The Augustan Reprint Society
PREFACES TO FICTION
Georges de Scudéry, Preface to _Ibrahim_ (1674)
Mary De la Riviere Manley, Preface to _The Secret
History of Queen Zarah_ (1705)
Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, _The Jewish
Spy_ (1744), Letter 35
William Warburton, Preface to Volumes III and
IV (1748) of Richardson's _Clarissa_
Samuel Derrick, Preface to d'Argens's _Memoirs of
The Count Du Beauval_ (1754)
With an Introduction by
Benjamin Boyce
Publication Number 32
Los Angeles
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
University of California
1952
* * * * *
GENERAL EDITORS
H. RICHARD ARCHER, _Clark Memorial Library_
RICHARD C. BOYS, _University of Michigan_
JOHN LOFTIS, _University of California, Los Angeles_
ASSISTANT EDITOR
W. EARL BRITTON, _University of Michigan_
ADVISORY EDITORS
EMMETT L. AVERY, _State College of Washington_
BENJAMIN BOYCE, _Duke University_
LOUIS I. BREDVOLD, _University of Michigan_
CLEANTH BROOKS, _Yale University_
JAMES L. CLIFFORD, _Columbia University_
ARTHUR FRIEDMAN, _University of Chicago_
EDWARD NILES HOOKER, _University of California, Los Angeles_
LOUIS A. LANDA, _Princeton University_
SAMUEL H. MONK, _University of Minnesota_
ERNEST MOSSNER, _University of Texas_
JAMES SUTHERLAND, _University College, London_
H.T. SWEDENBERG, JR., _University of California, Los Angeles_
INTRODUCTION
The development of the English novel is one of the triumphs of the
eighteenth century. Criticism of prose fiction during that period,
however, is less impressive, being neither strikingly original nor
profound nor usually more than fragmentary. Because the early
statements of theory were mostly very brief and are now obscurely
buried in rare books, one may come upon the well conceived "program"
of _Joseph Andrews_ and _Tom Jones_ with some surprise. But if one
looks in the right places one will realize that mid-eighteenth
century notions about prose fiction had a substantial background in
earlier writing. And as in the case of other branches of literary
theory in the Augustan period, the original expression of the
organized doctrine was French. In Georges de Scudéry's preface to
_Ibrahim_ (1641)[1] and in a conversation on the art of inventing a
"Fable" in Book VIII (1656) of his sister Madeleine's _Clélie_ are
to be found the grounds of criticism in prose fiction; practically
all the principles are here which eighteenth-century theorists
adopted, or seemed to adopt, or from which they developed, often by
the simple process of contradiction, their new principles.
That many of the ideas in the preface to _Ibrahim_ were not new even
in 1641 becomes plain if one reads the discussions of romance
written by Giraldi Cinthio and Tasso.[2] The particular way in which
Mlle. de Scudéry attempted to carry out those ideas in her later,
more subjective works she obligingly set forth in _Clélie_ in the
passage already alluded to. There it is explained that a
well-contrived romance "is not only handsomer than the truth, but
withal, more probable;" that "impossible things, and such as are low
and common, must almost equally be avoided;" that each person in the
story must always act according to his own "temper;" that "the
nature of the passions ought necessarily to be understood, and what
they work in the hearts of those who are possess'd with them." He
who attempts an "ingenious Fable" must have great
accomplishments--wit, fancy, judgment, memory; "an universal
knowledge of the World, of the Interest of Princes, and the humors
of Nations," and of both closet-policy and the art of war;
familiarity with "politeness of conversation, the art of ingenious
raillery, and that of making innocent Satyrs; nor must he be
ignorant of that of composing of Verses, writing Letters, and making
Orations." The "secrets of all hearts" must be his and "how to take
away plainness and driness from Morality."[3]
The assumption that the new prose fiction could be judged, as the
Scudérys professed to judge their work, first of all by reference to
the rules of heroic poetry is frequent in the next century--in the
unlikely Mrs. Davys (preface, _Works_, 1725); in _Joseph Andrews_ of
course, where the rules of the serious epic and of the heroic
romance are to aid the author in copying the ancient but, as it
happens, nonexistent comic epic; and in Fielding's preface to his
sister's _David Simple_ (1744). Both Richardson and Fielding were
attacked on epic grounds.[4] Dr. Johnson's interesting and
unfriendly essay on recent prose fiction (_Rambler_ No. 4) adopted
the terminology familiar in the criticism of epic and romance and
showed that Johnson, unlike d'Argens and Fielding, did not intend
to give any of the old doctrines new meanings in a way to justify
realism. Johnson laughed a little in that essay at the heroic
romances; but like Mlle. de Scudéry, whose _Conversations_ he drew
on for a footnote in his edition of Shakespeare (1765),[5] he
believed that fiction should be "probable" and yet should idealize
life and men and observe poetic Justice. Many other writers on prose
fiction borrowed the old neo-classic rules, and they applied them
often so carelessly and so insincerely that one is glad to come
eventually on signs of rebellion, even if from the sentimentalists:
"I know not," wrote Elizabeth Griffith in the preface to _The
Delicate Distress_ (1769), "whether novel, like the _epopée_, has
any rules, peculiar to itself.... Sensibility is, in my mind, as
necessary, as taste, to intitle us to judge of a work, like this."
