A DISSERTATION UPON PAMPHLETS.
In a LETTER to a Nobleman.
LONDON: Printed in the YEAR M,DCC,XXXI.
A DISSERTATION UPON PAMPHLETS, And the UNDERTAKING of
PHOENIX BRITANNICUS,
To
Revive
the most EXCELLENT among Them.
In a LETTER to a NOBLEMAN: From the Original
M. S.
My LORD,
THE Inclination you have expressed, to hear what might be said, in Behalf of those most numerous Productions of our Press, which we distinguish by the Name of PAMPHLETS; and the present
Undertaking,
by the Compiler of
PHOENIX BRITANNICUS,
to Revive the most Excellent among them; has induced me thus briefly, to touch upon those Particulars which seemed most to attract your
Lordship
's Inquiry; hoping the Readiness of my Endeavour will atone for the Imperfections of my Performance; which, if it does not
equal
the Extensions of your Curiosity, may
add
to the Instances of your Candour: So that, where you find not Entertainment commensurate to your
Knowledge,
you will not fail of Exercise correspondent to your
Goodness.
And, First, for the
Derivation
of the Word
Pamphlet:
I should think it little discredited by what some
Etymologists,
and those who torture Words into Confessions of what they were never guilty, have, thro' the Confinement of themselves to some opprobrious Signification, censoriously suggested thereof. Thus one Linguist, having found a Word which will illustrate the Adaptness of these Writings to the vulgar Consultation of the Populace, would derive it from
and
, as
filling all
Places, which all vulgar and popular Things have the Property of doing
Minsheu
's Guide to Tongues,
Fol. 1627.
. Another Original, no less specious, has been offered me, by an ingenious Friend, from
and
, which, by a Grammatical Turn, reaches to the Analogy of
Sound,
and, by a Rhetorical Twist, to the plausible Sense of
inflaming all
Parties. But others, considering the Subject of
Pamphlets
in a more copious and unbiassed Latitude, as having branched into all other Parts of Science, besides
Religion
and
Politics,
from the first Appropriation of the Name, and before their Engagement in Controversy could draw upon them any prevailing
Sobriquet
to their Disparagement, have, with less Partiality, concluded of these Tracts, whose Contents, therefore, as well as Dimensions, are so generally engaging to all Writers and Readers, so much more universally suited to every Body's Perusal, to every Body's Purchase, that the Name is more properly derivable from
and
, as if they were a Kind of Composition,
beloved by,
or
delighting all
People
Icon Libellorum in Pref.
. But, notwithstanding this favourable Derivation, I should not be for going to
Athens
after one, or seeking it in any other of the more ancient Languages, seeing
that
Word
Pampier,
for
Paper,
in one more Modern, more probable to me (as it seemed before, to one of our most industrious
Glossographers)
for
this
of
Pamphlet,
to be derived from
Skinneri
Etymologicon Ling. Ang.
Fol. 1671.
; the last Letter of the first Syllable being interwoven by
Epenthesis,
to mollify the Sound; and the last Syllable substituted, as a noted Term of Diminution in many Languages
Ib. in Voc.
Let.
& Sir
Hen. Spelman
's Gloss.
; with the same Difference of Interpretation, as between
Charta
and
Chartula,
or
Papyrus
and
Papyrulus:
Thus, also, in
French,
the Diminutive of the Word
Livre,
for a Book itself, is
Livret
; and thus, in
English,
we have
Aglet, Amulet, Bracelet, Chaplet, Corslet, Eaglet, Gafflet, Hamlet, Howlet, Oilet, Pallet, Pullet, Ringlet, Rivulet,
and Twenty more, with like Terminations to the same Sense. Now, this Extraction, besides the Plea of Precedent, has the farther Recommendations to our Preference, of not antedating the Familiarity of
Graecisms
in our Tongue, and withal of deriving itself from the more apparent, and determinable Quality, of the Size or Substance, rather than the Subject Matter, of these more exiguous Compositions. And thus the Word
Pamphlet,
or
little Paper
Book, imports no reproachful Character, any more than the Word
Great
Book; signifies a Pasquil, as little as it does a Panegyric, of itself: Is neither Good nor Bad, Learned nor Illiterate, True nor False, Serious nor Jocular, of its own naked Meaning, or Construction; but is either of them, according as the Subject makes the Distinction. Thus, of scurrilous and abusive
Pamphlets,
to be burned in 1647, we read in
Rushworth
; and, by the Name of
Pamphlet,
is the
Encomium
of Queen
Emma
called in
Hollinshed.
