From _Saturday, Feb. 4_, to _Tuesday, Feb. 7, 1709-10_.
----At me
Cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque
Invidia.--HOR., 2 Sat. i. 75.
* * * * *
_Sheer Lane, February 6._
I find some of the most polite Latin authors, who wrote at a time when
Rome was in its glory, speak with a certain noble vanity of the
brightness and splendour of the age in which they lived. Pliny often
compliments his Emperor Trajan upon this head; and when he would
animate him to anything great, or dissuade him from anything that was
improper, he insinuates, that it is befitting or unbecoming the
_claritas et nitor saeculi_, that period of time which was made
illustrious by his reign. When we cast our eyes back on the history of
mankind, and trace them through their several successions to their first
original, we sometimes see them breaking out in great and memorable
actions, and towering up to the utmost heights of virtue and knowledge;
when, perhaps, if we carry our observation to a little distance, we see
them sunk into sloth and ignorance, and altogether lost in darkness and
obscurity. Sometimes the whole species is asleep for two or three
generations, and then again awakens into action, flourishes in heroes,
philosophers, and poets, who do honour to human nature, and leave such
tracts of glory behind them, as distinguish the years in which they
acted their part from the ordinary course of time.
Methinks a man cannot, without a secret satisfaction, consider the glory
of the present age, which will shine as bright as any other in the
history of mankind. It is still big with great events, and has already
produced changes and revolutions which will be as much admired by
posterity, as any that have happened in the days of our fathers, or in
the old times before them. We have seen kingdoms divided and united,
monarchs erected and deposed, nations transferred from one sovereign to
another; conquerors raised to such a greatness as has given a terror to
Europe, and thrown down by such a fall, as has moved their pity.
But it is still a more pleasing view to an Englishman, to see his own
country give the chief influence to so illustrious an age, and stand in
the strongest point of light amidst the diffused glory that surrounds
it.
If we begin with learned men, we may observe, to the honour of our
country, that those who make the greatest figure in most arts and
sciences, are universally allowed to be of the British nation; and what
is more remarkable, that men of the greatest learning are among the men
of the greatest quality.
A nation may indeed abound with persons of such uncommon parts and
worth, as may make them rather a misfortune than a blessing to the
public. Those who singly might have been of infinite advantage to the
age they live in, may, by rising up together in the same crisis of time,
and by interfering in their pursuits of honour, rather interrupt than
promote the service of their country. Of this we have a famous instance
in the Republic of Rome, when Caesar, Pompey, Cato, Cicero, and Brutus,
endeavoured to recommend themselves at the same time to the admiration
of their contemporaries. Mankind was not able to provide for so many
extraordinary persons at once, or find out posts suitable to their
ambition and abilities. For this reason, they were all as miserable in
their deaths as they were famous in their lives, and occasioned, not
only the ruin of each other, but also that of the commonwealth.
It is therefore a particular happiness to a people, when the men of
superior genius and character are so justly disposed in the high places
of honour, that each of them moves in a sphere which is proper to him,
and requires those particular qualities in which he excels.
If I see a general commanding the forces of his country, whose victories
are not to be paralleled in story, and who is as famous for his
negotiations as his victories;[69] and at the same time see the
management of a nation's treasury in the hands of one who has always
distinguished himself by a generous contempt of his own private wealth,
and an exact frugality of that which belongs to the public;[70] I
cannot but think a people under such an Administration may promise
themselves conquest abroad, and plenty at home. If I were to wish for a
proper person to preside over the public councils, it should certainly
be one as much admired for his universal knowledge of men and things, as
for his eloquence, courage and integrity, in the exerting of such
extraordinary talents.[71]
Who is not pleased to see a person in the highest station in the law,
who was the most eminent in his profession, and the most accomplished
orator at the Bar?[72] Or at the head of the fleet a commander, under
whose conduct the common enemy received such a blow as he has never been
able to recover?[73]
Were we to form to ourselves the idea of one whom we should think proper
to govern a distant kingdom, consisting chiefly of those who differ from
us in religion, and are influenced by foreign politics, would it not be
such a one as had signalised himself by a uniform and unshaken zeal for
the Protestant interest, and by his dexterity in defeating the skill and
artifice of its enemies?[74] In short, if we find a great man popular
for his honesty and humanity, as well as famed for his learning and
great skill in all the languages of Europe, or a person eminent for
those qualifications which make men shine in public assemblies, or for
that steadiness, constancy, and good sense, which carry a man to the
desired point through all the opposition of tumult and prejudice, we
have the happiness to behold them all in posts suitable to their
characters.
Such a constellation of great persons, if I may so speak, while they
shine out in their own distinct capacities, reflect a lustre upon each
other, but in a more particular manner on their Sovereign, who has
placed them in those proper situations, by which their virtues become so
beneficial to all her subjects. It is the anniversary of the birthday of
this glorious Queen which naturally led me into this field of
contemplation, and instead of joining in the public exultations that are
made on such occasions, to entertain my thoughts with the more serious
pleasure of ruminating upon the glories of her reign.
While I behold her surrounded with triumphs, and adorned with all the
prosperity and success which Heaven ever shed on a mortal, and still
considering herself as such; though the person appears to me exceeding
great that has these just honours paid to her, yet I must confess, she
appears much greater in that she receives them with such a glorious
humility, and shows she has no further regard for them, than as they
arise from these great events which have made her subjects happy. For my
own part, I must confess, when I see private virtues in so high a degree
of perfection, I am not astonished at any extraordinary success that
attends them, but look upon public triumphs as the natural consequences
of religious retirements.