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THE CONTENTS,

BOOK L

Ch. Pag,

I. Of the Roman hiftory, and the excel" lence of thefubjett of it above that of , the fubjefl of any other hiftory, e*vcn of that of Herodotus. —The two com~ pared together. — The progrefs of the Roman State from the fmalleft begin* nings. — Difference in that refpefl be* tvuixt Rome and the kingdoms of^/ia. * — The beginnings of the kingdoms •whereof ive know nof, ive learn from the Roman hiftory. — The inftitutions and manners by 'which they became fo great :*— alfo the vices by 'which they fell, — Comparifon bet'wixt the Roman hiftor/ and the hiftory of modern na*

Iv The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

tions in later times. — Paffagt from Milton onthatfubjcft. — Ofthofc 'who /Jave written the hi/lory of Rome, fa* ginning •with Livy. — His plan very cxtenfive. — His preface flows that he knew the fruit that •was to be reaped from the ftudy of the Roman hi/lory . — The characler of Livy, as he has exhibited himfelfin his hi/lory^ is vtry amiable. — He has done this not improperly. — He particularly fhows him/elf to be religious by the reflec- tions he makes upon the religion of the Romans ; — extraordinary exam- ples of their regard for the religion of an oath. — One reward he mentions of his labours in 'writing his hiftory, that it turns his eyes from the mife- ries of his own times ; — application of this to the prefcnt times. — His ob- Jervation upon the depopulation of I- taly, even in his time • — much great- er in after times.— ^Of the frecfpirit •which Livy has fhown in the repre- fentations he has given of the miferief of his time* — This compared with the

The CONTENTS. v

Cb* Pag.

reprefentations given of thofe times by the poets and flatterers of Auguftus. <—Of the faults in Li-vfs hiflory ; — and Jirfl as to thofe of the matter, — His hiflory of the frjl ages of Rome under the kings very deficient^ parti" cularly as to the reign of Romulut and his great ivar 'with the Veijen- tes.— Enlarges upon nothing but rwhat he can adorn 'with fpeeches and dc- fcriptions ; — example of this in the cafe of the •war betwixt the Romans and the Sabines, and the union with •which it 'was concluded. — His ac- count of that tranfaclion compared •with the Halicarnaffians. — Materi- al circumflances omitted by Livy^ but •which arc fupplicd by the Halicar- najfiant in thejlory of the Horatii and Curiatii* — Nofiory altogether feigned by Livy, tho circumftances of embel- lifhment may be added. — Scrupulous in examining the evidence of faffs. — Difference in that refpefl betwixt him and Heclor Boecey the Scotch biftwian* — Of the ftile of Livy. — A

The C O N T E N T S. vi

Ch. Pag.

fault common to other Latin writers ; and the defefts of the language not to be imputed to him. — The defecl of the •want of an article fupplied* by Livy infuch a ivay as to make the fen- tence not intelligible to a mere La- tin fcholar. — Inftances of this kind. — Of the thejhort cut, and obfcurity of thejlile of Livy. —This he learned in the School of Declamation, inhere ob- fcurity was ftudied) as well as [hort fmartfentences. — Inftances ofhisjhort abrupt Jlilc : — not in his narrative only \ but in his harangues : — fofond of it, that he gives up the gravity of the hifloric flile, and falls into f mart familiar converfation. — Progrefs of the corruption of the Roman tafle of •writing^ begun by Salluft, carried on by Livy, and compleated by Tacitus. — The imitation of Tacitus andfomc French writers very fafhionable in Britain fame time ago.'— But it is to be hoped) from a better example Jhovjn^ it •will be entirely difufed. — Of the obfcurity of Livf s flile. — Two

The CONTENTS. *u

Ch.

or three examples of that. — His flile compared, in point ofperfpicuity, *witb thofe of the Halicarnajjian, and of Ju- lius Caefar. — The ftile of hisfpecch- es is not good, the matter of them is excellent. I

3. Of Julius Caefar t Commentaries. — yhefubjecJ of them of great impor- tance. — The character of the Man.-— His military aklions, the great eft that ever twere. — The ftile of his Com- mentaries, the beft hiftorical ftile a- mong the Romans ; — 'wonderful con- Jidering how haftily it muft have been •written amidftjuch great occupation. 74

3. Of the Roman hiftories of the Hali- carnajjian and Poly bius> — if they had not been preferred to us, the Roman empire •would have appeared to have been the -work of chance, not of ivifi- do?n and virtue* — And fir ft of Diony- fius. — He as well prepared for 'wri- ting his hiftory as any man could be ; ** learned the Latin language for that

