There hardly can be a greater Instance of an Heroick Mind, than the unprejudiced Manner in which this Lady weighed this Misfortune. The regard of Life itself could not make her overlook the Contrition of the unhappy Man, whose more than Ordinary Concern for her was all his Guilt. It would certainly be of singular Use to human Society to have an exact Account of this Lady's ordinary Conduct, which was Crowned by so uncommon Magnanimity. Such Greatness was not to be acquired in her last Article, nor is it to be doubted but it was a constant Practice of all that is praise-worthy, which made her capable of beholding Death, not as the Dissolution, but Consummation of her Life.
T.
ContentsContents, p.6
Segnius irritant animos demissa per auresQuam quæ sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus—Hor.
Milton
, after having represented in Vision the History of Mankind to the first great Period of Nature, dispatches the remaining part of it in Narration. He has devised a very handsome Reason for the Angels proceeding with
Adam
after this manner; though doubtless the true Reason was the Difficulty which the Poet would have found to have shadowed out so mixed and complicated a Story in visible Objects. I could wish, however, that the Author had done it, whatever Pains it might have cost him. To give my Opinion freely, I think that the exhibiting part of the History of Mankind in Vision, and part in Narrative, is as if an History-Painter should put in Colours one half of his Subject, and write down the remaining part of it. If
Milton's
Poem flags any where, it is in this Narration, where in some places the Author has been so attentive to his Divinity, that he has neglected his Poetry. The Narration, however, rises very happily on several Occasions, where the Subject is capable of Poetical Ornaments, as particularly in the Confusion which he describes among the Builders of
Babel
, and in his short Sketch of the Plagues of
Egypt
. The Storm of Hail and Fire, with the Darkness that overspread the Land for three Days, are described with great Strength. The beautiful Passage which follows, is raised upon noble Hints in Scripture:
—Thus with ten WoundsThe River-Dragon tamed at length submitsTo let his Sojourners depart, and oftHumbles his stubborn Heart; but still as IceMore harden'd after Thaw, till in his RagePursuing whom he late dismissed, the SeaSwallows him with his Host, but them lets passAs on dry Land between two Chrystal Walls,Aw'd by the Rod ofMosesso to standDivided—
The River-Dragon is an Allusion to the Crocodile, which inhabits the
Nile
, from whence
Egypt
derives her Plenty. This Allusion is taken from that Sublime Passage in
Ezekiel
,
Thus saith the Lord God, behold I am against thee, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great Dragon that lieth in the midst of his Rivers, which hath said, my River is mine own, and I have made it for my self.
Milton
has given us another very noble and poetical Image in the same Description, which is copied almost Word for Word out of the History of
Moses
.
All Night he will pursue, but his ApproachDarkness defends between till morning Watch;Then through the fiery Pillar and the CloudGod looking forth, will trouble all his Host,And craze their Chariot Wheels: when by commandMosesonce more his potent Rod extendsOver the Sea: the Sea his Rod obeys:On their embattell'd Ranks the Waves returnAnd overwhelm their War—
As the principal Design of this Episode was to give
Adam
an Idea of the Holy Person, who was to reinstate human Nature in that Happiness and Perfection from which it had fallen, the Poet confines himself to the Line of
Abraham
, from whence the
Messiah
was to Descend. The Angel is described as seeing the
Patriarch
actually travelling towards the Land of Promise, which gives a particular Liveliness to this part of the Narration.
I see him, but thou canst not, with what FaithHe leaves his Gods, his Friends, his Native Soil,UrofChaldæa, passing now the FordToHaran, after him a cumbrous TrainOf Herds and Flocks, and numerous Servitude,Not wand'ring poor, but trusting all his WealthWith God, who call'd him, in a Land unknown.Canaanhe now attains, I see his TentsPitch'd aboutSechem, and the neighbouring PlainOfMoreh, there by Promise he receivesGifts to his Progeny of all that Land,FromHamathNorthward to the Desart South.(Things by their Names I call, though yet unnamed.)
