Essay on the Antiquity, Dignity and Advantages of living in a Garret THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES J.Kt^AL < A N ESSAY ON THE ANTIQUITY, DIGNITY, AND ADVANTAGES O F Living in a GARRET. [ Price Six-pence.] A N ESSAY ON T H E ANTIQUITY, DIGNITY, AND ADVANTAGES O F Living in a GARRET. Humbly recommended to The Serious Confideration O F The LEARNED WORLD. LONDON, Printed for W. OWEN, near Temple-bar. MDCCLI. -PR AN ESSAY O N THE Antiquity, Dignity, and Advantages Of Living in a G A R R E T. AFTER having devoted a long and laborious Life of more than lixty Years to the Service of my Country ; I thought it incumbent on me to do fome- thing that might at once be a handfome Conclufion to my Works, and a grateful Acknowledgement of the Favour the World has fhewn them. Both which Ends, I hope, are anfwered in the following Ef- [6] fay , for as it is my lateft, and therefore beft Performance, I cannot leave the pub- lic a more valuable Legacy j nor can I ever fo happily conclude my Works as by thi s Piece, which my Friends (for I have con- fulted my Friends) aflbre me is the Ne plus ultra of my Capacity. What I have hi- therto published has been the Produce either of my Reading or Invention : this is the Fruit of my Experience. The Fame which (abfit vanitas) the World has been pleafed to allow me, was entirely owing to th e Manner of Life I here recommend, which I now make public, that all who are will- ing to follow my Example, may partake my Succefs. I think it a fingular Happinefs that all my Days have been fpent in a Garret-, and that my Circumftances have fo luckily agreed with my Inclinations ; for I was born to a great deal of Ambition, and very little Money , and found a Garret proper to in- dulge my Pride % and comply with my Po- verty j f7l verfy-y as it is at once lofty and cheap. Thefe Confiderations firft induced me to pitch on it : but on a further Acquaintance I found fo many Advantages in the Situa- tion, as a Man of my Humanity could not be fatisfied to enjoy in a felfim Silence ; for tho' I fhould pafs over, (which how- ever I don't intend to do) all the Advan- tages it has with regard to Health, Ho- nour, and Security ; I doubt not to make it appear in the Courfe of this Effay, that Garrets are peculiarly favourable to Study, calculated for the Learned, and by them ufed in all Ages, until this, when both Learn! fig, and living in a Garret, are fallen into Diirepuce together. As we trace the Current of Antiquity, the nearer we approach the Fountain Head, where Nature flows moft pure and uncorrupted, the fonder we find Mankind of Garrets. The fkft learned People we read of was the Affyrians; they fo detefted the Surface of the Earth, that they fpared no no Labour, no Expence, to raifc them- felves a Garret as high as Heaven ; and what is the Reafon affigned? Why, to make themfelves a Name To gain them an immortal Reputation, plainly intimat- ing, that they thought it impoffible to come to Fame by any other Road 5 and indeed it has been the Fate of the Ambitious Learned ever fince, that their Purfuits of Glory have generally either begun or end- ed in a Garret. Our Proofs of Antiquity do by 'no Means reft folely on the Ajjyriam ; we might likewife produce the /Egyptians for this purpofe 5 and Hiflorians tell us, that the Per/tans depofited their Dead upon the Tops of very high Towers. It is natural to fuppofe that there muft be a Conformi- ty between Mens Lives and their Deaths; and if fo, how high muft that wife and brave People have lived ? But now, every thing is inverted, and, by a ftrange Con- tradiction, the loweft Place is held the Place i of 19) t>f Honour. The very mentioning fuch an Opinion were fufficient to fhow its Ab- furdity, tho' all the great Examples of An- tiquity did not oppofe it. To produce all that we might, would only ferve to wafte our Time, and our Readers Patience 5 we (hall therefore content ourfelves with bring- ing an Inftance from later Ages, even when the World was much corrupted, and that from the two a bed of the Roman Emperors who ordered their Ames to be depofited on Pillars of an immenfe Height^ defiring that when dead they might lye in fomething like Garrets, fince the Tyran- ny of Cuftom deprived them of that Satis- faction during their Lives. The Senti- ments of fuch great Men are fufficient to balance againft a World of envious or ig- norant Cavillers j who have fucceeded, how. ever, too well in their Defigns againft Lite- rature by the Attacks they have made on * Trajan, Antoninus* B its its ftrongefl Citadels , fo that Garrets are now become the Dread of vain Fools, the Scorn of wealthy Coxcombs, and the Jeft of little pretending Wits; to all whofe