Chapter XV: Appendix

It is not that Mr. Duncan Campbell stands in need of my arguments, to prove that he is in no respect liable to the Acts of Parliament made against fortuntellers, &c., that I undertake the writing of this Appendix, the true reason thereof being, the more completely to finish this undertaking; for having, in the body of the book itself, fully proved a second-sight, and that the same frequently happens to persons, some of them eminently remarkable for piety and learning, and have from thence accounted for the manner of Mr. Campbell's performing those things he professes, to the great surprise, and no less satisfaction of all the curious who are pleased to consult him; and at the same time proved the lawfulness of such his performances from the opinions of some of the most learned in holy science; I thought it not improper to add the following short Appendix, being a summary of several acts of parliament made against fortune-tellers, conjurers, Egyptians, sorcerers, pretenders to prophecy, &c., with some proper remarks, suited to our present purpose, as well to satisfy them who are fantastically wise, and obstinately shut their eyes against the most refulgent reason, and are wilfully deaf to the most convincing and persuasive arguments, and thereupon cry out, that Mr. Campbell is either an impostor and a cheat, or at least a person who acts by the assistance of unlawful powers; as also to put to silence the no less waspish curs, who are always snarling at such whom providence has distinguished by more excellent talents than their neighbours. True merit is always the mark against which traducers level their keenest darts; and wit and invention oftentimes join hands with ignorance and malice to foil those who excel. Art has no greater enemy than ignorance; and were there no such thing as vice, virtue would not shine with half its lustre. Did Mr. Campbell perform those wonderful things he is so deservedly famous for, as these cavillers say, by holding intelligence with infernal powers, or by any unjustifiable means, I am of opinion he would find very few, in this atheistical age, who would open their mouths against him, since none love to act counter to the interest of that master they industriously serve. And did he, on the other hand, put the cheat upon the world, as they maliciously assert, I fancy he would then be more generally admired, especially in a country where the game is so universally, artfully, and no less profitably played, and that with applause since those pretenders to wisdom merrily divide the whole species of mankind into the two classes of knaves and fools, fixing the appellation of folly only upon those whom they think not wise, that is, wicked enough to have a share with them in the profitable guilt.

Our laws are as well intended by their wise makers to screen the innocent, as to punish the guilty; and where their penalties are remarkably severe, the guilt they punish is of a proportionable size. Art, which is a man's property, when acquired, claims a protection from those very laws which false pretenders thereto are to be tried and punished by, or else all science would soon have an end; for no man would dare make use of any talent providence had lent him, and his own industrious application had improved, should he be immediately tried and condemned by those statutes, which are made to suppress villains, by every conceited and half-learned pedant.

It is true, indeed, those excellent statutes, which are made against a sort of people, who pretend to fortune-telling and the like, are such as are well warranted, as being built upon the best foundation, viz., religion and policy; and were Mr. Campbell guilty of any such practice as those are made to punish, I openly declare, that I should be so far from endeavouring to defend his cause, that I would be one of the first that should aggravate his crime, thereby to enforce the speedier execution of those laws upon him, which are made against such offenders. But when he is so far from acting, that he doth not even pretend to any such practice, or for countenancing the same in others, as is manifest from the many detections he has made of that sort of villany, which the book furnishes us with, I think myself sufficiently justified for thus pleading in his defence.

I cannot but take notice, in reading the statutes made against such offenders, our wise legislature hath not in any part of them seemed so much as to imply that there are in reality any such wicked persons as they are made against, to wit, conjurors, &c., but that they are only pretenders to those infernal arts, as may reasonably be inferred from the nature of the penalties they inflict; for our first laws of that sort only inflicted a penalty which affected the goods and liberty of the guilty, and not their lives, though indeed they were afterwards forced to heighten the punishment with a halter; not that they were better convinced, as I humbly conceive, but because the criminals were most commonly persons who had no goods to forfeit, and to whom their liberty was no otherwise valuable but as it gave them the opportunity of doing mischief. Indeed our law-books do furnish us with many instances of persons who have been tried and executed for witchcraft and sorcery, but then the wiser part of mankind have taken the liberty to condemn the magistrate, at that time of day, of too much inconsideration, and the juries of an equal share of credulity; and those who have suffered for such crimes, have been commonly persons of the lowest rank, whose poverty might occasion a dislike of them in their fellow-creatures, and their too artless defence subject them to their mistaken justice; so that, upon the whole, I take the liberty to conclude, and I hope not without good grounds, that those laws were made to deter men from an idle pretence to mysterious and unjustifiable arts, which, if too closely pursued, commonly lead them into the darkest villany, not only that of deceiving others, but, as far as in them lie, making themselves slaves to the devil; and not to prevent and hinder men from useful inquiries, and from the practice of such arts, which though they are in themselves mysterious, yet are, and may be lawful.