As
Virgil's
Vision in the sixth
Æneid
probably gave
Milton
the Hint of this whole Episode, the last Line is a Translation of that Verse, where
Anchises
mentions the Names of Places, which they were to bear hereafter.
Hæc tum nomina erunt, nunc sunt sine nomine terræ.
The Poet has very finely represented the Joy and Gladness of Heart which rises in
Adam
upon his discovery of the
Messiah
. As he sees his Day at a distance through Types and Shadows, he rejoices in it: but when he finds the Redemption of Man compleated, and Paradise again renewed, he breaks forth in Rapture and Transport;
O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense!That all this Good of Evil shall produce, &c.
I have hinted in my sixth Paper on
Milton
, that an Heroick Poem, according to the Opinion of the best Criticks, ought to end happily, and leave the Mind of the Reader, after having conducted it through many Doubts and Fears, Sorrows and Disquietudes, in a State of Tranquility and Satisfaction.
Milton's
Fable, which had so many other Qualifications to recommend it, was deficient in this Particular. It is here therefore, that the Poet has shewn a most exquisite Judgment, as well as the finest Invention, by finding out a Method to supply this natural Defect in his Subject. Accordingly he leaves the Adversary of Mankind, in the last View which he gives us of him, under the lowest State of Mortification and Disappointment. We see him chewing Ashes, grovelling in the Dust, and loaden with supernumerary Pains and Torments. On the contrary, our two first Parents are comforted by Dreams and Visions, cheared with Promises of Salvation, and, in a manner, raised to a greater Happiness than that which they had forfeited: In short,
Satan
is represented miserable in the height of his Triumphs, and
Adam
triumphant in the height of Misery.
Milton's
Poem ends very nobly. The last Speeches of
Adam
and the Arch-Angel are full of Moral and Instructive Sentiments. The Sleep that fell upon
Eve
, and the Effects it had in quieting the Disorders of her Mind, produces the same kind of Consolation in the Reader, who cannot peruse the last beautiful Speech which is ascribed to the Mother of Mankind, without a secret Pleasure and Satisfaction.
Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I know;For God is also in Sleep, and Dreams advise,Which he hath sent propitious, some great GoodPresaging, since with Sorrow and Heart's DistressWearied I fell asleep: but now lead on;In me is no delay: with thee to go,Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,Is to go hence unwilling: thou to meArt all things under Heav'n, all Places thou,Who for my wilful Crime art banish'd hence.This farther Consolation yet secureI carry hence; though all by me is lost,Such Favour, I unworthy, am vouchsafed,By me the promised Seed shall all restore.
The following Lines, which conclude the Poem, rise in a most glorious Blaze of Poetical Images and Expressions.
Heliodorus
in his
Æthiopicks
acquaints us, that the Motion of the Gods differs from that of Mortals, as the former do not stir their Feet, nor proceed Step by Step, but slide o'er the Surface of the Earth by an uniform Swimming of the whole Body. The Reader may observe with how Poetical a Description
Milton
has attributed the same kind of Motion to the Angels who were to take Possession of Paradise.
So spake our MotherEve,andAdamheardWell pleas'd, but answered not; for now too nighTh' Archangel stood, and from the other HillTo their fix'd Station, all in bright ArrayThe Cherubim descended; on the GroundGliding meteorous, as evening MistRis'n from a River, o'er the Marish glides,And gathers ground fast at the Lab'rer's HeelHomeward returning. High in Front advanced,The brandishd Sword of God before them blaz'dFierce as a Comet—
The Author helped his Invention in the following Passage, by reflecting on the Behaviour of the Angel, who, in Holy Writ, has the Conduct of
Lot
and his Family. The Circumstances drawn from that Relation are very gracefully made use of on this Occasion.
In either Hand the hast'ning Angel caughtOur ling'ring Parents, and to th' Eastern GateLed them direct; and down the Cliff as fastTo the subjected Plain; then disappear'd.They looking back, &c.