As for the
Antiquity
of
Pamphlets,
it is not only questionable, whether the Art of
Printing
should set a Bound to it, but even the very Adoption of the Name itself; which yet I take to be more Modern than that Art: For I look upon them as the eldest Offspring of Paper, and to claim the Rights of
Primogeniture
even of Bound Volumes, however they may be shorter-liv'd, and the Younger Brother has so much out-grown the Elder; in-as-much as Arguments do now, and more especially did, in the Minority of our Erudition, not only so much more rarely require a larger Compass than Pamphlets will comprise; but these being of a more ready and facil, more decent and simple Form, suitable to the Character of the more Artless Ages, they seem to have been preferred by our modest Ancestry for the Communication of their Sentiments, before Book-Writing became a
Trade
; and Lucre, or Vanity let in Deluges of Digressory Learning, to swell up unweildy
Folio's.
Thus I find, not a a little to the Honour of our Subject, no less a Person than the Renowned King
AELFRED,
collecting his Sage Precepts, and Divine Sentences, with his own Royal Hand, into
Quaternions of Leaves stitched together
Sir
John Spelman
's Life of
Aelfred
the Great,
p. 205.
; which he would inlarge with additional
Quaternions,
as Occasion offered; yet seemed he to keep his Collection so much within the Limits of a
Pamphlet
-Size (however bound together at last) that he called it by the Name of his
Hand-Book,
because he made it his constant Companion, and had it at Hand wherever he was.
It is so difficult to recover even any of our first Books, or
Volumes,
which were Printed by
William Caxton,
though it is certain he set forth near Half a Hundred of them in
Folio,
that it were a Wonder if his
Pamphlets
should not be quite lost. There are more extant of his Successor
Wynkin de Worde
's Printing in this lesser Form, whereof, as great Rarities, I have seen both in
Quarto
and
Octavo,
tho' holding no Comparison, probably, with those of his also, which are destroyed. But it was the Irruption of the Grand Controversy between the Church of
Rome,
and the first Opposers thereof, which seems to have laid the great Foundation of this Kind of Writing, and to have given great Credit to it at the same Time, as well by the many eminent Authors it produced in
Church
and
State,
as the successful Detection and Defeat, thereby befalling those religious Impostures, which had so universally inslaved the Minds of Men. Nay, this important Reformation, has been much ascribed to one little Pamphlet only, which a certain Lawyer of
Grey
's-Inn, obliged to fly into
Germany
(for having acted in a
Play
which incensed Cardinal
Wolsey
) composed there, and conveyed by Means of the Lady
Anne Bullen,
to the Perusal of King
Henry,
at the Beginning of the said Rupture
Simon Fish
's Supplication of Beggars,
12o. 1524.
, and how the Copies thereof were strewed about, at the King's Procession to
Westminster
(the first Example, as some think, of that Kind of Appeal to the Public) how the Cardinal was nettled thereat; how he endeavoured to stifle and secrete the same; how it provoked the Pen of the bigotted Lord Chancellor
Sir
Tho. More
's Supplication of Souls.
; how, glaringly it was fix'd in the very Front of prohibited Books; and, yet, how it captivated the said King's Esteem and Affection: may be not only presumed from the Purport, but gathered from the Accounts which our
Ecclesiastical
Historians have given thereof
See
Fox
's Martyr.
Burnet
's Reformat.
Vol. 1.
. It would be endless to specify, how much this Province was thence-forward cultivated by
Prelates, Statesmen,
and
Authors
of the first Rank, not excepting
Majesty
itself, in the several Examples, which might be produced of the said King
Henry
VIII. King
James,
and King
Charles.
And, not to mention others of our Princes, less noted, though not less truly Authors in this Class, the middlemost of those here named, thought so honourably of these Pamphlet-Performances, that he deemed one of his own Writing so much above all Human Patronage, as to make a formal Dedication, or Inscription thereof, as I remember, to JESUS CHRIST himself
K.
James
against
Conr. Vorstius, 4
to.
1611.
: Yet are many of the said Labours of those ROYAL PAMPHLETEERS, and others, by some of the most renowned Scholars among us, no less equally difficult to retrieve, with the meanest and most illiterate whatever. Had
Phoenix Britannicus
been alive a
Century
past, or half a one sooner, we might have had a better
Knowledge
of that vast Number of Pamphlets, which
Montaigne
mentions
Essaye sur la Defense de
Seneque,
et de
Plutarque.