The theory of prose fiction offered by the Scudérys was, on the
whole, better than their practice. The same remark can be made with
even greater assurance of _The Secret History of Queen Zarah, and
the Zarazians_ (1705) and the other political-scandalous "histories"
of Mary De la Riviere Manley. For in spite of the faults of _Queen
Zarah_, the preface is one of the most substantial discussions of
prose fiction in the century. Boldly and reasonably it repudiates
the most characteristic features of the heroic romance--the vastness
produced by intercalated stories; the idealized characters, almost
"exempted from all the Weakness of Humane Nature;" the marvelous
adventures and remote settings; the essay-like conversations; the
adulatory attitude; and poetic Justice. _Vraisemblance_ and
_decorum_, we are told, are still obligatory, but the probable
character, action, dialogue will now be less prodigious, will be
closer to real life as the modern English reader knows it. Thus Mrs.
Manley announced a point of view which was, at least in most
respects, to dominate the theory and invigorate the practice of
prose fiction throughout the century.
A significant phase of Mrs. Manley's discussion is the emphasis upon
individual characterization and, in characters, upon not only the
"predominant Quality" and ruling passion of each but also upon the
elusive and surprising "Turnings and Motions of Humane
Understanding." Here one should recognize the influence of
historical writing rather than of poetry. As René Rapin had made
clear in Chapter XX of his _Instructions for History_ (J. Davies's
translation, 1680), the historian writes the best portraits who
finds the "essential and distinctive lines" of a man's character and
the "secret motions and inclinations of [his] Heart." But Mrs.
Manley's remarks go beyond Rapin's in implying faith in a sort of
scientific psychology, especially of "the passions." Other writers
showed the same interest and worked toward the same end. Thus Henry
Gally in his essay on Theophrastus and the Character was so carried
away by a notion of the importance of the Character-writer's knowing
all about the passions that he allowed himself to say that only by
such a knowledge could a Character be made to "hit one Person, and
him only"[6]--the goal obviously not of the Character-writer but of
the historian and the novelist. The authors of _The Cry_[7] (1754)
regarded the unfolding of "the labyrinths of the human mind" as an
arduous but necessary task; indeed they went on to declare that the
"motives to actions, and the inward turns of mind, seem in our
opinion more necessary to be known than the actions themselves." It
was Fielding's refusal, in spite of the titles of his books, to
write like an historian with highly individualized and psychological
characterizations that caused his admirer Arthur Murphy to admit in
his "Essay" on Fielding that "Fielding was more attached to the
_manners_ than to the _heart_."[8] He thought Fielding inferior to
Marivaux in revealing the heart just as Johnson, according to
Boswell, preferred Richardson to Fielding because the former
presented "characters of nature" whereas the latter created only
"characters of manners." The author of "A Short Discourse on Novel
Writing" prefixed to _Constantia; or, A True Picture of Human Life_
(1751) went so far as to say that prose fiction may teach more about
the "sources, symptoms, and inevitable consequences" of the passions
than could easily be taught in any other way. The increasingly
subjective and individualized characterization in English fiction
was well supported in contemporary theory.
_The Jewish Spy_, translated from the _Lettres Juives_ (1736-38) of
Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens, is an early example of
citizen-of-the-world literature and contains in its five volumes a
"Philosophical, Historical and Critical Correspondence" dealing with
French, English, Italian, and other matters. The work had a European
vogue, and there were at least two English translations, the present
one, issued in 1739, 1744, and 1766, and another, called _Jewish
Letters_, published at Newcastle in 1746. (The Dublin edition of
1753 I have not seen.) Though d'Argens's purpose in Letter 35 may
have been to advertise his own novel, what he had to say is
interesting. Like many others, he could scoff at the heroic romances
and yet borrow and quietly modify the doctrines of _Ibrahim_ and
_Clélie_. He proposed a still more "advanced" _vraisemblance_ and
_decorum_--psychological analysis tinged with cynicism rather than
idealism; gallantry but against the background sometimes of the
modern city; a plainer style; and only such matters as seemed to
this student of Descartes and Locke to be entirely reasonable.
Fielding's chapter in _Tom Jones_ (IX, i) "Of Those Who Lawfully
May, and of Those Who May Not, Write Such Histories as This" could
be taken as an indication that he knew not only what Mlle. de
Scudéry thought were the accomplishments of the romancer but that he
had read d'Argens's words on that subject too. Both d'Argens and
Fielding believed that in addition to "Genius, Wit, and Learning"
the novelist must have a knowledge of the world and of all degrees
of men, distinguishing the style of high people from that of low.
They agreed that a writer must have felt a passion before he could
paint it successfully. Much more goes into the making of a novel,
they sarcastically pointed out, than pens, ink, and quires of paper.
D'Argens, like Fielding, relished reflective passages and could
approve, more readily than Mrs. Manley, of "an Historian that amuses
himself by Moralizing or Describing." D'Argens's list of the
features to be found in good history and good fiction shows him to
be a thoroughgoing rationalist and separates his ideal from that of
young readers, who, according to the preface to _The Adventures of
Theagenes and Chariclia_ (1717), wish to hear of "Flame and Spirit
in an Author, of fine Harangues, just Characters, moving Scenes,
delicacy of Contrivance, surprising turns of action ... indeed the
choicest Beauties of a _Romance_."
