FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:1Mala et impia consuetudo est contra Deos disputandi, sive ex animo id fit, sive simulatè.De Nat. D.l. ii. c. 67.2Genus hoc sermonum, positum in hominum veterum auctoritate, et eorum illustrium, plus nescio quo pacto videtur habere gravitatis. Itaque ipse mea legens, sic afficior interdum, ut Catonem, non me loqui existímem.Cic.De Amic.c. 1.3Omnem sermonem tribuimus non Tithono, ut Aristo Chius;parum enim esset auctoritatis in fabulâ. De Senect. c. 1.4See the Dialogue intituled, Πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα, ΠΡΟΜΗΘΕΥΣ εἶ ἐν λόγοις.5Ἔπαιζεν ἅμα σπουδάζων· Xen. Mem. l. i. c. 3.6Γέλωτα κωμικὸν ὑπὸ σεμνότητι φιλοσόφῳ. Προμηθ. c. 7.7Difficillimam illam societatemGravitatis cum Humanitate.Leg. l. iii. c. 1.8Ἐτολμήσαμεν ἡμεῖς τὰ οὕτως ἔχοντα ϖρὸς ἄλληλα ξυναγαγεῖν καὶ ξυναρμόσαι, οὐ ϖάνυ ϖειθόμενα, οὐδὲ εὐμαρῶς ἀνεχόμενα τὴν κοινωνίαν. Προμηθ. c. 7.9Προμηθ. c. 7. to the end. Δὶς κατηγορούμενος. c. 33. and Ζεῦξις.10——quo in genere orationis utrumque Oratorem cognoveramus, id ipsum sumus in eorum sermoneadumbrare conati. De Orat. iii. 4.11A curious passage, or two, in his Letters to Atticus, will serve to illustrate this observation. Theacademic questionswere drawn up, and finished, when a doubt occurred to him, whether he should not change one of the speakers in that Dialogue, and, instead of Varro, introduce Brutus; who would suit his purpose, he said, just as well, because his philosophic principles were the same with those of Varro—si addubitas, says he to Atticus,ad Brutum transeamus. Est enim is quoque Antiochius.l. xiii. 25. Was this a change to be easily made, if it were necessary, in this kind of writing, to suit thestyleandmanner of expressionto the character of the speakers? Yet, hear how negligently he treats this matter—Opinor igitur consideremus, etsi nomina jam facta sunt. SedVEL INDUCI, VEL MUTARI POSSUNT. l. xiii. 14.—In other words, provided thecastof the several parts was the same, thelanguageof the Dialogue would require no alteration. It was indifferent, in this respect, who were the speakers.12Scripsit enim etDialogosquos non magis philosophiæ annumerare possis, quamHistoriæ.Seneca, Ep. c.13LordShaftesbury’sMoralists, P. 1. S.I.14Adv. to an Author, P. 1. S.III.15Adv. to an Author, P. 1. towards the end.16The scene of Dr.More’s Divine Dialogues, printed in 1668.17AtBeaconsfieldinBucks, the supposed scene of the Dialogue.18See his works, where are some pieces of a very early date; though LordClarendontells us,he was near thirty years of age, before he was much taken notice of as a Poet. Contin. of his Life, P. I. p. 25.19Dr.Andrews, bishop ofWinchester, and Dr.Neal, bishop ofDurham. The story is well known.20Dr.George Morley.21This alludes to the impeachment of Mr.JusticeCrawley,July 6, 1641, for his extra-judicial opinion in the affair ofShip-money. Mr.Waller’sspeech on this occasion is extant amongst his works.22The famous Mr.Hampdenwas his uncle.23That ofSecretary of State. The LordClarendontells us it was with the utmost difficulty he persuaded him to accept it. “There were two considerations (says the historian) that made most impression on him; theone, lest the world should believe that his own ambition had procured this promotion, and that he had therefore appeared signally in the house to oppose those proceedings, that he might thereby render himself gracious to the court: Theother, lest the king should expect such a submission and resignation of himself and his own reason and judgment to his commands as he should never give or pretend to give; for he was so severe an adorer of truth, that he would as easily have given himself leave to steal as to dissemble,” &c. B. iv.24The noble historian, before cited, gives us two instances of LordFalkland’sscrupulosity. Theonewas, “That he could never bring himself to employ spies, or give any countenance or entertainment to them:” Theother, “That he could never allow himself the liberty of opening letters, upon a suspicion that they might contain matter of dangerous consequence.” B. viii.25To this purpose my LordClarendon. “He [Mr. W.] spoke, upon all occasions, with great sharpness and freedom: which (now there were so few that used it, and there was no danger of being over-voted) was not restrained; and therefore used as an argument against those, who were gone upon pretence, that they were not suffered to declare their opinion freely in the house; which could not be believed, when all men knew what liberty Mr.Wallertook, and spoke every day with impunity, against the sense and proceedings of the house.” B. vii.26See LordClarendon’sHistory.27Ἅπλωσον σεαυτόν, lib. iv. § 26, which Dr.More, in l. ii. c. 3. of hisEnchiridion Ethicum, translates,simplifica teipsum.28In the year 1654.29LordClarendondied in 1674.30The character of Mr.Walleris given at large in theLife of Lord Clarendon, P. I. p. 25.—As for Dr.More, BishopBurnettells us, in one word, “That he was an open-hearted and sincere Christian philosopher.”Hist. of his own Time, vol. p. 273. 12mo,Edinb.1753.31This Dialogue is founded on a short passage in Mr.Sprat’sLife of Mr.Cowley, in which he observes, “That in his long dependence on my Lord St.Albans, there never happened any manner of difference between them; except a little atLAST, because he would leave his service.”32A small village on theThames, which was Mr.Cowley’sfirst retreat, before he removed toChertsea.33Meaning an estate he had obtained by means of this lord. This particular is several times referred to in the course of the Dialogue.34The writer of the Dialogue has thought fit to soften the misanthropy of Mr.Cowleyin this instance. In one of his Essays he talks strangely. “It is the great boast,” says he, “of eloquence and philosophy, that they first congregated men dispersed, united them into cities, and built up the houses and the walls of cities. I wish they could unravel all they had woven, that we might have our woods and our innocence again,instead of our castles and our policies.”35These verses are inserted in one of hisEssays, and in some editions of his works.36“Perhaps, says he (speaking of the poets), it was the immature and immoderate love of them, which stampt first, or rather engraved, the characters in me: they were like letters cut in the bark of a young tree, which with the tree, still grow proportionably.”[Essay on himself.]37“When the civil war broke out, his [Mr.Cowley’s] affection to the king’s cause drew him toOxford, as soon as it began to be the chief seat of the royal party.” [Dr.Sprat’slife of him.]38Dr.Sprattells us inhis Life, “That, during his residence atOxford, he had the entire friendship of my LordFalkland, one of the principal secretaries of state. That affection was contracted by the agreement of their learning and manners. For you may remember, Sir, [addressing himself to Mr. M.Clifford] we have often heard Mr.Cowleyadmire him, not only for the profoundness of his knowledge, which was applauded by all the world, but more especially for those qualities which he himself more regarded, forhis generosity of mind, and his neglect of the vain pomp of human greatness.”39The Cutter of Coleman-street; the occasion and purpose of which was this: At the Restoration, there was not a set of men more troublesome to the ministry than the cavalier officers; amongst whom had crept in all the profligate of broken fortunes, to share in the merits and rewards of that name.Cowleywrit this comedy to unmask these wretches, and might reasonably pretend to some thanks for it. But, contrary to expectation, this very attempt raised a storm against him even at court, which beat violently upon him. See his preface to that play in the later editions in 8vo.40Shakespear.As you like it.Act II. S. 1.—There is a quaintness in these lines of the great poet, which however are not unlike some of Mr.Cowley’saddressed toJ. Evelyne, Esq.Where does the wisdom and the pow’r divine,In a more bright and sweet reflexion shine;Where do we finer strokes and colours seeOf the Creator’s real poetry;Than when we with attention lookUpon the third day’s volume of the book?If we could open and intend our eye,We all, likeMoses, should espy,Ev’n in aBush, the radiant Deity.41In thePREFACEto hisProposition for the advancement of experimental philosophy, first printed in 1661.See the edition in 24to, Lond. for H. Herringham.42Dr.Sprattells us, “That he had obtained a plentiful estate by the favour of my LordSt. Albans, and the bounty of my lord duke ofBuckingham.” [See hisLife.]43MeaningThe true history ofDon Quixote; in which poorSancho Pancais drawn into all adventures, by the promise of hisknight, to reward him in due time with the government of anisland.44Lord Bacongives another account of this matter.—“As for the privateness of life of contemplative men, it is a theme so common to extol a private life, not taxed with sensuality and sloth, in comparison, and to the disadvantage of a civil life, for safety, liberty, pleasure, and dignity,as no man handleth it, but handleth it well: such a consonancy it hath to men’s conceits in the expressing, and to men’s consents in the allowing.” [Adv. of Learning, Book 1.]45The justness of this encomium on LordClarendonwill hardly be disputed by any man, whose opinion is worth regarding.—What pity, that Mr.Cowley’sconnexions with some persons, indevoted to the excellent Chancellor, kept him at a distance from a man, so congenial to himself, and for whom he could not but entertain the highest esteem! The Chancellor, though he could not be expected to take him out of the hands of his old patrons, seems, yet, to have been generous enough to Mr.Cowley, not to resent those connexions: as may be gathered from the handsome testimony paid to his merit, in theContinuation of the History of his own Life. Speaking ofB. Jonson, he says—“He [Ben Jonson] was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe rules to, poetry and poets, of any man who had lived with, or before him, or since;If Mr.Cowleyhad not made a flight beyond all men; with that modesty yet, to ascribe much of this, to the example and learning ofBen Jonson.”—Among the other infelicities of men of genius,ONEis, and not the least, that it rarely happens to them to have the choosing of the persons, to whom they would most wish to be obliged. The sensibility of their gratitude being equal to their other parts and virtues, the man, whose favour they chance first to experience, is sure of their constant services and attachment through life, how strongly soever their interest, and even their judgment, maydrawanother way.46The reader is not to forget, that Mr.Spratis writing to the LordSt. Albans, and was, at this time, chaplain to the Duke ofBuckingham.47“Ingenium illustre altioribus studiis juvenis admodum dedit: non, utPLERIQUE, UT NOMINE MAGNIFICO SEGNE OTIUM VELARET, sed quo firmior adversus fortuita rempublicam capesseret.” [Hist.IV. 5.]—Part of the fine character given us ofHelvidius Priscus.48The royal society; not yet instituted, but much talked of at this time.49We have in this remonstrance that follows, the usual language of those we call ourfriends; which may sometimes be thecause, but is oftner thepretence, of ambition. Hear how gravely SirDudley Carlton, who loved business, and drudged on in it all his life, is pleased, in an evil hour, to express himself: “The best is, I was never better, and were it not more for a necessity that is imposed by theEXPECTATION OF FRIENDS, not to stand at a stay andSENESCERE, whilst a man is young, than for ambition, I would not complain myself of my misfortune.” [SirRalph Winwood’sMemorials, vol. II. p. 45.]50That Mr.Cowleyhadhis prince’s grace appears from what the king said of him, on the news of his death: “That he had not left aBETTERman behind him inEngland.” And this withgraceenough, in reason, fromSUCHa prince.—How it came to pass that hewantedthe grace of his peers (if, indeed, hedidwant it), hath been explained in a note, p. 140.51The application of this line is the affair of theMastership of theSavoy; “which though granted, says Mr. Wood, to his highest merit by both theCharlesesI. and II. yet by certain persons, enemies to the Muses, he lost that place.” But this was not the worst. For, such is the hard lot of unsuccessful men, theSavoy-missingCowleybecame the object of ridicule, instead of pity, even to the wits themselves; as may be seen in “The session of the poets, amongstthe miscellaneous poemspublished by Mr.Dryden.”QuidDOMINIfacient, audent si taliaFURES?52Printed among his works, under the name ofTHE COMPLAINT. The relation it has to the subject debated, made me think it not amiss to print it at the end of this Dialogue—It must raise one’s indignation to find that so just, so delicate, and so manly acomplaintshould be scoffed at, as it was by the wits before mentioned, under the name ofTHE PITIFUL MELANCHOLY.53Juvenal,Sat.i. ver. 112.54Whether it were owing to his other occupations, or that he had no great confidence in the success of this attempt, theseEssays, whichwere to give entire satisfactionto his court-friend in the affair of his retirement, went on very slowly. They were even left imperfect at his death, “a little before which (says Dr.Sprat) he communicated to me his resolution, to have dedicated them all to my LordSt. Albans, as a testimony of his entire respects to him; and akind of apologyfor having left human affairs in the strength of his age, while he might have been serviceable to his country.”——However, if this apology had not theintendedeffect, it had a much better. Lords and wits may decide of the qualities of Mr.Cowley’sheadas they please; but, so long as theseEssaysremain, they will oblige all honest mento love the language of his heart.55Alas! he was mistaken.56A citation from one of his own poems.57Mr.Sprathimself tells us, speaking of Mr.Cowley’sretreat, that “some few friends and books, achearful heart, and innocent conscience, were his constant companions.”Life.58This is one of the prettiest of Mr.Cowley’ssmaller Poems. The plan of it is highly poetical: and, though the numbers be not the most pleasing, the expression is almost every where natural and beautiful. But its principal charm is that air ofmelancholy, thrown over the whole, so expressive of the poet’s character.Theaddressof the writer is seen in conveying his just reproaches on theCourt, under a pretended vindication of it against theMuse.59An execrable line.60For the account of theseMonuments, and ofKenelworth-Castle, see the plans and descriptions ofDugdale.61The speaker’s idea of LordLeicester’sporter agrees with the character he sustained on the queen’s reception atKenelworth; as we find it described in a paper of good authority written at that time. “Here aPORTER, tall of person, big of limbs, stark of countenance—with club and keys of quantity according; in a rough speech, full of passion in metre, while the queen came within his ward, burst out in a great pang of impatience to see such uncouth trudging to and fro, such riding in and out, with such din and noise of talk, within his charge; whereof he never saw the like, nor had any warning once, ne yet could make to himself any cause of the matter. At last, upon better view and advertisement, he proclaims open gates and free passage to all; yields over his club, his keys, his office and all, and on his knees humbly prays pardon of his ignorance and impatience. Which her highness graciously granting,&c.”—A letter from an attendant in court to his friend a citizen and merchant ofLondon. From the court atWorcester, 20 August 1575.62In the first volume of theSpectator.63The factious use, that was afterwards made of this humour of magnifying the character ofElizabeth, may be seen in theCraftsmanandRemarks on the History of England.64What thepoliticalcharacter of Mr.Addisonwas, may be seen from hisWhig-examiner. This amiable man was keen and even caustic on subjects, where his party, that is,civil liberty, was concerned. Nor let it be any objection to the character I make him sustain in this Dialogue, that he treatsElizabeth’sgovernment with respect in theFreeholder. He had then the people to cajole, who were taught to reverence her memory. He is, here, addressing himself, in private, to his friends.65Lucian expresses this use of the Table prettily—ΦΙΛΙΑΣ ΜΕΣΙΤΗΝ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑΝ, Ἔρωτες, c. 27.66Besides this sort of hospitality, there was another still more noble and disinterested, which distinguished the early times, especially the purer ages of chivalry. It was customary, it seems, for the great lords to fix upHELMETSon the roofs and battlements of their castles as a signal of hospitality to all adventurers and noble passengers. “Adoncques etoit une coustume en la Grant Bretagne (says the author of the old romance, calledPerceforest) et fut tant que charité regna illecque, tous gentils hommes et nobles dames faisoient mettre au plus hault de leur hostel ung heaulme, enSIGNEque tous gentils hommes et gentilles femmes trespassans les chemins, entrassent hardyement en leur hostel comme en leur propre; car leurs biens estoient davantage à tous nobles hommes et femmes trespassans le royaulme.” Vol. iii. fol. 103.67This is not said without authority: “Give me leave, says one, to hold this paradox, that the English were never more idle, never more ignorant in manual arts, never more factious in following the parties of princes or their landlords, never more base (as I may say) trencher slaves, than in that age, wherein great men kept open houses for all comers and goers: and that in our age, wherein we have better learned each man to live of his own, and great men keep not such troops of idle servants, not only the English are become very industrious and skilful in manual arts, but also the tyranny of lords and gentlemen is abated, whereby they nourished private dissensions and civil wars, with the destruction of the common people.”Fynes Moryson’sItinerary, Part III. Ch. v.68Dr.Arbuthnot, too, has his authority. A famous politician of the last century expresseth himself to much the same purpose, after his manner: “Henceforth, says he, [that is, after the statutes against retainers inHen. VII’sreign] the country lives, andgreat tablesof the nobility, which no longer nourished veins that would bleed for them, were fruitless and loathsome till they changed the air, and of princes becamecourtiers; where their revenues, never to have been exhausted by beef and mutton, were foundnarrow; whence followed racking of rents, and, at length, sale of lands.”Sir James Harrington’s Oceana, p. 40.Lond.1656.69True it is, that this divertisement ofbear-baitingwas not altogether unknown in the age ofElizabeth, and, as it seemeth, not much misliked of masterStowhimself, who hath very graphically described it. He is speaking of theDanishembassador’s reception and entertainment atGreenwichin 1586. “As the better sort, saith he, had their convenient disports, so were not the ordinary people excluded from competent pleasure. For, upon a green, very spacious and large, where thousands might stand and behold with good contentment, theirBEAR-BAITINGand bull-baiting (tempered with other merry disports) were exhibited; whereat it cannot be spoken of what pleasure the people took.For it was a sport alone, of these beasts, continueth the historian, to see the bear with his pink-eyes leering after his enemies; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage; and the force and experience of the bear again to avoid the assaults; if he were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get free; and if he were once taken, then what shift with biting, clawing, roaring, tugging, grasping, tumbling, and tossing, he would work to wind himself away; and, when he was loose, to shake his ears with the blood and slaver about his phisnomy, was a pittance of good relief. The like pastime also of the bull.