Oh then, that with surpassing Glory crown'd,
Look'st from thy sole Dominion like the God
Of this new World.—
The Other in the tender Kind. Adam to Eve.
Her Hand soft touching whisper'd thus, Awake
My Fairest, my espous'd, my best belov'd,
Heavens last, best Gift, my ever new Delight;
Awake.
which had before been a thousand Times repeated as the Perfection of English Poetry, in their several Kinds. And the Author, who shall have occasion to quote them as such after the Spectator, will not discover his Want of Taste or Learning by it. Very just is his Observation, A true Critick ought to dwell rather upon Excellencies than Imperfections, &c. But as this has Relation chiefly to those Compositions which require Genius, Judgement and Eloquence; and consequently, cannot relate to Mr. Echard's History of England, we shall now say no more of it.
That I may not be guilty of the Fault I blame in others, the neglecting of Beauties, and falling unmercifully upon the Blemishes of Authors. I must sincerely acknowledge, that it was not for Want of Will, that I did not mention what is beautiful in our Historian, but for Want of Opportunity. What Part of his Performance should I have applauded! Is it the Design! The Author does not himself pretend, that it is regular, if by Design in History, we are to understand the Plan as in Poetry: He will not deny, but that his Method is too much diversified, and too confused; sometimes it is General History, sometimes Annals, sometimes a Diary, sometimes Biography; all which he seems to think he has sufficiently provided against, by dividing the whole Work into Sections, and putting Pales between his Paragraphs. This Confusion will be easily pardoned by his Readers, there being hardly one in a Thousand that knows the Difference between Biography and History, or between an Annalist and an Historian; or who does not take Buck's Richard III, or Cambden's Queen Elizabeth, to be as much of the historical Kind, as Samuel Daniel's History of England, which is the only English History that has the least Appearance of Uniformity and Regularity of Design.
Ne Sutor ultra Crepidam, is in nothing a more necessary Maxim, than in the Productions of the Mind. It is not because a Man can write a Sonnet, an Elegy, nay, an Ode, or a Dramatick Poem, that therefore he can succeed in Epick; though we in England are apt to confound all Sorts of Poetry and Poets, and to think that there is but one and the same Genius necessary for all of them. Thus it is, that you often hear the Question in Company, which is the best Poet, Virgil or Horace, Milton or Waller, Dryden or Wycherley, Congreve or Row. It is the same Thing in History: If a Man is able to abridge a Dictionary, to collect and compile Memoirs; in a Word, if he can put a Tale together, he is immediately an Historian, though Story-telling and History are as different as a Madrigal and a Pindarick Ode.
History is designed to instruct Mankind by Example, to shew what Men were by what they did, and from particular Instances to form general Lessons in all the various Stations of Life; and our Historian has so far a just Conception of its Dignity and Use, that he speaks of his own Performance as if he had formed a regular noble Design, with a regular and noble View, and executed it with equal Beauty and Perfection. Very great Talents are requisite to succeed in it, especially that of Judgement, to relate only what is worth relating, and to make proper Reflections upon Events for the Instruction of the Reader. Nothing is more necessary for an Historian, says Pere Rapin, than Judgement: Nothing requires so much Sense, so much Reason, so much Wit, so much Wisdom, and other good Qualities, as History, to succeed in writing it; and above all, Un Heureux Naturel, a happy Genius, which endowed with all these Qualifications, will not do without, Un Grand Commerce du Monde, a great Knowledge of the World. Pere Bouhours, whom Mr. Addison thought the most judicious and penetrating of all the French Criticks, has an admirable Remark on the Reflections of Historians, in his Maniere de bien penser. The Historian ought to shine most in his Reflections: Nothing is so irregular as to reflect falsely on Events that are true. He mentions a pleasant Instance of a French Priest, who said in a Sermon, The Heart of Man being of a triangular Figure, and the World of a round one; It is plain, that all worldly Greatness cannot fill the Heart of Man. We have been told a thousand Times, that the Presbyterians had a Quarrel with King Charles the First, and that those who had a Quarrel with him, took him and cut off his Head. The Fact is true as to the Quarrel, but nothing can be more false, than that the Presbyterians beheaded him. The Fact is true, that the Act of Toleration put a Stop to the Persecuting of Dissenters; but the