N° 350 Tuesday, April 11.

Ea animi elatio quæ cernitur in periculis, fi juftitia vacat pugnatque pro fuis commodis, in vitio eft,

Tull.

That courage and intrepidity of mind, which diftinguishes itself in dangers, if it is void of all regard to justice, and supports a man only in the pursuit of his own interest, is vicious.

APTAIN SENTRY was

Cand produced

last night at the club, a letter from Ipswich, which his correfpondent defired him to communicate to his friend the SPECTATOR. It contained an account of an engagement between a French privateer commanded by one Dominick Pottiere, and a little vessel of that place laden with corn, the master whereof, as I remember, was one Goodwin. The Englishman defended himself with incredible bravery, and beat off the French, after having been boarded three or four times. The enemy still came on with greater fury, and hoped by his number of men to carry the prize, till at last the Englishman finding himself fink apace, and ready to perish, struck: But the effect which this fingular galantry had upon the captain of the privateer, was no other than an unmanly defive of vengeance for the loss he had sustained in his several attacks. He told the Ipswich man in a speaking-trumpet, that he would not take him abroad, and that he ftaid to fee him fink. The Englishman at the fame time observed a disorder in the vessel, which he rightly judged to proceed from the disdain which the ship's crew had of their captain's inhumanity: With this hope he went into his boat, and approached the enemy. He was taken in by the failors in spite of their commander; but though they received him against his command, they treated him when he was in the ship in the manner he directed. Pottiere caused his men to hold Goodwin, while he beat him with a stick till he fainted with

F2

.

with lofs of blood, and rage of heart; after which he ordered him into irons, without allowing him ary food, but fuch as one or two of the men ftole to him under? peril of the like usage: After having kept him several days overwhelmed with the mifery of stench, hunger, and forenefs, he brought him into Calais. The governor of the place was foon acquainted with all that had paffed, dismissed Pottiere from his charge with ignominy, and gave Goodwin all the relief which a man of honour would beftow upon an enemy barbaroufly treated, to recover the imputation of cruelty, upon his prince and country.

When Mr, SENTRY had read his letter, full of many other circumftances which aggravate the barbarity, he fell into a fort of criticism upon magnanimity and courage, and argued that they were infeparable; and that courage, without regard to justice and humanity, was no other than the fierceness of a wild beaft. A good and truly bold spirit, continued he, is ever actuated by reason and a fenfe of honour and duty: The affectation of fuch a fpirit exerts itself in an impudent aspect, an over-bearing confidence, and a certain negligence of giving offence. This is vifible in all the cocking youths you fee about this town who are noisy in affemblies, unawed by the presence of wife and virtuous men; in a word, infenfible of all the honours and decencies of human life. A shameless fellow takes advantage of merit clothed with modesty and magnanimity, and in the eyes of little people appears sprightly and agreeable; while the man of refolution and true galantry is overlooked and difregarded, if not despised. There is a propriety in all things; and I believe wha tyou scholars call just and fublime, in oppofition to turgid and bombaft expreffion, may give you an idea of what I mean, when I fay modefty is the certain indication of a great spirit, and impudence the affectation of it. He that writes with judgment, and never rises into improper warmths, manifests the true force of genius; in like manner, he who is quiet and equal in his behaviour, is supported in that deportment by what we may call true courage. Alas, it is not fo easy a thing to be a brave man as the unthinking part of mankind imagine: To dare, is not all that there

is

is in it. The privateer, we were just now talking of, had boldness enough to attack his enemy, but not greatness of mind enough to admire the fame quality exerted by that enemy in defending himself. Thus his bafe and little mind was wholly taken up in the fordid regard to the prize, of which he failed, and the damage done to his own vessel; and therefore he used an honest man, who defended his own from him, in the manner as he would a thief that should rob him.