Sneers, (for they deferve not the Name of Reafons.) Befides the Examples I have juft urged, I will oppofe this one Confidera- tion, that will beyond Difpute, evince their Dignity to any reafonable Man : Which is, that Poets (whom all the World allows to be an ambitious Generation,) have fixed their Refidence in them from Time im- memorial. In this, they only follow the Example of their PatronefTes the Mufes, who are always reprefented as inhabiting the higheft Mountains in Greece. A Cir- cumftance that proves, that if they fhould vouchfafe to come under a Roof, a Garret would undoubtedly be their Choice. But to fet this Point in flill a clearer Light^ it will be proper to confider, that the an- cient Writers, the Poets particularly, often veil'd their Thoughts in Allegory, efpeci- ally when the Matter was of fo dry, and unpoetical [ II ] unpoetical a Nature, that they defpaired to make it mine otherwife. So if they would defcribe a Poet fcratching his Head and biting his Nails for a whole Night in his Garret : Inftead of fpeaking of it as I now do, they would fuppofe him led in- fpired to the Mountains of the Mufes, b and there labouring under the Influence of Apollo. - magnum fi pedore poflit, Excufiifle Deum but what will effe&ually ftrengthen this Opinion (that Mountains in moft Authors muft be underftood Garrets) is, that they are generally reprefented as the Habitations of the Learned. Apollo had his Cynthus, Or- pheus his Hamus, Endymion the Aflrono- mer, his Latmos, and Horace reprefents Pindar as fo fituated. -Monte decurrens velut amnis. fc Aonas in Monies ut duxerit una Sororum. B 2 Thefe Thefe laft I don't urge aspofitive Proofs, yet I mould not be very much difpleafed if my Reader had a mind to think them fuch; and this I am perfuaded he will be inclined to do, if he has read thefe excellent Books, that prove with fo much Honour to Religion, and Reafon, that Bac- chus is not only Mofes, but Noah, Sam- fon, Hercules, and what is ftill as odd, that Orpheus is King David. I know I might* like the Authors of the abovementioned Books, have raifed myfelf a Character of great Erudition, by quoting Greek, and He- brew in abundance 5 if like them, I chofe to be admired at the Price of not being un- derflood. Thefe Gentlemen don't ufe their Learning to illuftrate their Subject, but their Subject to mew their Learning ; they therefore always chufe fome ftrange Para- dox to make good; which they fo bury in Quotations, and far fetch'd Reafons, that theReader, at laft knows not what to think of the matter in Queftion, nor of any thing t.'3 ] thing elfe ; they fo confound all Ideas of paft and prefent, wrong and right. But for my Part, I fpare my Reader, and had much rather he mould fufpecl my Learn- ing than my Senfe. The Publick, if it confider'd things rightly, could never fuf- ficiently honour us, who confine our Writings to the Size of a Pamphlet j did they know how eafy it is for us to pour an Inundation of Learning on them from our Libraries, to ftun their Ears, and over- awe their Judgements by great Names ; and to prefent them with not only our waking, but likewife our fleeping Thoughts: And on the other hand experience the trouble of confining ourfelves within pro- per Bounds, and cutting off all crude, all unneceffary, all falfe Thoughts, which to us is little lefs than cutting off a Limb ; they would own, that if we are not good, we are at leaft, merciful Authors. But alas ! 'Tis this Endeavour ruins us j we make no Figure in a Library ; but are fuffered to lie in the Duft, trampled on r H] and ufcd with the utmoft Contempt, till our very Fragments are at laft annihilated. While the Size of larger Books is their Security , which are protected from Ruin, by the Strength of the Binding, not the Strength of the Reafoning. They encum- ber the Land, like fome huge Gothick Buildings that are fuffered to fland, not for any Beauty they have, but becaufe it would coft more than they were worth to deftroy them. But I fee I have unawares flid into a Digrefiion, which, however, is not only pardonable, but perhaps no Fault at all in an Effay. And I return once more, as I always do with Pleafure, to my Garret. Tho* I accufed the Age, in the begin- Ing of this Difcourfc, of being infenfible of the Advantages of a Garret, yet with Pleafure I obferve, 'tis a Fault they are Mole fua ftant. every t >si every Day mending of: Several of our Nb- r ' bility, thofe famous Patrons of Arts, who burn with an incredible Love to all good Letters, have at length difcovered the Mif- take the World has lain under. They thought formerly, that Learning could not be better encouraged, than by loading its Profeflbrs with Favours, Prefents, Penfi- ons &c. and thus, they fmothered the Fire of Genius with too much Fuel. But nowj they have operted their Eyes, and to make amends for their former Error, take care to keep the Learned, like Hawks, keen for the Game, by not over-feeding them. 