The variety of knowledge and talents displayed by Lucan, has not been overlooked by commentators and scholiasts. Some, enlisting under Quintilian, contend for his pre-eminence as an orator. Finding him ardent, impetuous, and forceful in his style, as well as bold and gallant in his sentiments of liberty, they seem in a manner to forget that he was a poet, while they are giving their unqualified testimony in favour of his eloquence. But if they have found the prominent and characteristick feature of his poem, it can hardly be worth preserving, except to contrast the affected oratory of a new school in the reign of Nero, with its real splendour and magnificence in the time of Cicero, and its display in the person of that orator.

It has been discovered, in addition to this, that Lucan was a distinguished theologist and politician, a learned geographer, an astronomer and a mathematician. And it is true, that we are indebted to him, in some of these capacities, for the most tedious parts of his poem.

Apart from these accidents, (to speak logically) it is proper to inquire into the substance of the poem. Every one knows its main object; and all who have read it will acknowledge its merits, as containing a portion of history, narrated in a manner highly interesting, though not uninterrupted by matter foreign to the work of the historian. Its subject is civil war, in which Caesar and Pompey are the prominent characters opposed; and the reader is artfully introduced to the real calamities which it occasioned, before its particulars are recited. Such being the subject of Lucan's poem, and the scenes described being of a recent date, he had only to unite the fidelity of the historian with harmony of numbers and dignity of manner, to complete his principal design. We come then to the great question in controversy, whether the Pharsalia of Lucan be an Epick poem. The answer must depend on the definition of such a poem. When we look back to the two great Epick poets who preceded him, to Homer and Virgil, we find, that the principal achievment which formed the subject of the Iliad, the Odyssey, or the Eneid, while it is suspended amidst a variety of subordinate action, is constantly kept in view, and brought to a perfect close. This unity of action, to which every thing else is subsidiary, is the basis of this kind of poem. Without such a foundation, no composition, whatever be its length or its variety of excellences, deserves to be entitled Epick.

So far, no reason appears for excluding Lucan from the list of Epick poets. The action is one, and terminates in the subversion of Roman liberty by the victories of Caesar. The field is abundantly extensive, the subject is sufficiently heroick, and the action is generally sustained with dignity and grandeur, and would probably have been brought to a perfect close, if the poet's life had been spared.

After conceding all this to the fondest admirers of Lucan, if our criticisms be founded wholly upon the great productions

of Homer and Virgil, there are deficiencies in the Pharsalia, by which its title to a place among Epick poems is forfeited.

It is one thing to ascertain and point out what embellishments a particular species of composition admits, and another to show what it requires. Fiction has been considered by several writers essential to the Epopee: and finding the poem under consideration almost destitute of this embellishment, they have been ready to eject it from this distinction. These writers have considered fiction thus essential, because it is interwoven with the real action, in the works of those who, from general consent, have, by the structure of their poems, given laws to this kind of writing. But the introduction of fictitious events, and of characters framed in the author's own imagination, into the account of popular commotions and bloody battles, well known from their recent date, the actors in which have just passed off the stage, would rather disgust by its violation of historical fidelity, than excite greater interest and enthusiasm, even in those whom fiction, in its proper place, would captivate and delight. The absence of fiction, therefore, however questionable it may render the rank of the poem, cannot be attributed to the Pharsalia as a fault.

It may be thought that no reasons of equal force can be assigned, to vindicate Lucan from a fault of a little different nature. Finding as we do, that the principal human actors in the Pharsalia are suffered to form their own plans, to excite the courage of their own adherents, and to fight their own battles, without the constant intervention of supernatural agents, the inquiry becomes natural, whether the prevailing superstition of the age were not strong enough to justify the poet in the use of machinery. On the other hand it is to be asked, whether the recent occurrence of the historical facts related, render its introduction impertinent. There is always credulity enough in mankind to believe what is not absolutely impossible in its nature; and where religion, true or false, has made a strong impression on the mind, the understanding does not suddenly revolt at the intervention of beings superiour to man, if the poet have art enough to make us think the action worthy of the agent. It must be granted, on the contrary, that to have interspersed in the Pharsalia the fables of the gods, and to have described minutely, according to the vulgar superstition, as well their counsels as what they performed, would have been a capital fault. I conclude, therefore, that, while the nature of the poem does not allow the liberal use of machinery, it does not exclude it altogether.

The only remaining question on this subject is, whether the omission of machinery, (for there is little embellishment in the poem that is founded on super-human agency) be a real defect. În order to decide this, it would be necessary to enter upon the general question, respecting its admission into Epick poetry. This, however, is not the place for such discussion. The

opinion of Lord Kaimes, that it ought to be entirely exploded, because, in his apprehension it becomes so associated in the mind with the real action, as to give an air of fiction to the whole, should not be too hastily adopted: but the advice of Horace, like most of his rules and sentiments in matters of taste, is founded in genuine wisdom:

Nec deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
Inciderit.

Allowing the want of fiction and machinery to be a defect in things, that have been uniformly considered as important features in Epick poetry, a defect to be attributed chiefly to the subject, still the Pharsalia may be ranked among Epick poems. The dignity of its character, founded in the history itself, in the manner in which it is treated, and in the conduct of the principal actors, entitles it to this station, however unwilling we are to dispense with those peculiar badges of distinction that belong to it.

The episodes of Lucan, which constitute almost the only embellishment of the Pharsalia, are very unequal; sometimes also of unreasonable length, degenerating into dry disquisitions, and interrupting the narrative without enlivening it. Among the best of these are the story of Hercules and Antaeus, which is naturally introduced by the inquiries of Curio; and the account of the origin, the manner of delivery, and the present silence of the oracle of Delphi, which follows the consulting of the oracle by Appius, praetor of Achaia. The parting of Pompey and his wife, at the end of the fifth book, has so much of tenderness, that we wonder for a moment, that Lucan seemed to take so much delight in scenes of cruelty.

