The Spectator
Chapter 389 : Virg.The Love of Symmetry and Order, which is natural to the Mind of Man, betrays him

Virg.

The Love of Symmetry and Order, which is natural to the Mind of Man, betrays him sometimes into very whimsical Fancies. _This n.o.ble Principle_, says a _French_ Author, _loves to amuse it self on the most trifling Occasions. You may see a profound Philosopher_, says he, _walk for an Hour together in his Chamber, and industriously treading, at every Step, upon every other Board in the Flooring_. Every Reader will recollect several Instances of this Nature without my a.s.sistance. I think it was _Gregorio Leti_ who had published as many Books as he was Years old; [1] which was a Rule he had laid down and punctually observed to the Year of his Death. It was, perhaps, a Thought of the like Nature which determined _Homer_ himself to divide each of his Poems into as many Books, as there are Letters in the _Greek_ Alphabet. _Herodotus_ has in the same manner adapted his Books to the Number of the _Muses_, for which Reason many a Learned man hath wished there had been more than Nine of that Sisterhood.

Several _Epic_ Poets have religiously followed _Virgil_ as to the Number of his Books; and even _Milton_ is thought by many to have changed the Number of his Books from Ten to Twelve, for no other Reason; as _Cowley_ tells us, it was his Design, had he finished his _Davideis_, to have also imitated the _aeneid_ in this Particular. I believe every one will agree with me, that a Perfection of this Nature hath no Foundation in Reason; and, with due Respect to these great Names, may be looked upon as something whimsical.

I mention these great Examples in Defence of my Bookseller, who occasioned this Eighth Volume of _Spectators_, because, as he said, he thought Seven a very Odd Number. On the other Side, several grave Reasons were urged on this important Subject; as in particular, that Seven was the precise Number of the Wise Men, and that the most Beautiful Constellation in the Heavens was composed of Seven Stars. This he allowed to be true, but still insisted, that Seven was an Odd Number; suggesting at the same time that if he were provided with a sufficient Stock of leading Papers, he should find Friends ready enough to carry on the Work. Having by this means got his Vessel launched and set afloat, he hath committed the Steerage of it, from time to time, to such as he thought capable of conducting it.

The Close of this Volume, which the Town may now expect in a little time, may possibly ascribe each Sheet to its proper Author.

It were no hard Task to continue this Paper a considerable Time longer, by the Help of large Contributions sent from unknown Hands.

I cannot give the Town a better Opinion of the SPECTATOR'S Correspondents, than by publis.h.i.+ng the following Letter, with a very fine Copy of Verses upon a Subject perfectly new.

_Dublin, Nov_. 30, 1714.

_Mr._ SPECTATOR,

'You lately recommended to your Female Readers, the good old Custom of their Grandmothers, who used to lay out a great Part of their Time in Needle-work: I entirely agree with you in your Sentiments, and think it would not be of less Advantage to themselves, and their Posterity, than to the Reputation of many of their good Neighbours, if they past many of those Hours in this innocent Entertainment, which are lost at the Tea-Table. I would, however, humbly offer to your Consideration, the Case of the Poetical Ladies; who, though they may be willing to take any Advice given them by the SPECTATOR, yet can't so easily quit their Pen and Ink, as you may imagine. Pray allow them, at least now and then, to indulge themselves in other Amus.e.m.e.nts of Fancy, when they are tired with stooping to their Tapestry. There is a very particular kind of Work, which of late several Ladies here in our Kingdom are very fond of, which seems very well adapted to a Poetical Genius: It is the making of _Grotto's_. I know a Lady who has a very Beautiful one, composed by her self, nor is there one Sh.e.l.l in it not stuck up by her own Hands. I here send you a Poem to the fair Architect, which I would not offer to herself, till I knew whether this Method of a Lady's pa.s.sing her Time were approved of by the _British_ SPECTATOR, which, with the Poem, I submit to your Censure, who am,

_Your Constant Reader, and Humble Servant_, A.B.

To Mrs.--on her _Grotto_.

A_ Grotto _so compleat, with such Design, What Hands, Calypso, cou'd have form'd but Thine?

Each chequer'd Pebble, and each s.h.i.+ning Sh.e.l.l, So well proportion'd, and dispos'd so well, Surprizing l.u.s.tre from thy Thought receive, a.s.suming Beauties more than Nature gave.

To Her their various Shapes, and glossy Hue, Their curious Symmetry they owe to You.

Not fam'd_ Amphion's _Lute,--whose powerful Call Made Willing Stones dance to the_ Theban _Wall, In more harmonious Ranks cou'd make them fall.

Not Ev'ning Cloud a brighter Arch can show, Nor richer Colours paint the heav'nly Bow.

Where can unpolished Nature boast a Piece, In all her Mossie Cells exact as This?

