when they are copied in a modern Poem by a Poet of our Age by reason of the vastly different Circumstances of Times Places Persons Customs Religions and common received Opinions Fifthly I should be glad to be certified whether since the Episodes as has been said above are but the necessary parts of an Action extended by probable Circumstances Parts which have a necessary dependance one upon another and which may be said to produce one another as Causes do their Effects so that the very first Incident in a Poem of skilfull Structure virtually influences the very last Event I say since this is so I should be glad to be certified whether the Improbability even of one Episode must not ruine the Probability of the Poem and destroy the Moral Since that which is probable can never have any dependance upon what is absurd But it will then be time to speak of what is probable or admirable or agreeable in the Poem when we come to the Narration At present I desire leave to prove three Things First That the Action of Prince Arthur is not one Secondly That it is not entire And Lastly that there are Things in the Action as it stands in the Poem with its Names and its Episodes which without referring them to any thing else or without offending Probability are singly and directly utterly destructive of the Moral which being destroy'd the Fable falls of which it is the Foundation with which the Universality of the Action falls so that the Action is nothing but an empty Fiction of no manner of concern to us without any kind of Instruction and without any reasonable Meaning CHAP. IV. Of the Unity of the Action THE Action of the Poem ought to be one not only in the Plan of the Fable and in the first Project but likewise after the Imposition of Names and after the framing the Episodes Now that the Action may be one after it has its Episodes care is to be taken that the Episodes may be proper to it for it is the Propriety or Impropriety of the Episodes that preserves or corrupts the Unity of the Action Now that the Episodes may be proper to the Action they ought to be necessary parts of it as we hinted above but then those necessary parts of it ought to be extended by probable circumstances as for example The necessary parts of Virgil's Action are first The Destruction of a State and the Death of a Monarch Secondly His Successors setting sail with his Gods and the remnant of his Country-men in order to establish himself and his Religion in a foreign Country Thirdly The Obstacles that he meets in his way Fourthly His surmounting those Obstacles Fifthly His Arrival in that foreign Country Sixthly The Obstacles to his Establishment which he meets with there And Lastly His surmounting those Obstacles These are the necessary parts of the Action necessary because if you remove but one of them the Action is destroy'd or is render'd imperfect and these necessary parts extended by probable Circumstances make the Episodes But then an Episode is not only to be part of the Action and a necessary part of it it is not only to be drawn from the very bottom of the Fable and of the Subject but it is to have as strict a Connexion with the rest of the Parts as the Members of one Body ought to have with each other which Members have a necessary mutual Dependance and are each of them serviceable to the whole and each of them to every one of the rest Now it is plain that this strict Connexion cannot be made by words but that it must proceed from the necessity of the Action or from the Probability of its Circumstances The Episodes are not only to be contiguous but continuous they are not only to follow one another but to be consequences of one another and to produce one another as Causes do their Effects so that the Precedent be the necessary or probable cause of the Subsequent Well then it is plain from what has been said that the Episodes are to have these two Qualifications First That they are to be drawn from the very bottom of the Fable and of the Subject And secondly that they are to be well joyned with one another And as the first of these Qualifications provides That no Episode can be true and proper if the Action is perfect without it So it is provided by the second that the Episodes ought to be such as that not one of them be perfect without the rest of the Action An Episode is not an Action but a part of one and is still to be shown in its own nature that is in the Nature of a Member of a Body and of a part which being disjoyn'd from the rest remains still a part and can never become a whole If an Episode were an entire Action it could never have so strict a Dependence upon the rest of the Episodes as to give it the second requisite Qualification Thus we have spoken succinctly of the Nature of Episodes according to the Doctrine of Aristotle and his Interpreter Bossu and have shewn in as little compass as we could what Qualifications they ought to have when they have those Qualifications then they may be said to be proper and regular when they want one or both of those Qualifications then they may be said to be vicious and irregular and to make the Poem episodique and the Action double We shall now endeavour to prove that there are some of these irregular Episodes in Mr. Blackmore's Poem CHAP. V. THE first Episode that I design to examine is the Death of King Uter related by Lucius one of Arthur's Attendants to Hoel King of Armorica in the fourth Book of the Poem And here I would fain ask Mr. Blackmore one question If the Death of King Uter be or be not a part of the Action of the Poem If it be not a part of the Action I have already gain'd my point for it makes the Poem episodick and the Action double I know indeed very well that an Incident which is neither a part of the Fable nor of the Action may be inserted into the Action provided it be necessary to give a reasonable account of something which is a part of it such is the relation in the Odysses of the wound which Ulysses received upon Mount Parnassus which is absolutely necessary to prepare the Discovery and such is the Story of Dido which Venus relates to Aeneas in the first of the Aeneis which is necessary to prepare the Reception of Aeneas and the Passion of Dido but then such foreign Incidents are to be dispatch'd in a few Lines as Homer and Virgil have well observ'd whereas the relation of the Death of King Uter is stretch'd to the extent of a just Episode Since therefore it has the length of one it is an Episode and if it be not a part of the Action it is an irregular Episode
these and to prove that the Poetical Persons ought to have manners and that those manners ought to have the following qualifications That they ought to be good convenient resembling and equal and that besides there ought to be an unity of Character in the principal person and that that unity of Character like an universal Soul was to run thro' the whole Poem Next I determin'd to make it appear that Mr. Blackmor's Characters have none of the foremention'd qualifications Then I pretended to convince the Reader that the things contain'd in Mr. Blackmor's Narration are neither in their own natures delightful nor numerous enough nor various enough nor rightly disposed nor surprizing nor pathetick And thus far I have already gone My intention was next to enquire into the third particular that makes a Narration delightful And that is the manner of relating the things contain'd in it which comprehends the Thoughts the Discourse the Expressions and here I design'd to have inserted a Discourse concerning Poetical genius of which no one that I know of has hitherto treated I design'd to show that this extraordinary thing in Poetry which has been hitherto taken for something Supernatural and Divine is nothing but a very common Passion or a complication of common Passions That felicity in writing has the same effect upon us that happiness in common Life has That in Life when any thing lucky arrives to us upon the first surprize we have a transport of Joy which is immediately follow'd by an exaltation of mind Ut res nostrae sint ita nos magni atque humiles sumus and that both these if the thing that happens be beyond expectation fortunate are accompanied with astonishment we are amazed at our own happiness That the very same thing befalls us upon the conception of an extraordinary hint The Soul is transported upon it by the consciousness of its own excellence and it is exalted there being nothing so proper to work on its vanity because it looks upon such a hint as a thing peculiar to it self whereas what happens in Life to one Man might as well have happen'd to another and lastly if the hint be very extraordinary the Soul is amazed by the unexpected view of its own surpassing power Now it is very certain that a Man in transport and one that is lifted up with pride and astonish'd expresses himself quite with another air than one who is calm and serene Joy in excess as well as rage is furious And the pride of Soul is seen in the expression as well as in the mien and actions and is the cause of that Elevation which Longinus so much extolls and which he says is the image of the greatness of the mind Now it is certain that greatness of mind is nothing but pride well regulated Now as Joy causes Fury and pride elevation so astonishment gives vehemence to the expression This was the Doctrine which I design'd to deliver of which I had the first hint from the following verses Rapture and Fury carried me thus far Transported and Amaz'd Which are in an admirable Poem Written by a very great Man who with all that wonderful fire which is so conspicuous in him has all the discernment and the fine penetration which is necessary for the reflecting upon the most secret motions of his own mind and upon those of others After that I had done this I design'd to lay down this definition of genius that it was the expression of a Fâ—…ious Joy or Pride or Astonishment or all of them caused by the conception of an extraordinary hint Then I intended to show that a great many Men have extraordinary hints without the foremention'd motions because they want a degree of Fire sufficient to give their animal spirits a sudden and swift agitation And these are call'd Cold-writers On the other side if Men have a great deal of Fire and have not excellent Organs they feel the foremention'd motions in thinking without extraordinary hints And these we call Fustian-Writers When I had done this I intended to show that Mr. Blackmore had very seldom either the hints or the motions In order to which I design'd to consider the several sorts of hints that might justly transport the Soul by a conscious view of its own excellency And to divide them into hints of Thought and hints of Images That the Thought which might justly cause these motions of Spirits were of three