Tiii The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

purpofe ; — his account of that lan- guage.— 'The Jirft book of the Huli- carnajfian, the btft piece of archeology extant.— The authors diligence in col- letting from fo many different authors Greek, and Latin. — Of the Aborigi- ne8,-r-tke Latins, — and Romans ;— - all the fame people under different names, and originally from Arcadia.-" The Pelafgi aljo^ — and the colony that came 'with Evander, likeivife from that country. — Of thofe that came •with Hercules ; — an account of that hero. — The ftxth and laft migration into Latium from Greece^ 'was that of the Trojans under the conduct of JEneas. — The Trojans alfo originally from Arcadia. — Of the genealogy of jEneas.—His voyage from Troy t$ Latium 'very •we/I traced by our au- thor;—'proved by the univerfal belief of the people of Rome, and 50 Trojan families flill exifling 'when our author •wrote. — The Romans^ mixed as they •were of different colonies^ all origi- nally Greeks. — So noble a defcsnt gi*

The CONTENTS. i*

Ch. Pag.

•uen to them by Dionyfius, makes his hiftory credible.— Livy's account ef the Romans, compared with that of the Halicarnajfian : — For any thing Livy hasfaid, they might have been all originally barbarians, fugitives, andjlaves. — Some of them, according to his account, 110 ere really Jlaves. — "The noblejl defcent not fufficient l, with- out good education, laiVs, and infti- tutions.— The Romans bred as 'well as born to be mafters of the •world. — Of the inftitutions of Romulus.—*- i ft, "The Patronage and Clientjhip he introduced. — The happy confequences of this injlitution. — Next, The form of government inftituted by Romulus ; notfo democratical as it became in af- ter times, but •well mixed and poifed ; — the moft antient and beft of all go- vernments.— The bejl of all Romulus' s inftitutions •was the family-govern- ment, •which he eflabli/hed.-—This the chief caufe of the Roman grandeur. — The happy confequences of it : — Vain- b

x The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

ly attempted by other nations^ even by the Spartans. — Livy mentions but one of Romulus** feven injlitutions t and that very fhortly. — Of the reli- gious inftitutions of Romulus. — The Jftatc of religion in Latium in his time ; — agoodfyjlem ofTheifm^ •with- out the mixture of thofe impious fa- bles-> •which difgraced the Greek reli- gion in the days of our author. — This pure religion not introduced by Ro- mulus, but imported by the Greek co- lonies that had fettled in Latium be- fore his time. — Romulus injlituted re- ligious fejlivals, and facrifices, and many priejlhoods. — Livy not more full upon the religious injlitutions of Ro- mulus than upon the civil ; — won- derful that he ffjould have faid fo little offo great a King and the foun- der of Rome ; — one of the greateft men that ever exijled ; — an altar e- recled to him by an Italian in later times. — Livy fuller upon the religious injlitutions of Numa ; — but not fo full and dijlincl as the HalicarnaJJian ; o*

The CONTENTS. xi

Ch. Pag.

mits one of the civil infti tut ions of Numa of great importance. — Diony- Jius, a moft religious hiftorian* but not fuperftitiouS) becaufe he believes in demons and extraordinary interpoji- tions of divinity. — The people ofRome^ the mojl religious people in the ivorld-, — more religious than the Greeks or Egyptians ; — lived 'with their Gods, and confulted them upon all occafions public and private. — The 'wonderful efeft that this muft have had upon their lives and manners. — In their degenerate ft ate they neglefted reli- gion.— This a certain proof of dege- neracy in all nations. — Apology of the author for infijling Jo much upon the fubjed: of the Halicarnaffians hijlory in a 'work 'which profejjes only to treat ^ftile. — Of the Stile of the Halicar- naffians hiftory • — the greatejl beau- ty both in the narrative and rhetori- cal part of it ; — not fo figured as the file of Ihucydides, nor Jo plain as that of Xenophon. — His fpeeches all fpeeches of bufmefs^ — neither Sophifii-

xii The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

cal nor declamatory. — Photiuss judg- ment of the HalicarnaJJiarisJlilC) ill

founded] — no obfcurity or perplexity in his Jlile^ except •where the MS. is

faulty. — Of the Halicarnaffian s cri- tical <works ; — a neiv edition both of thefe and of his hijlory^ recommended to the Scholars of Oxford. — Faults in the prefcnt edition that may be cor- rected ; one of them mentioned. 85