'Twas not till now, that Horace's advice to Augujlus came to be understood, where he recommends this great Patron Vatibus addere Cdlcar ; that is, to give a fpur to Poets j and what Spur can drive a Man thro* thick and thin like a ftarving Belly ? Or when can a Man be fuppofed to exert himfelf in Writing fo powerfully, as when he writes for his daily [ 16] dally Bread ? Tis to thefe Maxims, that we owe that fuperior Excellence, that dif- tinguimes the Writings of thefe few Years paft, and which, when Pqfterity reads, it will read with wonder. For now Poets begin to return to their Garrets, and their Genius returns along with them. In concurrence with the Deiigns, and partly at the Requeft of feveral of our worthy Patrons, I have penned their Difcourfe, to make my Brethren of the Quill eafy un- der the Change they muft of Neceffity make. I can affure them, as an Omen of the Satisfaction they will enjoy in thefe Apartments, that a conftant Health will keep their Bodies vigorous, and Minds ac- tive , for hither the grofs Vapours of the Town never reach, and even their very Days are longer than theirs who live be- low, Solemfuum fua Jidera norunt. Be- tides, 'Temperance the Guardian of long Life and all the Virtues, always inhabits with the Inhabitants of a Garret. But there is nothing which more abundantly (hews the the Healthfalnefs of the Situation, than, that they, who live in thefe fublime fort of Apartments, never want a good Appe- fife, a Truth wofully experimented by their inferior Neighbours, whenever they make a Defcent on them. There is alfo a great Advantage from the Security of this Poft, that ought not to be pafTed over in Silence -, for as Liber- ty is the deareft Bleffing to all true Britons^ I don't know any Place that promifes more Security from Bailiffs, as their Approaches may be difcovered at a good Diftance; and the Pafs may be maintained by a fmali Force againft great Numbers : But this is a tender Point, of which, as the Captious may take Advantage, I (hall fay no more. For far be it from me, to divulge the Myfteries of my Profeffion. To purfue, therefore, my Obfervations on the Salubrity of the Situation. The Exercife up and down Stairs, relieves the C Breaft Bread wonderfully It is this gives tfefi Poet Breath to fweli his pompous Verfes^ and carry the Orator to the End of his long winded Periods : Hence proceeds the lofty (and indeed more than Human) Sound, of Verfes produced in a Garret^ which as much exceeds the groveling Stuff begotten below, as the Garret itfelf is high- er than the inferior Floors. To this Ad- vantage in the Situation, are to be attribut- ed the Light, and A olive Bodies (Emblems of their Souls) obfervable in our Brethren ; infomuch that a lean Body may be a fort of a Criterion of a Virtuofo. For my Part, I never fee a fat Author, that I am not very much fcandalized ; I look upon all fuch, as Deferters from the Banner of the Mufes, Apoftates from all good Letters, Prodigies to be expiated'by Sacrifice j in fine, Wretches who ought to be driven from the Society of the Learned, like hunted Deer; for fuch ilrange Phenomena* are not only highly abfurd in themfelves, but abfolutely con- trary to all good Precedent^ antient and modern. [ 19 I modern. The late Mr. Pope was as re- markable for his Leannefs as his Wit; 6W- majius reproaches Milton with the fame defect. Homer mud have been, thin, as we may reafonably conclude from his Poverty ^ and tho' I don't know it, I would ven- ture to lay a fmart Wager, that Virgil had not an Ounce of Flefh on his Back. Ovid * makes exprefs mention of his being very meagre in feveral Parts of his Writings, and Mr. Warburton allures me, from the bed Authority, that the Minor Poets might have been bundled together like dry Sticks; and that the Nine Lynch did not all toge- ther weigh fo much as their Rival our Lau- reat. There is one Poet, for whom as I have a great Efteem, I am forry I cannot add to this Number j for it is not quite clear, that he was either very Poor, very Lean, or lived in a Garret > 'tis Horace. I once * Yid. Ov. de Art. Amand. and dc Panto, C 2 indeed [20] indeed thought, that the many PafTages in his Works in Praife of Poverty, proved, that he muft have experienced it -, but Mr. Warburton (and I don't know his Fellow for found Criticifm) thinks it evident, from his praifing it, that he knew nothing of the Matter. In cafes of this Confequence we ought never to determine rafhlyj much lefs ought we to