sorts such as discover a greatness of Mind or a reach of Soul or an extent of Capacity That Images were either of Sounds or of Things that Images of Things were either Mighty or Vast ones I design'd to give examples of all these from Homer and Virgil and from Milton and Tasso and to have compared them with several passages in Mr. Blackmore's Poem I design'd particularly to have treated of the clearness and justness and of the energy of Images After this I resolv'd to descend to consider the expression and to show that it ought to have the following qualifications That it ought to be pure clear easie strong noble poetick harmonious I design'd particularly to have examin'd the difference between a Poetick and a Prosaick Diction and to have said as much as the little observation which I have made would give me leave of our English numbers and of our Rhymes and Cadences and then to have come to Application and to have shown that Mr. Blackmore has been very faulty in all the foremention'd particulars But having just gone thro' the one half of my Method it will be convenient before I proceed to see how the Reader relishes this I desire him to excuse the Style which is neither exact nor equal the Book being written with too much dispatch for that I think it is but just that the Reader should pardon this if the matter will make any amends for it But that he may come with the less prejudice to the Reading the following Criticism I desire to prepare him by Answering some Objetions which have been made against Criticism Three Objections have been made against Criticism in General The First That it is an invidious ill-natur'd thing The Second That it is a vain and successless Attempt And the Third That it tends to the certain diminution of the happiness of the Reader First it is Objected That Criticism is a very ill-natur'd thing In the following Treatise I have had an occasion to speak concerning Goodness of Nature and if the account which I have given of it there be reasonable I make no doubt but that the Reader will be convinc'd that a man at the same time that he Criticizes may have a great deal of Goodness of Nature At present I will only say this That I know not what Good Nature may be in a Beast but that in a Man I cannot think it to be contrary to Justice that is to Reason and therefore I cannot think there can be any ill-nature in Detecting the faults of an ill or
am confident that no man can take it amiss that an Englishman who Writes to his Fellow Subjects should take the old honest English Liberty of publickly reprehending what he disapproves I never design'd to make an Enquiry into any of Mr. Blackmor's Principles which may regard either Church or State A Man had need have a great deal of time upon his hands who has leisure enough to Examine a Poet 's Politicks or a Physician 's Religion My intention was only to consider this Gentleman in his poetical capacity and to make some Remarks upon the reasonableness of his Design and upon the felicity of his execution And therefore the College of Physicians to whom he in a peculiar manner belongs have juster cause to be alarm'd at the following Treatise than either the Church or the State who are no further concern'd in him than they are in any other Englishman My little penetration could never discover what motive can prevail upon any of the Clergy of the Church of England to espouse a very faulty Poem in the which they cannot be in the least concern'd For First I have demonstrated in the first part of the following Treatise as clearly as any thing in Humanity can be demonstrated that the action of Mr. Blackmor's Poem is an empty Fiction without any manner of instruction and I cannot for my Soul comprehend how Legends in Rhyme should become Sacred at the same time that Prosaick Legends are contemn'd and exploded Secondly Boileau tells us with a great deal of Reason in the Third Canto of his Art of Poetry tho it is spoken in Rhyme That the Terrible Mysteries of the Christian Faith are not capable of delightful Ornaments That the Gospel offers nothing to us but Repentance on the one side or Eternal Torments on the other and that the Criminal mixture of Poetical Fictions gives a Fabulous Air even to its most Sacred Truths De la Foy d'un Chrestien les Mysteres Terribles D'ornemens egayez ne sont point susceptibles L'Evangile a l'Esprit n'offre de touscôtez Que Penetence a faire ou tourmens meritez Et de vos fictions le melange coupable Meme a ses veritez donne l'air de la Fable Now if this be reasonable in the Roman Church I cannot but think that it must have as much force in a much purer Religion Thirdly All Mr. Blackmor's Celestial Machines as they cannot be defended so much as by common receiv'd opinion so they are directly contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of England For the visible descent of an Angel must be a Miracle Now it is the Doctrine of the Church of England if I am not mistaken that Miracles had ceas'd a long time before Prince Arthur came into the World Now if the Doctrine of the Church of England be true as we are oblig'd to believe then are allthe Celestial Machines in Prince Arthur unsufferable as wanting not only Humane but Divine probability But if the Celestial Machines in that Poem are sufferable that is if they have so much as Divine probability as all the Machines in every Poem certainly ought to have it follows of necessity that the Doctrine of the Church must be false So that I leave it to any impartial Clergyman to consider if it can consist with the credit or interest of our Religion so violently to espouse a Book whose errours he cannot possibly defend but by contradicting the Doctrine which he is bound to Teach But to come to the Second Part of the Objection I cannot with all the application of Mind that I am able to use Discover that the State is concern'd in Prince Arthur any more than the Church If the State is concern'd in this Poem it follows by Manifest consequence that there must be a Parallel between the late Revolution and the Expedition of Arthur Now if there is such a Parallel it must necessarily reach to the Characters and especially the principal Characters For to make two actions like the Causes of them must be resembling and the Causes af actions are the manners of the Agents as has been more than once declar'd in the following Treatise From what has been said it follows that to constitute a Parallel between the Revolution and the Expedition of Arthur King William and Prince Arthur must have resembling Characters Now I would fain ask the Friends of Prince Arthur one Question Whether the resemblance between Prince Arthur and the present King was design'd to be total or partial If they Answer that the resemblance was design'd but partial then I would ask them in what Qualities these Princes consent and in what they differ and whether a partial resemblance sussises to make the Parallel For I cannot possibly apprehend how any actions can be very like whose causes are not very like But if those Gentlemen reply that the Author intended a total resemblance between the present King and Prince Arthur then I must freely tell them that whatever they may pretend they cannot be Mr. Blackmore's Friends who either tax him of so prodigious a want of discernment as even his honest enemies would blush to accuse him of or affirm that he intended to expose the King in a very disshonourable Character which I am sure he has a great deal more Honour and Justice than to design Prince Arthur when he is upon the Coasts of Armorica seems very much concern'd for the Cause of Religion and for the welfare of Great Britain But after he has beaten King Oct's Navy anp made a League with that Saxon Monarch at Land he throws of the Mask and appears concern'd neither for Religion nor for his Subjects and gives them cause to believe that his zeal and his care were only pretences which now it was time to disclaim since in all appearance he had compass'd his Sole Design Now can any of the Kings most inveterate Enemies urge any thing against him that is more Maliciously false Is not this the very thing which their miserable Libels have so often in vain repeated That Râ—…ligion and the State were only pretences and that he valued himself alone Have they not stupidly objected this to a Heroe who has been seen by assembled Nations to value himself and human greatness so little that if I could be presumptuous enough to find fault with a Prince who shall always be Sacred to me it should certainly be upon this account because he is the only Person of all the Confederates who has not a due regard for that important Life upon which the safety of the Christian World depends Yet of all the things that his Enemies have basely objected to him not one of them has had courage enough to accuse him of fear But Mr. Blackmore has made his Prince Arthur afraid upon every occasion as has been manifestly prov'd against him in the following Treatise And therefore these Gentlemen ought to consider that by affirming Prince Arthur was designed to resemble the King they affirm that Mr. Blackmore has
drawn a more unjust and a more unreasonable Character of him than his most Malicious and most Profligate Enemies have been known to invent I say to invent For his Enemies tn the midst of their loudest Clamours have inwardly the opinion of him which we have For why the late damnable â—…esign if they had not conceiv'd an Opinion of him that is infinitely greater than that which Prince Arthur could give them Why should they divest themselves of humanity by resolving even while they were under his Protection to take away his Sacred Life deliberately if they did not regard him as the unsurmountable Obstacle to their Designs the Guardian of Law the Defender of Faith and the Invincible Champion of Liberty Have not his Enemies declar'd by this very Conspiracy that they think him above a thousand Prince Arthurs And at a time when his mortal Enemies make even the excess of their Malice his Panegyrick shall the Friends of Mr. Blackmore by the fondness of a mistaken zeal derogate from the greatness of his Glory Mr. Blackmore has discernment enough to perceive that the King incomparably transcends Prince Arthur And has too much Judgment to attempt the drawing a Picture which whoever presumes to Design should tremble unless he can place it in so true so glorious a light that the consenting World may admire it THere is lately Publish'd the Reports of Sir Tho. Raymond Knt. late one of the Judges of the Kings Bench Common Pleas and Exchequer of Divers Special Cases in all the said Courts many of them taken whilst he was a Judge And all Printed from the Original written with his own hand and sold by Samuel Heyrick at Grays-Inn-gate in Holborn and Dorothy Hargrave in Fleetstreet