Chapter 5

As timorous larks amazed areWith light, and with alow-bell.

“Sally an' me, when we wer by our sells, wer always contrivin how we wer at git away, when we sleept by oursells we talk't of nought else—but when t' woman's Doughter sleept we' us we werqwhitemum—summat or udder always happent at hinder us, till yan day, between Kursmas an' Cannalmas, when t' woman's Doughter stait at heaam, we teuk off. Our house was four mile on 'todder side o' Dent's Town—whor, efter we hed pass t' Skeul, we axed t'way to Kendal—It hed been a hard frost, an' ther was snaw on t' grund—but it was beginnin to thow, an' was varra sloshy an' cauld—but wepotedalang leaving our lile footings behint us—we hed our cloggs on—for we durst'nt change them for our shoon for fear o' being fund out—an' we had nought on but our hats, an' bits o' blue bedgowns, an' brats—sea ye may think we cuddent be varra heeat—I hed a sixpence e' my pocket, an' we hed three or four shilling mare in our box, 'at our Fwoak hed ge'en us to keep our pocket we'—but, lile mafflins8as we wer, we thought it wad be misst an' durst'nt tak ony mare.

8Maffling—a state of perplexity.—BROCKETT. Maffled, mazed, and maisled (as used a little further on) have all a like sense.

“Afore we gat to Sebber9we fell hungry; an' ther was a fine, girt, reed house nut far off t' rwoad, whar we went an' begged for a bit o' breead—but they wadd'nt give us ought—sea we trampt on, an com to a lile theakt house, an' I said—‘Sally thou sall beg t' neesht—thou's less than me, an mappen they'll sarra us’—an' they dud—an' gav us a girt shive10o' breead—at last we gat toScotch Jins, as they ca' t' public House about three mile fra Sebber (o' this side) a Scotch woman keept it.—It was amaist dark, sea we axt her at let us stay o' neet—she teuk us in, an' gav us sum boilt milk and breead—an' suun put us to bed—we telt her our taael; an' she sed we wer int' reet at run away.

9i.e. Sedbergh.

10So in Titus Andronicus.

“Easy it isOf a cut loaf to steal ashivewe know.”

“Neesht mwornin she gav us sum mare milk an' breead, an' we gav her our sixpence—an' then went off-sledding away amangt' snaw, ower that cauld moor (ye ken' 't weel enough) naarly starved to deeath, an' maisled—sea we gat on varra slawly, as ye may think—an' 't rain'd tua. We begged again at anudder lile theakt house, on t' Hay Fell—there was a woman an' a heap of raggeltly Bairns stannin round a Teable—an' she gave us a few of their poddish, an' put a lock of sugar into a sup of cauld tea tull them.

“Then we trailed on again till we com to t' Peeat Lane Turnpike Yat—they teuk us in there, an' let us warm oursells, an' gav us a bit o' breead. They sed had duun re'et to com away; for Dent was t' poorest plaace in t' warld, and we wer seafe to ha' been hungert—an' at last we gat to Kendal, when 't was naar dark—as we went up t' streat we met a woman, an' axt t' way to Tom Posts—(thatwas t' man at ust te bring t' Letters fra' Kendal to Ammelsid an' Hawksheead yance a week—an' baited at his house when we com fra' Langdon) she telt us t' way an' we creept on, but we leaked back at her twea or three times—an' she was still stanning, leuking at us—then she com back an'quiesedus a deal, an' sed we sud gang heam with her—We telt her whor we hed cum fra' an' o' about our Tramp 'at we hed hed.—She teuk us to her house—it was a varra poor yan—down beside t' brig at we had cum ower into t' Town—Ther was nea fire on—but she went out, an' brought in sameilding11(for they can buy a pennerth, or sea, o' quols or Peeats at onny time there) an' she set on a good fire—an' put on t' kettle—then laited12up sum of her awn claes, an' tiet them on us as weel as she cud, an' dried ours—for they wer as wet as thack—it hed rained a' t' way—Then she meead us sum tea—an' as she hedden't a bed for us in her awn house she teuk us to a nebbors—Ther was an aud woman in a Bed naar us that flaed us sadly—for she teuk a fit int' neet an' her feace turnt as black as a cwol—we laid trimmiling, an' hutched oursells ower heead e' bed—Fwoks com an' steud round her—an' we heeard them say 'at we wer asleep—sea we meade as if we wer asleep, because we thought if we wer asleep they waddn't kill us—an' we wisht oursells e' t' streets again, or onny whor—an' wad ha' been fain to ha' been ligging under a Dyke.

11Fire-elding,—the common term for fuel.Ildin Danish isfire. Such words were to be expected in Cumberland. The commencement of Landor's lines to Southey, 1833, will explain why—

Indweller of a peaceful vale,Ravaged erewhile by white-hair'd Dane, &c.

