Nugae literariae: prose and verse

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os Bacon's beautisul and compendious ESSVs, describes a notUncommon state of the human mind. Scepticism os ali truthand certainty, is not infrequently vatanted as our Worthiesi and most elinobling independence. A very satisfaction is chorishod by sonae in doubting every thing. Theirs is not the suspense of caution nor the intervat of deliberation ,-they deride the liope, they abjure the capacity, of conviction. ΝοW this is an intellectual condition most tantia py or moSt illegitimate, mostunt,appy, is the nature of things precludes the possibility of

just assent and setiled belle -most illegitimate, is there bo an indifferenco to truth and a scoria of the evidence Whicli confirmsit. Whomsoevor these Pyrrhonisis catl their Alastor, in thoiruniversat indetermination they have litile cause to boast. Μight

lessuess and lassitude, poWers and in Struments of assurance towhich ovon they must yield 8 Is more silent and more reverent, might not the oracle speali to them, and in no equivocali esponse 8 At What potnt of humari lise, at What stage of humanhistory, can mari be justised in declaring that ali tho facultissos research are exhausted, that ali the depariments of knowledgoaro explore 18 And truly the spirit Within iis is placed most abjectly in ali that concerns iis improvenient and plea sure, is it possess no tests by Which to discriminate the impressions forcodupon it, no rules to adjudge the circumstances out of whichthose impressions gro v. To it only is this a phantom-worid.

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It secures to itself the prerogative os dreaming, only to questioniis dreanis. To the inferior tribes ali is real and indubitablo. This diffuses joy and animation over the oeconomies of sentient nature. Ιt riois in the bound of the antelope, trilis in thecarot of the lark, sweeps a long in the sight of tho ea gle. It is oxistence in sympathy With ait the scenes about it, he green

Pecting,-eXistence Whicli jealousy of any single instinct orobject would cloud and mar. Is man cannot thus partake theecstacy of considence,-is his Superior intelligetice compelshim to a timid apprehensiveness of ali that his predecessors havetoid, and ali his contemporaries yet teli -it is natural that heshould bowail his fate, it may bo laudabis for him to submit toit, ut it must be an enormotis inconsistency to make it areason os exultation. And that mind which so flippantly and rechlessty avows iis Willingness to oscillate for ever botwoen factand salsehood, should, at least, be informed of iis unhealthinessand decrepitude. It is the eye of the understanding whicli hasgathered a silm over itself,-the page Whicli it cannot read is undosacod i The balance is accurately equal,-it is the palsied hand whicli agitatos the scales into their ceaseless alternations lThe disposition to encourage this cavilling state os minit has manifested itself chiefly in matters of historical enquiry. Thero would have been a hardi hood in disputing the demonstra

not so palpabie in impugning the authority and credibili ty of

most courteousty and civilly quoted; and it cannot be concealed that they intercliange as litile courtesy, and as seW civilities, among them solves. It is no neW thing to cali them to account, nor to bring them into suspicion. But some speculations of amore modem date,-Speculations in mythology, geography, and cognate dialecis,-and some daring sinings of long-acknowledged historio truth by new, and hitherio considered inapplicabie, principies, aVe rendered it necessary that we should resori to these studies with additioni caution and firmness. Aiad surely there i8 8carcely any species of knowledge so important anil so indi

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those Who enter some city of the dead, tread the streets whichiis former population reatly Wallied, and opera the ab ades noWVolceless and cheerless, whicli once rang with festive mirili and joy 8 Is the vast transmission Doria former ages, the goiden and well-coiled chain, una dultera ted and unalloyed, true in everylink, compaci through the entireness of iis series, or is it a sancy-tissue into whicli each wanton hand has Wovo iis thread, and sta insed iis colour, - variegated alit e by imposture and caprice 8 Is it a succession os glorious creationS, PasSages of poWer and greatness, orace beheld While teeming sortii to unita versat wonder, and of whicli this is the veritable record, or isit a Wrech, the debris, of some old chaos and older night 8 It must be admitted that We, of this generation, enjoySuperior advantages for the prosecution os such disquisitioris. The mind of man, in generat, is much released froin the SUper stitious homage to nautes. No living age could possibiy boast such perfect insorination of the dimensions and relative localityos eVery country. Where comparison is Wanted belween theformer and present condition os any lanii, We can bring to it an ample array of statistics. The wide extension os political knowledge elothes the reliearsal os ancient empiro With the intensest attraction.-Etymology grubs up the root With untired labour, and with improuod dexterity diseragages the finer fibres also.-Travet, to be now distinguished, must leave a beaten trach and

fashion to tour; it must climi, Lebanon, und mensure the Thobaid or the Troad. Induction has made iis take each steptoWardS a conclusion in a flow and serious manner, and only the more so Where it is not of things within the cogniZance of direct experiment and immediate sense.-Arid in the sphere of ourshori lived observation, evenis have transpired whicli leave ustitiis to cali improbabie and extravagant. We shali imposeas hard a claim to belles upon our descendantS, RS Our mostromantic foresathers did ever upon us i Besides, it is ours tolearia frona that antiquity Whicli our Worid has noW attained.