Books Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborn THe Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers Translated by Dr. Wake A Practical Discourse concerning Swearing by Dr. Wake Erasmus Colloquies Quevedo's Visions both by Sir Roger L'Estrange Epictetus's Morals with Simplicius's Comment by Mr. Stanhop The Turkish Spy in Eight Volumes CATALOGUE The Art of Writing and Judging of History by Father Le Moyne Moral Maxims by the Duke of Rochefoucaut An Essay on Reason by Sr. G. Mackenzie REMARKS UPON Prince Arthur CHAP. I. Of an Epick Poem in general REsolving to Publish some Remarks which I have made on Prince Arthur I think it convenient to say something beforehand of an Epick Poem in general and to begin with a Definition of it An Epick Poem is a Discourse invented with Art to form the Manners by Instructions disguis'd under the Allegory of Action which is important and which is related in Verse in a delightfull probable and wonderfull manner This Definition is Bossu's It will not be amiss to explain it An Epick Poem is a Discourse invented with Art to form the Manners by Instructions disguis'd under the Allegories of an Action That is an Epick Poem is a Fable which consists of two Parts First of Truth which is its foundation and upon which it is built Secondly of Fiction which allegorically disguises that Truth and gives it the Form of a Fable The Truth is the Moral and the Fiction the Action which is built upon it But the Action must be Important and that distinguishes an Epick Poem from Comedy It must be an Important Action related and that makes a distinction between an Epick Poem and Tragedy It is a Discourse in Verse relating an Action and this makes it a Poem The second part of the Definition ordains that the Relation be probable delightfull and wonderfull Thus have we explain'd the Definition of Bossu which is grounded upon the Doctrine of Aristotle and tho' we are under no necessity of saying any more because Mr. Blackmore having own'd the Jurisdiction of Aristotle is obliged to be tried by him yet lest some of his Friends should decline that Jurisdiction and fly to Reason for Refuge we shall take care to shew That Aristotle prescrib'd nothing concerning this matter but what Reason suggested to him and what she repeats to us In the next Chapter we shall consider that part of the Definition which relates to the Fable and Action And because the Distinction between them is very small we shall treat of them both together We shall endeavour to show that Right Reason as well as Aristotle will have a Fable to be the Form of an Epick Poem and an Action the subject matter of it This we shall endeavour to prove by shewing the design which every Man has who writes an Heroick Poem and then by discovering what means are proper for the compassing that design CHAP. II. Of the Action of an Epick Poem which with the Moral makes the Fable THE Design of every Man who Writes an Epick Poem is to give Moral Instructions to Mankind and particularly to his own Country-men Now there are but two Ways of giving Moral Instructions The one is by Precept which is call'd Philosophy the other by Example which in other words is History and ever since there have been Societies of Men in the World there has been both History and Moral Philosophy either Written or Oral But Homer who had a Discernment altogether extraordinary and a Genius capable of Reforming the World saw that Common Precepts were ineffectual and Common Examples impotent That Precepts were too shocking to be Persuasive Because they shew us our faults too directly For Men for the most part are more greedy of Happiness than they are provident of Future We are impatient of Delay and would be Happy now Happiness and Pleasure are terms Synonymous Therefore he who would make us Happy must please us whereas Precepts only mortifie us Besides when Precepts grow irksome to us we believe to excuse our selves that what they persuade is impossible Therefore Examples are found more prevalent Because they prove the Possibility of what they persuade But Historical Examples are not Philosophical enough to instruct because they are too Particular Upon which account it very seldom happens that they are proportion'd to those who read them and there is hardly one amongst a thousand Readers with whom they agree exactly Nay those very Persons with whom they square scarce in all their Lives meet with two Occasions to make advantage of them Besides we are not so much instructed by what Men doe as by the Causes and Springs of their Actions which an Historian seldom transmits to us because he seldom knows them And when he ventures to give those Causes they are for the most part Conjectures and very seldom Certainties Homer and Virgil without doubt knew this very well and therefore tho' they saw that Action was more proper for Instruction than bare Precept yet they found that it must be General Action something in which all might be equally concern'd and something of which the Writers might be perfectly Masters so as to render a Reason exactly of every part of it and to discover the Causes and to make known the Effects of every
three Qualities First They are to be deriv'd from the first Plan of the Action Secondly They are to have a necessary or probable Dependance one upon another Thirdly Not one of them is to be an Action it self but onely a necessary Part of an Action extended by probable Circumstances Thus we have endeavour'd to show that Reason as well as the Doctrine of Aristotle demands that a Fable should be the form of an Epick Poem and that the Action which is the subject-matter of it should be Allegorical and Universal that it should be one and that it should be important It remains that we prove that it must be likewise entire That is that it must have a Beginning a Middle and an End First it must have a Beginning For since an Action instructs chiefly by its Causes and the first Motive to any Action is the Foundation of the Merit or Demerit of the Agent to be satisfied that That Agent is either made happy because he does well or else miserable because he does ill I must be satisfied that such or such a Principle was his first Motive to or his first Cause of that Action which makes him happy or miserable Thus Aeneas upon the Destruction of Troy is chosen by the Gods to re-establish the Trojan Empire in Italy But what is the Motive to his putting to Sea His Piety The Gods command him and he obeys and he prospers accordingly Thus Achilles quarrels with Agamemnon and separates himself from the Common Cause and loses his dearest Friend by it But why did he quarrel Because he was haughty violent unjust and inexorable But Secondly the Action must have an End and that End must be such that I may either read the very last Event or have a certain prospect of it For if the Poet leaves me in any reasonable Doubt of that how can I deduce any certain Moral from the Action Thirdly The Action must have a Middle For every thing that has a Beginning and an End must consequently have a Middle and that Middle must have a necessary dependance both upon the one and the other I will only speak one word more concerning the Duration of the Action The time of it ought certainly to be much longer than that of a Tragedy Because the last is design'd to move the Passions in order to the correcting them and the Violence of the Passions is not durable and the first is intended to alter the Habits which are not quickly either rooted out or imprinted Now an Epick Action having longer Duration than a Tragical Action for that very reason it ought to have greater compass and to be extended with Episodes Thus have I endeavour'd to prove that Right Reason requires as well as Aristotle that a Fable should be the form of an Epick Poem and an Action the Subject-matter of it That that Action should be one and at first should be Allegorical and Universal and should in a manner become afterwards Singular by the imposition of Names and by the same imposition of Names should likewise become important and then too that it should be extended with Episodes but Episodes which would not corrupt its Unity in the next place that it should be entire that is that it should have a Beginning a Middle and an End and lastly that its Duration ought to be longer than that of a Tragical Action Thus have we treated of the Action It remains now that we should treat of the Manner of relating it and of the Persons employed in it But first let us consider Mr. Blackmore's Fable and the Action of his Poem CHAP. III. THE design of Mr. Blackmore is the very same with that of Virgil for which he can never be too much commended But not only his Design his Moral is the same too if he has any Moral And here it may be convenient to repeat the Moral of Virgil which is this That those great and good Men whom Heaven makes the Instruments of its high Designs are highly favour'd and protected by Heaven and that all who dare to oppose them are impious in vain and shall be severely punish'd for their Impiety The Fable which Mr. Blackmore builds upon the Moral if there be any is this A State is overthrown and the King destroy'd and his Son forc'd into Banishment That Son at the end of about ten Years in Obedience to the call of Heaven returns to his Mother-Country and there establishes himself and the true Religion to his own Glory and the ruin of those who oppose him The difference between this and the Fable of Virgil are so very inconsiderable that they may be call'd the same Mr. Blackmore is so far from denying this that he triumphs upon it He says he form'd himself upon Virgil's Model Nay he has copied him not only in his Fable but in his Action episodiz'd He has done more he has for a long time servilely follow'd him in the very order of his Episodes for which he does not think himself oblig'd to make any excuse For the same great Master copied Homer as closely and yet has been condemn'd no not by one of his Criticks 'T is true indeed Virgil has imitated Homer but never in his Fable nor in the ranging his Episodes He had infinitely more Judgment than to do that he knew very well that a Poet was oblig'd to be the Author of his own Fable Aristotle had given him a reason for it in the ninth Chapter of his Treatise of Poetry For says Aristotle no Man is a Poet any further than he imitates and the Poet who imitates imitates an Action that is invents a Fable But to copy another not only in his Fable but to follow him servilely in his Action episodiz'd is rather to imitate an Author than an Action and rather to copy a singular Action than to frame a general one But to make the unskilfulness of such an Imitation apparent I would feign put the following Questions to Mr. Blackmore's Friends First Whether the copying Virgil not only in his Fable but in his Action episodiz'd must not of necessity to all his Readers who are acquainted with Virgil that is to all the best of them make his Incidents not surprizing and consequently not agreeable Secondly Whether this servile Imitation must not with all who have convers'd with Virgil destroy the Probability of the Poem and give the Action an Air of Fiction which ought to have an Air of Truth Thirdly I desire to know whether when the Incidents appear neither surprizing nor probable they can appear admirable since Aristotle tells us in the same Chapter which I cited above that the most admirable Incidents are those which surprize us which Experience confirms and since Reason tells us that no Man of Sense will admire what he does not believe Fourthly I desire to be inform'd whether some Episodes which do not in the least offend against Probability or Reason in Virgil may not be reasonably suppos'd to be highly improbable