The two novels that d'Argens recommended had different fortunes in
England. D'Argens's book, _Memoires du Marquis de Mirmon, ou Le
Solitaire Philosophe_ (Amsterdam, 1736) was never translated into
English and apparently was not much read. But Claude Prosper Jolyot
de Crébillon, the younger, was extolled by Thomas Gray and Horace
Walpole, quoted by Sarah Fielding,[9] and had the honor, if one can
trust Walpole, of an offer of keeping from Lady Mary Wortley
Montagu. His _Égaremens du Coeur et de l'Esprit_ (1736-38) was
translated in 1751[10] and is the novel which Yorick helped the
_fille de chambre_ slide into her pocket. Crébillon was damned,
however, in _The World_ (No. 19, May 10, 1753) in an essay that,
oddly enough, reminds one of d'Argens's Letter 35. The work referred
to in the third footnote on page 258 is _Le Chevalier des Essars et
la Comtesse de Berci_ (1735) by Ignace-Vincent Guillot de La
Chassagne. The last footnote on that page refers to G.H. Bougeant's
satire, _Voyage Merveilleux du Prince Fan-Férédin dans la Romancie_
(1735).
The preface which William Warburton was invited by Richardson to
supply for Volumes III and IV of _Clarissa_ when they first appeared
in 1748 has never, I think, been reprinted in full. Richardson
dropped it from the second edition (1749) of _Clarissa_, probably
because he relished neither its implication that he was following
French precedents nor its suggestion that his work was one "of mere
Amusement." In the "Advertisement" in the first volume of the second
edition he insisted that _Clarissa_ was "not to be considered as a
_mere Amusement_, as a _light Novel_, or _transitory Romance_; but
as a _History_ of LIFE and MANNERS ... intended to inculcate the
HIGHEST and _most_ IMPORTANT _Doctrines_."[11] Warburton, offended
in turn perhaps, thriftily salvaged more than half of the preface
(paragraphs 2 to 6) to use as a footnote in his edition of Alexander
Pope,[12] but he there made a striking change: not Richardson but
Marivaux and Fielding were praised as the authors who, with the
extra enrichment of comic art, had brought the novel of "real LIFE
AND MANNERS ... to its perfection."
The important principle of prose fiction which Richardson and
Warburton recognized--that there is power in a detailed picture of
the private life of the middle class--had been suggested earlier.
Mrs. Manley could not voice it, at least not in _Queen Zarah_, where
the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Godolphln, and Queen Anne were
to be leading characters. But her sometime-friend Richard Steele
could. Having laughed in _The Tender Husband_ (1705) at a girl whose
judgment of life was seriously--or, rather, comically--warped by her
reading of heroic romances, Steele made a positive plea in _Tatler_
No. 172 for histories of "such adventures as befall persons not
exalted above the common level." Books of this sort, still rare in
1710, would be of great value to "the ordinary race of men." The
anonymous preface to _The Adventures of Theagenes and Chariclia_
seven years later attributed to Heliodorus's romance the value of
suggesting rules "for conducting our Affairs in common Actions of
Life." In 1751 when the new realism was a _fait accompli_, the
author of _An Essay on the New Species of Writing Founded by Mr.
Fielding_ declared roundly (p. 19) that in the new fiction the
characters should be "taken from common Life." A good argument in
favor of books about "private persons" was offered in the preface to
the English translation of the Abbé Prévost's novel, _The Life And
Entertaining Adventures of Mr. Cleveland, Natural Son of Oliver
Cromwell_ (1741): "The history of kingdoms and empires, raises our
admiration, by the solemnity ... of the images, and furnishes one of
the noblest entertainments. But at the same time that it is so well
suited to delight the imagination, it yet is not so apt to touch and
affect as the history of private men; the reason of which seems to
be, that the personages in the former, are so far above the common
level, that we consider ourselves, in some measure, as aliens to
them; whereas those who act in a lower sphere, are look'd upon by us
as a kind of relatives, from the similitude of conditions; whence we
are more intimately mov'd with whatever concerns us." A comparison
of the first two paragraphs of this preface and the first four
paragraphs of Johnson's _Rambler_ No. 60, if it does not discover
the source of part of Johnson's paper, will at least reveal how the
defender of the fictional "secret history" and a famous champion of
intimate biography played into each other's hands. Johnson's
appearing to follow the defender of French fiction here is all the
more interesting when one recalls his alarm in _Rambler_ No. 4 over
the prevailing taste for novels that exhibited, unexpurgated, "Life
in its true State, diversified only by the Accidents that daily
happen in the World." Indeed if it were not for Fielding himself,
one might imagine from Johnson's unsteady and generally
unsatisfactory criticism of prose fiction that the old neo-classical
principles were completely out of date and useless.
Samuel Derrick, the editor of Dryden and friend of Boswell for whom
Johnson "had a kindness" but not much respect, the "pretty little
gentleman" described by Smollett's Lydia Melford, translated the
_Memoirs of the Count Du Beauval_ from _Le Mentor Cavalier, ou Les
Illustres Infortunez de Notre Siecle_ ("Londres," 1736) by the
Marquis d'Argens. Only the second paragraph of Derrick's preface
came from d'Argens, but the drift of the Frenchman's ideas toward
"le Naturel" is well sustained in Derrick's praise, no doubt based
on Warburton's, of writers who present scenes that "are daily found
to move beneath their Inspection." There are ties with the doctrines
of 1641 even in this preface, but the transformation of
_vraisemblance_ and _decorum_ was sufficiently advanced for the
needs of the day.
