Anarchiad : a New England poem, 1786-1787 / Humphreys, Barlow, Trumbull and Hopkins [electronic text]

From "The New Haven Gazette and Connecticut Magazine" of September 13th, 1787.]

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.—No. XII.

EXTRACT FROM The ANARCHIAD, BOOK XVII.

THE REGION OF PREEXISTENT SPIRITS.

THE flattering attention of the public has engaged the society of critics and antiquarians to give some further extracts from the same Book which concludes with the description of "The Land of Annihilation." In his progress through the shades, the Bard is attended by an ancient seer, the MERLIN of the West, who explains to him the nature of the country, and the character of its inhabitants. The history of their travels is very entertaining. The account of the various regions and circles into which the Subterranean World is divided, has in many parts been copied by the famous ltalian poet, Dante, in his "Inferno." The American bard seems to have been the first who entered the REGION OF PREEXISTENT SPIRITS, which has since been explored by the celebrated voyager, Ænas, whose observations may be found in the Sixth Book of Virgil; and notwithstanding our author made his visit at a much earlier period, his relation appears to be equally curious and authentic. That part of the Book which we shall now transcribe, contains the description of many

illustrious personages who were to make their appearance on earth, both in Europe and America, in the eighteenth century from the Christian era. From the same amor patriæ which has animated poets in all ages, the seer and the bard have dwelt with peculiar pleasure on those great writers who were destined to spend their lives and lucubrations, and to invent so many curious theories, both in philosophy and history, for demonstrating the debility and diminution of nature in the western hemisphere, and for belittling the great objects on which they were to treat, to the level of European comprehension. He beholds, with admiration, the souls of those learned sages to whom we are since indebted for the discovery that in this part of the globe the animal and vegetable creation are far inferior to the productions of the eastern continent; that man has wonderfully degenerated in courage, activity, and other marks of virility; and that "America has never produced one good Poet, one able Mathematician, or one man of Genius in one single Art, or one single Science,"* 1.1 as the

sagacious Abbe Raynal has wisely observed. These he finds grouped in the same circle with those inventive historians and essayists who have lately indulged that ungovernable propensity to the marvelous, with which they seem to have been inspired from all eternity. He describes his entrance into the circle, in the following sublime and awful manner:

DARKLING they plied o'er many a burning heath,Down the low shores of Erebus and Death—When, through th' obscure they saw the glim'ring glades'Twixt Orcus central, and th' Elysian shades:As hov'ring dreams the slumb'ring eye assail,Unnumber'd phantoms flit among the vale;And sounds as vague and hollow meet the ear,As startled fancy hears, or seems to hear,What time the mourner, through the midnight gloom,Sees shadowy spectres issuing from the tomb:The unreal forms the bard, astonish'd, eyed,And ask'd the wonder from the friendly guide.

Behold, the seer replies, on those dark coastsThe vagrant hordes of preexistent ghosts—Elect for earth, and destined to be bornWhen time's slow course shall wake the natal morn:Approach and view, in this, their embryo home,Wits, poets, chiefs, and sages yet to come.

See yonder group, that scorn the vulgar crowd,Absorb'd in thought, of conscious learning proud,Who, rapt with foretaste of their glorious day,Now seiz'd the pen, impatient of delay:These shades shall late in Europe's clime arise,And scan new worlds with philosophic eyes:Immured at home, in rambling fancy brave,Explore all lands beyond th' Atlantic wave;Of laws for unknown realms invent new codes,Write natural histories for their antipodes;Tell how th' enfeebled powers of life decay,Where filling suns defraud the western day;Paint the dank, steril globe, accurst by fate,Created, lost, or stolen from ocean late;See vegetation, man, and bird, and beast,Just by the distance squares in size decreased;See mountain pines to dwarfish reeds descend,Aspiring oaks in pigmy shrub oaks end ;—The heaven-topp'd Andes sink a humble hill—Sea-like Potomac run a tinkling rill;—

Huge mammoth dwindle to a mouse's size—Columbian turkeys turn European flies ;—Exotic birds, and foreign beasts, grow small,And man, the lordliest, shrink to least of all:While each vain whim their loaded skulls conceiveWhole realms shall reverence, and all fools believe.

In passing farther, the seer points out the father of this system, in the soul of the famous Abbe du Pau, who was then busied in prying into futurity, by the aid of a philosophic telescope, calculated to diminish all objects, according to the squares of the distances, as has been hinted. And thus continues the prediction:

There, with sure ken, th' inverted optics show All nature lessening to the sage De Pau; E'en now his head the cleric tonsures grace, And all the abbe blossoms in his face; His peerless pen shall raise, with magic lore, The long-lost pigmies on th' Atlantic shore; Make niggard nature's noblest gifts decline Th' indicial marks of bodies masculine; Nor seek the proof of those who best can tell The well-taught duchess, and Parisian belle.