The
Scene
1
which our first Parents are surprized with, upon their looking back on Paradise, wonderfully strikes the Reader's Imagination, as nothing can be more natural than the Tears they shed on that Occasion.
They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheldOf Paradise, so late their happy Seat,Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the GateWith dreadful Faces throng'd and fiery Arms:Some natural Tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;The World was all before them, where to chuseTheir Place of Rest, and Providence their Guide.
If I might presume to offer at the smallest Alteration in this divine Work, I should think the Poem would end better with the Passage here quoted, than with the two Verses which follow:
They hand in hand, with wandering Steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary Way.
These two Verses, though they have their Beauty, fall very much below the foregoing Passage, and renew in the Mind of the Reader that Anguish which was pretty well laid by that Consideration.
The world was all before them, where to chuseTheir Place of Rest, and Providence their Guide.
The Number of Books in
Paradise Lost
is equal to those of the
Æneid
. Our Author in his first Edition had divided his Poem into ten Books, but afterwards broke the seventh and the eleventh each of them into two different Books, by the help of some small Additions. This second Division was made with great Judgment, as any one may see who will be at the pains of examining it. It was not done for the sake of such a Chimerical Beauty as that of resembling
Virgil
in this particular, but for the more just and regular Disposition of this great Work.
Those who have read
Bossu
, and many of the Criticks who have written since his Time, will not pardon me if I do not find out the particular Moral which is inculcated in
Paradise Lost
. Though I can by no means think, with the last mentioned French Author, that an Epick Writer first of all pitches upon a certain Moral, as the Ground-Work and Foundation of his Poem, and afterwards finds out a Story to it: I am, however, of opinion, that no just Heroick Poem ever was or can be made, from whence one great Moral may not be deduced. That which reigns in
Milton
, is the most universal and most useful that can be imagined; it is in short this, That Obedience to the Will of God makes Men happy, and that Disobedience makes them miserable. This is visibly the Moral of the principal Fable, which turns upon
Adam
and
Eve
, who continued in Paradise, while they kept the command that was given them, and were driven out of it as soon as they had transgressed. This is likewise the Moral of the principal Episode, which shews us how an innumerable Multitude of Angels fell from their State of Bliss, and were cast into Hell upon their Disobedience. Besides this great Moral, which may be looked upon as the Soul of the Fable, there are an Infinity of Under-Morals which are to be drawn from the several parts of the Poem, and which makes this Work more useful and Instructive than any other Poem in any Language.
Those who have criticized on the
Odyssey
, the
Iliad
, and
Æneid
, have taken a great deal of Pains to fix the Number of Months and Days contained in the Action of each of those Poems. If any one thinks it worth his while to examine this Particular in
Milton
, he will find that from
Adam's
first Appearance in the fourth Book, to his Expulsion from Paradise in the twelfth, the Author reckons ten Days. As for that part of the Action which is described in the three first Books, as it does not pass within the Regions of Nature, I have before observed that it is not subject to any Calculations of Time.
