to think any evil sufficient to depress a man of parts pedantic, and pedantic too in the display of spirit, yet he soon finds how much influence the learning that has no very great bearing upon the opinion of the world, and the approval of his own point in view, yet it is full of the fire and eloquence conscience have upon his happiness; for as Sir which were so characteristic of his mind. He borJames Mackintosh and many others both before and rows many fine sentences, and indeed whole pasafter him have said there is no condition so high sages from Seneca; but still, the reflections are or so low-no innocence so spotless, nor depravity essentially his own; and, in every page, is seen so consummate, that can place a man above the that flow of bright thoughts and burning words, praise or censure of his fellowmen. It is a wise which render him, in so eminent a degree, the favoprovision of Providence thus to have implanted rite of those who admire the strength and force, this sentiment-this noble and not abject sentiment quite as much as the beauty, of the English lanin the human heart. It does not destroy indepen - | guage. It does not belong to that class of his dence, and is one of the main safeguards of virtue. Lordship's productions which treat of philosophy And whatever a false philosophy may teach us; and religion, which he wrote after his retirement however much pride may steel our bosoms against from office, and which disappointed, as much as impressions from without, and with whatever injus- they had excited, public attention. There are but tice the world may sometimes pronounce its fickle decisions, there never was a truly noble spirit that did not feel regret, though not perhaps chagrin, at the loss of the good opinion of mankind. one or two sentences in the essay, which hint at those skeptical sentiments that Lord Bolingbroke is well known to have entertained; but which he did not support with an ability equal to the bold As the various diseases to which flesh is heir to, confidence with which he advanced them. If his affect different parts of the body, and are more practice had corresponded with his precepts, he dangerous and fatal when they come in a troop, would have established a reputation for philosophy than when they come singly; so events that affect far different from that which he has achieved by the mind of man are more serious in their charac- his elaborate treatise upon the subject. The mind ter, and more dreadful in their consequences when of the reader would not have been continually disthey rush upon us in torrents, than when they fall tracted by the variance between his own conduct, in gentle, and almost unperceived showers. An and the principles which he enforces; and posterity ambitious man may lose his estate; but he does would not be in doubt whether so far as exile is not feel the loss, because, by nature, and by educa- | concerned, to place him nearer to Tully or Marcellus. tion, he has a contempt for riches. A selfish man It would be difficult to find, in any production of may lose his friends; but this is no evil to him, for his heart has ever been sealed to the noble sentiments of a virtuous friendship. And thus, as there are different passions in the breasts of different men, each man is affected and grieved only as his own particular passions are thwarted and deprived of the means of gratification. And, as all the evils of which I have spoken individually, fall collectively, and together upon the banished man, it is a perversion of terms to call exile and happiness the same, or even allies. Follow the great men of history into their forced retirement from the land of their birth. How many have plunged into all couched. The flowing ease of Tully, and the the projects which the most boundless ambition, and the most merciless avarice could suggest an avarice and an ambition, which, as they have been unable to gratify in one country, they are resolved to glut in another. How small is the number of those who practise that specious philosophy which it is so easy to admire, and not more difficult to dwell upon! the same length, juster views, more elegant diction, glowing eloquence, and noble spirit than in Lord Bolingbroke's short, but splendid essay on "The Spirit of Patriotism." This is a trite and familiar subject, upon which, in all ages, not only authors have written, but schoolboys have declaimed; and, on a theme so thread-bare, novelty, either of ideas or expression, is an agreeable surprise. The noblest spirit of patriotism breathes through his Lordship's essay, and I am at a loss whether to admire more the lofty tone of his sentiment, or the glowing style in which they are burning energy of his Athenian rival are here combined, and the reader is hurried away by a beauty of language too charming to be resisted, and a strength