a Man would set down all the Excellencies he shall find in this Authors Orations he must intirely Transcribe them as did Demosthenes What can be imagin'd more pressing than that which he makes his Hero of Eloquence Pericles to speak when he endeavours to perswade the Athenians to the War in the First Book If it were possible says he to them you should be discourag'd by the labour and hazard there is in Conquering I would advise you to bid farewel to Glory For 't is only by Pains and Hardships ye can become worthy of that Honour The Argument is there express'd in all its Force and Dignity Finally those Grand Principles of Honour Equity Honesty and Glory to which he knows how to give their due inforcement are the most usual Characters he imprints upon his Discourse 'T is herein he makes use of the purest Reason not laying more weight on it than it will bear as the Sophists endeavour to do nor desiring through a counterfeit Eloquence to carry it beyond its natural bounds 'T is in these Harangues that all things shine and glitter with the Lustre of a noble strong and vehement Eloquence which he had form'd from the lively Sense he had of Things and a thorough Understanding of the Subjects that he Treated on Let us then Pardon him those Discourses for which we see some Criticks have Censur'd him since they are fraught with so many Excellencies For besides that the Greeks as I have observ'd before were Devoted to that Haranguing Humour and their Republican Spirit Authoriz'd that way This Great Man was very sensible of his own Qualifications for making States and Common-wealths discourse by which means he makes his History of so little and inconsiderable a Subject to be of so important Consideration And here he delivers those grand Maxims of Morality and Policy he understood so well And though Cicero is of Opinion that the Rhetorick of the Bar through its too great Loftiness is improper for civil Affairs I maintain that for Reasoning in the great Affairs of Treaties and the Negotiations of Peace and War and in all weighty important Interests Controverted by States Thucydides is the greatest Master that can be Consulted and 't is impossible to find elsewhere Reason better wrought by all the wisest Maxims of Government than in Thucydides And all things well consider'd there is not to be found in other Works that Force of Eloquence that appears in his What Wit what Understanding what Views must not a Man have to discover the Excellencies of a Work conceiv'd in the very purest Reign of the Roman Eloquence and to distinguish those Beauties that so highly transcend the common Rules as Livy's do He had an Elevation of Soul that gave him a noble Conception of things and it proceeded more from the Nobleness of his Thoughts than that of his Language that he was so Happy in his Expression He was intimately acquainted with Nature and all her Movements of which he gave us such lively Draughts that there is ever a surprizing Sprightliness of Soul in his Discourse And as he had contriv'd a sublime Style by the Greatness of his Expression which he diffuses through his Work tho' he manages it with all that Prudence which was Natural to him so he has plac'd all the Objects he Represents in the finest Light imaginable His Discourse is clear ever tending to its Purpose without making those Starts and Excursions other Authors are so Subject to His Logick is exact his Diction pure his Narration full of variety His Order looks so Natural as if the most curious Images of things so Postur'd themselves in his Mind as to fall each in its proper Place to make an absolute Picture both in all he thinks and all he says He disposes of those Images which he unfolds in his Narration by a great Diversity of Ideas and 't is by the Disposal and Order of them he is so Engaging And as he speaks more to the Understanding than the Eye or Ear so he ever tends more directly to the Soul The Ornaments which he mixes with his Discourse and those Flourishes he bestows upon it are so well Husbanded as to appear only in those Places that demand them and can bear them well wherein he shews himself Liberal without Profuseness As for the rest 't is generally the Plenty of his Matter that makes him so Copious in his Style the native Richness of his Subject causes that Luxuriance in his Speech And his Narration becomes taking by means of its Diffuseness growing thereby better Circumstantiated and more Probable For nothing is more effectual to render a thing Credible than the Knowledge of the Particularities how 't was Acted Besides a Man gives a steadier View of the Objects represented by standing a little upon the Turn of a Narration without precipitating or exhibiting things in a transient Glance To all which may be added the admirable Discretion he has to dissever and separate the Sentiments of Men to make them speak and act according to the Decorum of their several Conditions in which Nature has instated them I am dazled with that Lustre which reflects from his Discourse by the Choice the Harmony and Elegance of the Words he uses