12Tolateorleatis to seek out. See BROCKETT. It is from the Icelandicat leyta, quærere. Cf. Haldorson in V.

“Neesht mwornin we hed our Brekfast, an' t' woman gav us baith a hopenny Keack beside (that was as big as a penny 'an now) to eat as we went—an' she set us to t' top o' t' House o' Correction Hill—It was freezing again, an' t' rwoad was terrible slape; sea we gat on varra badly—an' afore we com to Staavley (an' that was but a lile bit o' t' rwoad) we fell hung'ry an' began on our keacks—then we sed we wad walk sea far, an' then tak a bite—an' then on again an' tak anudder—and afore we gat to t' Ings Chapel they wer o' gane—Every now an' than we stopped at reest—an' sat down, an' grat,13under a hedge or wa'a crudled up togedder, taking haud o' yan anudders hands at try at warm them, for we were fairly maizled wi' t' cauld—an' when we saw onny body cumming we gat up an' walked away—but we duddn't meet monny Fwoak—I dunnat think Fwoak warr sea mickle in t' rwoads e' them Days.

13i.e. wept, from the old wordgreet, common to all the Northern languages. Chaucer, Spenser, &c., use it. See Specimen Glossarii in Edda Sæmundar hinns Froda V.Grætr, ploratus, at græta, plorare,Hencegrief&c.

“We scraffled14on t' this fashion—an' it was quite dark afore we gat to Ammelsid Yat—our feet warr sare an' we warr naarly dune for—an' when we turnt round Windermer Watter heead, T' waves blasht sea dowly15that wewarrfairly heart-brossen—we sat down on a cauld steane an' grat sare—but when we hed hed our belly-full o' greeting we gat up, an feelt better16fort' an' sea dreed on again—slaw enough ye may be sure—but we warr e'kentrwoads—an' now when I gang that gait I can nwote o' t' spots whor we reested—for them lile bye lwoans erent sea micklealtert, as t' girt rwoads, fra what they warr. At Clappers-gait t' Fwoak wad ha' knawn us, if it heddent been dark, an' o' ther duirs steeked,17an geen us a relief, if we hed begged there—but we began at be flate18'at my Fadder an' Mudder wad be angert at us for running away.

14i.e. struggled on. BROCKETTin V.

15i.e. lonely, melancholy.Ibid.

16The scholar will call to mind theὀλοοῖο τεταρπώμεσθα γόοιοof the Iliad, xxiii. 98., with like expressions in the Odyssey, e.g. xi. 211, xix. 213, and the reader of the Pseudo Ossian will remember the words of Fingal. “Strike the harp in my hall, and let Fingal hear the song.Pleasant is the joy of grief.”

17“Steek the heck,”—i.e. shut the door. BROCKETT.

18From the verb “Flay” tofrighten.

“It was twea o'clock int' mworning when we gat to our awn Duir—I c'aed out Fadder! Fadder!—Mudder! Mudder! ower an' ower again—She hard us, an' sed—‘That's our Betty's voice’—‘Thou's nought but fancies, lig still,’ said my Fadder—but she waddent; an' sea gat up, an' opent' Duir and there warr we stanning doddering19—an' daized we' cauld, as deer deead as macks nea matter—When she so us she was mare flate than we—She brast out a crying—an' we grat—an my Fadder grat an' a'—an' they duddent flight,20nor said nought tull us, for cumming away,—they warrant a bit angert—an' my Fadder sed we sud nivver gang back again.

19We still speak ofDodderorQuaker'sgrass,—a word by the way, older than the Sect.

20A. S.Flitan—to scold.

“T' Fwoaks e' Dent nivver mist us, tilt' Neet—because they thought 'at we hed been keept at dinner time 'at finish our tasks—but when neet com, an' we duddent cum heam, they set off efter us to Kendal—an' mun ha' gane by Scotch Jins when we warr there—how they satisfied thersells I knan't, but they suppwosed we hed gane heam—and sea they went back—My Fadder wasn't lang, ye may be seur, o' finding out' T' Woman at Kendal 'at was sea good tull us—an' my Mudder put her doun a pot o' Butter, an' meead her a lile cheese an' sent her.”

INTERPOLATION.

The above affecting and very simple story, Reader, was taken down from the mouth of Betty Yewdale herself, the elder of the two children,—at that time an old woman, but with a bright black eye that lacked no lustre. A shrewd and masculine woman, Reader, was Betty Yewdale,—fond of the Nicotian weed and a short pipe so as to have the full flavour of its essence,—somewhat, sooth be said, too fond of it, for the pressure of the pipe produced a cancer in her mouth, which caused her death.—Knowest thou, gentle Reader, that most curious of all curious books—(we stop not to inquire whether Scarron be indebted to it, or it to Scarron)—the Anatomy of Melancholy by Democritus Junior, old Burton to wit?—Curious if thou art, it cannot fail, but that thou knowest it well,—curious or not, hear what he says of Tobacco, poor Betty Yewdale's bane!