, and whereof he intimates many to have been so ingeniously written, on the aforesaid Controversy of the
Reformation,
than it is now possible we shall ever arrive at even the
Names
of.
But, as
England,
thro' its Spirit of Liberty, has been the most fruitful Country, for the Production of Pamphlets, so the Period which has been most fruitful in them, was that of our
Civil Wars,
in the Reign of King
Charles
the First. And, indeed, in all Disorders, or Commotions, it is natural to have Recourse to the most expeditious Intelligence and Redress, lest the Delay should be more dangerous than the Deficiency of them; or they, superannuated before they are born. For, while some Persons are labouring in the
Paroxysms
of Contention, were others to be pondering long-winded Expedients of Accommodation, and prescribe a Volume for a
Recipe,
the Dose would come too late for the Disease, and the very Preparation thereof disable its Efficacy. Therefore are Pamphlets, and such short Tracts, risest in great Revolutions; which tho' looked upon, by some, but as
Paper Lanterns,
set a flying to be gaped at by the Multitude (in illuminating whom, they have not always escaped the Flames themselves) yet are they beheld, by politic, or penetrating Eyes, as the
Thermometers
of
State,
fore-shewing the Temperature and Changes of Government, with the
Calentures
approaching therein, and even Preservatives to be had against them, would the
Active
be as unanimous to prevent, as the
Speculative
have been industrious to prognosticate the same. Tho' there may not remain as eminent Proofs among the Pamphleteers in the aforesaid
Anarchy,
of an Ambition to Unanimity, as there are to Dissention: For, surely, no Nation, has ever given more conspicuous Instances, to what immeasurable Lengths, Animosity, and Indignation will advance, upon the least Imposition, or even Umbrage of Tyrannical or Arbitrary Power; as might be exemplified, among many others, in the restless
John Lilburn,
and the endless
William Prynne,
who had both been bleeding Witnesses thereof. There are near a Hundred Pamphlets, written by, and concerning the
first
of these Authors: But the Labours of the
last
being unparallel'd, I may here not improperly observe, that during the
Forty-two
Years he was a Writer, he published above a
Hundred
and
Sixty
Pamphlets, besides several thick Bound Volumes in
Quarto
and
Folio,
all said to be gathered into about
Forty
Tomes, and extant in
Lincoln
's-Inn Library. I think the printed Catalogue of his Writings, extends not their whole Number beyond
One Hundred Sixty-eight
different Pieces: But
Anthony Wood
to above
One Hundred
and
Fourscore
; who also computes, he must needs have composed at the Rate of a Sheet every Day, from the Time that he came to Man's Estate
Athen. Oxon.
Vol. 2.
. That Author's Character of him is drawn from his avowed Enemies, even
Papists,
as
Cressy,
or Personal Antagonists, as
Heylin,
&c. — But I cannot well omit what one sprightly Pamphleteer intimates, among other Things, of him, to this Purpose; "That
Nature
makes ever the dullest Beasts most laborious, and the greatest Feeders:
That
though he had read and swallowed much, yet, for want of Rumination, he concocted little:
That
to return Things unaltered, was a Symptom of a feeble Stomach; and, as an Error in the first Concoction, derives itself to the others, and nourishing up a prevalescent Humour, begets, at last, a Disease; even so, his Judgment, being once depraved, turned all his Reading into bilious or putrid Humours, which being perpetually increased, by his insatiate Gluttony of Books, did miserably foment and heighten his Malady of Writing"
A serious Epist. to Mr.
W. Prynn, 4
to.
1649, p. 4.
. Another of his Draughtsmen has, among other humourous Touches, as follows:— "This is the
William,
whose Passion is the
Conqueror.
—The
Error
of whose
Judgment,
and unpardonable
Instability,
is to be imputed to the Loss of his two
Biasses
; for, if a
Bowl
's Deviation from the
Jack,
is occasioned hereby, much more a Rational Creature's,
à fortiori"
The Character, or
Ear-Mark
of Mr.
W. Prynne, 4
to,
1659. p. 3.
. Neither will I omit what the Translator of the Ingenious Father
Bartoli
's
Huomo di Lettere
says in his Praise, where he calls him,
"Pater Patriae
; forgiving us a
Daedalian
Clue in the blackest Night of Tyranny:
farther adding
; "Your numerous and nervous, large and learned Volumes (which who can reckon?) have been so successful in the Refutation of Errors, Reformation of Vice, Regulation of Disorders, Restauration of Parliaments and Laws, that I must, in Justice, join you with the Renowned General MONK, as the two
worthiest
Subjects of all
Honour:
For, if his
Generosity
speaks him
Herculem Anglorum,
your
Erudition
proclaims you
Alcidem Litterarum,
&c"
The Learned Man defended and reformed. Transt. by
T. Salusbury, 8
vo,
1660,
in Epist. to
W. Prynne,
Esq.
