in it, which he may not meet with in Ariftotle, and which were not commonly known by all the poets of the Auguftan age. His way of expreffing and applying them, not his invention of them, is what we are chiefly to admire.

For this reafon I think there is nothing in the world fo tirefome as the works of thofe critics who write in a pofitive dogmatic way, without either language, genius, or imagination. If the reader would fee how the best of the Latin critics writ, he may find their manner very beautifully defcribed in the characters of Horace, Petronius, Quintillian, and Longinus, as they are drawn in the essay of which I am now fpeaking. Since I have mentioned Longinus, who in his reflexions has given us the fame kind of fublime, 'which he obferves in the feveral paffages that occafioned them; I cannot but take notice, that our English author has after the fame manner exemplified feveral of his precepts in the very precepts themselves. I fhall produce two or three inftances of this kind. Speaking of the infipid fmoothness which fome readers are fo much in love with, he has the following verfes. "Thefe equal fyllables alone require, "Tho' oft the ear the open vowels tire, "While expletives their feeble aid do join, « And ten low words oft creep in one dull

"line."

The gaping of the vowels in the fecond line, the expletive do in the third, and the ten monofyllables in the fourth, give fuch a beauty to this paffage, as would have been very much admired in an ancient poet. The reader may obferve the following lines in the fame view.

"A needlefs Alexandrine ends the fong,

Λάαν ἄνω ὤθεσκε ποτὶ λόφον, αλλ' ὅτε μέλλοι "Ακρον ὑπερβαλέειν. τότ' αποτρέψασκε Κραταιίς, Αὐτις ἔπεια πέδονδε κυλίνδετο λάας αναιδής.

Odyff. 1. 11.

"I turn'd my eye, and as I turn'd furvey'd "A mournful vifion! the Sifyphian fhade: "With many a weary ftep, and many a groan, "Up the high hill he heaves a huge round ftone: "The huge round ftone, refulting with a bound, "Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along "the ground." POPE.

It would be endlefs to quote verfes out of Virgil which have this particular kind of beauty in the numbers; but I may take an occafion in a future paper to fhew feveral of them which have efcaped the obfervation of others.

I cannot conclude this paper without taking notice that we have three poems in our tongue, which are of the fame nature, and each of them a mafter-piece in its kind; the effay on translated verfe, the effay on the art of poetry, and the effay upon criticism.

" along."

And afterwards,

"Not fo, when swift Camilla fcours the plain, "Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along "the main,"

The beautiful diftich upon Ajax in the foregoing lines, puts me in mind of a defcription in Homer's Odyffey, which none of the critics have taken notice of. It is where Sifyphus is reprefented lifting his ftone up the hill, which is no fooner carried to the top of it, but it immediately tumbles to the bottom. This double motion of the ftone is admirably defcribed in the numbers of thefe verfes; as in the four firft it is heaved up by feveral Spondees intermixed with proper breathing places, and at last trundles down in a continual line of Dactyls.

Καὶ μὴν Σίσυφον, εἰσεῖδον, κρατέρ ̓ ἄλγε' ἔχοντα,
Λάαν βαςάζολα πελώριον ἀμφοτέρησιν.
Ἤτοι ὁ μὲν σκηριπλόμενος χερσὶν τε ποσὶν τε,

My dear Harriot,

F thou art fhe, but oh how fallen, how changed, what an apoftate! how loft to all that is gay and agreeable! To be married I find is to be buried alive; I cannot conceive it more difmal to be fhut up in a vault to converfe with the fhades of my ancestors, than to be carried down to an old manor-houfe in the country, and confined to the converfation of a fober hufband and an aukward chamber-maid. variety I fuppofe you may entertain yourself with madam in her grogram gown, the fpoufe of your parish vicar, who has by this time I am fure well furnifhed you with receipts for fnaking falves and poffets, diftilling cordial-waters, 'making syrups, and applying poultices.

For

Bleft folitude! I with thee joy, my dear, of thy loved retirement, which indeed you would perfuade me is very agreeable, and dif'ferent enough from what I have here defcribed: but, child, I am afraid thy brains are a little difordered with romances and novels: after fix months marriage to hear thee talk of love, and paint the country fcenes fo foftly, is a little extravagant; one would think you lived the lives of fylvan deities, or roved among the walks of paradifes like the firft happy pair. But pr'ythee leave thefe whimfies, and come to ⚫ town in order to live and talk like other mortals. However, as I am extremely interested in your reputation, I would willingly give you T t a lic

tranfmitted to pofterity, nations conquered and civilized now fince the proper and genuine motives to thefe and the like great actions, would only influence virtuous minds; there would be but small improvements in the world, were there not fome common principle of action working equally with all men. And fuch a principle is ambition or a defire of fame, by which great endowments are not fuffered to lie idle and useless to the public, and many vicious men, over-reached, as it were, and engaged contrary to their natural inclinations in a glorious and laudable course of action. For we may farther obferve, that men of the greateft abilities are moft fired with ambition: and that on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it: whether it be that a man's fenfe of his own incapacities makes him defpair of coming at fame, or that he has not enough range of thought to look out for any good which does not more immediately relate to his intereft or convenience, or that Providence, in the very frame of his foul, would not fubject him to fuch a paffion as would be ufelefs to the world, and a torment to himself.

