In the Purview of the Statute of the aforemention'd Harry the Fifth, it is exprefly mention'd that they gave the Tax for the fpecial Defence of the Realm of England, and all Taxes were formerly appropriated in this Manner. What was rais'd on the Land was appropriated to our Defence at Home; for as Scotland was not at that Time united to England, we were subject to Invasions from thence, but now while we keep up our Fleet we are expos'd to none, and Tonnage and Poundage, and Taxes of the like Nature were applied conftantly for the keeping and Safe-guard of the Seas, and for the Intercourfe of Merchants, fafely to come into the Realm, and safely to go out of the fame.

We fhall, upon fome other Occafion, purfue this Subject, and fhew in what Manner, and with what Limitations, English Parliaments have always given the People's Money to the Crown.

SATURDAY, Aug. 1, 1730.

RISTOTLE fays, that the Theatre is the School of Vertue, and Tragedy a Poem for Kings, and we read that, amongst the polite Grecians, thofe who firft brought Tragedy to Perfection, were made Governors of Provinces, and Viceroys of Kingdoms.

Sophocles, who, because of the Sweetnefs of his Numbers, was firnamed the Bee, and the Athenian Syren, commanded the Army of the Athenians, in Conjunction with Pericles; yet we find this feldom

taken

taken Notice of by Hiftorians, as being a Circumftance which could no way raife his Character; therefore they generally fpeak of him only as the Tragick Poet, as if that were the greater Name of the two ; thus we find that Genius and Senfe recommend a Man to Fame with future Ages, beyond Power and Command.

Euripides was thought worthy of the Friendship of the divine Socrates, and both the one and the other of thefe Poets were ftiled the Wife, both by Oracles and Philofophers.

There have been few Men great either in Arms or in the Affairs of State, who, if they have not writ, yet have diftinguished themfelves for their delicate Tafte in the Writings of others; the Scipio's and the Cafar's, the greatest Names of Antiquity, after fubduing Nations, have retired to the Mufes, and the firft of thefe not only encouraged but affisted Terence in his Comedies; and we are told that Julius Cafar himself wrote a Tragedy, and indeed his Commentaries, which are come down to us, give us a fufficient Specimen of the great Force of his Eloquence.

When the wife Auguftus govern'd the Roman Empire, the Temple of Janus was fhut, fo that there being Peace all over the World, this great Emperor had Leifure to follow his generous Inclinations, and to encourage all polite Arts, and therefore it is no Wonder that a Mecenas was made firft Minifter, and that Virgil, Horace, and Livy, were often made Choice of for his Companions in Converfation; and tho' it may look as if the Emperor had highly honour'd thofe Men by fuch a Familiarity, yet it is certain, when we come to confider Things right, we shall find that he honoured himself much more, for Virgil and Horace would have met with the fame Efteem from all Ages which they have done, tho❞ Auguftus had never taken Notice of them; but Auguftus

guftus would have met with much lefs, and his Reputation would have wanted half its Glory, for it is his Relish for their Conversation which at this Day gives us fo advantagious an Idea of the fine Understanding and delicate Tafte of that Prince, fince a very little Experience teaches us to know that there never was a Fool or an ignorant Man who was captivated with the Company of Men of Senfe, as, on the contrary, there never was a Man of Senfe who could be pleafed with that of a Fool.

Poets and Philofophers are the fit Ornaments of a Court, that is to fay, of a polite and a fenfible Court, fuch as was that of Auguftus, but Fidlers, Singers, Buffoons, and Stock-jobbers, would beft fuit the Court of a Tiberius or a Nero, where Stupidity, Lewdnefs and Rapine fat in Council, and exerted all their Strength, in Opposition to every thing that was fenfible and ingenious.

We find that Fools and Tyrants bear the fame Antipathy to Men of Parts, tho' from different Caufes; the Fool cannot relifh the Conversation of those whose Sentiments are above his Apprehenfion, and the Tyrant thinks fuch Men dangerous, becaufe they fee and understand too much.

