But way or other, to impair the enjoyments I am, &c. § 105. To the fame directed thus: "For ANTHONY COLLINS, Efq; to be delivered to him after my deceaje:" Dear Sir, By my will you will fee that I had fome kindness for * *. And I knew no better way to take care of him, than to put him, and what I defigned for him, into your hands and management: the knowledge I have of your virtue of all kinds, fecures the truft, which, by your permiffion, I have placed in you and the peculiar efteem and love I have obferved in the young man for you, will difpofe him to be ruled and influenced by you, fo that of that I need fay nothing. But there is one thing, which it is neceffary for me to recommend to your efpecial care and memory May you live long and happy, in the enjoyment of health, freedom, content, and all thofe bleffings which Providence has bestowed on you, and your virtue entitles you to! I know you loved me living; and will preferve my memory, now I am dead. All the ufe to be made of it is, that this life is a fcene of vanity, that foon paffes away; and affords no folid fatisfaction, but in the confcioufnefs of doing well, and in the hopes of another life. This is what I can fay, upon experience, and what you will find to be true, when you come to make up the account. Adieu! I leave my best wishes with John Locke. you. 106. Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE to Mr. SIDNEY. Hague, Dec. 13, N. S. Sir, 1675. Though I did not like the date of your last letter, yet I did all the reft very well. I thought Lyons a little too far off for one I wish always in my reach: but when I remembered it was a place of fo great trade, and where had been very good told me yours you in former times, I was contented to think you spent your time to your own advantage and fatisfaction, though not to your friends, by keeping at fuch a distance. I was very well pleafed t'other day with a vifit made me by Captain Fretheim, who was much in your praises; but I did not like that he fhould make you kinder to him than to me: yet I think he deferves it of you, if all be true that he tells; for he pretends to think you le plus bel homme, & le plus bonnete homme, and I know not what more, that never came into my head, as you know very well. However, I was mighty glad to hear him fay, you had the best health that could be, and that you looked as if you would keep it fo, if you did not grow too kind to the place and company you lived in, or they to you. Yet after what you tell me of the French air and Bourbon waters, I am much apter to with myself there, than you in thefe parts of the world; and though I hear news every day from all fides, yet I have not heard any fo good fince I came upon this fcene, as what you fend me, of the effects 1 am like to feel by the change, whenever I come upon that where you are. They will be greater and better than any I can expect by being the buty man, though je pourrois bien faire merveilles, with the company I am joined to; and nobody knows to what Sir El. lis may raile another ambassador, that has already raifed one from the dead. They begin to talk now of our going to Nimeguen, as if it were nearer than I thought it a month ago. are there, it will be time enough to tell you what I think of our coming away. Hitherto, I can only fay, there are fo many fplinters in the broken bone, that PP 4 When we the the patient must be very good, as well remarkable faults. Befides, in these cafes, his majefty discharges the hardfhips and feverity of all punishments upon the parliament, and commits no force upon the gentleness of his own nature, while his fubjects fee that no tenderness of their prince, nor corruption of minifters, can preserve them long from paying what they owe to any forfeits of their duty. Nor indeed can any prince do justice to those that serve him well, without punishing those that ferve him ill; fince that is to make their conditions equal, whofe deferts are different. I fhould not fay this to any perfon but to your lordship to whom I know part of that juftice is due. But to fay truth, the progrefs and end of the laft war went fo much to my heart, and I have heard fo much lately from Monfieur de Wit, concerning the carriage of it on our fide, efpecially what fell under his eye when he was abroad in the fleet, that I cannot but think the parliament may be excused for their warmth in this purfuit. But your lordfhip can beft difcern by the course of debates, whether this proceeds from a fteady intention upon a general good, or from fome accidental distempers, $107. Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE to Lord from which the greatest and best affem ARLINGTON. Bruffels, March 2, N. S. My Lord, 1668. I am forry his majefty fhould meet with any thing he did not look for at the opening of this feffion of parliament; but confefs, I do not fee why his majefty fhould not only confent to, but encourage any enquiries or difquifitions they defire to make into the mifcarriages of the late war, as well as he has done already in the matter of accounts; for, if it be not neceffary, it is a king's eafe and happiness to content his people. I doubt, as men will never part willingly with their monies, unless they blies of men are not always free, efpecially when they have continued long together. I beg your lordship's pardon for my liberty in thefe difcourfes, to which you were pleafed to encourage me, by hearing me fo obligingly thofe few minutes I was allowed for fuch talk or thoughts at my last being with you, and from the fenfe you then expreffed of the abfolute neceffity there was for his majefty to fall into a perfect intelligence with his parliament, efpecially being engaged into an appearance of action abroad by the force of this prefent conjuncture. I am ever, &c. be well perfuaded it will be employed § 108. Sir WILLIAM TEMPLE to the directly to thofe ends for which they gave it; fo they will never be fatisfied with a government, unless they see men are chofen into offices and employments by