and those softer Passions that abound in his History of which Quintilian speaks so favourably those moving and delicate Affections which he treats with all the Art and Nature imaginable perfectly Enchant me by those wonderful Commotions they raise in my Soul Perhaps never Man came furnisht with better Parts or those more improv'd to the Writing of a History than he For he was form'd in a City at that time the Empress of the World in which all the most important Affairs of the Universe were Decided and in the politest Reign that ever was having had scarce any other school than the Court of Augustus There it was he learnt the Language of the Genteelest part of Mankind and that lively fine subtle and natural Air then in Fashion that exquisite Tast that purity and nobleness of Expression which was the Character of that Age and of which there were so great Models in all sorts of Writing perfecting and polishing himself upon them Thence it was he took that Softness necessary to please and that Force which renders him moving wherein peculiarly consists his essential Character For never Man united all the Grace and Beauty with all the Vehemence of Discourse so much as he so much does the sweetness of Beauty Temper the Masculine Force and Energy of what he says that there falls not any thing from his Pen too strong but is softned with a Term more nice and delicate He prepares whatever is Bold and heightens whatever is Low with the Brightness of his Speech These then are part of his Beauties in general let us now see those he has in particular He immediately procures a great Attention and much Inquisitiveness by that great Idea he gives his Subject at the
very Advantagious in those two Characters The fierceness of the first however softned it seems by the Religion of the second is set off the more by that kind of contrast which is pleasanter in History than in painting Those petty Battles under the first Kings and kinds of Apprenticeships the Roman People serv'd in War against their Neighbours are heightned by the Expression of the Historian who can when he pleases animate little things with an Air of Grandeur The Engagement of the Horatii and Curiatii for the Decision of the Fate of Rome and Alba is an Adventure that Beautifies all that part for 't is admirably related The expulsion of Kings which is the greatest Event in the two first Ages of Rome is render'd more remarkable by Lucretia's Exploit who Stabb'd her self before her Husbands face for having been dishonour'd by young Tarquin and the making that Circumstance the most material in that Revolution recommends the Relation more effectually to the Reader interessing his Affection by so surprizing an Adventure All the Consequences of that Revolution become more considerable by a Foundation so Solid and of so great a Lustre Scaevola's attempt is Painted in the Second Book with all the Colours so great Heroick and extraordinary a Design is capable of The love of his Country to which that Design ow'd its Conception the contempt of Life upon which it was form'd the Proposition that Gallant Gentleman offer'd the Senate in ambiguous Terms that so he might Merit their Approbation without incurring Disgrace that undauntedness of Action and Resolution of Soul and Courage in revenging on himself the miscarriage of his Blow all is of that Spirit and Elevation as is hardly to be parallel'd And 't is impossible a description of a like Enterprize should be supported with more astonishing Circumstances with more disdainful Language or greater Sentiments Porsenna King of Clusium who was besieging Rome amaz'd at so prodigious an instance of Valour demanded Peace of the Romans and that Peace was the product of so desperate an Undertaking But finally that Probity he attributes to a People grown Fierce and Untractable by the constant practise of Arms that justice and clemency they exercis'd in the very pride and heighth of their Victories that love of glory he ascribes to them that noble Pride from whence he draws their principal Character that greatness of Soul loftiness of Thoughts the Dignity of the Roman Name inspir'd them with the Ingenuity of the Senate in its Suffrage instanc'd in their taking Generals from the Plough That Spirit of Wariness Frugality Innocence and Equity so much practis'd and had in Honour in the raw and unpolisht Beginnings of the Common-wealth The publick Spiritedness of Brutus who Sacrificed his Childen to the Safety of his Country The Poverty of Curius who after he had inrich'd the Republick with the Spoils of the Enemy had not wherewith to Bury him Moreover those grand Maxims engrav'd in all Hearts truly Roman never to brook Disgrace The Resolve of the Senate after the Defeat by Hannibal at Cannae never to hearken to a Proposal of Peace those Idea's of Equity intimately impress'd on their Minds that great Sense of Honour Fidelity love of their Country and Liberty Their incomparable Knowledge in the Art of War the Severity of preserving the Laws of War in their utmost Extent that invincible Patience in Dangers and Hardships