He then points out the Compte de Buffon, the Abbe Raynal, Dr. Robertson, and the whole train of imitators, attendant on their master, imbibing learning and wisdom from his lips, and preparing, in the future world, even, to excel their instructor. He appears to have exactly foreseen Dr. Robertson's "History of America," and his observation that the soil of America is prolific in nothing but reptiles and insects. The allusion to Moses, in the following lines, seems to confirm the opinion of some learned writers, that the natives of this country were descended from the Jews, or the Jews from them:

See Scotland's livy in historic pride, Rush, with blind fury, o'er th' Atlantic tide; He lifts, in wrath, his plague-compelling wand, And deadly murrain blasts the fated land: His parent call awakes the insect train— Gnats cloud the skies, and ants devour the plain; Thick swarming frogs attend his magic voice— Rods change to serpents, and the dust to lice.

Here the seer took occasion to inform the bard how remarkable some of his own countrymen would become, for being the humble copyists and echoes of these transatlantic imitators; and particularly, that n great [MORRIS] should arise in process of time, who, never having enjoyed, the superior advantage of perusing that astonishing work of genius, THE ANARCHIAD, or any other American poem, should dogmatically decide, in his capacity of Senator,* 1.2 that America never had

produced a good poet. He designates him by the subsequent characteristics:

That plodding shade, who, ere he starts from hence, By mammon taught, in shillings, pounds, and pence In Philadelphia's happy soil, shall claim Gold for His GOD, and [MORRIS] for his name; With purse-proud wit, and Senatorial rank, His critic talents glowing from the bank; From famed Raynal's wise labors, shall declare, That not one poet breathes Columbian air!

Yet not all wits who there to fame advance, Shall take their cue from dictatorial France; But, like sincere allies, each needy friend Shall sometimes borrow lies, and sometimes lend.

Scared at the shape of CINCINNATUS' name, The envious Burke denied that road to fame; Stars, ribbands, mantles, crowding on his brain, "Blows the loud trump!"* 1.3and calls the jealous train; Fills gaping herds with visionary fears Of landless nobles, and of penceless peers; From social rites, and charity, debars The unpaid veterans of successful wars— Proscribes all worth, by ostracising doom, To death or exile, as in Greece or Rome; While safe himself, he boasts a strong defense, Clear from the crime of merit or of sense.

From him shall Gallic scribblers learn their lore, And write, like him, as man ne'er wrote before; Grave Demeunier, with borrowed tales, and weak, Th' encyclopedias' endless tomes shall eke— Assert with falsehood, and with froth disclaim, Forebode the issues, and foresee the aim; Through time's dark vale, the plans of fate explore,

By ign'rance aided in prophetic power; As old Tiresias, favor'd of the skies, Gain'd gifts oracular by the loss of eyes.

From these worthies he makes an easy transition to the shade of the redoubtable Comte Mirabeau, who, having lately emerged from the Bastile, has employed his tremendous pen on "the Cincinnati," "the Navigation of the Scheldt," "the Waterworks of Paris," "the projected Bank of St. Charles, in Spain" and innumerable other knotty points; in some of which he has been seconded, and in others, opposed, by his brother in scribbling and the Bastile, the perjured Linguet. It appears that the family of the Mirabeaus were predestined to be infamous for unnatural vices. The father of the present comte was distinguished, in Paris, by the title of ami des hommes, (the lover of mankind.) The seer points out these characters, and relates the result of a council concerning their future destiny, in the following manner:

When souls select, near Jordan rose to dwell, And people Sodom with the dregs of hell, Great was the doubt, and great the learn'd debates, Through the grand conclave of th' infernal States, With that vile crew, if these should rise to earth, Or future Europe better claim'd their birth; The latter vote prevail'd; on this dark stage Each incubus awaits the destined age; Then shall their souls to human forms advance, And spring to light the Mirabeaus of France.

Yet not alone to carnal views confined; The younger shades, for mental toils designed, Profuse of lies, and obstinate in ill, On every theme shall try his gall-dipt quill: In Burke's proud steps shall equal honors claim, A learn'd associate of Demeunier's fame.

The next group of souls who pass in review, consists of those wise civilians who have generously wasted such fountains of ink in endeavoring to instruct poor America in her own history and politics. The Abby Mably is mentioned with particular respect. Nor is a just tribute of praise denied to the modest Target, who, supposing that no laws existed in the United States, and that the people were incapable of devising any system, humanely proposed to Congress to supply that deficiency, and furnish a code for the use of the empire. The seer, on beholding his shade, thus apostrophizes:

Inflated pride! all-feeling ignorance! Ye grand inspirers of the wits of France! On blest Target exhaust your utmost power; Shower all your gifts, and lavish all your store! I see him, tow'ring 'mid th' applauding throng, Pomp in his air, and bluster on his tongue; Wave-dangling far, his wig-official curl'd— A sign of sapience, to the western world.

