We are
accustomed
to hear
of his virtue as a truly Roman virtue, and so it
was ; but it was something more.
of his virtue as a truly Roman virtue, and so it
was ; but it was something more.
Marvell - Poems
xlxix
constitutes his principal claim on the admiration
of posterity, and which sheds a redeeming lustre
on one of the darkest pages of the English annals.
Inflexible integrity was the basis of it — integrity
by which he has not unworthily earned the glo-
rious name of the " British Aristides. ** With
talents and acquirements which might have justi-
fied him in aspiring to almost any office, if he
could have disburdened himself of his conscience ;
with wit which, in that frivolous age, was a surer
passport to fame than any amount either of intel-
lect or virtue, and which, as we have seen, molli-
fied even the monarch himself in spite of his
prejudices ; Marvell preferred poverty and inde-
pendence to riches and servility. He had learned
the lesson, practised by few in that age, of being
content with little — so that he preserved his con-
science. He could be poor, but he could not be
mean ; could starve, but could not cringe. By
economizing in the articles of pride and ambition,
he could afford to keep what their votaries were
compelled to retrench, the necessaries, or rather
the luxuries, of integrity, and a good conscience.
Neither menaces, nor caresses, nor bribes, nor
poverty, nor distress, could induce him to abandon
his integrity ; or even to take an office in which
it might be tempted or endangered. He only who
has arrived at this pitch of magnanimity, has an
adequate security for his public virtue. He who
cannot subsist upon a little; who has not learned.
d
Digitized by VjOOQIC
1 NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
to be content with such things as he has, and even
to be content with almost nothing ; who has not
learned to familiarize his thoughts to poverty,
much more readily than he can familiarize them
to dishonour, is not yet free from peril. Andrew
Marvell, as his whole course proves, had done
this. But we shall not do full justice to his public
integrity, if we do not bear in mind the corruption
of the age in whicb he lived; the manifold apos-
tasies amidst which he retained his conscience ;
and the effect which such wide -spread profligacy
must have had in making thousands almost scep-
tical as to whether there were such a thing as
public virtue at all. Such a relaxation in the
code of speculative morals, is one of the worst
results of general profligacy in practice. But
Andrew Marvell was not to be deluded ; and
amidst corruption perfectly unparalleled, he still
continued untainted.
We are accustomed to hear
of his virtue as a truly Roman virtue, and so it
was ; but it was something more. Only the best
pages of Boman history can supply a parallel :
there was no Cincinnatus in those Ages of her
shame which alone can be compared with those
of Charles II. It were easier to find a Cincinna-
tus during the era of the English Commonwealth,
than an Andrew Marvell in the age of Com mo-
dus.
The integrity and patriotism which distin-
guished him in his relations to the Court, also
Digitized by VjOOQIC
NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. h
marked all his public conduct. He was evidently
most scrupulously honest and faitliful in the dis-
charge of his duty to his constituents ; and, as we
have seen, almost punctilious in guarding against
any thing which could tarnish his fair fame, or
defile his conscience. On reviewing the whole
of his public conduct, we may well say that he
attained his wish, expressed in the lines which
he has written in imitation of a chorus in the
Thyestes of Seneca : —
" Climb at court for me that will-
Tottering favour's pinnacle;
All I seek is to lie still.
Settled in some secret nest,
In calm leisure let me rest,
And far oflf the public stage,
Pass away my silent age.
Thus, when without noise,. unknown,.
I have lived out all my span,
I shall die without a groan,
An old honest countryman. '*
He seems to have been as amiable in his pri-
vate as he was estimable in his public character.
So far as any documents throw light upon the
subject, the same integrity appears to have be-
longed to both. He is described as of a very
reserved and quiet temper; but, like Addison
(whom in this respect as in some few others he
resembled,) exceedingly facetious and lively
amonccst his intimate friends. His disinterested
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Hi KOTICK OF TIIK AUTHOR.
championship of others is no less a proof of his
sympathy with the oppressed than of his abhor-
rence of oppression ; and many pleasing traits of
amiability occur in his private correspondence as
well as in his writings.
constitutes his principal claim on the admiration
of posterity, and which sheds a redeeming lustre
on one of the darkest pages of the English annals.
