I here present your Highness with the fruits of a very few leisure hours, stolen from the short intervals1 of a world of business, and of an employment quite alien from such amusements as this; the poor production of that refuse of time which has lain heavy upon my hands during a long prorogation2 of Parliament, a great dearth3 of foreign news, and a tedious fit of rainy weather. For which, and other reasons, it cannot choose extremely to deserve such a patronage4 as that of your Highness, whose numberless virtues6 in so few years, make the world look upon you as the future example to all princes. For although your Highness is hardly got clear of infancy7, yet has the universal learned world already resolved upon appealing to your future dictates8 with the lowest and most resigned submission9, fate having decreed you sole arbiter10 of the productions of human wit in this polite and most accomplished11 age. Methinks the number of appellants were enough to shock and startle any judge of a genius less unlimited12 than yours; but in order to prevent such glorious trials, the person, it seems, to whose care the education of your Highness is committed, has resolved, as I am told, to keep you in almost an universal ignorance of our studies, which it is your inherent birthright to inspect.
It is amazing to me that this person should have assurance, in the face of the sun, to go about persuading your Highness that our age is almost wholly illiterate14 and has hardly produced one writer upon any subject. I know very well that when your Highness shall come to riper years, and have gone through the learning of antiquity15, you will be too curious to neglect inquiring into the authors of the very age before you; and to think that this insolent16, in the account he is preparing for your view, designs to reduce them to a number so insignificant17 as I am ashamed to mention; it moves my zeal18 and my spleen for the honour and interest of our vast flourishing body, as well as of myself, for whom I know by long experience he has professed19, and still continues, a peculiar21 malice22.
It is not unlikely that, when your Highness will one day peruse23 what I am now writing, you may be ready to expostulate with your governor upon the credit of what I here affirm, and command him to show you some of our productions. To which he will answer — for I am well informed of his designs — by asking your Highness where they are, and what is become of them? and pretend it a demonstration24 that there never were any, because they are not then to be found. Not to be found! Who has mislaid them? Are they sunk in the abyss of things? It is certain that in their own nature they were light enough to swim upon the surface for all eternity25; therefore, the fault is in him who tied weights so heavy to their heels as to depress them to the centre. Is their very essence destroyed? Who has annihilated26 them? Were they drowned by purges27 or martyred by pipes? Who administered them to the posteriors of ———-. But that it may no longer be a doubt with your Highness who is to be the author of this universal ruin, I beseech28 you to observe that large and terrible scythe29 which your governor affects to bear continually about him. Be pleased to remark the length and strength, the sharpness and hardness, of his nails and teeth; consider his baneful30, abominable31 breath, enemy to life and matter, infectious and corrupting32, and then reflect whether it be possible for any mortal ink and paper of this generation to make a suitable resistance. Oh, that your Highness would one day resolve to disarm33 this usurping34 maitre de palais of his furious engines, and bring your empire hors du page.
It were endless to recount the several methods of tyranny and destruction which your governor is pleased to practise upon this occasion. His inveterate35 malice is such to the writings of our age, that, of several thousands produced yearly from this renowned36 city, before the next revolution of the sun there is not one to be heard of. Unhappy infants! many of them barbarously destroyed before they have so much as learnt their mother-tongue to beg for pity. Some he stifles37 in their cradles, others he frights into convulsions, whereof they suddenly die, some he flays38 alive, others he tears limb from limb, great numbers are offered to Moloch, and the rest, tainted39 by his breath, die of a languishing40 consumption.
But the concern I have most at heart is for our Corporation of Poets, from whom I am preparing a petition to your Highness, to be subscribed41 with the names of one hundred and thirty-six of the first race, but whose immortal42 productions are never likely to reach your eyes, though each of them is now an humble43 and an earnest appellant for the laurel, and has large comely44 volumes ready to show for a support to his pretensions45. The never-dying works of these illustrious persons your governor, sir, has devoted46 to unavoidable death, and your Highness is to be made believe that our age has never arrived at the honour to produce one single poet.
We confess immortality47 to be a great and powerful goddess, but in vain we offer up to her our devotions and our sacrifices if your Highness’s governor, who has usurped48 the priesthood, must, by an unparalleled ambition and avarice49, wholly intercept50 and devour51 them.