4. The hijlory of Polybius may be conji- dered as a continuation of the Hali- carnajjtans hiflory. — Thefe two hi/To- ries the mojl 'valuable in the world-, — but have come do'wn to us fadly mutilated. — Some excerpts from them preferred. — What Polybius calls his hiftory, comprehends only a period of 53 years, beginning 'with thejecond Punic twart and coming do'wn to the; conquejl of Macedonia. — His t'wofrjl books are only preparatory and intro- duttory to his hijlory. — His hijlory takes in the mojl glorious period of Rome.— Defer ipt ion of their glory at

The CONTENTS. xiii

Ch. Pag.

that time. — The moderation they Jhowed in the ufe of their power, and their clemency to thofe that had of- fended them. — The grandeur of the Romanfenateat that time>—~whenam- bajjadorsfrom all parts of the earth> and even Kings in perfon, attended them. — Their virtue Jlill preferred) and not impaired either by power or 'wealth. — The hi/lory of the later and more glorious part of this period^ not preferred to us in what we have of Polybius ; — but this fupplied by what we have of Livy. — What we have left of Polybius^Jhows us more of the diftrejjes and calamities of the Romans than of their triumphs.— Their Iqffes both "by fea and land in the frfl Punic war very great ; — and their JoJJes in the fecond Punic war, fuch as brought them to the brink of ruin. — That war the jineft fubjefl of hi/lory, on account of the variety of great events in zV, and the - •wifdom and virtue there Jhown. — The great difficulties that Hannibal

The CONTENTS. xiv

Ch. Pag,

had to encounter before he got into I- tatyt and the prodigious force that •was there to oppofe him- — The fub- jecl therefore of Polybius*s hiflory the noblejl that can be imagined -f—'uery proper for enforcing •what he recom- mends fo much, •uiz.fubmijfion to the Roman government. — No man Jitter to •write uponfuch afubjec~l than Poly- bius ; — a man of bujinefs, and •who had been employed in great affairs^ both civil and military. — The diffe- rence betwixt him and the Halicar- najjian in this refpefl, and alfo in re- Jpecl oj his being much better inform- ed of the faffs •which he relates. — ThefubjecJ of Poly bius' s hiflory more comprehenji've than that of the Hali- carnajfian, in re/pecJ it takes in the affairs of other nations, as •well as of the Romans.— Of the digrej/ions in Polybiusy which, though contrary to the laws of hiftory9 are very inftruc- tive, particularly •with refpecl to the military affairs of the Romans* — His defcriptions of battles •wonderfully

acv The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag

char and lively. —The value offuch a body ofhiftory as that of the Hali- carnajjian and Polybius, if it ivere all prefervedj or if it could be yet reco- vered ; — -fame chance for that ; — a MS. of Livy discovered to be in the Emperor of Morocco s library. — Of the ftile of Polybius ; — much inferior to that of the HalicarnaJ/ian. — Idio- tifms of Polybius ; — not an obfcure •writer^ but his fenfe fometimes mifta- ken both by his tranjlator Cafaubon. and Livy. — His Greek not elegant, but very intelligible and perfpicuous ; very little of the rhetorical Jlile in hisfpeeches ; — no affetlation or labour to ivrite ill. — General obfervations upon the Greek hijlorians compared •with the Latin. - - -

Of modern hijlorians, particularly Buchannan. — His hi/lory of Scotland written in very good Latin. — In hi* learned age the Latin ivas a living language among the learned. — In the next age Milton •wrote Latin perf eel-

The CONTENTS, xyl

Ch. Pag,

ly ivell.— Buchanan's file of narra- tive better compofed than that of Li- iy, and notfo obfcure. — Hisfpeeches alfo good, but few of them. — Mojl of them indirect ; — one direcJ and of confiderable length, againft female go~ •vernment \—an heroic fpeech he puts into the mouth of a 'woman. — The fpeech of David I. King of Scotland on the death of his /on, containing a topic of confolation not common. — Of Milton's Englijh hi/lory. — // is an abridgement of hi/lory ; — therefore the compofttion of it notfo fine as might other 'wife be expecled. — Of Lord Littleton s hiflory of Henry II. : — Not an abridgement like Milton's hi- Jlory .—therefore Jlill more copious • — the beft flile of hiflory that has been 'written in this age. — His ac- count of the Norman invajion fuller and better than that of Milton. — bf the hi/lories of modern times :—The actions of barbarous nations, fuch as thofe fwhc made themfel'ues mafters of the provinces of the Roman Empire

The CONTENTS. xvii

Gh. Pag.