.
This particular Notice of our most voluminous
Pamphleteer,
will lead us to a general Review of the numerous Produce of the
Press,
during that turbulent Series aforesaid, wherein he was such a fruitful Instrument, to
impregnate
the same, and promote the licentious
Supersoetation
thereof. For, by the grand
Collection of Pamphlets,
which was made by
Tomlinson
the Bookseller
Memoirs for the Curious,
4
to,
1708. Vol. 2 p. 176.
, from the Latter-end of the Year 1640, to the Beginning of 1660, it appears, there were published, in that Space, near
Thirty Thousand
several Tracts, and that these were not the compleat Issue of that Period, there is good Presumption, and, I believe, Proofs in Being: Notwithstanding, it is enriched with near a Hundred Manuscripts, which no Body then (being written on the Side of the
Royalists
) would venture to put in Print; the Whole, however, for it is yet undispersed, is progressionally and uniformly Bound, in upwards of
Two Thousand Volumes,
of all Sizes. The
Catalogue,
which was taken by
Marmaduke Foster,
the
Auctioneer,
consists of
Twelve Volumes
in
Folio
Memoirs for the Curious,
4
to,
1708. Vol. 2. p. 176.
, wherein every Piece has such a punctual Register and Reference, that the smallest, even of a single Leaf, may be readily repaired to thereby. They were collected, no doubt, with great Assiduity and Expence, and not preserved, in those troublesome Times, without great Danger and Difficulty; the Books being often shifted from Place to Place, out of the Army's Reach. And so scarce were many of these Tracts, even at their first Publication, that King
Charles
the First is reported to have given Ten Pounds for only reading one of them over, which he could no where else procure, at the Owner's House, in St.
Paul
's Church-Yard
Ib.
. And yet this
Collection,
will, perhaps, not now produce the Tenth, and, some think, not the Twentieth Part of the
Four Thousand Pounds
which he is said to have refused for it. Whatever is the Reason, that they may seem to be thus depreciated, I presume not to distinguish, perceiving so many Reasons offering themselves to our Choice for the same: As, Whether it lies not in the
Way
of the present Possessor, to make the best Use or Advantage of them: Whether abundance of extraneous Volumes, or more extended Treatises, published in that
Interstice,
upon Subjects foreign to a Collection of
Occasional
Pamphlets, Historical and Political, interfere not to make up the Number: Particularly, Whether it is not surcharged with the canting Divinity of
those
Times, which may be thought too crude, lean, and dull for the Edification of
these
: But more particularly, Whether those who would be Purchasers, having, doubtless, some Knowledge of Pamphlets, the Use which has been, and what remains to be made by Historical Writers, of them, do not apprehend, that so many copious Collectors, general and special, who were contemporary with that important Period, have already sufficiently gleaned, and displayed whatever is Material among these more compendious Assistances. For so it is evident, that Mr.
Rushworth,
the most voluminous of them all, did, most plentifully, supply himself from these Fountains, how abundantly soever he represents the Facts therein corrupted with Fiction: How fondly soever he seems to magnify his own Sagacity, in the distinguishment of one from the other; and how suspiciously soever he discountenances all farther Examination into them, than that wherewith he has been pleased to present us; where he expresses himself thus slightingly of these very Authorities, which have yet so liberally contributed to such of the massy
Tomes,
passing under his Name, whereof he was the real Compiler.
Posterity
(says he) should know, that some durst write the Truth, whilst other Men's Fancies were more busy than their Hands; forging Relations; building, and battering Castles in the Air; publishing Speeches, as spoken in Parliament, which were never spoken there; printing Declarations, which were never passed; relating Battels, which were never fought; and Victories, which were never obtained; dispersing Letters, which were never writ by the Authors; together with many such Contrivances, to abet a Party or Interest.—
Pudet haec opprobria.