I have now finished my Observations on a Work which does an Honour to the
English
Nation. I have taken a general View of it under these four Heads,
the Fable, the Characters, the Sentiments, and the Language
, and made each of them the Subject of a particular Paper. I have in the next Place spoken of the Censures which our Author may incur under each of these Heads, which I have confined to two Papers, though I might have enlarged the Number, if I had been disposed to dwell on so ungrateful a Subject. I believe, however, that the severest Reader will not find any little Fault in Heroick Poetry, which this Author has fallen into, that does not come under one of those Heads among which I have distributed his several Blemishes. After having thus treated at large of
Paradise Lost,
I could not think it sufficient to have celebrated this Poem in the whole, without descending to Particulars. I have therefore bestowed a
Paper
upon each Book, and endeavoured not only to
prove
2
that the Poem is beautiful in general, but to point out its Particular Beauties, and to determine wherein they consist. I have endeavoured to shew how some Passages are beautiful by being Sublime, others by being Soft, others by being Natural; which of them are recommended by the Passion, which by the Moral, which by the Sentiment, and which by the Expression. I have likewise endeavoured to shew how the Genius of the Poet shines by a happy Invention, a distant Allusion, or a judicious Imitation; how he has copied or improved
Homer
or
Virgil
, and raised his own Imaginations by the Use which he has made of several Poetical Passages in Scripture. I might have
inserted
also several Passages of
Tasso
, which our Author
has
3
imitated; but as I do not look upon
Tasso
to be a sufficient Voucher, I would not perplex my Reader with such Quotations, as might do more Honour to the
Italian
than the
English
Poet. In short, I have endeavoured to particularize those innumerable kinds of Beauty, which it would be tedious to recapitulate, but which are essential to Poetry, and which may be met with in the Works of this great Author. Had I thought, at my first engaging in this design, that it would have led me to so great a length, I believe I should never have entered upon it; but the kind Reception which it has met with among those whose Judgments I have a value for, as well as the uncommon Demands which my Bookseller tells me have been made for these particular Discourses, give me no reason to repent of the Pains I have been at in composing them.
L.
Footnote 1:
Prospect
return to footnote mark
Footnote 2:
shew
return
Footnote 3:
has likewise
return
ContentsContents, p.6
Totus Mundus agit Histrionem.
Many of my fair Readers, as well as very gay and well-received Persons of the other Sex, are extremely perplexed at the
Latin
Sentences at the Head of my Speculations; I do not know whether I ought not to indulge them with Translations of each of them: However, I have to-day taken down from the Top of the Stage in
Drury-Lane
a bit of Latin which often stands in their View, and signifies that the whole World acts the Player. It is certain that if we look all round us, and behold the different Employments of Mankind, you hardly see one who is not, as the Player is, in an assumed Character. The Lawyer, who is vehement and loud in a Cause wherein he knows he has not the Truth of the Question on his Side, is a Player as to the personated Part, but incomparably meaner than he as to the Prostitution of himself for Hire; because the Pleader's Falshood introduces Injustice, the Player feigns for no other end but to divert or instruct you. The Divine, whose Passions transport him to say any thing with any View but promoting the Interests of true Piety and Religion, is a Player with a still greater Imputation of Guilt, in proportion to his depreciating a Character more sacred. Consider all the different Pursuits and Employments of Men, and you will find half their Actions tend to nothing else but Disguise and Imposture; and all that is done which proceeds not from a Man's very self, is the Action of a Player. For this Reason it is that I make so frequent mention of the Stage: It is, with me, a Matter of the highest Consideration what Parts are well or ill performed, what Passions or Sentiments are indulged or cultivated, and consequently what Manners and Customs are transfused from the Stage to the World, which reciprocally imitate each other. As the Writers of Epick Poems introduce shadowy Persons, and represent Vices and Virtues under the Characters of Men and Women; so I, who am a
Spectator
in the World, may perhaps sometimes make use of the Names of the Actors on the Stage, to represent or admonish those who transact Affairs in the World. When I am commending Wilks for representing the Tenderness of a Husband and a Father in
Mackbeth
, the Contrition of a reformed Prodigal in
Harry the Fourth
, the winning Emptiness
of
a young Man of Good-nature and Wealth in the
Trip to the Jubilee,
1
—the Officiousness of an artful Servant in the
Fox
2
: when thus I celebrate
Wilks
, I talk to all the World who are engaged in any of those Circumstances. If I were to speak of Merit neglected, mis-applied, or misunderstood, might not I say
Estcourt
has a great Capacity? But it is not the Interest of others who bear a Figure on the Stage that his Talents were understood; it is their Business to impose upon him what cannot become him, or keep out of his hands any thing in which he would Shine. Were
one
to raise a Suspicion of himself in a Man who passes upon the World for a fine Thing, in order to alarm him, one might say, if
Lord Foppington
3
were not on the Stage, (
Cibber
acts the false Pretensions to a genteel Behaviour so very justly), he would have in the generality of Mankind more that would admire than deride him. When we come to Characters directly Comical, it is not to be imagin'd what Effect a well-regulated Stage would have upon Men's Manners. The Craft of an Usurer, the Absurdity of a rich Fool, the awkward Roughness of a Fellow of half Courage,
the
ungraceful Mirth of a Creature of half Wit, might be for ever put out of Countenance by proper Parts for
Dogget
.
