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580 
perfonal enjoyment; and muft naturally with to promote 
to the utmoft the perfection of that which pleafes them. 
When our eye or ear has been pleafed by the works of 
the molt eminent artifts, we with to fee thofe artilts come 
ftill nearer to perfection : and, if they find themfelves ge¬ 
nerally encouraged and careffed, they will naturally re¬ 
double their efforts to fucceed. 
In Greece we are told that the common people were 
fenfible to the refinements of eloquence, the niceft (hades 
of elocution. In Italy, even now, the people, judicious 
and frugal, are far from being deaf to the language of the 
ftatuary, the painter, the mufician, the poet; they facri- 
fice portions of the time intended for labour or refeCtion 
in hearing and palling judgment upon arts and artilts ; 
they honour the mailer-pieces which are publicly expofed 
in thofe favoured climes, and explain their beauties to 
Itrangers that (top to examine them ; they feel and they 
fing the verfes of Taffo and Ariolto ; and by a natural in- 
fpiration they are capable of palling a correct judgment 
upon the fublime mufic of their places of worfhip, and of 
their theatres, where they gain admilfion at a l'mall ex¬ 
pen fe. 
Nature has not been fo indulgent in thefe foft fenfa- 
tions to the Britilh Ides: a circumftance which forms a 
remarkable trait in the national character. But the ne¬ 
glect of the liberal arts which fpread the gloom of barba- 
rifin over our anceftors of the fifteenth century, may per¬ 
haps be more jullly afcribed to the operation of the feu¬ 
dal fyftern. This primary caufe prevented that excita¬ 
tion of the public mind, which is neceflary to the fuccefs- 
ful cultivation of literature. The feudal fyftem was a 
fyltem of ftrift fubordination, which prefcribed to every 
member of the political community his particular rank 
and place, and furrounded him by a circle, beyond which 
he was forbidden to pals. In the fpirit of this fyftem, till 
the reign of Henry IV. no farmer or mechanic was per¬ 
mitted to fend his children to fchool; and, long after that 
period, a licenfe from his lord was neceflary to enable a 
man of this defcription to educate a fon for the church. 
Whilft the majority of the people were thus impeded in 
their approach to the fountains of knowledge, it was im- 
pofiible for learning to raife her drooping head. The 
feudal fuperiors, exalted by the accident of their birth to 
the enjoyment of power and plenty, had no motive to in¬ 
duce them to fubmit to the labour of (tudy. The younger 
branches of noble families were early taught to depend 
upon their fwords for lubfiftence ; and the acquifition of 
learning was an objeCt far beyond the fcope of the op- 
preffed and humble valfak The influence of the feudal 
fyflem in checking the progrefs of intellect will be more 
plainly vifible if we confider the circumltances of Italy 
during the period in queftion. In that country the am¬ 
bition of adventurers, and the extenfion of commerce, had 
broken the fetters of feudalifm ; and had enabled the bold 
and daring, in every fpecies of exertion, tc rife to the 
pitch of confequence which their talents could vindicate. 
Hence the dormant powers of the human mind were roufed, 
and the expansion of learning and the liberal arts was pro¬ 
moted. The equalizing tyranny of the petty princes who 
ufurped the fovereignty of various cities of Lombardy, 
whilft it reprelTed the power of the ariftocracy, called 
into life the abilities of all the orders of fociety. The 
precarious title by which thefe chieftains held their ex¬ 
alted llations, induced them to court popularity by free¬ 
ing the mafs of the people from invidious reftraints. Dur¬ 
ing the refidence of the popes at Avignon, and during 
the continuance of the fchifm, the feeble rule exercifed by 
the pontifical deputies over the ecclefialtical cities en¬ 
abled the inhabitants of thofe cities to defy the authority 
•which endeavoured to confine their exertions within the 
limits of fiavifh fubordination. The fait ions which dif- 
turbed the peace of the Italian republics, tended alfo in 
an eminent degree to call forth the full energy of abilities, 
which in other circumltances would have been buried in 
pblcurity. Great talents are too frequently united with 
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ttlrbulence of fpirit. In times when- the order of fociety 
is inverted by the tumults of civil broils, while men of 
peaceful fouls retire trembling from the conflict, he who 
is endued with the energy of genius comes forth, con- 
feious of his ftrength, and, defpifing every danger, exults 
in the hope of vindicating his claim to promotion. 