Benjamin Boyce
Duke University
NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION
[1] Most scholars attribute the preface to Georges de
Scudéry, but it seems impossible to say whether he collaborated with
his sister in writing the romance itself or whether the work was
written entirely by her.
Cogan's translation of _Ibrahim_ and the preface appeared first in
1652.
[2] See the texts in Allan H. Gilbert's _Literary
Criticism: Plato to Dryden_ (N.Y.: American Book Co., 1940) and the
discussion in A.E. Parsons' "The English Heroic Play," _MLR_, XXXIII
(1938), 1-14.
[3] _Clelia. An Excellent New Romance. The Fourth Volume
... Rendered into English by G.H._ (1677; Part IV, Book II), pp.
540-543.
[4] See _An Apology for the Life of Mr. Bempfylde-Moore
Carew ... The Sixth Edition_, p. xix; _Critical Remarks on Sir
Charles Grandison_ (1754), p. 20.
[5] IV, 184. The footnote could have come, contrary to the
assertion of Sir Walter Raleigh (_Six Essays_ [Oxford, 1910], p.
94), from either the original French (_Conversations sur Divers
Sujets_ [Paris, 1680], II, 586-587) or the English translation
(1683, II, 102). In both editions, the passage appears soon after
the dialogue on how to compose a romance. I am indebted to Dr.
Arthur M. Eastman for help in tracing Raleigh's vague reference.
[6] _The Moral Characters of Theophrastus_ (1725), pp.
31-32.
[7] Jane Collier and Sarah Fielding.
[8] The "Essay" was written in 1762, but I quote it as it
appeared in the third edition (1766) of _The Works of Henry
Fielding_, I, 75.
[9] James B. Foster, _History of the Pre-Romantic Novel in
England_ (N.Y.: Modern Lang. Assoc., 1949), p. 76.
[10] _The Wanderings of the Heart and Mind: or, Memoirs of
Mr. de Meilcour_, translated by M. Clancy. Clara Reeve maintained in
1785 that Crébillon's book was never popular in England and that
"Some pious person, fearing it might poison the minds of youth ...
wrote a book of meditations with the same title, and _this_ was the
book that _Yorick's fille de Chambre_ was purchasing" (_The Progress
of Romance_ [N.Y.: Facsimile Text Society, 1930], pp. 130-131).
[11] Richardson said that he dropped Warburton's preface
because _Clarissa_ had been well received and no longer needed such
an introduction. A fourth explanation of the natter and much other
relevant information were presented by Ronald S. Crane, "Richardson,
Warburton and French Fiction," _MLR_, XVII (1922), 17-23.
[12] _The Works of Alexander Pope_ (1751), IV, 166-169. The
footnote is on line 146 of the Epistle to Augustus ("And ev'ry
flow'ry Courtier writ Romance").
IBRAHIM,
OR THE
ILLUSTRIOUS
BASSA.
* * * * *
The whole Work,
In Four Parts.
Written in French by _Monsieur de Scudéry_,
And Now Englished
by
Henry Cogan, Gent.
* * * * *
London,
Printed by _J.R._ and are to be sold by _Peter Parker_, at his Shop
at the _Leg_ and _Star_ over against the Royal Exchange, and _Thomas
Guy_, at the Corner-shop of _Little-Lumbard street_ and _Cornhil_,
1674.
_IBRAHIM, or The Illustrious Bassa_
THE PREFACE
I do not know what kind of praise the Ancients thought they gave to
that Painter, who not able to end his Work, finished it accidentally
by throwing his pencil against his Picture; but I know very well,
that it should not have obliged me, and that I should have taken it
rather for a Satyre, than an Elogium. The operations of the Spirit
are too important to be left to the conduct of chance, and I had
rather be accused for failing out of knowledge, than for doing well
without minding it. There is nothing which temerity doth not
undertake, and which Fortune doth not bring to pass; but when a man
relies on those two Guides, if he doth not erre, he may erre; and of
this sort, even when the events are successefull, no glory is
merited thereby. Every Art hath its certain rules, which by
infallible means lead to the ends proposed; and provided that an
Architect takes his measures right, he is assured of the beauty of
his Building. Believe not for all this, Reader, that I will conclude
from thence my work is compleat, because I have followed the rules
which may render it so: I know that it is of this labour, as of the
Mathematical Sciences, where the operation may fail, but the Art
doth never fail; nor do I make this discourse but to shew you, that
if I have left some faults in my Book, they are the effects of my
weakness, and not of my negligence. Suffer me then to discover unto
you all the resorts of this frame, and let you see, if not all that
I have done, at leastwise all that I have endeavoured to doe.
