There is no Character more frequently given to a Writer, than that of
being a Genius. I have heard many a little Sonneteer called a
fine
Genius
. There is not an Heroick Scribler in the Nation, that has not
his Admirers who think him a
great Genius
; and as for your Smatterers
in Tragedy, there is scarce a Man among them who is not cried up by one
or other for a
prodigious Genius
.
My design in this Paper is to consider what is properly a great Genius,
and to throw some Thoughts together on so uncommon a Subject.
Among great Genius's those few draw the Admiration of all the World upon
them, and stand up as the Prodigies of Mankind, who by the meer Strength
of natural Parts, and without any Assistance of Arts or Learning, have
produced Works that were the Delight of their own Times, and the Wonder
of Posterity. There appears something nobly wild and extravagant in
these great natural Genius's, that is infinitely more beautiful than all
the Turn and Polishing of what the
French
call a
Bel Esprit
, by
which they would express a Genius refined by Conversation, Reflection,
and the Reading of the most polite Authors.
greatest Genius
which
runs through the Arts and Sciences, takes a kind of Tincture from
them, and falls unavoidably into Imitation.
Many of these great natural Genius's that were never disciplined and
broken by Rules of Art, are to be found among the Ancients, and in
particular among those of the more Eastern Parts of the World.
Homer
has innumerable Flights that
Virgil
was not able to reach, and in the
Old Testament we find several Passages more elevated and sublime than
any in
Homer
. At the same time that we allow a greater and more daring
Genius to the Ancients, we must own that the greatest of them very much
failed in, or, if you will, that they were very much above the Nicety
and Correctness of the Moderns. In their Similitudes and Allusions,
provided there was a Likeness, they did not much trouble themselves
about the Decency of the Comparison: Thus
Solomon
resembles the Nose
of his Beloved to the Tower of
Libanon
which looketh toward
Damascus
; as the Coming of a Thief in the Night, is a Similitude of
the same kind in the New Testament. It would be endless to make
Collections of this Nature;
Homer
illustrates one of his Heroes
encompassed with the Enemy by an Ass in a Field of Corn that has his
Sides belaboured by all the Boys of the Village without stirring a Foot
for it: and another of them tossing to and fro in his Bed and burning
with Resentment, to a Piece of Flesh broiled on the Coals. This
particular Failure in the Ancients, opens a large Field of Raillery to
the little Wits, who can laugh at an Indecency but not relish the
Sublime in these Sorts of Writings. The present Emperor of
Persia
,
conformable to this Eastern way of Thinking, amidst a great many pompous
Titles, denominates himself The Sun of Glory and the Nutmeg of Delight.
In short, to cut off all Cavilling against the Ancients and particularly
those of the warmer Climates who had most Heat and Life in their
Imaginations, we are to consider that the Rule of observing what the
French
call the
Bienséance
in an Allusion, has been found out of
latter Years, and in the colder Regions of the World; where we would
make some Amends for our want of Force and Spirit, by a scrupulous
Nicety and Exactness in our Compositions.
Our Countryman
Shakespear
was a remarkable Instance of this first
kind of great Genius's.
I cannot quit this Head without observing that
Pindar
was a great
Genius of the first Class, who was hurried on by a natural Fire and
Impetuosity to vast Conceptions of things and noble Sallies of
Imagination. At the same time, can any thing be more ridiculous than for
Men of a sober and moderate Fancy to imitate this Poet's Way of Writing
in those monstrous Compositions which go among us under the Name of
Pindaricks? When I see People copying Works which, as
Horace
has
represented them, are singular in their Kind, and inimitable; when I see
Men following Irregularities by Rule, and by the little Tricks of Art
straining after the most unbounded Flights of Nature, I cannot but apply
to them that Passage in
Terence
:
... Incerta hæc si tu postules
Ratione certâ facere, nihilo plus agas,
Quàm si des operam, ut cum ratione insanias.
short a modern Pindarick Writer, compared with
Pindar
, is like
a Sister among the Camisars
compared with
Virgil
's Sibyl:
There is the Distortion, Grimace, and outward Figure, but nothing of
that divine Impulse which raises the Mind above its self, and makes the
Sounds more than human.
