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BELLENDEN, WILLIAM, more
commonly known by his Latin name of Gulielmus Bellendenus, is one of
those learned and ingenious Scotsmen of a former age, who are esteemed
in the general literary world as an honour to their country, but with
whom that country itself is scarcely at all acquainted. As there were
many great but unrecorded heroes before Agamemnon, so may it be said
that there have flourished, out of Scotland, many illustrious
Scotsmen, whose names have not been celebrated in that country. It is
time, however, that this should cease to be the case, at least in
reference to William Bellenden, whose intellect appears to have been one
of the most extraordinary character, and whose intellectual efforts, if
in a shape to command more extensive appreciation, would certainly be
considered a great addition to those productions which reflect honour
upon his native country.
William Bellenden was
unquestionably a member of that family whose name has been variously
spelled Ballenden, Ballantyn, and latterly Ballantyne, and which has
produced several men eminent in Scottish literature. He lived in the
reign of James VI., to whom he was Magister Supplicum Libellorum, or
reader of private petitions, an office probably conferred upon him in
consideration of his eminent learning. King James, whose many regal
faults were redeemed in no small measure by his sincere love of
literature, and his extensive patronage of literary men, provided
Bellenden with the means of leading a life of studious retirement at the
French capital, where he is said to have afterwards become Professor of
Humanity, and an advocate in the parliament of Paris. As he is said to
have enjoyed his office of professor in 1602, it would of course appear
that James had furnished the necessary allowances for the retirement of
his learned protégée out of the slender revenues which he enjoyed in
his native kingdom; a circumstance which enhances the praise due to him
for his munificence in a very high degree.
Bellenden’s first work,
entitled, "Ciceronis Princeps," and published, apparently
without his name, in 1608, is a treatise on the duties of a prince,
formed out of passages of the works of Cicero referring to that subject.
In this work, "he shows that, whoever desires to exercise authority
over others, should first of all learn the government of himself; should
remember and be obedient to every thing which the laws command; should
on all occasions be ready to hear the sentiments of the wise; disdaining
whatever bears affinity to corruption, and abhorring the delusions of
flattery: he should be tenacious in preserving his dignity, and cautious
how he attempts to extend it; he should be remarkable for the purity of
his morals, and the moderation of his conduct, and never direct his
hand, his eye, or his imagination, to that which is the property of
another." [Parr’s Preface to Bellendenus.] To the "Ciceronis
Princeps," in which Bellenden has only the merit of an ingenious
collector, was prefixed an original essay, styled, "Tractatus de
Processu et Scriptoribus Rei Politicae," in which there is a rich
vein of masculine sense and fervent piety, while the origin of our
errors in religion, and of our defects in policy and learning, is traced
out with considerable accuracy and erudition. In this treatise, the
author, while he condemns the monstrous tenets of ancient idolatry, and
the gross corruptions of philosophy, bestows many just encomiums on the
wisdom and patriotism of some ancient legislators. He informs us that
among the Greek theorists, there is no systematic work on the science of
politics, at once comprehensive in its principles, and applicable to
real life; but acknowledges that much useful information may be gathered
from the writings of Xenophon, and the fragments of Solon, Charondas,
and Zaleucus. On the authority of Cicero, he represents Demetrius
Phalereus as the first person who united the practice of politics with a
correct and profound knowledge of his art. He allows, however, great
merit to Plato, to Aristotle, to Theophrastus, and other imitators of
Hippodamus, who, it seems, was the first writer on the subject of
government, without being personally concerned in the administration of
it. He then speaks with becoming and warm admiration of Cicero, and
enumerates the political works of that writer which have come down to us—those
which were written by him, but are now lost—and those which he
intended to draw up at the request of Atticus.
Bellenden next published
a treatise, formed like the foregoing from detached passages in Cicero,
regarding the duties of the consul, senator, and senate among the
Romans. It was entitled, "Ciceronis Consul, Senator, Populusque
Romanus: illustratus publici observatione juris, gravissimi usus
disciplinâ, administrandi temperata ratione: notatis inclinationibus
temporum in Rep. et actis rerum in Senatu: quae a Ciceroniana nondum
edita profluxere memoria, annorum DCCX. congesta in libros xvi. De statu
rerum Romanorum unde jam manavit Ciceronis Princeps, dignus habitus
summorum lectione principum." Bellenden has here shown, not only
the duties of a senator, or statesman, but upon what basis the rights of
a free but jealous people are erected, and the hallowed care those in
institutions demand, which have descended to us from our ancestors. This
work was published at Paris, in 1612, and like the former, was dedicated
to Henry, Prince of Wales. On the title page, the author is termed
"Magister Supplicum Libellorum augusti Regis Magnae Britanniae;"
from which it would appear that either there is a mistake in describing
him as Master of Requests to the King of Scotland, or he must have been
subsequently preferred to the same office for Great Britain. The office,
since he resided at Paris, must have been a sinecure, and was probably
given to him as a means of sustaining him in literary leisure.