“Tobacco, divine, rare, super-excellent tobacco, which goes far beyond all their panaceas, potable gold, and philosopher's stones, a sovereign remedy to all diseases. A good vomit, I confesse, a vertuous herb, if it be well qualified, opportunely taken, and medicinally used; but, as it is commonly abused by most men, which take it as tinkers do ale, 'tis a plague, a mischief, a violent purger of goods, lands, health, hellish, devilish and damned tobacco, the ruine and overthrow of body and soul.”

Gentle Reader! if thou knowest not the pages of honest old Burton—we speak not of his melancholy end, which melancholy may have wrought, but of his honesty of purpose, and of his life,—thou wilt not be unacquainted with that excellent Poem of Wordsworth's,—“The Excursion, being a Portion of the Recluse.”—If any know not the wisdom contained in it, forthwith let them study it!—Acquainted with it or not, it is Betty Yewdale that is described in the following lines, as holding the lanthorn to guide the steps of old Jonathan, her husband, on his return from working in the quarries, if at any time he chanced to be beyond his usual hour. They are given at length;—for who will not be pleased to read themdecies repetita?

Much was I pleased, the grey-haired wanderer said,When to those shining fields our notice firstYou turned; and yet more pleased have from your lips,Gathered this fair report of them who dwellIn that Retirement; whither, by such courseOf evil hap and good as oft awaitsA lone wayfaring Man, I once was brought.Dark on my road the autumnal evening fellWhile I was traversing yon mountain pass,And night succeeded with unusual gloom;So that my feet and hands at length becameGuides better than mine eyes—until a lightHigh in the gloom appeared, too high, methought,For human habitation, but I longedTo reach it destitute of other hope.I looked with steadiness as sailors look,On the north-star, or watch-tower's distant lamp,And saw the light—now fixed—and shifting now—Not like a dancing meteor; but in lineOf never varying motion, to and fro.It is no night fire of the naked hills,Thought I, some friendly covert must be near.With this persuasion thitherward my stepsI turn, and reach at last the guiding light;Joy to myself! but to the heart of HerWho there was standing on the open hill,(The same kind Matron whom your tongue hath praised)Alarm and disappointment! The alarmCeased, when she learned through what mishap I came,And by what help had gained those distant fields.Drawn from her Cottage, on that open height,Bearing a lantern in her hand she stoodOr paced the ground,—to guide her husband home,By that unwearied signal, kenned afar;An anxious duty! which the lofty SiteTraversed but by a few irregular paths,Imposes, whensoe'er untoward chanceDetains him after his accustomed hourWhen night lies black upon the hills. ‘But come,Come,’ said the Matron,—‘to our poor abode;Those dark rocks hide it!’ Entering, I beheldA blazing fire—beside a cleanly hearthSate down; and to her office, with leave asked,The Dame returned.—Or ere that glowing pileOf mountain turf required the builder's handIts wasted splendour to repair, the doorOpened, and she re-entered with glad looks,Her Helpmate following. Hospitable fare,Frank conversation, make the evening's treat:Need a bewildered Traveller wish for more?But more was given; I studied as we sateBy the bright fire, the good Man's face—composedOf features elegant; an open browOf undisturbed humanity; a cheekSuffused with something of a feminine hue;Eyes beaming courtesy and mild regard;But in the quicker turns of his discourse,Expression slowly varying, that evincedA tardy apprehension. From a fountLost, thought I, in the obscurities of time,But honour'd once, those features and that mienMay have descended, though I see them here,In such a Man, so gentle and subdued,Withal so graceful in his gentleness,A race illustrious for heroic deeds,Humbled, but not degraded, may expire.This pleasing fancy (cherished and upheldBy sundry recollections of such fallFrom high to low, ascent from low to high,As books record, and even the careless mindCannot but notice among men and things,)Went with me to the place of my repose.BOOKV. THEPASTOR.

[Miss Sarah Hutchinson, Mrs. Wordsworth's sister, and Mrs. Warter took down the story from the old woman's lips and Southey laid it by for the Doctor, &c. She then lived in a cottage at Rydal, where I afterwards saw her. Of the old man it was told me—(for I did not see him)——“He is a perfect picture,—like those we meet with in the better copies of Saints in our old Prayer Books.”

