Writers on Theology. Among the writers on theology at this time were ROBERT SOUTH, THOMAS KEN, JOHN TILLOTSON, THOMAS BURNET, and WILLIAM PENN. ROBERT SOUTH (1633-1716) was called the "wittiest Churchman "of his time, and was a favorite preacher with the court of Charles II. His flattery of this monarch was as great as his adulation of Cromwell had been when the Puritan power was dominant. JOHN TILLOTSON (1630-1694) was another who made himself "agreeable to authority," rising in the church by his conformity to the ruling powers. THOMAS BURNET (1635-1715) lost all chance of high promotion in the church by his attempt to blend the study of science with Scripture, and by considering "the Fall of Adam as an Allegory." WILLIAM PENN (1644-1718), next to Barclay of Ury, was the most prominent advocate of the doctrines of Quakerism, and, like Barclay, he was thrown into prison for his belief. For his father's services to the crown, William Penn received a grant of land in America, the history of which is too well known to repeat. Among the miscellaneous prose writers of this time was GILBERT BURNET (1643-1715), a Scotch politician and divine, who held a middle course in both politics and theology, and was one of the most celebrated extempore preachers of his day. His fame, as a writer, rests, mainly, upon a History of his Own Times, which, according to his wish, was not published until several years after his death. This work, which views current events from a Whig standpoint, presents a strong contrast to the history of Clarendon, published a short time before. It is as minute, and probably more accurate, than Clarendon's History of the Great Rebellion. Owing to Burnet's sympathy with the patriot, LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, who was executed on a false charge of complicity in the Rye House Plot, he was regarded by the Stuarts as an enemy, and, until the accession of William and Mary, he remained abroad. ALGERNON SIDNEY (1621-1683) was another patriot, who, for his love of liberty and hatred of tyranny, was executed, like Lord Russell, on a false accusation of being connected with the Rye House Plot. He wrote Discourses Concerning Government. The life of SIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE (1616-1704) forms a striking contrast to that of Algernon Sidney. Unscrupulous in politics, he defended all the enormities of the court of Charles II. Besides his political writings L'Estrange translated a number of works from the ancient classics. The Diaries of JOHN EVELYN (1620-1705) and SAMUEL PEPYS (1632-1703) have been the means of throwing much light upon the public and private manners of the time. They were not discovered, at least not published, till more than a hundred years after the death of the writers. JOHN EVELYN was one of the earliest members of the Royal Society, and wrote for it several treatises. Of these his Sylva, or Forest Trees, is most noted. PEPYS's Diary extends from the year 1659 to 1669. It is an invaluable aid in the study of the history of this period, presenting, as it does, in the most natural and unconscious manner, the actors in the stage of real life. The style is quaint and chatty. We learn the private details of his own household and the public and private news of the court; we grow interested with him in the extent and variety of his toilet, or in his wife's domestic difficulties; as well as in the proceedings of the Royal Society or the politics of the nation. Pepys was a faithful public servant. For a number of years he was Secretary of the Admiralty. SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE (1628-1699) has probably occupied a higher niche in the history of literature than he actually deserves. Dr. Johnson considered him as "the first writer who gave cadence to English prose," and succeeding critics have echoed the sentiment until the writings of Sir William Temple have been considered as models of rhetorical style, instead of "oratorical bombast," reflecting the tastes of the times.* His works are mostly in the form of essays. His Essay upon * Temple was even more distinguished as a diplomatist than as a writer. The great Triple Alliance between England, Holland, and Sweden was brought about by him. Through his negotiations the marriage of William of Orange and Mary eldest daughter of the Duke of York was also attributed. Ancient and Modern Learning caused great excitement among literary critics of England. It was suggested by a French work written at that time to extol the great literary age of Louis XIV., which the writer, Charles Perrault,* insisted excelled the age of Pericles or Augustus. Besides his Essay on Ancient and Modern Learning, Temple wrote Essays on Heroic Virtue, on Poetry, on Gardening, on Government, on Health and Long Life, and Observations upon the United Provinces of the Netherlands. With the accession of William and Mary the claim of the "divine rights of kings" ended, and the House of Commons obtained supreme power.