in the middle ages> not aftfubjecl for hi/lory. — The fubjecJ of hiftory concluded 'with an advice to authors. to form their Jlile upon the antient models; — to imitate thefe and to tranf- latefrom them ; — but from the Greek rather than from thf Latin ; — to tranflate as ^ueen Elizabeth did. — 'The advantages of this practice. — 'The uniform Jamenejs of arrangement in the modern languages ought to be avoided as much as may be. — Exam- ples of the common order of 'words being changed •with elegance and •without obfcurity. — The connection betwixt the relative and its antece- dent ought to be ivell marked, fome- times by the repetition of the 'word. — There may be a clajjtcal repetition of a ivord, as 'well as an eUipJis.— Where there are cafes in our language formed by a change of the fwordy ad- vantage fhould be taken of that to al- ter the common arrangement : — Ex- ampls of this. — Byfuch tranfpofitims.

xviii The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

theflile of Thucydides may be imita- ted.— Of variety in the compofition of periods, and their feveral members : —In this the HalicarnaJ/ian excels, •wonderfully. — Milton the left com- pofer in Englifh, both in verfe and frofe. — Of his verfe both blank and rhymed : — Stile of his polemical 'wri- tings more compofed in periods than that of his hiftory. — Examples offome periods from thofe •writings : — Won- derful variety of matter in them. — Dr Johnfons cenfure of Milton s Jlile.— The Doclor, not being a Greek fcholar, no judge of it. —His preference of the Paradife Loft to the Iliad abfurd and ridiculous. — Dr jfohnfons attack up' on Milton s Latin, as ill founded as upon his Engliflj. — Apology for 'what the author has faid of Dr Johnfon. — Recommendation to hiftoriographers and all authors to form a good tajle of ''writing before they begin. — If their (afte be bad, the more they labour their compofition, the -worfe it 'will be.-— Example of that. — But the mo-

The CONTENTS. xix

Ch. Pag.

derns very deficient in it. — Of the ne- cejfity of forming a good tafte before one begins to ivrite. — If not •, the ftile, the more it is laboured, the tworfe it be. 226

BOOK II.

Of the JDidaElic Stile.

Ch.

i. The Didactic Stile plain and funple, the mojl neccj/bry of all Jliles^ being that by 'which all arts and fcience-s are taught. — It is of fwo kinds : — That by 'which a man is taught to knoiv that he does not knorw ; and that by <which he is made to hwwt or is inftru£ied> — The firft method ex- tremely offenftve. — Socrates put to death, and Epicletus beaten Jor prae*

The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag.

tiftng it. — 7 he Socratlc dialogue a good •way of injlrucling ;—praflifed both by Xenophon and Plato. — An account of Xenophorfs dialogues in the Memorabilia. — In that •work ive have the genuine philofophy of So- crates pure and unmixed. — Socrates a mofl extraordinary man* — In the Memorabilia both methods of infiruc- tion pracJifed. — Difference in that re- fpeft betwixt Xenophon and Plato. — One remarkable conversation of So- crates 'with Euthydemus, recorded by Xenophon, ivhich ended in Euthy- demus being inflrucled, and becoming a follower of Socrates. — Socrates in Xenophon not only ajks, but anfwers queftions. — A converfation of that kindivith Hippias. — 'Though thephi- lo/ophy of the Memorabilia be not perfect, it is a mojl ufefid work. — Of

, the (Economics of Xenophon. — The

difference betwixt it and the Memo-

rabilia ; — more a piece than the Me-

morabilia. — Socrates, in/lead of in-

Jirucling, as in other converfationf,

The CONTENTS. xxi

Ch. Pag.

is himfelf injlrucled. — 0 economy of two kinds, within doors and •without. —Of each in its order* — Thejirfl de- pends mofl upon the wife ; — the in- Jlruclions proper to be given to a 'wife. — Of the oeconomy 'without doors,— 'which in this cafe was the manage- ment of a farm. — This depends upon the right choice of an overfeer. — Of the operations of farming. — An eulo- gium upon that art. — 'The lejjons 'which Socrates receives in this art, the beft example of the Socratic me- thod of teaching by afking quejtions. —~An account given of that method of teaching in this dialogue; — the conclu- Jion of it very fine. — // is a piece in- vented by the author ^not a realconver- fation like thofe in the Memorabilia. — Of the third and la/I dialogue ofXeno- phont the Hieron, — more poetical than any of them, having a kind of peripeteia in it. — The conclujion of this piece tranjlated from the Greek. — 'Obfervations upon thejlile of Xe- nophon's dialogue- writing, — A per-

The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag.

feel model of thejlile of Attick con- verfation. — When he departs from that fiile in one injlance^ the •writing not good. 29 3

2. Plato the greatcjl dialogift of an- t'unt or modern times. — His dialogues reckoned by Ariflotle Pieces of poetry.

— He has imitated Homer in tivo things, of never appearing himfelf in his 'works, and in mixing the narra- tive ivith the dramatic. — His dia- logues therefore very properly divided into dramatic , narrative, and mixed.