There is another kind of great Genius's which I shall place in a second
Class, not as I think them inferior to the first, but only for
Distinction's sake, as they are of a different kind. This second
Class of great Genius's are those that have formed themselves by Rules,
and submitted the Greatness of their natural Talents to the Corrections
and Restraints of Art. Such among the
Greeks
were
Plato
and
Aristotle
; among the
Romans
,
Virgil
and
Tully
; among the
English
,
Milton
and Sir
Francis
Bacon
.
The Genius
both these Classes of Authors may be equally great,
but shews itself
after
a different Manner. In the first it is like
a rich Soil in a happy Climate, that produces a whole Wilderness of
noble Plants rising in a thousand beautiful Landskips, without any
certain Order or Regularity. In the other it is the same rich Soil under
the same happy Climate, that has been laid out in Walks and Parterres,
and cut into Shape and Beauty by the Skill of the Gardener.
The great Danger in these latter kind of Genius's, is, lest they cramp
their own Abilities too much by Imitation, and form themselves
altogether upon Models, without giving the full Play to their own
natural Parts. An Imitation of the best Authors is not to compare with a
good Original; and I believe we may observe that very few Writers make
an extraordinary Figure in the World, who have not something in their
Way of thinking or expressing themselves that is peculiar to them, and
entirely their own.
It
odd to consider what great Genius's are sometimes thrown away
upon Trifles.
once saw a Shepherd, says a famous
Italian
Author,
who
used to
divert himself in his Solitudes with tossing up Eggs and catching them
again without breaking them: In which he had arrived to so great a
degree of Perfection, that he would keep up four at a time for several
Minutes together playing in the Air, and falling into his Hand by Turns.
I think, says the Author, I never saw a greater Severity than in this
Man's Face; for by his wonderful Perseverance and Application, he had
contracted the Seriousness and Gravity of a Privy-Councillor; and I
could not but reflect with my self, that the same Assiduity and
Attention, had they been rightly applied, might have made him a greater
Mathematician than
Archimedes
.
C.
that
The Camisars, or French Prophets, originally from the
Cevennes, came into England in 1707. With violent agitations and
distortions of body they prophesied and claimed also the power to work
miracles; even venturing to prophesy that Dr Ernes, a convert of theirs,
should rise from the dead five months after burial.
The
Not a new paragraph in the first issue.
in
Not a new paragraph in the first issue.
that
Contents
|
Tuesday,
September 4, 1711 |
Budgell |
Ipse dies agitat festos: Fususque per herbam,
Ignis ubi in medio et Socii cratera coronant,
Te libans, Lenæe, vocat: pecorisque magistris
Velocis Jaculi certamina ponit in ulmo,
Corporaque agresti nudat prædura Palæstra.
Hanc olim veteres vitam coluere Sabini,
Hanc Remus et Frater: Sic fortis Etruria crevit,
Scilicet et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma.
Virg.
G. 2.
translation
I am glad that my late going into the Country has encreased the Number
of my Correspondents, one of whom sends me the following Letter.
Sir,
'Though you are pleased to retire from us so soon into the City, I
hope you will not think the Affairs of the Country altogether unworthy
of your Inspection for the future. I had the Honour of seeing your
short Face at Sir Roger De Coverley's, and have ever since thought
your Person and Writings both extraordinary. Had you stayed there a
few Days longer you would have seen a Country Wake, which you know
in most Parts of England is the Eve-Feast of the Dedication of our
Churches. I was last Week at one of these Assemblies which was held
in a neighbouring Parish; where I found their Green covered with a
promiscuous Multitude of all Ages and both Sexes, who esteem one
another more or less the following Part of the Year according as they
distinguish themselves at this Time. The whole Company were in their
Holiday Cloaths, and divided into several Parties, all of them
endeavouring to shew themselves in those Exercises wherein they
excelled, and to gain the Approbation of the Lookers on.
