce juvenis mea quae sit sententia,
idcirco difficile est proloqui, quod plerique sunt
rei ipsius iniqui aestimatores, et hominis, de quo
agitur, fautores ineptissimi. Si quid enim exquisi-
tius accident auribus imperitorum, qualecunque sit
id quod ipsi posse desperent, maximam habet ad-
mirationem. Qui autem plebe infima paulo plus
sapiunt magis populare et plausibile existimant di-
cendi illud genus, quod puerilibus sententiolis las-
civit, £ quod immodico tumore turgescit, quod ina~
nibus locis bacchatur, et pracipitia babet pro sub-,
limibus. Quam igitur eloquentise speciem Hu-
mius § ait se cogitatione et mente complexum fa-
isse, re ipsa non vidisse, earn credunt in rcS Seiya
eluxisse aliquando — Oratorem, quern animo ille
tenebat, manu se ipsi somniant || prebendere, Ju-
venem utique acerrimo praeditum ingenio, optimis
disciplinis penitus imbutum, rerum civilium Haub
Ignarum, qui in senatu auspicate assurgens aurea
nostras semper impleat, qui omnes affectus moveat
vehementer, nitidusque et sublimis et locuples cir-
cumfluentibus undique eloquentiae copiis imperet.
Hancce autem dicendi, quae sentiam, ocCasionem
nactus, paulo jam liberius enunciabo, quod semper
tacui, et sane causis gravissimis adductus, adhuc
* Orat. de Repub. ordinand.
f Plutarch, de Vitand. JEte Alien. Angkce, Settling-day be-
tween the Bulls and Bears.
} Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 10. § Essay 13th, on Eloquence.
|| Cicer. de perfect Orat.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 131
tacendum putavi. Maxime in hoc juvene splendes-
cit pictam quoddam orationis et floridum genus,
quod qnidem com e Sophistarum fontibus in senar
tum defluisse totum videatur, spretnm est plerum-
que a subtilibus, idemque a gravibus repulsum.
Habet autem o feipa (id quod unice laodandum sta*
too) facultatem illam dicendi ex tempore, quod
premium est,* uti veteres dictitabaut, vel amplissi*
nam longi laboris. Quaecunque ei demum accident
necessitate primo motu corporis, prima jactatione -f
mantis, prima pedis supplosione, copiae J verborum
veloti milites Pompeiani duci sue sacramento ad*
dicti, promunt se, atqne in medium evocats prosi*
limit. Per id minim quoque semper mihi visum
est, solere ilium, in perpetuitate sermoms et celeritate
maxima; solere, inter ambitus sententiaram longis-
sfane circumdiictos ; solere inter vel abruptas yd flexu-
osas interckisionesrapa-nj^w rrprwv wofiarmv kxXvyrjp
tout riisewfaria* W* «Kg'0€ia*,§ ut in verbum, quod
a Grammaticonim regtdis aberret, ne unum quidem
nridat — huie vero &cilkati illud etiam accedit,
quod tenorem quendam in disputando servat, et or-
dinem earn qui cogitationibus necessitate quodam-
modo expressis aptissimus est, recte, maximam par-
tem, disponk. Nunquam intersistit ejus oratio
daudicatve. Nunquam aut hesitare videtur, aut,
rebus duabus animo obversantibus, utra sit earum
vel aptior ad usum, vel ad ornatum magis decora,
punctum temporis, deliberare. Sunt autem, qui
• Quintil. lib. x. cap. vfi. f Ibid.
t Strad. prol. Academ. i. et Launoelot, act. iii.sc.ii. Merest.
Vol. | Dion. Halicar. dpxaiuv Kpitrth de Sitinon.
k2
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132 prjEfatio
rerum illas imagines, quae tanto cum impetu ferun-
tur, nimis * recentes esse existiment, ita tamen, ut
easdem, si incudi redderentur, ornatiores magisque
facta* fore evasuras non credant.
Sonitus ille Tra^our^iimu Kai 'AmKwvf' ^jxarmy,
etsi nervorum ei minus inest, plurimum tamen ve-
nustatis nonnunquam habet. Est etiam, ubi sen-
tentia rerum vocabulis ornatissimis subjecta aut per-
tenuis est aut plane nulla. Ipsa porro verba saepe
insolens quiddam et odiosum sonant. Saepe ora-
tionis seriem, quae in aures influebat percommodfe,
illam ipsam oculis fidelibus subjectam si dissolvas,
exile fit nescio quid, et fractum, et languiduhim.
Oratorem non solum J gravem sed interdum tru-
cem to* Sriva esse scimus omnes, ut saepe necesse sit
ejus inhumanitatem acriter propulsare et retundere.
Ad ridiculum is tamen nonnunquam divertitur, sive
ut animos auditorum a satietate renovet reficiatque,
sive etiam ut ingenio suo parum miti morem gerat.
His autem in dicteriis, quae orationi suae aspergit,
nee salsum, nee urbanum, nee facetum uhquam con*
sequi potest, palamque ostendit sibi, aeque ac
§ Demostbeni, non tarn displicuisse jocos, quam non
contigisse.
Ferunt Cassium Severum, omissa modestia et pu-
dore, non tarn pugnasse in dicendo quam rixatum
esse. Jam vero quod Severus neque|| infirmitate
ingenii, neque inscitia litterarum fecit, idem est
* Quintil. lib.x. cap. 7.
t Epigr. Cereal. Brunck Analect, torn. iL p. 345.
J Liv. lib. xxxiv. cap. 5. § Quintil. lib. vi. cap. 3.
|| Dialogus de Orat.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 133
etiamaTflS Scivafactitatumjudicioetconsilio. Cujus
autem vix adumbrationem facetiarum et gravitatis
in dicendo habet, ejusdem acerbitatem dentemque
maledicum, vel imitando vel suopte ingenio effingit
atque exprimit. Quare hunc custodem et conser-
yatorem civium suorum cum videbam pene latran-
tem in Senatu, et adversarios morsu acerrimo lace-
rantem, saepe mibi veniebat in mentem Syracusani.
illius clamatoris.
"EoiKev, tvW &v \iyy9
Tois Kvvihloitri roioiv l*\ r&y rtixkw'
'Avafids ydp hrl to fifj/i9 vXocrei.*
Quod autem in r& $cim maxime desidero, longe
diversum est ab his, de quibus hactenus dixi, longe-
quemajus. Etenim scientiam illam civilem, quae
gumma in oratore debet esse, in eo non vidi : non
cognitionem earum rationum, quae de naturis hu-
mani generis et moribus, a philosophis explicantur :
non deniqne vim illam, quae in animorum motibus
inflammandis potissimum dominatur, atque in men-
tibus eorum, qui audiunt, quasi aculeos quosdam
relinquit. Fuerit igitur sermo ejus a circulatoria
yolubilitate paulo remotior. Fuerit idem artificio
quodam et perpolitione distinctus. Numeris sub-
mde ornatus fuerit, qui sua sponte defluxisse, non
arcessiti et coacti esse yideantur. Eloquentiam ta-
men si earn solam statuis esse veram, quae animos
hominnm modo infringat, modo irrepat in sensus ;
quae novas opiniones inserat, " deque pulmone," ut
cum Persio -f- loquar, a veteres avias revellat," faten-
* Eupolis cv UvXait. f Sat. S.
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134 PRJEFATIO
dum est profecto tov $e?w*, ne in rutis * quidem et
ceesis, solium paternum recepisse.
Nimirum o oelva est vehemens feroxque natura;
neque eniin fas esse putat verbum ex ore exire cu-
jusquam, quod non jucundum et honorificum ad
aures suas accidat* Id vero ipsum maxime me im->
pellit, at audaciam ejus paulisper comprimam, et
loquacitatem istam, qua possim, hisce interrogatiun-
culis irretitam retardem.
Num ad ambitiosa, quibus orationes ejus enites-
cunt, ornamenta, adjungit etiam ilia, quae ex erudi-
tione liberali ducta, et ferri solent et laudari ea in
aetatula, cui plurimum favetur? Num historias
movet eas, quae in fastis temporum recentiorum po-
sitae sunt ? Num ex veteri memoria, et monumen-
tis/f- et Utteris, haurit exempla, quae quidem solent
et autforitatis plurimum habere ad probandum, et
jueunditatis ad audiendum ? Num verba ilia arden-
tia et sententias vibrantes, quae doctiori cuique inter
legendum arrident, rei, qua de agitur, accommodat,
suaeque intexit orationi ? Auditores ejus fautores-
que num gratulari sibi possunt de eo, quod est k
Timotheo dictum de omnibus, qui apud Platonem
ccenulas jucunde produxissent, cos teal ry farrepaia
j?aXo>? y/yovrai ? J Num qua ejus feruntur in ore
vulgi, aut sapientiae plenissima aut fecetiarum
aTraftjnjfjwye/jyuxra, id quod idem ille Plato dicebat iia
contingere qui per specimina ingenii et doctrinse
saepius populo data potuissent Poparts' ry^€*V?^
* Cic. de Orat. lib. ii. p. 1 15. t In Ver. lib. iii. p. 266.
t Athen. lib. x. lin. 419. et JElian. V. H. lib. ii. cap. 10.
§ Diog. Laert. in Vit, Platonis Segm. 38,
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS, 135
Ecquid reconditi profert in medium? ecquid ex-*
pectatione dignum eorum, quibus libere et docte
licet judicare ? ecquid aut inauditum hominibususu
et exercitatione instructis, aut etiam mediocribua
oratoribus omnino novum? Nil horum. Quad
cum ita sint, non ilium negaverim ista omnia com*
munia et contrita dicendi prsecepta edidicisse. II-
bid etiam tribuerim, boni Oratoris esse multa auri-
bus accipere ; multa itidem,* furtim et cursim at*
tmgere legendo. Si quid autem aptius et exquisi-
tius in orationibus ejus, (quamvis rara avis est) si
quid tamen unquam exiit, id omne mihi videtur
• Sc?va non ut suum poesidere, sed libasse nt alie*
num.*)*
Haud sane diu est, cum se in cancellos et conci-
unculas tanquam in pistrinum quoddam detrudi et
compingi indignatus est. Quae autem aliis tradi
solent certa quadam via et ratione, ea omnia credi-
ble est eum hausisse ab ipsa natura, aut raptim le-
viterque primoribus labris attigisse. Inde fit, ut
verborum gurgite^ in vasto, communes loci, qui
Latine scripti sint, ran nantes appareant, hie videli-
cet a Lucano petitus, ille a Livio : puerulis uterque
et litteratoribus notissimus. Inde fit, ut argumenta
ejus persaepe declamatorem de ludo sapiant : convi~
cia ejusdem, rabulam de foro.
Minime ei cedat in laudem, quod ancipites di-
cendi incertosque casus non extimescit, aut incredi-
bilem rerum ipsarum, quae tractandae sunt, magnitu-
* Cic. de Orat. lib. i. p. 99. f Ibid.
% Warburton, pratf. ad Shaksp.
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136 PRiEFATIO
dinem et difficultatem contemnit. Marcus enim
Crassus se fatetur id saepissime expertura esse, ut
exalbesceret in principiis orationis et tota mente
atque omnibus artubus contremisceret.* Fatetur
etiam M. Cicerof* se, cum illius diei sibi venisset
in mentein, quo die sibi dicendum esset, non modo
commoveri animo esse solitum, sed etiam perhorres-
cere toto corpore. At nemo est, qui rfo §€?m unquam
viderit, aut metu aliquo paulisper fractum, aut inge-
nuo et infanti, qualis juvenem deceret, pudore debi-
litatum. Esse quosdam scio quibus admirabile hoc
ipsum videatur. M. autem Crasso judice,J ne illi
quidem qui facillime et ornatissime dicunt, impu-
dentiae nomen debent effugere, nisi timide ad di-*
cendum accedant, et in ordienda oratione aliquan-
tulum conturbentur.
Ferri solent in juvenibus etiam uberiora paulo et
pene periclitantia. At nihil est in natura rerum,
quod se universum semel profundat, aut quod to-
turn repente evolet. Oratbris itaque si praepropere §
distringatur frons immature, et acerbum quidque ah
eo temere proferatur, omnia quae bene nata fuerint
aut parata in vita meliore, penitus dedecorantnr.
Quid enim? annon fundamenta jaciuntur arm-
gantiae?|| annon vires praevenit fiducia? annon tu-
midus fit quidam orator, suique jactans, et^f facun-*
diis malo publico ?
Jam si causis, quae inter se confligunt, omissis,
* Cic. de Orat. lib. i. p. 94. f Divinat. in Caecil. par. 10.
J Cic. de Orat. lib. i, p. 94. § Quint. 1. xii. c. 6.
|j Ibid. % Vel. Patera lib. ii. cap. 48*
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 137
ipsam to5 ScTva et Foxii eloquentiam contendere
qnispiam me velit, ad verba Dionysii confugiendum
eat, quibus dilncide possim et accurate exponere,
o xfe 0LfjL$0T€%a9 v&cryto tol9 X*'£€tf * oToftai he koivo'v ri
ratios' drdumxnt cge??, kcu ovk ejtt&v tSiov fxovov oTav fxev
rim t«Sv to5 Xelva avayivoia-Kw Xoyaiv jtoXv t& €uora0*r
?£» r^r 7»^ft^yf <»<nr€g oi toJv <rxoy$€ia>y auXijjxaraw,
i) r<ov Jhopicw re jca) app,oy/a>y pApaa* a*poa>fX€Vor orav Si
rivet toS <I>a>£i'w Xafia) Xoyaw, evdotxruo re, #cai, Seu^o
Kaxeure ayojxai, vadof Iregov e£ trigou j&eraXa/AjSaww,
arwraiv, aya>yia>y, hehtco?, KaTa<pgovaJv, fxuraJi/, €Ata>y,
€09o£v, opyi^oyuevoSt <pdwaov9 aurayra Ta^adij jxeraAajfc-
3om»v o<ra Kparc7v aydganr/y?]; yyaJpjs1 wtyuice.*
Contigerit, necne, Humio, ea prudentia, quae a
divinatione prope abesse dicitur, non est nostrum
dijudicare. At Aimc scio non esse virum, quem
Curiae consulenti presidium et decus futurum Phi-»
losophus ille promiserit. Alia ex parte, qui in re-
boa hisce sapit, et Jove, quod aiunt, aequo judicat,
mecum, ni fallor, lubentissime faciet, cum Cicero
nem affirmq, ea, quae nuper facta sunt, cecinisse ut
vatem: "Cumin dicendo saepe par, nonnunquam
etiam superior, visus esset is, qui, omisso studio sa-
pientiae, nihil sibi prater eloquentiam, comparasset,
fiebat, ut et multitudinis, et suo judicio dignus, qui
rempublicam gereret, videretur."")*
Profecto juvenem huncce, modo in venditandia
ineptiis ousrapicii kol) auroSiSoieroy, modo in arduis
rebus axopoy icai apfoavov si aspiceres, nihil fatereris
* Dion. Hal. Judic. de Dem. p. 176.
t Cic. RheU lib. i. p. 67.
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138 PRflEFATIO
unquam exstitisse "sic dispar sibi ." Aliis in rebus
iracundus acerque, conviciorum aculeis nihil non
flagitat, aut pene vi et armis arrogat. In aliis fit
simillimus Lancastrio, qualis describitur ab * equite
illo, quern facetiis abundantem et cute bene curata
nitidum, asseclae rod Seiva oculis fugiunt, auribus
respuunt, animis aspernantur,
^tv^pov Keap rov iraihlov depfiols In*
'Ybapks rk w(as Kal Xcktov alfi dtl rpkfov
Nifyctv t lucurreiv t &pdpa rov fiiov X&yet,
'AyiXcurrov, fapiXov, Kqxpoahyopov ripas.
Certis quibusdam destinatisque sententiis ita est
hodie consecratus, eaque, ut opinor, necessitate con-
strictus, et dogmaticorum more, etiam quae minus
probari possint, ea cogatur, sive dignitatis, sive con-
stantiae causa*}* defendere. Crastino die fit trans-
fuga Academicorum ad partes, nihilque ducit tarn
temerarium tamque indignum sapientis gravitate,
quam illud, quod non satis explorate cognitum sit,
sine ulla dubitatione tueri-J Turn vero, furtivis co-
loribus ferox et praclarus, tanquam Cornicula, su-
perbit ; et, a quibus est mutuatus, quicquid in con-
siliis suis sanum et sincerum est, eorum pergit aures
obtundere conviciis e trivio petitis.
§ A Minucio is quidem didicit, eum primum esse
virum, qui ipse consulat, quid in rem sit : secundum
autem eum, qui bene monenti obediat. Cavet
rtaque ne extremi esse ingenii ideo videatur, quod
* Henric. 4ti, Pars 2da, act iv. sc. 7.
f Cic. Tusc. Quest, lib. ii. J Cic. de Nat. Deorum, lib. i.
§ Liv. lib. xxii. c. 29.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 139
et sua ipse negotia expedire et explicare nequeat, et
simul aliorum consiliis regi nolit.
Sumasne ab alienis, tibi quod usui sit, pudenter*
an importune rapias, "immane quantum distat."
Sit tamen illud dure necessitatis, quod, domi cum
sit res angusta et exilis,
Conrectare juvat praedas, et vivere rapto *
Atqui opprobriis eos lacessere, per quos plurimum
ipse profeceris, animi videtur esse invidi et pusilli,
qui nee cedere velit, nee, certamine aequis conditioni-
bus comparato, possit victoriam adversariis extor-
quere. Nempe qui doceri ab bostibus baud nefas
esse statuit, ipse oportet " Hostis Teucros *f laude"
aliquantulum prosequatur.
Minime est interea dissimulandum posse ex ad-
versariis tou ScTva quosdam reperiri, quos veluti,
roBaw rhinos + tangere omnino nolit. Hoc nimirum
illud est, quod ne sui quidem Senatus plausu solet
gaudere, quoties famam captat dicacis in illo viro,
qui cum Oratorem maximum, turn acerrimum Ja-
culatorem sese praebuit : qui, et causae cujusque qui
sit color, et § sagittae quibus ex artnamentariis ve-
niant, probe novit : qui denique nee Hyperidi aut
Lysis acumine et subtilitate || cedit, nee facetiis et
aalibus Atticis Aristophani aut Menandro.
Ne " bellum incidat disparibus, ipse tanquam
pigrior o Zei»a nonnunquam discedit, vehemen-
terque optat occasionem se nancisci posse "mu-
* Virg. JEn. 1. f ^n. 1.
% Hesiod. Op.et Dies 218. § Juvenal, Sat. vii.
It Cic. Orator, p. 161.
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J40 prjEfatio
Tierum ultro mittendorum."* Hoc vera fieri cum
nequeat, omnes istos aculeos et tortuosum genus
disputandi totum, homo bellissimus relinquit. Ad-
versarium ita laudat, ut se fateatur eundem perti-
mescere. Ita contra ilium dicit, quamvis ipse sit
ingeniosus, ut gravissimum etiam de suo ingenio
judicium fieri arbitretur. Cum Sheridano qui con-
greditur, is utique, mirum foret, ni tela imbellia ab-
jiceret, ni viribus parceret consulto, modestiaque et
temperando linguae/^ adolescens, ne a viris facetis
vinceretur, ipse se et dicacitatem suam vinceret.
Alii item aut conticescant oportet, aut demissius se
gerant veteratores in disputando vafri et malitiosi.
Etenim ad magnam rerum cognitionem multa in
Sheridano accedunt, quae in Oratore apprime neces-
saria sunt. Norunt experti quantus sit ejus in jo-
cando lepos, quanta libero homine digna eruditio,
quanta celeritas brevitasque respondendi et laces-
sendi, cum argutiis exquisitissimis atque urbanitate
mirifice conjuncta.^
Oratorem aiunt vel mediocrem, modo sit aliquid
in eo, tenere hominum § aures. Sed, tanta cum
turba sit faventium ra> 8wa, fateor me vix in ullum
de iis incidisse, qui minima ex parte, cum Sheridano
comparari possit. Uni, forsan, et alteri eorum, non
ingenium omnino, sed oratorium ingenium -deest,
Mediocriter sunt alii a doctrina instruct^ et multo
angustius a natura, vix ut in dicentium numero ha-
bendi sint, nedum disertorum. Caeteri autem ig-
• Horat. Sat. 7. lib. i. f Vide Liv. 28. et Orat. r«w btiva.
X Cicer. de Orat. lib. i. p. 89. § Brut. p. 147.
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AD BELLBNDINI LIBROS. 141
noti homines et repentini, oratores celeriter facti
sunt, oppidano quodam et incondite genere dicendi.
Missos igitur faciomus fortemque Gyam fortemque
Cloanthum, ne suspicantcs quidem quid sit ornate
loqui, et ad laborem cogitandi plane inhabiles. In
eadem vero trutina, qua Sheridanum, juvenes posu-
erim duos, quorum hunc, jure appellaveris Trpmraym-
vkttijv, ilium, secundarum partium actorem.
Promta est et parata tou Sriva in agendo celeritas,
nihil ut sit in illo genere magis plausibile. Eum
vero acumine et nonnunquam diligentia, sale semper
et lepore superat Sheridanus.
Tcp Swa accedit, longo proximus intervallo, sed
proximus tamen, Grenvillius, is, qui et impar con-
gressus cum hoste, et victus, pretium aliquod certa-
minis ex eo ipso tulisse dicitur, quod cum Sheridano
certavisset. Docti hujusce, quod satis sit, adoles-
centuli, prudens quaedam et oonsiderata tarditas est)
atque industria valde probabilis. At Sheridanus
ilium vincit expediendis conficiendisque rebus^
fitque, quod admodum difficile est, idem et peror-
natus et perbrevis.
Possunt profecto Oratores esse summi, qui max-
ime sunt inter se dissimiles. Quid igitur vetat quo
minus Sheridanum conferamus cum aliis quibus-
dam hominibus disertis, qui, vel ardore ei propiores
sint, vel amicitia et voluntate conjunctiores ?
Tribus illis viris, quorum a me saepe facta est
mentio, ita evenit, ut, cum suo quisque in genere
plenus Orator, et prope jam perfectus evaserit, non
tamen quisquam ex iis felix sit ab ulla laude, quae
omnibus sit communis. At Sheridanum pene dix-
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142 prjEFatio
erim, et consecutum esse, qnod eorum singulis con-
tigit, et, quod defait, ssepe eundem explere. Ete-
nim, quicquid aureo flumine eloquently fundit
Burkius: quicquid est in Northio urbanitatis et
sine molestia diligentis elegantise: quicquid Pox-
ins habet, vel subtilitatis, vel lacertorum, vel
gravis et incitatae et flexanimae orationis, id omne
Sheridanus ita complectitur, ut, qui secunda in
arte primus sit, idem iUe, de prima contendens
suo quasi jure sibi secundas vindicet. Illud adeo
prope adest ut eloquentia sua Sheridanus pres-
titerit, quod Athenienses videntur ab iis, qui tragoe-
dias facerent multum et frustra exegisse, yeywormy
yokf Kotf %Katrro9 p.epo$ ayaAm* xo^ro*, acaumv rsS
SSiou <xya$w o£i oopi riv ?Jtot wrfpdaXXcir**
Causa ilk publica contra preefectum qnendam
nuperrime dicta, quantum commendationis ad gra-
tiam et ad famam habuit? Quanta vocis et animi
contentione Sheridanus ad se auditores convertit
omnes omnium et ordinum, et setatttm, et partinm ?
Quam minim in modum, et voluptate mentes eorum
devinxit, et illuc quo res poscebat, etiam invitas im-
pulit?
Hanc utique ad causam veniebat paratissimus —
expectabatur — audiebatnr— A principio statim vidie-
batur, dignus expectations Rem illam omnem,
quae tractanda erat, tarn variam, tamque multiplkem,
et abstrusam complectebatur memoriter, et acute
cfividebat. Argumenta collocabat suo quaeque loco,
ubi plurimum efficere et valere possent*. Longa in
* Arist. Poetic, cap. 17.
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AD BELLKNDENI LIBROS.
143
oratione magnopere cavehat, ne ita aliquando aliquid
emitteret imprudenter, vel consulto et aperte praes-
taret, ut sibi ipsi non conveniret. Sermonem, pro
re nata, variabat aptisaime. Hac in parte, abun-
danter et illuminate dicebat : arctius, in ilia, et an-
gustius loquebatur, veritatemque disputando lima*
bat. Auditores suos pro arbitrio vel docebat — vel
delectabat— vel movebat. Nihil tamen unquam
propositi habere videbatur, nisi rem ut definiret : ut
robustam hominis improbitatem signis omni luce
clarioribus coargueret : ut id, quod intenderet, ex*
quisitis rationibus confirmaret Pertimescebattum
primum Scotus iste clamator audacissimus, et
quamvis loquacissimus sit, penitus obmutescebat.
Suae autem vocis bonam partem ad Sheridani rati*
ones h §€j*a adjungebat, vel quod Oratorem extra
omnem ingenii aleam positum esse peroentisceret,
vel quod crederet sic exstingui posse veterum guo-
rum famam maledictorum.
Dlo sane tempore multse erant in Sheridano, non
scurriles, sed oratoriae facetiae. Saepe erat liquid*
et fasa, nee tamen redundans et circumfluens oratio.
Vehemens eadem erat identidem, et interdum irata,
et plena justi doloris. Ea denique vis erat, is splen-
dor, ea copia et varietas, quam magnitudo illius
causae et dignitas postulabant.
Oratio ilia, sciunt omnes, quo plausu sit in Senatu
excepta: quas Sheridani ex adversariis expresserit
atque extorserit laudes: quantus inde ejus vel ad
popularitatem innoxiam honestamque, vel etiam ad
gloriam solidam et sempiternam cumulus accesserit.
Obstupescent certe posteri decies illam lectam rele-
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144 PREFATIO
gentes, eruntque iis saepe in pectore et in ore
iEschinea ilia verba paululum mutata, " Quid si ip*
sum audiissemus ?"*
Fuerit Bellum Americanum et susceptum malia
avibus et gestum. Fuerit illud in manibus to5 Scout
tanquam Kepwpala ns-jf fxa'<rn& cujus vis omnis
dirigenda sit in unius hominis caput et famam. Ci-
vium, quanquam periculo armorum liberantur, ftie-
rint tamen animi in ejusdem hominis perniciem ar-
mati. At spectatum ea, que in Senatu fiunt, ad-
missus, nemo fibram tarn corneam habet, ut risum
tenere possit Res quaedam agenda est de £ tribus
Capellis. Comitum fit concursus, strepitusque, et
clamor adolescentulorum.^ Tumultuantur, cachin-
nantur, de loco depugnant. Haec dum fiunt homo
quidam purpuratus Curiam ingreditur. Surgit con-
tinuo o feTva, triumque CapeUarum paululum imme-
mor, multa de vi et caede, multa de Syllis et Mariis,
multa de Cannis et perjuriis Punici furoris lingua
personat audacissima et manu tota. Deos homi-
nesque testatur bellum Americanum in causa fuisse,
cur Titius istas tres CapeUas a Caio furatus sit.
Belli Americani contendit Northium exstitisse
unum atque solum auctorem. Northium appellitat
fatale quoddam portentum prodigiumque Reipublicae.
Northium clamitat, illaqueatum esse omnium legum
periculis, irretitum || odio bonorum omnium, impli-
catum expectatione summi supplicii. Haec ille et
* Quintil. lib. ii. cap. S. f Vid. Prof. Taylori ad Lycurg.
t Martial, lib. vi. ep. 19. § Terent. Prol. ad Hec.
|| Cic. de Harusp. Resp. p. 411.
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AD BELLENDBN! libros. 145
ilia ejuadam farinas dum fttnditat verbis trirtissimis
ct voce maxima, obduruisse videtur, et usu ipso per-
callume incredibilis quaedam Senatus patientia. 3i*
lent interea aut clattculum subrident Northii deser-
tores et proditorea salutis, illi ipsi, qui foedissime
BeUum Amerieanum quondam cauponali sunt, qui
faces ad bellum Amerieanum sua sponte pratule-
rant fbeda* et tactuogas, qui toti et mente et animo
mstiterunt ad bellum Amerieanum.
■ Nam quae sibi quisque timebat
Unius m miseri exitiutn conversa tulere.*
Non eos fugit, in more positum esse ra> Seivaf
ut miseram et tenuem praedam sectari nolit — aprum
quippe exoptat, aut leonem de monte descendere—
quin immo multas credit sibi imagines, non solum
ad intuendum, verum etiam imitandum, clarissimo*
rum virorum expressas, a scriptoribus et Graecis et
Latinis esse relictas.
'AAV 'BpaKX&wt tpyrtv nv Jfxfff* ro^< pcylarot* hrixetpeLf
Ad laudes hasce populares aliqui ferunt illas mi*
nus notas minusque pervulgatas, quae cum litteru-
larum Graecarum scientia conjunctae shit, rh helm*
adjecisse. Quod si verum est, unura hoc reperio
farter me ipsum atque illurn amicitise vinculum
posse intercedere, quod iisdem quondam studiis de-
drti simus. Qui autem in gradu tarn excelso collo-
catur, poterit is sibi eodem jure, quo Sylla, felix vi-
deri. Moneo tamen ilium atque etiam hortor, pe
Graece si quando scribat, gyro nimis arcto Syllam
* Virg. iEn. 2. t Aristoph. Pax 751. (
VOL. III. L
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146 PRjfiFATIO
imitetur, seque "Era^goSirov * appellet. Porro, qui
Lycurgeam severitatem in Orationibus prae se tule-
rit, neque tamen integritatem in moribus Lycurgeam
expresserit, ei auctor fuerim, ut usu atque aetate se
demitigari patiatur. Discat velim a Cicerone, Ora-
torem oportere insanabiles vitare contumelias : tan-
tummodo adversarios figere, nee eos tamen semper,
nee omnes, nee omni modo :~\- aliorum denique dig-
nitati parcere, in quo ipse servaverit suam.J Discat
etiam a Quintiliano, " quae fortia inter dicendum
visa fuerint, stulta, cum laeserint, vocari." Memi-
nerit quoque et turpem et inhumanam esse ejus vo-
luptatem, qui, risus ut eliceat, "petulans esse susti-
neat, compositusque ad stomachum audientium,
bono a viro in rabulam et latratorem convertatur."
IUud autem vel in primis animo infixum habeat,
" mores dicentis ex oratione quodammodo agnosci,
neque maledicum distare a malefico, nisi occa-
sioned
Fore probe scio, ut ea mihi objiciantur, quae de ||
Fimbria scripta sunt : " babitum fuisse cum orato-
rem asperum ac maledicum, et genere toto paulo
fervidiorem: diligentia tamen et virtute animi et
vitae bonum exstitisse auctorem in senatu" — Equi-
dem illud non possum quin fatear, vehementerque
doleam, quod fide mo 8c?va auditoribus semper faciat,
quod ei Populus faveat validissime, et eloquentiam,
* Plutarch. Vit. Syll. p. 473. t Cicer. Orator, p. 169.
t DeOrat.lib.iLp. 115.
§ Vide QuintiL lib. xii. c. 9. k lib. vi, cap. 2.
II Brut. p. 143.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 147
quam semper in * numerate* ishabeat, itaadmiretur,
at, quid in eo reprehendi debeat, nunquam requirat
Quare ita factum esse existimem, si quis curiosius
elicere velit, causae sunt in promtu, nee tacendae illae
quidem, nee sine cura mihi dicendae.
Solet profecto vulgus uni alicui totum se dedere
atque addicere. Hunc, tanquam amores et delicias
suas, complexu et sinu recipit — hujus integritatem
et innocentiam summam esse,*)* jurati testificantur
omnes ad unum, licet, opinionis ejus rationem qui
reddat, nemo unus reperiatur.
Minime vero fugit Toy ScTva vulgi aures esse
qnandam % tibiam, in quam oporteat oratorem in-
flare. Hac de causa, per artes non ante vulgatas,
et populo§ canit et sibi — quod autem acroama||
Themistocles dicebat lubentissime se audire, illud
ipsum credit o hova sua voce optime decantatum,
ipse cum se admiretur, suaque de virtute palam et
gloriosius pradicet. Hinc, sive de lana rixatur ca-
prina, sive de stillicidiis declamitans iraparpaytohe?,
et coelo mare confundit, prima ut sibi fides habea-
tur, deposcit. Hinc omni, quae habetur contra vo*
luntatem ejus, oratione graviter offenditur, tanquam,
ubi laudis intempestivae blandimenta desint, ibi
semper adsit acerbitas contumeliarum. Hinc, quam
magnis unquam et divinis bonis viri praeclarissimi
eonsecuti sunt licentiam, eandem ipse se arbitrator
consecutum esse, ut contra morem et consuetudinem
chrilem asper sit in dicendo.
* Quint, lib. vi. cap. 3. et Senec. lib. ii. controv.
t Hudibtas, lib. i. line 7. t Bru*. P- 1*7*
i Ibid. p. 146. || Orat. pro Arch, p. 19a
l2
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148 PRjEFATIO
Per id ridiculum est quod dictunis sum, et pop-
ienti simile. Tantum ipse Clodius pradicat in r<£
Scant castitatiw splendorem ease, at oculos etiam snos
eo hebetari et praestringi sentiat. Aristippeum
igitur illud de voluptate, que sensibus nostris blan*
diatur, ooutemnere se ait, et experiendo abjecisse.
Nihil fatetur esse virtute formosius, nihil pulchrius,
nihil amabihus. Unum a se aliquem inventum esse
confirmat, qui aspernetur oculis pulchritudinem re*
nun, qui Buavitatem omnem auribus excludat, om-
nemque vitae suae cursum, in labore corporis atque
animi contentione conficiat,
hie pudicus, hie probus
Perambulabit astra sidos Georgium.*
Sunt ea a Clodio perbelle simulata. Ab aliis in-
terea creditur o Sewa * magis "f~ extra vitia esse,
quam cum virtutibus " Mihi vero ipsi semper vi-
sum est bac in parte moderctionem 4; Fimbriae et
prudentiam sequi. Quamobrem nihil me de mori-
bus rod Sew* illo austero more et modo judicaturum
dui, ne aut famam laederem probati hominis, si con-
tra judica9sem, aut statuisse viderer virum bonum
esse ilium, in quo multa officia multasque laudes,
quae hanc ad rem pertinerent, nonnunquam desidei
fassem. Atque idem ego baud negaverim in Foxio
«sse nonnulla, qu«e lenissimua quisque et facillimus
lepreheadere possit et subaocusare. At videtur
eum tamen ipsa natura finxisse, ad justitiam, ad in-
* Hor. Epod. 17. t Tacit, Hi»t. i. cap. 49.
X Cic. de OJRc. lib. iii. p. 586.
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AD BELUKKDEXI 1.1 BROS. 149
dfistriam, ad omnes deatqueaniicitts Tirfntes^ reique*
publics rationed, magnum hominem et cxcdsum.
Etei de ea virtutis indole, qua in rip St im inesse
dicitur, nihil a me, concertandi causa, proferri debet,
fDad tamen mihi lioere et integrum esse statuo,
at quasi subductis rationibus summam mearum de*
bac re oogitationnm etponam. Hue vero apprime
faciunt h«c e Livio desumta yerba, et interdnm a
me, sicubi res postularet mutata. Mihi igiturride-
tor o Selmty " non Yeris solum virtutibus aliquantulom
ornatns, sed arte quoque quadam ab juventa in os~
tentationem earum composites. Quare eorum, quse
de pudicitia ejus et temperantia," et in aspernandis
volnptatibus prope qnadam immaiiitate, " vnlgo fere-
bantur, nunquam ab ipso elusa fides est, quin potiud
aocta ccmsilio quodam, nee abnnendi talia, nee pa-
lam affirmandi* Alia in hoc genere rera> alia assi-*
mulata, admirationis humanae in hoc juvene excet-
serant modom, qoibus freta nuper civitas, aetati
haudquaquam maturae, tantam molem rerum per-
mrntT*
A populo, cum se rm &?*a totum permitteret, l«to
omnia magis quam prospero successu gesta sunt,
Sed non sine usu fuerit introspicere. ilia primo a»-
pectu levia, e quibus maximi saepe rerutn motus *f*
oriuntur. Suae igitur oportet felieitati cives nostri
iSud acceptum referant, minime posse ea, quae ipsi
super fecerint, ratione et modo tractari, ut quae
neque consilium in se ullum neque modum habue-
rint. Res quidem sua, cum nullam prae se ferret
* Li v. lib. xxvi. cap. 19. f Tacitus Annal. iv. par. 32.
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150 flLEFATIO
effigiem veritatis solidam expressamque, exigebant,
(quae fuit eorum sive calliditas malitiosa sive insul-
sitas singularis,) exigebant, inquam, rem adversa-
riorum ad ridiculum, si Diis placet, tanquam ad
Lydium lapidem. Minime eos crediderimus sapi-
entiae illius, quam Shaftsburius excblebat, esse con-
sulted. Fuit autem iis monstratum intus, et ab ipsa
Natura prsepotenti imperatum, ut in quo maxime
ipsi valuissent, eo ipso homines se meliores pruden-
tioresque terrerent et vulnerarent* Solet itaque
nobis saepe in mentem venire temporis illius, quo
omnes illi, qui rerum momenta non potuissent per-
pendere, oculos tamen potuissent incertos, atque
adeo animos incertiores "pictura pascere * inani"
Etenim cum Pericles staret a partibus adversis, fuit
illis integrum, aut Pausona nescio quern ad suas vo-
care, aut Bupalum, aut virum quendam " optimarunrf-
sane artium sed pessimarum partium," cujus nomen
Anglicanum, cum <wto'/J/w)tov esset, %t€$olm " Graii
vertere vocantes."
Sufficiebant profecto operi cui pares se credide-
rant. Pictas per tabellas, jocis eas quidem fcadqf&o-
%eo[x(voi? refertas, illud effecerunt, quod de Cleandro
memoratum est. Is enim Praefectum^ quendam ob
iEgypti administrationem eXoiSopijc* jca>pa»3a>?, xa\
jrapcXtwc aorov rqy oLpfflS otJ^y aSucqawra. Alia
autem ex parte non defuerunt, qui Camoenis § mi-
nacibus armati in studiosam illam juvenum cohortem
* Virg. JEn. i. t Cic. Perorat. pro C«l.
X M\. Frag, ex emend. Masson. p. 1020. edit.Gron.
§ Rolliad. scriptores.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 151
insurgerent, liberosque Iambos vi et asperitate
prorsus Hipponactea, indignabundi distringerent*
Fore tamen optandum est, ut ad ultionem potius
quam defensionem composita fiat tabula, qualem fe-
rtility (quoniam Graecas* fabellas enarrare licet,)
turn denique ab Apelle esse pictam, cum immerito
ipse, Antiphilo -f~ accusante, graviterque rege Ptolo-
maeo irascente, pene obrutus esset infamia. Sin hop
minus fiat, aliud instituendum est opus, plus in se
artis babens, neque tamen materiam ipsam superans.
His enim in rebus fieri nequit, quin "infamia sit mi-
nor vero."^ Ecquis autem ignorat virum§ ilium
egregium, qui £p>T€£VJTa>v suorum familiam ducit,
minime solere in sententiam toci Stiya pedibus ire ?
Quin idem jure optimo dicimus de aliis fere omni-
bus, qui sunt in bac nostra state, aut usu rerum,
ant ingenii acumine, aut ornamentis artium ingenu-
arum prae caeteris habiti dictique eximii. His pro*
fecto viris causa victa quantum placuerit, dici vix
potest. Nee vero superior ilia esse desiit, licet in-
feriorem qui defensitent, plures sint numero, et tan-
quam " juncto umbone Phalanges" ad depugnandum
prodeant parati.
Quae cum ita sint, quicquid est in repulsa dede-
coris facile ferunt ii, in quos convenit illud quod est
a Zenone dictum irpbs «ri *-Xi]doff rwv @€o$qouttoo
- - — -....-
* Liv.hb. xxviii.cap. 44.
f Lucian.de Calumn. Don tern, credend. par. S, 4, & 5. unde
profluxerunt pulcherrima ilia in Prsef. Warburt. in torn. iii. de
Dhr. Legat. Mos. p. 26.
J Or. Met. lib. i. § LR.Equit.
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152 PRJEFATIO
*or*p*>*.* At stadia sunt borum idcirco mis cariora
et magis honorific^ quia nee spei nee timori tribu-
untur.-f*
Nihil est sane, cur miremur grassandi in fkmam
fortunasque civium optimorum populo non defnisse
voluntatem. Impune in easdem grassandi contigisse
multitudini occasionem, id vero e) non invidemus.
Legimus enim in Euripide,
Tf irXedvt y alel voKifitoy KaOiaravai
Tov \aaaov — — ♦
De Argivis ctiam noa docuit Isocrates, on tout
ev$o§*ur mi xXowiwrarwr tcov jroXiTaw avrei awoh*
Xuou<ri9 Kai rauroL fycStrer, ovrai #«/gowiv, a>r ouScWr
a XXoi rota 7roKe(J.iou9 dnroKrcimrrf^.^
Qui autera haec tarn aperte diximus, popiili ut de
jure disputemus tantuxn abest, ut et fateamur libe-
rum esse sulfragiis stris, quid cuique relit, vel dare
vel detrahere. Atqui eundem plane et obnixe
contendimus dignos saepe negligere— saepe ea quae
pulcherrime facta sint, fastidire ||*— saepe eblandita ||
ejus esse suffragia non enucleata, ut studium in iis
ferendis, aut ira appareat, potius quam judicium.
Levis profecto si res agatiir, sapiens quiaque, etiam
quae minus laudaverit, tolerari tamen statuerit opor*
tere. In tempestatibus autem et fluctibus istis quos
nuper vidimus, impetu plena omnia et temeritate
fuerunt. Sin judicium id quivis maluerit vocare,
* Plutarcbj torn. it. p. 545. f Corn. Nep. Att. tit. cap* 6.
X Pheen. 552.
§ Orat Philipp. p. 165. edit. Basil. 1571.
|| Orat. pro Plane; p. 84j • •
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AD BELLBMDMHI LIBROS. 158
fjusraodi sane est lit ferri debewt iluH* afis decamsa*
nisi quod penitns rescindi nequeat. Invitus haec
tanquam vulnera attingo. Quae autem preterita
sunt, ni reprehendantur, corrigi et sanari nequeunt.
Ea porro omnia, quce semel* acciderunt, iteram fee
tertio accidere possunt, et quod hodie nobis minus
in integro est -J* exemplis tueri, id ipsum inter ek*
empla erit, si forte semulos X invenerit nequitia pltis
squo felix.
Queries versantur terum maximarum momenta*
prudentissimus quisque existimabit se Hon tain an*
numemre debere, quam appendere suffragia. In
mmofibus spernendis mentem solidam tecum afferet*
Elaborabit pro viriH, ut optiini cujusque studiosus
videatur, potius quam popularis. Faciles commo-
dasque aures prebebtt non nisi iis, qui moires ho-
minum intimosque se&sus per integumenta verbo*
rum et involucre cognitos habent et probe explore
tos. Novit is quidem muka, quse inter ancipitia
probata fuerint, veria mox pretiis $ aestimari. Ho-
mines novit saepe temerarios atque imperitos, falsis
rumoribus terreri, et de summis rebus consilium car
pere, et impelli ad facinus. Novit in mutations
Reipubfics, fieri posse, ut adversariorum res verbo*
sior et magis popularis sit, sua cum sit verioh
Novit denique bonestas rerum causaa |j ducere ad
exitus perniciosos, si forte populi aliena aut offensa
sit voluntas. EUec ille omnia animo agitans, respi-
* Liv. lib. xxviii. cap. 41. f Tacit. Annal. xi. cap. 24.
X Tacit. Hi8t.iv. cap. 42. } Annal. xi. par. 26;
|| Tacit. Hist. par. 83.
\
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154 PRjEFATIO
ciensque ad istos tumultus populares, dubitabit pro-
feoto, utrum pejor res * ipsa sit, an pejori facta sit
exemplo. Dolebit interea naturae humanse infirmi-
tate tardiora esse reraedia quara mala ; neque exem-
pla solere, nnde coeperint, ibi consistere.
Haec qui fecerit, in memoriam sibi illud revoca-
bit, quod est a Polybio scriptum : o hypos *m koI
rl wXcSrrw aurotf* ou yevofxevov, r&» jxcif oVo/xara>y to
koXXiotovij ToXiVcia (X€ToXin|/erai, r^v cX^ufl^ia* *al
hifxoKpariar rm §2 grpayjxaraiy to xcftpfarw, r^v o'^Xo-
^ar/ay.^ Quae autem gravissimus ille scriptor fieri
intellexit cum " mutationis in deterius principium
existeret ab honoribus per ambitionem petitis ant
negatis," ea nos vidimus facta esse in maximo et
pulcherrimo incepto.
Probe scimus esse permulta, quae dum fiunt, non
laudentur, sed cum facta sint, plurimum fructus ha-
beant. Horum in numero ponenda est lex ilia, qua?
die Rebus Asiaticis a viro quodam praeclaro rogata
fiiit, et a proceribus regni foedissime antiquata,
Equidem baud ignarus sum quam flexibiles sint ho-
minum mentes incertaeque : quantum valeant omnes
rumorum et concionum venti, quos colligere cives
populares consuescunt. Hac de causa, cum facienda
sit alicujus rei mutatio, temporum puto rationem
habendam esse, populoque esse et seen® aliqua ex
parte serviendum.
Qui autem illud reprebendunt et accusant, cur in
re tarn inusitata Foxius quidquam novi fecerit, his
* lav. lib. xxxiv. cap. 2.
t Polyb. Megal. lib. vi. p. 694. edit. Cas.
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AD BELLENDEKI LIB EOS. 155
ego respondendum esse statno Canuleii verbis.
Nullane res nova institoi debet, et quae nondum
facta sunt, (multa enim nondum facta sunt in hac
nova Asiaticorum civitate) ea, ne si utilia quidem
sint, fieri oportet ?w*
At enim quo tandem jure lex ea innisa est ? Ni-
mirum eo quod Jupiter ipse sanxit, ut omnia quae
salutaria reipublicae essent, justa et legitima babe-
rentur.-f* Neque enim nunc primum patriae salu-
tern aut Brutus aut Cassius legem sanctissimam et
morem optimum J judicavit. Est autem bominis
pudentis cupidique officio satisfaciendi, ut consilium
sequatur periculosum, magis, dum se Optimo cuique
probarit, quam tutum, quod babere possit minus
commodi et plus opinionis. Natura quidem ita
comparatum est, ut qui apud Multitudinem sua
causa loquuntur, gratiosi sint ; cum adversis auribus
accipiatur, quicquid a sapientibus viris dictum fue-
rit. Itaque in ilia conversione rerum non recusan-
dum fuit, quin magna datetur occasio improbioris
famae. Qui autem contra periculosas bominum
Asiaticorum opes et potentiam tunc temporis provi-
debant, eosdem certo scio civium communi et com-
modo consuluisse et glorias. Et vero licet illis di-
cere cum Claudio,^ nullum factum dictumve suum
contra utilitatem publicam, etsi quaedam contra vo-
luntatem, referri posse."
Qui verbi invidia contumeliaque maledicti Foxium
obruere volunt, ii clamitant majestatis fiiisse populi
* Lib. lib. iv. cap. 4. f Cic Philippic, xi. p. 529.
t Ibid. $ Lir. lib. vi. cap. 40.
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\G/Q PUSFATIO
^nglicani prohibere injuriam, nequerpati cujusquam
cegnum * per scelus crescere. At regem-f- ne post-
hac Foxium dixerint, nisi forte regium iis videtur in
Senatu sentire libere: non modo homini nemini,
sed ne partibus quidem ullis, fracto animo et de-
misso servire; populi utilitati magis consulere,
quam ad arbitrinm ejusdem totum se fingere et ac-
commodate : potentioribus prave consiliantibus non
cedere: projects eorum et effrasnatae audaciae fortiter
obsistere*
Sed si qui sunt, quibus injuria^ illi Senatui illate,
parvi sestimandae videantur, monendi sunt ii, quod
parva istaj non contemnendo, majores nostri hanc
rem maximam fecerint.
Non est hujusce loci opinionea eorum excutere,
qui pertimescere se dicerent* ne forte praerogativa
regia labefactaretur. Scepe eofc putabam, qui tantas
de hac re tfagtediaa g&citdrent, non tarn imprudeutia
£alli, quam invidia aliqua ei obtrectatidne impedirL
Quinetiam argumenta eorum pleraque videbantut
nobis lepore potiud elevanda, quam frangenda acri
contentions eo quod istitasmodi opiniones jam pri-
dem in hac republics, non solum tenebris vetustatis,
verum etiam luce libertatis oppress® sunt* Sed sa-
tis est superque horum caviUatofum sive ratiunculia
sive maledictis a Burkio respoftaum $ ea in senten-
tia, quam verbis conceptis et amplissimis dixit de
Qratione a Rege habita, et cui nihil a tiris rei poli-
t^cw pnidehtissimis,beqiieaddi necffce demi potest.
* S*L Bel. Jug. cap. 15. : f Cic. Orat. pro SjM. p. 88$.
X Lib. lib', vi. cap. 41. $ ,Die Luaae, Jun. 14> 1784.
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AD BELLENDENI.LIBROS. 167
Ulam sane Burkii sententiam qui atfente dilK
genterqae legerint, ferent id vel acerbissime, quod
gravi et intolerabili arrogantia nuper in Senatu nes*
cio quia Wilberforcius balbutivit ; quod est voce rov
few* importnna et scelerata iteratum ; quod homu-
loram ei temcre assentientium agrestibus et inbur
nanis auribus exceptum est valde libenten Ibi turn
impudentissima eorum haec fuerunt verba—deflores*
cere jam Burkiom, et pene ineptire, siquidem, credo,
non maneant pristina ilia eadem concinnitas, et
hctea eadem ubertas, cum eadem non deceant.
Atqui oratio ejus, annon * canesccre potius videtur,
raamqae quandam habere maturitatem et quasi se*
nectutem ? Ego vero contendere ausim, ita se rem
habere ; quod quidem aim dico, meminerint isti
damatores, velim, yipa?^* ipk SiqyeTrdai, 71J/W $
Hunccme credibile aut memorabile est, ut o Seiua
uno unquam verbo violaverit? ut bominem omnibus
litterarum ornamentis redundaatem, is cut, ut Levis*
aima dicam, multa desmt, spreverit atque irriserit.
Profecto hoc, quicquid est, vel petulantiae, vel auda-
ass, animi esse videtur poailli, et ad rixandmn pro-
dim, et ipsa malevolentia jejuni et inanis,
Quin tos, quotquot estis, qui vacuaa rip fcmc, sed
obtnsas fiurkiq aures praebetis, a me nunc demum
accipite ittud amplum et houorificum ipsius Jonsoni
tasrimonhiyn. Ita enim, crebro nobis, saepe alias au->
dieatibus, ita, inqirimusT gravissimus ille atque acer-
rimus censor dicebat " in neminem se unquam inci-
* Brut. p. 1S7. t Longin. Sect. ix.
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158 PIUEFATIO
disse, qui, vel tantam varietatem rerum et copiam,
quantam Burkius, memoria consecutus esset, vel
oratione tarn illuminate, tamque abundanter com-
plexus." Praeterea, subridens, ut moa bominis erak
{Zhwrvpoun* ?rpo<raHra<ri, neque ullam in tali amico le-
vitatem, sed ingenium ad omnia versatile signifi-
cant illud addere solebat, wne-f* rc\s uSpiagowra?
quidem posse cam Edmundo in triviis ant compitis
caedere sermones, qnin obstupescerent atque clama-
rent, ovtqs €K€?vo$" Hunccine igitor ut maledictis
ultro et impune lacessierint juvenum greges, aut in-
sulse putideque balbutientium, aut latrantium con*
tumeliose et inbumaniter ? Non sinam, non patiar,
non feram.
Posse nos in vexatissima quaestione aliqua culpa
erroris teneri lubentissime confitemur. Causam
vero illam, quae ad rationes Asiae administrandae
pertinebat, per omnes juris anfractus, omnesque
eruendae veritatis latebras, proingenii nostri modulo
exploravimus. Neque est quicquam in ilia a nobis
repertum, quod sit minus recte contrave Rempubli-
cam aut factum aut inchoatum. Felicius necne res
Asiae a rep fciva tractentur, ipse viderit. Sua, ipse
viderit, consilia fuerint, necne, ejusmodi, primo ut
aspectu speciosiora visa sint, cum aliorum essent
usu meliora. Quae autem a nobis probata est lex,
fuit eadem neque intellecta minima ex parte, neque
oculis Btrictim aspecta a plerisque eonun, qui acer-
* Iliad, vii. line 212.
t Milan. Var. Hist, lib.ix. cap. 17. et Cic. Tusc. Qunt p.
402.
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AD BELLfiNDENl LIBROS. 159
rime de ea sunt conquesti, ejusque in auctores in-
vecti sunt non arrogantia, nam id vulgare vitium
est, sed immanitate quadam nova et prorsus inau-
dita.
Non me praeterit quanta sit in Coalitionem, quod
aiunt, invidia conflata. " Sed aliud est maledicere,
aliud accusare." Hoc vero ipsum munus convici-
audi, etsi non admiratus sum, sane quam moleste *
tuli potissimum esse a rip Sciya susceptum. Neque
enim decebat, neque aetas ilia postulabat. Fatendum
est autem Juvenis disertissimi eum fuisse pudorem,
qui in tali ilium oratione versari facillime pateretur
Profecto has maledicendi partes nemo ex illis ro-
bustioribus, aut libentius ampere potuit, aut libe-
rius, fortiusquc, et magis more suo, sustinere.
Nobis sane persuasissimum est, viris illis quos
tanquam patruae linguae verberibus, et pene Censorii
styli mucrone petiverit, nihil fuisse prius antiqui-
usve, quam ut Respublica ne quid detrimenti cape-
ret. Quin causa eorum materiem satis amplam
habet, non modo ad defendendum, verum etiam ad
laudandum. 9AXX9 qfkeif oci rouro (tko?to5/x*v, rw\ $u
Nam quod objectum est de Coalitione vocibusque
improborum hominum celebratum,^ id nunquam
Foxius et Northius tarn acerbe ferent, ut eos poeni-
teat inimicitias posse deponere. Non putarunt fa-
mam inconstantiae § sibi pertimescendam, si quibus-
* Orat. pro Cad. par. 2. f Aristot. de Rep. lib. ii. cap. 9«
t Orat. pro Cael. par. 2. § Epist ad Len. 9.
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169 PILKFATIO
dam in sententiis p&ulukun ge immutassent. " Cam
perfuncta * esset Respubtica miscro fatalique bello,
non solum quid sibi expediret, sed quid deceret se
atque optimum esset, rationis ad normam exegenmt.
Belli illius vulnera existimarunt, tarn denram sanari
posse, 81 inter diversas civium voluntates distrac*
tasque sentential, fieret consensus bonorum omnium
conspirans et pene conflatus. Jecerunt, quod in se
fuit, fundamenta pacis domestical Atheniensium-
que "J* vetus renovarunt exemplum, atque diacordia-
rum memoriam omnem oblivione sempitema de-
fendant esse censuerant. Lapsi aunt, non pravitate
aliqua, sed opinione officii et specie quadam reipub-
lica. Fecerunt, quod ab iEmilio X Lepido et Fulvio
Flacco, magna cum laude olim factum fuerat. Hoc
unmn iis deesse maceror et doleo, quod exempla
Themistoclis § et Aristidis sibi ad imitandum non
proposuerint, ut respublica eos inter se, bello jam
flagrante, conciliare posset et conjungere maturius.
Cum || a darissimis riris justissimas inimicitias
seepe cum bene mentis civibus depositas esse ridis-
sem, non sum arbitrates quenquam amicum reipub-
licse, postea quam Foxii amor in Patriam perspectu*
esset, novas illi inimicitias, nulla accepta injuria, de-
ftuntiaturnm. Bed aliter res cecidit, atque opinabar.
Etenim r<S §el*a videtur neque ipsi pericuiosum, ne£
sordidum ad famam, committere ut aceusator norai-
netur. Suce insuper dignitatis esse existimat, sum*
■ *''*'» » ■ ■»■ '■ -i — « » « . i
- * Orat. pro Marcett. par. 4. f Philip, i. p. 494.
. X , Val.Max.lib.tr. ( folyeen. lib. i. 2iyxir. *
U Orat. pro Flacco, p. 371.
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AD BKLLENDEN1 LIBROS. 161
mum ad imperium, in quo versatur, naturae etiam
acerbitatem adjungere. Alii autem cum et tempo-
nun rationem habuerint, et quidem indolis suae ad
benevolentiam paulo procKvioris, " Scelus tu illud
vocas, Tubero?** Ptofecto hoc cum facis, petulan-
tisaime te affirmo injustiasimeque iis maledicere,
qui causam habent, vel, uti ego dixerim, meliorem
quam tu, vel uti tu, tuae dignitatis istos adjutores
fautoresque circumspiciens, ipse, necesse est, fatearis,
parem. Debet, mehercule, causa ilia nomine hoc
tetro atque horribili, te quidem certe auctore, penitus
vacate. Num quid subtimes, crimen hoc deponen-
darom inimicitiarum, ne ad te pertinere videatur ?
Isto libera te metu. Nemo credet unquam tantam
in te esse aut humanitatem aut animi magnitude
nem. Non est tuum ira atque odio cohibendo de
Republica bene -J* mereri. Auctoritati vero tuae
non est idcirco parendum, quia adversariis tuis op-
posuisti sanctissimum illud nomen Regis. Te enim
sociosque tuos, qui intus et in cute norunt, verbo-
nim pondus tuorum facile sustinebunt. Ad istos
cum respiciunt, liquido patebit inter tarn diversas
mentes, inter studia tarn contraria, tamque pugnan-
tes inter* se cuplditates, nullam posse concordiam
esse, quae sincera ac diuturna sit. ' Latebras, quae
tuoin animo sunt, si excutiunt et explorant, "im-
pune quaelibet facere, id demum judicabunt, Regem
csse."£
* Pro Ligario, par. iv. f Philippic ii. par. 6.
t Sail. Bell. Jugurth. par. 86.
VOL. III. M
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162 PIUEFATIO
Qui ex errore multitudinis imperitae, et insipien-
tium sermone omnino pendet, hie in viris magnis
non habendus est. Nihil* enim ipsi potest esse
certi, — nihil, quod exploratum habeat permansurum
sibi unum annum. Aliter sentiunt illi quitanquam
•tyafyayvos^ opviQe?, stabile quiddam, et fixum, et pro-
prium esse forturiam tow SeTva arbitrantur. Sed me-
cum ii recognoscant, velim, quo in statu res nostrse
sitae esse videantur, et quae sint civium diversorum
diversae in eum voluntates.
Si aut obsurdescunt cives saniores, aut paulo fas-
tidiosius subringuntur ad nomen tributi, adest nescio
quis e publicolis istis et to5 SeTva assentatoribus,
qui populum miris lenociniis permulceat et titillet.
Argumenta ejus, quibus Qeva #ci Jei ijXa?, hue fere re-
deunt.
Mi) irept\a\u>/i€v, fxrjbl irvvdayvfieda
Tl nor Spa Spay piWovirtv, AXX* aickf rp6vf
IL&pev Apx^ify vicc^&peyoi ravri fiova,
vQt rovs VTpaTivras, fiatrfkews Byres <f>l\oi,
2wcciv iicidvfioviny.
Ta $* AXX* ka<ra>' rovra K<j.y velBriaOi /«h,
'Ehbaiftovovyres, roy fiiov Sta£ere.+
Scilicet, qui ad calculos omnia exigue et exiUter
revocant, sua in divendita et addicta sententia non
erubescunt perseverare. Alii tanquam sacramento
obligati aut superstitione quadam constricti, de con-
silio, quod susceperint, diseedere nefas esse ducunt.
* Cic.de Off. lib. i. p. 501.
f Mich. Apostol. Prov. edit. Heins. p. 266.
X Aristoph. Eccles. lin. 230 and 2S9.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 163
Qnibus olim est persuasum, ubi * pars civium esset,
ibi imperii esse partem, illi ipsi in ^ contumeliam
ignominiamque certant suam, cum J crescere sibi
aiunt ex eo ipso fiduciam, quod possit in Juvenis
unius virtute tantum esse momenti. Impetus au-
temmultorum resederunt, non negligentia, sed quo-
dam consilio, si quidem fatentur se, quos fugiant,
habere ; quos sequantur, non habere. .
H6Xjlp yap op&tri wpotrrdrai<ri xpwfttvrjv
*Aei icorripois* k$v tu Jifxipav filar
XpTfffros yiyrfTai, bixa irovrjpds ylyverai.
*Eir£rp€\f>a* h-ipf; wXelov9 Ire bpaaei Kaxa*§
Transferunt alii ad to* fcjyo, quod Tacitus de
Galba || scripsit ; u fuisse ilium omnium consensu
capacem imperii, nisi imperasset." Aliorum in
mentibus, cum ilia dicendi vitiosa jactatio suos inter
plausores detonuit, tandem aliquando videtur resur-
gere verae spretaeque virtutis fortior fama.^[ Ete-
nim quae et facta sunt a ro> SeTva et dicta in eadem
trutina illi perpendunt, cognitumque jam artificem,
aliquandoque evolutum illis integumentis dissimula-
tionis suae, nudatumque perspiciunt.
Mirantur profecto et stomachantur proceres sibi
necesse esse tarn anguste sedere inter homines, qui,
nulla vel famae vel majorum commendatione, ad ho-
nores obrepserint. Per silentium vero aut^ occul-
tum murmur optimus quisque Senator excipit quos-
* Liv. lib. viii. cap. 4. f Lib. iv. cap. 4.
% Liv. xxviii. cap. 43. § Aristoph. Eccles. line 176.
H Hist. lib. i. par. 49. % Quintil. lib. xii. cap. 9.
4 Tacit. Annal. ii. cap. xxxviii.
M 2
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164 PRjEFATIO
dam suum in ordinem popularibus suflragiis nuper
allectos, idque non injuria. Sunt enim, magnam
partem, aut predones Asiae opibus superbientes,
aut viri loco infimo nati et in omni civili ratione
hospite9 ac tirones, quibus sane edicto opus est
hujuscemodi, "Bonum* Factum! Senatori novo
obviam euntes curiam monstranto." Dolent interea
qui res ponderant certo judicio, iidemque indignan-
tur, adolescentibus loquacioribus esse serviendum,
et omnes, qui videantur scire aliquid, tanquam do-
minos timeri. Veniunt quippe illis in mentem ea
quae Ephesii, cum civitate expulissent Hermodo-
rum, locuti sunt, "nemo de nobis unus excellat:
sin quis exstiterit, alio in loco, et apud alios vivat."-f-
Ad summum, fateri non reformidant, civitatis
suae saluti ipsum Allantopolam turn denique pros-
pexisse, cum vetaret ne in foro, aut in republica
gerenda ayevcioi versarentur.
Ta fxeipaxia ravA \6yu>
*A (TTWfivXelrai roiabl jcaO^/iera*
Eodos y* 6 belva, ie^tws r* ovk airedavt*
DCvvepKriKos yap k<ni, ecu icepavrtxbs,
Kai yywfWTVTriKos, jcal tra^s, jcal Kpovtmxos»%
Civium de maxima parte notissimum est, eos
rumoribus atque auditionibus permotos, de summis
saepe rebus consilia inirc, quorum eos e vestigio
poenitere necesse sit : quum incertis rumoribus ser-
viant, et plerique ad voluntatem eorum ficta respon-
* Sueton. vit. f. Caes. par. 80.
f Cic. Tusc. lib. v. p. 240. % Aristoph. Equ. 1372.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 165
deant. Inde fit, ut nihil sit illorum studiis incertius
aut obscurius, totamque eorundem opinionem parva
nonnnnquam commutet aura rumoris.* Etenim
non modo ipsi quid facturi sint, minus diligenter
cauteque perpendunt, sed ne turn quidem, cum fuerit
factum, quare ita factum sit intelligere possunt.
Itaque omnes illi, qui contagione nuper insanie-
bant, ne hodie quidem scire videntur, quo amentias
ipsi progressi sint. Qui autem pluris hominum
faniam quam Rempublicam faciunt, levi quovis mo*
mento hue et illuc impelluntur. Sed ea est horum
hominum ratio, ut, quo lenius -J- primo agant, seg-
niusque odisse incipiant, eo, cum coeperint, perse-
verantius saeviant. His de causis perbreve quid-
dam et ventosum videtur extraordinarium illud Im-
perium, quod est t© owa baud ita pridem com-
missum. Quare caveat necesse est, ne, quantulum
sit id, quod humeri ejus ferre non recusent, saepius
aequo ostendat, cum res gravissimas minus cogitate
aggrediatur. Caveat ne adolescens improvida estate
Ha se erratis fraudibusque irretiat, ut salvus esse
non possit, si sanus esse J cceperit. Caveat ne
quando <ixo0aXa>v tijv Dytjxov/ay cum Demetrio coga-
tur ^Eschyleum illud usurpare.
2v toi i* tyveras, tri hi /*€ KarafyBUiv ioKels. §
At illud nobis o o€?>a objiciet, || honorem esse
* Pro Mursen. par. 9. f Liv. lib. xli. cap. 10.
% Cicer. Tuscul. Qusest. lib. v. p. 398.
§ Vid. Plutarch, de Monarch, et iEschyli fragm. ex emend.
HeathiL || Brut p. 152.
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166 PRJEFATIO
premium virtutis, judicio studioque civium ad ali-
quern delatiim, quod si quis sententiis eorum ac
suffragiis adeptus fiierit, eum sibi et honestum et
honoratum merito videri. Haec autem ne vera esse
credam, prohibient ea, quae a Quinto Cicerone dicta
sunt, cum* propter tot tantos tamque praecipites
casus clarissimorum hominum, Marcum fratrem ab
omni contentione ac dimicatione revocaret. Pro-
hibent pessimorum virorum dignitates, qui occa-
sione aliqua, etiam volentibus suis civibus, nacti
sunt imperium. Prohibent, pleni ea de re argu-
mentis libri, plenae sapientium voces, plena exem-
plorum vetustas.
De bello Americano, acerbissime multi conque-
runtur. At vitia ejus modique unde flu^cerint, illud
vero eos habet parum sollicitos. Nimium de re
gravissima dicunt, nee tamen totum. In unum e
multis belli ejus auctoribus, quicquid in buccam
venerit, temere iracundeque effutiunt. Quod qui-
dem sibi si liceat impune facere, satis ipsi sibi vi-
dentur, quid clamitando possent, ostendisse, et civi-
um satisfecisse officio bonorum. Aliis plurimum
terroris injecit regia ilia potestas, quae in pramiis et
honoribus pessimo cuique deferendis, nimia esse
dicitur et tantum non prodiga. Sed causas rerum
earum, quae nuper acciderint, ipse cum requiro
quae verisimillimae sint, alio ex fonte mihi videtur,
quicquid est malorum, in patriam esse derivatum.
Est enim hominum quoddam genus, qui primos se
* De Orator, lib. iii. p. 124.
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AD BELLENDENI LI BROS. 167
reram omnium videri nolunt et tamen sunt * Quod
si dominandi libido tarn effiranata rh Itiva tenet :
si " lulus ille noster" quaerit impensius, " Unde suo
partus Marte triumphus eat,"")* hostes ei, quos re*
publica incolumi superet, cohors Aulica cumulatis-
sime prabebit — quare pramia si cupit avbpayaQias
Ka} x-aLTgayaQias J reportare, oro ilium obtestoique,
ut omnes irae aculeos in istos insidiatores dirigat —
hastas, velim, oratoriis yiribus lacertisque non
amentatas torqueat in flijp/a, quae, si parti ejus cre-
dendum est, delitescunt, et quidem jamdiu delites-
cunt, Kcd €v [U<ra> toG dpovov Ka) £v kukTud tou Qpww
Mancam ac debilem esse rempublicam, non is
sum qui pernegem. At contenderim tamen non
ita multos esse, qui medicas ei manus adhibere de-
beant. Quare consiliorum, quibus ea jamdudum
geritur, paulo altius repetenda est ratio ; exponen-
dumque quid potissimum agant aut agere velint ii,
quibus, vel intercesserit olim cum rip 8cim amicitia,
vel etiam nunc intercedat.
De his autem mihi cogitanti primum ante oculos
obversatur vir ille nobilis, cujus sub auspiciis omnia
quae commota fiierant, pace atque otio resederunt,
cujusque mira est, qua stat a promissis, constantia
et fides. 'Efl-fKXijfo) yap Aaitrant, c&$ eirayy€>sriKQ$ jtey,
ocJ rcXCTfougyo? 8e r£v t?ro<r^€<r6a)v.|| Sunt qui ere-
dant hunc virum fere primam fuisse mali originem,
• Terent. Eunuch, act ii. sc. 2. f Ov. Epist. Did.
\ Plutarch, de Vitios. Pud. p. 534. & Apophtheg. p. 183.
§ Revelat. cap. iv. et Orat. Comitis de C— m.
|| Plutarch, in Vit. Coriol. p. 218. & Paul. JEmilll 258.
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168 prjefatio
geminasque inter partes, (id quod de Rufino * dici-
tur,) discordiam, hoc auctore exstitisse. Calculum
illis, qui ita judicant ut meum adjiciam, haec potis-
simum me impellunt.
Qui consilium in ipso negotio capere coguntur,
modice solent titubanterque agere. Dosoni autem
ita sunt meditata et proyisa fere omnia, ita est ipse
totus fallaciis conflatus, ita ad insidiandum nocen-
dumque fl-uyKeK^oTij/AcWyf' ut, res si qua prater
spem et opinionem accident, ea, quid postulet, in-
telligere et e vestigio aggredi possit. Idoneum, quo
hoc faciat, auctorem habet ; legerat quippe in Li-
vioj: boni ducis esse, non deesse fortunae praebenti
se, et oblato casu flectere ad consilium.
Honoribus sibi inhianti, et primarium semper pe-
tenti locum, impedimento novit esse mitem illam
Laelii § sapientiam, quae ad salutem patriae peroffi-
ciose et peramanter incumbens, benevolentiam et
charitatem omnium sibi adjunxisset. Itaque adeo,
cum vir ille amabilis morte esse exstinctus, fore
Doson credebat, ipse ut in campo puro ac patenti
versari posset. Pectus continuo illud suum fecun-
dum concussit jtotum. Statuit aut dolos prseclaro
cum successu versare, aut in certain incurrere per-
niciem. Expulsis igitur omnibus, qui aut consilia
ejus rimari possent, aut ambitioni vellent acriter re-
sistere, socium sibi in republica procurandarovSeim
adjunxit.
* Claudian. in. Eutrop. lib. ii.
f Dcmosth. Olynth. I. et Theocr. Idyll. 15.
% Lib. xxviii. cap. 44. $ M. de R— m.
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AD BELLENDENI LI BROS. 169
Imperii autem inter consortes rarissima est fides,
siquidem, quae amicitias hujusmodi conglutinat uti-
litas,* eadem, temporibus paululum mutatis, aut dis-
suit illas aut plane disrumpit. Doson non modo
spe sed ipsa potentis et honorum possessione detur-
batus est. Paucis post mensibus, monitore illo at-
que adjutore, summam dignitatem o Sclva occupavit.
Per quern autem virum, ipse, cum in Senatu propter
pubertatem -f* minime posset, gratia olim creverct,
ejus ad potentiam minuendam opibus nervisque om-
nibus o §€?va usus est Scilicet in secundis Doson
voluit ita consistere ut primo £ esset proprior quam
tertio. Sed repulit ilium atque illiberaliter asper-
natus est Juvenis, qui " ferre quenquam potest nee
priorem nee parem."§ Quid ergo? fortunae ait
Doson minime se invidere et virtuti C. Syllae, qui
jactaverit inter amicos sibi in fatis fuisse yegovri
xa/o«>v aywva? ayawi$€<rQai.\\ Veterem ilium nunc
demum prae se fert morem officii, non infuscatum
malevolentia, non assuetum mendaciis, non erudi-
tum artificio simulationis vel suburbano vel etiam^f
urbano. Otia dicit sese inglorium amare, u Sylvas-
que,** et vitam quae fallere sit nescia "-f^f* In urbe
mussitat, potius quam ruri posse jam ab aliis secre-
tum illud iter reperiri.^ Qui autem boni ^ viri
(ita enim est ille a quodam honorifice dictus in Se-
* Cic. de Amic. p. 544. f Caes. de Bell. G. 1. 4. par. 20.
% Quintil. x. cap. 1. § Lucan. lib. i.
H Plutarch. Vit. Pompeii, p. 625.
f Orat. pro Plane, p. 119. ** Vid. Orat M. de L.
ft Virg.Georg. i. %% Horat. Epist 18. lib, i.
$$ Hor. Ep. 16. lib. 1.
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170 PREFATIO
natu) officiis fungiturv is ne mains sit civis, ptohi-
bent multa, quo minus vereamur.
- Minas possumus contemnere vocemque fulmineam
Thrasonici istius oratoris roG rots otyvs icoavw «"»}p-
kotos* cujus vultum3 uti Noviorum "f» istius mino-
ris, ferre posse se negat quadruplatorum genus
omne et subscriptorum. Quid enim ? truculentus X
semper incedit, teterque, et terribilis aspectu. De
supereilio autem isto quid dicendum est ? annon rei-
publicae illud quasi pignus quoddam videtur? an-
non senatus illo, tanquam Atlante coelum, innititur?
Quod si verum est omnes regendae civitatis ra-
tiones, omnia ipsius too Sciiw praeclara studia, omnem
omnium virorum Politicorum laudem atque indus-
triam latere in tutela ac prasidio hujusce unius bo-
minis, vero verius est quod ab Epicharmo dicitur,
Ik vavros £v\ov
KtW yiyrjTai.§
Profecto non desunt qui Novium existiment in
" summa feritate esse versutissimum, promtumque
ingenio ultra Barbarum."|| Quod si demserisilli aut
a-QobporriTa quanta in Bruto fuit, aut wncponjTa vere
Menippeam, aut Tpoowou <ncu6pir^ra propriam et
suam, facile ejus vel prudentiae vel fidei juris nodos
legumque aenigmata ad solvendum permiseris.
Est quaedam, inter laudes Phocionis, et Novii for-
tunam., similitudo, quatenus uterque, cum esset
* Lucian, torn, i. p. 867. t Horat, Sat. ix. lib. i.
% Orat. pro Sext. $ Epicharmua lv TpS<ri.
|l Veil. Paterc. lib. ii. cap. 181.
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AD BELLENDINI LIBROS. 171
r\yo$iav. "At Phocion * inimicum ex civibus ne-
minem afflixit, ac ne pro inimico quidem habuit, sed
quantum res postulabat : tantum ut adversus obsis-
tentes suis pro bono publico actionibus luctaretur,
horridus erat, pertinax, et implacabilis. Omnibus in
caeteris placidum se communemque et humanum
praebebat, lapsisque ferebat opem, atque periclitan-
tibus advocatus aderat adversariis." Hisce a mori-
bus Fhocionis quantum Novii vita abhorreat, nihil
attinet disputare. Sed quod contumeliose et male-
dice aiunt foturum, ut Asiae cujusdam Praefecti do
los, nequi castigare, ultra quam summum jus postu-
let, neque audire studeat, id sane, quamvis incredi-
bile esse statuerem, Phocionis tamen auctoritate
atque exemplo tueri possem, eyffaXouvrcov ydt$ tcSv
Qtkaov ot* TovijpaJ run *giyojx€ya> cwelircv, too? zpijCTOVf
^Fervido quodam et petulanti genere dicendi uti-
tur, eodemque, nee valde nitenti, nee plane horrido.
Solutos irridentium cachinnos ita commovet, ut le-
pores ejus, scurriles et prorsus veteratorios diceres.
Omnia loquitur verborum sane bonorum cursu quo-
dam incitato, itemque voce, qua ne subsellia quidem
ipsa desiderant pleniorem et grandiorem. In adver-
sariis autem lacerandis ita causidicorum § figuras ja-
culatur, ita callida et malitiosa juris interpretatione
utitur, ita furere et bacchari solet, ut saepe mirere
tarn alias res agere optimates, ut sit pene insano
inter disertos locus.
* Plut. in Vit. Phocion. p. 746. f Ibid,
t Brut. p. 142. § Sue ton. lib. viii. cap. IS.
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172 PftJEFATIO
Fuit * ei, perinde atqud aliis, fortuna pro virtuti-
bus. Didicit autem a Muciano, satis cknim esse
apud timentem, quisquis ^ . timeatur. CorporeJ;
ipse ingens, ajnmi immodicus, verbis magnificus, et
specie inanium magis quam sapientia validus, studia
ad se optimatium illexit,§ eamque adeptus est auc-
toritatem, quae homini novo pro facundia esse pos-
set. Scilicet, quae bonis Titio,|| Seioque turpissima
forent, Novium nostrum maxime decent, siquidem e
subselliis elapsus de Tribunali nunc pronuntiet, et
ex praecone actionum factus sit institor eloquentiae
senatoriae. Quam igitur in civitate gratiam dicendi
facilitate Q. Varius % consecutus est, vastus homo
atque foedus, eandem Novius intelligit, ilia ipsa fa-
cilitate, quamcunque habet, se esse in Senatu conse-
cutum —
" Ellum, confidens, cat us:
Cum faciem videas, videtur ease quantivis prett :
Tristis severitas inest in voltu, atque in verbis ** fides/*
Arrogantia in dicendo et acerbitas, habent ill®
quidem npnnunquam gravitatem. Qui autem te-
tricum quiddanj et vultuosum nunquam non con-
sectatur : qui rem quamque justissimam vel acutuiis
impedit coqdusionibus, vel attenuat affligitque im-
probulis fallaciis: qui adversarios semper conatur
conviciando atque obstrependo verberare et firan-
gere, is sane et in litigiosorum grege et sophistarum,
annumerari debet. Verba haec, quid velint, itemque
* Tacit. Hist. ii. cap. 82. f Hist- "• <*¥• ?6-
$ Annal. 12. cap. 8. k Tacit. Hist. cap. 53.
|| Juvenal. Sat. 4?. % Cic. de Orat. lib. i. p. 94.
** Ter. And.actv.sc.2.
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AD BBI4-EFDENI LIBROS. 173
alteram ab altero, quantum intersit, melius ip*e ab
Aristotele, quam a nobis audierit Anrtf yog tj ev
aymn a&ucid ciSoV r% <f#€i, kol\ 3<rriv c&iKo\kaxi* W
outgo? if €vavTioKoyiay aSiico/Aa^ia Ztrfw ipurruai
aiApcoxoi *a) tyxip&c? SoxoSeriv €?mr oi Sc oV£ij? X^iy
ri\s w ^ijftaTitr/xiv, <ro0iarai.*
At meam de se opinionem si legat Novius, etiam
atque etiam ilium hortor
M$ /foe yopyelqv KefaX^v beivolo weXApov
intorqueatrf* Quod in alios saepe usurpat, triste
atque asperum dicendi genus, illud ipsum, credo,
maxime exhorrescet in se intentatum.
" Sed si quid " dictum in se inclementius
Existimarit esse, sic existimet: sciat
Responsum, noa dictum esse, quiaj lsesit prior."
In iis9 quae sequuntur, telis ego Novium secun-
dis § petam ; imo vero ad hilaritatem illam et sua-
vitatem, qua prope jam delectantur homines, me
convertam.
Brevi fore spero, ut yigiliis senioque confectus,
curas super urbe civiles libentissime deponat, satis-
que habeat sibi licere,
— 'Ef elpiirji ye hikyetv toy (iioy
"Exov^ €raipav.\\
Senilem vero amorem si quis putat subturpe quid-
* Aristot. Soph. Elench. lib. i. cap. 11.
f Lib. ix. ep. 6. Att. J Ten prol. Eunuc.
§ Ovid. Met. lib. iii. 1. 307. || Aristoph. Pax 438.
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174 PRJEFATIO
dam esse, et tanto vitae splendori labeculam asper-
gere, " est ille quidem valde * severus." Latine non
accusatorie dico, potuisse Novium satis spectatum
probatumque civem videri, si in omni ejus vita nihil
esset magis inhonestum, quam quod cum ancillula
* senex miles" divortium non fedsset.-f*
Qui autem prima jam inde ab adolescentia, et
forensibus concertationibus et quidem bellis £ noc-
turnis, non sine gloria militavit, eundem credibile
est, accedente jam senecta, meliorem posse lenio-
remque fieri. Satietate abjecisse videbitur, quic-
quid in se corrigendum, aut § leviter inflectendum
sit. Quod dixerit, interdum, si ita rectius sit, mu-
tabit. De sententia decedet aliquando. Exorari se
et placari nonnunquam patietur. Alienum a digni-
tate sua non putabit, cum offensiones, ut semper fe-
cit, aequabilitate decernendi vitare, turn etiam bene-
volentiam velle adjungere lenitate audiendi.|| Qui-
bus horribilia istanunc minitatur, levius cum iisdem
ct urbanius aget verbis hisce Aristophaneis,
Ovk4t* &v fiy eipois &iKa<rr%v bpi/*vv, ovbk bvaicokov,
Oifik rovs Tp6irovs ye ifjicov trkkrfpoy9 &<rrep koX icpbfTOv'
•AXX' bica\6y y &y p ttou ,
Kal iroXv ye&repoy, A-
waWayevTa rrpaypdTiav.%
Parum nos movet 13 jroXuTrpaypxruircj nobilis cujus-
dam viri, cujus ego nomen sciens praetereo, ne opus
tendam ultra legem, qua, ne quis Magnatibus flagi-
* Orat. pro Cael. t Philip, ii. par. 10.
J JEn. xi. 736. § Orat. pro Muraen. par. 12.
|| Pro Muraen. p. 366. % Aristoph. Pax 348.
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AD BELLENDENI LI BROS. 175
tiam faceret contumeliamve, prudentissime cautum
est. Signis erit perfacile hominem describere, qui
odio possit vincere regem,* sermonisque adeo amari
sit, ut nee civium nee Ducum ullorum unquam
famae pepercerit. Themistoclem is cum oderit,
Aristidem tamen non amat. Quamquam justum
ipse se neque esse neque videri plus nimio cupit, ita
tamen est propositi tenax, atque aufla&jr, ut ne Py-
thium quidem oraculum de ligneis muris possit eum
a machinis et deliramentis suis unquam defleetere
aut divellere — At vero arrogantiae ille per omnem
vitae cursum tantam speciem praebuit, tantamque
in publicis muneribus pertinaciae habet opinionem,
ut ineptiae ejus atque imperia, ne iis quidem, qui
ipso amico usi sint, diu perferanda videantur.
Quid tandem est, cur se tantopere jactaret, su-
amque illam intempestivam molestamque diligen-
tiam ostentaret enumerando ras &rax£€i? a? *owa<r-
€T€CK€\>a%€9 Ka) TOO? 7T€p\ XJff}[AaT(DV XoyiVj&OV? KCl)
Xijgous/f''
In rumoribus quidem sane illis, qui famam rou
Seiva perstringunt, habet populus Anglicanus aures
hebetiores. Sed oculi sunt ejus acres et acuti in
consiliis dispiciendis, quae Miso-Themistocli unice
sunt cordi. Id adeo malum, quod ex magnis et pa-
rum fructuosis expensis nascitur, apud Anglos non
minus quam Athenienses in proverbium abiit — rh
* Horat. lib. i. Sat. vii. f Demosth. Olynth. ii.
J Mich. Apostol. Paroem. p. 240.
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176 PRJEFATIO
Ne Clodii quidem ipsius mendacia, quae regibu*
quondam esse formidini solebant, risum jam aut ad-
murmurationem auditoribus eliciunt, quippe quae
iterum et saepius conflata sunt usque ad tunicati po-
pelli fastidium.
Quatuor hosce viros, h. e. Dosona, Novium,
Miso, Themistoclem, et Clodium, dixi quare non ita
vehementer reformidandos esse statuerim. Verum
enimvero qui cuniculis et ambagibus et susurris
moliuntur omnia ; qui in ipsis penetralibus imperii
nidulos sibi ponunt, tanquam speculatores miseria-
rum omnium et discordiarum : qui consilia sua hue
atque illuc torquent et fleetunt adtempus: qui rem-
publicam aut infirmam labefactant, aut validam vi-
gentemque arrodunt: qui juvenes in pulverem et
Solem, umbratili ex vita proripientes sese tollunt
in altum, ut lapsu eosdem gravibri praecipites
agant : Eorum profecto ab insidiis nihil non exti-
mesco.
Non sum nescius a quibusdam solere dici hosce
0a<nXea>v o00aXp,ous Kai «5to, kou X&pois, kol\ ToSap *
partes too SeTva deseruisse. Vellem profecto ita se
res haberet : at non deseruerunt — at Juvenes illos,
qui amicitiae aut dignitatis causa r& SeTva favebant,
sibi, quasi cupiditatum suarum ministros, vel potes-
tatis suae satellites adjunxerunt — at modo in specu-
lis atque insidiis, ut olim relicti, modo in aciem
educti, in capite atque in cervicibus nostris restite-
runt. At quos integros cives, et viros fortes et cum
j ■ ■» ■ ■ ■ i—^— —
* Vid. Xenoph. Cyrop. lib. viii. et Aristot. de Repub. lib. iii.
cap. 16.
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AD BELLENDEM LIBROS. 177
reipublic£ salute, natura et fortuna* conjunctos
case intelligunt, eosdem volunt de custodia civitatis
com regiis inimicitiis, tun^ poptdaribus suffragiis
dejici et deturbari.
Eccum tibi Thrasybulum-f- istumavfywtrpKncouS*-
KonrqjQjv^ cujus vultum habitumque si spectas, erit
tibi ad jocandum satis bella materies. Dicendi au-
tem genus quale sit, si quaeris, nihil ei inert lima-
tum politumque, nihil sine asperitate et offensione,
nihil non incisum angulis aut anfractibus contor-
tum. His accedit lingua volubilis, ferreum os, at*
que importunum ; vox denique, quae vereor ut pe-
rinde intelligi legendo possif, atque ego ipse earn
exaudiverim. Sonat ilia quidem, ipsa natura, sub-
raucum quiddam et subagreste. Faucibus modo
strangulatur tumentibus, modo rasis asperatur.^ In
summa later um nunquam defatigatorum contentione
non solum concitata fit, feriensque aera et aures du-
riter dilaoerans, sed fracta identidem, et elisa, et in
rikao-pM subito erumpens. Vitium esse quoddam
dicit Tullius, quod nonnulli de industria consecten-
tor, rustica ut vox sit, atque antiquitatem sonet.||
At earn, quae extra modum absona atque absurda
esset, neminem vidi, Thrasybulo excepto, qui non
ant efiugere Cuperet, aut exquisitis remediis dissi-
mulare conaretur et tanquam liquido^f plasmate
emollire.
Thrasybulum qui viderit ad partes modo has,
* Orat. pro Moreen, p. 362. f Ep. S. lib. viii. ad Att.
t Theocr. Id. 15. § Quintii. lib. xi. cap. S.
|| De Oratore, lib. iii. p. 125. % Pen. Sat. 1.
VOL. III. N
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17$ PRJEFATIQ
modo illas, sese convertentem, ovic as* yvo*V iroTepoici
p,€T€'ij.* Nempe verissimum ei et apprime utile
M emmianum illud videtur praestare in republica be-
neficii^ quam maleficii esse immemorem" At
quod tandem maleficium potest unquam fieri in
ilium, cujus voluntatem solet potentior quisque aut
impellere quo velitj aut, unde yelit,- deducere?
Thrasybulo igitur salva res est* eo quod non eru-
buit^
Nonnullos ait Tullius " se vidisse, qui, oratores
evadere cum non possent, juris ad studium devenis-
sent."§ Thrasybulus autem noster hancce urbanam
ad vitam et actuosam accessit, longe aliter subducta
ratione. Nee vero mirandum est, novum sibi eum
invenisse aucupium, cum egregius magister artis in-
geniique largitor sit venter. Domi illi quamdiu ha-
bitabat, ima ad subsellia detrusus est, habitusque
etiam a vulgo, non. solum horridus incultusque
Orator, sed infans et pene insipiens. Profecto in
dicendo quid posset, ne || judices quidem satis atten-
debant, siquidem pulcbre nossent ilium in clamando
esse robustum et bene exercitatum. Hoc igitur
unura deficit prosperam ejus ad fortimam, quod,
duee cum res, quo magis in. foro diceret, confiden-
tial et vox non deessent, male tamen ei res cesse-*
runt. At vero,' quern populares sui existimabant
Leguleium, Blateronemque, et syllabarum Aucupem,
* II. v. L 85. t Sail. Bell. Jug. par. S6.
J , Terent. Adelph. act iv. sc. 5. § Orat. pro Lege Manil.
|| Divinat. in Caecil. par. 12.
^f Nonius, in fragm. Ciceron.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 179
et formularuin Cautorem merum ; ei in fatis fait, at
cam dissertissimis hominibus et ad dicendum para-
tissimis, pagnaret olim decertaretque.
Solum utique cum vertisset, (id quod saepe
factum est ab iis, qui aliquam vel poenam vel cala-
mitatem subterfugere volunt,) aliam ingressus est
viam. Legerat, credo, moris fuisse Germanis, ju-
menta* quae viderentur apud se prava atque defor-
mia, haec, quotidiana exercitatione, summi ut essent
laboris, efficere. Curavit itaque wro£uyiof$i]? &Apa>-
ro$"f- ut in se conspicerentur, cum fortitudo ea,
quae esset considerata periculorum susceptio, turn
ea patientia, quae rerum difficilium voluntaria et di-
utarna perpessione constaret.£ Merita fore sua
credebat magis expressa atque illustriora, si palam
profiteretur ;neminem in se uspiam reperturum esse,
ant segnitiem arduis in negotiis, aut in iis quae sub-
turpicula et subodiosa essent, fastidium nimis deli-
catum. Omnibus igitur omnia § annuens, potenti-
orum ad gratiam sensim arrepsit. Militiam || mox
Senatoriam, sollicitudinis illam et stomachi plenissi-
mam, secutus est. Semper habuit «fc €v uypto ytoSr-
Tat.^f Commoda enumeravit pacis, opum, poten-
tial pecuniae, vectigalium, militum, quorum quidem
omnium utilitates suo ipsius fructu metitus est.
Multorum, salva dignitate sua qualicunque, arro-
* Caesar de Bell. Gall. lib. iii.
t Mich. Apost. Cent. p. 249.
J Cicer. de Inventione, lib. ii. p. 88.
$ Catull. Epith. Jul. et-Manl. || Orat. pro Muraen. par. 5.
f Theophras. p. 25. edit. Cos.
n2
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180 ' PRiEFATIO
gantiam pertulit, difficultatem exsorbuit ; imo dixit
omnia fecitque ad arbitrium aliorum. Invicto hoc
labore et pene improbo cum potissimum inniteretur,
paulo latius dimanabat virty too ovfyxoVou * icXeo?
<ro£af orrarov. Suadere *\- Principibus quid oporteat,
multi laboris rem esse, expertus confirmat. Omnia
vero J eorum laudare honesta atque inhonesta, id
demum sibi moris esse, id e re sua, id pene ex of*
ficio confitetur. Verbis itaque suis nomen aliquod
speciosum non prsetexit. Palam et aperte cum
Marco Terentio loquitur,^ a non est nostrum aesti-
mare quern supra cseteros et quibus de causis extol-
las. Tibi summum rerum judicium Dii dedere:
nobis obsequii gloria relicta est."
Dulci jam ebrius fortuna inter principes artium
primarum, nomen profitetur suum. Liceat modo
sibi repulsam effugere et raudusculum || contrectare,
velle se ait quidvis et facere et path Quin eo us-
que levitatis progressus est, ut magni nominis in
umbra delitescere se existimet, quoties Ciceronis
verba, ab animo ea quidem Ciceronis hand parce
detorta, propositis suis pretendat, tutasque ad aures
obganniat, Sese non semper idem dicere, sed idem
semper spectare.^[
Hisce suis virtutibus quasi fastigium quoddam
imponens, preceptum illud, quod e ccdo** de-
scenderaVptobe.se tenerp et religiose servare jactat,
* JElian. Fragm. f Tacit. Hist. i. cap. 15.
J Annal. ii. cap. 38. § Annal. 1. vi. cap. 8.
|| Epist. ad Att. 8. lib. vi. f Tull. Epiit. Fam. L I 9.
** Jural. Sat 11. lin. 27.
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AD BELLENDKNI LIBROS. 181
auctius illud quidem et longe emendatius, quam e
Pythio oraculo quondam profluxisset,
riovs* NA>* ydp col rvpavvos.
Haec qui facit, is, mihi crede, intelligit se, suis
quod probabile gratumque sit, esse facturum ; ne-
que enim, cum opiniones maxime inter se discor-
dantes complectitur, non constat sibi. Prius nempe
ei cariusque nihil est, quam ut Persona, quam susti-
neat, ab incepto ad imum eadem procedat: ita ta-
men, ut rebus ipsis mutatis, sua semper penitusque
mutentur consilia, atque ojxaXws1 illud avaJjuwtXowlepi-
dissime servetur.-f*
Fortuna quid possit, quoties in hominibus omnia
audacissime incipientibus velit jocari, Thrasybulus
iste exploratum habet — illud quoque in animo ha-
bet infhtum, suam cuique mores J fortunam fingere,
et mukos posse, suo magis quam suorum civium
tempore, perpetua quadam felicitate uti. Quare
non § disputandi solum causa sed ita vivendi, voces
illas Pompeianas crebro usurpat, on r2» ^Xiov ava-
reXXovra tXcjW? $ Suo/tuyev irpo<rKwov<n.\\ Multa in-
super novit sibi peculiaria contigisse, quae ad poten-
tiam et ^txrouv $ipo9% munirent viam. Etenim
fiunam, ante collectam** quo servet Thrasybulo
* M%chy\. Prom. Vinct. line 809.
f Aristot. Poet. cap. 15. { C. Nepos in Vit. Att
} Orat. pro Muraen. par. IS.
It Plutarch in Vit. Pompeii, p. 325.
^ Plutarc. Prate, ger. Reip. p. 798.
** Dtvinat. in Cecil, par. 18.
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182 PRJEFATIO
nostro minime opus est, ut causa, in qua versetur,
vel ad commemorandum sit honesta, vel aequa ad
probandum. Earn cum ingreditur, nihil habet quod
in offensione deperdat. Ea si cadit flagitiosissime,
nihil unquam de veteribus suis ornamentis requirit.
Reliqui autem temporis spem confirmat turn max-
ime, cum, sceleratis ne periculum facessat, praeme-
tuens, ex eo quod in dicendo possit, aliquantulum
remittat, aliorumque ex invidia quicquid deonerave-
rit, id omne in se ipsum trajici patiatur.
Hoc ab uno discas licet, quales sint plerique om-
nes, quos principum amicos appellitant. Atque
hinc omnis pendet o StTra. His stipatus, contra
quam factum oportuit, rerum ad fastigia aspiravit
accessitque. Hos e latebris eorum prorepentes in
publicum comites secum eduxit : imo fortunae se
cundae jam intolerantior quasi famae suae quosdam
fautores ac participes consiliorum, Hos
Proh Curia, inversique mores,*
in conspectu Senatus Anglicani fidenter collocavit.
Ergo referees hsec nuncius ibit
Pelidae genitori : haec illi tristia facta
Degeneremque Neoptolemum narrabit.f
Quamquam ego Civilibus fiuctibus nunquam me
commisi, optimarum tamen Partium semper volui
esse et existimari ; semperque mei judicii ita fui, ut,
quod mihi ipsi videretur yerum et sequum, facerem
et sentirem, potius quam quod alii forent laudaturi.
Erunt profecto qui causam mirentur earn a nobis po-
* Horat. lib. iii. Od 5 t Virg. JEn. ii.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 183
tissimum probatam esse, quae sit a Rege et a Senatu
ipsoque Populo penitus deserta. Alii vero diffici-
lem quandam teinperantiam postulant in eo, quod
coerceri reprimique non debet, ut propemodum jus-
tioribus utamur iis, qui nos sentire quid veliinus *
prorsus vetent, quam iis, qui contumeliosum quid-
dam esse statuant dicere quid sentiamus. Sed
causa quidem certe manet eadem, neque ullo mpdo
mutabitur. Temporis autem iniquitas atque invidia
ita recessit ut quod in tempore mali fuit, minus jam
obesse possit : quod in causa boni, id demum aliqua
ex parte sit profuturum.
Illud interea non prsetermittendum est, quod per
hosce tres annos proximos, fautores rofj SeTva quo-
cunque in loco, quoscunque inter homines, convicia
vel grayissima effutierunt. Scribendi labor, est ille
quidem imperitis, et turbae pullatae quondam relictus.
Sed cum in acie quidam-f- homo nuper steterit, qui
litteras baud omnino nesciat, cumque sit, prope sub
conatu adversarii, manus erigenda, awr^gov tnanr&v:
Dixit scriptor ille " Galbam, Othonem, Vitellium,
sibi nee beneficio nee injuria esse cognitos.,?| Di-
cere debuerat, se eum esse, qui a dignitatem § suam,
a Vespasiano inchoatam, a Tito auctam, a Domi-
tiano longius provectam non abnuisset."
Est quidem causa ilia, si per se spectator, perfacilis
et explicata. Artibus autem hominum improborum
effectum est, ut ei defensionis ratio lubrica et peri*
* Tacit. Hiat. lib. vii.
t De Pol, Stat. M. Brit. A. D. 1787. \ Tacit. Hist i. 1.
§ Ibid.
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184 :pubfatio
culosa sit propositi Judicium de me quodconque
demum fiierit, modo stet illud penes sapientes ac
bonos, ei certe ferendo parem me fore inteliigo. At
cavendum est, qua possum, ab lis, qui in verba ro5
fcivo, qusecunque &v $afy, superstitione plusquam
Pythagorea obligati jurant ; qui ad novam hancce
civilem Disciplinam tanquam ad saxum * adhaeres-
cunt: qui denique aliorum sententias ant pejorem
in partem interpretantur, aut inteliigendo faciunt,
ut nihil intelligant-f* — Meminerint ii, velim, si li-
brum hunc nostrum legerhtt, et refellere se oportere
sine iracundia, et refelli sine contumacia. Studiia
porro nostris desinant maledicere, ne oVojuuxjtXi}%}v in
Rolliade olim cantati, malefacta ipsi noscant sua.
Horum igitur in suspiciones ne forte incurramus,
qualis de summa Republica sit nostra opinio, paulo
enucleatius exponendum est.
Patriae vulnera vel acerbissima et posse credide-
rim et solere ab iis infligi, qui in libertate vindi-
canda acerrimos sese profitentur: qui de civitate,
quae omnibus numeris absoluta et perfecta sit, de-
cantatas illas fabellas garriunt: qui denique Ro-
muli ex face ipsi videntur turn denique prodi*
isse, cum Platonis de ^roXirc/a magnificeanimoseque
ineptiunt Illud etiam arete et mordicus tenemus,
vim pene omnem et robur imperii esse situm in Se-
natu : cujus qui aut dignitatem clanculum minuta-
timque laeserit, aut nervos subdole et malitiose elise-
rit, in eodem is habeatur numero oporteat quo pa-
triae hostes judicati. Regio quidem nomini ut in-
fensi simus, minim quantum abest. Regia ut po-
* Acad. Qu. lib. iii. p. 291. t Terrent. Prolog, ad And*
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AD BBLLSNDjmi LIBROS. 18$
testes, qualis a legibns descripta dit, sarta tecta con^
servetur, id vero confitemur esse e re civitatis bene
constitute et bene moratae. Regi porro ipsi, si
quod rmquam signum sustulisset ad bene sperandum
de republica, et gratiam et laudem deberi vel maxi-
mam semper existimavimus. Quicquid autem pri-
vate in vita juste pieque Rex fecerat, gloriandum
semper putavimus vehementerque prffidicandum,
propterea quod principes ita sunt nati, ut eorum
mores vel boni,vel mali, publice ad civitatem perti-
neant. At vero qui et cum Cassio to* apx*vra* et
cum Bruto *px*lf omnem omnino oderunt ex animo,
eos paulo stomacbosius animadvertimus in aula nu-
perrime volitare. Quid enim ? quern fredissimis
ipsi conviciis haud ita pridem laceraverant, ab eo
raff Tvpc&vucck? 0*Xofpgo<ruiwf' #ca) £apira? petierunt
precario, cupide, instanter.