I would not, however, be thought, in contradiction to my former arguments, to assert that there never were, or that there now are no persons such as wizards, sorcerers, &c., for by so doing I should be as liable to be censured for my incredulity, as those who defame Mr. Campbell on that account are for their want of reason and common honesty. Holy and profane writ, I confess, furnishes us with many instances of such persons; but we must not from thence hastily infer, that all those men are such who are spitefully branded with the odious guilt; for were it in the devil's power to make every wicked man a wizard, and woman a witch, he soon would have agents enough to shake this lower world to atoms but the Almighty, who restrains him, likewise restrains those.

Having premised thus much, I shall now proceed to consider some of the Acts of Parliament themselves; the persons against whom they were made, and the necessity of making the same. And some of the first Acts we meet with, were those which were made against a sort of people called Egyptians; persons who, if in reality such, might, if any, be suspected of practising what we call the black art, the same having been for many ages encouraged in their country; nay, so much has it been by them favoured, that it was introduced into their superstitious religion, if I may without an absurdity call it so, and made an essential part thereof; and, I believe, Mahometanism has not much mended the matter, since it has imperiously reigned there, or in any respect reformed that idolatrous nation. Now the mischief these persons might do, being so much in the devil's power, among the unwary, was thought too considerable not to be provided against; and therefore our wise legislature, the more effectually to prevent the same, by striking at the very foundation, made an act in 22 Henry VIII. 8: That if any, calling themselves Egyptians, do come into this realm, they shall forfeit all their goods; and being demanded, shall depart the realm within fifteen days, upon pain of imprisonment; and the importers of them, by another act, were made liable to a heavy penalty. This act was continued by the 1 Philip and Mary. Conjuration, witchcraft, enchantment, and sorcery, to get money, or consume any person in his body, members, or goods, or to provoke any person to unlawful love, was by the 33 Henry VIII. 14. and the 5 Elizabeth 16. and the 1 James I. 12. made felony; and by the same 33 Henry VIII. 14. it was made felony to declare to another any false prophecies upon arms, &c., but this act was repealed by the 1 Edward VI. 12., but by another act of the 3 and 4 of Edward VI. 15. it was again enacted, That all such persons who should pretend to prophecies, &c., should, upon conviction, for the first offence forfeit ten pounds, and one year's imprisonment; and for the second offence, all his goods, and imprisonment for life. And by the 7 Edward VI. 11. the same was made to continue but till the then next sessions of parliament. And by the 5 Elizabeth 15. the same act was again renewed against fantastical prophesiers, &c., but both those acts were repealed by the 1 James I. 12.

Thus far we find, that for reasons of state, and for the punishment of particular persons, those acts were made and repealed, as occasion required, and not kept on foot, nor indeed were they ever made use of, as I can remember in my reading, against any persons whose studies led them into a useful inquiry into the nature of things, or a lawful search into the workings of nature itself, by which means many things are foretold long before they come to pass, as eclipses and the like, which astrologers successfully do, whose art has been in all ages held in so great esteem that the first monarchs of the East made it their peculiar study, by which means they deservedly acquired to themselves the name of Magi, or wise men; but, on the contrary, were provided against persons profligate and loose, who, under a pretence and mask of science, commit vile and roguish cheats; and this will the more plainly appear, if we consider the letter and express meaning of the following Acts, wherein the persons I am speaking of, are described by such characters, which sufficiently prove the assertion; for in the 39 of Elizabeth 4. it was enacted, That all persons calling themselves scholars, going about begging, seafaring men pretending losses of their ships and goods at sea, and going about the country begging, or using any subtle craft, feigning themselves to have knowledge in physiognomy, palmistry, or any other the like crafty science, or pretending that they can tell destinies, fortunes, or such like fantastical imaginations, shall be taken and deemed rogues, vagabonds, sturdy beggars, and shall be stripped naked from the middle upwards, and whipped till his or her body be bloody. And by the 1 James I. 12. for the better restraining of the said offences, and for the farther punishing the same, it was farther enacted, That any person or persons using witchcraft, sorcery, &c., and all their aiders, abettors, and counsellors, being convicted, and attainted of the same offences, shall suffer pain of death, as felons, without the benefit of clergy; or to tell and declare in what place any treasure of gold and silver should or might be found in the earth, or other secret places; or where goods or things lost or stolen should be found or become; or to provoke any person to unlawful love, such offender to suffer imprisonment for one whole year without bail or mainprise, and once in every quarter of the said year shall in some market-town, or upon the market-day, or at any such time as any fair shall be kept there, stand openly in the pillory by the space of six hours, and there shall openly confess his or their offence; and for the second offence shall suffer death as felons, without the benefit of clergy.