of thought too powerful to be opposed. That there are, in every age, and every country, some men to whom the etherial spirit is communicated more freely than to the mass, and whose course is marked either by desolation, famine and war, or by peace, plenty and liberty, is a proposiion which all history sustains. They are the master-spirits of a country, who are ahead of the age It ranks among the first of Lord Bolingbroke's i which they live. Actuated only by a sacred love writings, and on this account, and not merely be- of country, or, as my Lord Bacon calls it, the awful cause it is from the pen of that distinguished author, love of posterity; elevated by education, above the it may be admitted into the select and exclusive contracted notions of the vulgar; and by feeling circle of the English classics. Although in some above the narrow views of party, they seem to belong Having said thus much of the arguments, it may not be out of place to make a few remarks on the style of the “ Reflections on exile." to a different species, and to live with a race of beings governments, and the humor of those ages, made who are unable to grasp their comprehensive views. elaborate orations necessary. They harangued Hence, with that malignant envy which is im- oftener than they debated; and the artes dicendi planted in their hearts, men resolve to destroy what required more study and more exercise of mind and they are too debased to imitate, and the benefac- of body too, among them, than are necessary among tors of the world are hunted down because their us. But as much pains as they took in learning. virtues are a living reproach upon the vices of how to conduct the stream of eloquence, they mankind. It is quite natural, that in an age when took more to enlarge the fountain from which it he was an exile, and in a country where a Walpole was suffered to rule for twenty years, Bolingbroke Almost equal in elegance of style and splendor should think that few men of this description had of diction, to the "Spirit of patriotism," "The appeared, and should look with scorn upon the ig- idea of a patriot king," is far more elaborate, powernorance and folly of the herd, and say of the mass ful, and instructive even, than that elegant essay. of his countrymen what was said of the courtiers Less exception can be taken to the principles adof Alcinous, Nos numerus sumus et fruges consu-vanced, and the morality enforced in this admirable treatise, than to those contained in any of his mere nati. flowed." What can be more graphic than the picture which Lordship's productions. Such has been the rapid he draws of Walpole; or more withering, than the progress of democracy within the last century, scorn with which he speaks of the corruptions of that sentiments which in Bolingbroke's age were the age? What can be more correct than the for- regarded as liberal, and even radical, are now concible manner, in which he urges that the service of sidered as essentially monarchical. While, thereour country is not a chimerical, but a real duty? fore, Bolingbroke denies the divine right of kings, What can be more persuasive than his appeals in as that right was broadly claimed by the House of favor of patriotism; or more touching than his Stuart, yet he admits that it extends to good governdescriptions of the pleasure which the statesman ment and good kings. Even with this qualificafeels at a survey of the works which he has com- tion, this doctrine has long been exploded. Although pleted, and even the satisfaction which his con- wrong upon this point, his Lordship is certainly corscience affords him when the malice of enemies, rect in preferring a hereditary to an elective monor the usurpation of courts have thwarted him in archy. Indeed, it remains to be tested by America, his designs? And what more affecting, than the whether a republic can stand the severe shocks carefulness and the hope with which he looks for- and ceaseless convulsions of an elective Chief ward to the rising generation for the restoration of Magistracy. Machiavel, in the Prince," lays private morals, and the rooting out of public cor- down the maxims and principles by which kings ruption? But the most beautiful and important part extend their dominions, increase their power, and of this elegant essay, is that in which his Lordship conquer foreign nations. Such was their barenness enforces the necessity of application, industry, and and breathey, that the author unjustly, and unwitperseverance in a public man, and shows, that with- tingly acquired for his own name the infamy which out these indispensable qualities, neither great he saw and described in others. His design was, talents nor great virtues can command success. by exposing to the public gaze and odium, the vices His views of the nature and power of eloquence and crimes of