Fuerunt profecto viri, ut in temporibus illis sapi-
entes babiti, qui dicerent nibil esse tarn insigne ad
infamiam, tamque ad memoriae diuturnitatem sta-
bile, quam id, in -quo eos offendisses, qui et plum-
beas£ gerunt iras et longas manus$ habent. Quin
ab Heroicis usque temporibus eadem ducta est opi-
nio ; siquidem in Homero legimus,
KpetccwK yap fiaffikevs, tire y&aercn. kvhpi \iprji*
Etxep yap re \6\ov ye Ka\ avrrjfiap Kar air €\prjt
*AXXa ye rat fierSwurdev k\et k6tov, fypk reXiaery
*£v rHfletrtrev ioivt.ft
* Plutarch. Vit. Bruti, p. 987. t Ibid.
X Kant. P*nul. act iii. sc. 6.
§ Ovid, et Cowlei " Complaint*' sub. fin. |) Iliad, i.
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186 PRJEFATIO
Verum enimvero in hoc nostro seculo plura saepe
peccantur ab iis qui populum regemque demereri
volunt, quam ab iis qui et hunc dente Theonino
vulnerarunt, et ilium fallaciis verborumque praesti-
giis delinierunt et transversum egerunt* Nobis pro-
prium hoc et peculiare est, ut principes odiosum
ilium to (j.vrj<riKOLK€?v defugiant, seque praebeant nunc
his, nunc illis, placabiles et perbenignos et quodam-
modo 'AXAwrpwoAXottf.* Et quidni ita faciant?
Qui enim heri et nudiustertius contumaciam ab-
ruptam prae se ferebant, eosdem illos posse constat,
si res tulerit, bonam ad frugem redire : posse quic-
quid in se superbiae aut feritatis fuerit, penitus de-
ponere : posse animos suos flectere et demittere ad
obsequium deforme/^
Ii nos quidem non sumus, qui statuamus ex of-
ficio boni civis esse irpbs Kevrpa Koucr'ifav. Contra
ea ut quisque de Republica optime senserit, ita
maxime eum crediderimus reformidare dicendi diffi-
cultatem — at videtur tamen ab eo quod vel decorum
vel honestum sit minime abhorrere, si caute nosmet
ipsi timideque digitos ad fontem intendamus.
Ea nimirum conditio est rerum humanarum, ut,
qui Flavia e gente nee primus nee secundus sit,
summo in imperio possit versari. Potest etiam vis
in civium jura sensim et pedetentim ab iis inferri,
qui velint ipsum florem dignitatis refringere, qui
oderint J ingenium, qui virtuti invideant, eamque
opprimendam putent atque etiam puniendam. Po-
* Iliad, v. 831 . t Tacit. Ann. lib. iv. par. 20.
t Orat.prpL.C.Balbo.p.4?58.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 187
pulus autem qui statuerit turn denique FLec salva
esse, cum ex unius pendeant arbitrio et nutu, idem
ille, fieri non potest, quin brevis atque insolentis.
tetitiae poenas det graves ac diuturnas.*
Haec nos irpAwKi \vrc*s\ scripsimus, idque nee ro-
gatu cujusquam, nee quo potentiorum nobis gratiam,
posse conciliari existimemus. Si quis autem vitio
nobis id vertat, multis nos laudibus extulisse tres
illos viros, quibus Bellendeni opuscula dedicavimus,
plurimum ilia, quae de se ipsi possunt jure et merito
praedicare, nostram ad defensionem profecerint.
'Aprc* yap (olftai) to too ILv&oy ou, irpos rov X&yra
raKTa^oG, tea) Tcpos iravras iirawefr aurou?, cnroVrof,
Xrjjxei? *oi X°fi¥ oWoS/oop**, Toioojttcv yap c€ aKr^
Quod de viro § quodam optimo et nobilissimo,
cum dicere multa haberem, nihil tamen composite
atque honorate di*i, hac quidem in re memor fui
Antalcidae, qui, a Sophist© cuidam laudationem
Herculis recitare volenti, respondent," TiV yap auro* ,
¥r**i\\
Periniquos autem hominum malevolorum ser-
munculos, scurrilemque semidoctorum dicacitatem,
et alia omnia quae pati in veritatis cultores cadit,
despicimus et pro nihilo putamus. Ita enim nos
Dii ament, ut nulla in quempiam malignitate aut
livore inflammati sumus. Causam odimus non hcr
* Orat. Cess, in Bell. Cat. Sal.
f Epist. ad Att. 11. lib. viii.
J Plutarch, de Vitios. Pud. torn. ii. p. 5S6.
$ D. de P d. (I Plur. Lacon. Apothegm, p. 21 7.
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188 PRASFATIO
mines, quod quidem fidentissime dicimus de eo ju-
vene, in quo lubentissime confitemur virtutis et in-
genii igniculos quosdam illuxisse, cum curriculum
gloriae primum ingrederetur. Est autem inter car-
ceres et metas intervallum satis longum *a) xo'XXa
pira£o irfaa. Quin via ipsa tarn lubrica est, et
confragosa, et virgultis hie illic interclusa, ut in ea
vel progredi quisquam vel consistere sine casu ali-
quo et prolapsione vix possit. Quid est quod dissi-
mulem ea, quae sentiam ? Profecto college ilium
yidentur detraxisse de coelo atque effecisse, non ut
suorum esset omnino similis, sed ut plus aequo dis-
simllis esset sui. Ego ilium pro ejus muneris, quod
gerit, majestate et verecundia,* ne verbo quidem in-
clementiore a me appellatum vellem. Sed ea, quae
dixi, coegerunt me dicere pervicacia ejus et arrogan-
tia, coegerunt isti, quos in optimum quemque im-
mittit, aculei asperrimarum contumeliarum, coege-
runt denique male parta, male gesta, male retenta
imperia.
4i\ei bk, xoXX))v yXQffffav ix\ia$ p&rrjv
"Akwv iLKoveiv Arrep bevv elicev kok&s.
Iniqui tamen ingratique animi esset, si ea, quae
o Se?*a nuperrime fecerat, vel dissimularem silentio,
vel parce et maligne laudarem. Quod enim jura
Ecclesiae viriliter defendit, et eloquentiam suam
quasi pedissequam et ancillulam adjunxit Northii
prudentiae civili, id bono cive dignissimum videtur.
In iis autem, quae ad Asiae Praefectum spectant,
* Liv. iz. cap. 84.
f Fragra. 14k Soph. Edit. Brunck. Quod, aliter legitur in
Plutarc. de cap. ex inimic. util. p. 89.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 189
tandem aliquando resipuit, veritatique per tot diffi-
cultates eluctanti jam, et in lucem sese proferenti
manus dedit.
Vere de hoc jnvene dici potest, et ausum esse il-
ium, quae nemo * auderet prudens, et perfecisse quae
a nullo nisi felicissimo perfici possent. Quod si
animum suum disciplinis honestissimis diutius or-
nare studuisset, et civilem dignitatis concupisset
modum, quicquid tumultuando, jactitando, et mul-
titudine inescanda adipisci <f- gestiit, id ei, firmata
jam aetate, obtulissent omnes boni. Ipsum £ fieri
et gerere, est illud quidem in aliqua laude ponendum,
sed non tarn sua sponte, quam quod paucis ea state
contigit. A me tamen minime o fcTm illud audiet,
quod est a Timone, cum Alcibiaden a populo hono-
ratumvidisset, nimis contumeliose et acerbe dictum,
Euye xow ow^ofuevos « *ra»* [Uya ydip aStfa koucop
ax-curt toutois1.^ Vellem profecto juvenis noster ex*
istimasset illam honorum viam rectissimam esse,
quam ei optimi cives tritam reliquissent. Vellem
* magna cum gratia et gloria ad summam amplitu*
dinem pervenisset ascendens gradibus magistratuum,
ut pater ejus fecerat, et reliqui clariores || viri*
Blud vero, ut se habet, quern aestus quidam glo-
rias absorbuerit, ei haec verba Plutarcbi ad lectitan-
dumproponam: "Qerirep €\s$q4ol$9 oTjxai, i-qyiroXire/dv
rouy ft^y e/xxiWovra? aurojxara>? kol\ iragaXlyai? ra-
parrecrOai k<x\ jxerayoe??, tov$ he #cara0aiWra$ £k xa~
* Vel. Paterc. ii. cap. 15. t Vcl. Paterc. lib. il. cap. 7.
: Sail. Bell. Jug. par. 88. § Plutarch. Vit. Alcib. p. 199.
|| Brut. p. 152.
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190 PRJEFATIO
paoTctui]? Ka) Xoy*Vfiot> #ca9' yov%ia», xprjtrQcti re roip
irpayfHHTi perpms, #cal jrpof pj8*y XixncoXai'vcj?, are Sij
to /caXo* auro ica) pjSev aXXo rav irpaj*kmv l^ovraf
T€Xotf.*
Quoniam vero emersisse jam e vadis, et scopulos
praetervecti videmur, perfacilis nobis ostenditur re-
liquus cursus, in iis, quae ad Bellendenum spectant,
enarrandis. Gente erat Scotus. Litteris iis orna-
tus fait, eoque praeditus ingenio, ut de illo dici pos-
sit, quod in ore hominum eruditorum percrebruit de
Buchanano ov Xkotos . ^v, aXXa $>ows XkotIi]$. Fuit
a prosapia, quantum conjectura assequor, vetere
atque illustri oriundus. De vitae autem ratione
quam sibi instituerit, parum est certi quod cum lee-
toribus communicemus. Scoticorum scriptorum in
catalogo, quem^ Dempsterus confecit, dicitur Guli-
elmus Bellendenus fuisse humanitatis Professor Pa-
risiis An. Dom. 1602. Gratia plurimum valebat
apud Jacobum, uti a Scotis dicitur, Sextum, fuitque
ei Magister supplicum libellorum. Titulus autem
ille quo minus scrupulum alicui injiciat, paucula
quae ad eum explicandum faciant, lectori tanquam
per lancem saturam apponenda censemus. " libel-
lensis, Magistratus apud Siculos, qui aliis Magister
Libellorum, qui scilicet libellos supplices subditorum
excipiebat, examinabat, et de iis ad Principem refe-
rebat, in Constitut. Sicul. lib. 1. tit. 38. §. 2 " Du
Cange, Glossar. torn. % " Supplicare, libellum vel
preces principi offerre. 1. i. Cod. ut lit. pend." Vi-
* Plutarch, praecept. ger. Reip. torn. ii.p. 799.
f Vit. Scot, scrip, vol. i. p. 481. & Mackens.
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 191
cat Vocab. Jur. utr. torn. 4. " Magistri libellonim,
io inscriptione 1. an. D. de off. pref. praet. 1. un. C.
Theod. de curs. publ. erant, qui supplices libellos a
privatis oblatos tractabant. Vocantur etiam Car-
thophylacea et libellani." Vicat. torn. 3*
Sed jam supplicibus dominum lassare libellis
Define.*
Aliis gloriolae insignibus a Jacobo ornatus sit,
necne, plane nescio. Regem vero ilium et a doc-
trina fuisse baud mediocriter instructum, et docto-
rom hominum maxime studiosum, nemo est qui ig-
noret. • Effectum est igitur ejus munificentia, ut
otio perquam honesto Bellendenus Parisiis fruere-
tur. Cum in hac urbe commoraretur, aciem ingenii
nolebat hebescere ; sed, ut quam plurimis prodesset,
omni ope atque opera enitebatur. Horum itaque
trium librorum, secundum et tertium bis, primum
semel ipse prelo subjecit. Ciceronis Princeps, publi-
cam lucem vidit. Ann.Dom. 1608, sub hoc titulo " Ci-
ceronis princeps rationes et consiliabene gerendi fir-
mandique imperii : ex iis repetita, quae ex Ciceroni-
anis defluxere fontibus, in libros xvi. de statu rerum
Romanarum, qui nondum lucem acceperunt — Pari-
siis, apud Carolum Cbappelain, via amygdalina, sub
signo beatae Maris, cio iociix — w — Huic prims
Ciceronis Principis editioni praefixus est^Tractatus
de Processu et Scriptoribus rei Politic®" — Sed in
tribus de Statu libris editis 1616, eundem tenet lo-
cum, quern nos Bellendeni vestigiis fideliter insis-
tentes, ei attribuimus.
* Martial. Epigr. lib. viii. 32,
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192 pRjEfatio
Editio prima Ciceronis consulis hunc prae se fert
titulum: " Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Senatusque
Romanus. Illustratus publici observatione juris,
gravissimi usus disciplina, administrandi temperata
ratione : notatis inclinationibus temporum in Rep.
et actis rerum in Senatu: quae a Ciceroniana non-
dum edita profluxere memoria annorum dccx. con-
gesta in libros xvi. De statu rerum Romanorum:
unde jam manavit Ciceronis Princeps, dignus habi-
tus summorum lectione Principum. Ad inclytum
Serenissimumque Principem Henricum Principem
Scoriae, et Walliae. Per G. Bellendenum Magistrum
Supplicum libellorum Augusti Regis Magnse Bri-
tanniae, &c. Parisiis. Apud Joannem Corbon e
regione Ecclesiae S. Hilarii, sub signo Cordis boni,
M. dc. xii. Cum Privilegio Regis.**
Extrait du privilege du Roy.
Tres-expresses inhibitions & deffences sont faites k tous,
d'imprimer ou exposer en vente le livre intitule Ciceronis Con-
sul, Senator, Senatusque Romanus, per Gulielmum Bellende-
num, Magistrum Supplicum libellorum Augusti Regis Magus
Britanniae, durant le temps & espace de six ans, kcommencer du
jour qu'il sera acheve* d'imprimer: si ce n'e6toit de l'expresse
permission & consentement dudit Bellenden. A peine de con-
fiscation des livres, dommages & interests, & d'amende arbi-
traire ; comme plus amplement est declare & contenu ausdites
lettres du pmilege du 5. Juillet, Tan de grace mil six cens
douze.
Par le Roy en son Conseil.
Signe* Ds Vabres.
Je soubs signe* ay permis & permets a Jean Corbon Mar-
chand Libraire jur£ en ceste ville de Paris, de faire imprimer &
exposer en vente le livre intitule' Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Se-
natusque Romanus, par moy faict, k de jouyr & user pleinement
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 193
da benefice du privilege a moy sur ce octroyl par le Roy le 5.
do present mois. Faict soubs mon signe le 14 Iuillet 1612.
u Hi duo libri in nomine apparuerunt Serenissimi
Principw Henrici." Editio secunda vulgata est
Ann. Dom. 1616. eique additus est liber de Statu
prisci orbis, qui quidem anno proximo superiore
typis mandatus fuerat, Caroloque Principi, fratris
Henrici superstiti, dicatus.
Quamquam ab ineptiis eorum, qui fluctus in sira-
pulo excitant, semper animus meus abhorruit, expe-
dienda est tamen quaestio subdifficilis de tempore,
quo Liber de Stat. pr. Or. primum e scriniis Beilen-
deni sit emissus. In titulo trium de Statu librorum,
quos constat a Bellendeno fuisse editos Ann. Doia.
1616. dicitur liber ille " nunc primum editus." Ex-
emplar autem opens hujusce, quod in Museo Bri-
tannico asservatur, suo in titulo habet Ann. 1615.
Anni porro ejusdem nota legitur in fine Dedica-
tions, quae, in tribus de Statu libris anno proxime
sequenti editis, tractatum de Processu rei Politics
subsequitur. Littera etiam numeralis extrema I. in
fine tutuli trium librorum videtur a typographo ad-
dita esse, postquam litterae numerates m. dc. xv. fu-
issent excuse. Ita certe se rem habere confirmo in
omnibus, quae viderim, exemplaribus. Bellendenum
itaque consilia sua sic instituisse crediderim. Li-
ber de Statu Prisci Orbis ad umbilicum perductus
est 1615, et pauca exemplaria sparsim a scriptore,
vel amicis suis vel forte viris quibusdam primariis
dono data sunt. Complura autem exemplaria, quae
faerant eodem tempore excusa,consulto premebantur
a Bellendeno pauculos in menses ; idque, ea mente,
VOL. III. o
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194 pr^sfatjo
ut iis adderentur duo libri de Principe et Consule,
atque adeo justum opus de Statu uno volumine con-
ficeretur*
In libro de Statu Prisci Orbis, turn eo, cujus ex-
emplar in Museo Brit, reperitur, turn eo, qui in li-
bris de Statu primura tenet locum, idem est pagina-
rum numerus, et eadem prope operis forma, nisi
quod tractatus de processu Rei Politic®, quern hie
praefixum habet, illi oranino deest.
His de causis librum de Statu Pr. Or. bis editum
esse dixerim, siquidem ea, quam primam yocaverim
editionem, alium pra? se fert titulum, et aliud, uti
aiunt, privilegium Regium proprium ac suum, quod
est Bellendeno, ni fallor/concessum, postquam ei
jus datum erat librorum de Statu trium edendorum.
In libro de Statu Prisci Orbis, qui prodiit ann.
Dom. 1615, titulus hie legitur :
" Gulielmi Bellendeni Magistri Supplicum Libel-
lorum Augusti Regis Magnae Britanniae, &c. de
Statu Prisci Orbis in Religione, RePolitica,&Litte*
ris, liber unus. Ad Serenissimum Principem Carolum
Principem Scotiae et Walliae. Parisiis, apud Her-
veum de Mesnil, via S. Joannis Lateranensis, sub
signo Bellerophontis Coronati. m. dc. xv. cum pri-
vilegio Regis.'*
Far lettres du grand Beau du 1 Juin 1615, defenses sont
faictes h. tous d'imprimer ou vendre, soit pour le tout ou partie,
les livres intitulez G. Bellendeni, &c. de statu libri tares; Ton
desquels est celuy De statu Prisci Orbis, &c. durant le temps
de six ans: si ce n'est du consentement dudict Bellenden;
& peine de confiscation des livres dommages & interests &
d' amande arbitraire : comme il est plus amplement declare* par
lesdites lettres signe*es Le Liepure, et en queue d'Amboise.
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AD BELLENDEHI LIBROS. 195
Iibrorum a nobis editorum titulus ita sc habet,
"Gulielmi Bellendeni Magistri Suppiicum Libel-
lorum Augnsti Regis Magnae Britannise, &c. de
Statu libri tres. 1. De Statu Prisci Orbis in Reli-
gione, Re Politica, et Litteris. 2. Ciceronis Prin-
ceps, sive de Statu Principis et Imperii. 3, Cicero-
nis Consul, Senator, Senatusque Romanus, sive de
Statu Reip. et Urbis iinperantis Orbi. Primus*
nunc primum editus: caeteri, cum tractu dePro-
cessu et Scriptoribus Rei Politicte, ab auctore aucti
et illustrati. Paxisiis, apud Herveum du Mesnil,
via S. Joannis Lateranensis, sub signo Bellerophontis
Coronati* M. dc. xvi. cum privilegio Regis.
Extrait du Privilege da Roy.
Tres expresses inhibitions & deffenses soot faictes, & tout,
d'imprimer ou exposer en vente, soit pour le tout ou partie les
tivres intitulez Gulielmi Bellendeni magistri suppiicum libello-
rum August! Regis Magnae BritannUe, De Statu libri tres : le
premier, De Statu Prisci Orbis : le second, Ciceronis Princeps,
shre de Statu Principis : le troiaiesme, Ciceronis Consul, Sena-
tor, Senatusque Romanus, sive de Statu Reip. & Urbis impe-
rantis Orbi, durant le temps & espace de six ans, k commencer
du jour que lesdicts livres seront achevez d'imprimer ; si ce
n'estoit de 1'expresse permission & consentement dudict Bellen-
den. a peine de confiscation des livree, dommages & interests,
k d'amende arbitraire : comme plus amplement est declare &
contena aux lettres du privilege du premier Juin, Tan de grace
mil six cens douze.
tar le Roy en son Conseil.
Signe* Lb Lxipure.
Et signl en que D'Amboisb.
o2
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19<J PltflBFATIO
, Testimonium quoddam hisce de libris e Bauero
excerpsimus. " Bellendeni (Guil.) Ciceronis Con-
sul, Senator, Senatusque Roman us de Statu li-
bri 3,; videlicet, 1. de Statu Prisci Orbis in Religione,
Re Politica, et Litteri$. 2. Ciceronis Princeps, s. de
Statu Principis et Imperii. 3. Ciceronis Consul,
Senator, &c. libri rari. Widekind. p. 363." Tom.
5. Baueri Biblioth. lib. rar. univ. sive Tom. 1. Sup-
plem. Fuit ea Bibliotheca Norinbergae edita in
quat. vol. a Johanne Jacobo Bauero ann, Dom,
1770. De hisce autem libris Bellendeni protulit in
ea Bauerus ocft£ ypu. Secutum est Supplementum
ann. Dom. 1774, duobus voluminibus, quorum e
primo verba superiora hausimus.
Saxius in praeclaro illo suo Onomastico sic scri-
bit. "Ann. Dom. 1612. Gulielmus Bellendenus,
gente Scotus, Philologus, et Archaeologus, hoc anno
ipsi debebatur Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Senatus-
que Romanus, Parisiis, 8. et de tribus luminibus
Romanorum liber Parisiis, 1633. fol. Vid. F. G.
Freytag. Analecta Litteraria, p. 81. — David Cle-
ment Bibliotheque curieuse, torn. 3. pp. 71, 72.
(50)— 52)w torn. 4. p. 224.
Manca atque imperfecta sunt et Baueri et Saxii
testimonia, quatenus de ordine quo libros suos Bel-
lendenus edidisset, uterque eorum parum explored
habuit. Sciant autem lectores nullam esse eorum
factam mentionem, neque a Morhofio in Poly hist or:
— neque a Fabricio in Biblioth. Latin, med. et in-
fin. aetat.— neque in Amoenitatibus Litterariis Fran-
cofurti et Lipsiae editis 1728, quarum in torn. 2do.
5to. et 8vo. fuse elegantissimeque agitur de libris
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS.
W
raris : — neque in Observationibus Litterariis Halae
Magdebergicae editis 1705, quarum in decimo vo*
lumine dissertatio de raris libris occurrit admodum
docta et dilucida. Fabricius autem in Bibliotheca
Antiquaria, p. 490, lectorem relegat ad editionem
primam Ciceronis Consulis.
In bibliotbecis tam privatis quam publicis, raris-
sima horom sunt librornm exemplaria. Cantabrigian
quae inveniri solent, haec sunt — In Bibliothec. Aulae
Clan editio princeps Ciceronis Consulis — In Bibl.
Col. Emmanuel, qua quidem, nulla uspiam est,
quod sciam, libris optimis et rarissimis magis abun-
dans, de Statu tres libri — In Bibliotheca Acade-
mica, principis editionis Ciceronis Consulis duo
exemplaria, et de Statu trium librorum exemplar
unum.
In Catalogo Bodleian o Oxonii edito 1738, pror-
sus de iisdem ailetur. Editio autem prima Cicero-
nis Principis in Bibliotheca ilia asservatur. In
Collegio Animarum Omnium unum est exemplar
trium librorum de Statu.
In Museo Britannico asservatur Bellendeni liber
de Statu prisci Orbis, quern quidem crediderim
penes Carolum primum olim fuisse.
In domestica Regis Britannici Bibliotheca, quam
sane et copia librorum et splendore vere Regiam
dixeris, neque cum Ptolemaeornm et Osymandyae
thesauris litterariis conferre dubitaveris, reperitur
unum exemplar Ciceronis Consulis.
In Bibliotheca Regia Parisiensi, No. 1346, de
juris-prudentia, unum est exemplar librorum trium
de Statu.
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198 PH^EFATIO
In Bibliothec. viri Reverendi et doctissimi C. M.
Cracherodii Mus. Brit. Curatoris asservantur lib. de
Stat. Pr. Or. et edit, princeps Cic. Cons.
Singulis trium de Statu librorum, (quod jure mi-
reris) Biblioth. Argatheliens. et Hunterian. omnino
carent.
In Catalogis Bibliopol. Londinens. qui ann.
Dom. 1787. prodierunt, duo exemplaria hujusce
libri de Statu invenimus, et inventa statim arripui-
mus.
Humfredus Sumnerus, D. D. Etonensis, homo
liberaliter eruditus, idemque ita bonus, ut non alius
quisquam ait melior, dixit mihi se edit. Princ. Cic.
Cons, reperisse inter libros quos sibi legasset pater
suus Johannes Sumnerus, S. T. P. Gracis Latinisque
litterisvir absolute doctus.
Rarissimum ilium de Cicerone Principe librum
G. Shuckburgius hand ita grandi pecunia nuper
emit de Egertono Bibliopola Londinensi. Audive~
ram forte fortuna de versione hujus libelli Angli-
cana, quae asservaretur in Bibliotheca doctissimi
Theologi E. Apthorpii, D. D. Amicus autem qui-
dam meus, qui libri illius inspiciendi copiam a Re-
verendo viro impetraverat, in Epistolis ad me datis,
ita eum descripsit. " Forma, quam duodecimo vo-
cant, est impressus, paginisque constat 88. Caret
etiam tractatu de progressu Rei Politicae qui fuerat
Ciceroni Principi ab ipso scriptore praefixus." Ver-
sionis hujusce titulum (in quo nomen Bellendeni,
consulto, an casu prstermissum sit, nescio) itemque
dedicationem lectoribus mels apponendam puto,
simul ut rem paucis cognitam in medium proferam:
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AD BELLENDBNI LIBROS. 199
simul at ostendam, quo in pretio fuerit inter majores
nostras hoc ipsnm Bellendeni opus
cicero's prince,
the reasons and counsels
for settlement and good government
of a kingdom,
collected out of
cicero* 8 works.
By T. R. Esq.
London :
Printed for S. Mkarne, Bookbinder to the Kings Most Excel-
lent Majesty, and are to be sold at his house in Little Bri-
tain, 1668.
To His
Grace the Duke of
Monmouth
and
Baccleugh, &c.
This piece was once a jewel (wrapt up in Latine)
in the cabinet of the renowned Prince Henry, and
composed by an excellent artist out of the rich
mines of that famous statesman and orator M. Tul-
lius Cicero. It hath in it maximes, which void of
stains, and flaws of Machlavillian interest, are raised
only upon principles of honor and vertue, which
best become a Prince. In the discourse, they are
directed to a Sovereign, but may be of no less use
to any great person, whose birth or quality may
render him capable of derivative authority, in the
management of affairs of state, and what is honora-
ble and becoming a Prince, must needs be so in his
Ministers, "who should be his imitators. Your
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200 PRiBFAHO
graces qualifications and years may reasonably ex-
pect ere long to be called to imployment, in which
your care and good conduct of your self may satisfie
the expectation of the world, and divert the cen-
sures of a malicious age, which your grace prevents
by considering your station, and that though your
years are but few, yet great men as they are planted
near the Prince, ought to be (like trees on rich
ground) sooner ripe for affairs than other of meaner
condition, which cannot be without an early appli-
cation of themselves to some serious thoughts of
business, either in the practice and observation of
present transactions, or by reading what hath been
done in the world before them ; but of this your
grace is already sensible ; so that I have selected
this for its brevity only, to lye by you as a memo-
rial to prompt you to put these maximes, in time,
into such practice as may gain you that honour and
esteem in the world, to which with a laudable ambi-
tion you ought to aspire, and render yourself ser-
viceable to your King and Country, which is in
this the sole design and most earnest desire of
Your Grace's
in all duties of a faithful
and humble servant,
T.R.
Obiter monendus est lector " regnandi praecepta
ab x\ugusto parente filio suo tradita," ad quae respex-
erit Bellendenus in Prafatione Ciceronis Principis,
Londini esse edita sub hoc Titulo : " Baa-iXucoV
A&pov9 or his Magesties instructions to his dearest
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AD BELLENDENI LIBROS. 201
Sonne, Henrie the Prince. At London, imprinted
by Richard Field, for John Norton, according to
the copie printed at Edenburg, 1603." Fnerit
quoque operas pretium lectores Bellendeni docere
de re alia, quae mihi inter legendum verisimilis vi-
deatar : numeros nempe marginales ab eo adhibitos
convenire " Ciceronis editioni Aldinse, cui Editiones
Pauli Manutii Aldi F. et Uvendelin. Argentoraten-
sis, (si Nizolio * credendum est) ad amussim res-
pondeant: Robertique aut Caroli Stephani exem-
plaria ita respondeant, ut binae Aldi aut Pauli pa-
ginae pro una deputari possint." Notissimum est
autem in editione Aldi actiones in C. Verrem sep-
tem haberi, quarum prima sit ea, quae nunc vocatur
*Divinatio in Q. Caecilium."
Libris de Statu praefigenda esse statuimus Car-
mina bina, quorum exemplar forma quartana im-
pressum in Museo Britannico asservatur.
Haud moleste feret lector candidus, si de roajore
opere Bellendeni, quod de tribus luminibus Roma-
noram inchoayerat, paucula in transcursu adjiciam.
Cum in eo esset Bellendenus, ut hosce tres libros,
qui a nobis editi sunt, conficeret, Ciceronem lectita-
bat stadiose. Cujus autem scripta manu diurna
nocturnaque versaverat : cujus verba, tanquam un-
gues digitosque suos pernoscebat, cujus doctrinam
multiplicem et reconditam, animo suo omnem om-
nino complectebatur, hujus vehementiore, ut fit,
amore ilagravit, afficique se sensit majore ejusdem
admiratione. Suae igitur famae, cum intelligeret,
•
* Vid. Ftef. NizoJ.
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202 PRJBFATIO
qu&ntam segetem et materiam comparasset, ad aliud
quoddam opus, quod difficilius et splendidius esset,
accinxisse se videtur. Quae de Cicerone olim scrips
serat, ea omnia novo ordine disposuit. Plura, quae
in manu habebat, novo operi, quod de Tribus Lu-
minibus confidebat, solertissime intexuit. Supremam
vero manum quo minus librd imponeret, in lis quae ad
Senecam et Plinium spectarent, colligendis atque or*
dinandis, mors ipsius (ut a me antea dictum est) im-
pedivit. In ilia tamen, quae vulgata est, parte, nihil
reperiri potest, quod non summa sit elaboratum in-
dustria, et summo ingenio perfectum. Etenim quae
aut eleganter a Cicerone dicta, aut subtiliter excogi-
tata, sparsim in ejus operi bos legi solent, ea nobis
uno aspectu legenda Bellendenus proposuit, et in
clariore quadam luce collocavit. Hone itaque li-
brum qui lectitaverit, magnam tenebit omtiis fere
antiquitatis et exemplorum vim : magnam juris Ro-
mani civilisque Scientise cognitionem sibi compa-
rabit : magnam veluti de Thesauro quodam potent
depromere verborum exquisitissimorum tfopiam.
Ciceronis opera, qualia ab Oliveto edita essent,
Oxonienses haud ita pridem typis puldberrimis man-
dare dignati sunt, et novis quibusdam lectionibus
MSS. augere et illustrare. Fecerint autem Canta-
brigienses, quod eruditis omnibus gratisfcimum
fuerit, si Bellendeni opus, egregie illud quidem
comparatum ad Ciceronis famam conservandam at-
que etiam exornandam,prelo Academico subjecerint.
Scripsit vir * quidam tngeniosissimus et jrotajpt-
•
* Wart, super Pop. Script, torn. ii. p. 324.
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AD BELLXKDBN1 LI BROS. 303
derrare? " multa libri ejus exemplaria, cum in An-
glian* vehenda essent, naufragio perisse." Quo
quidem fato usa sunt biblia * Suesica Marci Ann.
Dom. 1637, in 8vo. excusa ; et Biblia <\> regia vel Po-
lyglotta typis Plantinianis octo voluminibus edita
Ann. Dom. 1516. Exstitisse etiam olim creduntur
orationes quaedam Jacobi Critoni,^ Scoti doctissimi,
quae "non reperinntur nisi frustatim impress®.*9
Sunt autem illae, Gabriele Naudaeo judice, mellito
eloquentiae flumine largissime tincta* ." Qui igitur
in unum fasciculum eas collegerit, et recudendas cu-
raverit, optime de viris doctis merebitur.
Fuit profecto quoddam tempus, cum in Unguis
Graecis Latinisque ediscendis Scoti plurimum opera
collocabant. Putabantur iidem perbene Latine lbqui,
et quidem $ litteratius, quam plerique Anglorum
qui illo ipso tempore in eadem Palaestra versabantur.
Horum vero in studia virorum transversa incurrebat
fortuna Reipublicae. Quicquid autem cum Musis
aliquod commercium habebat, id omne penitus con*
ticuit in temporibus parum tranquillis, interque stre-
pitum, qui subinde auditus est, armorum. Hue ao
cedit quod multi, qui in litteris existimabantur plu-
rimum posse, vel a studiis partium abhorrentes, vel
amplioris cujusdam doctrinae cupidi, vel aliis ad-
ducti causis minime inhonestis peregre ibant, neque
io patriam revertebantur. Quid est igitur, quod
miremur scripta permulta Scotorum intercidisse, ut
eoram nunc appareat nee vola nee vestigium ?
— . ...Hi . > f . . >
* Amcenitat.Litterar. torn. ii. p. 397. f Ibid. p. 398.
J Ibid. p. 404.
§ V. Morhof depura diet. Latin, edit. Mosheim, p. 42.
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204 PRiEFATIO
Optimorum illam librorum jacturam ut feramus
aliquanto levius, animus noster se convertit ad lae-
tiorem rerum faciem, quae Scotiam cuivis aspicienti
ultro se offert. Vacillarat usque ad hanc aetatem et
quidem jacuerat inter Scotos Philosophia, non modo
ilia, quae de vita et moribus agit, sed prepotens ea
et gloriosa, quae in rerum Metaphysicarum con-
templatione posita, non rivulos scientist consectatur,
sed penitissimos ipsos fontes audet aperire. Est
autem ea nuper excitata a doctissimis quibusdam
viris felicissimeque exculta, tantumque habet lumen
litterarum elegantiorum, ut de quaestionibus perob-
scuris et perdifficiiibus copiose jam ornateque scri-
bere multi soleant. Quin Philosophorum, qui
maximo acumine et subtilitate praediti suas quisque
familias olim duxerunt, eorum luminibus videtur
obstruxisse posteriorum quasi exaggerate altius
oratio.*
Difficile est sane enumerare, quot inter Scotos
Philosophi paucis ante annis exstiterint, quanta
iidem scientia fuerint, quantaque in suis studiis va-
rietate et copia. Neque eniin una in re separatim
elaborarunt, sed omnia, quaecunque poterant, vel per-
vestigatione mentis humanae, vel disserendi ratione
comprehenderunt. Horum itaque sub auspiciis doc-
trinarum illud divortium/f- quod est Socrate quon-
dam auctore factum, in desuetudinem paulatim abi-
bit, renovabiturque ilia, quae veteribus perplacuit,
dicendi et intelligendi societas. Profecto hae sunt,
artium optimarum nunc discordantium inter se et
* Brutus, p. 140. t Lib. iii. p. 126.
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AD BELLENDENI LI BROS. 205
divulsarum, nunc amice conjurantium, quasi conver-
siones. Hoc illud est, quod a Cicerone * dicitur,
" ubi perspecta vis sit rationis ejus qua causae rerum
atque exitus cognoscantur, mirum quendam omnium
tanquam consensum doctrinarum concentumque re-
periri." Hue etiam tendunt animorum illi motus
et concertationes jucundissimae ingeniorum, quibus
Scotia jam omnis in Philosophia excolenda fervet,
ut ita dicam, ac tumultuatur. Philosophis autem
ipsis consult um erit pulcherrime, cum exargutiarum
angulis et verborum angustiis, in quas diu sunt im-
meritoque conclusi, poterunt se penitus expedire:
poternnt e gyro exiguo in quendam ingentem de-
scendere immensumque campum: poterunt vires
soas explicare et excutere totas. Enimvero quic-
quid ab-illis scriptum fuerit, nulla unquam aetas de-
lebit Quam Bellendenus et Critonus experti sunt
fortunam, ilia neutiquam vel in Smithii scriptis, vel
Homii, vel Reidii, vel Beatteii, tristi clade itera-
bitur.
Laborum qui me diu constrictum tenuerunt,
eorum intercapedinem omnem impendere soleo in
libris Graecis Latinisque evolvendis. Quare veniam
mihi candidus lector facile dabit,si aut verba aut
sententias, quae mihi inter legendum arriserint, in
usus hujusce praefationis identidem transtulerim.
Qui enim Bellendeni hoc opus e tenebris eripiendum
esse statuissem, mihi ipsi statuebam id licere facere,
quod ab eo viderem multo ssepiis esse multoque
solertius factitatum.
* DeOrat. lib. Hi. p. 124.
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206 PlLSFAtlO
Loca insigniora, quae occurrerint in scriptoribus,
quorum saepe verbis disertis, ssepe totis sententiis,
ex professo usus sim, in margine esse notanda ex-
istimavi : idque ea mente feci, non ut ilia, quae lec-
titassem, pueriliter et inepte ostentarem, sed, ut
Bellendeni fidem diligentiamque sequerer, et con-
silii, quo multa laudavissein, vis omnis ac ratio pe~
nitus perspicerentttr. At si qui sunt, quibus propo-
situm illud meum minus probare possim, eorum
captiunculis et sannis occurrere a vitio propius foret,
quam a laude.
Imitatio veterum, qualis tandem esse debeat, non
est nostrum dijudicare. Suus est cuique in hac re
gustus, suum etiam judicium. Verbis fere omnibus,
modo perspicua et apta sint, in Latine scribendo lo-
cum esse crediderim. Neque enim solas phrases,
aut * sola vocabula, sed totius orationis habitus co-
lorque potissimum spectandi sunt. Habeat igitur,
per me licet, ipsa morositas aliquid turn excusa*
tionis, turn etiam laudis, in jx€X€iT)'|xa<r* concinnan-
dis. Hujusmodi autem in opusculis, arbitror parum
referre, utrum scriptores^ e quibus verba petita sint,
aurea, an argentea in aetate Linguae Latinae florue-
rint. Quicquid rei cuique, qu& tractanda sit, max*
ime conveniens fuerit, id demum mihi videtur opti-
mum. Alioruta vero, sive obscuram in verbis con*
quirendis diligentiam et jrepicqyiav, sive auritun
sensum fastidiosum et prope jcatt>£?)X6y, is sane ego
sum, qui neque acriter improbandum, neque arete
et ambitiose sequendum esse statuain. a Aurea ex
* Vide Scheller. Append.
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AD BELLENDBN1 LI BROS. 207
aetate, inquit* Cellarius, cum pauci scriptores ad
nostra tempore pervenerint, nimis pauper Latinitae
esset, si nihil approbandum sit, quod e Cicerone aut
gequali non habeamus. Altera quoque aetas, quae
argentea dicitur, subvenire nobis debet, quae non so-
lum compensate si qui libri superioria aevi interie-
runt ; sed subinde etiam, ut fieri solet successu tern-
porum nova verba, non minus eleganter tamen, et
suffiragio populi Romani formata superaddit."
Quod textum, et marginem, et alia istiusmodi
verba sine ulla prafatione, et quasi iragapuO/a, usur*
pavi, id ne bilera moveat inter eos, qui limatulum
prae cseteris et politulum habere judicium sibi vide-
antur. Sed quorsum hsec tarn seria tantula in causa?
Quia profecto nodum hisce in scirpis quserunt ho-
mines nasutuli ac maligni, ea cum ignorent, quae
Bubtiliter de his cavillationibus et erudite ab Hen-
rico Stephano disputata sunt. Rem vir ille doctus
et ingeniosus hue deduxit : " nimium *f» sane fuerint
delicatae aures, quae talia vocabula ferre non pote*
runt, quum praesertim alia desint "
Non defuturos esse scio, qui aegre ferant, me con-
junctionibus quibusdam et adverbiis apices^ subinde
affixisse. At non meum est tenuiter et Kara jx/rov
respondere ad istos loquaces subarrogantesque rixa-
» Cellarii cars posteriores, p. 93, edit. 2da.
■J- Pseudo Cicer. p. 96.
J These Rices' have been altogether omitted, partly from
their real inutility, but chiefly because, from the want of con-
sistency and uniformity in the former edition, they were mani-
festly not such as the author designed, or could have approved*
—Edit.
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208 PIUEFATIO
tores, qui in hisce quaestiunculis tricari solefit, et
Laureolam, ut dicitur, in Mustaceo quaerunt. Scrip-
tores profecto Romania quid in hoc genere, vel fe-
cerint, vel non fecerint, subturpe esset nescire.
Quare omnia, quae a Dausquio, a Schurzfleischio, a
Norisio, a Lipsio, a Schellero, a Noltenio aliisque
bene multis Orthographiae,* ut ita dicam, auctoribus
disputata sunt, qua potui, diligentia maxima, legi
religique ; sed morem in hac levi re, nescio quo-
modo, fecit ipse recentiorum usus, qui sane, cum,
ex quo fonte profluxerit, haud ignarus sum, turn,
quod veterum scriptorum exemplo careat, non ita
valde laboro.
Latinis Graeca yerba si miscui, sciat lector me id
fecisse, non quo sermonem fore concinniorem intei-
ligerem, nedum quod difficile et mirum illud puta-
rem, quod contingere cuipiam posset, qui litteras
hasce modo a limine salutasset. Rem quam in
animo habebam, saepe acu tangere ea, quae legeram,
videbantur. Saepe sperabam posse me, quae a Graecis
elegantissime scripta essent, non, tanquam purpureos
pannos, orationi meae assuere, sed, veluti tesserulas
in emblemate veriniculato ^ sententiis Latinis inse-
rere, quae eas distinguerent et illuminarent. An
vero dubitamus, quin lectoribus Graeee scientibus,
Graeca verba qualia in scriptoribus suis reperiantur,
Latine iisdem conversis gratiora sint futura ?
Num quis miratur, quid causae fuerit, quare ju-
veni cuidam preclaro Graecum nomen imposuerim?
* V. Longus. F. Caper. Qu. T. Scaurus, &c. vid. Putsch.
Gram. A. A.
f Cicer. de Orat. lib.iii. p. 133.
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AD BELLENDIN1 LI BROS. 209
Equidem in hac re secutus sum exeraplum Nicolai
Heinsii, qui in Epistolis ad Gronovium scriptis.Ge-
vartium, qnem contumeliae causa nominatum aperte
noHet, to* Scim vocitabat.
Jam vero illud absit, ut quivis suspicetur, me in
iis, quae vel de meo depromserim, vel a Bellendeno
scripta ediderim, velle ad populum provocare. Nul-
1ns sane dubito placiturum esse vacuis et eruditis
anrihus Bellendeni opus : quod tamen, committere
nolim, ut manibus unquam sordescat eorum, qui in
rebus quotidianis et vernaculis garrulain suae in*
fantiae disciplinam produnt, " Volsceque et Osce fa-
bulantur, cum Latine nesciant."
Animo equidem toto ad illud connisus sum, ut
Bellendeni fama radices ageret altissime. Quamo-
brem, ea si disseminetur, quam latissime possit, in-
ter homines harum deliciarum studiosos, non solum
officio meo ipse cumulatissime satisfecisse, verum
etiam voti mei esse mihi videbor omnino compos.
Molem hujusce Voluminis auget Praefatio ita ta-
men, ut emtoribus in re pecuniaria non sit oneri.
Ne cogitaveram quidem de ea scribenda, antequam
inter me et Typograpbum convenerat de omnibus
operis imprimendi instruments, de Figuris jEneis,
atque adeo de pretio quod imponi libro deberet.
Sub finem Octobris, quicquid de Bellendeno com-
pertum habueram chartis meis illevi. Aure vero
jam turn fervebam vaporata^; a libris bisce legendis,
siquidem multa in illis uberrime et gravissime de
* Vid. Barman. SyUog. vol. iii. pp. 138 & 18S.
t Titinius in Quinto. t Pen. Sat. 1.
VOL. III. P
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210 PREFATIO AD BBLLENDBNI MBROS.
rebus Politicis disputentur. Plurima autem, iit in*
inter seribendum fit, ad Rempublicam nostram per-
tinentia in mentem venerunt, quae temperare mihi
non potui, quin stylo signarem. Ita accidit, ut, qui
institui coepisset urceus, tandem aliquando amphora
exierit. Recte, an secus, fecerim, cum aleae plenum
periculosae argumentum consulto tractarem, mea pa-
rum refert, dum Bellendenus, veluti quodam postli-
minii jure, in civitatem reatituatur.
Vale L. B. et hosce nostros in Bellendeno edendo
labores, qui te delectare quidem, aut etiam tibi pro-
desse possint, aequi boni consulas.
Dabam Londini Calend. Maii,
A. D. 1787.
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MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS
OH
POLITICS, JURISPRUDENCE, MORALS,'
AND RELIGION;
INTERSPERSED WITH CHARACTERS,
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The following " Remarks/9 thus abruptly introduced, and
stripped of the circumstances which led to them, are taken
from a pamphlet published by Dr. Parr, in a private contro-
versy; soon after the occurrence of the Birmingham'riots. The
occasion which gave rise to the controversy was entirely of a
local and personal nature, and long since forgotten ; but the
"Remarks" which, in his usual excursive manner, were inci-
dentally thrown in, seemed to the Editors worthy of preservation.
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MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS
OH
POLITICS, JURISPRUDENCE, MORALS, Sec.
In the purity * of my conversation, in the regu-
larity of myjnorals, in the diligent and conscien-
tious discharge of my professional. duties, and in a
steady attachment to the Established Religion of
my Country, I will not yield the palm of superiority
to any Clergyman now living, however exalted may
be his rank, however distinguished may be his tar
lents, and however applauded may be his orthodoxy.
Whether or no the course of my reading, and the
habits of my thinking, may have led me to more
correct notions, and to a more ardent love of civil
sad religious freedom,^ than some men are sup-
* For all the egotisms which follow, I can offer the candid
reader no other plea than that of self-defence ; and upon the
validity of that plea he may determine as he goes on. In the
mean time, I shall say, with old Plutarch, bplprrus: ktrrlv, hr
hroXoyobpevot rovro iroiys wpos AmfMXqv 4 Jcanjyopfa*.— See
vol. ii. page 540. edit. Xyland.
t "The liberty," say I with Mr. Burke, the only liberty, " I
mean, is a liberty connected with order, and that not only
exists with order and virtue, but cannot at all exist without
them. It inheres in good and steady government, as in its
substance and vital principle.'* — Burke's Appeal, page 35.
" To be possessed"' as Mr. Burke elsewhere says, "it must
be limited; but it is a good to be improved, not an evil to be
lessened.-' It is not- only a private blessing of the first order,
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214 ON POLITICS,
posed to entertain, is a question which I will not
discuss in the extent to which I might carry such a
discussion without insincerity and without impro-
priety. But my principles, I am sure, will never
endanger the Church ; my studies, I hope, are such
as do not disgrace it ; and my actions, I can say
with confidence, have uniformly tended to preserve
it from open, and from what I conceived to be un-
just, attacks.
When my beloved and respected friend Dr. John
Jebb, was conducting a petition "for a relief from
subscription,* I was no stranger to the splendid ta-
lents and exemplary virtues which distinguished
many of his associates. I was no enemy to that ac-
tive and impartial spirit of enquiry, which had led
other men into opinions far bolder than my own.
But I refused to act with Dr. Jebb, because his plan
grasped at too much in too short a time, and because
I had been informed of a more temperate scheme,
trhich was to have been laid before Archbishop Corn-
wallis by two ecclesiastical dignitaries, who have'
since been deservedly raised to the episcopal bench.
. Upon all reformations, whether civil or ecclesi-
astical, I look not only to the wishes and to the ar-
guments of individuals, but to the collective wisdom
of the legislature.
. In the earlier part of my life I thought the Test
but the vital spring and energy of the state itself, which has
just so much life and vigour as there is liberty in it." These
two passages occur in pages 57 and 58 of Mr. Burke's
« Thoughts on the Cause of the present Discontents;" and
they, are very judiciously quoted in page 92 of Sir Brooke
ffoothby's very candid pnd sensible Letter to Mr, fiurk#.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 215
Act oppressive ; but in the year 1782 I very care-
fully and very seriously re-examined the subject,
and changed my opinion. In 1790 I strenuously
opposed the attempt to procure a repeal ; and y
I cannot help indulging the comfortable hope, that
in the progress of intellectual and moral improve-
ment religious animosities will at last subside, and
that the restraints for which I have contended, and
do now contend, will no longer be thought neces-
sary for the public safety, by the heads of that
Church, which I have never deserted, and by the
members of that Legislature, which I have never dis-
obeyed.
In the mean time, I think it my duty to distin-
guish between the private and the public charac-
ters, between the literary merits and the political
singularities, between the substantial virtues and the
occasional indecorums of those persons who may
not agree with me in my religious creed ; and, per-
haps, if the same distinctions were now and then
made by greater and wiser men than myself, the
general tranquillity of the kingdom would not be
less permanently secured, and the noblest interests
of virtue would be promoted more effectually. From
the indignation, therefore, which I felt at the beha-
viour of one person in respect to Dr. Priestley's let-
ters, let no man infer (for without uncharitableness,
and without injustice no man living can infer,) that
I am an advocate for latitudinarianism in the Church,
or a confederate with republicans * in the state.
* My political creed lies in a short compass, and I will tell
it to the reader in better words than my own ;
Tots pkv iXeudepia ytyviadu pera fiaaikiicrjs- &pxys, rots ik
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216 ON POLITICS, -
There are in this kingdom men of no mean con-
sideration for ability and rank, men whom I tho-
roughly know, and sincerely regard, and by whom
I am myself neither unknown, nor, I would hope,
unregarded. These men, I believe, are not accus-
tomed to charge me with any overweening fondness
for sects, or any blind confidence in the leaders of
sects. They are aware, that with great constitu-
tional, warmth of. temper I unite those habits of
discrimination which gradually teach men to be im-
partial in opinion, to be temperate in action, and to
accommodate the results of abstract speculations to
the real state of man. Sometimes they may give
me the praise of a little sagacity for discerning a
greater or a less portion of bigotry, in every quarter
where I see any excess of zeal upon points of doubt-
ful evidence, and, perhaps, of utility, more doubtful.
But. they have much oftener seen me assailed
with good humoured raillery, for some wayward
propensities towards the sternness of Toryism, when
I resisted the vicious refinements of theory, and
condemned all immoderate ardour for sudden and
sweeping innovations, of which I neither perceive
the immediate necessity, nor can calculate the dis-
tant consequences. They know that I ascribe' the
dpx4 virev&vvos (iavikiKi), he<nco£6vr*>v vdpur r&p re AXAwv to-
Xtr&v Kal twv /3aff*\cW aitrmvi &v re vapavoftov wpcfarfOTK.—
Platon. Epist. viii. p. S55. vol. iii. edit. Serran.
Such, if I have read to any purpose, is the spirit of the
English constitution, and such too the very letter of the Eng-
lish law. " Rex,'' says Bracton, « sub Deo et lege. Rex ^a-
bct superiorem Deum, item legem, per quam factus est rex,"
&c— Lib. ii. cap. 16.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 217
most intelligible part of man's equality, and the
best security for man's rights, to the wise regulations
of society;* that I applaud one antient philosopher -J-
for the preference he gives to the geometrical pro-
portion adopted by Lycurgus over the arithmetical
which Solon,! perhaps by compulsion, employed ;
and that I concur with another great writer,^ in
commending those political institutions, where both
of these proportions are occasionally introduced, and
judiciously attempered. — They know that reverenc-
ing even the wilder eccentricities || of a passion for
* I do not intend to say, that all the rights of men derive
their origin from society, but that, in a well-regulated society,
their natural rights are recognized, preserved, defined, and in-
vigorated. In such a society, therefore, I would readily allow,
with M. Mirabeau, that " obligatory law is only, and can only
be, the -faithful expression of natural right clothed with the
sanction of the public consent,** — Mirab. on Lettres de Cachet,
▼oL i. p. 190.
t '0 yap AvKovpyos r^y aptdfiriTiKTjv avakoylay, wr bijfwicpart-
n}> cat o^Xcjc^v oZeray, klifiaXev kx rffs Aaicchaipovos' hreiaff
yoy€ he ri)y yeuperpiKTjy, okiyapx*? trbfpoyi ral fiatriksia vo-
fi//ii| irpiirovvay* ^ fjiky yap hptdpf to \oov, If W \6yf to rar*
*liay aworifiei. — Plut. Sympos. lib. viii. quest. & p. 719. vol. ii.
edit. Xyland.
t '0 pkv oiv 26\.&y airofrjydfieyos wepl wokirelas, ws l<r&nj$
mdffiy oh voiei, Xlay Oo^ey dxkuc&s kpiQfirjrix^y teal hrifWKpari-
*ky hreiadyety dyaXoylav irr\ riff KaXffs yetffii|rp«ri}s.— Plut. de
Frat Amor. p. 484.
$ A<o Set, rd fiey dpidfit/rucii ItrortfTi xpfjeQai, ra ik rjj rar*
Quay. — Arist. de Repub. lib. v. cap. 4. p. 387. vol. ii.
The reader will not confound my meaning with Mr, Burke's
strictures (p. 269 of the Reflections) upon the geometrical
distribution and arithmetical arrangement of France.
II " Grand swelling sentiments of liberty, I am sure, I do not
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218 ON POLITICS,
liberty, I never would break down the fences of sub-
ordination, and that, detesting priestcraft and king*
craft, under all disguises whatsoever, and for all
purposes whatsoever, I would sooner perish than
lend my assistance to the abolition of priests and
kings. — Qualify, say I, and improve ; and, if there
be real occasion, restrain ; but, destroy not. Anti-
cipate change by well-timed and well-proportioned
regulation ; but provoke it not by superfluous and
precarious experiment.* Drive not away with a
frown even the visionary reformer, give the tribute
of a hearing to the speculative recluse, but act not,
till your plan of action has received its last and best
stamp of merit from the approbation of men whom
practice in public affairs has not made callous to the
public weal. Do not give either good men the in-
clination to subvert tumultuously, or bad men the
power to undermine insidiously, what may be safely
despise. They warm the heart, enlarge and liberalize our
minds, they animate our courage in a time of conflict." —
Burke's Reflections, p. 360. See also p. 17 of his Appeal.
* " It is good also," says Bacon, " not to try experiments in
states, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility be evi-
dent; and well to beware that it be the reformation that
draweth on the change, and not the desire of change that pre-
tendeth the reformation."
They who complain of wise saws, and of what Cicero calls
ignavae rationes, in Bacon's Essay upon Innovation, would do
well to look for a clearer and steadier light in Sir Matthew
Hale's Considerations, " touching the Amendments or Altera-
tion of Laws." Upon all great subjects of policy and law, this
great man, as was justly said of him in the House of Lords by
another great man now living, " is no barren authority."
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 219
and advantageously preserved.* Do not let loose
the multitude to put forth their own enormous and
irresistible strength, in vindication both of their own
ideal and actual rights. Let governors be parties,
and indeed leaders, in the improvement of govern*
ment — let parliamentary wisdom and parliamentary
authority be employed in parliamentary reform, not
merely for the honour of parliament, but in con-
formity to the sober judgment, and the solid in-
terests of the people, for whom, and by whom, parlia-
ment subsists. Sooner or later this must be done,
and this being done well, few things will remain un-
done, which ought to be done at albf*
* " I would not exclude alteration neither ; but even when
I changed, it should be to preserve/' &c. p. 363 of Reflections.
And again : " A disposition to preserve, and an ability to im-
prove, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.
Every thing else is vulgar in the conception, and perilous in
the execution." — Page 233.
t " Were both the progressive reward of well-directed in-
dustry, and that which is obtained at the termination of its en-
deavours, much inferior to their usual amount, one powerful
reason would still remain to impel mankind to the pursuit of
every attainable object, and to make them aspire after every
apparent improvement of their actual condition, whatever it
may be j
— < Omnia fatis
In pejus mere, ac retro sublapsa referri,
Ni vis humana' —
The silent course of time is continually taking away from that
which we possess, and from the high perfection of whatever
we have cultivated and refined. Nothing ever stands still. If
progress is not made, we must decline from the good, state
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220. ON POLITICS, '
Nam sichabetote, magistratibus, iisque qui pr&sunt,
contineri rempublicam, et ex eorum compositione
quod cuj usque reipublicae genus sit, intelligi. Quae
res, quum sapienter moderateque constituta sit a
majoribus nostris, etsi magna quaedam et praeclara,
at non multa tamen, habeo quae putem novanda in
legibus, — Vid. Cic. Fragm. p. 590, vol. ii. edit.
Grater.
But why should I shroud my meaning in dark
and dastardly generalities ? . Some well-considered
plan for a reform in Parliament, with a just atten-
tion, to every species of property, personal and real,
and with little or no change in the circumstance of
duration — the removal of every ensnaring ambi-
guity, and every oppressive partiality, on the subject
of libels— the revisal of the poor laws, the tithe
laws, and the excise laws— the mitigation of the pe-
nal code — the regulation, but not the suppression,
of the ecclesiastical courts — the regulation, or the
suppression, of every corrupt and imperious corpo-
ration— the establishment of a more vigorous police
— and, above all, a more serious attention of the le-
gislature to the cause of education, both for the pre-
vention of crimes, and the improvement of virtue —
already attained, and as it is scarcely ever in our power to re-
place the waste of time and of chance, in those very respects
in which they have impaired our condition, we ought to endea-
vour to compensate those inevitable losses by acquisition of
other advantages, and augmentations of good; especially of
those which the same course of things brings forward to our
view, and seems to present to us, as the object of reasonable
desire.*'— Dunbar's Essay on the Criterion of civilized Manners.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 221
these are the objects, which I have most at heart.
Ashamed I am not of avowing them, because they
loosen . no one ancient bulwark, because they leave
the crown, the peerage, and the church, nothing to
fear, and because they give to the nation at large
much indeed to hope. ..In the progress of political
knowledge, the Tories, as well as the Whigs, of this
Country, may claim their share of improvement,
and the result is, that each party has gradually re-
treated from those violent extremes, to which their
respective principles may be supposed to tend, di-
rectly or indirectly. Indeed, I have myself the
pleasure of knowing some enlightened Tbries who
concur with me in thinking, that by the temporary
union, or even by the generous emulation, of states-
men, in giving effect to the measures just now men-
tioned, our constitution would be preserved and in-
vigorated. But they, who comprehend all the rea-
sons which occur to men of reflection for going thus
fer, are not entirely ignorant of first principles, and,
by not venturing to go farther, they shew, that their
prudence is not oppressed by theory, nor their loy-
alty warped by patriotism.
In respect to France, I distinguish with the acute,
the humane, and the elegant Mr. Dupont, between
the necessity of the French Revolution, and the pro-
ceedings of the National Assembly. Upon many of
those proceedings I am at a loss to decide, because
I hear such violent and contradictory reports about
the characters of the agents, and the motives of
their actions. . In reality, the opportunities for in-
formation in this country are too scanty, and its
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222 ON POLITICS,
channels are too impure, for the wisest men to de-
termine on the justice of many detached measures :
and in France the time has been far too short to as-
certain their utility. But upon the more prominent
features of the new government, an Englishman may
now be permitted to speak with less hazard of error,
and less offence to decorum.
Xeiv6s elpi, mc&retvov ^tc^wv
¥6yov. Pind. Nem. 7.
For my part, then, I see much to lament, and
much to condemn, in the ungracious act of wrench-
ing from the crown the splendid prerogative of
making war and peace, in the hopeless wreck of no-
bility,* in the withered humours of the dignified
* Recollecting the heroes and patriots, whose names adorned
the history of France, I was shocked to find their descendants
involved in the same sentence with those upstarts, by whom
peerage itself was disgraced in proportion as peers were multi-
plied. I must, however, confess that a calm and well-informed
observer convinced me, after much discussion, that upon the
close of the late government, and even after introduction of
the present, no distinction could /be immediately made with
safety. Yet I most anxiously hope that, upon the first return
of tranquillity, and even among the first conditions of recon-
ciliation, it may be proposed, that the old peers be restored to
a part of their antient dignity, that, like the old Cortes of Cas-
tile, they may appear personally, or, like the Scotch peers*
they may sit by representation, in the National Assembly, and,
above all, that they may collectively constitute a supreme
court of judicature similar to that of the Lords in this country.
History, I am sure, does not record, nor can imagination easily
conceive, a tribunal with rules of decision so equitable and
oooiprehensive, with sources of information bo pure andso ample,
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 228
ecclesiastics, in the tumultuous electioh of prelates
by their clergy, in the shattered fortunes of the
exiles, and in that decree, which ravished from pri-
mogeniture all its salutary, as well as all its noxious
privileges, instantaneously and indiscriminately. At
the same time, more and greater subjects, not of
blame, but of commendation, rise to my view, in
some of the attempts that have been made to sim-
plify that intricate, uncouth, and ponderous system
of jurisprudence which clogged the decisions of pro-
perty, in the abolitions of Lettres de Cachet, in the
institution of Trial by Jury, in the mitigation of pu-
nishments, in the temporary power of controlment
wisely reserved to loyalty, in the inviolability, no
less wisely ascribed to the person of the king, in the
plenary toleration granted to religious sects, in the
respect paid to the doctrines and the ceremonies of
the national church, in the provisions established for
the more laborious orders of the clergy, in the prin-
ciples, though, perhaps, not the immediate tenden-
cies, of the measures which have been adopted for
or with such a spirit of impartiality, and such a dignity of cha-
racter, as have long distinguished our House of Peers. This
momentous circumstance deserves to be well considered by
those who, without offering any substitute for peers in their
judicial capacity, contend for the extinction of the order. But,
when the honour of nobles is treated as a visionary principle in
political theories, a plain and direct appeal to the events of
every session will crush the charge, and convince us that, in
decisions upon the property of all citizens of all classes what"
soever, the honour of the highest class is a real and most
efficient principle. •
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224 ON POLITICS,
lightening, the pressure of the public debt, and,
above all, in the spirit, though not the entire detail,
of those regulations,* which give real energy to the
* My opinion is, that the French people never were com-
pletely free. They obtained, it is true, an occasional and tem-
porary mitigation of slavery, through the contentions for power
which at various times arose between the monarchs of France
on the one ha»d, and the old noblesse and the clergy on the
other. Such too in other feudal states have been the dawnings
of liberty, where, as in France, its pure and auspicious light
was soon involved in the gloom of despotism. They who at-
tend to the hfetory of France, must know that the Commons in
that country never, possessed that effective share in legislation,
which the Commons in England have gradually acquired. The
reader will see more on this subject in Bolingbroke*s 15th
Letter upon Parties. .But while I agree with Bolingbroke
that the Commons of France, assembled under the name* of
Les Etats, never had any great weight in legislation, I main-
tain that the very act of assembling them supplied a principle
upon which they, in happier times, have founded a right to
extend their powers. It is to be lamented, indeed, that after
the administration of Richlieu and Mazarine no traces of free-
dom can be discovered in the government of France, nor does
any attempt to discover them seem to have been made by Mr.
Burke himself. Let those who think a peerage adverse to free-
dom remember that Richlieu and Mazarine completed the task
of humbling the nobility, which had been begun, and with
some interruption pursued, by former despots. I wish to see
in our own country the peerage preserved, but not to see peers
wantonly or insidiously multiplied. I wish to see them in-
vested, not with teazing and invidious privileges, but with sub-
stantial and splendid rights. Indefed, by the spirit of the Eng-
lish constitution, they are the supporters, not the creatures, of
the crown. They are legislators for the people, but not their
oppressors. They have a common interest with the people,
and an uncommon obligation to preserve it. While their du-
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 325
raflrages of the people in the uncorrupt choice of
their own representatives for the permanent preserva-
ties in public life thus assist in upholding the state, their man*
nera in private life must be allowed to adorn society. Habitu-
ally conscious of a dignity which invites respect without im-
posing submission, they seldom wound the feelings of delicate
and independent minds by the gross insolence of wealth, or by
the overbearing arrogance of station. They are placed above
those petty competitions for importance, and those petty in-
citements to tyranny, which we sometimes lament in the infe-
rior ranks of our gentry. They are not more rapacious than
other members of the community as landlords, nor more con-
tentious as neighbours, nor more immoral, I would hope, as
men. They are at once too great to be generally envied, and
not great enough to be generally feared. Such, in favour of
the English peerage, are the sentiments of a man whose imagi-
nation, I trust, is not easily dazzled by the glare of opulence,
and whose spirit, I am certain, never shrunk from the frowns
of power. From the natural progression of those causes which
diffuse industry and wealth through society, inequalities will
arise, and, having arisen, they will lead to distinctions of some
kind or other. But to me it seems that, in the circumstances
by which the peers of England are separated from other citi-
zens, and in those by which they are connected with them,
feudal institutions have been so tempered and modified by the
progress of civilization, and the diffusion of general liberty, as
to justify every impartial well-wisher of his country, in resist-
ing all attempts to facilitate the subversion of peerage. Lord
Bacon has wisely ascribed the imperfections of the Turkish
government to the want of a nobility ; and the history of our
own kingdom in the last century exhibits a striking proof that
the despotism of republicans, like the despotism of monarchs,
is more wild and more mischievous, when uncontrolled by that
power to which our forefathers were eventually indebted for
much of their freedom, and which, if properly regulated, is
more likely to preserve than to endanger our own. By the
law of the state, nobles are protected as our equals, and, by
vol. in. a
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228 ON POLITICS,
tion of their own rights. I have no doubts as to
the wisdom, or as to the justice, or as to the expe-
diency, of these alterations. There are, indeed,
some subordinate and doubtful points of reforma-
tion, about which, ingenuity has lavished conjecture,
the law of opinion, they would cease to be our superiors, if
they should ever presume to violate the established rules of
civilized life.
The manners of Europe, which form so large a part of our
Social duty and social happiness, originated chiefly among the
nobility of Europe. And even in the more improved and more
equalized state of society, numerous gradations of rank are
necessary to preserve those sentiments which soften the rug*
gedness of human character, and teach every man at once to
respect the dignity of others, and to support his own. As the
force of this sentiment is evidently weakened in the lower
classes of the community, so, perhaps, in the opposite extre-
mity, it is in some degree invigorated by the distance between
our gentry and the noblesse, and the yet wider distance be-
tween the noblesse and the crown. Refinement generally de-
scends from the higher to the lower ranks, and its progress
seems to be facilitated by the authority of illustrious example,
and by the necessity which custom imposes upon us to recog-
nize that pre-eminence, which is fixed by a known rule, and
extinguished by an appropriate name. But the habit, however
it may be formed, embraces all the objects to which opinion
has attached respect.
I doubt whether those who would destroy peerage be dis-
posed to endure monarchy in any form ; and I am sure that
they who would extend English liberty upon the principles of
the English constitution, will be careful not to drive a power-
ful order of men, upon principles of self-preservation, into such
a confederacy with the crown as may prove injurious to that
liberty. Upon the moral influence of nobility, I refer die phi-
losophical reader to Dr. Dunbar's most elegant and massedy
Essay on the hereditary genius of Nations.
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JURISPRUDENCE! &C. 227
controversy has bandied arguments, and zeal has
fulminated invectives, with little propriety and with
little effect But, when causes of greater pith and
moment are in agitation, and when their effects are
on the point of bursting upon our sight from every
quarter, I would chain up all the little busy and
fretful passions, that hurry partizans into enquiries
which have no clue, and into altercations which have
scarcely any aim. To the mighty decision of expe-
rience I leave the ultimate event; not, indeed,
without a fearful sense of the uncertainty which
impends over all the judgments and all the affairs of
men ; nor yet, without a high and animating affi-
ance, that partial evils will at last work together for
the general good, that the noblest powers of the
human mind will be called into action, and that the
public stock of human happiness will be secured and
enlarged.*
* My general opinions and general wishes upon the subject
of the French Revolution, cannot be more luminously ex-
preued than in the words of a writer whose taste, whose erudi-
tion, whose philosophical habits of thinking, and whose manly
zeal in the cause of rational freedom, have excited the admira-
tion of all Europe:
" Feliciores aliis ill! populi, qui imperio ad quamcunque tan-
dem fonnulam constitute, sed circumscripta illo, utuntur, ut
cegnantium libido coercita sit bonis legibus et instifcitis, utqud
meliora de republica, civium salute, populi juribus, per pri-
moros saltern, sparsa sint ac vulgata judicia. Atque in hac
felicitate nos quidem ita acquiescimus, ut bonis votis prose-
quamur alios populos, quos eo adhuc loco constitutes esse vo-
tait Providentia, ut libertatem, hoc est, ut justis finibus circura-
■criptum ac legibus acquis firmatum imperium curis ac consiliis,
virtute et constantia sua, consequantur."— Heyne'a Prolusio
Academica, spoken at Gottingen, 16th Sept 1789.
*2
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228 <*N POLITICS*,
But whatever may be the opinions I hold, as to
the justice of the late revolution in France, I have
ever distinguished most carefully, and ever most
earnestly intreated other men to distinguish between
the miseries formerly endured in that country, and
the blessings now diffused through our own. In
France, the government was morbid in its aspect,
morbid in its extremities, and morbid in its vitals ;
and as to a constitution, the very remains of it have
so long been mouldering in the grave, that even the
monumental records of what it was, are almost ef-
faced from the page of history ; and the philanthro-
pist vainly searches for the fatal spot, on which he
may shed a tear of pity over the sacred shade of mur-
dered freedom — I call not the shrunken and shape-
less skeleton of authority preserved in the French
parliaments, exceptions to this general observation.
But in England, we have less to fear from the ma-
lignity of any distemper which may arise in the go-
vernment, than from the unskilfulness or the rapa-
city of the physicians ; and of our constitution it
cannot be unsafe to say, that radically it is sound
and vigorous, and that hitherto it has exhibited no
very alarming symptoms of rapid decay.
The excellence of all governments, said a great
philosophical statesmen (Mr. Fox), is relative. Bat
to comprehend relations where they are numerous,
to separate them where they are complex, and to
adjust them where they are discordant, is the pro-
vince only of a few enlightened men ; and well does
it become those who may at any time undertake the
stupendous work of reformation, to explore all the
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 229
difficulties, and all the dangers which hang over it,
to purify their own minds from the polluting dregs
of vulgar prejudice, and the intoxicating vapours of
u science, falsely so called," to judge of every ques-
tion without partiality, and to proceed in every mea-
sure without precipitation. I do not, indeed, be-
lieve those who are now in power, with all their
glittering talents, and all their gallant professions, to
be such men. But such men may, at this moment,
be found in this country with little difficulty, and
with little hazard of confutation, I could point them
out by name.
O yet a nobler task awaits your hand,
(For what can war but endless war still breed?)
Till truth and right from violence be freed,
And public faith clear'd from the shameful brand
Of public fraud.
Upon the first perusal of Mr. Burke's book, I
felt, like many other men, its magic force; and,
like many other men, I was at last delivered from
the illusions which had " cheated my reason,91 and
borne me on from admiration to assent. But,
though the dazzling spell be now dissolved, I still
remember with pleasure the gay and celestial
visions, when my "mind in sweet madness was
robbed of itself." I still look back with a mixture
of pity and holy awe to the wizard himself, who,
having lately broken his wand in a start of phrensy,
has shortened the term of his sorceries; and of
drugs so potent to " bathe the spirits in delight,9*
I must still acknowledge, that many were culled
from the choicest and "most virtuous plants99 of
Paradise itself.
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230 ON POLITICS,
That the maladies of France had reached almost
the last stages of malignity, and threatened a speedy
dissolution of all government, it were folly to con-
trovert. The very act of calling the third estate, is
a proof that the paltry tricks of political cunning,
and the ordinary resources of political wisdom,
Were quite exhausted. The members of that As-
Bembly exceeded, I grant, the limits of their original
commission. But, after every hardy assertion,
and every wily misrepresentation to the contrary, it
still remains to be proved, that, by confining them-
selves within the limits of that commission, they
would have discharged all of the momentous duties
for which they were appointed, or that, being dis-
solved and sent back to their constituents in conse-
quence of their avowed inefficiency, they would
again have been summoned when invested with new
powers, and probably for new purposes. If then
the plea of necessity be admitted, as it often is, for
occasional relaxation, or occasional rigour, in the
course of administering governments, I see not
why the same plea should, in all cases, be con-
temptuously scouted in the most arduous work of
reforming them. Every great cause involves in it-
Self some properties, which cannot be yoked by the
common forms of interpretation. Every great situ-
ation is attended by circumstances too inflexible to
be controlled by the authority of precedent. Were
the representatives of the English nation commis-
sioned to introduce septennial parliaments ? No :
but novelty has thriven to the full growth of cus-
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torn, and usurpation has dropped its terrors under
the sanction of public acquiescence.
With Mr. Burke I most heartily concur, in ad-
miring the prudence and the calmness of those
illustrious statesmen who in this country conducted
die Revolution: and, in opposition to all the
fashionable complaints which have lately been
urged against them, J am persuaded, like Mr.
Burke, that, by attempting to do more, they would
have shaken the stability, and sullied the lustre of
that which they, have already done well for them-*
selves and for posterity. But the circumstances of
England and France, at the eras of their respective
revolutions, were so different, that what in the one
would have been rash, may in the other be neces*
sary. In England the throne was vacant : in
France it was full* In England the primary spring
of all public measures was to supply the vacancy :
in France the heavy pressure of the regal power
dogged the first efforts of reformation, and the ma-
chinery of the prevailing system was so complex,
that neither patriotism nor policy could any longer
regulate its motions. In England a Bill of Rights
was prepared, which provided chiefly against such
disorders as had sprung up in a few preceding
reigns : in France the evil had grown from age to
age in bulk and in strength ; it had spread through
a wider range; it had borne more baneful fruit;
the root of it struck down to Tartarus, and its top
towered almost into the skies* In England the
claims of the crown were resented as usurpations,
or dreaded a* novelties; in France they were syarr
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232 ON POLITICS,
tematized into principle, and sanctified by custom.
In England the mischiefs which more immediately-
called for a remedy endangered a good govern-
ment. In France they almost constituted a govern-
ment completely bad. In England despotism was
an excrescence, which deformed only the surface of
the state. In France it was a canker, which preyed
upon the vitals* Upon the question whether James
should be recalled or William raised to the Throne,
the opinions and attachments of men were in Eng-
land divided in proportions nearly equal. Upon
the question whether some form or other of a new
government should be planned in France, some
experiment be made, which the existing laws did not
entirely warrant, some improvements attempted,
which must wear the appearance of innovation,
there was almost one heart and voice.
All I mean to suggest by these remarks is, that
Mr. Burke has been less successful than he usually
is in his choice of an instance to illustrate his objec-
tions to the new government of France. For, in
his general opinion upon the political and moral
importance of caution and moderation^ he com-
mands my firm and most sincere assent.
While Mr. Burke contends in favour of a limited
monarchy, they who dissent from him more widely
than I do, exult in the prospect of a mitigated and,
polished democracy, veiled under the more decent
aspect of a mixed government. But with a lean-
ing, I fairly confess, in my wishes toward a more
solid substance, and a more magnificent form of
monarchy, than have lately appeared in France, £
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 233
cannot subscribe to the black catalogue of crimes
which Mr. Burke has charged upon all the motives,
and upon all the measures, of the National Assem-
bly, often without discrimination, and sometimes, I
think, without proof. The native candour of his
own mind would not permit him to include every
member of the Assembly in his calendar of villainy ;
and his exalted wisdom surely will now induce him
to confess, that in the virtues of a few there is
sometimes a latent and resistless energy to curb
the violence of the many. I have already enume-
rated some regulations, which, as a philanthropist,
Mr. Burke may survey without a pang, and which,
as a loyalist, he may without a blush commend-
But, since the publication of his two great works,
all Europe has been a witness of an awful scene, in
which the reformers of France have shaken off
every odious imputation which may have clung to
their characters as being unprincipled traitors, or
unfeeling murderers. When good men shuddered
at the possible consequences of the capture of the
French sovereign ; when, by turns, amazement
overwhelmed and pity melted the mind of every
distant spectator ; when the haughty and inexorable
advocates fot regicidal tenets shrunk on the nearer
approach of that spectre of vengeance which their
imaginations had arrayed in the robe of justice ;
then it was that the genius of France arose, and
led in its train all the virtues which adorn the citi-
zen and the man; compassion, gallantry, genero-
sity, loyalty, a sense of private honour, and a sense
of public duty. Then started up that determined
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234 on politics,
phalanx of moderate men, whose vigour and whose
wisdom arrested the impending storm; whose in-
terposition, I trust, would again uphold the state if
it should again reel with any new convulsions ; and
whose influence at this moment silently controuls
the jargon of visionary demagogues, and the machi-*
nations of factious clubs. These were men such as
the unsettled and perilous state of France required ;
men whose virtues were set in motion, and in ap-
pearance brought into being, by the shocks of em*
pires ; and who, in the midst of havock and dis-
<pder, by their authority struck down bad citizens
with awe, and by their counsels hushed the warring
elements of passion and interest into peace,
r They know the times and the seasons. They
have obtained a mastery over those petty and fro-
ward humours which fester in debate and rankle in
the closet. They soil not the purity and splendour
of genius by exposing it too often to the garish eye
of day. Disdaining to chace the caprices of public
opinion, and to catch the momentary gale of public
favour, they seize the public strength by force,
and wield the public confidence by one mighty
effort for one mighty purpose. They reverence
their country in their laws, and their king they
reverence for the sake of both. Their moderation,
ajsisted by wisdom and magnanimity, teaches them
what to suffer, what to prevent, when to forbear,
and when to interpose. Their importance, instead
of being squandered upon the fleeting occurrences
of the passing day, is hoarded up for great occa-
sions, where it may be fek as well as seen. Their
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 235
courage is not dissipated in wanton attack, but col-
lected for firm resistance. Their ambition is not
tarnished by any baser alloy of vanity. Their con-
scious rectitude looks for its reward, not in the
plaudits of a tumultuous senate, or of a giddy popu-
lace, but in the calm and approving judgment
of distant nations, and of a grateful posterity.
Happy were it for France if, between these mo*
derate men, who do honour to the new govern-
ment, and the more enlightened friends of the old,
some communication could be opened, and some
alliance effected. By mutual concession they might
reconcile the jarring claims of the contending parties.
By mutual forbearance they might heal the wounds
of their bleeding country. By uniting the influence
of all good men, collected from all parties, they
might crash the pretensions and blast the designs
of those adventurers who would deluge France with
slaughter, whether they be patriots plotting for
anarchy, or loyalists struggling for despotism. But
such an auspicious change is hardly to be expected,
while a Calonne broods over his intrigues, while a
BomH£ hurls his menaces, and while the surmises
and the reproaches of angry disputants keep asun-
der those worthy persons by whose union alone
change can be accomplished.
It is not my design, be it observed, to engage as
a professed champion in the controversy upon the
affairs of France; and, indeed, I was led in this
pamphlet to the first mention of them by personal
rather than political considerations. Had I meant
to appear as the antagonist or the advocate of Mr.
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236 ON POLITICS,
Burke, (and in any elaborate composition I must
have occasionally been both,) I should have felt it
a duty to him and to the public to explore those
mines of political and historical knowledge from
which he and his opponents have drawn their ma-
terials* Some of the books containing that know-
ledge have fallen, perhaps, within the circle of my
reading ; and some portion of the information they
contain is not wholly beyond the grasp of my
humble abilities. But I have touched, and I meant
only to touch, upon these topics incidentally. How-
ever, having ventured to express some difference in
opinion from a man esteemed so virtuous and so
wise, I thought myself bound, in one instance, to
assign my reasons ; and with the same sentiments
of habitual reverence for the same eminent writer,
I shall take the liberty of glancing at two other
subjects, on which I have not the happiness entirely
to agree with him. The points to which I allude
are* the indignant distinction which Mr. Burke has
set up between theory and practice, and the ardent
wish which he expresses for a combination of Euro*
pean potentates against the National Assembly of
France* What I have to say upon the first will, I
fear, be thought dry and uninteresting by many
readers; while, in my opinion, every mistake of
such a man as Mr. Burke deserves serious exami-
nation, and derives an uncommon, degree of im*
portance from the uncommon and indeed the
matchless talents of the writer himself*
Indolence often reposes, and declamation tri-
umphs, in vagrant propositions* which are repeated
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 237
so frequently, and advanced so confidently, that to
dispute them carries the appearance of presumptu-
ous paradox. Thus we are told of many political
maxims, that they are at once true in theory and
false in practice. But this union of truth and false-
hood in the same doctrine, applied to the same
subject, is impossible ; and the allegation of false-
hood, when the doctrine refers to different subjects,
is wholly impertinent and absurd. It shews only,
that the doctrine does not include what it was
never meant to include, without proving that what it
does include, deserves the imputation of being false.
All truth consists in the relation of otir ideas to
each other, or in the conformity of those ideas to
external objects ; and wheresoever that relation or
that conformity exists, the ideas belonging to either
are unalterably just ; and the proposition express-
ing those ideas must for ever be true. If, there-
fore, a proposition be true in theory, it must, if
made up of the same ideas, be equally true in prac-
tice, real or supposed, where the practice is corre-
spondent to the theory ; and where it is not corre-
spondent, no honest man would profess to argue
without discrimination from the one to the other.
Between propositions belonging to theory, and
those that belong to practice, there indeed is often
a close resemblance, but not a specific identity ;
and from that resemblance, probably, arises the
opinion that what is true in one may be false in
the other. But in this case the proposition belong-
ing to practice, and the proposition belonging to
theory, are distinct and independent. Each may
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238 ON POLITICS,
]>e true .when applied to its proper subject, and each
may be false when applied to any other subject.
The imperfection, however, lies not in the proposi-
tion itself, but in the application; and the fake*
hood, to speak correctly, is to be found, not in the
principle of the theory, but in the assumption that
some given case rests upon the same principles,
Mr. Paley has very ably shewn the dependence of
our moral opinions and moral conduct upon gene-
ral rules ; and Mr. Hume justly observes, that the
chief difficulty lies in the art of applying those
rules to the discovery of what is true, and to the
observance of what is right, in particular instances.
Now theory is a general collection of inferences
drawn from facts and compressed into principles.
When, therefore, practice and theory are said to
clash, we are not always to maintain that the theory
is generally, false, but that it does not include or
provide for some particular case, to which it has
been erroneously and injudiciously applied. The
theory may be correct and comprehensive, though
inapplicable to subjects which prejudice or passion
has associated with it. Unusual is it for men to
say that what is true in practice is false in theory ;
and yet this position, though less familiar to our
ears, is not more inadmissible to our understand-
ings than the converse, that what is true in theory
is false in practice. All practice may not be re-
duced to theory; but all theory professing to be
founded upon practice, and claiming the right to
regulate it, is true or probable so far only as it is
supported by experience.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 239
Again, Mr. Burke says, (p. 51, 92,) that tome mo
dera theories upon the rights of men, " though me-
taphysically true, are morally and politically false."
Bat aware as I am, in common with a great poetical
dialectician, (Dryden,) and, indeed, with every novice
in the art of logic, that "fallacies often live in uni-
versal*," I cannot accede to Mr. Burke's observation.
True or false are the expressions of the metaphysi-
cal properties belonging to any proposition upon
the rights of men. Proper or improper, and just
or unjust, are the expressions of the moral proper-
ties. Useful or pernicious are the expressions of
the political properties. In conformity to these
distinctions, I should say that many parts of Mr.
Paine s theory about the rights of men are false,
when traced up into metaphysical abstraction ; are
unjust, when referred to moral obligations ; are per-
nicious, when measured by political expediency ; or,
in other words, the theory itself is false, because it
does not correspond to practice, which it professes
to regulate. But, while I reprobate some of Mr.
Fame's opinions about the rights of man/ I, like
Mr. Burke, (p. 86,) do not in theory deny the ex-
istence of man's rights ; and in practice my heart
is as for as Mr. Burke's, or Mr. Paine s, from wish-'
ing any one of his real rights to be withholden.
Much, however, as in various instances I may
condemn the language of Mr. Paine upon the rights
of men, I cannot dissemble my concern at the
"dreadful notes of preparation," which have been
lately sounded by kings about the rights of kings.
The book of an individual has little or no weight,
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240 ON POLITICS,
except what it derives from argument; and argu-
ment, if fallacious, may be refuted, or, if mis-
chievous, may be counteracted by better arguments
in a better cause. But when kings proceed to ha-
rangue in public and official documents upon the
rights of kings, they speak in a tone of authority
which is not to be slighted. The line of distinc-
tion is said to be already drawn by two foreign
courts between kings and subjects, nay, between
kings and men ; between those who have no right
to govern but as they protect, and those who are
under no obligation to obey but as they are pro-
tected ; between those who neither govern nor pro-
tect the French, and those who in France are
governed and protected by laws of their own, and a
king of their own.
« Fof now sits expectation in the air,
And hides a sword from hilt unto the point
With crowns imperial, crowns and coronets,
Promis'd to Louis and their followers/'
Shaksp. Henry V.
But in opposition to all the pleas of interference
from the other powers of Europe, let Frenchmen,
says common justice, decide the affairs of France.
"Bella viri pacemque gerant queis bella gercnda."
For many of the French noblesse, u who wor-*
shipped," as Mr. Burke most beautifully says,
" their country in the person of their king," and
whose blood," as Shakspeare says, not less beauti-
fully, " is fetched from fathers of war proof," I hare
a sincere veneration. Nor would I hastily and in-
discriminately condemn the principle by which some
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 1241
tof them are actuated in attempting a counter revo-
lution. The end may be honourable, though the
means are execrable, and would lead, in the present
case, not so much to the Tie-establishment of the
monarchy in France, as to the extirpation of free-
dom throughout Europe, In respect then to the
menaces of foreign powers, I must say with Mr.
Burke, (p. 59,) that " the arguments of tyranny are
as contemptible as its force is dreadful."
After all the intrigues of politics, all the devasta-
tions of war, and all the barbarous excesses of des^
potism which disgrace the annals of mankind, the
black and lowering storm which threatens soon to
overspread the face of all Europe, and to overwhelm
in one common ruin every loose remnant and every
feint vestige of liberty, constitutes a spectacle equally
aew and tremendous.
Even the tenets of Mr. Paine himself are yet less
novel in theory, and yet less pernicious in practice,
than the counsels of those sanguinary fanatics, who
would unbiushingly and unfeelingly rouse the un-
sparing sword of foreign potentates, and point it
without provocation, without precedent, without
any other plea than will, without any other end
than tyranny, against the bosoms of Frenchmen
contending with Frenchmen alone, upon French
ground alone, about French rights, French laws,
and French government alone.
When it is urged that princes, from their rela-
tion to princes, have a common cause, and a cause,
too, it is meant, virtually paramount to the rights of
subjects and of men, the obvious answer is, that
vol.. (II. fc
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242 ON POLITICS,
they who are not princes have also a common
cause, and the obvious consequence of that answer
is, that if they are true to themselves, to their
neighbours, and to their posterity, confederacy is to
rise up against confederacy, and deluge the world
with blood. Touf yag ra? xoXirciay jcaraXuoira?,
xai /AediVrayraf elp TupamSa, koivoup c^Ogoup a-agcuw
vofilfav tfolvtmv tcSv ihevdepias €Jn6ujxouyra>y. — De-
mo sth. de Libertate Rhod.
If indeed the threatened crusade of ruffian des-
pots should be attempted, it will, in my opinion, be
an outrageous infringement upon the laws of na-
tions ; it will be a savage conspiracy against the
written and the unwritten rights of mankind ; and,
therefore, in the sincerity of my soul, I pray the
righteous Governor of the Universe, the Creator of
men, and the King of Kings, I pray Him to abate
the pride, to assuage the malice, and to confound
all the devices, of all the parties, directly or indi-
rectly leagued in this complicated scene of guilt
and horror — This insult upon the dignity of human
nature itself — This treason against the majesty of
God's own image, rational and immortal man.
As to myself, and to others who, like 'myself, ex-
press the terror and just abhorrence which they
feel at this most unparalleled measure, when we are
scornfully asked why we express those feelings, we
shall find our answer in Mr. Burke's philanthropy
opposed to Mr. Burke's politics (p. 9, of his Ap-
peal) : " Is it inhuman to prevent, if possible, the
spilling of Frenchmen's blood, or imprudent to
guard against the effusion of our own/9 and in a cause,
I will add, which, while Englishmen are Englishmen,
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 243
never can be oar own ? For Is it possible that by
the intrigues of courts, by the sophistry of minis-
ters, or by the futile and hollow pleas of a guaran-
tee * in one place, and of alliance in another, the free-
born descendants of free-born fathers can be per-
suaded to endure one tax, to unsheath one sword, to
fall in with one measure, in opposition to the pre-
cious and sacred interests of general liberty?
Mjf iijra, fiij 8ijr, & OeQr hyvhv <rl(3as9
"Ihoipi ravnjy tylpar. GEd. Tyr. v. 830*
Unless our constitution be, as dying Brutus said
of virtue, " an empty name," by the very spirit of
that constitution, and by the force of a compact,
more solemn and more binding than the ties of
any treaty woven in any cabinet, Britons eminently
are, what the Athenians professed to be, the koipo)
rpwrrarau ttj$ xavrcov tXcvOep/a?, the guarantees of
freedom itself, and the allies of all free men*
throughout all the world :
" And, when they frown, it is against th' oppressor,
And not against the French." Shak. Rich. II.
The people of England, I am sure, then, are too
gallant to engage in a war against such a nation, iq
such circumstances. The parliament of England is
too enlightened to approve of a war. The king of
England is far too wise, too humane, too magnani-
mous, to propose a war.
But, warmly as I would oppose the project of Mr.
* I believe that England is fortunately not fettewl as
guarantee for Brabant Thanks to the pride or the suspicion of
the Emperor Leopold, rather than to the foresight or the mo-
deration of Chancellor Pitt.
R 2
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244 ON POLITICS,
Btirkd for the French monarchy to be restored by
the exertion of kings, who, unless they have dege-
nerated into tyrants, can have no real interest in its
restoration, I sometimes pause in uncertainty, and
sometimes shudder with fear, when the proceedings
in France are holden up as a perfect model for imi-
tation * in England.
Different -f* are the two nations in their manners
* Yahtov fiky y$p *6\iv *e«-
-tral koI rols 6.<pavportpois* AW M yj*»
-pas aidis &<r<rai &v<nca\£s
Ai) ylvtrai e^airivas,
Ef firj Qebs &yefi6ve(T(Tt jrvj3cp-
-raT^p yirriTai* PlVDAR* Pyth* 4.
f The same differences which make it unsafe for the English
to imitate the French, may surely justify the French in not
modelling their new constitution by that of England* The
general principles of liberty admit various modifications ; and
they who look for the causes of our own freedom, not in books
of speculation, but in our history, and in our laws, will ascribe
no small share of it to accident as well as design ; to events
which human wisdom slowly improved, but rarely foresaw; to
force as well as compact ; to concessions sometimes obtained
by the interposition of parliament, and sometimes extorted
directly from reluctant tyrants by the just and loud demands
of their indignant subjects. If we could investigate the origin
of those imperfect and precarious rights which the inhabitants
of many other European countries have from time to time been
able to wring from their feudal despots, we should find them
indebted, even for the loose and unshaken fragments of their
liberties, to the weakness rather than the justice, to the fears
rather than to the virtues, and even to the craftiness rather
than to the wisdom, of the ruling powers. Machla«el's system
of artifice, and Hobbes's system of power, contain the princi-
ples which have really actuated the councils of too many
princes. But happy is our own country in our own times*
when the moderation of him who governs, the noble and gene-
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and their prejudices, different in the privileges of
their peerage, and in the rights of their common-
alty ; different in the power claimed, and the powers
exercised by their kings ; different in the forms of
their government, and the principles of their con-'
stitution ; different in their modes of religion, and'
even in their propensity to irreligion, I hope, very
different. Keen, therefore, would be my vigilance^
and stubborn my reluctance, in applying to the
affairs of England those theories which are said to
have been purely and completely realized in the
new government of France. But, attached as I am,
firmly and unfeignedly to the fundamental maxims
of the English constitution, I must confess, that not
one of the late publications has given me the satis-
rous nature of him who is to succeed, and the strengh of those
who obey, leave us not much to apprehend from either of those
systems, if our vigilance be proportionate to our duty. Ob-
scure and scattered as may be the causes of our liberty, we see
distinctly, and feel experimentally, their aggregate and bene-
ficial effects. Let us then (as Mr. Hume says, Essay 4,) " che-
rish and improve as much as possible our antient constitution,
without encouraging a passion for dangerous novelties.*' On
the other hand, let us consider that " he whose office is to
govern a supine or an abject people, cannot for a moment
cease to extend his power. Every execution of the law, every
movement of the state, every civil and military operation in
which his power is concerned, must serve to confirm his autho-
rity, and present him to the view of the public as the sole ob-
ject of consideration, fear, and respect. Those very establish-
ments which were devised in one age to limit or to direct the
exercise of the executive power, will serve in another to re-
move obstructions and to smooth its way. They will point out
the channels in which it may run, without giving offence, or
without exciting alarms." — Ferguson on the History of Civil
Society9 chap. vi. sect. 5.
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246. ON POLITICO
Faction, which at this crisis I anxiously wish to re-
ceive. Some writers, I observe, have turned our
attention only to the darker side of government,
scaring us with evils, which, I trust, have no exist-
ence, foreboding evils, which, I hope, never will
exist, and exaggerating evils, which every impartial
man will acknowledge and lament. Others have
affected to wrap up in artificial mystery * all the
* " A high Tory/' says Johnson, " makes government unin-
telligible :" but I will quote the whole passage, because I as-
sent to almost every part of it, and because there is no part
which does not contain judicious remarks and useful information,
" A wise Tory and a wise Whig, I believe, will agree ; their
principles are the same, though their modes of thinking are
different. A high Tory makes government unintelligible ; it is
lost in the clouds. A violent Whig makes it impracticable ; he
is for allowing so much liberty to every man, that there is not
power enough to govern any man. The prejudice of the Tory
is for establishment. The prejudice of the Whig is for inno-
vation. A Tory does not wish to give more real power to
government, but that government should have more reverence.
Then they differ as to the church. The Tory is not for giving
more legal power to the clergy, but wishes they should have a
considerable influence founded on the opinion of mankind : the
Whig is for limiting and watching them with a narrow jealousy."
—Page 400, Boswell.
I insert this passage in consequence of Mr. Burke's remark,
(page US of his Appeal,) that the British constitution is of
too high an order of excellence to be adapted to common
minds. This surely resembles what Johnson said of the Tory.
But between men of shallow and superficial understandings,
and men to whom Mr. Burke would allow wisdom and reflec-
tion, there is a numerous class of citizens, whose doubts de-
serve consideration. Possessing a common share of judgment,
improved by the common advantages of education, they are
not incapable of understanding " many of the views which our
constitution takes in, and many of the combinations which it
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 247"
powerful ties by which the government of the coun-
try is connected with its prosperity ; and preferring
the haughtiness of dogmatism to the drudgery of
proof, they would drive away the eyes of the pro-
fane from contemplating those causes, which all
have a right to examine, because all are daily and
hourly interested in their effects. But this kind of
language carries with it neither the plausibility of
theory nor the solidity of fact. It may confound,
but it will never convince. It may lull men for a
time into supineness and insensibility, but will nei-
ther gratify their curiosity, nor allay their terrors, in
the hour of danger. Unquestionably, the spirit of
enquiry is gone forth ; and my hope is, that it may
take a right direction, and lead us, as well to value
and to perpetuate the blessings which we now en-
joy, as to obtain, through the concurrence of good
government with good citizens, other and greater
blessings, if, indeed, other and greater blessings are
placed within our reach.
Froin the incidental mention of these subjects
which have been discussed by Mr. Burke and Mr,
Paine, and upon which I would be understood to
state my opinions, without assigning the reasons for
which I hold them, I will take occasion to inform
the reader of the effect, which I have felt from a
third celebrated writer, to whom the attention of the
public has been very much directed.
makes/* They would recognize it, " with the less enquiring in
their feelings and their experience;" and, assisted by such
profound thinkers as Mr. Burke, they would also " know it in.
its reason and in its spirit,."
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ON POLITICS,
Let the rapid and eccentric notions of Mr. Burke a
mind through the vast and trackless spaces of poli-
tics, it often loses the power of attraction upon my
own ; and as to Mr, Paine,* upon my first approach
* .The part of Mr. Paine's book which interested and
vinced me the most is, the very able narrative which he gives
of the progress and circumstances of the revolution at Paris :
but I cannot suffer " one truth/' as Dryden says, " to support
a thousand lying rhymes," upon abstract politics. I recognize
in Mr. Paine a mind not. disciplined by early education, not
softened and refined by a various and extensive intercourse
with the world, not enlarged by the knowledge which books
supply ; but endowed by nature with very great vigour, and
strengthened by long and intense habits of reflection. Acute
he appears to me, but not eompfehensrve ; and bold, but net
profound* Of man, in his general nature he seems only to
have grasped a part, and of man as distinguished by local and
temporary circumstances, his views are indistinct and confined.
His notions of government are therefore too partial for theory,
and too novel for practice, and, under a fair semblance of sim-
plicity, conceals a mass of most dangerous errors.
" For dignity composed, and high exploit
Re seems. His pen can make the worse appear
The better reasons. But his thoughts are low"
In plain truth, I understand more by the English word
u crown," than " a bauble kef t in the Tower to be shown for
twelvepence ;" nor do I consider aristocracy "as having but
one child ; as begetting the rest to be devoured, and then
throwing them to the canibal for prey." The parent, whom
Mr. Paine describes as so unnatural, is at least an affectionate
nurse during the infency of her oflspring; she feeds it care-
fully, and clothes it warmly, before she turns it loose into, the
wide world. But, to drop figurative language, the younger
children of our nobility receive the same liberal education witfa
theelder ; ahd to me it seems that, instead of subdividing hi
all cases a large fortune among those wjwan Mr, Pane's lasr
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 349
towards him, I was instantly repelled to an tmmea*
smrable distance, and for a time was content to view
would make equal, but whom nature has not made equal in
corporeal and intellectual strength, and whom the equal ex-
pectation of independence would, according to their different
capacities, make yet more unequal, it were better policy for
them to be trusted with the creation of their own fortune by
their own merits in the army, in the navy, in the church, and
at the bar. Perhaps in a commercial country it were well if
the old feudal prejudices of the noblesse against commerce
were extirpated, as partnership would supply the want of a
large capital, and the families of nobility would gradually be
blended in opinion and interest with the industrious classes of
die community. But without the aid of formal discussion, one
plain tale shall put down Mr. Paine's strutting metaphor. Mr.
Fox and Mr. Pitt are the younger sons of noblemen. As to
the priesthood, I have seen it ridiculed with wit much keener,
than Mr. Paine's in the works of Trenchard and Gordon, and
with eloquence more magnificent than Mr. Paine's, in the
prose writings ei Milton. I mean not, however, to palliate that
prejudices of the clergy ; and my opportunities for observing
their causes and their effects have not been fewer, I suppose,
than Mr, Paine's. But I also know their personal virtues ; I
know their usefulness in society ; I know that, in tins country^
they upon the whole are a most enlightened and valuable order
of citizens; and in saying so I am not much influenced by
selfish motives, as Mr. Paine would probably allow, if he were
acquainted with the obscurity of my ecclesiastical station, and
the scantiness of my ecclesiastical income. I am not well
enough informed about the internal state of America to deter-
mine how far Mr. Paine's opinions may be useful there, in a
nascent government. But when I consider the progress of
arts, sciences, literature, and politics, law; and religion, in the
settled governments of Europe, I suspect that, by the plan of
Mr. Paine, instead of advancing to a more improved state of
society, we should find ourselves retrograde towards that situa-
tion whk& » ciramonly catted sv state of nature, or, at least.