The next work of
Bellenden was entitled, "De Statu Prisci Orbis, in Religione, Re
Politica, et Literis, liber unus." It was printed, but may scarcely
be described as published, in 1615. This is the most original of
Bellenden’s works. The expressions and sentiments are all his own,
excepting the quotations which he takes occasion to introduce from his
favourite Cicero. In this work he has "brought to light, from the
most remote antiquity, many facts which had been buried in oblivion.
Whatever relates to the discipline of the Persians and Egyptians, which
was obscure in itself, and very variously dispersed, he has carefully
collected, placed in one uniform point of view, and polished with
diligent acuteness. In a manner the most plain and satisfactory, he has
described the first origin of states, their progressive political
advances, and how they differed from each other. Those fabulous
inventions with which Greece has encumbered history, he explains and
refutes. Philosophy owes him much. He has confuted all those systems
which were wild and extravagant, and removed the difficulties from such
as were in their operation subservient to religious piety. But he has in
particular confirmed and dignified with every assistance of solid
argument, whatever tended to serve the great truths of revelation. Much,
however, as he has been involved in the gloom of ancient times, he in no
one instance assumes the character of a cold unfeeling antiquary; he
never employs his talents upon those intricate and useless questions in
endeavouring to explain which many luckless and idle theologists torment
themselves and lose their labour. The style of Bellendenus, in this
performance, is perspicuous, and elegant without affectation. The
different parts of the work are so well and so judiciously disposed,
that we meet with nothing harsh and dissonant, no awkward interval or
interruptions, nothing placed where it ought not to remain." [Parr’s
Preface to Bellendenus.]
All these three works—namely,
the "Princeps," the "Consul," and the "De Statu
Prisci Orbis," were republished in 1616, in a united form, under
the general title, "DE STATU, LIBRI TRES." Prince Henry being
now dead, the whole work was dedicated anew to his surviving brother
Charles; a circumstance which afforded the author an opportunity of
paying an ingenious compliment to the Latter prince:
—Uno avulso non deficit
alter,
Aureus, et simili frondescit virga metallo.
Of the justness of this
eulogy the politician may have some doubt, but the man of feeling will
be captivated by its elegance and pathos.
The last work which
Bellenden himself published is of very small extent, consisting merely
of two short poems: "Caroli Primi et Henricae Mariae, Regis et
Reginae Magnae Britanniae," &c. "Epithalamium; et in ipsas
augustissimas nuptias, Panegyricum Carmen et Elogia" Paris, 1675,
4to. It would appear that Bellenden did not soon forget the kind
patronage which he had experienced from King James, but transferred his
gratitude, with his loyalty, to the descendants of that prince. This is
the only known specimen of Bellenden’s efforts in poetry.
The "Do Statu, Libri
Tres," which perhaps were never very extensively diffused, had
latterly become so extremely scarce, as only to be known by name to the
most of scholars. From this obscurity, the work was rescued in 1787, by
Dr Samuel Parr, the most eminent British Latinist of modern times. Dr
Parr republished it in an elegant form, with a preface, which, though
embracing a singular jumble of subjects, and not free from the charge of
pedantry, is justly looked upon as one of the most admirable specimens
of modern Latin which we possess. Imitating the example of Bellendenus,
who prefixed a dedication to each of his three books, the learned editor
inscribed them anew to three great men of modern times, Edward Burke,
Lord North, and Charles James Fox, who were then the leaders of his own
party in British politics. In the preface, he introduced a high
allegorical eulogy upon these statesmen, which was admired as a
singularly nervous piece of composition, though there were, of course,
different opinions as to the justness of the panegyric. He also exposed
the plagiary which Middleton, in composing his "Life of
Cicero," had committed upon the splendid stores of Bellenden.