and makes the Action double But that is not all it makes it likewise imperfect Since if the Death of Uter be not part of the Action it must want a beginning For what other beginning can Mr. Blackmore assign to his Action Prince Arthur's setting sail from Neustria is indeed the beginning of the Narration but not the beginning of the Action For that alone according to Aristotle is the beginning of an Action which necessarily supposes nothing to go before it Now Prince Arthur's setting sail from Normandy in order to go for England necessarily supposes that something went before For it supposes that Prince Arthur had made Preparatives for this Expedition and that he had done it by some means and for some extraordinary reason of all which the Reader ought to be inform'd since all this comes into the Action and is absolutely necessary for a clear understanding of the whole Thus Virgil begins his Narration with Aeneas's setting sail from Sicily but then in the second and third Books of his Poem he makes his Hero relate to Dido from whence and how he came into Sicily and whither he was going for what End and upon what Motives But now if Mr. Blackmore shall tell me that the Death of King Uter and the Escape of Prince Arthur his Son related by Lucius in the fourth Book to Hoel King of Britaâ—…ny informs the Reader of the Action and is therefore a necessary part and a just beginning of that Action if Mr. Blackmore I say urges this I can make no reasonable reply to it But in that case I must desire him to satisfie me in another thing and that is whether that which follows King Uter's Death and Prince Arthur's Escape in the relation of Lucius as Prince Arthur's Journey to Odar's Camp his Wars with the Goths c. whetheâ—… this be not wholly foreign from the Subject Whether it does not constitute an irregular Episode and make a monstrous Gap in the main Action For to what purpose is this recited What relation has the Journey to Odar's Camp or Arthur's declamatory Speech by the way or his serving against the Goths What I say what necessary or probable relation can all this have to the Action of the Poem Is there so much as the least shew of likelihood that Lucius who came with Arthur from Normandy should relate these things to Hoel whose Dominions were contiguous to Normandy and who consequently could not but know all this as well as Lucius himself All of it I mean but the Speech for that being long and sententious and crowded with speculative Notions in all likelihood had not come to his Ears and this Lucius must have had an admirable Memory who could repeat it ten years after it was spoken I had made no mention of this at present if it had not been to put the Reader in mind that there is such a thing as this Speech because I shall be oblig'd to come back to it anon Thus we have endeavoured to show that Arthur's Journey to Odar's Camp his Speech by the way and his Service in the Gothick Wars as they are delivered in his relation of Lucius make the Poem episodick and corrupt the Unity of the Action Let us now consider that which precedes the Death of King Uter in the same relation of Lucius In the first part of which we have a long account of the Roman Invasion the Decay of the Empire the Saxon Usurpation the Battle of Salusbury the Treachery of Carvil and the Death of Uter Now I would sain ask any one Whether to begin the relation of Arthur's Expedition with an account of the Roman Invasion be not to do like the Poet who begun the War of Troy with an account of the Birth of Helen What necessary nay what probable relation has the Roman Invasion or the beginning of the Saxon Usurpation to the immediate Action of the Poem Is it so much as likely that Lucius should make a tedious recital of these things to Hoel who was near enough to great Britain to be long inform'd of them before As for the Romans the French were acquainted with them long before the English knew them and therefore Hoel might have reason to wonder to hear one born in England instruct him in the asfairs of Rome Thus we see that this relation of the Roman Invasion and of the Saxon Usurpation is neither necessary nor probable and that they make an Episode or Episodes which precede the Action of the Poem and which consequently corrupt its Unity The first part of the Action as we have said in the third Chapter is the change of a State as was likewise the first part of Virgil's Action The Gods save a Prince from the ruin of a powerfull State which Prince is elected King by the remains of his Country-men This is the first part of Virgil's general Action which when he had singulariz'd by making use of Aeneas's Name he was then oblig'd to set the Destruction of this State before us that is of Troy and to begin with an Incident that suppos'd nothing preceeding it Now if Virgil had made the siege of Troy the cause of its ruin he would have been oblig'd to have related the beginning of the Siege and the whole ten years War or else he must have begun with an incident that suppos'd something before it and consequently that beginning had not been just This he had Judgment enough to see and therefore had recourse to the Treachery of Sinon and the Invention of the Trojan Horse which is an incident that supposes nothing before it For the Town might have been taken by this Stratagem at the beginning of the Siege as well as at the ten years end And Virgil is so far from deriving the Destruction of Troy from the Siege that at ten years end he shows you the Town in a flourishing condition and the Graecians broken and conquer'd Fracti bello fatisque repulsi Ductores Danaum tot jam labentibus annis Instar montis equum divina Palladis arte Aedisicant And consequently he makes the setting up of the Trojâ—…n Horse the very first cause of the Destruction of Troy Thus Virgil by his Address and his admirable Judgment had a recourse to a just beginning Almost the very same expedient which Virgil made use of lay before Mr. Blackmore but he not having an equal degree of Judgment did not see it but us'd it without its advantage For Mr. Blackmore's Action truly and naturally begins with the Treachery of Carvil The Battle before it ought not to have been describ'd at length for that Battle being so far from contributing to Uter's ruin that it rather secur'd him and weaken'd the Saxons could not be a part of the Action Carvil's Treachery might as easily have destroy'd him before there was any Battle The Success of the Battle and Uter's attempt to rescue the Island from the Usurpation of Octa ought to have been describ'd in the compass of ten lines
ignorant for Diamonds but they cannot be long in an Error The first Artist that sees the Stones will soon discover their want of Solidity and others then will find out their want of Beauty 'T is in Poems as it is in Stones Time will easily make the Discovery whether they are solid or no and the more solid they are found the more and the longer will they be seen to shine for their full and their lasting Lustre depends on their perfect Solidity But now if any one shall tell me that Persons every way qualified for Judges commend Mr. Blackmore's Poem to that I answer that there are several things in it which may stand before the strictest Judges But that the greater part of the Narration neither is nor can be delightfull to Men of the best tast is what I shall now endeavour to prove CHAP. II. THere are three things which render a Narration delightfull First The Persons that are introduc'd in it Secondly The Things related in it And Thirdly The Manner of relating them I shall begin with the Persons that are introduc'd In speaking of which I shall be the more succinct because Bossu has so fully and so admirably treated of them that scarce any thing can be added to what he has said and the Reader may very well be referr'd to him The Persons then introduc'd in an Epick Poem ought to have Manners that is their Discourse and their Actions ought to discover their Inclinations and their Affections and what Resolutions they are certain to take The Manners then are to appear of the Persons that are introduc'd and they are to have four Qualities First They are to be Good Secondly They are to be Like Thirdly They are to be Convenient And Fourthly they are to be Equal First They are to be Good By Goodness I do not mean a Moral Goodness for the Manners may be Poetically Good tho' they are Morally Vicious The Manners then are Poetically Good when they are well mark'd that is when the Discourse and the Actions of the Persons which are introduc'd make us clearly and distinctly see their Inclinations and their Affections such as they are and make us judge by the Goodness or the Pravity of those Inclinations what good or what evil Resolutions they are certain to take The Manners of the Persons then ought to be good that is they â—…ought to be well mark'd and this Goodness is the first and fundamental Quality of the Manners without which they can have none of the other three for if they are not well mark'd it is impossible they should be Like or Convenient or Equal And they are to be Good not only upon the Account of Instruction for an Action instructing by its Causes which Causes are the Manners unless I can be certain what the Principles of the Agents are I can never deduce any certain Moral from the Action but they are likewise to be good that the Narration may be delightfull The Man who seeks to entertain himself in an Epick Poem where the Manners of the Persons are not distinctly mark'd is like one who goes for Conversation into a strange Company where they are all reserv'd upon which reservedness he grows uneasie and stretches and gapes and takes the first opportunity to be gone whereas if that company had discours'd and had acted so freely as to have discover'd their real Sentiments and so to have made themselves known they would not only by that means have secur'd