There was another comical History intended for an Interchapter to the Doctor, &c. of a runaway match to Gretna Green by two people in humble life,—but it was not handed over to me with the MS. materials. It was taken down from the mouth of the old woman who was one of the parties—and it would probably date back some sixty or seventy years.]

EARLY APPROXIMATION TO THE DOCTOR'S THEORY.—GEORGE FOX.—ZACHARIAH BEN MOHAMMED.—COWPER.—INSTITUTES OF MENU.—BARDIC PHILOSOPHY. MILTON.—SIR THOMAS BROWNE.

There are distinct degrees of Being as there are degrees of Sound; and the whole world is but as it were a greater Gamut, or scale of music.

NORRIS.

Certain theologians, and certain theosophists, as men who fancy themselves inspired sometimes affect to be called, had approached so nearly to the Doctor's hypothesis of progressive life, and propensities continued in the ascending scale, that he appealed to them as authorities for its support. They saw the truth, he said, as far as they went; but it was only to a certain point: a step farther and the beautiful theory would have opened upon them. “How can we choose, said one, but remember the mercy of God in this our land in this particular, that no ravenous dangerous beasts do range in our nation, if men themselves would not be wolves and bears and lions one to another!” And why are they so, observed the Doctor commenting upon the words of the old Divine; why are they so, but because they have actually been lions and bears and wolves? why are they so, but because, as the wise heathen speaks, more truly than he was conscious of speaking,sub hominum effigie latet ferinus animus. The temper is congenital, the propensity innate; it is bred in the bone; and what Theologians call the old Adam, or the old Man, should physiologically, and perhaps therefore preferably, be called the old Beast.

That wise and good man William Jones of Nayland has in his sermon upon the nature and œconomy of Beasts and Cattle, a passage which in elucidating a remarkable part of the Law of Moses, may serve also as a glose or commentary upon the Doctor's theory.

“The Law ofMoses, in the xith chapter ofLeviticus, divides the brute creation into two grand parties, from the fashion of their feet, and their manner of feeding, that is, from theparting of the hoof, and thechewing of the cud;which properties are indications of their general characters, aswildortame. For the dividing of the hoof and the chewing of the cud are peculiar to those cattle which are serviceable to man's life, as sheep, oxen, goats, deer, and their several kinds. These are shod by the Creator for a peaceable and inoffensive progress through life; as the Scripture exhorts us to beshodin like mannerwith the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. They live temperately upon herbage, the diet of students and saints; and after the taking of their food, chew it deliberately over again for better digestion; in which act they have all the appearance a brute can assume of pensiveness or meditation; which is, metaphorically, calledrumination,1with reference to this property of certain animals.

1Pallentesruminatherbas.VIRGIL.Dum jacet, et lentè revocatasruminatherbas.OVID.

It were hardly necessary to recal to an English reader's recollection the words of Brutus to Cassius,

Till then, my noble friend,chewupon this,—JULIUSCÆSAR.

or those of Agrippa in Antony and Cleopatra,

Pardon what I have spoke;For 'tis a studied, not a present thought,By dutyruminated.

“Such are these: but when we compare the beasts of the field and the forest, they, instead of the harmless hoof, have feet which areswift to shed blood, (Rom. iii. 15.) sharp claws to seize upon their prey, and teeth to devour it; such as lions, tygers, leopards, wolves, foxes, and smaller vermin.

“Where one of the Mosaic marks is found, and the other is wanting, such creatures are of a middle character between the wild and the tame; as the swine, the hare, and some others. Those that part the hoof afford us wholesome nourishment; those that are shod with any kind of hoof may be made useful to man; as the camel, the horse, the ass, the mule; all of which are fit to travel and carry burdens. But when the foot is divided into many parts, and armed with claws, there is but small hope of the manners; such creatures being in general either murderers, or hunters, or thieves; the malefactors and felons of the brute creation: though among the wild there are all the possible gradations of ferocity and evil temper.

“Who can review the creatures of God, as they arrange themselves under the two great denominations of wild and tame, without wondering at their different dispositions and ways of life! sheep and oxen lead a sociable as well as a peaceful life; they are formed into flocks and herds; and as they live honestly they walk openly in the day. The time of darkness is to them, as to the virtuous and sober amongst men, a time of rest. But the beast of prey goeth about in solitude; the time of darkness is to him the time of action; then he visits the folds of sheep, and stalls of oxen, thirsting for their blood; as the thief and the murderer visits the habitations of men, for an opportunity of robbing, and destroying, under the concealment of the night. When the sun ariseth the beast of prey retires to the covert of the forest; and while the cattle are spreading themselves over a thousand hills in search of pasture, the tyrant of the desert is laying himself down in his den, to sleep off the fumes of his bloody meal. The ways of men are not less different than the ways of beasts; and here we may see them represented as on a glass; for, as the quietness of the pasture, in which the cattle spend their day, is to the howlings of a wilderness at night, such is the virtuous life of honest labour to the life of the thief, the oppressor, the murderer, and the midnight gamester, who live upon the losses and sufferings of other men.”