kings, to make them distasteful to are equally just; they concur with the liberal and the people, and thereby contribute to the destrucexpanded sentiments of Tully. Eloquence is in- tion of monarchy. The memory of the Florendeed a powerful weapon, but it requires skill and tine Secretary has been loaded with an obloquy strength to use it with effect. It is indeed a copi- from which the authority of many great men, from ous and a gushing stream, but its fountains must Bacon down, has not yet rescued him. Machiavel be continually supplied by learning and experience. was a republican; but has benefitted mankind, at Tully could never have expelled Catiline from the expense of his own reputation with the mass of Rome, if he had confined himself to speeches in posterity. Bolingbroke, however, is a monarchist; the forum; nor could Demosthenes have roused and, in order to preserve kingly government, he the Thebians against Philip, if he had relied upon describes the character, duties and obligations of his eloquence alone. In the language of his Lord- a prince. The object of the idea of a patriot king ship," Eloquence has charms to lead mankind, and seems to be to convince the people, that it is drawn gives a nobler superiority than power, that every from princes that have reigned; or at any rate, it dance may use, or fraud, that every knave may em- is a picture which will probably be the cause of ploy. But eloquence must flow like a stream that producing the very personage it describes, and is fed by an abundant spring, and not spout forth a therefore they ought not to be dissatisfied with little frothy water on some gaudy day, and remain their constitution and government. dry the rest of the year. The famous orators of They who will read this essay, and, with the Greece and Rome were the statesmen and minis- noble author, sketch out the traits of a Patriot ters of those commonwealths. The nature of their King, and will then read the history of those who have actually swayed the British sceptre, will indeed look upon different pictures. With great beauty and truth, Bolingbroke describes the character, defines the duties, and enforces the obligation of a patriot king; that he should regard his power as a trust, and that of the people as property; that he should know the true principles, and pursue the true ends of government; that his moral character must be formed, not as the statuary forms a statue, but as nature forms a flower; and that corruption should be expelled from the public councils, are principles of public morality and political conduct, which, although neither new nor original, are discussed by Bolingbroke with an eloquence and ability that almost invest them with the charm of novelty. In reading a didactic treatise of this description, our admiration for the author will be excited by the style, rather than the ideas. As to the abstract qualities which constitute a patriot king, the most of men have as clear an idea as Bolingbroke, and could, in their own way, lay down the necessary precepts. It is the praise of his lordship by his rapid style, and classic illustrations, by the warmth of his fancy and the fervor of his diction, to pour upon a dry and barren subject, a flood of instructive learning and charming eloquence. THE HUMMING-BIRD AND THE BUTTERFLY. BY PAUL GRANALD. A Humming-bird-the tale is old, With jewell'd breast and ebon wing, Whose plumes had caught the tints-the light- Or if, perchance, it lighted on Some plant more beauteous than the rest, Upon some gorgeous wild-bird's breast, This glorious thing Of gilded plume and tireless wing, Went roaming through a Southern land, -For beauty dwells 'neath Southern suns, And there, profuse, a Maker's hand Hath placed his bright, his beauteous onesAnd in its flight it chanc'd to greet A Fly, whose wings were died with stains- Born of the clouds when sunbeams meet 'Tis said-I will not vouch its truth, But soon resolv'd to make a king, They choose him by his breadth of wing! An Eagle pass'd him proudly by, By ev'ry breeze that swept along, Far, far above the earth's base throng! His dreams forgot, his kingdom too, Till sunbeams wak'd him from the dead, By kissing from those wings, the dew, "Twas then he found-oh, glad surpriseHe'd dip them in the rain-bow's dyes! And since that time, none, none deny, The King of Flies, the Butterfly! "The beautiful"-thus spoke the bird"The beautiful of earth should be Companions in their destiny, And 1, oh Fly! have never fear'd An earthly rival, save in thee. For I have watch'd thee, when profuse So light thy touch, thy perch in air, *Some philosophers (so called) tell us, that the first king was chosen by an assemblage of the whole race of man, who, meeting in a broad plain, selected the tallest of their number to rule over them. See also the history of Saul. Though