The Spectator Volume I Part 66

Looking over the old Ma.n.u.script wherein the private Actions of _Pharamond_ [1] are set down by way of Table-Book. I found many things which gave me great Delight; and as human Life turns upon the same Principles and Pa.s.sions in all Ages, I thought it very proper to take Minutes of what pa.s.sed in that Age, for the Instruction of this. The Antiquary, who lent me these Papers, gave me a Character of _Eucrate_, the Favourite of _Pharamond_, extracted from an Author who lived in that Court. The Account he gives both of the Prince and this his faithful Friend, will not be improper to insert here, because I may have Occasion to mention many of their Conversations, into which these Memorials of them may give Light.

'_Pharamond_, when he had a Mind to retire for an Hour or two from the Hurry of Business and Fatigue of Ceremony, made a Signal to _Eucrate_, by putting his Hand to his Face, placing his Arm negligently on a Window, or some such Action as appeared indifferent to all the rest of the Company. Upon such Notice, un.o.bserved by others, (for their entire Intimacy was always a Secret) _Eucrate_ repaired to his own Apartment to receive the King. There was a secret Access to this Part of the Court, at which _Eucrate_ used to admit many whose mean Appearance in the Eyes of the ordinary Waiters and Door-keepers made them be repulsed from other Parts of the Palace. Such as these were let in here by Order of _Eucrate_, and had Audiences of _Pharamond_. This Entrance _Pharamond_ called _The Gate of the Unhappy_, and the Tears of the Afflicted who came before him, he would say were Bribes received by _Eucrate_; for _Eucrate_ had the most compa.s.sionate Spirit of all Men living, except his generous Master, who was always kindled at the least Affliction which was communicated to him. In the Regard for the Miserable, _Eucrate_ took particular Care, that the common Forms of Distress, and the idle Pretenders to Sorrow, about Courts, who wanted only Supplies to Luxury, should never obtain Favour by his Means: But the Distresses which arise from the many inexplicable Occurrences that happen among Men, the unaccountable Alienation of Parents from their Children, Cruelty of Husbands to Wives, Poverty occasioned from s.h.i.+pwreck or Fire, the falling out of Friends, or such other terrible Disasters, to which the Life of Man is exposed; In Cases of this Nature, _Eucrate_ was the Patron; and enjoyed this Part of the Royal Favour so much without being envied, that it was never inquired into by whose Means, what no one else cared for doing, was brought about.

'One Evening when _Pharamond_ came into the Apartment of _Eucrate_, he found him extremely dejected; upon which he asked (with a Smile which was natural to him)

"What, is there any one too miserable to be relieved by _Pharamond_, that _Eucrate_ is melancholy?

I fear there is, answered the Favourite; a Person without, of a good Air, well Dressed, and tho' a Man in the Strength of his Life, seems to faint under some inconsolable Calamity: All his Features seem suffused with Agony of Mind; but I can observe in him, that it is more inclined to break away in Tears than Rage. I asked him what he would have; he said he would speak to _Pharamond_. I desired his Business; he could hardly say to me, _Eucrate_, carry me to the King, my Story is not to be told twice, I fear I shall not be able to speak it at all."

_Pharamond_ commanded _Eucrate_ to let him enter; he did so, and the Gentleman approached the King with an Air which spoke [him under the greatest Concern in what Manner to demean himself. [2]] The King, who had a quick Discerning, relieved him from the Oppression he was under; and with the most beautiful Complacency said to him,

"Sir, do not add to that Load of Sorrow I see in your Countenance, the Awe of my Presence: Think you are speaking to your Friend; if the Circ.u.mstances of your Distress will admit of it, you shall find me so."

To whom the Stranger:

"Oh excellent _Pharamond_, name not a Friend to the unfortunate _Spinamont_. I had one, but he is dead by my own Hand; [3] but, oh _Pharamond_, tho' it was by the Hand of _Spinamont_, it was by the Guilt of _Pharamond_. I come not, oh excellent Prince, to implore your Pardon; I come to relate my Sorrow, a Sorrow too great for human Life to support: From henceforth shall all Occurrences appear Dreams or short Intervals of Amus.e.m.e.nt, from this one Affliction which has seiz'd my very Being: Pardon me, oh _Pharamond_, if my Griefs give me Leave, that I lay before you, in the Anguish of a wounded Mind, that you, good as you are, are guilty of the generous Blood spilt this Day by this unhappy Hand: Oh that it had perished before that Instant!"

Here the Stranger paused, and recollecting his Mind, after some little Meditation, he went on in a calmer Tone and Gesture as follows.