But how would the Doctor have delighted in the first Lesson of that excellent man's Book of Nature,—a book more likely to be useful than any other that has yet been written with the same good intent.

THEBEASTS.

“The ass hath very long ears, and yet he hath no sense of music, but brayeth with a frightful noise. He is obstinate and unruly, and will go his own way, even though he is severely beaten. The child, who will not be taught, is but little better; he has no delight in learning, but talketh of his own folly, and disturbeth others with his noise.

“The dog barketh all the night long, and thinks it no trouble to rob honest people of their rest.

“The fox is a cunning thief, and men, when they do not fear God, are crafty and deceitful. The wolf is cruel and blood-thirsty. As he devoureth the lamb, so do bad men oppress and tear the innocent and helpless.

“The adder is a poisonous snake, and hatha forked double tongue; and so men speak lies, and utter slanders against their neighbours, whenthe poison of asps is under their lips. The devil, who deceiveth with lies, and would destroy all mankind, is theold serpent, who brought death into the world by the venom of his bite. He would kill me, and all the children that are born, if God would let him; but Jesus Christ came to save us from his power, and todestroy the works of the Devil.

“Lord thou hast made me a man for thy service: O let me not dishonour thy work, by turning myself into the likeness of some evil beast: let me not be as the fox, who is a thief and a robber: let me never be cruel, as a wolf, to any of thy creatures; especially to my dear fellow-creatures, and my dearer fellow Christians; but let me be harmless as the lamb; quiet and submissive as the sheep; that so I may be fit to live, and be fed on thy pasture, under the good shepherd, Jesus Christ. It is far better to be the poorest of his flock, than to be proud and cruel, as the lion or the tiger, who go about seeking what they may devour.”

THEQUESTIONS.

“Q. What is the child that will not learn?

A. An ass, which is ignorant and unruly.

Q. What are wicked men, who hurt and cheat others?

A. They are wolves and foxes, and bloodthirsty lions.

Q. What are ill-natured people, who trouble their neighbours and rail at them?

A. They are dogs, who bark at every body.

Q. But what are good and peaceable people?

A. They are harmless sheep; and little children, under the grace of God, are innocent lambs.

Q. But what are liars?

A. They are snakes and vipers, with double tongues and poison under their lips.

Q. Who is the good shepherd?

A. Jesus Christ.”

There is a passage not less apposite in Donne's Epistle to Sir Edward, afterwards Lord Herbert of Cherbury.

Man is a lump where all beasts kneaded be;Wisdom makes him an Ark where all agree.The fool in whom these beasts do live at jar,Is sport to others and a theatre;Nor 'scapes he so, but is himself their prey,All that was man in him is ate away;And now his beasts on one another feed,Yet couple in anger and new monsters breed.How happy he which hath due place assign'dTo his beasts, and disaforested his mind,Empaled himself to keep them out, not in;Can sow and dares trust corn where they have been,Can use his horse, goat, wolf and every beast,And is not ass himself to all the rest.

To this purport the Patriarch of the Quakers writes where he saith “now some men have the nature of Swine, wallowing in the mire: and some men have the nature of Dogs, to bite both the sheep and one another: and some men have the nature of Lions, to tear, devour and destroy: and some men have the nature of Wolves, to tear and devour the lambs and sheep of Christ: and some men have the nature of the Serpent (that old destroyer) to sting, envenom and poison.He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear, and learn these things within himself. And some men have the natures of other beasts and creatures, minding nothing but earthly and visible things, and feeding without the fear of God. Some men have the nature of an Horse, to prance and vapour in their strength, and to be swift in doing evil. And some men have the nature of tall sturdy Oaks, to flourish and spread in wisdom and strength, who are strong in evil, which must perish and come to the fire. Thus the Evil is butone in all, but worketh many ways; and whatsoever a Man's or Woman's nature is addicted to that is outward, the Evil one will fit him with that, and will please his nature and appetite, to keep his mind in his inventions, and in the creatures from the Creator.”

To this purport the so-called Clemens writes in the Apostolical Constitutions when he complains that the flock of Christ was devoured by Demons and wicked men, or rather not men but wild beasts in the shape of men,πονηροῖς ἀνθρώποις, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀνθρώποις, ἀλλὰ θηρίοις ἀνθρωποείδεσιν,by Heathens, Jews and godless heretics.