Throned 'mid the forty wise,* 1.4 by partial fates, A self-made Solon for the rising States.

In the next department appear the souls of those European historians and biographers who have amused their readers with many fairy tales, the scenes of which they have had the complaisance to lay in America. We are sorry the length of this number prevents our enlarging upon this part of the Book. The seer enters into a detail of their falsehoods, with great accuracy and minuteness; and even condescends to notice the history of Connecticut, invented by Parson Peters, the fag-end man of M'Fingal. But he pays particular attention to the great genius of D'Auberteul, who has so ably displayed his creative talents in embellishing the late American revolution; describing the manner of cutting up the crown into thirteen pieces, and sending it to the several States; and giving the interesting novel of the amours of General WASHINGTON; with a great variety of particulars, equally true and instructive. He concludes with the following sublime address to his shade, which has been closely copied by Pope, in one of his smaller poems:

Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn! Oh spring to light! auspicious sage, be born! The new-found world shall all your cares engage; The promised lyre of the future age. No more shall glory gild the hero's name, Nor envy sicken at the deeds of fame;

Virtue no more the generous breast shall fire, Nor radiant truth the historic page inspire; But lost, dissolved in thy superior shade, One tide of falsehood o'er the world be spread; In wit's light robe shall gaudy fiction shine, And all be lies, as in a work of thine.

ADDENDA.

Page 15. line 4, for "O— n," read O —n,* 1.5 with the note of reference herewith given.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Thus said that distinguished litterateur of France, M. RAYNAL, in 1774, in these words: "On dolt etre etonne qua l' Amerique n' oit pasencore produit un bon poete, un habile mathematicien, une homme de genie, dans un seul art ou une seule science." 7 Hist. Phil. pa. 92 ed. Maestrtcht. To which, a writer in the New Haven Gazette of May 3, 1787, says: "When we shall have existed, as a people, as long as the Greeks did before they produced a Homer, the Romans a Virgil, the French a Racine and Voltaire, the English a Shakspeare and Milton, should the reproach prove true, we will enquire from what unfriendly causes it has proceeded that America has not inscribed any name in the roll of poets. In war we have produced a WASHINGTON, whose memory will be adored while liberty shall have votaries, whose name will triumph over time, and will, in future ages, assume its Just station among the most celebrated worthies of the world. In physics we have produced a FRANKLIN, than whom, no one of the present age has made more important discoveries. In astronomy we have RITTENHOUSE, who, we suppose, is second to no astronomer living." But M. Rayhal was not the only Frenchman who had traduced the genius of America. Years previous, the Count de BUFFON, in the National Academy of Science, had advanced the theory of the tendency of nature to belittle her productions on the opposite side of the Atlantic. M. PAU, also another eminent savant of the French Academy, had endorsed this proposition. While in Scotland, Dr. ROBERTSON had published a "History of America," which appeared to have for its especial mission the disparagement of the country, and abounded in deprecatory allusions to the American people.
• * 1.2

  The New York Daily Advertiser having reported, in its issue of March 18th, that the Hon. ROBERT MORRIS, of the upper house of the Pennsylvania Legislature, had traduced American genius, in the Assembly of that State, by endorsing the assertion of M. Raynal, (see page 72,) a correspondent, in a later issue, undertakes " to review the matter with candor." He refers to a "celebrated poet who is supposed by many to possess a genius equal to Swift, with the superior advantage of a much chaster pen, and more philanthropic spirit. This writer's 'M'Fingal' hath been published in Europe, and received with applause. The author is JOHN TRUMBULL, Esq., of Hartford. The 'Vision of Columbus,' [since revised and reconstructed, and now called 'The Columbiad,'] by Mr. BARLOW, Of Connecticut, is also said to be a work of great poetic merit. Not confining ourselves simply to poetry, we might mention, with exultation, that animated and elegant historical performance of the revolution, a ' History of South Carolina,' by the American, ROBERTSON. This rich soil of freedom, which has already given to the world a crowd of heroes, doubtless will produce a luxuriant growth, and quick succession of fine poets, profound philosophers, and eminent statesmen— some just bursting forth into light, while others are shooting up to the highest eminence of fame, as yet attained to by none."
• * 1.3

  These words occur in EDMUND BURKE'S pamphlet put forth against the Order of the Cincinnati, (see page 87, note.) The outcry raised against this Order, in America, was presently reechoed from Europe, where hereditary aristocracies were losing their popularity. Besides Burke, in England, the afterwards so celebrated MIRABEAU, of France, then well known as a writer, sent forth a pamphlet against it; as also did LINGUET and many others.
• * 1.4

  The French Academy of Science consists of forty members.
• * 1.5

  Hon. DANIEL OWEN, member of the upper house of the Rhode Island Legislature, in 1786, and Deputy-Governor of the State, in 1787.