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Show ' * , P h i l s nd figuring a m c . fhowing us our felves in our ^ X * * ? > . of •me by the Ancients o. Moderns. l^dvfunt "'quod long* melius Hfftorici faciunt: -enim res gefta, verfes c o m p ^ Sed.peramb ° ^ X k f f w i ^ V teMbiii, fiife . . . . . nii va appareat, quam retoottjpranoru , immtdiattiy he aivcs ion. it is thought I w. mean «i«»»* m»w- ~yr t , ~ > » t /- /• my Author peaks) ;» bit Pharlalia. lie , , i . !.. J ..... - • - *T» « S r A r i o r T X - - Enghfh Spencer, ^ / jE *W^P^ H T Z k t l y^ I etbL/lVod m Taffo, J f c *«*r < «sf « Spencer, H & ^ j / ^ *** «* W / « Italian ) could bav, been omitted without takingfrom their Works fome of the greateft B 2 in t!L». i w f any Man object the improbabilities of a Spirit appearing or of a Palaee rat, d £ Magick; I b,ldl Anfwer him That an Heroick Poetisnot tied to a bare Reprefentation J what i true for exceeding ; Jable ; but that he might let himfelf loofe to vifionary Objebls and to tbe Re-fl ndtng not on Senfe, and therefore not_ to be comprehend^ by K tie, may livebim a freer [cope for Imagination. 'Tis enough that in all Ages and Religions, orcaieft part of Mankind have b<l,ev\i the power of Magick; and that there are Spirits or Spares which have aivcrSd. This, I fay, is foundation enough for Poetry : And I dare farther affirm that the Doblrine of fetarated Beings, whether thefe Spirits are incorporeal Subftances, (which Mr Hobbs, with fome reafon, thinks to imply a ccntrad.Uion,) or that they are a thinner and more A* i al fort cf Bodies (as fome of the Fathers have con,ebtur\l) may better be explicated by Poets, than by FbUifcpbers cr Divines'. For their Speculations on this SubjM are wholly Poetical, they have only then Fancy for their Guide, and that, being fiarptr in an excellent Poet, than it is likely it fhould 'PI a PbUgmatiik, heavy Gown.man,willfet farther in its own Empire, and produce more fatufattory Mo. s on toofe ,d /ar .k rakn adn dd oduobtufbut.f iu lr wP.r.o~b».l.e ms. Somt Men think ihey have raisd a great Argument againft the ufe cf Spectres and Magick in Hc- • Poetry, by frying, they are unnatural: Btit, whether they or I believe there are fuch things, is nattrial: 'lis enough, that, for ought we know, they may be in Nature; and whatever is, or may L. - t. Z. / M,,;./,.- -_ r .»„,/• . . . . . m V ^ M f rnwVti'f 1 ff.rp flnnrli. iff ore- ' in the beginning ef th: that 1 have I .by the kPotm. Ami, if that b- the mfl Noble, the moft Pleafant, and g Verfe, and, withal, the higheft pattern of Humane Life, as <, d; o'her Argument to juftify my Choice in this Imitation. One a Drama i that it reprefents to view, . late, tfWSegnillS irritant animum demifia per aures, Q u a m qux funt oculis fubjecta tidelibus, as Horace fins I have given a fhort account of Heroick Plays. I might now, with the ufual kauermf, of an Author, make a particular defence of this. But the common opinion | Lw unfuft foever) has been fo much to my advantage, that I have reafon to be fatisfy'd, and to fuffer with patience all that can be urg a againft it. ' For, oth-rwife, what can be more eafie for me, than to defend tbe Char abler ef Almanior which u one great Exception that is made againft the Play ? 'Tis faid, that Almanzor is no permit Pattern of Heroick Virtue : That he is a Contemner of Kings • and that he is made to perform Impoffibilites. I muft therefore avow, in the fir* place, from whence / took the Character. The firft Image cf him, was from the Achilles of H o m e r , the next from Taffo'.- Rinaldo, (who was ?