I found a Ring of Cudgel-Players, who were breaking one another's
Heads in order to make some Impression on their Mistresses Hearts. I
observed a lusty young Fellow, who had the Misfortune of a broken
Pate; but what considerably added to the Anguish of the Wound, was his
over-hearing an old Man, who shook his Head and said, That he
questioned now if black Kate would marry him these three Years. I was
diverted from a farther Observation of these Combatants, by a
Foot-ball Match, which was on the other side of the Green; where
Tom Short behaved himself so well, that most People seemed to agree
it was impossible that he should remain a Batchelor till the next
Wake. Having played many a Match my self, I could have looked longer
on this Sport, had I not observed a Country Girl, who was posted on an
Eminence at some Distance from me, and was making so many odd
Grimaces, and writhing and distorting her whole Body in so strange a
Manner, as made me very desirous to know the Meaning of it. Upon my
coming up to her, I found that she was overlooking a Ring of
Wrestlers, and that her Sweetheart, a Person of small Stature, was
contending with an huge brawny Fellow, who twirled him about, and
shook the little Man so violently, that by a secret Sympathy of Hearts
it produced all those Agitations in the Person of his Mistress, who I
dare say, like Cælia in Shakespear on the same Occasion, could
have wished herself invisible to catch the strong Fellow by the Leg.
The Squire of the Parish treats the whole Company every Year with a
Hogshead of Ale; and proposes a Beaver-Hat as a Recompense to him
who gives most Falls. This has raised such a Spirit of Emulation in
the Youth of the Place, that some of them have rendered themselves
very expert at this Exercise; and I was often surmised to see a
Fellow's Heels fly up, by a Trip which was given him so smartly that I
could scarce discern it. I found that the old Wrestlers seldom entered
the Ring, till some one was grown formidable by having thrown two or
three of his Opponents; but kept themselves as it were in a reserved
Body to defend the Hat, which is always hung up by the Person who gets
it in one of the most Conspicuous Parts of the House, and looked upon
by the whole Family as something redounding much more to their Honour
than a Coat of Arms. There was a Fellow who was so busy in regulating
all the Ceremonies, and seemed to carry such an Air of Importance in
his Looks, that I could not help inquiring who he was, and was
immediately answered, That he did not value himself upon nothing,
for that he and his Ancestors had won so many Hats, that his Parlour
looked like a Haberdashers Shop: However this Thirst of Glory in
them all, was the Reason that no one Man stood Lord of the Ring
for above three Falls while I was amongst them.
The young Maids, who were not Lookers on at these Exercises, were
themselves engaged in some Diversion; and upon my asking a Farmer's
Son of my own Parish what he was gazing at with so much Attention, he
told me, That he was seeing Betty Welch, whom I knew to be his
Sweet-Heart, pitch a Bar.
In short, I found the men endeavoured to shew the Women they were no
Cowards, and that the whole Company strived to recommend themselves to
each other, by making it appear that they were all in a perfect State
of Health, and fit to undergo any Fatigues of bodily Labour.
Your Judgment upon this Method of Love and Gallantry, as
it is at present practised amongst us in the Country, will very much
oblige,
Sir, Yours, &c.'
If I would here put on the Scholar and Politician, I might inform my
Readers how these bodily Exercises or Games were formerly encouraged in
all the Commonwealths of
Greece
; from whence the
Romans
afterwards borrowed their
Pentathlum
, which was composed of
Running, Wrestling, Leaping, Throwing
, and
Boxing
, tho'
the Prizes were generally nothing but a Crown of Cypress or Parsley,
Hats not being in fashion in those Days: That there is an old Statute,
which obliges every Man in
England
, having such an Estate, to
keep and exercise the long Bow; by which Means our Ancestors excelled
all other Nations in the Use of that Weapon, and we had all the real
Advantages, without the Inconvenience of a standing Army: And that I
once met with a Book of Projects, in which the Author considering to
what noble Ends that Spirit of Emulation, which so remarkably shews it
self among our common People in these Wakes, might be directed, proposes
that for the Improvement of all our handicraft Trades there should be
annual Prizes set up for such Persons as were most excellent in their
several Arts. But laying aside all these political Considerations, which
might tempt me to pass the Limits of my Paper, I confess the greatest
Benefit and Convenience that I can observe in these Country Festivals,
is the bringing young People together, and giving them an Opportunity of
shewing themselves in the most advantageous Light. A Country Fellow that
throws his Rival upon his Back, has generally as good Success with their
common Mistress; as nothing is more usual than for a nimble-footed Wench
to get a Husband at the same time she wins a Smock. Love and Marriages
are the natural Effects of these anniversary Assemblies. I must
therefore very much approve the Method by which my Correspondent tells
me each Sex endeavours to recommend it self to the other, since nothing
seems more likely to promise a healthy Offspring or a happy
Cohabitation. And I believe I may assure my Country Friend, that there
has been many a Court Lady who would be contented to exchange her crazy
young Husband for
Tom Short
, and several Men of Quality who would have
parted with a tender Yoke-fellow for
Black Kate
.
