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第38章

misc writings and speeches(米斯克说与写)-第38章

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by    Burke     and    Dugald     Stuart。    Longinus       dispenses      himself    from    all 

investigations       of  this  nature;    by   telling   his  friend   Terentianus      that   he 

already knows everything that can be said upon the question。                        It is to be 

regretted   that   Terentianus   did   not   impart   some   of   his   knowledge   to   his 

instructor:      for from Longinus we learn only that sublimity means height… 

…or elevation。       (Akrotes kai exoche tis logon esti ta uoe。)              This name; so 

commodiously vague; is applied indifferently to the noble prayer of Ajax 

in   the   Iliad;   and   to   a   passage   of   Plato   about   the   human   body;   as   full   of 

conceits   as   an   ode   of   Cowley。     Having   no   fixed   standard;   Longinus   is 

right only by accident。         He is rather a fancier than a critic。 

     Modern writers have been prevented by many causes from supplying 

the deficiencies of their classical predecessors。               At the time of the revival 



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of literature; no man   could; without great and   painful labour;  acquire   an 

accurate      and   elegant    knowledge       of   the   ancient    languages。       And; 

unfortunately; those grammatical and philological studies; without which it 

was   impossible   to   understand   the   great   works   of   Athenian   and   Roman 

genius; have a tendency to contract the views and deaden the sensibility of 

those who follow them with extreme assiduity。                A powerful mind; which 

has been long employed in such studies; may be compared to the gigantic 

spirit in the Arabian tale; who was persuaded to contract himself to small 

dimensions in   order to   enter   within   the   enchanted   vessel;  and;   when   his 

prison had been closed upon him; found himself unable to escape from the 

narrow   boundaries   to   the   measure   of   which   he   had   reduced   his   stature。 

When      the  means     have   long   been   the   objects   of  application;    they   are 

naturally substituted for the end。          It was said; by Eugene of Savoy; that 

the greatest generals have commonly been those who have been at once 

raised to command; and introduced to the great operations of war; without 

being employed in the petty calculations and manoeuvres which   employ 

the time of an inferior officer。        In literature the principle is equally sound。 

The great tactics of criticism will; in general; be best understood by those 

who have not had much practice in drilling syllables and particles。 

     I   remember   to   have   observed   among   the   French   Anas   a   ludicrous 

instance of this。      A scholar; doubtless of great learning; recommends the 

study of some long Latin treatise; of which I now forget the name; on the 

religion; manners; government; and   language of the early  Greeks。                   〃For 

there;〃 says he; 〃you will learn everything of importance that is contained 

in the Iliad and Odyssey; without the trouble of reading two such tedious 

books。〃     Alas!   it  had   not  occurred    to  the   poor   gentleman     that  all  the 

knowledge   to   which   he   attached   so   much   value   was   useful   only   as   it 

illustrated the great poems which he despised; and would be as worthless 

for any other purpose as the mythology of Caffraria; or the vocabulary of 

Otaheite。 

     Of those scholars who have disdained to confine themselves to verbal 

criticism     few    have    been    successful。     The     ancient    languages     have; 

generally; a magical influence on their faculties。            They were 〃fools called 

into a circle by Greek invocations。〃            The Iliad and Aeneid were to them 



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not books but curiosities; or rather reliques。            They no more admired those 

works   for   their   merits   than   a   good   Catholic   venerates   the   house   of   the 

Virgin at Loretto for its architecture。           Whatever was classical was good。 

Homer was a great poet; and so was Callimachus。                   The epistles of Cicero 

were fine; and so were those of Phalaris。              Even with respect to questions 

of evidence they fell into the same error。 The authority of all narrations; 

written in Greek or Latin; was the same with them。                 It never crossed their 

minds that the lapse of five hundred years; or the distance of five hundred 

leagues; could affect the accuracy of a narration;that Livy could be a less 

veracious historian than Polybius;or that Plutarch could know less about 

the friends of Xenophon than Xenophon himself。 Deceived by the distance 

of time; they seem to consider all the Classics as contemporaries; just as I 

have known people in England; deceived by the distance of place; take it 

for granted that all persons who live in India are neighbours; and ask an 

inhabitant of Bombay about the health of an acquaintance at Calcutta。                       It 

is to be hoped that no barbarian deluge will ever again pass over Europe。 

But   should   such   a   calamity   happen;   it   seems   not   improbable   that   some 

future   Rollin     or   Gillies   will   compile   a   history   of   England   from   Miss 

Porter's   Scottish   Chiefs;   Miss   Lee's   Recess;   and   Sir   Nathaniel   Wraxall's 

Memoirs。 

     It   is  surely   time   that   ancient   literature    should    be  examined      in   a 

different     manner;     without    pedantical     prepossessions;       but   with   a  just 

allowance;      at  the   same    time;   for  the   difference    of  circumstances      and 

manners。       I   am   far   from   pretending   to   the   knowledge   or   ability   which 

such   a   task   would   require。     All   that   I   mean   to   offer   is   a   collection   of 

desultory remarks upon a most interesting portion of Greek literature。 

     It   may   be   doubted   whether   any   compositions   which   have   ever   been 

produced   in   the   world   are   equally   perfect   in   their   kind   with   the   great 

Athenian orations。        Genius is subject to the same laws which regulate the 

production      of   cotton   and   molasses。      The    supply    adjusts    itself  to  the 

demand。       The quantity may be diminished by restrictions; and multiplied 

by    bounties。    The     singular    excellence    to   which    eloquence     attained    at 

Athens is to be mainly attributed to the influence which it exerted there。 

In turbulent times; under a constitution purely democratic; among a people 



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educated exactly to that point at which men are most susceptible of strong 

and   sudden   impressions;   acute;   but   not   sound   reasoners;   warm   in   their 

feelings;     unfixed    in   their   principles;    and   passionate     admirers     of   fine 

composition;   oratory   received   such   encouragement   as   it   has   never   since 

obtained。 

     The taste and knowledge of the Athenian people was a favourite object 

of    the  contemptuous        derision    of   Samuel     Johnson;     a  man     who    knew 

nothing   of   Greek   literature   beyond   the   common   school…books;   and   who 

seems      to  have    brought     to  what    he   had   read   scarcely    more     than   the 

discernment       of   a  common       school…boy。      He     used    to  assert;   with   that 

arrogant absurdity which; in spite of his great abilities and virtues; renders 

him;     perhaps     the   most    ridiculou

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