Thus Shakespear has very judiciously put into the Mouth of Julius Cafar a Remark upon Caffius, when, fpeaking to Mark Antony, he fays

Caf. Yon Caffius has a lean and hungry Look;
He thinks too much ;-fuch Men are dange-

rous.

Ant. Fear him not, Cafar;-he's not dangerous;
He is a noble Roman, and well given.

Caf. Yet, if my Name were liable to Fear,

I do not know the Man I would avoid
As foon as that fpare Caffius;-he reads much,
He is a great Obferver, and he looks
Quite thro' the Deeds of Men.

Thus

Thus it will be with all Men who exercife an unjuft Power, or even exercise that which is juft in a violent and arbitrary Manner; they dread that good Senfe which can look through the Deeds of Men, and hate the Man who can fee the Corruption of their Hearts through the Difguifes they put on with an Intent to deceive the World. The private Hours of a Macenas might be dedicated to the Converfation of a Virgil, a Horace, or a Livy, but look into the Life of a

you will find, in the Height of his Pride and Vanity, nothing admitted into his Privacy but a Sharper, a Pimp, or a Stock-jobber, for thefe are the Tools of Corruption, the proper Inftruments of Fraud, and without a Confederacy with thefe there is no ruining Families by Projects, and raising a Fortune in a Day.

But little do the Great fometimes think how much the World interests itself in the Favours which are fhewn to Men of Genius.

The Great Man who is the Patron of Sciences obliges a whole Nation, and every private Man thinks himself a Sharer in the Bounties which are bestowed upon Perfons of that Character, because every Man expects to receive Improvement and Pleasure by their Works.

Cardinal Richlieu was undoubtedly the greatest Politician of the Age he lived in, or of any fince, and one would think, by his Beneficence to all who discover'd any Spark of Genius, that there must be a Sympathy betwixt the Souls of Men of comprehenfive Parts; but what I am going to obferve is, that not a French Man has lived fince his Time but has thought France more oblig'd to this Minifter for reviving Arts and Sciences than for embarralling the Enemies of his Country.Nay I believe we may carry this Obfervation much farther, and venture to affert, that there has not lived

one

one Man of Senfe, these seventeen Hundred Years, of any Country, but has reverenced the Memory of Macenas for the Friendship and Patronage he afforded to Virgil and Horace.

And there is good Reafon for our paying this Refpect to the Patrons and Benefactors of the Ingenious, for a Kingdom makes a Figure amongst her Neighbours according to the Reputation of her Men of Letters; Demofthenes is to Day as great a Name as Alcibiades, and Italy as much honour'd in having produced a VIRGIL, as a Scipio, and I believe there is not a Man living but bears a greater Reverence for the Memory of the Poet Spenfer than for that of Woolfey.

Nay, we find the Influence of Letters, - of Arts and Sciences, is greater than that of Arms. The Romans fubdued all the World, and yet were themselves afterwards over-run and fubdu'd by the barbarous Goths and l'andals, so that they almoft loft the Name of a People, but they triumph ftill in their Poets and Hiftorians, ftill they maintain a kind of univerfal Empire in their Language, and he that is intirely ignorant of that Language, is esteem'd a kind of Barbarian at this Day in all Countries.

Where-ever there is a Mecenas, a Virgil will arife, (fays Boileau) that is to fay, there will at all Times be a Genius to be found amongst the People, but they must be rais'd and brought into View by the Encouragement of the Great; a Tree will bring forth no Fruit unless the Sun fhines upon it; it is the kind Warmth and Influence of that Planet that makes it bear, and Wit flourishes best when it feels the friendly Warmth of Power.

That we may know a Man by his Company is an Obfervation that will hold good to the End of the World; and if I fhould fee a Perfon in a high Station affociate principally with Perfons who had G

VOL. IL

the