—And now the day being far spent, and the sun in his declination, the embassador withdrew to his lodging by barge toCrosby’splace; where, no doubt,THIS DAY’S SOLEMNITY WAS THOUGHT UPON AND TALKED OF.”—p. 1562.70See theAnarcharsisofLucian.71If the reader be complaisant enough to admit the fact, it may be accounted for, on the ideas of chivalry, in the following manner. The knight forfeited all pretensions to the favour of the ladies, if he failed, in any degree, in the point of valour. And, reciprocally, the claim which the ladies had to protection and courtesy from the order of knights, was founded singly in the reputation of chastity, which was the female point of honour. “Ce droit que les dames avoient sur la chevalerie (saysM. de la Curne de Ste Palaye) devoit étre conditionel; il supposoit que leur conduite et leur reputation ne les rendoient point indignes de l’espece d’association qui les unissoit à cet ordre uniquement fondé sur l’honneur.Par celle voye (says an oldFrenchwriter, the chevalierde la Tour, about the year 1371) les bonnes se craignoient et se tenoient plus fermes de faire chose dont elles peussent perdre leur honneur et leur etat.Si vouldroye que celûi temps fust revenu, car je pense qu’il n’en seroit pas tant de blasmées comme il est à present.”72SirPhilip Sydney.73What is hinted, here, of therealityof these representations, hath been lately shewn at large in a learned memoir on this subject, which the reader will find in theXXthTom. ofHist. de l’Acad. des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.74This representation of things in the ages of chivalry agrees with what we are told by the author of the memoir just quoted: “Les premières leçons,” (says he, speaking of the manner in which the youth were educated in the houses of the Great, which were properly the schools of those times) “qu’on leur donnoit, regardoient principalementl’amour de Dieu, et des dames, c’est-à-dire, la religion, et la galanterie. Mais autant la dévotion qu’on leur inspiroit étoit accompagnée de puerilités et de superstitions, autant l’amour des dames, qu’on leur recommandoit, étoit il rempli deRAFFINEMENTet deFANATISME. Il semble qu’on ne pouvoit, dans ces siécles ignorans et grossiers, présenter aux hommes la religion sous une forme assez materielle pour la mettre à leur portée; ni leur donner, en même tems, une idée de l’amour assez pure, assez metaphysique, pour prevenir les desordres et les excès, dont etoit capable une nation qui conservoit par-tout le caractere impetueux qu’elle montroit à la guerre.” Tom. xx. p. 600.One sees then the origin of that furious gallantry which runs through the old romances. And so long as therefinement and fanaticism, which the writer speaks of, were kept in full vigour by the force of institution and the fashion of the times, the morals of these enamoured knights might, for any thing I know, be as pure as their apologist represents them. At the same time it must be confessed that this discipline was of a nature very likely to relax itself under another state of things, and certainly to be misconstrued by those who should come to look upon these pictures of arefined and spiritual passion, as incredible and fantastic. And hence, no doubt, we are to account for that censure which a famous writer, and one of the ornaments ofElizabeth’sown age, passeth on the old books of chivalry. His expression is downright, and somewhat coarse. “In our fathers time nothing was read but books of chivalry, wherein a man by reading should be led to none other end, but only tomanslaughterandbaudrye. If any man suppose they were good enough to pass the time withall, he is deceived. For surely vain words do work no small thing in vain, ignorant, and young minds, especially if they be given any thing thereunto of their own nature.” He adds, like a good Protestant, “These books, as I have heard say, were made the most part in abbayes and monasteries; a very likely and fit fruit of such an idle and blind kind of living.”Præf.toAscham’s Toxophilus, 1571.I thought it but just to set down this censure of Mr.Aschamover-against the candid representation of the French memorialist.—However, what is said of the influence, which this ancient institution had on the character of his countrymen, is not to be disputed. “Les preceptes d’amour repandoient dans le commerce des dames ces considerations et ces egards respectueux, qui, n’ayant jamais été effacés de l’esprit des François, ont toujours fait un des caractères distinctifs de nôtre nation.”75OfScriblerus. See theVIthchapter of that learned work,On the ancient Gymnastics.76Masques, p. 181.Whaley’sedition.77This romantic spirit of the Queen may be seen as well in heramours, as military achievements. “Ambiri, coli ob formam, etAMORIBUS, etiam inclinatâ jam ætate, videri voluit; deFABULOSIS INSULISper illam relaxationem renovatâ quasi memoriâ in quibusEQUITES AC STRENUI HOMINES ERRABANT, etAMORES, fœditate omni prohibitâ, generosè perVIRTUTEMexercebant.”ThuaniHist. tom. vi. p. 172.The observation of the great historian is confirmed byFrancis Osborne, Esq., who, speaking of a contrivance of the Cecilian party to ruin the earl ofEssex, by giving him a rival in the good graces of the queen, observes—“But the whole result concluding in a duel, did rather inflame than abate the former account she made of him: the opinion of aCHAMPIONbeing more splendid (in the weak and romantic sense of women, that admit of nothing fit to be made the object of a quarrel but themselves) and far above that of a captain or general. So as SirEdmund Cary, brother to the LordHunsdon, then chamberlain and near kinsman to the Queen, told me, that though she chid them both, nothing pleased her better than a conceit she had, that herbeautywas the subject of this quarrel, when, God knows, it grew from the stock of honour, of which then they were very tender.”—Mem. of Q. Elizabeth, p. 456.But nothing shews the romantic disposition of the Queen, and indeed of her times, more evidently than theTRIUMPH, as it was called; devised and performed with great solemnity, in honour of theFrenchcommissioners in 1581. The contrivance was for four of her principal courtiers, under the quaint appellation of “four foster-children ofDESIRE,” to besiege and carry, by dint of arms, “the fortress of Beauty;” intending, by this courtly ænigma, nothing less than the queen’s majesty’s own person.—The actors in this famous triumph were, the Earl ofArundel, the LordWindsor, MasterPhilip Sidney, and MasterFulk Grevil. And the whole was conducted so entirely in the spirit and language of knight errantry, that nothing in the Arcadia itself is more romantic. See the account at large inStow’scontinuation ofHolinshed’sChronicles, p. 1316-1321.To see the drift and propriety of this triumph, it is to be observed that the business which brought theFrenchcommissioners intoEnglandwas, the great affair of the queen’s marriage with the duke ofAlançon.78Speeches at PrinceHenry’sbarriers.79There was an instance of this kind, and perhaps the latest upon record in our history, in the 13th year of the queen, when “a combat was appointed to have been fought for a certain manor, and demain lands belonging thereto, inKent.” The matter was compromised in the end. But not till after the usual forms had been observed, by the two parties: of which we have a curious and circumstantial detail inHolinshed’sChronicles, p. 1225.80Alluding to a tract, so called, byGascoigne, an attendant on the court, and poet of that time, who hath given us a narrative of the entertainments that passed on this occasion atKenelworth.81Hence then it is that a celebrated dramatic writer of those days represents the entertainment ofMASKSandSHOWS, as the highest indulgence that could be provided for a luxurious and happy monarch. His words are these;“Music and poetry are his delight.Therefore I’ll haveItalianmasques by night,Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,LikeSylvan Nymphs, my pages shall be clad:My men, likeSatyrs, grazing on the lawns,Shall, with their goat-feet dance the antic hay:Sometimes a lovely boy inDian’sshape,With hair, that gilds the water as it glides,Crownets of pearls about his naked arms,And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,Shall bathe him in a spring, and there hard-byOne likeActæon, peeping through the grove,Shall by the angry Goddess be transform’d—Such things as these best please his Majesty.”Marlow’sEdward II.And how exactly this dramatist painted the humour of the times, we may see from the entertainment provided, not many years after, for the reception of KingJamesatAlthorpinNorthamptonshire; where this very design ofSylvan Nymphs,Satyrs, andActæon, was executed in a masque byB. Jonson.82Whom his friend Mr.Seldencharacterizeth in this manner,“Omnia carmina doctusEt calles mythων plasmata et historiam.”Tit. of Hon.p. 466.83Sacrifices, saysPlutarch,without chorusses and without music, we have known: but for poetry, without fable and without fiction, we know of no such thing. Θυσίας μὲν ἀχόρους καὶ ἀναύλους ἴσμεν· οὐκ ἴσμεν δὲ ἄμυθον οὐδὲ ἀψευδῆ ϖοίησιν. De aud. poët. vol. i. p. 16.84This will be admitted, if a calculation said to have been made by themselves of their number at that time may be relied on—“They make reasoning (saith SirEdwin Sandysin hisSpeculum Europæ, written in 1699) forty hundred sure catholics inEngland, with four hundredEnglish Romanpriests to maintain that militia,” p. 157.85Mr.Camdenowns that theIrishrebellion, which in the end became so dangerous, had been “encouraged by a slighting of it, and a gripple-handedness ofEngland.” [Hist. ofEliz.B. iv.]—To the same purpose another eminent writer of that time—“Before the transmitting of the last great army, the forces sent over byQ. ElizabethwereNOTof sufficient power to break and subdue all theIrishry.” At last, however, “The extreme peril of losing the kingdom; the dishonour and danger that might thereby grow to the crown ofEngland; together with a just disdain conceived by that great-minded queen, that so wicked and ungrateful a rebel should prevail against her, who had ever been victorious against all her enemies; did move and almostENFORCEher to send over that mighty army.” [Sir.J. Davies,Discovery of the State of Ireland, p. 97.Lond.1613.]86SirRobert Nauntontells us, “The queen was never profuse in delivering out of her treasure; but paid her servants part in money, and the rest withGRACE; which, as the case stood, was then taken for good payment.” [Fragm. Reg.p. 89.] AndNat. Baconto the same purpose. “A wise man, that was an eye-witness ofHERactions, and those that succeeded to her, many times hath said, That a courtier might make a better meal of one goodLOOKfrom her, than of a gift from some other.” [Disc.P. ii. p. 266.Lond.1651.]87Thisreverence of authority, one of the characteristics of that time, and which Mr.Addisonpresently accounts for, a great writer celebrates in these words—“It was an ingenuous uninquisitive time, when all the passions and affections of the people were lapped up in such an innocent and humble obedience, that there was never the least contestation nor capitulation with the queen, nor (though she very frequently consulted with her subjects)any further reasons urged of her actions thanHER OWN WILL.” See a tract intitledThe Disparity, in SirH. Wotton’sRemains, p. 46, supposed to have been written by the earl ofClarendon.88Paulus Hentznerus, a learnedGerman, who was inEnglandin 1598, goes still further in his encomium on the queen’s skill in languages. He tells us, that, “præterquam quòd Græcè et Latinè eleganter est docta, tenet, ultra jam memorata idiomata, etiam Hispanicum, Scoticum, et Belgicum.” See hisItinerarium.But this was the general character of the great in that reign: at least, if we may credit MasterWilliam Harrison, who discourseth on the subject before us in the following manner: “This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here inEngland, that there are very few of them, which have not the use and skill of sundry speeches, beside an excellent vein of writing, before time not regarded. Truly it is a rare thing with us now, to hear of a courtier which hath but his own language. And to say how many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that, beside sound knowledge of theGreekandLatintongues, are thereto no less skilful in theSpanish,Italian, andFrench, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me; sith I am persuaded, that as the noblemen and gentlemen do surmount in this behalf, so these come very little or nothing behind them for their parts; which industry God continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting.”Descript.ofEngland, p. 196.89One of thesetieswas theprejudice of education; and some uncommon methods used to bind it fast on the minds of the people.—A book, called ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ, siveElizabeth, was written inLatinverse by oneOckland, containing the highest panegyrics on the queen’s character and government, and setting forth the transcendant virtues of her ministers. This book was enjoined by authority to be taught, as a classic author, in Grammar-schools, and was of course to be gotten by heart by the young scholars throughout the kingdom.This was a matchless contrivance to imprint a sense of loyalty on the minds of the people. And, though it flowed, as we are to suppose, from a tender regard, in the advisers of it, for the interests of Protestantism in that reign; yet its uses are so apparent in any reign, and under any administration, that nothing but the moderation of her successors, and the reasonable assurance of their ministers that their own acknowledged virtues were a sufficient support to them, could have hindered the expedient from being followed.But, though the stamp of public authority was wanting, private men have attempted, in several ways, to supply this defect. To instance only in one. The Protestant queen was to pass for a mirror ofgood government: hence the Εἰρηνάρχια. Her successor would needs be thought a mirror ofeloquence: and hence the noble enterprise I am about to celebrate. “Mr.George Herbert(I give it in the grave historian’s own words) being prelector in the rhetorique school inCambridge, in 1618, passed by those fluent orators, that domineered in the pulpits ofAthensandRome, and insisted to read upon an oration ofK. James, which he analysed; shewed the concinnity of the parts; the propriety of the phrase; the height and power of it to move the affections; the style,UTTERLY UNKNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS, who could not conceive what kingly eloquence was, in respect of which those noted demigogi were but hirelings and tribolary rhetoricians.” BishopHacket’sLife of ArchbishopWilliams, p. 175.90A learned foreigner gives this character of theEnglishat that time: “Angli, utADDICTE SERVIUNT, ità evecti ad dignitates priorem humilitatemINSOLENTIArependunt.”H. Grotii Ann.L. v. p. 95.Amst.1657. Hence the propriety of those complaints, in our great poet, of,“The whips and scorns of th’ time,Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,The insolence of office;”—complaintsso frequent, and so forcibly expressed by him, that we may believe he painted from his own observation, and perhaps experience, of this insolent misuse of authority.Measure for Measure, A. II. S. vii.91Yet it may seem probable, from this poet’s conduct inIreland, and hisView of the state of that country, that his talents forbusiness(such asCecilhimself must have approved) were no less considerable than for poetry. But he had served a disgraced man; and had drawn upon himself the admiration of the generous earl ofEssex. So that, as the historian expresseth it, “by a fate which still follows poets, he always wrestled with poverty, though he had been secretary to the lordGray, lord deputy ofIreland.” All that remained for him was, “to be interred atWestminster, near toChaucer, at the charge of the earl ofEssex; his hearse being attended by poets, and mournful elegies and poems, with the pens that wrote them, thrown into his grave.”Camden, lib. iv.92As to SirFrancis Bacon, the queen herself gave a very plausible reason, and doubtless much approved by the grave lawyers and other judicious persons of that time, for her neglect of this gentleman. “She did acknowledge (says the earl ofEssexin a letter to Mr.Francis Bacon) you had a great wit, and an excellent gift of speech, and much other good learning. But inLaw, she rather thought you could make shew, to the utmost of your knowledge, than, that you were deep.”Mem. of Q. Elizabethby Dr.Birch; to whom the public is exceedingly indebted for abundance of curious information concerning the history of those times.If it be asked, how the queen came to form this conclusion, the answer is plain. It was from Mr.Bacon’shaving aGREAT WIT, an excellentGIFT OF SPEECH, and much otherGOOD LEARNING.It is true, SirFrancis Baconhimself gives another account of this matter. In a letter of advice to Sir.George Villiers, he says, “In this dedication of yourself to the public, I recommend unto you principally that which I think was never done since I was born—that you countenance and encourage and advanceABLE MEN, in all kinds, degrees, and professions. For in the time of theCecils, father and son,ABLE MEN WERE BY DESIGN AND OF PURPOSE SUPPRESSED.”Cabala, p. 57, ed. 1691.—But either way, indeed, the queen’s character is equally saved.93The lordMountjoy[then SirCharles Blount], being of a military turn, had stolen over intoFrance, without the queen’s knowledge, in order to serve inBretagne, under one of her generals. Upon his return, which was hastened too by her express command, “Serve me so again, said the queen, once more, and I will lay you fast enough for running. You will never leave, till you are knocked o’ the head, as that inconsiderate fellowSidneywas. You shall go when I send you. In the mean time see that you lodge in the Court, where you mayFOLLOW YOUR BOOKS, HEAD, AND DISCOURSE OF THE WARS.” SirRobert Naunton’s Fr. Reg.inL. Burleigh.94So good a judge of military matters, as SirWalter Raleigh, was of this opinion with regard to the conduct of theSpanishwar. “If the late queen would have believed her men of war, as she did her scribes, we had, in her time, beaten that great empire in pieces, and made their kings, kings of figs and oranges, as in old times. Buther majesty did all by halves, and, by petty invasions, taught theSpaniardhow to defend himself, and to see his own weakness; which, till our attempts taught him, was hardly known to himself.” See his Works, vol. i. 273.