take tilings, at beft doubt- ful, for granted, only becaufe agreeable to our Syftemj for the Detection of falfe Rea- foning in one Point, will make us fufpect- cd in all the reft. And that Fame promi- fes to be of no great Duration, which is to laft no longer than till we meet an intelli- gent Reader. To make then this Affair as eafy as poffible ; it may not be impro- per, to confider Horace's Life in two dif- tinct Periods. The former, before he gain- ed the Favour of Auguftus ; and then, I take it, he lived in a Garret ; and many Parts of his Works favour that conjecture: The latter, after he had been introduced to that Monarch; at which Time, I allow, he took [ 21 ] took up with lower Apartments, but then he was fo fenfibleof the Indecorum of this Condud, that he never after confider'd him^ felfasa Poet. Primum me illorum dederim quibus efic Poetas Excerpam numero. Nos turba fumus, &c. Nay he went fo far, as to call himfelf a Hog e , a Knave, and other opprobrious Names f , as nothing but the Senfe of fo capital a Fault as that which he commit- ted, could juftify: But there are (asljuft now mention'd) fome PafTages, in his Odes, that mew he had formerly pradtif- ed better, nor need we go further than the very firfl for an inftance, Sublimi feriam Sidera vertice. Now this is fo extraordinary a Rant, that it is impoffible to take it literally, and can Epicuri de grege porcum. f Nebulones. mean mean no more, according to our former Method of taking down the Flights of Poets ; than that, " if Maecenas mould " place him among the Lyrick Poets, he would ftrike his Head againft the Roof " of his Garret for Joy." This is a natur al Explication, and any other would be wild and abfurd. ; But the next Inftance I bring is much more forcible, as it is from an Ode entirely defigne^i to defcribe his Po- verty. Non meo renidet in domo Lacunar. This Idea of a Rafter, could only be fug- gefted by a Garret ; and as for any Diffi- culty arifing from the Word Domo, a School- boy can folve it. But the Verfes I am juft now going to quote, will put the matter beyond any Difpute. . Mutor in alitem, Superne; nafcunturque leves Per digitos, humerofque plumae. TThe plain Englijh of which is, " I am 4 f changed [ 23] * changed into a Bird, and Feathers are cc growing on my Shoulders and Hands." Here is a plain Confeffion of his Poverty 3- for every one knows, that it is commonly faid of a Man all in Rags, " that he looks " as if he was going to fly." This fhews what an excellent Courtier Horace was j he lets his great Friend fee his Neeeflities^ without feeming to blame him for themi and I am much miftaken, if all Antiqui- ty can produce fo genteel an Addrefs, or fo handfome a Method of letting a Man's Patron know his Wants. But whatever might have been the Sen- timents or Practice of this great Critick and Poet, we don't want Authority enough to fupport our Opinion. What Age [ What Nation ! has not known its Garrets filled with its greateft Men ? When did the uninterrupted Succeffion fail? Or when was Learning itfelf famous, that Garrets were not fo too? For my Part, I never come into mine, that I don't find myfelf infpired Infpired by the Situation, and fancy rny- felf in the midft of thefe ever glorious He- roes of Literature it has either received of formed. What Prodigies of Genius have I not known, even in my own degenerate Time ! Politicians, howfublime! Poets, how profound! Wits, how folid! Philofophers, how fubtle ! How often has the Govern- ment been relieved, in great Emergencies by the timely Schemes fent it from Garrets-, and, with Sorrow I fpeak it, if they had always been attended to, the national Debt would not have remained fo long unpaid. Here thofe who had fcarce Genius for a Conundrum, conceive one for Poetry, or even make a fhift to write very well with- out one. Here thefe Arts of Cbemiflry and Alchimy as they were firfl formed are moft improved. Here is received the earlieft Intelligence of foreign Affairs, even before they are tranfacted. Here Debauchees la- ment pathetically the Corruption of Man- ners; this infpires Men ftarving with Hun- ger to write Sonnets of Love. Broken, Merchants Merchants to deal in Paftoral, but in none is it more fertile than in excellent Satirifts. Among the many Conveniencies for Stu- dy that a Garret affords, I don't know any more confpicuous, or of greater Moment, than its Solitude ; it is the Nurfe of Study j and a Man may be fure to have it here quite uninterrupted ; for when a Man re- tires to a Garret, he is fure never to be trou- bled with the importunate and officicious Vifits of his Friends j he may purfue his Meditations without the leaft Disturbance, and is as effectually forgotten as