Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

is nothing better to found it on than a homage in disguise to liberty, and a scrap of ethical commonplace. But again, it is to be observed, that according to Joannes Siceliota, Longinus 'was so occupied by teaching as to have no time for composi'tion.' This argument from one who seems not to object to the long catalogue of his works furnished by Ruhnken,' with 'most of the notices taken from Suidas! If Longinus found time for the composition of other works, what was to hinder his finding time for one particular treatise? The authority of Joannes Siceliota is allowed to be of small value, but, rate it as highly as you please, it would be somewhat hard to show the necessity for its literal interpretation.

TheRemarks' assume, that the inscription of the Parisian MS. is the sum total of the external evidence in favour of Longinus. What shall we say, then, to the general character of Longinus by contemporary, or nearly contemporary authors? Was 'THE CRITIC,' or the critic of critics' of Porphyry- the living library and walking university' of Eunapius-the subject of the proverb κατὰ Λογγῖνον κρίνειν, which was of no less import than to judge correctly'-was such a man not likely to compose a treatise that evinces an ample store of literary knowledge, and an intimate acquaintance with the principles of criticism? Did not the Remarks' deny the genuineness of the 20th section, we should also request their author to compare the minute critique therein contained upon a passage of Demosthenes's oration against Midias, with the fact, known from Suidas, that Longinus wrote a critical diatribe upon that famous oration:-and the argument, however weak with him, will have weight with other people. Above all, we would press the external evidence to be derived from the recognised fragments of Longinus, which appear to us in a light very different from that under which they were viewed by Weiske. Of these fragments, eight in number, at least five are demonstrably authentic. The fifth is allowed by Weiske himself to be worthy of the author of the Пegi Tous, and throughout them all we have observed a remarkable agreement in expression with that treatise; the same use of late words-the same uncommon mixture of liveliness and modesty-the same occasional imitation of the Demosthenean style and diction. Let us finish with a piece of internal evidence that makes strongly for Longinus, and is conclusive against the Augustan age. We mean that there are forms of expression in the work on the Sublime, which a discriminating scholar will at once perceive to have the mark of the third century upon them. Prior to that period, some of its words and phrases could not have been employed; at least if

they were employed by a writer of the Augustan era, it must have been in a strange anticipating spirit, which consigned them, after a single exhibition, to the slumber of many generations. But if this argument fixes the treatise to the third century-who but Longinus-as characterised by those of the same period-could have been its author? We rejoice in believing him the man. Although Amati protests that he was 'nearly killed 'with joy' at thinking he had discovered for this work a different paternity, we shall still delight in deeming it the offspring of Aurelian's victim and Zenobia's friend.

For the very life and adventures of Longinus illustrate the spirit of the treatise. The extensive travels, and many different teachers of his youth-recorded in the proemium of his book de Finibus, preserved by Porphyry-will account for an originality of method in some particulars, and an independence of sentiment in criticism, which designates as the author, one who must have imbibed, from the hesitations of the learned, and the disputes of the wise, the salutary principle of Horace,

Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri.

A conspicuous blemish, already adverted to, might well arise from the courtly habits of Longinus in his later years,-the results of that unfortunate, but too natural ambition, which tempted him to forego a station of literary eminence for one of political distinction. And, while something both in the tone and minuteness of the precepts, with which this work abounds, breathes the air of the School, there is withal an elevation of feeling, thought, and language, a force of reasoning, and a splendour of imagery, that almost compel us to place the School at Athens. It is only here and there that pedantry, the besetting sin of professional instructors, has produced some faults of undeniable affectation. With these, however, the writer of the 'Remarks' takes prompt measures. Not for nothing does he labour to prove that the treatise was as anonymous* as his own essay, and was intended by the Great Unknown,' who composed it, for a mere confidential communication.' Hence, it seems, it must follow that whatever is ex rhetorum officinis, or ' even smells of their shop, would scarcely find place in such a 'communication.' He trusts, therefore, that some future 'editor will be of opinion that the long disquisition upon figures

[ocr errors]

In this notion, after all, he only follows the transcriber of the Codex Laurentianus, whose inscription is 'Avvov. The disbelievers are welcome to all the support which this manuscript can yield them.

[ocr errors]

may, like the Sibyl's books, be greatly diminished in bulk ' without any diminution of its value; and above all, that he will expunge the remarks on the preternatural union of the two 'prepositions.'* Smash go, upon this principle, the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 23d, 24th, 27th, 28th, 39th, and 40th sections, with sundry parts of other chapters, while a violent transposition is enforced upon the arrangement of many that are left. In short, every thing must be sacrificed that appears hostile to the private-circulation' hypothesis, or that is above the comprehension, or displeasing to the taste of its author. Damno quod non intelligo is one of his most frequent pleas; but he is mistaken in supposing that manuscript authority will be rejected on such grounds. We have no more affection than he has for the criticism on the two prepositions,' but we have a right to consider this, and other instances of puerile refinement, as favourable to the authorship of Longinus-the subtleties of the rhetorical professor reappearing in the treatise addressed to a friend. Moreover, the cashiered chapters upon figures, though trifling enough if taken by themselves, deserve a better character when viewed as parts of a practical system, whose object it is to impart a full knowledge of all methods by which an elevation of style is attainable.