That these laws were made against a set of villains, whose natural antipathy to honesty and labour furnished them with pretensions to an uncommon skill, thereby the more easily to gull and cheat the superstitiously credulous, and by that means discover from them some such secrets that might farther them in perpetrating the more consummate villany, is plain from the very words and expressions of the very Acts themselves, and the description of the persons they are made against; and not, as I before observed, to prevent and hinder men from the lawful inquiry after useful, delightful, and profitable knowledge.

Mr. Campbell, who has been long a settled and reputable inhabitant in many eminent parts of the city of London, cannot, I am sure, be looked upon as one of those these Acts of Parliament were made against, unless we first strip the Acts themselves of their own natural, express, and plain meaning, and clothe them with that which is more obscure, unnatural, forced, and constrained a practise; which, if allowed, would make them wound the innocent and clear the guilty, and render them not our defence but our greatest evil; they would, by that means, become a perfect enigma, and be so far from being admired for their plainness, that they would be even exploded like the oracles of the heathen for their double meaning.

If Mr. Campbell has the second-sight, as is unquestionable, from the allowed maxim, that what has been may be again, and by that means can take a view of contingences and future events; so long as he confines these notices of approaching occurrences to a good purpose, and makes use of them only innocently and charitably to warn persons from doing such things, that according to his conceptions would lead them into misfortune, or else in putting them upon such arts that may be of use and benefit to themselves and posterity, always having a strict regard to morality and religion, to which he truly adheres; certainly, I think, he ought so much the more to be admired for the same, by how much the more this his excellent knowledge is surpassing that of other men, and not be therefore unjustly upbraided with the injurious character of a cheat, or an ill man: however, this I will presume to affirm, and I doubt not but to have my opinion confirmed by the learned sages of the law, that this his innocent practice, and I venture to add, honest one too, doth by no means entitle him to the penalties of the before-mentioned laws made against fortune-tellers, and such sort of profligate wretches; which it is as great an absurdity to decry, as it would be to call him, who is a settled and reputable inhabitant, a stroller or wandering beggar.

Again; it is true that Mr. Campbell has relieved many that have been supposed to have been bewitched, as is related and well attested in the book of his life; but will any one from thence argue that he himself is a real conjurer, or wizard, because he breaks the chains by which those unhappy wretches were bound? No, surely; for if that were the case, we might then as well indict the physician who drives away a malignant distemper, and roots out its latent cause by his mysterious skill in plants and drugs; or conclude that the judge, who condemns a criminal, is for the same reason guilty of the self-same crime for which the offender is so by him condemned. Persons who delight in such unnatural conclusions, must certainly be in love with the greatest absurdities, and must entirely abandon their natural reason before they can be brought to conclude that the Prince of Darkness would assist men in destroying his own power.

The best answer I can afford those men is silence; for if they will not argue upon the principles of reason, or be guided by her dictates, I think them no more fit to be contended with in a rational and decent manner than bedlamites, and such who are bereft of all understanding. A rod is the best argument for the back of a fool, and contempt the best usage that ought to be shown to every headstrong and ignorant opponent.

In a word, I know of no branch of Mr. Campbell's practice that bears the least resemblance to those crimes mentioned in the foregoing Acts. That he can and doth tell people's names at first sight, though perfect strangers to him, is confessed by all who have made the curious inquiry at his hands; but what part of the Acts, I would fain know, is that against? Knowledge, and a clear sight into things not common, is not only an allowable, but a commendable qualification; and whether this knowledge in him be inherent, accidental, or the result of a long study, the case is still the same; since we are assured he doth it by no unlawful intelligence, or makes use of the same to any ill purpose, and therefore is undoubtedly as lawful as to draw natural conclusions from right premises. Hard is the fate of any man to be ignorant, but much harder would his lot be if he were to be punished for being wise; and, like Mr. Campbell, excelling others in this kind of knowledge.

Much more might be said in defence of Mr. Campbell and the art he professeth, but as the arguments which are brought against him by his enemies on the one hand, are trivial and ill-grounded, I therefore think they deserve no farther refutation; so on the other, his innocency is too clear to require it.

After having thus taken a survey of Mr. Campbell's acts, with regard to their legality according to the statutes and the laws of the nation wherein he lives, we will consider next, whether, according to the stated rules of casuistry, among the great divines eminent for their authority, it may be lawful for Mr. Campbell to predict, or for good Christian persons to visit his house, and consult him about his predictions. I have upon this head examined all the learned casuists I could meet with in ancient times, for I cannot meet, in my reading, with any moderns that treat thoroughly upon this case, or I should rather have chosen them, because, perhaps, the second-sight was less known in those ancient days than it has been since, and so might escape their notice.

My design is first to give the reader a distinct summary of all that has been said of this matter, and to do it as succinctly and briefly as possible, and then to argue myself from what they agree upon as to this man's particular case.