Such Practices, and the Experience I had thereof, and the Impossibility for any Man, in After-Ages, to ground a True History, by relying on the printed
Pamphlets
of our Days, which passed the
Press,
while it was without Controul, obliged me to all the Pains and Charge I have been at, for many Years together, to make a great
Collection
; and, whilst Things were fresh in Memory, to separate
Truth
from
Falshood
; Things
real,
from Things
fictitious,
or
imaginary
; whereof I shall not at all repent, if I may but prove an ordinary Instrument to undeceive those who come after us
Histor. Coll. Voll.
1.
in Pref.
.
Otherwise, excepting those more partial, and precipitous Products of this Kind, wherewith that Age was so much glutted, there never was a greater Esteem, or a better Market; never so many eager Searchers after, or extravagant Purchasers of scarce Pamphlets, than in these present Times, as might be made evident, either from the Sales of them in general; as that of
Tom Britton,
the celebrated
Small-coal-Man
of
Clarkenwell,
who, besides his
Chymical
and
Musical Collections,
had one of
Choice Pamphlets,
which, as I have heard, he sold to the late Lord
Somers,
for upwards of Five Hundred Pounds. And, more especially, that of Mr.
Anthony Collins,
the last Year, whose Library, consisting chiefly of
Pamphlets,
and those mostly
Controversial,
mostly
Modern,
yet is reported to have been sold, both Parts of it, for above
Eighteen Hundred Pounds:
Incouragement sufficient to make the Catalogues of other like
Auctions
as expressive, and distinct as these are. Or, whether we descend into Particulars, and consider the exorbitant Value set upon, and Profits which have been made out of some single Pieces: As the
Topographical
Pamphlets of
John Norden,
the
Surveyor
; which, before they were re-printed often sold for
Forty Shillings
a-piece. And some of
Bale
's Tracts; as that of
Anne Askew:
More especially, the
Examination
of Sir
John Oldcastle,
which I have known to sell for
Three Guineas,
though gleaned by
Fox
into his
Book of Martyrs.
The
Expedition
of the Duke of
Somerset
into
Scotland,
also, has been sold for
Four Guineas,
though totally inserted in
Hollinshed.
These, and some other personal Narratives, I could Name, are as notorious as the Advancement of
Jordano Bruno
's little Book, called,
Spaccio della Bestia Triumfonte,
to near
Thirty Pounds,
at the
Auction
of Mr.
Bernard
's Books, Serjeant-Surgeon to her late Majesty: Or of the uncastrated
Holinshead,
to near
Forty-five Pounds,
some Years after. Though, when the former came to be known in
English,
it would sometimes pass off for so many
Pence
; and the Deficiencies of the Latter, to be supplied out of Auditor
Jett
's Library, it would not always rise to so many
Shillings,
that is to say, above its ordinary Estimation. Plainly demonstrating,
that
unreasonable Value arose not from any rich Mines of Knowledge, which the scarce Part would communicate, from nothing intrinsically Curious, or Instructive in it; nor even any material Use to be made of it; but merely from the empty Property of its Singularity, and being, as the contending Purchasers fondly apprehended, no where else recoverable.
Several other Tracts, besides those before specified, I could mention, which the Retailers of them have prized at their Weight in Gold, and for which, more Pounds have been exacted, than, probably, they ever yielded Pence, at their first Publication. But I refrain being too Particular, lest I should, too inadvertently, give Handles for Extortion on one Side, or too distinctly expose this Dotage of Curiosity on the other; nevertheless, I may hereupon seasonably observe, and the rather, because I have had Your LORDSHIP's Noble Concurrence, that this
Caco-zealous
Curiosity it is; which has, of late, been deemed so obstructive to the Advancement of Knowledge, in a Set of reputed
Literati,
who make no more Use of the Books they are beset with in their Studies, than
Eunuchs,
of the Beauties which inviron them in the
Seraglio
; yet can never rest till they have gathered themselves
Libraries
to doze in; like Children, who will not be quiet without
Lights
to
sleep
by. But those, who are thus diseased, would do well to consider, while they monopolize such Collections as would extensively benefit the Republic of Letters, and bury them in the narrow Circuit of their own private, and unconsequentional Possession, only because they have
great
Fortunes which will impower them to do it, how detrimental they may be to industrious and ingenious Scholars, of
small
ones, who really want them for public and important Uses; while the mercenary Salesmen, making no Distinction, but a general Rule of Valuation, from the particular Payments of one prodigal Purchaser, is incouraged to part with nothing to any Body else, at the intrinsic, or moderate Value: Whereas, if there were no extravagant
Buyers
of Books, there would be no extortionate
Sellers
of them. And if due Use were allowed to be made of all that are useful, there would be no such shameful Scarcity among them. Such Collectors, would, therefore, do well, I say again, to consider, that
Curmudgeons
among
Books,
are as discoverable as those among
Bags
; and that they may lose more Honour and Credit, than gain Wisdom or Happiness, by the fruitless Amassment and Imprisonment of
either.