Reflection from it, That the Church was in Danger, is false. If I would rifle the Grand Rebellion, and Mr. Echard's History, I might have the Honour of being Author of a Folio too, by taking from them Examples of this Kind; and I cannot but think, if the Archdeacon had duely weighed the Difficulties inseparable from his Undertaking, the indispensable Duty of Sincerity and Truth, and the great Talents necessary for an Historian, he would have transferred the Work to another, not a Dealer in Records only, from whom one can expect nothing but the naked Facts without Form or Order, without Ornament, or even cloathing; very proper for Evidence in Tryals at Law, but too rude and unpolished for the Beauty and Elegance of History: Yet I am satisfied, there is not one Man in a Thousand in England, but thinks there are no Writers so fit to make Historians as your Record Keepers and Library Keepers, who are just as necessary in such Work as Masons and Carpenters are in Architecture, and no more in Comparison with the Architect, than the Axe or the Chissel are in Comparison with them. An excellent Historian, says Mons. Pellisson, Pref. to Sar. ought to have a general Knowledge of the World and of Affairs, and a subtle and penetrating Wit, to distinguish the true Causes of humane Actions, from the Pretexts and Colours which are given them. Thus our Historian should have distinguish'd Archbishop Laud's natural Pride and Severity, from that Piety and Zeal which are the Pretexts and Colours that are given them. He should also have distinguish'd the Pique and Partiality in the Grand Rebellion from Truth and Sincerity, which are the Pretexts and Colours. Again,
Tacitus, said he, wrote Sine studio Partium & Ira; if the same may be said of the two Historians in Question, I have done them much Wrong. The late Earl of Shaftsbury, in his Letter of Enthusiasm, has this Expression: We have few modern Writers, who, like Xenophon or Cicero, can write their own Commentaries, and the raw Memoir Writings, and uninformed Pieces of modern Statesmen full of their own interested and private Views, will, in another Age, be of little Service to support their Memory or Name, since already the World begins to sicken with them.
It is somewhat strange, that Mr. Echard should not be so well acquainted with the Weakness of the vulgar Humour in England, as a Foreigner; who was so sensible of the Peoples Fondness to hear Stories, that he excuses those of a better Taste amongst them, who cannot relish such as relate to Ghosts, Devils, Prophecies, and the like, with which the Archdeacon's History abounds. The Author of the Paris Journal des Sçavans, speaking of English History Writers, and their bringing in Prophecies and strange Stories, says, Granting it to be true, it is not so much to be attributed to their Want of Skill, as to their Compliance with the Humour of the People, that attend too much to Prophecies, and are too much affected with Tales; which Humour our Historian has rather indulged than discountenanced, and it must surely be for Want of Judgement, after the indulging them in it, had been so much exploded. The French Historian Maimbourg participates of the same Character, and his Zeal for the Church, could not procure him a better one abroad, than what was given him in Italy, that he was among Historians, what Momus is among the Gods, only to tell Tales; with which the Vulgar are as well contented, as with Relations that are truly historical. But we should be as cautious of reading such Histories, as Menage tells us he was of reading Morreri's, for Fear we should remember them. Collier knew better than Menage, and therefore translated Morreri's three Folio's into English, as a rich Store for the Memories of his Countrymen.
Having so little Reason to commend the Historian for his Design, I should make him amends in the Sentiments, if there was the least Room for it. It is true, in History, if the Facts are fairly related, the Sentiments must be brought along with them, and the Author is not accountable for them as in Poetry: But if the Sentiments do not correspond with the Facts; if Meekness and Holiness are seated to give Judgement in the High Commission and Star Chamber Courts; if Piety is mounted on Horseback with the Lord High Treasurer's Staff in her Hand; if the most noble Characters are ascribed to Persons engaged in the most unjustifiable Actions, we may depend upon it, these Persons, either did not think, or did not act as they are represented, and consequently that the History is false and vicious: The Historians Reflections upon Events are entirely his own, and we shall see in the following Pages, how wise and how weighty they are: But as they bear all on one Side, like an ill ballasted Ship, it is much, if in the Course of a few Years, it does not overset the History.