That the reader may have recourse to the authors themselves, if they have a curiosity, and find that I do not go about to impose upon their judgments, I will here tell the reader where he may find the whole contents of the following little abstract of divinity and casuistry, because it would be a tedious piece of work to set down the words of each of them distinctly, and quote them every one round at the end of their several different sentences, which tend to the same meaning, but I will strictly keep to the sense of them all; and I here give the reader their names, and the places, that he may consult them himself, if his inclination leads him to be so curious: Thomas Aquinas, iv. _Distin._ 34. _Quaestio._ 1. _Art. 3_; Bona, ii. _Dist. 7. Art. 2. Quaest._ 1; Joannes Major, iv. _Dist. 34. Quaest. 2_; Sylvester, _Verbo Malefico. Quaest. 8_; Rosella, _Verb Impedimentum_, xv. cap. 18; Tabiena, _Verb. Impedimentum_, 12 vers.; Cajetan, tom. ii. _Opusc. 12. de Malefic_; Alphonsus, _a Cast._ lib. x. _de Justa Haereticorum Punitione_, cap. 15; Cosmus Philiarchus, _de Offic. Sacerdot_, p. 2. lib. iii. cap. 11; Toletus, _in Summa._ lib. iv., cap. 16; Spineus, _in Tract. de Strigibus_; Petrus Binsfield, _in Tract. de Confessionibus Maleficorum_.

These divines have generally written upon impious arts of magic, which they call by the name of divination; and this divination, as they term it, they divide into two kinds; the one, in which the devil is expressly invoked, to teach hidden and occult things; the other, in which he is tacitly called upon to do the same. An express invocation is made by word or deed, by which a real pact is actually made with the devil, and that is a sin that affects the death of the soul, according to the laws of theology, and ought to affect the death of the body, according to civil and political laws. The tacit invocation of demons is then only, when a man busies himself so far with such persons, that it is meet and just that the devil should be permitted to have to do with him, though it was opposite to the intention of the man.

But then this express invocation is again subdivided into several species, according to the divers manners by which the devil instructs these men.

The first is enchantment, which I need not describe, and of which I will speak no more, because it is what everybody knows to be detestable, and nobody ought to know the art thereof.

The second is divination by dreams, when any instructions are expected from the devil by way of dream, which is a capital crime.

The third is called necromancy, which is, when by the use of blood and writing, or speaking certain verses, the dead seem to rise again, and speak and teach future things. For though the devil cannot recall a soul departed, yet he can, as some have thought, take the shape of the dead corpse, himself actuate it by his subtlety, as if it was informed with a soul. And some affirm, that by the divine permission the devil can do this, and spake so in the case of Samuel and Saul. But divines of a more solid genius attribute that power only to the Deity, and say, with reason, that it is beyond the devil's capacity. But it is certain this was a divination done in dead animals by the use of their blood, and therefore the word is derived from the Greek [Greek: nekron], which signifies dead, and [Greek: Manthea], which signifies divination.

The fourth species is called divination by the Pythians, which was taken from Apollo, the first diviner, as Thomas Aquinas says in his _Secunda Secundae, Quaest. 95. Art. 3_.

The fifth is called geomancy, which is when the devil teaches anything by certain signs appearing in the earthly bodies, as in wood, iron, or polished stones, beryls, or glass.

The sixth is named hydromancy, as when a demon teaches anything by appearances in the water.

The seventh is styled aeromancy; and it is when he informs people of such things by figures in the air.

The eighth is entituled pyromancy; that is, when it instructs people by forms appearing in the fire.

The ninth is termed aruspicy; which is when by signs appearing in the bowels of sacrificed animals the demon predicts at altars.

Thus far as to express divination, or invocation of the devil, which is detestable; and the very consulting of persons that use such unlawful means is, according to the judgment of all casuists, the high road to eternal damnation.

Now as to tacit divination, or invocation of the devil, that is divided into two subaltern kinds. The first kind is, when for the sake of knowing hidden things, they make use of a vain and superstitious disposition existing in things to judge from; which disposition is not of a sufficient virtue to lead them to any real judgment. The second kind of tacit divination is, when that knowledge is sought by the disposition of those things which men effect on purpose and of their own accord, in order to come by and acquire that knowledge.

Both these kinds of tacit divination are again subdivided into several species, as are particularly mentioned by St. Thomas, _Secunda Secundae, Quaest. 95, Art. 3_; Gregory de Valentine, tom. iii. _Disput. 6. Quaest. 12. Puncto 2_; Toletus, _in Summa._ lib. iv. cap. 15; and Michael Medina, lib. ii. _de Recta in Deum fide: post Sanctum Augustinum_. lib. ii. _de Doct. Christ._ cap. 19. _et seq_.