The extraordinary Price of Pamphlets aforesaid, would naturally excite our more deliberate Enquiry into what has been most extraordinary in the Contents of them; but so multifarious are the Subjects they comprehend, that it cannot be expected I should even enumerate the same, in the narrow Limits of this
Epistolary Address.
What do most attract the Attention of Mankind, are those dreaded Scourges of Male-Administration, commonly, tho' perhaps, sometimes too indiscriminately, bearing the contumelious Denomination of
Libels.
It matters little whether it appears to me Reasonable, or not, that such Writings, as duly expose Villany, should themselves be held vile; or that some Persons, who have been unjustly Injurious, by any other Means, may not be justly injured by this: But it is obvious to all, who know the Disproportion of Riches and Power in the World, that there are Crimes not to be blasted, and Criminals not to be branded by any other Means. And, since the Lashes of
Reason,
will reach where those of
Justice
cannot; since
Truth
will project
Defamation
from the Actions of oppressive Rulers, as uncontrouledly as the
Sun
does
Shadows
from
opacous Bodies,
the Redress of the Effect is to be sought for in the Cause: And we should apply the
Salve
to the
Minds
which received the Provocation, not
Emperic
-like, seek to stanch them, by
binding up
the
Weapons
which returned it. Nay, we read that the Emperor
Charles
V. King
Francis
I. of
France,
and even
Solyman,
the Great
Turk,
with
Barbarossa,
the Pyrate, and several other Potentates, all condescended to become Tributaries to the
Satyric Muse
of
Pietro Aretino
; whom, notwithstanding it is not very probable, they had any Way personally exasperated
Naudaeana & Patiniana,
8vo,
à Paris,
1701.
in Patin.
p. 66.
. Some, also, in our own Story, might be named, who have taken the like Methods to assuage the Effects of their discreditable Conduct: Among whom are not wanting those, who, having penuriously made their
Plaster
too scanty for the
Sore,
have rather multiplied, than substracted from their own Disgrace, and industriously exposed their Folly, by the imperfect Concealment of their Vice. These had not the effectual Tenderness for their own Reputation, it seems, even of the
Turk
and
Barbarian
; not that exquisite Apprehension of this durable Discipline, which may
visit the Sins of the Fathers upon their Children, unto the third and fourth Generation
; as, not the
Love,
so neither the
Fear
of Men of Letters, which is noted in one of the wisest
Roman
Emperors, by the Historian of his Life
Lampridius in Alexandro Severo,
c. 3.
; and by one of our own Authors, in these Words:
He feared less a Hundred Lances, than
Th' impetuous Charges of a single Pen.
Alleyn
's
Hist. of
Hen. 7. p. 85.
Well knowing, that,
Parva necat morsu spatiosum vipera Taurum.
Ov.
I shall leave it for others to discuss, whether this Sort of Writing is more inclinable to flourish, and take deeper Root, by the Ventilations of Resentment, or wither, and dye away in the Shades of Disregard
Vi.
Drummond
's Apol. Let. to a Nobleman, in
Hist. Scotl. 8
vo.
1682. p. 358.
. But this we may observe, that some Charges are of such a convincing, such a clinging Nature, that they are found not only to strike all Apology, or Contradiction dumb, but to stick longer upon the Names of the Accused, than the Flesh upon their Bones. Thus,
Philip
IId's wicked Employment, treacherous Desertion, and barbarous Persecution of his Secretary
Antonio Perez,
upbraids him, out of that Author's
Librillo,
thro' all
Eur
pe,
to this Day
See the fatal Effects of Arb. Power, and dangerous Condition of Court-Favourites, being a Translation of
Perez
his own Relation,
8vo, 1715.
Also, Dr.
Mich. Geddes
's Tracts; The
Spanish
Historians,
&c.
.
Mary,
Queen of
Scots,
has not yet got clear of
Buchanan
's
Detection
12o. 1572,
&c.
.
Robert,
Earl of
Leicester,
cannot shake off Father
Parsons
's
Green-coat
Leicester
's Com. Wealth, in
French;
also in
English,
re-printed in
4
to, &
120, 1641.
& in
8
vo,
1706.
.
George,
Duke of
Buckingham,
will not speedily out-strip Dr.