—Raleigh, it may be said, was of theCecilfaction. But the men of war, of theEssexfaction, talked exactly in the same strain; which shews that this might probably be the truth.95See SirHenry Wotton’sParallel of the earl of Essex and duke of Buckingham. The words are these: “He [the earl ofEssex] was to wrestle with a queen’s declining, or rather with her very setting age, as we may term it; which, besides other respects, is commonly even of itself the more umbratious and apprehensive; as for the most part all horizons are charged with certain vapours towards their evening.”Remains, p. 11.96The Disparity, p. 4397This account of her policy is confirmed by what we read in theDisparity, before cited. “That trick of countenancing and protecting factions (as that queen, almost her whole reign, did with singular and equal demonstration of grace look upon several persons of most distant wishes one towards another) was not the least ground of much of her quiet and success. And she never doubted but that men, that were never so opposite in their good-will each to other, or never so dishonest in their projectments for each other’s confusion, might yet be reconciled in their allegiance towards her. Insomuch that, during her whole reign, she never endeavoured to reconcile any personal differences in the court, though the unlawful emulations of persons of nearest trust about her, were ever like to overthrow some of her chiefest designs:A policy, seldom entertained by princes, especially if they have issues to survive them,” p. 46. Her own historian, it is true, seems a little shy of acknowledging this conduct of the queen, with regard to her nobility and ministers. But he owns, “She now and then took a pleasure (and not unprofitably) in the emulation and privy grudges of her women.”Camden’s Elizabeth, p. 79. fol.Lond.1688.98We find an intimation to this purpose, in a writer of credit, at least with respect to theDutchandIreland—“Jam etdivulsamHiberniam, et in Batavis Angli militisseditiones, velutJUSSAS, erant qui exprobrarent.”Grotii Annal.l. xii. p. 432.99Something like this was observed of her disposition by SirJames Melvil. After having related to his mistress, the queen ofScots, the strong professions of friendship which the queen ofEnglandhad made to him, “She [the queen ofScots] inquired, says he, whether I thought that queen meant truly towards her inwardly in her heart, as she appeared to do outwardly in her speech. I answered freely, that, in my judgment, there was neither plain dealing, nor upright meaning; but great dissimulation, emulation, andFEAR, lest her princely qualities should over-soon chace her from her kingdom,” &c.Memoirs, p. 53.100SecretaryWalsingham, in a letter to the queen, Sept. 2, 1581, amongst other things to the same purpose, has the following words—“Remember, I humbly beseech your majesty,the respect of charges hath lost Scotland: and I would to God I had no cause to think, thatit might put your highness in peril of the loss of England.”—“And even the Lord Treasurer himself (we are told) in a letter still extant in the paper-office, written in the critical year 1588, while theSpanisharmada was expected againstEngland, excuses himself to sirEdward Stafford, then embassador inFrance, for not writing to him oftener,on account of her majesty’s unwillingness to be at the expence of messengers.” SirT. Edmondes’State-papers, by Dr.Birch, p. 21.101One of these complaisant observers was the writer ofthe Description of England, who, speaking of the variety of the queen’s houses, checks himself with saying, “But what shall I need to take upon me to repeat all, and tell what houses the queen’s majesty hath? SithALL IS HIRS; and when it pleaseth hir in the summer season to recreate hirself abroad, and view the state of the countrie, and hear the complaints of hir unjust officers or substitutes,every nobleman’s house is hir palace, where she continueth during pleasure, and till she returne again to some of hir owne; in which she remaineth as long as pleaseth hir.” p. 196.102Perhaps they had no need of such favours: It seems as if they had provided for themselves another way. One of her ladies, the LadyEdmondes, had been applied to for her interest with the queen in a certain affair of no great moment, then depending in the Court of Chancery. The person, commissioned to transact this matter with her ladyship, had offered her 100l.which she treatedas too small a sum. The relater of this fact adds—“This ruffianry of causes I am daily more and more acquainted with, and see the manner of dealing, which cometh of thequeen’s straitnessto give these women, whereby they presume thus to grange and truck causes.” See a letter inMem.ofQ. Elizabeth, by Dr.Birch, vol. i. p. 354. But this 100l.as the virtuous LadyEdmondessays, wasa small sum. It appears, that bishopFletcher, on his translation toLondon, “bestowed in allowances and gratifications to divers attendants [indeed we are not expressly told, they werefemale] about her majesty, the sum of 3100l.which money was given by him, for the most part of it,by her majesty’s direction and special appointment.” Mem. vol. ii. p. 113. And the curiosity is, to find this minute of episcopalgratificationsin a petition presented to the queen herself, “To move her majesty in commiseration towards the orphans of this bishop.”—However, to do the ladies justice, the contagion of bribery was so general in that reign, that the greatest men in the court were infected by it. The lord-keeperPuckering, it seems, had a finger in the affair of the 100l.; nay, himself speaks to the lady to get him commanded by the queen to favour the suit. And we are told, that SirW. Raleighhad no less than 10,000l.for his interest with the queen on a certain occasion, after having been invited to this service by the finest letter that ever was written.—Indeed it is not said how much of this secret service money wentin allowances and gratifications to the attendants about the queen’s majesty, vol. ii. p. 497.103LordBaconmade the same excuse forhisbribery; as he had learnt, perhaps, the trade itself from his royal mistress. It was a rule with this great chancellor, “Not to sell injustice, but never to let justice go scot-free.”104SeeHist. Collections, byH. Townshend, Esq.; p. 268.Lond.1680.—The lord-keeper too, in a speech in the star-chamber, confirms this charge on the country justices. “The thirst, says he, after this authority, proceedeth from nothing but an ambitious humour of gaining of reputation amongst their neighbours; that still, when they come home,they may be presented with presents.” Ibid. p. 355.105When the queen declared to SirJames Melvilher resolution of virginity, “I know the truth of that, madam, (said he); you need not tell it me. Your majesty thinks, if you were married, you would be but queen ofEngland; and now you are both king and queen.I know your spirit cannot endure a commander.”Mem.p. 49. This was frank. But SirJames Melvilwas too well seen in courts to have used this language, if he had not understood it would be welcome. Accordingly, the queen’s highness did not seem displeased with the imputation.106This was a common topick of complaint against the queen; or at least her ministers, and gave occasion to that reproof of the poetSpenser, which the persons concerned could hardly look upon as very decent,“Scarce can a bishoprick forepass them byeBut that it must be gelt in privity.”MotherHubbard’sTale.But a bishop of that time carries the charge still further. In one of his sermons at court before the queen, “Parsonages and vicarages, says he, seldom pass now-a-days from the patron, but either for the lease, or the present money. Such merchants are broken into the church of God, a great deal more intolerable than were they whomChristwhipped out of the temple.”—This language is very harsh, and surely not deserved by the Protestant patrons of those days, who were only, as we may suppose, for reducing the church ofChristto its pure and primitive state of indigence and suffering. How edifying is it to hear St.Paulspeak of his being—In hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness!And how perfectly reformed would our church be, if its ministers were but once more in this blessed apostolical condition!107It was this circumstance that seemed to weigh most with the Lord ChancellorBacon; who, in his short tract,In felicem memoriamElizabethæ, saith, “Illud cogitandum censeo, in quali populo imperium tenuerit: si enim in Palmyrenis, aut Asiâ imbelli et molli regnum sortita esset, minùs mirandum fuisset—verùm inAnglia,natione ferocissimâ et bellicosissimâ, omnia ex nutu fœminæ moveri et cohiberi potuisse,SUMMAM MERITO ADMIRATIONEM HABET.”108The subject of these Dialogues, onthe English Constitution, is the most important inEnglishpolitics.—To cite all the passages from our best antiquaries and historians, out of which this work was formed, and which lay before the writer in composing it, would swell this volume to an immoderate size. It is enough to say, that nothingmaterialis advanced in the course of the argument, but on the best authority.109That is, of thefeudal law: which was one of the subjects explained by the bishop to his royal pupil the duke ofGloucester. “I acquainted him, says he, with all the great revolutions that had been in the world, and gave him a copious account of theGreekandRomanhistories, and ofPlutarch’sLives: the last thing I explained to him was the Gothic constitution, and theBENEFICIARY AND FEUDAL LAWS.” [Hist.of his own Times, vol. iv. p. 357.Edinb.1753.]110OnApril 11, 1689.111Of the great seal—The other lawyers in commission wereKeckandRawlinson.112This was a favourite subject with our good bishop; and how qualified he was to discuss it, even in its minutest particularities, may be learnt from his history at large.113It was not thusleft to itself, but was nursed and fostered with great care by the preachers ofdivine indefeasible hereditary right, in this and the following reign.114This casual remark seems to determine a famous dispute among the Antiquaries on the subject before us. BishopNicolsonattended so little to this tralatitious use of words, in which all languages abound, that findingLagain several places signified acountry, he would needs have it thatCamden,Lambarde,Spelman,Cowell,Selden, and all our best Antiquaries, were mistaken, when they supposedLagaever signified, in the compositions here mentioned, alaw. However, his adversaries among the Antiquaries were even with him; and finding thatLaga, in these compositions, did signify a law in several places of our ancient laws, historians, and lawyers, deny that it ever signifies acountry. Each indeed had a considerable object in view; the one was bent on overthrowing a system; the other on supporting it; namely, that famous threefold body of laws, theDanish,Mercian, andWest-Saxon. It must be owned, the bishop could not overthrow the common system, without running into his extreme: it seems, his opponents might have supported it without running into theirs.115SeeHistorical Law-Tracts, vol. i. p. 294.116Miltondid not forget to observe, in hisTenure of kings and magistrates, ThatWilliamtheNorman, though a Conqueror, and not unsworn at his Coronation, was compelled a second time to take oath atSt. Albans, ere the people would be brought to yield obedience. Vol. i.of his Prose works, 4to, 1753. p. 345.117Henry VII.118Henry VIII.119Elizabeth.120Propria feudi natura est ut sit perpetua.Cujacius, Littleton.121Craig’sJus feudale, lib. i. p. 21.Lond.1655.122This account of theSaxonbenefices is much confirmed by the famous charter of BishopOswald, and the comment of SirH. Spelmanupon it. See his discourse onFEUDSandTENURES.123Matthew Parisgives us the following account of this matter—“Episcopatus et Abbatias omnes, quæ baronias tenebant, et eatenus ab omni servitute sæculari libertatem habuerant, sub servitute statuit militari, inrotulans singulos episcopatus et abbatias pro voluntate suâ, quot milites sibi et successoribus suis, hostilitatis tempore, voluit à singulis exhiberi. EtROTULOS HUJUS ECCLESIASTICÆ SERVITUTISponens in thesauris, multos viros ecclesiasticosHUIC CONSTITUTIONI PESSIMÆreluctantes, à regno fugavit.”Hist. Ang. Willielmus Conqæstor.124The learnedCraig, who has written so largely and accurately on the feudal law, was so far from seeing any thing servile in it, that he says, “The foundations of this discipline are laid in the most generous of all considerations, those ofGratitude.Hujus feudalis disciplinæ fundamenta à gratitudine et ingratitudine descendunt.”Epist. Nuncup.toK. James.125This bounty in so wise a prince asWilliamwill be thought strange. I believe it may be, in part, accounted for, from what is observed above of theSaxonallodial lords. These had possessed immense estates. And, as they fell in upon forfeiture, the greatNormanadventurers would of course expect to come into the entire succession.—Perhaps too, in that confusion of affairs, the prince might not always, himself, be apprized of the extent and value of these possessions.126The law ofEdwardthe Confessor is express to this purpose, and it was ratified by the Conqueror—“Debet rex omnia ritè facere in regno et per judicium procerum regni.” SirH. Spelmanof Parliaments, p. 58.127M.De Montesquieuobserves of the Gothic government—“Il fut d’abord melé de l’aristocratie, et de la monarchie. Il avoit cet inconvenient, que le bas-peuple y étoit esclave:C’étoit un bon gouvernment, qui avoit en soi la capacité de devenir meilleur.” [l. xi. c. 8.]—the very idea, which is here inculcated.128See oldFortescue, in his bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, where this sort of analogy is pursued at length through a great part of theXIIIthchapter.129Agreeably to what SirH. Spelmanasserts, in his Glossary, of its parent, thefeudal lawitself; “De lege feudali—pronunciandum censeo,TEMPORISeam esse filiam, sensimque succrescentem,EDICTIS PRINCIPUMauctam indies excultam.” In voceFeodum.130Diss. ad Flet.1091. andWilliam of Malmesbury, lib. iv. 1. 69.Lond.1596.131Selden’sWorks, vol. ii. p. 1082.132Diss. ad Flet.1078.133Dr.Duck,De usu et authoritate juris civilis, p. 103.Lugd. Batav.1654.134Policratic.lib. viii. c. 22. p. 672.Lugd. Bat.1639.135Diss. ad Flet.1082.136Diss. ad Flet.1097.137Dr.Duck, p. 364.138Disc.Part I. p. 78.Lond.1739.139AtMerton, in the year 1236.140Diss. ad Flet.1108.141SeeFortescue,De laudibus leg. Angl.p. 74.Lond.1741; andSelden’s Janus Anglorum, 1610, vol. ii. tom. ii.142Diss. ad Flet.1104.143Dr.Duck, p. 365.144Diss. ad Flet.1010.145Diss. ad Flet.1106.146P. 1046.147Mr.Selden’s Diss. ad Flet.1100.148De laud. leg. Ang.c. 33, 34.149Diss. ad Flet.1102.150The speaker might have begun this account of thefate and fortunesof the civil law still higher.Nat. Bacon, speaking ofHenrythe Fifth’s reign, observes, “The times were now come about, wherein light began to spring forth, conscience to bestir itself, and men to study the scriptures. This was imputed to the idleness and carelessness of the clergy, who suffered the minds of young scholars to luxuriate into errors of divinity, for want of putting them on to other learning; and gave no encouragement to studies of human literature, by preferring those that were deserving. The convocation taking this into consideration, do decree, that no person should exercise any jurisdiction in any office, asvicar-general,commissary, orofficial, or otherwise, unless he shall first in the university have taken degrees in theCIVIL OR CANON LAWS. A shrewd trick this was, to stop the growth of the study of divinity, andWickliff’sway; and to embellish men’s minds with a kind of learning that may gain them preferment, or at least an opinion of abilities beyond the common strain, and dangerous to be meddled with. Like some gallants, that wear swords as badges of honour, and to bid men beware, because they possibly may strike, though in their own persons they may be very cowards. And no less mischievously intended was this against the ruggedCOMMON LAW, a rule so nigh allied to the gospel-way, as it favoureth liberty; and so far estranged from the way of the civil and canon law, as there is no hope of accommodation till Christ and Antichrist have sought the field.”Disc.Part II. p. 90.Lond.1739.151It should however be observed, in honour of their patriotism, that “they afterwards took themselves out of it,” when they saw the extremities to which the popular party were driving.152This alludes to the proceedings against theeleven membersupon the charge of the Army. SirJohn Maynardwas one of them. And when articles of high treason were preferred against him, and the trial was to come on before the lords, he excepted to the jurisdiction of the court, and, by a written paper presented to them, required to be tried by his peers according toMagna Charta, and the law of the land. SeeWhitlocke’sMemorials; and a short pamphlet written on that occasion, calledThe Royal Quarrel, dated 9th ofFeb.1647.—SirJohnwas, at this time, a close prisoner in the Tower.153See his speech, inserted in hisMemorials of English Affairs, Nov. 1649.154Disc.Part I. p. 78.155The reader may not be displeased to see the words of oldFortescueon this subject of the origin of theEnglishgovernment, which are very remarkable. In his famous bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, he distinguishes between theREGALandPOLITICALforms of government. In explaining thelatter, which he gives us as the proper form of theEnglishgovernment, he expresseth himself in these words—“Habes instituti omnisPOLITICI REGNIformam, ex quâ metiri poteris potestatem, quam rex ejus in leges ipsius aut subditos valeat exercere: ad tutelam namque legis subditorum, ac eorum corporum et bonorum rex hujusmodi erectus est, et hanc potestatemA POPULO EFFLUXAMipse habet, quo ei non licet potestate aliâsuo populo dominari.”Cap.xiii.156It may be of little moment to us, at this day, to inquire, how far the princes of the house ofStuartwere blameable for their endeavours to usurp on the constitution. But it must ever be of the highest moment to maintain, that we had a constitution to assert against them. Party-writers perpetually confound these two things. It is the author’s purpose, in these two Dialogues, to contend for thelatter.157See the late History of England byDavid Hume, esq.; who forms the apology of the house ofStuarton these principles.