At the gay parti-color'd Scene--we start, For Chance too regular, too rude for Art,

Charmed with the sight, my ravish'd Breast is fir'd With Hints like those which ancient Bards inspir'd; All the feign'd Tales by Superst.i.tion told, All the bright Train of fabled Nymphs of Old, Th' enthusiastick Muse believes are true, Thinks the Spot sacred, and its Genius You.

Lost in wild Rapture, wou'd she fain disclose, How by degrees the pleasing Wonder rose: Industrious in a faithful Verse to trace The various Beauties of the lovely Place; And while she keeps the glowing Work in View, Thro' ev'ry Maze thy Artful Hand pursue.

Oh were I equal to the bold Design, Or cou'd I boast such happy Art as Thine!

That cou'd rude Sh.e.l.ls in such sweet Order place, Give common Objects such uncommon Grace!

Like them my well-chose Words in ev'ry Line, As sweetly temper'd should as sweetly s.h.i.+ne.

So just a Fancy shou'd my Numbers warm, Like the gay Piece shou'd the Description charm.

Then with superior Strength my Voice I'd raise, The echoing_ Grotto _shou'd approve my Lays, Pleas'd to reflect the well-sung Founder's Praise.

[Footnote 1: His boast was that he had been the author of a book and father of a child for 20 years successively.]

No. 633. Wednesday, December 15, 1714. Z. Pearce.

'Omnia profecto, c.u.m se a coelestibus rebus referet ad humanas, excelsius magnificentiusque et dicet et sentiet.'

Cicer.

The following Discourse is printed, as it came to my Hands, without Variation.

_Cambridge, Dec. 12_.

'It was a very common Enquiry among the Ancients why the Number of excellent Orators, under all the Encouragements the most flouris.h.i.+ng States could give them, fell so far short of the Number of those who excelled in all other Sciences. A Friend of mine used merrily to apply to this Case an Observation of _Herodotus_, who says, That the most useful Animals are the most fruitful in their Generation; whereas the Species of those Beasts that are fierce and mischievous to Mankind are but scarcely continued. The Historian instances in a Hare, which always either breeds or brings forth; and a Lioness, which brings forth but once, and then loses all Power of Conception. But, leaving my Friend to his Mirth, I am of Opinion, that in these latter Ages we have greater Cause of Complaint than the Ancients had. And since that solemn Festival is approaching, which calls for all the Power of Oratory, and which affords as n.o.ble a Subject for the Pulpit as any Revelation has taught us, the Design of this Paper shall be to show, that our Moderns have greater Advantages towards true and solid Eloquence, than any which the celebrated Speakers of Antiquity enjoy'd.

'The first great and substantial Difference is, that their Common-Places, in which almost the whole Force of Amplification consists, were drawn from the Profit or Honesty of the Action, as they regarded only this present State of Duration. But Christianity, as it exalts Morality to a greater Perfection, as it brings the Consideration of another Life into the Question, as it proposes Rewards and Punishments of a higher Nature, and a longer Continuance, is more adapted to affect the Minds of the Audience, naturally inclined to pursue what it imagines its greatest Interest and Concern.

If _Pericles_, as Historians report, could shake the firmest Resolutions of his Hearers, and set the Pa.s.sions of all _Greece_ in a Ferment, when the present Welfare of his Country, or the Fear of hostile Invasions, was the Subject: What may be expected from that Orator, who warns his Audience against those Evils which have no Remedy, when once undergone, either from Prudence or Time? As much greater as the Evils in a future State are than these at present, so much are the Motives to Persuasion under Christianity greater than those which meer moral Considerations could supply us with. But what I now mention relates only to the Power of moving the Affections. There is another Part of Eloquence, which is indeed its Master-piece; I mean the Marvellous or Sublime. In this the Christian Orator has the Advantage beyond Contradiction. Our Ideas are so infinitely enlarged by Revelation, the Eye of Reason has so wide a Prospect into Eternity, the Notions of a Deity are so worthy and refined, and the Accounts we have of a State of Happiness or Misery so clear and evident, that the Contemplation of such Objects will give our Discourse a n.o.ble Vigour, an invincible Force, beyond the Power of any human Consideration.

_Tully_ requires in his Perfect Orator some Skill in the Nature of Heavenly Bodies, because, says he, his Mind will become more extensive and unconfined; and when he descends to treat of human Affairs, he will both think and write in a more exalted and magnificent Manner.

