LITMIR.BIZ

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thought our writers of tragedy have been very defective in this particular, and that they might have given great beauty to their works, by certain stops and pauses in the representation of such passions, as it is not in the power of language to express. There is something like this in the last act of "Venice Preserved," where Pierre is brought to an infamous execution, and begs of his friend,94 as a reparation for past injuries, and the only favour he could do him, to rescue him from the ignominy of the wheel by stabbing him. As he is going to make this dreadful request, he is not able to communicate it, but withdraws his face from his friend's ear, and bursts into tears. The melancholy silence that follows hereupon, and continues till he has recovered himself enough to reveal his mind to his friend, raises in the spectators a grief that is inexpressible, and an idea of such a complicated distress in the actor as words cannot utter. It would look as ridiculous to many readers to give rules and directions for proper silences, as for penning a whisper: but it is certain, that in the extremity of most passions, particularly surprise, admiration, astonishment, nay, rage itself, there is nothing more graceful than to see the play stand still for a few moments, and the audience fixed in an agreeable suspense during the silence of a skilful actor.

      But silence never shows itself to so great an advantage, as when it is made the reply to calumny and defamation, provided that we give no just occasion for them. One might produce an example of it in the behaviour of one in whom it appeared in all its majesty, and one whose silence, as well as his person, was altogether divine. When one considers this subject only in its sublimity, this great instance could not but occur to me; and since I only make use of it to show the highest example of it, I hope I do not offend in it. To forbear replying to an unjust reproach, and overlook it with a generous, or (if possible) with an entire neglect of it, is one of the most heroic acts of a great mind. And I must confess, when I reflect upon the behaviour of some of the greatest men in antiquity, I do not so much admire them that they deserved the praise of the whole age they lived in, as because they contemned the envy and detraction of it.

      All that is incumbent on a man of worth, who suffers under so ill a treatment, is to lie by for some time in silence and obscurity, till the prejudice of the times be over, and his reputation cleared. I have often read with a great deal of pleasure a legacy of the famous Lord Bacon, one of the greatest geniuses that our own or any country has produced: after having bequeathed his soul, body, and estate, in the usual form, he adds, "My name and memory I leave to foreign nations, and to my countrymen, after some time be passed over."

      At the same time that I recommend this philosophy to others, I must confess I am so poor a proficient in it myself, that if in the course of my Lucubrations it happens, as it has done more than once, that my paper is duller than in conscience it ought to be, I think the time an age till I have an opportunity of putting out another, and growing famous again for two days.

      I must not close my discourse upon silence, without informing my reader, that I have by me an elaborate treatise on the Aposiopesis called an "Et cætera," it being a figure much used by some learned authors, and particularly by the great Littleton, who, as my Lord Chief Justice Coke observes, had a most admirable talent at an et cetera.95

ADVERTISEMENT

      To oblige the Pretty Fellows, and my fair readers, I have thought fit to insert the whole passage above mentioned relating to Dido, as it is translated by Mr. Dryden:

      Not far from thence, the mournful fields appear;

      So called, from lovers that inhabit there.

      The souls, whom that unhappy flame invades,

      In secret solitude, and myrtle shades,

      Make endless moans, and pining with desire,

      Lament too late their unextinguished fire.

      Here Procris, Eryphile here, he found

      Baring her breast, yet bleeding with the wound

      Made by her son. He saw Pasiphae there,

      With Phædra's ghost, a foul incestuous pair;

      There Laodamia with Evadne moves:

      Unhappy both, but loyal in their loves.

      Cæneus, a woman once, and once a man;

      But ending in the sex she first began.

      Not far from these, Phœnician Dido stood;

      Fresh from her wound, her bosom bathed in blood.

      Whom, when the Trojan hero hardly knew,

      Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view

      (Doubtful as he who runs through dusky night,

      Or thinks he sees the moon's uncertain light)

      With tears he first approached the sullen shade;

      And, as his love inspired him, thus he said:

      "Unhappy queen! Then is the common breath

      Of rumour true, in your reported death;

      And I, alas, the cause! By Heaven, I vow,

      And all the powers that rule the realms below,

      Unwilling I forsook your friendly state,

      Commanded by the gods, and forced by Fate.

      Those gods, that Fate, whose unresisted might,

      Have sent me to these regions, void of light,

      Through the vast empire of eternal night.

      Nor dared I to presume, that, pressed with grief,

      My flight should urge you to this dire relief.

      Stay, stay your steps, and listen to my vows;

      'Tis the last interview that Fate allows!"

      In vain he thus attempts her mind to move,

      With tears and prayers, and late repenting love.

      Disdainfully she looked, then turning round;

      But fixed her eyes unmoved upon the ground;

      And, what he says, and swears, regards no more

      Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar;

      But whirled away, to shun his hateful fight,

      Hid in the forest, and the shades of night.

      Then sought Sichæus through the shady grove,

      Who answered all her cares, and equalled all her love.

      No. 134

[Steele. Tuesday, Feb. 14, to Thursday, Feb. 16, 1709-10

      ——Quis talia fando

      Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulixi,

      Temperet a lachrimis!—Virg., Æn. ii. 6.

Sheer Lane, February 15

      I was awakened very early this morning by the distant crowing of a cock, which I thought had the finest pipe I ever heard. He seemed to me to strain his voice more than ordinary, as if he designed to make himself heard to the remotest corner of this lane. Having entertained myself a little before I went to bed with a discourse on the transmigration of men into other animals, I could not but fancy that this was the soul of some drowsy bellman who used to sleep upon his post, for which he was condemned to do penance in feathers, and distinguish the several watches of the night under the outside of a cock. While I was thinking of the condition of this poor bellman in masquerade, I heard a great knocking at my door, and was soon after told by my maid, that my worthy friend the tall black gentleman, who frequents the coffee-houses hereabouts, desired to speak with me. This ancient Pythagorean, who has as much honesty as any man living, but good nature to an excess, brought me the following petition, which I am apt to believe he penned himself, the petitioner not being able to express his mind in paper under his present form, however famous he might have been for writing verses when he was in his original shape.

"To Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., Censor of Great Britain

      "The humble petition of Job Chanticleer, in behalf of himself, and many other

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