1Mala et impia consuetudo est contra Deos disputandi, sive ex animo id fit, sive simulatè.De Nat. D.l. ii. c. 67.

2Genus hoc sermonum, positum in hominum veterum auctoritate, et eorum illustrium, plus nescio quo pacto videtur habere gravitatis. Itaque ipse mea legens, sic afficior interdum, ut Catonem, non me loqui existímem.Cic.De Amic.c. 1.

3Omnem sermonem tribuimus non Tithono, ut Aristo Chius;parum enim esset auctoritatis in fabulâ. De Senect. c. 1.

4See the Dialogue intituled, Πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα, ΠΡΟΜΗΘΕΥΣ εἶ ἐν λόγοις.

5Ἔπαιζεν ἅμα σπουδάζων· Xen. Mem. l. i. c. 3.

6Γέλωτα κωμικὸν ὑπὸ σεμνότητι φιλοσόφῳ. Προμηθ. c. 7.

7Difficillimam illam societatemGravitatis cum Humanitate.Leg. l. iii. c. 1.

8Ἐτολμήσαμεν ἡμεῖς τὰ οὕτως ἔχοντα ϖρὸς ἄλληλα ξυναγαγεῖν καὶ ξυναρμόσαι, οὐ ϖάνυ ϖειθόμενα, οὐδὲ εὐμαρῶς ἀνεχόμενα τὴν κοινωνίαν. Προμηθ. c. 7.

9Προμηθ. c. 7. to the end. Δὶς κατηγορούμενος. c. 33. and Ζεῦξις.

10——quo in genere orationis utrumque Oratorem cognoveramus, id ipsum sumus in eorum sermoneadumbrare conati. De Orat. iii. 4.

11A curious passage, or two, in his Letters to Atticus, will serve to illustrate this observation. Theacademic questionswere drawn up, and finished, when a doubt occurred to him, whether he should not change one of the speakers in that Dialogue, and, instead of Varro, introduce Brutus; who would suit his purpose, he said, just as well, because his philosophic principles were the same with those of Varro—si addubitas, says he to Atticus,ad Brutum transeamus. Est enim is quoque Antiochius.l. xiii. 25. Was this a change to be easily made, if it were necessary, in this kind of writing, to suit thestyleandmanner of expressionto the character of the speakers? Yet, hear how negligently he treats this matter—Opinor igitur consideremus, etsi nomina jam facta sunt. SedVEL INDUCI, VEL MUTARI POSSUNT. l. xiii. 14.—In other words, provided thecastof the several parts was the same, thelanguageof the Dialogue would require no alteration. It was indifferent, in this respect, who were the speakers.

12Scripsit enim etDialogosquos non magis philosophiæ annumerare possis, quamHistoriæ.Seneca, Ep. c.

13LordShaftesbury’sMoralists, P. 1. S.I.

14Adv. to an Author, P. 1. S.III.

15Adv. to an Author, P. 1. towards the end.

16The scene of Dr.More’s Divine Dialogues, printed in 1668.

17AtBeaconsfieldinBucks, the supposed scene of the Dialogue.

18See his works, where are some pieces of a very early date; though LordClarendontells us,he was near thirty years of age, before he was much taken notice of as a Poet. Contin. of his Life, P. I. p. 25.

19Dr.Andrews, bishop ofWinchester, and Dr.Neal, bishop ofDurham. The story is well known.

20Dr.George Morley.

21This alludes to the impeachment of Mr.JusticeCrawley,July 6, 1641, for his extra-judicial opinion in the affair ofShip-money. Mr.Waller’sspeech on this occasion is extant amongst his works.

22The famous Mr.Hampdenwas his uncle.

23That ofSecretary of State. The LordClarendontells us it was with the utmost difficulty he persuaded him to accept it. “There were two considerations (says the historian) that made most impression on him; theone, lest the world should believe that his own ambition had procured this promotion, and that he had therefore appeared signally in the house to oppose those proceedings, that he might thereby render himself gracious to the court: Theother, lest the king should expect such a submission and resignation of himself and his own reason and judgment to his commands as he should never give or pretend to give; for he was so severe an adorer of truth, that he would as easily have given himself leave to steal as to dissemble,” &c. B. iv.

24The noble historian, before cited, gives us two instances of LordFalkland’sscrupulosity. Theonewas, “That he could never bring himself to employ spies, or give any countenance or entertainment to them:” Theother, “That he could never allow himself the liberty of opening letters, upon a suspicion that they might contain matter of dangerous consequence.” B. viii.

25To this purpose my LordClarendon. “He [Mr. W.] spoke, upon all occasions, with great sharpness and freedom: which (now there were so few that used it, and there was no danger of being over-voted) was not restrained; and therefore used as an argument against those, who were gone upon pretence, that they were not suffered to declare their opinion freely in the house; which could not be believed, when all men knew what liberty Mr.Wallertook, and spoke every day with impunity, against the sense and proceedings of the house.” B. vii.

26See LordClarendon’sHistory.

27Ἅπλωσον σεαυτόν, lib. iv. § 26, which Dr.More, in l. ii. c. 3. of hisEnchiridion Ethicum, translates,simplifica teipsum.

28In the year 1654.

29LordClarendondied in 1674.

30The character of Mr.Walleris given at large in theLife of Lord Clarendon, P. I. p. 25.—As for Dr.More, BishopBurnettells us, in one word, “That he was an open-hearted and sincere Christian philosopher.”Hist. of his own Time, vol. p. 273. 12mo,Edinb.1753.

31This Dialogue is founded on a short passage in Mr.Sprat’sLife of Mr.Cowley, in which he observes, “That in his long dependence on my Lord St.Albans, there never happened any manner of difference between them; except a little atLAST, because he would leave his service.”

32A small village on theThames, which was Mr.Cowley’sfirst retreat, before he removed toChertsea.

33Meaning an estate he had obtained by means of this lord. This particular is several times referred to in the course of the Dialogue.

34The writer of the Dialogue has thought fit to soften the misanthropy of Mr.Cowleyin this instance. In one of his Essays he talks strangely. “It is the great boast,” says he, “of eloquence and philosophy, that they first congregated men dispersed, united them into cities, and built up the houses and the walls of cities. I wish they could unravel all they had woven, that we might have our woods and our innocence again,instead of our castles and our policies.”

35These verses are inserted in one of hisEssays, and in some editions of his works.

36“Perhaps, says he (speaking of the poets), it was the immature and immoderate love of them, which stampt first, or rather engraved, the characters in me: they were like letters cut in the bark of a young tree, which with the tree, still grow proportionably.”[Essay on himself.]

37“When the civil war broke out, his [Mr.Cowley’s] affection to the king’s cause drew him toOxford, as soon as it began to be the chief seat of the royal party.” [Dr.Sprat’slife of him.]

38Dr.Sprattells us inhis Life, “That, during his residence atOxford, he had the entire friendship of my LordFalkland, one of the principal secretaries of state. That affection was contracted by the agreement of their learning and manners. For you may remember, Sir, [addressing himself to Mr. M.Clifford] we have often heard Mr.Cowleyadmire him, not only for the profoundness of his knowledge, which was applauded by all the world, but more especially for those qualities which he himself more regarded, forhis generosity of mind, and his neglect of the vain pomp of human greatness.”

39The Cutter of Coleman-street; the occasion and purpose of which was this: At the Restoration, there was not a set of men more troublesome to the ministry than the cavalier officers; amongst whom had crept in all the profligate of broken fortunes, to share in the merits and rewards of that name.Cowleywrit this comedy to unmask these wretches, and might reasonably pretend to some thanks for it. But, contrary to expectation, this very attempt raised a storm against him even at court, which beat violently upon him. See his preface to that play in the later editions in 8vo.

40Shakespear.As you like it.Act II. S. 1.—There is a quaintness in these lines of the great poet, which however are not unlike some of Mr.Cowley’saddressed toJ. Evelyne, Esq.Where does the wisdom and the pow’r divine,In a more bright and sweet reflexion shine;Where do we finer strokes and colours seeOf the Creator’s real poetry;Than when we with attention lookUpon the third day’s volume of the book?If we could open and intend our eye,We all, likeMoses, should espy,Ev’n in aBush, the radiant Deity.

40Shakespear.As you like it.Act II. S. 1.—There is a quaintness in these lines of the great poet, which however are not unlike some of Mr.Cowley’saddressed toJ. Evelyne, Esq.

Where does the wisdom and the pow’r divine,In a more bright and sweet reflexion shine;Where do we finer strokes and colours seeOf the Creator’s real poetry;Than when we with attention lookUpon the third day’s volume of the book?If we could open and intend our eye,We all, likeMoses, should espy,Ev’n in aBush, the radiant Deity.