Eglisham
's
Fore-runner of Revenge
In
Latin 4
to,
1625.
and
English,
about the same Time; re-printed,
1642.
. Nor was
Oliver Cromwell
far from
Killing
himself, at the Pamphlet which argued
it
to be
no Murder
Killing no Murder, by
Will. Allen (alias
Col.
Titus) 4
to,
1657,
&c.
, lest it should persuade others to think so, and he perish by ignobler Hands than his own.
In this Manner did some take the Liberty of calling these Personages to Account for their Misdeeds, even while they were living. And, with regard to that most memorable Usurper, last mentioned, thus was a celebrated Writer of ours for immortalizing his Name after his Death.
When we fix any Infamy on deceased Persons, it should not be done out of any Hatred to the Dead, but out of Love and Charity to the Living; that the Curses, which only remain in Mens Thoughts, and dare not come forth against
Tyrants
(because they are Tyrants) while they are so, may, at last, be for ever
settled,
and
engraven
upon their
Memory,
to deter all others from the like Wickedness; which, else, in the Time of their foolish Prosperity, the Flattery of their own Hearts, and of other Mens Tongues, would not suffer them to perceive.— The
Mischief
of Tyranny is too great, even in the shortest Time that it can continue: It is endless, and insupportable, if the
Example
be to Reign too.—If it were possible, to cut
Tyrants
out of all
History,
and to extinguish their very Names, I am of Opinion, that it ought to be done; but, since they have left behind them, too
deep Wounds
to be ever closed up without a
Scar,
a
least, let us set such a
Mark upon their Memory,
that Men of the same wicked Inclinations, may be no less affrighted with their
lasting
Ignominy, than inticed by their
momentary
Glories
Cowley
's Vision, concern, his late pretended Highness,
Cromwell
the Wicked,
&c. 120, 1661. p. 20, 21.
Re-printed in his Works.
.
How little soever these Sentiments may be thought to need any Corroboration, I flatter myself the following Reply of our late excellent Queen
Mary
ought not here to be forgotten. When some of her Courtiers would have incensed he
against Monsieur
Jurieu,
who, in his Answer to Father
Maimburg,
that he migh
the better justify the
Reformation
in
Scotland,
made a very black Representation of thei
Queen
Mary: Is it not a Shame,
said one of the Company,
that this Man, withou
any Consideration for your Royal Person, should dare to throw such infamous Calumnie
upon a Queen from whom your Royal Highness is descended? Not at all,
replied thi
ingenuous Princess,
for, is it not enough that, by fulsom Praises, Kings be lulled aslee
all their Lives, but must Flattery accompany them to their Graves? How shall the Princes fear the Judgment of Posterity, if Historians were not allowed to speak Trut
after their Death.
Cox
his Hist. of
Ireland.
Thus much for the Topics and Arguments arising from those Examples and Authorities, which have occurred, as most observable, upon this sudden Recollection, to illustrate my
present Subject.
What remains to be said of
Pamphlets,
will more especially regard the
present Undertaking,
to make a select Revival of them. The Approbation whereof may be grounded on these Considerations.
First,
The Regard we owe to the Preservation of Good Writings in general, and to their Separation from the Bad: But more in particular to these. For, if the Re-printing of good old
Books
is commendable, much more is that of good old
Pamphlets
; they being, not to mention the greater Ease of the Expence, really more in Want of such Justice, to remove that mean Opinion which some, unread therein, have more indistinctly entertained of them
all,
because
many
indeed are but meanly written; tho' the Proportion is not greater than in Books: And for those Pamphlets which really are
well
written (as abundance sufficient for any such Undertaking have been, by the ablest Pens, upon the most emergent Points, however they daily perish in the common Wreck, for Want of a helping Hand) they cannot be denied a just Claim to this Care.
Secondly
; Because they stand in greater Need of such Care, than Writings better secured by their Bulk and Bindings do. Many good old Family-Books are descended to us, whose Backs and Sides our careful Grand-sires Buff'd, and Boss'd, and Boarded against the Teeth of Time, or more devouring Ignorance, and whose Leaves they guarded with
Brass,
nay,
Silver
Clasps, against the Assaults of Worm and Weather: But these defenseless Conduits of Advertisement are so much more obnoxious, by reason of their Nakedness and Debility, to all destructive Casualties, that it is more rare and difficult, for Want of a proper
Asylum,
to meet with some
Tracts
which have not been Printed Ten Years, than with many
Books
which are more than ten Times their Age.