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250 ON POLITICS,
him, as philosophers look through a telescope at
some dim and sullen planet, whose orbit is at the^
remotest extremity from the center. But in the
middle and more temperate path which Mr. Mack-
intosh has generally pursued, I could often accom-
pany him with pleasure; for, like the earth in the
solar system, he seems neither to approach too near
to the dazzling fountain of light, nor to recede from
it too far. My friend, for I have the honour to bail
him by that splendid name, will excuse me for ex-
pressing in general terms what I think of his work.*
In Mackintosh, then, I see the sternness of a re-
publican without his acrimony, and the ardour of a
reformer without his impetuosity. His taste in
morals, like that of Mr. Burke, is equally pure and
delicate with his taste in literature. His mind is so
that we should sacrifice many of the brilliant and indisputable
advantages which make us boast of living in a civilized and en-
lightened age. Quotation is my trade, and therefore I will
not suppress some lines which I once applied to the American
reformers of English politics :
Protect us, mighty Providence ;
What would these madmen have ?
First they would bribe us without pence,
Deceive us without common sense,
And without power enslave.
The lines were written in 1680, and are worth remembering
in 1792.
* The age of the writer, the merit of his first publication,
and the reception it has met with from the world, induce me to
apply to my friend what Cicero said of Hortensius : " Quinti
Hortensii admodum adolescentis ingenium, ut Phidiae signum*,
sjmul adspectum et probatum est."— Cic. de Orat. lib. iu
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 251
comprehensive, that generalities cease to be barren,
and so vigorous, that detail itself becomes interest-
ing. He introduces every question with perspicuity,
states it with precision, and pursues it with easy
and unaffected method. Sometimes, perhaps, he
may amuse his readers by excursions into paradox ;
but he never bewilders them by flights into romance.
His philosophy is far more just, and far more
amiable than the philosophy of Paine, and his elo-
quence is only not equal to the eloquence of Mr.
Burke. He is argumentative without sophistry,
fervid without fury, profound without obscurity, and
sublime without extravagance*
My friend, I am sure, does not suspect me of
wishing for the return of a that priestly craft, and
priestly domination which would certainly re^plunge
Europe into ignorance and superstition." But he
will excuse me for pronouncing a most decided and
a most unqualified negative to the assumption of
the National Assembly, that "the existence of
ranks* is repugnant to the social union.'* On the
* Mr. Mackintosh does not forget, that in the Roman re-
public there were distinctions of rank not merely among the
patricians, knights, and plebeians, but among the nobiles and
novi. " Hereditary characteristics attracted the attention of
mankind in some degree under all the antient governments."—*
Dunbar, on the hereditary Genius of Nations. See Dr. Tay-
lor's Element's of Civil Law, p. 179.
Among the Lacedaemonians there were personal distinctions
of rank, though not hereditary, and the Greek word exactly
corresponds to our English word peers. See Xenophon, Hel-
lenic, lib. Hi. cap. 3. p. 35. edit. Xunius, where the note is
worth consulting* See also Palmerii Exercitationes, p. 69.
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252 - ON POLITICS,
contrary, I am persuaded that hereditary as well as
personal distinctions may, under a wise legislature,
become the instruments of public good, and that
without bringing back the rude state of society,
which gave rise to the nobility * of Europe, a prin-
ciple of virtuous action already excited (for I con-
tend that it is excited) by the feudal institutions, may
be adapted to the exigencies of a more enlightened
and more civilized age.
Again, I totally differ from my friend upon the
origin and the tenure of ecclesiastical property, and
in his description of ecclesiastics as mere pensioners
of the state. — He knows me too well, I am sure, to
impute this dissent to the weakness and the selfish-
ness of professional prejudice. But these, and a few
other defects, if defects they be, are lost in the blaze
Mr. Hume, in his Essays, has often observed the similarity
between the French and the Athenians ; but he did not expect
that in so few years after his death, so striking and new an in-
stance of resemblance would arise, as we have lately seen in
the language of the public assemblies — Frenchmen, is now the
simple and dignified mode of address in the national assembly,
like men of Athens, in the Greek orators.
But the mode in which they often address the king of the
French, reminds me of the words which the grand justiciary,
or head of the Ricos Hombres, was content to use once to the
king of Arragon : " We, who are your equals, constitute you
eur Lord and King, on condition that you maintain our privi-
leges and liberties ; if otherwise, not." — See Mi Hot 's Elements
of General History, vol. i. p. 195; and Sidney's Discourses,
chap. ii. sect. 5.
* " Some decent, regulated pre-eminence, some preference
(not exclusive appropriation) given to birth, is neither unna-
tural, nor unjust, nor impolitic."— P. 76, Burke's Reflections, '
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C, 263
bf general excellence ; and they who reflect upon
the just and luminous comparison which Mr* Mack-
intosh has drawn between the peers of France and
those of England, may, upon farther consideration,
be led to other solid and useful distinctions, upon
other momentous and awful topics*
My meaning will be understood, when I say, that
I prefer two independent houses for legislative deli*
beration to one, and that in a king with the sub*
stance of the executive power, will be found a better
guardian of the public weal than in the mockery of
a pageant king with little more than the shadow.
My opinion upon the sacred duties and the vene-
rable privileges of an English King nearly coincide
with those of Mr. Rous, and I am happy in this op-
portunity of acknowledging the pleasure I received
from his late excellent letter to Mr. Burke. I am,
however, compelled to dissent from this very judi-
cious and patriotic writer, upon the extent to which
he would stretch his principle of excluding the
members of the legislative body from all share
whatsoever in the duties and the emoluments of the
executive government. I grant, indeed, that the
more useful duties in the lower departments are well
enough discharged by men, " formed by the routine
of office .* See p. 104 of Mr. Rous's Letter." But
* That men who are formed, according to Mr. Rous'* ex-
pression, merely by " the routine of office," can bear up against
the pressure of public duties and public difficulties, 1 deny as a
fact. And upon this subject I think the following remarks of
Mr. Ferguson deserving of serious consideration: "When we
•oppose- government to have bestowed a degree of tranquillity,
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I cannot admit, that the higher departments stand
in no need of " minds splendidly endowed,** or that,
when such minds engage in public afiairs, « their
paths are ever marked with ruin.** Great revolu-
tions have usually been atchieved by men of great
abilities ; but their success in turbulent periods is to
be imputed to previous circumstances, and those cir-
cumstances gradually arise from the want of wisdom
in persons who have directed the affairs of govern-
ment in seasons of apparent tranquillity.
" To settle the imaginary balance of power, to
impose a form of government upon one reluctant
people, to adjust the limits of dominion to another,**
are surely not the sole employments for which an
English administration is destined. That the at-
tention of our present governors has been too much
directed to those narrow and mischievous objects ;
that their measures, whether successful or de-
feated,* have been at once expensive without ad-
which we sometimes hope to reap from it, as the best of its
fruits, and public affairs to proceed in the several departments
of legislation and execution, with the least possible interrup-
tion to commerce and lucrative arts ; when a state, like that of
China, throws afiairs into separate offices, where conduct con-
gists in detail, and in the observance of forms, it supersedes all
the exertions of a great and liberal mind, and is more akin to
despotism than we imagine.** — Ferguson's Civil Society, part vi#
aect. 5.
* In the ridiculous and fruitless contest of this country
about the cession of Okzakow, we have seen an instance where,
as Bolingbroke aays, (Letter 13th, upon Parties,) "the majo-
rity without doors compelled the majority within doors to
truckle to the minority/' Much do I rejoice at the event,
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 265
vantage, and ostentatious without glory j that they
have multiplied our taxes without extending our
commerce, and have displayed our strength without
increasing our security, I readily allow. But, whilst
government embraces the affairs, not of Great Bri-
tain only, but of Ireland, and of those remote colo-
nies which it seems equally difficult to keep and
dangerous to abandon, whilst there is a real as well
as an imaginary balance of power, which every state
must be concerned in preserving against the en*
croachments of every other state ; whilst our do*
mestic councils must, for the sake of our domes-*
tic safety, be sometimes engaged in watching the
but more at the cause. What then, it may be asked, was
the obstacle which prevailed against the votes of parliament,
the plans of the cabinet, the dark negociations of foreign
courts; the senseless and delusive cry of confidence, and the
imposing plea of engagements, which, in Bolingbroke's words,
"imply both action and expence ?M— (Patriot King.) My
answer is, the just and extended views which the English peo-
ple are beginning to entertain upon the folly, the injustice, and
the inexpediency of war, and which, by a sort of rebound
from the declaration of the national assembly of France,
struck upon the public mind with a wider and deeper impress
sion. A spectacle has been thus spread before the contempla*
tive philanthropist, such as the history of past times seldom
presents to our view, and such as futures historians will, I
hope, describe with enthusiasm, and hold up to the wonder and
the imitation of all succeeding ages. Events yet greater will,
perhaps, ere long burst from the womb of greater causes, and
happy is that man who, mingling the love of freedom with the
love of peace and order and social union, surveys with philo-
sophical calmness or religious awe the gracious designs of Pro-
vidence, magnificently unfolding themselves m the intellectual,
the civil, and the moral improvement of mankind*
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256 ON POLITICS,
crooked machinations, and in curbing the restles*
ambition, of foreign powers ; whilst France is strug-
gling for freedom, and other nations, after the ex-
ample of France, seem disposed to shake off the
yoke of despotism; whilst our public debt is so
heavy, and our public interests are so complex and
so extensive, the talents which, under such circum-
stances, aim only at " giving protection to a people,"
ought to be of no common order. Such, indeed, is
the unquiet, and, I believe, unprecedented state of
Europe, so dark are the views, so mighty are the
preparations, so discordant will be the ultimate in-
terests of the European powers, that it is impossi-
ble to name a period in which there was greater
occasion for the greatest talents in all the branches
of our own government, whether legislative or exe-
cutive.
No general proposition can be more evident,
than that, without talents of considerable magni-
tude in the persons to whom the task of governing
is committed, government itself cannot be either
respectable or safe. It cannot, for a long time,
direct the public opinion. It cannot employ the
public strength to purposes of public utility. I
will add, too, that in a free government like our
own, talents, if confined,, as we have lately seen
them, to one minister, are big with danger, though,
if diffused through the various members of ad-
tninistration, they would give greater energy and
greater dignity to every measure. Surely it is not
the excess of abilities in one quarter, but the want
of abilities in many quarters, \o which every impar-
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rial observer will ascribe our late disasters in war,
and our present distresses after a long, though most
precarious and unsettled, peace. To do evil is more
within the reach of every man, in public as well as
in private life, than to do good. And if persons of
"secondary talents" alone be entrusted, as Mr. Rous
wishes them to be, with the executive government,
low ambition and low cunning, " wielding the ar-
mies and navies of the state," would too often baffle
the efforts of that legislative band in whom wisdom
is combined with magnanimity.
In the present condition of the world, good men
may indeed wish, but wise men will rarely hope, for
such a kind and such a degree of public spirit as
shall in men of distinguished abilities be wholly
separated from views of personal interest. If, in-
deed, the separation were effected, competition for
popularity might split the senate into parties more
powerful, and in the end more factious, than those
which are formed by competition for office; and
the favour of the people would eventually become
a more dangerous source of influence than the
favour of the sovereign himself. In their appeals to
the public judgment, men in all popular states have
been " embarrassed with preconceived plans of per-
sonal ambition," in the mildest " acceptation of the
term," and the greatest talents have been "em-
ployed" sometimes " in teaching the way of truth,"
but much oftener "in perplexing, in confounding,
and in spreading a delusive cloud before the eyes of
nations •" This, indeed, would not have happened,
if "their hearts hftd been purely devoted to. the
vol. in. s
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public interest/9 but experience forbids us to look
for perfection in any number of public men.
Let me not, however, be suspected of insinuat-
ing that men of transcendental ability press to the
brink of corruption with a more rapid Career than
those Who exrite less envy, because they command
less admiration. On the contrary, the more natu-
ral tendency of great Intellectual endowments is, to
rescue the heart from the dominion of coarse and
selfish passions, and to fix it upon treasures less
ignoble and less perishable than paltry pelf, which
tnay be amassed without excellence and possessed
without dignity. Even in the ordinary effects of
those endowments we see a delicacy and elevation
of sentiment, a habit of self-respect, a capacity for
self denial, by which men are happily preserved at
least from very servile compliances and very atro-
cious crimes. To such men, the consciousness of
high merit filling the wide expanse of high station,
the homage of the opulent, the powerful, and the
noble, the music of popular applause, the anticipat-
ion of glory in ages yet unborn, nay, the imme-
diate bustle of action itself, supply gratifications
far too exquisite to be felt by the sordid slaves of
avarice, the grovelling drudges of office, and the
venal tools of power. While, therefore, public em-
ployments, in which the love of Ittcfe is purified by
the love of honour, are conferred upon public men,
it can be no disgrace to individuals that genius
should not renounce the distinctions to which pa-
tient industry, superficial attainments, and even the
mere mechanism of intellect, are permitted to
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 259
aspire; neither can it promote the general good,
that they who are capable of atchieving the least
should be exclusively invested with the privilege of
receiving the most.
For my part, when I consider the general consti-
tution and operations * of the human mind, I am
content to derive from the mingled frailties and ex-
cellencies of men, those effects which hitherto have
not been produced by the influence of firm and
steady virtue alone; and I sometimes rejoice to see
the impetuosity of rampant ambition restrained by
a concomitant passion, which looks, indeed, more
immediately for gratification in less brilHant objects,
bat which clears off much of its own impurity by
habitual association with passions of a higher order.
When I farther consider the peculiar and distin-
guishing circumstances of our own country, I
am not sorry to find, that through exertion in par-
liament is laid open an avenue to that public coo*-
fidence, which usually concurs with causes* less
honourable in exalting men to employments in the
state. But if the profits and the honours of politi-
cal departments were quite inaccessible to men who
would erect their fortune on the basis of their fame,
those talents which now range through the wide
field of politics would droop and languish in the
humbler cells of office, or, being devoted to the
views of the sovereign alone, they would be exerted
in their utmost force, with little control from the
opinions, and little regard to the interests, of the
people.
No institutions of man, however solid in their
s 2
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fundamental principles, and however beneficial in
their general tendencies, can be fenced against the
incursions of contingent evil. The advantages even
of the best regulated monarchy are exposed to
«ome interruption' from the inflexible but most
salutary rule of hereditary succession. Yet the
personal defects of successors may be compensated
by the choice of ministers, who have skill " to un-
fold the drift of haughty and hollow states," * u to
settle" the conditions of "peace," "and to move
the main nerves of war, in all its equipage." On the
other hand, if men of ordinary talents and ordinary
powers huddle around the throne, they whom Bo-
lingbruke calls the " lumber of every administration,
and the furniture of every court," will snatch some
favourable opportunity of seizing upon the highest
offices. But the crown itself, exchanging efficient
ministers for agreeable favourites, will be unable to
-protect the rights of others or to preserve its own.
It will be equally unprepared against the treacherous
calm and the scowling tempest. It will substitute
suspicion for vigilance, obstinacy for steadiness,
and laxity for moderation. It will neither accom-
modate itself to the gradual changes, nor support
itself under the sudden revolutions, of public opi-
nion. Its spirit will at one time be abject, and at
another supercilious. Its councils will be intricate
or wavering, and its measures either languid from
debility or violent from unskilfulness. In the mean
time, the errors of the sovereign himself will not
* See Milton's Sonnet upon Mr. Henry Lawes. .
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be corrected, his passions will not be controlled, his
caprices will be cherished instead of being over-
awed, his weaknesses will render him a dupe to the
craftiness of his servants, and even his wisdom, or
his virtues, will point him out as an object of their
jealousy.
While, however, I contend for that u rare com-
merce,* which gives and takes a lustre from the
throne," I allow, with Mr. Rous, that * legislation
is a very proper scene for great talents, and that the
science of giving protection to mankind is worthy
to fill the most extended life."
But my wish is, that the public duties may be
discharged by the same men in their legislative and
executive capacities, because my opinion is, that, by
the concurrence of their general interests, those du-
ties will, upon the whole, be discharged more ef-
fectually. Doubtless, the senate, like the vaulted
firmament of heaven, should be studded with stars
that twinkle, and stars that blaze, of every size, and
in every direction. But, if in our political system,
the crown may, with any semblance of propriety, be
compared to Jupiter, the first of planets in magni-
tude ; let it not be made the least in glory, nor de-
prived of the radiance it may borrow from its satel-
lites.
Happy should I be, if the catalogue of useless and
expensive places in this kingdom were much
abridged; if the number of placemen eligible to par-
liament were fixed by parliamentary authority itself;
* Young's Satire 7th.
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if the offices they should be capable of holding were
specified by some known and' standing rule, and if
those offices were confined, strictly confined, to the
most active, the most useful, the most arduous, and
therefore, with justice the most profitable parts of
the executive government. But as for the total se-
paration for which Mr. Eons contends, and for which
I remember myself to have been an advocate some
years ago, I despair of some of the good conse-
quences which he has described with generous en-
thusiasm, and I foresee some bad consequences
which have escaped even his keen penetration*
While the crown has many emoluments to bestow
there will be many candidates, and among those can-
didates secret rivalry would be more dangerous, be*
cause more base, than a rivalry which is more open,
and, therefore, restrained by some sense of shame.
Speciously as placemen may betray, they receive
their reward notoriously ; ami, therefore, die public
eye is turned towards them with jealousy, nor will
public indignation be wanting to > hunt them down
with infamy, when their apostacy from principle
becomes flagitious. Though our senators were
themselves thrust out of office, influence might yet
exist, while they 'have uncles and nephews, while
they have sons legitimate, and sons illegitimate^
while they have flatterers and dependants. And
who knows, but that, like a river forced out of its
usual channel, and spreading itself through many
smaller and more hidden streams, political corrup-
tion might gradually find its way to rapacious cour-
tezans, to imperious matrons, and
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That store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the prize
Of wit and arms ■«
At all events, the corruption which now circulates
among the members of parliament would be diffused
more widely among their constituents, and this
?urely would be to change a great evil for a greater,
The senator is now a mixed character. He act?
under a sense of different obligations, or, at least,
from the impulse of different interests, all of which
in their turn prevail. His attachment to the crown
is in pome measure controlled by responsibility to
his constituents ; and there are situations in which
he is compelled to do homage to public opinion, in
order to secure the power of gratifying his private
avarice. But the constituent is not subject even to
this imperfect control. Slight is the degree, and
few aje the occasions, upon which he feels responsi-
bility to the country at large ; and, if bound by per-
sona) interest to support the favourite measures of
the crown, he will be disposed to elect such repre-
sentatives as will secure to him the wages of his
own corruption.
If the House of Lords he not included in the re-
gulatiop proposed by Mr. Rous, it would seize, per-
haps, a monopoly of public profits, it would be more
and more disposed to support the claims, of the
crown against the righjts pf the people, and would
grow ,at once in strength £nd in corruption. On
the contrary, if it be included in that regulation, the
effects, in a mixed government like our own, would
be very fonaitfcble. The peers, being a fixed body,
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would silently collect such a firm and compact mass
of independence, as at some moment might weigh
down the balance either against the crown or
against the people. The House of Commons is,
indeed, a fluctuating body ; but, if its councils were
in no degree influenced by the offices in the disposal
of the crown, it would, in my opinion, sometimes
rise too high, and sometimes sink too low, in the
scale of national importance.
Great virtues are usually the offspring of great
occasions. Upon the first establishment of a go-
vernment, the sense of public duty may be a suffi-
cient motive of action, and animate the honest am-
bition of those who mean well to their country.
But, in the ordinary course of human affairs, mo-
tives of less purity, and less vigour, will have their
share in guiding the1 deliberations of every legisla-
tive body; and, therefore, I call that form of go-
vernment the best, which meets men as they really
are, and which, controling by various means all
their various principles, converts them ultimately
into instruments of the public good.
Much has been said upon the excellence of our
constitution, in the independence which it establishes
among the component parts of our government ;
nor can it be denied, that in some degree they are,
and in a great degree they ought to be, independent.
But, in practice there is a real and an intimate con-
nection between them, which produces its good as
well as its bad effects : and a theory balancing those
effects is, I believe, at present a desideratum in the
politics of this country. Instead, therefore, of con-
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sideling them merely, or even chiefly, as mutual
checks, I have of late been accustomed to view
them as wheels facilitating the motion of each other
in a vast and complicated machine ; and into this
train of thinking I was led by some profound and
original observations, which Mr. Fox has occasion-
ally dropped in parliament, and which shallow men
have been disposed to impute to the perverseness of
opposition, or the wantonness of paradox. But, if
Mr. Burke, in his projected treatise on the govern-
ment of England, should erect a firm and a stately
pyramid for the preservation of his own fame; from
the summit of that goodly fabric we may hope to
survey, under one distinct and capacious prospect,
those splendid scenes, which hitherto have been
seen only in broken and disorderly parts, and by a
dim and transient glimpse. In the mean time I am
compelled to allow with Mr. Hume (Essay 5.) that
the interest of the legislative body (which by the
way I in some respects distinguish from the interest
of the people) is restrained by the interest of indi-
viduals, and that the House of Commons stretches
not its power, because such an usurpation would be
contrary to the interest of the majority of its mem-
bers. " The crown,*9 says he, " has so many offices
at its disposal, that, when assisted by the honest and
disinterested part of the House, it will always com-
mand the resolution of the whole, so far, at least, as
to preserve the ancient constitution from danger.
We may, therefore, give to this influence what name
we please. We may call it," and sometimes we may
justly call it, " by the invidious appellation of corrup-
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tion and dependence : but some degree, and softie
kind of it, are inseparable from the very nature of
our constitution, and necessary to the preservation
of our mixed government." The difficulty, no
doubt, lies in adjusting that degree; and here I
confess that " extraordinary efforts will be required
to support our free government under those disadx
vantages," which Mr. Hume, (Essay 6.) seems to
apprehend " from the immense property of which
the crown disposes, from the increasing luxury of
the nation, from our proneness to corruption, from
the great power and prerogative of the crown, and
from the command of such numerous military
forces," To grapple with these difficulties success-
fully requires an equal portion of honesty and of
talent, in the executive and the legislative parts of
our government, an equal spirit of moderation to
concede and of firmness to retain, an equal capar
city for discerning what may be conceded without
dishonour, and what may be retained without dan-
ger. But they who would remove every existing
and every approaching evil by those simple and
wore popular forms of government which have
lately been proposed, would do well to consider,
that by grasping at too much they run the hazard
of losing what may be attained without any violent
convulsion* of the state. "Such is the nature of
* My dread is not from systems themselves, but from the
want of wisdom and the want of moderation in those who
would hastily and indiscriminately drag them into practice. In
the dreadful moments of public convulsions, experiments even
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 267
novelty, says the philosopher abovementioned (Es-
say 6.) " that when any thing pleases, it becomes
doubly agreeable, if new ; and, if it displeases, it
is doubly displeasing upon that account." Now,
the tide of public opinion has of late years been
turning fast towards monarchy,* and they who
would force it back with excessive and sudden rapi-
dity to the side of democracy, will, I fear, aggra-
vate and perpetuate the mischiefs which they pro-
fess to avert.
of the most hazardous kind are sometimes unavoidable. But
at present, such is the peaceable situation of our country, such
are the comprehensive principles of our own constitution, and
such the salutary prejudices, as well as the sterling good sense
of our own countrymen, that we may justly look for those
solid and permanent advantages which arise from the full
maturity of moral causes, in the pursuit of which the seal of
reformation ought to be corrected by the calmness of philosc*
- * In stating this very interesting and very indisputable fact,
Imean not to censure government, but to warn the governed.
" Subjects, as well as their princes, frequently imagine that
freedom » a clog to' the proceedings of government. They
imagine, that despotic*! power is best fitted to procure dis-
patch, and secrecy in the execution of public councils to main-
tain what they are pleased to call political order, and to give
a speedy redress of complaints. They even sometimes acknow-
ledge, that if a succession of good princes could be found, de-
spotical government is best calculated lor the happiness of man-
kind. While they reason thus, they cannot blame a sovereign
who, in the confidence that he is to employ his power for good
purposes, endeavours to extend its limits, and in his own ap-
prehension strives only to shake off the restraints which stand
in the way of reason, and which prevent the effect of his friendly
intentional— 'Ferguson's Civil Society, Part 6th*
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The metaphysical opinions which in this country
floated upon the public mind during the war with
America, eventually took a stronger hold upon the
fears than upon the judgment of well-meaning and
well-informed men, and disposed them to throw
themselves back upon the protection of the esta-
blished government with all its acknowledged faults,
instead of chasing remote or ideal advantages, at
the hazard of tumult, and with the certainty of in-
novation. They have reconciled us to the transfer
of royal favour and public confidence, from the
steady friends of the people to the haughty, and at
the same time the insidious ministers of the Crown.
They have effected the portentous exchange of jea-
lousy in the cause of freedom for an indolent, and
even a servile indifference to the silent, though pro-
gressive, increase of that power, from which Mr.
Hume predicts the euthanasia of the British consti-
tution— a power, of which "the discontinuous
wounds," like those of some * ethereal substance,9*
are quickly closed and quickly healed, and which,
surviving alike the gradual decay, and the sudden
extinction of opinions, of customs, of religions, and
of laws, seems by the irrevocable decree of nature
herself to be destined for immortality.
In respect to the project of Mr. Rous, I would
-be understood to disapprove, not of the principle
itself, but of the extent in which he would apply it ;
and the present condition of France confirms me in
that disapprobation. By an undistinguishing and
intemperate eagerness for the attainment. of that
perfection, which metaphysical writers have holden
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up to the admiration of a lively and gallant people,
the government . of France has been stripped of
many solid supports, and decorated with some orna*
ments, which to me appear cumbersome and fantas-
tic. When the intestine and external dangers
which threaten France shall be happily removed, I
flatter myself, that the government will gradually
retire from those extremities to which it has been
pushed by the ardour of experiment, by the violence
of the prevailing party, by the necessity of spreading
before the people the allurements of novelty, and by
the yet stronger necessity of leaving no power in
the hands of those who were bigotted in their at-
tachment to the old and established principles of
monarchy. But the jealousy now subsisting be-
tween the members of the National Assembly and
the ministers of the Crown, the embarrassments
which those ministers must ever meet in conduct*
ing the business of an extensive empire, under the
restraints of an immediate and most irksome respon-
sibility; the tried, and, it should seem, the acknow-
ledged impropriety of public discussion upon many
subjects of political detail; the necessity of refer-
ring those subjects to committees, which, after the
fervour of novelty has cooled, will always be ex-
posed to secret management and indirect corrup-
tion; the difficulty of obtaining official information,
and the yet greater difficulty of enforcing speedy,
vigorous, and faithful execution — all these circum-
stances conspire in convincing me, that the attempt
has been made in France without success, and that
the theory of a total separation between the legisla^
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370 ON POLITICS,
tive and the executive bodies » fake ; because it is
either incapable of being reduced to real practice,
or, if practised, is injurious to good government:
As to researches into the truth of that theory,
merely ex hypothesi, I should read with pleasure
the arguments by which ingenious men might sup-
port it, if they would fairly itarn their readers that
they are writing like Plato in* his Republic, or like
More in his Utopia. In the investigation of physi-
cal causes we depend much upon accident ; the pro^
cess of experiments themselves is slow, and the
general conclusions to which they lead long remain
doubtful. But the force of moral causes lies more
nearly within our reach, and there can be little hope
of moral improvement unless that force in all its
various directions, and all its intricate combina-
tions, be calculated again and again, and presented
to the views of those who can bring it into action.
Unhappily the greater part of such men as govern
the affairs of the world are seldom trained to habits
of investigation ; and for this reason it is, that I
maintain the necessity of high intellectual attain-
ments in those who are to execute, as well as in
those who are to control the councils of nations.
For, atnidst the fluctuating tempers and the varying
interests of large communities, greater or less op-
portunities for practical application will arise, when
the most accomplished statesman will find himself
enlightened by consulting the storehouse of abstract
speculation. Conducted as theory sometimes is, by
men of ability and virtue, by a Locke, a Sydney,
and even a Harrington, it is of general use, because
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JURISPRUftWCB, &c. 271
it iacidently throws some portion of light upon the
real conduct of men, and the teal interests of states.
Thus I grant that Mr. Rous has unfolded a most
salutary principle, and sure I am that he will not be
offended with me for endeavouring to give it a more
sore and permanent effect, by salutary restrictions.
Now, whether my opinion about the governments
of France and England be well or ill-founded, I
certainly had no concern with those meetings for
commemoration, which have been the objects of so
much acrimonious invective, and the source, in my
neighbourhood, of so many shocking depredations.
I did not believe them to be illegal, but I thought
them indiscreet; and, therefore, without the smallest
hesitation, and in the strongest terms, I more than
declined two indirect sorts of invitation which had
been sent to me from two different quarters. It is
not for me either to justify or to condemn other
men who acted from other motives. But, for my
part, I was unwilling by any public overt-act to en-
courage rash and inconsiderate persons in confound-
ing the events in France with the condition of Eng-
land. I disdained to debase my character as a citi-
zen and as a clergyman by the slightest appearance
of indecorum. I shrunk from the thought of irri-
tating * those passions, which it is my duty alike to
* Upon the same principles of moderation I have acted with
some effect since the riots. A very zealous and well-meaning
churchman lately put into my hands a political dialogue, which
had been published at Birmingham, and was to be followed by
other dialogues of the same kind. After reading it, I told
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assuage by precept and by example. While, how-
ever, I accede to the observation of Mr. Hume, that
in the conflict of public opinions the most mode-
rate * are generally the most wise, I know, by my
own melancholy experience, that they are not always
the most safe.
When "pity," as Antony says, " is choked with
custom of foul deeds," in vain would an honest man
plead, " I am not Cinna the conspirator." " It is
this gentleman that I highly disapproved of its contents, and
lhat, at this crisis especially, I was very much afraid of its con-
sequences. At the same time I took an opportunity of com*
tnunicating, by letter, the same opinion to a gentleman of great
political moderation, who is acquainted with some persons in
the opposite party, and I desired him to employ his advice, and
the whole authority of his character, in checking, if he could,
a publication of which I knew it was impossible for him to ap-
prove. He complied with my request; and I hear that no
more dialogues have since appeared. I probably should not
have seen the book if my friend, the loyalist, had not shewn it
to me. I have not heard the name of the author, and, indeed,
I have no desire to know it. Be his abilities what they may, I
must condemn him for employing them in such a manner at
such a time.
* I know persons who, having neither taste to feel, nor judg-
ment to distinguish, the beauties of Mr. Burke's book, affect to
be called his disciples, and have also verified one of Mr. Burke's
very important observations. " If any [person] should happen
to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with
proper qualification, * * * suspicion will be raised of his fide-
lity to his cause, moderation will be stigmatized as the virtue
of cowards, and compromise as the prudence of traitors.** Such
is the language of certain wretches in this country about those
who differ from them.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 273
no matter," would the bigot and the rioter exclaim,
"His name is Cinna, tear him, tear him; come,
brands, ho ! fire-brands."
Though I do not think myself bound to tilt with
every doughty champion who may summon me into
the lists of controversy for the choice of my private
friends; yet I am not without some local and
weighty reasons for blunting by anticipation the
edge of those mischievous weapons which malevo-
lence is ever ready to forge, and prejudice to wield.
Be it known then to all whom it may concern,
that my personal acquaintance with Dr. Priestley
did not commence till the spring of 1790. Some
years before I had spoken to Dr. Priestley, I had
occasion, in one of my publications,3* to censure
him; and when he had replied with equal firmness
and equal politeness, I was so graceless as neither
to despise nor to hate him.
In October 1789, when I preached for the cha-
rity-schools at Birmingham, I earnestly recom-
mended to the audience two admirable sermons
which Dr. Priestley had written upon a topic very
similar to my own. In the course of my observa-
tions I in one place glanced at the * marked pecu-
liarities of Dr. Priestley upon controversial topics,'*
and in another I stated confidently what I shall
now state again, that the views of the writer " are
co-extensive with the magnitude and dignity of his
* In a note upon my last sermon preached for the charity-
schools at Norwich.
VOL. III. T
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subject, and, therefore, they are not fettered by any
limitation from particular modes of theological doc-
trine, or particular forms of ecclesiastical discipline."
Thus much 1 said to inform the congregation that
the perusal of Dr. Priestley s sermons would not be
attended with any danger to their faith ; and I did
hot say more, because neither the time nor the place
required theological disputation.
Early in 1790 I resisted Dr. Priestley and his
friends in their endeavours to procure the repeal of
the Test Act ; and on this occasion I had the plear
sure of acting with two or three worthy laymen of
Birmingham, and with one clergyman for whom I
have a great esteem.
About a ifionth or two after, Dr. Priestley and I
met; and here begins a black catalogue of crimes,
which have been long enveloped in darkness, but
which I am now audacious enough to plant before
legions of senseless and merciless calumniators in
open day.
I knew that Dr. John Leland of Ireland lived
upon terms of intimacy with many English prelates
— that Archbishop Seeker preserved his acquaint-
ance with Dr. Samuel Chandler — that Dr. Johnson
admitted the visits of Dr. Fordyce, and did not de-
cline the company of Dr. Mayo. When I myself
too lived at Norwich, Mr. Bourne, a dissenting
teacher, not less eminent for the boldness of his opi-
nions than for the depth of his researches, was very
well received by the worthiest and most respectable
clergymen of that city. I was therefore, and now
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 375
am, at a loss to see why a clergyman of the Church
of England should shun the presence of a dissent*
ing minister, merely because they do not agree
upon doctrinal points which have long divided the
Christian world ; and indeed I have always found,
that when men of sense and virtue mingle in free
conversation, the harsh and confused suspicions
which they may have entertained of each other gra-
dually give way to more just and more candid senti-
ments.
In reality, the example of many great and good
men averts every imputation of impropriety from
such intercourse, and the information which I have
myself occasionally gained by conversing with
learned teachers of many different sects, will always
make me remember with satisfaction, and acknow-
ledge with thankfulness, the favour which they
have done to me by their unreserved and judicious
communications.
Not having heard Dr. Priestley in the pulpit, *
and knowing that in the city of Dublin Churchmen,
Dissenters, and Catholics lay aside all distinctions to
attend sermons for charity-schools, I, in the sum-
mer of 1790, was once present, when Dr; Priestley
delivered a sermon of this kind at Warwick. Not
* This, I believe, is no uncommon practice with the clergy.
When Dr. Foster preached in the Old Jewry, it was no dis-
grace for ecclesiastics to go and hear him, however they might
differ from him upon abstruse points of speculation. Men of
talents are not entirely free from the passion of curiosity*
t2
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having seen the ceremony of ordination among the
dissenters, I was a spectator of one, where Dr.
Priestley assisted. Once I have been guilty of
drinking tea, and once of dining with him at War*
wick. Once I permitted him, forsooth, to dine
with me at Hatton. Once I was so hardy as to ac-
company my friend Mr. Porson for the purpose of
meeting the very learned Mr. Berington* at Dr.
Priestley's house ; and when four such men as Dr.
Priestley, Mr. Berington, Mr. Porson, and myself,
ate together,"!* drank together, and chatted together
* This excellent writer and most respectable man had been
engaged in a controversy of some importance with Dr. Priest-
ley, before they were acquainted. In truth, men of improved
understandings and rooted virtue do not suffer difference of
opinion to give them unfavourable impressions of each other.
Let us hear what Johnson himself said, when, unruffled by con-
tradiction, and looking to truth, not to victory, he thus con*
versed with his inquisitive and candid Tory friend. He repeated
his observation, that " the differences among Christians are
really of no consequence : for instance (said he), if a Protestant
objects to a Papist, ' You worship images,' " the Papist can an*
swer, " I do not insist on your doing it ; you may be a very
good Papist without it ; I do it only as a help to my devotion."
I said the great article of Christianity is the revelation of im-
mortality. Johnson admitted it was. — Vol. ii. p. 166, Boswell.
Upon the importance of the doctrine which Johnson admit-
ted, there is a passage in Archdeacon Paley's Principles of
Moral and Political Philosophy, which for comprehension of
remark, solidity of thought, and solemn grandeur of diction,
I consider as one of the noblest instances of composition in the
English language. The reader will find it in page 109, vol. ii*
6th edition in octavo.
f I hope to give no very unfavourable opinion of our con-
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 277
at such a place as Fair Hill, and in such a month as
November, real incendiaries may, for aught I know,
be taught to suppose that some attempts were made
towards a second gunpowder plot. Unfortunately,
however, for our design, neither Mr. Porson, I be-
lieve, nor myself, have seen our other two associates
from that time * to the present.
Besides paying and receiving all these visits, I
have condescended to accept from Dr. Priestley
some of his controversial publications ; I have dared
to write to him three or four letters, and vouchsafed
to receive from him four or five ; nay, I have car-
ried my complaisance so far as to examine with
great accuracy, and with little or no change of my
original and orthodox opinion, the dispute in which
venation when I add, that a fifth person in company was one of
the peaceable and loyal people called quakers; I forget his
name, but he seemed to be a person of sound judgment and
extensive information; and I believe that he is no less an enemy
than myself to the modern doctrine of deposing monarchs, and
the modern practice of burning conventicles.
* This statement was exact when I wrote it ; but at the be-
ginning of February I had the pleasure of dining with Mr,
Dilly in the Poultry, and of meeting at his house Dr. Priestley,
Mr. Isaac Reed, Mr. Cumberland, Mr. Belsham, Mr. Hoole,
Mr. Braithwaite, Dr. Thompson of Kensington, Mr. Sharpe,
and two or three learned members of the University of Cam-
bridge. Hard is my fate, to be thus under the necessity of
quelling slander by the detail of what passes in private life.
Bigots will be surprised to hear, that the very day after I had
seen Dr. Priestley I spent a most agreeable afternoon with the
ingenious and worthy Mr. Jones, author of a celebrated work
in defence of the Catholic Doctrine of the Trinity.
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this Heresiarch was engaged with an illustrious
prelate.' Upon one topic,* where my fixed belief is
diametrically opposite to that of Dr. Priestley, I
confessed myself dissatisfied with some arguments
used by his antagonist. Upon other topics I con-
demned the austerity of that antagonist's spirit,
though I have always given him just and ample
Credit for mathematical knowledge, for classical eru-
dition, for acuteness of reasoning, and for splen-
dour of diction.
Lately I had the honour of being consulted by
Dr. Priestley upon a subject of some importance,
and I gave, at his request, my unreserved advice,
for which, if I were at liberty to proclaim it, I
should have the approbation of all serious church-
men, all impartial sectaries, and all sober-minded
citizens.
Such, and such only, has been my connection
with Dr. Priestley. And was it for this that, in a
season of deep distress and dreadful danger, my
principles were on a sudden gnawed at by vermin
whispers, and worried by brutal reproaches ? that
my house was marked out for conflagration ? that
my family were for three days and three nights agi-
tated with consternation and dismay? that my books,
which I have long been collecting with indefatigable
industry — upon which I have expended more than
half the produce of more than twenty years unwea-
* I mean the spiritual evidence for the miraculous con-
ception.
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ried labour— and which I considered as the pride of
my youth, the employment of my riper age, and,
perhaps, the best solace of declining life — was it for
this, I say, that my very books were exposed to
most unexpected, most unmerited destruction ? In
what age, or in what country, do I live ? Whither,
as an unoffending citizen, shall I flee for the pro-
tection of the laws ; and where, as a diligent and
a faithful teacher of Christianity, where shall I look
for its salutary influence, even among those who
make their boast of. being its most zealous defen-
ders ? O superbiam inauditam I Alios in facinore
gloriari, aliis ne dolere quidem impunity licere.*
But the ways of Providence are unsearchable ; aijd
among all the anomalies which baffle conjecture,
and afflict sensibility, in the moral world, the follies,
the ficklenesses, and the passions of man, are the
most inexplicable and the most deplorable. He is
a tyrant in defence of liberty — he is a plunderer for
the support of law. He is an oppressor for the ho-
nour of government He is a savage in the very
bosom of society. He becomes the unrelenting
persecutor of his species for the imaginary glory of
his God.
My heart throbs so feelingly, and my conscience
is so entirely unclouded by guilt or fear, that I can-
not yet retire from those subjects, from which some
men will boldly draw those invidious inferences,
which others with a sort of instinctive subtilty have
• Vid. Epist, Famil. Cic. lib. ii. epiat. xxv*
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been content to lodge in the dark ambuscade of
insinuation.
In the name of common sense, then, and of com*
mon humanity, let me ask, can the unlettered, and
therefore the prejudiced classes of mankind, be pri-
vileged to prescribe the bounds of social intercourse
to enlightened men, who, from the very circum-
stance of being enlightened, are most qualified to
assist others in emerging from the gloom of igno-
rance, and in shaking off the fetters of every unso-
cial and unchristian antipathy ? Did not Dr. John-
son himself endure, and, as I am told, almost solicit
an interview with Dr. Priestley, whose tenets he
openly reprobated, and whose sect he derided, too
coarsely, as I think, and too indiscriminately ? In-
stead of shunning contagion from the presence
of a polemic, who had " blown with a louder
blast than his fellows the horn of battle," did not
Professor White* converse with him easily and
* The learned Professor (to his honour be it spoken) was, on
this occasion, and, I believe, habitually is, actuated by the
same good spirit by which the orthodox bishops were distin-
guished after their return from banishment, into which they
had been driven by Valens. Their conduct was so exemplary
in all respects towards the Arian bishops, that I cannot refuse
my readers the satisfaction of perusing the following passage :
UpoebpLas ovb&v kfyovTiaaV 6.XXd r^y bp6voiav rwv Xa£v vpo-
Tifirjarayres, pir) garaAcirecf trfas tberidrjtrav r&y <5lto rifs *Apc/ov
alptcretos, fi^be hiyovoiq. *arar£/i>'€tv rrjv etcKXijalav, fjv irapd Gcov
Kal dirooTokw play irapaSo0ci<rav, <pi\oveaciat ko\ ffxXoTpoebptat
cl$ ToWds Karepipurav. — Sozomen. Hist. Eccles. lib. 7. cap. 2.
But the behaviour of Eulalius, bishop pf Amasja, towards an
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 281
amicably when they met at the great Armoury of
Heresy in St. Paul's Church-yard? Did not the
Dean of Christ Church, with his usual sagacity and
good humour, call Dr. Priestley " a Trinitarian in
politics, and an Unitarian in religion,*9 when they
saw each other at Oxford ? Did not Mr. Burke
himself visit Dr. Priestley at Birmingham? Yes.
These great and worthy men did not think it incon-
sistent with the purity of their faith, or the dignity
of their stations, to interchange the courtesies of
gentlemen and of scholars with Dr. Priestley. But
no busy tongue has dared to blacken them for these
actions in the opinion of mankind. No accusing
angel has been permitted to record them as subjects
of condemnation in the awful registry of Heaven.
Living, as I have done, for the space of more than
five years within the distance of sixteen miles from
Dr. Priestley, I have seen him far less often than one
man of letters would wish to see another under the
same circumstances. _,
I never had the slightest communication with
Dr. Priestley upon matters of government, either
Arian bishop, who lived in the same city, was so amiable, and
so uncommon, that I will venture to lengthen this note by a se-
cond quotation from the same chapter of Sozomen :
Upovoovpevos & EirXt&Xtof rijs vavr&v Ipuht€ws, iLvrtfl6\rj<rev
airrov vpwTeveiv, Kal kolvq rr^v €KK\rj<riav Wvveiy, &0\oy M rp
hpovolq. Hlv wpoebpiav tyovra*
The Arian bishop churlishly refused this honourable offer,
and Eulalius by his moderation won over the Arians of his dio-
cese to the orthodox faith.
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speculative or practical, and in all probability I
never shall. Yet I have visited him, as I hope
to visit him again, because he is an unaffected, un-
assuming, and very instructive companion. I will
not, in consequence of our different opinions, ei-
ther impute to him the evil which he does not,
or depreciate in him the good which he is allowed
to do. I will not debase my understanding, nor
prostitute my honour, by encouraging the clar
mours* which have been raised against him in vul-
gar minds, by certain persons who would have
done well to read before they wrote — to under-
* Upon this grave subject let me quote the words of a learned
Bishop : " Evil speaking and slander, lying and falsehood, can
never enter into the character of that man who professes to be a
follower of the blessed Jesus. And I may add, that, however
common it be in the world, yet we ought always to avoid, as a
most mischievous vice, all fierceness and uncharitableness in the
carrying on of our civil and religious disputes. Too much of
this is to be seen almost every where ; for the furious and the
passionate of all parties have so far Conquered all humanity
within them, that they can wound, and, as it were, stab to the
heart, the character of any man whom they dislike, not only
without remorse, but even with pleasure." — Bishop Pearce.
This prelate probably would not have agreed with Dr. John-
ion, when he said, that where a man voluntarily engages in an
important controversy, he is to do all he can to lessen his anta-
gonist, because authority from personal respect has much weight
with most people, and often more than reasoning. — Vol. ii.
page 24. Boswell.
What Johnson said to Mr. Murray (see page 40) is less un-
reasonable. And, indeed, when infidels or heretics play the
part of scoffers and sophists, they who defend the truth must
feel indignation, and have a right to express it.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 283
stand, before they dogmatized — to examine, before
they condemned. Readily do I give him up, as
the bold defender of heresy and schism, to the well-
founded objections of his antagonists : but I cannot
think his religion insincere, while he worships one
Deity in the name of one Saviour ; nor do I sup-
pose that his acts of justice, temperance, and cha-
rity, have the " nature of sin," because they some-
times flow more immediately from reason, as ab-
surdly contradistinguished in scholastic language
from faith. I will not compare his opinions with
the opinions of Mr. Gibbon, because Mr. Gibbon
casts aside the evidence of all miracles whatsoever,
and because he derides revelation, as well as rejects
it — I will not degrade his morals to a level with
the morals of Mr. Hume, who in his more popular
writings has taught the inconsiderate, the ignorant,
and the innocent, to think with diminished horror,
not of adultery only, but of other impurities too
flagitious to be named. When I find a writer bear-
ing among philosophical men in his own country
the name of a philosopher, and honoured by the
testimony of many foreign universities, I must look
up to him as something higher than a " mere lucky
experimentalist" — I must respect him as something
better than a mere decorous "atheist,** when I
know that his virtues in private life are acknow-
* With odious atheist names they load their foes,
And never fail in charities, like those.
In climes where true religion is profess'd,
That imputation were no laughing jest. Drydk^n.
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ledged by his neighbours, admired by his congrega*
tion, and recorded almost by the unanimous suf-
frage of his most powerful and most distinguished
antagonists. Upon every subject of literature which
comes within my reach, I will talk and I will write
to him without reserve, and in proportion as his
opinions may appear to me to approach truth, or
to recede from it, I shall assent without reluctance,
or dissent without dissimulation. The same would
be my conduct towards the orthodox Bishop
Horne,* and towards the renowned champion of
* Soon after my papers were sent to the press, this prelate
paid the great debt of nature ; and of such a prelate as Dr«
George Home, who would not be eager to record, that the life
which had been spent in virtue and in holiness, was closed in
calm and pious resignation ? Little as I am disposed to em-
brace either some philosophical opinions which he was known
to entertain, or some proofs of scriptural doctrine which he
was accustomed to enforce, I cannot forbear to praise Dr.
Horne at that moment, when to flatter him were. vain. To me
his character was known only by his writings and by report.
But they who were acquainted with him personally, concur
with me in giving, him credit for uniting a playful fancy with a
serious heart. He is, indeed, distinguished as an antagonist of
the Unitarians, and as an advocate for the Hutchinsoniana, But
his temper was never contaminated by the virulence of bigotry,
and his taste diffused a colouring of elegance over the wild, but
not unlovely, visions of enthusiasm. His peculiarities did not
obscure his excellencies. He loved Hebrew, and he understood
Greek. He defended Hutchinson; but in spirit and in truth
" he had learned Christ.*' His. known sincerity gave a fuller
and a wider effect to his celebrated piety : Dr. Home pro-
fessed only what he believed > he practised what he taught.
Having really been " a saint in crape/' he did not affect the
appearance of being " twice a saint in lawn." May the Church
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 285
orthodoxy, Bishop Horsley, if I could rank these
respectable prelates among my correspondents*
The same has been my conduct to that most ami*
able man, and most accomplished scholar, Dr. Ben-
net, the Bishop of Cork, to the profound and saga-
cious Dr. Nathaniel Forster,* to the learned Mr.
Burgess, to the celebrated Dr. White, whom I have
yet the pleasure to call my friend, and to Dr. Mar-
tin Routh, president of Magdalen college, Oxford
—let me pause at the mention of this venerable
name. Why should I deny myself the satisfaction
I must feel in saying of him here, what of such a
man I should say every where, with equal justice
and with equal triumph? The friendship of this
excellent person, believe me, readers, will ever be
ranked by me among the sweetest consolations and
the proudest ornaments of my life — he, in the lan-
guage of Milton,*}* " is the virtuous son of a virtu-*
ous father," whose literary attainments are respected
by every scholar to whom he is known, whose ex-
emplary virtues shed a lustre on that church in
which they have not been rewarded, and whose
grey hairs will never descend to the grave, but
amidst the blessings of the devout and the tears of
the poor. He fills a station for which other men
are sometimes indebted to the cabals of parties or
to the caprices of fortune, but in which he was
of England ever be adorned by such prelates, such scholars,
and such men, as a Watson, a Bagot, and a Home !
* Late, of Colchester.
f See the Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence.
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himself most honourably placed from the experi-
ence his electors had long had of his integrity, and
the confidence they reposed in his discernment, in
•his activity, and in his impartiality. The attach-
ment he professes to academical institutions- pro-
ceeds not less from a sincere conviction of their
utility, than from a deep reverence fori the wisdom
of antiquity in the regulations it has made for pre-
serving the morals of youth, and for promoting the
cultivation of learning. His government over the
affairs of a great and respectable college is active
without officiousness, and firm without severity.
His independence of spirit is the effect, not of fero-
cious pride, but of a cool and steady principle,
which claims only the respect it is ever ready to
pay, and which equally disdains to trample upon
subordination, and to crouch before the insolence
of power. His correct judgment, his profound
erudition,* and his various knowledge, are such as
* The fame of Dr. Routh as a scholar does not rest upon
the partial suffrages of private friends, upon the dogmatical
decisions of literary cabals, or upon those pompous decisions
which are introduced into academical societies with little diffi-
culty, supported by little proof, and then being echoed and re-
echoed without intermission and without enquiry, roll down
from one short-lived generation to another as incontrovertible
truths. My friend has made a public appeal %o the learned
world in his edition of the Georgias and Euthydcmus of Plato,
which was published in 1784. The notes are more full than
those of Etwal upon some other dialogues of Plato, and more
learned than those of the celebrated Forster. With an excep-
tion to the praise of conjectural emendation, Dr. Routh s
work deserves to be classed with Musgrave's Euripides *md
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JURISPRUDENCE) &C. 287
seldom fall to the lot of man. His liberality* is
scarcely surpassed even by his orthodoxy, and his
orthodoxy is not the tumid and fungous excres-
cence of prejudice, but the sound and mellowed
fruit of honest and indefatigable enquiry. In a
word, his mind, his whole mind, is decked at once
loop's Longinus, I have sometimes wished that the editor
had added, like Forster, an Index Atticus ; and I am happy
to inform scholars, that in an old copy of Olympiodorus he
has inserted various additions and corrections from that MS*
copy which lately disappeared from the rooms of a very
learned and very excellent man, to whom it had been lent by
Dr. Routh.
* I can apply to my friend what Johnson says of Zachary
Madge: * By a solicitous examination of objections, and judi-
cious comparison of opposite arguments, he attained, what
enquiry never gives but to industry and perspicuity, a firm
and unshaken settlement of conviction. But his firmness was
without asperity ; for, knowing with how much difficulty truth
was sometimes found, he did not wonder that many missed it.*'
— Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. ii. p. 375. The truth of the
concluding sentence will be felt by every man of deep re-
flection; and well does it become those who are not in the
habit of reflecting deeply, to weigh its moral and religious im-
portance in mitigating their prejudices, and in restraining their
invectives, upon certain difficult and momentous subjects*
Glad should I be if this opinion of Johnson's were, in Johnson's
words, written like the motto of Capaneus, " in golden letters,**
and hung up, not only in every dissenting academy, but in
every hall of every college in those two noble seminaries,
which, as Milton says of Athens, 1 revere as "the eyes" of
this kingdom. See upon this subject some excellent remarks
in pages 3 and 4 of Newte's Tour through England and Scot-
land— a work which I think replete with profound research and
useful observations, which do equal honour to the author as a
philosopher and a patriot.
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with the purest crystals of simplicity, and the
brightest jewels of benevolence and piety.
° His life is gentle, and the elements
So mix*d in him, that Nature may stand up
And say to all the world, this is a man/'
The reader, if he be a man of letters, and a man
of virtue, would perhaps wish me to pursue this
digression yet farther; and, at all events, he will
excuse me for detaining him from a dry detail of
petty facts, to contemplate for a while so noble a
character as that of Dr. Martin Routh.
Dr. Priestley, I was well aware, differed from
many clergymen in the establishment, and from
myself too, upon many topics of controversial divi-
nity, and of abstract politics. He had lately, I was
told, incurred the displeasure even of candid church-
men, by his Familiar Letters to the Inhabitants of
Birmingham, and by his answer to Mr. Burke's
well known and much admired pamphlet. He was
connected by habits of intimacy, and perhaps by
similarity of opinion, with several gentlemen who
assembled at the Revolution dinner. He had suf-
fered equally with some other dissenters,* by the de-
predations committed upon his property ; and more
than the rest, by the destruction of his philosophic
* Little as I am inclined to commend the prejudices and pe-
culiarities of the dissenters, I will always do open and ample
justice to their moral characters. Let me observe, then, that
of the persons who suffered in the late riots, two or three are
men of exemplary lives, and the rest are quite irreproachable.
This circumstance deserves serious consideration from all good
men, of all religions, and all political parties.
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 289
cal apparatus, by the dispersion of his various pa-*
pen, by the attacks let loose upon his character,
and by the outrages meditated against his person.
In addition to these severities, he, by the loss of
those papers, was at such a crisis exposed to invi-
sible and irresistible evils, from invisible and innu-*
merable quarters. He might suffer from private
malignity what public justice could not inflict. The
ruffian, the gossip, and the informer, had invaded
that asylum which the laws had made sacred from
the intrusions even of the magistrate. Knowing,
therefore, as I do, the confidential intercourse that
subsists between men of letters, I foresaw that he
might be loaded with responsibility for unpopular
or novel tenets, which his friends had communi-
cated to him, and to which he might not himself,
in every instance, or to every degree of extent,
accede.
I know that the Birmingham riots were distin-
guished from the London riots by many singular
and many hideous circumstances; by a seeming
regularity of contrivance — by a " strange chaos of
levity and ferocity" in the execution — by reports
of debility,* reluctance, and outrageous partiality in
* Whether these reports be well or ill founded it is not for
me to determine. But sure I am that no blame can be laid on
the venerable judges who presided at Worcester and at War-
wick. And I am happy to say, that the gentlemen of the
grand jury in this country deserve the thanks of the commu-
nity for their upright and impartial conduct. Remembering
the escape of other, but, perhaps, not better men, I rejoice
most sincerely at the pardon of the two criminals condemned
VOL, III. U
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the administration of public justice — by fhe tenpo»
r&ry extinction of common prudence, common jus-
tice, and common humanity in private companies—
ftt Warwick, though I confess that the enquiry made into the
case of one of them after his condemnation was a very unusual
and a very ungracious measure* As to the unhappy wretches
who suffered, I lament that their execution at a place so distant
from the scene of their crimes tended to weaken the salutary
and awful effects of public justice ; and 1 am sorry to add, that
their general depravity of conduct being assigned as a reason
for their exclusion from the royal mercy, has drawn off the
attention of the common people from their guilt in the riots to
their other and lighter offences. The king doubtless has upon
this occasion done his duty, as he had wisely done it before in
London, where several persons, not as partisans but as magis-
trates, not as joining in the vulgar cry but as neglecting to
quell it, not as abetting the riots but as afraid of the rioters,
were notoriously deserters of the public cause. But the War-
wickshire business, after all, is dark, very dark, and -calls for a
strict investigation in Parliament. I should do great injustice
to Lord Aylesford, and four or five country gentlemen who in-
terposed during our riots, if I did not add, that they are en-
titled to the thanks of their neighbours and the praise of their
country, for their courage and for their humanity. I cannot,
however, dissemble the concern I felt at some injudicious ex-
pressions, which, from the dreadful confusion of the moment,
were admitted into one of the addresses signed by their very
respectable names. But this oversight will be forgotten or
forgiven, when the purity of their motives, and the activity of
their exertions, shall be remembered to their honour. What I
have said of Lord Aylesford, and the country gentlemen who
acted with him, is said sincerely and justly. But addresses to
mobs are subject to the same inconveniences with remon-
strances to king and petitions to parliament. In all of them
may be found signatures of the Megarenaian sort, which,
therefore, among men of sense, are oitfr kv X4yt>, ofri* &
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 291
by the most shameless language of triumph in
some diurnal and monthly publications,* which
have a wide, and in this case, I fear, a baleful effect
upon national opinion— and by vestiges of such re-
morseless and ill-disguised approbation in certain
well-educated men/f" here and elsewhere, as in times
past would have steeled the heart for participation
in the massacre of St Bartholomew, in the fires of
Smithfield, and in those human sacrifices which the
Christian world has often seen exhibited as acts of
faith by the holy order of St. Dominic. Pudet haec
opprobria, &c. All these symptoms of decay iq
* In the ministerial papers there were inflammatory predic*
(ions of tumults long before the riots, and after them was as*
turned a jet more audacious language of approbation. It is
easy to account for such writers, however reproachful it may
be to a Christian country, that they found employers and
readers. But that a magazine, of which I know the conductor
to be a man of sense and honour, should admit any justification
of the offenders, or any triumph over the sufferers, is indeed
surprising. " Let Paine, let Priestley! let all the Unitarians,
and all the Revolutionists, be condemned for their opinions,
but for Heaven's sake, Mr. Urban, let no man ever be war-
ranted in bringing either of these two charges against the Gen-
tleman's Magazine, that it puts a firebrand into the hands of a
mob, and calls upon them to execute justice, or that it encou*
rages the doing of a great and positive evil to prevent an un-
certain one."— -Gentleman's Magazine, Nov. 1791, p. 1007.
t Par be it from me even to insinuate that this was gene-
rally the case. All the better, and much the greater part of
that class of men to whom I allude, would, I am sure, " have
disavowed with horror those wretches, who claimed a fellowship
with diem upon no other titles than those of having pillaged
persons with whom they maintained controversies."— P. 22%
of Burke's Reflections.
u2
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the spirit of social union, and of Christian charity,
I knew, I lamented, and upon proper occasions I
have most pointedly condemned, sometimes by re-
monstrance in conversation, and sometimes by in-
struction from the pulpit.* — But in respect to Dr.
Priestley, whatever may be his demerits, and what-
ever may have been his sufferings, I really thought
that after his flight he had nothing farther to ap-
prehend from those enemies who were actuated by
the feelings of gentlemen, or by the principles of
Christians. As the fury of the storm had subsided
a little, and as the mischief had exceeded the pro-
bable expectations, and even the professed wishes,
of those who called themselves the advocates for
church and king, I flattered myself that public zeal
would be tempered by some portion of private vir-
tue, and that compassion itself, if not respect, would
by degrees pave the way to justice. Whether I
considered Dr. Priestley as a celebrated man, or ad
an injured man, or as a suspected man, I distin-
guished between the deliberate measures of an in-
* I have great satisfaction in saying, that the sentiments of
my parishioners, though very friendly, as I trust they always
will be, to the interests and the honour of our ecclesiastical
and civil establishments, were, in one or two instances only*
marked by that sanguinary spirit of violence which had per*
vaded other parts of the country. I am bound also to add,
that the strenuous and kind assistance which many of them
gave my family in the hour of danger, will ever endear them
to their minister, and entitles them to commendation from all
well wishers to the church and state, in whom zeal is united
with knowledge, and knowledge has been productive of charity
and vital religion.
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JURISPRUDENCE* &C. $93
dividual, and the impetuous passions of the multi-
tude;* and, with this distinction before me, I
should have pronounced that every letter of Dr.
Priestley's found in every place would have been
received for him without hesitation, preserved for
him without inspection, or transmitted to him with*
out delay, by every honest man of every political
and • every religious party. Nay, in the confined
circle of my own acquaintance at Birmingham, I
could have pointed out several warm but worthy
churchmen, who would have spurned the idea of
reading letters which they had no right to open, of
suspecting letters which they had no right to read,
and of forwarding letters which, without opening
and reading them, they probably could have little
right or little temptation to suspect ; for Dr. Priest-
ley's correspondence, it is well known, extends to
the orthodox and to the heterodox, to loyalists and
to republicans, to scholars of every class, and to
citizens of almost every country.
• To reflecting minds, the riots at Birmingham will not be
altogether without use. They prove the existence and the
violeoce of that odious spirit which many good men were dis-
posed to think extinct, and which it is the duty of all good
governors to watch, to discourage, and to control. I will
hazard the imputation of quaintness, in applying to these dis-
turbances what Ovid himself has quaintly said of the conflagra-
tion occasioned by Phaeton :
— " Incendia lucera
Prsebebant, aliquisque malo fuit usus in illo."
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The following passage occurs in the tVeface :
- - *-—
The attention of the public is a most gracious
boon, which they who solicit it should also be
ready to deserve, by the judicious choice and the
skilftd management of their subject, by liveliness of
imagery or solidity of reasoning, by descriptions
that may captivate, or by disquisitions that may hut
prove. But nothing can be more irksome to an
ingenuous mind, than to call the notice of a redder
to a topic merely personal, and byfthich, there-
fore, few will be amused, and none, probably, can
be instructed. With a narrative, indeed, of such
causes as produce, and of such circumstances as in-
flame, the quarrels of private men, it is not easy to
interweave any truths of high and extensive useful-
ness ; and as to the advantage to be derived from
those moral reflections which niay be excited by
the conduct of the parties, it is too often impeded
by personal dislike and personal predilection, by
doubts upon facts, which they who entertain them
think it not worth while to settle, and by opinions
of character which it is scarcely possible to alter.
The historian commands attention, and rewards
it, by selecting the more brilliant circumstances of
great events, by unfolding the characteristic qualities
of eminent personages, and by tracing well-known
effects through all the obliquities and all the re-
cesses of their secret causes. From the ordinary
occurrences of life, as they influence the conduct of
extraordinary men, the biographer collects such
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JURISP1LUD3NCB, &C. 295
.scattered rays as may be concentrated into one
bright assemblage of truth upon the character
which he has undertaken to delineate. Even the
novelist throws his enchantments around the fancy
by fictitious representations, which he can at wiH
embellish into beauty or exalt into dignity; and
the polemic exercises his dominion otct the reason-
ing faculties, by poignancy of remark and by
subtilty of confutation. But none of these advan-
tages fall to the lot of him who engages in such a
narrative as I am compelled to pursue. He ascends
no eminence, he reposes under no shade, but is
continually toiling onward without the cheering
consciousness of progression, sometimes oppressed
with languor, amidst the dulness and the sameness
of the scenes which surround him, and sometimes
roused into exertion by the noxious weeds that
may offend his senses, or by the rude briars that
would intercept his way.
Upon such occasions as this, the stoutest advo-
cate in the best cause seldom has it in his power
to produce in the minds of others those emotions,
which he may himself most keenly and most sin-
cerely feel. Though proofs be accumulated, though
arguments be framed, though eloquence be dis-
played to break the uniformity of narrative, and
though wit be called in to temper the severity of
reason, the exertion of all these various powers will
be silently counteracted and finally defeated, by the
want of bulkiness, or the want of splendour, in the
subject itself. Conscious of little real sympathy,
and expecting no useful instruction, men begin to
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296 ON POLITICS,
read with vague inquisitiveness, they continue to
Tead "with growing indifference, and at last, with
secret satisfaction, they cease to read. The candid
are not pleased, the prejudiced are not convinced,
the indolent are wearied, and the impertinent or
the malevolent alone are gratified. Even the mem-
bers of those petty cabals, which are sometimes
formed in consequence of petty disputes among
their acquaintance, cannot long retain their import-
ance or their ardour. When they tell the tale
which has often been told before, and tell it with
fresh vehemence, unaccompanied by fresh evidence,
they. soon find themselves unable to allure a hearer,
or to provoke an opponent. Parties of this kind
start up like a bubble, suddenly and noisily, and
like a bubble too, they dissolve and pass away,
without notice and without effect.
By that countless and harmless swarm of scrib-
blers who amuse themselves, and readers equally
idle with themselves, by paragraphs upon my opi-
nions in politics, my peculiarities in dress, or my
love of antient literature, I have too much firmness,
and indeed too much understanding, to be offended
for one moment. My character,.! am told, pre-
sents a wide front of attack to these puny assailants,
and so long as they abstained from the poisoned
weapons of malevolence, I often smiled, as no doubt
I often shall smile again at the light and feeble
shafts of ridicule. But when a person shews a
fixed determination to inflict, if he can, some deep
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JURISPRUDENCE, &C. 297
and deadly wound upon my moral feelings, I will
not refrain from doing that justice which I alike
owe to him and to myself. The regard which I
have generally, and justly paid to literary reputa-
tion, must, in this one instance give way to the
sense I entertain of personal honour. "Omnino
probabiliora sunt quae lacessiti dicimus qu&m quae
priores." — Vide Cicero de Orat. lib. ii.
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LETTER
FROM IRENOPOLIS
TO THE
INHABITANTS OF ELEUTHERO POLLS ;
OR,
A SERIOUS ADDRESS
TO
THE DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM.
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LETTER
TO TRK
DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM.
Multa in homine, Demea,
Signa insunt, ex quibu' conjecture facile fit,
Duo cum idem faciuut, ssepe ut possis dicere,
Hoc licet impune facere huic, illi non licet :
Non quo dissimilis res sit, sed quo is qui facit.
Terence, Adelphi — Act v. Scene 4.
GENTLEMEN,
Permit me to address you in a spirit of candour
and respect, and under the sacred and endearing
names of fellow-citizens and fellow-christians. With
intentions not less pure, and, probably, after re-
searches not less diligent than your own, I cannot
profess to think with you upon many speculative
subjects, both of politics and of religion. But free*
dom of enquiry is equally open to you, and to my*
self: it is equally laudable in us, when conducted
with impartiality and decorum ; and it must equally
tend to the enlargement of knowledge, and the im-
provement of Virtue, while our sincerity does not
betray us into precipitation, and while our zeal
does not stifle within us the amiable and salutary
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302 LETTER TO THE
sentiments of mutual forbearance. Upon the points
in which we dissent from each other, arguments
will always secure the attention of the wise and
good; whereas invective must disgrace the cause
which we may respectively wish to support. But
the principles upon which we are agreed are, sure-
ly, of a more exalted rank, and of more exten-
sive importance, than those about which we differ;
and while that importance is felt, as well as acknow-
ledged, we shall welcome every argument, and re-
sist every invective, from whatever quarter they may
proceed.
We are convinced, I trust, as to the truth and
authority of the Scriptures. But in the interpreta-
tion of them we must be sensible that the imperious
and delusive infallibility which we refuse to others
cannot be claimed by ourselves. We are satisfied,
I presume, about the wisdom and utility of those
fundamental principles that distinguish the mixed
government under which an indulgent Providence
lias permitted our forefathers and ourselves to live;
Yet, if one class of men ajte disposed to uphold the
power of the crown, and another to enlarge the
freedom of the people, we have no right to con-
clude that the former wish to be fettered with the
drains of slavery, or that the latter are preparing to
let loose the ravages of anarchy. The advocate for
monarchy is not necessarily the foe of liberty, nor
is the love of liberty incompatible with reverence
for monarchy. Experience, indeed, soon pots to
Bight those chimerical accusations which issue from
the narrow, spirit of system, or the frantic vsehe*
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DISSENTERS OF SfUflVGHAM. 908
mefcce of party. la the hour of trial men east away
subordinate distinctions, as incumbrances to their
understanding*, and cleave to some vigorous and
solid principle, which arrests their common notice,
because it embraces their common interests. They
cease to wrangle when they are called upon to act ;
and they look back with a mixture of amazement
and contempt, even upon themselves, for all the
cavils in which their vanity once exulted, and for
all the reproaches by which their malignity was
once gratified*
Through circumstances which are the result of
accident more than design, through the prejudices
of our education, tiirough the habits of our think-
ing, through the conversation of our acquaintance,
and sometimes it may be, through the authority of
our teachers, .difference of opinion will arise. But
that difference, when carefully examined, often re*
solves itseff only into a question of more or less, of
fit or unfit, as to the time,— of proper or improper,
as to line mode, — rif probable or improbable, as to
the consequence. It really turns, not upon the
actual existence, or upon the general validity of
principles themselves, "but upon the degree in which
they are applicable to some specific and eontro*
verted case. As, however, the solution of these
difficulties must ever be dependent, pot only upon
the fluctuating nature of all worldly affairs, hut
aipon the many or the few opportunities we have
for observing their varying aspects, and upon the
greater or less ability we employ to comprehend
their relations and their effects, there must often
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804 LETTER TO JTHK
be room for suspense of judgment, and there will
always be a call for the exercise of charity. On the
other hand, impatience of contradiction is both
weak and wicked. Instead of facilitating decision,
it perpetuates contention. It darkens the evidences,
and obstructs the efficacy of truth itself. It ori-
ginates in a radical defect of judgment, and too
often terminates in a most incorrigible intolerance
of temper.
I doubt not, Gentlemen, but that you will allow
the justness of these observations. I doubt not,
but that you are impressed with a deep sense of
their utility. But in the application of them to
practice, we all see, and we all lament, very fre-
quent instances of inconsistency or reluctance even
among those persons who, in matters of theory,
may justly pretend to the fullest information and
the clearest conviction.
The situation, Gentlemen, in which you are
placed, attracts the notice of all parties, and of all
sects in your own country; and the conduct which
you may pursue in that situation must exalt your
characters to honour, or depress them with infamy,
not only in your own age, but to posterity. By
moderation in your opinions, and by prudence in
your measures, you may disarm the prejudices of
your enemies, secure the protection of your gover-
nors, and conciliate the favour of the virtuous and
the enlightened. On the contrary, if you swell
trifles into bulkiness by a superfluous and turbulent
zeal — if you inflame the animosities which you
jought to mitigate— if you persevere in a frivolous
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 305
or a pernicious contest, in which retreat would be
less inglorious than victory, and victory is less pro-
bable than overthrow, the considerate part of your
fellow-citizens will be at a loss to determine who*
ther you are most to be condemned for the in&tua*
tion of your understandings, or for the perverse-*
ness of your dispositions.
You stand, Gentlemen, upon a high and an open
theatre, where every action will be vigilantly no-
ticed, and every motive severely scrutinized. You
have more to hope from the stern and solicitoua
justice, than from the candour or partiality of those
by whom you are observed. You have a very illus-
trious, and, perhaps, a very difficult part to perform*
You are, summoned to a triumph, not merely over*
the prepossessions of your calumniators, but over
the excesses of your own passions. You are to
vindicate and preserve your future reputation, by
disproving the heavy charges which have been al-
leged against your past behaviour. You are to meet
acquittal or condemnation from a most awful tri-
bunal, the sentence of which has been hitherto sus-
pended by uncertainty about what you have done,
and compassion for what you have suffered. You
are to convince a generous, but a discerning public,
that peace is equally dear to you with, liberty, that
you have wisdom to concede, where concession is a
duty, as well as firmness not to relax, where relaxa-
tion were a crime, that the doctrinal peculiarities of
Unitariaoism are perfectly compatible with the prac-
tical rules of Christianity, and that while you ap-
plaud the auspicious changes in the French govcra-
vol. in. x
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306 LETTER TO THE
ment, you meditate no direct or indirect injury to
your own.
These plain but interesting considerations, Gen-
tlemen, are presented to your view by a man who
has risked, and would again risk, the imputation of
singularity, of indecorum, and even apostacy, by
doing to you what is just, and by speaking of you
what is true. Though he does not profess himself
an advocate of many of your tenets, he can, with
sincerity, declare himself not an enemy to your
persons. He knows only few among you, but he
thinks well of many. He respects you for temper-
ance and decency in private life ; for diligence in
-your employments, and punctuality in your engage-
ments— for economy without parsimony, and libe-
rality without profusion — for the readiness you
shew to relieve distress and to encourage merit,
with little or no distinction of party — for the know-
ledge which many of you have acquired by the
dedication of your leisure hours to intellectual im-
provement, and for the regularity with which most
of you are said to attend religious worship. As to
some late deplorable events, he believes that you
have been misrepresented — he knows that you have
been wronged — he deprecates the continuance of
that misrepresentation, and he now calls upon your
judgments, upon your feelings, and upon your con-
sciences, to avert the repetition of those wrongs.
Such, Gentlemen, is the general purpose for which
I take the liberty of addressing you; and in the
sequel of this pamphlet you will find me state,
without disguise, and without acrimony, my serious
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 307
opinion upon the particular event which has induced
me thus to stand forward with the zeal, but not the
arrogance of a counsellor, and with the fidelity,
hut not the blindness of a friend.
A report has for some time been circulated in
this county, that you intend to commemorate the
French Revolution upon the approaching 14th of
July. Unwilling I was to believe that report, be*
cause I was unable to account for that intention.
It seemed to me incredible that men, harassed as
you have been by oppression, and loaded with oblo-
quy, should deliberately rush into danger and dis-
grace ; into danger which you cannot push aside,
and disgrace which, after such an action hazarded
at such a crisis, you would in vain endeavour to
wipe away. For a time, therefore, I disbelieved,
and I resisted the report. I supposed it to origi-
nate merely in conjectures of what you would do,
arising from misapprehension of what you had al-
ready done. I ascribed the propagation of it to the
busy and mischievous activity of partizans, who are
desirous of alarming the ignorant, and of exasperat-
ing the prejudiced. I cast it into the common
stock of those idle and slanderous rumours which
rise up, we know not where, and disappear, we
know not when. I gave you credit for common
sense enough to perceive that such a measure, at
such a time, was unsafe, and for common modera-
tion enough to feel that it was unbecoming. In
other men I should have called that measure crimi-
nal. In you, Gentlemen, I thought it impossible*
But if my surprize was great, when I first received
x2
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308 LETTER TO THE
the intelligence, how violent must have been the
shock, how deep the concern I felt upon discover-*
jng, as I lately have done, that it was too well
founded ? The primitive Christians, in consequence
of their invincible fortitude, were by some of their
antagonists contemptuously named Biaeothanati,
and by others they were barbarously ridiculed, as
homines desperatse et deploratae factionis. But they
were actuated by an indisputably good spirit in a
cause eminently good ; in a cause which immedi-
ately concerned their duty and their salvation ; in a
cause, for the defence of which they were compel-
led to undergo persecution, though it does not ap-
pear that they were authorized to court it. But
you, Gentlemen, appear to me to be shewing ex-
cessive hardiness upon a subject in which you are
remotely and indirectly interested. You seem to
provoke opposition, without an adequate object.
I consider you as plunging into calamity where you
have not the plea of discharging a duty. I think
that for the guilt and the misery into which your
enemies may be hurried, the chief responsibility
must now recoil upon yourselves.
Permit me, then, to expostulate with you upon the
only arguments which you, probably, can produce
for asserting again your right to assemble, and at
the same time to lay before you the reasons upon
which I, without hesitation, and without apology,
pronounce it your duty to refrain from the most
perilous exercise of that most doubtful right.
Jt may be said, that you are not forbidden to
meet by the laws of the land, and, therefore, that
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 309
your meeting is irreproachable. I admit the fact>
but deny the consequence. A good man, doubt-
less, will not do any thing which the laws interdict*
But will he therefore do every thing which the laws
have not interdicted? Will he not consider that
there is a spirit, as well as a letter, even in human
laws I Will he, without discrimination and without
restriction, infem the tacit approbation of persona
who frame, or persons who administer laws, from
the mere absence of direct and specific prohibition?
Will he forget that an external action may some-
times be accompanied by motives and effects which,
if the law-giver had foreseen them, would have met
with the most pointed reprobation? Instead of re-
joicing that penalties are not instituted of such a
kind as to become equally snares to the harmless,
and checks upon the froward, will he convert the
caution or the lenity of the law-giver into an occa-
sion of disturbing that order, the preservation of
which is the supreme and avowed object of law
itself? Will he lose sight of the judicious and tem-
perate distinction which the Apostle has established
between " things lawful and things not expedient? w
Will he not remember, that as a social and a moral
being he is under the control of obligations more
powerful and more sacred than the best institutions
of the best government? If, indeed, we examine
the aggregate of those duties in which our virtue
consists,, and of those causes by which our well-
being is promoted, small is the share which must
be assigned to the efficacy of public regulations en-
forced by the sanctions of public authority. The
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310 LETTER TO THE
soft manners of civilized life, the useful offices of
good neighbourhood, the sweet charities of domes-
tic relation, are all independent of human laws.
Such are the opinions which we hold, and have a
right to propagate, upon abstract questions of poli-
tics. Such are the tenets we may adopt, and are
warranted to defend, upon the foundations of virtue
and the evidences of religion. Such are our attach-
ments or antipathies to public men; such, our
approbation or disapprobation of public measures.
Such are bur sentiments upon the nice gradations
of decorum and propriety ; such are our principles
in estimating the mass of merit or demerit which
determines the character of individuals* Upon all
these subjects human laws hold out to us little
light, they impose upon us few restraints, and yet,
upon right apprehensions of these subjects, and
upon the conformity of our actions to those appre-
hensions, depend our comfort, our reputation, our
most precious interests in this world, and our dear-
est hopes in that which is to come.
There is not any one action, and scarcely is there
any one thought affecting, or tending to affect, the
happiness of mankind, upon which any one human
being is entirely and strictly a law unto himself.
There is a law of opinion which no good man will
presume to treat with irreverence, because every
good man is anxious to avoid the contempt, and to
deserve the regard of his fellow-creatures. There
is a law of discretion mingled with justice, which
every good citizen is careful to observe, lest he
should interrupt the tranquillity, or encroach upon
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 311
the equitable rights of his fellow-citizens. There
is a law of religion which forbids ns to insult the
errors, or even to wound the prejudices, of our
fellow Christians.
You, Gentlemen, understand not less clearly than
myself the existence of such laws ; you will acknow-
ledge their importance not less sincerely ; and you
will admit that the perverse or. wanton violation of
them cannot be extenuated before man— cannot be
justified before God, by the plea — yes, I must call
it, the futile and fallacious plea, that we are acting
under circumstances where human wisdom is too
dim, and human authority too feeble to control
our actions.
Here, then, a question arises whether the meet-
ing which you intend to hold does, or does not,
fall under the obligation of those laws which I have
enumerated, and the neglect or observance of which
you must yourselves confess to have a permanent
and a visible influence in preserving or contami-
nating our innocence, in promoting or impeding
our happiness, in entitling us to praise, or in cover-
ing us with dishonour. Now, in my opinion, Gen-
tlemen, such a meeting is at variance with your
duty as prudent men, with your duty as peaceable
citizens, and with your duty as sincere Christians.
Many are the situations in which prudence itself
is not only expedient but obligatory; and in the
present state of things it is not the part of a pru-
dent man for you to do again what you have al-
ready done, with so much loss of your property,
and so much danger to your persons. It is not the
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312 LETTER TO THE
part of a peaceable citizen to provoke again those
ferocious tempers, and those outrageous crimes, of
which you have yourselves so lately and so largely
experienced the dismal consequences. It is not the
part of a sincere Christian to offend, without some
weighty reason, even his weaker brethren. Much
less is it his part to cast upon the rash and wild
decision of passion those speculative questions
which ought to be decided only by cool and impar-
tial reason. Least of all is it his part, by an unne-
cessary and unprofitable experiment, practically to
involve thousands in danger, and ten thousands in
guilt.
Well do you know that, whether justly or unjust-
ly, such an assembly wilt immediately bring into
review your political and your religious notions, to
the utmost possible extent, and under the utmost
possible disadvantages. But in vain will you make
professions of a general attachment to the laws and
constitution of your country, when, for so trifling
an end, you venture upon such proceedings as will
induce other men to transgress those laws, and to
maintain that none of you are well affected to that
constitution. In vain will you insist upon your sin-
cerity in the belief of the Gospel, when you throw
snares and temptations in the way of other men,
many of whom believe it with the same firmness,
and contemplate it with the same reverence.
Be assured, Gentlemen, that I have felt disgust
rather than conviction — disgust, I say, from the
reproaches, rather than conviction from the argu-<
ments of certain persons, who would oppress yoa
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 313
with the entire, or even the chief responsibility for
the events of the last disastrous year* Unlikely it
was that you should foresee all those events in all
their causes, and all their aggravations. It was un-
likely that you should suspect certain machinations,
which are said to have been formed against you in
distant quarters. It was unlikely that you should
calculate by your foresight, or even by your fears,
what you have witnessed by your senses ; I mean
the most unexampled degradation of the national
character, the Christian character, and the human
character. But the plea of ignorance can be urged
no longer. Experience has shewn you what men
are under the tyranny of prejudice ; experience has
shewn ydu what they can be in defiance of law;
and if that experience is lost upon your, discretion
or your humanity, every countenance will blush
for your folly, every voice will be raised against
your rashness, but for your sufferings — believe me,
Gentlemen, for your sufferings,' no heart, however
tender, will hereafter mourn.
You will say, perhaps, that the opposition to you
arises from narrow prepossessions, from base in-
trigues, from calumnious reports. Be it so. But
if these evils do really hover around you, it becomes
alike your interest and your duty to deliberate
calmly upon the most proper and the most effectual
methods of counteracting them. If you are sur-
rounded by numerous enemies, remember, I be-
seech you, that resistance is fruitless, and that reta-
liation is vindictive- If you are watched by secret
ruffians, consider that their machinations will be
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314 LKTTRR TO THE
defeated while you abstain from those measures
which, upon a late occasion, made them successful.
If you are annoyed by venomous slanderers, reflect
that by doing again what you have done before
you will furnish new materials for new accusations;
and that by doing it under new circumstances you
will throw around those accusations a more spe-
cious appearance, and give them a wider and more
fatal effect.
I mean not, Gentlemen, to affirm or to deny
that the evils of which you complain are so great
as you represent them. But if I am to suppose
them to exist upon the evidence of your .own state-
ment, I infer, from that very statement, the very
strongest objections to your own intended conduct.
In the town where you reside there are many
persons whose talents and whose virtues deserve
your esteem, however widely they may dissent from
you upon numberless questions, about which free
enquirers into truth, and the inhabitants of a free
country, ever have differed, and ever will differ.
These men will not listen with a willing ear, when
, your reputations are rudely attacked. Their bosoms
are not callous while they reflect upon those melan-
choly scenes, when your families were forced from
their homes, when your property was plundered,
when your houses were consumed in a conflagration
which deepened the horrors of the night, and drove
back even the splendor of the sun in open day.
But, if you meet again, the candid doubts of these
men, as to the intention of your former meeting, will
be supplanted by indignant suspicions, #nd their pity
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 315
for your former sufferings will be exchanged for
disgust and abhorrence.
I meddle not with the controversy going on be*
tween Dr. Priestley and the clergy of your town, so
far as it relates to those circumstances which pre-
ceded, or those which followed the riots. But
those clergymen have professed openly and unani-
mously to lament the misfortunes which befel you.
They have condemned the tumultuous and savage
proceedings of a misguided rabble. They have as*
serted with firmness their own opinions, and with
sincerity, I would hope, they have disclaimed all
right of control over yours. To some of them
you are indebted for well-intended exertions in the
hour of distress, and against none have you brought
any accusations for encouraging the popular fury
at that juncture, when the act of encouraging it
would have been most disgraceful indeed to them,
but most injurious to yourselves. Individually, as
you well know, one of them is much respected for
the depth of his learning, another for the elegance
of his manners, a third for the cheerfulness of his
temper, and a fourth for the liberality of his spirit.
In a collective point of view, they are men who
draw down no disgrace upon their sacred profes-
sion, either by the neglect of their clerical offices,
or by flagrant indecorum, or by habitual vice. Give
them the credit then, I beseech you, of having
some regard for the honour of the church to which
they belong, for the tranquillity of the town in
which they live, for the safety even of the congre-
gations which they are not employed to instruct,
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316 LETTER TO THE
and, above all, let me add, for the morals and tW
souls of multitudes who are committed to their
charge.
By sermons or controversial writings they have
bereaved you, it will be said, eventually of those
precepts which you have been accustomed to hear,
and of that example which you have been accus-
tomed to admire in a most venerable preacher, for
whom it is no longer safe to preside over a flock,
endeared to him by ancient habits of familiarity,
and connected with him by many personal, many
political, and many religious ties. Into the truth
of this allegation, it were invidious and impertinent
for me to enquire* But the Scriptures, you will
consider, still lie open to you. The house in which
you did homage to your Creator will soon be re-
built. The same freedom which you formerly en-
joyed in opinion and in worship, is at this hour
secured to you by the laws ; and though you cannot
again obtain the honour and advantage you derived
from such an instructor as Dr. Priestley, your sect
is hardly so barren of excellence as not to supply
you with a successor, whose talents, indeed, may be
less flattering to your honest pride, but whose
labours will not be less meritorious in discharging
the duties of his clerical station, nor less instru-
mental in making all of you " wise unto salvation."
I should not think well of your sensibility, if
you were indifferent to the loss of so excellent a
preacher as Dr. Priestley. But I shall think very
ill of your moderation, if you make that loss a
pretext for perpetuating disputes, which, if my
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 317
arguments or my prayers could prevail, would
speedily have an end.
Upon the theological disputes in which the Doc-
tor has been engaged with some clergymen of your
town, I forbear to give any opinion. Yet, while I
disclaim all allusion to local events, I will make
you a concession which you have my leave to apply
to persons of higher ranks as ecclesiastics, and of
greater celebrity as scholars, than your town can
supply; I confess with sorrow that in too many
instances such modes of defence have been used
against this formidable Heresiarch, as would hardly
be justifiable in the support of Revelation itself
against the arrogance of a Bolingbroke, the buf-
foonery of a Mandeville, and the levity of a Vol-
taire. But the cause of orthodoxy requires not
such aids. The Church of England approves them
not — the spirit of Christianity warrants them not.
Let Dr. Priestley, indeed, be confuted where he is
mistaken. Let him be exposed where he is super-
ficial. Let him be repressed where he is dog-
matical. Let him be rebuked where he is censo-
rious. But let not his attainments be depreciated,
because they are numerous almost without a paral-
lel. Let not his talents be ridiculed, because they
are superlatively great. Let not his morals be vil-
lified, because they are correct without austerity,
and exemplary without ostentation — because they
present even to common observers the innocence of
a Hermit, and the simplicity of a Patriarch, and
because a philosophic eye will at once discover in
thejn the deep-fixed root of virtuous principle, and
the solid trunk of virtuous habit.
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318 LETTER TO THE
If I mistake not the character of that excellent
man, whom I respect in common with yourselves,
he would not wish to see you again plunged into
mischiefs which cannot again reach himself. Spare
then his blushes and his tears. Give him the satis-
faction of knowing that you have proved to the
world the wholesome efficacy of his instructions,
by your generosity in forgiving those who have
already been your enemies, and by your wisdom in
not offending those who wish to continue your
friends.
About the effects of your intended meeting there
can be little doubt ; nay, I should rather affirm that
there can be no doubt, but thai the effects will be
far more tremendous than the effects of your former
meeting, and I ground these positions, not only
upon the general characters of men, but upon some
particular events which among yourselves have been
subjects of complaint.
The age in which we live is distinguished not
only for an active and useful spirit of enquiry, but
by a fastidious and fantastic turn of mind which
soothes us into self-approbation while we deplore
surrounding evils, and contemplate distant good
I say not that these illusions may not sometimes
prepare us for virtuous action, when opportunities
for acting exist. But I fear that, in too many
cases, the imagination is indulged, while the heart
is not improved. Upon topics relating to public as
well as private life, in studying speculative politics,
as well as in reading sentimental novels, we are
often the dupes of secret vanity, and applaud our-
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 319
selves for ideal or inactive philanthropy. When no
interest is to be renounced, no passion to be curbed,
no froward humour to be thwarted, we embrace
truth wheresoever we find it, and in theory become
the warm and strenuous advocates of virtue. But
in practice, our exertions fall very short of the rules
we have prescribed to ourselves and to our fellow-
creatures, and though we are really invested with
the power of doing good, we either neglect to do it
at all, or we are content to do it with that reluc-
tance and languor which we have been accustomed
to condemn in other men. Prepossessions blind
us — antipathies harden us — passion hurries us into
faults, and self-delusion soon provides us with an
excuse. Now, Gentlemen, as many of your teachers
are eminent for having contributed to the general
stock of knowledge, and as you are yourselves dis-
tinguished by an eagerness to defend and to propa-
gate it, beware lest the want of consistency should
lead men to charge upon you the want of sincerity.
You and I must often liave looked with sorrow
upon the situation of the poor, pinched as they are
by want, exposed to delusion, mortified by neglect,
irritated by oppression, bewildered in the mazes of
error, and involved in the darkness of ignorance.
And is it a proof, then, of your compassion for their
miseries, or of your solicitude for their improve-
ment, that, knowing the lower classes of your towns-
men to be still under the dominion of the same
unhappy prejudices, you will again provoke them
to the same horrible excesses? I lament, Gentle-
men, the unhappy end of those wretches who suf-
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320 LETTER TO THB
fered for the riots ; and can it be your wish, that
the dreadful severity of the laws should be inflicted
again? The public seems not perfectly satisfied
with the acquittal of some persons, who, by means
knQwn or unknown, honourable or dishonourable,
were rescued from punishment. But is it a mark
of your reverence for the laws, that you would again
cause them to be evaded, and insulted by evasion ?
Will Juries, think ye, be more impartial between
the prosecutor and the prisoner ? Will Judges be
more favourable to the one ? Will the Sovereign be
more rigorous towards the other ? No. No. They
will see obstinacy hereafter, where they before
might only see indiscretion. They will consider
you as meeting in defiance of common opinion — as
risking a great and a certain evil for a very uncer-
tain, and a very trifling good— as exposing your
houses, your persons, and your families, without
the impulse of provocation, and without the pros-
pect of advantage — as calling for justice upon those
whom you have yourselves precipitated into crimes —
as staking the pleasures of one afternoon's enter-
tainment, 6r the exercise of one petty right, against
what ? against laws which you know will be trans-
gressed— against lives which you know will he
forfeited — against the credit of yourselves, and of
others who may hold the same political opinions
with yourselves — against the counsel of the wise,
the arguments of the moderate, and the entreaties
of the humane — against the safety of your houses
and your children — against the judgment and the
quiet of your neighbours — against the property and
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 321
the persons of all the various inhabitants of a great
and a prosperous town.
Under such circumstances, Gentlemen-— circum-
stances which you cannot but yourselves foresee—
circumstances of which you probably have been
informed by other men— circumstances of which
you are now most solemnly forewarned by me.
What, let me ask you, can be your claims upon the
justice or upon the compassion of your country-
men ? In point of law you may be entitled to pro-
tection and redress. But in point of common sense
you ought to see that such protection will be reluc-
tant, and that such redress will be scanty. After a
second meeting you will experience many galling
mortifications from which you hitherto have been
free. Your cause will no longer be the cause of
men " who seek peace and ensue it." Your suffer*
ings will not be the sufferings of persecuted inno-
cence. Your dishonour will be extensive, it will be
lasting, it will be just.
I beseech you, Gentlemen, when you read the
foregoing sentences, not to misconceive the temper
in which they are written, not to confound the
earnestness of remonstrance with the fierceness of
accusation, not to turn away from me as a declama-
tory prattler, nor to frown upon me as a virulent
calumniator, but to listen to me, I had almost said,
as a prophet, and I do say as a friend.
Your own good sense will, I am persuaded, tell
you, that upon the circumstances of the agent must
often depend the quality of the action. And give
me leave to observe, that the circumstances in which
VOL. Ill, Y
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322 LETTER TO THE
you are placed are such as merit the most serious
consideration from you as individuals, as partizans,
as subjects who' owe obedience to your government,
and as citizens who wish for an enlargement of
your liberties. Look around, I conjure you, at the
storm which is gathering in every part of Europe —
at the dangers which impend over the new consti-
tution of France, and at the alarm which has
spread, and daily is spreading more and more,
throughout the British empire. The tenets of Mr.
Paine, most of which I despise as vulgar, and de-
test as seditious, are gaining ground among the
ignorant and discontented. The fears of moderate,
and sensible men too, are awakened by those opi-
nions. The indignation of good men is stirred up
against them — the wisdom of parliament has una-
nimously pronounced a sentence of reprobation
upon their principles. The vigilance of govern-
ment is pointed, and its strength too, I hope, is
armed against their possible effects. Surely, then,
I need not expatiate upon the probability that your
meeting will, by many well-meaning and well-in-
formed men, be associated with the very tenets
which Mr. Paine is endeavouring to propagate;
and if this be the case, the public voice may pro-
nounce a late parliamentary decision very just,
though, in the estimation of many intelligent indi-
viduals, it is now considered as harsh. If you per-
sist in your resolution to assemble, what you may
reasonably hope will be refused to you,* in conse-
quence of the apprehensions which: will be enter-
tained of what you ' most unreasonably meditate.
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 323
Perilous it will be thought to grant, and fruitless
even to discuss that which you openly claim, while
you raise up against yourselves a swarm of suspi-
cions about that which you secretly intend. If,
therefore, you really wish to be relieved from the
pressure of those rigorous acts which hang over the
heads of Unitarians, do not frighten benevolent and
loyal men from becoming your advocates. Do not
suffer your religious tenets to be confounded with
the seeming tendency of your political opinions
united with your political actions. Do not furnish
a triumph to those who have hitherto insulted you
perhaps without a cause, and censured you without
a proof. The justice of your claims, depend upon
it, will at this moment be measured by the violence
or the calmness of your proceedings. And from
your meeting, after what you have experienced, it
will be inferred, that, instead of meaning solely to .
celebrate the French Revolution, you are not un-
willing to encourage such notions, and to excite
such disorders, as eventually may accelerate a Revo-
lution among ourselves. Far, very far, be it from
me to charge you with such an intention ; and far,
also, be it from me to slight the terrors, or to con-
demn the indignation of other men, whom your fu-
ture conduct after the events of last year, and during
the appearances of the present, may induce to load
you with such an imputation. If, therefore, you are
friends to order, as I believe you are, endeavour to.
preserve it. If you are enemies to excessive inno-
vations, abstain from the very appearance of pro-
moting them. If you wish for the favour of go-.
v2
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324 LETTER TO THE
vernment, and the approbation of your fellow-citi-
zens, let not a dinner, or the right of eating a din-
ner upon a certain day, or in a certain place, be
thought too considerable a sacrifice for the attain-
ment of these substantial and permanent advan-
tages. Gentlemen, for peculiar and obvious rea-
sons, you cannot avail yourselves of a plea which
some men have urged in your favour. I will lay it
before you, and then I will tell you why you cannot
avail yourselves of it. If other men dine, as they
probably will in other places, to commemorate the
French Revolution, why may not you do the same
thing with the same impunity ? Consider, I entreat
you, the motto which is prefixed to this pamphlet—
in appearance nan dissimilis res est ; I grant it to
be so. But then the circumstances of him qui fecit,
must be taken into the account. There is not, if I
may believe your own representations, so strong a
spirit of intolerance in many other places as for
some time past has reigned at Birmingham. There
have not been riots in other places, as there have
been at Birmingham. There have not been civil
prosecutions, and criminal prosecutions in other
places, as there have been in this county against the
inhabitants of Birmingham. The same suspicions
are not entertained of other men in other places, as
are entertained of you at Birmingham. The same
restraints do not exist upon the disposition of other
men to hold a second meeting in other places which
now do exist at Birmingham. My wishes are, that
no such meetings may be holden in any place, be-
cause they are useless to the reformers of France,
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 325
and offensive to many worthy men at home. But
with whatever propriety, and whatever effect they
may be holden in other places, the action is not the
same in yoor town, because, as I have told you, the
situation of the agents is not the same.
When the folly or the wisdom of man has arbi-
trarily connected certain signs with certain overt-
acts, they who know, as you do, the connection
between the sign and the thing signified, will in
vain attempt to sever them by the subtilties of dis-
crimination, or the confidence of denial. I see no
necessary union between the tenets of Unitarianism
and very enlarged notions of political liberty. But
the fact is, that both are to be found in the same
men, add when the passions of ignorant persons
are once inflamed, their imagination will pass by a
rapid transition from one to the other, and the
odium which is cast upon your religion, will re-
bound upon your politics. In a general way of
statement, I should not at first have a doubt why
they who assembled together quietly and parted
soon last year, should not do the same in the pre-
sent year : and I am persuaded that it is your incli-
nation to do the same* But the prejudices and the
apprehensions of your neighbours will not permit
you to do so, and because you ate all perfectly sen-
sible of the terrible effects which must arise from
such prejudices and apprehensions, my cool and
settled judgment is, that you are responsible for
such effects. You, perhaps, will plead, that you
did no harm and meant no harm — but there will be
numbers teady to reply, that trifling actions have;
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326 LETTER ' TO THE
and are intended to have, momentous effects ; that
he who defaced the Emperors statue was justly
punished, because he meant an indirect indignity
to the Emperor himself, that so much ardour, and
so much perseverance would not be shewn in com-
memorating the French Revolution, if they were
not mingled with secret wishes for similar events in
a nearer quarter. Gentlemen, I would not insinuate
that you have such wishes — I believe that all, or the
greater part of you never harboured them for one
moment. But they who Kve in your neighbour-
hood, and who will sit in judgment upon your mea-
sures, may not deliver a sentence quite so favour-
able as my own ; and where you have so little
chance of justice, why will you expose yourselves
to flagrant and inevitable injustice ?
What, I beseech you, can be the end you pro-
pose to yourselves in this entertainment ? To in-
dulge in revelry and intemperance cannot be the
end, for your characters are marked by the opposite
virtues of sobriety and regularity. It cannot be to
proclaim your sentiments about the Revolution in
France, for they are already known, and already
reprobated, too, by those to whom they are imper-
fectly known. It cannot be to multiply converts,
for conversion is rarely effected by the unpopular
meetings of unpopular men. It cannot be to assert
your freedom of thinking upon a subject, where,
for better purposes than meeting at a dinner, you
are already free. Study, if you please, the French
Revolution in your closets, discuss the principles
and the detail of it in your conversation, explain
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 327
them when misconceived, defend them when misre-
presented. Celebrate, if you please, the glorious
destruction of the Bastile in your own private
houses — pour forth your praises upon the framers
and the supporters of the French government — lift
up your prayers to Heaven for the final success of
the French arms. All this, Gentlemen, will be al-
lowed to you, not only by the laws of the land, but
by the laws of opinion. No peaceable man will,
for this, condemn you. In this many enlightened
men will sympathize with you. But if you have
so little regard for the loyal sentiments, or even the
rooted prejudices of your neighbours, so little feel-
ing about your own personal security, so little re-
spect for the general approbation of your country-
men, so little caution in the critical state of your
country itself, as in defiance of reproach, and in de-
fiance of persecution, to assemble again ; where is
the man of virtue who can approve of your cause,
or where the man of wisdom who can be satisfied
with your excuse ?
It may be suggested, that for not assembling, as
you meant to do, you will be charged with dastradly
submission. But by whom, Gentlemen, will this
charge be alledged? Sure I am that it never will
proceed from men of sound wisdom, and of pure
honour, to whose sentence it becomes you to make
your first and your last appeal. From whom then
will it proceed? From silly men, whom you ought
to despise ; from impetuous men, whom you ought
only to pity and to restrain ; or from factious men,
whom you ought not to imitate. But what, after
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328 LETTER TO THE
all, do we discover in this term submission, which
seems to delude and to scare so large a part of man-
kind ? One being, indeed, there is, whom a poet of
your own country has thus described in language
most luminous and most sublime :—
u Is there no place for pardon left ?