Where does the wisdom and the pow’r divine,In a more bright and sweet reflexion shine;Where do we finer strokes and colours seeOf the Creator’s real poetry;

Than when we with attention lookUpon the third day’s volume of the book?If we could open and intend our eye,We all, likeMoses, should espy,Ev’n in aBush, the radiant Deity.

41In thePREFACEto hisProposition for the advancement of experimental philosophy, first printed in 1661.See the edition in 24to, Lond. for H. Herringham.

42Dr.Sprattells us, “That he had obtained a plentiful estate by the favour of my LordSt. Albans, and the bounty of my lord duke ofBuckingham.” [See hisLife.]

43MeaningThe true history ofDon Quixote; in which poorSancho Pancais drawn into all adventures, by the promise of hisknight, to reward him in due time with the government of anisland.

44Lord Bacongives another account of this matter.—“As for the privateness of life of contemplative men, it is a theme so common to extol a private life, not taxed with sensuality and sloth, in comparison, and to the disadvantage of a civil life, for safety, liberty, pleasure, and dignity,as no man handleth it, but handleth it well: such a consonancy it hath to men’s conceits in the expressing, and to men’s consents in the allowing.” [Adv. of Learning, Book 1.]

45The justness of this encomium on LordClarendonwill hardly be disputed by any man, whose opinion is worth regarding.—What pity, that Mr.Cowley’sconnexions with some persons, indevoted to the excellent Chancellor, kept him at a distance from a man, so congenial to himself, and for whom he could not but entertain the highest esteem! The Chancellor, though he could not be expected to take him out of the hands of his old patrons, seems, yet, to have been generous enough to Mr.Cowley, not to resent those connexions: as may be gathered from the handsome testimony paid to his merit, in theContinuation of the History of his own Life. Speaking ofB. Jonson, he says—“He [Ben Jonson] was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe rules to, poetry and poets, of any man who had lived with, or before him, or since;If Mr.Cowleyhad not made a flight beyond all men; with that modesty yet, to ascribe much of this, to the example and learning ofBen Jonson.”—Among the other infelicities of men of genius,ONEis, and not the least, that it rarely happens to them to have the choosing of the persons, to whom they would most wish to be obliged. The sensibility of their gratitude being equal to their other parts and virtues, the man, whose favour they chance first to experience, is sure of their constant services and attachment through life, how strongly soever their interest, and even their judgment, maydrawanother way.

46The reader is not to forget, that Mr.Spratis writing to the LordSt. Albans, and was, at this time, chaplain to the Duke ofBuckingham.

47“Ingenium illustre altioribus studiis juvenis admodum dedit: non, utPLERIQUE, UT NOMINE MAGNIFICO SEGNE OTIUM VELARET, sed quo firmior adversus fortuita rempublicam capesseret.” [Hist.IV. 5.]—Part of the fine character given us ofHelvidius Priscus.

48The royal society; not yet instituted, but much talked of at this time.

49We have in this remonstrance that follows, the usual language of those we call ourfriends; which may sometimes be thecause, but is oftner thepretence, of ambition. Hear how gravely SirDudley Carlton, who loved business, and drudged on in it all his life, is pleased, in an evil hour, to express himself: “The best is, I was never better, and were it not more for a necessity that is imposed by theEXPECTATION OF FRIENDS, not to stand at a stay andSENESCERE, whilst a man is young, than for ambition, I would not complain myself of my misfortune.” [SirRalph Winwood’sMemorials, vol. II. p. 45.]

50That Mr.Cowleyhadhis prince’s grace appears from what the king said of him, on the news of his death: “That he had not left aBETTERman behind him inEngland.” And this withgraceenough, in reason, fromSUCHa prince.—How it came to pass that hewantedthe grace of his peers (if, indeed, hedidwant it), hath been explained in a note, p. 140.

51The application of this line is the affair of theMastership of theSavoy; “which though granted, says Mr. Wood, to his highest merit by both theCharlesesI. and II. yet by certain persons, enemies to the Muses, he lost that place.” But this was not the worst. For, such is the hard lot of unsuccessful men, theSavoy-missingCowleybecame the object of ridicule, instead of pity, even to the wits themselves; as may be seen in “The session of the poets, amongstthe miscellaneous poemspublished by Mr.Dryden.”QuidDOMINIfacient, audent si taliaFURES?

QuidDOMINIfacient, audent si taliaFURES?

52Printed among his works, under the name ofTHE COMPLAINT. The relation it has to the subject debated, made me think it not amiss to print it at the end of this Dialogue—It must raise one’s indignation to find that so just, so delicate, and so manly acomplaintshould be scoffed at, as it was by the wits before mentioned, under the name ofTHE PITIFUL MELANCHOLY.

53Juvenal,Sat.i. ver. 112.

54Whether it were owing to his other occupations, or that he had no great confidence in the success of this attempt, theseEssays, whichwere to give entire satisfactionto his court-friend in the affair of his retirement, went on very slowly. They were even left imperfect at his death, “a little before which (says Dr.Sprat) he communicated to me his resolution, to have dedicated them all to my LordSt. Albans, as a testimony of his entire respects to him; and akind of apologyfor having left human affairs in the strength of his age, while he might have been serviceable to his country.”——However, if this apology had not theintendedeffect, it had a much better. Lords and wits may decide of the qualities of Mr.Cowley’sheadas they please; but, so long as theseEssaysremain, they will oblige all honest mento love the language of his heart.

55Alas! he was mistaken.

56A citation from one of his own poems.

57Mr.Sprathimself tells us, speaking of Mr.Cowley’sretreat, that “some few friends and books, achearful heart, and innocent conscience, were his constant companions.”Life.

58This is one of the prettiest of Mr.Cowley’ssmaller Poems. The plan of it is highly poetical: and, though the numbers be not the most pleasing, the expression is almost every where natural and beautiful. But its principal charm is that air ofmelancholy, thrown over the whole, so expressive of the poet’s character.Theaddressof the writer is seen in conveying his just reproaches on theCourt, under a pretended vindication of it against theMuse.

Theaddressof the writer is seen in conveying his just reproaches on theCourt, under a pretended vindication of it against theMuse.

59An execrable line.

60For the account of theseMonuments, and ofKenelworth-Castle, see the plans and descriptions ofDugdale.

61The speaker’s idea of LordLeicester’sporter agrees with the character he sustained on the queen’s reception atKenelworth; as we find it described in a paper of good authority written at that time. “Here aPORTER, tall of person, big of limbs, stark of countenance—with club and keys of quantity according; in a rough speech, full of passion in metre, while the queen came within his ward, burst out in a great pang of impatience to see such uncouth trudging to and fro, such riding in and out, with such din and noise of talk, within his charge; whereof he never saw the like, nor had any warning once, ne yet could make to himself any cause of the matter. At last, upon better view and advertisement, he proclaims open gates and free passage to all; yields over his club, his keys, his office and all, and on his knees humbly prays pardon of his ignorance and impatience. Which her highness graciously granting,&c.”—A letter from an attendant in court to his friend a citizen and merchant ofLondon. From the court atWorcester, 20 August 1575.

A letter from an attendant in court to his friend a citizen and merchant ofLondon. From the court atWorcester, 20 August 1575.

62In the first volume of theSpectator.

63The factious use, that was afterwards made of this humour of magnifying the character ofElizabeth, may be seen in theCraftsmanandRemarks on the History of England.

64What thepoliticalcharacter of Mr.Addisonwas, may be seen from hisWhig-examiner. This amiable man was keen and even caustic on subjects, where his party, that is,civil liberty, was concerned. Nor let it be any objection to the character I make him sustain in this Dialogue, that he treatsElizabeth’sgovernment with respect in theFreeholder. He had then the people to cajole, who were taught to reverence her memory. He is, here, addressing himself, in private, to his friends.

65Lucian expresses this use of the Table prettily—ΦΙΛΙΑΣ ΜΕΣΙΤΗΝ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑΝ, Ἔρωτες, c. 27.

66Besides this sort of hospitality, there was another still more noble and disinterested, which distinguished the early times, especially the purer ages of chivalry. It was customary, it seems, for the great lords to fix upHELMETSon the roofs and battlements of their castles as a signal of hospitality to all adventurers and noble passengers. “Adoncques etoit une coustume en la Grant Bretagne (says the author of the old romance, calledPerceforest) et fut tant que charité regna illecque, tous gentils hommes et nobles dames faisoient mettre au plus hault de leur hostel ung heaulme, enSIGNEque tous gentils hommes et gentilles femmes trespassans les chemins, entrassent hardyement en leur hostel comme en leur propre; car leurs biens estoient davantage à tous nobles hommes et femmes trespassans le royaulme.” Vol. iii. fol. 103.

67This is not said without authority: “Give me leave, says one, to hold this paradox, that the English were never more idle, never more ignorant in manual arts, never more factious in following the parties of princes or their landlords, never more base (as I may say) trencher slaves, than in that age, wherein great men kept open houses for all comers and goers: and that in our age, wherein we have better learned each man to live of his own, and great men keep not such troops of idle servants, not only the English are become very industrious and skilful in manual arts, but also the tyranny of lords and gentlemen is abated, whereby they nourished private dissensions and civil wars, with the destruction of the common people.”Fynes Moryson’sItinerary, Part III. Ch. v.

68Dr.Arbuthnot, too, has his authority. A famous politician of the last century expresseth himself to much the same purpose, after his manner: “Henceforth, says he, [that is, after the statutes against retainers inHen. VII’sreign] the country lives, andgreat tablesof the nobility, which no longer nourished veins that would bleed for them, were fruitless and loathsome till they changed the air, and of princes becamecourtiers; where their revenues, never to have been exhausted by beef and mutton, were foundnarrow; whence followed racking of rents, and, at length, sale of lands.”Sir James Harrington’s Oceana, p. 40.Lond.1656.

69True it is, that this divertisement ofbear-baitingwas not altogether unknown in the age ofElizabeth, and, as it seemeth, not much misliked of masterStowhimself, who hath very graphically described it. He is speaking of theDanishembassador’s reception and entertainment atGreenwichin 1586. “As the better sort, saith he, had their convenient disports, so were not the ordinary people excluded from competent pleasure. For, upon a green, very spacious and large, where thousands might stand and behold with good contentment, theirBEAR-BAITINGand bull-baiting (tempered with other merry disports) were exhibited; whereat it cannot be spoken of what pleasure the people took.For it was a sport alone, of these beasts, continueth the historian, to see the bear with his pink-eyes leering after his enemies; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage; and the force and experience of the bear again to avoid the assaults; if he were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get free; and if he were once taken, then what shift with biting, clawing, roaring, tugging, grasping, tumbling, and tossing, he would work to wind himself away; and, when he was loose, to shake his ears with the blood and slaver about his phisnomy, was a pittance of good relief. The like pastime also of the bull.—And now the day being far spent, and the sun in his declination, the embassador withdrew to his lodging by barge toCrosby’splace; where, no doubt,THIS DAY’S SOLEMNITY WAS THOUGHT UPON AND TALKED OF.”—p. 1562.

For it was a sport alone, of these beasts, continueth the historian, to see the bear with his pink-eyes leering after his enemies; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage; and the force and experience of the bear again to avoid the assaults; if he were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get free; and if he were once taken, then what shift with biting, clawing, roaring, tugging, grasping, tumbling, and tossing, he would work to wind himself away; and, when he was loose, to shake his ears with the blood and slaver about his phisnomy, was a pittance of good relief. The like pastime also of the bull.—And now the day being far spent, and the sun in his declination, the embassador withdrew to his lodging by barge toCrosby’splace; where, no doubt,THIS DAY’S SOLEMNITY WAS THOUGHT UPON AND TALKED OF.”—p. 1562.

70See theAnarcharsisofLucian.

71If the reader be complaisant enough to admit the fact, it may be accounted for, on the ideas of chivalry, in the following manner. The knight forfeited all pretensions to the favour of the ladies, if he failed, in any degree, in the point of valour. And, reciprocally, the claim which the ladies had to protection and courtesy from the order of knights, was founded singly in the reputation of chastity, which was the female point of honour. “Ce droit que les dames avoient sur la chevalerie (saysM. de la Curne de Ste Palaye) devoit étre conditionel; il supposoit que leur conduite et leur reputation ne les rendoient point indignes de l’espece d’association qui les unissoit à cet ordre uniquement fondé sur l’honneur.Par celle voye (says an oldFrenchwriter, the chevalierde la Tour, about the year 1371) les bonnes se craignoient et se tenoient plus fermes de faire chose dont elles peussent perdre leur honneur et leur etat.Si vouldroye que celûi temps fust revenu, car je pense qu’il n’en seroit pas tant de blasmées comme il est à present.”

Par celle voye (says an oldFrenchwriter, the chevalierde la Tour, about the year 1371) les bonnes se craignoient et se tenoient plus fermes de faire chose dont elles peussent perdre leur honneur et leur etat.Si vouldroye que celûi temps fust revenu, car je pense qu’il n’en seroit pas tant de blasmées comme il est à present.”

72SirPhilip Sydney.

73What is hinted, here, of therealityof these representations, hath been lately shewn at large in a learned memoir on this subject, which the reader will find in theXXthTom. ofHist. de l’Acad. des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.

74This representation of things in the ages of chivalry agrees with what we are told by the author of the memoir just quoted: “Les premières leçons,” (says he, speaking of the manner in which the youth were educated in the houses of the Great, which were properly the schools of those times) “qu’on leur donnoit, regardoient principalementl’amour de Dieu, et des dames, c’est-à-dire, la religion, et la galanterie. Mais autant la dévotion qu’on leur inspiroit étoit accompagnée de puerilités et de superstitions, autant l’amour des dames, qu’on leur recommandoit, étoit il rempli deRAFFINEMENTet deFANATISME. Il semble qu’on ne pouvoit, dans ces siécles ignorans et grossiers, présenter aux hommes la religion sous une forme assez materielle pour la mettre à leur portée; ni leur donner, en même tems, une idée de l’amour assez pure, assez metaphysique, pour prevenir les desordres et les excès, dont etoit capable une nation qui conservoit par-tout le caractere impetueux qu’elle montroit à la guerre.” Tom. xx. p. 600.One sees then the origin of that furious gallantry which runs through the old romances. And so long as therefinement and fanaticism, which the writer speaks of, were kept in full vigour by the force of institution and the fashion of the times, the morals of these enamoured knights might, for any thing I know, be as pure as their apologist represents them. At the same time it must be confessed that this discipline was of a nature very likely to relax itself under another state of things, and certainly to be misconstrued by those who should come to look upon these pictures of arefined and spiritual passion, as incredible and fantastic. And hence, no doubt, we are to account for that censure which a famous writer, and one of the ornaments ofElizabeth’sown age, passeth on the old books of chivalry. His expression is downright, and somewhat coarse. “In our fathers time nothing was read but books of chivalry, wherein a man by reading should be led to none other end, but only tomanslaughterandbaudrye. If any man suppose they were good enough to pass the time withall, he is deceived. For surely vain words do work no small thing in vain, ignorant, and young minds, especially if they be given any thing thereunto of their own nature.” He adds, like a good Protestant, “These books, as I have heard say, were made the most part in abbayes and monasteries; a very likely and fit fruit of such an idle and blind kind of living.”Præf.toAscham’s Toxophilus, 1571.I thought it but just to set down this censure of Mr.Aschamover-against the candid representation of the French memorialist.—However, what is said of the influence, which this ancient institution had on the character of his countrymen, is not to be disputed. “Les preceptes d’amour repandoient dans le commerce des dames ces considerations et ces egards respectueux, qui, n’ayant jamais été effacés de l’esprit des François, ont toujours fait un des caractères distinctifs de nôtre nation.”