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consummation, and Should display the experipliced wisdom offuch a comparative longeVity. To many it will appear that this advanced position is un&vourable to our impression of distant evenis, and en obling to the testimonios Whicli repori them. But as mathematical properties are alWays the fame, as the qualities of the triangle must be invariable wherouer in space it can be described, or by

iose nothing of certainty by the continuod durability of iis

Proos The age can no moro weahen it, than the stain and the Worm-eaten mould can invalidate charters of right and muniments of property. The preservation of Such proos is iis augmentation. The more venerable iis period, the more triumphantis iis force. Wo see in iis alloWance by so many ages, aS Well aSiis tradition through them, that it is stamped with constantlyreneWing approVal. The suffrage of many centuries must helpto confirm it. That whicli ever Was sum cient to authenticate, must alWays be susscient. Nor is thore better evidence to bedestred concerning any distant occurrence, than that ContemporarieS,-SUPPOSing them to he observant, competent, and

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o matter, there are not more than three or Dur of the present generation Who know it not to be triae, and in another generation there Will be no one to contradici me. ain arro gance t There is not a more dependent author than the historian.

Lot him affect the tone of tho dictator, or the nod of the despot, and his power at that moment deparis Doni him. Philosophylias maintained an empire in desance of facis, but History could

never venture to disregard them. Generat conviction owes sarioss to historio composition, than historical composition to generat convictiora. Is the critic os Fernoy sa id and did this, theeXpression Was not more Vile than the attempt was abortive.

be expected as the result os Historical impression 8 We commonly divide evidelice into intuitive, preSUmptive, and demonstrative. Intuitive is deemed necessary, inevit te, in iis effeci. Be it so, it is not immediate. Α reasoning must take place intho mind oro it be allowed. We remember not our insancy, orWe might recali great mental essori ere me admitted that, whichwe noW admit Without any consciolas thought. For as intuitionalWays must relate to some truth, or proposition involving tho

move the fingers of the most perfeci artist over his L s orstrings. The word impli es that We consent as Aoon as Wo Jookon the matter alleged. Still there must be intellectual exercise in this, for We cannot pronoiance concerning a colour, but as thesensation of the faci inducos tho montal perception of it; and tho

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idea or notion of that colour is there re a convictiora drawn froni a reasoned discrimination by the mirad itself. We can, then, never allow the trulla os History, hoWever probabie, howeveranalogous to What has fallen Under our notice, in this manneros quick and perfeci realigation, of ait biit involuntary mental proceSS. Even geometric truth may be the subject of intuition,

while historicat never can.-Demonstrative proos is as incapableos assistance here. You can never AhoW that What has taken

place in former times, could only have taken place, and could not have otherwise tul en place. Historical truth is, theres e, not necessary truth, and consequently this rigid science of proofcan have no bearing on it. A batile may have been fought onthe most mathematical rules, but no mathematical rules could demonstrato that it was fought at all.-Presumptive reaSoning iS, there re, the basis of our most generat belles. Unlike mathematical demonstration, this is graduated through a range of eblor probability to the Strongest, moSt undent te, RSSUrance, os morat certainty. It is Within this catsegory that historical evidence must be comprised. And it Will serve to est listi thetruth of the most astonishing evenis, is those evenis be notknown to be in theniselves impossibie, and is the contrary opinion be fur more in suppose te. It can render the memory ofuges as Worthy of credit, as We Del our personat memory to be. This statomont will be felt by some, Who do not Weigh it, as a virtual abandoninent of that high ground on which we aro dis- posed to place Historic authority. Cannot, it Will be asked, cannot wo be infallibly sure Θ We reply, that we can be ascortain as of the intuitive truth, that black is not White,-as of the mathematical truth, that the square of the hypothenuse isequat to the other two squa res described upon the fides Whicli contain the right angie. But though We may be as certain, Webecome not thus certain in the fame Way. I am equalty assured that such kings have reigned, that such empires have existed, with the conviction that a whole is greater than iis pari, that two circles toti hing each other internalty cannot have the Sume centre, and I find it impossibie to dotermine whicli facts are the more or less certised by my mind. Aly grasp of them