† Illustrations of the Literature of the Restoration. DRYDEN. ON MILTON. Three poets in three distant ages born, To make a third, she join'd the other two. "We must," said the Frenchman, “have more knowledge than the ancients, because we have the advantage both of theirs and our own; just as a dwarf standing upon a giant's shoulders sees more and farther than he." It was to controvert this idea of the superiority of the moderns over the ancients that Temple wrote his Essay; but unfortunately for his show of learning, in adducing proofs of the superiority of the ancients he cited the works of an old Greek,-Phalaris, known, even at that time, to be spurious and valueless in a literary point of view. This led to disputes and dissertations, and, later, caused one of the greatest literary controversies that had occurred in England. To the great importance attached to the old Greek writer by this discussion, a new edition of the works of Phalaris was brought out by CHARLES BOYLE, nephew of the philosopher. This was soon to be attacked by one of the finest Greek scholars in England, Richard Bentley, who proved it a forgery. Boyle had able supporters, among them Dean Swift, who, having lived in the family of Sir William Temple, came into the field as an antagonist of Bentley's. In Swift's Battle of the Books, Bentley and others who had opposed Temple are severely ridiculed. +It was during the political troubles of the reign of Charles II. that the terms "Whig" and "Tory" originated, designating respectively the upholders of popular power, and the supporters of the King. The term "Jacobite " meant a follower of James II. and the two Pretenders. Printed under a portrait of Milton prefixed to Paradise Lost, folio 1688. SIR ISAAC NEWTON. I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble, or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. LOCKE. We are born with faculties and powers capable almost of anything, such, at least, as would carry us farther than can be easily imagined; but it is only the exercise of those powers which gives us ability and skill in any thing, and leads us towards perfection. A middle-aged ploughman will scarce ever be brought to the carriage and language of a gentleman, though his body be as well proportioned, and his joints as supple, and his natural parts not any way inferior. The legs of a dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, fall, as it were, naturally, without thought or pains, into regular and admirable motions. Bid them change their parts, and they will in vain endeavor to produce like motions in the members not used to them, and it will require length of time and long practice to attain but some degrees of a like ability. What incredible and astonishing actions do we find ropedancers and tumblers bring their bodies to! not but that sundry in almost all manual arts are as wonderful; but I name those which the world takes notice of for such, because, on that very account, they give money to see them, All these admired motions, beyond the reach and almost the conception of unpractised spectators, are nothing but the mere effects of use and industry in men, whose bodies have nothing peculiar in them from those of the amazed lookers on. As it is in the body, so it is in the mind; practice makes it what it is; and most even of those excellencies which are looked on as natural endowments, will be found, when examined into more narrowly, to be the product of exercise, and to be raised to that pitch only by repeated actions. Nature commonly lodges her treasures and jewels in rocky ground. If the matter be knotty, and the sense lies deep, the mind must stop and buckle to it, and stick upon it with labor and thought, and close contemplation, and not leave it until it has mastered the difficulty and got possession of truth. But here, care must be taken to avoid the other extreme: a man must not stick at every useless nicety, and expect mysteries of science in every trivial question or scruple that he may raise. He that will stand to pick up and examine every pebble that comes in his way, is as unlikely to return enriched and laden with jewels, as the other that travelled full speed. Truths are not the better nor the worse for their obviousness or difficulty, but their value is to be measured by their usefulness and tendency. Insignificant observations should not take up any of our minutes; and those that enlarge our view, and give light towards further and useful discoveries, should not be neglected, though they stop our course, and spend some of our time in a fixed attention. GILBERT BURNET. From HISTORY OF MY OWN TIMES. HIS ESTIMATE OF CHARLES II. His person and temper, his vices as well as his fortunes, resemble the character that we have given us of Tiberius so much, that it were easy to draw the parallel between them. Tiberius' banishment, and his coming afterwards to reign, makes the comparison in that respect come pretty near. His hating of business, and his love of pleasures; his raising of favorites and trusting them entirely; and his pulling them down and hating them excessively; his art of covering deep designs, particularly of revenge, with an appearance of softness, brings them so near a likeness, that I did not wonder much to observe the resemblance of their faces and persons. At Rome, I saw one of the last statues No part of his character looked wickeder, as well as meaner, than that he, all the while that he was professing to be of the Church of England, expressing both zeal and affection for it, was yet secretly reconciled to the Church of Rome. WILLIAM Of Orange. His behavior was solemn and serious, seldom cheerful, and but with a few. He spoke little, and very slowly, and most commonly with a disgusting dryness, which was his character at all times, except in a day of battle; for then he was all fire, though without passion. He was then everywhere, and looked to everything. He had no great advantage from his education. De Witt's discourses were of great use to him; and he, being apprehensive of the observation of those who were looking narrowly into everything he said or did, had brought himself under an habitual caution that he could never shake off, though, in another sense, it proved as hurtful as it was then necessary to his affairs. |