None left but by submission, and that word
Disdain forbids me, and the dread of shame
Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced.
With other promises and other vaunts
Than to submit.*"
True it is of too many reasonable creatures, and
too many nominal Christians, that even they are
sometimes driven onward to perdition and to in-
famy, by this infernal spirit of false pride, false cou-
rage, and imaginary fidelity to a bad or a doubtful
cause. But God forbid that I should impute to
you such a spirit, or discover in you even the
slightest vestiges of such a spirit. I cannot suspect
you of such fatuity, as to be pledged for holding a
second assembly — I will not accuse you of such
phrenzy as to redeem your pledge, by the loss of
your reputation, or by the hazard of your existence.
To whom, also, Gentlemen, is this tribute to be
now paid by yourselves ) Grant that it were, to a
violent rabble whom you can neither appease nor
resist — submission would be an act of consummate
prudence. Suppose that it were to the. excessive,
but I will not add the dishonest prejudices of ene-
mies and tories — submission would then approach
to the dignity of virtue. — But if it were, as in reality
it is, to be paid to the wishes of your friends, to th*
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 329
safety of your relations, to the good order of your
town, and to the general tranquillity of your conn*
try; then, doubtless, submission rises into a real
virtue, into a virtue of the first magnitude, into a
virtue of the brightest splendour. Its nature can*
not be misunderstood, its motive cannot be traduced,
it will be imputed to magnanimity, it will be
crowned with praise. Farther let me ask, what is
the sacrifice that you are making by such submis-
sion ? Is it any political opinion ? No. Is it any
religious tenet ? No. Is it any secular interest ? No.
It is a dinner, Gentlemen, it is only a dinner, and
when I reflect upon the trifle it is in itself, or upon
the applause you will gain by renouncing it, or upon
the danger you will incur by contending for it, I
will not offer such an indignity to your good sense,
as to press this part of the subject with one word
more of illustration or remonstrance.
Gentlemen, in the intention of your friends, and
in the conduct of your enemies, you will find prece-
dents, such as will justify the relinquishment of your
purpose, or I should rather say, examples, such as
will exclude your perseverance in it from justifica-
tion.
If I am to believe Mr. Dadley, several respectable
Dissenters last year were disposed to give up their
meeting, lest the town should be disturbed. If I
am to believe your Clergy, the proposal for as*
sembling at a public dinner in opposition to yours,
was abandoned at the same critical time for the
same weighty reason. But if some of your friends,
and some of your foes shewed so much attention to
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330 LETTER TO THE
the qiiiet of your town when the temper of the com«
mon people was known imperfectly, and by mere
conjecture, it is incumbent upon you to shew more
attention to the preservation of that quiet, when the
violence of that temper is known to you completely,
and by melancholy experience. If the Church and
King party then understood their real dignity, and
preserved it by receding from an ideal, or an imper-
fect right, let it not be said of the Dissenters, that
with such an instructive example before them,-they
now insult the very persons by whom they were not
themselves insulted — that they are more desirous to
incur the censure than to merit the approbation
even of their opponents — that they mistake contu-
macy for firmness, and rashness for heroism. If
Churchmen shrunk from the guilt of hurting a
party, let Dissenters shudder at the greater guilt of
embroiling a nation !
There is, I confess, one plausible argument which
hitherto has been untouched. I will state it for you
strongly, and fairly I will answer it. They, whom
you suppose, whether justly or unjustly, to be your
enemies, have instituted a society under the appella-
lation of the Church and King Club, and the ten-
dency, you say, of that society is to encrease and to
perpetuate the odium which has been excited against
you. Gentlemen, I see little in the tendency of
that • society which as a friend to the quiet of my
neighbourhood, or to the civil and ecclesiastical
constitution of this land, I can reasonably commend.
But I also see nothing in the proceedings, or the
professions of that society, which can possibly jus-
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 331
tify you for meeting upon the fourteenth of July.
Let me again remind you of my motto. — They as-
semble, and you assemble. But the persons as-
sembling are different, and though it may be said
with truth, that while their purpose is to support
government, yours is not to weaken it ; still, Gen-
tlemen, there are many circumstances which will
lead to very different constructions, of assemblies
which in appearance, and in appearance only, are
the same. You meet to celebrate the French revo-
lution, which they certainly do not. They meet,
perhaps, to discourage an English revolution, which
as certainly you do not. Their cause is popular in
the town, and yours is not. A precedent, then, their
assembly cannot be called for yours, and I am
equally at a loss to discover how it should be a jus-
tification.
Were I to grant you that they meet very often,
aud were I ex hypothesi, to grant yet farther, that
the spirit with which they meet is not very friendly
to you, I am still unable in their conduct to find an
apology for yours. The majority of the town, in all
probability, views their meeting with a favourable
eye. — But the minority have nothing to fear from
it, while their own behaviour is circumspect and
temperate. Many persons may be unwilling to be-
lieve that a system of unrelenting opposition is in-
tended to be carried on against the Dissenters. Nay
I am myself disposed to hope, that not one member
of that club can seriously wish to see your persons
again in danger, or your houses in flames. . But
whatever may be their intention, and whatever their
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332 LETTER TO THE
wishes, itill it is in your power to counteract them
by refraining from that perilous measure which it is
the purpose of this address to reprobate and to prevent
By forbearing to meet only for one day, upon your
own parts, you may defeat the collective stratagems
and the collected malignity of many meetings upon
theirs. This observation I ground even upon your
own statement, for be it remembered that it is you,
not myself, who accuse them of such stratagems
and such malignity. If they are innocent, I con-
gratulate them. But if they are guilty, I shall not
acquit you, because the proof of that guilt must be
accompanied by circumstances which may equally
tend to disgrace both you and them. They, gentle-
men, even if they have not a better cause, may
bring forward a stronger plea. They may con-
tend, that the spirit which they have long observed
and long resisted in you is not yet subdued, that it
rises superior to difficulty and danger, that it
challenges instead of shunning persecution, that it
has incited opposition by past appearances, and that
by realities avowed at the present hour such op-
position is amply and notoriously justified. Whe-
ther or no, I should myself admit, either the since-
rity or the validity of this reasoning, is of no conse-
quence— it is sufficient for my purpose that they
are likely to employ it, and that you may not be
able entirely to refute it.
Reflect, then, I entreat you, upon the aggravated
mischiefs which must flow from the measure
you are said to intend, and consider that yon
become yourselves strictly and immediately answer-
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 333
able for the whole extent of those mischiefs, if you
distinctly foresee them, and foreseeing them are un-
alterably determined to provoke them. There are
situations in which events become so probable as to
carry with them all the evidences, and to draw after
them all the moral obligations of practical certainty*
There are causes, which, however trifling or harmless
in the common course of the world, may from tem-
porary or local circumstances be pregnant with the
most baneful effects. But when those effects
may be justly apprehended, they cannot be inno-
cently hazarded. The club of which you complain,
may have been at the expence of much trouble in
collecting the gunpowder, and of much contrivance
in laying the train. But it is you, gentlemen, who
apply the fire to it ; and upon whom the explosion
may fall — Oh ! consider this ! — upon whom the ex-
plosion may fall, can be known only to that Being
who seeth "events afar off."
If senseless prepossessions or merciless animo-
sities still prevail among you, can it be supposed
that a meeting on the fourteenth July will either
correct the one or assuage the other ? No. But
by forbearing to assemble, you will at least hold out
to the public a bright and unequivocal proof that
prejudices and animosities ought from henceforth
to subside.
It is chiefly from your own representation of
your own cause, that I infer the certainty and
the greatness of your own danger. If too many
offenders were acquitted upon trial* or too few were
punished after condemnation, the terrors of the law
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334 LETTER TO THE
are diminished among the lower classes of the com-
munity. If the damages allowed you upon your
late prosecutions, were too little, you must in future
look even for less. They who attacked you before,
will certainly not be intimidated from attacking
you now. They who hated you upon the bare sus-
picion of a turbulent temper or of an unbecoming
behaviour, will not cease to hate you after proceed-
ings which, in their judgments, will constitute a de-
cisive proof both of the one and of /the other.
Since the late riots there has been little ap-
pearance of actual reconciliation, or indeed of
the slightest dispositions in any of the contend-
ing parties to be reconciled. After the lapse of
many months, we have heard only of crimination
and recrimination, of what you intended to do,
and what your enemies have done, of justice, which,
as you say, has been imperfectly dispensed to
you, and which, as others say, has been dispensed
even beyond your deserts. These different state-
ments affect differently the public mind. But how-
ever divided that public may be upon past events, it
will have one judgment, one feeling, and one voice,
if, in contempt of the very plainest and very worst
consequences, you do again, what I believe you
have done before, without any sense of guilt, with-
out any intention of committing injury, and with-
out any certain prospect of being, injured. A
second meeting will avert from you the good
opinion and the good wishes of those who disdained
to. join in the clamours that were raised against
your first, and. this consideration alone you ought
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 335
not to neglect. Even if a riot should not h appen
to sweep away your property, still your reputation
will be stigmatized on account of such steps as tend
to provoke a riot.
There are many persons who believe the causes
of the late riots to be very deep: many who have
wondered at your vehemence in complaint, when
compared with your supineness in action: many
who have been taught to suppose you in possession
of stubborn proofs against persons generally un-
known or generally unsuspected ; many who feel a
strong mixture of amazement and scorn, that those
boasted proofs have not been brought into open
day for the satisfaction of the doubtful, the con-
futation of the malevolent, and the conviction of
the guilty. The suppression of these proofs, if
such - they be, impartial men are at a loss to recon-
cile to the known motives and the known tenour of
human conduct. They cannot reconcile it to your
declarations of having obtained evidence, and to
your menaces of inflicting punishment. They can-
not reconcile it to the reliance you are reported to
have upon the protection and the advice of adminis-
tration, or to the confidence you profess to feel in
the justice of your cause. But if you persist in
sheltering those- whom you have already accused,
and then proceed to irritate those whom you may
accuse hereafter, most difficult will it be for you to
explain these seeming inconsistencies upon any re-
ceived principles of upright intention. The unpre-
judiced observer will be confounded and offended at
so much obscurity, combined with so much precipi-
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336 LETTER TO THE
tation. The airy witling will exclaim, that how-
ever you may reject mysteries in matters of faith,
yon retain them in matters of practice. Gentle-
men, yon will excuse me for expostulating with so
much freedom. Often have I condemned the vio-
lence of your persecutors, and the asperity of your
accusers— I have lamented, almost as often, a want
of openness or a want of firmness* in some re-
spectable persons among yourselves. But if you
venture to rush upon new dangers, instead of over-
whelming with disgrace the real and secret authors
of your past sufferings, I must think your temerity
greater than your fortitude — I must in respect to the
strength of your charges, substitute distrust for
belief — in regard to the motives of your conduct, I
must exchange apology for condemnation.
The foregoing considerations I chiefly address to
your prudence. But there yet remain other and
weightier matters, which I must hold up, at once,
* Some observations in this paragraph are in part obviated
by the judicious, though ineffectual, attempt which Mr. Whit-
bread has lately made to bring the subject of the riots
before the legislature. But the very application of the Dis-
senters for redress of past injuries, constitutes, surely, an addi-
tional and most powerful reason for their circumspection. It
will appear to many persons a trick upon the justice, and an af-
front to the authority of parliament, for men to ask for protec-
tion at the very moment in which they are hurrying to the pre-
cipice of destruction unnecessarily, voluntarily, and therefore
criminally. Though parliament may have been wrong in re-
fusing an enquiry, the Dissenters at Birmingham cannot be
right in adopting such measures as must prevent that enquiry
from being resumed with propriety, and pursued with success.
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 337
to your prudence, and to your conscience. Let me
then entreat, that you would seriously throw back
your attention upon what is past, and that with equal
seriousness you would consider what is about to come.
In the past you have seen your furniture plunder-
ed— your papers rifled — your houses destroyed, by
an unthinking and unfeeling multitude. But the
evils to come, I say it again, the evils to come will
be more numerous in their immediate, and more
baneful in their ultimate consequences. The unruly
passions of the contending parties have been in-
flamed by many distant, and by some recent events.
The blood of those who have perished, in what the
vulgar think a righteous cause, will, from the vulgar,
call aloud for expiation. The mischiefs which burst
out suddenly, and raged wildly, in a former year,
will in the present year be arrayed with circum-
stances of hideous preparation. Among your ene-
mies, fresh and greater provocations will be followed
up by fresh and greater outrages — violence will
be repelled by violence — life will be staked against
life — the fire which falls upon your own houses,
will spread to the houses of your offending and
unoffending townsmen. The havoc which breaks
out in one town, will, in one or two days, pour
its fury through the whole neighbourhood — what
shoots up a tumult in one county, may in one
month, or even in one week, grow into a rebel-
lion through a whole kingdom.
Be not in haste, Gentlemen, to impute these re-
presentations to the colouring of a heated ima-
gination, rather than to the dictates pf sober reason.
VOL. III. z
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336 LETTER TO THE
More worthy would it be of your understandings
to reflect upon the probability, and magnitude of the
disasters which I have described; and more would
it redound to the praise of your moderation to
avoid all share in the guilt of such measures as un-
questionably are likely to produce such disasters.
It is the common refuge of detected folly or dis-
appointed obstinacy to say that men first predict
evils because they wish them to come topass,and then
cause them to come to pass by the alarm which ac-
companies prediction. But for my part, Gentle-
men, I disdain to meet such trite and contemptible
sophistry with the solemnity of denial or the formali-
ties of refutation. It is condescension enough, and
more than enough, to notice an objection, which the
weakest man among you is incapable of believing,
and which the hardiest man among you would be
unwilling to utter concerning myself. Whether I
were to publigh or to suppress these well-meant
suggestions, the loyalists at Birmingham will be dis-
pleased at your meeting, the rabble will be incensed
at your meeting, and the soldiers might catch the
general contagion. By suppressing my pamphlet I
might leave you to indulge the delusive hope of
escaping opposition or of quelling it. But by pub-
lishing that pamphlet I may awaken in you the
wise and virtuous resolution of not deserving to be
opposed. Amidst the reports, then, which I hear
of your design, and the prospect which I have of
your danger, I cannot hesitate for one moment be-
tween the two alternatives. Expostulation, at the
worst, were only a weakness,but silence must be a crime.
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 339
You will believe me not very indifferent about
the subject upon which I address you, when I say
that the intention of writing this pamphlet was
formed on Sunday night last, in consequence of some
intelligence which then reached me, and that the
act of writing it was begun and finished in the
course of the next day. But after bestowing upon
the contents two revisals, I found very little which
it was then of importance for me to add to the pre-
ceding parts of this address, and nothing which it
was necessary for me to omit, or even to soften. I,
therefore, without farther delay sent the manuscript
to press ; for as the matter was so intelligible and
so interesting, I would not affront your understand-
ings by lavishing decorations upon the style. Sus-
pect me not of any intention to alter or to stifle
your opinions about the French Revolution. Many
parts of that Revolution I myself approve, after calm
and serious examination. But no one part of it
would I eagerly adopt as a model for imitation in
this country. To me it seems safe and wise to wait
for those gradual changes which the spirit of free-
dom, enlightened as it must be by French experi-
ments, whether they be immediately successful or
fruitless, and invigorated as it will be by French
arms, whether they be victorious or defeated, will
most assuredly produce in the temper of every go-
vernment and in the judgment of every people.
Within a few days after this book had been com-
mitted to the press some events burst forth which
ought, I am sure, to drive you from your present
purpose, and to increase your future circumspection.
z 2
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340 LETTER TO THE
The precaution of reading the riot act, which most
unpardonably was not taken to protect your houses
of worship and your dwelling houses, has been
taken very seasonably for the protection of brothel
houses. The military force, which in consequence
of proper information given in proper time to pro-
per persons, ought to have been on the spot to
prevent the riots in July 1791, fortunately was at
hand to suppress the riots of May 1792. But whe-
ther the magistrates would be equally active, or the
soldiers equally zealous in defending you from con-
sequences which you certainly must have foreseen,
and easily might have avoided, are points upon
which your doubts, probably, are gloomier than my
own. And can you, then, conceive a situation more
humiliating, than that, in the hour of distress, con-
scientious Unitarians should be thought less worthy
of succour than the shameless prostitute, the despe-
rate bully, and the execrable procuress ?
Narrow must have been the foresight, and rooted
must have been the prejudices, of those persons who
could either think with indifference, or talk with ex-
ultation of the disturbances by which, in the course
of last year, the national police and the national cha-
racter were alike disgraced. For reasons which at
Once excite the compassion of the benevolent, and
call for the vigilance of the powerful, the lower
classes of every community, are in every age too
prone to violence. Permitted I must be to add,
with my usual openness, though without any inten-
tional rudeness to you or to your opponents, that in
Birmingham there are many physical and moral,
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DISSENtERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 341
many latent and prominent, many inveterate and
recent causes by which the passions of your inferi-
ors are become more ferocious than in other towns
of equal or superior magnitude. To men of serious
and impartial observation it is unnecessary for me
to point out those causes, and to the superficial or
the captious they would be pointed out in vain — in-
tense labour succeeded by frequent and systematic
intervals of idleness and intemperance — political
animosities in those who have not even a glim-
mering of political knowledge— religious antipathies
among those who attend not religious worship — in-
flammatory pamphlets and corrupt examples — the
expectation of that impunity which has already
been obtained for rioters — the idea of merit to go-
vernment strangely associated with the commission
of crimes against law. These, Gentlemen, are cir-r
cumstances which peculiarly distinguish the condi-
tion of your common people — which loudly demand
such exertions as, I trust, will hereafter be made by
their spiritual instructors — and which more espe-
cially require such caution, delicacy, and modera-
tion, as, I hope, will not be neglected by yourselves.
In alluding to these circumstances I mean not to
insult the poor — many a tear have I shed for their
sorrows, and many plea have I framed for their faults
>— rather would I preserve their innocence than de-
stroy their lives — I would rather see them enlight-
ened and softened by the law of God than scourged and
crushed by the laws of man — my compassion is due
to the poor, but my indignation is reserved for those
wretches by whom the poor are deluded or inflamed-
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342 LETTER TO THE
It is a trite maxim that the mass of the people,
however weakly they may reason, are capable of
feeKng justly. But the misfortune is, that when
they have proceeded to act they seldom continue to
feel, or that their feelings are at once excessive in
degree and criminal in kind. Hence, in the sup-
port of a favourite cause no enquiry is made about
the point where right terminates and wrong begins.
Humanity is then extinguished by zeal, and zeal is
alike increased by triumph and by defeat. After
habitual reverence for the rights of individuals and
the laws of a country is overcome by temporary cir-
cumstances, and the spirit of misrule has once burst
its bonds, every slight rumour, every sudden miscon-
ception, every allurement from immediate advan-
tage, every provocation from seeming hostility, will
be sufficient to change its direction, without dimi-
nishing its vigour. The passions of the multitude
are fickle as well as impetuous ; or if exempt, in
some particular cases, from fickleness, they become
more untameable from stubbornness.
That fury which a great provocation has lately
turned against the corrupters of good morals, may
by a less provocation be pointed with yet greater
violence against the followers of an unpopular reli-
gion, and before its strength is spent in the extir-
pation of Dissenters, it may suddenly be hurried by
the lust of rapine, or even by the mere wantonness
of success into outrage against Churchmen. All
parties, therefore, and all sects, are equally inter-
ested in discouraging this propensity to riot, by
persuasion, in repressing it by resistance, and in
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DISSENTBES OF BIRMINGHAM. 843
averting it by an inoffensive, temperate, and arnica*
ble behaviour. Uncandid it were, indeed, to sup*
pose that Churchmen will not be roused by a sense
of danger to a sense of duty. It were equally un-
charitable to believe, that finding the same turbulent
disposition still raging among the same misguided
populace, Dissenters will shew themselves insensible
to every danger, and regardless of every duty. The
cry of Church and King has, you know, been lately
heard in broken and indistinct murmurs, and if you
meet again to commemorate the French Revolution,
that cry will again thunder in your ears, when the
storm of public indignation is collected to one point,
and when they upon whom it falls with the surest
aim, and with the greatest force, will be left to perish
without refuge and without hope.
It is for you, Gentlemen, and not for myself, to
reap either honour or advantage from the relin-
quishment of your intended measures, and the re-
nunciation of your supposed right. As I give not
my name to the public, you will have the satisfac-
tion of yielding only to the force of my reasoning ;
and even if I were to reveal that name, I believe
that some worthy persons among you would not be
ashamed of shewing some little deference to the
mere personal authority of the writer himself.
That writer is a lover of peace ; and of liberty,
too, he is a most ardent lover, because liberty* is
* Et nomen pacts dulce est, et ipsa res salutaris ; sed inter
pacem et servitutem plurimum interest; pax est tranquilla
libertas. — Cicero, Philippic II.
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344 LETTER TO THE
the besf means by which real peace can be obtained
and secured. He therefore looks down with scorn
upon every species of bigotry, and from every de-
gree of persecution he shrinks with horror — he be*
Ueves that, wheresoever imperious and turbulent
teachers' have usurped an excessive ascendancy over
the minds of an ignorant and headstrong multitude,
religion will always be disgraced, morals always
vitiated, and society always endangered. But the
real interests, the real honour, the real and most
important cause of the Established Church he ever
has supported, and will support, as he also ever
has contended, and will contend, in favour of a
liberal, efficient, and progressive toleration. He
confounds not the want of confidence in the mea-
sures of an administration with the want of respect
for the principles of a government. He distin-
guishes between dutiful obedience and abject servi-
lity to that regal power which, in this country, he
holds to be not only conducive but essential to the
public welfare. He is not much in the habit of re-
signing his judgment to the forebodings of the
timid, the insinuations of the crafty, or the clamours
of the malevolent — yet he looks, perhaps, with no
narrow line of foresight towards events which may
be approaching, and upon the present situation of
the British empire he cannot reflect without a
pause — without a pang — without jealousy of every
opinion that may shake the fair fabric of our con-
stitution— without abhorrence of every measure that
may deluge this land of freedom in blood.
In regard to yourselves, Gentlemen, he means to
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DISSENTERS OF BIRMINGHAM. 345
wain rather than censure — the effect of that warn-
ing he consigns to your own wisdom, and to the
unsearchable will of that Providence in submission
to which he has ever found the most solid comfort
But m giving you that warning he has an entire
confidence in the purity of his motives : in enforc-
ing it he boldly appeals to the justness of his argu-
ments : and upon concluding it, he is at this mo-
ment conscious of having discharged a most impor-
tant duty to you and your neighbours, to the Church
and the State, to his country and his God.
May 17, 1792.
N.B. For Biaeothanati, which is used by Tertullian and Bio-
thanati, which is the more common word, the reader is referred
to Suicer's Thesaurus Ecclesiasticus, page 690.
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WARJBURTONIAN TRACTS.
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The publication by Dr. Parr, styled by him " Tracts by
Warburton and a Warburtonian not admitted into the col-
lections of their respective works/' consists of 281 pages:
of these only 54 are occupied with Dr. Parr's contributions,
consisting of the Preface of the Editor to Warburton s two
Tracts, the Dedication of two Tracts of a Warburtonian, and
the Preface of the Editor to two Tracts of a Warburtonian.
Some account of this republication has been given in the Bio-
graphical Memoir prefixed to this Edition. The Dedication
and the Prefaces are now only inserted ; neither Dr. Parr's
fame, nor his pen, being concerned with the rest.
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PREFACE OF THE EDITOR
TO
WARBURTON'S TWO TRACTS.
For reasons which it is by no means difficult to
conjecture, though it might be invidious to state
them, the Bp. of Worcester has not deigned to give
a place to the two following Tracts in his late mag*
nificent Edition of Warburton's Works* By re-
publishing them, however, without the permission
of the R. R. Editor, I mean not to arraign his taste
or his prudence. I am disposed even to bestow
some commendation upon the delicacy of his friend-
ship, in endeavouring to suppress two juvenile per-
formances, which the Author, from unnecessary
caution or ill-directed pride, would probably have
wished to be forgotten. But among readers of
candour and discernment, the character of Bp. War-
barton cannot suffer any diminution of its lustre
from this republication. They who are curious in
collecting books, must certainly be anxious to pos-
sess all the writings of that eminent prelate. , They
who mark with philosophic precision the progress
of the human understanding, will look up to War-
burton with greater reverence and greater astonish-
ment, when they compare the better productions of
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350 PREFACE TO
his pen with the worse. The faults of the one are
excused by the imperfections of his earlier educa-
tion : but the excellencies of the other must be as-
cribed only to the unwearied activity, the unshackled
boldness, the uncommon and almost unparalleled
vigour of his native genius. The writer of the
Divine Legation might, indeed with propriety, have
bidden defiance to those puny and churlish critics
who would measure Ids powers and his attainments
by the incorrectness of his translations* and the un-
* It may be worth while to remind the reader, that one of Dr.
Johnson's first literary efforts was an English Translation of a
French Translation of a Book written originally m the Portu-
guese language. I never saw the work, but refer the reader
to the character which is given of it by Sir John Hawkins, who
found in it no traces of that robust and vigorous mind which
distinguishes the later and better publications of the author of
the Rambler. Some Editor less timid or less delicate than the
R. R. Editor of Warburton*s Works, has lately republished the
Marmor Norfolciense of Johnson, though it had lost probably
much of its original value in the mind of the author, though it
is pronounced a dull work by his biographer, and though it was
once thought even by the most impartial readers, seditious in
kg tendency. I know not whether Johnson left any directions
with his executors about the M. N. nor whether Bp. Warbur-
ton laid any injunctions upon his R. R. Friend concerning- the
two books now republished. If the Bishop did impose any
prohibition, the R. R. " Editor ** has acted an honourable part
in holding them back. But no obligation of this sort lies upon
those to whom the Bishop's command were not communicated.
< should add, that the M. N. had been " republished before"
in 1775, during the life of Johnson, by some person who ap-
proved as little of his jacobite politics, as I do of the senti-
ments contained in the " anonymous Letters" which were writ-
ten by some Warburtonian to " Jortin" and to " Lcland."
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warburton's two tracts. 351
couthness of his verses. He that explored the
"wide* and trackless wastes of ancient times"
with so much sagacity and so much success, ought
to have laughed at every imputation of the weak-
ness to which he was exposed from his credulity and
singularity in the explanation of prodigies. Haec
et infinite alia ridebamus, et tamen Warburtonum
inter prscipua Iiterarum et Patria ornamenta po-
nimus. Nam quod interdum ridenda dixit, non
Warburtoni vitium, sed hominis est. Et nemo fuit
quantumvis studiis magnus, cui non aliquando ri-
denda exciderint. — Vide Gronovium de Hadriano
Junio in Centes. Usur. p. 35.
* See p. 32 of the Preface to vol. iii. of the Divine Legation.
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DEDICATION
or THE
TWO TRACTS OF A WARBURTONIAN,
ADDRESSED BT THE EDITOR TO A LEARNED CRITIC.
MY LORD,
In the fate of the two Tracts, which I have now
the honour of dedicating to your Lordship, there
are some circumstances peculiarly interesting to the
curiosity of scholars, and to your own distinguished
humanity. Like children * whom their parents were
afraid or ashamed to acknowledge, they have long
been condemned to wander about the world, unshel-
tered by the authority of a great name, and depend-
ing only upon the force of their own inherent
merits either to attract the inquisitive, or to propi-
tiate the censorious. Their titles, indeed, some-
times crept into the corner of a catalogue, and
sometimes were caught skulking upon the shelf of
a collector. Through want, however, of that eager
* 'Exei ik to opotov koI to vvyyevts fy&i lavrf flirav, f*a\t*ra
&' avros Tpbs eavrbv Macros, rovro xiirovQev, avayaii wavras
<f>i\avrovs eivai' inel ik <f>lXavroi irayres, jcac ra avrQv avdyni
ifh4a etvat Tra<riv, olov epya, Xoyovt, Sid (piXoKoXatces £s liriroroXv
§cal QtXoTifioi Kal <piX6r€Kv<H. ai/r&y yap Ipya ra rcjc^a.— Vide
Aristotelis Rhetoricam. lib. i. cap. 2.
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Warburtoxian tracts. 853
and open support which authors generally give to
their, own works, the pamphlets themselves are now
become extremely scarce, and that scarcity* has
been shrewdly, or, if you please, my Lord, per-
versely imputed, not so much to the avidity of the
purchasers as to the management of the writer.
But whatever may have been the cause the fact is
notorious, and therefore, in bringing them back to
a tribunal from which they are supposed to shrink,
I shall endeavour to rescue them from that oblivion
which sometimes overtakes the best publications,
even at the hazard of exposing them to that infamy
'which is never inflicted but on the worst.
The predilection which your Lordship is known
to entertain for allegory induces me to resume the
simile upon which I had glanced in' the preceding
paragraph. It were unnecessary, I am sure, to re*
mind you, either that, from peculiarities in the fea-
tures and dispositions of children, we often recog-
nize their parent : or that, by the similitude to him-
self, whether it be of excellence or deformity,
* In the year 1765, when the Letter to Dr. Tho. Leland was
become very scarce in England, it was republished in Ireland,
and placed between Leland's Dissertation upon Eloquence and
the Defence. The book is called, " Leland upon Eloquence/'
so that the Letter is not noticed in the title page, I should
suppose that Leland republished the whole Dispute, to give the
reasoning of his antagonist all the advantage of a more exten-
sive circulation, and to prevent the renown of his wit from
fading too soon. I had the honour of receiving four copies from
Dr. Leland in the year 1777 ; but the book, I believe, has not
often found its way to England, as I never saw any copies of it
except my own.
VOL. HI. 2 A
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354 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
which the one discovers in the other, he is sometimes
inclined to cherish them with greater affection: If,
then, your Lordship should should deign to employ
your critical abilities upon the sophistry and the
virulence, as well as upon the ingenuity and ele-
gance, of these singular but anonymous composi-
tions, you may have it in your power to add to the
obligations which your stupendous discoveries have
already conferred upon the learned world, by favour-
ing it with some satisfactory conjecture about the
person hy whom they were written. The success
which you can always command in the develope-
ment of complex beauties, and the detection of
latent faults — the occasional and even involuntary
exercise of congenial qualities, or congenial talents
'—the subversion of some established opinion, or the
degradation of some elevated character — any, or all
of these causes, my Lord, may entice the writer
from the obscurity in which he has so long and 80
securely lurked— may act irresistibly upon his secret
partialities and his secret aversions— may draw from
hint an ingenuous and direct confession, or, what is
equally decisive, a faint and awkward denial. From
your sagacity, therefore, as well as from your com-
passion, I now ask for that protection, which is said
to have been hitherto refused by your prudence and
your delicacy, to the deserted offspring of con-
troversial zeal.
Of the reputation, my Lord, Which you have so
long, and they* say, so deservedly enjoyed, a large
* I have borrowed this qualifying phrase from the Letter-*
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS 355
part is to be ascribed to your insatiable love of no-
velty : and yet a larger, it may be, to your match-
less dexterity in the defence of theories,* at once,
fantastic and methodical — fantastic, I mean, without
the brilliancy of invention, and methodical, without
the solidity of logic. I am not, however, apprehen-
sive of any contradiction, even from your Lordship,
when I venture to pronounce these tracts to
have been produced by the same understanding, to
be marked by the same spirit, and to have been di-
rected to the same end. That understanding,
doubtless, was acute ; that spirit professes at least,
to be candid ; and that end probably, according to
your Lordship's estimation, was in the highest
degree honourable. It was to deliver two illus-
trious, but whimsical hypotheses, from the imperti-
nent and tyrannical intrusions of common sense*
It was to unmask the hypocrisy, and to subdue the
insolence, of two impotent sciolists, one of whom
had presumed to commend your patron without
adulation, and the other to confute him without as-
perity. It was to convince an undiscerning and in-
writer to Dr. Leland, and I do not suspect him of knowing that
Dr. Bentley, in his Controversy upon Phalaris (vide pag. G6t
edit. Lennep,) has shewn the strong affirmative power of the
word Xiyerat.
* " If we ask the reason, it would seem to be owing to that
ambitious spirit of subtlety and refinement which, as Quintilian
observes, puts men upon teaching not what they believe to be
true, but what from the falsehood, or apparent strangeness of
the matter, they expect the praise of ingenuity from being able
to defend."-rSee HurcPs Note on the 410th line of Horace's
Art of Poetry.
2a2
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356 WARBITRTOMAN TRACTS;
creduloilous public, that Warburton was an infallible
reasoner, Leland a superficial trifler, and Jortin, a
most dastardly, a most insidious, and a most malig-
nant calumniator.
Readers of illiterate and grovelling minds will, I
am aware, startle at these strange and harsh posi-
tions. In an agony of amazement and indignation
they will exclaim, like your Lordship and D'Or-
ville,* en cor Zenodoti, en jecur Eratetis. But, by
men of more enlarged and more exalted views — by
men of a truly classical taste, who spurn aside
the coarse beverage to be found in Greek Scholiasts,
in order to revel on the luxurious dainties prepared
by French Commentators — by men of truly philo-
sophical penetration, who are ambitious to un-
derstand their Virgil from Warburton, and Horace
from your Lordship — by all such enterprising
critics, and all such fastidious hypercritics, the
tribute of admiration will be cheerfully paid, both
to the magnificence of the design and the felicity o£
the execution.
. Now, my Lord, it is not quite forgotten by men
of letters, nor, probably, by your Lordship, that, in
the earlier stages of your literary and ecclesiastical
farcer, you did not disdain to wield your pen,
whether offensively or defensively, in favour of
Bishop Warburton. While bigots were pouring
forth their complaints, and witlings were levelling
their pleasantry, against this formidable innovator:
* Vide D'Orville Animadversiones in Chant, p. 599, and
Hurd's Note on line 97th of the Epistle to Augustus*
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*WAEBURTONlAN TRACTS. "357
♦while answerers trembled, and readers stared:
while dunces were lost in the mazes of his ar-
guments, and scholars were confounded at the
hardiness of his assertions: you, my Lord, stood
forth with an avowed determination to share alike
his danger and his disgrace. You affected to despise,
even while you were endeavouring to repress,
the clamours of the unenlightened herd, who saw,
or pretended to see, absurdity in his criticisms, he*
terodoxy in his tenets, and brutality in his invec-
tives. You made great paradoxes less incredible, by
exciting our wonder at the greater, which were
started by yourself. You taught us to set a just
value upon the eccentricities of impetuous and un-
tutored genius, by giving us an opportunity to
compare them with the trickeries of cold and syste-
matic refinement. You tempted us almost to
forget and to forgive, whatever was offensive in
noisy and boisterous reproaches, by turning aside
our attention to the more grating sounds of quaint
and sarcastic sneers.
Recollecting, therefore, the repeated displays of
your ardour and your prowess, I cannot, my Lord, feel
the smallest reluctance in calling upon you for new
and more undisguised exertions in an old and a fa-
vourite cause. I think it even impossible for you
to tarnish the well earned reputation, either of your
abilities as a writer, or your virtues as a friend, by a
deliberate and invincible indifference to the future
celebrity of two works, which, like these, are in-
timately connected with the preservation of Dr.
Warburton's true character,and, perhaps, of your own.
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^58 WARBURTOMAN TRACTS.
: If suspending, for th* present, our examination
of the spirit which pervades your writings, we pro-
ceed to consider their pretensions as compositions,
wide is the difference that appears between them,
both in their excellencies* and in their faults.
. He blundered against grammar, and you refined
against idiom. He, from defect of taste, contami-
nated English by Gallicism, and you, from excess
of affectation, sometimes disgraced what would have
risen to ornamental and dignified writing, by a pro*
fuse mixture of vulgar or antiquated phraseology.
He soared into sublimity without effort, and you by
effort, sunk into a kind of familiarity, which with*
out leading to perspicuity, borders upon meanness.
He was great by the energies of nature, and
you were little by the misapplication of art. He,
to shew his strength, piled up huge and rugged
masses of learning, and you to shew your skill,
split and shivered them into what your brother
critic calls ^yfiara tea) apauvfiara.^ He some-
times reached the force of Longinus, £ but without
his elegance, and you exhibited the intricacies of
Aristotle, but without his exactness.
* The words which Longinus uses in describing the character
of Timaeus, may, with a very little change, be applied to Warbur-
ton, *Avrjp ra fxkv iroXkd Ikolvos, kclI wpos \6ywv More fiiyeOos ovk
&<f>opos' wo\vtorkip,hriroriTtKos9'n\^y AXkoTplw fiky ZXeyiCTiKvraros
kjiapmiii&n*V) dpeiraurOqros be Iblw faro £4 Zpwros row Ziyas
vofaeis acl Kiveiv iroXkaxts &kitIictvv els to iraihaetuhicrarov.
Longin. Sect. 4.
t Vide Longin. Sect. 10.
% When a celebrated Commentary upon Horace was first
published, Malone, Reed, Fanner, Tyrwhitt, Steevens, the two
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 859
Hie language of Warburton is, I believe genet
rally allowed to be abrupt, inartificial, and undisci-
plined; irregular as the mind of the writer, and
tinged with many diversified hues, from the rapid
and uncertain course of his extensive and miscellan
neons reading. As to your Lordship, whatever
likeness some prying and morose . observers, may
Wartons, Burke, and, m his critical capacity, Dr. Johnson, had
not come forward as the guides of the public taste. This is
some sort of plea for setting Warburton at the head of English
Critics. I cannot so readily account for the superiority as-.
signed him over Longinus and Aristotle, unless the Commenta-.
tor had read their works, as Warburton was now and then sus-
pected of reading them, in a French translation. Our critic
knew, " that it was not every wood, that will make a mercury,**
and yet he compliments Warburton, " as if nobody would dis-
pute the fitness of that, which was growing so near the altar."
See note on line 15 of the epistle to Augustus.
The Commentator, it seems, was offended with Lipsius for
" exalting an Archbishop of M ecklin, with Pagan complaisance,
into the order of Deities." I wish to know, whether, if he had
written the dedication to Horace in Latin, he would have found
it consistent with his own Christian complaisance, to have called
Warburton a Deus in criticism, just as Scaevola calls Crassus in
dicendo Deum, and as Catullus calls Antonius in dispositione
argumentorum Deum (vid. Lib. 1 and 2 de Orat.), and as Cicero,
in addressing the Senate after his return from exile, says of
Lentulus, that he was the parens et Deus nostra vitae, fbrtunse,
memorise, no-minis, &c. I am far from wishing to apologize for
the shocking adulation of Lipsius, or to recommend the above-
mentioned use of Deus to a modern writer of Latin. But,
I suspect that no man, who understands the Latin language,'
will find more of the spirit of flattery in the word Deus restrain*
ed and limited by its subject, than in the pompous pageantry
of praise spread by the Commentator p^er the Rev. Mr. War-
burton, when the latter was advancing fast towards a Bishoprick.
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S60 WARBURTONIAK TRACTS/
have traced between you and Virtumnus in tbe ver-
satility of your principles, the comparison must not
be extended to the features of your style, concern-
ing which, if we should grant the mille omatus
to belong to it, we cannot add, without the grossest
hypocrisy, or the most vitiated taste, mille decenter
habet. Let me, however, commend both you and
the Bishop of Gloucester, where commendation i»
due t and let me bestow it, not with the thrifty and
penurious measure of a critic by profession, nor
yet, with the coldness and languour of an envious
antagonist, but, with the ardent gratitude of a man,
whom, after many a painful feeling of weariness and
disgust, you have refreshed unexpectedly, and whom,
as if by some secret touch of magic, you have
charmed and overpowered with the most ex-
quisite sense of delight. Yes, my Lord, in a few
lucky and lucid intervals between the paroxysms of
your polemical frenzy, all the laughable and all the
loathsome singularities which floated upon the sur-
face of your diction, have in a moment vanished,
while in their stead, beauties equally striking from
their suddenness, their originality, and their splen-1
dour, have burst in a " flood of glory" upon the as-
tonished and enraptured reader* Often has my
tnind hung with fondness and with admiration
Over the crowded, yet clear and luminous galaxies
of imagery diffused through the works of Bishop
iaylor, the mild and unsullied lustre of Addison,
the variegated and expanded eloquence of Burke,
the exuberance and dignified ease of Middleton, the
gorgeous declamation of Bolingbroke, and the ma*
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WAABUftTGKIAN TOACTO*' 36V
jestfc energy of Johnson. But if I were to do jns^
tice, my Lord, to the more excellent parts of your
own writings and of Warburton 8 I should say that
the English language, even in its widest extent,
cannot furnish passages more strongly marked,
either by grandeur in the thought, by felicity * in
the expression, by pauses varied and harmonious, or
by full and sonorous periods.
- I must beg your Lordship's pardon for a little
seeming irregularity in the order of my remarks.
To separate the character of your speculative
writings, whether in criticism or theology, from the
merits of those which are more purely and profes-
sedly controversial, is no easy task. Warburton, in
his rapid marches and counter-marches from pro-
fane learning to sacred, and from sacred to profane,
always found or created opportunities, for skirmish-
ing with some rival novelty, or combating with
gladiatorial fierceness some inveterate, and therefore
obnoxious opinion.*)* In many, also, of the publico*
• See the character of Beyle, sect. 4th, b. 1st of the D. L.
description of the inspectors general over clerical faith, p. 26,
▼oL 3d, The different characters of eloquence pp. 53 and 54 in
the doctrine of Grace, and, above all, the representation of the
Christian Church in the introduction to Julian, edit. 1751.
Instead of referring particularly to beautiful passages in
Warburton's Friend, I shall only say, that some may be gleaned,
here and there, even in his critical writings, that many are
to be found in those which treat of politics, and more, when he
ascends to subjects of morajity and religion.
f The Bishop would have said prejudice. The authorities of
Fletcher and Bacon protect the word inveterate from the charge*
ofLaUnism.
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362 WARBUHTOMIAM TRACTS.
tioris ascribed to your Lordship, as well as in those
of your patron, it may be observed, that you seldom
dispute without an itch for criticism, and seldom
criticise without a rage for dispute. Pardon me,
however, if, summoning the whole force of my mind,
I thus balance you and the Bp. of 6. as your ad-
mirers, if they had dipped into Persius, would ex-
claim, In rasis antithetis.
To grapple with the unweildy was among the
frolics of Warburton, whilst your Lordship toiled in
chasing the subtle. He often darkened the subject,
and you perplexed it He, by the boldness and
magnitude of his conceptions, overwhelmed our
minds with astonishment, and you, by the singula*
rity and nicety of your quibbles, benumbed them
with surprize. In him we find our intellectual
powers expanded and invigorated by the full and
vivid representation which he sometimes holds up,
both of common and uncommon objects, while you,
my Lord, contrive to cramp and to cripple them by
all the tedious formalities of minute and scrupulous
analysis. He scorned every appearance of soothing
the reader into attention, and you foiled in almost
every attempt to decoy him into conviction. He
instructed, even where he did not persuade, and
you, by your petulant and contemptuous gibes, dis-
gusted every man of sense, whom you might other-
wise have amused by your curious and shewy con-
ceits.
Conversant as I may be in the most celebrated
writings of the Warburtonian Sect, I confess my-
self unable to expatiate after your Lordship's man-
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 368
Her upon their romantic freaks of affectation or
spleen in the choice of their subjects — upon the
stately array or the grotesque machinery of their
arguments — upon the wanton coruscations of their
metaphors, and the " baseless fabrics of thpir vi-
sions" in the allegories and double senses — upon
the rambling digressions into which we are
diverted, and the intricate labyrinths in which we
are bewildered by their notes— upon the luxuriant
and vicious, as well as upon the more chaste and
more happy embellishments of their style. I leave^
therefore, this land of phantoms and wonders to be
explored by some dainty commentator who, like
Launcelot,* " hath planted in his memory an army
of good words," and who, like your Lordship,
" would for a tricksy phrase defy the matter." Let
me, however, drop a few remarks upon those un-
sparing and undistinguishing sallies of ridicule
which have been employed sometimes to adorn and
sometimes to enforce both the w light^ and the
solid whimsies," both the critical chimeras, and
the theological dogmas of the Warburtonian
School
Wit was in Warburton the spontaneous growth of
nature, while in your Lordship it seemed to be the
forced and unmellowed fruit of study. He, in these
lighter exertions still preserved his vigour, as you,
in your greater, seldom laid aside your flippancy.
He, perhaps with better success than Demosthenes,
* See Merchant of Venice. f See Prior's Alma, Book ii.
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364 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
•seized the famam Dicacis, and yon, with success not
quite equal, aimed at the praise of urbanity.* He
flamed upon his readers with the brilliancy of a me-
teor, and you scattered around them the scintilla-
tions *)* of a firebrand.
i But in the treatment of your respective, or, I
should rather say, your common antagonists, the
similarity of your prejudices was a little obscured by
the inequality of your talents.
. Some of the disputants whom Warburton would
have scared with ferocious defiance, you, my Lord,
condescended only to insult with cool derision*
Others, whom he would have crushed by dogmati-
cal contradiction, you were content to tease by cap*
tious misrepresentation. He, from his towering
and distant heights rushed down upon his prey,
and disdaining the ostentatious prodigalities of cru-
elty, destroyed it at a blow* But you, my Lord,
contracting, as it were, and distorting the nobler
shape which Nature had really bestowed upon you,
took, what to some may appear a perverse and ab-
ject pleasure, . in crawling upon the earth. Yet, in
* Vide Quintil. lib. vi. cap. S.
* f Having risqued two metaphors in this paragraph, I was
prevented by my fear of his Lordship's critical artillery from
borrowing a third to insert in the text. But I am ready to give
dp either or both of them to my readers, if, adopting the muck
stronger phraseology of a much greater writer than I am, they
will say, that " in his Lordship we are provoked at the venom
of the shaft, but in Warburton are terrified at the strength of
the bow."— See Johnson's Character of Junius in his Political
Tract*
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WARBUKTONTAH TRACK 365
this' very choice of situation, artifice was blended
with whim: for you entered upon it as a sort of
vantage-grouud well adapted to your purpose, that
you might spring upon an enemy more suddenly*
and pierce him more surely: that you might
protract or shorten his torments at your own
capricious will : that you might sharpen them to try
the sensibility of the sufferer, or allay them when
your justice, shall I say, or your anger was sa-
tiated.
And here, my Lord, instead of pushing any fer-
ther the contrast between you in points where you
appear unlike or unequal, I shall for a moment look
back to some particulars in which the resemblance
between you was most conspicuous. Those parti-
culars are to be found in your eager propensity to
start aside from the regular and common orbit of
opinion upon every plain, every abstruse, every
trifling, and every important subject — in your arbi-
trary and abrupt deviations from the established and
common forms of language— in your unbounded
admiration of each other, and in your unrelenting
scorn of every contemporary writer, by whom you
seemed to be less admired than you were by your-
selves. Surely my opinion does not clash with any
critical canons promulgated by your Lordship, when
I call such resemblance a clear and unequivocal
proof of imitation.
The claims of Warburton to originality, in some
of his remarks upon the philosophers of antiquity,
some of his emendations upon our great tragedian,
and some of his boasted discoveries in the science of
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366 WARBURTOMAH TRACTS.
theology ,# have, as your Lordship knows, not been
indiscriminately and implicitly admitted. I appeal
to your candour, my Lord, and if that should fail
me to your recollection, for the accuracy of my
assertion when I add, that several of those claims
have not only been disputed by the malignant
officiousness of envy, but invalidated and sometimes
toverthrown by the rigours of impartial criticism.
For my part, however, I am disposed to pardon
* The Letter-writer to Leland says, that " the unpopular
try against Warburton is in this country silenced, that men of
sense and judgment now consider his paradoxes as very harm*
less, nay, as very sober and certain truths, and even vie with
each other in building upon them the most just and rational vin-
dication of our religion/' This he represents " as the present
state of things with us, and especially, they say, in the two
Universities of this kingdom." Now I resided in one of the
Universities soon after the time at which this Letter was pub-
lished : I have since visited many learned and inquisitive friends
in the Sister University : I have had the honour of conversing
pretty much at large with men of Letters in the world : I have
often been present when the paradoxes of Warburton were
discussed in conversation, and yet I never heard the slightest
whisper about that complete revolution in public opinion,
which our Letter-writer so peremptorily asserts and so tri-
umphantly describes. After all, men of candour will only
smile at these honesta misericordia mendacia, when employed
to prop up a tottering cause ; and perhaps men of refinement
may consider them as " a true rhetorical payment," very fit to
be accepted by a Dublin professor of oratory. Our Letter-
writer " was called upon for his reckoning, and he discharged
it," not with argument or fact, but with rhetorical hyperbole.
What was the consequence ? " He who had not spared the
Bishop, demolished*' the Letter-writer.-— See D. L. vol. v,
p. 420.
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WARBURTONIAK TRACTS. 367
and even to applaud the ruffian plunders of an ad-
venturer* who from the stores of his own capacious
and active mind was able to enrich and dignify his
spoils — to mould them into various and striking
forms — to deck them with new and becoming ornar
merits, and apply them to purposes at once the
most unexpected and the most splendid. Bpt, upon
the petty larcenies of his " servile*^ imitators,"
upon the plagiarisms J of those who pilfered be-
* I have adopted this expression from Bishop Hallifax, who,
in the same passage, styles Warhurton " the most illustrious
author of the age.** What Bishop Hallifax really is in the re-
public of learning, it can be no disgrace for any other scholar
to be, and therefore I shall without hesitation apply " to the
most illustrious author of the age," the name of an " Adven-
turer/* Bishop Warburton, in the Dedication of the third vol.
of the Divine Legation, represents himself as " seized with that
epidemic malady of the idle visionary men," " the projecting to
instruct and inform the public.*' — See preface to the last edition
of three sermons published at Cambridge, by Dr. Hallifax, and
the Dedication of vol. S of the Divine Legation.
f See Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. IS.
% My meaning will be explained by the following quotation,
which I give at length, as the book from which it is taken has
Tpecome scarce :
' While the Bishop is puffing and celebrating himself with
grace or modesty for this wonderful atchievement on Virgil ;
which he has accomplished with the aid of Meursius, he vouch-
safes to; drop some little dew of praise on a certain Zany of his ;
and draws that little from Mr. Addison, on whose ruin this
puny (I mean able) critic's glory is to be reared ; as the said
Zany had reared the great Mountebank's on having totally
eclipsed Aristotle and Longinus. " It was not thus (says Quin-
tus Flestrin; that is, not as Mr. Addison has done;) that an
able critic lately explained Virgil's noble allegory in the begin*
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368 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
cause they could not invent, and disguised because
they could not improve ; upon poverty screened by
ostentation and arrogance leagued with fraud, every
intelligent reader must look down with emotions of
just and poignant contempt.
There is one advantageous point of view, my
Lord, in which some distinguishing characteristics
of Warburton press themselves upon my notice,
and in respect to which I must leave some able
writer to draw the parallel between you and your
supposed archetype, so far as such a parallel may be
consistent with decorum and with truth.
• The Bishop of Gloucester, amidst all his fooleries
in criticism and all his outrages in controversy, cer-
tainly united a most vigorous and comprehensive
intellect with an open and a generous heart. As a
a friend, he was, what your Lordship experienced,
zealous and constant : and as an enemy, he pro*
ning of the Third Georgic," &c. ' It was not, indeed ; for Mr.
Addison looked into himself and his own ideas only; the able
critic (forgetting Persius's rule, ne te qusssiveris extra) looked
into F. Catrou, in whom he found all that his master so ap»
plauds and exalts, only not quite so fine-drawn and wire-drawn.
Pox take those rascals who lived before us, said a pleasant fel-
low : they have stolen and run away with all the good things I
should have said. Tis all the Meursius's and Catrou's are
good for. When the late D. of R. kept wild beasts, it was a
common diversion to make two of the bears drunk, (not meta*
phorically with flattery, but literally with strong ale,) and
then daub them over with honey. It was excellent sport
to see how lovingly (like a couple of critics) they would
lick and claw one another.*— See Confusion worse confounded,
page 74.
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WARBURTOWAN TRACTS. 309'
perfy describes himself to have been choleric,* bat
not implacable* He, my Lord, threw a cloud over
no man's brighter prospects of prosperity or honour
by dark and portentous whispers in the ears of the
powerful. He, in private company, Wasted no
man's good name by shedding over it the cold and
deadly mildews of insinuation. He was too mag-
nanimous to undermine when his duty or his ho-
nour prompted him to overthrow* He was too
sincere to disguise the natural haughtiness and irri-
tability of his temper under a specious veil of hu-
mility and meekness. He never thought it expe-
dient to save appearances by shaking off the
" shackles of consistency*-^ — to soften the hideous
aspect of certain uncourtly opinions $ by a calm and
progressive apostacy — to expiate the artless and
animated effusions of his youth, by the example
of a temporizing and obsequious old age* He be-
gan not his course, as others have done, with
speculative republicanism, nor did he end it, *s the
same persons are now doing, with practical toryism*
He was a churchman without bigotry — he was a
* Seethe conclusion of Dr. Warburton's Letter to Dr. Lqwth,
dated Winchester, Sept. 17, 1756.
f See page 100 of the Remarks on Hume.
X I am told by one, whom I esteem the best Greek scholar in
this kingdom, and to whom the hat of Bentley would have
" veiled," that many notable discoveries might be made by
comparing the variee lectiones, the clippings and the filings, the
softenings and the varnishings of sundry constitutional doc-
trines as they crept by little and little into the different sue*
• editions of certain political dialogues.
VOL.111. 2b
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370* WARBURTONIAN TRACTS/
politician without duplicity— he was a loyalist with-
out servility.
Such, my Lord, on the brighter side of his cha-
racter, was the champion under whose banners you
enlisted ; and if, in the eager pursuit of glory, you,
sometimes, appeared to swerve a little from the pre-
cepts of a benevolent religion ; if you trampled, in-
advertently no doubt, upon the established decorums
of civilized life; nay, if you* rushed somewhat be-
yond the licensed violences of critical and theological
war, yet, my Lord, it is in the power of observers,
dispassionate and impartial as I am, to urge in your
behalf some pleas, the truth of which will not has-
tily be disputed.
The distinguishing virtues even of the best men,
may, for a time, be eclipsed by particular situation.
While, therefore, we allow your Lordship all the
praise which is due to habitual discretion and con-
stitutional gentleness, we are by no means surprised,
that, in the service of such a leader, you were now
and then hurried into rashness, sharpened into acri-
mony, or betrayed into illiberality. We rather la-
ment, that the better propensities of your mind were
suspended, and indeed overborne, by the fascination
of Warburton's example, the sternness of his com-
mands, and, with all due reverence let me add, the
tremendous severity of his threats. We mourn over
the common infirmities of human nature itself, when
we recollect that, with a temper which effectually
preserved you from the tumultuous fervours of en-
thusiasm, and with talents which might have pro-
cured you success in the regular and ordinary course
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 371
of controversial hostilities, you were disposed, or, I
would rather say, destined to become the herald, of
the sturdiest knight errant that ever sallied out in
quest of literary crusades. To become the apologist,
nay, the avenger of a staunch polemic, who attacked
with blind and headstrong fury the most unexplored
fastnesses of impiety and the most venerable citadels
of truth — to become the drudge of an imperious
task maker, who finding himself accompanied by a
train of feeble and officious dwarfs, summoned them
by his fierce mandates to plunge with him into
every difficulty — to triumph with him in every vic-
tory, to make a display of their fidelity or their zeal
in every wild and desperate atchievement, which he
was himself emboldened to undertake, by the con-
sciousness of his own gigantic strength. "The
staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and one
bearing a shield" always "went before him." From
this paragraph, my Lord, you may perceive that)
however fearful I may be of offending you by coarse
and extravagant flattery, yet I can, upon a proper
occasion, step forth to shelter you from excessive
and undistinguishing reproach ; that I can palliate
the failings which it were shameless to deny, and
that I can at least explain those peculiarities, which,
in terms of direct and unqualified approbation, it
might stagger even your Lordship's resolution to
defend.
The success, indeed, with which I have just now
assumed the language of an advocate, induces me to
venture upon the more arduous, but more pleasing
task of an encomiast. With your Lordship's per-
2 b 2
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S72 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
mission then, I will contrast the sullen obstinacy*
or, if you please, the delicate reserve of our letter-
writer with the frankness and magnanimity of the
Bishop of Litchfield*
This prelate, it seems, had formerly published
some anonymous Remarks upon Mr. David Hume's
Natural History of Religion. Our letter-writer,
also, professes to " have his reasons for addressing
Dr. Leland in a public manner," without informing
him explicitly,* who he was. Thus far then each
of these combatants acted with prudence, in begin-
ning their " deeds without a name." But in the
sequel of their history we shall have reason to con-
sider the one as a hero, and the other as a coward.
Hume, in some materials that he had prepared
for the History of his own Life, ventured to speak
peevishly and slightingly of the above-mentioned
Remarks, as breathing, forsooth ! the spirit of the
Warburtonian school/^ and as written by Dr. Hard.
* Whatever the practice of the Warburtonians may be,
Warburtoa gave this account of himself: "I am a plain man;
and on my first appearance in this way I told my name, and
who I belonged to/' — Preface to the Defence of the Divine
Legation.
f Among the numerous peculiarities of the Warburtonian
school, none are more striking or more offensive than the ex-
travagant applause which the disciples bestow upon their great
master. I have now and then met with sober-minded and im-
partial critics, by whom the Bishop of L. himself is thought
not quite exempt from the sin of flattery, especially in his
Dedication to the second Volume of Horace, where he repre-
sents criticism as advanced, under the auspices of Warburton,
to that " full share of glory/* which it had not reached by tht
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WARBUftTGXIAN TRACTS; 373
What *as the consequence ? why, the Dr. (now
Bishop of L. and C.) graciously permitted his
bookseller to republish those Remarks, boldly Be-
labours of a Longinus and an Aristotle. Now to soften a little
the impression which such violent language may make upon
the mind of the reader, I would refer him to the Introduction
to the Remarks on David Hume, where, (as in page 9 and 10,)
the writer arrogates to himself the merit of "judging more
freely and more severely of Warburton than perhaps his ene-
mies themselves," declares himself the " last man in the world
who, out of a fondness for Warburton's notions would neglect
or betray any useful truth ;" and, in short, represents himself
as "one who weighs his arguments without considering his
Authority, or even the disgrace he might be thought to incur
from the confutation of them." After perusing the ninth,
tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth pages, the reader, if he
has taste enough to ben commentator, will be charmed at the
address of this complimentary Introduction, and, if he happens
to be a scholar, he may be tempted to apply to a certain mo-
dern character, what " experience, reaching to something like
prophetic strain," suggested to the mind of two antient writers:
" "O S£ tclvtw kvrty airrov Tayovpy&raroy, alaBavS/tevos r^v
xafifyfflav koX XeyofiivTiy red SoKOvaay l&lay eiy at fwyijy At Ttpi
nyot i&ov rift QiXlas, to bk hrapprivlaaToy, itfikoy ral bytyh,
4mbk ravrqy dpljwfrov iuroXiXoiirey, AAV &<nrtp ol betyol rby
6^fowoi&y rois xucpois yyixoU rat aiftmjpois ^hvtrfiaai 'xpQyrat,
rity ykvKkiav 4*f>aipovyT€S to xXfoipoy, otrvs, ol jcdAacef, oi/K
dkrfBiyrjy ovi* fyiXipoy, dXX' otoy brtW&xrovaay IJ ofpvos cat
yapyaXl$ovaay drex*** xa^prjtrlay xpoaftpovtrty.— -Plutarch, de
Adul. et Amic. Discrim. p. 51. edit Xyland.
« Aperte adulantem nemo non videt, nisi qui admodum est
excors. Callidus ille et occultus ne se insinuet, studiose caven-
dum est: nee enim facillime agnoscitur, quippe qui etiam ad-
versando saepe assentetur; et litigare se simulans blandiatur
atque ad extremum det manus, vincique se patiatur, ut is qui
illusus sit, plus vidisse videatur."— Cicero, de Amicitia, par. 26.
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374 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
knowledged the justness of Hume's conjectures as
to the writer, and wisely reserved the privilege of
"explaining himself,* if he should think it worth
his while, more particularly on the subject."
In a note *f- replete with vivacity and erudition,
Jortin chastised the impertinence of the anonymous
Letter-writer on the delicacy of friendship. Leland,
also, in a tone of manly indignation, laid bare the
cavils, and baffled the invectives of the same pert and
spiteful pamphleteer, after he had pretended to a re-
duce the rhetorick of his antagonist to reason, and
to pick up the loose ends of his arguments as he
found them any where come up in the chapters of
his book." But the efforts of these injured men, to
do themselves justice were not followed by the same
effects which Mr. Humes Complaint had produced
on the nobler mind of his answerer. The zeal of
Dr. Hurd had not cooled by time ; his fidelity was
not diminished by change of station ; his courage
was yet unshaken and worthy of his cause. For,
upon the first tidings of the obnoxious sentence in
Mr. Humes Life, he despised it as a calumny ; he
braved it as a challenge ; and then he, without hesi-
tation dropped his mask ; he threw aside the aerq/jux
oir\a% which he had before carried into the field, and
* See Mr. Cadell* Preface.
f This note is printed among the Testimonia Auctorum, and
exemplifies the justness of Quintilian's observation : " Acutior
est ille atque velocior in urbanitate bre vitas, cujus quidem du-
plex est forma dicendi ac respondendi. Sed ratio communis
in parte ; nihil enim in lacessendo dici potest, quod non etiam
in repercutiendo." — Vide Quintil. de Risu, lib. vi. cap. S.
{ Vide Eurip. Phceniss. vers. 118&
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WARBU ETONIAN TRACTS. 375
buckling on his trustiest armour, he renewed the
battle.
Zm Tarty) &r* &<nttbo$
Xrabafoi j|*rat btk %€pos /fcAo* <p\iyuy.*
Oar Letter-writer^on the contrary, seems to have
been intimidated at the first approach of the foes,
whom he had wantonly provoked. He retreated
from the contest with a caution not less inglorious
than the precipitation with which he had engaged in
it — he did not condescend to republish his railings
— he did not attempt to vindicate his misrepre-
sentations— he did not dare to discover his name.
When Leland opposed him with arguments, and
Jortin harassed him with wit* he had neither the
spirit to reply, nor the honesty to retract.
Now, my Lord, it seems to me a task of no great
difficulty to explain this difference of conduct, in
the Prelate and the Letter-writer. David Hume we
are told, and upon the authority of one, whose pro-
ductions are notoriously exempt from the same
charges, David Hume, was a " captious, versatile,
• Vide -flBschyl. Sep. Con. Theb. vera! 518.
f I have .assumed that the Letter to Dr. Leland, and the
Dissertation on the Delicacy of Friendship, were the coinage
of the same mint, for they bear the same impression of petu-
lance and cavil. As the Dissertation is addressed to Dr. Jor-
tin in an epistolary form, I call the author of it the " Letter-
writer." But the reader is desired not to be precipitate in
confounding this anonymous Letter-writer with the Remarker
on Mr. Hume, whose name is known. I have myself so dis-
tinguished them as to give no encouragement to the invidious
surmise, that the Letters and the Remarks were not written
by different persons.
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876 WARBURTONIAV TRACTS.
and evasive writer,* He was a pony dialectician from
the North, who came to the attack with a beggarly
troop of routed sophisms. He was the philosophic
head of a philosophic gang, who dealt in mere ped-
lars ^ wares of matter and motion." He, it should
seem, was not worthy of * elaborate animadversions
adapted to the instruction or entertainment of
learned readers,** though his answerer, doubtless,
was capable of writing such animadversions, when-
soever the dignity of the subject, or the talents of
his adversary, should require it. But an hour, even
a " vacant hour" when employed by Dr. Richard
Hurd * was fully sufficient to expose to the laughter
of every man that could read, the futility, licence,
and vanity of Mr. David Hume.** All this had been
said once, and therefore might be said again with
equal effect It was said justly the first time, for
David Hume was an infidel ; and it was said most
properly a second time, for Dr. Hurd was now a Bi-
* The reader will find these choice expressions in the seventh,
the eleventh, and the fourteenth and twenty-first pages of the
Remarks on Hume's Essay. Indeed> " the whole thing is full
of curiosities/'— Page 15.
. f " Ask the critic in what cases tropical and figurative ex-
pressions are faults in composition. He answers, when they
are gross and indelicate, puerile or frigid ; or when they are
djsproportioned and utterly unsuitable to the subject* He tells
.you* for instance, that if Demosthenes really used such mets*
phors as those which his adversary objects to him, *' the state
is packed up and matted." they " thread us like needles," &Q.
he justly incurs the censure of adopting gross and illiberal
similitudes, on an occasion which required decency and gra-
vity/*—Cap. v. p. 31. edit, quart. Inland on the Pripciples of
Human Eloquence.
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W4EBVHT0HIAN TRACTS. 877
shop* But our Letter-writer " had to do99* (as War*
burton says) with antagonists of a different class.
The biographer of Philip of Macedon, and the au-
thor of Remarks upon Ecclesiastical History, had a
right to expect from their clerical opponent a milder
and more respectful treatment *f* than that which the
Bishop of L. had given to a sceptic, who scoffed
at all the principles of religion and who had endea-
voured to loosen the strongest obligations of mo-
rality. Even the atrocious guilt of dissenting from
Bishop Warburton had not entirely effaced the re-
membrance of their attainments as scholars, or of
their virtues as Christians. By the general suffrage
of the public, and, I suspect, my Lord, in the secret
estimation of the Letter-writer, these two excellent
men were not to be annoyed again and again by the
poisonous arrows of slander, and bereaved of the
sacred rights of reputation with perpetual impunity
to an unseen, unblushing, unfeeling accuser*
To the Remarker, % who eloquently talks of bor-
rowing his sword from Warburton, because War-
burton had " borrowed it from the sanctuary,"^ I
* See Preface to the Divine Legation, published 1740. .
f If the Letter-writer be as well versed in Quintilian as the
Commentators upon Horace is supposed to be, he might re-
member, though late, this instructive passage : " Quidam sunt
ita receptss auctoritatis et notae verecundiae, ut nocitura sit in
eos dicendi petulantia." — Quintilian, lib. vi. cap. S.
% I am not quite satisfied with this word, though Johnson,
in his Dictionary, affixes to it the authority of Watts, I use it
from necessity, or, at least, for the sake of avoiding the tire*
some periphrasis of saying, " the writer of the Remarks.'*
§ Page 7, of the Remarks on Hume.
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378 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
would not uncharitably impute any linking bias to-
wards the base and perilous maxim, that u means
are sanctified by ends." But, if the venial preju-
dices of the public present him with advantages of
another kind, why should he not avail himself of
them ? The glare of an author's situation is apt to
dazzle common readers, and to hide from their view
the deformities of his writings. When the w dis-
cordant din and clamour of ignorance and prepos-
session have been raised against a writer, they pre*
pare the way for the divine and consentient har-
mony, of praise,"* in favour of every assailant who
supplies the want of strength by agility or venom.
Amidst these, or similar circumstances, a skilful
disputant will find it easy to exercise his craftiness,
and even to glut his ill-nature, without appearing,
in the eyes of superficial observers, to sacrifice his
impartiality or his candour. And if the cause
which he defends should happen to be just as well
as popular, he need not be very scrupulous about
the manner of defending it. Thus, my Lord, the
foulest scurrilities/^ when hurled by the hand of a
• See Hurd's note on line 63, of the Epistle to Augustus.'
f Let me assure the reader, that I have examined Mr.
Hume's Essays with too much attention, either to be seduced
by their fallacious reasonings, or to be indifferent about their
destructive consequences to the sacred interests of morality
and religion. But, while I enter this sincere and solemn pro-
test against the philosophical tenets of a most able, but most
dangerous writer, I cannot indiscriminately approve of the
temper in which our Remarker had been pleased to " maintain
the most awful truths, and exemplify the impression made upon
the writer's own heart."— Vide page 12 of the Remarks,
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS* 879
Bishop against a reputed Atheist, would be received
by die loudest bursts of applause. But, surely, the
loudest 'storms of public odium would beat around
the head of the satyrical sophist, if he should, a se-
cond time venture to let loose his petulance and his
virulence against two characters less injurious thai!
the Atheist to the interests of society, and less of-
fensive to the feelings of the wise and good. In
vain would the offender exclaim, that he was " only
in sport" — that he had "put forth only half his
might" — that he meant only to pelt his adversaries
with trim urbanity, with oblique insinuation, and
I do not justify, in all instances, the real or affected modera-
tion of those who would " combat flagitious tenets with sere-
nity." But I have my doubts how far, upon such momentous
and awful topics, the multse et cum gravitate facetiae can be
employed with propriety, and those doubts are certainly not
at all removed by the experiment of the Right Reverend Re-
marker upon Mr. Hume's Essay. The religionist, as well as
the orator, ne dicet quidem false, quoties potent, et dictum
potius aliquando perdet, quam minuet auctoritatem. Vitabit
ne petulans, ne superbum, ne loco, ne tempori alienum videa-r
tur."— Vide Quintilian, lib. vi. cap. 3. But, to pass over from
the Remarker to our Letter-writer, the latter, I believe, will
not give me a place in his catalogue of " soft divines and
courtly controversialists." Instead, however, of retorting the
compliment, I shall " take leave" to quote in my behalf the
answer of a Spartan, which Plutarch has recorded, and which
the Right Reverend Remarker, if he had stumbled upon it,
might have deigned, perhaps, to place in the front of his stric-
tures upon Hume's Essay : kiraivopkyov \apiXKov rov fiaaiXtus,
x&s olros, fyrj, xpi?*rof 6s ovbk rois Tovrjpois xitpos kml" — Plu-
tarch de AdulaU et Amic. Discrim. p. 55. In a moral treatise,
De Vhtutibus et Vitiis, asscribed, I believe erroneously, to
Aristotle, fxufowovrfpia is considered as a part of justice.
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989 WARBURTON1AN TRACTS.
all the lighter missive weapons of the controversial
armoury.
While, therefore, we commend the modesty of
Bishop Hurd, when, by the month of his bookseller,
he " declares * himself sorry, that he could not take
upon himself the whole infamy of the charge
brought against him by Mr. Hume,** we are at no
loss to account for the caution of the Letter-writer,
when he forbears to plead guilty by his own mouth
to the weightier charges, which had been alledged
against him by a Leland and a Jortin. And, in
truth, my Lord, the charge of having calumniated
such men in such a manner, is so very formidable,
that, even among the bigotted admirers of Warbur-
ton, not more than one can be found with sufficient
effrontery to defy the whole infamy, or sufficient in-
genuousness to confess, that he deserved only a
part.
Your Lordship will anticipate me in observing
such particulars as belong in common to the Essay
and the Letters of which I have been speaking.
They had equally the merit of being written in pro-
fessed defence of Warburton's " Notions," or in pro*
fessed imitation of his style.-)* They had equally
* See Mr. Cadell's Address to the Reader.
f I take this upon the authority of the Reraarker, who Bays
it of himself. As to the style of the Letter-writer, where it is
formed upon no models, either good or bad, the particularities
of it may, in many instances, be thus accounted for: " When
a writer determines at any rate to be original, nothing can be
expected but an awkward straining in everything. Improper
method, forced conceits and affected expression are tlje certain
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WARBUltTCmiAN TRACTS. 381
the honour of being censured by the persons against
whom they were severally pointed* "They had
equally the misfortune to be at first condemned and
afterwards forgotten by the public* The chief,
though not the only point, in which they differ is,
that the Essay has, and the Letters have not, been
avowed and republished by their respective authors.
This defect, however, on the part of the Letters, I
shall myself, in some degree, supply, by undertaking
voluntarily the office of republication; and I, at the
same time, shall leave the author to complete, as far
as he can, the similitude between the Bishop of
Litchfield and himself, by making, " when he shall
think fit," an avowal of his name. Should such an
event, indeed, ever happen, the example of the Bi-
shop in declaring his name may be productive of
more advantages than were originally intended, or,
as I suspect, even desired by the Right Reverend
Prelate himself. The immediate, and, doubtless, the
most important consequence of that declaration, was
to procure the full measure of fame to a learned
theologue, who had " earthed Mr Hume in the ob-
scure " regions of philosophy where he lay rolled up
in the scoria of dogmatist and sceptic, run down to-
gether."* Its secondary, but not inconsiderable
» —* — ■ " ' ■ ■ ■ ■ " ■ * "■ ■
woe of such obstinacy. The business is to be unlike; and
this he may very possibly be, but at the expence of graceful
ease and true beauty. For he puts himself at best into a con-
vulsed, unnatural state ; and it is well if he be not forced be-
side his purpose, to leave common sense, as well as his model,
behind him."— -See the Discourse on Poetical Imitation, sec. %
, * See Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. 99.
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382 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
praise, will be, to bring down upon our sophistical
Letter-writer all that open and all that heavy dis-
grace, which he has long deserved to suffer for his
most unprovoked and unfounded invectives against
two illustrious ornaments of learning and religion.
To a compensation of some kind or other they are
certainly entitled ; and your Lordship, I trust, will
concur with me in thinking, that the republication
of the books written against them will more ef-
fectually answer this honourable and necessary pur-
pose than a direct argumentative defence, which, as
the subjects are not exhausted in Jortin's Note or
Leland's Pamphlet, I once intended to prepare for
the press. It will shew by the brightest proofs, that
Leland and Jortin scarcely need any elaborate justi-
fication ; and that their antagonist, however plausible
in his objections, or smart in his raillery, cannot,
without the greatest difficulty, be justified by him-
self or his admirers.
I will not apologize to your Lordship for this
seeming digression. ' It may recall to your memory
the rapidity with which some readers will carry on
their conclusions from specific to personal identity;
and it may also exercise your sagacity, in tracing
all the finer ties by which the contrast 'between
the Bishop of L. and the Letter-writer is con-
nected with the general and more obvious purpose
of this Dedication.
Pardon me, however, my Lord, if, as I advance
towards the close, " I get on that seducing subject,
the importance which every writer is of to himself,
and which makes me imagine that perhaps you
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 383.
may be tempted to push your enquiries concerning
me somewhat farther."*
Your critical writings, my Lord, have by few
scholars been more frequently read, or more care-
folly studied, than by myself. I have "paced it" -f-
like Homer s moles,^ with many a weary step,
through the heights and the depths ; § the obliqui-
ties and the asperities ; the archaisms and the mo-
dernisms; the strained analogies and the crooked
anomalies ; the rhetorical flourishes and the logical
quaintnesses ; the colloquial familiarities, and the
oracular solemnities, of your most elaborate and
peerless style. To snatch so many varied graces
was Hot beyond the reach of your Lordship's art.
But I had learned from the highest authority, that
"the more generally the best models are under-
stood, the greater danger there is of running into
that worst of literary faults, affectation." || This,
my Lord, is one of the reasons which deterred me
from every presumptuous attempt to imitate your
diction : another was, the conscious disparity of my
intellectual powers : and a third, not less efficacious
than the rest, I shall, with the most painful reluct-
ance, now reveal. Let my sincerity atone for n>y
* Page 8, of the Remarks on Hume.
f See Letter to Leland.
X UoXXa &' Avarra, K&ravra, T&pavra re h6yjita r jjXflov.—
Iliad 2S.
§ These are the general characters of his Lordship's style.
But of the particular exceptions I have before spoken, in terms
not merely of praise but of admiration.
|| See Hurd's note on line 404 of Horace's Art of Poetry.
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384 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
insensibility, when I confess to yon that, often as I
have read, and much as I may admire your learned
researches, I seldom felt myself glow with that en-
thusiastic fondness for my. original, which is indis-
pensably necessary to successful imitation. Des-
pairing therefore, of my ability to accommodate the
manner of this address to your Lordship's refined
taste, I console myself with reflecting, that, in the
matter of it there isf little which can give offence to
your tenderest sensibilities. Yet, without aiming at
* those master strokes which make the sovereign
charm of your Lordship's writings,"* I have, in one
or two instances, endeavoured, at least, to avail my-
self of a practice, in the illustration of which yon
have been the ablest, if not the first, critic in
* setting the judgment of the public right."
Thus, my Lord, in the essential qualities, whe-
ther of close relation to the subjects of the pam-
phlets now republished, or of indirect and skilful
panegyric (whensoever I meant to be a panegyrist)
upon the eminent personages to whom they are in-
scribed, this Dedication, I hope, will not be defi-
cient. One of those qualities is, indeed, so obvious
as to require no elucidation from a commentary:
and the other, if it be less prominent and less
glaring, may yet be traced in the conformity of this
address to the example of Horace, where he com-
pliments the emperor, not, with vague and unap-
propriate praise, but with such as springs up unex-
* See the Conclusion of the Discourse on Poetical Imitation.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 385
pectedly, and yet naturally, from the topics which
he was treating.
I know not, my Lord, to what extent yon agree
with the author of the seventh Dissertation, where
he enumerates the most effectual methods of " doing
honour to a writer"* But for your satisfaction, as
well as for my own vindication, I will state the in-
stances in which I have, and those in which I have
not, complied with the rules which this supercilious
dictator prescribes. " I have glanced at you.9* "I have
spared your arguments." "I have called you learned."
Perhaps, my Lord, I have by accident " quoted
you " Thus fer, as you will easily believe, it has
been my fate, or my endeavour, to do you honour*
But, lest I should give offence by doing you too
much, I have not " adopted your subject." I have
not "written against you," I have not "lent you
any of my own arguments." I have not " called
your conjectures ingenious or learned •" I have not
"called you my friend." Shall I then congratulate
my good fortune, or commend my judgment, in
thus erring on the safer side ? And may I hope to
escape the severities of your Lordships displeasures,
* See the Dissertation on the Delicacy of Friendship, to*
wards the conclusion.
The Letter-writer and I differ a little in our numerical as
well as moral calculations. He has set down eight articles,
where, according to my way of counting, are nine. Thus, in
the last, he lumps together the acts of " calling a man learned,"
and calling him your friend, under one article. I think it more
accurate to represent them as two, and certainly it is more to
my purpose to consider them apart.
VOL. III. 2 c
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386 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS,
when I have committed less than half of the of-
fences imputed to Dr. Jortin ? The last of those
offences will, indeed, under no change of circum-
stances, and through no length of time, be laid to
my charge. I am too humble, my Lord, to accept
what I do not merit, and too proud to claim for
myself what I have never envied, when possessed
by other men. Your Lordship, therefore, will, I
am confident, give me credit, when I assure you
that I never have been, and never shall be, an aspir-
ant to that particular son of distinction which is
conferred by your friendship. Exempted as I thus
am by my own habits and principles, by my esote-
ric and exoteric tenets, from one of these crimes, it
rests with your Lordship to guard me in future
from four others which I have hitherto escaped*
Let me, however, confess to your Lordship, that my
innocence is not entirely safe, and that, in conse-
quence of such provocations as a man of your dis-
position may throw in my way, I may slide imper-
ceptibly, or resolutely plunge, into a post of greater
danger than that upon which I have now entered.
In some moments, which I do not reckon amongst
the weakest of my life, I have felt a pretty strong
inclination to "adopt your subjects," to " write
against you," to "lend you some of my own argu-
ments/' and "to call" a very few of "your conjec-
tures ingenious, nay elegant." Should this inclina-
tion hereafter return, and should your Lordship
compel me to indulge it, by sneering at what you
will call the miserable trash,* and carping at what
* This emphatical but indelicate name is, I am told, given
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 387
I shall myself call the wholesome truths contained
by our Aristarchus to some of Dr. Priestley's writings, which,
together with the writings, probably, of some other Doctors,
he turns over to Dr. B— y, who, it should seem, is a spend-
thrift of time, and a reader of all such trash. Now, I by no
means assent to the opinions which Dr. Priestley has endea-
voured to establish, in his History of the Corruptions of Chris*
tianity. I reverence the talents, and applaud the exertions, of
his great antagonists, Mr. Badcock, Bishop Horsley, and Mr.
Howes. But, if it be really a waste of time for any dignified
Theologue to peruse that History, what shall be said for the
waste of strength in three such learned men as have been em-
ployed in confuting it ? My readers will pardon a few grave
and trite, but pertinent and salutary reflections, which the sub-
ject of this notice has extorted from me. Men of high station
m the church, and of high reputation for knowledge, should
be cautious in what terms, and before what hearers, they pass
sentence upon books which they professedly do not deign to
read. A specious criticism, begotten, it may be, by rashness
upon prejudice, and fostered by vanity or ill-nature, as soon as
it was produced— a random conjecture, suddenly struck out in
the conflicts of literary conversation — a sprightly effusion of
wit, forgotten perhaps by the speaker the moment after it was
uttered — a sly and impertinent sneer, intended to convey more
than was expressed, and more than could be proved, may have
very injurious effects upon the reputation of a writer. I sus-
pect, too, that these effects are sometimes designedly produced
by critics, who, finding the easy reception given to their own
opinions, prefer the pride of decision to the toil of enquiry.
The remarks of such men are eagerly caught up by hearers
who are incapable of forming for themselves a right judgment,
or desirous of supporting an unfavourable judgment by the
sanction of a great name. They are triumphantly repeated in
promiscuous, and sometimes, I fear, even in literary assemblies,
and, like other calumnies, during a long and irregular course
they swell in bulk, without losing any portion of their original
malignity.
2c2
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388 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
in this address, I shall again u glance at you," I
shall again " quote you." I shall again " call you
learned/' and, to make amends for the repetition of
these heinous faults, I am resolved not again to
"spare your arguments." In this last and worst
stage of degeneracy, which it is possible for me to
reach, I shall have the satisfaction of knowing, that
in my conduct towards your Lordship I must, in
two instances, stand acquitted of that guilt which
Dr. Jortin is said to have incurred by his treatment
of Bishop Warburton. As a disputant, I shall not
insult you with a disavowal of hbstilities. As a
critic, I shall not alarm you with a menace of
friendship.
Whatever a nonsensical scepticism," some men
may affect, as to the writer of these Letters, it is
not the jargon of " nonsensical dogmatism,"* to af-
firm, that, if he be really a different person front the
Remarker on Mr. Hume, he could not address them
to any other prelate with so much propriety as to
yourself. Similarity of studies, interests, and tem-
per, must be ranked among the most powerful in-
gredients of friendship ; and friendship, my Lord, as
you experimentally know, performs its best and
proudest services in the form of dedication. Yet
there are occasions, like the present, on which truth
may be spoken by a dedicator, though he do not as-
pire to the more honourable appellation of a friend.
I have already hinted to you, my Lord, that, neither
in my estimation of books, nor in my attachments
* See the Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. 99.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 389
and aversions to men, I am happy enough to boast
of such qualifications as might expose me to your
Lordship's regard in the latter character. But in
discharging the duties of the fonber, my failure, if
I should fail, is quite involuntary, and proceeds from
the want of power rather than the want of inclina-
tion, to perpetuate the remembrance of your exer-
tions in defence of Bishop Warburton.
Knowing, my Lord, the robted antipathy which
you bear to long epistolary introductions in classical
writers, to long vernacular Sermons from Dr. Parr,
and to long Latin Annotations from Philip D'Or-
ville, I will take care, in the language of the War:
burtonian school, not to stray beyond the limits of
a just and legitimate dedication. The time of a
Christian Bishop is, I am tfware, not less precious
than that of a heathen Emperor, and therefore I
shall be cautious, like the Roman poet, not to
waste it upon a longior Sermo,* than the subject
indispensably requires.
* The Commentator explains longo Scrmone, " a long Intro-
duction/9 and in the close of his note he interweaves into the
word Sermone the additional meaning of "familiar conversa-
tion." But to me, I confess, the word, as used here, suggests
neither the one nor the other sense : and, even with the aid of
the learned commentator, I am unable to see how, in one and
the same place, it holds two meanings so very remote from
each other. As to longo, the proper measure of it seems to me,
not, as is commonly supposed, the length of any other Epistle
compared with the length of this, nor yet, as the commentator
supposes, the length of the Proem compared with the length of
the Epistle, but, the length of the Epistle itself compared with
the extent and magnitude of the subject. Sermo is used here
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390 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
Suffer me, however, before I enter upon my con-
clusion, to recommend to your perusal a Greek
quotation, which, I am persuaded, will not be less
acceptable to you than it would have been to Dr.
Jortin, because it has been "little blown upon."
My reasons for introducing it are plain, but weighty.
If, with a becoming mixture of courage and ten-
derness, your Lordship should vouchsafe to grant
the patronage which I now ask in behalf of these
friendless, these nameless, I will not say these
graceless, babes, you may, without any imputation
of arrogance, apply the first sentence to yourself.
On the contrary, if, from motives which some men
may impute to timidity, and others may charge
with ingratitude, you should refuse that patronage,
then, my Lord, every reader who remembers your
connections with Bishop Warburton, your enco-
miums upon him, and your obligations to him, will
find himself compelled to make a very invidious
application of the second. Kadao-eg w e£ aura*
^iAou<nv, ourai *a) oS ejpovrts n rm p^re^ovraiy' wrr*p
Of f*ev ykp Ilapioi toyoftcwi (ro^icrra), &<k to {jltj race*
auro), ov crrepyoucriy, aXXa xptyiara 2u*0OT6?, canwnj-
pUTT0U<TI.
" But to declare my intentions at parting."*
in the same sense which it bears in line 5, Carmen 8, lib. 3, of
the Odes, where the close of Bentley's Note may illustrate thU
disputed passage in the Epistle to Augustus.
* See Note on line 417 of die Art of Poetry.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 391
When the author of the seventh Dissertation, and
the Letter to Dr. Leland, shall come forward into
the view of the public, be assured, my Lord, that
the writer of this Dedication will no longer stand
upon the smallest reserve with your Lordship and
your admirers.
He is not an " answerer by profession,*** and, ex*
cept in the vindication of the truly good, or truly
great, he never was an assailant by choice. He
knows, my Lord, and, knowing, he despises, the sor-
did tribe of parasites who would bask in the sun*
shine of your favour. He equally knows, and
equally despises, all the shallow pretenders to criti-
cism who implicitly repose on the authority of
your decisions. Against these jackalls of literature,
whose impertinence is of a piece with their impo-
tence, he will not condescend to wage a puny and
inglorious war :
" Optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem."
But to your Lordship, when you are pleased to
summon him, " he will think it worth his while to
explain himself more particularly," on the rectitude
of his intentions, and the "justness of his asser-
tions." Prepared as he is to defend them against
so unprejudiced and so powerful an antagonist, he
anxiously wishes for an early opportunity of throw-
ing off a disguise, from which even now, while he
stoops to the necessity of wearing it, he scorns to
seek protection. But the immediate addition of
* See p. 4? of the Second Part of the Defence of the Divine
Legation.
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392 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
his name, however it might flatter his own vanity,
would neither conciliate your Lordship's favour,
nor gratify, to any useful purpose, the reader's curi-
osity. Suffice it then to say, that he, as a scho-
lar, has always surveyed your Lordship's character,
without the partiality of the Remarker, and with-
out the malignity of the Letter-writer — that, as a
philosopher, he has often found a occasion to cen-
sure, where others admire"* — that, as a man, he
long has thought, and ever will think of you, with a
respect which falls somewhat short of idolatry, and
with love, the " more perfect because it casteth out
all fear.*
I am, my Lord,
your obedient servant,
The Editor.
Oct. 25th, 1788.
* See Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. 10.
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THE
EDITOR'S PREFACE
TO THE
TWO TRACTS OF A WARBURTONIAN.
The two following Tracts are supposed to be the
productions of a great author : they are professedly
drawn up in the defence of a greater; and they
have, from their own intrinsic qualities, many strong
claims to the notice of scholars. The letter to Dr.
Leland is distinguished by a sort of sparkling viva-
city and specious acuteness, which may, for a time,
reconcile the reader to the want of solidity: and
who will refuse the praise, at least of ingenuity, to
the dissertation upon the delicacy of friendship ?
Perhaps it is difficult to name a book where the de-
fects of the cause are so abundantly supplied by the
skill of the advocate, or where the barrenness of the
subject is more successfully fertilized by the fancy
of the writer. But these literary excellencies, how-
ever extraordinary, and however indisputable, are
not sufficient to atone for the moral imperfections
which accompany them.
If the reader should hastily take offence at the
sudden re-appearance of two tracts, upon which the
author himself ought to look back with some emo-
tions of shame, let him seriously weigh the reasons
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394 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
for which they are, a second time, committed to the
press.
By the writer of these pamphlets the characters
of two very learned and worthy men were attacked
with most unprovoked and unprecedented viru-
lence.* The attempt to stifle them is, however, a
very obscure and equivocal mark of repentance in
the offender. Public and deliberate was the in-
sult,*)1' which he offered to the feelings of those whom
he assailed, and therefore no compensation ought to
be accepted which falls short of a direct and expli-
cit retractation.
The letter to Dr. Jortin might, indeed, by an. ex-
cess of candour, have been considered as the result
of youthful ardour, X when the judgment of the
* The spirit of these two letters reminds me of a passage in
Warburton*s Dedication to the Freethinkers, where he speaks
of " their buffooneries, which, like chewed bullets, are against
the law of arms ;" " and of their scurrilities," which he calls
" the stinkpots of their offensive war.*
f For every animadversion which I have made upon the Let-
ter-writer, I have taken care to bring my vouchers with me in
the letters themselves, which are set before the reader with
their original stock of merit and demerit. To them I appeal
for the justness of my indignation and the propriety of my cen-
sures. I have not forgotten the sage remark, which Warburton
quotes from a great ancient, 6XKws rU trepi 6.\rjd€las X&yet, $
dKfldeta iavrrjv Ipprivevei. See the Dedication, vol. i. of the
Divine Legation, p. 24. With this caution before me, I have
not intentionally misrepresented the Letter-writer's motives,
opinions, or words; and, at all events, I have left truth to speak
for itself.
X I distrust the solidity of this excuse, even while I am
writing it; for, if the author of the Dissertation upon the Delit
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 395
writer was not matured; when his opinions of
books and men were not settled ; when his imagi-
nation was strongly impressed by the imposing
splendour of Warburton s talents, and his vanity
gratified by the flattering hope of Warburton s pro-
tection.
Dulcis inexpertifl cultura potentis amici.
But the interval between the two pamphlets — an
interval of nearly ten years — left, one would have
imagined, room enough for the author to correct his
partialities, to soften his aversions, and to reflect
again and again upon all that might be blameable
in his motives, and all that had been injurious in
the consequences of his first intemperate and inde-
corous publication.
Had his " noble passion for mischief been con-
tent with"* the seventh Dissertation addressed to Dr.
Jortin, I should have given him all due praise for
the glitter of his wit and the gaudiness of his elo-
quence ; and, at the same time, I should have
laughed "at the pretensions of the bpok to reason-
ing and fact-f- as a mere flam, and not containing
one word of truth from the beginning to the end.'9
But when the same offensive spirit of contempt is,
for the same unwarrantable purpose of degradation,
cacy of Friendship had reached his fortieth year, my plea is
much weakened, and the word 4< youthful" can scarcely be jus-
tified, unless by a reference to the Roman lawyers, who some-*
times extended the application of juventa to the forty-fifth,
and even fiftieth year. See Taylor's Civil Law, under the arti-
cle " age," p. 254.
* See Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. 72. t Ibid. p. 64.
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396 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
transferred from the writings of Dr. Jortin to those
of Dr. Leland, I " see what the man would be at
through all his disguises." * I see a very decisive
proof, that the temper of the writer was not melio-
rated by time, by experience, by self-examination,
or self-respect. I feel, at the same time, the most
just and cogent reasons for laying him open to that
ignominy, from which cowardice, indeed, may have
tempted him to fly, but which he has not hitherto
endeavoured to avert by apology or reformation.
The indelicacies of enmity are not always justified
by the zeal of friendship. The "immunitiesw*f,; (as
Johnson calls them) of " invisibility " cannot, in all
cases, be employed to stifle the curiosity of the
learned, or to avert the decision of the impartial.
They may, indeed, screen the name of an author
from the detection which he dreads ; but they must
not be permitted to shelter his publications from
the reproach which they deserve.
Jortin and Leland now repose in the sanctuary of
the grave, and are placed beyond the reach of human
praise and human censure.}; Be it so. But there
* See Remarks on Hume's Essay, p. 61.
f See Johnson's Political Tracts, p. 121.
X This is not mere conjecture. I have heard the Seventh
Dissertation commended by persons who differed, as many other
excellent men do, from the opinions which Dr. Jortin was sus-
pected of holding upon some controverted points of religion.
The learning and the judgment of those persons were not a
match for their prejudices. They neither had, nor profess to
have, any partiality for Warburton. But their dislike of Jortin
was so strong, that they were pleased with any attack which,
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 397
was a time, when enemies, such as the unfettered
opinions of one, and the shining talents of both,
were sure to provoke, found a momentary gratifica-
tion even from such charges as the Letter- writer ven-
tured to allege. There was a time when those
charges might have, clogged their professional inte-
rests, and certainly did disturb the tranquillity of
their minds. Yet, while they were living, no balm
was poured into their wounded spirits by the hand
that pierced them; and, if their characters after
death remain unimpaired by the rude shocks of con-
troversy, and the secret mines of slander, their tri-
umph is to be ascribed partly to their own strength,
and partly to the conscious weakness of their anta-
gonist, rather than to his love of justice, or his love
of peace. That antagonist, too, is, perhaps, still
alive, and still finds his admirers among those who,
themselves panting after greatness, are careful to
utter only smooth things concerning the faults of
according to their estimation, tended in any degree to expose
his possible failings, and to lessen his growing reputation. The
number of such admirers is, however, not very considerable,
and I am sure that the persons to whom I allude would have
been unwilling to write against Dr. Jortin with the bitterness of
which they seemed to approve in his supposed antagonist, who
was then beginning to climb fast to fame, riches, and honour —
to fame, let me acknowledge, which, by several of his writings,
he has acquired deservedly — to riches, which he is said to dis-
pense with elegant munificence — and to honours, which he, in
some respects, is qualified to support with great dignity. My
present concern with him takes its rise from faults, to which his
reputation and his rank must unavoidably give more permanent,
more extensive, and more dangerous effect.
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398 WARBURTON1AN TRACTS.
the great. Bat his silence has not yet been repre-
sented even by his friends as the effect of contrition.
His pen has not been employed in any subsequent
publication to commend two writers, against whom
he had formerly brandished such censures, as, ac-
cording to his own estimation and his own wishes,
were " aculeate and proper.*** His example, and
this is the worst of all — his example, I say, is at
hand to encourage any future adventurer, who may
first be disposed to attack the best books and the
best men ; and afterwards, when the real merits of
the dispute, or the real character of his opponents,
are known, may contrive to let his mischievous ca-
vils quietly sink into oblivion, to skulk, as softly as
he can, from detection and disgrace, nay, to set up
serious pretensions to candour as a writer, to de-
cency as an ecclesiastic, and meekness as a Chra-
tian/f*
* See Bacon's Essay fifty-seventh.
f I shall not he surprised at any offence which the seeming
severity of this passage may give to the very same persons who
would pardon, and even commend, the Letter-writer to Dr.
Jortin, for his endeavours to be far more severe. To such ob-
jections it were vain to oppose argument or fact. But, for the
satisfaction of more intelligent and impartial readers, I shall
produce part of a passage from Erasmus, in which he defends
the avowed severity of Laurentius Valla against the treacherous
candour and galling obloquy of Poggius. Videbat L. V. tarn
inveteratum morbum non posse sanari, nisi tristibus pharmaris,
UBturis ac sectionibus, idque magno cum dolore plurimorum.
Neque vir acutus nesciebat, adeo delicatas esse mortalium au-
res, ut vix etiam inter bonos viros invenias, qui verum libenter
audiat, foretque, ut non ii tantum exclamarent, quorum ulcera
tetigisset, verum etiam illi, qui ex alieno malo sibi metum fin-
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 399
As some of the parties are dead, and as the con-
troversies in which they were engaged have ceased
to agitate the passions of men, this re-publication
has not the smallest tendency to " sow strife w *
among scholars. Bat it may prevent, and certainly
it is intended to prevent them, from scattering the
seeds of discord with wanton cruelty. It may de-
ter, and certainly it is intended to deter them, from
indulging any mean expectation, that a calumniator
can derive security from the very failure of his
calumnies, or, that what he has repeatedly and deli-
berately done in secret will not, sooner or later, be
punished openly. It may lessen, and certainly it is
intended to "lessen,-^ the number of those," who
speak too well of a man, by whom Warburton was
most extravagantly flattered, Leland most petulantly
insulted, and Jortin most inhumanly vilified. And
here I cannot hesitate to break in upon my English
text with a quotation, which may properly be trans-
ferred from the general duties of society to the obli-
gations which lie upon men of letters to support
each other under unmerited attacks, and to preserve
their common rights against the most provoking
gerent. Turn post interposita pauca : Poggius, ut homo Can-
didas scilicet, sine invidia passim habetur in manibus, lectitatur.
Laurentius laborat invidia mordacitatis. — Erasmus in Epist. ad
Christoph. Fischerum proefixa Vallae libris de collatione N. T.
I met the foregoing passage in page 74 of Peter Wesseling*s
Dissertatio Herodotea, and have omitted what was foreign to
my purpose.
* See Lowth's Letter, quoted among the Testimonia Auc-
torum.
f See the abovementioned letter.
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400 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
mockeries of contempt, the most paltry tricks of
encroachment, and the most outrageous violences of
invasion.
Etxep rov khiKOvvr* Ste/iiyvs tfivycro
"Ejra*ros bp&y, koX ffi/vyywWcero,
"laws yoplSur \hiov clvai to yeyovos
*A&iKi)fia> rat ffvviwparroy dXX^Xocs jrurpu*'
Otic av &c\ itXcIok r© rajtoV fi[uy ifv^ero
To rwv icoyijp&y, ctXXa iraparrfpov^eroi,
Kai rvyxawyres J' ^€t rtftwplas,
"Hroi tnravioi e$6hp' ay {trap, ij iceiravptvoi.
Menand. in Fratribus ex emendat. BentL
Animated by the strong indignation which throbs
within my bosom at the foul arts of detraction so
often practised by men of letters, I disdain either to
crouch under the mandates, or to shrink from the
frowns, of the Letter-writer on the Delicacy of
Friendship. Yet, I should be sorry to find my opi-
nions of Warburton misconceived by those who are
incapable of misrepresenting them deliberately; and
I am aware too, that they lie open to some miscon-
ception, from the comparative view which I have
taken of that very able prelate and his celebrated
adherent* in the foregoing Dedication.-^ For these
* Though my doubts were not always vanquished by the
Bishop's arguments, though I sometimes smiled at his whimsi-
cal theories, and sometimes ventured to scowl at his violent in-
vectives, yet I have often applied to the Divine Legation the
candid and judicious language which Aristotle uses in the verj
book where he confutes some of the opinions imputed to Socra-
tes by Plato : to pky oly xeptrroy l\ov<Tt xdyres ol rov 2*«panrp*
\6yoi, Kal ro Ko/Jtxfiy, rai ro Kaiy&rofwv, jccu ro ^rfnjrtxoy* taXAs
cl wayra <Ws xaXeirtiV. — Repub. lib. ii. cap. 6,
f Upon the dignity of dedication-writing, I do not expect to
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 401
reasons I shall endeavour to explain myself in such
a manner as to remove every scruple, and obviate
eviery objection.
hear any saucy reflections from the Warburtonians, because
Warburton himself is known to have written dedications often,
and to have written them well. If they think preface- writing a
degrading employment in him who has not written the book
which accompanies it, let me refer them to Johnson's preface
to the Preceptor — to the prefaces written by Casaubon, Bur-
man, Ernestus, Rhunkenius, and other scholars ; and, if the
practice of the ol iravv will not rescue preface-writing from the
contempt of the Warburtonians, I must take the farther liberty
to remind them of Bp. Warburton's preface to the first edition
of Richardson's Clarissa — of Do's preface to Shakspeare's Plays
--of Do's Preface to Mrs. Cockburn's Confutation of Ruther*
forth's Essay on Virtue — of Do's preface to the Candid Exami-
nation of Bp. Sherlock's Sermons— of Do's preface to Town's
Critical Enquiry into the Opinions of the Antient Philosophers
concerning the Nature of the Soul and a Future State, and
their Method of the double Doctrine. I have myself read. an
ingenious preface to some select Poems of Cowley : I have
heard of a pedantic thing called a preface to one Bellenden;
and, indeed, it is no less usual for prefaces, or " discourses to
that effect," to be prepared by editors than by authors, whether
the authors themselves be living or dead — whether they be
modern or antient — whether their works be of a sombrous or
airy cast — whether (if we may argue from the example of War*
burton) they be ranked in the class of sentimental novels, of
dramatic writings, of ethical disquisitions, of theological con-
troversies, or metaphysical investigations. Thus much I have
said concerning the art itself. The merits of those who culti-
vate it are, it is true, very different. But even as a voluntary
and disinterested act of drudgery performed by me, it may find
a pittance of praise, not more scanty than that which has been
earned by certain acts of vassalage, upon which some followers
of Warburton have rested the tenure of their controversial
fame.