his Attention but such of them whose Inclinations and Humours he had lik'd would have insinuated themselves into his Affection and by little and little engaged him to wish them well The proper delight which Poetry gives us it gives us by Imitation Now the Persons that it introduces are design'd for Imitations of Men but they cannot be Imitations of Men unless the Manners are clearly mark'd For as I can discern in every Man with whom I converse for any time and attentively how he stands inclin'd and affected if he is not reserv'd So if I do not make this discovery in the principal Persons which are introduced in an Epick Poem I strait conclude that those Poetical Persons are not Imitations of Men but only Fantoms and meer Chimera's And so much for the first and fundamental Quality of the Manners which is their Goodness The second is their Likeness But this has relation only to known Characters That is to such as have been made famous by History or Common receiv'd Opinion When a Poet introduces any such notorious Person he is to paint him with the very same Qualities which he is known to have had or to have And a Poet who would please must be sure to keep this Resemblance For otherwise he does like a Man who pretends to give me a Character of an old Acquaintance and gives him such Qualities as I am certain he never had Which makes me conclude that this Giver of Characters is either incapable of knowing Mankind or else he raises my Indignation by endeavouring so grosly to impose upon me Monsieur Dacier has observ'd that Monsieur Racine has offended against this second Quality of the Manners in his Hippolytus for he has made him a Lover Mr. Dryden made the same Observation before him in his Preface to All for Love If I would reckon up all our Tragedies whose Characters are not resembling it would be a very tedious Catalogue We need not wonder at it since we have so few of our Tragedies that have the first fundamental Quality of the Manners and have any Characters at all The third Quality of the Manners is their Convenience They ought to be agreeable to the Age the Sex the Climate the Rank the Condition of the Person that has them And the Manners ought to have this convenience particularly in the principal Persons of a Tragedy and of an Epick Poem for the following Reasons For first those principal Persons being Illustrious and by their high Station rendring the Action important if a Poet gives them any base Qualities unworthy of their Rank and unbecoming of their Power and Place he manifestly corrupts the Dignity of his Characters and the Majesty of his Poem And consequently makes an absurd and unnatural mixture which will be sure to disgust all who are able to judge Secondly He offends against that Precept of Aristotle for drawing the best Likeness He is to do like a good Painter he is to draw his Character like but he is to conceal its Blemishes if it has any and is to give it all the Imbellishments which will not corrupt its Resemblance For it is a Poet's business to please and it is self-evident that a best Likeness will please more than a worst In order to the giving this best Likeness a Poet is not so much to consult Nature in any particular Person which is but a Copy and an imperfect Copy of Universal Nature he is to examine that Universal Nature which is always perfect and to
consult the Original Idea's of things which in a Sovereign manner are beautifull This is the Precept of Aristotle and his Interpreter Horace Respicere exemplar Vitae morumque jubebo Doctum Imitatorem veras hinc ducere voces Thus if a Poet is to draw a King or a great Captain which are famous in History he is to draw his Characters like that his Manners may have the second Quality which Aristotle and Nature with him requires But that they may have the third Qualification likewise if History has given that King or that Captain any shamefull Frailty or low Vice which are unworthy of the Majesty of the one and of the high Command of the other the Poet is oblig'd to conceal that Frailty and to dissemble that Vice He is not indeed to give them the Excellence which is oppos'd to the Frailty or the Virtue which is contrary to the Vice with which they are attainted by History Because that would be manifestly to destroy the Resemblance But he is to give them all the Imbellishments which may be becoming of the Dignity and not destructive of the Likeness And therefore in drawing a King or a great Captain he is to consider what Inclinations what Sentiments and what Designs may be probably inspir'd by those high Offices and then to choose such as may neither destroy the Resemblance of his Characters nor oppose the Design of his Action Aristotle has taken notice that Earipides has offended against this convenience of the Manners in the Ulysses of his Icylla and in his Menalippe whom tho' a Woman and young he has introduc'd as perfectly instructed in the Physical Doctrine of Anaxagoras The same Euripides has offended against this third Quality of the Manners in his Hippolytus For Phaedra in the Scene in which she discovers her Love for her Son speaks too Philosophically either for her Sex or for her present Condition For a Speculative or a Sententious Discourse besides that it puts a stop to the Action of the Poem is by no means the Language of a very violent Passion I the rather mention this because Mr. Rymer who has Translated this Scene of Euripides in his Observations upon the Tragedies of the last Age has been so far from finding this fault that he rather seems to mistake it for an Excellence I had once some thoughts of bringing Hippolytus upon the English Stage In order to which I had imitated the foremention'd Scene of Euripides in imitating which I took care to avoid his Defects as Raciné had judiciously shewn me the way who has copied all the Beauties of the Grecian and has prudently declin'd his faults I have caus'd it to be printed at the end of this Chapter that the Reader by comparing it with Mr. Rymer's Translation of Euripides may see his fault against the convenience of the Manners more clearly and may meet with a little diverâ—…on amidst the barrenness of these dry Speculations One reason amongst others why I did not finish that Tragedy was because I saw there was a necessity either for destroying the Likeness of the Manners in the Person of Hippolytus or for introducing a Character that would by no means be proper for the English Stage But it is time to proceed to the fourth Condition of the Manners and that is their Equality The Manners are to be constant and consistent Every Person is so clearly to be shown at his first appearance that he may afterwards assume no resolution which may deceive the Expectation which he gave of himself at first This Equality of the Manners must be maintain'd for the following Reasons First because it is so in Nature which every Poet imitates and by the imitation of which alone he can pretend to delight For Nature for the most part is uniform and regular and maintains a constant course Indeed sometimes for the sake of variety she appears unequal and irregular and therefore when a Poet copies such an Original Aristotle allows him to copy him like but in order to the doing that he is to draw him every-where equally unequal and irregular But secondly this Equality of the Manners must be maintain'd on the account of the Moral For since every Action instructs by its Causes which Causes are the Manners how can I deduce a certain Moral from the Event of that Action whose Causes are contradictory But thirdly the Manners must be maintain'd because unless they have Equality they have neither the requisite Goodness nor the Conveniency This is Monsieur Dacier's Reason and it is very solid As I shall show by Example Euripides has offended against this Equality of the Manners in his Iphigenia in Aulis For the timorous and suppliant Iphigenia that appears at first is by no means the same with that generous Princess who so nobly contemns Death for her Father's Glory and the Confederate Cause The Manners then in Iphigenia are not well mark'd and consequently are not good For how can I believe by what she appears at first that she will at last assume that heroick Resolution of joyfully resigning her Life for the good of her Country Nor are the Manners in her convenient For if the Excess of Fear which she shows at first is becoming of her the Excess of Courage which she shows at last must by consequence be very undecent in her But I think we may safely affirm That neither is that Excess of Fear becoming of her Rank nor that Excess of Courage of her Sex And so there appears in one Character a double inconveniency of Manners And thus we have gone through the four Conditions of the Manners and have given the Reasons why they ought to be good that is why they ought to be well mark'd why they ought to be convenient why they ought to be like and why they ought to be equal But in speaking of the first Condition of the Manners I omitted a very important thing I show'd that by their Goodness I meant a Poetical and not a Moral Goodness that the manners may be Poetically Good tho' they are Morally Vicious But this I forgot to add That they are never to be Morally Vicious unless it appears to be necessary and that there is to be no vice in any especially in the principal Characters unless the Action and the Fable require it And thus we have laid down the Doctrine of the two great Criticks Aristotle and Horace in relation to the Manners Let us now take notice of two or three very important Precepts which Bossu has grounded upon that Doctrine and which he has drawn from his piercing Observations of the Conduct of Homer and Virgil. The first Precept is grounded upon the first Condition that Aristotle prescribes for the Manners And there is the same reason for it For the Manners are to be good that is they are to be well mark'd because Poetry is an Imitation of Nature and the Persons in a Poem are Imitations of Men. Now it is plain that any Man who