While Bellenden was
employed in writing his tripartite work, "Do Statu," he had
Cicero constantly before him. "His warmest attachment, and
increasing admiration," to quote the words of Dr Parr, "were
necessarily attracted to the character whose writings were the object of
his unremitting attention; whose expressions were as familiar to him as
possible; and whose various and profound learning occupied all the
faculties of his soul." He now commenced a still more extensive and
laborious cento of the writings of the Roman orator, which he concluded
in sixteen books, and which, with the addition of similar centoes of the
writings of Seneca and Pliny the Elder, was to bear the name, "De
Tribus Luminibus Romanorum." The Ciceronian cento, the only one he
lived to complete, is justly considered a most extraordinary
performance. By an exertion of fictitious machinery, akin to the modern
historical romance, Cicero is introduced as if he had spoken or written
the whole from beginning to end. The first seven books give a very
concise abstract of the Roman history, from the foundation of the city,
to the 647th year, in which he was born. Then he becomes more particular
in the account of his own times, and enlarges very fully on all that
happened after his first appearance in public business. He gives an
account of the most remarkable of his orations and epistles, and the
occasions on which they were written, as also of such of his
philosophical works as have come down to us, and of some other pieces
that are now lost, ending with a letter he is supposed to have written
to Octavianus, afterwards named Augustus, which letter, however, is
supposed to be spurious. There cannot be a more complete history of the
life of Cicero, or of the tumultuous times in which he lived, than this
work, all of which, by an exquisite ingenuity, is so faithfully compiled
from the known works of the orator, that probably there is not in the
whole book a single expression, perhaps not a single word, which is not
to be found in that great storehouse of philosophical eloquence. Nor is
there any incoherence or awkwardness in this rearrangement of Cicero’s
language; but, on the contrary, the matter flows as gracefully as in the
original. "Whatever we find," says Parr, in the different
writings of Cicero, elegantly expressed, or acutely conceived,
Bellendenus has not only collected in one view, but elucidated in the
clearest manner. He, therefore, who peruses this performance with the
attention which it merits, will possess all the treasures of antiquity,
all the energy of the mightiest examples. He will obtain an adequate
knowledge of the Roman law, and system of jurisprudence, and may draw,
as from an inexhaustible source, an abundance of expressions, the most
exquisite in their kind." In the opinion of another critic, [The
late Earl of Buchan, who had the extraordinary fortune to possess a copy
of this rare book.] it is inconceivable that Bellenden could have
composed this singular work, without having the whole of the writings of
Cicero, and all the collateral authorities, in his mind at once, as it
must have been quite impossible to perform such a task by turning over
the leaves of the books, in order to find the different expressions
suited to the various occasions where they were required.
After the death of
Bellenden, the date of which is only known to have been posterior to
1625, the manuscript of his great work fell into the hands of one
Toussaint du Bray, who printed it at Paris in 1631, or 1634, and
dedicated it to King Charles I. of Great Britain. It is alleged that the
principal part of the impression, about a thousand copies, was shipped
for sale in Britain, and was lost on the passage, so that only a few
copies survived. The work therefore fell at once into obscurity, and in
a few years was scarcely known to exist. One copy having found its way
to the Cambridge University Library, fell into the hands of Conyers
Middleton, the keeper of that institution, who seems to have adopted the
idea of making it the ground-work for a Life of Cicero under his own
name. Hence has arisen one of the most monstrous instances of literary plagium
which modern times have witnessed. The work of Middleton at once
attained to great reputation, and chiefly through that skilful
arrangement of the writings of the orator himself: which Bellenden had
provided to his hands. The theft was first denounced by Warton, and
subsequently made clear by Dr Parr, in his preface to the "De Statu."
As the latter gentleman was prepossessed in favour of both the literary
and political character of Middleton, the terms in which he speaks of
the theft are entitled to the more weight. He commences his exposure in
the following strain of tender apology, which we quote in the original,
on account of its extraordinary beauty; for we know not that even the
writings of Tully exhibit periods more harmonious, or that the human ear
has hitherto been gratified with a more enchanting sweetness of
language:
"Litterae fuerunt
Middletono, non vulgares hae et quotidianae, sed uberrimae et maxime
exquisitae. Fuit judicium subtile limatumque. Teretes et religiosae
fuerunt aures. Stylus est ejus ita purus ac suavis, ita salebris sine
ullis profluens quiddam et canorum habet, numeros ut videatur complecti,
quales in alio quopiam, praeter Addisonum, frustra quaesiveris. Animum
fuisse ejusdem parum candidum ac sincerum, id vero, fateor invitus,
dolens, coactus."