VOL. III. 2 D
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402 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
What I have written about Warburton waa sug-
gested to me by a frequent, but unprejudiced peru-
sal, and by a fond, though not undistinguishing ap-
probation, of his works. I read them in the earliest
and the happiest stages of my literary pursuits.
They captivated my imagination — they exercised
my reason — they directed my attention towards the
most important topics, and they sent out my curio-
sity in quest of the most useful knowledge. The
impressions made upon my mind by such a writer
were strong and deep. After committing my
thoughts lately to paper, I looked back to the de-
scription which Dr. Johnson had given of Dr. War-
burton, in his elaborate preface to Shakspeare, and
in his masterly Life of Pope. With satisfaction,
and, indeed, with triumph, I found many of my opi-
nions anticipated, and many confirmed. Johnson
saw, as well as I do, his acute penetration, his vari~
ous erudition, the inexhaustible fertility of his fancy,
and the invincible fortitude of his spirit. He also
saw, what I have myself without reserve and with-
out apology condemned, the coarseness of his in-
vectives, the wildness of his theories, and the defects
of his style.
The indignation of all scholars has, I know, been
long and justly armed against that contemptuous
and domineering spirit which breaks out in War-
burton^ controversial writings, and which his ad-
mirers, instead of deploring, have been eager to
defend and to imitate. Be it however remembered,
that in pleading the cause of kindred genius, he
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WAkBURTONIAN TfcACTS. 403
sometimes pours out his commendations with a
frankness, ardour, and authority, which even hid
bitterest enemies cannot but acknowledge and ad*
mire. Of this kind are, his generous apology for
the paradoxes of Bayle, his eloquent encomiums on
the sagacity and learning of Cudworth, and his no-
ble tribute of affection to the memory of a itoost
dear and illustrious friend, Francis Hare, Bishop of
Chichester. He that can read such passages with-
out rapture, should suspect the sincerity of his owti
benevolence — he that speaks of them without ap-
probation, must renounce his pretensions to impar-
tiality of taste, to exactness of discrimination or
delicacy of feeling.
If learned men wish to judge of Warburton,
either with the accuracy which is due to the " am-
plitude of his mind" and the dignity of his cha-
racter, or with the candour which cannot surely be
refused to so many failings when accompanied by so
many perfections, they would do well to examine
the portrait which Warburton has virtually drawn
of himself ifi his own writings, where it is well
known that his head was never employed either to
control or to disguise the violent emotions of his
heart. In the opinion of such enquirers Warbur-
ton will either stand or fall upon the most fair and
honourable conditions. He will not be exalted*
perhaps, by the exuberant and courtly compliments
of the author of the Estimate, nor by the more
stately and solemn decisions of the commentator
upon Horace : but he certainly will not be degraded
2 D 2
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404 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
by the keen raillery of Mr; Edwards, nor the rough
reproaches of a far more powerful and far more re-
spectable writer, whom I wish to remember under
every other name than as the popular, for I cannot
add, the victorious, adversary of Bp. Warburton.
Few men have made a more conspicuous figure
than Warburton, upon the great theatre of learn-
ing. Few have been engaged in more bustling and
splendid scenes. Few have sustained more difficult
or more interesting characters. It is therefore to be
lamented, that the public have not yet been favoured
with a regular and impartial account * of his pro-
gress in knowledge; of his advancement in the
church; of the embarrassments with which he
* " I believe (to adopt the words of Milton in bis Treatise
on Education) tbat the life of Warburton is not a bow, in which
every man can shoot who counts himself a biographer, but will
require sinews almost equal to those which Homer gave Ulys-
ses : yet I am withal persuaded that/' in certain hands, " it
may prove much more easy in the assay than is now seen at
distance, and much more illustrious."
No man living is, in my opinion, more able than Dr. Balguy
to unfold with precision the character of Bp. Warburton, or to
state with impartiality the merits of those controversies in
which he was engaged. But bodily infirmities have already
deprived the English Church of this great and good man's
protection as a prelate, who would have been vigilant without
officiousness, firm without obstinacy, and pious without super-
stition. The same unhappy and unalterable cause will, I fear,
deprive posterity also of that instruction which, as a biographer
of Warburton, he was qualified to convey, by solid learning,
by an erect and manly spirit, by habits of the most exact and
enlarged thinking, and by a style which is equally pure, ele-
gant, and nervous. The history of those who defended, and
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 406
struggled, and over which he triumphed: of the
connections which he formed : of the provocations
by which he was harassed ; and especially of the
opinions which in the cooler and more serious
reflections of his old age, he really entertained of all
his own hardier exertions made in the vigour of his
youth. But, whatever materials for the history of
his life may be in the hands of his executors,
and whatever may be the abilities of those who
shall have the courage to use them, his character
will never be drawn with more justness of de-
sign, or more strength of colouring, than have
already been employed by the great biographer of
the English poets.
The dawn of Warburton's fame was overspread
with many clouds, which the native force of his
mind quickly dispelled. Soon after his emersion
from them, he was honoured by the friendship of
Pope, and the enmity of Bolingbroke. In the ful-
ness of his meridian glory, he was caressed by Lord
Hardwick and Lord Mansfield; and his setting
lustre was viewed with nobler feelings than those of
mere forgiveness, by the amiable and venerable
Dr. Lowth. Hallifax revered him, Balguy loved
him, and, in two immortal works, Johnson has
stood forth in the foremost rank of his admirers.
those who opposed Warburton, would in the hands of so con-
summate an artist, have been a most instructive and interesting
work, not unworthy of being called in Cicero's language a
xenXoypafia Varronis. Vid. Ep. ad Att. lib. xvi. ep. 11.
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406 WARBURTOMAN TRACTS.
By the testimony of such a man^ impertinence must
be abashed, and malignity itself must be softened.
Of literary merit, Johnson as we all know, was a
sagacious , but a most severe judge. Such was
his discernment, that he pierced into the most
secret springs of human actions* and such was his
integrity, that he always weighed the moral charac-
ters of his fellow creatures in the " balance of the
eaiictuary " He was too courageous to propitiate a
rival, aijd too proud to truckle to a superior. War-
burton he knew, as I know him, and as every man
of sense ^nd virtue would wish to he known — I
mean both from his own writings, and from the
writings of those who dissented from his principles,
or who envied his reputation. But as to favours,
he had never received or apked any from the Bishop
of Gloucester ; and if my memory fcils me not, he
had seen him only once, when they met almost
without design, conversed without much effort, and
parted without any lasting impressions of hatred or
affection. Yet, with all the ardour of sympathetic
genius, Johnson h?s done that spontaneously and
ably, which by some writers had been before at-
tempted injudiciously, and which by others, from
whom more successful attempts might have been
expected, has not hitherto been done at all. He
spoke well of Warburton, without insulting those
whom Warburton despised. He suppressed not the
imperfections of this extraordinary man, while he
endeavoured to do justice to his numerous and
transcendental excellencies. He defended him when
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WARBURTONIA* TRACTS. 407
living amidst tke clamours of his enemies, and
praised him when dead, amidst the silence of his
friends.*
* The only exception (if it be one) to the silence of
Warburton's friends, is the inscription upon hts monument,
erected in Gloucester cathedral. That inscription does not
aim at the simplicity of an ancient, or the splendour of a
modern epitaph. It is neither energetic from conciseness, nor
dignified from amplification. It is tamely correct, coldly com-
plimentary, and at the same time, totally destitute of those
marked and appropriate commendations, for which the peculiar
opinions and most wonderful talents of Dr. W. might have sup-
plied very copious materials to his once zealous panegyrists.
In that excellent repository of various and useful knowledge
the Gentleman's Magazine, there is a just and elegant critique
on the writings of Warburton in page S40 of the volume
for the year 1779. Some curious and interesting memoirs of
his life are to be found in page 357, and 474, in the volume for
1780.
The reader will thank me for producing the following
passage, which does honour to the judgment and sensnVifity of
the writer.
"His publications were numerous* and, from the applause they
obtained, they seem to premise a celebrity of greater length of
time than they have experienced. But his renown vanished, as
soon as his infirmities secluded him from the world, and it
would be difficult to point out a single compliment paid to him,
or his writings, since the time that he eeased to write. He even
wanted a friend to pay a decent tribute to his memory in the
fugitive publications of the day, the ficertuy portrait excepted,
which was in our Magazine for 1779." But the Editor candidly
subjoins in a note the following acknowledgment :
" Amongst other channels of information it would be illiberal
not to mention, that we ace very materially indebted to the
Anecdote* of Bishop Warburton, which have appeared in'
the Westminster Magazine."
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408 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
I have stated these facts, not from any abject
view of palliating the censures which I may have
In the Westminster Magazine for October, November, De-
cember, 1779, and in the Appendix for the same year, I have
myself lately met with some biographical and literary anecdotes
of Dr. Warburton, which for accuracy of detail; and justness of
observation, deserve the attention and the thanks of every
scholar. I need not make any apology for the following quota-
tions:
. " A relaxation of mind so far pervades the whole body of the
people, that the great writers of this nation, who used to be
studied with the utmost diligence, are now totally disregarded.9'
*****
" In this general neglect, it will not be surprizing to find,
that a writer of great renown in this day should live to see him-
self only . on the level with common men, and his writings
mouldering in the warehouses of his bookseller. Through the
object of fulsome adulation while his faculties were unimpaired,
he lived several years longer than his fame ; and when he died,
though many of his flatterers remained, and some who
were under great obligations to him, yet not one of them
had gratitude enough to pay the slightest tribute to his memory.
To the disgrace of his literary connection, he sunk silently into
the grave, unnoticed and unlamented." — See W. M. for 1779,
page 500.
"In his works he exhibited great strokes of an original and
powerful genius, much reading with a nervous but not a polished
style. At his outset in life he was suspected of being inclined
to infidelity, and it was not until many years had elapsed, that
the orthodoxy of his opinions was generally assented to. His
publications, from the present accounts, will appear to have
been very numerous, and from the flatteries of his friends they
seemed to promise a celebrity of greater length of time than
they have experienced. If it was not for his connection
with Mr. Pope, he would be in danger of being lost as a
writer in a few years His renown vanished as soon as his in-
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WARBU ETONIAN TRACTS. 409
passed upon Warburtons failings, nor yet from any
vain confidence in my abilities to exalt his charac-
ter, but in obedience to the warm and honest
dictates of my own mind — of a mind, which he .has
often enlightened, often enchanted, and, in some
degree, I would hope, improved.
His saltern accumulem donis, et fungar inani
Munere.
firmities secluded him from the world ; and with his abilities the
sycophants who surrounded him also took their flight. It would
be difficult to point out a single compliment paid to him, or his
writings, since the time that he ceased to write : a plain proof
that he held those who professed themselves to be his friends,
not by the ties of affection or esteem, but by fear." — See W. M.
for 1779, 66S.
Why Dr. Warburton was ever suspected even of secret infi-
delity I know not. But I am persuaded that his writings were
sincerely intended to establish the .truth of Christianity, and
that many of them are worthy of the great and good cause
in which they were honourably employed. What he was
inclined to think upon subjects of religion, before perhaps he
had either leisure or ability to examine them, depends only
upon obscure surmise or vague report. But we have the stub-
born evidence of facts to ascertain what he really did think,
after he had searched and believed. As to the charge of
heterodoxy, I shall leave his R. R. biographer to admit or
to confute it, as he may find himself able. But the accusation
of Deism, which has more than once been brought against
his writings, is too wicked to escape without some mark of re-
probation, and too weak to deserve a serious and formal reply.
It was malignantly broached at first by an English dunce,
whose blunders and calumnies are now happily forgotten. It
afterwards was petulantly repeated by a French buffoon, whose
morality is not commensurate with his wit, and many of whose
assertions inhistory and biography every man of sense reads with
distrust, and sometimes with contempt.
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410 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
From what Johnson and I have said in favour of
Warburton, there is an easy and natural transition
to what his professed biographers may intend to
say. A costly and splendid edition of Warburton's
works was published in the spring of 1788, and
prefixed to it as an advertisement, which cannot, I
think, be quite satisfactory to his admirers, and
which must be alarming to such of his opponents as
may now be living. It runs thus : — u The reader
will expect some account of the life, writings,
and character of the author to be prefixed to this
complete edition of his works : he is therefore
informed, that a discourse to that effect hath been
prepared and will be published, but not now, for
reasons that will be seen hereafter." We are then
told, that "purchasers, upon producing tickets which
are to be delivered to them by the bookseller, will
be furnished with the life" To this consolatory
promise is subjoined a very accurate but jejune
account of the works inserted in the present edition,
and "for the rest the reader is referred to the
author's life at large."
Now I confess there is something very mysteri-
ous to my mind, both in the small number* of
copies lately published, and in the temporary delay
* I am told that only 250 copies were printed : I ought, however,
to add that, for the sake of those who had purchased the former
editions of Warburton's Works, a separate volume has been pub-
lished containing the additional matter. But if a new and ex-
pensive edition of the whole was at all necessary, I think it dif-
ficult to account for the choice of so small a number as that
above-mentioned.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS, 411
of the Life— a number which seems to insinuate,
either that Warburton s writings were too excellent
for the gross taste of the public, or that the public
had shewn some inauspicious symptoms of indiffer-
ence about Warburton's writings— * delay which
not only thwarts the acknowledged expectation of
the reader, but which the editor, it should seem,
assumes a right of extending to as long a time, as
he shall think proper. From the cautious and enig-
matical manner, too, in which the advertisement is
drawn up, it may be rather difficult to determine
positively by whom that " discourse hath been pre-
pared." The editor certainly has seen it : he pro-
bably is in possession of it. He has reasons for
holding it back now — and he promises to publish,
or to let it be published hereafter. But whether
it be written, as Aristotle would say, by a Socrates
or a Callias,* is left in some uncertainty. A sore
and captious objector might here say, that if it be
tainted with the genuine spirit of the Warburtonian
School, the publication of it may very properly be
deferred ad Graecas Calendas. He might insinuate,
that the editor knows best how far the reputation
of the biographer himself may be staked in the ac-
count which he has given of Warburton, and that
possibly he, for many reasons, thinks it safer to dis-
* The learned reader need not be informed of the manner in
which Aristotle sometimes uses the names of Socrates, Callias,
Coriscus and Cleos. Vide Arkt. fihet. lib. ii. cap. 4, Eudem.
lib. ii. cay. % Metaphysic. lib. i. cap. 1 and 7, lib. v. cap. 6,
lib vii. cap. 8, 11, 15, lib. xiv. cap. 3, Sophist. Blench, cap. 5,
14, 17, 22, 32.
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412 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS
appoint, for a time, the curiosity of his readers, than
to appeal precipitately to their justice, or to . en-
counter their indignation. He might add, that a
discourse which professes to convey a fair, exact,
and enlarged view of the life, writings, and charac-
ter of Warburton, is a most arduous and a most
perilous undertaking : that it requires not merely
the ordinary decorations of learning, or the ordinary
arts of reasoning, but a judgment most impartial,
and a spirit most collected and most intrepid ; and
that in feeble or treacherous hands, it will conciliate
few friends, and provoke many enemies.
• incedit per ignes
Suppositos cineri doloso.
In me, however, who have not been initiated
either into the greater or the lesser mysteries of
the Warburtonians, it might be thought presumptu-
ous to draw aside one corner of the veil from those
subjects which our great Hierophant has, for, the
present, so industriously and skilfully muffled up
in secrecy. I will not, therefore profess, like some
critics, to reveal * what I never knew, nor will I
* The Bishop's representation of the greater and lesser mys-
teries was examined with great accuracy and opposed with
great candour by the learned Dr. John Leland, in the eighth
and ninth chapters, part the first, of his work upon the advan-
tage and necessity of the Christian Revelation. I have read
with much pleasure, and very little conviction, " a Dissertation
on the Mysteries, wherein the opinions of Bishop Warburton
and Dr. Leland are particularly considered.'* It was published
without a name in 1766 ; it was intended as an answer to Le-
land, the first edition of whose work came out in 1764; and it
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 413
filch,* or even borrow, any sordid ingots of erudition
from other writers, to spread them in a thin and
glittering surface over my own ignorance. I will
forbear, with a kind of religious horror, from at-
tempting to conjecture what the reasons of the edi-
tor are. • But for the honour of a man whose deli-
cacies both in friendship and enmity are equally well
known, I will take the liberty of informing the
readers of Warburton, what those reasons are not
— they are not reasons of fear in the R. R. Edi-
tor, either from the cavils of the illiterate and pre-
judiced, whom a writer of his great abilities, great
reputation, and great rank, may with impunity
despise,- or from the objections of the wise and
good, whom (as the race of them, I hope, will not
speedily be extinct), the discourse, which is not
unlikely to displease them now, cannot be very
has been ascribed, not improbably, to the candid examiner of
Sherlock's Discourses, 2w£<rct fikv y&p koI byxivolq, kcu &pi-
flVTTfTlt TCCLfXTokv T&V #\\«V T&V tllTO BapfioVpT&VOV bU$€pe.~
Vide Lucian. op. torn, ii, p. 210, edit. Reitz.
* The greater part of Warburton's quotations about the
mysteries may be found in Meursius's Eleusis. I forget whe-
ther the Bishop makes a direct acknowledgment of his obliga-
tions to this diligent, learned, and judicious collector. I gay
learned and judicious, as well as diligent, in opposition to that
spirit of the Warburtonians which induces one of them to call
the Author of the Credibility of the Gospel History, " the la-
borious Dr. Lardner ;" and another, to nick-name Mr. Hume's
History of England the "most readable history we have."
The disciples of this school generally dispense their praise with
a discretion which prevents its being exhausted by their occa-
sional prodigality. To the profane, mclpovet \cipi, but to the
initiated, oXp r? OvXairp.
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414 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
likely to satisfy hereafter— they are not reasons of
uncommon candour or common justice to the sur-
viving opponents of Bishop Warburton : for as the
discourse, let it contain what it will, must be pro-
duced at last, they would rather, doubtless, meet an
attack which they may hope to repel while they are
living, than be exposed after their death to repre-
sentations of facts and opinions which, if they were
quite fair and quite inoffensive, would probably not
for a moment be suppressed-— they are not reasons
of tenderness to the biographer himself: for the
editor,* undoubtedly, will never publish, or be con-
cerned in publishing, what, after long delay and
much correction, he does not approve ; and as to
the biographer, he, I should hope, has not ven-
tured, like the author of the seventh Dissertation,
to " prepare a Discourse" which he is unwilling to
avow or unable to defend. UaMv oe re pijVjo? 2yva.
When the work of a great writer is long kept
back from the eye of the public, we are to conclude,
not that his whole time is laid out upon it, but that
he at intervals retrenches or adds to the matter, and
corrects or polishes the style, as different opportu-
* I suspect that the editor is not a different person from the
biographer ; but I will not hazard any assertion upon the sub-
ject, lest I should be caught in the toils which some men may
spread for a conclusion not directly warranted by their own
premises. I have sometimes thought that in weightier matters
the Warburtonians are too much addicted to a practice which
their master condemns in Bayle and in Plutarch. They " leave
their propositions in that convenient state of ambiguity which
is necessary to give a paradox the air and reputation of an
oracle.'* — See book iii. sect. 6, of the D. L.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 415
nities may arise, different circumstances may re-
quire, or different states of his own mind may die*
tate amendment or alteration. We may therefore
expect to see the Life of Warburton wrought up to
the highest degree of perfection which the united
force of taste, diligence, and discretion in the bio-
grapher can attain.
Warburton paid the last awful debt of nature in
June 1779. If then we suppose some rude out-
lines of his character to have been sketched out
soon after the event, when the thoughts of his friends
must have been naturally turned towards his attain*
meats, his virtues, and his death* the time expended
upon this piece of biographical painting already in-
cludes the nine years employed upon a less impor-
tant work to which Horace pertinently alludes, and
which Catullus expressly names.*
Should the artist detain a little longer his favour-
ite picture,-^ that it may receive fresh touches
and retouches, as either his judgment, or his hopes
or his fears may suggest; that in one place the
light may be heightened, and the shade darkened
in another ; that some characters may be brought
more conspicuously into the foreground, and others
* Vid. Horat. de Ar. Poet. 1. 388, et Catull. de Smyrna Cinnae
Poets, tin. 1 et 2.
f 1 would recommend it to the biographer to consider what
Ennapiufl says of the life of Alypius writen by Iamblichus.
"Eotrer 6 dav patriot lafifikiypt tovtoy weirovdtvai rois ypcupacols,
6i rvvs ev &paypa$ovr€s7 ftrav xaP^a<r^at re Tap* iavT&v els rijy
ypa<f>)v fiovXrjOwcrt, to tSlv elbos rjjs bpoiwrcws biafdeipoveriv,
Acre &fiar€ rod icapabkiyparos ff fiaprrfKiy at Kal rov icaAXovf.—
Eunap. in Vit, Iamblich. p. SI. edit. Antverp.
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416 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
thrown back so as to be less distinctly seen, the life
of Warburton will furnish the English language
with a proverbial expression not less emphatical
than the Latin poem of Cinna, and the Greek pane-
gyric of Isocrates.
It may be worth while to observe, that this last
edition of Warburton's works is called complete,
though neither the enquiry into prodigies, nor the
translations are contained in it. No reason is as-
signed by the R. R. Editor for omitting them — no
notice is taken that they ever were published by
Warburton — no intimation is given that his Editor
intends to publish them hereafter. But this unexpected,
and I hope not unwelcome republication, will perhaps
induce him * to * prepare a discourse to that effects
* Lowth, in his letter to Warburton, enumerates the different
kinds of correction, which he inflicted or caused to be inflicted
upon his answerers. Now the worst that can be done in this
way by the " beadle" of a beadle is below contempt. But as
the present editor, and in truth restorer of the bishop's two neg-
lected tracts cannot aspire like Bishop Lowth, to the solemni-
ties of a regular execution upon a scaffold, he will be doomed,
probably, to be thrust down into some dungeon of a note, and to
be stretched upon the rack of cavil and misrepresentation by his
ingenious tormentor. Be it so. He knows (as Cicero says of
Hortensius in Divinat. cont. Cscil.) all the modes of attack
which are most successfully practised by his antagonists ; and
he hopes to meet the blow, not wholly unprepared both to en-
counter argument and to repel accusation. But if the aid of
sneers be once called in, either to reinforce a clumsy and languid
witticism, or to cover the retreat of a crippled and feeble argu-
ment, he will consider the use of such auxiliaries as a declara-
tion that no quarter is to be given, and as a signal for carrying
on what Thucydides calls n-dAe/io? faptirov ical &<nrovbov.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 417
From the ingenuous editor and the wary biogra-
pher, I gladly return to Warburton himself and his
critics.
As to the particular points which are discussed in
the letters addressed to Dr. Jortin and Dr. Leland, I
shall take this opportunity of delivering my opinion
about them plainly and concisely. Upon the sub-
ject of eloquence I accede to Leland's very judicious
objections against the chimerical position of War-
burton, and I also must add, in Leland's emphatical
words, that "the bishop has conveyed his argument
in all the most striking forms of eloquence, and
with die spirit and energy of an ancient orator."*
In regard to the sixth book of the jEneid I have
always admired the ingenuity of Warburton's hypo-
thesis. I have in the course of my own reading,
frequently examined his quotations. I have never
assented to his conclusions. I applaud Dr. Jortin
for speaking of Warburton's interpretations in terms
of measured praise ; and I consider it as completely
refuted in a most clear, elegant, and decisive work
of criticism, which could not indeed derive authority
from the greatest name, but to which the greatest
name might with propriety have been affixed. -)»
From Warburton, whom I have here commended
without adulation, as I had before censured him
* Leland on Eloquence, cap. 4.
t This book is ascribed, and I think with great probability,
to the learned and ingenious author, to whom the public is in-
debted for the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire. Be the writer who he will, the reader will say with me,
that the work is rtiaxos H <«pn* oXtyiy \t&a$.
VOL. III. 2 B
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£18 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
-without acrimony, I now proceed to speak more at
large of Leland and Jortin. For them too I have a
blessing, which if it be less efficacious than that of
the patriarch, is however, not less sincere. Virtually
and by implication, they were defended in the pre*
ceding dedication. But they have a title to more
direct and explicit praise, and I have chosen this
part of the preface as a proper place for bestow-
Of Leland my opinion is not like the Letter-
writer's, founded upon hear-say evidence, * nor is it
determined solely by the great authority of Dr.
Johnson, who always mentioned Dr. Leland with
cordial regard and with marked respect. It might
perhaps be invidious for me to hazard a favourable
decision upon his history of Ireland, because the
merits of that work have been disputed by critics,
dome of whom are I think warped in their judg-
ments by literary, others by national, and more, I
have reason to believe, by personal prejudices. But
I may with confidence appeal to writings which
have long contributed to public amusement, and
have often been honoured by public approbation
— to, the life of Philip, and to the translation of
Demosthenes, which the Letter-writer professes to
have not read — to the judicious dissertation upon
eloquence, which the Letter-writer did vouchsafe to
read before he answered it — to the spirited defence
Of that dissertation, which the Letter-writer probably
has read, but never attempted to answer. The life
* See the letter to Leland in the conclusion.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS, 419
of Philip contains many curious researches into the
principles of government established among the
leading states of Greece ; many sagacious remarks
on their intestine discords ; many exact descriptions
of their most celebrated characters, together with an
extensive and correct view of those subtle intrigues,
and those ambitious projects, by which Philip* at a
favourable crisis gradually obtained an unexampled
and fatal mastery over the Grecian republics. In
the translation of Demothenes Leland unites the
man of taste with the man of learning, and shews
himself to have possessed not only a competent
knowledge of the Greek language, but that clear-
ness in his own conceptions, and that animation
in his feelings, which enabled him to catch the
real meaning, and to preserve the genuine spirit
of the most perfect orator that Athens ever pro-
duced. Through the dissertation upon eloquence
and the defence of it, we see great accuracy of
erudition, great perspicuity and strength of style,
and above all a stoutness of judgment, which in
traversing the open and spacious walks of literature,
disdained to be led captive, either by the sorceries
of a self-deluded visionary, or the decrees of a self-
created despot.
As to Jortin, whether I look back to his verse, to
his prose, to his critical, or to his theological works,
* Upon this subject Valckenaer has written a very learned
and judicious Diatribe, which was delivered at Franequer, 1760,
and published (with the speeches of Hemsterhuis) at Leyden
in 1784.
2e2
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420 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS.
there are few authors to whom I am so much
indebted for rational entertainment, or for solid in-
struction. Learned he was without pedantry. He
was ingenious without the affectation of singularity.
He was a lover of truth without hovering over
the gloomy abyss of scepticism, and a friend to free
enquiry without roving into the dreary and pathless
wilds of latitudinarianism. He had a heart which
never disgraced the powers of his understanding;
With a lively imagination, an elegant taste, and a
judgment most masculine and most correct, he
united the artless and amiable negligence of a
school-boy. Wit* without ill nature, and sense
without effort, he could at will scatter upon every
subject ; and in every book the writer presents us
with a near and distinct view of the real man.
— ut omnia
Votiva pateat tanquam descripta tabella
Vita senis. Hor. Sat* 1. lib. ii.
* Let me not be charged with pedantry, if, for the want of
English words equally correspondent with my ideas, I say, that
in the lighter parts of Jortin's writings may be found that
thrpawekla which is defined by Aristotle irexcuScu/tilvi? vftpts
and that, in the more serious is preserved that aefivSrrjs, which,
the same Philosopher most accurately and beautifully explains,
fiaXaicij Ka\ evarxVH(jt)V /3op^1*« Rhetoric, lib. 2. cap. 12. and 17.
Knowing that Greek is thought by some nicer readers to de-
form an English page, and being perhaps in the habit of remem-
bering rather more passages than I dare produce, I have often
driven down my quotations into a note for refuge, luis apology
I make once for all, and 1 trust that it will satisfy all readers
except those who may wish to see quotations purified from the
dregs of antiquity through the strainers of an English translation
Persium non legere euro ; Decium Laelium volo.
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 421
His style, though inartificial, is sometimes elevat-
ed : though familiar, it is never mean ; and though
employed upon various topics of theology, ethics,
and criticism, it is not arrayed in any delusive re-
semblance, either of solemnity from fanatical cant,
of profoundness from scholastic jargon, of precision
from the crabbed formalities of cloudy philologists,
or of refinement from the technical babble of frivo-
lous connoisseurs.
At the shadowy and fleeting reputation which is
sometimes gained by the petty frolics of literary
vanity, or the mischievous struggles of controversial
rage, Jortin never grasped. Truth, which some
men are ambitious of seizing by surprize in the
trackless and dark recess, he was content to over-
take in the broad and beaten path : and in the pur-
suit of it, if he does not excite our astonishment by
the rapidity of his strides, he .at least secures
our confidence by the firmness of his step* To the
examination of positions advanced by other men
he always brought a mind, which neither preposses-
sion had seduced, nor malevolence polluted. He
imposed not his own conjectures as infallible and
irresistible truths, nor endeavoured to give an air of
importance to trifles by dogmatics vehemence. He
could support his more serious opinions without
the versatility of a sophist, the fierceness of a dispu-
tant, or the impertinence of a buffoon — more than
this — he could relinquish or correct them with the
calm and steady dignity of a writer, who, while he
yielded something to the arguments of his antago-
nists, was conscious of retaining enough to corn-
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422 WARBURTONIAN TRACTS,
mand their respect. He had too much discernment
to confound difference of opinion with malignity or
dnlness, and too much candour to insult where
he could not persuade. Though his sensibilities
were neither coarse nor sluggish, he was yet exempt
from those fickle humours, those rankling jealousies,
and that restless waywardness which men of the
brightest talents are too prone to indulge. He car-
ried with him into every station in which he was
placed, and every subject which he explored, a solid
greatness of soul which could spare an inferior,
though in the offensive form of an adversary, and
endure an equal with or without the sacred name of
friend. The importance of commendation, as well
to him who bestows as to him who claims it, he es-
timated not only with justice but with delicacy, and
therefore he neither wantonly lavished it, nor with-
held it austerely. But invective he neither pro-
voked nor feared"; and as to the severities of con-
tempt he reserved them for occasions where alone
they could be employed with propriety, and where
by himself they always were employed with effect —
for the chastisement of arrogant dunces, of censo-
rious sciolists, of intolerant bigots in every sect, and
unprincipled impostors in every profession. Dis-
tinguished in various forms of literary composition,
engaged in various duties of his ecclesiastical profes-
sion, and blessed with a long and honourable life,
he nobly exemplified that rare and illustrious virtue
of charity, which Leland in his reply to the Let-
ter-writer thus eloquently describes : * Charity ne-
ver misrepresents; never ascribes obnoxious prin-
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WARBURTONIAN TRACTS. 423
ciples or mistaken opinions to an opponent, which
he himself disavows ; is not so earnest in refuting
as to fancy positions never asserted, and to extend
its censure to opinions which will perhaps he de-
livered: Charity is utterly averse to sneering, the
most despicable species of ridicule, that most des-
picable subterfuge of an important objector : Cha-
rity never supposes that all sense and knowledge
are confined to a particular circle, to a district, or to
a country : Charity never condemns and embraces
principles in the same breath ; never professes to
confute what it acknowledges to be just, never pre-
sumes to bear down an adversary with confident as-
sertions : Charity does not call dissent insolence, or
the want of implicit submission a want of common
respect."*
This, I cannot help exclaiming in the words of
the R. R. Remarker : " this is the solution of a phi-
losopher indeed ; clear, simple, manly, rational, and
striking conviction in every word, unlike the re-
fined and fantastic nonsense of a writer of para-
doxes.** f
The esteem, the affection, the reverence which I
fee! for so profound a scholar, and so honest a man
as Dr. Jortin, make me wholly indifferent to the
praise and censure of those who vilify without read-
ing his writings, or read them without finding some
incentive to study, some proficiency in knowledge,
or some improvement in virtue.
* Page 51 of the quarto edition of Dr. Ireland's answer,
printed at London, 1765.
f See remarks on Hume, p. 93.
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A
LETTER
RIGHT REV. DR. MILNER;
OCCASION*!) BY SOUS PASSAGES CONTAINED IN HIS BOOK,
INTITULED,
"THE END OF RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY."
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The reasons for publishing this posthumous work of Dr. Parr
have been stated by the Rev. John. Lynes, in his Preface.
It was originally intended for the Gentleman's Magazine;
but the work grew too bulky for insertion in that useful reposi-
tory, and on that account was laid aside, at the time* by the
author, who has left behind him a large collection of observa-
tions on points of controversy between Catholics and Pro-
testants.
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LETTER TO THE REV. DR. MILNER.
REVEREND AND LEARNED SIR,
I have lately read, with the greatest attention, a
very interesting and elaborate work, which bears
your celebrated name, and to which you have pre-
fixed this title : " The End of Religious Controversy,
in a friendly Correspondence between a religious
Society of Protestants and a Roman Catholic Divine,
addressed to the Right Reverend Dr. Burgess, Lord
Bishop of St. David's, in answer to his Lordship's
Protestant Catechism."
The contents of that book have not lessened the.
high opinion which I had long entertained of your
acutenesa as a polemic, your various researches as a
theologian, and your talent for clear and animated
composition. I acknowledge, too, that in my judg-
ment you have been successful in your endeavours
to vindicate the members of the Church of Rome
from the imputations of impiety, idolatry, and blas-
phemy, in their worship of glorified saints, and in
their adoration of the sacramental elements, which
they believe to have! been mystically transubstan-
tiated into the body and blood of Christ.
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428 LETTER TO
The adamantine and imperishable work of
Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical Polity, and the contro-
versial writings of Jeremy Taylor, fraught, as they
are, with guileless ardour, with peerless eloquence,
and with the richest stores of knowledge, historical,
classical, scholastic, and theological, may be consi-
dered as irrefragable proofs of their pure, affec-
tionate, and dutiful attachment to the reformed
Church of England. Why then should I dissemble
that, in the words of these excellent men, as quoted
by yourself (in p. 237 and p. 265, part iii. 5th edit),
are contained the opinions which I hold upon a part
of the controversy, which has long subsisted be-
tween Romanists and Protestants, about the conse-
crated elements in the Communion ? " The object
of their (the Catholics9) adoration in the Sacrament
is the true and eternal God, hypostatically united
with his holy humanity, which humanity they be-
lieve actually present under the veil of the Sacra-
ment ; and if they thought him not present, they
are so far from worshipping the bread, that they
profess it idolatry to do so." — Dr. Jeremy Taylor,
Bishop of Down, Liberty of Prophesying, sect. 20.
" I wish men would give themselves more to me-
ditate with silence on what we have in the Sacra-
ment, and less to dispute on the manner how. Sith
we all agree that Christ, by the Sacrament, doth
really and truly perform in us his promise, why do
we vainly trouble ourselves with so fierce conten-
tions, whether by consubstantiation or else by
transubstantiation ?" Eccles. Polit. B. v. 67. (see
note, page 274, 5th edit.) Content I am to speak
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DR. MILKER. 429
of your tenets upon the Sacrament as erroneous
and unscriptural only ; and in truth, Sir, I have often
had most sincerely and seriously to disapprove of
the acrimonious language which has been unne-
cessarily and unbecomingly employed by some of
your opponents ; and, I add, not less unnecessarily
and unbecomingly by yourselves.
I leave it, Reverend Sir, with many learned, saga-
cious, and truly pious members of the Church of
England, to discuss the merits of your cause, the
accuracy of your statements, and the validity of
your arguments, upon the following particulars :
"That Bishop Porteus is to be classed with other
bigoted controvertists, who have holden up to the
public a caricature of the Church of Rome :" (part
iii. p. 373.) "that, when he represents purgatory,
in the present Popish sense, as not heard of for four
hundred years after Christ; nor universally received
for a thousand years ; nor almost in any other church
than that of Rome to this day:" — " here are no less
than three egregious falsities." (Part iii. p. 311.)
And " you have often wondered at the confidence
with which his Lordship asserts and denies facts of
antient church history, in opposition to the known
truth." (Part iii. p. 350.) That Bishop Hoadley
not only had undermined the church he professed
to support in her doctrines and discipline, as you
have demonstrated in your Letters to a Prebendary,
but that he had founded a school of complete So-
cinianism, and that Bishop Shipley is to be reckoned
in the the first rank of his scholars. (Part ii. p.
127.) And here, Sir, you will permit me to ob-
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430 LITTER TO
serve, that, if your accusation against Hoadley be
well founded, Dr. Balguy, whom you describe (part
i. p. 67,) as "the most clear-headed writer, and re-
nowned defender of the Establishment whom you
had the happiness of being acquainted with," and
as having Bishop Hoadley for his friend and mas-
ter, (part i. p. 96,) could hardly have escaped tie
taint of "the damnable and cursed heresy of So-
cinianism,* as it is termed in Bishop Sparrow's Col-
lection of Canons twice quoted by yourself with
approbation. (Part i. p. 92, and part ii. p. 126.) .And
here, Sir, may I be permitted to ask, whether the
venerable Bishop Lowth, who in early life was
closely connected with Bishop Hoadley, must, in
consequence of that connection, be considered, for
a time at least, favourable to Socinianism ?
That " Cbillingworth, who had been first a Pro-
testant, next became a Catholic, and then returned
in part to his former creed, gave, last of all, into
Socinianism, which his writings greatly promoted*"
(Part i. p. 55.) That, "when you were defending
the Articles and Liturgy of the Established Church,
as well as your own, upon this point,** (i. e. as ap-
pears from the context, the mysteries of the Trinity
and Incarnation,) "you found the religious infec-
tion infinitely more extensive than you appre-
hended ; the celebrated professors of divinity in the
University delivering Dr. Balguy's doctrine to the
young clergy in their public lectures, and the most
enlightened Bishops publishing it in their pastoral
and other works." That * Dr. Horsley, the great
ornament of the episcopal bench, who protected
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DR. M1LNM. 431
you both in and out of parliament, does not fall tin*
der this censure of holding that Christ has left us
no exterior means of grace ; and that, of course,
Baptism and the Lord's Supper, (which are declared
necessary for salvation in the Catechism,) produce
no spiritual effect at all; and, in short, that all
mysteries, and among the rest those of the Trinity
and Incarnation, (for denying which the Prelates of
the Church of England have sent so many pro-
fessed Protestants to the stake, in the reigns of
Edward, Elizabeth, and James I.) are mere non-
sense." (Part ii. p. 126.) That "most modern Pro-
testants of eminence deny Christ to be God.9* (Part
iL p. 75.) And as you have not limited this posi-
tion by any designation of place, I must suppose
you to include under it modern eminent members
of the Church of England, modern eminent English
Dissenters, and modern Protestants of eminence in
foreign countries* That "many personages in a
more elevated rank of life, whose education and
studies enable them to form a more just idea of the
religious and moral principles of their ancestors,
benefactors, and founders, in short, of their acknow-
ledged fathers and saints, combine to load these
fathers and saints with calumnies and misrepre-
sentations, which they must know to be utterly
false." (Part iii. p. 241.) That "Mede, and a hun-
dred other Protestant controvertists, speak in bias*
phemous terms of your Communion of Saints."
(Part iii. p. 247.) I dispute not your accuracy in
excepting Bishop Horsley ; but I am really unable
to point oat any prelate or dignitary in the Church
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432 .LETTER TO
of England, now living, who' deserves to fall under
the general censure of considering all mysteries as
mere nonsense.
That " Bishop Jewel, by his vain boasting, or
rather deliberate impugning of the known truth,
scandalized sober and learned Protestants ; that he
was guilty of hypocrisy ; and that in quoting the
fathers he shamefully falsified them" (Part ii. p.
198.) That "Cranmer, from his youthful life in
college, till his death at the stake, exhibited such a
continued scene of libertinism, perjury, hypocrisy,
barbarity, (in burning his feUow-protestants,) profli-
gacy, ingratitude, and rebellion, as is perhaps not
to be matched in history." (Part ii. p. 163.) That
James I. was right, when he pronounced "the
order for morning prayer to be an ill-said mass."
(Part ii. p. 159.) That "the communion of Pro-
testants, according to their belief and practice in
this country, cannot be more than a feeble excite-
ment to their devotion, and an inefficient help to
their sanctification." (Part ii. p. 155.) That Pro-
testants, who are still immersed in the clouds of
types and figures, not pretending to any thing more
in their sacrament than what the Jews possessed in
their ordinances, are comparatively indifferent as to
the preparation for receiving it, and, indeed, as to
the reception of it at all ; while the Catholic sup-
poses the Paschal lamb, the loaves of proposition,
and the manna of which Christ speaks, John vi:
52, 58, 59. to be so many promises on the part of
God, that he would bestow upon the people the
thing signified by them, even that incarnate Deity
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UOU M11.MI1. 439
who is at once our victim and our food, and whd
gin* ipiritual life to the worthy communicants,
not in a limited measure* but indefinitely according
to each one's preparation." (Part iiL p. 275.) That
* it is an absurdity to talk of the Church, or So-
ciety of Protestants, because," say you, "the term
Protestant expresses nothing positive, much less
any union or association among them; it barely
signifies one who protests or declares against some
other person or persons, thing or things ; and in
the present instance it signifies those who protest
against the Catholic church." (Part ii. p. 124.)
Where, perhaps you will be asked by some of
my brethren, lies the absurdity of talking of a
church or society of Protestants ? Where, permit
me to ask you, is the contradiction either in the
ideas or the terms? If one term Protestant dis-
tinctly and unequivocally expresses one idea, the pro-
testation of those who protest against the Catholic
church, how does it follow that another term, be it
church or society, does not as unequivocally and
as distinctly express another idea, namely, the
onion or association of those who thus protest
among themselves ? When you, Sir, have the good-
ness to assist my dullness, I shall be ready to for-
give your positiveness, and to applaud your sagacity.
That " our Divine Master, Christ, in establishing
a religion here on earth, to which all the nations of
it were invited (Matt, xviii. 19), left some rule or
method by which those persons, who sincerely seek
for it, may certainly find it:" and that " this rule or
iqethod must be secure and never foiling, so as not to
VOL. III. 2 F
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4&$ LETTER TO
be ever liable to lead a rational, sincere inquirer into
error, impiety, or immorality of toy kind." (Part L
p. 41.) That * during the first five ages of the
Christian Church, no less than in the subsequent
ages, the unwritten word or tradition was held in
equal estimation by her as the written word itself.'*
(Part i. p. 83.) That "the whole right to the
Scriptures belongs to the Church; that she has
preserved them, that she vouches for them, and she
alone, by confronting them, and by the help of tra-
dition, authoritatively explains* them; and that,
hence it is. impossible for the real Scripture ever to
be against her and her doctrines." (Part i. p. 106.)
That " Protectants, in building Scripture, as they do^
upon tradition, as a mere human testimony, not as
a mle of faith, can only form an act of human faith,
that is to say, an opinion of its being inspired;
whereas Catholics, believing in the tradition of the
Church, as a divine rule, are enabled to believe, and
do believe, in the Scriptures as the firm faith, as the
certain word of God." (Part i. p. 101.) That
"while the most eminent Protestant divines, such as
Luther, Melancthon, Hooker, Chillingworth, with
Bishops Laud, Taylor* Sheldon, Blandford, and the
modern prelates. Marsh and Porteus himself, all ac-
knowledge salvation may be found in the commu-
nion of the original Catholic Church, yet no divine
of this Church, consistently with the characteristical
unity, and the constant doctrines of the holy fa-
thers, and of the Scripture itself (as you profess to
have elsewhere demonstrated), can allow that salva-
tion is to be found out of that communion, except
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DR. MILNE*. 435
in the case of invincible ignorance* (Part iii. p. 374.)
That " Catholic divines and the holy fathers make
an express exception in favour of what is termed in-
vincible ignorance ; which occurs," as you must in-
tend, Sir, then and then only, "when persons out of
the true Church" (by which you fnean the Church
of Rome) " are sincerely and firmly resolved, in spite
of all worldly allurements on one hand, and opposi-
tion to the contrary on the other, to enter into it, if
they could find it out, and when they use their best
endeavours for this purpose :n (Part ii. p. 138.) and
consequently, say I, that every Protestant who is
hot firmly resolved, in spite of all allurements on
one hand, and opposition to the contrary on the
other, to enter into the true Church, and who does
not use his best endeavours for that purpose, is
guilty of a " deliberate and formal opposition to the
Most High ; that he virtually says, I will not believe
what thou hast revealed, and thus such wilful infi-
delity and heresy involve greater guilt than moral
frailty." (Part ii. p. 138.) Now the term moral
frailty, Sir, which is here selected, you must, upon
every principle of consistency, extend to the grossest
as well as the slightest violations of morality ; and,
in point of fact, Sir, nearly all Protestants must be
chargeable with such wilful heresy; because, in
point of fact, they have not used, nor been conscious
of any obligation to use, their best endeavours to
find out, among contending theologians, what is
that Church which alone deserves to be called die
true one. That " no other Church but the Catholic"
(by which you mean the Roman Catholic) "can
2f2
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486 fcETTEK itr
claim to be a religious guide, because, evidently, she
alone is the true Church of Christ" (Part iL p. 119.)
That " the particular motives of credibility, which
point out the true Church of Christ, demonstrate
this with no less certitude and evidence than the
general motives of credibility demonstrate the truth
of the Christian religion." (Part n. p. 120.) That,
" were it possible for yon to err in following the Ca»
tholic method, with such a mass of evidence in its
favour, you think you could answer at the judgment
seat of eternal truth, with a pious writer of the
middle ages," (Hugh of St. Victor) " Lord, if I have
been deceived, thou art the author of my error.9
{Part i. p. 104.) That, « when a Protestant pro*
festiea to believe in a Catholic Church, in solemn
Worship, or in private devotion, there never was a
more glaring inconsistency or self-condemnation
among rational beings." (Part ii. p. 190.) That
"the Church of Rome has an exclusive claim to
Unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolncity." (Part
ii. p. 235.) That "this apostolicity is sufficiently
illustrated in that apostolical tree, which you call a
mystical tree^ the properties of which are explained
jto Letters 98 and 29" that "the Catholic Church
is the. divinely commissioned guardian send inter-
preter of the word of God in both its parts." (Plsrt
iii. p. 371.) That " she alone teaches and enforces
the whole doctrine of the Gospel.* (Part. iii. p.
372,) That" this Church is the only onetriricb is
•adapted to the circumstances of mankind in gene-
ral; the only one which leads to die peace and unity
of the Christian Church ; and the only one which
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BR. MILNEk. 43$
affords tranquillity and security to individual Chris-
tians during life, and at the trying hour of their dis-
solution." (Part iii. p. 371.) That « Catholics, if
properly interrogated upon the fundamental articles
of Christianity, the Unity and Trinity of God, the
incarnation and death of Christ, his divinity and
atonement for sin by his passion and death, the ne-
cessity of baptism, the nature of the blessed Sacra*
meat, will confess their belief in one comprehensive
article, namely this, — I believe whatever the holy
Catholic Church believes and teaches." (Part ii. pp.
131 and 132.) That, * when any fresh controversy
arises in the Church, the fundamental .maxims of
the Bishops and Popes, to whom it belongs to de-
eide upon it, is, not to consult their own private
opinion or interpretation of Scripture, but to in-
quire what is and ever has been the doctrine of the
Church concerning it. Hence their cry is, and ever
has been, on such occasions, as well in her councils,
as out of them ; so we have received, so the uni-
versal Church believes ; let there be no new doe-
trine, none but what has been delivered down to us
by tradition ;" and that " the tradition of which we
now treat is not a local but a universal tradition, as
widely spread as the Catholic Church itself is, and
everywhere found the same." (Part i. p. 98.) That
" while religious persecution, which you say is every-
where odious, is not likely much longer to find
refuge in the most generous of nations ; and while
Protestants, whose grand rule and fundamental char-
ter is, that the Scriptures were given by God for
•every man to interpret them as he judges best, have
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438 LETTEft TO
no ground for persecuting Christians <tf any descrip-
tion whatsoever ; still it must be remembered that,
when Catholic states and princes persecuted Pro*
testants, it was done in favour of an ancient religion,
which had been established in their country, per-
haps a thousand or fifteen hundred years, and had
long preserved the peace, order, and morality of
their respective subjects ; that any attempt, as they
at the same time clearly saw, to alter that religion,
would unavoidably produce incalculable disorders
fuid sanguinary contests among them ; and that, if
they enforced submission to their Church by perse-
cution, they were fully persuaded that there is a di*
yine authority in this Church to decide in all con-
troversies of religion; and that those Christians
who refuse to hear her voice, when she pronounces
upon them, are obstinate heretics." (Part iii. pp. 368
and 369.) That " God himself attests the truth of
this Church by the miracles with which from time
to time he illustrates her exclusively." (Partii. pp.
167 and 170.) That " the miracles ascribed by you
jto the Apostolical St. Polycarp, and to his disciple
St. Irenaeus; that the miracles attested by the
learned Origen : that the numerous and astonishing
miracles wrought by St. Gregory of Neocaesarea;
that the miracles recorded in the third century by St
Cyprian, some of which prove the blessed eucharist
to be a sacrifice, and the lawfulness of receiving it
under one kind ; that the numberless miracles re-
corded by St. Basil, Athanasius, Jerome, Chrysos-
tom, Ambrose, Augustin, aqd the other illustrious
iathers and Church historians who adorned the
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an. MILNER. 439
fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries of Christianity i
that a great number erf miracles wrought in Africa
daring the episcopacy of Protasius by the relics of
St Stephen ; and .among the seventy wrought in his
own diocese of Hippo, and some of them in his own
presence, in the course of two years, three were the
restoration of dead bodies to life ; that the miracles
wrought by St. Austin, of Canterbury, at the enfl of
the sixth century, and faithfully recorded on his
tomb ;" that such miracles " frequently took place
in the Catholic Church, but never among the he-
retics" (Rut ii. p. 170.) "That all the miracle*
which the illustrious Abbot of St. Bernard, in the
twelfth century, mentions of other saints, quite dis-
appear when compared with those wrought by him-
self, which, for their splendour and publicity, never
jrere exceeded ; that the miracles of St. Francis Xa-
vier, the apostle of India and contemporary of Lu-
ther, which may in number, splendour, and publicity,
vie with St. Bernard's, and consisted in foretelling
future events, speaking unknown languages, calming
tempests at sea, curing various maladies, and raising
the dead to life ; that the following century was il-
lustrated by the shining virtues and attested mi-
fades, even to the resurrection of the dead, of St.
Francis of Sales, as it was also of those of St. Fran-
cis Regis ; that, in addition to the above-mentioned
miracles performed by the persons to whom you as-
cribe them, and for the purposes which you assign
to them, your Church possesses the miraculous
power at the present day ; not, indeed, because the
members of that Church are able to effect cures, or
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440 LETTER tO
other supernatural events at their own pleasure, for
even the apostles could not do this ; but because the
Catholic Church, being always the beloved spouse
of Christ, (Rev. xxi. 9.) and continuing at all times
to bring forth children of heroical sanctity, God fails
not in this any more than in part < ages, to illustrate
her and them by. unquestionable miracles;" (p. 177;)
and, finally, that in our own age supernatural cures
were experienced, first, by Joseph Lamb, of Eccles,
near Manchester, who, on the 12th of August, 1814,
fell from a hayrick four yards and a half high, by
which accident the spine of his back was supposed to
be broken ; but, upon the 2nd of October, having
gained with difficulty the permission of his father,
who was a Protestant, to be carried, with his wife,
and two friends, in a cart to Garswood, near Wigany
got himself conveyed to the altar rails of a chapel,
where the hand of F. Arrowsmitb, one of the Ca-
tholic Priests who suffered death at Lancaster for
the exercise of his religion in the reign of Charles L
is preserved, and has often caused wonderful cures ^
and having been signed in that chapel on his back
with the sign of the cross by that hand, and feeling
a particular sensation and total change in himself as
he expressed, exclaimed to his wife,* ' Mary, I can
walk;9 (p. 178.) secondly, by Winefred White, a
young woman of Wolverhampton, in 1805, who,
having been long afflicted with a curvature of the
spine, followed by hemiplegia, performed the acts of
devotion which she felt herself called to undertake,
and having bathed in the fountain on the 28th of
June, 1805, found herself, in one instant of time,
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1KB. MILNEft. 941
freed from all her pains and disabilities, so as to be
able to ^ralk, run, and jump, like any other young
person, and to carry a greater weight with the left
arm than she could with the right ; thirdly, by Mary
Wood, now living at Taunton Lodge, who, in 1800,
having severely wounded her left hand through a
pane ®f glass, determined, with the approbation of
her superior, to have recourse to God through the
intercession of St. Winefred by a Novena, or certain
prayers continued during nine days ; who accord-
ingly pot a piece of moss from the saint's well on
her arm on the 6th of August, and continued recol-
lecting and praying, when, to her great surprise, the
next morning, she found she could dress herself, pal
her arms behind her and to her head, having regained
the use and full strength of it ; and who, in short,
was perfectly cured." (Pp. 178, 179.)
Upon the foregoing reproaches, religions tenets,
and statement of miracles, intended to illustrate
what you pronounce to be exclusively the true
church, I shall not enter into any dispute with yon.
I have, however, collected them carefully, because
you place upon them great reliance, because they
are likely to attract the notice, not only of your
Roman Catholic brethren, but of learned and virtu-
ous Protestants, and because I wish your, Sir, the
full benefit of them, by inducing many readers of
the Gentleman's Magazine to have recourse to
your book, and dispassionately to weigh the full
force of your own proofs for your opinions, asser-
tions, and accusations.
The strongest language which I choose to em*
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442 LETTEft TO
ploy against you is, that, in my serious opinion,
Reverend Sir, you have sometimes fallen into error
'when you contend for doctrines; and that you
have often been guilty of uncharitableness when
you speak of persons, whether they be living or
dead, illustrious or obscure.
Now the chief, though not, indeed, the sole pur-
pose for which I take the liberty of addressing you,
is to lay before you another series of passages
which struck me very forcibly when I was reading
your bode, and to subjoin such remarks and such
questions as they may suggest to my mind. It is
plain, Sir, that you wish to prove not only the effi-
cacy, but the truth of your religion, by the lan-
guage and the conduct of those who profess it at
the hour of death.
Catholics, you say, by adhering to the rule which
js formed by tradition united with Scripture, and to
the living speaking authority of the church in ex-
pounding that rule, live and die in peace and secu-
rity, as far as regards the truth of their religion.
(Part i. p. 104.) Be it so. My concern is with
the note you have affixed to the following serious
words: " There are few of our Catholic priests/
you say, " who have not been frequently called in
to receive dying Protestants into the Catholic
church, while not a single instance of a Catholic
wishing to die in any other communion than his
own can be produced. O Death, thou great en*
lightener ! O truth-telling death, how powerful art
thou in confuting the blasphemies, and dissipating
the prejudices, of the enemies of God's church !*
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ML MILNER. 443
(Part i. p. 77.) My questions upon these words
are, — Can you prove that the Catholic priests, who
have been called in to receive dying Protestants
into the Catholic church, are not few ? Can you
prove that these many priests have been called in
by many Protestants ? Can you furnish the public
with a satisfactory reason that so many priests,
with so many instances of conversion, should from
time to time have been silent upon the subject of
so much triumph to Roman Catholics, and so
much mortification to Protestants ? Can you show
us that the priests professing thus to be called in
were men of sound discretion and unimpeachable
veracity ? Was it the prudence of which you speak
that restrained your priests from telling their fair
lowers, or their opponents, whether their interposi-
tion was solicited or spontaneous; whether it took
place with or without the consent and knowledge
of relations ; whether the example of the dying was
followed by their survivors ; whether the persons
whom they attended were men of weak or strong
intellects; and whether, in the general tenour of
their conduct, they were virtuous or vicious; so
virtuous, Sir, as in their last moments to renounce
the church in which they had been educated, and,
with hazard to their reputation, to become mem-
bers of what they at last believed to be the true
church ; or so vicious as to stand in urgent need of
those peculiar aids which the Church of Rome
abundantly supplies, in the confession and absolu-
tion prescribed by its discipline?
Your note on the passage which I just now cited
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from your book concludes thus: "Some Bishops
of the Established Church, for instance, Cochran
and Cheyney of Gloucester, and Gordon of Glas-
gow, probably, also, Hallifkx of St. Asaph, died Ca-
tholics. A long list of titled or other distinguished
personages, who have either returned to the Catho-
lic faith, or for the first time . embraced it on their
death-beds, in modern times, might be named here,
if it wete prudent to do so." (Part i. p. 77.)
I enquire not, Sir, after the illustrious personages
whom your prudence forbids you to name; but my
own prudence. does. not forbid, and my own sense
of justice does irresistibly lead me, to express very
strong tbmbts upon the accuracy of your statement
as it regards Bishop Hallifax. It was my good for-
tune, Sir, to know him personally ; gladly do I hear
witness to his unassuming disposition, and to Jits
courteous maimers. When he sat in the profes-
sorial chair at Cambridge, the members of that
learned University were much delighted with the
fluency and clearness of his Latinity, and with his
readiness and skill in conducting the disputes of the
law schools. It was my own lot to keep under him
tw* acts for my Doctor's degree ; and surely, from
the preparatory labour which I employed in correct-
ing the language of two Latin Theses, and in accu-
mulating materials for a dose logical dispute, likely
to pass before a numerous, intelligent, and attentive
audience, the obvious inference is, that I did not
set a small value on the abilities and acquirements
of the professor. I have seen some of his annual
speeches at our Cambridge commencement, and,
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DR. MILKKk. 445
so far as ray judgment goes, they are highly cre-
ditable to his erudition and his taste. He acquired
much reputation in the University by three ser-
mons which he first preached there, and after-
wards published, during a long and important con*
troversy, which had arisen about subscription to
the Thirty-nine Articles. He gave no inconsidera*
able proof of his diligent researches and dear dis-
cernment, by an analysis of the Roman law, as
compared with the English. He owed much of his
lame, and, perhaps, preferment, to the lectures
which he delivered at Lincoln's Inn ; and whether
he and other eminent Protestants be or be not
right in considering the Pope as Antichrist, and
applying to the Church of Rome many well-known
passages1 in the Apocalypse, no impartial judge
will refuse to Bishop Halhfax the tribute of praise
for the skilfhlness which he shows, in the choice
and arrangement of his matter, and in the perspi-
cuity and elegance of his style. He was patronized
by a temperate and judicious metropolitan, Dtt
£omwallis ; he stood high in the estimation of tb«
celebrated Bishop Warburton; he Hved upon termi
of the most intimate and confidential friendship
with the very ingenious Bishop Hard ; he was re-
spected as a man of learning by his most learned
contemporaries in the University ; he frequently had
access to the sagacious and contemplative recluse,
Bishop Law ; he, first as a companion, and after*
wards as a son~in4aw, was intimately connected with
the quaint, pompous, but acute and truly critical
scholar, Provost Cooke % he was encountered, and
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perhaps refuted, but not derided as a puny and
clumsy antagonist, by the keen-sighted, strong*
armed, high-spirited polemic, Blackall of Emanuel %.
he was opposed, but not despised, by the dauntless,
stately, and fulminating dictator, Bishop Watson ;
he was a most amiable man in domestic life, and
his general conduct as a Christian was blameless,
and even exemplary. Let it not be forgotten, too,
that, while honoured with the acquaintance of
living worthies and living scholars, he felt a manly
and generous regard for the memory of die dead.
You must yourself, Sir, have heard that he re-pub-
lished a Charge written by Bishop Butler of Dur-
ham, one of the most profound philosophers and
most enlightened theologians that ever adorned the
Church of England. That Charge, Sir, by some
unaccountable misconception in the hearers or read-
ers, had for some time been considered as favour-
able to the Church of Rome : but the illusion var
nished when Bishop Hallifax re-published it, and
united with it, what I think, a very judicious pre*
face. Will you pardon me, Sir, for adding that,
long before there-publication, I had myself adopted
and avowed the principles upon which Dr. Butler
reasoned, and that I felt very great satisfaction from
the aid of his arguments, and under the protection
of his authority ?
To such persons, then, as are acquainted with the
events of Bishop Hallifax's life, or the character of
his writings, must it not be highly improbable that
a prelate, who, upon one occasion, had vindicated
the fame of Bishop Butler from the imputation of
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DR. JfrLNER. 447
Popery, and who, upon another, defended the cause
of the Church of England in opposition to the
Church of Rome, should in his last moments have
renounced the tenets which he had so long professed
and so ably maintained?
Between you and myselfy Sir, there can be no
difference of opinion upon the importance of the
fact, which you have deliberately proclaimed to the
world. The establishment and the confutation of
that fact are alike connected with the honour of
Bishop HaUifax, with the feelings of honest Protest*
ante and honest Roman Catholics, and with- the
general cause both of the Church of England and
the Church of Rome. As, therefore, your prudence
has permitted you to tell the public that Bishop
Hallifax probably died a Catholic, I trust, Sir, that
your love of truth, and your sense both of decorum
and justice, will induce you to declare explicitly and
fully what, ia your own mind, were the grounds of
such probability*
Upon looking at p. 243 and p. 244, Part iii. of
your book, I find that you did not think it incon-
sistent with your prudence, not merely to resume
the subject, but to expatiate upon it, and to omit
the qualifying term, ' probably/ After quoting in
your text the violent language of " the celebrated
City preacher, C. De Coetlogon, who, among simi-
lar graces of oratory, had pronounced Popery as
calculated only for the meridian of hell," you indigr
nantly ask your correspondent, " Is such the real
character of the great body of Christians through-
out the world ? Were such the clergy, from whom
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446 . LETTER TO
these modem preachers and writers* derive their
Uturgy, their ritual, their honours, and benefices,
and from whom they boost of deriving their order*
and mission also? But, after all, do these preachers
and writers themselves seriously believe audi to be
the true character of their Catholic countrymen and
the primitive religion ? No, Sir, they do not seri-
ously believe it."
Fbr be it from me, Sir, to say, with Mr. De Cost*
logon, that Popery is only fit for the meridian of
hell, and a most horrid compound of idolatry, su-
perstition, and blasphemy ; be it also as far from me
to say, with Dr. Mibfrer, that Bishop Porteus^
Bishop Hallifax, Bishop Harrington, Bishop Wat-
sen, Bishop Benson, and Bishop Sparke/do not
seriously hetteve the opinions which they have re-
spectively published upon the errors, and what
appeared to them the corruptions, of the Church of
Borne. Unfeignediy and avowedly am I a well-
wisher to the petitions which English and Irish
Roman Catholics have presented to Parliament, in
order to obtain relief from certain galling restraints
and insulting exclusions. But it would very ill be-
come me to rail at the motives, and to scoff at the
judgment, of other men, whose views of a complex
•and weighty question are different from my own.
They, I am convinced, seriously beKeve what, after
touch reflection, I do not believe, that the success
-of those petitions would be dangerous to the doc-
trines, discipline, and usefulness of the Established
Church, to the fundamental principles of the Con-
stitution, and to the permanent tranquillity of the
State.
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DR. MILNER. 449
Many of the miracles, Sir, which you have re-
corded in your Second Part, seem to be grossly
improbable. But when you proclaim your own
belief in them, God forbid that I should presume
to arraign the sincerity of that belief, or to deny
the rectitude of your intention, when you earnestly
recommend them to the belief of your fellow-Ro-
manists.
Deep, Sir, is the concern with which I read your
note upon the passage just now quoted from p. 244
of Part iii. "The present writer," say you, "has
been informed, on good authority, that one of the
Bishops, whose calumnies are here quoted, when
he found himself on his death-bed, refused the
proffered ministry of the Primate, and expressed a
great wish to die a Catholic. When urged to satisfy
his conscience, he exclaimed, 'what then will be-
come of my lady and my children ? ' "
Dr. Milner, on the behalf of that lady, whose
sensibility has not been blunted by old age, and
who, by her accomplishments and her virtues, is
justly endeared to her friends and her children — on
behalf of those friends, who most assuredly will
sympathize with me in their solicitude to rescue
the character of the Bishop from the apostacy
which you have imputed to him — on the behalf of
those children, who are now respectable members
of society, and whose feelings must be most pain-
fully wounded by the representations which you
have given, of their affectionate father in the trying
moments of his death — on behalf of that Church,
.with the members of which I have lived in commu-
VOL. m. 2 G
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450 LETTER TO
nion from my boyhood to grey hairs, and hope, by
the providence of God, to poor forth my latest
breath — on behalf of your own Church, which
abounds, I am sure, with enlightened and upright
men, who would disdain to support the honour of
it by misrepresentation — on the behalf of every
honest and every pious Christian, whether he be a
Protestant or a Romanist — I beseech you to tell the
world, unreservedly and distinctly, what is that
" authority" which you have deliberately and pub-
licly pronounced " good*" Your learning, your elo-
quence, your well-earned reputation for orthodoxy
and zeal — the dignity of your office, and the cele-
brity of your name, must give more than usual
weight to any opinion which you may adopt, and
any assertion which you may advance. Again,
therefore, do I require you to tell us what is your
authority for saying that the Bishop, whose calum-
nies you have quoted, when he found himself upon
his deathbed, must have been struck with shame
and compunction, for having mis-employed his ta-
lents in giving publicity to those calumnies.
Suffer me now, Sir, to bring forward a third pas-
sage, in which you drop all mention of probability
and good authority, and speak with equal confi-
dence of Luther, Melancthon, Beza, and Bishop
Hallifax. You assume that confidence for the pur-
pose of showing that "certain refractory children
in modern ages have ventured to call their true mo-
ther a prostitute, and the common father of Chris-
tians, the author of their own conversion from
paganism, the man of sin, and the very Antichrist.
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DR. MILNER. 451
But they do not really believe what they declare,
their object being only to inflame the ignorant mul-
titude" After this double charge of profligate hy-
pocrisy and turbulent malignity, you close a very
elaborate letter upon the very momentous question,
whether the Pope be Antichrist, in these most
remarkable words: "I have sufficient reason to
affirm this, when I hear a Luther threatening to
unsay all that he had said against the Pope ; a Me-
lancthon lamenting that Protestants had renounced
him ; a Beza negotiating to return to him, and a
late Warburtonian lecturer lamenting, on his death-
bed, that he could not do the same." — Part iii. p. 326.
Here, Sir, we find your story, not in the notes,
but in the text ; and a third introduction of it is a
decisive proof of the importance which you affix
to it. Well, then ; you, in the same sentence, speak
with the same positiveness of three foreign reform-
ers, who died long ago ; and of an English prelate,
whose death comparatively may be called recent.
Is it possible, Sir, that for the same charge you
can in every instance have the same evidence?
For your charges against Luther, Melancthon, and
Beza, there may be some grounds, either in the his-*
tories which you have read of their lives, or in pas-
sages which you can select from their writings;
But in what genuine work, which bears the name
of Hallifax, or in what respectable publication, which
professes to give a fair and well-founded account of
his faith and practice, do you trace even the slight-
est vestiges of the thoughts and the words which
you have ascribed to him ?
2g2
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452 LETTEfc TO
Reflect, I beseech you, upon the excruciating and
perilous situation in which Dr. Hallifax must have
been placed, if your narrative, Sir, be well founded,
at that moment when hypocrisy, as Dr. Young says,
" drops the mask, and real and apparent are the
same." He, from want of conviction, could not find
consolation in the Church of England, and from
want of fortitude he did not seek it in the Church
of Rome. In a man so accustomed, as Bishop
Hallifax was, to the study of theology, such a change
of sentiment as you have ascribed to him could not
be instantaneous. It was not effected by the inter-
position of any wily casuist, or any proselyte-hunt-
ing zealot, who might take advantage of those cir-
cumstances which sometimes are found in the
death-chamber of the most virtuous and the most
devout ; and by such circumstances, Sir, I mean
fluttering spirits, an impaired understanding, a dis-
turbed imagination, momentary fears succeeded by
momentary hopes, one dim and incoherent concep-
tion rapidly succeeded by another, and sentences
formed imperfectly, or uttered indistinctly. No,
Sir, the Bishop of St. Asaph, according to your
account, was visited by a Protestant Metropolitan.
Previously, therefore, to his dissolution, while
afflicted by sickness and oppressed by age, he must
have suffered many a pang from conscious insince-
rity ; and upon the near approach of that dissolu-
tion, he was doomed to breathe his last in a dis-
graceful and dreadful conflict between timidity a&d
piety — between calls upon his prudence, from the
praise of men, and upon. his conscience, from the
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DR. MILNER. 453
approbation of God — between the impulses of pa-
ternal and conjugal affection upon one hand, and of
self-preservation upon the other — between the oppo-
site and irreconcileable interests of time to his fa-
mily, and eternity to his own soul.
To the primate, who proffered his ministry, and
to the bishop, who, according to your representa-
tion, could not avail himself of it, no appeal can
be made, for they are numbered among the dead.
But the facts, said to be known by your unnamed
informer, could not be wholly unknown to those
who were under the same roof with the expiring
prelate. Such, I mean, Sir, as personal friends, as
near relatives, as chaplains, as domestics* and, per-
haps, medical attendants. These men, surely, can
bear a direct and decisive testimony to a plain fact.
They must have been deeply impressed by such a
conversion as you describe. They must have the
evidence of their senses whether or no such con*
version ever occurred; and, upon the supposition
that it did not occur, if such a host of witnesses be
set in array, in opposition to your anonymous in-
former, depend upon it, that the attention of all
good men will be strongly attracted by this extra-
ordinary case, that their best sympathies will be
roused, and that their decision between the veracity
of the accuser and the merits of the accused will be
ultimately and completely just. Thus far I have
expostulated with you, Sir, upon your charges
against a prelate, who* having sunk into the grave,
cannot defend himself, and who has been summoned
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454 LETTER TO
by his Maker to that tribunal where his gtiik of
his innocence cannot be unknown.
When such a tale, Sir, as yours is told to the
Protestant and Catholic Church, — when it is
pointed against such a man as Bishop Hallifax,—
when it has been three times produced by such a
writer as Dr. Milner, — when it is inserted in a
work upon which you seem to have employed the
whole strength of your vigorous and well-cultivated
mind, — when, if suffered to pass without refutation,
it may expose the memory of a learned English
Prelate to infamy among Romanists for cowardice,
among Protestants for apostacy, and among both
for duplicity, — when that infamy, by the wide cir-
culation of a book recommended by your name,
may extend to foreign countries, and continue
through distant generations, — when your statement
may lead to consequences so afflictive to a widow
and other surviving relatives, and so alarming to
every conscientious and enlightened member of die
Church of England ; awful indeed, Sir, must be
your responsibility unto God and unto man for the
truth of your deliberate and reiterated assertions.
Pleased I was, Reverend Sir, with your caution,
humility, and candour, when you say, " Far be it
from me and every other Catholic to deal damna-
tion on any person in particular ! "—Part ii. p. 139.
And surely, Sir, with these praiseworthy qualities,
as exercised toward your fellow-creatures in the
momentous concerns of a world to come, you will
not disdain to blend a wary and delicate regard for
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DTU MILNZE. 455
(he character and honourable interests of individu-
als in the present world, where you participate with
diem in the fallibility and infirmities of our com-
mon nature.
Equally pleased, Sir, I was with a note to your
Address to the very learned and truly exemplary
Bishop of St. David's, where you say of yourself,
"The writer is far from claiming inerrancy ; but he
should despise himself if he knowingly published
any falsehood, or hesitated to retract any one that
he was proved to have fallen into."— Page 3 of
Address.
Pardon me, Sir, for telling you, unreservedly,
that upon the present occasion your character here,
and in some measure your salvation hereafter, are
interested in your speedy, honest, and earnest en*
deavours to redeem the pledge which in the fore-
going words you have given to every Christian
reader of every denomination. — Page 3 of Address.
It is your bounden duty, Sir, to examine strictly,
and to communicate fully, the grounds of that pro-
bability which led you to believe, and, believing, to
publish, that Bishop Hallifax died a Catholic.
It is your bounden duty to unfold all the circum-
stances of name and credibility in that informer
whose' authority you declare to be so good as to
warrant you in telling a Protestant public, that a
Protestant Bishop, and a distinguished advocate of
Protestantism, " when he found himself upon his
death-bed, refused the proffered ministry of the Pri-
mate, expressing a great wish to die a Catholic ;
and that, being urged to satisfy his conscience, he
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exclaimed, What then will become of my lady and
. my children ? n
It is your bounden duty, without the smallest
reservation, and in the most unequivocal terms, to
explain the nature and extent of those reasons
which you thought sufficient to justify you in
affirming, that a late Warburtoniari Lecturer, upon
his death-bed, lamented that he could not, like a
Luther, threaten to unsay all that he had said
against the Pope ; like a M elancthon, lament that
Protestants had renounced him ; or, like a Beza, was
unable to negotiate, not indeed for returning to the
Pope, as Beza may have wished to return, but for
announcing to him the conversion of an English
Bishop to the Church of Rome.
I trust, Sir, that some notice will be taken of
the censure which you have passed upon a distin-
guished scholar and a dignified ecclesiastic, whom
you call * a modern Luther.'*— Note, part iii. p. 244.
Yes, Sir, the very express image, it should seem, of
that Luther, whom you have repeatedly and indig-
nantly described as an apostate, a hypocrite, a vacil-
lating and most incorrigible heretic, a clamorous
bruitef, an impious ranter, a turbulent citizen, and
an infuriate fanatic. This, Sir, is the obvious result
of the language which you hold about Martin Lu-
ther. And in part ii. p. 162, you explicitly tell us,
that he was " the sport of his unbridled passion,
pride, resentment, and lust ; — that he was turbulent,
abusive, and sacrilegious in the highest degree ; —
that he was the trumpeter of sedition, and even
rebellion and desolation ; — and, finally, that By fair
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DR. MILNER. 457
own account he was the scholar of Satan, in the
most important article of his pretended reforma-
tion." Here I stand in need of some Aristarchus
to assist me in determining whether I am to class
the foregoing description of Luther under the scho-
lastic or the epistolary style, according to the dis-
tinction which you have laid down in page 344.
When you would apply the whole or part of that
phraseology to our modern Luther, let me ask your-
self, Sir, whether you intend for doctrines only, not
for persons the rule, which you prescribed to your-
self and to Mr. Brown in your correspondence,
where you say, " Let us, in the serious discussions
of religion, confine ourselves to language of a de-
fined meaning, leaving vague and tinsel terms to
poets and novelists." — Part ii. p. 136.
If the rule in such discussions be not applicable
to persons, furnish me, I beseech you, with an intel*
ligible reason for the separation. If it be applica*
ble to them, consider, I again beseech you, the tre-*
mendous consequences, when your language about
our modern Luther is to be understood with a de-
fined meaning, as the grave charge of a grave theo-
logian, not the vain and tinsel prattle of a visionary
poet or a frivolous novelist.
I make no apology to you, Sir, for producing the
very offensive passage, in which you have described
Dr. RenneU, " one of the candidates for the episco-
pal bench, from whom it would be in vain to ex-
pect more moderation than you have observed in
Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London ; Dr. Hallifax, Bi-
shop of St. Asaph ; Dr. Barrington, Bishop of Dur-
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458 LETTER TO
ham ; Dr. Watson, Bishop of Llandaff ; Dr. Benson,
Bishop of Gloucester ; Dr. Fowler, Bishop of Glou-
cester ; and Dr. Sparke, Bishop of Ely ; and who,
while he was content with an inferior dignity, acted
and preached as the friend of Catholics ; since he
has arrived at the verge of the highest dignity, pro-
claims Popery to be ' idolatry and Antichristianism;'
maintaining, as does also the Bishop of Durham,
that it is the parent of Atheism and of that anti-
christian persecution (in France) of which," you add
from yourself, " it was exclusively the victim.0
—Part iii. p. 242 and 243.
" The writer may add, that another of the calum-
niators here mentioned,* (id est, the Bishops just
now named, Mr. De Coetlogon and Archdeacon
Hook), " being desirous of stifling the suspicion of
his having written an anonymous No-Popery publi-
cation, when first he took part in that cause, ad*
dressed himself to the writer in these terms:—
* How can you suspect me of writing against your
religion, when you so well know my attachment to
it?* In fact, this modern Luther, among other
similar concessions, has said this to the writer, ' I
Sucked in a love for the Catholic religion with my
mother's milk.9 * — See note, part iii. p. 244.
Dr. Milner, I have not presumed to hold you up
to the scorn and abhorrence of Protestants, nor to
let loose upon you the hideous appellations of
bigoted controvertist, falsifier, calumniator, incen-
diary, persecutor, a modern Bonner, and an English
Malagrida. I have treated you, Sir, with the cour-
tesy which is due to a Roman Catholic dignitary,
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DR. MILNER. 459
who professes to teach the religion of a meek,
lowly, and benevolent Redeemer ; to have received
a in a special manner " (Part ii. p. 216), his legiti-
mate ordination and divine mission in a direct suc-
cession from the apostolic age ; and to plead the
cause of that only true Church which exclusively
lays claim to unity, to sanctity, to Catholicity, to
apostolicity, and to the visible protection of the Om-
nipotent in a series of miraculous interpositions,
vouchsased for the illustration of that Church
through the long space of eighteen centuries. But
if the English ecclesiastic, whose private conversa-
tion you have confessedly divulged, should in reality
not be the contemptible and execrable miscreant
which a modern Luther, according to your delinea-
tion of his prototype, must be ; then, Sir, I leave it
with yourself to find a proper name for that writer,
who, in the eighteenth century, and in a civilized
country, should present to his readers, Catholic or
Protestant, such a portraiture as you have exhibited
of such an ecclesiastic as Dr. Rennell.
After diligent and impartial inquiry, I acknow-
ledge myself not to be fully convinced that the
sacred writers had in view the Bishop of Rome,
when they mention the man of sin and son of per-
dition, that should be revealed, and the Antichrist
that should come ; nor do I venture to pronounce
from the pulpit that the writer of the Apocalypse
intended to prefigure the Church of Rome, when
he speaks of the woman who was arrayed in purple
and scarlet colour, who was drunken with the blood
of the saints, and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,
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460 LETTER TO
with whom all the kings of the earth had committed
fornication, and upon whose forehead was a name
written, u Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother
of Harlots, and Abomination of the Earth."
Of these passages, Sir, I confess that, in the
words of St. Austin, quoted by you (Part i. p. 73),
" they are among the things in Scripture of which I
am ignorant ;" or, to adopt the phraseology of St.
Peter, I class them with the " things which are hard
to be understood." But I do not presume to affirm,
or even insinuate, that men, whom it were impudent
calumny to call " unstable and unlearned," have
" wrested these passages to their own destruction,"
when, having searched the Scriptures seriously, and
with all the aids which history or criticism supply,
they were led, by the dictates of their own con-
science, to interpret certain well-known texts to the
prejudice of the Church of Rome.
The mention of the Apocalypse leads me to re-
mind you of what the writer has said, to readers of
all churches and all ages, about that evil spirit who
was the accuser of his brethren, and accused them
before our God day and night. You and I, Sir,
cannot forget that he came down upon the inha-
bitants of the earth in great wrath, for he knew
that his time was short. If, therefore, in the
Church of England or the Church of Rome there
be any unhappy persons who resemble that accuser
in his malignity, it must be the wish of every good
tnan that they may resemble him also in his fall.
The man whom in one place you have arraigned
at the bar of the public as a modem Luther, and
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DR. MILNER. 461
whom in another you have virtually accused of in-
consistency, insincerity, and corrupt ambition, is
now living ; and long may he live to be a fellow-
labourer with the Maltbys, the Butlers, the Blom-
fields, and other eminent contemporaries, in the
cause of literature, to exhort and convince the gain-
sayers by sound doctrine, and to adorn the revealed
will of God our Saviour in all things !
Whether or no he may be pleased to lift up his
giant arm in crushing the assailant of his long-esta-
blished and well-earned reputation, I take not upon
myself to determine. But the prudence at which
you once hinted ought to have suggested to you,
that our modern Luther has a son not quite unwor-
thy of such an illustrious father, not quite unable
to wield the choicest weapons of lawful warfare,
when confronted by so sturdy and well-disciplined a
champion as yourself. My authority, Dr. Milner,
is good, not only from common fame, but from the
general consent of scholars, and my own personal
observations, when I say with equal confidence to
Protestants and Romanists, that by profound erudi-
tion, by various and extensive knowledge, by a well-
formed taste, by keen discernment, by glowing and
majectic eloquence, by morals correct without aus-
terity, and by piety fervent without superstition, the
son of the Dean of Winchester stands among the
brightest luminaries of our national literature and
national church.*
• Deeply does the Editor lament, in common with every
lover of virtue and learning, that. this ornament of. the Chujrqh
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462 LETTER TO
Perhaps, in the progress of his son's improve-
ment, the time will come when the Dean would par-
don his contemporaries for saying of himself, as
compared with that son, —
" nati spectans bene facta fatetur
Esse suis majora, et vinci gaudet ab illo."
In respect to myself, Sir, it is impossible for me to
foresee what sentiments I may entertain, when
u the transitory scene of this world is closing to my
sight* — Part ii. p. 236. But, at the present mo-
ment, I shall not deprecate from you, Sir, or any
human being whatsoever, the imputation of wilful
ignorance, when I declare to you what is the state
of my own mind after a course of reading not very
confined, and of reflection not very negligent, for
more than fifty years. I leave you, Sir, to glory in
the name of Catholic without impeaching your sin-
cerity. But I am myself " not a Lutheran, not a
Calvinist, not a Whitfieldite, nor a Wesleyan, nor
of the Kirk of Scotland, nor of the Consistory of
Geneva." — Part ii. p. 194. I am a member of that
English Church, which, according to your own ac-
knowledgement, * has better pretensions to unity,
and the other marks of the true church than any
other Protestant society has." — Part ii. p. 125.
The subject upon which I am writing to yon is
of no ordinary magnitude, and therefore you will
no longer exists. Yet it is gratifying to him to reflect, that it
must be some consolation to the parents of such a son to read
this sincere and disinterested commendation of him from the
pen of such a man as Dr. Parr !
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DR. MILNER. 463
excuse me if, at the close of this letter, I accommo-
date to that subject the solemn language with which
your own elaborate work concludes. " On this oc-
casion reflect seriously, and conscientiously, dis-
missing all worldly respects of whatever kind from
your mind ; for what will the prejudiced opinion of
a rash and incredulous informer avail you at that
tribunal where we are all soon to appear ? "
I have the honour to be, Sir, with great respect,
Your well-wisher,
and obedient humble servant,
SAMUEL PARR.
June, 1819.
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EXTRACTS
I
FJROM A
PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN 1795*
INTITULED,
"REMARKS ON THE STATEMENT OF DR. CHARLES COMBE,"
A STATEMENT RELATIVE TO THE VARIORUM HORACE,
SPITED BY H. HOMER AND DR. COMBE.
VOL. III. 2 H
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EXT3L
PAMPHLET ^ ;„
'REMARKS OW THE STr^T
F^«
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These Extracts are all that could fairly be detached from the
immediate subject of the pamphlet. They are referrible chiefly
to purposes of self-defence,— to Dr. Parr's share in the Vario-
rum Horace, — to the origin and history of the Preface to Bel-
lendenus, — to the character and labours of Henry Homer, his
coadjutor in the publication of Bellenden's tracts, — to the Doc-
tor's Critiques in the Reviews of the day, — and, finally, to
several persons of literary and political distinction, whose
names were incidentally mentioned. Over the whole pamphlet
are liberally scattered observations of great pith and moment,
but most of them are too closely involved with the controversial
part to be separated ; and that controversial part, by Dr. Parr's
desire, is not republished.
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EXTRACTS
FROM A
PAMPHLET PUBLISHED IN 1795, BY DR. PARR.
I. PERSONAL.
In the course of an active, and, I hope, not an
useless life, I have owed, and I continue to owe, so
much of my happiness to the esteem and the gratis
tude of those whom I have endeavoured to serve,
that I am not apt to be ruffled very violently, or
galled very severely, by a few straggling instances
of ungracious and unmerited treatment. My own
spirit is, indeed, too intrepid to recede from my
own claims, because they are depreciated by the
selfish or slighted by the vain. But my observa-
tions upon mankind have been spread through so
wide an extent, and exercised upon objects so vari-
ous, that I have little difficulty in distinguishing
between the marks of weakness and guilt in other
men — between the effects of temporary situation
and habitual principle — between action, which is
inconstant, and character, which is more stable.
Among those who know me best, I am not exceed*
ingly notorious for professing the regard which I
feel not, or dissembling the dislike which I do feel.
2h2
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468 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
My bosom may glow with resentment, bat seldom
or never rankles with malignity. Upon facts which
have passed long ago, and of which no traces have
been renewed by impressions from intervening
events, or by the anxieties of immediate interest,
recollection in me, as in other men, may stand in
need of succour from judgment. It will owe some-
thing to accident, and something to effort It will
be invigorated by the sudden discovery of facts,
and corrected by the careful comparison of circum-
stances. It will often give occasion for surprize to
the mind, on a retrospect of its own operations,
both where it fails and where it succeeds. Seldom
is it more treacherous than when lulled asleep by
the silence of a foe — more helpless than when con-
fused by his obscurity — or more exact than when
roused by his contradiction. There are complex
cases, in which the understanding gradually ex*
changes the weaker probability for the stronger;
and there are lucky situations, too, in which -k
pushes at once from the dim and tremulous twi-
light of uncertainty, to the full and steady bright-
ness of conviction.
Observations such as the foregoing naturally oc-
curred to me, as I reflected on the different state of
my own mind at different times, while the transac-
tions between the late Mr. Henry Homer and my-
self were passing in review before it. I erred, tod
emerged from error — I advanced from forgetfuhieBS
to remembrance, with more or less rapidity* — I have
been sometimes guided by the dear, and sometimes
stimulated even by the imperfect, recollection tf
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to combe's statement. 469
the Pamphlet-writer — I have found occasional as-
sistance from written documents— and at length I
am inclined to hope, that where certainty cannot
be overtaken in some deep and dark retreat, I may
yet be able to explore with advantage the more ac-
cessible ifegions of probability.
It ia not very pleasant for pie to expatiate upon
any faults which have been imputed to me in gene-
ral terms by an incensed assailant, and of which I
do not think myself guilty in the general tenor of
my life. Yet I must take the liberty of saying,
that I am more addicted to anger than to contempt.
True it is, that my conceptions of men and things
are vivid, and that my language about them is sel-
dom feeble. But, if my censures are severe, I hope
that my commendations are more frequent, and
not less forcible. I am sure, too, that I have much
oftener had reason to repent of my precipitation in
praise, than of my injustice in reproach. Against
the babble of conceited sciolists, against the claims
of saucy pretenders, against the decisions of pom-
pous, officious, and censorious dogmatists, I do in-
dulge contempt. But if an opponent will vouchsafe
to learn from me the art of discrimination, he will,
in speaking of my habits, distinguish between the
language of contempt, and the language of dissent,
of disapprobation, of rooted aversion, of strong in-
dignation.
Smarting under the lash I sometimes brandish
against dulness combined with conceit, anil ig-
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470 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
norance hardened with effrontery, blockheads have
imputed to me literary pride — insolent and low-
minded sciolists have murmured against me for
having a churlish temper, when they had themselves
insidiously or wantonly, but not with impunity,
provoked me — the bigot has spied in me the taint
of heresy — the highflyer has clamoured against me,
most unjustly, indeed, but loudly, for a leaning "to-
wards republicanism. Alii errorem appellant, -alii
cupiditatem, qui durius spem, odium, pertinaciam,
qui gravissime temeritatem, scelus, prater te, Tu-
bero, adhuc nemo.
While the second volume of Janus was with me,
Mr. Homer expressed some earnestness for me to
return it. I had never read Janus till it was sent
me to be marked for the variorum edition ; and I
did not choose to be precipitate in selecting matter
from a book just as new to me, as were some other
commentators upon Horace to the variorum editor.
Now every man feels his own concerns most closely;
and why should not I be permitted to feel mine ? It is
very well known, both to my pupils and my visitors,
that few men are less idle than myself ; and by many of
my friends it will not be denied, that a pretty consi-
derable share of my time has been allotted to their
writings. From my daily avocations as an instruc-
tor, from my numerous and I hope useful exertions
as a parish-priest, from the variety and extent of
my correspondence, from the different affairs about
which I am either consulted or employed by dif-
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fferent persons in different parts *f the kingdom, I
am often bereaved of the leisure which would other-
wise be dedicated to the prosecution of my studies,
the relief of my spirits, and even the preservation of
my health. I have occasion to say this now, not
for the purpose of praising, but of vindicating my-
self. I have had occasion to say the same thing
before, not only to Mr. Homer, that I might blunt
accusation, but to one or two other persons, that I
might strike it aside; and they who would not,
upon such terms imposed by such necessity, accept
my well-meant aid, would have done well to with-
draw their requests, not because my industry was
Blackened, nor because my zeal had cooled, but be-
cause their exigencies and my own were, at some
unlucky point of time, incompatible.
It would be irksome to me to rush into a war of
assertions, even though I should come to the con-
flict with a panoply of proof. I know that in sea*
sons of irritation even well-meaning men are led to
assert more than they can prove, not because they
wish to deceive, but because- they are themselves
deceived— r-not because they judge uncharitably, but
because they comprehend partially — not bo much
because they mistake their own convenience, as be-
cause they are too inattentive to the convenience of
other men.
None of the writings which I have hitherto ven-
tured to lay before the public, give the smallest en-
couragement, directly or indirectly, to theoretical
refinements or seditious practices. In my general
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472 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
habits of thinking, I dread all extremes under all
pretences, and in the general tenor of my converse
tiori I am not very forward in recommending sod-
den and strong experiments. Upon all my political
publications I can look back without shame and
without compunction. There is one of them,* too,
upon which I reflect with peculiar pleasure, because
I endeavoured in it to preserve the peace of my
neighbourhood, and because my endeavours were
not in vain. But if at any future period I should
employ my pen upon any political topic, it would be
toot for inflammatory, but for conciliatory purposes
— not to facilitate but to prevent the introduction of
Gallic extravagancies — not to promote even a tem-
perate democracy, but to support our limited afid
constitutional monarchy. Perhaps I have no great
confidence in the wisdom of some persons who im-
pose, or in the sincerity of others who are eager to
subscribe, political formulas. Placed in an humble
situation, and engaged in useful studies, I am con-
tent to shew my * faith by my works." Upon the
limits that ought to be fixed to the prerogatives of
the crown, and the rights of the people, I neither
frolic, as many other men ' do, in Newspapers, nor
flourish in magazines, nor bhister in pamphlets, nor
declaim in sermons. I correspond with no factious
incendiaries, I frequent no patriotic meetings ; and
of the only political society to which I belong, the
Duke of Portland, a peer, sturely, of indisputable at-
tachment to the Cause of royalty, is, I believe, at
* Iretiopoits, &c.
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to combe's statement. 473
this hour an illustrious member. Routed, but not
unnerved, by the sound of the distant tempest, I
hare taken that perilous though honourable station,
where the understanding can look around, through
a wide survey, on the heavings of the troubled
ocean, where the passions, assailed by the force of
opposite billows, and reeling for a time under the
shock, may recover their just equilibrium, and
where hope, rather than principle, may finally suf-
fer shipwreck amidst the fury of the contending
elements.
To a man of letters, and a teacher of religion, I
am well aware that decorum often becomes an es-
sential part of duty. Knowing, therefore, the force
of example, I obey, and encourage others to obey
the laws, not for wrath, but for conscience sake. I
render "tribute where tribute is due, and honour
where honour ;" and however I may have asserted
my right to approve or disapprove of the measures
adopted by a particular administration, I never gave
any intelligent and virtuous man the smallest rear
son to doubt the steadiness of my attachment to
the sound and acknowledged principles of our
mixed government.
But while I look with dismay and with horror on
the poisonous maxims which have been broached
in a neighbouring country, I feel no obligation to
speak smooth things upon all that is passing at
home. I do not confound the French people with
the French government. I distinguish between the
instruments and the principles of the war. I hold
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474 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
that the complicated, momentous, and comprfeh£n~
hensive questions arising from it, are not to be
scanned by the hireling retailers of temporary
events, or the shallow dupes of imposture, for die
moment popular and triumphant. Whatever opi-
nions I may have formed on the ultimate conse-
quences of the disasters by which Europe is now
afflicted, and the struggles by which it is agitated,
I will not disguise my apprehensions of immediate
evils nearly equal, both from the success and the
defeat of the confederate powers, for reasons too
solemn to be embroidered over a personal alterca-
tion with the Pamphlet-writer, and too pure to
shrink from the touch of Mr. Burke himself, even
if he should wield the spear of Ithuriel. I approved
not of the war at its commencement ! I rejoice
not at its continuance! I cease not to pray most
sincerely and most fervently for its speedy and entire
termination. I call that man a clumsy reasoner,
who, because any foreign potentates have joined
our armies in the name of allies, or stipendiaries,
would infer that they have ceased to be despots
over their own subjects, I pronounce him an atro-
cious slanderer, who would torture my undisguised
scruples as to the irresistible necessity of an Anti-
gallican war, into a proof of the slightest propen-
sity towards Gallican theories, Gallican extravagan-
cies, or Gallican enormities. I think him substan-
tially, and, at the present crisis, eminently a good
citizen, who mourns, as I do, at the dubious expe-
riments* actually made by some modern loyalists;
* '< Fingunt creduntque," are the words of one who looked
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TO COMBES STATEMENT 475
and who shudders, as I do, at the baneful innova-
tions theoretically proposed by one very numerous
and impetuous class of modern reformers.
. Of my philological studies I shall attempt no de*
with a piercing eye into the heart of man. And perhapB his re*
mark may be extended to certain political reasons which have
been lately adduced in defence of certain perilous measures.
But the principle upon which these measures are founded, is not
altogether of modern date; and for the sake, not of the un-
blushing mercenary or the unfeeling ruffian, who profess to act
upon it, but of one honourable senator, whom their professions
have deluded, I will throw in his way a sentence more plausible
and more energetic, than all he has heard in the unmasculine
rhetoric of beardless declaimers, or, in what Milton calls the
" barking monitories and mementos of any new associates."—
HapwcaXetv rovs Kivhvvovs roU kiv&vvois fiori&fiaovras. In the
application of this maxim to the affairs of our own empire, I,
perhaps, am in the number of those who would deny the as-
sumption ; or, granting the assumption to be true, I should resist
the consequence. But there are men of understandings so be*
sotted, and sensibility so benumbed, that every fallacy, tinged
with superstition, and bulky from exaggeration, acts upon them
with greater effect than the most simple and adamantine truth.
Happy would be that age in which no man could with justice
say of his contemporaries, what Milton said very unjustly of a
misguided and unfortunate prince : " By so strange a method
among the mad multitude is a sudden reputation won of wisdom
by wilfulness and subtle shifts, of goodness by multiplying evil;
of piety by endeavouring to root out true religion." Milton's
Eikonoklastes. But how are we to look for stedfast pillars of
the state," instead of such " shaken and uncertain reeds" as too
many persons have lately shewn themselves, " while men betake
themselves to state affairs with souls so unprincipled in virtue
and true generous breeding, that flattery and tyrannous apho -
ri8ms appear to them the highest points of wisdom, instilling
their barren hearts with a conscientious slavery, if, as I rather
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476 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
fence, and of my politics I shall scarcely give any
other explanation than that they are chiefly drawn
from Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, Livy, Sallost, Cicero,
and Tacitus, among the antients ; and among the
moderns, from Grotiua, Puffendorf, Barlemaqui, Bu-
chanan, Thuanus, Montesquieu, Helvetius, Locke,
Sidney, Harrington, Tyrrill, Selden, Blackstone,
and Sir Matthew Hale. He that reads such au-
thors may be excused for his attachment to politics*
Little of my time is bestowed on the political
pamphlets of the day. But I should think my
judgment disgraced if I did not read the po-
litical works of six or seven writers, who in our
own times do honour to our own country by
the depth of their enquiries, the precision of
their reasonings, and the splendour of their style.
My reading, I believe, is not wholly contemptible,
either as, to variety or extent, and my leisure is far
too scanty for me to waste it upon topics in which
I feel no interest, or upon books from which I can
derive no instruction. The vigour of my animal
spirits, and the love I have for social intercourse,
rarely permit me, when I am in company, to sit in
Sullen silence, or to keep a gloomy and watchful re-
think, it be not feigned ? And what do they tell us vainly of
■ew opinions, when this very opinion of theirs, that none must
be heard tat whom they like, is the worst and newest opinion of
all others? This is not the liberty which we could hope, that
no grievance ever should arise in the state ; that let no man in
this world expect. But when complaints are freely heard,
deeply considered, and speedily reformed, then is the utmost
bound of civil liberty obtained that wise men can look for."—
See Letter to Hartlib, and Oratio Areopogitica.
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to combe's statement. 477
serve, or to affect that pompous solemnity which
some men assume, who wish the copiousness and
solidity of their ideas to be estimated in a direct
proportion to the paucity and the feebleness of their
words. I do not, however, converse upon every
subject to which I have attended, before every man
with whom I meet ; and therefore it may not fall in
the way of every man to determine what subjects I
think most worthy, or what I think utterly unworthy
of my regard.
H. LITERARY.
VARIORUM HORACE.
I marked the Venusinse Lectiones of Klotzius,
Cuningham's Animadversions, Mr. Markland's Expli-
cations at the end of the Supplices Mulieres, Mr.
Wakefield's Observations, published in 1776, and
the Animadversions of Waddelus ; and die foregoing
works appear more or less in both volumes. I
marked all Bentley s notes which are produced in
the first volume, and all the notes from Janus. To
Mr. Homer I pointed out at my own house two
notes from Bishop Hare's Scripture Vindicated, .and
one from his EpistolaCritica, all of which are inserted
in the first volume of the Variorum Edition, and! in-
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478 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
formed him of another conjecture in the same
Epistle, which is now inserted in the second volume.
I lent also to Mr. Homer the second volume of
Hare's works, and Pulman's Annotations, which
he soon returned to me. I desired him to write
out Taylor's observation upon semper udum, in Ode
xxix. book iii. J and I told him . of a conjectural
reading upon Caupo, Sat. i. lib. i. and a judicious
interpretation of the word Eros in the work De
Arte Pofitica, both of which he might find in Tay-
lor s Elements of Civil Law. I desired Mr. Homer
to make a reference from Juvat, Od. i. book
i.; to Bentley's note on Videar, or Videvr9 Sak
ii. book ii.; and I am sorry that, after such a
reference, the note itself is not brought forward
in the second volume. I shewed Mr. Homer a
note upon the same word Juvat from L. Bos. I
gave him a reference to the Adventurer upon Alite9
in Ode vi. lib. i. a reference to Gray's Works upon
Mobilibus Rivis, Ode vii. lib. i. which by a little
mistake is subjoined to the word Anio; a note from
Schrader on the word Undique in the same Ode,
and from Schrader I gave nothing more for the
first volume, because his noble emendation of Pon-
tics, which he substitutes for Pcenus, is noticed by
Janus, as may be seen p. 162, vol. i. of the Vario-
rum Edition. But I reserved another emendation
from- Schrader for the second volume, and have
since produced it in The British Critic. Mr. Ho-
mer had a reference from me to Toup's note on
Longinus, and his Curae Posteriores ad Theocritum
upon the word Jecur. I desired him to insert a
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note from Barnes's Homer upon Ode ii. line 1,
b. i. I told him also of Bentley's conjectures upon
ver. 121, of Sat. ii. lib. i. and though I could have
referred him to the learned Dr. Foster's work upon
Accents, and to the Preface and third book of
Cephalas's Anthologia, published at Oxford, yet I
had my reasons for desiring him to speak only of
Warton's Essay upon Pope ; and as the Variorum
Edition exhibits the very reference which I recom-
mended to Mr. Homer only, I am inclined to think
that he had recorded it either on the margin of his
Horace or some loose paper ; for, of my detached
communications to Mr. Homer, this seems the only
one in the second volume of the Variorum Edition.