Were not this defire of fame very ftrong, the difficulty of obtaining it, and the danger of Jofing it when obtained, would be fufficient to deter a man from fo vain a pursuit.

How few are there who are furnished with abilities fufficient to recommend their actions to the admiration of the world, and to distinguish themselves from the rest of mankind? Providence for the most part fets us upon a level, and obferves a kind of proportion in its difpenfation towards us. If it renders us perfect in one accomplishment, it generally leaves us defective in another, and feems careful rather of preferving every perfon from being mean and deficient in his qualifications, than of making any fingle one eminent or extraordinary.

And among those who are the most richly endowed by nature, and accomplished by their own industry, how few are there whofe virtues are not obfcured by the ignorance, prejudice or enyy of their beholders? Some men cannot difcern between a noble and a mean action: others are apt to attribute them to fome false end or intention; or others purposely misreprefent, or put a wrong interpretation on them.

But the more to enforce this confideration, we may obferve that thofe are generally moft unfuccefsful in their purfuit after fame, who are moft defirous of obtaining it. It is Salluft's remark upon Cato, that the lefs he coveted glory the more he acquired it.

Men take an ill-natured pleasure in croffing our inclinations, and difappointing us in what our hearts are moft fet apon. When therefore they have discovered the paffionate defire of fame in the ambitious man, as no temper of mind is more apt to fhew itself, they become sparing and referved in their commendations, they envy him the fatisfaction of an applaufe, and look on their praifes rather as a kindnefs done to his perfon, than as a tribute paid to his merit. Others who are free from this natural perverfeness of temper grow wary in their praises of one, who fets too great a value on them, left they fhould raife him too high in his own imagination, by fequence remove him so na greater diftance from

themselves.

But farther, this defire of fame naturally betrays the ambitious man into fuch indecencies, as are a leffening to his reputation. He is ftill afraid left any of his actions fhould be thrown away in private, left his deferts fhould be concealed from the notice of the world, or receive any disadvantage from the reports which others make of them. This often fets him on empty boasts and oftentations of himself, and betrays him into vain fantastical recitals of his own performances: his discourse generally leans one way, and, whatever is the fubject of it, tends obliquely either to the detracting from others, or to the extolling of himself. Vanity is the natural weaknefs of an ambitious man, which expofes him to the fecret fcorn and derifion of thofe he converfes with, and ruins the character he is fo industrious to advance by it. For though his actions are never fo glorious, they lofe their luftre when they are drawn at large, and fet to fhow by his own hand; and as the world is more apt to find fault than to commend, the boaft will probably be cenfured when the great action that occafioned it is forgotten.

Befides, this very defire of fame is looked on as a meannefs and imperfection in the greatest character. A folid and fubftantial greatness of foul looks down with a generous neglect on the cenfures and applaufes of the multitude, and places a man beyond the little noife and ftrife of tongues. Accordingly we find in ourselves a fecret awe and veneration for the character of one who moves about us in a regular and illuftrious course of virtue, without any regard to our good or ill opinions of him, to our reproaches or com→ mendations. As on the contrary it is ufual for us, when we would take off from the fame and reputation of an action, to afcribe it to vain-glory, and a defire of fame in the actor. Nor is this common judgment and opinion of mankind illfounded for certainly it denotes no great bravery of mind to be worked up to any noble action by fo felfish a motive, and to do that out of a defire of fame, which we could not be prompted to by a difinterested love to mankind, or by a generous paffion for the glory of him that made us.

Thus is fame a thing difficult to be obtained by all, but particularly by those who thirst after it, fince most men have fo much either of ill-nature, or of wariness, as not to gratify or footh the vanity of the ambitious man; and fince this very thirst after fame naturally betrays him into fuch indecencies as are a leffening to his reputation, and is itfelf looked upon as a weakness in the greatest characters.

In the next place, fame is eafily loft, and as difficult to be preferved as it was at first to be acquired. But this I fhall make the fubject of a following paper.

No 256. MONDAY, DECEMBER 24. Φήμη γάρ τε κακὴ πέλεται· κέφη μὲν ἀεῖραι Ρεῖα μάλ', ἀργαλέη δὲ φέρειν.

с

Hef.

Defire of fame by various ways is croft,
Hard to be gain'd, and easy to be loft.
T mind which naturally difpofe us to pers of

are and tempers

and vilify the merit of one rifing in the esteem of Tt2. mankind.

mankind. All thofe who made their entrance into the world with the fame advantages, and were once looked on as his equals, are apt to think the fime of his merits a reflexion on their own indeferts; and will therefore take care to reproach him with the fcandal of fome past action, or derogate from the worth of the prefent, that they may ftill keep him on the fame level with themfelves. The like kind of confideration often ftirs up the envy of fuch as were once his fuperiors, who think it a detraction from their merit to fee another get ground upon them and overtake them in the purfits of glory; and will therefore endeavour to fink his reputation, that they may the better preferve their own. Thofe who were once his equals envy and defame him, because they now fee him their fuperior; and thofe who were once his fupeperiors, because they looked upon him as their equal.