am the more pleased with having
Love
made the principal End and
Design of these Meetings, as it seems to be most agreeable to the Intent
for which they were at first instituted, as we are informed by the
learned Dr.
Kennet
, with whose Words I shall conclude my present
Paper.
These Wakes, says he, were in Imitation of the ancient
Greek (transliterated): agápai or Love-Feasts; and were first established in England
by Pope Gregory the Great, who in an Epistle to Melitus the Abbot
gave Order that they should be kept in Sheds or Arbories made up with
Branches and Boughs of Trees round the Church.
He adds, That this laudable Custom of Wakes prevailed for many Ages,
till the nice Puritans began to exclaim against it as a Remnant of
Popery; and by degrees the precise Humour grew so popular, that at an
Exeter Assizes the Lord Chief Baron Walter made an Order for the
Suppression of all Wakes; but on Bishop Laud's complaining of this
innovating Humour, the King commanded the Order to be reversed.
X.
Parochial Antiquities
(1795), pp. 610, 614.
Contents
|
Wednesday,
September 5, 1711 |
Addison |
... Servetur ad imum,
Qualis ab incœpto processerit, et sibi constet.
Hor.
translation
Nothing that is not a real Crime makes a Man appear so contemptible and
little in the Eyes of the World as Inconstancy, especially when it
regards Religion or Party. In either of these Cases, tho' a Man perhaps
does but his Duty in changing his Side, he not only makes himself hated
by those he left, but is seldom heartily esteemed by those he comes over
to.
In these great Articles of Life, therefore, a Man's Conviction ought to
be very strong, and if possible so well timed that worldly Advantages
may seem to have no Share in it, or Mankind will be ill natured enough
to think he does not change Sides out of Principle, but either out of
Levity of Temper or Prospects of Interest. Converts and Renegadoes of
all Kinds should take particular care to let the World see they act upon
honourable Motives; or whatever Approbations they may receive from
themselves, and Applauses from those they converse with, they may be
very well assured that they are the Scorn of all good Men, and the
publick Marks of Infamy and Derision.
on the Schemes of Life
which
offer themselves to our
Choice, and Inconstancy in pursuing them, are the greatest and most
universal Causes of all our Disquiet and Unhappiness. When
Ambition
pulls
Way, Interest another, Inclination a third, and perhaps
Reason contrary to all, a Man is likely to pass his Time but ill who has
so many different Parties to please. When the Mind hovers among such a
Variety of Allurements, one had better settle on a Way of Life that is
not the very best we might have chosen, than grow old without
determining our Choice, and go out of the World as the greatest Part of
Mankind do, before we have resolved how to live in it. There is but one
Method of setting our selves at Rest in this Particular, and that is by
adhering stedfastly to one great End as the chief and ultimate Aim of
all our Pursuits. If we are firmly resolved to live up to the Dictates
of Reason, without any Regard to Wealth, Reputation, or the like
Considerations, any more than as they fall in with our principal Design,
we may go through Life with Steadiness and Pleasure; but if we act by
several broken Views, and will not only be virtuous, but wealthy,
popular, and every thing that has a Value set upon it by the World, we
shall live and die in Misery and Repentance.