One sees then the origin of that furious gallantry which runs through the old romances. And so long as therefinement and fanaticism, which the writer speaks of, were kept in full vigour by the force of institution and the fashion of the times, the morals of these enamoured knights might, for any thing I know, be as pure as their apologist represents them. At the same time it must be confessed that this discipline was of a nature very likely to relax itself under another state of things, and certainly to be misconstrued by those who should come to look upon these pictures of arefined and spiritual passion, as incredible and fantastic. And hence, no doubt, we are to account for that censure which a famous writer, and one of the ornaments ofElizabeth’sown age, passeth on the old books of chivalry. His expression is downright, and somewhat coarse. “In our fathers time nothing was read but books of chivalry, wherein a man by reading should be led to none other end, but only tomanslaughterandbaudrye. If any man suppose they were good enough to pass the time withall, he is deceived. For surely vain words do work no small thing in vain, ignorant, and young minds, especially if they be given any thing thereunto of their own nature.” He adds, like a good Protestant, “These books, as I have heard say, were made the most part in abbayes and monasteries; a very likely and fit fruit of such an idle and blind kind of living.”Præf.toAscham’s Toxophilus, 1571.

I thought it but just to set down this censure of Mr.Aschamover-against the candid representation of the French memorialist.—However, what is said of the influence, which this ancient institution had on the character of his countrymen, is not to be disputed. “Les preceptes d’amour repandoient dans le commerce des dames ces considerations et ces egards respectueux, qui, n’ayant jamais été effacés de l’esprit des François, ont toujours fait un des caractères distinctifs de nôtre nation.”

75OfScriblerus. See theVIthchapter of that learned work,On the ancient Gymnastics.

76Masques, p. 181.Whaley’sedition.

77This romantic spirit of the Queen may be seen as well in heramours, as military achievements. “Ambiri, coli ob formam, etAMORIBUS, etiam inclinatâ jam ætate, videri voluit; deFABULOSIS INSULISper illam relaxationem renovatâ quasi memoriâ in quibusEQUITES AC STRENUI HOMINES ERRABANT, etAMORES, fœditate omni prohibitâ, generosè perVIRTUTEMexercebant.”ThuaniHist. tom. vi. p. 172.The observation of the great historian is confirmed byFrancis Osborne, Esq., who, speaking of a contrivance of the Cecilian party to ruin the earl ofEssex, by giving him a rival in the good graces of the queen, observes—“But the whole result concluding in a duel, did rather inflame than abate the former account she made of him: the opinion of aCHAMPIONbeing more splendid (in the weak and romantic sense of women, that admit of nothing fit to be made the object of a quarrel but themselves) and far above that of a captain or general. So as SirEdmund Cary, brother to the LordHunsdon, then chamberlain and near kinsman to the Queen, told me, that though she chid them both, nothing pleased her better than a conceit she had, that herbeautywas the subject of this quarrel, when, God knows, it grew from the stock of honour, of which then they were very tender.”—Mem. of Q. Elizabeth, p. 456.But nothing shews the romantic disposition of the Queen, and indeed of her times, more evidently than theTRIUMPH, as it was called; devised and performed with great solemnity, in honour of theFrenchcommissioners in 1581. The contrivance was for four of her principal courtiers, under the quaint appellation of “four foster-children ofDESIRE,” to besiege and carry, by dint of arms, “the fortress of Beauty;” intending, by this courtly ænigma, nothing less than the queen’s majesty’s own person.—The actors in this famous triumph were, the Earl ofArundel, the LordWindsor, MasterPhilip Sidney, and MasterFulk Grevil. And the whole was conducted so entirely in the spirit and language of knight errantry, that nothing in the Arcadia itself is more romantic. See the account at large inStow’scontinuation ofHolinshed’sChronicles, p. 1316-1321.To see the drift and propriety of this triumph, it is to be observed that the business which brought theFrenchcommissioners intoEnglandwas, the great affair of the queen’s marriage with the duke ofAlançon.

ThuaniHist. tom. vi. p. 172.

The observation of the great historian is confirmed byFrancis Osborne, Esq., who, speaking of a contrivance of the Cecilian party to ruin the earl ofEssex, by giving him a rival in the good graces of the queen, observes—“But the whole result concluding in a duel, did rather inflame than abate the former account she made of him: the opinion of aCHAMPIONbeing more splendid (in the weak and romantic sense of women, that admit of nothing fit to be made the object of a quarrel but themselves) and far above that of a captain or general. So as SirEdmund Cary, brother to the LordHunsdon, then chamberlain and near kinsman to the Queen, told me, that though she chid them both, nothing pleased her better than a conceit she had, that herbeautywas the subject of this quarrel, when, God knows, it grew from the stock of honour, of which then they were very tender.”—Mem. of Q. Elizabeth, p. 456.

But nothing shews the romantic disposition of the Queen, and indeed of her times, more evidently than theTRIUMPH, as it was called; devised and performed with great solemnity, in honour of theFrenchcommissioners in 1581. The contrivance was for four of her principal courtiers, under the quaint appellation of “four foster-children ofDESIRE,” to besiege and carry, by dint of arms, “the fortress of Beauty;” intending, by this courtly ænigma, nothing less than the queen’s majesty’s own person.—The actors in this famous triumph were, the Earl ofArundel, the LordWindsor, MasterPhilip Sidney, and MasterFulk Grevil. And the whole was conducted so entirely in the spirit and language of knight errantry, that nothing in the Arcadia itself is more romantic. See the account at large inStow’scontinuation ofHolinshed’sChronicles, p. 1316-1321.

To see the drift and propriety of this triumph, it is to be observed that the business which brought theFrenchcommissioners intoEnglandwas, the great affair of the queen’s marriage with the duke ofAlançon.

78Speeches at PrinceHenry’sbarriers.

79There was an instance of this kind, and perhaps the latest upon record in our history, in the 13th year of the queen, when “a combat was appointed to have been fought for a certain manor, and demain lands belonging thereto, inKent.” The matter was compromised in the end. But not till after the usual forms had been observed, by the two parties: of which we have a curious and circumstantial detail inHolinshed’sChronicles, p. 1225.

80Alluding to a tract, so called, byGascoigne, an attendant on the court, and poet of that time, who hath given us a narrative of the entertainments that passed on this occasion atKenelworth.

81Hence then it is that a celebrated dramatic writer of those days represents the entertainment ofMASKSandSHOWS, as the highest indulgence that could be provided for a luxurious and happy monarch. His words are these;“Music and poetry are his delight.Therefore I’ll haveItalianmasques by night,Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,LikeSylvan Nymphs, my pages shall be clad:My men, likeSatyrs, grazing on the lawns,Shall, with their goat-feet dance the antic hay:Sometimes a lovely boy inDian’sshape,With hair, that gilds the water as it glides,Crownets of pearls about his naked arms,And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,Shall bathe him in a spring, and there hard-byOne likeActæon, peeping through the grove,Shall by the angry Goddess be transform’d—Such things as these best please his Majesty.”Marlow’sEdward II.And how exactly this dramatist painted the humour of the times, we may see from the entertainment provided, not many years after, for the reception of KingJamesatAlthorpinNorthamptonshire; where this very design ofSylvan Nymphs,Satyrs, andActæon, was executed in a masque byB. Jonson.

“Music and poetry are his delight.Therefore I’ll haveItalianmasques by night,Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing shows;And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,LikeSylvan Nymphs, my pages shall be clad:My men, likeSatyrs, grazing on the lawns,Shall, with their goat-feet dance the antic hay:Sometimes a lovely boy inDian’sshape,With hair, that gilds the water as it glides,Crownets of pearls about his naked arms,And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,Shall bathe him in a spring, and there hard-byOne likeActæon, peeping through the grove,Shall by the angry Goddess be transform’d—Such things as these best please his Majesty.”Marlow’sEdward II.

And how exactly this dramatist painted the humour of the times, we may see from the entertainment provided, not many years after, for the reception of KingJamesatAlthorpinNorthamptonshire; where this very design ofSylvan Nymphs,Satyrs, andActæon, was executed in a masque byB. Jonson.

82Whom his friend Mr.Seldencharacterizeth in this manner,“Omnia carmina doctusEt calles mythων plasmata et historiam.”Tit. of Hon.p. 466.

82Whom his friend Mr.Seldencharacterizeth in this manner,

“Omnia carmina doctusEt calles mythων plasmata et historiam.”Tit. of Hon.p. 466.

83Sacrifices, saysPlutarch,without chorusses and without music, we have known: but for poetry, without fable and without fiction, we know of no such thing. Θυσίας μὲν ἀχόρους καὶ ἀναύλους ἴσμεν· οὐκ ἴσμεν δὲ ἄμυθον οὐδὲ ἀψευδῆ ϖοίησιν. De aud. poët. vol. i. p. 16.

84This will be admitted, if a calculation said to have been made by themselves of their number at that time may be relied on—“They make reasoning (saith SirEdwin Sandysin hisSpeculum Europæ, written in 1699) forty hundred sure catholics inEngland, with four hundredEnglish Romanpriests to maintain that militia,” p. 157.

85Mr.Camdenowns that theIrishrebellion, which in the end became so dangerous, had been “encouraged by a slighting of it, and a gripple-handedness ofEngland.” [Hist. ofEliz.B. iv.]—To the same purpose another eminent writer of that time—“Before the transmitting of the last great army, the forces sent over byQ. ElizabethwereNOTof sufficient power to break and subdue all theIrishry.” At last, however, “The extreme peril of losing the kingdom; the dishonour and danger that might thereby grow to the crown ofEngland; together with a just disdain conceived by that great-minded queen, that so wicked and ungrateful a rebel should prevail against her, who had ever been victorious against all her enemies; did move and almostENFORCEher to send over that mighty army.” [Sir.J. Davies,Discovery of the State of Ireland, p. 97.Lond.1613.]

86SirRobert Nauntontells us, “The queen was never profuse in delivering out of her treasure; but paid her servants part in money, and the rest withGRACE; which, as the case stood, was then taken for good payment.” [Fragm. Reg.p. 89.] AndNat. Baconto the same purpose. “A wise man, that was an eye-witness ofHERactions, and those that succeeded to her, many times hath said, That a courtier might make a better meal of one goodLOOKfrom her, than of a gift from some other.” [Disc.P. ii. p. 266.Lond.1651.]

87Thisreverence of authority, one of the characteristics of that time, and which Mr.Addisonpresently accounts for, a great writer celebrates in these words—“It was an ingenuous uninquisitive time, when all the passions and affections of the people were lapped up in such an innocent and humble obedience, that there was never the least contestation nor capitulation with the queen, nor (though she very frequently consulted with her subjects)any further reasons urged of her actions thanHER OWN WILL.” See a tract intitledThe Disparity, in SirH. Wotton’sRemains, p. 46, supposed to have been written by the earl ofClarendon.

88Paulus Hentznerus, a learnedGerman, who was inEnglandin 1598, goes still further in his encomium on the queen’s skill in languages. He tells us, that, “præterquam quòd Græcè et Latinè eleganter est docta, tenet, ultra jam memorata idiomata, etiam Hispanicum, Scoticum, et Belgicum.” See hisItinerarium.But this was the general character of the great in that reign: at least, if we may credit MasterWilliam Harrison, who discourseth on the subject before us in the following manner: “This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here inEngland, that there are very few of them, which have not the use and skill of sundry speeches, beside an excellent vein of writing, before time not regarded. Truly it is a rare thing with us now, to hear of a courtier which hath but his own language. And to say how many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that, beside sound knowledge of theGreekandLatintongues, are thereto no less skilful in theSpanish,Italian, andFrench, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me; sith I am persuaded, that as the noblemen and gentlemen do surmount in this behalf, so these come very little or nothing behind them for their parts; which industry God continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting.”Descript.ofEngland, p. 196.

But this was the general character of the great in that reign: at least, if we may credit MasterWilliam Harrison, who discourseth on the subject before us in the following manner: “This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation of both sorts and sexes of our courtiers here inEngland, that there are very few of them, which have not the use and skill of sundry speeches, beside an excellent vein of writing, before time not regarded. Truly it is a rare thing with us now, to hear of a courtier which hath but his own language. And to say how many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that, beside sound knowledge of theGreekandLatintongues, are thereto no less skilful in theSpanish,Italian, andFrench, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me; sith I am persuaded, that as the noblemen and gentlemen do surmount in this behalf, so these come very little or nothing behind them for their parts; which industry God continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting.”Descript.ofEngland, p. 196.

89One of thesetieswas theprejudice of education; and some uncommon methods used to bind it fast on the minds of the people.—A book, called ΕΙΡΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ, siveElizabeth, was written inLatinverse by oneOckland, containing the highest panegyrics on the queen’s character and government, and setting forth the transcendant virtues of her ministers. This book was enjoined by authority to be taught, as a classic author, in Grammar-schools, and was of course to be gotten by heart by the young scholars throughout the kingdom.This was a matchless contrivance to imprint a sense of loyalty on the minds of the people. And, though it flowed, as we are to suppose, from a tender regard, in the advisers of it, for the interests of Protestantism in that reign; yet its uses are so apparent in any reign, and under any administration, that nothing but the moderation of her successors, and the reasonable assurance of their ministers that their own acknowledged virtues were a sufficient support to them, could have hindered the expedient from being followed.But, though the stamp of public authority was wanting, private men have attempted, in several ways, to supply this defect. To instance only in one. The Protestant queen was to pass for a mirror ofgood government: hence the Εἰρηνάρχια. Her successor would needs be thought a mirror ofeloquence: and hence the noble enterprise I am about to celebrate. “Mr.George Herbert(I give it in the grave historian’s own words) being prelector in the rhetorique school inCambridge, in 1618, passed by those fluent orators, that domineered in the pulpits ofAthensandRome, and insisted to read upon an oration ofK. James, which he analysed; shewed the concinnity of the parts; the propriety of the phrase; the height and power of it to move the affections; the style,UTTERLY UNKNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS, who could not conceive what kingly eloquence was, in respect of which those noted demigogi were but hirelings and tribolary rhetoricians.” BishopHacket’sLife of ArchbishopWilliams, p. 175.