Again, I communicated to Mr. Homer, or to Dr.
Combe, or both, the reading of Donatus, "Exin
Tarquinium" for Tarquinii Corpus, in a line of
Ennius. I marked for Dr. Combe Bentley's notes
on the Epodes and the Carmen Seculare, and I re*
vised the proof sheets. I cleared up two references
to Greek passages about which the Doctor was per-
plexed, and I gave him some advice about using
Lambin's notes, and especially those which tended
to the illustration of Gracisms.
BELLENDENUS.
I will tell the reader all I remember about the
plan and the progress of the new edition of
Bellenden. Harry Homer had often heard me
speak of the high esteem in which I held Bel-
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lenden's work De tribus Luminibus Romanorum,
and of the great pains which I had taken to
examine how far the charge of plagiarism from
that work urged against Dr. Middleton was well
founded. My conversation might or might not
have excited his curiosity about the name of Bellen-
den. But I know that he was a diligent searcher
after curious books ; and soon after he had met
with Bellenden's three tracts, he wrote me a
good humoured and triumphant letter about his
discovery. Whether or no he in that letter gave
any intimation of his design to publish those tracts
I cannot at this distance of time determine. Abort
the month of October 1786, he came to me at Hat*
ton, bringing with him the book in his pocket, and
then he did talk about publishing it. I examined
the tracts which I had never seen before— I con-
curred with him about the propriety of publication;
and the result of our different conversations was,
that I should assist sometimes in revising the sheets,
write a dedication and a preface, and partake of the
expence. It was considered by Mr. Homer and
myself a common and equal concern. Accordingly,
some vowels in Mr. Homers christian and surname,
as well as my own, were subjoined to the dedi-
cations. I shewed Mr. Homer, while he was with
me, the reference to Cicero's writings in the work
De tribus Luminibus Romanorum ; and knowing
.his felicity in chasing what he used to call u catch-
words,'* I desired him to trace out the passages
* A. £. A. O. id. est. Sam. Hen. Parr. Homer.
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which Bellenden ia the tracts had quoted from
Cicero. This I considered as the most laborious
and useful part of the task allotted to him. He
performed it with great diligence and great success.
He applied to me on all points of difficulty, either
when he could not find passages, which happened
seldom, or when the texts of Bellenden's tracts and
Mr. Homer's edition of Cicero were at Variance,
which was much oftener the case. If, in revising the
sheets of Bellenden, my judgment, or my ear, led me
to suspect the accuracy of his words, I often com-
pared them with the text of Cicero in my own
editions, and sometimes I desired Mr Homer to
have recourse to other editions which t possessed
not. We entered upon the work, by common con-
sent, from the beginning — we pursued it with joint
exertion till the conclusion — and when Mr. Homer,
after his return to London, informed me of his un-
willingness to trust the book which he had brought
from Cambridge to a printer, I agreed to his pro-
posal for taking a share in the expence of having it
transcribed. Of the preface itself I will now give a
very full explanation ; and frequently have I been
heard by my friends to declare the satisfaction I
felt, that the size to which it at first extended, and
the alterations which it afterwards underwent, were
so well known to my pupils or visitors, and es-
pecially to the Honourable Mr. Augustus Legge, of
Christ Church, Oxford ; and to the very learned
Mr. Maltby, of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Pleased as I was with the whole design, I wrote
the dedications and the preface too before the end
vol. m. 2 I
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482 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
of November. The preface at first filled about
a sheet of paper, and contained such information as
I had been able to obtain from my books. I desired
Mr. Homer to apply to his friends, and I also made
similar applications to my own, for the purpose of
having such libraries as might contain the tracts
Consulted, and by degrees I obtained additional in-
formation, which I occasionally inserted, as soon as
it reached me. Mr. Homer is entitled to great
commendation for the diligence of hid researches,
and to him alone is due the praise of procuring
some materials from the British Museum. The
preface to; Bellenden was written in Mr. Homer s
life time — it was published under his immediate in-
spection— it assumed the form in which it ndw .ap-
pears with his knowledge and his consent. Such
too was Mr. Homer's delicacy in sharing the praise
which he supposed himself not to have earned, that
I had some little difficulty in prevailing upon him
to let me subjoin the vowels of his name with those
of my own in the dedications. But I insisted upon
paying this tribute to my auxiliary ; and when
little controversies had sprung up, and various con*
jectures had been started about the meaning of
these vowels, I took an early opportunity of ex-*
plaining the fact in a magazine of the very highest
celebrity, and of the most extensive circulation.
Such were the circumstances in Bellenden's history*
About the end of November, or early in the
month of December, my daughter, who was very ill,
went with her mother to London, and remained for
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TO combe's STATEMENT. 484
a considerable time under the kind and judicious
care of Dr. Combe. I suffered great inquietude of
mind from the danger in which I supposed her to
be. I sought relief and I found it, in preparations
for an enlargement of the preface. The political
matter was then, for the first time introduced, and of
course the preface grew largerandlargeras new efforts
produced new additions. It was in December first
transcribed by Mr. Maltby, now Chaplain to the
Bishop of Lincoln, and afterwards in the month of
January it wad again transcribed by him. In the
same month I had an opportunity of shewing it
to Mr. Sheridan. It happened to me, as it does
to other men of letters engaged in a favourite
work — revisal, conversation, and reading supplied
fresh ideas, and the size of the preface was in
the second transcript much increased before I sent it
up to the press about the end of January. While it
was printing I revised every sheet twice, t made
several corrections in the style, a few alterations
in the arrangement, and some addition to the mat-
ter. It was published, if I mistake not, about the
end of May, or pretty early in the month of June.
In respect to the publication of Bellenden's
tracts, the case was this — we entered upon it, ac-
cording to what I have before stated, as a joint
concern. I agreed to pay two guineas for the
transcript before the work went to press, and I
advanced ^£50 while it was going on. I submitted
to Mr. Homer the whole business of settling for
printing, for paper, for engravings, and for the
2 i 2
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484 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER,
premiums to be allowed booksellers. From the
beginning of the work, to the present moment, I
never read one syllable about costs or profit. When
the work had been for some time published, it was
proposed that I should have no trouble, or farther
suspense about the issue ; that I should consider
£^50 refunded me, and g£50 advanced to me, as the
whole of my due, and that all actual or contingent
profits arising from the edition should be made over
to Mr. Homer himself. These sums, together with
the numerous copies I had been permitted to give
away, seemed to me a sufficient compensation.
"The original intention of the edition" it is
said, "was lost in the reception it met with as
a political pamphlet." My memory, which upon
literary matters is tolerably faithful, has enabled me
to explain in what manner the original intention
was changed, or, I should rather say, the original
plan was enlarged, with Mr. Homer's entire appro-,
batdon; and my observation concurs with my
memory in preventing me from believing, that this
change, or enlargement, was injurious to the sale of
Bellenden's tracts. Hitherto I had been accustomed
to think 'that the preface excited some degree of
public attention to the work itself, and had gratified
a little the curiosity of scholars, not only in England
and Scotland, but also in Germany, where I know,
that Mr. Heyne paid a most honourable tribute of
commendation to, me for not preferring what Milton
calls the " gay rankness* of modern fastianists, to
* Highly as I may be gratified with the approbation of Mr.
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the native latinism of Cicero." Into the delusion,
Heyne, I by no means aspire even to the qualified praise
bestowed on those writers who are known* by the name of
Ciceronians. Instead of imitating, as some scholars have pro-
fessed to do, the manner of Terence or Tacitus among the
ancients, or of Lipsius and Strada among the moderns, I have
endeavoured, so far as my slender abilities would permit me, to
make the style of Cicero a general model for my own ; and at
the same time I have avowedly followed the example of many
learned men in the occasional use of words which are not found
in the writers of the Augustan age. — Even in the corrected
preface to Bellenden, I have discovered some faults ; and I
have no hesitation in saying, that I think my own talent
for Latin composition very inferior to that of Sir W. Jones,
Bishop Lowth, Dr. Philip Barton, Dr. Lawrence, and Sir
George Baker.
The mention of the two last scholars in the foregoing para*
graph incidentally suggests to me a general observation, which,
though it be unconnected with the subject of the present note,
I will not deny myself the satisfaction of throwing on my paper*
While I allow that peculiar and important advantages arise from
the appropriate studies of the three liberal professions, I must
confess that, in erudition, in science, and in habits of deep and
comprehensive thinking, the pre-eminence in some degree must
be assigned to physicians. The propensity which some of them
have shewn to scepticism upon religious topics is indeed to be
seriously lamented ; and it may be satisfactorily explained, I
think, upon metaphysical principles, which evince the strength
rather than the weakness of the human mind, when contempla-
ting under certain circumstances the multiplicity and energy of
physical causes. But I often console myself with reflecting on the
sounder opinions of Sir Thomas Browne, Sydenham, Boerhaave,
and Hartley, in the days that are past ; and of our own times pos-
terity will remember that they were adorned by the virtues, as
well as the talents, of a Gregory, a Heberden, a Falconer, and a
Percival. It were easy for me to enlarge this catalogue by
other instances which the circle of my own friendships would
supply.
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486 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
if it be One, I was in part led, not merely by general
report, but by a very witty story which dropped from
the mouth of a very witty man, Mr. George Stevens,
and which Mr. Homer mentioned to me with bursts
of laughter* I have heard indeed, of one noble peer,
who, upon looking into the preface, refused to buy
the book. But I have also heard of another, and
perhaps a more learned peer, who read both with
equal attention, and spoke of both in terms of
commendation nearly equal. How far my political
opinions may have ultimately obstructed the sale of
Bellenden's tracts, it is neither for Dr. Combe nor
for myself to decide. But if I have not been misin-
formed, Dr. Combe is mistaken when he says, that
" before Mr. Homer s death not many of the original
had been sold.* The number might indeed at that
time fall short of my friend's expectations. But I
hope to stand acquitted of all unkindness to his
memory, when I think it possible for the sale to
have been in some measure retarded by the dearness
of the book, and the magnificence of the bindings.
RECAPITULATION.
At first I took the trouble of examining BeDen-
den's Tracts very carefully, before I advised my
friend to hazard the publication.
I gave him proper advice to increase the value of
his own edition by references to the works of Ci-
cero, and in all cases of difficulty I assisted to make
the text correct.
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to combe's statement* 487
I undertook the very irksome task of revising
some of the proof sheets.
I pulled down my musty books, in order to glean
from them such information as they might supply
about the life of Bellenden himself, and the pro-
gress of his different works.
With all my fondness for the squalid and sapless
subtleties of metaphysics, I left them, for once, to
try my skill on daintier subjects. Though I could
not entirely keep my hands from plucking the thorn
with the rose, and weaving them together for some
mischievous purpose, yet their chief employment
was to cuH the gaudiest flowers of rhetoric, and
twine them into wreaths of panegyric, which, how-
ever, as ■ informs me, soon faded from their
own native brightness into a sickly hue, and,
shrinking under the blights of public contempt, are
now fallen into hopeless decay.
In addition to this prodigality of intellectual la-
bour, I employed my influence, and even lent my
money without any prospect of profit.
I trespassed on the politeness of Lord D ■,
who borrowed for me an original picture of Lord
North* from which an engraving might be taken. .
I gave two guineas for the transcript of a book*
which a new edition was soon to bring within my
reach for less than half the sum.
I even advanced fifty pounds to defray the expense
of printing, paper, and engravings.
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488 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
REVIEWS.
The reader will, I trust, excuse me, if, for reasons of
delicacy, I now take an opportunity to state the whole
extent of the share I have ever had in Reviews. To
the British Critic I have sent one article, besides
those which were written for the Horace. For the
Critical Review I have furnished a few materials
for two articles only. For the Monthly I have as-
sisted in writing two or three, and the number of
those which are entirely my own does not exceed
six or seven. In almost all these critiques, my at-
tention was to commend rather than to blame, and
the only one in which I ever blamed with severity
related to a classical work, the editor of which de-
served reproof for the following reasons: He
clothed bad critisms in bad latinity. He had not
availed himself of that information which preceding
editions would have supplied to any intelligent
editor. From the stores of other critics he collected
very little, and from his own he produced yet less
that was valuable. But he had indulged himself in
rude and petulant objections against Dr. Bentley ;
and for this chiefly I censured him. Here ends the
catalogue of my crimes hitherto committed in Re*
views ; and as I now have somewhat more leisure
than I formerly enjoyed, it is possible that I may
now and then add to their number. My contribu-
tions to works of this kind are occasional, and
therefore I have no right to the benefit of that se-
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to combe's STATEMENT. 489
crecy, which it may be wise aid honourable for the
regular conductors of Reviews to preserve. Of the
share which I have already taken and may hereafter
take in these periodical publications, I never can be
ashamed* I might plead the example of many
scholars both at home and abroad, far superior to
myself in vigour of intellect and extent of erudition ;
but I wish rather to insist upon the utility of the
works themselves, and upon the opportunities which
{hey furnish to men of learning, for rendering some
occasional service to the general cause of literature/
There is no one Review in this Country but what is
conducted with a considerable degree of ability;
and though I decline the task of deciding upon their
comparative excellence, I have no hesitation in say-
ing that all of diem deserve encouragement from
learned men. They much oftener assist than retard
the circulation of books — they much oftener extend
than check the reputation of good books— «-they
rarely prostitute commendation upon such as are
notoriously bad. For my part, I am disposed to
view with a favourable eye the different opinions
and propensities which may be traced in the
minds of the different writers. By such colli-
sions of sentiment, truth is brought into fuller
view, and a reader finds himself impelled by the
very strongest curiosity to examine the reasons
upon which men of talents nearly equal have
founded decisions totally opposite. By posterity,
too, Reviews will be considered as useful repositories
of the most splendid passages in the most celebrated
works. They will shew the progress of a country
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490 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
or an age in taste and arts, in refinement of man->
ners, and in the cultivation of science. They mark
the gradations of language itself, and the progressive
or retrograde motions of the public mind upon the
most interesting subjects in ethics, in politics, and
religion. Criticism, indeed, is shackled by no party*
and devoted to no sect. Let me, however, hope to
be excused, if I feel some little predilection for a
work which I suppose to be patronized by many
distinguished members of the Established Church,
and which I know to be in part conducted by a
learned man, who was once my own scholar. With
sincerity do I say, at the same time, that I harbour
no prejudice against the characters, and that I en-
tertain a very high respect for the talents of the
gentlemen who are employed in the Critical, the
Monthly, the Analytical, and the English Reviews*
Among the writers in the three last there are per-
sons whom no enlightened and ingenuous clergy-
man would blush to call his friend ; and, in truth, I
think it a circumstance equally advantageous and
creditable to myself, that I live upon terms of great
intimacy with some of them, and even of confidential
intercourse with others.
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to combe's statement, 491
III. POLITICAL.
" The first mention," says a learned Prelate, " that
I remember to have found any where of compact, a*
the first principle of government, is in the Crito of
Plato; where Socrates alleges a tacit agreement
between the citizens and the laws as the ground of
an obligation, to which he thought himself subject,
of implicit obedience even to an unjust sentence.
It is remarkable that this fictitious compact, which
in modern times hath been made the basis of the
unqualified doctrine of resistance, should have been
set up by Plato, in the person of Socrates, as the
foundation of the opposite doctrine of the passive}
obedience of the individual." — Bp. Horsley's Ser-
mon, 30th January.
My readers, if they attend not merely to the lan-
guage, but to the fact and the observation contained
in the foregoing passage, may perhaps find a strik-
ing resemblance between the Bishop's note on his
own Sermon, published in 1793, and Mr. Hume's
note on hia own Essay, republished 1767. The
words of Mr. Hume run thus: "The. only passage
I meet with in antiquity, where the obligation of
obedience to government is ascribed to a promise,
is in Plato in Critone; where Socrates refuses tp
escape from prison, because he had tacitly promised
to obey the laws. Thus he builds a Tory conse-
quence of passive obedience on a Whig foundation
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of the original contract" — Hume's Essays, voL i.
p. 511.
" It may be difficult," says Bishop Hurd, in his
sixth canon upon the Marks of Imitation in Senti-
ment, "sometimes to determine whether a single
sentiment or image be derived or not. But when
fre see a cluster of them in two writers applied to
the same subject, one can hardly doubt that one
of them has copied from the other." a Some-
times," says the same illustrious critic, in his third
canon on the Marks of derived Expression, a the
original expression is not taken, but paraphrased;
and the writer disguises himself in a kind of cir-
cumlocution. Yet this artifice does not conceal
him, especially if some fragments, as it were, of the
inventor's phrase are found dispersedly in the imi-
tation."
The two foregoing quotations from Bishop Hurd
seem to account very sufficiently for the resem-
blance between Bishop Horsley and Mr. Hume in
their opinions upon the original compact. Now,
though I should allow to Mr. Hume that Plato is
the oldest writer in antiquity, " where the obligation
of obedience to government is ascribed to a pro-
mise," I must yet observe, that another antient
writer speaks of a compact between the governors'
and the governed, as existing in times long antece-
dent to Plato: "Kar apKOL? p.cv yctp a*wa floAtf
*EXX£? 606UTJX6V6TO, TrX^V OUK OXTTTtp TOL $6u$>CLpaL fdtf)
HctriroTiKws, aXXa Kara vo'fjLouy t€ kol) cdiV/xov? xurgf ouf
Kcd KpaTHTTos rp (bauritevs o Sucaioraros re KCti VOfUfUO-
rarofj kol\ fwfih eK&aiTWfxevos rwv ?rarpjajy* 873X0? hk
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to combe's statement. 493
tea) "Opqpos, Sjjcoo-iroXov? re JcaXa»* rouy Ba<r*Xe)r, Jtal
OtfuaTtft-oXou?* *ai f*€£gi ttoXXou $i€|X€ivaty ot) gi)TOJf
nViy al Baa-jXc/ai Sioftjcouptvai, Kohimsp ij Aa*€&aijxd-
WW ap^ajX€MDV S€ TIVCDV €* Tai? C^OOTfW xX7)f*j«-
XeTv, jcai vo'jxois f*€* oXiya XpwpUvwp, raitf 8' euirwp
ypwfjLai? ra ToXXcfc 8iohcoovto>v, Sw^epavre? oXov ri
xpayfta o! 7roXXo), Karetewrav p** tols ftcun\€ia$ tea) ri
flroX/rejpa, y4jxw? S£ Kara<rT7}<raju*v<H, ica) apxckf ayo-
$€il;o&T€9, Tau'rai? f^gawro raw xoXeaiy $uXaJcaft; ."—
Vide Dion. Halicarn. Antiq. Roman, lib. v. p. 337,
edit. Sylburg.
• The words " gijroif tiVi* " are properly translated
" certis conditionibus."
To those who are struck with what Hume
shrewdly calls " a Tory consequence of passive obe-
dience built on the Whig foundation of the origi-
nal contract," it may be amusing to read, from an-
other Greek writer, a passage in which the Whig
consequence of limited monarchy rests on the Tory
principle of divinity in the monarchical office :
" BcunXe/a [tiv ykp 0*ofu'f*aTov rpayjxa, Jcal 8t/(r^uXax-
tov Jt& auApanriiKis ^/u^ay raj(iw9 yap W rpvQas,
kou u&pio? aXXcwrerar SioVes ou Sel icar^ xav at/T$
XpcWdai, P^CP1 ^€ t<£ Stivara) icai tot) tA* jroXnreiav
Zpqrifum? — Vide Hippodamus, in lib. de Republica,
quoted in the 41st Sermo of Stobaeus.
If, according to the rules of sound criticism, we
are permitted to include under the word antiquity
the records of sacred as well as profane history, it
seems to me that the former is not wholly destitute
of instances where the promise to obey, on the part
of the people, was connected with a promise. to
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494 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
govern well on the part of the king. Let me hope,
therefore, to give no offence to the admirers either
of the anti-republican Prelate or the anti-christian
Essayist, if I state two cases, which occurred some
centuries before the age of Socrates, and to which I
shall respectively subjoin the observations of several
distinguished commentators. " So all the elders of
Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David
made a league with them in Hebron before the
Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel." —
2 Sam. chap. v. ver. 3.
. " Omnis conventio Hebraeis Barith vocatur, qua-
lis haec fuit, qui David illis indulgentiam anteacto-
rum promisit, ipsi vero regi obediential)!." — Grotius.
" It is not said what the contents of this league
or contract was. The Jews think it was princi-
pally that there should be an act of oblivion of all
the injuries which the people of Israel had done to
Judah, or they to them, in the reign of Ishbosheth.
But this is too narrow a sense : it is more probable
that he assured them that he would govern them
justly and kindly, according to the law of God ; and
they promised to obey him sincerely and faithfully,
according to the same law.99— Bishop Patrick.
, "Foedus feriit: hoc est, promisit se iis certis
legibus imperaturum, nam nullum est pactum aut
fcedus sine legibus. Neque enim rex Hebraeorum
omnibus legibus erat solutus, ut ostendit Guil.
Scickardus, in Jure Regio Hebrseorum, cap. ii. the-
orem 7* — Le Clerc.
"And Jehoiada made a covenant between the
Lord and the king and the people, that tfiey should
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to combe's statement. 495
be the Lord's people. Between the King also and
the people."— 2 Kings, chap. xi. ver. 17.
The comments which follow relate to the latter
part of the verse : " Populus promisit regis salutem
sibi curse fore. Ita hie Josephus, Nam ut rex po-
pulo qnicquam promitterit, moris apud Hebraeos
non fuit." — Grotius.
"Quo rex promisit se recturum populum cum
omni aequitate, et populus juravit se facturum im-
perata." — Vatablus.
" Quo regi se fore dicto audientem, quemadmo-
dum fuerat majoribus ejus, promisit." — Le Clerc.
u That they should be his obedient subjects, and
he should govern them by the law." — Patrick.
On the whole verse Lord Clarendon writes thus :
" This could be no other than [a covenant] of pro-
tection and justice on his part, and of obedience on
their's; however, it makes it evident* that kings
may covenant with their people, contrary to Mr.
Hobbes's doctrine."
. I leave the reader to determine between the dif-
ferent opinions of the commentators on the nature
of the compact made in both the cases just now
cited : and, in respect to the latter, I wish him to
observe, that Le Clerc passes over the promise
made on the king's part to the people ; while Bishop
Patrick contends for it, and Lord Clarendon even
argues upon it.
As appeals to the writers of antiquity are sup*
posed to be of use even in the discussion of modern
politics, I will venture to lengthen this note by a
digression from the subject on which I began it.
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496 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
Blackstone and many other writers quote a well-
known passage in Tacitus, as applicable to the mixed
government of this country. I would remark, however,
that a passage equally pertinent occurs at the begin-
ning of the sixth book of Polybius. After mention-
ing the three forms of government, monarchy, aristo-
cracy, and democracy, and expressing his doubts
whether preceding writers had considered them as
the only or the best forms, he adds, u AijXw or
dpitrrriv /utiv ijyijWoy iroxirciav tijv €K warrant iw
irpo€ifn}ft.€VaM liuofjiarayv oweo-raMra* " He adduces
the Lacedaemonian government as a practical proof
of his position ; and, if he had known the princi-
ples of the English constitution, he would have ad-
mitted them as fuller illustrations of his opinion.
In the same chapter may be found many judicious
distinctions between absolute and limited monarchy,
to the latter of which Polybius appropriates the
name of kingship. And as his words will, I think, be
very acceptable to those who prefer, as I do, kingly
government to republicanism, I will produce them:
" Ka* to* ouS' d$ fiofa? ravra? irpwbeKrear Kfuyaf
jxoyaf xucofc? sca\ rvpavvuca? ^Sif rivas rcdedcftfda «**•
roots', at TT^eicTOP Sia$€pou<rai (bounteias Tcapaaclxfim
%X*i¥ rl ra^T7) 8oKo5(TlV If) KOil (TU[v\f€uBwTOU «0t) Wf
ygmrai wavresol fJLovapxoi, tcaB* oerov oft* r eun rmr^f
3aa*iXe/ay ovojxarf."
*******
<4Oftr6 iraurav SqVou {xovap^lav elQeas fbcw&cw
/pijtcov" aXXa po'yqy rqp i£ ckovtcov aruyxaywp&V*
tea) ry yvapty ro rto/ov y $o'0a> foxi &ia icu0£f mpcflp*
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to combe's statement. 497
" IlgajTij ft€V oucara(TK€VQ)9 kol\ $v<rtK(of oW(rrarai
MovcLp%la' ravrji 8* &rcrai *a) £k ratrnj? ycwarai
ftera icaracrjcetnjf icai AiopflaKrecos1 Ba<riX€*'a."
I would apply to the government of England, by
King, Lords, and Commons, a fine observation
which Cicero made, when he probably had in view
the aristocratic form tempered with a mixture of
the democratic:
" Ut in fidibus, ac tibiis, atque cantu ipso, ac vo-
cibus concentus est quidam tenendus ex distinctis
tonis, quern immutatum, ac discrepantem aures eru-
dite ferre non possunt, isque concentus ex dissi-
millarum vocum moderatione concors tamen effici-
tur et congruens : sic ex summis et infimis, et me-
diis interjectis ordinibus, ut tonis, moderata ratione
civitas consensu dissimillimorum concinit, et quae
harmonia a musicis dicitur in cantu, ea est in civi-
tate concordia, arctissimum atque optimum omni in
republica vinculum incolumitatis : quae sine justitia
nullo pacto esse potest." — Cicero, Fragment de Re-
publica, 584, vol. ii. edit. Grater.
With the imagery which Cicero here borrows
from music, and employs upon politics, the reader
may compare some passages in lib. iv. cap. 3. and
lib. iii. cap. 4. of Aristotle de Republica.
IV. CHARACTERS.
HOMER.
Mr. Homer received the greater part of his edu-
cation at Rugby school, under the care of Mr. Bur-
vol. in. 2 K
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rows. He went thither, as I learn from a letter
written to me by his father, at the age of seven.
* He continued there seven years, and became the
head boy of about sixty." He " afterwards went to
Birmingham school, where he remained three years
more, under the Rev. Mr. Brailsford."
The celebrity of Rugby school was, in the time of
Mr. Burrows, not so great, nor the plan of educa-
tion pursued in it so elegant and comprehensive, as
we have seen them under the auspices of the present
very learned master, to whose memory, at some fu-
ture period, (and for the sake of our youth may it be
a distant one !) the inhabitants of this and many
neighbouring counties would do well to erect a
public monument, recording his eminent merits, and
their own well-founded gratitude.* Yet Mr. Bur-
rows possessed, as I am told, a very sound under-
standing, and a very respectable share of erudition ;
and the progress which Mr. Homer made under him
was such as did no discredit to the abilities of the
teacher or the diligence of the scholar. Of Mr.
Brailsford's talents as an instructor I cannot speak
with precision, though I am warranted in saying
that the present master, Mr. Price, who perhaps suc-
ceeded him at Birmingham, is a man of a very re-
fined taste, and of learning more than common.
But as Mr. Homer had been the "first of sixty
boys," before he went to Birmingham school, and as
he staid there three years, we may presume that he
was for that time employed in reading some of the
best classical authors. In November 1768, Mr.
* Dr. James ; and this has been done.
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Homer was admitted of Emanuel College, Cam*
bridge, under Dr. Farmer, and in that College I saw
him at a very early period of his academical life.
The pleasantry and good sense diffused through his
conversation, the fairness of his character, and per*
haps the singularity of his name, attracted my atten-
tion, and produced an acquaintance which soon grew
into friendship. I will hazard the imputation of ar-
rogance, for saying that new incitements were given
to his industry, and new prospects opened to his cu-
riosity, by my well-meant advice. Mr. Homer pro-
ceeded regularly to his Bachelor's degree in 1773,
to his Master's in 1776, and to his Bachelors in Di-
vinity in 1783. He was elected Fellow of Emanuel
College in 1778. He had lived in Warwickshire
about three years before he became Fellow, and re*
turned to the University soon after his election. He
then resided much at Cambridge, where his nrind
was neither dissipated by pleasure nor relaxed by
idleness. He frequently visited the public library,
and was well acquainted with the history or contents
of many curious books which are noticed only by
scholars. Of the Greek language he was by no
means ignorant, though he did not profess to be cri-
tically skilled in it. He had read many of the Latin
classical authors. He was not accustomed to make
false quantities. About orthography he was very
exact. He was not a stranger to many niceties in
the structure of the Latin tongue. He had turned
his attention to several philological books of great
utility and high reputation. He was well versed in
the notes subjoined to some of the best editions of
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various authors ; and of his general erudition the
reader will form no unfavourable opinion, nfter
looking at a catalogue of the works in which he was
engaged. About Horace he had a fair stock of
common knowledge long before he thought of be-
coming an editor ; and as I was well acquainted
with his activity, his good sense, and his learning, I
looked upon him as a very fit person for undertak-
ing the task of publishing the Variorum Edition.
With Mr. Homer I conversed much, and corres-
ponded often about the work, which has lately ap-
peared. He was perspicuous and exact in stating
bis own questions ; and in apprehending my an-
swers he was both ready and correct. He neither
dissembled difficulties from vanity, nor slurred them
over from laziness. He knew how to adapt docility
and firmness to different occasions. His friends he
never teased by impotent cavils and futile inquiries.
He never attempted to shew off his own powers in
that frivolous jargon, or that oracular solemnity
which I have now and then observed in persons
who prated yesterday as they prate to-day, and will
prate again to-morrow, about subjects which they
do not understand. Such is my opinion of Mr.
Henry Homer. "He, to my knowledge, had fed on
the dainties that are bred in a book. He had eaten
paper, as it were, and drunk ink. His intellect was
replenished."
Mr. Homer, in consequence of some religions
scruples (as it afterwards appeared), refused to take
priest's orders, when, by the statutes of the founder,
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he was required to take them, in order to preserve
the rank he had attained in College. From a senior
fellow he became a junior, and after various nego-
tiations, his fellowship was declared vacant on the
20th of June, 1788. The first intelligence I had of
this affair was sent me by a common friend ; and
sure I am, that no man living could have been more
surprised and afflicted than I was upon receiving it.
I wrote to Mr. Homer several letters of sympathy
and counsel. I asked about the unknown cause, I
deprecated the probable consequences, but to no
purpose ; for his answers were short and sharp, and
evidently were intended to check inquiry, and to
avert expostulation. When I afterwards saw htm
in London, I twice resumed the subject, and spoke
with that mixture of delicacy and earnestness which
was adapted to the difficulties of his situation, and
the exquisiteness of his feelings. Twice he repelled
and silenced me, by declaring that his conduct was
the result of long and serious deliberation, that his
mind was made up to all possible inconveniences?
and that the interposition of his friends could an-
swer no other purpose than that of irritation.
Knowing that enlightened and amiable men are
sometimes hurried even into rigorous proceedings
by their political zeal, I for a long — yes — for a very
long time, had painful doubts, whether Mr. Homer
had been perfectly well used. But after strict and
repeated inquiry, and especially after the sight of a
letter which was written to Mr. Homer, Feb. 28,
1787, and the contents of which had neither directly
or indirectly been communicated by him to me, and
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the original of which was sent me by Mr. Homer,
senior, on the 29th of May, 1791, 1 was convinced,
thoroughly convinced, that my friend had met with
fair, and, from some quarters, most indulgent treat-
ment; and that, in a case 60 very notorious, die
statutes left no power of mitigation whatsoever in
the hands either of the fellows or the master. My
prejudices, as a friend, and the scruples of Mr. Ho*
mer, sen. as a father, sunk at once under the weight
of the clear and authoritative evidence which that
letter conveyed. Mr. Homer, I saw, persisted in
obeying the dictates of his conscience, and the mem*
bers of the College were compelled to act under the
direction of their statutes, and by the force of their
oaths.
Farmer. — Of any undue partiality towards the
Master of the College, I shall not be suspected by
those persons who know how little his sentiments
accord with my own, upon some ecclesiastical, and
many political matters. From rooted principle and
antient habit he is a Tory ; I am a Whig ; and we
have both of us too much confidence in each other,
and too much respect for ourselves, to dissemble
what we think upon any grounds, or to any extent.
Let me then do him the justice which, amidst all
our differences in opinion, I am convinced that he
will ever be ready to do me. His knowledge is
various, extensive, and recondite. With much seem*
ing negligence, and perhaps, in later years, some
real relaxation, he understands more, and remem-
bers more, about common and uncommon subjects
of literature, than many of those who would be
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thought to read all the day, and meditate half the
night. In quickness of apprehension, and acute-
ness of discrimination, I have not often seen his
equal. Through many a convivial hour have I been
charmed by his vivacity, and upon his genius I
have reflected in many a serious moment with
pleasure, with admiration, but not without regret,
that he has never concentrated and exerted all the
great powers of his mind in some great work, upon
some great subject. Of his liberality in patronizing
learned men, and of his zeal in promoting learned
publications, I could point out numerous instances.
Without the smallest propensities to avarice, he pos-
sesses a large income ; and without the mean sub-
missions of dependence he has risen to high station.
His ambition, if he has any, is without insolence;
his munificence is without ostentation ; his wit is
without acrimony ; and his learning is without pe-
dantry.
Bennet. — Among the fellows of Emanuel Col-
lege who endeavoured to shake Mr. Homer's reso-
lution, and to preserve for him his academical rank,
there was one man, whom I cannot remember with-
out feeling that all my inclination to commend, and
all my talents for commendation, are dispropor-
tionate to his merit. From habits not only of close
intimacy, but of early and uninterrupted friendship,
I can say there is scarcely one Greek or Roman
author of eminence, in verse or prose, whose writ-
ings are not familiar to him. He is equally suc-
cessful in combating the difficulties of the most ob-
scure, and catching at a glance the beauties of the
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most elegant. Though I could mention two or
three persons who have made a greater proficiency
than my friend in philological learning, yet, after
surveying all the intellectual endowments of all my
literary acquaintance, I cannot name the man whose
taste seems to me more correct and more pure, or
whose judgment upon any composition in Greek,
Latin, or English, would carry with it higher au-
thority to my mind.
To those discourses which, when delivered before
an academical audience, captivated the young, and
interested the old, which were argumentative with-
out formality and brilliant without gaudiness, and
in which the happiest selection of topics was united
with the most luminous arrangement of matter, it
cannot be 'unsafe for me to pay the tribute of my
praise, because every hearer was an admirer, and
every admirer will be a witness. As a tutor, he was
unwearied in the instruction, liberal in the govern-
ment, and anxious for the welfare of all who were
entrusted to his care. The brilliancy of his conver-
sation, and the suavity of his manners, were the
more endearing, because they were united with qua-
lities of a higher order, because in morals he was
correct without moroseness, and because in religion
he was serious without bigotry. From the retire-
ment of a college, he stepped at once into the circle
of a court. But he has not been dazzled by its
glare, nor tainted by its corruption. As a prelate,
he does honour to the gratitude of a patron who was
once his pupil, and to the dignity of a station where,
in his wise and honest judgment upon things, great
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duties are connected with great emoluments. If,
from general description, I were permitted to de-
scend to particular detail, I should say, that in one
instance he exhibited a noble proof of generosity, by
refusing to accept the legal and customary profits of
his office from a peasantry bending down under the
weight of indigence and exaction. I should say,
that, upon another occasion, he did not suffer him*
self to be irritated by perverse and audacious oppo-
sition ; but, blending mercy with justice, spared a
misguided father for the sake of a distressed de-
pendent family, and provided, at the same time, for
the instruction of a large and populous parish with-
out pushing to extremes his episcopal rights when
invaded, and his episcopal power when defied. While
the English Universities produce such scholars, they
will indeed deserve to be considered as the nurseries
of learning and virtue* While the Church of Ire-
land is adorned by such prelates, it cannot have
much to fear from that spirit of restless discontent,
and excessive refinement, which has lately gone
abroad. It will be instrumental to the best purposes
by the best means. It will gain fresh security and
fresh lustre from the support of wise and good men.
It will promote the noblest interests of society, and
uphold, in this day of peril, the sacred cause of true
religion.
Sweet is the refreshment afforded to my soul by
the remembrance of such a scholar, such a man, and
such a friend, as Dr. William Bennet, Bishop of
Cork ; and happy am I, that, before my return to
the Variorum Editor, my best feelings will have the
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most exquisite gratification from another fact, which
I am now preparing to lay before the reader.
Though I collected from the general conversation
of Mr. Homer that he was not adverse to a partial
and temperate reform in the Church of England,
yet in no one moment of the most private and con-
fidential intercourse did he open to me his doubts
upon any particular subject of doctrine. When I
was talking to him about the events which had re-
cently passed in college, he for the first time told
me, that many years before he had stood aloof from
some preferment, which, in all probability, was
within his reach, and that he had taken an unalter-
able resolution of not accepting any living, either
from private patrons or from an academical society.
The reasons upon which this resolution was founded
he did not reveal to me, nor did I think myself au-
thorized to investigate them. But I ever have
honoured, and ever shall honour, so much modera-
tion, mixed with so much firmness. He never in-
dulged himself in pouring forth vague and trite de-
clamations against the real or supposed errors of
churchmen. He never let loose contemptuous and
bitter reproaches against those who might differ
from him upon speculative and controversial topics
of theology. He remained a quiet, and, I doubt
not, a sincere conformist within the pale of the
Establishment, after renouncing all share of its pro-
fits, and all chance of its honours. On this rare
and happy union of integrity and delicacy, pane-
gyric were useless. They who read of his conduct
will approve of it, and, among those who approve,
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some wise and virtuous men may be found, whom
his example may encourage to imitate. In praising
Mr. Homer, I mean not, however, to censure some
enlightened and worthy contemporaries, who, from
motives equally pure, may have not pursued the
same measures. The propriety of continuing in
the church, as he continued, will depend upon per-
sonal circumstances, which will be different with
different men, and upon general principles, about
which the best scholars and the best Christians of
this age are not wholly agreed.
Mr. Homer, I remember, soon after the appear-
ance of Mr. Burke's first book about the French
Revolution, spoke of it to me in strong language of
disapprobation. Later events may have increased
that disapprobation ; and though I am confident
that they would not have diverted me from my ori-
ginal purpose, I will not answer for the degree of
effect they might have produced on the mind of Mr.
Homer. 1 have little difficulty in deciding what
would have been his opinion upon the causes
which have lately divided the political parties in
this kingdom, and yet I think so highly of his good
sense and his candour, as to believe that he would
have distinguished between the literary and political
characters of the two eminent persons to whom I
wished, and persist in wishing, the work to have
been dedicated
From the quickness of Mr. Homer's temper, and
perhaps of my own, we now and then wrangled in
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our conversation and in our letters. But the effects
of these little altercations were temporary ; and at a
time when, like the present, I am called upon to
defend my conduct in private life before a public
tribunal, I feel the very highest and purest satisfac-
tion in being able to affirm, that, from the com-
mencement of my acquaintance with Mr. Homer, to
the very latest hour of his life, we never had one
serious dispute — one difference which sent us with
throbbing bosoms to a restless pillow for one night,
or darkened our countenances with one frown upon
the succeeding day. Many and great were his ex-
ertions in compliance with my requests, and for the
management of my concerns. Many, too, are the
thanks I returned to him, and many the services I
endeavoured to render him. But if his affairs were
perplexed, I knew it not ; if his mind was hurt in
an unusual degree by any instance of my miscon-
duct, I knew it not. If his disease was aggravated
by my behaviour to him, I knew it not. No such
complaints were made by him to me ; and, when
they were made by others after his death, I was
shocked at the imputation of crimes which I never
meant to commit. \
Mr. Homer, in his last illness, had been for three
or four weeks with his father in Warwickshire be-
fore I knew that he was ill. I heard, indeed, in a
promiscuous conversation, that a son of Mr. Homer
was ill at his house, and I supposed it to be another
son. But on the very day after the evening I had
found that son to be my friend, I sent a special
messenger with a letter full of anxious and affec-
tionate inquiry, and I received an answer which I
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clasped to my bosom, and which I at this moment
keep deposited among the most precious records of
friendship. In a day or two I hastened in person
to the father's house. With anguish of soul, I
found Harry pale, emaciated, and sunk beyond the
power of recovery. I talked to him with all the
tenderness which the sight of such a friend, in such
a situation, could have excited in the most virtuous
breast. I came away with a drooping head, and
with spirits quite darkened by the gloom of despair.
Again I hastened to see him, while the lamp of life
should not be wholly gone out ; and again I did see
him on the evening before his eyes were closed in
death. With tears, not easily stifled, and with an
aching heart, I accompanied his sad remains to the
grave ; and in many a pensive mood have I since
reflected upon the melancholy scene. Many a look
of fondness have I cast upon his countenance, which
meets me in an excellent engraving as I enter my
study each revolving day. Many an earnest wish
have I formed, that my own last end may be like
his, a season of calm resignation, of humble hope,
and of devotion, at once rational, fervent, and sin-
cere.
Within a few days after the funeral, there passed
an honourable and unfeigned reconciliation between
his very amiable and accomplished brother and my-
self. In the letters which I had occasion to write
to several persons who knew me, I spoke of his vir-
tues, of his services, and of the heavy loss which
was sustained by those who were near and dear
to him.
In the course of my correspondence with Mr.
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Homers father, I received one letter which sur-
prised, and, indeed, provoked me ; for I found my-
self accused of having created unnecessary delays
in a work to which I really had been giving assist-
ance without any expectation of profit or reward
—accused of injuring my friend's health, when in
truth I had not known it to be in danger — accused
of adding to the load of distresses, which were
equally unknown to me, with the embarrassments
from which they proceeded. Conscious as I was of
loving Harry, of having been served by him, of
wishing and endeavouring to serve him, I undoubt-
edly, at such a crisis, took offence at such a letter.
I wrote in my own justification to Dr. Combe. I
wrote also to Mr. Homer s father very fully and very
firmly in my Own defence.
With Dr. Combe the altercation soon ceased, and
I revised all the proof-sheets which he sent me.
Upon examining, as I did lately, the subsequent
letters which I received from Mr. Homer's father, I
find that, in his estimation at least, I was contriving
?11 possible means for the success of the Variorum
Edition Let me not be charged with any intention
of throwing, at this distance of time, the smallest
blame upon Mr. Homer s father. Great allowances
were due to his situation and his feelings, and great
praise do I owe him for the spirit in which he re*
ceived my angry answer to his angry letter. From
motives of delicacy to him, I will not produce the
accusations which I endeavoured to repel. But
from his subsequent letters I might bring forward
several expressions, which do honour to his judg-
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ment and candour, and which carry with them deci-
sive proofs of his confidence in my readiness to go
on with the work which his son had not lived to
complete.
Mr. Homer was engaged with me in the republi-
cation of Bellenden's Tracts in the year 1787. I
give a list of his other works from a paper oblig-
ingly communicated to me by his late father.
u About the year 1787 he published three books of
Livy, viz. first, twenty-fifth, and thirty-first, ex edi-
tione Drackenborchii, cum notis ejusdem selectis.
His accedunt Dissertationes pauculae Creverii atque
aliorum, cum Chronologia Car. Sigonii. Soon after
followed the two small tracts of Tacitus's Germania
et Agricola, ex edit. Gab. Brotier ad alteram Job.
Aug. Ernesti collata 1788.
" Tractatus varii Latini a Crevier, Brotier, Auger,
&c. 1788.
" Ovid's Epistles, ex editione Burman. 1789.
u Sallust. ex editione Cortii, 1789.
" Pliny, ex editione Cortii et Longolii, 1790.
€C Caesar, ex edit. Oudendorp. 1790.
* Persius, ex edit. Heninii.
" Tacitus, ex edit. Brotier, complete all but the
Index.
tt Iivy, ex edit. Drackenb. in the press.
u Quintilian, ex edit. Burman. ditto.
He also intended to publish Quintus Curtius, but
no steps were taken towards it. Dr. Combe says,
the types and paper speak for themselves."
I have given the foregoing catalogue in the
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words of Mr. Homer, senior, as I find them in a
letter dated May 24th, 1791. I did not know till
after my friend's death, that his actual or intended
publications were so numerous. In a letter of Mr.
Homer, senior, dated the 16th of June 1791, it is
said, " that little less than a thousand pounds would
be necessary to complete the index to Tacitus, the
Horace, the Livy, and the Quintilian." How far
my friend had proceeded in any one of these unfi-
nished works but the Horace, I knew not, I once
saw a part of the index intended for Tacitus lying
on a table in his father's house.
In 1788 Mr. Homer published, C. Cornel. Tacit,
de Moribus Germanorum et de Vita Agricolae, ex
editione Gabrielis Brotier, ad alteram Joh. Aug.
Ernesti, collata ; and in 1789 he published, C. C.
Taciti Dialogus de Oratoribus, ex editione Gabrielis
Brotier, ad alteram Joh. Aug. Ernest, collatus.
Accesserunt Supplementum Dialogi G. Brotier, et
brevis Summa Praeceptorum de Arte dicendi ex tri-
bus Ciceronis libris de Oratore collecta a Jasone de
Nores. I mention this to shew the respect which
he had for J. de Nores : he found this tract bound
up with J. de Nores on the Art of Poetry, pub-
lished at Venice 1553. Subjoined to it is Tripolini
Gabrielli de Spherica Notione ex Macrobio et Plinio
brevis et distincta tractatio. This, too, was repub-
lished, with the preceding works just now men-
tioned, by Mr. Homer, in 1789, though he has not,
in the title page, noticed it.
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With three exceptions only, H. H. had a larger
share of my confidence than any other human be-
ing ; and in him I know it to have been deservedly
and wisely placed. My intercourse with Dr. C.
was less unreserved, and less important. But I
always valued his friendship, because I was always
convinced of his sincerity. «
Nearly eight months after this pamphlet had been
sent to the printer, I received the melancholy news
that one of the three persons to whom I have above
alluded is no more. It was Sir William Jones. For
the sake of learning and virtue, I will apply to him,
with a few alterations, what Plato said of Socrates :
'H ii q TeXevrri rou eraipou qjuu* cycvcro, ostfyo? , cot
too, icai fiaXiarra icaXoG ical ayafoS,
Spirit of Henry Homer, rest in peace ! Among
the unforeseen and unmerited evils from which the
hand of death has delivered thee, let it not be consi-
dered as the least, that thou wast not doomed to
behold the disastrous day, when principles main-
tained by thee in common with one of thy oldest
and dearest friends were stretched upon the rack, by
a self-appointed inquisitor, and commanded to make
confession of unaccomplished, unattempted, un-
thought of crimes, as the only condition of being
absolved from the heavier charges of rebellion-
anarchy — murder— atheism.
VOL. III. 2 L
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COMBE..
Dr. Combe has long had, and still retains, a large
share of my esteem for his intellectual endowments,
and moral excellencies. To his veracity I studiously
have paid, and shall continue to pay, great and un-
feigned respect We do, indeed, differ from each
other, sometimes upon matters of recollection and
opinion, and sometimes in opportunities for infor-
mation. But to whatever extent this difference
may reach, I desire that it may be imputed to pre-
cipitation upon his part — not cunning — to involun-
tary misrepresentation, not deliberate falsehood — to
soreness in the editor, not malevolence in the man.
I am disposed even to praise him for the quickness
of feeling, and stoutness of spirit, which may have
induced him to stand forth in the defence of his
reputation, where he thought himself aggrieved. I
forgive him, after a few struggles, for the severity
with which he has buffeted my own. To find by
experience that friendships are mortal, is the hard
but inevitable lot of fallible and imperfect men.
But it always has been, and always will be, one of
the first wishes of my heart, and one of my first
prayers to Heaven, that no enmity of mine may
ever be immortal.
BURKE, WINDHAM, FOX, PITT.
Large as may be the space which political sub-
jects occupy in my mind, strong as are my attach-
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ments and aversions to political men, and warm as
are my approbation and disapprobation of political
measures, I am not inattentive to other, and, per-
haps, higher considerations. It is not my fortune to
coincide in opinion with Mr. Burke and Mr. Wind-
ham upon some of the steps that have lately been
taken, and some of the doctrines that have lately
been disseminated in this country. But have I for*
gotten the indisputable and distinguished merits of
these great men upon former occasions ? or, am I
authorised to refuse them the praise of upright in*
tention in their present conduct ? Far from it. I
yet remember, that Mr. Windham is an acute dis-
putant, an accomplished scholar, a polished gentle-
man, and a senator of whom I have hoped, that he
would be, like Abdiel, " among the faithless faithful
found." In Mr. Burke, I have not lost sight of his
splendid eloquence, of his numerous and celebrated
writings, of knowledge so various and so compre-
hensive, that imagination cannot assign its limits ;
and of genius more vigorous, more versatile, and
more elevated, than at this day can be found among
the enlightened inhabitants of the British empire,
and, I had almost said, in the whole circle of the
human race.
What I thought of Mr. Fox has been elsewhere
stated, and I continue to think the same with in-
creased conviction. Great as may be my admira-
tion of that man, when surveyed on the theatre of
his talents, it falls very short of the affection and the
reverence which I feel when I contemplate the no-
bler parts of his character in the sanctuary of his
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virtues. Of him I have said in a Dedication what
to the latest hour of my life I shall repeat and
avow, and what I am prepared to defend amidst the
dissolution of public parties, the fluctuations of pub-
lic opinion, and the shocks of public events. But
if a friend, even of Mr. Pitt, were to ask me for a
dedication, I should disdain, from political motives,
to refuse compliance. Without offering the smal-
lest violence to my own settled principles, I should
endeavour to gratify the warm, and, it may be, the
honourable prejudices of Mr. Pitt's adherent. In
the wide range of that minister's attainments, ta-
lents, and even measures, I should not very long be
at a loss for topics of commendation, at once appro-
priate and just. I should select those topics with
impartiality, I should seize them with eagerness, I
should exhibit them with all the advantages of am-
plification and arrangement, with all the embellish-
ments of diction, and all the ardour of panegyric,
Which my understanding and my erudition, such as
they are, would enable me to employ.
MANSFIELD.
As Dr. Combe, in a letter to me, had endea-
voured to justify the motto, [to the Variorum
Horace ] by saying that the words " virtutis verse
custos " stand before the line to which I objected, he
knight think it unnecessary, or find it rather difficult,
to attempt any farther vindication of his judgment,
either in bringing together two passages which are so
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remote from each other in Horace, or in applying to
Lord Mansfield the second passage, which, for reasons
stated in the review, I should have been unwilling to
apply to any person whom I respected. I observe,
however, with great satisfaction, that the Doctor allows
me to have communicated my objection to the motto
long before the publication of the Horace, and upon
this circumstance I rest my defence against the
charge of u sly and insidious detraction.*
Whether my real opinion of Lord Mansfield be
equally favourable with that of Dr. Combe is not a
subject for immediate discussion. But whence, I
would ask, can any reader of the British Critic col-
lect that it is unfavourable. Not surely from the
review, for I there admit the greater part even of
Dr. *s panegyric to be well founded. I speak
of Lord Mansfield's venerable name. I disclaim for
myself the invidious application of the remaining
words in Horace to Lord Mansfield. I say only,
and I say truly, that prejudiced or mischievous per-
sons are to be found, who will make that applica-
tion. This surely is harmless and decorous, for,
great as my veneration is for the intellectual powers
and professional merit of Lord Mansfield, I know,
and am now forced to confess, that other parts of
his character are not equally brilliant Must then
my hatred be inferred from the circumstance of my
having communicated my objections to Dr. in
the course of our correspondence ? Surely this is a
perverse inference. Surely I was doing for Lord
Mansfield what a friend would wish me to do.
Surely, if I felt any emotions of dislike towards the
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518 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
noble Lord, I suppressed them at the moment, from
the regard I bore to the credit of Dr. 's taste
and the warmth of his attachment. Surely I was in
effect excluding myself and all other men from ex-
ercising " a talent for sly and insidious detraction*
when I desired Dr. not to make use of a
motto which, in the mind of every scholar, must be
associated with the remembrance of the occasion
upon which Horace had written the words in ques-
tion, and which might furnish opportunities for ca-
lumny to those, who may have heard of Lord Mans-
field what I myself have heard, and may believe to
his disadvantage more than I believe.
PORSON.
Mr. Porson, the re-publisher of Heyne's Virgil, is
a giant in literature, a prodigy in intellect, a critic,
whose mighty achievements leave imitation panting
at a distance behind them, and whose stupendous
powers strike down all the restless and aspiring sug-
gestions of rivalry into silent admiration and passive
awe. He that excels in great things, so as not to
be himself excelled, shall readily have pardon from
me, if he errs in little matters better adapted to little
minds. But I should expect to see the indignant
shades of Bentley, Hemsterhuis, and Valckenaer rise
from their grave, and rescue their illustrious suc-
cessor from the grasp of his persecutors, if any at-
tempt were made to immolate him on the altars of
dulness and avarice, for his sins of omission, or his
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TO COMBE* STATEMENT. 519
sins of commission, as a corrector of the press.
Enough, and more than enough, have I have heard
of his little oversights, in the hum of those husy
inspectors who peep and pry after one class of de-
fects only, in the prattle of finical collectors, and
the cavils of unlearned and half-learned gossips*
But I know that spots of this kind are lost in the
splendour of this great man's excellencies. I know
that his character towers far above the reach of such
puny objectors. I think that his claims to public
veneration are too vast to be measured by their
short and crooked rules, too massy to be lifted by
their feeble efforts, and even too sacred to be touched
by their unhallowed hands.
H ALU FAX.
The piety of Dr. Hallifax I have never depreciated.
The learning of Dr. Hallifax I have more than once
commended, and in truth I have had more opportu-
nities for judging of both, than may have fallen to
the lot of the Variorum Editor. But if Dr. Hallifax
had really joined the learning of even Archbishops
Potter and Usher to the piety of Bishops Beveridge
and Berkeley, still I should think myself warranted
in saying all I have said of a prelate who had spoken
in such degrading terms of such a valuable writer as
Dr. Lardner. To my weak understanding and gro-
veling spirit, it does not seem the best method for
supporting the general interests of literature and re-
ligion, that one scholar should speak thus of another,
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520 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
not upon a doubtful and unimportant subject of
taste or criticism, but upon the merit of a work in-
tended, like that of Lardner, to uphold the common
cause of Christianity against a vigilant and active
confederacy of common foes. Where Dr. Combe spoke
of " Jani industrial his meaning was not so clear as
it might have been easily made. But when Dr.
Hallifax called Dr. Larduer " laborious," every man
of discernment knew his meaning, * and few men
* By a trifling mistake I said industrious. — Long before the
Variorum Edition I knew the appropriate sense of the Latin
word industria, as distinguished from diligentia* But from the
want of epithets or words nearly synonymous, in the Preface to
the Variorum Edition, and from other circumstances- which, t
will not enumerate, I had my doubts concerning the precise ex-
tent of Dr. C.'s commendation ; and as the edition of Janus
marked by myself had been of great use to the first volume of
the Variorum Edition I wished to see terms of approbation
more full, and upon this occasion more unequivocal. — When
Varro commended the industry of JElius, he also professed
" MM ingenium non reprehendere"— tee A. Gell. lib* i. cap.
18- When Muretus applied " pleraque omnia integra" to the
industry of Canter, whom he supposed to be preparing an
edition of Athensus, he took care to prevent any misconception
of his own meaning, by calling Canter, " hominum erudittssi-
mum qui studium in Athenseo emendando posuisset, cumque a
se Latine incredibili felicitate redditum brevi editurus essei."
Vid. Mureti Var. Lect. cap. 2. lib. xviii.— But Dr. C. is less
copious in the description, and less warm in the commendation
of the industrious Janus ; and as to the complimentary epithet
" celeberrimus," no stress can be laid upon a term, which critics
use of each other as a title of course, and which they rarely
omit, even where they are confuting and deriding their brethren
of the craft. — If I were not scared at the charge of introducing
republican simplicity into the regions of philology, I should al-
most venture to adopt and recommend the following sentiment
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to combe's STATEMENT. 021
of delicacy and impartiality will be found to de-
fend it.
Now if Dr. Combe should not have chanced to
torn his attention to the theological writings of both
these Doctors, he can hardly be considered as a com*
petent judge in a case where he has appeared as a
vehement accuser. In reality, it is not so much for
an editor of Horace, as for theological readers who
know the " signs of the times and the seasons," to
decide upon the dangerous tendency of such fasti*
dious expressions issuing from authors placed in such
high stations. When Dr. Combe calls Dr. Hallifa* a
learned and a pious bishop, I assent to the justness
of the epithets, and yet I am disposed to consider
of Heyne.— Nominibus Virorum doctorum, quos commemoravi,
imprimis vita defunctorum, nolui ubique adjicere honoris causa,
Vir. CI. aut quo nunc se mutuo honore compellant, Vir. 111.
Totum hunc morem facetum, sou verius ineptum* quo cseditnu*,
et totidem plagis consumimus hostem, utinam sublatum esse
vellet setas nostra. Non ex loco et ordine et diginitate, verum
ex ingenio, doctrina et mentis viri litterati censendi sunt. Vid.
Pag. xix. Praefat. ad Nov. edition. Heynii Virgil. The autho-
rity of Heyne may not be sufficient to produce any alteration in
the practice of those critics, whom the late Dr. George, of Eton,
ludicrously calls the " Panuity." Yet I shall endeavour to give
farther protection to my own opinion by the words of Morcek
lus : " Nee bene litterati viri, quod nunc vulgo fit, viri clarissimi
vocantur, quum ea formula veteres dignitatem virorum, non
doctrmam designarent : itaque senatores potissimum sic audie-
runt ; eaque de caussa quum eo titulo Prsefecti Pnetorio care*
rent, quod ex equestri ordine creabantur," " Severus Alexander
Senatoriam/' inquit Lampridius, " his addidit dignitatem, ut
viri clarissimi et essent et dicerentur." — V. M orcellum de Stilo
Inscript Latin, p. 444.
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52$ EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
the doctor as speaking not from any direct know-
ledge of the bishop's publications, but upon the
authority of general report, and in conformity to
that language of courtesy which I hope to see pre-
vailing in this country more and more. Among the
good effects arising from the disasters and the
crimes of a neighbouring kingdom, this I believe is
not the least, that clergymen and bishops are now
mentioned with less scorn and levity than they used
to be, by those persons who have at last discovered
the connection that subsists between the influence
of religious teachers, and the belief of religion itself,
between religion and the practice of morality,
between morality and the dearest interests of so-
ciety. Upon topics of polite literature, and in cases
of personal provocation, allowances may be made
for the harsh language of clergymen — but when
they are writing on the momentous concerns of re-
ligion, they cannot more effectually secure the respect
of laymen than by speaking of each other's well-
meant labours without disrespect. On this subject
I have delivered my opinions in two former publica-
tions, and I see no reason for changing them.
While Dr. Hallifax was living, I re-published the
Warburtonian tracts. In the dedication I said
(p. 155) : " What Bishop Hallifax really is in the
republic of learning it can be no disgrace for any
other scholar to be." In the preface, p. 189, I had
occasion to make the same allusion which I made in
the review, to the same epithet " laborious ;w and
in both places I was led to make it by an asso-
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ciation which is natural enough among men of
letters, and by motives which I shall never be afraid
to avow.
DR. MARTYN AND DR. SHAW.
In regard to Botany itself, I cannot hold in con-
tempt that science which I know to be cultivated by
a man endowed with such elegance of taste and
soundness of understanding, and furnished with such
stores of antient and modern learning, as Mr. Pro-
fessor Martyn. I have myself lately been instru-
mental in procuring from the Cambridge press the
publication of a work which chiefly turns upon bo-
tanical subjects, and was drawn up by my friend Dr.
Falconer, a man whose knowledge is various and
profound, whose discriminations upon all topics of
literature are distinct and clear, and whose powers
of generalization are ready, vigorous, and compre-
hensive. More than once it has fallen in my way to
see some botanical pieces written by Dr. Shaw, of the
British Museum ; and happy am I in this opportu-
nity of declaring the delight I felt from the pure and
flowing latinity, the apposite and lucid expressions,
the delicate sentiments, and the harmonious periods
which adorn its charming compositions.
WILD.
If in writing or not writing upon politics I am to be
governed by the advice of other men, " Quid sequar.
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524 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
aut quern ?" One calls upon me to publish ; bat Mf.
Wild, a man far superior in splendour of language,
in depth of research, and elevation of mind, has
given me counsel similar to that which Phalaris, in
his Epistles, gave to Stesichorus — jxeXoiey 8e <roi
juouoydv eujcXeei? wivoi. — Vide Phalar. Epist. 147, and
the end of Epist. 145. For the attainments, the
talents, and the virtues of Mr. Wild, no man living
entertains a more sincere respect than I do. Often
have I been delighted, and sometimes instructed,
by his late very eloquent work ; and sure I am that
he will not long be displeased with me for enter-
taining opinions different from his own upon topics
which he has himself discussed very fully and very
ably, and upon which I touched, and professed to
touch, incidentally and concisely.
V. CRITICISMS.
Collectus. — The authority of Tretter, and Dan.
Aveman, and Isaac Verbergius, will not remove my
doubt of the propriety of this word.
Huic conjecture aliquanto faret. False Latin.
Proloquium. — I have elsewhere expressed my
dissent from the learned Bishop of Worcester, who
explains the word sermo in the Epistle to Augus-
tus, by proem or introduction. Dr. C. I observe,
translates introduction by proloquium. Now this
translation will not be thought accurate cither by
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TO COMBES STATEMENT. 525
those who hove read the words proloquium disjunc*
turn, in book v. cap. 12, of Aulus Gellius, or by those
who are acquainted with the full and correct expla-
nation of the word proloquium in book xvi. cap. 8,
of the same author, where Varro's definition is re-
corded and illustrated. Gesner, indeed, in his The-
saurus, produces a solitary example of proloquium
for exordium, in the third Declamation ascribed to
Quintilian. But the Declamation itself is the miser-
able reply of some monkish scribbler to the pre-
ceding speech pro milite Mariano ; and even here
the word proloquia does not mean exordia. The
passage runs thus : " Patiatur et tua divina virtus,
et Romance ceterum militiae pia discretio, patiatur
(inquam) necessaria communis causae proloquia."
Soon after we read, " fictum, precor, omnes, quod
tribuno mendacissimo prolocutor objectat " Bur*
man, in his note on the last passage, says, " Forte,
fictum precor hominis crimen ignosce. Prolocuto-
rem vero advocatum monachus vocat, qui loquitur
pro milite, ubi vernaculae linguae ingenium ag-
noscere licet" — Vide Cangii Glossar. in Praelocutor
et Prolocutor, et in Proloquia paulo ante.
In looking into Du Cange, I find that praelocu-
tor is explained by advocatus, patronus, causidicus,
and that sometimes he is called prolocutor. Nol-
tenius writes thus on praeloquium : " Praeloquium
in ecclesia hodie increbruit, quo quidem designant
exordium illud prius, quod textui sacro coetui prae-
legendo ratione quadam congruenti praemittitur ; at
veteres id vocabuli omnino ignorant."
" Qui emendant per proloquium, nempe isti er-
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526 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER
rant : id enim veteribus significat axioma luce sua*
radians; quod animum legends illico ferit : senten-
tia in qua nihil desideratum interprete." — Varro
apud Gellium, lib. xvi. cap. 8.
It appears then that proloquium is seldom or
never used for a proem, even in the lower ages of
Latinity. I am really at a loss to account for Dr.
C.'s use of this word. I have looked into the Eng-
lish Dictionary prefixed to Patrick's edition of
Ainsworth, and there I do not find proloquium un-
der the word proem. A better word, prooemium,
is, indeed, to be found, and for this rhetorical word
the Doctor might have met with authority in Cas-
siodorus, page 367 of the Antiqui Rhetores Latini,
edit. Capperon, or in Quintilian, cap. 1, lib. iv. edit
Burman. But surely when a writer, being at liberty
to use principium, or exordium, or prooemium, yet
uses proloquium, " he shows/' as Lord Bacon, says
of the schoolmen, " a strange disregard to the pure-
ness, pleasantness, and lawfulness of the phrase."
WAKEFIELD AND BISHOP KURD.
Anxious as I was to shelter from reproach the
name of a man, whose virtue I so much love, and
whose talents and learning I so highly admire, I
took care to soften the harsh appearance of some of
his words, by quoting in the British Critic for
March other expressions from his Notes on Virgil,
where he speaks with great and just respect of Bi-
shop Hurd. But I will now pursue the same de-
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to combe's statement. 527
sign, by quoting from Mr. Wakefield's Observations
more terms of praise which he uses of the same
illustrious prelate : " Bishop Hurd, if I may pre-
sume to question the sagacity of so great a name,
and the very ingenious critic he cites, seem to have
mistaken the true meaning of pulchra in line 99 of
Horace de Arte Poetica;" and again, upon lines
212 and 214, " All the commentators have grossly
erred in their explication of these two lines, and it
is with peculiar concern that I cannot except even
him, to whom this most exquisite composition is so
much indebted for the elucidation of that unity of
design, that harmony of connection, and that full
colouring, which the obliquity of former critics had
broken and almost dissipated* The same very
learned author (with the utmost deference I speak it)
judiciously reads, " aut tibi constet "
I am very glad to find that my learned friend
Wakefield agrees with me in approving Bishop
Hurd's conjecture of aut for et, inline 127 of Horace
de Arte Poetica. The conjecture itself is ingenious,
and the reasoning employed to support it is, in my
opinion, decisive. The learned reader will, I trust,
be yet more disposed to adopt the above-mentioned
alteration, after considering the very judicious note
of Mai tl and on line 1375 of the Iphigenia in Au-
lide. If the second volume of the Variorum Edi-
tion had been printed under my inspection, I should
not have omitted this noble conjecture of Bishop
Hurd. On looking lately into the copy of Wake-
field's book, lent by me to Mr. Homer, I find several
observations npon the art of poetry marked by me,
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528 EXTRACTS FROM ANSWER TO COMBE S STATEMENT.
which do not appear in the second volume of the
Variorum Edition*
PULMAN.
The hook which I lent Mr. Homer before the Ho-
race was sent to press, contained Pulmanni Anno*
tationes in Q. Horat. Flacc. ; Aldi Manuti Scholia,
et de Metris Horatianis ; M. Antonii Mureti Scho-
lia; Joannis Hartungi Annotationes, published at
Antwerp in 12mo, 1577 ; together with Jani Doura
in novam Q. Horatii Editionem Commentariolus,
published at Antwerp 1580. It is a valuable collec-
tion for any scholar to possess, and contains much
information which ought to have appeared in the
Variorum Edition. Mr. Homer, on returning it,
told me that he had procured some of the editions
in which are found the contents of my book ; I see
their names in Dr. Combe's Catalogue.
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NOTES
RAPINS DISSERTATION
WHIGS AND TORIES.
VOL. III. 2 M
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NOTES
ON
RAPIN'S DISSERTATION.
Page 4.* — Causes of the Stability of the British
Government.
For the causes that enabled England to preserve
the form of government, which other nations have
lost, see chap. I. of De Lolme — " While the king-
dom of France, in consequence of the slow and
gradual formation of the feudal government, found
itself, in the issue, composed of a number of parts
simply placed by each other, and without any re-
ciprocal adherence; the kingdom of England, on the
contrary, in consequence of the sudden and violent
introduction of the same system, became a com-
pound of parts united by the strongest ties ; and the
regal authority, by the pressure of its immense
weight, consolidated the whole into one compact
indissoluble body. " Chap, I. page 15.
Another cause is assigned by the same writer,
"When the tyrannical laws of the Conqueror be-
came still more tyranically executed, the Lord, the
vassal, the inferior vassal, all united. They even
implored the assistance of the peasants and cottagers ;
* The pages refer to an edition of Rapin's Dissertation,
which will be published with Dr. Parr's Notes.
2m2
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532 on rapin's dissertation
and that haughty aversion with which on the con-
tinent the nobility repaid the industrious hands
which fed them, was, in England, compelled to yield
to the pressing necessity of setting bounds to the
royal authority. " Page 23.
In chapter the second he states and explains a
third advantage of England, viz^. because it formed
one undivided state — "England was not, like France,
an aggregation of a number of different sovereign-
ties ; it formed but one state, and acknowledged
but one master, one general title. The same laws,
the same kind of dependence, consequently the same
notions, the same interests, prevailed throughout
the whole. The extremities of the kingdom could,,
at all times, unite to give a check to the exertions
of an unjust power — from the river Tweed to Ports-
mouth, from Yarmouth to the Land'6 End, was all
in motion ; the agitation increased from the distance
like the rolling waves of an extensive sea ; and the
monarch, left to himself, and destitute of resources,
saw himself attacked on all sides by an universal
combination of his subjects." Page 26.
Bolingbroke, in his dissertation upon parties,
observes that, " the defects which he had censured
in the Roman constitution of government, were
avoided in some of those that were established on
the breaking of that empire, by the northern nations
and the Goths. In letters 14 and' 15 he makes
some judicious remarks on the origin and decline
both of the Spanish and French governments. The
Parliaments in France, he affirms, never gave the
people any share in the government of that king-
4pmfw When prerogative foiled, they added, he
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 533
-says, " a deputation of the commons to the assembly
of the estates ; that, seeming to create a new con-
front on the Crown, they might in reality give
greater scope and freer exercise to arbitrary will."
Letter 15.
Among other causes of the stability of the English
government, are to be ranked, the unity of the ex-
ecutive power, the division of the legislative power,
and the business of proposing laws, which is lodged
in the hands of the people. These subjects are fully
and ably discussed in the four first chapters of De
Lolme on the English Constitution, Book n.
Page 6. — Peculiarity of the British Government.
How far the British government differs from
republican governments, is shewn by De Lolme,
chap. x. book n. In chapter xvn. is explained
the total difference between the English monarchy
as a monarchy, and every other monarchy with
which we are acquainted; and in chapter xvm.
he shows, by the most decisive and important
proofs, how far the examples of nations that have
lost their liberty are applicable to England — " All
the political passions of mankind, says he, if we
attend to it, are satisfied and provided for in the Eng-
lish government; and whether we look at the
monarchical, or the aristocratical, or the democrati-
cal part of it, we find all those powers already
settled in it in a regular manner, which have an
unavoidable tendency to arise, at one time or other,
in all human societies." Page 427.
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534 ON rapin's dissertation
The reader will not be displeased to see the sa-
gacious observations of Blackstone on this mo-
mentous subject—" These three species of govern-
ment have, all of them, their several perfections
and imperfections ; democracies are usually the best
calculated to direct the end of a law ; aristocracies
to invent the means by which that end shall be ob-
tained ; and monarchies to carry those means into
execution. And the ancients, as was observed, had
in general no idea of any other permanent form of
government but these three : for though Cicero de-
clares himself of opinion, " esse optime constitutam
rempublicam, quae ex tribus generibus ilHs, regali,
optimo, et populari, sit modice confusa :* Yet Ta-
citus treats this notion of a mixed government,
formed out of them all, and partaking of the ad-
vantages of each, as a visionary whim, and one that,
if effected, could never be lasting or secure.
Cunctas nationes et urbes populus, aut primores,
aut singuli regunt ; delecta ex his et constituta rei-
publicae forma laudari facilius quam evenire, vel, si
evenit, hand diuturna esse potest. — Ann. 1. 4. But,
happily for us of this island, the British Consti-
tution has long remained, and I trust will long
continue, a standing exception to the truth of this
observation. For, as with us the executive power
of the laws is lodged in a single person, they have
all the advantages of strength and dispatch, that are
to be found in the most absolute monarchy : and,
" as the legislature of the kingdom is entrusted to
three distinct powers, entirely independent of each
other; first, the. King; secondly, the Lords spi-
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OW WHIGS AND TORIES. 536
ritual and temporal, which is an aristocratical
assembly of persons selected for their piety, their
truth, their wisdom, their value, or their property ;
and thirdly, the House of Commons, freely chosen
by the people from among themselves, which makes
it a kind of democracy ; as this aggregate body,
actuated by different springs, and attentive to
different interests, composes the British Parliament,
and has the supreme disposal of every thing, there
can no inconvenience be attempted by either of the
three branches, 'but will be withstood by the other
two; each branch being armed with a negative
power, sufficient to repel any innovation which it
shall think inexpedient or dangerous. Here then
is lodged the sovereignty of the British Constitution ;
and lodged as beneficially as is possible for society."
Page 50, vol. I. Blackstone.
An Englishman may therefore say with Polybius,
SqAov «fr agiVn)* pt€v TJyrjreft ToXireiav rqv ck iravrmv
rwv 7rp*€ipr}fjJvwv ISiaifxarco* <rove0-ra><ra9. What the
same writer says of the Spartan government, may
be said more truly and more illustriously of the
British, rovrov ytkp toS ftepou? ot> Xoyai /xo'vov, aXX' %pyca
repay 6iXtf$a/A€y. Page 628, vol. I. Meg. Historia-
rom, lib. 6.
Page 7. — Adjustment of its Powers.
" Sometimes indeed the distribution is equal,
either when the constituent parts depend mutually
on each other, as in the English government ; or
when the authority of each part is independent,
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596 on rapin's dissertation
though imperfect, as in Poland. This last form is
a bad one, because there is no union in such a go-
vernment, and the several parts of the state want a
due connection." — Rousseau on the Social Compact,
page 128.
Upon the influence of the Crown and the co-
operation of the three forms in our government,
which, in themselves, are yet distinct, some ex-
cellent observations are made in a late dialogue on
the actual state of Parliament — " As the King is
responsible to Parliament for the exercise of has
prerogative through his ministers, as the right of
treaties are subject to the division of Parliament, as
Parliament furnish all pecuniary supplies, the pre-
rogative is actually subservient to and dependent
upon Parliament. If the Crown is dependent upon
Parliament, the House .of Lords is well known to
be in a great degree dependent on the Crown, and
both of them ultimately on the House of Commons.
Such is the real state of those distinct and inde*
pendent rights which theorists imagine operate in
separate scales, as checks to one another ; and yet,
as circumstanced as they are, all these institutions
have still their utility, and are beneficial to each
other from their connection, though not by their
mutual opposition, as it is falsely imagined." Page 7.
— Page 17, he maintains that " it is upon the har-
mony, not the dissension, of these principles ; upon
the close and intimate connection, not upon the op-
position of them, that depend the beauty and effi-
cacy of the English Constitution." Doubtless, in
the general course of government, these several
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 537
-powers can and do unite for the general purpose
for which they are respectively designed. Their
privileges and rights, however distinct, are yet di-
rected towards one common object ; but when either
affects to predominate excessively, to deviate from
the plain and essential principles of the constitution,
or to throw, by violence, even the forms of our go-
vernment out of their course, it is the duty and the
interest of the two other powers to check these en-
croachments by the firmest opposition and the
most unequivocal dissension. The passage which I
am now going to quote is so consistent with com-
mon experience, and yet so contrary to the common
language of men upon these subjects, that I think
it of importance to lay the whole before the reader
— I assert freely, that, if the " three principles of go-
vernment are better than one ; if they cannot exist,
independently, in King, Lords, Commons ; if, in the
course of our history, through all our revolutions,
the powers of government have always united in the
one branch that was predominant, to which the
other two have been made subservient; it is far
better for every good purpose, that such powers
should devolve upon the House of Commons, than
upon the King or upon the Peers ; provided always,
that the influence and spirit of the three principles
accompany that power in the assembly that acquires
it, I assert, therefore, that, if the House of Com-
mons, which has assumed to itself the power, and in
my opinion happily for this country, should ever be
divested of any one of those three influences, to
guide, temper, and regulate the exertions of that
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power, that instant there is indeed a change and re-
volution, not in the form, bnt in the essence, of the
government, which requires the three influences in
the efficient part of the legislature to be, what it
professes, a mixed government.
" The whole nicety consists in the adjusting and
apportioning the quantum of each influence, so as
to keep the balance even, without weighing down
the others. As long as the patronage of the Crown
affects the House of Commons only, so far as to in*
duce a general support of public measures, and a
bias towards the system that is pursued, not a blind
confidence in, or prostituted devotion to, the mi*
Bister ; as long as the patrician influence extends no
farther than to give to landed property and ancient
establishments their just weight, without trampling
upon the rights and interests of the people at large;
and whilst the democratical principle in that as-
sembly is restrained within such bounds as shall
give equal liberty to every subject, impartial justice,
and security to their persons and property, without
die inconsistencies and extravagances of a popular
government, I shall say all is well, and better than
any alteration can hope to make it. I do not say
this balance is actually adjusted with all the pre-
cision possible — wise and moderate checks may be
thought of, from time to time, without dangerous
experiments of innovation, to counteract the in-
creasing influence of the Crown ; and to such I
shall be always ready to lend every assistance ; as long
as that weight appears to me, as it does at present,
to predominate in the scale." — Dial on the Act
State of Parliam. page 46.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 539
These observations, however unpopular, are upon
the whole just ; if they jar with some well con-
structed and well received theories, they yet have
the merit of resting on the solid evidence of fact
I do not agree with every position in this book : I
doubt whether the regal influence predominate in
the scale, and I particularly disapprove of the vio-
lent and declamatory invective which breaks out in
page 53. But I confidently bear my testimony
against the decision of a most learned and amiable
man, whom I have the honour to call my friend,
when he pronounces the dialogue " the most laugh-
able and whimsical thing of the kind he ever met
with." — See page 22 of a letter to the author of a
pamphlet, entitled Free Parliaments.
Page 9. — The Dependency and Independency of
Parliament.
The dependency and independency of Parlia-
ment are thus elegantly stated by Bolingbroke —
" The constitutional independency of each part of
the legislature arises from hence, that distinct rights,
powers, and privileges are assigned to it by the con-
stitution ; but then this independency of one part
can be so little said to arise from the dependency
of another, that it consists properly and truly in the
free, unbiassed, uninfluenced, and independent ex-
ercise of these rights, powers, and privileges, by
each part, in as ample an extent as the constitution
allows ; or in other words, as far as that point
where the constitution stops this free exercise, and
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submits the proceedings of one part, not to the pri-
vate influence, but to the public controul of the
other parts. Before this point, the independency
of each part is meant by the constitution to be ab-
solute. From this point the constitutional depend-
ency of each part on the others commences.* Page
197, letter 12. — Such is the fair prospect which
theory presents to us ; but in practice, we are
told by a respectable authority, " the share of
power alloted by our constitution to the House of
Commons is so great, that it absolutely commands
all the other parts of the government." The same
writer, who informs us of our danger, has pointed
out what he represents, and what in some degree I
am inclined to believe, the remedy — " The interest
of the body is restrained by the interest of indi-
viduals, and the House of Commons stretches not
its power, because. such an usurpation would be
contrary to the interest of the majority of its mem-
bers. The Crown has so many offices at its disposal,
that, when assisted by the honest and disinterested
part of the House, it will always command the re-
solutions of the whole ; so far at least, as to pre-
serve the ancient constitution from danger. We
may, therefore, give to this influence what name
we please ; we may call it by the invidious appella-
tions of corruption and dependence ; but some de-
gree and some kind of it are inseparable, from the
very nature of the constitution, and necessary to
the preservation of our mixed government. Instead
then of asserting absolutely, that the dependence of
Parliament, in every degree, is an infringement of
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 541
British liberty, the country-party had better have
made some concessions to their adversaries, and
have only examined what was the proper degree of
this dependence, beyond which it became dangerous
to liberty * See Hume's Essay on the ladepencL of
Pari. — Though I mean not to be an advocate for
corruption* I readily assent to the foregoing ob-
servations, and I am confident from long and se-
rious observation, that the influence of the Crown,
" arising from the offices and honours which are at
its disposal," may be justified to the satisfaction of
every impartial friend to the liberties of his country.
" Such moderation (as Hume says) is not to be
expected from party men of any kind." But it is a
most dangerous position to say indiscriminately
" that the Crown can never have too little influence
over Members of Parliament," for that influence
may be employed,, and has been employed, so as to
direct the passions and selfishness of men to the
public good. " Polybius (as Hume remarks) justly
esteems the pecuniary influence of the Senate and
Censors in giving offices to be one of the regular
and constitutional weights which preserved the bar-
lance of the Roman government." It will be asked,
where dependence is to cease, and independence to
begin ? To this I answer, that when the cases practi-
cally exist, it will be no difficult task for wise and
active Senators to foresee any dangers that are
likely to arise, or to remedy those which have grown
up imperceptibly. The constitution in its princi-
ples and in its forms has provided effectual remedies,
and it must bet left to the judgment of wise and:
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542 on rapin's dissertation
good men to apply them. But in respect to this
and many other subjects of government, it is diffi-
cult and even dangerous to decide in speculation the
proper medium between extremes, " both because
it is not easy to find words (as Hume observes) pro-
per to fix this medium, and because the good and
ill, in such cases, run so gradually into each other,
as even to render our sentiments doubtful and un-
certain.*' The strength of contending parties, the
reigning manners of the times, the pressing exi-
gencies of war, and a variety of other circumstances,
which are best understood when they actually exist,
may render it proper for the influence of the Crown
to be sometimes contracted and sometimes enlarged.
It is always however to be remembered, that the
very necessity which compels the Crown to have
recourse to influence, implies a real and rooted
strength in those over whom it is employed. The
extent of influence is then a decisive proof of the
weakness of prerogative. Doubtless in the hands
of a profligate minister it may be abused to un-
dermine the liberties of our country — under the di-
rection of an able and an upright one, it may be
employed to check licentiousness, and to make the
ambition of individuals an useful instrument in pro-
moting the welfare of the community.
Amidst the many who clamour against its excess,
and exaggerate its dangers, there are few men so
generous as to renounce its advantages, and yet
fewer so infatuated as to wish its total extinction.
Conscious as I am of being actuated by a sincere
love of constitutional and rational freedom, and a
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ON WHIGS AND TORIBS. 543
fixed detestation against unconstitutional and cor-
rupt influence, I deliver the foregoing sentiments
without apology for their boldness, and without fear
of their consequences. My opinions about the con-
stitution, and my attachment to it, are founded not
on visionary refinements, but on solid facts — not
on the precarious assumptions and specious plans
of rash or treacherous reformers, but on the clear
and broad evidence of history— -on the real cha-
racters and conduct of men, and on the real ten-
dencies and natures of things themselves. It would
therefore be weakness not to foresee, and cowardice
not to despise, the rude invectives of those men, qui
tanquam artifices improbi opus quaerunt, et semper
aegri aliquid esse in republic*! volunt, ut sit ad cujus
curationem a populo adhibeantur. Iivy, Lib. v.
— That an independence amounting to separation,
that a perpetual and restless jealousy, an undistin-
guishing and implacable spirit of opposition, must
be injurious, between powers which are instituted
for one common object, is an assertion which re-
quires no proof. — Dr. Jebb, a most jealous and
strenuous asserter of freedom, has the sagacity to
discern, and the candour to acknowledge, that the
freedom and independence of the King and Parlia-
ment are to be understood with restrictions. I
transcribe with great pleasure, from the writings of
that gentleman, these profound and temperate re-
flections.— " The proper rights and functions of each
of these powers, and the passions incident to human
nature, when placed in certain circumstances, tend,
however, to unite them, on every occasion where
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the public good requires their consent; and the
same passions also tend to controul, or moderate,
their mutual actions, and effectually to prevent their
union, when such union would obstruct the general
welfare of the state. I readily acknowledge, that,
in this sense, no branch of the legislature can be
considered as free and independent— -they are alf
subjected, equally with individuals, to those moral
causes, which, in the most exalted state of political
liberty, with resistless energy, though frequently
silent and unobserved, controul, direct, and modify
the actions of mankind.9* See Jebb's address to the
Freeholders of Middlesex, page 9.
After all, if the reader be yet alarmed at the
power of the Crown to bestow places, let him know
that the case is not yet desperate; for, " whatever
ministers may govern, whatever factions may arise,
let the friends of liberty lay aside die groundless
distinctions, which are employed to amuse and be-
tray them ; let them continue to coalite ; let them
hold fast their integrity, and support with spirit and
perseverance the cause of their country, and they
will confirm the good, reclaim the bad, vanquish
the incorrigible, and make the British constitution
triumph even over corruption." This animated
language was spoken by the haughty and ex-
asperated railer against influence. It contains a
safe and efficacious preservative against the encroach-
ments of the Crown and the usurpations of the
Parliament — may it be deeply impressed on the
heart of every worthy citizen, who wishes to sup-
port the measures of government without venality,
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ON WHIGS AND TOEIES. 545
as well as to oppose them without faction.— See
Bolingbroke's Dissertation upon Parties, vol. hi.*
page 294.
Page 12. — Liberty of Northern Nations.
The sagacious Montesquieu has assigned many
both physical and political causes why liberty is na-
tural to the northern nations. In Dr. Stewart's ad*
mirable dissertation on the antiquity of the English
constitution, the reader will find a learned and phi-
losophical explanation of the similarity which per-
vades the institutions and principles of government
among the ancient Germans and those of the Eng-
lish.—See particularly part v. on the great Coun-
cil or Parliament in Germany and England.
Page 12. — JVittena-Gemote.
" Among the most remarkable of the Saxon laws
we may reckon first, the constitution of Parlia-
ments, or rather, general assemblies of the princi-
pal and wisest men in the nation, the Wittena-Ge-
mote, or commune consilium of the ancient Ger-
mans, which was not yet reduced to the forms and
distinctions of our modern Parliament, without
whose concurrence no new law could be made nor
old one altered." Blackstone, vol. iv. page 413.
" In no portion of the Anglo-Saxon period does
the power of the sovereign appear to have been ex-
orbitant or formidable. The enaction of laws, and
the supreme sway in all matters, whether civil or
VOL. III. 2 N
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ecclesiastical, were vested in the Wittena-Gemote,
or great national assembly ; this council consisted
of King, Lords, and Commons, and exhibited a
species of government, of which political liberty
was the necessary consequence, as its component
parts were mutually a check to one another. The
free condition of the northern nations, and the pe-
culiarity of their situation when they had made con-
quests, gave rise to this valuable scheme of adminis-
tration, and taught the politicians of Europe what
was unknown to antiquity, a distinction between
despotism and monarchy.1* See Stewart's Disserta-
tion prefixed to Sullivan's Lectures.
De Lolme indeed is willing to allow, with Selden,that
at the aera of the conquest we are to look for the real
foundation of the English constitution — * that the
Saxon government was not subverted by William,
and that conquest in the feudal sense only meant
acquisition, are opinions, which, says he, have been
particularly insisted upon in times of popular op-
position ; and indeed there was a far greater pro-
bability of success, in raising among the people the
notions familiar to them of legal claims and long
established customs, than in arguing with them
from the no less rational but less determinate and
somewhat dangerous doctrines concerning the ori-
ginal rights of mankind, and the lawfulness of at all
times opposing force to an oppressive government*
—Page 8.
As the antiquity of every national claim renders
it not only more pleasing to our imaginations, but
more satisfactory to our reason, I shall endeavour
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OK WHIGS AND TORIES. 547
to efface the impressions which these remarks will
probably make on the mind of the reader. In the
first place De Lolme himself acknowledges " that as
when the laws in question were again established,
the public power in England continued in the same
channel where the conquest has placed it, they were
more properly new modifications of the Anglo-Nor-
man constitution, than they were the abolition of
it ; or, since they were again adopted from the
Saxon legislation, they were rather imitations of
that legislation than the restoration of the Saxon
government. Page 9. — To the concession of De
Lolme upon this subject I subjoin the more deci-
sive opinion of Bishop Hurd— " You do not, says
Sir John Maynard, I am sure, expect from me,
that I should go back to the elder and more re-
mote parts of our history ; that I should take upon
me to investigate the scheme of government which
hath prevailed in this kingdom from the time that
the Roman power departed from us; or that I
should lay myself out in delineating, as many have
done, the plan of the Saxon constitution ; though
such an attempt might not be unpleasing, nor al-
together without its use, as the principles of the
Saxon policy, and in some respect the forms of it,
have been constantly kept up in every succeeding
period of the English monarchy. I content myself
with observing, that the spirit of liberty was pre-
dominant in those times. — Dialogues, page 116.
After some acute reflections on the word laga,
which meant both laws and countries, he says,
a You see then how fully the spirit of liberty pos-
2n2
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548 ON RAPItt's DISSERTATION
sessed the very language of our Saxon forefathers—
and it might well do so; for it was the essence of
the German constitutions; a just notion of which
(so uniform was the genius of the brave people
that planned them) may be gathered, you know,
from what the Roman historians, and above all
from what Tacitus hath recorded of them." — Page
118.
u The defenders of the regal power are conscious
of the testimony which the Saxon times are ready
to bear against them. They are wise enough to lay
the foundation of their system in the conquest.
We are told of his parcelling out the whole land,
upon his own terms, to his followers ; and we are
insulted with his famous institution of feudal te-
nures. But what if the former of these assertions
be foreign to the purpose at least, if not false ; and
the latter subversive of the very system it is brought
to establish? I think I have reason for putting both
these questions : — for, what if he parcelled out most,
or all, of the lands of England to his followers?
The fact has been much disputed — but be it, as they
pretend, that the property of all the soil in the
kingdom had changed hands, what is that to u*
who claim under our Norman, as well as Saxon
ancestors ? For the question, you see, is about the
form of government settled in this nation at the
time of the conquest; and they argue with us,
from a supposed act of tyranny in the Conqueror,
in order to come at that settlement. The Saxons,
methinks, might be injured, oppressed, enslaved,
and yet the constitution, transmitted to us
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 549
through his own Normans, be perfectly free.*9 — Pago
123.
" But their allegation is still more unfortunate*
He instituted, they say, " the feudal law." True,
" but the feudal law, and absolute dominion, are two
things ; and, what is more, perfectly incompatible.
" I take upon me to say, that I shall make out thi?
point in the clearest manner — in the mean time it
may help us to understand the nature of the feudal
establishment, to consider the practice of succeed-
ing times. What that was, our adversaries them-
selves, if you please, shall inform us— Mr. Somers
has told their story very fairly ; which yet amounts
only to this ; that, throughout the Norman and
Plantagenet lines, there was one perpetual contest
between the Prince and his feudatories for law and
liberty ; an evident proof of the light in which our
forefathers regarded the Norman constitution. In
the competition of the two roses, and perhaps be-
fore, they lost sight indeed of this prize — but no
sooner was the public tranquillity restored, and the
contending claims united in Henry VII. than the
old spirit revived — a legal constitution became the
constant object of the people; and though not al-
ways avowed, was, in effect, as constantly sub-
mitted to by the sovereign.
" It may be true, perhaps, that the ability of one
Prince, the imperious carriage of another, and the
generous intrigues of a third; but above all the
condition of the times, and a sense of former mi-
series, kept down the spirit of liberty for some
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550 on rapin's dissertation
reigns, or diminished at least the force and vigour
of its operations. But a passive subjection was
never acknowledged, certainly never demanded as
matter of right, till Elizabeth, now and then, and
King James, by talking continually in this strain,
awakened the national jealousy ; which proved so
uneasy to himself, and in the end so fatal to his
family.
" I cannot allow myself to mention these things
more in detail to you, who have so perfect a know-
ledge of them. One thing only I insist upon, that,
without connecting the system of liberty with that
of prerogative in our notion of the English govern-
ment, the tenor of our history is perfectly unintelli-
gible, and that no consistent account can be given
of it, but on the supposition of a legal limited conn
stitution" — Page 126.
Bolingbroke traces up our constitution to high
antiquity.
" The principles of the Saxon commonwealth
were therefore very democratical, and these
principles prevailed through all subsequent changes.
" The Danes conquered the crown, but they
wore it little ; and the liberties of the Saxon free-
men they never conquered, nor wrought any al-
teration in the constitution of the government."
—Rem. on Hist, of Engl., page 45.
"We may confess that William the Norman
imposed many new laws and customs ; that he
made very great alterations in the whole model of
government ; and that he, as well as his two sous,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 651
ruled, upon many occasions, like absolute, not li-
mited monarchy
" Yet neither he nor they could destroy the old
constitution; because neither he nor they could
extinguish the old spirit of liberty.
" On the contrary, the Normans and other stran-
gers, who settled here, were soon seized with it
themselves instead of inspiring a spirit of slavery
into the Saxons.
" They were originally of Celtic or Gothic ex*
traction (call it what you please), as well as the
people they subdued. They came out of the same
Northern hive, and therefore they naturally re-
sumed the spirit of their ancestors, when they -came
into a country where it prevailed." — Ibid, page 46.
" These are the sources from which all the dis-
tinctions of rank and degree that exist at this day
among us, have flowed. These are the general
principles of all our liberties. That this Saxon
constitution hath varied in many particulars, and
at several periods of time, I am far from denying*
That it did so, for instance, on the entry of the
Normans, though certainly not near so much as
many have been willing to believe, and to make
others believe, is allowed. Nay, let it be allowed
for argument's sake, and not otherwise, that during
the first confusion and the subsequent disorders,
which necessarily accompany and follow so great
and so violent a revolution, the scheme of the
Saxon constitution was broken, and the liberties of
the people invaded, as well as the crown usurped.
Let us even agree that laws were made without
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552 ON RAPIN 3 DISSERTATION
the consent of the people ; that officers and magis-
trates, civil, military, and ecclesiastical, were em*
powered without their election ; in one word, that
the Norman Kings and Lords had mounted each
other too high to be Lords over freemen, and that
the government was entirely monarchical and aristo-
cratical, without any exercise of democratical
power. Let all this be granted, and the utmost
that can be made of it will amount to this — that
confusion and violence at the entry, and for some
time after, under the government of a foreign race,
introduced many illegal practices, and some foreign
principles of policy, contrary to the spirit, and
letter too, of the ancient constitution; and that
these Kings and the Lords abused their power over
the freemen, by extortion and oppression, as Lords
over tenants. But it will remain true, that neither
Kings nor Lords, nor both together, could prevail
over them, or gain their consent to give their
right, or the law, up to the King s beck. But still
the law remained arbiter both of King and people,
and the Parliament supreme expounder and judge
of it and them. Though the branches were lopped,
and the tree lost its beauty for a time, yet the root
remained untouched, was set in a good soil, and
had taken strong hold in it ; so that care, and cul-
ture, and time, were indeed required, and our an-
cestors were forced to water it, if I may use such
an expression, with their blood ; but with this care,
and culture, and time, and blood, it shot up again
with greater strength than ever, that we might sit
quiet and happy under the shade of it ; fox if the
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES, - 5031
same form was not exactly restored in efrfery part*
yet a tree of the same kind, and as beautiful, and
as luxuriant, as the former, grew up from the same
roots.
" To bring our discourse to th*t point which i*
here immediately concerned, Parliaments were
never interrupted, nor the right of any estate taken
away, however the exercise of it might still be dis-
turbed. Nay, they soon took the forms they still
preserve, were constituted almost as they now are,
and were entirely built on the same general princi-
ples, as well as directed to the same purposes."
— Dissertat. on Parties, page 242.
Page 26. — Power of Norman Kings.
The despotic power of William is commonly
ascribed to the introduction of feudal tenures — but
the fact itself requires some explanation, and that
explanation has been given by Hurd. He under-
stands not, " as if the whole system of military
services had been created by the Conqueror, for
they were essential to all the Gothic or German
constitutions. We may suppose, then, that they
were only new modelled by this great Prince. And
who can doubt that the form, which was now given
to them, would be copied from that which the
Norman had seen established in his own country ?
It would be copied then from the proper feudal
form ; the essence of which consisted in the perpe-
tuity of the feud; whereas these military tenures
had been elsewhere temporary only, or revocable
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at the will of the Lord." Page 129.— But whether
we suppose William to have introduced, or only
to have altered and enlarged the feudal system, it
is curious to observe, that the conquest, which for
a time crushed the loose and unsettled liberties of
our country, tended ultimately to enlarge and
Strengthen them ; for, as De Lolme observes, "by
conferring an immense as well as unusual power on
the head of the feudal system, it compelled the no-
bility to contract a lasting and sincere union with
the people." — Page 25.
" The Norman Kings of imperious tempers, as-
sumed great power — the Barons did the same.
The people groaned under the oppression of both.
— This union was unnatural and could not last. —
The Barons, enjoying a sort of feudatory sove-
reignty, were often partners, and sometimes rivals
of the Kings — they had opposite interests and they
soon clashed. Thus was the opportunity created of
re-establishing a more equal free government than
that which had prevailed after the Norman in-
vasion"— Bolingbroke's Rem. on Hist, of Eng.
page 48.
The first Kings of the Norman race were favoured
by another circumstance, which preserved them
from the encroachments of their Barons — "they
were Generals of a conquering army, which was
obliged to continue in a military posture, and to
maintain great subordination under their leader, in
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OH WHIGS AND TORIES. 555
order to secure themselves from the revolt of the
numerous natives, whom they had bereaved of all
their properties and privileges. But though this
circumstance supported the authority of William
and his immediate successors, and rendered them
extremely absolute, it was lost as soon as the Nor-
man Barons began to incorporate with the nation,
to acquire a security in their possessions, and to fix
their influence over their vassals, tenants, and
slaves ; and the immense fortunes which the Con-
queror had bestowed on his Chief Captains, served
them to support their independency, and make
them formidable to the Sovereign." — Hume, vol* 11.
page 113.
Page 18.— The Conquest.
Rapin is perhaps mistaken; conquest does not
imply absolute and unlimited dominion ; and Wil-
liam professedly derived his claim from testamentary
succession. Hurd, page 121. — His victory, says
Stuart, was over the person of Harold, and not
over the rights of the nation.
Page 19. — Henry I.
" This Prince having ascended the throne to the
exclusion of his elder brother, was sensible that he
had no other means to maintain his power than by
gaining the affection of his subjects ; but at the
same time, he perceived that it must be the affec-
tion of the whole nation ; he therefore not only
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mitigated the vigour of the feudal laws in favour of
the Lords, but also annexed as a condition to the
charter he had granted, that the Lords should allow
the same freedom to their respective vassals."* — De
Lolme, page 24.
How far he executed or omitted to execute his
promise, may be seen in Blackstone, vol. iv. page
421.
Page 20. — Magna Charta.
For the description of the Magna Charta^ see
Blackstone, page 424, vol. iv. ; De Lolme, page
27. See a full history of it printed for Bell, 1769.
" In the Magna Charta the rights and privileges
of the individual, as well in his person as his pro-
perty, became settled actions. The foundation was
laid on which those equitable laws were to rise
which offer the same assistance to the poor and the
weak, as to the rich and powerful." — De Lolme,
page 29.
" And lastly, (which alone would have merited
the title it bears, of the Great Charter,) it protected
every individual of the nation in the free enjoy-
ment of his life, and his property, unless declared
to be forfeited by the judgment of his Peers, or the
law of his land."— Blackstone, vol. iv. page 424.
" De Lolme comparing the Great Charter in
which the Barons stipulated in favour of the bond-
men with the treaty concluded between Lewis XI.
and several of the Princes and Peers of France,
says, " in this treaty, which was made in order to
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 557
terminate a war which was called a war for the
public good (pro bono publico}) no provision was
made but concerning the particular power of a few
Lords ; not a word was inserted in favour of the
people." — Page 30.
Page 22. — Earl of Leicester.