these destruction bring to thee, This fulsome praise; remember, when Far greater and as vulgar then." And boasted of the plants he'd woo'd, He'd left the golden dust within! A tale the Fly could not allow, He could not do it, nor couldst thou! "By all my gods, My roses, tulips, golden-rods, I never thought thy airy form" "Hush! hush!" the Fly was then a worm! THE WRITERS OF ANTIQUITY. (Translated from the French of J. Joubert.) Homer has painted human life. Every village has its Nestor, its Agamemnon, its Ulysses; every parish, its Achilles, its Diomede, its Ajax; every age, its Priam, its Andromache, its Hector. It is always with the splendor of his thought, that the language of Plato is colored. Brilliancy in him springs from the sublime. Plato spoke to an extremely ingenious people, and ought to speak as he does. There arises from his writings an indescribable intellectual vapor. Seek in Plato only forms and ideas: it is what he sought himself. There is in him more light than objects, more form than substance. It is proper to breathe him, and not to feed upon him. Longinus blames, in Plato, the boldness which the rhetoric of the dialogue of the subject and of the time warranted. The high philosophy has its licences, as the high poetry. By the same title, it has the same rights. Plato shows nothing, but he shines; he puts light in our eyes, and places in us a brightness with which all objects then become illuminated. He teaches us nothing, but he trains us; he fashions us and makes us fit to learn every thing. The perusal of him, increases in us, one knows not how, the susceptibility for distinguishing and admitting all the beautiful truths which can present themselves. Like the air of the mountains, it sharpens the organs, and gives the taste for wholesome food. In Plato, the spirit of poetry animates the languors of logic. Plato loses himself in the void; but we see the play of his wings; we hear their noise. Digressions, when they are not necessary, and There will never be a tolerable translation of the explanation of that which is clear, are the deHomer, unless all the words of it be chosen with fects of Plato. Like children, he troubles the limart, and be full of variety, novelty and charm. It pid water to afford himself the pleasure of seeing is also necessary that the expression should be as it settle and grow clear. In fact, it is in order to antique, as undisguised as the manners, the events establish better the character of his personage; and the personages brought upon the scene. With but he thus sacrifices the piece to the actor, and our modern style, every thing makes grimaces in the fable to the masquerader. Homer, and his heroes seem some grotesque figures which the grave and the proud represent. All beautiful poetry resembles that of Homer, and all beautiful philosophy that of Plato. Plato is the first of speculative theologians. The revelation of Nature has no organ more brilliant. Plato found philosophy made of brick; he made it of gold. I admire in Plato that eloquence which dispenses with all the passions, and has no need of them to triumph. This is the distinguishing trait of this great metaphysician. There is in Plato, a light always ready to show itself, and which never shows itself. We perceive it in his veins, as in those of the flint; it is only necessary to hit his thoughts to make it spout out from them. The Phedon is a beautiful picture, admirably composed; there are beautiful colors, but few good reasons. Aristotle has ranked the dialogues of Plato in the class of epic poems. He was right, and Marmontel, who opposes him, has misunderstood the nature and the character of these dialogues, and misunderstood Aristotle. Plato should be translated in a style pure, but a little loose, a little languid. His ideas are fine; they have little body; and to clothe them, there suffices a drapery, a veil, a vapor, of something floating, I know not what. If we give them a tight dress, we render them all counterfeit. Plato, Xenophon, and the other writers of the school of Socrates, have the evolutions of the bird's wing; they make long circuits; they em He heaps up clouds; but they conceal a celes-brace much space; they wheel a long time around tial fire, and this fire awaits only the shock. Naturally a spirit of flame, and not only full of light, but luminous, Plato burns with his own flame. the point where they wish to alight, and which they always have in view; then, at length, they fall there. In imagining the track traced in the air by the wing of these birds, which amuse themselves by rising! and falling, in hovering and wheeling, one can have an idea of what I have called the evolutions of their mind and of their style. They are of those who build labyrinths, but labyrinths in the air. Instead of figurative or colored words, they chose simple