— Great variety in his narrative dia- logues. — Some of his dialogues have only the form of dialogues, but not , the nature ; fuch as the ten books de Republica, and the twelve de Legi- bus. — The Protagoras, the fnejl of all Plato s dialogues, confidered as a poetical compo/ition.- — A particular account of it. — Thefccnery in it, and the various turns and incidents in it, particularly fne. — // concludes vuith a change of the opinions maintained

The CONTENTS. xxiii

Ch. Pag.

by the two difputants, 'which may be called the cataflropbe of the piece. — The next moft beautiful dialogue in Plato^ is the Gorgias. — Not necejjary to givefo particular an account of it. — Of the manner of teaching of Pla- to in his dialogues. — // is for the greateft part only refutation. — This more agreeable to the character of Socrates than plain teaching. — Of the matter of the dialogues of Plato. — It is chief y moral and political, but with a great mixture of the doc- trines of the Eleatic and Pythago- rean philofophy, and of the philofophy of ideas, ivhich he brought from E- gypt, as 'well as the do5lrine of the Trinity. — The tivo lafl mentioned, the mojl valuable part of the philofophy of Plato. — His philofophy of morals defective, in not knowing that the principle of morals •was the TO and in not defning •what the TO is, though he has mentioned it fo of- ten.— His logic and dialectic, too im- f erf ecl> compared ivith thofe of Ari-

xxlv The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag.

Jtotle.— His philofophy of Nature likc- •wife not fo good as the Pythagorean 'work from •which he has copied it.-— Hisfyjlem of government not fo good neither as that 'which the Jefuits ac- tually put in praclice in Paraguay. —The Theology therefore of Plato, the be/I part of his philofophy . — This exalts the minct^nbove human affairs and all things on earth. — This phi- lofophy fhould be mofl cultivated in a degenerate Jl ate of a nation: — This praclifed by the Alexandrine fchool. —Of the ftile of Plato.— This immo- derately praifed by Cicero, but 'with a proper diflinclion by the Halicar- naffian. — His chief beauty of Jlile is in the numbers of his compofitiont of 'which *we have no perception. — His •works upon the 'whole are very va- luable and ought to be carefully flu- died. — They are the bejl preparation for tbf philofophy of Ariftotle, and particularly for his logic. - - 321

The CONTENTS. xxv

Ch. Pag.

3. The philofophy of Ariflotle quite complete ; — the federal parts of it e- numerated. — Obfervations upon the matter of it, beginning 'with Logic. — The fubjett of Logic is to let its know -what fcience is. — The necejjity of this. — No man can truly under/land any fcience 'without knowing rwhat

fcience is. — Mr Locke s account of

fcience ', compared 'with Ariflotle s. — // is altogether imperfect and deficient.

•—Mr Locke fays, that the divifion of things into genus and fpecies is artificial, and has no foundation in na- ture ; — the confequence of this> that truth has no foundation in nature. — Itfubverts alfo the fundamental doc- trine of Theology. — Of the Dialectic of Ariftotle>—frjl reduced by him to an art; — not demonftrative reafoning^

fuch as that taught by his Logic ; — neither is it an art offopbiftry^ but a •way of reafoning that is very ufeful. — Of the Morals of Ariflotle ; — be is •very full upon that fubjecl ;—has •written four fever al treatifes upon it. d

xxvi The CONTENTS,

Ch, Pag,

— Hisfyjlem of Morals, much better than that of Plato, in f-wo refpecls^ — firft, that he has given us the true principle of moral actions ; — andy fe- condly, that he makes the proper di- Jlinflion betwixt our intellectual and animal natures- — This diflinclion ferves to explain a fundamental doc- trine of Chriftianity i viz. /^Incar- nation.— -It ferves aljo to explain that paradox of the Stoics, that the pul- chrum and the honeftum is the only good of men. — Every thing relating to the happinefs of human life is treat- ed cf% in thefe Morals of Ariftotle. — He is particularly full upon thefub- jecl of Friendjhip* — A neiv edition of thefe books fljould be given. — Of the political rworks of Arijlotle* — Morals and Politics among the antients, branches of the fame fcienct. — Ari- Jlotles political fyftem not founded up- on vifionary fyftems like that of Pla- to, but upon f aft and experience. — A- riflotle twrote alfo tivo books upon hiflorj of thefe