For the same Reason that excellent Master would have recommended the Study of those great and glorious Mysteries which Revelation has discovered to us; to which the n.o.blest Parts of this System of the World are as much inferiour, as the Creature is less excellent than its Creator. The wisest and most knowing among the Heathens had very poor and imperfect Notions of a future State. They had indeed some uncertain Hopes, either received by Tradition, or, gathered by Reason, that the Existence of virtuous Men would not be determined by the Separation of Soul and Body: But they either disbelieved a future State of Punishment and Misery, or upon the same Account that _Apelles_ painted _Antigonus_ with one Side only towards the Spectator, that the Loss of his Eye might not cast a Blemish upon the whole Piece; so these represented the Condition of Man in its fairest View, and endeavoured to conceal what they thought was a Deformity to human Nature. I have often observed, that whenever the abovementioned Orator in his Philosophical Discourses is led by his Argument to the Mention of Immortality, he seems like one awaked out of Sleep, rous'd and alarm'd with the Dignity of the Subject, he stretches his Imagination to conceive something uncommon, and with the greatness of his Thoughts, casts, as it were, a Glory round the Sentence; Uncertain and unsettled as he was, he seems fired with the Contemplation of it.

And nothing but such a Glorious Prospect could have forced so great a Lover of Truth, as he was, to declare his Resolution never to part with his Persuasion of Immortality, though it should be proved to be an erroneous one. But had he lived to see all that Christianity has brought to Light, how would he have lavished out all the Force of Eloquence in those n.o.blest Contemplations which humane Nature is capable of, the Resurrection and the Judgment that follows it? How had his Breast glowed with Pleasure, when the whole Compa.s.s of Futurity lay open and exposed to his View? How would his Imagination have hurried him on in the Pursuit of the Mysteries of the Incarnation? How would he have enter'd, with the Force of Lightning, into the Affections of his Hearers, and fixed their Attention, in spite of all the Opposition of corrupt Nature, upon those glorious Themes which his Eloquence hath painted in such lively and lasting Colours?

'This Advantage Christians have; and it was with no small Pleasure I lately met with a Fragment of _Longinus_, which is preserv'd, as a Testimony of that Critick's Judgment, at the Beginning of a Ma.n.u.script of the New Testament in the _Vatican_ Library. After that Author has number'd up the most celebrated Orators among the _Grecians_, he says, _Add to these_ Paul _of_ Tarsus, _the Patron of an Opinion not yet fully proved_. As a Heathen, he condemns the Christian Religion; and, as an impartial Critick, he judges in Favour of the Promoter and Preacher of it. To me it seems, that the latter Part of his Judgment adds great Weight to his Opinion of St. _Paul's_ Abilities, since, under all the Prejudice of Opinions directly opposite, he is constrained to acknowledge the Merit of that Apostle. And, no doubt, such as _Longinus_ describes St. _Paul_, such he appeared to the Inhabitants of those Countries which he visited and blessed with those Doctrines was divinely commissioned to preach. Sacred Story gives us, in one Circ.u.mstance, a convincing Proof of his Eloquence, when the Men of _Lystra_ called him _Mercury, because he was the chief Speaker_, and would have paid Divine Wors.h.i.+p to him, as to the G.o.d who invented and presided over Eloquence. This one Account of our Apostle sets his Character, consider'd as an Orator only, above all the celebrated Relations of the Skill and Influence of _Demosthenes_ and his Contemporaries. Their Power in Speaking was admired, but still it was thought human: Their Eloquence warmed and ravished the Hearers, but still it was thought the Voice of Man, not the Voice of G.o.d. What Advantage then had St. _Paul_ above those of _Greece_, or _Rome_? I confess I can ascribe this Excellence to nothing but the Power of the Doctrines he delivered, which may have still the same Influence on the Hearers; which have still the Power, when preached by a skilful Orator, to make us break out in the same Expressions, as the Disciples who met our Saviour in their Way to _Emmaus_, made use of; _Did not our Hearts burn within us, when he talked to us by the Way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures_? I may be thought bold in my Judgment by some; but I must affirm, That no one Orator has left us so visible Marks and Footsteps of his Eloquence as our Apostle. It may perhaps be wondered at, that in his Reasonings upon Idolatry at _Athens_, where Eloquence was born and flourished, he confines himself to strict Argument only; but my Reader may remember what many Authors of the best Credit have a.s.sured us, That all Attempts upon the Affections and Strokes of Oratory were expressly forbidden, by the Laws of that Country, in Courts of Judicature. His want of Eloquence therefore here, was the Effect of his exact Conformity to the Laws. But his Discourse on the Resurrection to the _Corinthians_, his Harangue before _Agrippa_ upon his own Conversion and the Necessity of that of others, are truly Great, and may serve as full Examples to those excellent Rules for the Sublime, which the best of Criticks has left us. The Sum of all this Discourse is, That our Clergy have no farther to look for an Example of the Perfection they may arrive at, than to St. _Paul_'s Harangues; that when he, under the Want of several Advantages of Nature (as he himself tells us) was heard, admired, and made a Standard to succeeding Ages by the best Judge of a different Persuasion in Religion, I say our Clergy may learn, That, however instructive their Sermons are, they are capable of receiving a great Addition; which St. _Paul_ has given them a n.o.ble Example of, and the Christian Religion has furnished them with certain Means of attaining to.'

No. 634. Friday, December 17, 1714.