"Middleton was a man
of no common attainments; his learning was elegant and profound, his
judgment acute and polished; he had a fine and correct taste; and his
style was so pure and so harmonious, so vigorously flowing without being
inflated, that, Addison alone excepted, he seems to be without a rival.
As to his mind, I am compelled with grief and reluctance to confess, it
was neither ingenuous nor faithful.
"Of the faith of any
man, in matters of religion, [Middleton was a free-thinker.] I presume
not to speak with asperity or anger: yet I am vehemently displeased that
a man possessed of an elegant and enlightened mind, should deprive
Bellenden of the fame he merited. For I assert, in the most unqualified
terms, that Middleton is not only indebted to Bellenden for many useful
and splendid materials, but that, wherever it answered his purpose, he
has made a mere transcript of his work. He resided at Cambridge, where
he possessed all the advantages which that university and all its
valuable libraries afford, to make collections for his undertaking. Yet
did the man who proposed a system for the regulation of a university
library, possess the writings of Bellenden, anticipating all that he
professed to accomplish. I cannot deny but that he makes some allusion
to this particular work of Bellendenus in his preface, although in a
very dark and mysterious manner; particularly where he speaks of the
history of those times, which, whoever wishes to understand minutely,
has only to peruse Cicero’s Epistles with attention; of the
tediousness of being obliged to peruse Cicero’s works two or three
times over; of the care and trouble of consorting for future use various
passages scattered through the different volumes; and, above all, of the
very words of Cicero, which, give a lustre and authority to a sentiment,
when woven originally into the text.
"To conclude the
whole - whatever Middleton ostentatiously declares it to be his wish and
his duty to do, had been already done to his hands, faithfully and
skilfully by Bellendenus from the beginning to the end of the
work!"
It is impossible to
dismiss the life and singular writings of William Bellenden, without a
passing expression of regret, that so much ingenuity, so much learning,
so much labour, may be expended, without producing even the remuneration
of a name—for Bellenden, to use a phrase of Buchanan, is
a light rather than a name. His last work extended to 824
pages in folio, and he contemplated other two of similar size, and equal
1abour. Yet all this was so futile, that the very next generation of his
own countrymen do not appear to have known that such a man ever existed.
Even after all the care of bibliographers and others, which has searched
out the few facts embraced by this imperfect narrative, the name of
Bellenden is only known in connexion with certain works, which are, it
is true, reputed to be admirable of their kind, but, for every
practical purpose, are almost as entirely lost to the world at large, as
those libri perditi of Cicero, which he has himself alluded to
with so much regret. Nor can Bellenden be described as a man defrauded
by circumstances of that fame which forms at once the best motive and
the best reward of literature. He must have written with but very
slender hopes of reputation through the medium of the press. It thus
becomes a curious subject of speculation, that so much pains should have
been bestowed where there was so little prospect of its reflecting
credit or profit upon the labourer. And yet this seems to be rather in
consequence of, than in defiance to the want of such temptation. The
works of the ancient classics, written when there was no vehicle but
manuscripts for their circulation, and a very small circle in which they
could be appreciated, are, of all literary performances, the most
carefully elaborated: those of the age when printing was in its infancy,
such as the works of Bellenden and other great Latinists, are only a
degree inferior in accuracy and finish; while these latter times, so
remarkable for the facility with which the works of men of genius are
diffused, have produced hardly a single work, which can be pointed to as
a perfect specimen of careful workmanship and faultless taste. There is
something not ungratifying in this reflection; it seems to atone to the
great memories of the past, for the imperfect rewards which they enjoyed
in life or in fame. If we could suppose that the lofty spirits who once
brightened the lustre of knowledge and literature, and died without any
contemporary praise, still look down from their spheres upon the present
world, it would gratify the moral faculties to think of the pleasure
which they must have, in contemplating their half-forgotten but
unsurpassed labours, and in knowing that men yet look back to them as
the giants of old who have left no descendants in the land. Thus even
the aspirate "name" of Bellenden, which almost seems as if it
had never had a mortal man attached to it, might reap a shadowy joy from
the present humble effort to render it the justice which has been so
lone withheld. |