With equal triumph too did he read a passage in one of the numbers of the Connoisseur, which made him wonder that the writer from whom it proceeded in levity should not have been led on by it to the clear perception of a great truth. “The affinity,” says that writer, who is now known to have been no less a person than the author of the Task, “the affinity between chatterers and monkeys, and praters and parrots, is too obvious not to occur at once. Grunters and growlers may be justly compared to hogs. Snarlers are curs that continually shew their teeth, but never bite; and the spitfire passionate are a sort of wild cats, that will not bear stroking, but will purr when they are pleased. Complainers are screech-owls; and story-tellers always repeating the same dull note are cuckoos. Poets that prick up their ears at their own hideous braying are no better than asses; critics in general are venomous serpents that delight in hissing; and some of them, who have got by heart a few technical terms without knowing their meaning, are no better than magpies.”

So too the polyonomous Arabian philosopher Zechariah Ben Mohammed Ben Mahmud Al Camuni Al Cazvini. “Man,” he says, “partakes of the nature of vegetables, because like them he grows and is nourished; he stands in this farther relation to the irrational animals, that he feels and moves; by his intellectual faculties he resembles the higher orders of intelligences, and he partakes more or less of these various classes, as his inclination leads him. If his sole wish be to satisfy the wants of existence, then he is content to vegetate. If he partakes more of the animal than the vegetable nature, we find him fierce as the lion, greedy as the bull, impure as the hog, cruel as the leopard, or cunning as the fox; and if as is sometimes the case, he possesses all these bad qualities, he is then a demon in human shape.”

Gratifying as these passages were to him, some of them being mere sports of wit, and others only the produce of fancy, he would have been indeed delighted if he had known what was in his days known by no European scholar, that in the Institutes of Menu, his notion is distinctly declared as a revealed truth; there it is said, “In whatever occupation the Supreme Lord first employed any vital soul, that occupation the same soul attaches itself spontaneously, when it receives a new body again and again. Whatever quality, noxious or innocent, harsh or mild, unjust or just, false or true, he conferred on any being at its creation, the same quality enters it of course on its future births.”2

2SIRW. JONES.

Still more would it have gratified him if he had known (as has before been cursorily observed) how entirely his own theory coincided with the Druidical philosophy, a philosophy which he would rather have traced to the Patriarchs, than to the Canaanites. Their doctrine, as explained by the Welsh translator of the Paradise Lost, in the sketch of Bardism which he has prefixed to the poems of Llywarc the Aged, was that “the whole animated creation originated in the lowest point of existence, and arrived by a regular train of gradations at the probationary state of humanity, the intermediate stages being all necessarily evil, but more or less so as they were removed from the beginning, which was evil in the extreme. In the state of humanity, good and evil were equally balanced, consequently it was a state of liberty, in which if the conduct of the free agent preponderated towards evil, death gave but an awful passage whereby he returned to animal life, in a condition below humanity equal to the degree of turpitude to which he had debased himself, when free to chuse between good and evil: and if his life were desperately wicked, it was possible for him to fall to his original vileness, in the lowest point of existence, there to recommence his painful progression through the ascending series of brute being. But if he had acted well in this his stage of probation, death was then to the soul thus tried and approved, what the word by which in the language of the Druids it is denoted, literally means, enlargement. The soul was removed from the sphere wherein evil hath any place, into a state necessarily good; not to continue there in one eternal condition of blessedness, eternity being what no inferior existence could endure, but to pass from one gradation to another, gaining at every ascent increase of knowledge, and retaining the consciousness of its whole preceding progress through all. For the good of the human race, such a soul might again be sent on earth, but the human being of which it then formed the life was incapable of falling.” In this fancy the Bardic system approached that of the Bramins, this Celtic avatar of a happy soul, corresponding to the twice-born man of the Hindus. And the Doctor would have extracted some confirmation for the ground of the theory from that verse of the Psalm which speaks of us as “curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.”

Young, he used to say, expressed unconsciously this system of progressive life, when he spoke of man as a creature

From different natures marvellously mix'd;Connection exquisite of distant worlds;Distinguish'd link in being's endless chain,Midway from nothing to the Deity.

It was more distinctly enounced by Akenside.

The same paternal handFrom the mute shell-fish gasping on the shoreTo men, to angels, to celestial minds,Will ever lead the generations onThrough higher scenes of being: while, suppliedFrom day to day with his enlivening breath,Inferior orders in succession riseTo fill the void below. As flame ascends,As vapours to the earth in showers return,As the pois'd ocean toward the attracting moonSwells, and the ever listening planets charmedBy the Sun's call their onward pace incline,So all things which have life aspire to God,Exhaustless fount of intellectual day!Centre of souls! nor doth the mastering voiceOf nature cease within to prompt arightTheir steps; nor is the care of heaven withheldFrom sending to the toil external aid,That in their stations all may persevereTo climb the ascent of being, and approachFor ever nearer to the Life Divine.