< the former) and the Third from the Artaban of Monfieur Calpranede •< imitate* The Original of thefe who, in Strength ana Temper, fo impatient lo be fore'd from him an Anfwer full of contumely, and in tbe moft opprebri m terms he could imagine : Ihey are Homei'- words which follow, and I have cited but fome few amomrft a multitude. Oht&AfJt, xvvii 'ou/xaf 'ifttr, KfttJlbxi J"' iKcifcio. II. a.. V. 22C. An/^<T£f@- fiam\tvf, II. k. V. <2i. Nay, he proceeded fofar in his Infoknce, as tc draw out his Sword, with inttnticn to kill Llm. ^ E K U T O JV C;I yj>hioHo (tiya. £)£©-. II. a. V. 194. And if Minerva bad not appeared, and held his hand, he had executed his defign; and'twas all fhe could do to diffwade him from it. Tbe event was, that he left the Army, and would fight no more. A g a m e m n o n gives his Charabler thus to Neftor. *A>A' &/' trif itiKi tie) xuymv'iuiMVct.1 Otter, P. a. v. 2 8 - , 288. Udi'iuv uip tepTiCii/ i'rl^i, mtvm'xn J\'a.ydiJXIu- And Horace gives the fame defcription of him in his Art of Poetry. Honoratum fi forte reponis Achil'em, lmpiger, Iracundus, Inexorabilis, Acer, Jura neget fibi nata, nihil non arroget armis. TaffoV chief Charabler, Rinaldo, was a Man of the fame Temper : For, when he hadflain Ger-nando in his heat cf paffion, he not only refus'd to be fudged by Godfrey, his General, but that if he came to feize him, he would right himfelf by Arms upon him. Witnefs the; lines of Taffo. Venga, egli omandi, jo terro fermo il piede; Giudici fian tra noi la forte, e'Parme Fera tragedia vuol che s'apprefenti Per los diporti a le Nemiche genti. Tou fee how little thefe great Authors did efteem the point of Honour, fo much magnify d by the French, and fo ridiculoufiy Ap'dby us. They made their Heroes Men of Honour ; but fo, as not and am more in love with Achilles and Rinaldo, than wifh Cyrus and Oroondates. / fhall never fubieel my Charabters to the French Standard; where Love and Honour are to be or, • by Drams and Scruples > yet, where I have dfigrfd the Patterns of exati Virtue', fuch at in tbu Play are the Parts of Almahide, o / O z m y n , and Benzayda, / may fafely challenge the beft of theirs. But Almanzor is tax'd with the changing fides: And what tye has be on him to the contrary ? He is not born their Subjebl, -whom he ferves: And he is injured by them to a very big He threatens them, and (peaks infolently of Sovereign Power : But ft do Achilles and Rinaido, ink* were Subjebts and Soldiers to A g a m e m n o n and Godfrey of Bulloigne. He talks extravagantly in his Paffion; but, if I would take the pains to euote an hundred pajfages of Ben. Johnfbn's C e - thegus, I could eafily fJiew you, that tbe Rhodomontades of Almanzor are neither jo irrational as bis, nor fo impoffiblc to be put in execution: For Cethegus threatens to dedroy Nature, and to raife a new one out of it: To kill all tbe Senate for his part of the AVlion ; to look Cato dead , and a the* other thiners as extravagant, he fays, but performs not one Abtion in the P: But none of the former Calumnies will flick; and therefore 'tis at laft changed upon me, that Almanzor does all things; or if you will fave an abfurd Accufation, in their nonfence who mak that he performs hnpoffibilitus. They fay, that being a ft ranger, he appeafes two fighting FaQioni, -when the. Authority of their lawful Sovereign could not. This is indeed tbe mcjt improbable ef all his Actions; but *tM far from being impoffible. Their King had made btmf elf contemptible to bis People, as the Hiftory of'Granada tets its; and Almanzor, though a ftranger, yet was already known to them by his Gallantry in the Juego de toros, his Engagement on the weaker fide, and more upon fight of them has revolted from their own Leaders, and come over to their Trenches In the reft of AlmanzorV All ions, you fee him for the moft part V&oriOm\ but, the fame fortune bat conftant ly attended many Heroes who were not imaginary, yet you fee it no Inheritance to him: For, in the Firft Part, he is made a Prifoner; and in the laft, defeated ; and not able to preferve the City from bem<r taken. If the Hiftory of the late Di-ke of Guife be true, he bar,*- perform-'d not left in Naples, than A'manzor «r feign*d to have dm in Granada |