The CONTENTS, xxvii

Ch. Pag,

book s very fmgular.—'Of the Phyfics of Ariftotle. — The philofophy of Na- ture is there to be found. — Nopbtfa- fophy of Nature among the moderns ; — nothing but facts of natural hifto- ryy calculation, and computation. — - Our attempts to philofophife upon na- ture have led to very grofs errors.— Great and important truths ejlablijh- ed by Ariftotle in his books oj Phyfics; — very juftly, therefore, celebrated by thefchoolmen on account of his na- tural philofophy. — Of the Metaphy- jics of Ariftotle. — The nature of this fcience. — It is the Science offciencest as it demon/I rates the principles of all fciences. — Without Metaphyjics ive cannot be perfectly learned in any fcience. — Example of this in Geome- try and Arithmetic. — Another ex- ample in the cafe of Logic, — alfo of natural philofophy. — Theology, the highejl part of Metaphyfics. — The "Theology of Plato morefublime than that of AriJlotle. — The Theology of ^ Jo far as it goes, a pure

xxvlii The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag.

fyftem of Theifm, but defective in tivo great points ; — frft* the Providence of God over all his 'works not ajjert- ed : — He is reprefented as pajjing his •whole time in contemplation. — This a kind of Epicurean God. — RejecJs the popular religion of his country. — The other refpecJ in "which his Theo- logy is deficient, is, that he does not make God the Author of the material world, but only the Mover of it, — does not derive from him even the minds that animate this iworldt 352

4. S^uerift concerning Fhilofophy. 419

5. The I'LilicarnajJian s treat ifi of Com- pofition is confined to the found of the Greek language. — In this a great va- riety.— Of the voivds in Greek. — All the vocal founds poffible, in that language. — That not the cafe of e- very language* — Hvw there came to 6V 7 vowels reckoned by the Greek grammarians. — Of the variety of con-

>umls in Greek ; — the Jy liable s con-

The CONTENTS, xxi*

Ch. Pag*

fequently very various. — Of the Greek accents upon fylldbles ; — thefe belie- ved by fome not to exifl ; — -proof from fact of their exigence. — Of long and fhort fyllables in Greek ;—fome long fy liable s, longer than others, and fome fhort fyllables, fhorter than o- therss—The Halicarnqffian s account of long and fhortJyllablcS) that is, of the rhythm of language, more di- JlincJ than Cicero's account* — Of fyl- lables 'words are made, and of 'words fentences, 'with all the variety of pe- riods and members of periods. — Of the wonderful variety and beauty of the compo/ition in Greek. — That beauty •was Jlill greater 'when Homer wrote, and •when greater liberty was ufed •with words. — The variety of ar- rangement, •which the fyntax of the Greek language permits, adds won- derfully to the beauty of found in the Greek compqfition, and alfo to the fenfe. — Of what is called the natu- ral order of words j — that does not make the beauty of compofition>~-0f

The CONTENTS.

Ch. Pag,

the wonderful beauty of the Orations of Demojlhenes pronounced by himfelf. — Two things required to make aper- feft Jlile ; — that it fhould be both beautiful and pleafant. — Of the dif- ference bet-wixt thetivo. — Four things required to make a ftile both beautiful and pleafant, fofar as concerns the found) viz. melody, rhythm, variety, and what is decent and proper. — Of each ofthefe in order. — The Rhythm much injijledupon; — examples oj good and bad rhythm. — Alfo muchfaid up' on the TO -Trpg^rov, and illuftrated by examples from Homer. — Of the Me- lody of fpeech^ — how diftinguifhed from the melody of muftc^ — not redu- cible to rules. — Of the three different characters, the auftere, the florid, and the middle. — Examples of thefe from different authors. — Two curious problems : — imo, Hoiv profe is to be made like to verft. — 2do, HOIV <verje is to be made like to profe. — The jirft a myjlery in his timey — yet to be con- ceived even by us. — Examples from

The CONTENTS, xxxi

Ch. Pag.

Demqftbenes.—This can only be done in a language which has the rhythm of long andjhortfyllables ; — not there- fore in Engli/h, except the dicJion be poetical — Of making profe ofverfe. — This explained by the HalicarnaJJian in a pajjage tranjlated from him. — Milton's verfc the perfeclion of that Jlile in Englifh.—Next to Milton's is that of Dr Armflrong.—Mr Pope's verfes very different.— Objections to Milton's •uerjtfication anfwered. — This •work of the HalicarnaJJian, the moft elegant compofition in the didac- tic Jlile. — Many errors in the text to be corrected. - - - 437

O F T H E

O F

LANGUAGE.

