C A M O E N S. 



303 



Canuxni. sea, and land, who led Israel through the wavoi ; who 

 ' V i ' ilflivi-ri-d Paul, and who protected the children of t la- 

 second father of the world from tin- deluge: but Christ 

 is not once mentioned in the whole passage.'* 4 Bac- 

 chus and the Virgin Mary, adds the Frenchman, are 

 very naturally found together. If words have mean- 

 ing, answers Mickle, this informs the reader that 

 they are found together in thcLusiad; yet the truth 

 is, in the whole poem there is no such personage as 

 the Virgin Mary. 



It is true that Mickle has exposed several glaring 

 instances of ignorance and misrepresentation in Vol- 

 taire's critique ; his mention of Emanuel II. of Por- 

 tugal, for instance, and his notion of the poet hav- 

 ing actually sailed with the discoverer of the passage 

 to India. It is true, also, that whenever a good 

 joke was in view, especially if the Virgin Mary could 

 be included, our French philosopher was generally 

 seized with a shortness of triilh. But if we look to 

 Mickle's vindication of the Portuguese poet's ma- 

 chinery, it is not satisfactory. Gama prays to the 

 Sovereign of Earth and Heaven, who delivered Paul 

 and the children of Israel. It is needless to tell us 

 that this is the Jupiter Optimus Maximus the Great 

 Philosophical Jove, " adored by saint, by savage, and 

 by sage." It is the living and true Deity of the 

 Bible; and being such, Venus (though we should 

 call her the celestial Venus, and the great principle 

 of lovf) has nothing to do whore such a sacred name 

 is implored. The criticism of Voltaire still remains 

 unanswered : that the hero and the object of the en- 

 terprizi* being Christian, Heathen deities are impro- 

 perly introduced. His translator contends, that 

 whatever may be said against the ancient machinery 

 in a modern poem, candour must confess that the 

 allegory of Camoens, which arms the genius of Ma- 

 homme'Janism against the expedition of his heroes, is 

 both sublime and most happily interesting. The ge- 

 nius of Mahommedanism, we cannot but remark, had 

 no motive to oppose the success of Gama and his 

 followers, unless it was to oppose the progress of 

 Christianity, f Had the political genius of Asia 

 been alarmed and brought into action, the poet might 

 have supposed his readers to forget the religion of 

 Europe ; but when the religious genius of Asia is 

 brought forward as an agent in the poem, it is need- 

 less to excuse Camoens, by alleging, that Christ is 

 not mentioned ; the Christian religion is irresistibly 

 brought to our recollection ; our hopes are awaken- 

 ed for the success our fears for the misfortunes of 

 its cause. How much more consistent is the ma- 

 chinery of Tasso, who leads our imagination to blend 

 the interest! of witchcraft, Paganism, Mahommedan- 

 ism, and hell itself, in one common view, as opposed 



to the cause of Christianity ! This it t great and 

 consistent machinery, finely copied by Milton, who 

 identifies the Pagan deities, and the infernal cherubs 

 and seraphs, ana thus clothes himself in the ipoils 

 of superstition. On the whole, the defence of Ca- 

 moens for his Venus, Mars, Neptune, and Jupiter, 

 though ingeniously pleaded by Micklr, is not made 

 out. It is a maxim in law, that the irucienlia legit 

 is not an apology for delmquency ; and all that can 

 be said for Camoens is, that he knew not the law of 

 consistency. 



Another objection to the Lusiad very generally 

 adduced, is the baldness and want of elevation of 

 the style. This Mickle has strenuously denied, and 

 insists, that an uniform simplicity and manly diction 

 characterises the Portuguese epic. This question we 

 ought to leave Portuguese scholars to decide ; ob- 

 serving, at the same time, that the translator's orna- 

 mental diction is not a proof of such a fault in the 

 original. English poetry was in a high state of ar- 

 tificial efflorescence when Mickle wrote, and he might 

 find or deem it impossible to arrest the public atten- 

 tion by a faithful adherence to the primitive simpli- 

 city of his author. Mickle has also added consider- 

 ably to the outlines of the very story of the poem. 

 In so doing, he has been generally commended by 

 the best judges. This we think a more conclusive 

 circumstance against Camoens. The colour of a 

 poem may require heightening in passing from a sim- 

 pler to a more refined language ; but the form and 

 substance of a story we should suspect to be defec- 

 tive, which needs addition to make it interesting in 

 any transmission. 



Paradoxical as it may seem, it has been said, per- 

 haps with more truth of the Lusiad than of any o- 

 ther epic, that its defects prove its beauties, since 

 the attractions of the poem have prevailed to render 

 it popular in spite of those defects. The Lusiad 

 abounds with pictures of manners, from those of the 

 highest chivalry to those of the rudest, fiercest, and 

 most simple barbarism. The characters are strongly 

 sketched : the heroism of Gama and of his friend 

 Monzaida (the Achates of the Lusiad), are nobly 

 contrasted with the base, selfish, and perfidious por- 

 traits of the Zamorim and the Moors. To the man- 

 ners of the piece, the novelty of fire-arms is also 

 added ; and this artificial trait in the modern mate- 

 rials of a battle, is introduced with a most digni- 

 fied and dexterous simplicity. The island of Venus 

 of Camoens furnished to Tasso the prototype of his 

 enchanted forest, as the garden of Armida furnished 

 our Spenser with his bower ot bliss. In this part 

 of his poem he is alike rich and original. The ap- 

 parition which, in the r.ight, hovers athwart the fleet 



* The Messiah, however, and the Catholic faith, are abundantly mentioned throughout the Lusiad. 



j- Mickle justifies this allegorical machinery by the Henriadet but this against Voltaire is merely an argumentum ad komi- 

 'm. Allegory under any form, but most of all under Pagan names, is unfitted to support u modern epic poem. It is m 

 vii in that Boileau tells us 



Chaque rerttt ikrinit uric diiiititf ; 



31/ni-rve est la Prudence, ft feniis la Beaut': 



Ce n'est pfita li rnjifur </ui jtrodttit It- taniterre 



(?<>( Jupiter armc jmur effrayer la Urrv. 



Un urtige terrible aujc yeut dcs matei<<ta, 



C'est Nfptune, en cuurnms, qui gourmande Issfols, 



L'ART PotTiQuE, Chant 3uie. 