and all those other Vertues wherewith the Author has stor'd his History in innumerable Examples are the most usual Strokes he gives for the compleating of their Character This was the Spirit that reign'd in the Common-wealth in those troublesome Times when the Power of the first Consuls was balanc'd by the Institution of Tribunes to bear up the people against the Encroachments of the Nobles After the Second Carthaginian War and the Defeat of Hannibal the taking of Numantia the Conquests of Sicily and all Greece we may observe other sort of Manners and a quite different Spirit introduc'd in the Republick through that abundant Prosperity their Arms brought in Politeness and love of Gentile Arts a delicacy of Palate and the Study of Learning began to be establisht in Rome and to give quite another Countenance Mode and Lustre to the Government which the Historian has admirably laid open in all its Circumstances The Second Part also that remains of his History or rather the Two last Decades are incomparably better than the First For as to the Second which contains the Succession of Wars against the Samnites against the People of Etruria and Lucania against the Gauls against King Pyrrhus against the Tarentines the first Punick War made by Attilius Regulus and that against the rest of the People of Italy we can say nothing of since all that Decade is intirely lost Finally Scipio and Laelius who were the perfectest Models of that Politeness which was through the Study of Learning set up at Rome and who were themselves the Worthiest Gentlemen of the Republick compleated the Perfection of that State already so far advanc'd causing the love of Eloquence and Poetry and all Arts and Sciences to flourish in it and 't was by their Example and the Converse and Familiarity with the Greeks which the Romans had just Conquer'd that they Civiliz'd themselves utterly banishing out of their Republick that rude surly and unmannerly Carriage their constant dealing in Arms had introduc'd 'T was then this Victorious People began to Plume it self upon the Notion their Prosperity and Success had inspir'd them with that they were born to be Lords and Governours of the rest of the World And from thence it was that the love of Liberty and the thirst of Glory so much possest them This is the Image Livy gives us of them after the Second Punick War and during the Third these are the principal Ingredients of their Character For Plenty had not as yet debauch'd the Minds of a People Vertuous upon so good Principles as the Romans were There runs through the whole Character of Scipio who was at the Head of Affairs a Spirit of Religion which shews that Vertue alone was in greater Reputation at Rome than ever one need only see the Air the Historian makes him speak in in his African Voyage the Discourse he makes in the Twenty-ninth Book in his Departure from Sicily abounds with all the Sense of Piety an honest Man is capable of Cato gives his Voice in the Senate against the Luxury and Dress of Women in the Thirty-fourth Book with the same rigour he would have done in Plato's imaginary Republick Every thing savours of Vertue both in the People and in the Senate And nothing better manifests the Spirit wherewith the Senate govern'd the Republick at that time than the Verdict it pass'd upon the two Ambassadors Marcius and Attilius Commission'd to the King of Persia who gave some uneasy Suspicions to the Romans as being a Man of Courage and Understanding They said in accounting for their Negotiation
Interpretations to subtilize upon an equivocal Term and to found a Conjecture for the establishing a Correction In short they scrupulously adher'd to the literal Sense because they were not able to reach the Spirit of the Author and his Meaning which now adays is done Men being become more Rational and less Learn'd and greater account is made of good Sense in the greatest Simplicity than of an awkward and perverse Capacity of Mind Hereby it is we are arriv'd to a greater Intimacy with the Sentiments of the Ancients and a more thorow Knowledge of their Writings Which is so true that all Men never so little Impartial must agree to it and I may say without Vanity I give a better Idea of the Spirit of Livy for instance in this little Piece I have drawn than Gronovius has done in his last Edition Printed at Amsterdam in the Year 1665 which contains a long and exact History of the Manuscripts of the Historian of the Editions put out from time to time and of a Catalogue of those Men who have endeavour'd by their Notes or Corrections by their Reflections or Criticisms to re-estalish or augment him There is not to be found in all the Assistances he affords us for the understanding this Historian nor in all his other Commentators so exact a Knowledge of his Character as that which I give in this Volume as little as it is At least I shall not spoil the fine Relish the World begins to have of good Sense upon Reason's displaying its self to the Learn'd in all the Extent of Solidity and Delicacy Which is so thorowly setled in the Minds