V O L. V. BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

Of the Roman hiflory, and the excellence of thefubjecl of it above that of thefubjefl of any other hiflory^ even of that of Hero- dotus.— The tivo com fared together. — The progrefs of the Roman State from the fmalleji beginnings. — Difference in that refpecl betivixt Rome and the king- VOL. V. A

THE ORIGIN AND Book I.

doms of Afia. — The beginnings of the? kingdoms •whereof we know noty rwe learn from the Roman hiflory. — The inftitu- tions and manners by •which they became fo great ; — alfo the vices by which they fell. — Comparifon betwixt the Roman hi- Jlory and the hiflory of modern nations in later times. — Pajfagefrom Milton on that: fubjetl. — Of thofe who have. writ ten the hiflory of Rome , beginning with Livy. — His plan very extenfive. — His preface flows that he knew the fruit that was to be reaped from thejludy of the Roman hiflory.— -The cbaracler of Livy^ as he has exhibited himfelf in his hiftory^ is ve- ry amiable. — He has done this not impro- perly.— He particularly /hows himfelf to be religions by the refactions he makes upon the religion of the Romans ; — extraordi- nary examples of their regard for the re- ligion of a.i oath. — One reward he men- tions of his labours in writing his hiflory, that it turns his eyes from the miferies of his own times ; — application of this to the prefent times.~~His obfervation upon the depopulation of Italy, even in his time- — much greater in after times.— Of the-

Chap. I. PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 3

freefpirit 'which Livy hasJJjown in the reprefentations he has given of the mife- ries of his time. — This compared with the reprefentations given of thofe times by the poets and flatterers of Auguftus.-— Of the faults in Livy's hi/lory ; — and frfl as to thofe of the matter. — His hi/lory of Jt he firfl ages of Rome under the kings very deficient , particularly as to the reign of Romulus and his great twar 'with the Veijentes. — Enlarges upon nothing but what he can adorn ivithfpeeches and defcriptions ; — example of this in the cafe of the 'war betwixt the Romans and the Sabines, and the union with 'which it 'was concluded. — His account of that tranfaflion compared twith the HalicarnaJ/ians. — Material cir- cumjlances omitted by Livy, but which are f up plied by the HalicarnaJJian, in the Jlory of the Horatii and Curiatii. — No Jlory altogether feigned by Livy, tho cir* cumjlances of embellif}jment may be added. — Scrupulous in examining the evidence of facls. — Difference in that refpecJ be- twixt him and Heclor Boece, the Scotch hiflorian. — Of the ftile of Livy. — A fault common to other Latin writers ; and the

THE ORIGIN AND Book I.

defects of the language not to be -imputed to him. — The defect of the ivant of an

•* J IF

article fupplied by Livy in fuch a •way as to make the fentence not intelligible to a mere Latin fcholar. — Injlances of this, kind. — Of thefhort cut, and obfcurity of the ftile of Livy. — This he learned in the School of Declamation, -where obfcurity •wasjludied, as well as fhort fmart fen- tence s. — Injlances ofhisfhort abrupt jlile: — not in his narrative only, but in his harangues i-—fofond of it, that he gives up the gravity of the hiftoric Jlile, and jails into fmart familiar converfation. — Progrefs of the corruption of the Roman tajle of •writing^ begun by Sallujl, carried on by Livy, and compleated by Tacitus. — The imitation of Tacitus and fame French •writers very faflnonable in Britain fome time ago. — But it is to be hoped, from a better example flww n, if ivill be entirely difufed. — Of the obfcurity of Livy* s ftile* — TIVO 'or three examples of that. — His fiile compared, in point of perfpicuity, 'with thofe of the HalicarnaJJian, and of Julius Caefar. — The ftile of hisfpeeches

Chap. I. PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 5

is not good, the matter of them Is excel" lent.