"There is an Authority due to Distress; and as none of human Race is above the Reach of Sorrow, none should be above the Hearing the Voice of it: I am sure _Pharamond_ is not. Know then, that I have this Morning unfortunately killed in a Duel, the Man whom of all Men living I most loved. I command my self too much in your royal Presence, to say, _Pharamond_, give me my Friend! _Pharamond_ has taken him from me! I will not say, shall the merciful _Pharamond_ destroy his own Subjects? Will the Father of his Country murder his People? But, the merciful _Pharamond_ does destroy his Subjects, the Father of his Country does murder his People. Fortune is so much the Pursuit of Mankind, that all Glory and Honour is in the Power of a Prince, because he has the Distribution of their Fortunes. It is therefore the Inadvertency, Negligence, or Guilt of Princes, to let any thing grow into Custom which is against their Laws. A Court can make Fas.h.i.+on and Duty walk together; it can never, without the Guilt of a Court, happen, that it shall not be unfas.h.i.+onable to do what is unlawful. But alas! in the Dominions of _Pharamond_, by the Force of a Tyrant Custom, which is mis-named a Point of Honour, the Duellist kills his Friend whom he loves; and the Judge condemns the Duellist, while he approves his Behaviour. Shame is the greatest of all Evils; what avail Laws, when Death only attends the Breach of them, and Shame Obedience to them? As for me, oh _Pharamond_, were it possible to describe the nameless Kinds of Compunctions and Tendernesses I feel, when I reflect upon the little Accidents in our former Familiarity, my Mind swells into Sorrow which cannot be resisted enough to be silent in the Presence of _Pharamond_."

With that he fell into a Flood of Tears, and wept aloud.

"Why should not _Pharamond_ hear the Anguish he only can relieve others from in Time to come? Let him hear from me, what they feel who have given Death by the false Mercy of his Administration, and form to himself the Vengeance call'd for by those who have perished by his Negligence.'

R.

[Footnote 1: See No. 76. Steele uses the suggestion of the Romance of 'Pharamond' whose

'whole Person,' says the romancer, 'was of so excellent a composition, and his words so Great and so n.o.ble that it was very difficult to deny him reverence,'

to connect with a remote king his ideas of the duty of a Court.

Pharamond's friend Eucrate, whose name means Power well used, is an invention of the Essayist, as well as the incident and dialogue here given, for an immediate good purpose of his own, which he pleasantly contrives in imitation of the style of the romance. In the original, Pharamond is said to be

'truly and wholly charming, as well for the vivacity and delicateness of his spirit, accompanied with a perfect knowledge of all Sciences, as for a sweetness which is wholly particular to him, and a complacence which &c ... All his inclinations are in such manner fixed upon virtue, that no consideration nor pa.s.sion can disturb him; and in those extremities into which his ill fortune hath cast him, he hath never let pa.s.s any occasion to do good.'

That is why Steele chose Pharamond for his king in this and a preceding paper.]

[Footnote 2: the utmost sense of his Majesty without the ability to express it.]

[Footnote 3: Spinamont is Mr. Thornhill, who, on the 9th of May, 1711, killed in a duel Sir Cholmomleley Dering, Baronet, of Kent. Mr.

Thornhill was tried and acquitted; but two months afterwards, a.s.sa.s.sinated by two men, who, as they stabbed him, bade him remember Sir Cholmondeley Dering. Steele wrote often and well against duelling, condemning it in the 'Tatler' several times, in the 'Spectator' several times, in the 'Guardian' several times, and even in one of his plays.]

No. 85. Thursday, June 7, 1711. Addison.

'Interdum speciosa locis, morataque recte Fabula nullius Veneris, sine pondere et Arte, Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur, Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.'

Hor.