of Men at this day that in all the Works Recommended to us by the Merit of their Antiquity the Preference is without Scruple given to a Man of good Sense and little Learning before a Man of Learning of an injudicious Character I am fearful however of Discouraging those who have no Genius for Writing by desiring to Encourage those that have For whatever Rules may be given for History none can be prescrib'd more severe than those Thucydides and Livy have observed After all That which I shall say may be Serviceable to many Things being design'd to destroy the Remainder of that Love of false Lustre which still obtains even in this Age amongst Men whose Tast is not throughly purg'd and purify'd to enlighten those who pretend to write with a Ray of sober Reason which makes the Solid Character to stop that current of Repute some sort of Men still attribute to Flash and Words to shew that 't is from Things rather than Words the Nobleness of Expression should be sought to avoid that empty greatness of Discourse as contrary to the real Dignity of Expression as a too naked Simplicity and to write in a sensible manner by the right use of a correct and sober Reason which is no where better learn'd than from the Acquaintance with these Two Authors for I know very few that are more proper to make a Man Rational that reads them if he reads them well And though I should only say that all the majesty of the Roman Common-wealth still reigns in Livy after it has been more than 1500 Years destroy'd and all the Purity of Reason of the Ancient Greeks appears the same still in Thucydides as it was 2000 Years ago yet this would be enough one would think to excite the Curiosity of a generous Soul to know the Bottome of them according to their Merits For in short there probably never appear'd in any Work more solid Reasons accompanied with all the Force and Dignity of Discourse nor good Sense deliver'd with a more exquisite Judgment than in these Two Authors THE COMPARISON OF THUCYDIDES and LIVY CHAP. I. The Design of the Work and the Difficulties of the Undertaking BEsides that vast Difficulty there is to establish standing Rules whereby to judge of the Beauty of such Works as these which I am going to compare There are many whose Opinion will be contrary to mine in the very Choice I have made of these Two Historians as the most Accomplisht in both Languages because men are different in their Judgments and humoursome in their Tasts of things and 't will be hard to convince them that a just Comparison can be made betwixt Two Authors whose Works have nothing of Relation or Proportion to each other For that of Livy is an Universal History of a People who had the Sovereignty of the World that takes in a space of more than Seven Hundred Years and that of Thucydides is only a Fragment of a History relating to a particular Nation and of a War that lasted not Thirty Years in all Such are the Difficulties that immediately offer themselves in the Execution of my propos'd Design and it is troublesome to engage in 't before this Point be clear'd For the first we need only understand what is the end of History to be able to judge with some kind of certainty and distinction of the excellency of a work of that nature And for the second difficulty which respects the choice I have made of these two Authors nothing can better justify it than what I shall say in Commendation of them both For not to tye my self to the testimonies of the Learned who have given their judgment of them before me upon which I might build my own not to mention Dionysius Halicarnassensis the most judicious Critick of them all who calls Thucydides the most perfect of the Greek Historians assuring us that the ingenious of his time took him for the true pattern of writing History Not to call in the evidence of Quintilian in favour of Livy whom he prefers before all the Latin Historians nor to alledge the admiration they have both been had in by all ages where sound Sense hath had any sway or dominion nothing can possibly afford us a better view of the ascendant these two Historians have above all others than the Parallel which may be drawn betwixt them to convince those that are doubtful in the matter For the only Greeks that can pretend to completion with Thucydides are in my opinion Herodotus Xenophon and Polybius The rest deserve not to enter the Lists with him as rising not to that grandeur and dignity which History requires Herodotus indeed took a greater flight His design including all that was nobly transacted in Europe and Asia by the Greeks and Barbarians for the space of two Hundred Years was more fortunate than that of Thucydides but the performance is no way answerable to the grandeur of the Subject The too great ambition that Author had to please made him so careless of Truth that Plutarch concludes his Falshoods alone would make a Volume and his Integrity has been extreamly run down by all that have examin'd it He was of a temper too agreeable to have a Character that was solid laborious and fit for the discovery of Truth He 's of a superficial Genius that lays not