Inflexible integrity was the basis of it — integrity
by which he has not unworthily earned the glo-
rious name of the " British Aristides. ** With
talents and acquirements which might have justi-
fied him in aspiring to almost any office, if he
could have disburdened himself of his conscience ;
with wit which, in that frivolous age, was a surer
passport to fame than any amount either of intel-
lect or virtue, and which, as we have seen, molli-
fied even the monarch himself in spite of his
prejudices ; Marvell preferred poverty and inde-
pendence to riches and servility. He had learned
the lesson, practised by few in that age, of being
content with little — so that he preserved his con-
science. He could be poor, but he could not be
mean ; could starve, but could not cringe. By
economizing in the articles of pride and ambition,
he could afford to keep what their votaries were
compelled to retrench, the necessaries, or rather
the luxuries, of integrity, and a good conscience.
Neither menaces, nor caresses, nor bribes, nor
poverty, nor distress, could induce him to abandon
his integrity ; or even to take an office in which
it might be tempted or endangered. He only who
has arrived at this pitch of magnanimity, has an
adequate security for his public virtue. He who
cannot subsist upon a little; who has not learned.
d
Digitized by VjOOQIC
1 NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR.
to be content with such things as he has, and even
to be content with almost nothing ; who has not
learned to familiarize his thoughts to poverty,
much more readily than he can familiarize them
to dishonour, is not yet free from peril. Andrew
Marvell, as his whole course proves, had done
this. But we shall not do full justice to his public
integrity, if we do not bear in mind the corruption
of the age in whicb he lived; the manifold apos-
tasies amidst which he retained his conscience ;
and the effect which such wide -spread profligacy
must have had in making thousands almost scep-
tical as to whether there were such a thing as
public virtue at all. Such a relaxation in the
code of speculative morals, is one of the worst
results of general profligacy in practice. But
Andrew Marvell was not to be deluded ; and
amidst corruption perfectly unparalleled, he still
continued untainted.
We are accustomed to hear
of his virtue as a truly Roman virtue, and so it
was ; but it was something more. Only the best
pages of Boman history can supply a parallel :
there was no Cincinnatus in those Ages of her
shame which alone can be compared with those
of Charles II. It were easier to find a Cincinna-
tus during the era of the English Commonwealth,
than an Andrew Marvell in the age of Com mo-
dus.
The integrity and patriotism which distin-
guished him in his relations to the Court, also
Digitized by VjOOQIC
NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. h
marked all his public conduct. He was evidently
most scrupulously honest and faitliful in the dis-
charge of his duty to his constituents ; and, as we
have seen, almost punctilious in guarding against
any thing which could tarnish his fair fame, or
defile his conscience. On reviewing the whole
of his public conduct, we may well say that he
attained his wish, expressed in the lines which
he has written in imitation of a chorus in the
Thyestes of Seneca : —
" Climb at court for me that will-
Tottering favour's pinnacle;
All I seek is to lie still.
Settled in some secret nest,
In calm leisure let me rest,
And far oflf the public stage,
Pass away my silent age.
Thus, when without noise,. unknown,.
I have lived out all my span,
I shall die without a groan,
An old honest countryman. '*
He seems to have been as amiable in his pri-
vate as he was estimable in his public character.
So far as any documents throw light upon the
subject, the same integrity appears to have be-
longed to both. He is described as of a very
reserved and quiet temper; but, like Addison
(whom in this respect as in some few others he
resembled,) exceedingly facetious and lively
amonccst his intimate friends. His disinterested
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Hi KOTICK OF TIIK AUTHOR.
championship of others is no less a proof of his
sympathy with the oppressed than of his abhor-
rence of oppression ; and many pleasing traits of
amiability occur in his private correspondence as
well as in his writings.