The first of these kinds of tacit divination contains under it the following several species:--

The first species is called Genethliacal, which is when from the movement or situation of the stars, men's nativities are calculated and inquired into so far, as that from such a search they pretend to deduce the knowledge of human effects, and the contingent events that are to attend them. This Thomas Aquinas and Sixtus Quintus condemns; but I shall, with humility and submission to greater judgments, inquire hereafter into their reasons, and give my opinion why I think this no evil art; but I submit my opinion, if, after it is given, it is thought erroneous.

The second is augury, when anything is predicted from the chattering of birds, or the voice of animals, and this may be either lawful or unlawful. If it comes from natural instinct, for brutes having only a sensitive soul, have their organs subject to the disposition of the greater bodies in which they are contained, and principally of all to the celestial bodies, his augury is not amiss. For if when crows are remarked to caw, as the vulgar phrase is, more than ordinary, it is, judging according to the instinct of their nature, if we expect rain, and we may reasonably depend upon it, we shall be right if we foretell rain to be at hand. But sometimes the devils actuate those brute animals to excite vain ideas in men, contrary to what the instinct of their nature compels them to. This is superstitious and unlawful, and forbid in holy writ.

The third is aruspicy, when from the flight of birds, or any other motion of any animals whatsoever, persons pretend to have an insight and a penetrative knowledge into occult and hidden matters.

The fourth consists in omens, when, for example, a man from any words which others may have spoken on purpose, or by accident, pretends to gather a way of looking into and knowing anything of futurity.

The fifth is chiromancy, which consists in making a pretence to the knowledge of future things by the figures and the lines of the hands; and if it be by consulting the shoulder-bones of any beast, it goes by the name of spatulamancy.

* * * * *

As the first kind of divination, by a tacit invocation of the devil is divided into the five species above mentioned; so also is the second kind of tacit divination, or invocation of the devil, divided into two species by St. Thomas of Aquin.

_Secunda Secundae, questione nonagesima quinta articulo tertio_, and too tedious to insert here.

Now all these ways are by these divines counted wicked, and I set them down that people may avoid them. For how many gipsies and pretenders to chiromancy have we in London and in the country? How many that are for hydromancy, that pretend in water to show men mighty mysteries? And how many in geomancy, with their beryls and their glasses, that, if they are not under the instigation of the devil, propagate the scandal at least by being cheats, and who ought to be punished to the utmost severity, as our English laws enact? Mr. Campbell, who hates, contemns, and abhores these ways, ought, methinks, to be encouraged by their being restrained; and people of curious tempers, who always receive from him moral and good instructions, which make them happy in the conduct of life, should be animated in a public manner to consult him, in order to divert the curious itch of their humours from consulting such wicked impostors, or diabolical practisers, as too frequently abound in this nation, by reason of the inquisitive vulgar, who are more numerous in our climate, than any I ever read of.

But now to argue the case of conscience with regard to his particular practice by way of the second-sight, whether, _in foro conscientiae_, it is lawful for him to follow it, or others to consult him? The divines above mentioned having never had any notice of that faculty in all likelihood, or if they had, never mentioned it, makes it a point more difficult for me to discuss; but I think they have stated some cases, by the making of which my premises, I can deduce from all the learned men I have above quoted, a conclusion in favour of our Mr. Duncan Campbell, and of those who consult him; but my opinion shall be always corrected by those who are wiser than myself, and to whom I owe entire submission. I take leave to fix these premises from them first, and to form my argument from them afterwards in the following manner:--

First, It is allowed by all these divines, that a knowledge which one may have of future things within the order of nature, is and may be lawful.

Secondly, They imply, that where justice is not violated, it is lawful both to predict and to consult.

Thirdly, Many of them, but particularly Aureolus, puts this question: Is it lawful to go to one that deals in the black art, to persuade them to cure any innocent body that another necromancer or dealer in the black art may have maliciously afflicted and tormented with pains? And some of these casuists, particularly Aureolus, say, it is lawful on such an occasion to go to such a conjurer, because the end is not conjuration, but freeing a person from it.

But I take leave to dissent from these great men, and think they are in a double mistake; first, in stating the question, and then in making such an answer, provided the question had been stated right.

The question is founded upon this supposition, which is passed by as granted, viz., that one necromancer could release a person bewitched by another, which is absolutely false; for it is against the nature of the devil to be made an instrument to undo his own works of impiety. But admitting and not granting this to be possible, and the question to be rightly stated, why still these casuists are out in their answer. It is lawful, reply they, because the end of going to the conjurers, is not conjuration, but freeing a good person from it; but the end is not the point here to be considered, it is the medium, which is bad, that is to be considered. It is by conjuration, according to their hypothesis, the other conjuration is to be dissolved; and does not the common rule, that a man must not do evil that good may come of it, forbid this practice? And to speak my opinion plainly in that case, the friend that should consult a conjurer for that end, would be only so kind to put his own soul in danger of being guilty of hell torments, to relieve his afflicted friend from some bodily pains, which it would be a virtue in him to suffer with patience and resignation.