One would take more than ordinary Care to guard ones self against this
particular Imperfection, because it is that which our Nature very
strongly inclines us to; for if we examine ourselves throughly, we shall
find that we are the most changeable Beings in the Universe. In respect
of our Understanding, we often embrace and reject the very same
Opinions; whereas Beings above and beneath us have probably no Opinions
at all, or at least no Wavering and Uncertainties in those they have.
Our Superiors are guided by Intuition, and our Inferiors by Instinct. In
respect of our Wills, we fall into Crimes and recover out of them, are
amiable or odious in the Eyes of our great Judge, and pass our whole
Life in offending and asking Pardon. On the contrary, the Beings
underneath us are not capable of sinning, nor those above us of
repenting. The one is out of the Possibilities of Duty, and the other
fixed in an eternal Course of Sin, or an eternal Course of Virtue.
There is scarce a State of Life, or Stage in it which does not produce
Changes and Revolutions in the Mind of Man. Our Schemes of Thought in
Infancy are lost in those of Youth; these too take a different Turn in
Manhood, till old Age often leads us back into our former Infancy. A new
Title or an unexpected Success throws us out of ourselves, and in a
manner destroys our Identity. A cloudy Day, or a little Sunshine, have
as great an Influence on many Constitutions, as the most real Blessings
or Misfortunes. A Dream varies our Being, and changes our Condition
while it lasts; and every Passion, not to mention Health and Sickness,
and the greater Alterations in Body and Mind, makes us appear almost
different Creatures. If a Man is so distinguished among other Beings by
this Infirmity, what can we think of such as make themselves remarkable
for it even among their own Species? It is a very trifling Character to
be one of the most variable Beings of the most variable Kind, especially
if we consider that He who is the great Standard of Perfection has in
him no Shadow of Change, but is the same Yesterday, To-day, and for
ever.
As this Mutability of Temper and Inconsistency with our selves is the
greatest Weakness of human Nature, so it makes the Person who is
remarkable for it in a very particular Manner more ridiculous than any
other Infirmity whatsoever, as it sets him in a greater Variety of
foolish Lights, and distinguishes him from himself by an Opposition of
party-coloured Characters. The most humourous Character in
Horace
is
founded upon this Unevenness of Temper and Irregularity of Conduct.
... Sardus habebat
Ille Tigellius hoc: Cæsar qui cogere posset
Si peteret per amicitiam patris, atque suam, non
Quidquam proficeret: Si collibuisset, ab ovo
Usque ad mala citaret, Io Bacche, modò summâ
Voce, modò hâc, resonat quæ; chordis quatuor ima.
Nil æquale homini fuit illi: Sæpe velut qui
Currebat fugiens hostem: Persæpe velut qui
Junonis sacra ferret: Habebat sæpe ducentos,
Sæpe decem servos: Modò reges atque tetrarchas,
Omnia magna loquens: Modò sit mihi mensa tripes, et
Concha salis puri, et toga, quæ defendere frigus,
Quamvis crassa, queat. Decies centena dedisses
Huic parco paucis contento, quinque diebus
Nil erat in loculis. Noctes vigilabat ad ipsum
Manè: Diem totam stertebat. Nil fuit unquam
Sic impar sibi ...
Hor. Sat. 3, Lib. 1.
of translating this Passage in
Horace
, I shall entertain
my
English
Reader with the Description of a Parallel Character,
that is wonderfully well finished by Mr.
Dryden
, and raised
upon the same Foundation.
In the first Rank of these did Zimri stand:
A Man so various, that he seem'd to be
Not one, but all Mankind's Epitome.
Stiff in Opinions, always in the wrong;
Was ev'ry thing by Starts, and nothing long;
But, in the Course of one revolving Moon,
Was Chemist, Fidler, Statesman, and Buffoon:
Then all for Women, Painting, Rhiming, Drinking:
Besides ten thousand Freaks that dy'd in thinking.
Blest Madman, who cou'd ev'ry flour employ,
With something New to wish, or to enjoy!
C.
that
Honour
In his
Absalom and Achitophel.
The character of Villiers,
Duke of Buckingham.