This was a matchless contrivance to imprint a sense of loyalty on the minds of the people. And, though it flowed, as we are to suppose, from a tender regard, in the advisers of it, for the interests of Protestantism in that reign; yet its uses are so apparent in any reign, and under any administration, that nothing but the moderation of her successors, and the reasonable assurance of their ministers that their own acknowledged virtues were a sufficient support to them, could have hindered the expedient from being followed.

But, though the stamp of public authority was wanting, private men have attempted, in several ways, to supply this defect. To instance only in one. The Protestant queen was to pass for a mirror ofgood government: hence the Εἰρηνάρχια. Her successor would needs be thought a mirror ofeloquence: and hence the noble enterprise I am about to celebrate. “Mr.George Herbert(I give it in the grave historian’s own words) being prelector in the rhetorique school inCambridge, in 1618, passed by those fluent orators, that domineered in the pulpits ofAthensandRome, and insisted to read upon an oration ofK. James, which he analysed; shewed the concinnity of the parts; the propriety of the phrase; the height and power of it to move the affections; the style,UTTERLY UNKNOWN TO THE ANCIENTS, who could not conceive what kingly eloquence was, in respect of which those noted demigogi were but hirelings and tribolary rhetoricians.” BishopHacket’sLife of ArchbishopWilliams, p. 175.

90A learned foreigner gives this character of theEnglishat that time: “Angli, utADDICTE SERVIUNT, ità evecti ad dignitates priorem humilitatemINSOLENTIArependunt.”H. Grotii Ann.L. v. p. 95.Amst.1657. Hence the propriety of those complaints, in our great poet, of,“The whips and scorns of th’ time,Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,The insolence of office;”—complaintsso frequent, and so forcibly expressed by him, that we may believe he painted from his own observation, and perhaps experience, of this insolent misuse of authority.Measure for Measure, A. II. S. vii.

“The whips and scorns of th’ time,Th’ oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,The insolence of office;”—

complaintsso frequent, and so forcibly expressed by him, that we may believe he painted from his own observation, and perhaps experience, of this insolent misuse of authority.Measure for Measure, A. II. S. vii.

91Yet it may seem probable, from this poet’s conduct inIreland, and hisView of the state of that country, that his talents forbusiness(such asCecilhimself must have approved) were no less considerable than for poetry. But he had served a disgraced man; and had drawn upon himself the admiration of the generous earl ofEssex. So that, as the historian expresseth it, “by a fate which still follows poets, he always wrestled with poverty, though he had been secretary to the lordGray, lord deputy ofIreland.” All that remained for him was, “to be interred atWestminster, near toChaucer, at the charge of the earl ofEssex; his hearse being attended by poets, and mournful elegies and poems, with the pens that wrote them, thrown into his grave.”Camden, lib. iv.

92As to SirFrancis Bacon, the queen herself gave a very plausible reason, and doubtless much approved by the grave lawyers and other judicious persons of that time, for her neglect of this gentleman. “She did acknowledge (says the earl ofEssexin a letter to Mr.Francis Bacon) you had a great wit, and an excellent gift of speech, and much other good learning. But inLaw, she rather thought you could make shew, to the utmost of your knowledge, than, that you were deep.”Mem. of Q. Elizabethby Dr.Birch; to whom the public is exceedingly indebted for abundance of curious information concerning the history of those times.If it be asked, how the queen came to form this conclusion, the answer is plain. It was from Mr.Bacon’shaving aGREAT WIT, an excellentGIFT OF SPEECH, and much otherGOOD LEARNING.It is true, SirFrancis Baconhimself gives another account of this matter. In a letter of advice to Sir.George Villiers, he says, “In this dedication of yourself to the public, I recommend unto you principally that which I think was never done since I was born—that you countenance and encourage and advanceABLE MEN, in all kinds, degrees, and professions. For in the time of theCecils, father and son,ABLE MEN WERE BY DESIGN AND OF PURPOSE SUPPRESSED.”Cabala, p. 57, ed. 1691.—But either way, indeed, the queen’s character is equally saved.

If it be asked, how the queen came to form this conclusion, the answer is plain. It was from Mr.Bacon’shaving aGREAT WIT, an excellentGIFT OF SPEECH, and much otherGOOD LEARNING.

It is true, SirFrancis Baconhimself gives another account of this matter. In a letter of advice to Sir.George Villiers, he says, “In this dedication of yourself to the public, I recommend unto you principally that which I think was never done since I was born—that you countenance and encourage and advanceABLE MEN, in all kinds, degrees, and professions. For in the time of theCecils, father and son,ABLE MEN WERE BY DESIGN AND OF PURPOSE SUPPRESSED.”Cabala, p. 57, ed. 1691.—But either way, indeed, the queen’s character is equally saved.

93The lordMountjoy[then SirCharles Blount], being of a military turn, had stolen over intoFrance, without the queen’s knowledge, in order to serve inBretagne, under one of her generals. Upon his return, which was hastened too by her express command, “Serve me so again, said the queen, once more, and I will lay you fast enough for running. You will never leave, till you are knocked o’ the head, as that inconsiderate fellowSidneywas. You shall go when I send you. In the mean time see that you lodge in the Court, where you mayFOLLOW YOUR BOOKS, HEAD, AND DISCOURSE OF THE WARS.” SirRobert Naunton’s Fr. Reg.inL. Burleigh.

94So good a judge of military matters, as SirWalter Raleigh, was of this opinion with regard to the conduct of theSpanishwar. “If the late queen would have believed her men of war, as she did her scribes, we had, in her time, beaten that great empire in pieces, and made their kings, kings of figs and oranges, as in old times. Buther majesty did all by halves, and, by petty invasions, taught theSpaniardhow to defend himself, and to see his own weakness; which, till our attempts taught him, was hardly known to himself.” See his Works, vol. i. 273.—Raleigh, it may be said, was of theCecilfaction. But the men of war, of theEssexfaction, talked exactly in the same strain; which shews that this might probably be the truth.

95See SirHenry Wotton’sParallel of the earl of Essex and duke of Buckingham. The words are these: “He [the earl ofEssex] was to wrestle with a queen’s declining, or rather with her very setting age, as we may term it; which, besides other respects, is commonly even of itself the more umbratious and apprehensive; as for the most part all horizons are charged with certain vapours towards their evening.”Remains, p. 11.

96The Disparity, p. 43

97This account of her policy is confirmed by what we read in theDisparity, before cited. “That trick of countenancing and protecting factions (as that queen, almost her whole reign, did with singular and equal demonstration of grace look upon several persons of most distant wishes one towards another) was not the least ground of much of her quiet and success. And she never doubted but that men, that were never so opposite in their good-will each to other, or never so dishonest in their projectments for each other’s confusion, might yet be reconciled in their allegiance towards her. Insomuch that, during her whole reign, she never endeavoured to reconcile any personal differences in the court, though the unlawful emulations of persons of nearest trust about her, were ever like to overthrow some of her chiefest designs:A policy, seldom entertained by princes, especially if they have issues to survive them,” p. 46. Her own historian, it is true, seems a little shy of acknowledging this conduct of the queen, with regard to her nobility and ministers. But he owns, “She now and then took a pleasure (and not unprofitably) in the emulation and privy grudges of her women.”Camden’s Elizabeth, p. 79. fol.Lond.1688.

98We find an intimation to this purpose, in a writer of credit, at least with respect to theDutchandIreland—“Jam etdivulsamHiberniam, et in Batavis Angli militisseditiones, velutJUSSAS, erant qui exprobrarent.”Grotii Annal.l. xii. p. 432.

99Something like this was observed of her disposition by SirJames Melvil. After having related to his mistress, the queen ofScots, the strong professions of friendship which the queen ofEnglandhad made to him, “She [the queen ofScots] inquired, says he, whether I thought that queen meant truly towards her inwardly in her heart, as she appeared to do outwardly in her speech. I answered freely, that, in my judgment, there was neither plain dealing, nor upright meaning; but great dissimulation, emulation, andFEAR, lest her princely qualities should over-soon chace her from her kingdom,” &c.Memoirs, p. 53.

100SecretaryWalsingham, in a letter to the queen, Sept. 2, 1581, amongst other things to the same purpose, has the following words—“Remember, I humbly beseech your majesty,the respect of charges hath lost Scotland: and I would to God I had no cause to think, thatit might put your highness in peril of the loss of England.”—“And even the Lord Treasurer himself (we are told) in a letter still extant in the paper-office, written in the critical year 1588, while theSpanisharmada was expected againstEngland, excuses himself to sirEdward Stafford, then embassador inFrance, for not writing to him oftener,on account of her majesty’s unwillingness to be at the expence of messengers.” SirT. Edmondes’State-papers, by Dr.Birch, p. 21.

101One of these complaisant observers was the writer ofthe Description of England, who, speaking of the variety of the queen’s houses, checks himself with saying, “But what shall I need to take upon me to repeat all, and tell what houses the queen’s majesty hath? SithALL IS HIRS; and when it pleaseth hir in the summer season to recreate hirself abroad, and view the state of the countrie, and hear the complaints of hir unjust officers or substitutes,every nobleman’s house is hir palace, where she continueth during pleasure, and till she returne again to some of hir owne; in which she remaineth as long as pleaseth hir.” p. 196.

102Perhaps they had no need of such favours: It seems as if they had provided for themselves another way. One of her ladies, the LadyEdmondes, had been applied to for her interest with the queen in a certain affair of no great moment, then depending in the Court of Chancery. The person, commissioned to transact this matter with her ladyship, had offered her 100l.which she treatedas too small a sum. The relater of this fact adds—“This ruffianry of causes I am daily more and more acquainted with, and see the manner of dealing, which cometh of thequeen’s straitnessto give these women, whereby they presume thus to grange and truck causes.” See a letter inMem.ofQ. Elizabeth, by Dr.Birch, vol. i. p. 354. But this 100l.as the virtuous LadyEdmondessays, wasa small sum. It appears, that bishopFletcher, on his translation toLondon, “bestowed in allowances and gratifications to divers attendants [indeed we are not expressly told, they werefemale] about her majesty, the sum of 3100l.which money was given by him, for the most part of it,by her majesty’s direction and special appointment.” Mem. vol. ii. p. 113. And the curiosity is, to find this minute of episcopalgratificationsin a petition presented to the queen herself, “To move her majesty in commiseration towards the orphans of this bishop.”—However, to do the ladies justice, the contagion of bribery was so general in that reign, that the greatest men in the court were infected by it. The lord-keeperPuckering, it seems, had a finger in the affair of the 100l.; nay, himself speaks to the lady to get him commanded by the queen to favour the suit. And we are told, that SirW. Raleighhad no less than 10,000l.for his interest with the queen on a certain occasion, after having been invited to this service by the finest letter that ever was written.—Indeed it is not said how much of this secret service money wentin allowances and gratifications to the attendants about the queen’s majesty, vol. ii. p. 497.

103LordBaconmade the same excuse forhisbribery; as he had learnt, perhaps, the trade itself from his royal mistress. It was a rule with this great chancellor, “Not to sell injustice, but never to let justice go scot-free.”

104SeeHist. Collections, byH. Townshend, Esq.; p. 268.Lond.1680.—The lord-keeper too, in a speech in the star-chamber, confirms this charge on the country justices. “The thirst, says he, after this authority, proceedeth from nothing but an ambitious humour of gaining of reputation amongst their neighbours; that still, when they come home,they may be presented with presents.” Ibid. p. 355.

105When the queen declared to SirJames Melvilher resolution of virginity, “I know the truth of that, madam, (said he); you need not tell it me. Your majesty thinks, if you were married, you would be but queen ofEngland; and now you are both king and queen.I know your spirit cannot endure a commander.”Mem.p. 49. This was frank. But SirJames Melvilwas too well seen in courts to have used this language, if he had not understood it would be welcome. Accordingly, the queen’s highness did not seem displeased with the imputation.

106This was a common topick of complaint against the queen; or at least her ministers, and gave occasion to that reproof of the poetSpenser, which the persons concerned could hardly look upon as very decent,“Scarce can a bishoprick forepass them byeBut that it must be gelt in privity.”MotherHubbard’sTale.But a bishop of that time carries the charge still further. In one of his sermons at court before the queen, “Parsonages and vicarages, says he, seldom pass now-a-days from the patron, but either for the lease, or the present money. Such merchants are broken into the church of God, a great deal more intolerable than were they whomChristwhipped out of the temple.”—This language is very harsh, and surely not deserved by the Protestant patrons of those days, who were only, as we may suppose, for reducing the church ofChristto its pure and primitive state of indigence and suffering. How edifying is it to hear St.Paulspeak of his being—In hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness!And how perfectly reformed would our church be, if its ministers were but once more in this blessed apostolical condition!

“Scarce can a bishoprick forepass them byeBut that it must be gelt in privity.”MotherHubbard’sTale.

But a bishop of that time carries the charge still further. In one of his sermons at court before the queen, “Parsonages and vicarages, says he, seldom pass now-a-days from the patron, but either for the lease, or the present money. Such merchants are broken into the church of God, a great deal more intolerable than were they whomChristwhipped out of the temple.”—This language is very harsh, and surely not deserved by the Protestant patrons of those days, who were only, as we may suppose, for reducing the church ofChristto its pure and primitive state of indigence and suffering. How edifying is it to hear St.Paulspeak of his being—In hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness!And how perfectly reformed would our church be, if its ministers were but once more in this blessed apostolical condition!

107It was this circumstance that seemed to weigh most with the Lord ChancellorBacon; who, in his short tract,In felicem memoriamElizabethæ, saith, “Illud cogitandum censeo, in quali populo imperium tenuerit: si enim in Palmyrenis, aut Asiâ imbelli et molli regnum sortita esset, minùs mirandum fuisset—verùm inAnglia,natione ferocissimâ et bellicosissimâ, omnia ex nutu fœminæ moveri et cohiberi potuisse,SUMMAM MERITO ADMIRATIONEM HABET.”

108The subject of these Dialogues, onthe English Constitution, is the most important inEnglishpolitics.—To cite all the passages from our best antiquaries and historians, out of which this work was formed, and which lay before the writer in composing it, would swell this volume to an immoderate size. It is enough to say, that nothingmaterialis advanced in the course of the argument, but on the best authority.

109That is, of thefeudal law: which was one of the subjects explained by the bishop to his royal pupil the duke ofGloucester. “I acquainted him, says he, with all the great revolutions that had been in the world, and gave him a copious account of theGreekandRomanhistories, and ofPlutarch’sLives: the last thing I explained to him was the Gothic constitution, and theBENEFICIARY AND FEUDAL LAWS.” [Hist.of his own Times, vol. iv. p. 357.Edinb.1753.]

110OnApril 11, 1689.

111Of the great seal—The other lawyers in commission wereKeckandRawlinson.

112This was a favourite subject with our good bishop; and how qualified he was to discuss it, even in its minutest particularities, may be learnt from his history at large.

113It was not thusleft to itself, but was nursed and fostered with great care by the preachers ofdivine indefeasible hereditary right, in this and the following reign.