Others, almost all divines, indeed, agree, that it is and may be lawful to go to a conjurer that torments another, and give him money not to afflict the patient any longer; because that is only feeing him to desist from acting after his conjuring manner.

These premises thus settled, if we allow the second-sight to be inborn and inbred, and natural and common to some families, which is proved in the book; and if all that Mr. Campbell has predicted in that second-sighted way terminates with moral advice, and the profit of the consulter, and without the violation of justice to others, as the book shows all throughout; if he can relieve from witchcraft, as it seems oath is to be had he can, which no one that deals in black art can do, why then I need not draw the conclusion, every reader will do it naturally; they will avow all the strictest laws of casuistry and morality to be in favour of Mr. Campbell and his consulters.

VERSES

TO MR. CAMPBELL,

ON THE

HISTORY OF HIS LIFE AND ADVENTURES.

I court no muse amidst the tuneful throng,
Thy genii, Campbell, shall inspire my song;
The gentle summons every thought obeys,
Wakens my soul, and tunes it all to lays.
Among the thousand wonders thou hast shown,
I, in a moment, am a poet grown;
The rising images each other meet;
Fall into verse, and dance away with feet:
Now with thy Cupid and thy lamb I rove[A],
Through ev'ry bloomy mead and fragrant grove.
A thousand things I can myself divine,
Thy little genii whispers them to mine;
Beyond the grave I see thy deathless fame,
The fair and young all singing Campbell's name;
And Love himself--for Love and thou art friends,
He joins the chorus, and his dart defends.
What noisy talker can thy magic boast?
Let those dull wretches try who scorn thee most.
O, sacred silence! let me ever dwell,
With the sweet muses, in thy lonely cell!
Or else bind up, in thy eternal chain,
Scandal and noise, and all that talk in vain.

M. FOWKE.

TO MRS. FOWKE,

OCCASIONED BY THE FOREGOING VERSES

Sweet nightingale! whose artful numbers show,
Expressive eloquence to silent woe,
Sing on, and in thy sex's power presume,
By praising Campbell, to strike nations dumb.

Whene'er you sing, silent, as he, they'll stand,
Speak by their eyes, grow eloquent by hand:
Tongues are confusion, but as learnt by you,
All but Pythagoras's doctrine's true;
Campbell and he taught silence--had he heard
How much thy lays to silence were preferr'd,
He had recanted from thy powerful song,
And justly wish'd each organ had a tongue.

But could he see, what you, in every line,
Prophetic tell of Campbell's sight divine,
Like Croesus's sons his loosened nerves must break,
And ask the cause--or make his Campbell speak.

G. S.

* * * * *

TO MR. CAMPBELL.

Milton's immortal wish[B] you sure must feel,
To point those fates which you to all reveal;
If second-sight so much alarms mankind,
What transports must it give to know thy mind?
Thy book is but the shadow of thy worth,
Like distant lights, which set some picture forth.
But if the artist's skill we nearer trace,
And strictly view each feature of the face,
We find the charm that animates the whole,
And leave the body to adore the soul.
Milton's immortal wish you sure must feel,
To point those fates which you to all reveal.

I. PHILIPS.

* * * * *

THE PARALLEL

TO MR. CAMPBELL.

As Denham sings, mysterious 'twas, the same
Should be the prophet's and the poet's name[C];
But while the sons of genius join to praise,
What thine presaging dictates to their lays,
The things they sweetly sing, and you foreshow,
Open the Sampson riddle to our view;
Strong are thy prophecies, their numbers sweet,
And with the lion combs of honey meet.

Late on fantastic cabalistic schemes,
Of waking whimsies, or of feverish dreams,
New cobweb threads of poetry were spun,
In gaudy snares, like flies, were witlings won,
Their brains entangled, and our art undone.

Pope, first, descended from a monkish race,
Cheapens the charms of art, and daubs her face;
From Gabalis[D] his mushroom fictions rise,
Lop off his sylphs--and his Belinda[E] dies;
The attending insects hover in the air,
No longer than they're present is she fair;
Some dart those eyebeams, which the youths beguile,
And some sit conquering in a dimpling smile.
Some pinch the tucker, and some smooth the smock.
Some guard an upper, some a lower lock;
But if these truant body-guards escape,
In whip the gnomes and strait commit a rape;
The curling honours of her head they seize,
Hairs less in sight, or any hairs they please;
But if to angry frowns her brow she bends,
Upon her front some sullen gnome descends,
Whisks through the furrows with its airy form,
Bristles her eyebrows and 'directs the storm.'