Whereas we cannot be knowing but of that which others do teach us,
and that it is for him that comes after, to follow them who precede
him, I have believed, that for the laying the ground-plot of this
work, we are to consult with the Grecians, who have been our first
Masters, pursue the course which they have held, and labour in
imitating them to arrive at the same end, which those great men
propounded to themselves. I have seen in those famous _Romanzes_ of
Antiquity, that in imitation of the Epique Poem there is a principal
action whereunto all the rest, which reign over all the work, are
fastned, and which makes them that they are not employed, but for
the conducting of it to its perfection. The action in _Homers
Iliades_ is the destrustion of _Troy_; in his _Odysseas_ the return
of _Ulysses_ to _Ithaca_; in _Virgil_ the death of _Turnus_, or to
say better, the conquest of _Italy_; neerer to our times, in _Tasso_
the taking of _Jerusalem_; and to pass from the Poem to the
_Romanze_, which is my principal object, in _Helidorus_ the marriage
of _Theagines_ and _Cariclia_. It is not because the Episodes in the
one, and the several Histories in the other, are not rather beauties
than defects; but it is alwayes necessary, that the Addresse of him
which employes them should hold them in some sort to this principal
action, to the end, that by this ingenious concatenation, all the
parts of them should make but one body, and that nothing may be seen
in them which is loose and unprofitable. Thus the marriage of my
_Justiniano_ and his _Isabella_, being the object which I have
proposed unto my self, I have employed all my care so to doe, that
all parts of my work may tend to that conclusion; that there may be
a strong connexion between them; and that, except the obstacle which
Fortune opposeth to the desires of my _Hero_'s, all things may
advance, or at leastwise endeavour to advance his marriage, which is
the end of my labour. Now those great Geniusses of antiquity, from
whom I borrow my light, knowing that well-ordering is one of the
principal parts of a piece, have given so excellent a one to their
speaking Pictures, that it would be as much stupidity, as pride, not
to imitate them. They have not done like those Painters, who present
in one and the same cloth a Prince in the Cradle, upon the Throne,
and in the Tombe, perplexing, by this so little judicious a
confusion, him that considers their work; but with an incomparable
address they begin their History in the midle, so to give some
suspence to the Reader, even from the first opening of the Book; and
to confine themselves within reasonable bounds they have made the
History (as I likewise have done after them) not to last above a
year, the rest being delivered by Narration. Thus all things being
ingeniously placed, and of a just greatness, no doubt, but pleasure
will redound from thence to him that beholds them, and glory to him
that hath done them. But amongst all the rules which are to be
observed in the composition of these works, that of true resemblance
is without question the most necessary; it is, as it were, the
fundamental stone of this building, and but upon which it cannot
subsist; without it nothing can move, without it nothing can please:
and if this charming deceiver doth not beguile the mind in
_Romanzes_, this kinde of reading disgusts, instead of entertaining
it: I have laboured then never to eloigne my self from it, and to
that purpose I have observed the Manners, Customs, Religions, and
Inclinations of People: and to give a more true resemblance to
things, I have made the foundations of my work Historical, my
principal Personages such as are marked out in the true History for
illustrious persons, and the wars effective. This is the way
doubtless, whereby one may arrive at his end; for when as falshood
and truth are confounded by a dexterous hand, wit hath much adoe to
disintangle them, and is not easily carried to destroy that which
pleaseth it; contrarily, whenas invention doth not make use of this
artifice, and that falshood is produced openly, this gross untruth
makes no impression in the soul, nor gives any delight: As indeed
how should I be touched with the misfortunes of the Queen of
_Gundaya_, and of the King of _Astrobacia_, whenas I know their very
Kingdoms are not in the universal Mapp, or, to say better, in the
being of things? But this is not the only defect which may carry us
from the true resemblance, for we have at other times seen
_Romanzes_, which set before us monsters, in thinking to let us see
Miracles; their Authors by adhering too much to wonders have made
Grotesques, which have not a little of the visions of a burning
Feaver; and one might demand of these Messieurs with more reason,
than the Duke of _Ferrara_ did of _Ariosto_, after he had read his
_Orlando, Messer Lodovico done diavolo havete pigliato tante
coyonerie_? As for me, I hold, that the more natural adventures
are, the more satisfaction they give; and the ordinary course of the
Sun seems more marvellous to me, than the strange and deadly rayes
of Comets; for which reason it is also that I have not caused so
many Shipwrecks, as there are in some ancient _Romanzes_; and to
speak seriously, _Du Bartas_ might say of these Authors,
_That with their word they bind,
Or loose, at will, the blowing of the wind._
So as one might think that _Æolus_ hath given them the Winds
inclosed in a bagg, as he gave them to _Ulysses_, so patly do they
unchain them; they make tempests and shipwracks when they please,
they raise them on the Pacifique Sea, they find rocks and shelves
where the most expert Pilots have never observed any: But they which
dispose thus of the winds, know not how the Prophet doth assure us,
that God keeps them in his Treasures; and that Philosophy, as clear
sighted as it is, could never discover their retreat. Howbeit I
pretend not hereby to banish Shipwrecks from _Romanzes_, I approve
of them in the works of others, and make use of them in mine; I know
likewise, that the Sea is the Scene most proper to make great
changes in, and that some have named it the Theatre of inconstancy;
but as all excess is vicious, I have made use of it but moderately,
for to conserve true resembling: Now the same design is the cause
also, that my _Heros_ is not oppressed with such a prodigious
quantity of accidents, as arrive unto some others, for that
according to my sense, the same is far from true resemblance, the
life of no man having ever been so cross'd. It would be better in my
opinion to separate the adventures, to form divers Histories of
them, and to make persons acting, thereby to appear both fertile and
judicious together, and to be still within this so necessary true
resemblance. And indeed they who have made one man alone defeat
whole Armies, have forgotten the Proverb which saith, _not one
against two_; and know not that Antiquity doth assure us, how
_Hercules_ would in that case be too weak. It is without all doubt,
that to represent a true heroical courage, one should make it
execute some thing extraordinary, as it were by a transport of the
_Heros_; but he must not continue in that sort, for so those
incredible actions would degenerate into ridiculous Fables, and
never move the mind. This fault is the cause also of committing
another; for they which doe nothing but heap adventure upon
adventure, without ornament, and without stirring up passions by the
artifices of Rhetorick, or irksome, in thinking to be the more
entertaining. This dry Narration, and without art, hath more of an
old Chronicle, than of a _Romanze_, which may very well be
imbellished with those ornaments, since History, as severe and
scrupulous as it is, doth not forbear employing them. Certain
Authors, after they have described an adventure, a daring design, or
some surprising event, able to possess one with the bravest
apprehensions in the world, are contented to assure us, that such a
_Heros_ thought of very gallant things, without telling us what they
are; and this is that alone which I desire to know: For how can I
tell, whether in these events Fortune hath not done as much as he?