Eloquence to his Son which Quintilian made great account of that he began his History at Rome for the convenience of such Memorials as were necessary which were Recorded in the Annals in the Capitol and for the better distinguishing Truth from fabulous Traditions wherewith the Originals of the City of Rome abounded that he retired some time after to Naples to avoid disturbance in his Study that he recited to Augustus and Mecenas some parts of his History wherewith they were sensibly affected that Augustus upon the esteem he conceived of him made choice of him for a Tutor to form the Mind of his young Son Claudius who afterwards was Emperour Pliny Junior says the reputation of this great Man began already to make such a noise in the World that a Stranger came to Rome from the farthest part of Spain purposely to see Livy whose Renown had spread it self far and near in his own Country After the death of Augustus he return'd to Padua where the Citizens received him with extraordinary honours He dy'd in the fourth Year of the Reign of Tiberius His abode at Rome and the Favour of Augustus gave him opportunity of furnishing himself with Knowledge necessary to his Design The Zeal for his Undertaking which was great and extraordinary so fixt him to his Closet and gave him so little disquiet for the Concernments of his Fortune that his Life thereby became a little obscure being he was Oblig'd to sequester himself from a more publick Conversation and live private that he might give himself wholly up to that grand Work he had in hand He must needs have had a Soul prodigiously great to form the project of so vast and laborious an Enterprize For in short what ever Genius a man has 't is only a greatness of Spirit can produce those exalted and generous Sentiments that make the beauty and excellency of a noble Work Livy also was One of the Worthiest Men of all Antiquity We need only read him to think well of him his manner of Writing ever giving us a great Idea of his Probity You would conclude from his air of Speaking that he knew not what vanity was He has not only never spoken of himself nor any thing that belongs to him in his History but likewise we had been ignorant in what times he Wrote had it not been for a word that by chance escap'd him concerning the Temple of Janus which was now shut says he by Augustus having been so but once before since the Reign of Numa He began his History in a strain of Modesty which seems so Admirable to me that I cannot believe a discreeter Author ever appeared in the World See what is the Scope of that History which has been the most absolute Master-piece of Antiquity and the Admiration of all Ages I am uncertain whether the History I write of the Actions of the Roman People since the Foundation of Rome will be a Work worth any consideration and tho' I were perswaded of it I durst not say it for it is a matter c. The rest of that Exordium which I offer not to Copy since 't is in the hands of all Men is answerable to the beginning and is sufficient to shew the Spirit of the Author Never Man promis'd so little in Beginning a Work that promis'd so much He comes not without trembling to the opening his Design Diffident of his own strength in the sustaining so great an Enterprize But 't is only in order to give us more that he suffers us to hope so little he is not timorous but because he is wise and ordinarily a Man is no farther Modest than he is Judicious And this Character of Modesty is the finest amongst all the Qualities of an Author that is Meditating some great thing nothing creates a greater notion of his Judgment than his Distrust It is a proof of his Capacity that he is sensible of the weightiness of his Subject and 't is the greatest Testimony can be given of the Honesty of an Historian For what a Fund of Discretion and good manners must he needs have that can stifle all Pride so natural to Mankind and do himself Justice without Flattery See wherein Livy is worthy of Admiration as soon as he opens his Lips But after he has given us so mean an Opinion of himself by the small Regard he makes of his own Performances he lets us into a multitude of Lights he discovers a profoundness of Mind an extent of Genius a fruitfullness of Imagination in fine a Thousand Beauties and infinite Treasures which we attend not to when we only reckon upon what he promis'd us For his Sincerity it Underwent the severest Trial that possibly could be without being Corrupted The Reputation he was in with Augustus and that Favour to which he had advanc'd him were not Motives sufficient to hinder his speaking Honourably not only of Pompey but also Cassius and Brutus the greatest Enemies of that Emperour honouring the Memory of the Conquer'd in the Face as one may say of the Conqueror and Recommending to the World as Honest Men the Murtherers of Caesar in the Presence of Augustus because they were Lovers of their own Country 'T is this which Cremutius Cordus thought impossible to be sufficiently Praised in Titus Livy as we are assur'd by