being fit for them; continued for difcharging them well; rewarded for extraordinary merit, and punished for Bishop of ROCHESTER. Nimeguen, May 21, N. S. My Lord, 1677. I am unacquainted with thanks or praises, having fo little deferved any, that I must judge of them rather by the the report of others, than by any expe. rience of my own. But if, by either, I understand any thing of them, all the charm or value they have arifes from the esteem a man has of the person that gives them, or the belief in fome meafure of his own deferving them. The first of these circumftances gave fo great an advantage to thofe I had lately the honour of receiving from your lordship, in a letter delivered me by Mr. Dolben, that the want of the other was but ne ceffary to allay the vanity they might otherwife have given me. But where a man can find no ground to flatter himfelf upon the thanks he receives, he begins to confider whether they are praise or reproach: and fo I am fure I have reafon to do in the acknowledgments your lordship is pleased to make me of any favours to your fon, who has never yet been fo kind to me, as to give me the leaft occafion of oblig. ing him. I confefs, I fhould have been glad to meet with any, though I do not remember so much as ever to have told him fo; but if he has gueffed it from my countenance or converfation, it is a testimony of his obferving much, and judging well; which are qualities I have thought him guilty of, among thofe others that allow me to do him no favour but juftice only in efteeming him. 'Tis his fortune to have been before. hand with me, by giving your lordship an occafion to take notice of me, and The world generally measures our and will fcarce believe that fo much zeal efteem by the ardour of our pretences; in the heart can be confiftent with fo much faintnefs in the expreffion: but when they reflect on your readiness to do good, and your induftry to hide it; on your paffion to oblige, and your pain to hear it owned; they will conclude, that acknowledgments would be ungrateful to a perfon, who even feems to receive the obligations he confers. But though I fhould perfuade myfelf to be filent upon all occafions, those more polite arts, which, till of late, have languifhed and decayed, would appear under their prefent advantages, and own infomuch, that fculpture now breathes, you for one of their generous restorers; painting fpeaks, music ravishes; and as you help to refine our tatte, you diftinguith your own. Your approbation of this poem is the only exception to the opinion the world has of your judgment, that ought to relish nothing fo much as what you write yourself: but you are refolved to forget to be a critic, by remembering you are a friend. To fay more, would be uneafy to you; and to fay lefs, would be unjust in thereby furnishing me with a pretence of entering into your fervice: which gives him a new title to any I can do him, and your lordship a very just one to employ me upon all occafions. Not withstanding your lordship's favourable opinion, I will affure you, 'tis well for me, that our work here requires little kill, and that we have no more but forms to deal with in this congrefs, while the treaty is truly in the field, where the conditions of it are yet to be determined. Fata viam invenient : which is all I can fay of it: nor fhall I § 110. Mr. DRYDEN to Mr. DENNIS. increase your lordship's prefent trouble, beyond the profeflions of my being, My lord, your lordship's most obedient, humble fervant. Your humble fervant. My dear Mr. Dennis, When I read a letter fo full of my commendations as your laft, I cannot but confider you as the mafter of a vait treafure, who, having more than enough for yourself, are forced to flow out upon your your friends. You have indeed the beft right to give them, fince you have them in propriety but they are no more mine, when I receive them, than the light of the moon can be allowed to be her own, who fhines but by the reflection of her brother. Your own poetry is a more powerful example, to prove that the modern writers may enter into comparison with the ancients, than any which Perrault could produce in France; yet neither he nor you, who are a better critic, can perfuade me that there is any room left for a folid commendation, at this time of day at least, for me. If I undertake the translation of Virgil, the little which I can perform will fhew, at leaft, that no man is fit to write after him, in a barbarous modern tongue: neither will his machines be of any fervice to a Chriftian poet. We fee how ineffectually they have been tried by Taffo and by Ariofto. 'Tis ufing them too dully, if we only make devils of his gods: as if, for example, I would raife a ftorm, and make use of Æolus, with this only difference, of calling him Prince of the Air, what invention of mine would there be in this? or who would not fee Virgil through me, only the fame trick played over again by a bungling juggler ? Boileau has well obferved, that it is an eafy matter, in a Chriftian poem, for God to bring the devil to reafon. I think I have given a better hint for new machines in my preface to Juvenal, where I have particularly recommended two fubjects, one of king Arthur's conqueft of the Saxons, and the other of the Black Prince, in his conqueft of Spain. But the guardian angels of monarchies and kingdoms are not to be touched by every hand. Aman must be deeply converfant in the Platonic philofophy to deal with them and therefore I may reafonably expect, that no poet of our age will prefume to handle thofe machines, for fear of difcovering his own ignorance; or, if he thould, he might, perhaps, be ungrateful enough not to own me for bis benefactor. After I have confeffed thes much of our modern heroic poetry, I cannot but conclude with Mr. Rym-, that our English comedy is far beyond any thing of the ancients. And, not withstanding our irregularities, fo is our tragedy. Shakespeare had a genius for it; and we know, in fpite of Mr. R, that genius alone is a greater