and that they are Poetically bad when they do not influence the Action Aristotle has formally declar'd it a little lower 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Manners when they are not necessary are Poetically bad Now they can never be necessary but as they are Causes of Action And indeed since the Action of a Poem is only for Instruction and it instructs by its Causes which Causes are the Manners I cannot find out a Reason why any Manners should be shown which are not Causes of the Action Thus we have consider'd the Manners according to the Doctrine of Aristotle and Horace and the Observations of Bossu We have shown that they are to be well mark'd that they are to be convenient that they are to be like and that they are to be equal and that besides this a Unity of Character is to be preserv'd in the Hero and to be maintain'd through the Poem I shall now give the Reader the fore-mention'd Scene and then proceed to consider the Characters which are to be found in Prince Arthur CHAP. III. FOR the better understanding of the following Scene it will be necessary to premise some things which are out of the Action and some which are deliver'd in the foregoing Scene Phaedra was the Daughter of Minos and Pasiphae and the Sister of Ariadne Pasiphae was the Daughter of the Sun who had discover'd the Intrigue between Mars and Venus which Goddess had resolv'd to revenge the Discovery upon all his unhappy Off-spring The incestuous Passion of Pasiphae is very well known and so is the Love of her Daughter Ariadne who was abandon'd by Theseus on the Shore of Naxos one of the Aegaean Isles Theseus afterwards married her Sister Phaedra who upon her first Arrival at Athens fell desperately in Love with Hippolitus the Son of Theseus by an Amazonian Lady But Phaedra being a Lady of a great deal of Virtue look'd upon so criminal a Passion with Horror and resisted its violence with the last Reluctancy She kept what she felt conceal'd from all the World even from Euphrasia her Friend and her Confident who came from Crete with her She pretended a Mother-in-Law's Aversion for Hippolytus and caus'd him to be banish'd her Presence and commanded that no one on pain of Death should presume to pronounce his Name in her hearing and at last prevailed upon Theseus by her importunity to send his Son to Tretzene a Town that belong'd to him and situated upon the Aeaean Sea on the Coast of Peloponnesus Time at length had palliated her Passion which it was not in its power to cure when at three years end she was carried by her Husband to Tretzene which he look'd upon to be a proper place for her Residence while he took a Journey with Pirithous into Epirus Phaedra saw Hippolytus in her Husband's Absence at the sight of whom her Passion broke out with so much redoubled Fury that this unfortunate Lady saw very well that nothing less than dying could preserve her Honour and Innocence she resolv'd to die then and for three days and nights had neither slept nor receiv'd any Sustenance at the end of which time the Action of the Play begins which is open'd by Hippolytus and his Friend Alcander who prepare the Audience for the following Scene Phaedra resolves once more to behold the light in order to which she sends Euphrasia before to clear the outward Court of the Palace Hippolytus who delighted in Hunting and Horse-races and who was by nature averse from Love did not in the least guess at the Passion of Phaedra And Euphrasia resolv'd to take this opportunity for the making a last Effort to oblige her distress to discover the cause of so violent and so strange a disorder Three things dissuaded me from the going on with this Play The first was That its Subject appears to depend too much on the fabulous History The second was That I could not be reconcil'd to the fatal necessity which lay upon Phaedra and which was the original cause of her ruin The third was The necessity that there was for the framing the Character of Hippolytus not resembling or the forming it improper for the English Stage which will never endure that the principal Person of the Drama should be averse from Love Hippolytus Alcander Euphrasia Euph. LOok down relentless Heav'n look down ah Prince Could ever trouble be compar'd to mine Amain the dreadfull hour comes hurrying on When the unhappy Queen must be no more Ev'n in my Arms she languishing expires But stubbornly conceals the fatal Cause Some secret Charm eclipses all her brightness Which struggles with eternal Night in vain Now Passion plays the Tyrant in her Soul And raging tears her from the arms of Fate To see the Sun once more Her awfull grief Commands that all respect it and retire But see she comes Hipp. Enough I 'll instantly withdraw And not inhance it by my hatefull Presence Exeunt Hipp. Alc. Enter Phaedra Phaed. Stop stop Euphrasia for I faint I die My trembling Knees betray their lifeless burden Alas I die support the wretched Phaedra My Eyes are dazled at th' unwonted light And ev'ry Object seems to dance around them The World appears to move in hast before me And in the hurry leaves me Euph. Ye Pow'rs ye cruel Pow'rs can you see this And can you persevere Phaed. Gods how these ornamental Trifleâ—… plague me What vain officious hand has with such care Compos'd my Dress and rank'd my plaited Hair O fond Attempt to beautifie Despair How ev'ry thing torments me ev'ry thing conspireâ—… T' undo me more hast hast let me be gone And hide my Face for ever Euph. How all her wishes contradicting clash 'T is scarce an hour since you your self condemn'd Your barbarous Design upon your self Since you provok'd your Woman's artfull Hand T' adorn you like the charming Queen of Athens The beauteous Partner of a Hero's Bed 'T is but a moment since you wish'd once more To see the chearfull lovely Face of day And can it be thus hatefull grown already Phaed. Bright glorious Founder of a mournfull Race O thou of whom my lofty Mother dar'd To boast her self aloud the high born Daughter Refulgent God who now perhaps mayst blush At the distraction of abandon'd Phaedra Of thee O Sun I come to take my leave To take my leave for ever Euph. What still thus obstinately beâ—…t on Fate What still preparing thus to meet that Death Which but too fast advances Phaed. Gods how I hate these Walls this loathsome Court O for the Chase the Woods enchanting Sport Hark! the sâ—…ril Cornet thro' the Groves resounds Hark! the young Hunter chears his fainting Hounds How to the charming cry my ravish'd Heart rebounds Euph. Madam what means Phaed. Quickly let some transport me to the Barriers Whence with immortal Raptures I may see The Hero in his glorious Flight to Conquest Whilst his exulting Chariot smoaks Along the dusty Plain Euph. Madam this wild Discourse Phaed. Ah
Gums perfum'd the Shrine And my fond Tongue implor'd th' avenging Goddess My Soul ador'd Hippolytus alone Hippolytus alone was always present to me Ev'n at the smoaking Altar where I sacrific'd I offer'd all to him the God Whose Name I durst not utter But yet my conscious Vertue strugled still I shun'd him as I would have shun'd Destruction But O extremity of mortal Wo Shunning I meet him in his Fathers Features CHAP. IV. LET us now consider the Manners that are to be found in Prince Arthur We will begin with those which are in the Hero himself We have said above that Bossu has observ'd that the qualities which compose the Character of the Hero ought to be mainly three The First of which is such as is necessary for the Fable and for the Action which in Aeneas is the transcendent Goodness of his Nature which is the cause of the Subjection and Resignation of his Will to the Gods The Second is the Embellishment of the First which in Aeneas is his Piety The Third is that which sustains them both which in Aeneas is Heroick Forâ—…itude and which ought to be inseparable from the Hero of ev'ry Poem because Valour is necessary for the carrying on a great design The first of these Qualities is the Characteristical Mark of the Hero it is that which distinguishes him from all other Men and therefore it is that which ought always to appear because when the Hero loses that he certainly loses his Character Let us now proceed to examine the Qualities that compose the Character of Arthur In order to which let us survey him at his first appearance while he is tossed by the Fury of that Storm which Mr. Blackmore endeavours to describe so terribly When the just Arthur fils'd with Grief and Dread And pale confusion deeply sigh'd and said O righteous Heav'n why hast thou rang'd this day Against me all thy Terrors in Array Arm'd in thy Cause thy Temples to restore And give that Aid thy sacred Priests implore If thou such fierce destruction dost dispence To punish some unpardon'd old Offence On me let all thy fiery Darts be spent Let not my crime involve the Innocent Whelm o'er my guilty Head these raging Seas And let this Sacrifice thy Wrath appease But let the British Youth return in Peace Here are two Qualities which are apparent in Arthur The one is his Piety and the other his Concern for his People But the Reader will be apt to say That the Hero appears to be afraid here We know it very well and we are very willing to excuse it because Mr. Blackmore may very justly defend it He is afraid indeed but not for himself it is for those for whom his Duty oblig'd him to appear concern'd The pious Prince is afraid for his People Let us now consider him after the Storm As soon as that was allay'd by the Vertue of Uriel Prince Arthur whose Ship had struck on a Quicksand upon the Coasts of Armorica leaves it and makes to shore in his Boat where as soon as he arrives hereturns thanks to Heaven for his own Preservation and prays for that of his absent Friends Then he climbs the Rock to see what Ships he can descry but not so much as one sail appears in view Return'd he makes a Speech of forty Lines to his Men crowded with Sentences and with speculative Notions of which the latter end is only to the Purpose and that I beg leave to recite We arm'd thus to restore in Hell's Despight To Heav'n its Worship and to Men their Right Resume your Courage then it can't be true That Heav'ns Revenge should Heav'ns own cause pursue These Evils are not in Displeasure meant Heav'n is too just and you too innocent Success and Triumph will our Arms attend And these rough ways lead to a glorious End This is what they call oratio morata For here Arthur once more makes a Discovery of his Piety and his Concern for his People And here too he shows another Quality which did not appear before and that is his Courage Here then are three Qualities which are conspicuous in Arthur his Piety his Concern for his People and his Courage But where all this while is the Characteristical Mark of the Hero Where is the Quality that distinguishes him from all other Heroes Aeneas was pious and Valiant and was concern'd for his People and so was Godfrey of Bolloign How is Arthur different from the Hero of Virgil or Tasso where is that Quality that ought always to be seen in him to preserve the Unity of his Character and which like an universal Soul ought to run thro' the Poem and to animate every part of it It was observ'd in the former part of this Treatise that the principal Person of the Poem remains at the bottom universal and allegorical from whence it follows that the principal Qualities which compose that Character ought likewise to be universal and allegorical Now I think it would be needless to go about to prove that the Concern which Prince Arthur shews for his Subjects is not an universal Quality Thus it is plain that Prince