As wide from these are Addisonian themes,
As angels' thoughts are from distempered dreams;
Spenser and he, to image nature, knew,
Like living persons, vice and virtue drew:
At once instructed and well pleas'd we read,
While in sweet morals these two poets lead,
No less to wisdom than to wit pretence,
They led by music, but they led to sense.

But Pope scarce ever force to fancy joins,
With dancing-master's feet equips his lines,
Plumes empty fancy, and in tinsel shines.
Or if by chance his judgment seems to lead,
Where one poor moral faintly shows its head,
'Tis like a judge, that reverently drest,
Peeps through the pageants at a lord may'r's feast;
By starts he reasons, and seems wise by fits,
Such wit's call'd wisdom, that has lost its wits.

Unnam'd by me this witling bard had been,
Had not the writer's caused the reader's sin;
But less by comedies and lewd romances,
Are ruin'd, less by French lascivious dances,
Than by such rhymers' masqueraded fancies.

From such the root of superstition grew,
Whose old charms fertile, daily branch'd in new;
From such chimeras first inspired, the fair
The conj'rer's ring approach'd, and Jesuit's chair;
Throng'd to the doors where magic rogues divin'd,
And sold out _ignes fatui_ to the mind.

Wizards and Jesuits differ but in name,
Both demon's envoys, and their trade the same;
Weak wills they lead, and vapour'd minds command,
And play the game into each others' hand;
Like spiritual jugglers at the cup and ball,
Rising by foolish maids, that long to fall.
Some into love they damn, and some they pray,
For greensick minds are caught a different way;
To the same end, tho' several paths, they run,
Priests to undo and maids to be undone;
Some blacker charms, some whiter spells cajole,
As some lick wall and some devour a coal.
Here ladies, strong in vapours, see men's faces
Imprinted in the conjurer's dazzling glasses,
There, when, in spring time, the too praying priest,
Toasts, and does something better,--to the best
A spouse is promised on next Baptist's[F] feast.
First some young contrite rake's enjoined to marry,
Lest--madam's forc'd to squeak for't--or, miscarry:
In June, the lass does to the fields repair,
Where good sir Domine just took the air.
When, O strange wonder! near a plaintain root,
She finds a coal--and so a spouse to boot.
She longs to dream and to secure the sport
That very day the youth design'd--must court,
He does--she struck with rapture and delight.
Bespeaks her fancy--strongly--dreams at night.
The yielding fair, the ravish'd youth obtains,
A maid she passes--so his child's free gains,
He has the pleasure, yet is sav'd the pains.
Thus when priest's wench--to cure the growing evil
Poor St. John Baptist must forerun the devil.

But if the ladies fall, at fall of leaf,
Or in the winter--still there's fresh relief;
Let her lace close four months, and if she can,
St. Agnes[G] heals the breach and brings the man.
Thus a lewd priest to vapour'd virgins cants,
And into pimps reverts his vestal saints.

O! dire effects of mask'd impiety!
And shall they, Christian muse! have aids from thee;
Wilt thou, like witty heathens, lewdly given,
To a Gehenna metamorphose Heaven?
Wilt thou?--O no--forbid th' unhallow'd song,
Such profanations to Rome's bard belong.
Let one, who gods and goddesses adores,
Paint them like rakes and bullies, bawds, and whores.

Our genii, Campbell, shall be all divine,
Shall high o'er theirs as much distinguish'd shine,
As o'er such priests or chiromancers, thine.
Thine, which does future time's events command
To leap to sight, and in thy presence stand;
Thine, whose eyes glowing with a gifted ray,
New roads of life o'er wisdom's Alps survey,
And guide benighted travellers to day.
Let me, for once, a daring prophet be,
Mark from this hour--and poetry thoul't see
Date a new era from thy book and thee;
Thy book, where, thro' the stories, thou hast laid,
All moral wisdom's to the mind convey'd;
And thus far prophecies each page, that all
Must rise by virtues, or by vices fall.

Poets shall blush to see their wit outdone,
Resume their reason and assert its throne,
Shall fables still for virtue's sake commend;
And wit the means, shall wisdom make its end.

Who hopes to please, shall strive to please by pains,
Shall gaining fame, earn hard whate'er he gains
And Denham's morals join to Denham's strains.
Here paint the Thames[H] 'when running to the sea
Like mortal life to meet eternity.'
There show both kings and subjects 'one excess,
Makes both, by striving, to be greater, less.'
Shall climb and sweat, and falling, climb up still,
Before he gains the height of Cooper's Hill.