The Bardic system bears in itself intrinsic evidence of its antiquity; for no such philosophy could have been devised among any Celtic people in later ages; nor could the Britons have derived any part of it from any nation with whom they had any opportunity of intercourse, at any time within reach of history. The Druids, or rather the Bards, (for these, according to those by whom their traditionary wisdom has been preserved, were the superior order,) deduced as corollaries from the theory of Progressive Existence, these beautiful Triads.3

3Originally quoted in the notes to Madoc to illustrate the lines which follow.

“Let the Bard,Exclaim'd the King, give his accustom'd lay:For sweet, I know, to Madoc is the songHe loved in earlier years.Then strong of voice,The officer proclaim'd the sovereign will,Bidding the hall be silent; loud he spakeAnd smote the sounding pillar with his wandAnd hush'd the banqueters. The chief of BardsThen raised the ancient lay.Thee, Lord! he sung,O Father! Thee, whose wisdom, Thee, whose power,Whose love,—all love, all power, all wisdom. Thou!Tongue cannot utter, nor can heart conceive.He in the lowest depth of Being framedThe imperishable mind; in every changeThrough the great circle of progressive life,He guides and guards, till evil shall be known,And being known as evil, cease to be;And the pure soul emancipate by death,The Enlarger, shall attain its end predoom'd,The eternal newness of eternal joy.

“There are three Circles of Existence; the Circle of Infinity, where there is nothing but God, of living or dead, and none but God can traverse it; the Circle of Inchoation, where all things are by nature derived from Death,—this Circle hath been traversed by man; and the Circle of happiness, where all things spring from life,—this man shall traverse in heaven.

“Animated beings having three states of Existence; that of Inchoation in the Great Deep, or lowest point of Existence; that of Liberty in the State of Humanity; and that of Love, which is the Happiness of Heaven.

“All Animated Beings are subject to three Necessities; beginning in the Great Deep; Progression in the Circle of Inchoation; and Plenitude in the Circle of Happiness. Without these things nothing can possibly exist but God.

“Three things are necessary in the Circle of Inchoation; the least of all, Animation, and thence beginning; the materials of all things, and thence Increase, which cannot take place in any other state; the formation of all things out of the dead mass, and thence Discriminate Individuality.

“Three things cannot but exist towards all animated Beings from the Nature of Divine Justice: Co-sufferance in the Circle of Inchoation, because without that none could attain to the perfect knowledge of anything; Co-participation in the Divine Love; and Co-ultimity from the nature of God's Power, and its attributes of Justice and Mercy.

“There are three necessary occasions of Inchoation: to collect the materials and properties of every nature; to collect the knowledge of everything; and to collect power towards subduing the Adverse and the Devastative, and for the divestation of Evil. Without this traversing every mode of animated existence, no state of animation, or of any thing in nature, can attain to plenitude.”

“By the knowledge of three things will all Evil and Death be diminished and subdued; their nature, their cause, and their operation. This knowledge will be obtained in the Circle of Happiness.”

“The three Plenitudes of Happiness:—Participation of every nature, with a plenitude of One predominant; conformity to every cast of genius and character, possessing superior excellence in one; the love of all Beings and Existences, but chiefly concentred in one object, which is God; and in the predominant One of each of these, will the Plenitude of Happiness consist.”

Triads it may be observed are found in the Proverbs of Solomon: so that to the evidence of antiquity which these Bardic remains present in their doctrines, a presumption is to be added from the peculiar form in which they are conveyed.

Whether Sir Philip Sydney had any such theory in his mind or not, there is an approach to it in that fable which he says old Lanquet taught him of the Beasts desiring from Jupiter a King, Jupiter consented, but on condition that they should contribute the qualities convenient for the new and superior creature.

Full glad they were, and took the naked sprite,Which straight the Earth yclothed in her clay;The Lion heart, the Ounce gave active might;The Horse, good shape; the Sparrow lust to play;Nightingale, voice enticing songs to say;Elephant gave a perfect memory,And Parrot, ready tongue that to apply.The Fox gave craft; the Dog gave flattery;Ass, patience; the Mole, a working thought;Eagle, high look; Wolf, secret cruelty;Monkey, sweet breath; the Cow, her fair eyes brought:The Ermine, whitest skin, spotted with nought.The Sheep, mild-seeming face; climbing the Bear,The Stag did give his harm-eschewing fear.The Hare, her slights; the Cat, her melancholy;Ant, industry; and Coney, skill to build;Cranes, order; Storks, to be appearing holy;Cameleons, ease to change; Duck, ease to yield;Crocodile, tears which might be falsely spill'd;Ape, great thing gave, tho' he did mowing stand,The instrument of instruments, the hand.Thus Man was made, thus Man their Lord became.