" Leicester summoned a new Parliament in Lon-
don, where, he knew, his power was uncont rotable;
and he fixed this assembly on a more democratical
basis than any which had ever been summoned since
the foundation of the monarchy. Besides the Ba-
rons of his own party, and several ecclesiastics who
were not immediate tenants of the Crown, he or-
dered returns to be made of two Knights from every
shire, and what is more remarkable, of deputies
from the boroughs ; an order of men which in for-
mer ages had always been regarded as too mean to
enjoy a place in the national councils. This period
is generally esteemed the epoch of the House of
Commons, and it is certainly the first time that
historians speak of any representatives to Parlia-
ment sent by the boroughs" — Hume's Hist Eng.
vol. n. page 211.
Lest the foregoing passage, by lessening the an-
tiquity, should be thought also to lessen the dignity
of the House of Commons, I subjoin the following
sentences from the same writer: " Though that
House derived its existence from so precarious and
even so invidious an origin as Leicester's usurpation,
it soon proved, when summoned by the legal
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Princes, one of the most useful, and in process of
time, one of the most powerful members of the
national constitution, and gradually rescued the
kingdom from aristocratical as well as from regal
tyranny. But Leicester's policy, if we must ascribe
to him so great a blessing, only forwarded by some
years an institution for which the general state of
things had already prepared the nation ; and it is
otherwise inconceivable that a plant, set by so in-
auspicious a hand, could have attained to so vigorous
a growth, and have flourished in the midst of such
tempests and convulsions."
Bishop Hurd, in his Dialogues, confirms and elu-
cidates these remarks of Hume, on the growing
preparation of causes for the establishment of the
power of the Commons. — * Supposing the House
of Commons to be of late origin, what follows ?
That the House is an usurpation on the prerogative?
Nothing less — it waa gradually brought forth by
time, and grew up under the favour and good li-
king of our Princes. The constitution itself sup-
posed the men of the greatest consequence in the
commonwealth to have a seat in the national coun-
cils. Trade and agriculture had advanced vast num-
bers into consequence, that before were of. small
consequence in this kingdom. The public con-
sideration was increased by their wealth, and the
public necessities relieved by it. Were these to re-
main for ever excluded from the King's councils ?
or was not that council, which had liberty for its
object, to widen and expand itself in order to re-
ceive them? It did, in fact, receive them with
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 559
open arms, and in so doing conducted itself on the
very principles of the old feudal policy."— Hurd's
Dialogues, page 165.
Page 23. — Antiquity of the Commons.
Hume, in a masterly and elaborate dissertation
on the feudal and Anglo-Norman government, con-
tends that the Commons were no part of the Great
Council—" It is agreed that the Commons were no
part of the Great Council till some ages after the
conquest ; and that the military tenants alone of the
Crown composed that supreme and legislative as-
sembly."— Vol. ii. page 116.
" If in the long period of 200 years, which elapsed
between the conquest and the latter end of Henry
III. and which abounded in factions, revolutions,
and convulsions of all kinds, the House of Com-
mons never performed one single legislative act so
considerable as to be once mentioned by any of the
numerous historians of that age, they must have
been totally insignificant. And in that age, what
reason can be assigned for their ever being assem-
bled? Can it be supposed that men of so little
weight or importance possessed a negative voice
against the King and the Barons ? Every page of
the subsequent histories discovers their existence,
though these histories are not writ with greater ac-
curacy than the preceding ones, and indeed scarcely
equal them in that particular." — Vol. n. page 119.
To the argument drawn from the summons in
Henry III.'s time, Lord Kaimes, in his Essay on
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the Constitution of Parliament, has given an
answer, which to me is nearly satisfactory — " Whe-
ther the royal burrows were originally constituent
members of Parliament is a point much debated.
It is observed, that in England there is no evidence
upon record of burgesses being called to Parlia-
ment before 49 Henry III. at which time writs were
directed to the Sheriffs of the several counties to
return knights of the shire and burgesses ; whence
it is conjectured, that the calling of the burgesses
to Parliament was a politic of Simon De Montfort,
who had at that time the power of the kingdom in
his hands, and who called the Parliament 49
Henry III. in order to purge himself from sus-
picions spread abroad of his intending to usurp the
Crown.
u Notwithstanding these specious facts and ob-
servations, I nm of opinion, that the royal burrows
made originally one of the estates of Parliament.
" Though there is no mention of calling burgesses
to the English Parliament before the 49 Henry III.
it appears to me a very lame inference, that the
practice began at this time, when we find the records
of preceding transactions so imperfect. At tbe
same time, were these records entire, and were
there no instance before that period of a writ di-
rected to the Sheriff for calling burgesses to Parlia-
ment, it would not follow that the royal burrows
were no sooner assumed as a branch of the legisla-
ture— this must be explained. It is mentioned
above to have been the practice in King Johns
days to call only the greater Barons by name, and
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 561
to leave the lesser Barons and freeholders to he
summoned by the Sheriff edictally, or in general
terms. Probably the representatives from burrows
Were ranked with the lesser Barons, and not ho-
noured with a personal citation. When the atten-
dance of the smaller Barons came to be dispensed
with, upon their sending representatives, this change
in the constitution introduced an alteration in the
stile of the writs directed to the Sheriffs. Instead
of the old form, enjoining the Sheriffs to notify
publickly the holding of the Parliament, that all
who were bound might attend, he was commanded
specially to return two Knights of the Shire : this
made it necessary to be equally special with regard
to the representatives of the burrows ; and there-
fore, in the writ, he was directed to return two
Knights and two burgesses. This circumstance
therefore, proves nothing further than that, in
Henry III.'s time, the stile of the writ was changed
and made special, instead of being conceived, as
formerly, in general terms. But farther : the cir-
cumstances of the case are a strong evidence to me,
that this was not the first time the attendance of
the Tmrrows in Parliament was required. — Histo-
rians mention, that this Parliament was called by
Montford, in order to purge himself of a suspicion,
which was gaining ground, of his aiming at the
Crown. It is not said he had any particular con-
nexion with the burrows, to make their presence Of
use to him ; and unless it were in some such view,
I cannot imagine that Montford would, in such
ticklish circumstances, think of making any altera-
VOL. III. 2 o
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tion in the constitution. At the same time the
plain and simple stile of the writ proves it to have
been a common and known writ of the law of Eng-
land. Had any thing extraordinary been enjoined,
in must have been introduced with a .preamble to
support the command ; especially as this was not
a matter of course, but a summons, which the bur-
rows were not bound to obey." — On the Constit. of
Parliament, p. 38.
Sullivan, in page 212 of his Lectures, asserts
"that the feudal principles were principles of liberty,
but not of liberty to the whole nation, or even to
the conquerors ; I mean as to the point I am now
upon, of having a share in the legislation — that
was reserved to the military tenants, and to such
of them only as held immediately of the King."
Yet these very institutions contained within them-
selves the seeds of a larger and more liberal plan
of freedom than is at first perceived by a super-
ficial observer. — In page 17 we have seen, that, by
strengthening the hands of the King, the feudal
system made a closer union between the people and
the Barons, necessary to check the enormous growth
of regal power. In its consequences, therefore,
the very system which seemed to throw a danger-
ous weight into the hands of the Nobles, paved the
way for such a gradual acquisition pf -. power to the
people, as enabled them to resist, not less the en-
croachments of the Barons, from whom their power
was primarily derived, than to the King, against
whom it was primarily exerted. . It is indeed curi-
ous to observe, how much events baffle all the con-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES.* 563
trivances of human policy. The evil actually re-
moved by them is both in degree and kind very
different from that which they were originally de-
signed to remove. — The good which we expect from*
them often extends beyond our immediate expecta-
tions, and, if foreseen, would be rejected as incon-
sistent with out present interests. Thus our igno-
rance, as well as our wisdom, contributes to the
general welfare of the community ; and, by the ad-
mirable constitution of the moral world, while we
directly and deliberately pursue our own happiness,
we become involuntarily and eventually the instru-
ments of greater happiness to other men.
Those seeming contradictions, which I have just
now mentioned in the feudal system, are happily
reconciled by Bishop Hurd. — "Freedom" says Mr.
Somers, "is a form of much latitude. — The Nor-
man constitution may be free in one sense, as it
excludes the sole arbitrary dominion of one man ;
and yet servile enough in another, as it leaves the
government in few hands." To this Sir John
Maynard replies, — u It is true, the proper feudal
form, especially as established in this kingdom, was
in a high degree oligarchical — it would not other-
wise, perhaps, have suited to the condition of those
military ages — yet the principles it went upon were
those of public liberty, and generous enough to
give room for the extension of the system itself,
when a change of circumstances should require it."
— Hurd's Dialogues, p. 146.
To the reader, whose mind is awed and oppressed
by the authority of Mr. Hume, it may afford some
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consolation to be told, that his opinions concerning
the late origin of Parliament have been opposed
with great depth of learning, and great acuteness of
argumentation, by Dr. Stuart. — It is very remarkable
also, that from the known condition of society during
the earlier ages of our history, Hume (vol. n. p* 124,)
infers, that the Commons were not, and Stuart
(p. 288) that they were admitted as members of
the legislative body.
In page 121 of his Remarks on the Public Law
and Constitution of Scotland, Stuart maintains,
that the burgesses were the true and ancient Com-
mons of the kingdom.
"It has been usual, indeed, to represent the
boroughs as in a state of uniform and entire wretch-
edness and misery, from the earliest times till the
establishment of copimuuities and corporations in
the 12th and 13th centuries. But though no con-
clusion in the history of the European kingdoms
has been insisted upon with great vehemence,
there is none which is more untenable." I most
earnestly recommend the whole of this chapter,
and the admirable notes by which it is illustrated,
to the perusal of the reader.
In Dial. Hurd, vol. n. p. 157, some disti notices
are laid down between Knights of the Shire and
Burgesses — " The Knights were appointed to repre-
sent not all the freeholders of counties, but the
lesser tenants of the Crown only ; the Burgesses
represented towns which had formerly been in the
jurisdiction of the King and his Lords,"
" But when the military spirit declined, and com-
mercial prevailed, it was no longer reasonable, or
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 565
the interest of the Crown, that these bodies of men
should not be admitted into the public councils.*—
Ibidem, p. 159.
But Dr. Stuart supposes "the constitutional
rights of the Commons to have existed at a much
earlier period," and to " have received a temporary
interruption amidst the lawless confusion intro-
duced between regal and aristocratical dominion.9*-—
Discourse on the Laws and Gov. of Eng. p. 15.
In page 19 of this Discourse, Stuart speaks of
a work in which he "hopes to have an opportu-
nity of treating the antiquity of the Commons at
greater length" In page 281 of his Dissertation
on the antiquity of the English Constitution, he
intimates " a design of exhibiting a connected view
of several direct arguments, which prove a repre-
sentation of the Commons before the 49th of
Henry III."
It were to be wished, that this able judge and
strenuous defender of our free Constitution, would
gratify the expectation which he has long excited —
for the execution of such a task he is eminently
qualified, because he possesses at once, the diligence
of an antiquarian, the precision of a lawyer, and the
more enlarged views of an historian.
Much information has been collected on the an-
tiquity of the Commons, as forming a part of the
legislature, in TyrreFs Bibl. Polit. — The learned
writer of Observations on the more Ancient Sta-
tutes, seems, however, to be feebly impressed by
the evidences which Tyrrel has produced, and pro-
fesses to consider the whole subject as little more
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than " a point of speculation adapted to the discus-
sion of an antiquary.*' Even in this point of view, no
man is more able than Mr. Barringtpn to. select and
arrange such evidence as may lead to the determina-
tion of the question, which, if curious only in its ma-
terials, is in its principles not unimportant. The rights
we now enjoy may, doubtless, be supported by ar-
guments more obvious and more convincing than
long possession — yet, from the very frame of the
human mind, this circumstance renders every poli-
tical advantage more pleasing and indeed more se-
cure; for the continuance of any right is a presump-
tive proof of its Jitness, and therefore increases the
guilt and the danger of every attempt to take it
away. — " Antiquity," says Hume, Essay iv. " always
begets the opinion of right ; and whatever disad-
vantageous sentiments we may entertain of man-
kind, they are always found to be prodigal, both
of blood and treasure, in the maintenance of public
justice. This passion we may denominate enthu-
siasm, or we may give it what appellation we please;
but a politician, who should overlook its influence
on human affairs, would prove himself but of a
very limited understanding." — Essays, vol. I. p. 32.
For the mere amusement of the reader, I set
before him Mr. Harrington's ingenious interpreta-
tion of the word parliament — "It is a compound
of the two Celtic words parley and merit or mend;
Bullet renders par ley by the French infinitive parler;
and we use the word in English as a substantive,
viz. parley; ment or mend is translated quantity
abondance ; the word parliament therefore resolved
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 567
into its constituent syllables, may not improperly
be said to signify what the Indians of North Ame-
rica call a great talk." — P. 68.
Henry III.
It is remarked by Dr. Robertson, "that Con-
querors, though usually the bane of human kind,
proved often, in the feudal times, the most indulgent
of Sovereigns ; they stood most in need of sup-
plies from the people, and not being able to com-
pel them by force to submit to the necessary impo-
sitions, they were obliged to make them some com-
pensations by equitable laws, and popular conces-
sions.— The remark is in some measure, though
imperfectly, justified by Henry III. — He took no
steps of moment without consulting his Parliament,
and obtaining their approbation, which he after-
wards pleaded as a reason for their supporting his
measures." — Runnington upon Hale, p. 180.
Page 28.— Policy of the Tudors.
" From the first to the last of the Tudor line,
imperious and despotic as they were of their own
nature, no extraordinary stretch of power was ven-
tured upon by any of them but under the counte-
nance and protection of an Act of Parliament. —
Hence it was that the Star Chamber, though the
jurisdiction of this court had the • authority of the
common law, was confirmed by statute ; that the
proceeding of Empson and Dudley had the sanction
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of Parliament ; that Henry VIIL's supremacy, and
all acts of power dependent upon it, had the same
foundation ; in a word, that every thing which wore
the face of an absolute authority in the King, was
not in virtue of any supposed inherent prerogative
in the Crown, but the special grant of the subject.
No doubt this compliance, and particularly, if we
consider the lengths to which it was carried, may
be brought to prove the obsequious and even abject
disposition of the times, though we allow a good
deal, as I think we should, to prudence and good
policy ; but then the Parliament by taking care to
make every addition to the Crown their own pro-
per act, left their Kings no pretence to consider
themselves as absolute and independent." — Hurd's
Dial. vol. ii. p. 268.
" The kings of England continued, even in the
time of the Tudors, to have but one assembly, be-
fore which he could lay his wants and apply for re-
lief. How great soever the increase of his power
was, a single Parliament alone could furnish him
with the means of exercising it ; and whether it was
that the members of this Parliament entertained a
deep sense of their advantages, or whether private
interest exerted itself in aid of patriotism, they at
all times vindicated the right of granting, or rather
refusing, subsidies ; and amidst the general wreck
of every thing they ought to have held dear, they at
least clung obstinately to the plank which was des-
tined to prove the instrument of their preservation.9*
— De Lolme, p. 45.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 569
Page 29. — Henry Seventh.
Bolingbroke, speaking of Henry VII. says —
" We must not conclude that this King made force
the sole, though he made it the principal expedient
of his government ; he was wise enough to consider
that his court was not the nation, and that, however
he might command with a nod in the one, he must
captivate, at least in some degree, the good-will of
mankind, to make himself secure of being long
obe/ed in the other ; nay more, that he must make
his people some amends for the oppressions which
his avarice particularly exposed them to suffer. For
these reasons, as he strained his prerogative, on
some occasions very high, so he let it down again
upon others, and affected to show to his Parliaments
much condescension, notwithstanding his pride, as
well as much communication of council, notwith-
standing his reserve." — Rem. on Hist of Eng. p. 94.
Page 29.— Henry Eighth.
Upon the exorbitant power of the Crown, and the
servile obsequiousness of Parliament, see Boling-
broke, pp. 108, 109, of the Remarks on the Hist, of
Eng. — "The absolute power which Henry VIII.
exercised over the purses, lives, liberties, and con-
sciences of his people, was due to the entire influ-
ence which he had gained over the Parliament; and
this dependency of the two Houses on the King
did, in effect, establish tyranny by law."— Boling-
broke, p< 110.
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The various and uncommon causes of Henry's
power are most profoundly traced, and most cor-
rectly described by Hurd. They are to be found in
the recent depression of the Barons under his father,
in the cessation of the civil wars, in the undefined
authority and timid spirit of the Commons, in the
translation of the Pope's supremacy to the King, in
the high spiritual pretensions, and the great tempo-
ral wealth which that event brought along with it —
" The Throne did not only stand by itself, as hav-
ing no longer a dependence on the papal chair — it
rose still higher, and was, in effect, erected upon it
—for the ecclesiastical jurisdiction was not annihi-
lated but transferred, and all the powers of the Ro-
man Pontiff now centered in the King's person.
Henceforth then we are to regard him in a more
awful point of view ; as armed with both swords at
once ;" and as Nat. Bacon expresses it in his way,
as a strange kind of monster, " a King with a Pope
in his belly." — Hurd's Dialogues, vol. n. p. 259.
" In the mean time the nation rejoiced with great
reason at its deliverance from a foreign tyranny;
and the lavish distribution of that wealth which
flowed into the King's coffers from the suppressed
monasteries, procured a ready submission from the
great and powerful to the King's domestic tyranny.
. " In a word, every thing contributed to the ad-
vancement of the regal power, and, in that, to the
completion of the great designs of Providence. The
amazing revolution, which had just happened, was
at all events to be supported ; and thus, partly by
fear, and partly by interest, the Parliament west
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 571
along with the King in all his projects ; and, beyond
the example of former times, was constantly obse-
quious to him, even in the most capricious and in-
consistent measures of his government." Ibid. p.
261. — " Yet, in these very reigns, the foundations of
our liberty were laid broader and stronger than
ever." — Bolingbroke, Rem. on Hist, of Engl. p. 90.
Page 31. — Bolingbrohfs contrast between Eliza-
beth and James.
The contrast between Elizabeth and James is so
beautifully drawn by Lord Bolingbroke, that I can-
not deny myself the pleasure of transcribing it-+-
" Elizabeth had been jealous of her prerogative, but
moderate in the exercise of it. Wiser James ima-
gined, that the higher he carried it, and the more
rigorously he exerted it, the more strongly he should
be seated on his throne. He mistook the weight
for the strength of a sceptre ; and did not consider
that it was never so likely to slip, or be wrenched
out of a Prince's hands, as when it is heaviest. He
never reflected that prerogative is of the nature of
a spring, which by much straining will certainly re-
lax, and often break ; that in one case it becomes of
Httle, in the other of no use at all." — Lett. xix. on
the Hist Eng.
Page 31. — Elizabeth.
Bolingbroke, in order to degrade the government
of James I. and to calumniate the administration of
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Walpole with greater success, has decorated the
character of Elizabeth with a most splendid pane-
gyric. His remarks upon her reign have a 9trange
mixture of truth and falsehood, and they are evi-
dently designed to palliate her faults, and exagge-
rate her excellencies. But in all historical inquiries
we cannot flatter the prejudices of a reader without
insulting his understanding ; we do both when we
substitute theory for fact, and represent things as
we wish them to have been, not, as they really were.
" Elizabeth, (says Nat. Bacon) " never altered, con-
tinued, repealed, nor explained any law, otherwise
than by act of parliament, whereof there are multi-
tudes of examples during her reign." But as Hume
properly observes, "the legislative power of the
Parliament was a mere fallacy while the Sovereign
was universally allowed to possess a dispensing
power, by which all the laws could be invalidated
and rendered of no effect."-— Vol. v. p. 463.
Dr. Stuart speaks in these favourable terms—
€t Her jealousy of prerogative was corrected by her
attachment to the felicity of her people ; and the
popularity with which she reigned is the fullest proof
that she preserved inviolated all the barriers of
liberty. The reformation which the folly of her
predecessor had interrupted was completed by her
prudence." To this encomium he subjoins the fol-
lowing candid and judicious restrictions : " I do not
mean to say that Elizabeth, and the Princes who
preceded her, never acted against the spirit of our
government — her reign, and those of many of her
predecessors, were doubtless stained with many bold
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OJ* WHIGS AND TORIES. 573
exertions of authority ; but bold exertions of autho-
rity must not be interpreted to infer despotism in
oar government — we must separate the personal
qualities of princes and the principles of the consti-
tution. The government of England and the admi-
nistrations of its chief magistrates are very different
things." — Dissertation prefixed to Sullivan's Lec-
tures, p. 27.
Hume is supposed to have dwelt more fully upon
the oppressions of Elizabeth's reign, that he might
apologize more successfully for the lofty pretensions
of her successor* I will not enter into an invidious
and perhaps fruitless discussion of the motives, which
influenced him in counteracting the prejudices and
detecting the misrepresentations of preceding writers.
But in the masterly character which he has drawn
of this Queen, he has done ample justice "to her
singular talents for government, to the force of her
mind, which controled her more active and stronger
qualities, to her heroism, which was exempt from
temerity, her frugality from avarice, her friendship
from partiality, her active temper from turbulency
and a vain ambition." There is no period which
more deserves to be understood than the reign of
Elizabeth, and I think Hume has enabled every im-
partial reader to understand it well. In an appen-
dix, which is written at once with the utmost his-
torical fidelity, and the utmost philosophical pene-
tration, he has shown, "that the most absolute
authority of the Sovereign (to make use of the Lord
Keeper's expression) was established on above twen-
ty branches of prerogative which are now abolished,
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and which were, every one of them, totally incom-
patible with the liberty of the subject. But what
insured more effectually the slavery of the people
than even these branches of prerogative, was the
established principles of the times, which attributed
to the Prince such an unlimited and undefeasable
power as was supposed to be the origin of all law,
and could be bounded and circumscribed by none."
— Hume, vol. v. p. 469,
To many of his readers this language of Mr.
Hume will be very offensive ; yet I cannot persuade
myself to suspect any insidious or malignant designs
against the cause of liberty in a writer, who closes
his inquiry into the reign of Elisabeth with these
just and interesting reflections : — " The utmost that
can be said in favour of the government of that age
(and perhaps it may be said with truth) is, that the
power of the Prince, though really unlimited, was
exercised after the European manner, and entered
not into every part of the administration ; that the
instances of a high exerted prerogative were not so
frequent as to render property sensibly insecure, or
reduce the people to a total servitude ; that the free-
dom from faction, the quickness of execution, and
the promptitude of those measures which could be
taken for offence or defence, made some compensa-
tion for the want of a legal and determined liberty;
that as the Prince commanded no mercenary army,
there was a tacit check on him, which maintained
the government in that medium to which the people
had been accustomed; and that this situation of
England, though seemingly it approached nearer,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 575
was in reality more remote from a despotic and east-
ern monarchy, than the present government of
that kingdom, where the people, though guarded
by multiplied laws, are totally naked, defenceless,
and disarmed ; and besides are not secured by any
middle power interposed between them and the mo-
narch."
The Dialogues of Hurd on the reign of Eliza-
beth are written with great delicacy of sentiment,
and the most finished elegance of style ; they abound
with curious remarks on the personal qualities of
the Princess, and the peculiar manners of her time;
but they throw a very feeble light on the political
history of her government ; they are not marked by
the strong features of sagacity and impartiality
which distinguish the investigation of Hume. It
is observable that Arbuthnot, the zealous and steady
advocate of Elizabeth, makes this concession, "if
her government was at any time oppressive, the
English constitution, as it then stood, as well as her
own nature, had a good deal that bias." Vol. 11. p.
82. — I cannot suppose my reader unacquainted with
the character of Elizabeth drawn by the great Bacon.
This extraordinary composition ought not to be
read without the strictest and most vigilant atten-
tion to the temper and situation of the writer.
Page 33. — James the First*
" Among the many advantages which king James
had, on his accession to the throne of England, we
might very justly reckon the recent example of his
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predecessor. Her penetration discovered the con-
sequences of that great change in the balance of
property, of which we have spoken in letters xi. and
xii. and she accommodated at once the whole sys-
tem of her government to it, as we have there ob-
served. Whatever doubts she might have enter-
tained concerning the success of her own measures
before she had experienced the happy effects of
them, king James could reasonably entertain none.
Experience, as well as reason, pointed out to him
the sole principle on which he could establish his
government with advantage, or even with safety ;
and queen Elizabeth's reign had every year afforded
him fresh proofs that this principle of government,
which is easy in the pursuit, is effectual in the aid
to all purposes which a good man and a just prince
can desire to obtain. But king James paid as little
regard to her example as to her memory." — Lett
xvu. Hist. Eng.
How far the conduct of preceding monarchs jus*
tified the high notions which James entertained and
avowed of the imperial dignity is a question of great
importance, and has been ably discussed by Bishop
Hurd. He closes his Inquiry with these words : —
" Thus we see that, through the entire reign of the
House of Tudor, that is, the most despotic and arbi-
trary of our princes, the forms of liberty were still
kept up, and the constitution maintained even
amidst the advantages of all sorts which offered for
the destruction of both. The Parliament indeed
was obsequious,, was servile, was directed, if you
will ; but every proceeding was authorized and con-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 577
finned by Parliament. The King, in the mean time,
found himself at his ease ; perhaps he believed him-
self absolute, and considered his application to Par-
liament as an act of mere grace and popular con-
descension. At least, after so long experience of
their submission, the elder James certainly thought
himself at liberty to entertain this belief of them ;
but he was the first of our princes that durst avow
it plainly and openly. He was stimulated, no doubt,
to this usurpation of power in England by the me-
mory of his former subjection, or servitude rather
to the church of Scotland" Vol. fn. p. 269.— I
quote this passage only to show that the concur-
rence of Parliament in the tyrannical measures of
his predecessor is insufficient to support the wild
and dangerous opinions which James entertained of
the regal power, and the violent measures which he
took to establish it. I am far from every wish to
insinuate the pernicious and monstrous doctrine,
that when a servile Parliament concurs with a des-
potic King, the constitution itself is not endanger-
ed. To prevent such a conclusion I will deliver my
own sentiments upon this head in the manly and
unanswerable language of Bolingbroke, where he
speaks of the attempt made by James on the privi-
lege of the House of Commons in the case of elec-
tions : — u Whether the will of the Prince becomes
a law, by force of prerogative and independently of
Parliament ; or whether it is so made upon every
occasion by the concurrence of Parliament ; arbi-
trary power is alike established—the only difference
lies here ; every degree of this power, which is ob-
VOL. III. 2 P
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tained without Parliament, is obtained against the
forms as well as against the spirit of the constitu-
tion, and must therefore be obtained with difficulty
and possessed with danger. Whereas in the other
method of obtaining and exercising this power by
and with Parliament, if it can be obtained at all, the
progress is easy and short, and the possession of it
is so far from being dangerous, that liberty is dis-
armed as well as oppressed by this method ; that
part of the constitution which was instituted to op-
pose the encroachments of the Crown, the mal-ad-
ministration of men in power, and every other griev-
ance being influenced to abet these encroachments,
to support this mal-administration, and even to con-
cur in imposing the grievances. National concur-
rence can be acquired only by a good Prince, and
for good purposes ; because public good alone can
be a national motive. But king James was not
ignorant that private good may be rendered a supe-
rior motive to particular men, and that it is mo-
rally possible to make even Parliaments subservient
to the worst purposes of a court." — Remarks on Hist.
Eng. Lett. xx. p. 22.
Page 34. — Duke of Buckingham.
In this strong colouring Hume draws the charac-
ter of the detested favourite: — "Some accomplish-
ments of a courtier he possessed ; of every talent of
a minister he was utterly devoid ; headlong in his
passions, and incapable equally of prudence and of
dissimulation; sincere from violence rather than
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 579
candour ; expensive from profusion rather than ge-
nerosity ; a warm friend, a furious enemy ; but with-
out any choice or discernment in either ; but with
these qualities he had early and quickly mounted to
the highest rank, and partook at once of the inso-
lence which attends a fortune newly acquired, and
the impetuosity which belongs to persons born in
high stations, and unacquainted with opposition." —
Hume, vol. vi. p. 128.
" He had in his own days, and he hath in ours,
the demerit of beginning a struggle between prero-
gative and privilege, and of establishing a sort of
warfare between the Prince and the people." Rem.
on Hist. Eng. vol. n. p. 220, lett. xx. This idea
seems to have been strongly impressed on the mind
of Bolingbroke ; he expresses it with great warmth
in his Dissertation upon Parties — * If the principles
of king James and king Charles's reigns had been
disgraced by better, they would not have risen
again; but they were kept down for a time by
worse, and therefore they rose again at the restora-
tion, and revived with the monarchy. Thus that
epidemical taint with which James infected the
minds of men, continued upon us ; and it is scarce
hyperbolical to say, that this prince has been the
original cause of a series of misfortunes to this
nation, as deplorable as a lasting infection in our
air, of our water, or our earth, would have been." —
Bolingbroke's Dissert, upon Parties, vol. in. p. 51.
The evils which alarmed the fears of Rapin, and
2p2
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provoked the indignation of Bolingbroke, are in our
days considerably diminished. The haughty and
arrogant pretensions of the Crown are no longer
heard ; its powers were limited by law at the revo-
lution, and all the habits of government have gra-
dually conformed to the principles which were then
established. In the time of Rapin the effects of the
revolution were less distinctly understood, and less
extensively felt than in the present age; but the
most suspicious and irritable enemies to regal au-
thority have now little to fear from that quarter,
and accordingly their complaints are levelled not
so much against the direct as the indirect power
of the Crown — not so much against the violence
of prerogative, as against the encroachments of
influence. Bolingbroke himself, when he is describ-
ing the administration of Walpole, often loses sight
of the old contest between the prerogative of the
Crown and the freedom of the. people. The thun-
ders of his eloquence are pointed not against open
tyranny, but secret corruption. In the pursuit of
energy this beautiful writer is often regardless of
precision.
Page 35. — Charles the First.
The notes on Charles's reign will be chiefly drawn
from Mr. Hume, because the testimony of a writer
who was a professed apologist for the Stuart race,
will add weight to the sentiments of Rapin, whose
political tenets leaned towards the popular side.
Before I begin those notes, I wish to impress on
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 581
the mind of the reader a very sensible observation
of Bishop Hurd — * It may be of little moment to
us at this day to inquire how far the Princes of the
house of Stuart were blameable for their endeavours
to usurp on the constitution. But it must ever be
of the highest moment to maintain, that we had a
constitution to assert against them. Party writers
perpetually confound these two things." — Dialog,
vol. n. p. 223.
" Charles I. had imbibed the same lofty concep-
tions of kingly power, and his character was marked
by the same incapacity for real business." — Stuart's
Discourse on Laws, p. 28. — "The imprudence of
Buckingham had not softened his obstinacy." —
P. 29.
I look back with mingled feelings of indignation
and of sorrow on the strides which Charles unfortu-
nately took towards arbitrary power. But reflect-
ing on the fascinating power of early education,
comparing the virtues of this unhappy Monarch with
his faults, and remembering the peculiar difficulties
which attended his reign, I recommend to the seri-
ous consideration of every wise and good man these
just and generous observations of Lord Boling-
broke : — " We have said, in a former discourse, that
king Charles came a party-man to the Throne, and
that be continued an invasion to the people's rights,
whilst he imagined himself only concerned in the
defence of his own. In advancing this proposition,
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we were far from meaning a compliment at the ex-
pence of truth — we avow it as an opinion we have
formed on reading the relations published on all
sides, and to which it seems to us, that all the authen-
tic anecdotes of those times may be reconciled.
This Prince had sucked in with his milk those ab-
surd principles of government, which his father was
so industrious, and; unhappily for king and people,
so successful in propagating. He found them es-
poused as true principles, both of religion and po-
licy, by a whole party in the nation, whom he es-
teemed friends to the constitution in church and
state ; he found them opposed by a party, whom he
looked on indiscriminately as enemies to the church
and to monarchy. Can we wonder that he grew
zealous in a cause which he Understood to concern
himself so nearly, and in which he saw so many
men who had not the same interest, and might there-
fore be supposed to act on a principle of conscience
equally zealous ? Let any one who has been deeply
and long engaged in the contests of party ask him-
self, on cool reflection, whether prejudices concern-
ing men and things have not grown up and strength-
ened with him, and obtained an uncontrolable influ-
ence over his conduct — we dare appeal to the inward
sentiments of every such person. With this habi-
tual bias upon him king Charles came to the
Throne, and, to complete the misfortune, he had
given all his confidence to a madman." — See Boling-
broke's Remarks on Hist. Eng. lett. xxiil p. 270.
u These ills were ascribed not to the refractory
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 583
disposition of the two former Parliaments, to which
they were partly owing, but solely to Charles's ob-
stinacy in adhering to the counsels of Buckingham;
a man no wise entitled by his birth, age, services, or
merit, to that con6dence reposed in him. To be
sacri6ced to the interest, policy, and ambition of the
great, is so much the common lot of the people,
that they may appear unreasonable who would pre-
tend to complain of it. But to be the victim of the
frivolous gallantry of a favourite, and of his boyish
caprices, seemed the subject of peculiar indigna-
tion."— Hume's Hist. Eng. vol. vi. p. 238.
The behavitmr-of the Stuarts may be yet farther
explained (for I wish not to justify it) by the judi-
cious remark of Mr. Hume — " We must conceive
that monarchy, on the accession of the house of
Stuart, was possessed of very extensive authority;
an authority in the judgment of all not exactly
limited ; in the judgment of some not limitable. But
at the same time this authority was founded merely
on the opinion of people influenced by ancient pre-
cedent and example. It was not supported either
by money or force of arms ; and, for this reason, we
need not wonder that the Princes of that line were
so extremely jealous of their prerogative; being
sensible that when those claims were ravished from
them, they possessed no influence by which they
could maintain their dignity, or support the laws."
—Hume, Hist. Eng. vol. vi. p. 162.
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Page 37. — Locke's sentiments on the necessity of
frequent Parliaments.
These are the wise and constitutional sentiments
of Mr. Locke on the necessity and importance of
frequent Parliaments : — " The power of assembling
and dismissing the legislative, placed in the execu-
tive, gives not the executive a superiority over it,
but is a fiduciary trust placed in him for the safety
of the people, in a case where the uncertainty and
variableness of human affairs could not bear a steady,
fixed rule. For it not being possible that the first
framers of the government should, by any foresight,
be so much masters of future events as to be able
to prefix so just periods of return and duration to
the assemblies of the legislature, in all times to
come, that might exactly answer all the exigencies
of the commonwealth ; the best remedy that could
be found for this defect was to trust this to the pru-
dence of one who was always to be present, and
whose business it was to watch over the public
good. Constant, frequent meetings of the legisla-
tive, and long continuations of their assemblies,
without necessary occasion, could not but be bur-
thensome to the people, and must necessarily, in
time, produce more dangerous inconveniences, and
yet the quick turn of affairs might be sometimes
such as to need their present help; any delay of
their convening might endanger the public; and
sometimes too their business might be so great that
the limited time of their sitting might be too short
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 585
for their work, and rob the public of that benefit
which could be had only from their mature delibe-
ration. What, then, could be done in this case to
prevent the community from being exposed, some
time or other, to imminent hazard, on one side or
other by fixed intervals and periods, set to the meet-*
ing and acting of the legislative, but to entrust it to
the prudence of some, who being present and ac-
quainted with the state of public affairs, might make
use of this prerogative for the public good ? And
where else could this be so well placed as in his
hands, who was entrusted with the execution of the
laws for the same end? Thus, supposing the regu-
lation of times for the assembling and sitting of the
legislative, not settled by the original constitution*
it naturally fell into the hands of the executive ; not
as an arbitrary power, depending on his good plea-
sure, but with this trust, always to have it exercised
only for the public weal, as the occurrences of time,
and change of affairs might require." — Locke, on.
Civil Government, vol. n. p. 218.
The most zealous partisans of Charles must allow,
therefore, that the constitution was brought into
imminent danger, " when (in the language of Bo-
lingbroke) Parliaments were laid aside," when the
very mention of them was forbid, " and he conti-
nued to govern without any for twelve years."
Page 38. — Defence of Locke.
It is, I know not how, the fashion of the day to
treat Mr. Locke as a republican writer, and in con-
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sequence of this absurd prejudice, his character has
been unjustly exalted and depressed, and his works
either totally neglected, or unpro fit ably read. So
rooted is my own dislike to the cause of republican-
ism in this kingdom, and so great are my fears from
the intolerant and ferocious spirit of many among
its advocates, that I should be sorry to see either
their reasonings supported, or their designs forward*
ed by the authority of so illustrious a name. Such,
too, is my veneration for the sagacity and the up-
rightness of Locke, that I should blush to find him
degraded into the abject character of a mere parti-
san, contracting those views which ought to embrace
the collective interests of the species into the narrow
compass of a faction, and contending exclusively for
one mode of government, which is equally liable
with all other forms, to fatal abuse, which is utterly
incompatible with the civil and the military genius
of many civilized nations, and which is evidently
adverse to the manners and to the laws of this
country. I cannot, therefore, persuade myself to
look at this excellent person in a point of view
where he has been unfortunately misplaced by the
intemperate zeal of party, by the crude and hasty
misconceptions of his friends, and by the insidious
or malignant misrepresentations of his enemies.
His celebrated Essay upon Government I have re-
peatedly perused with the calmest, the most impar-
tial, and severe attention. While I feel myself com-
pelled to dissent from some parts, and while I lament
that others, to which I assent most sincerely, are
liable to be perverted by ignorant and factious men,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 587
I think the whole work, fairly considered, inimita-
ble and unanswerable. To his observations on the
rights of mankind, and the origin of society, I have
hitherto met with no full and direct reply. The
Dean of Gloucester, to whose vigorous mind and
correct information I am indebted for much instruc-
tion upon more confined subjects of policy, has, in
a very unprovoked and unjustifiable attack upon
Mr. Locke, indulged himself in captious and verbal
cavils. Hume, in his Essay upon the Origin of Go-
vernment, seems to mistake the question, so far, at
least, as Mr. Locke is concerned ; for he confounds
the narrow views of the vulgar, and their mecha-
nical submission to the laws of a state in which they
are accidentally born, with the researches of philoso-
phers into those remoter principles from which the
first governments took their rise, and by which alone
the utility of all governments, in their higher stage
of improvement is to be ascertained, or their com-
pulsory power justified.
Now the professed and supreme object of the
essay in question is to trace out those principles.
It contains not, so far as I can discover, any lurking
bias in favour of democracy. By good men it may
be applied to good ends in the mixed constitution in
which we have the happiness to live. In a word, it
is equally removed from the extremes of despotism
and anarchy ; equally exempt from the puerile so-
phistry of Rimer, and the romantic speculations of
Harrington. In support of this assertion, I call
upon those who traduce, and those who commend
Locke for his supposed attachment to republican-
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ism, to read the following passage : — " That learned
king (James) who well understood the notions of
things, makes the difference between a king and a
tyrant to consist in this : that one makes the laws
the bounds of his power, the good of the public ; the
other makes all give way to his own will and ap-
petite."
" It is a mistake to think this fault is proper only
to monarchies ; other forms of government are
liable to it, as well as that ; for wherever the power
that is put in any hands, for the government of the
people, and the preservation of their properties, is
applied to other ends, and made use of to im-
poverish, harass, or subdue them to the arbitrary
and irregular commands of those that have it ; there
it presently becomes tyranny, whether those that
use it are one, or many. Thus we read of the
thirty tyrants at Athens, as well as one at Syracuse,
and the intolerable dominion of the Decemvirs at
Rome was nothing better." — Locke, upon Civil
Government, vol. n. page 232.
As I shall hereafter have occasion to quote the
sentiments of Mr. Locke upon other subjects, I
thought it incumbent on me to remove every pre-
judice which might hang on the mind of the reader
— to vindicate the injured character of a man emi-
nent for his wisdom and his virtue, is always a plea-
sant task — my pleasure is increased by the ho-
nourable testimony borne by the learned Blackstone
to the merit of a work which men of coarse un-
derstandings have grossly misconceived, and men
of fiery tempers have unhappily misrepresented. —
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 589
In vol. i. page 252, Blackstone quotes with appro-
bation Mr. Locke's Definition of Prerogative. In
page 434 of the 4th volume, he tells us, " that the
rude sentiments of our forefathers in defending the
particular liberty, the natural equality and personal
independence of individuals have been softened and
recommended by the eloquence, the moderation,
and the arguments of a Sidney, a Locke, and a
Milton.** — Milton indeed was a professed advocate
for the republican system. The sentiments of Sid-
ney strongly favour it. Locke, who was a better
philosopher than Sidney, and a better citizen than
Milton, has preserved a strict neutrality between
the contending claims of monarchy, aristocracy, and
democracy.
Page 40. — Introduction of Liturgy in Scotland.
" The King's great aim was to complete the work
so happily begun by his father ; to establish dis-
cipline upon a regular system of canons, to introduce
liturgy into public worship, and to render the eccle-
siastical government of all his kingdoms regular and
uniform. Some views of policy might move him to
this undertaking: but his chief motives were de-
rived from mistaken principles of zeal and con-
science.*'— Hume, Hist. Eng. vol. vi. page 326.
Prom the serenity of the times, from the appro-
bation given to Laud's sermon, and from the weak-
ness of the party who were averse to the measure,
(as Clarendon tells us) " many wise men thought
the liturgy, if proposed, would have been submitted
to without opposition, had not they who most de-
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sired, and were most concerned to promote it, used
all their credit to divest their present attempting
it." — Clarendon's Hist., vol. i. page 83.
But the most powerful obstructions were those
which Hume points out. — " The Scotch, when a
whole body of ecclesiastical laws was established
without any previous consent of church or state,
dreaded, lest by a parity of reason, like arbitrary
authority, from like pretences and principles, would
be assumed in civil matters. The liturgy had been
sent to them with a few alterations, lest a servile
imitation should shock the pride of Charles's an-
cient people; but the English, though separated
from Rome, were thought still to retain a great
tincture of the primitive pollution." — Hume, voL
vi. page 328.
Fags 41. — Re-assembling of Parliament in 1640.
" An English Parliament, therefore, formerly so
unkind and untractable, must now, after above
eleven years intermission, after the King had tried
many irregular methods of taxation, after multiplied
disgusts given to the puritanical party, be sum-
moned to assemble, amidst the most pressing ne-
cessities of the Crown." — Hume, vol. in. 347.
Intempestivis remediis delicta accendebat. — Tacit
vol. in. page 90, Annal. lib. xn.
" If some passion had appeared in their debates,
it might have been well excused in a House of
Commons assembled at such a time ; and yet scarce
an angry word was thrown out. The few that
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 591
escaped from some, were either silently disliked, or
openly disapproved. The King, even in this crisis
of affairs, preserved the same carriage he had for-
merly used towards them, and showed too plainly
that he regarded them only as tax-layers. In a word,
about a month after their meeting, he dissolved
them, and as soon as he had dissolved them he re-
pented ; but he repented too late of his rashness.
Well might he repent, for the vessel was now full,
and this last drop made the waters of bitterness
overflow." — Bolingbroke, vol. n. page 274.
The motives for which Charles summoned his
Parliaments, and the manner in which they acted,
remind me of Tacitus's observation — ut evenit in
consiliis infelicibus, optima videbantur, quorum
tempus effugerat. Histor. lib. i. — Hume, after
stating the motives and the arguments of both par-
ties with great clearness and energy, concludes in
these words : — " Where great evil lies on all sides,
it is very difficult to follow the best counsel ; nor is
it any wonder that the King, whose capacity was
not equal to situations of such extreme delicacy,
should hastily have formed and executed the re-
solution of dissolving this Parliament : a measure,
however, of which he soon repented, and which the
subsequent events, more than any convincing rea-
son, inclined every one to condemn. The last
Parliament which had ended with such rigour and
violence, had yet, at first, covered their intentions
with greater appearances of moderation than this
Parliament had hitherto assumed." — Hume, vol. vi.
page 355.
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Hume, in a note informs ns, that "the King
meant to try whether this House would be more
compliant than their predecessors, that he would
not trust them with a long session, till he had seen
some better proofs of their compliance : A senti-
ment," he adds, " natural enough in his situation/*
Hume, vol. vi. page 364. — But this apology is very
inadequate and frivolous. It is natural, I allow,
for men to act weakly — it is natural for them to
shrink from the consequences of their own weak-
ness ; but in questions of such magnitude as include
the interests of a King and his people, we are apt
to inquire not what it is natural, but what it is
fitting for men to do. By obstinately forbearing
to call a Parliament, Charles had brought himself
into a dangerous situation, and he increased the
danger by abruptly dissolving that which he had
called. Far be it from me to insult the memory of
this unfortunate Prince — I see with pleasure every
candid extenuation of his real failings, and every
well-founded plea for his seeming misconduct:
But I cannot permit my understanding to be in*
suited, and the rights of my country trifled with,
by such futile reasoning as Hume has condescended
to employ.
Page 42. — Assembly of Peers at York.
u Before the Peers met he knew they would be
for calling a Parliament, and so, for his own honour,
proposed it first. — Rapin. — Hume gives the same
account. — As he foresaw that the great council of
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 593
the Peers would advise him to call a Parliament,
he told them, in his first speech, he had already
taken this resolution.9* — Hume, vol. vi. page 363.
Page 43. — Long Parliament.
This praise (that such representatives were chosen
as were eminent for their ability, courage, and firm
attachment to the privileges of the subject) cannot
be given to all the members or to all the measures
of the long Parliament — "law and religion had in a
great measure gone over to the side of faction, and
when the nation, therefore, was so generally discon-
tented, and little suspicion was entertained of any
design to subvert the church and monarchy, no
wonder that almost all elections ran in favour of
those who, by their high pretensions to piety and
patriotism, had encouraged the national prejudices."
— Hume, vol vi. page 366.
In drawing up the character of this Parliament,
our historian has shewn his usual penetration, and
a very unusual degree of candour. — "If we take a
survey of the transactions of this memorable Parlia-
ment, during the first period of its operations, we
shall find, that, excepting Strafford's attainder,
which was a complication of cruel iniquity, their
merits, in other respects, so much outweigh their
mistakes, as to entitle them to praise from all lovers
of liberty. Not only were former abuses remedied
and grievances redressed: great provision, for the
future, was made by law, against the return of like
complaints. And if the means, by which they ob-
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tained such advantages, savour often of artifice,
sometimes of violence, it is to be considered, that
revolutions of government cannot be effected by the
mere force of argument and reasoning : and that
^actions being once excited, men can neither so
firmly regulate the tempers of others, nor their own,
as to ensure themselves against all exorbitances."
— Hume, vol. vi. page 424.
" This was the time, when genius and capacity of
all kinds, freed from the restraint of authority, and
nourished by unbounded hopes and projects, began
to exert themselves, and to be distinguished by the
public." — Hume, vol. vi. page 377. — He proceeds
to discriminate with the nicest precision, and to de-
scribe with the most glowing eloquence, the cha-
racters of the malecontents. — " Charles, (says De
Lolme) had to cope with a whole nation put in
motion and directed by an assembly of statesmen."
— De Lolme, page 49.
" When he had consented to reduce the exorbi-
tancy of the regal power, his conduct created a
suspicion of his sincerity." — Stuart's Disc, on the
Laws and Gov. of Eng. page 29.
" It must be acknowledged that these concessions
Were not made with so good a grace as to conciliate
the confidence of the people. Unfortunately, either
by his own mismanagement, or by the arts of his
enemies, the King had lost the reputation of sin-
cerity ; which is the greatest misfortune that can
befal a Prince." — Blackstone's Com. book iv. page
437.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 595
Charles experienced the ill fate which Tacitus
with his usual conciseness and energy thus describes:
— " Inviso semel principe, seu ben& seu mate facta
premunt." — Tac. Histor. lib. i. vol. iv. page 15. Ed.
Brot
" The King's discourse and conduct betrayed his se-
cret designs ; distrust took possession of the nation ;
certain ambitious persons availed themselves of it to
promote their own views, and the storm which
seemed to have blown over, burst forth anew." De
Lolme, on the Constit. of Eng. page 52. — Even
Hume allows that all Charles's concessions were
poisoned by the suspicion of his want of cordiality.
— Hume, vol. vi. page 421.
Page 45.— Earl of Strafford.
The rude clamours of the people, and the insolent
demands of the Parliament, unfortunately acquired
new force over the mind of Charles, from the mean
obsequiousness of his servants, and the pressing sup-
plications of his beloved Queen. Let it not be for-
gotten, that " the memory of this guilt recurred
upon Charles even at his own fatal end— and that
be always expressed for it the greatest sorrow and
remorse."
u The sentence by which Strafford fell was a great
enormity" — but not, surely, "greater than the worst
of those which his implacable enemies prosecuted
with so much cruel industry."— Hume, vol. vi. p. 420.
2*2
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Hume, the professed apologist for Strafford, con-
tends that the" Kings violent expedients for raising
money was the result of measures previous to Straf-
ford's favour ; that they were conducted without his
counsel ; that in the King's presence he had often
and publicly inculcated this salutary maxim, that if
any inevitable necessity ever obliged the Sovereign
to violate the laws, this licence ought to be practised
with extreme reserve, and, as soon as possible, a just
atonement be made to the constitution for any injury
which it might sustain from such dangerous prece-
dents."— Hume, vol. vi. p. 421.
Page 45. — Archbishop Laud.
u The execution of this prelate can be ascribed
to nothing but vengeance and bigotry ; the degree
of his merit may be disputed. If he did recommend
slavish doctrines, if he promoted what in these later
ages would be justly called persecution, if he encou-
raged what in some instances has been unjustly called
superstition, these blemishes are more to be regarded
as a general imputation on the whole age, than any
particular failing of Laud's ; and it is sufficient for
his vindication to observe, that his errors were the
most excusable of all those which prevailed during
that zealous period." — Hume, vol. vn. p. 42. — To
imitate his faults were indeed a reproach to the
present age, when the doctrines of toleration are
fully known, and when the provocations to intoler-
ance have totally ceased. But it were not a less
reproach for us to forget the virtues of this great
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prelate; his eminent proficiency in learning, his
disinterested zeal in promoting it, his unshaken at-
tachment to a master whom he loved, and his sin-
cere, though mistaken ardour in defending the reli-
gion which he believed and revered —
" Around his tomb let art and genius weep,
But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear, and sleep.*'
Johnson.
Page 46. — Long Parliament.
" Happy had been the people if their leaders,
after having executed so noble a work, (settling
the government upon its ancient foundations) had
contented themselves with the glory of being the
benefactors of their country ." — De Lolme, p. 52.
" The attempt of totally annihilating monarchical
power, was a very blameable extreme ; especially as
it was attended with the danger, to say the least, of
a civil war, which, besides the numberless ills at-
tending it, exposed liberty to much greater perils
than it could have incurred under the now limited
authority of the King. But as these points could
not be supposed so clear during the time as they are,
or may be, at present ; there are great reasons of
alleviation for men who were heated by the contro-
versy, or engaged in the action. And it is remark-
able, that even at present (such is the force of party
prejudices) there are few people who have coolness
enough to see these matters in a proper light." —
Hume, vol. vi. p. 587.
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" The encroachments of the Commons, though
in the beginning less positive and determinate, are
no less discernible by good judges, and were equally
capable of destroying the just balance of the consti-
tution."— Hume, voL vi. p. 581.
" The majority of the Peers adhered to the King,
and plainly foresaw the depression of nobility as a
necessary consequence of popular usurpations on
the crown. The wonder was not that the majority
of the nobles should seek shelter under the throne,
but that any of them should venture to desert it." —
Hume, vol. vi. p. 461. — " The English nobility
buried themselves with Charles the First, under the
ruins of the throne." — See Montesq. book vm.
cap. ix.
" In their attack upon the hierarchy, they still
more openly transgressed all bounds of moderation ;
as supposing, no doubt, that the sacredness of the
cause would sufficiently atone for employing means
the most irregular and unprecedented. This prin-
ciple, which prevails so much among zealots, never
displayed itself so openly, as during the transactions
of this whole period" — Hume, vol. vi. p. 463.
'* For a remedy to all these evils, he (the King) is de-
sired to entrust every office and command to persons
in whom his Parliament should have cause to confide.
By this phrase, which is so often repeated in all the
memorials and addresses of that time, the commons
meant themselves and their adherents."— Hume, vol.
vi. p. 384.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 699
Page 47. — Cavaliers and Roundheads.
Hume gives this account of them : — * Several
reduced officers and young gentlemen of the inns of
court, during this time of disorder and danger,
offered their service to the King. Between them
and the populace there passed frequent skirmishes*
which ended not without bloodshed. By way of
reproach these gentlemen gave the rabble the appel-
lation of Roundheads, on account of the short cropt
hair which they wore ; these called the others Cava-
Hers : and thus the nation, which was before suffi-
ciently provided with religious as well as civil causes
of quarrel, was also supplied with party-names, under
which the factious might rendezvous and signalize
their mutual hatred" — Hume, voL vi. p. 466,
Page 48.— Whigs.
"Rapin, by mistake, says, they were so called
from certain robbers in Scotland, but Burnett tells
us the name is derived from the word whiggam,
used by the western Scots in driving their horses,
from whence these drivers were called whigganers,
and by contraction whigs." — Tindal.
Page 48. — Whig and Tory.
Hume says, "This year (1679) is remarkable for
being the epoch of the well known epithets of Whig
and Tory, by which, and sometimes without any ma-
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terial difference, this island has been so long divided.
The court party reproached their antagonists with
their affinity to the fanatical conventiclers in Scotland*
who were known by the name of Whigs ; the conn-
try party found a resemblance between the courtiers
and the popish banditti in Ireland, to whom the
appellation of Tory was affixed — and after this man-
ner, these foolish terms of reproach came into public
and general use; and even at present, seem not
nearer their end than when they were first invented."
— Hume, vol. vm. p. 125.
Page 50. — Political and Religious Puritans.
Hume makes this distinction : " Though the
political and religious Puritans mutually lent as-
sistance to each other, there were many who
joined the former, and yet declined all connection
with the latter ."--Hume, vol. vi. p. 365.
Page 51.— Death of Charles I.
" The loans and benevolences extorted from the
subject, the arbitrary imprisonments for refusal, the
exertion of martial law in time of peace, and other
domestic grievances, clouded the morning of that
misguided Prince's reign ; which, though the noon
of it began a little to brighten, at last went down in
blood.9' — Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv. p. 436,
book iv. chap. 33.
The death of Charles has been described by royal
and republican writers with all the studied pomp of
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 601
declamation, and all the virulence of party. The
one speak of it with the most vehement execration,
and the other with the most savage triumph. The
one have left no artifice unemployed to excite our
compassion towards an injured Prince — the other
have been equally active and equally successful in
rousing the indignation of their readers against an
unprincipled tyrant. If we attend to the circum-
stances of this event, not as they are recorded by
any single historian, but as the calm and impartial
spirit of history requires, we shall find in those cir-
cumstances something, perhaps, to be justified,
much to be condemned, and far more to be tor-
mented. " Adeo maxima quaeque ambigua sunt,
dum alii quoquo modo audita pro compertis habent,
alii vera in contrarium vertunt : et gliscit utrumque
posteritate." Tacit. Annal. lib. in. vol. i. p. 179. —
About the justice of Charles's death, the sentiments
of Englishmen will probably for ever be divided, nor
is it easy to find any common principle for recon-
ciling disputants, who, when they speak upon this
subject, are actuated by the fiercest passions, and
the most stubborn prejudices. But surely no friend
to humanity, no admirer of the English constitution,
no advocate for the candour which always ought to
direct historical researches, will hesitate about the
propriety of Bolingbroke's observations on the dis-
astrous reigns of Charles and his Father.— "We do
not approve those cruel insinuations against them
which are to be found in several invectives, not his-
tories, dictated by a spirit of faction, not by the
spirit of liberty. The spirit of liberty reflects on
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the errors of Princes with sorrow, not with triumph,
and is unwilling to aggravate what it wishes had
never happened." — Bolingbroke's Rem. on Hist. vol.
ii. p. 183.
Upon the disorders which succeeded the unhappy
death of Charles, who can reflect without pity for
the blindness of a deluded people, and detestation
against the violence of their ambitious leaders ?
Ergo, regibus occisis, subversa jacebat
Pristina Majestas soliorum, et sceptra superba,
Et capitis summi prsclarum insigne cruentum
Sub pedibus Tulgi magnum lugebat honorem.
Nam cupidk conculcatur nimis anti metutum.
Res itaque ad summarn fcecem turbasque redibat.
Lucret. lib. quint. 1155.
Page 52. — Elasticity of British Government.
" Indeed we may observe the remarkable manner
in which the government has been maintained, in
the midst of such general commotions as seemed
unavoidably to prepare its destruction. It rose
again, we see, after the wars between Henry the
Third and his Barons ; after the usurpation of Henry
the Fourth ; and after the long and bloody conten-
tions between the Houses of York and Lancaster.
Nay, though totally destroyed in appearance after
the fall of Charles the First, and though the greatest
efforts had been made to establish another fortn of
government in its stead, yet, no sooner was Charles
the Second called over, than the constitution was
re-established upon all its antient foundations." — De
Lolme, on the Constit. of Eng. p. 434.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 603
Page 53. — Cromwell.
" He introduced into England a military despo-
tism under the appellation of a commonwealth.'9
Stuart on the Govern, of Eng. p. 30. — I mean not
to enter into any curious and fruitless disquisitions
on the best hypothetical form of government ; at
the same time I am far from acquiescing in a well
known, but very precarious maxim, that whatever
form is best administered is therefore best. I consi*
der with Tiberius, Principes mortales, rempublicam
aeternam esse. Annal. lib. in. Tacit, vol. i. p. 168.
— " And I should be sorry, as Hume says, to think
that human affairs admit of no greater stability than
what they receive from the casual humours and cha-
racters of particular men." Essay in. p. 15. — But
as to the absurd and perilous experiment of esta-
blishing republicanism in this kingdom, the gloomy
and eventful protectorate of Cromwell supplies us
with the most decisive proofs against the animated
eloquence of Milton, the wild reveries of Harring-
ton, and the profound speculations of Sidney. In
the spirit of our laws, in the genius of our govern-
ment, in the manners and the temper of our people,
and in the spirit of the constitution itself, as it af-
fects and is affected by each of them, there is a stub-
born invincible renitency to the sullen and irregu-
lar forms of a democracy. — " It was a curious spec-
tacle," says Montesquieu, as quoted by De Lolme,
p. 53, " to behold the vain efforts of the English to
establish among themselves a democracy"
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604 ON EAPIN'g DISSERTATION
" He was one of those men, qnos vitaperare ne
inimici quidem possunt, nisi ut simul laudent ; for
he could never have done half that mischief without
great parts of courage, industry, and judgment.
What was said of Cinna, may very justly be said of
him, ausum eum, quae nemo auderet bonus, perfe-
cisse quae a nullo nisi fortissimo possent." Claren-
don, vol. vi. p. 648. — a As he proceeded with this
kind of indignation and haughtiness with those who
were refractory and durst contend with his great-
ness, so towards all who complied with his good
pleasure, and courted his protection, he used great
civility, generosity, and bounty ? — Id. 650.
But this conduct is to be ascribed to the dexte-
rity of his management, rather than to any noble-
ness in his nature; for, without such policy, the
most powerful despot could not be long endured.
His brutal treatment of the Judges who opposed the
authority of Magna Charta to the violence of his
proceedings, and his avowed contempt of law, where
it controled those actions, " which he knew were
for the safety of the commonwealth,9* must induce
the reader to exclaim with Memmius — quae libet
impune facere, id est regem esse. — Sallust, edit.
Wasse, p. 318.
- The anxious wishes of Cromwell to obtain the
name of king, the various artifices which were em-
ployed to procure it, and the surly and inexorable
opposition of those resolute republicans who pre-
vented him from assuming it openly, are well known.
Hurd, in his Letter on the Marks of Imitation, pro-
duces a very striking coincidence of sentiment be-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 60S
tween the conduct of Messak Valerius, when he
moved in the Senate, renovandum per annos sacra-
mentum in nomen Tiberii, and that of Jephson,
when he proposed in the House that Cromwell
should be made king. — Hurd's Horace, vol. n. p. 35.
The gross stupidity of the people, who could be
duped by such petty stratagems, and crouch under
such outrageous measures, reminds me of a passage
in Plutarch, where he has been describing a similar
scene, in which Caesar repeatedly thrust aside the
crown which Anthony repeatedly struggled to fix
on his head. 'Auraw/cp /xiv oXi'yot raw <pi\u>v £i*£op*vas
Ka/erapi hi of vouftevco irar o 3i}ftoff cVejcpare* perk
jBo^r* 8 Kod daajxaerriv qy, on rdis epyois nab r£v jBacri*
X£oorra>v urafUvovrcp, touvojuux row ficunTJcof, ws itara>
His conduct supplies a fresh instance of the just-
ness of Piso's observation — " Nemo unquam impe-
perium, flagitio quaesitum, bonis artibus exercuit."
— Tacit, vol iv. p. 36.
" Caeterum libertas et speciosa nomina preetexun-
tur; nee quisquam alienum servitium, et doming
tionem sibi concupivit, ut non eadem ista vocabula
usurparet."~Vid. Tac. Histor. lib. iv. vol. iv. p. 362.
Pagk 54. — General Monk.
" The minds of the people united in an anxious
wish for the re-establishment of the ancient consti-
tution ; and General Monk acquired the honour of
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the peerage, and the fame of uncommon political
-sagacity for forwarding an event which it was im-
possible to prevent." — Stuart on Govern, of Eng.
p. 30.
Page 55. — Charles the Second.
The indolence of Charles, and his unhappy choice
of counsellors, reminds us of the strong colouring
with which Tacitus has drawn the character of Vi«
tellius — u Peritissimis centurionum dissentientibus,
et, si consulerentur, vera dicturis, arcuere eos intimi
amicorum Vitellii, ita formatis principis auribus, at
aspera, quae utilia, nee quidquam, nisi jucundum et
laesurum acciperet." — Tacit Histor. lib. in. voL iv.
p. 246.
Page 55. — Conduct of Cromwell.
Hume explains the conduct of Cromwell by say*
ing, that the various factions could not have been
restrained without a mixture of military and arbi-
trary authority. But surely if this judicious obser-
vation be admitted as an apology for the violent
behaviour of Cromwell, it makes us look with great-
er horror upon those distractions of the Viiigfrim
which rendered such a behaviour necessary.
Page 56. — Bolingbrokes state of parties in the
reign of Charles II.
I entirely agree with Bolingbroke in his dear and
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 607
correct state of parties during the reign of Charles.
"Whig and Tory were now formed into parties;
but I think they were not now, nor at any other
time, what they believed one another, nor what they
have been represented by their enemies, nay, by
their friends. The Whigs were not Roundheads,
though the measures they pursued being stronger
than the temper of the nation would then bear, gave
occasion to the suspicions I have mentioned. The
Tories were not Cavaliers, though they took the
alarm so sudden and so warm for the church and
the King ; and though they carried the principles
in favour of the King, at least while the heat of
their contests with the opposite party lasted, higher
than they had ever been carried before. The Whigs
were not dissenters, nor republicans, though they
favoured the former, and though some inconsider-
able remains of the latter might find shelter in their
party. The Tories had no disposition to become
slaves or Papists, though they abetted the exercise
of an exorbitant power by the crown, and though
they supported the pretensions of a Popish succes-
sor to it." — Boling. Dissert, on Part. vol. in. p. 93.
Page 56. — Charles the Second.
Rapin, it may be suspected, speaks rather too
favourably of Charles ; he " probably forgave the
people of England for the misfortunes he himself
had suffered, nor for those of his house." — Stuart on
the Govern, of Eng. p. 31. — De Lolme is of the
same opinion — " He could not, however, bring him-
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self to forgive them the inexpiable crime of which
he looked upon them to have been guilty/' — De
Lolme on the Constitut. of Eng. p. 54.
" King Charles, to use an expression of the Lord
Halifax of that age, would trot, but his brother
would gallop." — Bolingbroke's Dissert, on Part. vol.
Hi. p. 67.
« An apprehension of falling back under the in-
fluence of presbyterian and republican principles
began to show itself in the House of Lords and in
the nation." — Dissert, on Parties, vol. in. p. 86.
" If we may believe one (Burnett) who certainly
was not partial against these sects, both presbyte-
rian* and independents had carried the principles of
rigour, in the point of conscience, much higher, and
acted more implacably upon it than ever the Church
of England hath done, in its angriest fits. The
securing themselves, therefore, against those who
had ruined them and the constitution once already,
was a plausible reason for the church party to give."
— Boling. Dissert on Part. vol. in. p. 55.
a The act against conventicles bears the appear-
ance of mitigating the former persecuting laws ; but
if we may judge by the spirit which had broken out
almost every session during this Parliament, it was
not intended as any favour to the non-conformists.
Experience probably had taught that laws over rigid
and severe could not be executed.** — Hume, Hist,
of Eng. vol. vii. p. 456.
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Page 58. — Exclusion Bill.
" This important bill, which implied banishment
as well as exclusion, passed the lower House by a
majority of seventy-nine." — Hume, Hist. Eng. vol.
vni. p. 104.
But the Whigs were also to be blamed, (as well
as Tories,) for the leaders of that party were ob-
served " to let all lie in confusion, rather than
hearken to any thing besides the exclusion." — Bol.
Dis. upon Part. vol. in. p. 115
"The Tories, who looked on the dangers they
apprehended from the Whigs to be greater and near-
er than those which they had apprehended, as well as
the Whigs, before this new division of parties from
a Popish succession, were now confirmed in their
prejudices. Under this persuasion they ran head-
long in all the measures which were taken for en
larging the King's authority, and securing the crown
to the Duke of York. The principles of divine
hereditary right, of passive obedience, and non-re-
sistance, were revived and propagated with greater
zeal than ever. Not only the wild whimsies of en-
thusiasts, of schoolmen and philosophers, but the
plainest dictates of reason were solemnly condemned
in favour of them by learned and reverend bodies of
men; who little thought that in five years time,
that is, in 1688, they should act conformably to
some of the very propositions which at this time
they declared false, seditious, and impious." — Boling.
Dissert, upon Parties.
VOL. III. 2 R
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Page 60. — Amendment of laws under Charles II.
Blackstone informs us, that the most promising
and sensible schemes for the amendment of the laws
which were proposed during the protectorate, were
adopted after the restoration — " in his reign (wick-
ed, sanguinary, and turbulent, as it was) the con-
currence of happy circumstances was such, that
from thence we may date not only the re-establish-
ment of our church and monarchy, but also the
complete restitution of English liberty, for the first
time, since the total abolition at the conquest. For
therein not only these slavish tenures, the badge
of foreign dominion, with all their oppressive ap-
pendages, were removed from incumbering the es-
tates of the subject ; but also an additional security
of his person from imprisonment, was attained by
that great bulwark of our constitution, the habeas
corpus act." — Blackstone, vol. iv. book iv. p. 438.
' " The military services due to the crown, the re-
mains of the ancient feudal tenures, had been al-
ready abolished ; the laws against heretics were now
repealed ; the statute for holding Parliaments once,
at least, in three years, was enacted; the habeas corpus
act, that barrier of the subject, was established; and
such was the patriotism of the Parliaments, that it was
under a King the most destitute of principle, that
liberty received its most efficacious supports." — De
Lolme on the Constit. of Eng. p. 55.
James II.
"The sincerity of this Prince (a virtue on which
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he highly valued himself) has been much questioned
in those reiterated promises, which he made of
preserving the liberties and religion of the nation.
It must be confessed that this reign was almost
one continued invasion of both."— Hume, Hist.
Eng. vol. viii. p. 304.
The arguments for and against dispensing
power are admirably stated by Hume, vol. viii.
p. 243 to 247. In delivering his own opinions,
he says, that "the present difficulty or seeming
absurdity had proceeded from late innovations in-
troduced into the government n — he treats it as a
vain hope to expect "that the dispensing power
could, in any degree, be rendered compatible with
those accurate and regular limitations, which had
of late been established, and which the people was
determined to maintain." — P. 247*
In this unhappy Prince we see the rashness, but
not the profligacy of Domitian. — "Non jam per
intervalla sed continuo et velut uno ictu rempub-
licam exhausit." — Tac. vol. vi. p. 92.
" The dissenters were cajoled by the court ;
and they who had been ready to take up arms
against King Charles, because he was unwilling
to exclude his brother, and who had taken up arms
against this Prince, since he was on the Throne,
became abettors of his usurpations, It were easy
to prove this, even by Bishop Burnet's account,
as much as that is softened ; and if the excuses
2r2
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which have been made for their silence against
Popery, in this critical moment, or for their approv-
ing the exercise of a dispensing power, are to be
received, one may undertake to excuse, on the
same principle of reasoning, all those instances of
misconduct in the church party which I have pre-
sumed to censure so freely ." — Boling. Dissert, upon
Parties, vol. hi, p. 120.
Page 63. — Opposition to James II.
"Many of the most distinguished Tories, some
of those who carried highest the doctrines of pas-
sive obedience and non-resistance, were engaged
in it, and the whole nation was ripe for it. The
Whigs were zealous in the same cause, but their
zeal was not such as I think it had been some years
before, a zeal without knowledge ; I mean, that it
was better tempered and more prudently conducted.
Though the King was not the better for his expe-
rience, parties both saw their errors. The Tories
stopped short in the pursuit of a bad principle.
The Whigs reformed the abuse of a good one.
Both had sacrificed their country to their party.
Both sacrificed on this occasion their party to
their country ." — Boling. Dissert, on Parties, vol. in.
p. 120.
" The Whigs, suitably to their ancient principles
of liberty, which had led them to attempt the ex-
clusion bill, easily agreed to oppose a King, whose
conduct had justified whatever his worst enemies
had prognosticated concerning his succession. The
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Tories and the church party, finding their past ser-
vices forgotten, their rights invaded, their religion
threatened, agreed to drop for the present all over-
strained doctrines of submission, and attend to
the great and powerful dictates of nature. The
non-conformists dreading the caresses of known
and inveterate enemies, deemed the offers of tolera-
tion more secure from a Prince educated in those
principles, and accustomed to that practice — and
thus all faction was for a time laid asleep in Eng-
land ; and rival parties, forgetting their animosities,
had secretly concurred in a design of resisting their
unhappy and misguided Sovereign." — Hume, Hist.
Eng. vol. viii. p. 282.
Page 64. — Revolution.
* The Lords considered the word deserted more
proper ; and on the subsequent conference between
the two Houses, the Whigs, now the ruling party,
having united with the Tories, in order to bring
about the Revolution, had so much deference for
their new allies, as not to insist that the Crown
should be declared forfeited, on account of the
King's mal-administration." — Hume, Hist. Eng.
vol. vm. p. 312. — These disputes were perhaps
trifling, and the effects of insidious politeness and
temporary policy. But the contents relative to the
vacancy of the Throne were of more importance :
the artificial maxims of law here gave way to the
powerful dictates of nature — the rigid perseverance
of the Commons prevailed over the ill-timed deli-
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cacy of the Lords, and the Throne was declared
vacant. Blackstone states this fact with great pre-
cision. "In particular it is worthy observation,
that the convention, in this their judgement, avoided
with great wisdom the wild extremes into which
the visionary theories of some zealous republi-
cans would have led them. They held that this
misconduct of King James amounted to an endea-
vour to subvert the constitution ; and not to an
actual subversion, or total dissolution of the govern-
ment, according to the principles of Mr Locke,
which would have reduced the society almost to a
state of nature — would have levelled all distinctions
of honour, rank, offices, and property — would have
annihilated the sovereign power, and in conse-
quence have repealed all positive laws — and would
have left the people at liberty to have erected a new
system of state upon a new foundation of polity.
They therefore very prudently voted it to amount
to no more than an abdiction of the government,
and a consequent vacancy of the Throne ; whereby
the government was allowed to subsist, though the
executive magistrate was gone, and the kingly
office to remain, though James was no longer
King ; and thus the constitution was kept intire :
which upon every sound principle of government
must otherwise have fallen to pieces, had so prin-
cipal and constituent a part as the royal authority
been abolished, or even suspended." — Blackstone,
vol. i. chap. in. p. 212.
" In the House of Lords it was agreed to omit
the article about the vacancy of the Grown, but
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the perseverance of the lower House obliged the
Lords to comply.** — Hume, vol. viii. p. 314.
On the position of Locke, which Blackstone
mentions, I wish to make a few remarks. There
is a very common, but delusive maxim, that what
is true and just in theory, may be the very reverse
in practice. In the first place, theory is, or ought
to be, itself, posterior to practice, and dependent
upon it, arranging past facts according to their
causes, circumstances, and effects, marking their
differences and agreements, and thence deducing
principles for the judgement we are to form of the
future ; so that all theory, not professedly hypotheti-
cal is false and unjust, so far as it does not corre-
spond with practice. We may farther observe,
that the position itself involves a gross contradic-
tion ; for, if the circumstances be the same, the re-
lations between our ideas, from which we collect
the fitness and unfitness of things, and the truth
or falsehood of propositions, must be the same also,
and so far the maxim is absurd as well as untrue ;
but if the circumstance, be not the same, that is, if
the objects of theory and practice be different, the
maxim is quite impertinent and useless ; for in this
case, there is no bond of relation between them, and
consequently no room for us to argue from the one
to the other: I am inclined, however, to suspect,
that for this and almost every other position com-
monly received and commonly misunderstood, there
is some foundation. It is the business of theory
to lay down general rules; but in the. application
of those rules to subjects which have general fea-
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tares of resemblance, they are experimentally found
inadequate, from circumstances which are attached
to each individual case, and which are not ac-
counted for by the general rules. Hence our com-
mon sense is often shocked, when we would reduce
to practice many specious systems, by which our
fancy has been amused, and our reason, for a time,
convinced. Now according to the distinction
which I have been endeavouring to establish, I
admit with Mr. Locke in some supposed state of
things, " that when he who has the supreme ex-
ecutive power neglects and abandons that charge,
so that the laws already made can no longer be
put in execution, this is demonstratively to reduce
all to anarchy, and so effectually to dissolve the
government." — I allow farther, as the obvious and
necessary consequences of such a dissolution, that
" the people are at liberty to provide for themselves,
by erecting a new legislative different from the
other, by the change of persons, or form, or both,
as they shall find it most for their safety and good."
— Locke on Civil Govern, p. 237. — But I deny,
that such a state of things actually existed at the
Revolution. Our countrymen were led to no such
conclusions, as Mr. Locke has drawn from his pre-
mises, by their understanding or their feelings—
they exposed neither themselves nor their poste-
rity to the disorders which might have attended
the success, as well as the defeat of an experiment
to establish a new Government— they were content
to preserve, as far as possible, the forms, to secure
the principles, and to enlarge the advantages, of the
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 617
old — they acted wisely for themselves, happily for
all succeeding generations, and agreeably to those
propensities, which a great and sagacious observer
of human nature has remarked: "even as the
many, through the difference of opinions that must
need abound among them, are not apt to introduce a
government, as not understanding the good of it,
so the many, having by trial or experience once at-
tained to this understanding of it, agree not to quit
such a government."— See Machiavel, lib. I. chap. I.
of the Decads, quoted by Harrington, in his Art
of Law-giving, p. 390. — Thus our countrymen, in-
stead of yielding themselves up to the enterprizing
and ambitious leaders, who (as Blackstone, vol iv.
p. 438, says) in turbulent times affect to "call
themselves the people" confided in the wisdom
and steadiness of the legislature — instead of expos-
ing themselves to new dangers, they were anxious
only to escape from such as were already impend-
ing— they did not contend that the abuse of power
in one part of government had loosened the whole
fabric, and therefore called aloud for a change of
the whole— on the contrary, they adopted the senti-
ments and assisted the efforts of Parliament, in
securing the continuity of the executive power, and
in strengthening the authority of the person to
whom it was entrusted— they found that by well
regulated measures " the laws already made " could
be put in effectual execution, and consequently
asserted "the native and original right which every
society has of preserving itself," in obeying the an-
cient laws, in restoring the ancient government, in
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correcting whatever was amiss in it, in ascertaining
whatever was doubtful, and in confirming whatever
was right. While, therefore, the patriot exults in
the blessings which flow from this event, the phi-
losopher will contemplate with admiration the
sound judgement, the inflexible firmness, and the
unexampled moderation which produced and con-
ducted it.
"That which contributes, above all, to distin-
guish this event as singular in the annals of man-
kind, is the moderation, I may even say, the legality
which accompanied it. As if to dethrone a King
who sought to set himself above the laws had been
a natural consequence of, and provided for by the
principles of government, every thing remained in
its place ; the Throne was declared vacant, and a
new line of succession was established." — De Lolme
on the Constit. of Eng. p. 58.
" If we examine the history of other nations,
we shall find that Revolutions have constantly been
attended with open invasions of the royal authority,
or sometimes with complete and settled divisions
of it." — De Lolme on the Constit. of England,
p. 399. — * In England the Revolution of the year
1689 was terminated in a manner totally different.
Indeed, those prerogatives destructive of public
liberty, which the late King had assumed, were
retrenched from the Crown ; and thus far the two
Houses agreed: but as to proceeding to transfer
to other hands any part of the authority of the
Crown, no proposal was even made about it. Those
prerogatives which were taken from the Crown,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES 619
were annihilated, and made to cease to exist in
the state ; and all the executive authority that was
thought necessary to be continued in the govern-
ment was, as before, left undivided in the Crown."
— De Lolrae on the Constit. of Eng. p. 402.
It is unnecessary for me to enter into a detail of
the solid, and, I hope, permanent advantages which
have resulted from the revolution ; I shall content
myself with these short quotations from Mr. De
Lolme and Hume : — " The great charter had marked
out the limits within which the royal authority
ought to be confined ; a few outworks were raised
in the reign of Edward the First ; but it was at the
revolution that the circumvallation was compleated."
— De Lolme on the Constit. of Eng. page 59.—
" The whole scaffolding of false and superstitious
notions, by which the royal authority had till then
been supported, fell to the ground ; and in the room-
of it were substituted the more solid and durable
foundations of the love of order, and a sense of the
necessity of civil government among mankind."—*
Page 60 of the same.
" It may justly be affirmed, without any danger
of exaggeration, that we, in this island, have ever
since enjoyed, if not the best system of government,
at least the most entire system of liberty, that ever
was known among mankind. — Hume, Hist. Eng.
vol. viii. page 318.
I would farther remark, that the same just no-
tions of government, which then prevailed, have
since been diffused more widely among us, that the
doctrines of true liberty are now supported by the
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620 ON RAPIN's DISSERTATION
testimony of experience, and that the spirit of li-
centiousness has not been rouzed by those pro-
vocations, which in the long straggles between free-
dom and prerogative were so frequent and so fatal
— it therefore becomes us to forward the great work
which our forefathers began, with the same dis-
cernment and activity in the pursuit of real im-
provement, the same manly contempt of speculative
refinements, and the same zealous opposition to
unnecessary, precipitate, and extravagant innovation.
Before I leave this subject, it is proper for me
to mention a striking peculiarity in the history of
our country — in "the public dissensions of other
free states the interests of a few were provided for,
but the grievances of the many seldom attended to."
— " In England those dissensions have been termi-
nated by extensive and accurate provisions for the
general liberty.** — What De Lolme, page 326,
affirms, and by a long train of facts has proved,
concerning all our revolutions, Hume confesses to
be true of one. " It happens unluckily for those
who maintain an original contract between the ma-
gistrate and the people, that great revolutions of
government, and new settlements of civil consti-
tutions, are commonly conducted with such violence,
tumult, and disorder, that the public voice can
scarcely ever be heard; and the opinions of the
citizens are at that time less attended to than even
in the common course of administration. The pre-
sent transactions of England, it must be confessed,
are a singular exception to this observation." —
Hume, vol. vin. page 314.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 621
How far the general position tends to invalidate
the original contract between the magistrate and
the people, is a point of curiosity rather than of
use. But the particular exception well deserves our
notice. The wants of the people were redressed —
their claims were admitted — their majesty, in the
language of modern patriotism, was respected, for
just and honourable reasons. At this awful crisis,
their resentments were not wound up to an un-
natural pitch — their complaints were extorted by
real misery— and therefore they were both worthy
of protection, and capable of receiving it, without
any shock to the government, or any insult to the
laws. Galled under the pressure of wrongs they
had already experienced, and terrified with the
prospect of greater mischiefs which they had yet to
dread from the churlish bigotry and headstrong in-
fatuation of their King, they boldly stood forth to
shelter those rights, for which their fathers had so
lately bled, from presumptuous violation. But the
frightful convulsions to which they had been eye-
witnesses in the reign of Charles, and the outra-
geous disorders which followed the usurpation of
Cromwell, were still fresh in their memories, and
deterred them from rushing again into the same
licentiousness of anarchy, and the same frenzy of
fanaticism. The higher orders of men were, also,
at this juncture too much alarmed by real and im-
minent evils, to distress themselves, or to delude
their inferiors, by inflammatory representations of
those that were ideal or remote. From these events
a very important lesson may be derived by persons,
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622 on rapin's dissertation
who, from the eminence of their station, and the
extent of their influence, are enabled to command
the minds of the multitude — they will find that re-
sistance is most successful when it is well-founded
— that the passions of the^people, in the prosecu-
tion even of the best purposes, should not be ex-
cited by artificial expedients, and that their con-
currence is most effectual as well as most warrant-
able, when it springs from sincere conviction that
something ought to be done for their relief, and is
tempered by that good sense which is content with
doing enough.
Every statesman who feels his own importance,
and wishes to employ it for the welfare of the com-
munity, should remember the words of Scipio —
" Multitudo omnis, sicut natura maris, per se im-
mobilis est: vend et aura cient. Ita aut tran-
quillum aut procellae in populo sunt. Causa atque
origo omnis furoris penes auctores est,** — lib.
xxvm. page 658, edit. Var.
This beautiful idea seems to be borrowed from
the speech of Artabanus in Herodotus, ouApmn*
tcaKtou of&iXiai (T$aXXou<rr Kardxep rrp Tarrant XP*l(r*~
[hdtcltw aydpanroKTi flaXounrav, vyevfutra Qcurl dvfymt
efunVroyra, ©u* «piofij v $u<rei -ri} ediwrqs1 xpqrdat.— *
Herod, lib. vn. page 517. edit. Wess.
u When the revolution was secure, and these fears
were calmed, these prejudices resumed, in some de-
gree, their former power, and the more for being
revived and encouraged by men of reputation and
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 623
authority, who argued for some, and might as rea-
sonably have argued for all the errors, in contra-
diction to which most of them had acted, nay, and
were ready to act. With such views and by such
means were many brought, at this time, to entangle
themselves in a maze of inextricable absurdities.
Had they owned candidly and fairly, that their prin-
ciples, as well as those of the Whigs, were carried
too high in their former disputes of parties, and
that these principles could not be true, since they
found themselves actually in a situation wherein it
was not possible to act agreeable to them without
manifest absurdity, the distinction, as well as the
difference of Whig and Tory had been at an end.
But contrary measures produced a contrary effect —
they kept up the appearances, and they could keep
up no more, of a Whig and Tory party, and with
these appearances a great part of the old animosity.
The two names were sounded about the nation ; and
men who saw the same ensigns flying, were not
wise enough to perceive, or not honest enough to
own, that the same cause was no longer concerned;
but fisted themselves on either side, as their pre-
judices at first, and their inclinations or other
motives, which arose in the progress of their con-
tests, directed them afterwards ; Whigs very often
under the Tory standard ; Tories very often under
the Whig standard." — Bolingbroke's Dissert, on
Parties, vol. in. page 130.
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624 ON rapin's dissertation
Page 69. — Power of the Crown.
When the aggregate expences of government are
presented to us in one view, our imagination is
assailed, and overwhelmed with their magnitude.
After the burdensome taxes, and the calamitous
events of the late war, the apprehensions of men
upon this subject are too distressing to be sported
with, and too just to be explained away. But to
point out the particular manner, or the precise de-
gree, in which those expences may be alleviated;
to separate, in detail, the occasional from the per-
manent, and the useful from the superfluous ; to stop
the foul sources of corruption, without impeding
the regular course of business, is an arduous task,
which falls not within the reach of vulgar observa-
tion, or of abstract theory.
That task, however, will in all probability, be
satisfactorily performed by the Commissioners of
Accounts. The appointment of those Commission-
ers, was, indeed, a most honest and most judicious
measure. It points, not, to vague surmises, but to
real facts. It will scatter groundless complaints,
and lead to the redress of those which are well
founded. It is supported by the avowed appro-
bation of all parties, but can promote the selfish
designs of none. It tends to produce an extensive
and effectual reform on principles of economy, and
at the same time declines all disputable and invidi-
ous determinations on the very delicate, though
interesting, question of influence.
Since the revolution, the places of government
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 625
have been considerably multiplied, and the strength
of the Crown has been consequently augmented.
The real exigencies of the state are, doubtless, more
numerous ; the candidates for its favours have been
increased by the gradual reconciliation of those
partizans who favoured the pretensions of the Stuart
family ; and, surely, it is neither absurd to suppose,
nor indecent to assert, that the Crown has sought,
in its influence, for some relief from the weakness
which it felt under the diminution of its pre-
rogative.
Mr. Hume tells us, " that the power of the Crown*
by means of its large revenue, is rather upon the
increase " though, at the same time, he owns, " that
its progress seems very slow, and almost insensible.
Thoaide (says he) has run long, and with some ra-
pidity, to the side of popular government, and is
just beginning to turn towards monarchy." — Hume's
Essays, vol. i. page 47.— But be would probably
have retracted, or limited this opinion, if he had
compared the influence of the Crown in the present
reign with the open and shameless venality which
prevailed during the administration of Walpole, or
if he could have attended to many recent occur-
rences, in which the rights of the people have tri-
umphed over supposed encroachments, and the
efforts of the Commons have counteracted the pro*
jects of the Court. The Tories, no doubt, have
their share, be it of merit, or demerit, in supporting
the claims of the Crown. Yet, I know not, that
their predecessors and rivals were more delicate in
the mode of employing influence, more cautious
vol. in. 2 s
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about extending it, or more upright in the choice
of the measures it was* employed to promote. The
misconduct of James, probably, led the way to the
more alarming errors of Charles. In the same
manner the secret practices of the Whigs supplied
the Tories with precedents, though not with justi-
fications, for some illegal and dangerous expedients
to which they had recourse. But the prerogative
of the Crown was inactive upon these subjects — its
influence was insufficient to stifle the complaints of
the public, and we have been fortunate enough to
find a remedy for many of the evils that were
thought by some men to menace us, not in the
headstrong violence of the people, but in the tem-
perate resistance of the Commons, and in the firm
and constitutional protection of the laws.
When a celebrated vote respecting influence
lately passed the House of Commons, I confess
fairly, that I approved of its principle ; for the
weight of that influence appeared to me (as it does
to the author of the Dialogue on the actual State of
Parliaments) " to predominate in the scale." Page
49. — The reader may recollect, that in page 20 of
this work, I have produced some reasons, in order
to show the unavoidable existence and occasional
utility of some influence in the Crown. I am
guilty of no inconsistency in saying, that I had been
accustomed to think the present degree of that in-
fluence oppressive to the revenues and dangerous
to the freedom of the state. Into this persuasion I
was led, not by the clamours of the day, but by the
general aspect of political causes through the pre-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 627
ceding reigns, by the candid concessions of Black-
stone himself, (vol. i. page 336, and vol. iv. page
441,) and by the respectable example of many dis-
passionate and judicious men, who then supported
some measures of administration, which, with a
sincere respect for many of the persons concerned
in them, I could not approve.
" Nee quemquam incuso. Potuit quae plurima virtus
Esse, fuit — toto certatum est corpore regni." Virg.
But on a comprehensive and more serious view
of the question, upon summoning together some
arguments, which I had totally overlooked, and
more deeply examining others, which I had seen
through a dim and distorted medium, I begin to
think that the influence of the King is less formi-
dable in reality than in appearance —that it pro*
duces many advantages and prevents many evils
which escape superficial observers — that while it
threatens freedom in one quarter, it gives an unseen
but solid protection to it in another. The regal
power, whether it arise from influence or preroga-
tive, is scarce strong enough to support itself
against the latent but growing strength — the un-
defined and perhaps undefinable privileges of the
House of Commons. While, therefore, we rejoice
in seeing the balance prevail in favour of the people,
we act a wicked part in affecting to place the su-
periority where it is not : we act, also, an unwise
part in augmenting the weight of it where, from a
variety of causes known and unknown, temporary
or permanent, it for some time has been, and is yet
likelv to be. I do not take upon myself to say
2s 2
* tft^b^Cv* '"* •*^"r
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628 ON HAPINS DISSERTATION
peremptorily that the hands of royal authority
ought to be strengthened, nor would I rush into the
perilous and invidious office of pointing out the
methods by which an increase of strength may he
conveyed to them; most consistently with the public
good. Between powers, in the abuse of which die
one may gradually undermine our rights, sad the
other crush them at a blow — between haughty and
stubborn prerogative on the one hand, and an in-
sinuating and encroaching influence on the other,
the choice surely is big with difficulty and with
danger. Perhaps they who are least able to exa-
mine the question, will be most forward to decide
it. But I would he understood to speak without
any harsh sentiments of those who differ from me,
and with a sincere deference to the judgments of
men, whose experience in the public busweas of the
state gives them a deeper insight into the secret
motives of mankind, and the relative energy of those
causes which affect 'the buppiness of the com-
munity, when I say that I find no immediate rea-
son for lessening the influence of the Crown*— that
I see many reasons against contracting its power
in one respect without enlarging it in another—
that I perceive yet more reasons for abstaining from
all experimental alterations whatsoever in the criti-
cal condition of our present affairs. On the whole,
I wish, in the words of Hume, " to cherish and im-
prove our ancient constitution, without encouraging
a passion for such heretics" ps have lately been re-
commended.
Let not t&ese sentiments be imputed to that un»
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ON WHIGS AND TORUS, 629
feeling sluggishness which shrinks from the toil of
every attempt to improve — to that blindness of judg-
ment which confounds actual improvement with
wanton charge— or to that false moderation which
affects so to confound it. I allow with Lord Bacon,
that " Time is the greatest innovator ;w that * if
time of course alter these things for the worse,
wisdom and good counsel should alter them to the
better," and that * a froward retention of custom is
as turbulent a thing as sedition." But I also know
from the respectable authority of the same writer,
that " what is settled by custom, though it be not
good, is therefore fit" — that " new things which help
by their utility yet trouble by their inconformity —
and that " it highly becomes us to beware, lest,
where the reformation should draw on the change,
it be the desire of change that pretendeth the re-
formation."— I think not, nor am I acquainted with
any judicious and impartial man, who professes to
think, that our political concerns, either in system
or detail, are precisely as they ought to be. I
should rejoice in a fair opportunity of introducing
some well directed and well proportioned alteration
in the influence of the Crown, in the authority of
the Parliament, and in the representation of the
people. But I require the most unequivocal proofs,
that a tatik so arduous in itself, and so interesting in
its consequences, be undertaken by men of sagacity,
who u understand the great secret of nature in the
stkte as well as in health, that it is better to change
many things than one," and not only to unite utility
with conformity, but to educe the one from the
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other — by men of moderation who "would follow
the example of time itself, which innovateth greatly
but quietly" — by men of stern and inflexible virtue,
who preferring solid praise to transient popularity,
" take care that the good be not taken away with
the bad, which is commonly done when the people
is the reformer." — See Bacon's Essays, No, 17. 24.
Men of the foregoing description, are not the
produce of every day. They are seldom found
among the ambitious leaders of a party, who for
selfish purposes call aloud for changes, which per-
haps they are neither willing to attempt nor able to
conduct ; and in vain shall we look for them among
those restless and discontented spirits to whom the
fine observation of Thucydides may be applied to
ft7igov a€i &apv ro?? fanjicoW. Page 53, edit. Duker.
Whenever such men step forth, and bring with
them clear pretensions to the confidence of the
public, the good sense of that public will be at no
loss to distinguish their qualifications, and the as-
sistance of all worthy citizens will be vigorously
and gratefully employed to give efficacy to their en-
deavours. If the moderate Whigs should have the
merit of furnishing such reformers, we are en-
couraged by the experience of past ages to believe,
that the moderate Tories will not have the demerit
of opposing them. In the mean time, I hope that
the strength of both will be centred in a vigilant
and resolute opposition to every audacious empiric —
to every crafty impostor — to a herd of men, who
stun our ear? with complaints of evils, which, if
imaginary, they wish to exist, and if real, they have
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ON WHIGS AND .TORIES. 631
been instrumental in creating, for the sake of gra-
tifying their pride and of displaying their dexterity,
in the application of precarious and desperate re-
medies.
From this tremendous charge I think it my duty
to exempt the philosophical and benevolent, though
visionary projects of a Jebb, the deeper and more
instructive researches of a Price, and the hasty, but
well-meant and ingenious effusions of a Priestley.
Men of real parts and real integrity (as they are) il-
lumine every subject on which they write, and en-
large knowledge where they do not impress con-
viction. Whatever they propose deserves to be
maturely considered before it be rejected — they
bring truth to a severer test than it has before un-
dergone— they stir up an active spirit of emulation
in political inquiry — and, at all events, they enable
even a successful antagonist to understand his own
opinions more clearly, to retain them more honour-
ably, and to act from them with a steadier view to
the public good.
There are some persons who possess the talents,
but not the virtues of the men, whose names I have
just now mentioned. These restless and ambitious
spirits employ their imagination in framing new
theories of government, their sophistry in explaining
away the advantages of the present, and their elo-
quence in blinding the judgments and inflaming
the passions of their fellow-citizens. The dazzling
genius and incessant activity of such incendiaries
are far more injurious to a state than the ignorance
and even the errors of the lower orders of men
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632 on rapin's dissertation
when left to the unbiassed direction of their own
common sense*
Let me recommend to the serious perusal of such
readers (for some of them can read) the following
observations of Thucydidcs: vforav W $€ipotutw9 ei
yvmao^da, in jfjei^wn yojxois1 a*iyifrois> ^pwjxcnj xoXir
kfxi<r(Taw etrrb, y #caXa>f ^otxriv ajrugoif * apadt'a re puerik
o*axPfo<rwj*jr atyeXipartfoi', $ Se^ionp ftera a*oXa<rj'af
— rf re 0awXo'r€poi raw avdpafarwv, wpfe ro&y £wcto»T€-
pws1, of* ^xirarXrilTTo* ajfttiiw oiKouer* rap wXeir— oi
jct€v ycfcp raJv T6 wjxaiv <ro<pa>T€goi|3ouXovTai QcdvetHlcu, rah
t€ at) "keyofjJvcov €?r& KOivhv TCQiyiytcrdau, cos ev aXXflir
jxe^oeriv €#c av 8i)Xa><rai'T€? ttJv yvaJjuwjv $ca) 4k too toioi-
rou tA jroXXcfc <r$aXXw<n rap ^oXciy— ol S£ cbrfffrouyrer
ri) €% at/Toiv ^tWtrei, ajttaficerrepoi jut^y ra>y vopw a^ioum »
€?paj, afiwaToirepoi 8e too #caXa>? cbro'yros1 ft6fti{/a<rflai
X©yov— Jtgirai $€ &T€9 axi rotrfeou pxXXw, ^ ayamOTaj,
JgdoGvrai Tot, irXl/a — afr ow XPH KAI *YMA2 jroiou*-
ray, juuty 8€4V©r))r# *a2 %w£<r€a)? ay<on €iraipofjL€vou$y
TTcxqa 8o£av to) tj(X€T€pa> xX7j'9€« jrapaivriv.— Page 188.
Page U<—WiUiam HI.
During the reign of William the attempts of Par-
liament to infringe on the constitution were foiled
either by the good sense of the people at large, or
by the jealousy of one branch of the legislature to-
wards another. " There are instances where the
House, even when in opposition to the Crown, has
not been followed by the people, as we may parti-
cularly observe of the Tory House of Commons in
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OW WHIGS Alfl> TORIES. 633
the reign of King William."-— Hume's Essays, voL
i. p. 34, Essay iv.
" In the reign of King William the Third, a few
years after the Revolution, attacks were made upon
the Crown from another quarter. A strong party
was formed in the House of Lords, and, as we may
see in Bishop Burnet's History of his own Times,
they entertained very deep designs. One of their
views, among others, was to abridge the prerogative
of the Crown of calling Parliaments, and judging of
the proper times of doing it. They accordingly
framed and carried in their House a bill for ascer-
taining the sitting of Parliament every year ; but the
biU, after it had passed in their House, was rejected
in the House of Commons." — De Lolme on Con-
stitution of England, p. 397.
" There was another party directly opposite to this ;
a certain number of men, on whom the original
taint, transmitted down from King James the First,
remained still in the fall strength of its malignity.
These men adhered to those principles, in the na-
tural sense and full extent of them, which the Tories
had possessed*" — Bolingb* Dissert, upon Parties,
vol. in. p. 132.
" The Tories had no longer any pretence of fear-
ing the designs of the Whigs, since the Whigs had
sufficiently purged themselves from all suspicion
of republican views by their zeal to continue mo-
narchical government, and of latitudination schemes
in point of religion, by their ready concurrence in
preserving our ecclesiastical establishment, and by
their insisting on nothing farther, in favour of Dis-
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'634 -on rapin's dissertation
senters, than that indulgence which the chnrch was
most willing to grant. The Whigs had as little
pretence of fearing the Tories, since the Tories
had purged themselves, in the most signal manner,
from all suspicion of favouring Popery, or arbitrary
power, by the vigorous resistance they made to both.
They had engaged, they had taken the lead in the
revolution, and they were fully determined against
the return of King James." — Vid. Boling. Dissert
upon Parties, vol. in. p. 128.
If the future conduct of those persons (Republi-
can Whigs) may be conjectured with any probabi-
lity from that of their forefathers, we may, without
any violation of candour, apply to them the words
of Tacitus: "Ista secta Tuberones, et Favonios,
veteri quoque reipublicae ingrata nomina, genuit.
Ut imperium evertant, • libertatem praeferunt ; si
perverterint, libertatem ipsam aggredientur." — Jac.
AnnaL lib. xvi. vol. in. p. 311.
" It should not be forgotten that systematic re-
publicanism originated with the Independents, and
that their political extravagancies were the growth
of their religious absurdities ; not- content with
confining to very narrow limits the power of the
crown, and reducing the King to the rank of first
magistrate, which was the project of the Presbyte-
rians, this sect, more ardent in the pursuit of liberty,
aspired to a total abolition of the monarchy, and
even of the aristocracy, and projected an entire
equality of rank and order, in a republic quite free
and independent."— Ibid. Hume, vol. vn. p. 20.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 636
Page 77. — Materials for History.
In the preceding periods of the English history,
we are assisted by the light of public and private re-
cords, by the testimonies of writers who were eye-
witnesses to what passed on the great theatre of
politics, and of statesmen who acted upon it, by the
zealous activity of partizans, and the minute dili-
gence of antiquarians, by the splendid declamations
of political enthusiasm, and the more elaborate and
instructive researches of political scepticism. But
of the revolution, which is confessedly a most im-
portant epoch, we are content to boast, without
the toil of nice and severe examination into the
grounds of our triumphs. The effects of that event
we indeed feel experimentally; but we seem not to
be actuated by any wise and honourable curiosity,
to trace out the progressive operations of those
causes which then preserved our liberties, and have
since continued to establish and enlarge them. The
excellent productions of the present age forbid us
to impute this silence to the want of ability for the
discussion of the most abstruse and complicated sub-
jects, in which history can be employed. But for
the want of inclination to discuss them, it is more
difficult to account, when we reflect on the fortu-
nate circumstances which concur to facilitate the
inquiries of a discerning and impartial historian.
The prejudice of parties is considerably abated ; the
disputes about the right of succession are fortu-
nately terminated ; and the controverted questions,
which statesmen employ as engines of their ambi-
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tion, are very much changed both in form and in
principle. The materials for history will appear
uncommonly abundant when we consider how
much light may be drawn from the works of Swift,
Bolingbroke, and their contemporaries, from the
memoirs lately published by Macpherson, from the
state-papers treasured up in the cabinets of great
families, from the controversial writings of the day,
and from the parliamentary speeches, many of which
are yet faithfully preserved.