Arthur wants something to constitute him Mr. Blackmore's individual Hero The Poet ought to have set his Mark upon him before he had turn'd him out upon the Common that he might have been known to have been his proper Goods and might have been distinguish'd from the numerous Herd of Heroes But as we have prov'd that there is something wanting to Mr. Blackmore's Hero let us now take notice of a Quality which he has which he ought by no means to have and by giving him which the Poet offends against the Conveniency of the Manners And that is that Academical Temper of Mind which obliges him to declaim upon every turn and to crowd his Harangues with Sententious and Speculative Notions For Arthur is a King and a King is to be shown grave majestick jealous of his Authority with all which methinks the declamatory Stile is not so very consistent But above all a King is to be shown active for the Kingly Office consists in Action which Sententious and Speculative Discourses are always sure to obstruct But Mr. Blackmore will say perhaps That Sententious Discourses instruct and that Instruction is the end of Heroick Poetry But as Aristotle says of Tragedy That it is not to give all sorts of Delight but only the Delight which is proper to it which it gives by moving Compassion and Terror so we might perhaps affirm of Heroick Poetry that it is not to give all sorts of Instruction but only that which is proper to it which it imparts by Action and not by Precept But this is indubitable that the Author of an Epick Poem ought not to delay or to discontinue his Action by which as by a proper Instrument he conveys his Instruction to us to give us the same Instruction by an improper Method Now this is Mr. Blackmore's particular Case For by the
and longing for returning Day His dreadfull crimes affright his start led Soul And in his Breast black Tydes of Horror roll Dire Shapes of staring Ghosts pass threatning by And streaks of Fire across the apartment fly He hears the Shrieks of those his bloody Hand Had murther'd or that dy'd by his Command He hears the Widows Sighs and Orphans moans Himself had made and tortur'd Prisoners Groans I am oblig'd to take no notice of the Verses yet a-while let them be never so obnoxious for that would make too great a Confusion But here we find this Prince an abominable Oppressor and a most bloody Tyrant Let us see him yet a little further Lib. 6. p. 171. Octa forthwith commands his Lords to meet In Council where they long in order sate T' advise what best might save the threatned State This methinks does not agree so very well with the Character of his Boldness which was given above For if this Octa is bold what should he think of for the saving his State but a Battle since there had not been a stroke struck at Land yet But Lucifer tells us anon in the same Book nay and in downright Terms that Octa was afraid Pag. 171. Octa defeated dreads Prince Arthur 's Arms And sues for Peace by Ethelina 's Charms And in the seventh Book the Poet tells us no less than twice that he is afraid p. 193. Mean time ill-boding Prodigies affright King Octa and dissuade his Men from fight And page 201. Octa that view'd th'important Prodigy Trembled to see the Eastern Army fly He wisely hid his Fears within his Breast But now 't is high time to summ up the Evidence The Criminal that is arraign'd has at his first appearance seem'd to be bold and warlike But since that he has been found to be treacherous and undermining and an Oppressor of his own People a cruel Tyrant and a black and barbarous Murtherer Then he comes to lie under a Suspicion of Cowardice tho' his cruelty might have given us that Suspicion before Then he is twice declar'd to be afraid by the Poet which is attested and fully confirm'd by the Devil his own dear Friend and his most faithfull Servant So that we know not what to make of this Octa because the Manners are ill express'd in him and as they are ill express'd they are inconvenient For Fear is unbecoming of him either as a King or General Nor are they constant or consistent For Boldness and Treachery are rarely joyn'd if they are not incompatible and tho' there may be found such a Prodigy as a bold perfidious Person yet a Poet who is to imitate Nature and to give the best resemblance whenever he pretends to draw a Man ought not to paint a Monster Nor are the Crimes and the Baseness of Octa necessary I mean that all his Crimes are not necessary His Perfidiousness will be found to be of that number For the making of the League upon Arthur's Landing manifestly retards the Action and causes its Motion to cease and the breaking that League upon the Plague which follow'd corrupts the Action's Integrity For it has been clearly prov'd in the former part of this Treatise that therefore the Action is not entire because at the end of it Octa upon whose Oath we cannot rely remains in power and place Nor does the fear of Octa serve to advance the Action For why should he appear before-hand to be afraid of fighting who afterwards in Battle behaves himself like a Lion Nor was it necessary to make him a Murderer For why should Mr. Blackmore provide for his Hero a Father-in-Law that deserv'd to be empal'd alive It is evident that the Murders which Octa is said to commit are so far from being necessary to the carrying on of the Action that they appear to be entirely out of it And it is as certain that the leaving such a Villain as this Saxon alive is contrary not only to common Poetical Justice but to the Moral of the Poem and to the Fable and to the Universality of the Action But they who favour Mr. Blackmore will tell me that Mezentius too was a Murderer 'T is easily granted but the case is vastly different For the Crimes of Mezentius are necessary as Causes of Action It was decreed by Fate and ordain'd by Jove that Aeneas should be established in Italy and lay the Foundation of the Roman Empire which Turnus and Mezentius very well knew For all their Priests and Oracles had asserted it Now Turnus worshipp'd the same Jupiter and Mezentius had no other God From whence then should it proceed that these very Persons should be the grand Opposers of what they knew had been pre-ordain'd by him Why should Mezentius and Turnus do this the cause is plain because Turnus had a Passion upon him heighten'd and inflam'd by a turbulent Temper and because Mezentius was a bloody unnatural Tyrant a Contemner of the Gods and a Foe to Men. So that here we have an admirable Moral which is that none can be capable of opposing the reveal'd designs of Heaven but either they who are carried away head-long by Passions made untractable by the violence of their natural Tempers which by neglect are become incorrigible or else they who have stifled the Dictates of Reason and Conscience to such a degree as quite to have divested themselves of Humanity For this is certain that as long as we have any tenderness for others we must have some for our selves Because the very Foundation of our Compassion for others is a concern for our selves I have already shewn this in a former critical Treatise Now he can have little tenderness for himself who is impious enough to oppose in so bold a way the known Designs of Heaven And he who has thrown off all concern for himself is not likely to have much Compassion for others The Truth of this Moral is manifested every day for no men appear with so much impious boldness against the cause of Heaven as either they who have lost their Reasons or they who have thrown them away Thus we have already shown one considerable difference betwixt Mezentius and Octa. For the Saxon never so much as dreamt of opposing the Designs of Heaven He worshipp'd his Idols whom he thought he serv'd by opposing Arthur's Establishment And this and his Interest to which his Ambition might have been added would have been sufficient causes for what he did so that there was not the least occasion for making him a bloody perfidious Villain But there is another considerable difference between Mezentius and Octa. For as from the Characters and the Designs of Mezentius and Turnus a very good Moral may be deduc'd which is that they who oppose the known Designs of Heav'n are either such as are hurried on by the Fury of a violent Temper grown incorrigible by neglect or such as are instigated by an inveterate inbred Malice so from their Catastrophes an admirable Moral may likewise be drawn
and Dominions were both predestin'd Lib. 7. v. 98. Externi veniunt generi qui sanguine nostrum Nomen in astra ferant quorumque ab stirpe nepotes Omnia sub pedibus qua sol utrumque recurrens Aspicit Oceanum vertique regique videbunt And Virgil takes care to show that what this Oracle deliver'd was no Secret but that Fame had taken care to divulge it just upon the Arrival of Aeneas Haec responsa patris Fauni monitusque silenti Nocte datos non ipse suo premit ore Latinus Sed circum late volitans jam Fama per urbes Ausonias tuler at cum Laomedontia pubes Gramineo ripâ—… religavâ—… ab aggere classem Ibid. v. 105. Yet Turnus tho' he was acquainted with this urg'd by Alecto and his inborn Fury heighten'd and inflam'd by Love not only persists in his Pretensions but causes his Subjects to Arm and Alarms his Neighbours and constrains Latinus to begin a War against his own Inclinations and the Commands of the Gods Upon which Latinus threatens him with the certain Consequences of so impious an Undertaking Frangimur heu fatis inquit ferimurque procellâ Ipsi has sacrilego pendetis sanguine poenas O miseri te Turne nefas te triste manebit Supplicium votisque Deos venerabere seris Ibid. 594. In consequence of which Turnus is twice beaten his Friends destroy'd and his Party broken and Latinus in the beginning of the Twelfth Book takes care to put him in mind that this was all an Effect of Divine Vengeance And Turnus seems to be sensible of this when he approaches the Altar in order to the single Combat For the sight of the Altar upon this occasion putting him in mind that he had grieviously offended the Gods may with a great deal of Reason be believ'd to cause that Paleness and Dejection which appears in his Countenance Incessu tacito progressus aram Suppliciter venerans demisso lumine Turnus ' Tabenresque genae juvenali in corpore pallor Which some Gentlemen who are avow'd Abhorrers of Thinking have taken to proceed from his Fear of the single Combat Immediately afterwards Turnus appears to be perfectly convinc'd of the Truth of what Latinus predicted in the Seventh Book Te Turne nefas te triste manebit Supplicium votisque Deos venerabere seri And that now it was too late to invoke the Gods and that he had nothing to expect but the very last dreadfull Effect of the Divine Displeasure And therefore he invokes the infernal Powers Vos O mihi manes Este boni quoniam superis aversa