At such a system he thought Milton glanced when his Satan speaks of the influences of the heavenly bodies, as

Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birthOf creatures animate with gradual lifeOf growth, sense, reason, all summ'd up in man:

for that the lines, though capable of another interpretation, ought to be interpreted as referring to a scheme of progressive life, appears by this fuller developement in the speech of Raphaël;

O Adam, one Almighty is, from whomAll things proceed, and up to him return,If not deprav'd from good, created allSuch to perfection, one first matter all,Indued with various forms, various degreesOf substance, and in things that live, of life;But more refin'd, more spiritous, and pure,As nearer to him plac'd, or nearer tendingEach in their several active spheres assign'd,Till body up to spirit work, in boundsProportion'd to each kind. So from the rootSprings lighter the green stalk, from thence the leavesMore aery, last the bright consummate flowerSpirits odorous breathes: flow'rs and their fruit,Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed,To vital spirits aspire, to animal,To intellectual; give both life and senseFancy and understanding; whence the soulReason received, and reason is her beingDiscursive, or intuitive; discourseIs oftest yours, the latter most is ours,Differing but in degree, of kind the same.4

4Spenser in his “Hymne of Heavenly Beautie” falls into a similar train of thought, as is observed by Thyer.

By view whereof it plainly may appeareThat still as everything doth upward tend,And further is from earth, so still more cleareAnd faire it grows, till to his perfect endOf purest beautie it at last ascend;Ayre more than water, fire much more than ayre,And heaven than fire, appeares more pure and fayre.

But these are somewhat of Pythagorean speculations—caught up by Lucretius and Virgil.

Whether that true philosopher, in the exact import of the word, Sir Thomas Browne, had formed a system of this kind, or only threw out a seminal idea from which it might be evolved, the Doctor, who dearly loved the writings of this most meditative author, would not say. But that Sir Thomas had opened the same vein of thought appears in what Dr. Johnson censured in “a very fanciful and indefensible section” of his Christian Morals; for there, and not among his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, that is to say Vulgar Errors, the passage is found. Our Doctor would not only have deemed it defensible, but would have proved it to be so by defending it. “Since the brow,” says the Philosopher of Norwich, “speaks often truth, since eyes and noses have tongues, and the countenance proclaims the heart and inclinations; let observation so far instruct thee in physiognomical lines, as to be some rule for thy distinction, and guide to for thy affection unto such as look most like men. Mankind methinks, is comprehended in a few faces, if we exclude all visages which any way participate of symmetries and schemes of look common unto other animals. For as though man were the extract of the world, in whom all werein coagulato, which in their forms werein soluto, and at extension, we often observe that men do most act those creatures whose constitution, parts and complexion, do most predominate in their mixtures. This is a corner-stone in physiognomy, and holds some truth not only in particular persons but also in whole nations.”

But Dr. Johnson must cordially have assented to Sir Thomas Browne's inferential admonition. “Live,” says that Religious Physician and Christian Moralist,—“live unto the dignity of thy nature, and leave it not disputable at last whether thou hast been a man, or since thou art a composition of man and beast, how thou hast predominantly passed thy days, to state the denomination. Un-man not, therefore, thyself by a bestial transformation, nor realize old fables. Expose not thyself by fourfooted manners unto monstrous draughts and caricature representations. Think not after the old Pythagorean concert what beast thou mayest be after death. Be not under any brutal metempsychosis while thou livest and walkest about erectly under that scheme of man. In thine own circumference, as in that of the earth, let the rational horizon be larger than the sensible, and the circle of reason than of sense: let the divine part be upward, and the region of beast below: otherwise it is but to live invertedly, and with thy head unto the heels of thy antipodes. Desert not thy title to a divine particle and union with invisibles. Let true knowledge and virtue tell the lower world thou art a part of the higher. Let thy thoughts be of things which have not entered into the hearts of beasts; think of things long past, and long to come; acquaint thyself with the choragium of the stars, and consider the vast expansion beyond them. Let intellectual tubes give thee a glance of things which visive organs reach not. Have a glimpse of incomprehensible, and thoughts of things, which thoughts but tenderly touch. Lodge immaterials in thy head, ascend unto invisibles; fill thy spirit with spirituals, with the mysteries of faith, the magnalities of religion, and thy life with the honour of God; without which, though giants in wealth and dignity, we are but dwarfs and pygmies in humanity, and may hold a pitiful rank in that triple division of mankind into heroes, men and beasts. For though human souls are said to be equal, yet is there no small inequality in their operations; some maintain the allowable station of men, many are far below it; and some have been so divine as to approach the apogeum of their natures, and to be in the confinium of spirits.”

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