[ocr errors]

To this remark we shall attach a final observation on the treatise, in the authenticity and genuineness of which we have at so much length asserted our faith. Elevation of style-the Greek "Tos óyou and the Latin altitudo styli-is the true topic of the work. We have fallen into the ordinary parlance about su'blimity' and 'the sublime ;' but we must beg these words to be understood, with reference to Longinus, in their real etymological force. Any thing that raises composition above the usual level, or infuses into it uncommon strength, beauty, or vivacity, comes fairly within the scope of his design. His "T40s must not be measured by modern notions of sublimity. From a misconception of this matter has proceeded Dr Blair's censure of Longinus. Dr Blair had no title to condemn Longinus for the treatment of his subject, upon any other conception of the subject than that entertained by Longinus himself. Remarkable

* Alluding to the criticism in section x upon Homer's words i θανάτοιο φέρονται.

And from worse than a misconception-from a neglect of the original, and a fond reliance on the versions by Phillips and Boileau— comes his strange allusion to Sappho's ode, in the tenth section of Longinus, as a specimen of the merely elegant.'

[ocr errors]

and distinguishing excellence of composition,'* which Blair esteems an improper sense of the 'sublime,' agrees exactly with the five sources of "T40s enumerated by Longinus, and with his descriptions of it-for he avoids definition-scattered over the work. Of these descriptions some are more strong than others in expression, but we do not see that they will not all apply to fine composition; not that species of fine composition against which Johnson warns juvenile authors, but the forcible and animated style, which it is the aim and triumph of all great writers and speakers to attain. And herein, indeed, lies the extreme utility of the treatise, that it embraces not merely a single branch of good composition, concerning the principles and extent of which metaphysicians are by no means agreed; but a general survey of the best modes of producing by style a great effect and durable impression-a subject in which all persons of intellectual ability and ambition are interested. The admirers and emulators of classic excellence, however they may slight some of the names and works that have been noticed in this article, have no excuse for neglecting the critical lucubrations of Aristotle, or of him whom, in defiance of foreign and domestic scepticism, we shall continue to call Longinus.

ART. III.-Attempts in Verse, by John Jones, an old Servant; with some Account of the Writer, written by himself; and an Introductory Essay on the Lives and Works of Uneducated Poets. By ROBERT SOUTHEY, Esq., Poet Laureate. 8vo. London: 1831.

IN editing the poems of Mr John Jones, which are, with modest propriety, entitled his Attempts in Verse,' Mr Southey has probably been actuated by the same amiable feelings which induced him, many years ago, to throw the shelter of his eminent name over works of far higher excellence, and to introduce to the world the previously neglected poems of Henry Kirke White.

Our old translators seem to have taken a right view of the matter, and one quite opposed to Dr Blair's. The title of the most ancient version is, The Height of Eloquence, written by Dionysius Longinus ; rendered into English from the original, by John Hall, Esq. London: 1652. Next we have Longinus' Treatise of the Loftiness or Elegancy of Speech; translated into English by J. P. G. S. London: 1680.' It is not till 1698 that we come to Longinus' Essay upon Sublime, translated into English' (translator unknown).

[ocr errors]

In that instance, the public promptly ratified the opinion of the editor; and considered the production of the poems, and the accompanying memoir, to be creditable alike to the judgment and to the feelings of Mr Southey. It is to be feared that only a part of this praise can be awarded to this second act of his editorial patronage. We give him credit for having been solely impelled by the desire to do a good-natured action; and think, moreover, that he deserves praise for not having been withheld from such a purpose by the dread of ridicule and unfair censure. It could be no advantage to Mr Southey to appear as the Mæcenas of so humble a poetaster as Mr John Jones; and there have probably been many men of his literary celebrity who would have feared to incur a compromise of their dignity by such a step. But after giving due praise to the motives of Mr Southey, we must take the liberty of demurring when we come to consider the advisableness of the publication before us, and some of the opinions which it is found to maintain. To the poems of John Jones we shall very briefly advert; for they owe our notice of them rather to their editor than any importance of their own. Their author is a servant in a Yorkshire family, who, hearing that Mr Southey is in the vicinity of his master's residence, writes to him, requesting that he may be allowed to send his poems for Mr Southey's perusal, to which that gentleman good-naturedly consents. The poems are sent, accompanied by a very creditable letter, in which the writer, after speaking with becoming modesty of his performance, asks if it would be too contemptible to solicit a subscription,' for, since, if it were not so considered, he would naturally be 'glad to improve his humble circumstances by such means.'

This letter,' says Mr Southey, 'did not diminish the favourable opinion which I had formed of the writer from his first communication. Upon perusing the poems, I wished they had been either better or worse. Had I consulted my own convenience, or been fearful of exposing myself to misrepresentation and censure, I should have told my humble applicant that although his verses contained abundant proof of a talent for poetry, which, if it had been cultivated, might have produced good fruit, they would not be deemed worthy of publication in these times. But on the other hand, there were in them such indications of a kind and happy disposition, so much observation of natural objects, such a relish of the innocent pleasures offered by nature to the eye, and ear, and heart, which are not closed against them, and so pleasing an example of the moral benefit derived from those pleasures, when they are received by a thankful and thoughtful mind, that I persuaded myself there were many persons who would partake, in perusing them, the same kind of gratification which I had felt. There were many, I thought, who would be pleased at seeing how much intellectual enjoy

« ПредишнаНапред »