whether his valour be not a brutish valour? and whether he hath born
the misfortunes that arrived unto him, as a worthy man should doe?
it is not by things without him, it is not by the caprichioes of
destiny, that I will judge of him; it is by the motions of his soul,
and by that which he speaketh. I honour all them that write at this
day; I know their persons, their works, their merits; but as
canonizing is for none but the dead, they will not take it ill if I
do not Deifie them, since they are living. And in this occasion I
propose no other example, than the great and incomparable _Urfé_;
certainly it must be acknowledged that he hath merited his
reputation; that the love which all the earth bears him is just; and
that so many different Nations, which have translated his Book into
their tongues, had reason to do it: as for me, I confess openly,
that I am his adorer; these twenty years I have loved him, he is
indeed admirable over all; he is fertile in his inventions, and in
inventions reasonable; every thing in him is mervellous, every thing
in him is excellent; and that which is more important, every thing
in him is natural, and truly resembling: But amongst many rare
matters, that which I most esteem of is, that he knows how to touch
the passions so delicately, that he may be called the Painter of the
Soul; he goes searching out in the bottom of hearts the most secret
thoughts; and in the diversity of natures, which he represents, evey
one findes his own pourtrait, so that
_If amongst mortals any be
That merits Altars_, Urfé's _he
Who can alone pretend thereto._
Certainly there is nothing more important in this kind of
composition, than strongly to imprint the Idea, or (to say better)
the image of the _Heroes_ in the mind of the Reader, but in such
sort, as if they were known to them; for that it is which
interesseth him in their adventures, and from thence his delight
cometh, now to make them be known perfectly, it is not sufficient to
say how many times they have suffered shipwreck, and how many times
they have encountered Robbers, but their inclinations must be made
to appear by their discourse: otherwise one may rightly apply to
these dumb _Heroes_ that excellent motto of Antiquity, _Speak that I
may see thee_. And if from true resemblance and inclinations,
expressed by words, we will pass unto manners, goe from the pleasant
to the profitable, and from Delight to Example, I am to tell you,
Reader, that here Vertue is seen to be alwayes recompenced, and Vice
alwayes punished, if he that hath followed his unruliness hath not
by a just and sensible repentance obtained Grace from Heaven; to
which purpose I have also observed equality of manners in all the
persons that do act, unless it be whereas they are disordered by
passions, and touched with remorse.
I have had a care likewise to deal in such sort, as the faults,
which great ones have committed in my History, should be caused
either by Love or by Ambition, which are the Noblest of passions,
and that they be imputed to the evil counsell of Flatterers; that so
the respect, which is alwayes due unto Kings, may be preserved. You
shall see there, Reader, if I be not deceived, the comeliness of
things and conditions exactly enough observed; neither have I put
any thing into my Book, which the Ladies may not read without
blushing. And if you see not my _Hero_ persecuted with Love by
Women, it is not because he was not amiable, and that he could not
be loved, but because it would clash with Civility in the persons of
Ladies, and with true resemblance in that of men, who rarely shew
themselves cruel unto them, nor in doing it could have any good
grace: Finally, whether things ought to be so, or whether I have
judged of my _Hero_ by mine own weakness, I would not expose his
fidelity to that dangerous triall, but have been contented to make
no _Hilas_, nor yet an _Hipolitus_ of him.
But whilest I speak of Civility, it is fit I should tell you (for
fear I be accused of falling therein) that if you see throughout all
my Work, whenas _Soliman_ is spoken unto, Thy Highness, Thy
Majestie, and that in conclusion he is treated with Thee, and not
with You, it is not for want of Respect, but contrarily it is to
have the more, and to observe the custom of those people, who speak
after that sort to their Sovereigns. And if the Authority of the
living may be of as much force, as that of the dead, you shall find
examples of it in the most famous _Othomans_, and you shall see that
their Authors have not been afraid to employ in their own Tongue a
manner of speaking, which they have drawn from the Greek and Latin;
and then too I have made it appear clearlie, that I have not done it
without design; for unless it be whenas the Turks speak to the
Sultan, or he to his Inferiours, I have never made use of it, and
either of them doth use it to each other.
Now for fear it may be objected unto me, that I have approached some
incidents nearer than the Historie hath shewed them to be, great
_Virgil_ shall be my Warrant, who in his Divine _Æneids_ hath made
_Dido_ appear four Ages after her own; wherefore I have believed I
might do of some moneths, what he hath done of so many Years, and
that I was not to be afraid of erring, as long as I followed so good
a guide. I know not likewise whether some may not take it ill, that
my _Hero_ and _Heronia_ are not Kings; but besides that the Generous
do put no difference between wearing of Crowns, and meriting them,
and that my _Justiniano_ is of a Race which hath held the Empire of
the Orient, the example of _Athenagoras_, me-thinks, ought to stop
their mouths, seeing _Theogines_ and _Charida_ are but simple
Citizens.