Since the deltruCtion of the feudal fyftem, the liberal 
arts have been making a vaft progrefs among us. They 
have foftened our rugged unfocial nature, and increafed 
our enjoyments, by foothing the labours and inevitable 
anxieties of common life. 
LIBERA'LIA, feftivals yearly celebrated in honour 
of Bacchus the 17th of March. Slaves were then permit¬ 
ted to fpeak with freedom, and every thing bore the ap¬ 
pearance of independence. They are much the fame as 
the Dionyfia of tire Greeks. Varro. 
LIBERALHTY,/. Munificence; bounty; generofity; 
generous profufion: 
That liberality is but caft away, 
Which makes us borrow what we cannot pay. Denham. 
To LIB'ERALIZE, v. a. To make liberal.—Such ha¬ 
bits, as enlarge and liberalize the underftanding. Burke. 
LIB'ERALLY, adv. Bounteoufly; bountifully; large** 
ly.— If any of you lack wifdom, let him afk of God, that 
giveth to ail men liberally, and upbraideth not. James, i. 5. 
Not meanly ; magnanimoufly. Licentioufly : 
Had mine own brother fpoke thus liberally, 
My fury firould have taught him better manners. 
Green's Tu quoque. 
LIB'ER ALNESS,/. Liberality. Scott. 
LIBER A'TE,/. A writ for the payment of a yearly 
pension or other fum of money granted under the great 
leal, and direfled to the treafurer and chamberlains of the 
exchequer, &c. for that purpofe. In another fenfe it is a 
writ to the (heriff of a county for the delivery of poffelfion 
of lands and goods extended, or taken upon the forfeiture 
of a recognizance. Alfo a writ ifi'uing out of the chancery 
directed to a gaoler for delivery of a prifoner that hath 
put in bail for bis appearance. 4 Injl. 116. This writ is 
mpft commonly ul'ed tor delivery of goods, &c. on an ex¬ 
tent, to the conulee of a recognizance who hath not any 
abfolute interell in the goods, until the liberate. See Ex¬ 
ecution and Extent. 
To LIB'ERATE, v. a. [from liberate, Lat.] To free 
from confinement.—Though this verb and its derivative 
noun are now frequent in periodical publications of news, 
they are too modern to be found in any dictionary ; nor 
has the compiler met with either (to the belt of his recol¬ 
lection) in any writer he would produce for an authority. 
Mafon's Suppl. 
LIBERA'TION,/. [liberatio, Lat.] The at of deli¬ 
vering. The being delivered. 
LIBERA'TUS, a deacon of the church of Carthage, 
and a ftrenuous defender of the three chapters, fiourilhed 
about the middle of the fixth century. In the year 534. 
or 535 he W'as fent to Rome, by a council of African bi- 
fhops held at Carthage, for the purpofe of confuting with 
pope John about fome dubious points; and he was fre¬ 
quently employed in other affairs of importance. Several 
journeys were undertaken by him in the caufe of the three 
chapters; and he drew up an hiftorical memorial of the 
contells which arofe about the opinions of Neltorius and 
Eutyches, entitled “Breviarium de Caula Neilorii et Eu- 
tychetis, Capitibus 24 comprehenfum.” This work com¬ 
mences with the ordination of Neltorius, and ends at the 
fifth council, in 553; and it contains a variety of ufeftil 
particulars relative to a period of nearly one hundred and 
twenty-five years, which are no where elfe to be found. 
In 1675, father Garner publilhed an edition of it at Paris, 
in 8vo. with diflertations and notes; and it is inferted in 
the fifth volume of the Collect. Concil. An appendix to 
this Breviarium is given by father Crabbe, in the Second 
volume of his edition of the Councils, which is not to be 
met with in the later collections. Cave's Hijl. Lit, vok i. 
3 LIBERAN', 