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is not assected by any particular direction front whicli I have seigod them. The nature of man reconciles itself to this credetice, as thenecessity of his circumstances constratias him. It is a simple, easy, state of the human mirad When yielding itself to tho ovidelice of testimony. It is an agree te consent. It is to be asmuch expected as Vegetable growth beneath iis fostering influences. Μorat evidenee commends iis claim to us. Without it, or by iis rejection, Society mia St be Stagnant, laW mia si befrustraled, and knowledge be contracted to a Worthless poliat. constantly aci Upon this principie, that men of worth, knowledge, and integrity, are Worthy of credit,-that we mayrely upon them for certainties of Which We can have no sensibio impact,-that even the evidence, eX torted by fear, and analysed with caution, of the most false, may be deseruing of belle This does our mental constitution no violence, i is in harmony, not only with iis habiis, but iis laws. Anil in desed were it notso, What would bo tho tot of man l Did wo exist in ali times, and in ali places, testimony Would be superfluoias. But we are limited to space, We are mortui, We are creatures of Very sinite propertieS,- and must We know nothing Save What We canorganicatly attest Z We must then compare our litile being to a captive pent in his dungeon, and our feW opportunities of knowledge to his prisoniars. In shori, an obstinate incredulousness, where there is this cast of evidence, is most anomalous undunreason te. The acceptance of testimony, in ali iis cap loconnections, is the postulate of ali civiligation, jurisprudence, knowledge, and religion lΜan, triae to himself, has alWays been more than contentio receive the records of fortiter times. He has been most excitedly curious. The wandering tribes have their legendarystory, their proud lineage; and these remembrances they carrywith them, Whereuer they ratSe their WigWam, or hoWeverremotely they pusti their migration. Ignorant of letters, truthlias become Corrupted ,-the stream, confined by no fixod banli, has grown polluted by the broad soli it has oversiowed, butthe tale os inconsistent marvel revenis the destre of man, Savage

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though he bo, and is not without iis use, expanding his mindby thoughts of something more than What is merely present, and rosining it With conceptions whicli surpass and postpone theclainis of instinctive Want.

Though thero is a mute history in the physical structure of our planet, iis fissures and distocations,-in the organicrematias of known and unknown fornis of lise, and of those, When known, reposing in climates to Whicli they Were unindigenoUS,-in far-spread ruins of cities With their crumbled palacos and temples, amidst Whicli the oWl hoois and tho lagy ligard

The historian has consequently been always held in high celebrity. It was at the Olympic Games that the young Thucydides dropped a tear of senthusiasm, the enthusiasin os delightand semulation, While Herodotus, the illustrious prototype and chios of Historio literaturo, read to the assembled myriads, the Expedition os Xerxes against the liborty of Greece. Whilethe 3 ouili, his future rival, Wept With delight, the generous

man pati Sed, and congratulated olorus on the Strong impulsethus expressod by his child sor learning. The tragedian, hoWQVer greatly honoured, scarcely Was allowed the fame rankWith the writer of history, while the patri ter and Sculptor Were alWays Placed far lower. So important was a just chronicie

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folt by the ancient heroes, that a Xenophon and a Caesar commemorate, though With a modest simplicity, their own disastersand exploiis. The Spartans alWays, before going into batile, sacrificed to the Μuses, that their achievemenis miglit be orthily recorded. Alay not the passing criticism be thenintroduced here Θ Great disteretice of opinion has existed forages concerning the tities given to the disserent books of Herodotus. They are called by the names of the Νine Aluses. But can we suppose, that, is this be the work of editors, it was dono to cast discredit ovor him Z The panegyric Was lony,

and moreoVer WaS appropriate, Seeing that even the Lacedaemonians fought historio justice at the hands of the Sacred Nine. And who will not accord to that fine eulogium of Bacon, OnknoWledge in generat, but peculiarly applicabie to this species of it 8 Is tho inuontion os the ship Was thought So nobie, whicli carrieth riches and commodities froni place to Place, and

consociateth the most remote regions in participation of their fruits,-hoW much more are letters to be magnissed, Whicli, asships pass through the vast seas of time, and malle ages, Sodistant, participate of the wisdom, illuminations, and inventions, the one of the other.' The credit attached to History, apari hom iis convenienceand iis adaptation to the human mind, may be resolved into the following two reaSonS. Tho Historian has seW temptations to misrepresent unddisfigure the evenis of whicli ho writes. Ali that can assect him depends upon his fidelity. Ηe cannot be indisserent to fame.Μany of the ancient, as Weli as modern authors, confess the

passion. Liko Phidias in sculpturing the shield of Μinerva, thoy so engrave and diffuse their name, that it may be coeualwith their Works. Theirs must be a chastity os truth. Breathetapon their veracity, and the laint rematiis. They must cheristia philosophic calui. LoW partisanship they must despise. Placedalo', they must look upon the earth, and nos along it: ushom a promontory, they must binold asar the elemental War. A second reason may be found.-Α historian has feweropportunities of haud than temptations to it. For supposing

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Genuine and authentic are theresere the epitheis We applyto the highest, the most veracious, class of historians. By senuine is intended that the works are reatly the productions of the authors Whose nantes are amXed to them. Ananonymous history is not neceSSarily Untriae. By Some Strange chance the name may have been lost. The missortune of such books is, that no morat character, that no intellectual reputation,

ars committed to their truth. They Wili, theresore, be alWaysheld cheap, uni ess borne out by independent authorities. Whenwe know Who the writer is, we see that he has his ali at staho.

incline to receive his report of things. Νor can We consistently carry our scruples further than to onquire into his competency, after approving his personat fidelity and worth. It is certain, notWithstanding, that there are people hard to moVe, Whateverthe evidelice you osser. A cautious magistrate, it is sald, was