1 PROCEED now, according to the me- thod propofed in the end of the laft volume, to fpeak of the hiftory of Rome, and of feveral authors Greek and Latin, •who have written that hiftory, the fub- je<St of which I think is ftill more ex- cellent than that of Herodotus* hiftory. The fubjecT: indeed of Herodotus is fo far more various that it takes in the hiftory of many nations, all that were known in his time, and down to the age immediately before that in which he lived, and it con- cludes with a war, which, for the works preparatory to it, the number of men em- ployed in it, and the importance of the fuc- cefs of it, is the greateft event in the hiftory of man. But the hiftory of none of thofe many nations is fo well known, or fo in- terefting as the hiftory of Rome, which produced the greateft empire that ever was on earth. And as to the great event which is the cataftrophe of Herodotus's hi- ftory, it was but a fingle war decided by

6 THE ORIGIN AND Book I.

three fea-fights, and one battle at land, (for the defence of Thermopylae by the 300 Spartans cannot be called a battle) ; whereas in the Roman hiftory we have numbers of great wars and famous battles not eafy to be counted ; and there is no hiftory fo diftinguiftied, and adorned with illuftrious characters, that fliine like lights in the dark, and throw a fplendor upon it, which illuminates this hiftory more than any other.

But what makes the Roman ftoty a more inftrudive and entertaining fubject of hiftory than that of any other people, is, that we can trace this mighty empire back to as low a beginning as that of any ftate we read of. It was originally a fmall co- lony from no great city, namely, Alba Longa; and its territory at firft was not of the extent of many a private eftate in Great Britain. Of this territory each citizen had for his fhare tivojugera, that is, about an acre and a half. Their firft wars, as Vale- rius Maximus tells us*, were within feven

* De Animi Moderationc, lib. 4. cap. i. feft. ic.

Chap. I. PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 7

miles of their city. And the force with which they waged thofe wars was no more than 3000 foot, and about 300 horfe*; a much lefs force than many Scotch barons could have brought to the field, one of whom, the Earl of Douglas, ufed to travel thro' the country in time of peace with a reti- nue of 2000 horfe. Now the empires of Afia, of which Herodotus fpeaks, namely, the empire of the Affyrians, the Medes, and the Perfians, we cannot trace from fuch fmall beginnings, tho', no doubt, there was a time when there were as fmall ftates in Afia as the Roman ; but we have no records of Afia, till arts and civility were far advanced in that part of the world, nor confequently till there were wars and conquefts, by which great kingdoms are formed. And, accordingly, all we know of Afia, in very antient times, is, that a great king of Afiyria conquered a great part of it ; then the Medes conquered the AfTyrians ; and, laftly, the Perfians the Medes.- Whereas we know, that the Ro- mans, from the fmall beginnings I have

* Dionyf. Halicarnaf. lib. 2. cap. 16.

$ THE ORIGIN AND Book I.

mentioned, rofe to be a great ftate in the midft of many warlike nations, more power- ful than they, with whom they had to contend for fome hundreds of years, not for glory and dominion only, but for life and liberty, and the means of fubfiftence. During that time, they experienced, as was neceflary, great viciflitudes of fortune ; once their army was totally defeated, and their city taken, all except the rock upon which they had a citadel, that they called the Capitol. And, when they came to con- tend with the Carthaginians for glory and dominion, they loft three great battles ; and, in the laft of them, had 70,000 of their citizens killed upon the fpot, arid 10,000 taken prifoners *.

But what inftructs us more than all thefe various events, is, that we learn from this hiftory by what laws, by what infti- tutions, and by what manners, the Romans became the greateft people that ever exift- ed in the great arts of government and arms. Without this knowledge, we might

* Poly bins.

Chap. I. PROGRESS OF LANGUAGE. 9

believe, as we find fome of the Greeks did *, that thofe barbarians, as they called the Romans, xvere by the mere caprice of fortune raifed to the empire of the world. But their hiftory, if diligently ftudied, muft convince every intelligent reader, that, by their wifdom and their virtues, they merit- ed that empire ; and particularly, by that greateft of all virtues, piety, in which, a* Cicero has obferved, they excelled all the world : ' For/ fays he, * the Spaniards ex-

* ceed us in numbers, the Gauls in the glo-

* ry of war, and the Greeks in arts : But ' we furpafs all nations in that prime ivif- 4 dom, by which we have learned, that all

* things are governed and directed by the

* immortal Gods "(".'

Nor is the fall of this empire lefs edify- ing than the rife of it. Neither fliould we have underftood fo well by what arts it rofe, if we had not likewife known by what change of manners, and what vices

* Plutarchus, Defortuna Populi Romani*

•j- Oratio de Harufpicitm Refponfts : * Sed pietate ac

* religione, atque hac una fapientia, quod Deorura im* ' mortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique perfpex;- ' mus, omnes gentes nationefque fuperavimus.'

VOL. V. B

10 THE ORIGIN AND Book I.

it fell. Bat, even in their fall, we muft ad- mire this great