Johnson
by acting
Corbacchio
4
the other Night, must have given all who saw him a thorough Detestation of aged Avarice.
The
Petulancy of a peevish old Fellow, who loves and hates he knows not why, is very excellently performed by the Ingenious
Mr. William Penkethman
in the
Fop's Fortune
5
; where, in the Character of
Don Cholerick Snap Shorto de Testy
, he answers no Questions but to those whom he likes, and wants no account of any thing from those he approves. Mr.
Penkethman
is also Master of as many Faces in the Dumb-Scene as can be expected from a Man in the Circumstances of being ready to perish out of Fear and Hunger: He wonders throughout the whole Scene very masterly, without neglecting his Victuals. If it be, as I
have
heard it sometimes mentioned, a great Qualification for the World to follow Business and Pleasure too, what is it in the Ingenious Mr.
Penkethman
to represent a Sense of Pleasure and Pain at the same time; as you may see him do this Evening
6
?
As it is certain that a Stage ought to be wholly suppressed, or judiciously encouraged, while there is one in the Nation, Men turned for regular Pleasure cannot employ their Thoughts more usefully, for the Diversion of Mankind, than by convincing them that it is in themselves to raise this Entertainment to the greatest Height. It would be a great Improvement, as well as Embellishment to the Theatre, if Dancing were more regarded, and taught to all the Actors. One who has the Advantage of such an agreeable girlish Person as
Mrs. Bicknell
, joined with her Capacity of Imitation, could in proper Gesture and Motion represent all the decent Characters of Female Life. An amiable Modesty in one Aspect of a Dancer, an assumed Confidence in another, a sudden Joy in another, a falling off with an Impatience of being beheld, a Return towards the Audience with an unsteady Resolution to approach them, and a well-acted Sollicitude to please, would revive in the Company all the fine Touches of Mind raised in observing all the Objects of Affection or Passion they had before beheld. Such elegant Entertainments as these, would polish the Town into Judgment in their Gratifications; and Delicacy in Pleasure is the first step People of Condition take in Reformation from Vice. Mrs.
Bicknell
has the only Capacity for this sort of Dancing of any on the Stage; and I dare say all who see her Performance tomorrow Night, when sure the Romp will do her best for her own Benefit, will be of my Mind.
T.
Footnote 1:
Farquhar's Constant Couple, or A Trip to the Jubilee
.
return to footnote mark
Footnote 2:
Ben Jonson's
Volpone
.
return
Footnote 3:
In Colley Cibber's
Careless Husband.
return
Footnote 4:
In Ben Jonson's
Volpone
.
return
Footnote 5:
Cibber's
Love makes a Man, or The Fop's Fortune
.
return
Footnote 6:
For the Benefit of Mr.Penkethman. At the Desire of Several Ladies of Quality. ByHer Majesty's Company of Comedians. At theTheatre RoyalinDrury Lane,this presentMonday, being the 5th ofMay, will be presented a Comedy calledLove makes a Man, or The Fop's Fortune. The Part ofDon Lewis, alias Don Choleric Snap Shorto de Testy, by Mr.Penkethman;Carlos, Mr. Wilks; Clodio, alias Don Dismallo Thick-Scullo de Half Witto, Mr. Cibber; and all the other Parts to the best Advantage. With a new Epilogue, spoken by Mr.Penkethman, riding on an Ass. By herMajesty'sCommand no Persons are to be admitted behind the Scenes. And To-Morrow, beingTuesday, will be presented, A Comedy call'dThe Constant Couple, or A Trip to the Jubilee.For the Benefit of Mrs.Bicknell.