Amidst these extraordinary advantages, an histo-
rian " might look for the principles of politics in
their true source, in the nature and affections of
men, and in the secret ties in which they are united
together in a state of society." — Vide De Lolme, p.
438. He would never feel the mortifying and dis-
graceful necessity of having recourse " to such
speculative doctrines . as are incapable of practical
use." Instead of labouring under " the perplexities
by which the ablest men are embarrassed in the
more abstract questions of politics," he might treat
them as a science sui generis, and draw forth aH
those primary and latent causes which are to be
found, not in the theories that are woven by our
fancies, nor in the prejudices that grow out of our
passions, but in the deepest recesses of the under-
standing and heart of man. It is therefore to be la-
mented, that the history of Mr. Hume stops short at
the very point where assistance was most watted, and
where he was peculiarly able to supply it. The reigns
of William and of Anne are most eventful and most
interesting ; who then does not wish that the ptofte-
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ON WHIGS ANJ> TORIES- 637
trating genius of Hume had been exercised in un-
ravelling the dark intrigues of statesmen, in ba-
lancing all their jarring interests, in describing the
rise and progress of contending factions, in marking
the slightest shades of their resemblance and dissi-
milarity, in developing the motives of their sudden
unions and sudden separations, and in distinguish-
ing their real from their apparent views ? What
Hume has not undertaken might, however, be satis-
factorily performed by two writers of very opposite
tempers, and of powers nearly equal**— by the soft
and elegant pencil of Robertson, and by the bolder
outlines and warmer colouring of Stuart. Robert-
son probably is a disguised Tory, and Stuart is a
constitutional Whig. The one is an advocate for
prerogative, btyt without retaining the silly and ex-
ploded doctrines of arbitrary and irresistible power :
the other is an admirer of liberty, but with a fixed
and manly aversion to all the outrages of boisterous
and wanton licentiousness. If such men put forth the
whole force of their minds upon the same subject,
the reader would find that their prejudices, like op*
poeite forces in mathematics, would destroy each
other, and that by the collision of their different
opinions, the truth would, in most cases, be happily
struck out.
Mrs. Macaulay, I am told, has entered upon the
arduous task which I wish to see undertaken by
Robertson and Stuart. I have not read Mrs. Ma*
caulay s work ; but I am informed, by a very com-
petent judge, that it is written with the same ster-
ling good sense and nervous diction, the same
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piercing discernment of character and passionate
love oiF liberty, which distinguish her former volumes.
In painting the scenes and marking the manners of
private life, Smollett has shown great vigour of in-
vention, a rich vein of pleasantry, an extensive ac-
quaintance with the world, and a deep knowledge of
the heart ; but he did not possess, in an eminent
degree, the talents which peculiarly belong to the
province of history, and his mind was violently
warped by those political prejudices, from which
even Hume was not exempted, by the calmness of
his temper, the strength of his understanding, and
such philosophical habits of thinking as fall not to
the share either of Smollett or Macaulay.
Page 81.— Earl of Oxford.
Even yet the uncertainty is not fully removed
{i. e. whether he was disposed to secure the crown
to the Pretender) ; but the good sense, the integrity,
and the moderation of this injured Minister, brighten
upon our view more and more. The state papers pub-
lished by Macpherson, while they degrade some popu-
lar characters among the Whigs, rescue the reputation
of Oxford from many artful and cruel insinuations :
the true designs of this excellent man will be fully
known, and the method of conducting them, pro-
bably, approved by calm and sensible judges, when
the papers relative to the eventful times of his ad-
ministration and disgrace are published.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 639
Page 81. — Peace of Utrecht.
The merits of this peace are much disputed ; the
reader will find a very plausible and elaborate de-
fence of it — Bolingbroke's Lett, on Hist., vol. n.
The arguments of Bolingbroke are attacked, in
language indeed very feeble, but by arguments per-
tinent and stubborn, in a series of letters written by
Lord Walpole.
Page 83. — High-flyers.
This ludicrous explanation of the word (Rapin's)
brings to our memory the ridicule of Aristophanes
upon philosophical high-flyers. 'Aepo&arS, kol\
T€pi<f>pov(D rlv ffkiw. Nubes, 225. A political
high- flyer may be defined in the words of the
same writer,
— -Opvis aaradfiriTOs icerSpevos
'AriKfiaprot. Aristoph. "OpviSes, 169.
Page 84. — Passive Obedience.
That silly doctrine is now exploded. — The legality
of resistance is not Only acknowledged in the specu-*
lations of politicians, the decisions of lawyers, and
the debates of senators, but approved by the common
apprehensions and common sensibilities even of the
lowest orders of citizens. This truth, while it is too>
plain to admit any dispute, is, however, of too de-»
licate a nature for loose and frequent discussion.
The most acute and sagacious reasoner cannot
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impress upon our minds new conviction — the paltry
and officious declaimer may apply the conviction
already impressed to fatal purposes.
In the present reign I have been disgusted and
provoked at some publications, which seemed to
strike at the root of our liberty ; but I know not
that either in the clumsiest or in the most artful of
these pestilential and profligate writings, the doc-
trine of resistance has been openly attacked, or that
of passive obedience tacitly recommended. We
may have sometimes been told, for wicked purposes,
that to a free state, like our own, regal power am
never be dangerous. But it has not been even
hinted to us, that, be the danger ever so great, and
ever so glaring, we are bound by every moral and
every political tie to crouch under its pressure.
For these reasons I think it, in general, unsafe and
improper either to assert, in a train of direct and
formal reasoning, the right of resistance, or to en-
gage in nice and precarious inquiries, when that
right may be actually exercised. For what pur-
poses are such inquiries intended ? Is it to replace
the ancient landmarks ? But they are not yet
either decayed by time, or removed by violence.
Is it to correct the errors of the people ? They
seem not to have fallen into any upon this subject.
Is it to perpetuate and to invigorate their con*
viction? In the present age there is no danger
that it should be effaced, either by the wiles of so-
phistry, or the impetuosity of dogmatism. Is it to
rouse them from their supineness ? Inactivity and
indifference to the interests of their country, and
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 641
the views of their government, are not among the*
characteristic faults of this generation. My sincere
wish is, indeed, that the people should be informed,
not only of their rights, but of the foundations on
which they stand — of theextentto which they reach —
of the true purposes for which they are established —
and of the safest and most effectual method by
which they may be preserved. But the least re-
flection on human nature is sufficient to convince
us, that such information ought to be conveyed with
the utmost caution, and that to convey it well sur-
passes the abilities of shallow men, and comes not
within the wishes of the turbulent and designing.
As to the origin of the absurd doctrine to which
Rapin alludes, we learn from Hume, vol. vi. page
572, "that the patriarchal scheme was inculcated
in the votes of the convocation preserved by Overall,"
and " that Filmer was not the first inventor of those
absurd notions." But these principles, " which in
the time of James passed so smoothly that no
historians take any notice of them, have nearly
ceased to be the subject of controversy or discourse"
for a different reason. Men of the meanest un-
derstandings would blush to avow them, and the
most abject spirit would reject them with scorn and
indignation.
In his Essay upon Government, Dr. Priestley has
reasoned with his usual acuteness, and declaimed
with his usual earnestness, upon the subject of non-
resistance. But why, I would ask, has he collected
and exerted the powers of his vigorous and com-
prehensive mind, when the doctrine against which
VOL. III. 2 T
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642 ON RAPIN's DISSERTATION
he points them, is heard only in faint indistinct
murmurs amidst the indignant scoffs and loud ex-
ultations of a free people ?
* God be thanked," says Dr. Priestley himself,
" the government of this country is now fixed upon
so good and firm a basis, and is so generally ac-
quiesced in, that they are only the mere toob of a
eourt party, or the narrow minded bigots among
the clergy, who, to serve their own low purposes,
do now and then promote the cry that the
church or the state is in danger." — Priestley, &c,
page 35.
It is my good fortune not to be alarmed at those
fools and bigots, whom Dr. Priestley derides as if
he despised them, and yet confutes as if he feared
them. Inconsiderable is their number, their re-
putation is obscure, and their sophistry is so obvious
to the good sense, and so offensive to the feelings
of Englishmen, that I should be very unwilling by
injudicious opposition to bestow upon them a mo-
mentary importance, and arrest them in the course
by which they are silently descending to contempt
and oblivion.
I agree with Dr. Priestley in some of the funda-
mental principles on which he rests the origin and
the use of government. He has stated them with
logical precision, and enforced them in the most
animated style. I am, however, far from assenting
to many incidental positions in his first section.
Thus, in page 35, I admit that " an oppressive go-
vernment, though it has been ever so long esta-
blished, cannot be lawful ;" but I do not call every
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 643
government "unlawful and oppressive," in which
" sufficient provision is not made for the happiness
of the subjects of it." If sufficient provision means
the greatest possible in given circumstances, every
human government is defective ; and if such defects
" lie open to the generous attacks of the noble and
daring patriot," mankind, instead of enjoying the
advantages of an imperfect constitution, must
sacrifice their peace and shed their blood in the
unprofitable and endless pursuit of one that is
perfect. In the paragraph to which I allude, Dr.
Priestley has confounded the negative with the
positive faults of government — the want of provision
for the utmost possible happiness of a people, with
deliberate encroachments upon that happiness — im-
perfections, which may exist in a good government,
and be supplied by the aid of wise and peaceful
counsels, with oppressions which can exist only in
a bad government, and must be quelled by the
most vigorous resistance.
To this and to some other opinions in the same
section I cannot give my assent, nor can I approve
of the unprovoked and unbecoming asperity that
breaks out in the defence of some other tenets
which are most clear to my understanding, and
most interesting to my heart.
It is not uncommon for controversialists to dis-
play their skill in grappling with imaginary diffi-
culties, and to contend vehemently in support of
those truths, which their real opponents embrace
with equal sincerity, and defend with equal ability.
Less fondness in expatiating upon the subject, less
2x2
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energy in expressing the arguments that belong to
it, less ardour in pushing its consequences to the
extreme boundaries of speculation, less acrimony in
multiplying the invidious conclusions that may be
drawn from the opposite question, are considered as
so many symptoms of hostility. Where Dr. Priest-
ley states the conditions upon which alone resistance
may be justified, and then subjoins the caution
with which it should be undertaken, his arguments
will be echoed and re-echoed by many persons who
are vulgarly represented as tools of the state and
bigots of the church. I will quote Dr. Priestley's
words, because he would himself disdain the im-
putation of contracting the limits of resistance in
favour of tyranny, and because no impartial judge
can accuse him of enlarging them so as to endanger
the stability of just and lawful government. — "In
the largest states, if the abuses of government
should at any time be great and manifest — if the
servants of the people, forgetting their masters, and
their master's interest, should pursue a separate one
of their own — if, instead of considering that they
are made for the people, they should consider the
people as made for them — if the oppressions and
violations of right should be great, flagrant, and
universally resented — if the tyrannical governors
should have no friends but a few sycophants, who
had long preyed upon the vitals of their fellow
citizens, and who might be expected to desert a
governmeut whenever their interests should be de-
tached from it — if, in consequence of these cir-
cumstances, it should become manifest, that the
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. . 645
risque which would be run in attempting a revolution
would be trifling, and the evils which might be apr
prehended from it, were far less than those which
were actually suffered, and which were daily in-
creasing ; in the name of God, I ask, what prin-
ciples are those, which ought to restrain an injured
and insulted people from asserting their natural
rights, and from changing or even punishing their
governors, that is," their servants, who had abused
their trust ; or, from altering the whole form of
their government, if it appeared to be of a structure
so liable to abuse ?" — Priestley, page 24*
The fiercest, and I add the most venal antagonist
of Dr. Priestley, will cheerfully give his assent to
these general principles, though as to the precise
degree in which they are applicable to particular
circumstances, he may not always meet with the
concurrence of his dearest and most disinterested
friends. All parties surely will agree with him in
the following plain positions, and in the very awful
restrictions by which he has endeavoured to prevent
the weak from misunderstanding, and the seditious
from misapplying them.— " Whatever be the form
of any government, whoever be the supreme ma-
gistrates, or whatever be their number, that is, to
whomsoever the power of the society is delegated,
their authority is, in its own nature, reversible."
Page 44. — " This, however, can only be the case in
extreme oppression ; when the blessings of society
and civil government, great and important as they ,
are, are bought too dear ; when it is better not to
be governed at all, than to be governed in such a
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manner ; or, at least, when the hazard of a change
of government would be apparently the less evil of
the two ; and, therefore, these occasions rarely oc-
cur in the course of human affairs. It may be
asked, what should a people do in case of less gene-
ral oppression, and only particular grievances ; when
the deputies of the people make laws which evidently
favour themselves, and beat hard upon the body of
the people they represent, and such as they would
certainly disapprove, could they be assembled for
that purpose ? I answer, that when this appears to
be very clearly the case, as it ought by all means to
do, (since, in many cases, if the government have
not power to enforce a bad law, it will not have
power to enforce a good one,) the first step which a
wise and moderate people will take, is to make a
remonstrance to the legislature."— Priestley on Poli-
tical Liberty, page 45.
What writer has more pointedly condemned the
phrenzy of groundless and precipitate sedition, or
has more energetically described the hideous con-
sequences which flow from it ?
" If a man have common sense he will see it to
be madness to propose, or to lay any measures for
a general insurrection against the government, ex-
cept in case of very general and great oppression.
Even patriots, in such circumstances, will consider,
that present evils always appear greater in con-
sequence of their being present ; but that the future
evils of a revolt, and a temporary anarchy, may be
much greater than are apprehended at a distance.
They will also consider, that unless their measures
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 647
be perfectly well laid, and their success decisive,
ending in a change not of men, but of things ; not
of governors, but of the rules and administration of
government ; they will only rivet their chains the
faster, and bring upon themselves and their country
tenfold ruin."
The sentiments of Dr. Priestley upon every sub-
ject are entitled to respectful attention, and I am
happy to show, by the foregoing quotations, that
upon this cardinal point of politics he maintains
opinions in which the wisest and most temperate
friends to the constitution will acquiesce. He
with great candour makes allowances for those
weak friends of society, who, when there were " re-
cent examples of good Kings deposed, and some
of them massacred by wild enthusiasts, laid hold
of the doctrine of passive obedience, because it sup-
plied an argument for more effectually preserving
the public peace." Let him extend his candour to
<f this day, when the danger from which that doc-
trine served to shelter us is over, and the heat of
controversy is abated." — "The preposterous and
slavish opinion," either lurks in remote obscurity,
or is spread over the writings of a few wretched
sciolists, whom no philosopher will deign to con-
fute, and no patriot has reason to dread. The
scattered and lingering remains of this doctrine
would be totally forgotten, were they not kept in
our view by the angry and boisterous attacks of
the advocates for liberty. "Indeed writers in de-
fence of such absurd and pernicious tenets do not
deserve a serious answer; and to allege them in
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favour of a corrupt government, which nothing can
excuse but their being brought in favour of a good
one, is unpardonable." — Pr. on Gov. p. 29. — To
Unwilling as I am to dwell on the present sub-
ject, I have made very copious quotations from
Priestley, in order to show that sensible men really
differ from each other less than theyseem to do;
and that the sturdiest advocate for freedom pre-
sumes not to justify resistance, unless in cases
where the most strenuous friends of monarchy
would allow it to be justifiable. I must, however,
acknowledge, that upon the fondness of writers to
start suppositions of danger, and to exert the whole
force of their eloquence upon the right of men
to avert it, I do not look with a very friendly
eye. — u Extreme cases (says Mr. Hey) always
bring with them all the remedy they are capable of
— it is to no purpose to lay down rules about them
before-hand ; for, when they happen, all rules
and laws cease — violence alone has place — in vain
would man in any particular circumstances, say at
the time, this is an extreme case, and attempt
to justify himself by argument, in acting as if it
really was so. It is trifling to argue about such
cases, not merely because those who are involved
in them will always act from feelings, which pre-
clude the effect of all arguments, but because the
cases cannot be reduced to any distinct general
ideas so as to become a proper subject for argu-
mentation. Therefore, in all speculations, we
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ON WHIG8 AND TORIES. 649
may consider the legislature as unbounded in its
powers." — Hey's Observations on Civil Liberty.
To the justness and importance, to the political
wisdom and constitutional spirit of the foregoing
observations, I give my hearty assent. They will
receive new clearness and new strength from this
admirable passage in Mr. Hume — " The question,
indeed, with regard to resistance, was a point,
which entered into the controversies of the old
parties, Cavalier and Roundhead; as it made an
essential part of the present disputes between court
and country. Few neuters were found in the
nation ; but among such as would maintain a calm
indifference, there prevailed sentiments wide of
those which were adopted by either party. Such
persons thought that all public declarations of the
legislature, either for or against resistance, were
equally impolitic, and could serve to no other pur-
pose than to signalize in their turn the triumph
of one faction over another— that the simplicity
retained in the antient laws of England, as well as
in the laws of every other country, ought still to
be preserved, and was best calculated to prevent
the extremes on either side — that the absolute
exclusion of resistance, in all possible cases, was
founded on false principles ; its express admission
might be attended with dangerous consequences ;
and there was no necessity for exposing the public
to either inconvenience — that if a choice must
necessarily be made in the case, the preference of
utility to truth in public institutions was appa*
rent ; nor could the supposition of resistance,
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before-hand and in general terms, be safely ad-
mitted in any government — that even in mixed
monarchies, where that supposition seemed most
requisite, it was yet entirely superfluous ; since no
man, on the approach of extraordinary necessity,
could be at a loss, though not directed by legal
declarations, to find the proper remedy — that even
those who might, at a distance and by scholas-
tic reasoning, exclude all resistance, would yet
hearken to the voice of nature, when evident ruin,
both to themselves and the public, must attend
a strict adherence to their pretended principles —
that the question, as it ought to be entirely ex-
cluded from all determinations of the legislature,
was even among private reasoners, somewhat fri-
volous, and little better than a dispute of words —
that the one party could not pretend, that resist-
ance ought ever to become a familiar practice ;
die other would surely have recourse to it in great
extremities; and thus the difference could only
turn upon the degrees of danger and oppression,
which would warrant this irregular remedy — a
difference, which, in a general question, it was
impossible by any language, precisely to fix or
determine." — Hume's Hist, of Eng. vol. vm. p. 12.
Page 90. — Moderate Tories.
Perhaps the sentiments of these men nearly cor-
respond with the following language of De Lolme.
•—"All these considerations (explained in chap,
xtx.) strongly point out the very great caution
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ON WHIGS AMD TORIES. 651
which is necessary to be used in the difficult busi-
ness of laying new restraints on the governing
authority. Let, therefore, the less informed part
of the people, whose zeal requires to be kept
up by visible objects, look, if they choose, upon the
Crown as the only seat of the evils they are ex-
posed to (mistaken notions on their part are less dan-
gerous than political indifference, and they are
more easily directed than roused) ; but at the same
time, let the more enlightened part of the nation
constantly remember, that the constitution only
subsists by virtue of a proper equilibrium— by
a line being drawn between power and liberty.
Made wise by the examples of several other
nations, by those which the history of this very
country affords, let the people in the heat of their
struggles in the defence of their liberty, always
take heed to reach, never to overshoot the mark —
only to repress, never to transfer and diffuse power."
— De Lolme on the Constit. of Eng. p. 449.
Page 91. — Party.
In the present age we have certainly shaken off
many contemptible prejudices, which shackled the
understandings of our. forefathers. Yet, how few
of us have abandoned the iniquitious practice of
imputing to a party the crimes of a leader, and to
a leader the excentricities of a party? Such a
reformation, I fear, is scarcely to be expected
while the pride and malignity of the heart feel
a secret gratification in reducing the general virtues
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of others to particular, and in amplifying their
particular faults into general. In the circle of my
own acquaintance, I have seen men whose minds,
however enlightened by knowledge, and expanded
by benevolence, become, on political subjects, weak
almost to fatuity, and illiberal even to rancour-
Against the principles of Whiggism, shielded as they
are by their popularity, it is unsafe to make an
open attack ; but I have met with some few parti-
zans who seriously adopt the well known definition
of Whig, which its author would now be ashamed
seriously to defend, and who consider every man
that bears the name, as a latitudinarian in religion,
and a leveller in the state. The word Tory, on
the other hand, is associated with every hideous
idea of despotism and bigotry ; his real and his
imaginary failings are exposed without reserve, and
reprobated without mercy ; and the favourable
reception which is indiscriminately given to the
ravings of indiscriminate railers, while it weakens
the probability of the accusation among considerate
judges, increases the zeal of the inconsiderate ac-
cusers.
Some time ago I read an Essay on the Origin
Of Government, in which the author united much
profound and original speculation with a perspi-
cuous and nervous style. His zeal carried with it
the marks of a mind that glowed with a generous
love of freedom, and his theory, though refined
beyond the reach of practice, was evidently the
growth of a vigorous and well cultivated under-
standing. When ' the sequel of that essay was
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published, I eagerly seized it in expectation of new
pleasure and new instruction ; but instead of deep,
researches into things, and acute observations upon,
men, I found only a crude and coarse mass of.
accusations, complaints, and projects, without regu-
larity and without use. What reader, who has a
common share of good sense or good nature, would
not turn aside from a writer, who in the very thresh-
hold exhibits such a specimen, as this which follows,
of his talents for exaggeration ?
" If the question is asked, what are Tory princi-
ples ? it might be answered, that they are the reverse
of the Whig principles of government, and senti-
ments of the constitution ; and so opposite, that
neither can a Whig, while he acts on his own prin-
ciples, do any thing wrong, nor a Tory do any thing
right.
" The Tory is content that his happiness should,
depend upon the good conduct of the king, under,
whom he is content to be tenant at will for his
liberty. The Whig would, as far as is consistent
with order, prevent the Crown from having the
power to do harm, and considers liberty as his.
eternal right and freehold, held of the Almighty
only. The good of the people is uppermost in the
Whig's thoughts ; the grandeur of the Prince in the.
Tory's.
" The Whig, who is a member of the church of.
England, regards the dissenter as his younger bro-
ther, but dislikes the religious, and detests the poli-
tical principles of the church of Rome, for which the
Tory entertains a respectful tenderness, but abomi-.
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nates the dissenter like Sir Andrew Ague-cheek ;
and if, like the foolish Knight of Illyria, he was not
afraid, he would heat the Puritan like a dog ; and if
asked like him for his exquisite reason, must answer
likewise, that he had no exquisite reason, but reason
good enough.
u The Whig thinks the form of government in
church and state, is a thing of absolute indifference
in itself, excepting as it regards and promotes order,
virtue, liberty, and religion, which constitute the
true interest and duty of mankind. The Tory is
sure that Kings are God's vicegerents, and can
almost prove that Archbishops are jure divino. A
Whig will kindly tire you sometimes with praises of
the constitution, a word never uttered by a Tory
mouth, from which you will sooner hear a thousand
harangues upon the prerogative, intermixed with
astonishment that we can find any body so good
naturedly indiscreet as to be minister, or to reign
over us; and their last principle is to renounce all
die above, when they become troublesome to the
possessor or professor." — See Sequel to an Essay
on the Origin and Progress of Government, p. 4.
" Such being the principles and marks of a Tory,
to be collected as much from the actions as the
words of the virtuous and well-meaning among them,
of which there are abundance ; (and if these are not
their principles, their actions can arise only from
absolute ignorance and inattention, or profligate
corruption ; for to no other principles can they be
reconciled;) jt is no wonder, that by acting consist-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 655
ently with them, they have assisted the wicked en-
deavours of unprincipled men, to overthrow the
constitution, both when in authority, and when out
of administration. Let us take a look at them
when in disgrace and when triumphant ; the latter
glimpse is indeed unpleasant, as their prosperity is
England's adversity." — Ibid. p. 6.
To what cause can such language be ascribed,
but to the fascinating power of prejudice, and the
loathsome malignity of party ? When assertion is
thus substituted for proof, and censure degenerates
into scurrility, there is no room for argumentative
confutation ; and who would descend to the wretched
task of retorting what cannot be read without disgust
and abhorrence ? Let me address this able theorist,
(for such he really and eminently is) in the words
of a person whose works, I doubt not, are familiar
to him.—" Maledictum est, illud tuum, si vere ob-
jicitur, vehementis accusatoris, sin falso, maledici
convitiatoris : quare, cum isto sis ingenio, non dtbes,
M. Cato, ampere maledictum e trivio, aut ex acur-
rarum aliquo convicicx" — Oral, pro Muren.
The above mentioned sequel is dedicated to a
Senator,, whose intemperate severity in loading his
antagonist with reproaches is often lamented by
those, who look up with admiration to his attain-
ments and hia virtues. For the imperfection of the
patron we may find some apology in the same
speech which just now supplied me with an expos-
tulation to his dedicator — " Quod atrociter in senatii
dixisti,autnon dixisses, aut seposuissea, aut mitiorem
in partem interpretarere. Ac te ipsum, quantum,
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ego opinione auguror, nunc et animi quodam im-
petu concitatum, et vi naturae atque ingenii elatum,
et recentibus preceptorum studiis flagrantem, jam
usus flectet, dies leniet, aetas mitigabit " — Orat. pro
Muraen.
Mr. Hume, whose insight into the views of par-
tizans will not be controverted by the writer whose
opinions I am now censuring, gives us a very dif-
ferent account.
" The mere name of King commands little re-
spect ; and to talk of a King as God's vicegerent on
earth, or to give him any of those magnificent titles,
which formerly dazzled mankind, would be to ex-
cite laughter in every one" — Essays, vol* I. p. 47.
Page 93. — Perfection of Government.
The perfection of all government is relative ; for,
according to the well known distinction of Solon,
the best laws are, not those which are captivating
in theory, but those which are useful in practice —
not such as a philosopher is capable of framing
ideally, but such as a people are actually capable of
receiving. That perfection is different in different
circumstances. Through the fluctuating opinions,
the boisterous passions, and jarring interests of men,
it is, in every country, of slow and irregular growth.
In our own, it proceeds from many unsuspected and
even opposite causes — from unforeseen and inexpli-
cable accidents, as well as from the most profound
and active policy — from the disappointment of
human projects, as Well as from their success — from
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unjust opposition to power, as well as from the
unjust usurpation of it — from Papists and Plrotes-
tants — from sectaries and churchmen — from Par-
liaments and Kings — who in their turns have all
been enemies to liberty, and have all contributed
directly or indirectly, intentionally or eventually, to
its preservation, its enlargement, and its stability.
We may, exhypothesi, allow with Hume, that the
constitution of England acquired its greatest firm-
ness and precision at the accession of William III. —
that before this period the government of it was un-
steady iu its operations, and, in some solitary in-
stances, seemed to be doubtful in its principles — that
our rights were sometimes indistinctly understood,
and sometimes feebly asserted — that the importance
of the Commons was less early and less considerable
than every generous friend to our liberties must
wish, and some of its enthusiastic panegyrists have
supposed — that the Nobles were obsequious to the
King, and oppressive to the people — that the King
undermined the just privileges of his Parliament,
and trampled on the just claims of his subjects.
But from particular and detached events, from
sudden and transient irregularities, and from the
imperfect state of society which occasioned them, no
inference can be drawn against the general right of
mankind to be free, or the general disposition of
our countrymen to vindicate their freedom. On
this momentous topic I am happy to shelter my own*
sentiments under the authority of those distinguished
writers to whose works I have frequently had re-
vol. in. 2 u
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course, for the illustration or the support of the
Dissertation here republished.
* By the free constitution of the English mo-
narchy, every advocate of liberty, that understands
himself, I suppose means, that limited plan of policy,
by which the supreme legislative power (including
in this general term the power of levying money) is
lodged, not in the Prince singly, but jointly in the
Prince and people ; whether the popular part of the
constitution be denominated the King's or King-
dom's great council, as it was in the proper feudal
times ; or the Parliament, as it came to be called
afterwards ; or, lastly, the two Houses of Parliament,
as the style has now been for several ages.
" To tell us, that this constitution has been dif-
ferent at different times, because the regal or popular
influence has, at different times been more or less
predominant, is only playing with a word, and con-
founding constitution with administration. Ac-
cording to this way of speaking, we have not only
had three or four, but possibly three or four score,
different constitutions. So long as that great dis-
tribution of the supreme authority took place (and
it has constantly and invariably taken place, whatever
other changes there might be, from the Norman es-
tablishment down to our times) the nation was
always enabled, at least authorised, to regulate all
subordinate, or, if you will, supereminent claims and
pretensions. This it effectually did at the revolu-
tion ; and by so doing, has not created a new plan
of policy, but perfected the old one. The great
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master wheel of the English constitution is still the
same ; only freed from those checks and restraints,
by which, under the specious name of prerogatives,
time and opportunity has taught our Kings to ob-
struct and embarrass its free and regular move-
ments.*'— HurcFs Dialogues.
" From the Saxon conquest, during a long suc-
cession of ages, this fortunate Island has never de-
generated from liberty. In the most inclement pe-
riods of its history, it despaired not of independence.
It has constantly fostered that indignant spirit which
disdains all subjection to an arbitrary sway. The
constitution, prospering under the shocks it received,
fixed itself at the highest point of liberty that is
compatible with government. May it continue its
purity and vigour ! and give felicity and greatness
to the most distant times ! " — Vid. Stuart's Discourse
on the Laws and Govern, of England, p. 32.
* A spirit of liberty, transmitted down from our
Saxon ancestors, ami the unknown ages of our go-
vernment, preserved itself through one almost con-
tinual struggle against the usurpation of our Princes,
and the vices of the people ; and they whom neither
the Flantagenets nor the Tudors could enslave were
incapable of suffering their rights and privileges to
be ravished from them by the Stuarts. They bore
with the last King of this unhappy race till it was
shameful, as it must have been fatal, to bear any
longer ; and whilst they asserted their liberties, they
refuted and anticipated, by their temper and their
patience, all the objections which foreign and do*
mestic abetters of tyranny are apt to make against
2u2
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the conduct of our nation towards their Kings. Let
us justify the conduct by persisting in it, and con-
tinue to ourselves the peculiar honour of maintain-
ing the freedflga of our Gothic institution of govern-
ment, when so many other nations, who enjoyed
the same, have lost theirs." — Lord Bolingbroke's
Dissertat. upon Parties, vol. in. p. 145.
From so complete and well concerted a scheme
of servility it has been the work of generations for
our ancestors to redeem themselves and their pos-
terity into that state of liberty which we now enjoy;
and which, therefore, is not to be looked upon as
consisting of mere encroachments on the Crown,
and infringements on the prerogative, as some
slavish and narrow-minded writers in the last cen-
tury endeavoured to maintain ; but, as in general, a
gradual restoration of that ancient constitution,
whereof our Saxon forefathers had been unjustly de-
prived, partly by the policy, and partly by the force
of the Normans." — Blackstone, vol. iv. book iv.
chap. 33, p. 420.
* The political liberty of the people was cherished
by the benign influence of the Saxon constitution ;
it was blasted by the malignant aspect of Norman
tyranny. By an happy coincidence of events, the
unalienable rights of man resulted from a system of
oppression. We are indebted to the arbitrary con-
vention of the feudal vassals for the blessings of a
popular legislation." Ibbetson's Dissertation on the
National Assemblies under the Saxon and Norman
Government, p. 52. — I quote this passage from a
very ingenious and elegant work which fell into my
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hands after the first part of Rapin was sent to the
press. The origin, progress, and revolutions of
Parliament, the increase, the decline and final re-
storation of its powers, the extensive rights of soc-
cage and the primary causes of representation, are
explained by this writer with great clearness of ar-
rangement and great energy of style. The reader
will excuse me for quoting a few passages which
tend to confirm my opinion concerning the antiquity
of Parliaments. I should have been happy to have
introduced them sooner in another place ; but they
are not altogether unconnected with the subject of
this note. " We may venture to conclude, that the
people elected their protectors, who assumed a just
pre-eminence in the great assembly of the nation ;
and that their political rights were by no means
compressed by the regal prerogative, or overwhelmed
by the weight of aristocratical importance. The
opinions of the philosophers of Greece were propa-
gated by the swords of the Northern conquerors ;
impatient of oppression, they felt the necessity of
freedom ; undirected by systematical arrangements
the exertions of virtue were instinctive. The con-
genial spirit of liberty delighted in the German fo-
rests, and consecrated the rocks of Scandinavia ; it
expanded in the uncultivated waste, where nothing
was constrained, where nature herself was independ-
ent/* Ibid. p. 10. — And again, in p. 15: "It
must be candidly allowed, that the national assembly
of our Saxon ancestors asserted the right of electing
its supreme magistrate — that it possessed the legis-
lative, the judicial, and the fiscal powers — and that
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the people had a considerable share in the direction
of its councils and the confirmation of its decrees.*
In page 29 he traces out the causes of popular re-
presentation, and evidently confirms my opinion,
that the Commons, before the time of Henry the
Third, formed a part of the Parliament, and that to
remedy the inconveniences of their attendance upon
such service, or their neglect of it, the legislature
adopted the expedient of representation. I am
happy in adding the name of Mr. Ibbetson to the
list of those who, uniting the professional know-
ledge of lawyers with the more precarious researches
of antiquarians, have opposed the opinion of Mr.
Hume, who contends for the late existence of Par-
liaments. But Mr. Hume himself, though he calls
off our admiration from the antiquity of the consti-
tution, hath, in this glowing and charming language
encouraged us to set a high value upon that form
of government under which we now Kve. u On the
whole, the English have no reason, from the exam-
ple of their ancestors, to be in love with the picture
of absolute monarchy; or to prefer the unlimited
authority of the Prince and his unbounded preroga-
tives, to that noble liberty, that sweet equality, and
that happy security, by which they are at present
distinguished above all nations in the universe."—
Hume, vol. v. p. 471.
The Whigs are not ashamed of cherishing such a
constitution with ardent fondness, of guarding it
with unremitted vigilance, or of defending it with
unshaken intrepidity ; when it is really in danger,
the moderate Tories will show themselves not almost,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 663
but altogether, attached to the same cause, and
animated with the same zeal.
Page 107. — Creation of the Twelve Peers.
The hardiest apologist for prerogative would
shrink from the idea of defending this outrageous
and profligate measure. An artifice so insulting to
the dignity, so offensive to the feelings, and so
alarming to the apprehensions of free citizens will
probably be never attempted again, or at least the
attempt will be accompanied with less success, and
followed up by the spirited and terrible indignation
of an injured people. The power of the Crown to
create Peers, is, like every other power, open to
abuse. Yet, perhaps, if we look back through a
long succession of our Princes, we shall find that
no one of their privileges has been stretched more
rarely beyond its due bounds, or attended with less
pernicious effects.
While the House of Commons continues, what
it ought to be, an assembly of men respectable for
their opulence, their personal weight, and their
wisdom, they will not become the instruments of
their own degradation ; for such they would be, if
they prevented the Crown from conferring those
honours, to which they may themselves aspire from
the most laudable motives, and which they often
earn by the most important services* The pride of
the Nobles who are jealous of the novi homines,
may, indeed, upon this subject, be united with the
pride of the people, who look with no less jealousy
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upon the recent advancement of their equals, and
the antient privileges of their superiors. But in
conspiring to wrench from the Crown this old and
venerable part of the prerogative, both the Nobles
and the people would act against their own true in-
terests. The House of Lords would no longer be
supplied by men who have distinguished themselves
by eloquence in the senate, by sagacity in the
cabinet, or by valour in the field. Those objects
which now actuate the honest ambition of our re-
presentatives would be removed, and the office of
representation, instead of being eagerly courted as
an honour, would be reluctantly submitted to as a
task. While men are men, the consciousness of
upright intention, and even the voice of an ap-
plauding people, may not always be sufficient al-
lurements to great and splendid exertions in the
cause of our country. Rewards of a more per-
manent nature will produce more important effects ;
and, surely, when public distinctions acquired by
public services are the foundations of a family, it
is difficult to substitute a more proper or a more
efficacious encouragement; for, by such an ex-
pedient, the wishes of an individual are gratified,
while the revenues of the state are not exhausted.
We should not forget the deep and destructive
policy of Sylla, when he barred against the Tribunes
those avenues into the Senate which had been open
to their predecessors. By this measure he seems
to have restored the dignity, or rather to have es-
tablished the tyranny of the Senate. At the same
time he made the tribuneship an object of attention
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to the meanest and most worthless citizens. He
debased its importance, sapped its authority, and
gained an easy conquest over the rights which that
office was intended to protect.
Our own history presents us with an instance of
the unworthy motives which dictated, and of the
wise measures which frustrated, a most indecent at-
tempt to lop off, or, at least, to cramp this branch
of the prerogative. — "A bill was presented, and
carried, in the House of Lords, for limiting the
Peers to a fixed number, beyond which it should
not be increased ; but after great pains taken to
ensure the success of this bill, it was at last rejected
by the House of Commons." — De Lolnie, page
398.
Page 109. — Prerogative.
It is not easy to convince men of the utility, or
reconcile them to the continuance of a power which
they do not themselves exercise immediately or
remotely. Their inability, or unwillingness, to be
thus persuaded, arises from the more exquisite sen-
sibility of the mind under the pressure of occasional
evil, than in the possession of general good ; from
the lurking ambition of drawing all authority within
the circle of our own party ; and from the over-
whelming dread which seizes our imaginations on
the contemplation of regal power, to which the re-
sistance of an individual is so very inadequate. —
" Our manner," says Hooker, " is always to cast a
more suspicious eye towards that " over which we
know we have least power."— Page 37.
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From these causes, which it is unnecessary far-
ther to explain, and from others, which it might be
invidious to particularize, have arisen the excessive
prejudices which many persons in our own age en-
tertain upon the subject of prerogative ; and by a
weakness, which the noblest understandings cannot
always subdue, the same persons are prone to cherish
unkind and unworthy suspicions of every man who
firmly adheres to opinions, the reasons of which are
unperceived by themselves. Far am I from wishing
to lull asleep the watchfulness of free citizens over
their liberties, or to pilfer away the smallest particle
of the power which they have to defend them. But
considering the rights of the people, the privileges
of the Parliament, and the prerogative of the King,
as equally and severally the instruments of the
public good, I should be sorry to see the due efficacy
of the means diminished through a misguided zeal
for the end. I shall, for this reason, produce the
full and positive evidence of Mr. Locke, where he
points out the usefulness, and contends for the ne-
cessity of the prerogative.
" Where the legislative and executive power are
in distinct hands (as they are, in all moderated mo-
narchies and well-framed governments), there the
good of the society requires that several things
should be left to the discretion of him that has the
executive power. For, the legislators not being
able to foresee and provide by laws for all that may
be useful to the community, the executor of the
laws, having the power in his hands, has, by the
common law of nature, a right to make use of it
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 667
for the public good of the society, in many cases
where the municipal laws has given no direction,
till the legislative can conveniently be assembled to
provide for it. Many things there are which the
law can by no means provide for, and these must
necessarily be left to the discretion of ban that has
the executive power in his hands, to be ordered by
him, as the public good and advantage shall require ;
nay it is fit that the laws themselves should in some
cases give way to the executive power, or rather to
this fundamental law of nature and governments,
yiz. that as much as may he all the members of the
society are to be preserved.
" This power to act according to discretion, for
the public good, without the , prescription of the
law, and sometimes even against it, is that which is
called prerogative. For since, in some governments,
the law-making power is not always in being, and is
usually too numerous, and so too slow for the dis-
patch requisite to execution ; and because it is also
impossible to foresee, and so by laws to provide for
all accidents and necessities that may concern the
public, or to make such laws as will do no harm, if
they are executed with an inflexible rigour, on all
occasions, and upon all persons that may come in
their way; therefore there is a latitude left to the
executive power, to do many things of a choice
which laws do not provide.
M This power, whilst employed for the benefit of
the community, and suitably to the trust and ends
of the government, is undoubted prerogative, and
never is questioned ; for the people are very seldom,
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or never, scrupulous or nice in the point ; they are
far from examining prerogative, whilst it is, in any
tolerable degree, employed for the use it was meant ;
that is, for the good of the people, and not ma-
nifestly against it. But if there comes to be a
question between the executive power and the
people, about a thing claimed as a prerogative, the
tendency of the exercise of such prerogative to the
good or hurt of the people, will easily decide that
question." — Vid. Locke, on Civil Government,
vol. ii. page 220.
In determining the beneficial or injurious ten-
dency of prerogative in particular instances — in
balancing the advantages and the disadvantages of
controling it — in adjusting the precise degree to
which its general operations should be extended or
confined, Whigs may differ from Tories, and even
from each other. But as to its origin and its object,
none but the most obstinate will disagree with Mr.
Locke. In the present age, when prerogative is
circumscribed within such just boundaries by law,
and is reduced by other causes to yet greater de-
bility than the law supposes, the sentiments of mo-
derate men on both sides are useful to the com-
munity. If the one party are disposed to encroach
upon the rights of the Crown, the common interest
of the state may require that the other should with
equal firmness resist encroachment. By a spirit of
mutual concession and mutual good-will they may
either prevent the necessity of entering into these
invidious discussions, or may enter upon them with
an honest desire of discovering what is really ex-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 669
pedient, and of doing what is really just. They
may come equally prepared to support prerogative
in its present form, or to avail themselves of every
proper occasion, as well for relaxing it without in-
sult to the Crown, as for enlarging it without dan*
ger to the community.
Page 111. — Tories.
When I was mentioning my design of re-publish-
ing Rapin to a learned neighbour, who, to the
logical acuteness of Hume has united the senti-
mental delicacy of Rousseau, he told me, that To-
ries always masked their design under the veil of
whiggism. His observation reminded me of a
passage in Hume, who seems to entertain very
similar sentiments. "The Tories (says he) have
been so long obliged to talk in the republican style,
that they seem to have made converts of themselves
by their hypocrisy, and to have embraced the senti-
ments as well as the language of their adversaries."
Hume, vol. i. Essay vm. — For this conduct,
which patriots will stigmatize as the meanest dis-
simulation, and the man of the world may palliate
as necessary caution, it is not very difficult to ac-
count. Mankind, it is well known, are infatuated
by the sorcery of mere words ; and where offensive
qualities, in consequence of accidental and tempo-
rary circumstances, have been blended together
with the most salutary, the conceptions of the mul-
titude are too gross, and their passion too precipi-
tate for nice discrimination. Amidst a people
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jealous df every attempt either to steal away their
liberties by silent encroachment, or to wrest them
by ruffian force, all kinds and all degrees of attach-
ment to prerogative appear in a questionable shape.
Easy it is indeed for the evil or turbulent leaders of
a party to load with invidious names the best
founded opinions and the best directed measures ;
but it is not easy to lead on vulgar minds by a long
and intricate chain of argument to any fixed con-
viction, that the power of one is not only com-
patible with the actual freedom of many, but even
necessary to its regularity and its permanence —
that the authority now scattered through numbers
in the other component parts of our legislature,
may be suddenly collected into a mass sufficient to
crush the very rights they were intended to shelter
— or that prerogative bounded by law is an equal
barrier against the insidious ambition of the nobles,
and the desperate rashness of the multitude. The
conviction produced by such reasoning is feeble,
loose, and transient. Upon the first and slightest
impression, it is accompanied by secret repinings at
the hard necessity of human affairs, which has ren-
dered submission to one man the price of our secu-
rity—it gives way at the first alarm even of imagi-
nary danger — it is instantaneously and utterly effaced
by those flattering descriptions of popular govern-
ments, which the ancient orators have exhibited in
all the dazzling colours of eloquence, and which the
history of almost every ancient state tends to con-
fute by the stubborn testimony of fact.
There is yet another reason which may induce
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 671
the Tories to disclaim that appellation. Their an-
cestors were, some of them secretly, and some
openly, attached to the family of the Stuarts.
"Jacohitistn," indeed, as Stuart observes* "is re-
tiring to seek obscurity and repose in its grave.''
Page 39, on the Public Law and Constitution of
Scotland. — It is now deprived even of the coarse
and blunt instruments which politicians employ
upon the credulity of the weak and the hopes of
the sanguine. It presents not the faintest ray of
hope to the few who yet linger in its defence, and
it has ceased to supply even its enemies with stale
pretences for accusation. But Jacobitism, thus for-
lorn and hopeless, is yet supposed to have left some
of its original taint upon the descendants of those*
who drank in the infection from its primary source
and in its unabated malignity. "The Crown," it is
said, " will naturally bestow all its trust and power
upon those whose principles, real or pretended, are
most favourable to monarchical government."
Hume's Essays, vol. i. page 62. — The Tories, it is
added, still retain their fondness for the pageantry
of regal power, and for its gaudy appendage, the
hierarchy. It is almost impossible that the attach-
ment of a court party to monarchy should not de-
generate into an attachment to the Monarch*— when
the hopes of the Stuart family are quite extin-
guished, the personal adherents might be con-
sistently, as it would be zealously, transferred to any
other Prince whose principles were friendly to
what they called the ancient constitution.
These censures, if meant to be general are un-
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just, and where they are just, the objects of them
have ceased to be formidable, from the very incon-
siderable number to which the high-flyers are now
reduced. " A Tory loved monarchy (says Hume),
and bore an affection to the family of the Stuarts ;
but the latter affection was the predominant inclina-
tion ; when that inclination can no longer be gra-
tified, we ought to consider them as mere lovers of
monarchy, though without abandoning liberty."
There is a general opinion, that whatever be the
real abilities or seeming virtues of any adminis-
tration, the public safety requires some party to
stand in opposition to them. The ground of this
opinion is the tendency which even the best and
wisest men have to push their favourite sentiments
to extremes, unless they be diligently watched and
occasionally controlled. Upon the same principle
every friend to the constitution of this country
would wish for the existence of two parties, whether
they be known by the names of Whig and Tory,
or the country and the court party. In each there
are ingredients, which, properly tempered, are sa-
lutary to the state ; and in each, also, there are
some principles — which tend to the subversion of
our present government, and to the introduction
either of monarchy or republicanism. From the
due adjustment and united efficacy of these oppo-
site principles from their occasional resistance and
occasional co-operation in different circumstances,
a politician perceives in the moral world, as the
philosopher discovers in the natural,
Quid velit et possit rerum concordia discors.
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ON WHIOS AND TORIES. 673
I must, however, acknowledge, that in shunning
a name, which, in the estimation of impartial men
is by no means dishonourable to them, the Tories
seem to act an ungenerous, and, upon the whole,
an imprudent part. By avowing their sentiments*
by separating what they retain from what they have
abandoned, by declaring, what many of them are
known to believe, that the dignity of the Crown
and the freedom of the subject are inseparable, they
would show us all that is to be feared, and all that
is to be hoped from them. By disclaiming those
sentiments, or affecting to muffle them up in secrecy,
they betray a consciousness of intentions, which they
dare not avow — they plunge themselves into greater
odium than that which they wish to avoid — they
encourage their adversaries to fasten upon them
every charge, which the malevolence of party can
ascribe, or its credulity believe — to make them sus-
pected of the evils which they do not, and hated
even for the good which they do — to swell their
guilt into any magnitude, and distort it to any de-
gree of deformity, which may serve the purposes of
unprincipled and shameless rivals.
If the remark of my friend be well founded, I
think the republication of this pamphlet expedient,
even for the very reasons which at first light render
it unnecessary. To know the real character of the
partisans is always of use, and surely the represen-
tation which Rapin has given of the Tories is not
very disgraceful to them, nor very alarming to the
public. In the general course of affairs they check
the principles of whiggism from those extrava-
vol. in. 2 x
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gancies into which political tenets, sometimes by the
cunning, and sometimes even by the sincerity of
those who hold them, precipitate the leaders of
parties. Their opinions in material points do not
stray very widely from those of the Whigs, and in
some critical situations, where the liberty of our
country was at stake, their conduct was precisely
the same.
In these enlightened times the cause of the Stuart
family is quite sunk into oblivion, the doctrine of
divine right is treated with derision, and the pleas
for arbitrary power are repelled with abhorrence.
We have little therefore to fear from a momentary
association of the Tories with the high-flyers. But
we have much to hope from a firm and lasting com-
bination between the moderate men of both de-
scriptions. In such a combination only can we
find a secure and impregnable bulwark against the
fatal and more imminent dangers by which we are
now surrounded from the licentious manners of the
age, from the relaxed state of the police, and from
the aspiring views of those, who, if they mean not
to drag in a democratical government, are yet
striving to shake the pillars of regal power.
It is remarkable, that in different circumstances
the same language is spoken, and nearly the same
conduct pursued by different parties. "The To-
ries," says Hume, " have frequently acted as re-*
publicans where either policy or revenge has en-
gaged them to that conduct. The Whigs have also
taken steps dangerous to liberty under colour of
securing the settlement and succession to the
Crown according to their views.n
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ON WHIGS AM> TOftIZS» 675>
Daring the reign of George I. and his immediate
•accessor, the Tories levelled their complaints
against the corruption of the Parliament and the in-*
fluence of the Crown. By the Whigs, who at first
ventured to introduce that influence, and who after-
wards extended it, the very same complaint has
been urged with equal vehemence and equal plau-
sibility in the present reign. What conclusion then
will an unprejudiced observer draw from these ludi-
crous inconsistencies ? He will suppose either that
the evil is exaggerated, or that neither party are
disposed to remedy it. If their accusations be ill-
founded, both are factious, and ought to be
opposed ; if they be well-founded^ both are, in some
measure, insincere, and cannot be implicitly or ex-
clusively trusted. For, when the avenues to power
were open to them, neither party have shown any
reluctance to execute what in others they had
pointedly condemned, to receive, what they call, the
wages of corruption, and to widen the sphere of
influence*
For my part, I am persuaded that they do not
seriously believe, what they peremptorily assert.
By family or personal connections— by prejudices,
where principle has too little share, and resentment
has too much — by the eagerness of men to partake
those emoluments which are insufficient to gratify
the wishes of all the candidates, they are thrown
into a state of wild opposition. Every precipitate
step to which they are incited by their passions
makes a retreat, though approved by . thei* better
judgment, more difficult and more dishonourable.
2x2
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? Certis quibusdam destinatisque sententiis quasi ad-
dict] et consecrati sunt, eaque necessitate constricti,
ut etiam quae non probare soleant, ea cogantur
constantice causa defendere.n — Tusc. n. lib. n.
Mutually provoking and provoked, they are too
often tempted to censure what they know to be
right, to oppose what they believe to be useful, and
to justify in their public declarations, what in their
moments of private reflection they cannot but con-
demn. They are led by the mechanical power of
example to support a system where the public hap-
piness is often sacrificed to private cabals — the evil
issuing from those cabals is seldom foreseen, and, if
foreseen, seldom regarded ; and even the good de-
serves* to be sometimes considered rather as the
accidental result of their actiona than as the imme-
diate aim of the agents themselves.
Page 115. — American war.
My mind is, I trust, superior to the petty vanity
of wantoning in paradox, and especially upon. sub-
jects where the character of my superiors and the
interest of my country are concerned. Yet I cannot
help expressing my hopes, that the evils of which
we loudly complain, and under some of which we
really labour, admit of a remedy which it is not
very difficult to apply. In the late struggles! eon-,
cerning America,
Iliacos intra muros peccatur et extra.
All parties carried their animosities, to unwarranta-v
ble lengths, and therefore* all should now concur in*
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 677
alleviating the calamities to which those animosities
have given rise. Experience has shown us, that
whatever the weakness or the wickedness of some
partizans may be, the general malignity of party is
far less than it has been represented by the wicked,
and believed by the weak. That malignity is gra-
dually corrected by time — it is made harmless by
the temperature of happy circumstances — it may be
quite purged away by the steady use of vigorous
remedies in those who are infected by it. When
the power of the King is defined with such legal
precision, and the business of government conducted
with such systematic regularity, I see nothing in
the principles of moderate Whigs and Tories which
ought to prevent honest men from concurrence in
the administration of Government. By such con-
currence what is amiss in either party may be rec-
tified— what is right may be called forth into action
for the best purposes.
Do I then suppose it possible for men to divest
themselves of their ambition ? No, surely ; but I
wish them to gratify it upon those honourable terms,
which may put them above the necessity of cherish-
ing mean prejudices, and of stooping to yet meaner
misrepresentations. I wish to see a strong phalanx
of avowed Whigs and Tories set in array against
a dark and desperate race of men, who have lately
risen up among us, whose real views are quite un-
searchable, and whose conduct, so far as it can be
known, possesses neither the firm texture of system,
nor the delicate exterior of honour:
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Something of this kind will, I hope, he ultimately
effected hy a late coalition.
I am aware how wide a field that event has
opened for the display of puny wit and noisy rhe-
toric ; it has staggered the obstinate and disgusted
the superficial; it has been the subject of much
tragical complaint, and much bitter sarcasm among
the Vatinii of modern times, who, endeavouring to
cajole both parties, were by both rejected. With
these men it is fruitless to expostulate, and it were
indecent to plead the authority of such examples for
direct and personal railing. Rather let me join my
wishes to those of many virtuous men, wfco were
neither surprised nor offended by this political mi-
racle, and who, in the indissoluble union of parties,
whom passion, rather than principle, has kept
asunder, expect a happy termination of those in-
testine divisions by which the country has been so
long and so fatally convulsed Even the inferior
ranks of society will at last recover from the de-
lirium into which they have been thrown, by the
calumnies of disappointed men ; and the motives of
the coalition wiU, I hope, be more clearly under-
stood, and more generally approved, when the ef-
fects of it in restoring the stability, the dignity, and
the energy of government, shall be more widely felt.
Paob 116.~Fo* and North.
Every artifice is now employed to fix the eyes of
the public upon two famous leaders, and to keep
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ON WHIGS AMD TORIES. 679
the merits of their cause, and the virtues of their
adherents out of sight. I know not whether the
conduct of these statesmen admit of complete justi-
fication ; and amidst the complicated interests and
tempestuous scenes of public life, who is there that
never swerves from the plain and strait path ? but
the guilt of it has been industriously exaggerated,
and accusations have been brought against it rather
ungraciously, I think, and indelicately by some men,
who are known to have been capable of acting with
any party — who are suspected of being faithful to
none — and have therefore forfeited the esteem and
confidence of all*
Upon a calm and serious attention to the merits
of those leaders, I think the country may derive
from them the most interesting services. They
possess great knowledge, splendid talents, and that
maturity of judgment which experience alone can
bestow. Te^vou hi iripw trepai. The supposed
inactivity of ■ will be supplied by the un-
wearied vigour of . The impetuosity of
■ will be corrected by the discretion of .
For the one we may apologise as Agamemnon did
for his brother,
HoXX&ri yap pediei re, ral ovk i$4Xet xopeWtat,
" Ovr' OKty rtjcwv, ovr atyahiipn v6oto. Horn. II. x. I. 121.
To the other we may apply the splendid imagery
of Pindar.
-r4X/ta yap kttcin
dvfibv Iptfipeperav fcpmv Xc6vt*v
aicrov aV Avaxirva/ieva
p6fifior i*x«. — Pindar. Isthm. Ode IV. Antwtroph. IIL
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Page 117.— Duke of Portland.
As to the integrity of that excellent man who
presides over the treasury bench, it is placed above
the reach of suspicion itself; and the honest inten-
tions of his new associate are gradually bursting
through the cloud of calamities that darkened his
administration. In the adherents of both are to be
found men of the noblest families, the most distin-
guished abilities, and the most irreproachable cha-
racters.
Page 117.— Mr. Pitt.
Happy shall I be to find this respectable associa-
tion strengthened and adorned by the accession of a
rising senator, whom his more rational admirers
may wish to see connected with other colleagues,
employed in a less doubtful cause, and supporting
by his counsels that government which it were an
inglorious triumph to disturb by his popularity. In
the character of this extraordinary man, we see a
rare and magnificent assemblage of excellencies, as
well natural as acquired, of attainments not less
solid than brilliant, extensive learning, refined taste,
and discernment, both widely comprehensive and
minutely accurate. By a kind of intuition he seems
to grasp that knowledge of men and things, to which
others are compelled to ascend by slow and patient
toil. His genius, in the mean time, acquires fresh
lustre, from integrity hitherto uncorrupted, and, I
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES, 681
hope, incorruptible. The fierceness of ambition he
tempers, or is capable of tempering, by the softest
and most exquisite feelings of humanity.
'O irat yiroio warpos [Jjiriurepos,']
Ta ik &XXa bpolos. — Soph. Aj.
To the generous ardour of youth he has added
the extensive views of age, and he may, without
flattery, be said to possess at once the captivating
eloquence of Callidius, and the yet more fascinating
policy of Scipio. — " Est enim non veris tantum vir-
tutibus mirabilis, sed arte quadam ab juventa ad os-
tentationem earum compositus." — See Livy, book
xxiv. vol. ii. p. 454,andTully'8 Brutus, p. 663, edit.
Vergerg.
To those who reflect on the fallaciousness of po-
litical professions, the uncertainty of human resolu-
tions, and the intoxicating effects of habitual power,
even the unjust clamours that have been raised
against the coalition may appear not without their
use. Our governors may become more anxious to
deserve some portion of that popularity which their
rivals are said to have already gained, or, disdaining
to share a prize for which the meanest contend, they
may lift up their views to the acquisition of solid
and lasting glory. The violence of opposition will
cement their union, and its vigilance repress their
rashness. Even the abilities of those with whom
they are struggling will call forth more vigorous ex-
ertions, not in the unprofitable and ostentatious
conflicts of parliamentary chivalry, but in those salu-
tary counsels which gradually efface the impressions
of calumny, and stamp upon the reputation of those
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"by whom they are planned, the brightest and most
indelible marks of wisdom. While their motives
are honest, and their measures judicious, they may
look with indifference upon reproaches which they
have not deserved, and which, from the weariness
or the fickleness of those who now repeat them,
will quickly drop into oblivion. Relinquendum est
tempus conviciis quo senescant. — Tacit.
From the agitations of our hopes and fears — from
the perversion of judgment, which is always pro-
duced by personal affection and personal antipathy—
and, above all, from the secret bias which our pri-
vate interests throw upon our decisions concerning
the merit of public characters, it is scarce possible,
I acknowledge, for the best and wisest among us
either to examine this subject with sufficient pre-
cision, or to speak of it with unaffected moderation.
But posterity will be placed in better circumstances,
and influenced by a better temper, in forming their
judgment. They may see, that the good men of
all parties are ashamed of a contest in which they
have been the slaves of passion, or the dupes of
cunning ; they may think that, if contention had
been perpetuated among us, ruin must have ensued —
that reconciliation could not be accomplished
without real inconsistence and seeming insincerity —
and that all those concessions which the obstinate
call cowardice, and the rash pronounce treachery,
are in reality but the sacrifices of pride and resent-
ment to the public good. They will perceive that
the inward distractions and external disasters of
this kingdom are to be chiefly imputed, not to the
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real principles of Whigs or Tories! but to those
miscreants, who, haying no principle, have practiced
on the weakness, abused the confidence, and usurped
the authority of both.
" Stare omnes debemus, tanquam a orbe aliquo
reipublicae; qui quoniam veraetur, earn deligers
partem, ad quam nos illius utilitas, salnsque con-
vertcrit. Neque enim inconstantis puto sententiaa),
tanquam aliquod navigium, atque cursum, -ex. rei-
publico tempestate moderari. Ego Tero hsec didici,
haec vidi, hsec acripta legi ; hsec de sapientissimis &
darissiinus viris, et in hac republic&,& in aliis civi-
tatibus, monumenta nobis liter© prodidenmt ; non
semper easdem sententtas ab iisdem, sed, quascum-
que reipubUcae status, inclinatio temporum, ratio
eemcordise poatularet, ease defendendas."— Orat. pro
Ca. Plane, page 425, edit. Grut.
Page 118. — Church Tories.
" As to ecclesiastical parties, we may observe, that
in all ages of the worid priests have been enemies
to liberty, and it is certain, that this steady conduct
of them must have been founded on fixed seasons of
interest and ambition. Liberty of thinking, and
expressing our thonghts, is always filial to priestly
power, and to those pious frauds on which it is
commonly founded ; and by an infallible connexion
which prevails among every species of liberty, this
privilege can never be enjoyed, at least has never
yet been enjoyed, but in a free government. Hence,
H wiH happen, in such a government as that of
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Britain, that the established clergy, while things are
in their natural situation, will always be of the
court party ." Hume's Essays, page 63. — If the
establishment did not support the state by which
it is created and protected, it would act a very un-
just and very absurd part. But why should the
clergy be ashamed of adhering to the court, " while
things are in their natural situation," while the
laws are faithfully executed, and the government is
wisely administered? In a contrary situation of
affairs, they have shown themselves strenuous ad-
vocates for our civil rights, and in the present age
they have avowed the doctrines, and extended the
influence of religious liberty. Priestly power is
now diminished in its bulk, and disarmed of its
terrors ; what remains of it is not founded on pious
fraud, and has nothing to fear from the most un-
bounded liberty of thinking. Had Mr. Rapin been
eye-witness to the controversies which have been
agitated in this century, he would not have in-
cluded all the members of the Church of England
under the name of Tories. Hume, probably, be-
stowed upon those controversies a transient glance,
and was not very correct in calculating their bene-
ficial effects, which, if they could not subdue his
prejudices, must have confuted his accusations.
Page 119.— Church of England.
It will be difficult to name a time, compared with
the present, when the Church of England was
adorned by prelates who were possessed of learning.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 685
at once so elegant and so profound, who united such
liberality of spirit with such purity of morals, and
were distinguished by so much faith without timid
credulity, and so much piety without trifling super-
stition.
Among men whose profession calls upon them to
think justly, and whose education enables them to
think for themselves, some difference of opinion
must naturally be expected on the more contro-
verted subjects of politics and religion. That
difference, however, would, in all probability, be
neither greater *, nor less, if there were no articles
to be subscribed, and even no establishment to be
supported. But the disputes of this enlightened
age are surely exempt from the odium theologicum
which disgraced the writings of our forefathers—
they are conducted without bitterness of temper,
and without brutality of language — they are seldom
employed on those abstruse topics which inflame,
indeed, the passions, and, perhaps, exercise the in-
genuity of the choleric and conceited dogmatist, but
which are little calculated either to convince the
judgment, or to rectify the conduct of the sincere
and rational believer. They are usually undertaken
by men who bring to the task as well the honesty
to embrace truth, wherever it is to be found, as the
ability to examine it, when it is to be found with
difficulty, and who are therefore prepared, like the
best philosophers of antiquity, et refellere sine per-
tinacia et refelli sine iracundi&. — Imperfections,
doubtless, and. even inconsistencies, may be dis-
covered by a searching eye in men of the most
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cultivated understandings, and the most benevolent
hearts — but where ? — I boldly ask the keenest ob-
server of human nature, and- the fiercest enemy of
ecclesiastical establishments — where is the prelate
who has presumed to persecute a brother-clergy-
man, or, who in the most unguarded moment* of
debate, has dropped the slightest hint in favour of
persecution ? In reality, the mild and heavenly
temper which breathes through the works of Head-
ley, has spread its auspicious influence over tht*
minds of those who cfe, and of those who de net,
adopt his speculative opinions.
If this change (for I confess it to be such) is
ascribed to the improved manners of the age, let not
the clergy be excluded from all share in an im-
provement to which their own literary labours have
eminently contributed ; nor let their moderation be
imputed merely to the sordid fear of acting ill, when
it may proceed from the more generous ambition of
acting well. In their academical education the
minds of our clergy are not heated, like those of our
forefathers, with the rage of party. Many of them
withdraw occasionally from the solitude of a college,
to enlarge their views and to refine their sentiments
amidst the activity and elegance of common life.
In their academical studies they have left the thorny
and crooked mazes of scholastic learning, in order
to pursue the sublime speculations of mathematics
and natural philosophy, or to expatiate in the softer
and more captivating scenes of polite literature.
They are encouraged not to shrink from the most
rigorous and profound researches into the reasons'
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. WT
of their faith ; and instead of wasting their attention*
upon frivolous and barren subjects, those cpamprci?
ohripw kou Xo'ytw cucav&a&ei?, (as Lucian calls them,)
where sophists wrangle and sciolists declaim, they-
are rather accustomed to look up to Christianity
under the awful and majestic form of a religion,
which is ultimately designed to comprehend within
its promises and its laws the collective interests of
mankind. I say not that they are totally superior
to influence from the advantages and honours which
the church holds out to them, and which are often
incentives to industry, and the rewards tp genius ;
but I say confidently, that they earn those honours
with less servility to their superiors, less stiffness in
their opinions, and far less intolerance to their an-
tagonists than may be laid to the charge of their
predecessors.
For my part, I wish not to varnish over those de-
fects which in the estimation of its sincerest well*
wishers and noblest ornaments, may yet adhere to
our establishment. I disdain to flatter any man,
however elevated be his station, and however bril-
liant his talents. But the veneration which I feel,,
and shall ever be zealous to avow for the honour of
our church, has induced me to throw out the pre-
ceding observations ; and for the truth of them I
appeal to the theological writings of a Lowth and
a Shipley, of Newcombe and Porteus, of Watson
and Law. It were easy for me to lengthen the ca-
talogue by the names of many among the inferior
and higher orders of clergy, who, uniting zeal for
their cause with candour to their opponents, have-
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employed their abilities in explaining the principles
of natural religion, and in vindicating the evidences
of revealed. But these excellent men can receive
no lustre from my feeble praise — already they have
obtained the approbation of every reader, whom it
is ah honour to please ; and to the latest posterity
their example, I trust, will be instructive, and their
memory, for ever, dear.
Into this train of reflection I am led by the pee-
vish sarcasms of certain fashionable writers, who
have set up, I know not what, exclusive claims to
every social virtue, and to every literary accomplish-
ment, to the urbanity of scholars, and the impar-
tiality of philosophers. But these men give no very
honourable proofs of their sincerity, when they
measure their own importance by the degradation
of an order of men, in consequence of whose exer-
tions religion and learning have been rescued from
false refinement, placed upon the broadest founda-
tions, and applied to the most salutary purposes.
The spirit of intolerance, whether it be leagued
with the haughtiness of philosophy, or the zeal of
religion, is equally disgraceful to us as men, and in-
jurious to us as citizens. At the beginning of this
century, our indignation was roused by the cry of
heresy and schism. In the present age our ears are
stunned with complaints of priestly cunning and of
priestly power. He that formerly expressed a doubt
upon the darkest, and perhaps the most unimportant
parts of religion, was openly charged with being a
Latitudinarian, and secretly suspected of being a
Deist. He that admits the most plain and useful
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 689
of its doctrines, is now insulted with insinuations of
the weakest folly, or the most flagitious hypocrisy.
For these outrages against decency and justice the
religionist found a plea in his imaginary orthodoxy,
and the philosopher does not find a check against
them in his boasted liberality. Experience, indeed,
has not yet told us to what extent the spirit of per-
secution would be carried, if the means of persecut-
ing were possessed by the enemies of genuine Chris-
tianity. But the virulence of their reproaches is
no favourable omen for the candour of their actions;
and, surely, the causes, which have operated in the
defence of perverted religion, are likely to act with
the same intenseness, and the same virulence in the
support of irreligion. Even greater violence may
be requisite to enforce opinions from which the
human mind naturally revolts with distrust and
horror, than to establish sentiments of the Deity,
which, however obscured by error, and debased by
superstition, are, upon the whole, congenial to the
nature of man. Indifference to abstract tenets by
no means implies, a calm and upright neutrality
towards the persons who adopt or oppose them.
The pride of opinion is not less active on subjects
of philosophy than upon those of religion; and
" the secret incredulity" to which Mr. Hume as-
cribes the bigotry and the violence of professed ben
lievers, may find its way to the bosoms and the con-*
duct of men, who erect their claims to superior-
wisdom upon the ruins of their faith.
VOL. III. 2 Y
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Page 12&— Liberty.
liberty is a splendid object. The love of liberty
is a passion on the very eccentricities of which every
virtnons man will look with pity and almost with
veneration, while it is unmixed with the rancour of
faction^ or the selfishness of ambition. But there
are weaknesses, and even corruptions of the human
mind, which assume the specious appearance of that
passion, and yet possess none of its nobler qualities.
Hence many boast of their attachment to freedom,
when they are really actuated by an untameable
fierceness of temper, by a wanton propensity to
change, by a lurking hist of power, and by that
restless impatience of subordination, which is gene-
rated by pride, and rankles into malignity. To such
persons every true friend of his country will apply
the well-known maxim of Cato, " cum pares fient
•uperiores esse coeperint." He will view them with
a watchful eye, while they are destined to walk in
the humbler stations of society; and he will take a
just alarm when he finds that they can terrify the
higher as well as inflame the lower classes of men,
and that they climb from popularity ill-gotten to
power which is seldom employed well. The govern-
ment for which they contend is not far removed
from a total change of the constitution* For what*
ever professions they may hold out, and whatever
subterfuges they may employ, there is reason to fear
that their ultimate view is to rule, rather than to
obey. Under this description may be included the
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OH WHIGS AND TORIES. 091
grater part of those person* who are called by
Rapin u Republican Whigs." At the same time I
most seriously deplore that harsh spirit of accusa-
tion which brands every warm and resolute advocate
for liberty with the odious name of republican,
These accusers, while they speak a different lan-
guage, are, I suspect, influenced by the same motives
with those persons to whom alone they ought to
impute any flagitious design of subverting the state.
The haughty high-flyer would contract liberty —
the turbulent republican affects to enlarge it — but
the real wish of both is, that they may be themselves
exempted from control, and invested with the
power of controling others.
Montesquieu, and many other aide writers on
Legislation, have combated the vulgar error, that a
democracy is always the best, and a monarchy always
the worst species of government, Bever, in his ad*
mirable observations on the Roman Polity, produces
from Don Cassias a very sensible remark on the
different modes of government : — " However flatter-
ing a popular government may appear in the eyes
of the visionary advocates of natural equality, it has
been found, by repeated experience, to contain no
properties redly correspondent to its name. Mo-
narchy, on the contrary, terrible as it may be to the
ear, is not without its advantages to society." P.
198.— In this country, happily, we are not yet re-*
dneed to the sad necessity of exposing ourselves to
the evils either of a monarchical, or a democratic^
government, in their unmixed forms.
It is a most fatal error to suppose that the
2 y 2
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greatest degree of liberty, as some men understand
it, is' upon the whole the best. On the contrary,
.we are authorised by the opinions of the ablest
writers, and by the experience of the most celebrated
states, to affirm, that liberty has often been destroyed
in consequence of the measures that were employed
to strengthen and to extend it.
< By the lex Hortentia the Plebiscite were invested
with the full force of laws, an event, upon which
Bever makes these pertinent reflections ; " this in-
judicious aggrandizement of the lowest order of the
state, at the expence of all the rest, together with a
too promiscuous communication of the highest ho-
nours and offices which soon followed, however
flattering it might have been to plebeian vanity,
gave a most fatal wound to the true interests of the
community in general. The influence of the Se-
nate being thus abridged, and the deference to the
provident counsels of the better sort greatly dimi-
nished, the blind and giddy multitude broke loose
into every extravagance of boundless liberty. In-
toxicated with the excess of faction, they became
the easy tools of their designing and ambitious de-
magogues, who having at first employed them to
subdue their own rivals and antagonists, in the end
made slaves of them all. The primitive constitu-
tion, thus lost to its original virtue and purity,
grown unwieldy, and fatigued with all those vicissi-
tudes and distractions which are so naturally ap-
pendant to this tumultuous and imperfect form of
government, sunk, at last, with its own weight, into
the arms of military and arbitrary power." — Bever;
p. 79.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 693
a May this melancholy and effecting example
humble the insolence of republican licentiousness !
May it point out to all factious opposers of lawful
authority, the very thin partitions which divide the
extremes of liberty from the extremes of tyranny ;
and convince them, that without the restraint, no
less than the protection of regular government, men
would daily worry and devour each other, like the
savage beasts of the desert ! May it dispose them
to look with reverence, duty, and gratitude, to that
constitution of which they are members ; a consti-
tution that is the pride of civil policy ; and under
whose wise and benign auspices they must be their
own greatest enemies if they do not enjoy every
blessing that man can reasonably expect in the
compound and imperfect state of human society" —
Ibid. p. 102.
The consequences of an injudicious and extrava-
gant zeal for freedom are most forcibly described by
Plato in the eighth book de Republica:
*Ap' otJy jcai o &}|xairgarja bpi^erai dyadlv, ij rourou
ajrXi)0Tia #ca) TaJnjv JtaraXu€f. A*y€i? 8f atJngv rl
hpl§erQou ; rrp &i€u&€pta#9 etiror rouro yap iron ev {typ>-
*paroujU€i») jtoXci dtcova-aif av <o? %%€i re /caXX^rrov,
koA oiot rtwra iv fioyy rwir$ a£ioy oI/ceTv for is Qvtrci
IXcu'dcgof — Atyerai yag 8ij (<f$i}) #ca) ToXt) toSto rl
pqjuux. *Ag' wv (fy J* *ya>) Zvtp fta v5v 813 ip£»9 ij rati
roiovrou flbrXqaria, got) 13 tw aXXaiy atjx&eia,. *a)
Taunjv njv irohireiav f**0i'<rr>j<rj' re Kai irapourKevdfa
rvpawibo? SeqOqyaf ; IIco? ; 2^' orav (o?j&ai) Stj/xo-
Kgaroujxevi] toXi?, tXcudepi a? Sttf/Zo-flwa, #ea*av oivo^ocov
xgoa-TaTotivra)!/ tw^t) jcai iroppa>r4pa> rod 8*Woy oucqdrov
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Am}* pedwftj, rota £gxoyra? St}, £? jwij t*w fl*p&i Ar^
**} oroXXqif ragman n}* £7iej$€QiaP, fooXafti, atrial*
ft&q, <fa ftiapov? re noft faiyafxtKous.-^-Apateri y£p
(2<to) rtSro^-Tous1 W y« (el™*) tw aQ%lrrw9 mamt*
iciou? 5rgor7)Xafc/£ci, cw ^de&aSo&ouf re ica) ouScv error,
row $€ apxpvTOLs \Av £f xopcvoi? , i^xofA&ovs Sc d^x°wrm
spoi'our tiicf. r€ Kai hr\fxoa-ia iirmm re k*1 ti\mj.. if «k
avayicr\ ev tgw&u'tt) ?roXff «ri ira* to rifr efeud^far
leva*; — Hat. de Repub. lib. vm. vol 11. p. 206* edit.
Masscy.
I cannot offend the man of learning by bringing
the whole of this passage to his remembrance ; and,
for the sake of the unlearned reader, I wish it were
in my power to convey to him the exquisite beauties
of the original through the medium of a translation.
Page 129,— Establishments.
The episcopalians have abandoned many of the
illiberal prejudices, and much of that controversial
acrimony, which prevailed in the beginning of this
century. Upon principles of justice, therefore, as
well as of policy, they should meet with candid and
respectful treatment from those who neither hold
their opinions nor approve of their discipline.
There is no reason, indeed, for charging the more
rational and learned of the non-oonformists, either
with insidious views of subverting the church, or
with personal animosity towards the sincere and en-
lightened members of it
The general question respecting establishments
has been lately agitated with great warmth and great
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 695
ability. To engage in a formal and plenary defence
of establishments falls not within the limited com-
pass and more immediate design of these notes.
After a serious and diligent attention to the subject,
I am led by reasons of public utility to declare
myself a most decided advocate for a national
church ; and for reasons of the same kind I should
wish to see it erected upon the broadest and most
comprehensive plan. Thus I should despise the
narrowness and detest the intolerance of a system,
which admitting the Socinian should exclude the
Athanasian. But I should venerate the wisdom
and the generosity of an establishment, into which
the Pelagian and the Predestinarian might be al-
lowed to enter, without the necessity of declaring
their sentiments, without the power of defending
them in a controversial form from the pulpit, and
without the slightest restraints from declaring and
defending them through the medium of the press*
By reducing the number, and changing the form
of doctrinal points, by substituting intelligible terms
for confused ideas, by excluding the obscure jargon
which philosophy has introduced, and by employing
the simpler language in which the scriptures are
written, we might avoid the supposed incon-
veniences of a subscription, either to articles as
they are now framed, or to the Bible only.—" Non
enim pietas subtiles arduarum et difficilium quaesti-
pnmn disceptatores, et curiosos latentium et abdi-
tarum rerum investigatores, sed simplices verissimi
verbi, hoc est, mortui et resuscitati Christi Pro*
fessores, et fidos voluntatis suae executores requirit."
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— 6. Cassander de officio pii et Publics Tranquilfi-
tatis ver£ Amantis Viri, page 29.
Between dogmatism, which decides too much,
and latitudinarianism, which confounds all distinc-
tions, there is a middle point where good men may
safely rest, and which candid men may easily find.
There is a spirit, which by moderation is able to
multiply the friends of the church, and by firmness
to counteract the designs of its enemies. There is
a possibility, at least, for wise and good men to unite
in constructing a system with precision sufficient
to secure the great interests of religious truth — with
discrimination sufficient to accomplish all the pur-
poses of political utility — and with purity sufficient
to give the Church of England a decisive superiority
over every establishment and every sect which have
hitherto appeared in the Christian world. Under
such a system we might look for that peace which
Bacon has so beautifully described. " It establishes
faith, it kindleth charity, the outward peace of the
church distilleth into peace of conscience, and it
turneth the labours of writing and reading contro-
versies into treatises of mortification and devotion."
We should be rescued from the false unities which
the same writer thus laments : " The one is when
the peace is grounded upon an implicit ignorance,
for all colours will agree in the dark ; the other
when it is pieced up upon a direct admission of
contraries in fundamental points." But these surely
are few and simple ; they require little explanation,
and admit little controversy.
When the artless perspicuity of scripture is ovetv-
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ON WH168 AND TORIES. 697
laid by the abstruse subtilties of metaphysics — when
reason either refines away what is made clear, or
dogmatizes on what is left doubtful by Omnisci-
ence— when ceremonies, which ought to adorn
religion, engender a motley brood of doctrines,
which deform and disgrace it — it is tobe feared, that
assent will often be professed without conviction,
and conformity often practised without approbation.
—"Truth and falsehood," as Bacon says, "would
then become like the iron and clay in the toes of
Nebuchadnezzar's image — they might cleave; but
would not incorporate."
At present I shall say nothing farther as to the
general merits of a question on which I have be-
stowed no inconsiderable share of attention, and
have collected a larger stock of materials than my
professional engagements will now permit me to
arrange. I must, however, take the liberty of ex-
amining some new arguments which have lately
appeared against the utility of ecclesiastical esta-
blishments, and which, from the high character and
extensive circulation of the work which contains
them, deserve to be seriously considered.
The Appendix to the English Review is conducted
by a writer whose acuteness of observation, and
energy of diction, lift him far above the vulgar herd
of political declaimers. I shall, therefore, place his
arguments in his own words before the reader, that
I may not be accused either of misrepresenting their
tendency, or of disordering their arrangement—
" The Emperor, as a preparation for extending his
temporal dominions, fills his coffers by encroaching
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on the church, The bold spirt of innovation in
matters relating to religion, has continued to pro*
duce new effects since the times of Martin Luther
to the present. The conduct of the Emperor is an
important effect of this spirit — other effects will
follow in the course of time— all hierarchies, in the
present daring age, hare reason to tremble— unpro-
tected by religious veneration and awe, the riches of
the church prove a tempting bait to the unhallowed'
views of state policy — the example of America too,
will operate towards the same end— for that conti-
nent will prove the fallacy of the doctrine, that no
state can subsist without an established religion —
an unlimited toleration will make as many religions
as there are families ; and it is to be apprehended
that a very great indifference to all religion will be
the consequence — the world will laugh at the pie-
tensions of the priests more than ever — the spirit of
reform in England will at last reach the church—
the Bishop of Landaff advises to take from the rich
clergy and give to the poor — politicians will im-
prove on his plan, perhaps, and discover from the
records of civil and sacred history, that pomp and
parade accord not with the humility of the gospel,
and that the purity of Christianity is ever best
maintained amidst poverty, and various other
sufferings and hardships." — English Review for
July, 1783, page 78.
How far it may be an instance of sound morality
to seize on the revenues which belong to the church,
and which are fastened to it by the strongest ties
which can confer security on civil property —whe-
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES* 699
ther it be consistent with political wisdom to
pamper laymen in luxury, by the aid of treasures,
which, if judiciously dispensed, are barely sufficient
to furnish a decent support to the clergy — what
probability there may be that men of talents will
continue in an establishment which holds out no
incentives to industry, and no distinctions to genius
—■these are points of which I at present waive the
discussion. If in the spirit of reform, " which is at
last to reach the church/ nothing more be implied
than is explicitly allowed — if only the advice of an
illustrious prelate be followed " in taking from the
rich and giving to the poor* — if the improvement
of politicians upon his plan produce nothing beyond
the discovery, "that pomp and parade accord not
with the humility of the gospel,9* I am not in the
number of those timorous and grovelling spirits who
tremble at the prospect of impending reformation.
If the a religious veneration and awe" to which the
author alludes be the offspring of abject superstition —
and if the church be found unworthy of protection
on the more solid grounds of public utility* who
would be senseless or shameless enough to stand
forth the champion of so despicable an establish-
ment ? Again, if the " pretensions of priests, at
which the world is to laugh more than ever," be
confined to the right of deceiving and of plundering,
let the richest spoils of usurpation be plucked from
them, and let their characters be hunted down by all
the infhmy which is due to detected imposture.
Upon these tragical consequences I smile with calm
content,' because the premises from which they flow
are in this country incapable of proof.
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"The purity of Christianity," we are told, "is
ever best maintained amidst poverty, and various
other sufferings and hardships." This position may
be justly doubted, and the purpose for which it is
here introduced may be as justly suspected. Sup-
pose that any statesman is convinced of its truth,
and that he goes forward to such measures as are
tacitly recommended, or, at least, such as may be
amply justified upon the principles which the Re*
viewer would establish — suppose that in con-
sequence of his ardent wishes to preserve the purity
of the gospel even from the slightest taint, our poli-
tician should deliver all good Christians from the
embarrassments of their property, depress them be-
low other citizens, to whom they are superior in
virtue and in knowledge, and ravish from them all
the comforts and the privileges of social life. Let
us farther suppose, that he was impelled to make
them miserable here, from the professed design of
enabling them more effectually to work out their
own salvation hereafter. Perhaps some humane
and sensible observers might think that his appre-
hensions of hierarchy, and his love of Christianity,
had carried him beyond the bounds of strict pru-
dence. His regard for toleration would be a little
problematical to the unhappy sufferers, and his
policy, though very profound in the eyes of men
who are guided by the superior light of philosophy,
would be very unintelligible to those who are eon-
tent to creep along under the weak and humble di-
rection of common sense. His zeal in defending
Christianity by these methods would soon be at an
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 70l
fend through the paucity of its objects ; fof I ima-
gine that the candidates for such distinctions would
not be numerous ; and though the heroic fortitude
of a few might support them under the trying loss
of every temporal advantage, the many would be
satisfied with his less valuable favours, and would
be more grateful to him for his protection because
they had no religion, than for his wholesome se-
verities because they embraced what they believed
to be true.
It is remarkable, that Mr. Jenyns, in his Defence
of Revelation, and the Reviewer in his panegyric
upon it, have Mien into the same train of ideas as
to the advantages which Christianity derives from
the poverty, the insignificance, and the distresses
of its followers. To the paradoxes of the essayist,
and the sarcasms of the reviewer, I shall oppose the
plain good sense of Hoadley .
" But it is a sad thing to find men endeavouring
to represent the Christian religion as teaching men
to throw off all care about the happiness of human
society, and to look upon themselves as unconcerned
in the outward good estate of their families, their
neighbours, and their posterity ; and all this, merely
because it was thought necessary by the great author
of it, to lay down some precepts in it against re-
garding the temporal things of this life above God
and our duty. This must make people apt to be-
lieve it an enemy, and not a friend to human so-
ciety ."—Measures of Submission, &c. page 145.
The conduct of the Emperor is represented as an
important effect of the bold spirit of innovation*.
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702 DM RAPIn's DISSERTATION
" which has produced new effects from the time of
Martin Luther to the present-" In curbing the im-
petuous and inhuman spirit of persecution, and in
sheltering every religions sect from insult as well as
injury, the Emperor is to be commended as a man.
He is not to be censured as a politician for applying
to the real exigencies of the state that wealth,
which swelled the pride, fostered the laziness, and
extended the pernicious tyranny of ecclesiastics*
Yet this sagacious politician seems to have hitherto
proceeded, not with the blind and daring fury of an
innovator, but with the discriminating and tempe-
rate genius of a true reformer. He is not so far
fascinated by the hardy spirit of enterprise as to
rush on the perilous experiment of subverting a re*
ligion which the piety of his forefathers had esta-
blished, and the majority of his subjects embraced*
He has not yet soared up to those sublime and mag*
nificent theories which represent true Christianity
as quite incompatible with the duties and the inte-
rests of civil society, and as adapted only to the sul-
len gloom of the bigot, the rapturous extasies of
the enthusiast, or the dull inactivity of the recluse.
He has given to the Protestants the indulgence to
which they have been long entitled* He has plucked
from the Papists the opulence which they had long
ibased. He has shown his humanity in forbidding
them to harass each other with virulent reproaches,
and his good sense in excluding from the pulpit
those controversial subjects which have no immedi-
ate tendency to improve the bulk of mankind, and
yrUch are likely to be discussed with better temper,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 703
and with better effect, in the productions of the press.
Yet in this celebrated event there are some particu-
lars which a sober constitutionalist will survey with
a jealous eye, and which ought to repress the tri-
umphs of those, who, overlooking or suppressing
many important distinctions, would hold up the
conduct of the Emperor as worthy of imitation by
a British legislature. In absolute monarchies the
subjects are both relieved and oppressed with less
difficulty, and with fewer delays, than in a mixed
government. Uncontrolled by a watchful Parlia-
ment, supported by a numerous army, and opposed
only by the murmurs of priests, the execrations of
devotees, and the complaints of an astonished and
defenceless multitude, the Emperor has, in the Ian*
guage of his encomiast, " filled his coffers by en*
croaching on the church."— A King of England, in
the same circumstances, might, without danger to
his crown, and almost without resistance from his
people, effect the same encroachments. Under pre-
tence of restraining ecclesiastical pride, and " pre-
serving the gospel purity," he might scatter with
wild profusion, or dispense with insidious policy,
the revenues of the English church, among the un-
principled and unfeeling instruments of his rapacity
his ambition, or his revenge. Is there, indeed, any
change which he might not accomplish for the pur*
poses of oppression, and, adding mockery to violence,
dignify his plunders with the nickname of reform I
The power which had crushed the church, might,
in its career, press forward to more inviting objects*
By one edict it might wrest from us all our civil
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and political rights, and subvert by one blow the
whole fabric of our ancient constitution.
The weakness of man, combined with his pride,
misguides him in the choice of what he praises, and
what he imitates. Impatience under imaginary
evils plunges him into those which are real — unakil-
fulness in remedying the real frequently overwhelms
him with other evils more heavy, more extensive,
and more incurable. Alarmed, therefore, at the ea-
gerness of my countrymen to pursue every phantom
of novelty, sensible of the dazzling appearance
which the supposed proceedings both of the Congress
and the Emperor will bear to common observers,
and foreseeing the use to which these precedents
will be applied by those of them who do not per-
ceive the fallaciousness of their own reasonings, I
have examined in various points of view the peremp-
tory assertions and specious arguments of this very
masterly writer.
"The example of America,** we are informed,
u will prove the fallacy of the doctrine that no state
can subsist without an established religion." Now,
the fact itself is not to be hastily admitted, and
though admitted, ought to be cautiously applied.
If the Americans possess the uncommon sagacity
which is ascribed to them by their admirers, and
which has, in many instances, been successfully em-
ployed by them, amidst the difficulties and the dan-
gers of a lingering war, they will not lavish upon
experiments in religion, that skill, which may be
more profitably exercised upon other matters, where
it is more immediately required. Looking back to.
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 705
the states of Europe, they will find somethipg to
follow as veil as to avoid, in their o^rn religiqpq
institutions.?—" Before the United Provinces set the
example, toleration was deemed incompatible with
good government ; and it was thought impossible,
that a number of religious sects coitfd live together
in harmony and peace, and have all of them an equal
attachment to their common country, and to e^fh
other." Hume's Essays, vol. h page 13.
In the conduct of this republic, the American*
may find an unequivocal proof that toleration is
not inconsistent with an establishment, qhA that
both are consistent with the public welfare — jn the
modifications of both they may introduce many im-
provements which European wisdom has not yet
suggested, and which European refinements do not
admit.
The early and rooted prepossession^ of the Ame-
ricans are unfavourable tQ the gaudy trappings of
an hierarchy. Their peculiar circumstance? may
allow, and their unprejudiced judgments approye of,
a more enlarged and reguJw toleration, thftn the
limited monarchies pf Europe, however liberal be
their spirit, and however camprehjsaeiye their views,
have hitherto ventured to ftdppt. Ifot they may
still find one mode, of f eUgiop m $ practical %$ yte\\
as a speculative light, prefer*!^ tp aether — and
accordingly, we are told, they have «lr*ftdy given ft
preference to the preshyterian form of worship, prQr
viding for the security of those who dissent froi? it,
Bnt I will not suffer my mind to rove in conjec-
tures about what th© Americans mpy do* *W »h»U
VOL. III. 2 z
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I assert positively what they have done. I will for
a moment admit the fact to be as the Reviewer has
stated it. What consequences must we draw for
the regulation of our own conduct ? From a go-
vernment which is just beginning to be formed, to
those which have already been formed for many
ages, and which are strengthened not only by the
authority of law, but by the firmer support of long,
habit and public opinion, we ought to be extremely
wary in our conclusions. May not that be safe and
eligible in the one, which is dangerous or even im-
practicable in the other ? Has the event hitherto
shown that which is attempted by the Americans is
upon the whole more salutary, than what is prac-
tised by ourselves ? A century may roll on before
the effects of such an attempt are folly produced —
when produced, they may be indistinctly understood
— when understood, they may require to be applied
with many and important restrictions.
It is possible, that the seductive charms of novelty
may operate upon the mind even of an American,
legislator, and render him insensible or inattentive
to the advantages which prescription, which custom
and conformity to the national genius have conferred
upon the religious institutions of Europe. The
benefits arising from reformation are glaring and
prominent ; they burst out at one particular point
of time ; they relate to subjects which the activity
of controversialists has accurately ascertained ; they
are exhibited in the strongest language of exulta-
tion and panegyric. But the advantages of an es-
tablishment are more familiar, more diffusive, gained
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 707
without effort, possessed without interruption, and,
therefore, like other materials of our happiness,
they rarely become the objects of direct and steady
attention, even among those by whom they are
really enjoyed.
The Americans are spread over an immense tract
of country — they are discriminated by many strik-
ing differences in their domestic habits, and their
religious tenets ; from the variety of interests and
of manners which must arise from the various cli-
mates and soils, they will be able, and probably
willing, to act independently of each other in the
internal regulations of the several provinces — what
is perfectly fit among a people thus circumstanced,
may be big with the most fatal consequences in Eu-
ropean countries, where the circumstances both of
public and private life are so very dissimilar. But
I will no longer persecute this position of the Re
viewer with the rigours of confutation — let me
rather commend him for his fair dealing, because
he has himself furnished a more cogent reason than
any which I have produced, for condemning all the
experiments which he has applauded in the Ame-
ricans, and for guarding against all the innovations
which he has predicted concerning ourselves. " Un-
limited toleration will make as many religions as
there are families ; and it is to be apprehended, that
a very great indifference to all religion will be the
consequence." The Eng. Rev. for July, 1783, p. 78.
— Upon this ingenuous and rational concession the
professed advocates of an establishment will readily
join issue with its most determined enemies.
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Whether atheism or superstition be most destruc-
tive to a state, is a question which has often exer-
cised the most vigorous and enlightened minds ;
but the wantonness of modern scepticism has not
yet openly leagued itself with the hardiness of Epi-
curean impiety, and boldly pronounced all religion
whatsoever to be injurious to society. If, therefore,
establishments controuled and softened by toleration
prevent indifference to religion, they are useful*— if
toleration, disdaining even the remotest connections
with establishments produce and diffuse that indif-
ference, it is pernicious.
The last sheet of Rapbi on Whigs and Tories is
not in the reprint qf Dr. Parr ; but the follow-
ing unpublished observations follow up the sub-
ject qf establishments so properly and naturally y
that they are now copied from the manuscript*
Uniformity Tests and Sects.
Uniformity of opinion is a project, which the
constitution of the human mind, and the experience
of all ages, have at length compelled us to abandon.
Even the enthusiast despairs of obtaining, and the
politician is ashamed of attempting it. What
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 709
cannot be accomplished, need not be desired. There
are many points which the most rigorous and watch-
ful establishment cannot embrace. There are few
probably on which any ought to divide ; yet both
furnish ample materials, not merely for the gratifi-
cation of curiosity or the display of acuteness, but
for the noblest exercise of our understandings, and
the most solid improvement of our morals. The
advantages of reformation are glaring and promi-
nent ; they are collected into one point of time, and
are exhibited in the strongest language of exulta-
tion and panegyric. The benefits of an establish-
ment are more familiar, more diffusive, and there*
fore, like other materials of our happiness, are
seldom the objects of direct and steady atten-
tion, among those by whom they are really en-
joyed.
Impatience of contradiction in these remote and
sublime speculations, always suggests suspicion that
men do not oleoriy comprehend, or entirely believe,
what they zealously maintain. Uniformity, if it
ever exist, will probably he the result of gross
ignorance, or unfeeling indifference ; it gives stabi-
lity to error, sad shuts out the <knowkdge of m^y
useful truths ; it is seldom successful in stifling the
first rise of new opinions, and when they have
gained any ground, inflames the heat of those who
adopt them.
The wise legislator cannot compel men to think,
and wiMnot endeavour tocompel them to profess what
they do not believe. He respects the authority of
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reason in religions matters, and therefore leaves others
the same liberty of opinion with himself. He respects
its authority no less in civil concerns, and therefore
guards both his own opinions and those of his
fellow-citizens from mutual violence. He does
not discourage inquiry, but he prohibits invective
and outrage.
I have observed, with some concern, that the
solid conveniences arising from tests are slightly
noticed by those who in the darkest colours hold
out the inconveniences attending them ; and I fairly
confess my inability to conceive an establishment
without a test, or a national religion without an
establishment. I make this declaration with the
greatest sincerity, and am prepared to retract it
with equal sincerity, when the contrary opinion,
supported by clear facts, and not decorated only by
plausible theory, shall meet me in the course of my
inquiry. I have no object in view but the discovery
of truth, and the promotion of public utility; nor
do I put up any pretensions to merit in keeping
my mind open to conviction upon those inter-
esting subjects, where obstinacy surely is the most
wretched weakness, and dissimulation the blackest
crime.
If it be intended to leave the numerous sects of
believers in the quiet possession of their tenets,
and to relieve them from the tyranny of religious
tests, they now enjoy all the freedom which the
abolition of the establishment could procure, and
they probably derive some advantages from that
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 711
diligence in their studies, and that circumspection
in their morals, by which smaller bodies of men
may honourably exalt their importance.
I should always wish the Church to possess the
confidence and respect of sectarians, and that the
Dissenters may be exempted from the slightest
degree of that odium which is equally painful to
ingenuous and well-informed minds with the rigours
of persecution. I am persuaded that the essential
doctrine, the vital spirit, the peculiar and charac-
teristic genius of Christianity, have no immediate
connection with the arbitrary and accidental forms
of human government. I am firmly convinced that
every mode of faith is equally entitled to the pror
tection, but not to the favour of Government. When
that protection is given, the rights of conscience
must no longer be urged or pleaded in a spirit or
as a cause of discontent.
I am not to be told that in these remarks I have
assumed the propriety of establishments, without
adverting to proofs. These proofs are to be found,
not in the express directions of Christianity, but in
the general practice of society ; in the right which
every body of men have to choose their own modes
of worship, and to provide for the members of it ;
and in the importance of holding together the ma-
jority by a fixed principle of religion, or of opposi-
tion to those who deny the right of any government
to appoint to religious services, and to sustain them
by certain rewards.
The utility of the establishment is already decided
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by experience, and it is perhaps by the silent growth
of toleration, and the actual enjoyment of its bless-
ings, that we are enabled to carry forward ot*r spe-
culations to a more extensive and liberal system,
which our posterity shall find practicable as well as
rational.
This indulgence it were frenzy to extend to any
sect who boldly avowed its contempt of some social
duties, or its opposition to the civil power. It
were frenzy to endure for a moment a spirit too
fierce to be soothed, and too perverse to be con-
verted by expostulation ; such monstrous opinions
are beneath the question. But it will be said that
all speculation indirectly and remotely affects prac-
tice : this is generally but not universally time, and
in many cases where the object is too vast to be
grasped by our intellectual faculties, or too trivial
to endure their touch, the mischief arises not
immediately from the opinion itself, but incident-
ally from the temper with which it is promulgated —
from the pride which is impatient of confutation —
and from that controversial babble which affects
to bestow importance on trifles ; and in vain shall
We look for a solution which the assertion itself
neither furnishes nor assists ms to obtain. From
the imperfect condition of man, and the very com-
plex circumstances in which he is sometimes placed,
truth is not always productive of virtue, nor error
of vice. But were it otherwise, who shall presvne
always to decide where the truth lies ; and, con-
necting the actions of men with their sentiments,
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 713
determine their social rights by the standard of
their speculative tenets ? If the heart be vitiated
by the understanding, by the understanding also it
must be purified; and surely the proper remedy
would be, not force, but instruction; not punishment,
which appals, but arguments, which may convince ;
not severities, which exact only a servile and pre-,
carious conformity, but conviction, which produces
an inward, a sincere, and steady effort in the assent
of the judgment and the concurrence of the will.
It must be owned that the wild and rash deci-
sions of fanaticism have a tendency to produce
such actions as are inconsistent with the public
peace and security. But when we look further
we may observe that many of these things are seen
only through the medium of theory. In many of
their debated actions, men are much on a level with
their fellows ; and if the warmest admirers of virtue
are not always virtuous, so the admirers of tenets
which seem akin to vice, are not always vicious.
The truth is, that men are governed by the impulse
of the past ; and the force of that passion may
depend upon present circumstances which are not
provided for in their general system of opinion, or
by their natural constitutions, which their tenets,
and the habits generated by them, are unable to
controuL As in their opinions they disdain the
consequences which simply follow from their pre-
mises, so in their conduct their consciences will
come in and make them revolt from actions to
which their principles, abstractedly considered, may
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seem to lead them. On such occasions they are
terrified, and either discover new energies, or feel
only a momentary shock; and their minds, by a
kind of hidden force rush back to their, favourite
opinions, which they retain with equal zeal while
heated to obduracy, and which they abandon with
equal eagerness when surprised into truth by the
sudden springs of their hotter sensibilities.
The danger arising from the influence of opinions
is therefore so remote, that a wise and steady ma-
gistracy has little to apprehend from it, and is so
secret in its operations that no rules can be laid
down for calculating its effects. To counteract it
lenient measures are more likely to be efficacious
than those which are violent, for it is scarcely pos-
sible to fix the proportion between the malignity of
the disease and the sharpness of the remedy. Let
me not be suspected of that frantic position, that
all opinions are really beneficial as opinions; a
position which is confuted by the experience of
every moment, and which no one but the dupe of
artificial subtleties has seriously broached as a truth
in the intercourse of serious life.
In what then consists the duty of the legislature?
To encourage some, to depress others, to watch all,
and to injure none ; on all occasions to prefer lenity
to rigour, and in the infliction of punishment to
distinguish between profligacy and weakness. If
mere propensity to action be a ground for evil,
society itself must be instantly dissolved, or it could,
be supported only on the sanguinary principles of
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ON WHIGS AND TORIES. 715
Draco — of Japan. Not to opinions which, though
erroneous, may be harmless, but to those offences
which are always hurtful, and which may be always
ascertained with precision, does the business of the
magistrate extend. Where there are men there will
be passions, " vitia erunt donee homines : sed neque
haec continua meliorum interventu pensantur."
END OF VOLUME III.
Printed by J. B. Nichols and Son, 85, ParlUnwnt-itrett.
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