Thirdly
; As being the liveliest Pictures of their Times.
Pamphlets
having this considerable Advantage, that springing usually from some immediate Occasion, they are copied more directly from the Life; so likelier to bear a Resemblance, than any more extended Draughts taken by a remoter Light. But being therefore a Kind of Reading
à la Mode,
and the Events, their Sources, so suddenly giving Way to every fresh Current of Affairs, it is no Wonder if these little Maps of them are, in like Manner, over-borne, and become as transient as they: And yet whenever the Political Wheel rouls into any of its former Tracks, or present Occurrences tally with those of past Times, doubtless what was
then
advanced for the Public Good, might
now
be conducive thereto: Whereas the Disorders of former Times revive, and the Remedies which were prescribed against them are to seek; many, as well pleasant as profitable, being lost merely for Want of Revival.
Fourthly
; The truest Images of their Authors. For, Pamphlets running so often upon new, particular, and unprecedented Subjects, the Writers have less Opportunity to
commit,
and their Writings are less liable to
admit
such foul and frequent Practises of
Plagiary,
as Books of Matter more Various, and Bulk more Voluminous, too often exhibit. Besides, the Author being more vigorously prompted to Application, by the Expediency of bringing forth his Work opportunely
is urged (as has been elsewhere said upon another Occasion
Essay on Epistolary Writings,
&c. 8
vo,
M. S.
) to strike out the Images of his Mind at a Heat, in the most natural Form and Symmetry, in the most significant Circumstances at once; seldom allowing Leisure for the Writer to doat upon, or dream over his Work: neither to disguise it with the Conceptions of other Men, nor to deform it with Chimeras of his own.
Hence are they preferred by many Critics, to discover the genuine Abilities of an Author, before his more dilatory and accumulated Productions.
These, besides many other Arguments which might be deduced from the commodious Brevity, the vast Choice, or Variety of well-written
Pamphlets,
more particularly their regretted Dispersion, Consumption and Obscurity; but, above all, the many surprising Scenes to be unfolded, and brought in View, by select and public Collections, from the rich but disregarded Store, are, in my Opinion, sufficient Recommendations to the Encouragement of such a Revival. What few Attempts have hitherto been made, seem either of a short-sighted Nature, or of one too unbounded. Thus
Edward Husband,
circumscribes himself to the Speeches and Ordinances of Parliament, in a few Years of K.
Charles
I. As the Collections in K.
Charles
II. and K.
William
's Reigns, contain only some
State-Tracts
of those Times. And, for
John Dunton
's Collection, it might have succeeded better, had he not been for rambling into foreign, or heavy and unaffecting Subjects. But the Undertaking most likely to succeed, is one wholly unconfined, as to Time, and only confined to Matter domestically applicable; provided the Undertaker chuses judiciously his Materials. And, certainly, the Public might soon be obliged with a very valuable Collection, if in those Particulars whereof the Collector's own Store should be deficient, he were supplied by such Possessors of these Curiosities, as have a Relish for the Project: Which may be farther rendered a convenient Receptacle for the Restoration of what is not only rare and remarkable, but pertinent and seasonable.
And such, among others, are the Advantages promised us by the present
PHOENIX
; which, if it ever grows into a Volume, and is accommodated with a compleat
Index,
I cannot help fancying, we shall imagine ourselves led into new and untrodden Paths; into Regions of neglected but notable Intelligence, which, having lain long dormant, and widely remote from ordinary Observation, will look like a sudden Resurrection of Characters and Descriptions, Schemes and Discoveries; or rather a Kind of Re-Creation of them in the Land of
Literature:
So that it may yield the best Comment upon past Times, and become the grand Expositor of many Incidents, which General Historians are either wholly ignorant of, or very superficially mention.
Thus, my LORD, you have the free, but undigested
Thoughts
of one totally disinterested in the Undertaking aforesaid, and no otherwise concerned for the same, than as a Well-wisher to what I cannot but think may be of public Utility: And the juster Title they may have to your favourable Censure, as being the immediate Consequence of your Commands. I might, indeed, have farther inlarged on a Theme so fruitful; but in handling the Subject of
Pamphlets,
it may not be discommendable to conform my self to their Size: For,
Inter Pygmaeos non pudet esse brevem.
More especially when I consider, that I may have already trespassed farther upon your Lordship's Patience, than will admit of an Apology from
Your LORDSHIP's,
&c. W. Oldys.
[In
Page
, Line
24, read
Trionfante.
]