LECTURES ON ENGLISH HISTORY. LECTURE I.—INTRODUCTORY.* On the Study of History. Shakspeare's Chronicle-Plays-Legendary history: King Lear-Roman and Saxon: Cymbeline and Macbeth-Nature of the subject generally-Imaginative history defined-Not historical romance— Power of Imagination in historical painting-Archbishop Whateley's analysis-Lord Bacon's idea of dramatic poetry-Milton's Vision of Greece, in Paradise Regained-Sense of reality-Famines as described in history and poetry-Genoa in 1799-Ghent in the fourteenth century-Philip Van Artavelde-Archdeacon HareRemote and obscure legends-Reality too distinct-Images and memories of the dead-Effect of travel in the Holy Land-Volney -Written historical painting---Charles Lamb-Belshazzar's Feast -Washington Allston-Poetical history of the Bible-The reputed philosophy of history-Lingard and Hume-Arnold-Tragic poetry -Sir Walter Scott-Funerals actual and picturesque-HogarthHume's accidental theory-Outline of Shakspeare's historiesNovelty of the subject of this lecture. Ir is my purpose to explain to you the nature of the course which I have announced, and to present some considerations respecting the study of history. * Delivered in the College Hall of the University of Pennsylvania, December 8th, 1846. The subject of these lectures is that portion of modern history which is illustrated by Shakspeare's historical drama. The earliest of the reigns thus illustrated is that of King John; the latest is that of Henry the Eighth : and between these, are Richard the Second, Henry the Fourth, the Fifth, the Sixth, and Richard the Third. This is a series, it will be observed, which carries us back into the agitated turmoil of the Middle Ages, and leads us on to the later form of social and political life in that period of history, which, to distinguish it from the mediæval, has been called the "modern of the modern." In these "Chronicle-Plays," as they are styled, there is comprehended the story of three eventful centuries-the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth-broken, indeed, by some considerable intervals of time. I will endeavour in the lectures partially to notice those intervals; and I propose to extend my subject into a more remote antiquity, by taking the tragedy of King Lear as illustrative of the legendary times, and Cymbeline and Macbeth, of the Roman and Saxon periods, respectively. The nature of this subject renders these lectures literary as well as historical; and they must combine the study of those two high departments of human thought, -poetry and history. Now I desire to say, at the outset, that I have sought this combination, not so much as a means of relieving the severity of historical study and making it more attractive, as because I have a deep conviction, that Poetry has a precious power of its own for the preservation of historical truth; that it can so revivify the past-can put such life in it—as to make it imperishable. I have it greatly at heart to carry this deep conviction of mine into your minds, and hope to be able to show, if not by argument in this lecture, at least by actual evidence in those that follow, how a great poet may be, at the same time, a great historian. Before going further with the subject of my lecture, let me take two or three minutes to prevent some misapprehensions, which might otherwise occur. While there may be a legitimate and valuable service of the faculty of imagination in the cause of history, there is certainly a great deal that is utterly spurious and deceptive, especially in the shape of historical novels, among which the few excellent stand distinguished from a multitude that are worthless. I have no occasion to refer to them, and wish to be understood as treating my subject altogether apart from them. Again, when I state that the imagination may minister to the knowledge of history, I certainly do not mean to say, that the poetic or dramatic form is better than any other form of history, or, indeed, to make any kind of comparison between them. There is in each its own peculiar value; and so vast is the range of history, that it needs them all: it gives ample duty to every one who labours to save the memory of the past-whether it be he who zealously collects authentic documents, or pores, over time-worn inscriptions, or gathers unwritten traditions— whether it be annalist, or chronicler, or biographer, or historian. I allude to these various functions, not in the way of comparison, but, on the contrary, to show that no disparagement of them is to be understood, when I assert the use of the imagination in the study of history. Let me premise one other remark—that in employing the term "Imagination," I mean not such a faculty of the mind as gives birth to the common works of fiction, nor even such as is represented in the inadequate analysis that is met with in the usual systems of metaphysics, but that creative power which, whether it bear the name of imagination or no, is an element of every great mind, without which there may be acute intellect, there may be fine talents, but there cannot be that which is known as GENIUS. I mean that inventive wisdom, which brings the truth to life by the help of its own creative energy-the poetic element which is found, not only in the souls of mighty artists, whether their art be poetry, or painting, or sculpture, but also of great philosophers and historians. I now may proceed in my endeavour to show, that this imaginative power does render important service in the acquisition of historical knowledge. In the first place, I ask your attention to this fact-that, whenever the imagination of a great artist, be he poet or be he painter, has touched any historic character or event, forthwith it acquires a lifelike reality, which other portions of history, on which no such light has fallen, do not possess. Why is it that we have so vivid a conception of that scriptural occasion-St. Paul at Athens-but because, in one of the grandest of the cartoons, Raffaelle has given to Christendom a vision of the apostle in that sublime attitude "As if the expanded soul diffused itself, *This illustration was, no doubt, suggested by a letter from Charles Lamb to Southey, 6th May, 1815. He says, referring to "Roderic," where these lines occur-"It struck me forcibly that the feeling of these lines might have been suggested to you by the cartoon of Paul at Athens." Final Memorials, vol. iv. p. 215. W. B. R. Again, why is it that that splendid legend of early Roman history-the story of Coriolanus-is so fresh and familiar to us, except that Shakspeare has so impersonated the pride of that patrician soldier, as to make us feel that he was not a mere name on the page of history, but a human being with like passions as ourselves. I present to you this fact also as unquestionably true, that the portion of English history which Shakspeare has treated is more familiarly known, not only popularly, but in well-educated minds, and especially with reference to the characters of famous personages, than any other part of it. Why is it, that the first great civil conflict-the baronial war, in the reign of Henry the Third, with De Montfort at its head, --he who, when he fell, earned "a hero's honour and a martyr's name"-why is it known so much less than that other civil feud, the fury of which was quenched by the blood spilt on Bosworth Field?* Why is this, except that the latter period is seen in the light that is shed upon it by the imagination of Shakspeare? How the dramatic poet has so wrought upon those times as to inspire a life into them, I will not now stop to inquire. It is the fact I wish you to consider. From this, I pass to an authority on which much stress may be laid, because it comes from a writer remarkable for his logical and rather unimaginative habit of mind. It is a no less severe logician than Archbishop Whateley, who thus reasons, to show how imagination is needed in the study of history:— "It has seldom or ever been noticed, how important, among the intellectual qualifications for the study of his *Sir Francis Palgrave. 2 |