voluntas Lib. 12. v. 546. Here was enough already to bring a Man to Relent even a Man of the most undaunted Temper if he had any thing of Belief or Fear of the Gods in him But immediately upon this the Terrours of Jove were upon him who sent down one of his Furies on purpose to astonish and to confound him turni se pestis ad ora Fertque refertque sonans clipeumque everberat alis Illi membra novus solvit formidine torpor Arrectaeque horrore comae vox faucibus baesit Lib. 12. v. 865. But then as soon as ever he comes to himself he discovers in one Expression to Aeneaâ—… both the Fear and the Greatness of his Mind Non me tua turbida torrent Dicta ferox Dei me torrent Jupiter hostis So that here we find a Man who is brought by a long Train of Calamities to a sense of his Crime by which he had grievously offended the Gods yet of a Crime which proceeded from no irreligious Principle but from the Violence of a Rage which transported and clouded his Mind and hurried him on to his Ruin But tho' Turnus discovers Considerateness he yet a-while shows no Fear He was by Nature intrepid and furious and incapable of Fear But here see the admirable Address of the Poet. For whom cannot Jupiter terrifie Jupiter takes care to plague him with a Passion whose Motions are quite contrary to those of his natural Fury For Fear and Rage are inconsistent Affections See then the Terrours of Jove upon him which dispell the Remains of his Rage and bring him perfectly to a sence of the greatness of his Crime which flashes full in his Conscience He feels the amazing Effects of the Gods displeasure for going against their Commands for audaciously endeavouring to oppose their Supreme Decrees and for wageing an unjust and an impious War against the Man who was under their immediate Protection Now can any thing in the World be more reasonable than for a Man even of his Character when he lies under such circumstances and is not without a sense of Religion and his miserable Condition Can any thing be more reasonable than for such a Man to confess his Crime and the Wrong that he has done to disclaim his Pretension which was the cause of his Crime and to be apprehensive of going out of the World before he had by Prayer and Sacrifice aton'd the Powers which he had so grievously offended Can any thing be more according to Reason and Nature than this And consequently can any thing be more regular We see every Day that People who by the Violence of their Passions have been transported to great Offences when those Passions are dispell'd by the approach of Death become sensible of their Faults and confess their Injustice I have now one word to say of the different Behaviour of Mezentius at his Death But first I desire the Reader 's leave to show how the Supplication of Turnus which is so very reasonable and so very natural and consequently so very regular I desire leave I say to show how admirably it serves the design of the Poet. For tho' I know very well that this is not exactly to my purpose yet it will serve at least to Illustrate the Divine Conduct of Virgil. This Supplication then is perfectly necessary for the Integrity of the Action For if Turnus had died without speaking a word and the Poem had ended so we might have been in a reasonable Doubt of the Event and might have cause to believe that the Latins and Rutilians who broke the League once before to avoid the exposing of Turnus would break it yet once more to revenge him But by this Supplication we are perfectly satisfied that upon the Death of Turnus all things were calm and sedate who acknowledg'd in the Presence both of the Latins and his Rutilians that by his Proceedings he had wrong'd Aeneas and that he had deserv'd his Fate Equidem merui nec deprecor inquit For it is impossible that any of the Captains who were Spectators of the single Combat could be so very unjust and so very unreasonable as to endeavour to revenge a Man who confess'd he deserv'd his Fate But now let us come to Mezentius He behaves himself quite at a different rate He neither begs his Life nor confesses that he had done any Wrong He is so far from fearing
is beyond Comparison stronger it would have appear'd to be down-right insipid whereas in the Place where it is it admirably prepares us for that Passion For the very same Reason if the funeral Games had imediately succeeded the Destruction of Troy they would have been very flat For those Games being Contentions for Victory and consequently meer Imitations of War would have made but a very faint Impression upon us if they had immediately succeeded the more forcible Images of the thing which they imitate Whereas succeeding the Passion of Dido they prove both diverting and admimirable From what I have said I hope the Reader will be convinced that Mr. Blackmore's Horse-race in the ninth Book comes something indiscreetly after the Battel of the eighth But if any one shall urge that it immediately succeeds the pathetick Lamentation of Cador for the Death of Macor to that I answer that neither Macor nor Cador having any Characters the Lamentation of the latter can excite but a weak Compassion as shall be shewn anon Whereas the funeral Games of Virgil coming immediately after our Minds have been for a long time shaken by the wonderful Passion of Dido are absolutely necessary to recreate and to divert us But now let us shew that the Incidents contain'd in Mr. Blackmore's Narration to discerning Readers are not at all surprizing CHAP. VII That the Incidents in Prince Arthur are not surprizing IT is impossible that any Pleasure can be very great that is not at the same time surprizing I speak of the Pleasures of the Mind Though what is said of them may be truly affirm'd of the rest too If any one doubts of this let him but have Patience till the next time that he is very much pleas'd and upon Reflection he will be oblig'd to confess it And therefore if we could prove that Mr. Black-more's Narration is not at all surprizing it would follow by manifest Consequence that it is not at all delightful We shall here endeavour to shew that the Incidents are not surprizing but whether the Thoughts and Expressions are so must be determined in another Place Now that the Incidents are not surprizing may be easily demonstrated First that they are not surprizing to those who are acquainted with Virgil I take to be self-evident because they are acquainted with the most considerable of them before-hand But secondly they cannot be surprizing to any other Reader of good Sense because no Man is left in Suspense either as to the Certainty or as to the time of the very last Event For we find in the Relation which Lucius makes to Hoel in the fourth Book of the Poem that the Arch-Angel Gabriel speaks these Words to Prince Arthur which we have cited in another Place lib. 4. p. 115. After ten times the revolving Sun His crooked Race has thro' the Zodiack run The Clouds dispell'd propitious Heav'n shall smile On Uter s House and this reviving Isle Octa shall feel just Heav'n's avenging Stroke And Albion 's Youth shall break the Saxon Yoke And not long after we are inform'd by the same Lucius that this Term of Time was expir'd And Raphael in the very first Book of the Poem tells Arthur that as soon as he goes from Armorica he shall be exalted to the British Throne Since therefore two Angels have said it it must be done For each of them brings it in a Message from God who cannot deceive us and whose Decrees are irreversible Now since we are left in no manner of Suspense either as to the Certainty of the last Event or as to the Time of its hapning I cannot see how the Incidents which preceed it can be very surprizing For since the Incidents ought naturally to produce one another and the preceeding ought to be the necessary or at least the probable Cause of the subsequent I cannot imagine how any thing can be very surprizing to us which has a necessary or probable Tendency to something which we are sure must very suddenly happen But now if any one shall say that Mr. Blackmore's Episodes do not naturally produce one another and that therefore they may be surprizing though we are acquainted with the last Event If any one shall urge this in his Behalf which is a pleasant Way of excusing him I must needs confess that this Champion is in the right And I think my self oblig'd to declare that I was extremly surpriz'd to find that in the second and third Books there was not a Line to the purpose But the Result of the Matter is this The Episodes in Prince Arthur which have a necessary or probable Tendency to the final Event cannot be surprizing for the Reason which we have mention'd above And they which are foreign from the Business cannot give a Surprize which is Proper to Epick Poetry Now that Surprize alone which is admirable may be said to be proper to Epick Poetry And Aristotle has formally declared in the ninth Chapter of his Treatise of Poetry that that Surprize is the most admirable which flows from Incidents that spring from one another contrary to our Expectations But it is objected that this Accusation lies against Virgil as well as against Mr. Blackmore For neither has he left the Reader in any Suspense as to the Certainty of the very last Event For Jupiter says thus to Venus in the very first of the Aeneids lib. 1. v. 261. Parce metu Cytherea manent immota tuorum Fata tibi cernes urbem promissa Lavini Moenia sublimemque feres ad sider a coeli Magnanimum Aenean neque me sententia vertit After which he descends to give her an Account of the Hero's Posterity In the second Book the Ghosts of Hector and Creusa give him Assurance of his succeeding in Italy which Assurance is repeated by Helenus in the third Book and by Anchises in the sixth To this I answer that though they assure the thing they do not assure the Time Nay Helenus who gives him Instructions about the Place of his Settlement seems plainly to hint to him that he cannot inform him of the Time lib. 3. v. 380. Prohibent nam caetera Parcae Scire Helenum farique vetat Saturnia Juno And a little below he says to the same purpose ibid. v. 461. Hâ—…c sunt quae nostr â liceat te voce moneri Now the time being undetermined there is a great deal of Room left for Surprize But to make this Address of Virgil yet more conspicuous let us consider the Difference between the Systems of Stoical and Poetical Predestination The Stoical is the same with the Calvinical Predestination which comprehends the following Points First That every thing which befals us is preordained Secondly That every thing which is preordained is preordained by God alone Thirdly That every thing which is preordain'd is preordained not only as to the Event but as to the Point of Time That every thing which is preordain'd is eternally irreversible Now we shall shew that the poetical System