But farther, a man whofe extraordinary reputation thus lifts him up to the notice and obfervation of mankind, draws a multitude of eyes upon him that will narrowly infpect every part of him, confider him nicely in all views, and not be a little pleased when they have taken him in the worst and most difadvantageous light. There are many who find a pleasure in contradicting the common reports of fame, and in spreading abroad the weakneffes of an exalted character. They publifh their ill-natured difcoveries with a fecret pride, and applaud themfelves for the fingularity of their judgment which has fearched deeper than others, detected what the reft of the world have overlooked, and found a flaw in what the generality of mankind admired. Others there are, who proclaim the errors and infirmities of a great man with an Inward fatisfaction and complacency, if they difcover none of the like errors and infirmities in themselves; for while they are expofing another's weakneffes, they are tacitly aiming at their own commendations, who are not fubject to the like infirmities, and are apt to be tranfported with a fecret kind of vanity to fee themselves fuperior in fome refpects to one of a fublime and celebrated reputation. Nay, it very often happens, that none are more industrious in publishing the blemishes of an extraordinary reputation, than fuch as lie open to the fame cenfures in their own characters, as either hoping to excufe their own defects by the authority of fo high an example, or raifing an imaginary applaufe to themfelves for resembling a perfon of an exalted reputation, though in the blameable parts of his character. If all thefe feeret fprings of detraction fail, yet very often a vaia oftentation of wit fets a man on attacking an eftablished name, and facrificing it to the mirth and laughter of thofe about him. A fatire or a libel on one of the common ftamp, never meets with that reception and approbation among its readers as what is aimed at a perfon whofe merit places him upon an eminence, and gives him a more confpicuous figure among men. Whether it be that we think it fhews greater art to expofe and turn to ridicule a man whofe character feeins fo improper a fubject for it, or that we are pleafed by fome implicit kind of revenge to fee him taken down and humbled in his reputation, and in fome meafure reduced to our own rank, who had fo far raised himself above us in the reports and opinions

of mankind.

Thus we fee how many dark and intricate motives there are to detraction and defamation, and how many malicious fpies are fearching into the

For

The

actions of a great man, who is not, always, the beft prepared for fo narrow an inspection. we may generally obferve, that our admiration of a famous man leffens upon our nearer acquaintance with him: and that we feldom hear the defcription of a celebrated perfon, without a catalogue of fome notorious weakneffes and infirmities. reafon may be, becaufe any little flip is more confpicuous and obfervable in his conduct than in another's, as it is not of a piece with the rest of his character, or because it is impoffible for a man at the fame time to be attentive to the more important part of his life, and to keep a watchful eye over all the inconfiderable circumstances of his behaviour and converfation; or because, as we have before obferved, the fame temper of mind which inclines us to a defire of fame, naturally betrays us into fuch flips and unwearineffes as are not incident to men of a contrary difpofition.

After all it must be confeffed, that a noble and triumphant merit often breaks through and diffipates thefe little fpots and fullies in its reputation; but if by a mistaken pursuit after fame, or through human infirmity, any falfe ftep be made in the more momentous concerns of life, the whole fcheme of ambitious defigns is broken and difappointed. The fmaller ftains and blemishes may die away and difappear amidst the brightness that furrounds them; but a blot of a deeper nature cafts a fhade on all the other beauties, and darkens the whole character. How difficult therefore is it to preferve

great name, when he that has acquired it is fo obnoxious to fuch little weakneffes and infirmities that are no fmall diminution to it when discovered, especially when they are fo induftriously proclaimed, and aggravated by fuch as were once his fuperiors or equals; by fuch as would fet to shew their judgment or their wit, and by fuch as are guilty or innocent of the fame flips or misconducts in their own behaviour

But were there none of thefe difpofitions in others to cenfure a famous man, nor any such mifcarriages in himself, yet would he meet with no small trouble in keeping up his reputation in all its height and fplendor. There must be always a noble train of actions to preferve his fame in life and motion. For when it is once at a stand, it naturally flags and languishes. Admiration is a very fhort-lived paffion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object, unless it be ftill fed with fresh difcoveries, and kept alive by a new perpetual fucceffion of miracles rifing up to its view. And even the greatest actions of a celebrated perfon labour under this disadvantage, that however furprising and extraordinary these may be, they are no more than what are expected from him; but on the contrary, if they fall any thing below the opinion that is conceived of him, tho' they might raise the reputation of another, they are a diminution to his.

One would think there fhould be fomething wonderfully pleafing in the poffeffion of fame, that, notwithstanding all thefe mortifying confiderations, can engage a man in fo defperate a purfuit; and yet if we confider the little happiness that attends a great character, and the multitude of difquietudes to which the defire of it subjects an ambitious mind, one would be ftill the more furprised to fee fo many reftlefs candidates for glory.

Ambition raifes a fecret tumult in the foul, it inflames the mind, and puts it into a violent hurry of thought; it is fill reaching after an

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