Finally, Reader, such Censors may set their hearts at rest for this
particular, and leave me there, for I assure them, that _Justiniano_
is of a condition to command over the whole Earth; and that
_Isabella_ is of a House, and Gentlewoman good enough, to make
Knights of the _Rhodes_, if she have children enough for it, and
that she have a minde thereunto. But setting this jesting aside, and
coming to that which regards the _Italian_ names, know that I have
put them in their natural pronunciation. And if you see some Turkish
words, as _Alla_, _Stamboll_, the _Egira_, and some others, I have
done it of purpose, Reader, and have left them as Historical marks,
which are to pass rather for embellishments than defests. It is
certain, that imposition of names is a thing which every one ought
to think of, and whereof nevertheless all the World hath not
thought: We have oftentimes seen Greek Names given to barbarous
Nations, with as little reason as if I should name an English man
_Mahomet_, and that I should call a Turk _Anthony_; for my part I
have believed that more care is to be had of ones with; and if any
one remarks the name of _Satrape_ in this _Romanze_, let him not
magine that my ignorance hath confounded the ancient and new Persia,
and that I have done it without Authority, I have an example thereof
in _Vigenere_, who makes use of it in his Illustrations upon
_Calchondila_; and I have learned it of a _Persian_, which is at
_Paris_, who saith, that by corruption of speech they call yet to
this day the Governours of Provinces, _Soltan Sitripin_.
Now lest some other should further accuse me for having improperly
named _Ibrahim_'s House a Palace, since all those of quality are
called _Seraglioes_ at _Constantinople_, I desire you to remember
that I have done it by the counsel of two or three excellent
persons, who have found as well as my self, that this name of
_Seraglio_ would leave an _Idea_ which was not seemly, and that it
was fit not to make use of it, but in speaking of the Grand Signior,
and that as seldom as might be. But whilest we are speaking of a
Palace, I am to advertise you, that such as are not curious to see a
goodly building, may pass by the gate of that of my _Heroe_ without
entring into it, that is to say, not to read the description of it;
it is not because I have handled this matter like to _Athenagoras_,
who playes the Mason In the Temple of _Jupiter Hammon_; nor like
_Poliphile_ in his dreams, who hath set down most strange terms, and
all the dimensions of Architecture, whereas I have employed but the
Ornaments thereof; it is not because they are not Beauties suitable
to the _Romanze_, as well as to the _Epique Poem_, since the most
famous both of the one and the other have them; nor is it too
because mine is not grounded on the History, which assures us that
it was the most superb the Turks ever made, as still appears by the
remains thereof, which they of that Nation call _Serrau Ibrahim_.
But to conclude, as inclinations ought to be free, such as love not
those beautifull things, for which I have so much passion (as I have
said) pass on without looking on them, and leave them to others more
curious of those rarities, which I have assembled together with art
and care enough. Now Reader, ingenuity being a matter necessary for
a man of Honour, and the theft of glory being the basest that may be
committed, I must confess here for fear of being accused of it, that
the History of the Count of _Lavagna_, which you shall see in my
Book, is partly a Paraphrase of _Mascardies_; this Adventure falling
out in the time whilest I was writing, I judged it too excellent not
to set it down, and too well indited for to undertake to do it
better; so that regard not this place but as a Translation of that
famous Italian, and except the matters, which concern my History,
attribute all to that great man, whose Interpreter only I am. And if
you finde something not very serious in the Histories of a certain
French Marquis, which I have interlaced in my Book, remember if you
please, that a _Romanze_ ought to have the Images of all natures;
and this diversity makes up the beauties of it, and the delight of
the Reader; and at the worst regard it as the sport of a
Melancholick, and suffer it without blaming it. But before I make an
end, I must pass from matters to the manner of delivering them, and
desire you also not to forget, that a Narrative stile ought not to
be too much inflated, no more than that of ordinarie conversations;
that the more facile it is, the more excellent it is; that it ought
to glide along like the Rivers, and not rebound up like Torrents;
and that the less constraint it hath, the more perfection it hath; I
have endeavoured then to observe a just mediocrity between vicious
Elevation, and creeping Lowness; I have contained my self in
Narration, and left my self free in Orations and in Passions, and
without speaking as extravagants and the vulgar, I have laboured to
speak as worthy persons do.
Behold, Reader, that which I had to say to you, but what defence
soever, I have imployed, I know that it is of works of this nature,
as of a place of War, where notwithstanding all the care the
Engineer hath brought to fortifie it, there is alwayes some weak
part found, which he hath not dream'd of, and whereby it is
assaulted; but this shall not surprize me; for as I have not forgot
that I am a man, no more have I forgot that I am subject to erre.
THE
Secret History
OF
Queen _ZARAH_,
AND THE
_Zarazians_;
BEING A
Looking-glass
FOR
----- --------
In the Kingdom of
_ALBIGION_.
Faithfully Translated from the _Italian_ Copy now lodg'd in the
_Vatican_ at _Rome_, and never before Printed in any Language.
_Albigion_, Printed in the Year 1705.
Price Stitch'd 1 _s._ Price Bound 1 _s._ 6 _d._
TO THE
READER.