In Windsor Forest, if some trifling grace
Gives, at first blush, the whole a pleasing face,
'Tis wit, 'tis true; but then 'tis common-place.
The landscape-writer branches out a wood,
Then digging hard for't finds a silver flood.
Here paints the woodcock quiv'ring in the air,
And there, the bounding stag and quaking hare.
Describes the pheasant's scarlet-circled eye,
And next the slaught'ring gun that makes him die.
From common epithets that fame derives,
By which his most uncommon merit lives.
'Tis true! if finest notes alone could show,
(Tun'd justly high or regularly low,)
That we should fame to these mere vocals give,
Pope more, than we can offer, should receive.
For, when some gliding river is his theme,
His lines run smoother than the smoothest stream;
Not so when thro' the trees fierce Boreas blows,
The period blust'ring with the tempest grows.
But what fools periods read for periods' sake?
Such chimes improve not heads, but make 'em ache;
Tho' strict in cadence on the numbers rub,
Their frothy substance is whip-syllabub;
With most seraphic emptiness they roll,
Sound without sense, and body without soul.

Not such the bards that give you just applause,
Each, from intrinsic worth, thy praises draws,
Morals, in ev'ry page, where'er they look,
They find divinely scatter'd thro' thy book:
They find thee studious with praiseworthy strife,
To smooth the future roads of human life,
To help the weak, and to confirm the strong,
Make our griefs vanish, and our bliss prolong,
With Phineus' equal find thy large desert,
And in thy praise would equal Milton's art.

Some fools, we know, in spite of nature born,
Would make thee theirs, as they are mankind's scorn,
For still 'tis one of truth's unerring rules,
No sage can rise without a host of fools.
Coxcombs, by whose eternal din o'ercome,
The wise in just revenge, might wish them dumb,
Say on the world your dumbness you impose,
And give you organs they deserve to lose.
Impose, indeed, on all the world you would,
If you but held your tongue, because you could;
'Tis hard to say, if keeping silence still,
In one, who, could he speak, would speak with skill,
Is worse, or talk in these, who talk so ill.
Why on that tongue should purposed silence dwell,
Whence every word would drop an oracle?
More fools of thy known foresight make a jest,
For all bate greatest gifts who share the least,
(As Pope calls Dryden the often to the test[I])
Such from thy pen, should Irwin's sentence[J] wait,
And at the gallows own the judge of fate.
Or, while with feeble impotence they rail,
Write wonders on, and with the wise prevail.

Sooner shall Denham cease to be renown'd,
Or Pope for Denham's sense quit empty sound,
To Addison's immortal heights shall rise,
Or the dwarf reach him in his native skies.
Sooner shall real gipsies grow most fair,
Or false ones mighty truths like thine declare,
Than these poor scandal-mongers hit their aim,
And blemish thine or Curll's acknowledg'd fame.

Great Nostradamus thus, his age advis'd,
The mob his counsels jeer'd, some bards[K] despis'd
Him still, neglecting these his genius fir'd,
A king encourag'd, and the world admir'd;
Greater (as times great tide increas'd) he grew,
When distant ages proved what truths he knew;
Thy nobler book a greater king received,
Whence I predict, and claim to be believ'd,
That by posterity, less fame shall be
To Nostradamus granted, than to thee;
Thee! whom the best of Kings does so defend,
And (myself barring) the best bards commend.

H. STANHOPE.

Whitehall,
June 6th, 1720.

[A] See Mr. Campbell's Life, p. 43.

[B] To see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight,
PARADISE LOST.

[C] (Vates) See the Progress of Learning.

[D] See the History of the Count de Gabalis, from whence he has taken
the machinery of his Rape of the Lock.

[E] Mrs. F--m--r.

[F] See the Dedication of Mr. Campbell's Life.

[G] See Mr. Campbell's Dedication.

[H] See Cooper's Hill.

[I] See many places of his notes on Homer.

[J] See Mr. Campbell's Life, page 80.

[K] Alluding to this verse, "sed cum falsa Damus, nil nisi Nostra
Damus."

THE END OF DUNCAN CAMPBELL.

* * * * *

TRANSCRIBER NOTES:

Punctuation corrected without note.

Archaic spellings have been retained.

The following corrections have been made:

page iv: "two" changed to "too" (too long to dwell upon).

page 8: "dedelighted" changed to "delighted" (however, delighted
extremely in this way).

page 13: "off" changed to "of" (night not be despaired of.).

page 14: "a" added for continuity (for she that can dally with a
heart).

page 15: "governer" changed to "governor" (who is the governor of
Uma).

page 25: "Willis" changed to "Wallis" (An Extract from Dr.
Wallis).

page 36: "hiting" changed to "hitting" (that he seldom missed
hitting).

page 44: "vension" changed to "venison" (to bring a side of
venison to me).

page 47: "be" added for continuity (no demonstrative proof is to
be had on either side).

page 143: "their" changed to "there" (and left there alone).

page 153: "know" changed to "known" (by persons of known credit).

page 180: "inbord" changed to "inborn" (if we allow the
second-sight to be inborn).

page 180: "onger" changed to "longer" (not to afflict the patient
any longer).

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