He was equally disappointed, and had not spirit enough to confider that one cafe would be laudable, and the other criminal. Malice, rancour, hatred, vengeance, are what tear the breasts of mean men in fight; but fame, glory, conquests, defires of opportunities to pardon and oblige their oppofers, are what glow in the minds of the galant. The captain ended his difcourse with a specimen of his book learning; and gave us to understand that he had read a French author on the fubject of justness in point of galantry. I love, faid Mr. SENTRY, a critic who mixes the rules of life with annotations upon writers. My author, added he, in his discourse upon epic poem, takes occasion to speak of the fame quality of courage drawn in the two different characters of Turnus and Æneas: He makes courage the chief and greatest ornament of Turnus; but in Æneas there are many others which outshine it, amongst the rest that of piety. Turnus is therefore all along painted by the poet full of oftentation, his language haughty and vain-glorious, as placing his honour in the manifestation of his valour; Æneas speaks little, is flow to action, and shews only a fort of defenfive courage. If equipage and address make Turnus appear more couragious than Æneas, conduct and success prove Æneas more valiant than Turnus.

T

XXXXX

XXX

N° 351

Saturday, April 12.

In te omnis domus inclinata recumbit.

I

F

Virg. Æn. 12. v. 59.

On thee the fortunes of our house depend.

we look into the three great heroic poems which have appeared in the world, we may observe that

they are built upon very flight foundations. Homer lived near 300 years after the Trojan war; and, as the writing of hiftory was not then in use among the Greeks, we may very well suppose, that the tradition of Achilles and Ulyffes had brought down but very few particulars to his knowledge; tho' there is no question but he has wrought into his two poems such of their remarkable adventures, as were still talked of among his contemporaries.

The ftory of Æneas on which Virgil founded his poem, was likewise very bare of circumstances, and by that means afforded him an opportunity of embellishing it with fiction, and giving a full range to his own invention. We find, however, that he has interwoven, in the course of his fable, the principal particulars, which were generally believed among the Romans, of Eneas's voyage and fettlement in Italy.

The reader may find an abridgement of the whole story as collected out of the ancient Historians, and as it was received among the Romans, in Dionyfius Halicarnaffeus.

Since none of the critics have consider'd Virgil's fable, with relation to this history of Eneas; it may not perhaps be amiss to examine it in this light, so far as regards my present purpose. Whoever looks into the abridegment abovementioned, will find that the character of Æneas is filled with piety to the Gods, and a superstitious obfervation of prodigies, oracles, and predictions. Virgil has not only preserved this character in the perfon

of

of Æneas, but has given a place in his poem to those particular prophefies which he found recorded of him in history and tradition. The poet took the matters of fact as they came down to him, and circumstanced them after his own manner, to make them appear the more natural, agreeable, or furprizing. I believe very many readers have been shocked at that ludicrous prophely, which one of the Harpies pronounces to the Trojans in the third book, namely, that, before they had built their intended city, they should be reduced by hunger to eat their very tables. But, when they hear that this was one of the circumstances that had been transmitted to the Romans in the history of Eneas, they will think the poet did very well in taking notice of it. The hiftorian abovementioned acquaints us, a prophetess had foretold Eneas, that he should take his voyage westward, till his companions should eat their tables; and that accordingly, upon his landing in Italy, as they were eating their flesh upon cakes of bread, for want of other conveniencies, they afterwards fed on the cakes themselves; upon which one of the company said merrily, We are eating our tables. They immediately took the hint, says the hiftorian, and concluded the prophesy to be fulfilled. As Virgil did not think it proper to omit so material a particular in the history of Æneas, it may be worth while to confider with how much judgment he has qualified it, and taken off every thing that might have appeared improper for a passage in an heroic poem. The prophetess who foretells it, is an hungry Harpy, as the person who discovers it is young Afcanius.

Heus etiam menfas consumimus, inquit lulus !

Æn. 7. v. 116

See, we devour the plates, on which we fed.

DRYDEN,

Such an observation, which is beautiful in the mouth of a boy, would have been ridiculous from any other of the company. I am apt to think that the changing of the Trojan fleet into Water-Nymphs, which is the most violent machine in the whole Æneid, and has given offence to feveral critics, may be accounted for the fame

1

F4

way.