Tacitus Such was Livy for his Moral Accomplishments and what respects his Person and it seems that something had been wanting to the glory or rather the good fortune of a People that was Master of the World had they fail'd of so great a Man for their Historian 'T is that which has doubtless occasion'd that Famous Inscription found at Padua in the Year One Thousand Four Hundred and Thirteen in the Church of St. Justina Ossa Titi Livii Patavini omnium mortalium judicio digni cujus prope invicto calamo invicti populi Romani res gestae conscriberentur Thus then we see Two truly Vertuous Historians But to conclude this Head the Vertue of Thucydides seems more Admirable than that of Livy The former has afforded a kind Treatment even to his Enemies who could not make him abate the least of his Integrity and the Vertue of the later soar'd not quite so high since it went no farther than causing him to speak well of the Enemies of Augustus his Protector This is what may be Collected of the Persons and Morals of both Historians Let us now examine their Intellectual Vertues which we cannot know better than by a Comparison of their Characters CHAP. III. The Comparison of their Characters AS the Lines of a Face are expos'd to view so 't is no hard matter to discover them but the lineaments of a Mind from whence proceed the differences of a Style and Character are so Obscure and Imperceptible that without a very singular insight nothing of them can be known Take however what Ancient Authors have left us of Thucydides who were best able to know his Character
and Business To all this we may add those most solid Principles and Vertues Reason and sound Sense those most establisht Maxims of Morality and Politicks and that general decorum which runs through all he says by pursuing particular Circumstances up to universal Idea's and giving Energy to his Reasons by tracing them to their first Principles and Sources from which they were deriv'd which is the thing that gives that substantial Form and Solidity to his Discourse These are the main Beauties of that Author in general let us observe now his Excellencies in particular The Harangue of Pericles who Perswaded only by obtaining a Magisterial Authority over his Auditors speaking ever in an imperial Strain and as one may say with Thunder in his hand which occasion'd him to be styl'd Olympian Jove that admirable Discourse that Great Man makes in the First Book of his History in counselling the Athenians to a War is of a noble Spirit and abounds with lofty Thoughts For instance when he says to encourage them to take up Arms Let us not be concern'd at the loss of our Lands or Country-seats but our Liberty is that which ought nearly to concern us We are not made for our Estates but our Estates for us I am more afraid of our own Vices than all the Advantages of our Enemy great Glory and a mighty Name is only to be purchas'd by great and dangerous Vndertakings all the rest of that Discourse is of an equal Force and Exaltation But what Wisdom what Dignity is there is that of Archidamus King of Sparta disswading the Lacedemonians from War in the same Book Let us not suffer our selves says he to be blinded by those Mens Flatteries who only Praise that they may Destroy us Let us preserve our Modesty which is the Source of our Valour We are the only Greeks whom Prosperity has not as yet puffed up with Vanity What is there Comparable to those Beauties we find in the Funeral Panegyrick in the Second Book upon those who lost their Lives the first Campaign of that War especially where he speaks of the Manners that prevail'd in Athens and of the government Our Government says he is popular because the end we propose is the happiness of the Republick not the making of some few particular Persons and Honour is the Reward of Merit not the Priviledge of Birth We love Politeness without being fond of Luxury we apply our selves to the Study of Philosophy without giving up our selves to Effeminacy and Laziness the ordinary Companions of that Study We take the estimate of Riches from their Vses and not from their Pomp and we think it no shame to be Poor but not to do what is necessary to avoid Poverty this is Disgrace The Interests of each People are examin'd in that Discourse where Pericles gives his Sentence for the War with all the Sagacity the most subtle and curious Politicks are capable of That is a Place worthy of their Study who have the management of Affairs Nothing can be better explain'd That terrible Pestilence describ'd in the Third Book is so particularly Circumstanc'd is so elaborate and exact that Lucretius has almost intirely Translated it into his Poem and Demetrius the Phalerian has Commended it as one of the Chiefest Works of Art though Lucian finds fault with it in his Treatise of History because that Description falls into too great a Retail of Circumstances The Description Livy gives us in his Seventh Book of a Plague that happen'd at Rome like that at Athens is more succinct and has a Style more serious The Discourse of the Inhabitants of Platea