114This casual remark seems to determine a famous dispute among the Antiquaries on the subject before us. BishopNicolsonattended so little to this tralatitious use of words, in which all languages abound, that findingLagain several places signified acountry, he would needs have it thatCamden,Lambarde,Spelman,Cowell,Selden, and all our best Antiquaries, were mistaken, when they supposedLagaever signified, in the compositions here mentioned, alaw. However, his adversaries among the Antiquaries were even with him; and finding thatLaga, in these compositions, did signify a law in several places of our ancient laws, historians, and lawyers, deny that it ever signifies acountry. Each indeed had a considerable object in view; the one was bent on overthrowing a system; the other on supporting it; namely, that famous threefold body of laws, theDanish,Mercian, andWest-Saxon. It must be owned, the bishop could not overthrow the common system, without running into his extreme: it seems, his opponents might have supported it without running into theirs.

115SeeHistorical Law-Tracts, vol. i. p. 294.

116Miltondid not forget to observe, in hisTenure of kings and magistrates, ThatWilliamtheNorman, though a Conqueror, and not unsworn at his Coronation, was compelled a second time to take oath atSt. Albans, ere the people would be brought to yield obedience. Vol. i.of his Prose works, 4to, 1753. p. 345.

117Henry VII.

118Henry VIII.

119Elizabeth.

120Propria feudi natura est ut sit perpetua.Cujacius, Littleton.121Craig’sJus feudale, lib. i. p. 21.Lond.1655.122This account of theSaxonbenefices is much confirmed by the famous charter of BishopOswald, and the comment of SirH. Spelmanupon it. See his discourse onFEUDSandTENURES.123Matthew Parisgives us the following account of this matter—“Episcopatus et Abbatias omnes, quæ baronias tenebant, et eatenus ab omni servitute sæculari libertatem habuerant, sub servitute statuit militari, inrotulans singulos episcopatus et abbatias pro voluntate suâ, quot milites sibi et successoribus suis, hostilitatis tempore, voluit à singulis exhiberi. EtROTULOS HUJUS ECCLESIASTICÆ SERVITUTISponens in thesauris, multos viros ecclesiasticosHUIC CONSTITUTIONI PESSIMÆreluctantes, à regno fugavit.”Hist. Ang. Willielmus Conqæstor.124The learnedCraig, who has written so largely and accurately on the feudal law, was so far from seeing any thing servile in it, that he says, “The foundations of this discipline are laid in the most generous of all considerations, those ofGratitude.Hujus feudalis disciplinæ fundamenta à gratitudine et ingratitudine descendunt.”Epist. Nuncup.toK. James.125This bounty in so wise a prince asWilliamwill be thought strange. I believe it may be, in part, accounted for, from what is observed above of theSaxonallodial lords. These had possessed immense estates. And, as they fell in upon forfeiture, the greatNormanadventurers would of course expect to come into the entire succession.—Perhaps too, in that confusion of affairs, the prince might not always, himself, be apprized of the extent and value of these possessions.126The law ofEdwardthe Confessor is express to this purpose, and it was ratified by the Conqueror—“Debet rex omnia ritè facere in regno et per judicium procerum regni.” SirH. Spelmanof Parliaments, p. 58.127M.De Montesquieuobserves of the Gothic government—“Il fut d’abord melé de l’aristocratie, et de la monarchie. Il avoit cet inconvenient, que le bas-peuple y étoit esclave:C’étoit un bon gouvernment, qui avoit en soi la capacité de devenir meilleur.” [l. xi. c. 8.]—the very idea, which is here inculcated.128See oldFortescue, in his bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, where this sort of analogy is pursued at length through a great part of theXIIIthchapter.129Agreeably to what SirH. Spelmanasserts, in his Glossary, of its parent, thefeudal lawitself; “De lege feudali—pronunciandum censeo,TEMPORISeam esse filiam, sensimque succrescentem,EDICTIS PRINCIPUMauctam indies excultam.” In voceFeodum.130Diss. ad Flet.1091. andWilliam of Malmesbury, lib. iv. 1. 69.Lond.1596.131Selden’sWorks, vol. ii. p. 1082.132Diss. ad Flet.1078.133Dr.Duck,De usu et authoritate juris civilis, p. 103.Lugd. Batav.1654.134Policratic.lib. viii. c. 22. p. 672.Lugd. Bat.1639.135Diss. ad Flet.1082.136Diss. ad Flet.1097.137Dr.Duck, p. 364.138Disc.Part I. p. 78.Lond.1739.139AtMerton, in the year 1236.140Diss. ad Flet.1108.141SeeFortescue,De laudibus leg. Angl.p. 74.Lond.1741; andSelden’s Janus Anglorum, 1610, vol. ii. tom. ii.142Diss. ad Flet.1104.143Dr.Duck, p. 365.144Diss. ad Flet.1010.145Diss. ad Flet.1106.146P. 1046.147Mr.Selden’s Diss. ad Flet.1100.148De laud. leg. Ang.c. 33, 34.149Diss. ad Flet.1102.150The speaker might have begun this account of thefate and fortunesof the civil law still higher.Nat. Bacon, speaking ofHenrythe Fifth’s reign, observes, “The times were now come about, wherein light began to spring forth, conscience to bestir itself, and men to study the scriptures. This was imputed to the idleness and carelessness of the clergy, who suffered the minds of young scholars to luxuriate into errors of divinity, for want of putting them on to other learning; and gave no encouragement to studies of human literature, by preferring those that were deserving. The convocation taking this into consideration, do decree, that no person should exercise any jurisdiction in any office, asvicar-general,commissary, orofficial, or otherwise, unless he shall first in the university have taken degrees in theCIVIL OR CANON LAWS. A shrewd trick this was, to stop the growth of the study of divinity, andWickliff’sway; and to embellish men’s minds with a kind of learning that may gain them preferment, or at least an opinion of abilities beyond the common strain, and dangerous to be meddled with. Like some gallants, that wear swords as badges of honour, and to bid men beware, because they possibly may strike, though in their own persons they may be very cowards. And no less mischievously intended was this against the ruggedCOMMON LAW, a rule so nigh allied to the gospel-way, as it favoureth liberty; and so far estranged from the way of the civil and canon law, as there is no hope of accommodation till Christ and Antichrist have sought the field.”Disc.Part II. p. 90.Lond.1739.151It should however be observed, in honour of their patriotism, that “they afterwards took themselves out of it,” when they saw the extremities to which the popular party were driving.152This alludes to the proceedings against theeleven membersupon the charge of the Army. SirJohn Maynardwas one of them. And when articles of high treason were preferred against him, and the trial was to come on before the lords, he excepted to the jurisdiction of the court, and, by a written paper presented to them, required to be tried by his peers according toMagna Charta, and the law of the land. SeeWhitlocke’sMemorials; and a short pamphlet written on that occasion, calledThe Royal Quarrel, dated 9th ofFeb.1647.—SirJohnwas, at this time, a close prisoner in the Tower.153See his speech, inserted in hisMemorials of English Affairs, Nov. 1649.154Disc.Part I. p. 78.155The reader may not be displeased to see the words of oldFortescueon this subject of the origin of theEnglishgovernment, which are very remarkable. In his famous bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, he distinguishes between theREGALandPOLITICALforms of government. In explaining thelatter, which he gives us as the proper form of theEnglishgovernment, he expresseth himself in these words—“Habes instituti omnisPOLITICI REGNIformam, ex quâ metiri poteris potestatem, quam rex ejus in leges ipsius aut subditos valeat exercere: ad tutelam namque legis subditorum, ac eorum corporum et bonorum rex hujusmodi erectus est, et hanc potestatemA POPULO EFFLUXAMipse habet, quo ei non licet potestate aliâsuo populo dominari.”Cap.xiii.156It may be of little moment to us, at this day, to inquire, how far the princes of the house ofStuartwere blameable for their endeavours to usurp on the constitution. But it must ever be of the highest moment to maintain, that we had a constitution to assert against them. Party-writers perpetually confound these two things. It is the author’s purpose, in these two Dialogues, to contend for thelatter.157See the late History of England byDavid Hume, esq.; who forms the apology of the house ofStuarton these principles.

120

Propria feudi natura est ut sit perpetua.Cujacius, Littleton.

121Craig’sJus feudale, lib. i. p. 21.Lond.1655.

122This account of theSaxonbenefices is much confirmed by the famous charter of BishopOswald, and the comment of SirH. Spelmanupon it. See his discourse onFEUDSandTENURES.

123Matthew Parisgives us the following account of this matter—“Episcopatus et Abbatias omnes, quæ baronias tenebant, et eatenus ab omni servitute sæculari libertatem habuerant, sub servitute statuit militari, inrotulans singulos episcopatus et abbatias pro voluntate suâ, quot milites sibi et successoribus suis, hostilitatis tempore, voluit à singulis exhiberi. EtROTULOS HUJUS ECCLESIASTICÆ SERVITUTISponens in thesauris, multos viros ecclesiasticosHUIC CONSTITUTIONI PESSIMÆreluctantes, à regno fugavit.”Hist. Ang. Willielmus Conqæstor.

124The learnedCraig, who has written so largely and accurately on the feudal law, was so far from seeing any thing servile in it, that he says, “The foundations of this discipline are laid in the most generous of all considerations, those ofGratitude.Hujus feudalis disciplinæ fundamenta à gratitudine et ingratitudine descendunt.”Epist. Nuncup.toK. James.

125This bounty in so wise a prince asWilliamwill be thought strange. I believe it may be, in part, accounted for, from what is observed above of theSaxonallodial lords. These had possessed immense estates. And, as they fell in upon forfeiture, the greatNormanadventurers would of course expect to come into the entire succession.—Perhaps too, in that confusion of affairs, the prince might not always, himself, be apprized of the extent and value of these possessions.

126The law ofEdwardthe Confessor is express to this purpose, and it was ratified by the Conqueror—“Debet rex omnia ritè facere in regno et per judicium procerum regni.” SirH. Spelmanof Parliaments, p. 58.

127M.De Montesquieuobserves of the Gothic government—“Il fut d’abord melé de l’aristocratie, et de la monarchie. Il avoit cet inconvenient, que le bas-peuple y étoit esclave:C’étoit un bon gouvernment, qui avoit en soi la capacité de devenir meilleur.” [l. xi. c. 8.]—the very idea, which is here inculcated.

128See oldFortescue, in his bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, where this sort of analogy is pursued at length through a great part of theXIIIthchapter.

129Agreeably to what SirH. Spelmanasserts, in his Glossary, of its parent, thefeudal lawitself; “De lege feudali—pronunciandum censeo,TEMPORISeam esse filiam, sensimque succrescentem,EDICTIS PRINCIPUMauctam indies excultam.” In voceFeodum.

130Diss. ad Flet.1091. andWilliam of Malmesbury, lib. iv. 1. 69.Lond.1596.

131Selden’sWorks, vol. ii. p. 1082.

132Diss. ad Flet.1078.

133Dr.Duck,De usu et authoritate juris civilis, p. 103.Lugd. Batav.1654.

134Policratic.lib. viii. c. 22. p. 672.Lugd. Bat.1639.

135Diss. ad Flet.1082.

136Diss. ad Flet.1097.

137Dr.Duck, p. 364.

138Disc.Part I. p. 78.Lond.1739.

139AtMerton, in the year 1236.

140Diss. ad Flet.1108.

141SeeFortescue,De laudibus leg. Angl.p. 74.Lond.1741; andSelden’s Janus Anglorum, 1610, vol. ii. tom. ii.

142Diss. ad Flet.1104.

143Dr.Duck, p. 365.

144Diss. ad Flet.1010.

145Diss. ad Flet.1106.

146P. 1046.

147Mr.Selden’s Diss. ad Flet.1100.

148De laud. leg. Ang.c. 33, 34.

149Diss. ad Flet.1102.

150The speaker might have begun this account of thefate and fortunesof the civil law still higher.Nat. Bacon, speaking ofHenrythe Fifth’s reign, observes, “The times were now come about, wherein light began to spring forth, conscience to bestir itself, and men to study the scriptures. This was imputed to the idleness and carelessness of the clergy, who suffered the minds of young scholars to luxuriate into errors of divinity, for want of putting them on to other learning; and gave no encouragement to studies of human literature, by preferring those that were deserving. The convocation taking this into consideration, do decree, that no person should exercise any jurisdiction in any office, asvicar-general,commissary, orofficial, or otherwise, unless he shall first in the university have taken degrees in theCIVIL OR CANON LAWS. A shrewd trick this was, to stop the growth of the study of divinity, andWickliff’sway; and to embellish men’s minds with a kind of learning that may gain them preferment, or at least an opinion of abilities beyond the common strain, and dangerous to be meddled with. Like some gallants, that wear swords as badges of honour, and to bid men beware, because they possibly may strike, though in their own persons they may be very cowards. And no less mischievously intended was this against the ruggedCOMMON LAW, a rule so nigh allied to the gospel-way, as it favoureth liberty; and so far estranged from the way of the civil and canon law, as there is no hope of accommodation till Christ and Antichrist have sought the field.”Disc.Part II. p. 90.Lond.1739.

151It should however be observed, in honour of their patriotism, that “they afterwards took themselves out of it,” when they saw the extremities to which the popular party were driving.

152This alludes to the proceedings against theeleven membersupon the charge of the Army. SirJohn Maynardwas one of them. And when articles of high treason were preferred against him, and the trial was to come on before the lords, he excepted to the jurisdiction of the court, and, by a written paper presented to them, required to be tried by his peers according toMagna Charta, and the law of the land. SeeWhitlocke’sMemorials; and a short pamphlet written on that occasion, calledThe Royal Quarrel, dated 9th ofFeb.1647.—SirJohnwas, at this time, a close prisoner in the Tower.

153See his speech, inserted in hisMemorials of English Affairs, Nov. 1649.

154Disc.Part I. p. 78.

155The reader may not be displeased to see the words of oldFortescueon this subject of the origin of theEnglishgovernment, which are very remarkable. In his famous bookDe laudibus legum Angliæ, he distinguishes between theREGALandPOLITICALforms of government. In explaining thelatter, which he gives us as the proper form of theEnglishgovernment, he expresseth himself in these words—“Habes instituti omnisPOLITICI REGNIformam, ex quâ metiri poteris potestatem, quam rex ejus in leges ipsius aut subditos valeat exercere: ad tutelam namque legis subditorum, ac eorum corporum et bonorum rex hujusmodi erectus est, et hanc potestatemA POPULO EFFLUXAMipse habet, quo ei non licet potestate aliâsuo populo dominari.”Cap.xiii.

156It may be of little moment to us, at this day, to inquire, how far the princes of the house ofStuartwere blameable for their endeavours to usurp on the constitution. But it must ever be of the highest moment to maintain, that we had a constitution to assert against them. Party-writers perpetually confound these two things. It is the author’s purpose, in these two Dialogues, to contend for thelatter.

157See the late History of England byDavid Hume, esq.; who forms the apology of the house ofStuarton these principles.

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