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  • The Freemasons' Magazine
  • Feb. 1, 1798
  • Page 30
  • COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE.
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Feb. 1, 1798: Page 30

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    Article COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE. Page 1 of 7 →
Page 30

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Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE .

[ CONCLUDED FROM P . 19 . ]

l ^ THATEVER claims we may possess in other respects to an v v equality with the ancients , it is a fact of incontrovertible evidence , that we are greatly their inferiors in oratory and fine writing . And this , every one will acknowledge , the works of Demosthenes , Cicero , Longinus , Xenophon , Sallust , Livy , and Pliny , demonstrate in the most indubitable manner . Where are the writings we can place in competition with the energetic hiliics of Demosthenesor

ppp , with the eloquent and more splendid orations of the Roman senator ? Indeed it is but of late years that elegance of language , beauty of composition , and harmony of diction , have been cultivated at all bymodern authors . However , the elegant and superior productions of the pen that have recently appeared , both in this and a neighbouring country , clearly evince that the study of language has become an obof

ject greater attention , and prognosticate its further improvement in futurity and refinement . The masterly writings of Hume , Robertson , and Gibbon , we cannot hold in too great admiration , notwithstanding the fastidious animadversions of criticism , or the pitiful detractions of envy . As historians , they instruct us by a narration of the most important facts ; but as writers , they excite in the mind a very high degree of pleasure , by the beauty and classical spirit of their stile . Since the times of Addison and Swift , from whom the English

language first received the polish and correctness it now possesses , we have beheld another class of authors rising into existence , who , emulous of fame , have imbibed the spirit of the ancients , have caught the ardour which animated their breasts , and whose works would have adorned the most refined periods of Greece and Rome . The nervous language and the modulated periods of Johnson , the bold and animated stile of Burkethe finished and correct composition of

, Blair , and the elegant simplicity of Melmoth , who is justly denominated the second Pliny , sufficiently justify my remark . Nor should I omit the names of Beattie , Hurd , Hawkesworth , Cumberland , Knox , and others , of the present day , whose pure and classical diction authorises us to entertain expectations , that in this , as in other respects , by a strict imitation of their excellencies , we shall equal the admired models of anti

quity . The next general head of knowledge that comes under consideration is natural philosophy , a subject as extensive as the objects of external nature . And here we may safely assert , that the ancients are not to be placed in competition with us in any one branch of this multifarious science . Nor shall we be surprised at this , when we consider that conjecture and abstract reasoning were the only methods made use of by the philosophers of antiquity , in their researches into nature . Theories and systems without number have been formed

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1798-02-01, Page 30” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 11 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01021798/page/30/.
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
Untitled Article 2
LONDON: Article 2
TO CORRESPONDENTS, &c. Article 3
ACCOUNT OF KIEN-LONG, EMPEROR OF CHINA. Article 4
NOTICE OF SIR ANDREW DOUGLAS. Article 6
A RETROSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE LITERATURE OF 1797. Article 7
WISDOM AND FOLLY: A VISION. Article 12
THE LIFE OF XIMENES, ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO. Article 18
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE. Article 30
A COLLECTION OF CHINESE PROVERBS AND APOTHEGMS, Article 36
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY ON LONGEVITY. Article 41
COLONEL TITUS's LETTER TO OLIVER CROMWELL. Article 43
THE COLLECTOR. Article 45
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS: Article 50
POETRY. Article 58
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 62
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. Article 66
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Page 30

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Comparison Between The Ancients And Moderns In Science And Literature.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE ANCIENTS AND MODERNS IN SCIENCE AND LITERATURE .

[ CONCLUDED FROM P . 19 . ]

l ^ THATEVER claims we may possess in other respects to an v v equality with the ancients , it is a fact of incontrovertible evidence , that we are greatly their inferiors in oratory and fine writing . And this , every one will acknowledge , the works of Demosthenes , Cicero , Longinus , Xenophon , Sallust , Livy , and Pliny , demonstrate in the most indubitable manner . Where are the writings we can place in competition with the energetic hiliics of Demosthenesor

ppp , with the eloquent and more splendid orations of the Roman senator ? Indeed it is but of late years that elegance of language , beauty of composition , and harmony of diction , have been cultivated at all bymodern authors . However , the elegant and superior productions of the pen that have recently appeared , both in this and a neighbouring country , clearly evince that the study of language has become an obof

ject greater attention , and prognosticate its further improvement in futurity and refinement . The masterly writings of Hume , Robertson , and Gibbon , we cannot hold in too great admiration , notwithstanding the fastidious animadversions of criticism , or the pitiful detractions of envy . As historians , they instruct us by a narration of the most important facts ; but as writers , they excite in the mind a very high degree of pleasure , by the beauty and classical spirit of their stile . Since the times of Addison and Swift , from whom the English

language first received the polish and correctness it now possesses , we have beheld another class of authors rising into existence , who , emulous of fame , have imbibed the spirit of the ancients , have caught the ardour which animated their breasts , and whose works would have adorned the most refined periods of Greece and Rome . The nervous language and the modulated periods of Johnson , the bold and animated stile of Burkethe finished and correct composition of

, Blair , and the elegant simplicity of Melmoth , who is justly denominated the second Pliny , sufficiently justify my remark . Nor should I omit the names of Beattie , Hurd , Hawkesworth , Cumberland , Knox , and others , of the present day , whose pure and classical diction authorises us to entertain expectations , that in this , as in other respects , by a strict imitation of their excellencies , we shall equal the admired models of anti

quity . The next general head of knowledge that comes under consideration is natural philosophy , a subject as extensive as the objects of external nature . And here we may safely assert , that the ancients are not to be placed in competition with us in any one branch of this multifarious science . Nor shall we be surprised at this , when we consider that conjecture and abstract reasoning were the only methods made use of by the philosophers of antiquity , in their researches into nature . Theories and systems without number have been formed

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