if he left the World. Next to the want of Solitude there is nothing more prejudicial to Writers than Flattery^ as it hinders them from feeing, and confequently from amending, their Faults ; but here I can affure them, whatever may hurt their Writings, they are in no fort of danger from Flattery. D I would ft I would not appear to be ignorant, that fome pretend to have found a Number of thefe Advantages in a Cellar, which they rather recommend for an Habitation for Authors ; and to countenance this Opinion alledge the Practice of Demofthenes, who ftudied under Ground. But thefe People ought carefully to be voided, as moft dan- gerous Innovators in the Republick of Letters j they would reduce Authors to the Condition of Moles, who ought to foar like Eagles. Tho* my Indignation is the greateft imaginable againft them, I can wifti the Countenancers of this wicked and he- terodox Opinion nothing worfe, than that they themfelves mould be condemned to fuffer what they fo heartily recommended to, others. You muft not think, my Brethren, that in this Piece I fpeak to you like an over- grown Seneca, preaching Poverty from his rich Alcove > no, no, I advife you to no- thing thing but what I practife myfelf : For I write this from one of the fublimeft Apart- ments in Drury Lane ; and I venture to fay, that a judicious Perfon may foon difco- ver, that as fome Mens Writings fmell of the Lamp, fo that mine fmell of the Gar- ret. What fuccefs thefe my honeft Endea- vours may be crowned with, I {hall not po- fitively determine ; but this much I muft have Leave to fay : That no one can have better Affurances of Succefs, as I already have had the Approbation of thofe, whofe good Opinion might prefage that of the Publick, or make me ample amends for the want of it. Men whofe Learning would give a Luftre to their Virtues, but that their Modefty\ that infeparable Companion, tho' word Friend of Merit, prevents their min- ing with their native Luftre. For my Part I mould be proud of being rank'd in the Number of their Admirers, if they were not humble enough to let me ufe the dearer D 2 Name [23 ] Name of Friend. The firft of thefe I fhal! mention, is the very Rev. and my good Friend Dr. John Hly. He is a Gentler man poflefled of a Thoufand latent good Qualities, which would be an Ornament to the World, but for a certain Diffidence which keeps him from difplaying them in an envious and ignorant Age. This great Man, I fay, has been fo liberal to me of his Praifes, that they cover me with Confu- Jton, and are fuch as I am afhamed to mention. All I can do in return, is to take this Method of informing the Pub- lick, that they will hear every Sunday Evening, for a Shilling, or Six-pence, (as each Perfon is inclined, or can afford) the fublimeft Strains of Oratory, and the pureft Precepts of Religion, intermixed with the moft delicate Ralleries, at the Corner of Clare-Market. He does not keep his Chapel here, as fome of his Enemies would infinuate, becaufe incapable of pleafing any but Butchers, but to exert the ancient Force of Eloquence in fubduing barbarous Minds. Another Another Gentleman (Mr. W ) whom J confulted all along in this Work, has paid me his Compliments on it, with a Polite- nefs and Elegance peculiar to himfelf. He thinks literary Criticifm firft began in a Garret, and can only be brought to Perfec- tion there. For this Reafon he intends to make ufe of my Afliftance in a Work he has now on the Anvil, wherein he intends to rejlore all the Englifh Poets, from Chaucer down to Pope. I might corroborate thefe Teftimonies, if they needed it, by thofe of all the Weekly and Daily Writers ; but as they are notorioufly known to live in Garrets, I fear theirs might be fufpected. Befides I doubt I have faid already too much j but I chufe to Place the Teftimo- nies of my Friends, (contrary to the Method of other Authors) at the End of my Work, that my Reader may be the better Judge, whether I deferve them : And as for the Characters I have given of a few of my Friends, I flatter myfelf I fhall be forgiven j becaufe the World naturally delights in Pa- negyrick efpecially when iuflly applied. For the Work I {hall % but little myfelf, and that, (as all Men fhould talk of their own Compofitions) with the utmoft Dif- fidence. I have not borrowed one Thought, Line, or Sentence from any Author, livimg or Dead. Good or bad. *Tis all my own. It rnuft ftand or fall by its own Merit. But if the prefent Age fhould not approve it, let every Body take notice, that I lodge my Appeal to Poflerity in proper Form, FINIS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. MARIO AU6.8197 Form L9-50m-4,'61(B8994s4)444 ..,". .SOUTHERN .::; LIBRARY FAC iury 000000843 3