who in the same Book justify their Conduct to the Lacedemonians after they had Surrendred to the Enemy is a piece of Excellency that Dionysius the declar'd Censurer of Thucydides could not chuse but admire There is a justness of Sense and a force of Eloquence that penetrates the Soul and causes a kind of Admiration mingled with Surprize 'T is in these Discourses the Models for the method of Perswasion are to be sought as being such masterly Strokes of Eloquence as are no where else to be found The Sea-fight in the Port of Syracuse describ'd in the Seventh Book so highly valued by Plutarch is express'd so much to the Life and the Motions of the Two Fleets of Athens and Sicily are so clearly distinguisht by their different Circumstances that Plutarch himself calls that Description a lively Image of the Passions of the Soul 't is all drawn in so lively and sensible a manner Nothing can be touch'd with a finer Hand or be more absolute than that Piece which manifests the Excellence of the Art and the Greatness of the Master There is likewise in the Sixth Book an Oration of Alcibiades to perswade the Athenians to resolve upon a War with Sicily which is remarkable for those Draughts of Eloquence and Politicks it is stor'd with As for instance when he introduces that great Man saying That Turbulent Spirits such as were the Athenians made greater advantage of Commotions than they could of Settlement and that it was more convenient to stick to the Ancient Maxims though possibly not so Good than to change them for those that are better because Nature says he is a Principle of an higher extract than Reason this being but the common Operation of Man's Soul and the other proceeding from the Decree of God Almighty There is a profound Wisdome an admirable Sense in that Reflection 'T is much the same Reasoning that he attributes to Cleon a Citizen of Athens upon the Case of the Prisoners of Mitylene saying That ill Laws well observ'd were better than good Laws that were despis'd or neglected and that a well-meaning and regular Ignorance was preferable to disorderly and inconstant Knowledge For nothing is more dangerous in a State than change of Conduct Again what is there more wise or rational than the Dialogue of the Melians with the Athenians Deputies in the Fourth Book The Melians talk in a submissive way which is however noble and ingenuous they preserve well the Character which became the Vanquisht without loosing that of Worthy Men who knew how to imploy their reason well when their sword hed fail'd them But the Athenians Lord it in too insolent a manner The Historian gives them too contemptuous a Carriage not very agreeable to Persons charg'd with a Negotiation It must be confest nevertheless that nothing is more sensible or solid than that Entercourse And the Reproach wherewith the Ambassadors of Platea urge the Lacedemonians in the Third Book of which I have already spoken is very noble If you measure say they Justice by your Interests you will give us reason to believe your Interests are dearer to you than your Glory All the Arguments the Historian imploys in that Discourse are like the Flashings and Dartings of Thunder and Lightning as his most severe Censurer Dion Halicarnassensis acknowledges 't is all Divine even in his Opinion But if
Celebration of this Festival was heard that saying That at last there was a People in the World born for the safety of all others that cross'd Seas made Wars at its own Cost and Peril to revenge the Oppress'd to establish Laws causing them to be observ'd through the whole Earth and to maintain the publick Security The Historian afterward opens the mystery how Hannibal became suspected by his Country-men upon advice that he entertain'd a constant Correspondence with King Antiochus to oblige him to declare War against the Romans That was it which this Great Man Banisht out of his Country and as it were a Vagabond abroad voted in that Kings Councel that if he would make War as he should do with the Romans he must attack them in their own Territories and Fight them at Rome as he himself had done There is a greatness of Soul and a loftiness of Thought in what the Historian makes him speak and suting with the Character of Hannibal 't is in the Thirty-fourth Book There is something Rare and Uncommon in point of Adventure in the accidental meeting of this Commander and Scipio who was made Lievtenant to his Brother as it is related in the following Book Undoubtedly it creates a very agreeable surprize as it needs must to see two Great Generals who had disputed the Empire of the World at the head of two potent Armies meeting by chance at Ephesus and coldly giving their Opinion as two private Men in a Sedate and unpassionate Discourse of the preheminence of the Greatest Officers who have made the most noise in the World In fine Hannibal suspected by his Citizens and hated by all the World is constrain'd to fly to Ephesus his flight contains several Adventures which render that part of the History very Curious as being of a Man of so great Importance that