It is the Custom of the _Mahometans_, if they see any printed or written Paper upon the Ground, to take it up and lay it aside carefully, as not knowing but it may contain some Piece of their _Alcoran_. I must confess I have so much of the _Mussulman_ in me, That I cannot forbear looking into every printed Paper which comes in my Way, under whatsoever despicable Circ.u.mstances it may appear; for as no mortal Author, in the ordinary Fate and Vicissitude of Things, knows to what Use his Works may, some time or other, be applied, a Man may often meet with very celebrated Names in a Paper of Tobacco. I have lighted my Pipe more than once with the Writings of a Prelate; and know a Friend of mine, who, for these several Years, has converted the Essays of a Man of Quality into a kind of Fringe for his Candlesticks. I remember in particular, after having read over a Poem of an Eminent Author on a Victory, I met with several Fragments of it upon the next rejoicing Day, which had been employ'd in Squibs and Crackers, and by that means celebrated its Subject in a double Capacity. I once met with a Page of Mr. _Baxter_ under a _Christmas_ Pye. Whether or no the Pastry-Cook had made use of it through Chance or Waggery, for the Defence of that superst.i.tious _Viande_, I know not; but upon the Perusal of it, I conceived so good an Idea of the Author's Piety, that I bought the whole Book. I have often profited by these accidental Readings, and have sometimes found very Curious Pieces, that are either out of Print, or not to be met with in the Shops of our _London Booksellers_. For this Reason, when my Friends take a Survey of my Library, they are very much surprised to find, upon the Shelf of Folios, two long Band-Boxes standing upright among my Books, till I let them see that they are both of them lined with deep Erudition and abstruse Literature. I might likewise mention a Paper-Kite, from which I have received great Improvement; and a Hat-Case, which I would not exchange for all the Beavers in _Great-Britain_. This my inquisitive Temper, or rather impertinent Humour of prying into all Sorts of Writing, with my natural Aversion to Loquacity, give me a good deal of Employment when I enter any House in the Country; for I cannot for my Heart leave a Room, before I have thoroughly studied the Walls of it, and examined the several printed Papers which are usually pasted upon them. The last Piece that I met with upon this Occasion gave me a most exquisite Pleasure. My Reader will think I am not serious, when I acquaint him that the Piece I am going to speak of was the old Ballad of the _Two Children in the Wood_, which is one of the darling Songs of the common People, and has been the Delight of most _Englishmen_ in some Part of their Age.

This Song is a plain simple Copy of Nature, dest.i.tute of the Helps and Ornaments of Art. The Tale of it is a pretty Tragical Story, and pleases for no other Reason but because it is a Copy of Nature. There is even a despicable Simplicity in the Verse; and yet because the Sentiments appear genuine and unaffected, they are able to move the Mind of the most polite Reader with Inward Meltings of Humanity and Compa.s.sion. The Incidents grow out of the Subject, and are such as [are the most proper to excite Pity; for [1]] which Reason the whole Narration has something in it very moving, notwithstanding the Author of it (whoever he was) has deliver'd it in such an abject Phrase and Poorness of Expression, that the quoting any part of it would look like a Design of turning it into Ridicule. But though the Language is mean, the Thoughts [, as I have before said,] from one end to the other are [natural, [2]] and therefore cannot fail to please those who are not Judges of Language, or those who, notwithstanding they are Judges of Language, have a [true [3]] and unprejudiced Taste of Nature. The Condition, Speech, and Behaviour of the dying Parents, with the Age, Innocence, and Distress of the Children, are set forth in such tender Circ.u.mstances, that it is impossible for a [Reader of common Humanity [4]] not to be affected with them. As for the Circ.u.mstance of the _Robin-red-breast_, it is indeed a little Poetical Ornament; and to shew [the Genius of the Author [5]]

amidst all his Simplicity, it is just the same kind of Fiction which one of the greatest of the _Latin_ Poets has made use of upon a parallel Occasion; I mean that Pa.s.sage in _Horace_, where he describes himself when he was a Child, fallen asleep in a desart Wood, and covered with Leaves by the Turtles that took pity on him.

Me fabulosa Vulture in Apulo, Altricis extra limen Apuliae, Ludo fatigatumque somno Fronde nova puerum palumbes Texere ...

I have heard that the late Lord _Dorset_, who had the greatest Wit temper'd with the greatest [Candour, [6]] and was one of the finest Criticks as well as the best Poets of his Age, had a numerous collection of old _English_ Ballads, and took a particular Pleasure in the Reading of them. I can affirm the same of Mr. _Dryden_, and know several of the most refined Writers of our present Age who are of the same Humour.

I might likewise refer my Reader to _Moliere's_ Thoughts on this Subject, as he has expressed them in the Character of the _Misanthrope_; but those only who are endowed with a true Greatness of Soul and Genius can divest themselves of the little Images of Ridicule, and admire Nature in her Simplicity and Nakedness. As for the little conceited Wits of the Age, who can only shew their Judgment by finding Fault, they cannot be supposed to admire these Productions [which [7]] have nothing to recommend them but the Beauties of Nature, when they do not know how to relish even those Compositions that, with all the Beauties of Nature, have also the additional Advantages of Art. [8]

[Footnote 1: _Virgil_ himself would have touched upon, had the like Story been told by that Divine Poet. For]

[Footnote 2: wonderfully natural]

[Footnote 3: genuine]

[Footnote 4: goodnatured Reader]

[Footnote 5: what a Genius the Author was Master of]

[Footnote 6: Humanity]

[Footnote 7: that]