Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Betiveen The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
COMPARISON BETIVEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE .
[ -CONTINUED FIIOM VOL . IX . PAGE 375-3
IN pursuing these observations ,- I was led to the consideration of the wonderful progress of the moderns in eveiy department of knowledge , and could not but observe in how many respe & s we surpass the ancients . Whether the ancients or the moderns are superior in this respect is a question that has been agitated with great warmth , on both sides , by some of the greatest men of the age . My present purpose , however , is only to offer a few cursory remarks on this
interesting subject . The circle of science indeed is so extensive , and so numerous are its branches , that to consider them distinctly would furnish materials for a large work . I shall therefore confine my observations to some of the principal parts of learning , which will furnish sufficient data to enable us to draw the most undeniable conclusions . These are , tbe Belles Lettres , Natural Philosophy , and Metaphysics .
With respect to the first of these , to which the appellation ot polite literature is generally appropriated : —That the Antients excelled in works of genius and sublimity , no one at present will venture to deny , unless he has the temerity to set his opinion against that of every age and nation in which literature has flourished , or will engage to provethat the unanimous sentiments of the best judges , for centuries past , have been erroneous and ill-founded . The works
of Homer and Virgil , which have stood the test of ages , are alone sufficient evidences of this truth ; and though the scrutinizing eye of criticism may point out many blemishes and defects in their writings , yet instead of condemning those errors which are ever incident to the productions of humanity , we are justly astonished at the exertions of genius that could give birth to such inimitable poems as the Iliad and the __ £ ueid . The former has alwavs been considered as a
masterpiece of the Epopeas , and , it we except Milton , Homer may truly be said to stand unrivalled in sublimity and invention . The iEneid of Virgil indeed dees not display these qualities in the same degree , or with the same profusion , as are conspicuous in the . original he has copied ; but nevertheless it discovers a wonderful correctness of judgment , accuracy of taste , and elegance of poetry , which will always secure to it the reputation it has hitherto uniformly possessed .
But the beauties and intrinsic excellencies of these celebrated poems are so well known to the world , that it would be both useless and preposterous to occupy much time in descanting upon what has so often exercised the pens of the ablest critics and commentators . To appreciate with precision the epic productions of the moderns , and to form an accurate estimate of the comparative merits of Tasso VOL . x , . c
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Comparison Betiveen The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.
COMPARISON BETIVEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE .
[ -CONTINUED FIIOM VOL . IX . PAGE 375-3
IN pursuing these observations ,- I was led to the consideration of the wonderful progress of the moderns in eveiy department of knowledge , and could not but observe in how many respe & s we surpass the ancients . Whether the ancients or the moderns are superior in this respect is a question that has been agitated with great warmth , on both sides , by some of the greatest men of the age . My present purpose , however , is only to offer a few cursory remarks on this
interesting subject . The circle of science indeed is so extensive , and so numerous are its branches , that to consider them distinctly would furnish materials for a large work . I shall therefore confine my observations to some of the principal parts of learning , which will furnish sufficient data to enable us to draw the most undeniable conclusions . These are , tbe Belles Lettres , Natural Philosophy , and Metaphysics .
With respect to the first of these , to which the appellation ot polite literature is generally appropriated : —That the Antients excelled in works of genius and sublimity , no one at present will venture to deny , unless he has the temerity to set his opinion against that of every age and nation in which literature has flourished , or will engage to provethat the unanimous sentiments of the best judges , for centuries past , have been erroneous and ill-founded . The works
of Homer and Virgil , which have stood the test of ages , are alone sufficient evidences of this truth ; and though the scrutinizing eye of criticism may point out many blemishes and defects in their writings , yet instead of condemning those errors which are ever incident to the productions of humanity , we are justly astonished at the exertions of genius that could give birth to such inimitable poems as the Iliad and the __ £ ueid . The former has alwavs been considered as a
masterpiece of the Epopeas , and , it we except Milton , Homer may truly be said to stand unrivalled in sublimity and invention . The iEneid of Virgil indeed dees not display these qualities in the same degree , or with the same profusion , as are conspicuous in the . original he has copied ; but nevertheless it discovers a wonderful correctness of judgment , accuracy of taste , and elegance of poetry , which will always secure to it the reputation it has hitherto uniformly possessed .
But the beauties and intrinsic excellencies of these celebrated poems are so well known to the world , that it would be both useless and preposterous to occupy much time in descanting upon what has so often exercised the pens of the ablest critics and commentators . To appreciate with precision the epic productions of the moderns , and to form an accurate estimate of the comparative merits of Tasso VOL . x , . c