every Step he makes is Considerable But the Adventure of Scipio accus'd before the People by Q. Petilius for having Converted part of the Spoils of King Antiochus to his own Coffer is more surprizing and remarkable thro' the giddiness of Fortune and the injustice of the Roman People and 't is represented by the Historian with all the dignity so strange an Adventure does require That Man of incomparable Vertue as well as Valour made his Appearance at the Day prefixt by his Accuser But instead of making his Defense to his Accusation presumptuous upon his own Innocence he spoke to the People assembled to Condemn him with a bold and undaunted Gallantry and the Voice of a Conqueror Such was the day wherein I took Carthage beat Hannibal and Vanquisht the Carthaginians let us go to the Capitol and thank the Gods The People surpriz'd at so magnanimous a Carriage left the Accuser and followed Scipio and that Day says the Historian was infinitely more Glorious to him and advanc'd his Honour higher in the Opinion of the People than that wherein he Triumphed over King Siphax and the Carthaginians Dissatisfy'd however with that Treatment which manifested so much Disesteem he Retreated to Linternum a Country-seat of his towards Capua where he dy'd sometime after in the Embraces of his Family as a private Person The Portraicture of Cato delineated in the Thirty-ninth Book on occasion of the Dignity of Censor which he Canvas'd with the Scipio's Valerius Flaccus Furius and other Persons of note in the Senate is a Master-piece 'T is pleasant to see how Resembling it all is upon the Notion a Man has of the Austerity of Vertue in that Great Man For that portraicture is so singular in all the features that compose it that whether it is like nothing or whether it resembles its original all is touch'd off with an admirable Air. That which the Historian brings him in speaking against the Luxury of Women in the Thirty-fourth Book to put in Execution the Oppian Law which regulated the Expense of Habits and retrench'd the Prodigality therein and against the Nocturnal Devotion describ'd in the Thirty-ninth Book wherewith they mixt all the Horror of the most dissolute Practices and abominable Debauchery in the World has much of the Spirit of a rigid Censour of Manners The Speeches he makes against the Disorders which the Wars of Asia had brought into Rome by infusing Effeminacy Licentiousness and a Prostitution of Youth which tended to its utter Ruine bear the Stamp of a sincere and Great Man who contributed with the Old Senators to the Preservation of that Wisdom Probity Hatred of Injustice love of Equity and horrour of Vice which prevail'd in the Senate at that time And all this has its Effect in the End of that Decade where the Historian presents us with the Spirit and Character of the Republick then subsisting The Death of Annibal who had retir'd to Prusias King of Bithynia after the Defeat of Antiochus having Poisoned himself to avoid falling into the Hands of Flaminius is very moving at the End of the Thirty-ninth Book One is concern'd to see so great a Man Die in such a manner and that Particular prepar'd so finely with such remarkable Events is of a singular Excellence But it must be acknowleg'd that nothing is more pompous or magnificent than the Entrance of the Forty-third Book where Livy sets forth the Generality of the People of Greece and Asia after the subduing Macedonia sending their Embassadours to Rome to implore the Protection of the Senate and to submit themselves to the Republick All that Part is describ'd in that Triumphant Character which usually accompanies the happy Conquerours The Historian himself there strikes on such a Key as lets us know he is Apprehensive of the good Fortune of his Country and the Merit of his Subject The Defeat of Perses in the Forty-fourth Book happening upon occasion of an Horse that escap'd the Hands of his Servants and was the Cause of the Battle which the Two Armies incamp'd upon the opposite Banks of a little River would willingly have avoided has something surprizing in it and indeed nothing is finer in an History than great Events caus'd by trifling Accidents as this which is very Remarkable upon the Wonder it raises The Oration the Embassadours of Rhodes make before the Senate in the Forty-fifth Book is fine lofty and eloquent nothing comes nearer the Discourses Thucydides attributes to the Deputies of States and Common-wealths in his History of the Peloponnesian War Nothing can be more fitly compar'd with him in that very Kind in which his Excellence lay nor is there any thing more like that manner of speaking he gives the Towns and States whose History he Writes Paulus Emilius's Voyage through Greece after he had Conquer'd it his Visiting the Provinces to observe what was Remarkable for Antiquity or for the Rarity and Excellence of the Work is handsomely Describ'd in the Forty-fifth Book Every Town has its peculiar Character its Order and Distinction and the Historian by giving us a fine Notion of the Country heightens the Victories and Advantages