and common words, because the idea which they employed them to present, is itself a great and long figure. Deprive Juvenal of his bile and Virgil of his wisdom, and you will have too bad authors. Plutarch, in his morals, is the Herodotus of philosophy. I consider the lives of the Illustrious Men, as one of the most precious monuments which antiquity has bequeathed to us. Whatever has seemed the greatest in the human race, is there presented to our eyes; and whatever Aristotle reformed all the rules, and added, in the best men have done, therein serves us for an all the sciences, new truths to known truths. His example. The wisdom of antiquity is therein enbook is an ocean of doctrines. It is the encyclo-tire. pedia of antiquity. I do not feel for the writer, the esteem which I If all books should disappear, and his writings entertain for his compilation. Praiseworthy for a should be preserved by chance, the human mind would suffer no irreparable loss, except that of Plato. Xenophon wrote with the feather of a swan, Plato with a gold pen, and Thucydides with a stylus of brass. The memorable things of Xenophon are a slender thread, out of which he has the art of making a magnificent lace; but with which one can see nothing. Homer wrote to be sung, Sophocles to be declaimed, Herodotus to be recited, and Xenophon to be read. From these different objects of their works, a multitude of differences in their style must necessarily arise. It seems that Ennius wrote slowly; Sallust seldom; Tacitus with difficulty; Pliny the younger, early and often; Thucydides late and seldom. Terence was an African; nevertheless, he seems to have been nourished by the Athenian graces. The Attic honey is on his lips; one might easily believe that he was born on Mount Hymettus. thousand virtues, he who never allowed to be sold either his old slaves or the animals which labor or accident had maimed in his service, he is of that cowardice which allows him to float between the opinions of the philosophers without having the courage to contradict or to support them, and which gives him, for all the celebrated men, the respect which is due only to those who were virtuous and just. He makes a fine day shine even upon crimes. With an excellent judgment, Plutarch has nevertheless a singular frivolity of mind. Every thing that amuses him, attracts and engages him. He is a master-scholar in the energy of his studies. I say nothing of his credulity. As to this, it is wrong to blame those who write the facts, of which philosophy should make use to compose history. The idea of Plutarch, in his morals, is tinged with the purple of all the other books. He therein says what he knows, rather than what he thinks. The style of Tacitus, although less beautiful, less rich in agreeable colors and in varied turns, is neverCicero is in Philosophy, a kind of moon. His theless perhaps more perfect than that of Cicero doctrine has a light very sweet but borrowed, a himself; for, all the words in it are chosen with light altogether Grecian, which the Roman has soft-care, and have their weight, their measure, their ened and enfeebled. exact number; but supreme perfection resides in a combination and in perfect elements. Cicero, in his learning, shows more taste and discernment than real criticism. No writer has more boldness in expression than Cicero. He is believed to have been circumspect and almost timid; no tongue, however, was less so than his. In the narrations of Tacitus, there is an interest in the recital which does not suffer us to read little, and a profundity, a grandeur of expression which does not suffer us to read much. The mind, as if His eloquence is clear, but it flows in great whirl-divided between the curiosity which impels it, and pools and cascades, when it should do so. the attention which keeps it back, experiences some There are a thousand ways of dressing and sea- fatigue. soning language; Cicero loved them all. One finds in Catullus, two things whose union makes the worst thing in the world, delicacy and grossness. In general, however, the principal idea of each of his little pieces is happily and simply turned; his airs are handsome, but his instrument is rude. Horace satisfies the mind, but he does not make the taste contented. Virgil satisfies the taste as well as the reflection. The remembrance of his verses is as delightful as their perusal. The style of Tacitus was suitable for painting black souls and tempestuous times. When Sir Walter Raleigh was brought to the scaffold, he asked to see the axe; as he pressed his finger lightly across the edge. he said, ""Tis a sharp remedy, but a sound cure for all diseases." He then laid his head upon the block, and being told to place himself so that his face might look towards the East-he said--"No matter how the head lie, so the heart be right." |