Opposite as are the opinions of different criticks upon the general character of the Pharsalia, none has contended, that its style is faultless. Good writing was evidently on the decline, at the period when Lucan lived; and the family of the Senecas, to which he belonged, is charged with no inconsiderable share of influence in promoting its corruption. Inequalities in the style of Lucan are found throughout the poem; and there is a certain something, which has been branded with the name of affectation, that frequently occasions obscurity. His uncommon and farfetched epithets, and his efforts for point and smartness, tend in part to produce this obscurity, and have exposed him to the censure of criticks. The language of a declaimer too is frequently loose, and sometimes puerile, and more frequently than either harsh and unpolished. From faults of this kind Lucan is not entirely free.

These blemishes, however, are not without apology. When we consider that Lucan wrote after the middle of the first century, when the most splendid period of Roman literature had passed away; that he died at twenty-seven years of age under

the sentence of Nero; and that he neither filled up his outline, nor completely finished that part of the poem, which has descended to us, it would be unreasonable to look for the greatest refinement of sentiment, elegance of language, or harmony of versification. Had he lived longer, he would probably have curtailed his episodes, smoothed his verses, and produced a more polished work. And the brilliant exploits of Caesar and Pompey would have been less frequently interrupted by a confusion of extraneous character and unconnected incidents.

Having remarked at greater length than was intended upon the poem itself, it is necessary to defer to the next number any observations upon the English versions of the Pharsalia.

FOR THE ANTHOLOGY.

[The following letter, purporting to have been written by Columbus at Jamaica, after the discovery of Terra Firma from the Oronoko westward, Mexico, and Veragua, on his last voyage, was many years ago published as a genuine relick of that great navigator. It is a very ingenious fiction, relating the events that happened to Columbus after he was driven on that island, with his reflections on his former labours and present situation. That it is a fiction is, however, sufficiently apparent, since it mentions the mutiny of Porras, which did not break out till long after Mendez was sent to procure relief, and the mission of Ovando to spy out his situation, which was the consequence of the very despatches that Mendez received from the admiral. He is also made to say, that he and his companions had lain more than ten months in the open air on the decks of his vessels, which was not true. The natives received him well, and the Spaniards, probably, lodged on shore. Besides, the letter was sent within a month after the shipwreck; and had it been ten months, the letter should have been dated 1504, for Columbus was cast away in June 1503.

It is a most interesting specimen of eloquence, though perhaps more declamatory, than the admiral's character will justify. From the phraseology we conclude, it was written in the Spanish language. We have sometimes thought it a little remarkable that no one ever pretended to have found the account of his first voyage, sealed up in a cask by Columbus on his return from the discovery of America, while expecting instant death from the violence of a tempest, hoping, if he should be lost, that a relation of so much importance to mankind would be preserved.] ED. ANTH.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, TO THE KING OF SPAIN.
JAMAICA, 1503.

AUGUST SIRE,

FROM Diego Mendez, and the papers I send by him, your majesty will learn the richness of the gold mines I have discovered in the province of Ver-Agua, and the intention I had formed of leaving my brother at the river Belem, if the vicissitudes of life and the decrees of heaven had permitted. What

ever may happen, it is of little importance to the unfortunate Columbus; whether the honour of finishing these discoveries and forming establishments be reserved for some one, happier than himself, provided your majesty and your successors reap the glory and advantage. If by God's permission Mendez arrive in Spain, I doubt not he will succeed in convincing your majesty and my august mistress, that it is not a chateau and a park that I have added to your dominions, but a whole world, with innumerable subjects, a soil fertile beyond example, riches exceeding all the imagination can conceive, or avarice covet!

But alas! nor Mendez, nor this letter, nor any mortal tongue can describe the troubles and sufferings of mind and body which I have endured, nor the dangers and miseries to which my son, and my brother, and my friends are exposed! For more than ten months have we lain in the open air, on the decks of our vessels, run aground on the coast, and fastened together. Those of my people who have kept their health have mutinied, at the instigation of Perras of Seville: those who have remained faithful are sick and dying. We have consumed all the provisions of the Indians, so that they have abandoned us: thus famine menaces us with death! To those evils are joined so many aggravating circumstances, that in truth it would be difficult to find on the face of the earth a being more wretched than Columbus. One would think that heaven aided the rage of my enemies, and imputed to me, as crimes, my discoveries and my services. O Heaven, and you, ye saints, who inhabit it, permit the king Don Ferdinand, and my illustrious sovereign Donna Isabella, to know that I am the most miserable of men, and that I have become so only from my zeal for their service and interest! No:-There can be no sufferings equal to mine! I see, with horrour, the approach of my destruction, and still more, that of my brave companions, who have sacrificed all to follow me.

Almost sinking under the weight of my misery, what avails the titles of viceroy and perpetual admiral, except to render me more odious in the sight of the Spanish nation? It is evident that every thing conspires to shorten the thread of my life; for, besides being old and cruelly tormented with the gout, I languish and expire under other infirmities, among savages, with whom I find neither remedies or aliments for the body, nor ministers or sacraments for the soul; in the midst of my rebel crews, with my son, my brother, my friends, sick and perishing with pain and hunger, and deprived even of savage succour !

The bishop of Santo Domingo sent a messenger here, but it was rather to inform himself whether I was dead, than to offer me assistance, for his people neither brought or would receive a letter, and refused even to speak to us; from which I conclude that my enemies are waiting with the expectation that here will terminate my voyages and my life!

Blessed mother of God, who compassionates the unhappy and the oppressed! why was I not suffered to perish when Cenell