_The Romances in_ France _have for a long Time been the Diversion
and Amusement of the whole World; the People both in the City and at
Court have given themselves over to this Vice, and all Sorts of
People have read these Works with a most surprizing Greediness; but
that Fury is very much abated, and they are all fallen off from this
Distraction: The Little_ Histories _of this Kind have taken Place
of_ Romances, _whose Prodigious Number of Volumes were sufficient to
tire and satiate such whose Heads were most fill'd with those
Notions._
_These little Pieces which have banish'd_ Romances _are much more
agreeable to the Brisk and Impetuous Humour of the_ English, _who have
naturally no Taste for long-winded Performances, for they have no
sooner begun a Book, but they desire to see the End of it: The
Prodigious Length of the Ancient_ Romances, _the Mixture of so many
Extraordinary Adventures, and the great Number of Actors that appear
on the Stage, and the Likeness which is so little managed, all which
has given a Distaste to Persons of good Sense, and has made Romances
so much cry'd down, as we find 'em at present. The Authors of
Historical Novels, who have found out this Fault, have run into the
same Error, because they take for the Foundation of their History
no more than one Principal Event, and don't overcharge it with_
Episodes, _which wou'd extend it to an Excessive Length; but they
are run into another Fault, which I cannot Pardon, that is, to
please by Variety the Taste of the Reader, they mix particular
Stories with the Principal_ History, _which seems to me as if they
reason'd Ill; in Effect the Curiosity of the Reader is deceiv'd by
this Deviation from the Subject, which retards the Pleasure he wou'd
have in seeing the End of an Event; it relishes of a Secret
Displeasure in the Author, which makes him soon lose Sight of those
Persons with whom he began to be in Love; besides the vast Number of
Actors who have such different Interests, embarresses his Memory,
and causes some Confusion in his Brain, because 'tis necessary for
the Imagination to labour to recal the several Interests and
Characters of the Persons spoken of, and by which they have
interrupted the_ History.
_For the Reader's better Understanding, we ought not to chuse too
Ancient Accidents, nor unknown Heroes, which are fought for in a
Barbarous Countrey, and too far distant in Time, for we care little
for what was done a Thousand Years ago among the_ Tartars _or_
Ayssines.
_The Names of Persons ought to have a Sweetness in them, for a
Barbarous Name disturbs the Imagination; as the Historian describes
the Heroes to his Fancy, so he ought to give them Qualities which
affect the Reader, and which fixes him to his Fortune; but he ought
with great Care to observe the Probability of Truth, which consists
in saying nothing but what may Morally be believed._
_For there are Truths that are not always probable; as for Example
'tis an allowed Truth in the_ Roman History _that_ Nero _put his
Mother to Death, but 'tis a Thing against all Reason and Probability
that a Son shou'd embrue his Hand in the Blood of his own Mother; it
is also no less probable that a Single Captain shou'd at the Head of
a Bridge stop a whole Army, although 'tis probable that a small
Number of Soldiers might stop, in Defiles, Prodigious Armies,
because the Situation of the Place favours the Design, and renders
them almost Equal. He that writes a True History ought to place the
Accidents as they Naturally happen, without endeavouring to sweeten
them for to procure a greater Credit, because he is not obliged to
answer for their Probability; but he that composes a History to his
Fancy, gives his Heroes what Characters he pleases; and places the
Accidents as he thinks fit, without believing he shall be
contradicted by other Historians, therefore he if obliged to Write
nothing that is improbable; 'tis nevertheless allowable that an
Historian shows the Elevation of his_ Genius, _when advancing
Improbable Actions, he gives them Colours and Appearances capable of
Perswading._
_One of the Things an Author ought first of all to take Care of, is
to keep up to the Characters of the Persons he introduces. The
Authors of_ Romances _give Extraordinary Virtues to their Heroins,
exempted from all the Weakness of Humane Nature, and much above the
Infirmities of their Sex; 'tis Necessary they shou'd be Virtuous or
Vicious to Merit the Esteem or Disesteem of the Reader; but their
Virtue out to be spared, and their Vices exposed to every Trial: It
wou'd in no wise be probable that a Young Woman fondly beloved by a
Man of great Merit, and for whom she had a Reciprocal Tenderness,
finding her self at all Times alone with him in Places which
favour'd their Loves, cou'd always resist his Addresses; there are
too Nice Occasions; and an Author wou'd not enough observe good
Sense, if he therein exposed his Heroins; 'tis a Fault which Authors
of_ Romances _commit in every Page; they would blind the Reader
with this Miracle, but 'tis necessary the Miracle shou'd be
feisable, to make an Impression in the Brain of Reasonable Persons;
the Characters are better managed in the Historical Novels, which
are writ now-a-days; they are not fill'd with great Adventures, and
extraordinary Accidents, for the most simple Action may engage the
Reader by the Circumstances that attend it; it enters into all the
Motions and Disquiets of the Actor, when they have well express'd to
him the Character. If he be Jealous, the Look of a Person he Loves,
a Mouse, a turn of the Head, or the least complaisance to a Rival,
throws him into the greatest Agitations, which the Readers perceive
by a Counter-blow; if he be very Vertuous, and falls into a
Mischance by Accident, they Pity him and Commiserate his
Misfortunes; for Fear and Pity in Romance as well as Tragedies are
the Two Instruments which move the Passion; for we in some Manner
put our selves in the Room of those we see in Danger; the Part we
take therein, and the fear of falling into the like Misfortunes,
causes us to interest our selves more in their Adventures, because
that those sort of Accidents may happen, to all the World; and it
touches so much the more, because they are the common Effect of
Nature._