virtue (if I may fo call it) than all other qualifications put together. You fee what fuccefs this learned critic has found in the world, after his blafpheming Shakespeare. Almost all the faults which he has difcovered are truly there ; yet who will read Mr. Rym, or not read Shakespeare? For my own part, I reverence Mr. Rym's learning, but I deteft his ill-nature and his arrogance. I, indeed, and fuch as I, have reafon to be afraid of him, but Shakespeare has not. There is another part of poetry in which the English ftand almoft upon an equal footing with the ancients; and 'tis that which we call Pindarique, introduced, but not perfected, by our famous Mr. Cowley : and of this, Sir, you are certainly one of the greatest matters: you have the fublimity of fenfe as well as found, and know how far the boldness of a poet may lawfully extend. I could with you would cultivate this kind of ode, and reduce it either to the fame mea, fure which Pindar ufed, or give new meafures of your own. For, as it is, it looks like a vast tract of land newly difcovered. The foil is wonderfully fruitful, but unmanured; overstocked with inhabitants, but almost all favages, without laws, arts, arms, or policy. I remember poor Nat. Lee, who was then upon the verge of madness, yet made a fober and witty anfwer to a bad poet, who told him, "It was an eafy thing to write like a madman.""No," faid he, it is very difficult to write like a madman; but it is a "very eafy matter to write like a fool." Otway and he are fafe by death from all attacks, but we poor poets militant (to ufe Mr. Cowley's expreffions) are at the mercy of wretched fcribblers; and when they cannot fallen upon our verfes, they fall upon our morals, our principles of fate, and religion. For my principles of religion, I will not justify them to you; I know yours are far dif ferent. For the fame reafon, I fhall fay nothing of my principles of ftate: I believe you in yours follow the dictates of I am of your reafon, as I in mine do thofe of my confcience. If I thought my felf in an error, I would retract it; I am fure that I fuffer for them; and Milton makes even the devil fay, "That no creature is in love with pain." For my morals betwixt man and man, not to be my own judge; I appeal to the world, if I have deceived or defrauded any man: and for my private converfation, they who fee me every day can be the best witneffes, whether or no it be blameless and inoffenfive. Hitherto I have no reafon to complain that men of either party fhun my company. I have never been an impudent beggar at the doors of noblemen: my vilits have indeed been too rare to be unacceptable, and but just enough to tellify my gratitude for their bounty; which I have frequently received, but always unafked, as themfelves will witnefs. I have written more than I needed to you on this fubject; for, 1 dare fay, you juftify me to yourfelf. As for that which I first intended for the principal fubject of this letter, which is my friend's paffion, and his defign of marriage, on better confideration I have changed my mind: for having had the honour to fee my dear friend Wycherley's letter to him on that occafion, I find nothing to be added or amended. But, as well as I love Mr. Wycherley, I confefs I love myself fo well, that I will not fhew how much I am inferior to him in wit and judgment, by undertaking any thing after him. There is Mofes and the prophets in his counfel. Jupi. ter and Juno, as the poets tell us, made Tirefias their umpire, in a certain merry difpute which fell out in heaven betwixt them: Tirefias, you know, had been of both fexes, and therefore was a proper judge. Our friend Mr. Wycherley is full as competent an arbitrator: he has been a batchelor, and a married man, and is now a widower. Virgil fays of Ceneus, -Nunc vir nunc fœmina Ceneus, Rurfus & in veterem fato revoluta figuram. Yet, I fuppofe, he will not give any large commendations to his middle ftate; nor, as the failor faid, will be fond, after fhipwreck, to put to fea again. If my friend will adventure after this, I can but with him a good wind, as being his; and, My dear Mr. Dennis, Yours, &c. $111. Queen ANN BOLEYN's laft Letter to King HENRY VIII. Sir, Your grace's difpleasure and my imprifonment are things fo ftrange unto me, as what to write, or what to excufe, I am altogether ignorant: Whereas you fend unto me (willing me to confefs a truth, and fo obtain your favour) by fuch a one, whom you know to be mine ancient profeffed enemy; I no fooner received this meflage by him, than I rightly conceived your meaning; and if, as you fay, confeffing a truth indeed may procure my fafety, I fhall, with all willingness and duty, perform your command. But let not your grace ever imagine, that your poor wife will ever be brought to acknowledge a fault, where not fo much as a thought thereof preceded. And to fpeak a truth, never prince had wife more loyal in all duty, and in all true affection, than you have ever found in Ann Boleyn; with which name and place I could willingly have contented myfelf, if God and your grace's pleafure had been fo pleafed. Neither did I at any time fo far forget myfelf in my exaltation, or received queenship, but that I always looked for fuch an alteration as I now find; for the ground of my preferment being on no furer foundation than your grace's fancy, the leaf alteration I knew was fit and fatficient to draw that fancy to fome other object. You have chofen me, from a low eflate, to be your queen and companion, far beyond my defert or defire. If then you found me worthy of fuch honour, good your grace let not any light fancy, or bad counfel of mine enemies, withdraw your princely favour from me; neither let that ftain, that unworthy ftain, of a difloyal heart towards your good grace, ever caft fo foul a blot on your moit dutiful wife, and the infant princefs your daughter. Try me, good king, but let me have a lawful trial, for my truth fhall fear no open fhame; then fhall you fee either mine innocence clear ed. |