To affirm that our age is altogether unlearned and devoid52 of writers in any kind, seems to be an assertion so bold and so false, that I have been sometimes thinking the contrary may almost be proved by uncontrollable demonstration. It is true, indeed, that although their numbers be vast and their productions numerous in proportion, yet are they hurried so hastily off the scene that they escape our memory and delude53 our sight. When I first thought of this address, I had prepared a copious54 list of titles to present your Highness as an undisputed argument for what I affirm. The originals were posted fresh upon all gates and corners of streets; but returning in a very few hours to take a review, they were all torn down and fresh ones in their places. I inquired after them among readers and booksellers, but I inquired in vain; the memorial of them was lost among men, their place was no more to be found; and I was laughed to scorn for a clown and a pedant55, devoid of all taste and refinement56, little versed57 in the course of present affairs, and that knew nothing of what had passed in the best companies of court and town. So that I can only avow58 in general to your Highness that we do abound59 in learning and wit, but to fix upon particulars is a task too slippery for my slender abilities. If I should venture, in a windy day, to affirm to your Highness that there is a large cloud near the horizon in the form of a bear, another in the zenith with the head of an ass13, a third to the westward60 with claws like a dragon; and your Highness should in a few minutes think fit to examine the truth, it is certain they would be all chanced in figure and position, new ones would arise, and all we could agree upon would be, that clouds there were, but that I was grossly mistaken in the zoography and topography of them.
But your governor, perhaps, may still insist, and put the question, What is then become of those immense bales of paper which must needs have been employed in such numbers of books? Can these also be wholly annihilated, and to of a sudden, as I pretend? What shall I say in return of so invidious an objection? It ill befits the distance between your Highness and me to send you for ocular conviction to a jakes or an oven, to the windows of a bawdyhouse, or to a sordid61 lanthorn. Books, like men their authors, have no more than one way of coming into the world, but there are ten thousand to go out of it and return no more.
I profess20 to your Highness, in the integrity of my heart, that what I am going to say is literally62 true this minute I am writing; what revolutions may happen before it shall be ready for your perusal63 I can by no means warrant; however, I beg you to accept it as a specimen64 of our learning, our politeness, and our wit. I do therefore affirm, upon the word of a sincere man, that there is now actually in being a certain poet called John Dryden, whose translation of Virgil was lately printed in large folio, well bound, and if diligent65 search were made, for aught I know, is yet to be seen. There is another called Nahum Tate, who is ready to make oath that he has caused many reams of verse to be published, whereof both himself and his bookseller, if lawfully66 required, can still produce authentic67 copies, and therefore wonders why the world is pleased to make such a secret of it. There is a third, known by the name of Tom Durfey, a poet of a vast comprehension, an universal genius, and most profound learning. There are also one Mr. Rymer and one Mr. Dennis, most profound critics. There is a person styled Dr. Bentley, who has wrote near a thousand pages of immense erudition, giving a full and true account of a certain squabble of wonderful importance between himself and a bookseller; he is a writer of infinite wit and humour, no man rallies with a better grace and in more sprightly68 turns. Further, I avow to your Highness that with these eyes I have beheld69 the person of William Wotton, B.D., who has written a good-sized volume against a friend of your governor, from whom, alas70! he must therefore look for little favour, in a most gentlemanly style, adorned71 with utmost politeness and civility, replete72 with discoveries equally valuable for their novelty and use, and embellished73 with traits of wit so poignant74 and so apposite, that he is a worthy75 yoke-mate to his fore-mentioned friend.
Why should I go upon farther particulars, which might fill a volume with the just eulogies76 of my contemporary brethren? I shall bequeath this piece of justice to a larger work, wherein I intend to write a character of the present set of wits in our nation; their persons I shall describe particularly and at length, their genius and understandings in miniature.
In the meantime, I do here make bold to present your Highness with a faithful abstract drawn77 from the universal body of all arts and sciences, intended wholly for your service and instruction. Nor do I doubt in the least but your Highness will peruse it as carefully and make as considerable improvements as other young princes have already done by the many volumes of late years written for a help to their studies.
That your Highness may advance in wisdom and virtue5, as well as years, and at last outshine all your royal ancestors, shall be the daily prayer of,
SIR, Your Highness’s most devoted, &c. Decemb. 1697.
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1
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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2
prorogation
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| n.休会，闭会 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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5
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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8
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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9
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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arbiter
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| n.仲裁人，公断人 | |
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11
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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12
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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13
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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14
illiterate
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| adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲 | |
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15
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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16
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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17
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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18
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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21
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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24
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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26
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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27
purges
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| 清除异己( purge的名词复数 )； 整肃（行动）； 清洗； 泻药 | |
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beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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30
baneful
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| adj.有害的 | |
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31
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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32
corrupting
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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33
disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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34
usurping
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的现在分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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35
inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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36
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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37
stifles
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的第三人称单数 )； 镇压，遏制 | |
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38
flays
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| v.痛打( flay的第三人称单数 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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39
tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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40
languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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41
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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42
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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43
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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44
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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45
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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46
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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47
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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48
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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49
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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50
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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51
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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52
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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53
delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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54
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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55
pedant
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| n.迂儒；卖弄学问的人 | |
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56
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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57
versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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58
avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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59
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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60
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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61
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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63
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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64
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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65
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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66
lawfully
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| adv.守法地，合法地；合理地 | |
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67
authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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69
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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70
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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71
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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72
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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73
embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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74
poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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75
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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76
eulogies
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| n.颂词，颂文( eulogy的名词复数 ) | |
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77
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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