Weekly national intelligencer., 1854-11-11

enumerated hundred and nifty years before MIN oy the
Italian thinker and that not paradox, but as a
fact underlying the nature of man wherever found And
the fact is accurately stated and defined by vico Mr.
Macauay obscures it by failing to distinguish between
the different phases assumed by the poetic mind The
early ages of people are best adapted to produce
tain kind Of poetry-the poetry of the and the
feelings the objective poetry Of Homer and the early bal
lad writer's of the Niebelungen Lied and Cid but could
Sophocles or q Milton or Goethe have written poetry
like theirs in the earlier ages Of their respective nations?
1t is necessary therefore, to restrict the application of
this principle poetry which is not subjective as is done
by Vice. but Mr. Macaulsy neglects to do The reader
will find the earliest expression of this law Of poetic evo
luton the writings of Plato. See his "Io, whence
suspect Yico derived it.
NIRBUuR in our day hiss constructed enduring
his fame by his attempt TO rewrte the history of
Rome. Neither he Beaufort nor Perizonius was,
however the first to pronounce the early annals of Rome
mythical and legendary These erudite critics were
pated by the Neapoan scholar in ascrbing the storied
and pictorial narrative of Liyy the legendary lore of
early Roman baadmongers. On this subject Vico covers
the whole ground that has been occupied with such show
of originality by scholars Of time We quote in
confirmation as follows:
sThe poets having without doubt preceded the COM
historians the early history of ancient nations must
be poetical. Barbarians always lack reflection,
and reflection itself when msdreeted is the mother of c
on The early Latin heroic poets sang what thought
veriabe histories such the Of the Romans; and
also, the return of harbarsm in Europe the poets
Gunther and William de Poue still sang veritable histo-
res As to the of the epoch they also
imagined themselves to be telling the truth and in fact
Boardo and Ariosto at later date, and in more
ghened day. borrowed the subjects of their poems from
the romantic history Of Turpin, Bishop Of Paris, &C.
The capable translator Of the work before Is there
fore justified in declaring that the whole theory Of Me
buhr is borrowed from Yco; and he might have added,
that the German perhaps indebted to the italian for
the hint that popular languages the most important
testimonies the morals of nations at the time when
the languages forming" How ingeniousy Niebuhr
has applied this principle to the development OF early
Roman life and every reader is well acquainted
1t stated by vico Of the leading propositions by
which he guided in his historical studies. See book
Establishment of Principles, element xvii
The theory Of language in its nature and origin as ex
pounded profoundly by the greatest Of modern poly
glots, William Won Humboldt is distinctly enunciated in
more places than one by the Neapolitan philoogst.
Listen the following There must necessarily be, in
the nature Of things, language Of The mind common to all
nations, and which designate with uniformity the
substance of those things which pertain social e and
which bend itself to many different notifications
the things expresses present different aspects
That is Speech necessary function Of mans nature,
arises nsnctivey and spontaneously, and yet even in
keeping with the world in which placed and
from which his receive their Impressions Speech
is the universal mediator only between and his
fellow, but between and the universe The language
of nation subtends the internal world of mind and the
external world Of they apprehended by that
nation. This is the idea Of Humboldt and this, too
Vco "bodies forth distinctly it possible for
him to do at the time he wrote The monosyabc origin
.cl
ed by him. (See book j., element ky
Every body has heard Of the Homeric Question, but
every body heard that was first raised by John
Baptist Vco In book before US, which purports to be
manual of Greek Literature" by Charles Anthon
LID, &C., the consideration of the Homeric contro
versy is opened as follows:
The whole of antiquity unanimously viewed the
Had and the Odyssey the productions Of certain in
dvidual called Homer No doubt Of this fact enter
ed the mind of the ancients; and large number
of other poems attributed to the author This
opinion continued unshaken down to the year 1895 Of
era when Wolf wrote his famous Poleyomcaa, in
which he endeavored to show that the ad and Odyssey
were not two complete poems, but small separate nde
pendent epic songs celebrating single exploits Of the he
roes and that these lays for the first time written
down and united by Pisistratus"
1t was the good old Swedish Chancellor Oxenstiern
who bade his 60 forth and observe with how little
wisdom the world was governed Had he lived in our
days he might have added and mark my son, with how
little learning books made. 1t is crassa gnoranta
still more neglgenta, to assert that the whole
of antiquity unanimously viewed the Had and the Odyssey
as the production of certain individual called Homer
Has DR.. Anthon heard of the Alexandrian Chor
zonts or SsparGtors who ascribed the Had and the
Odyssey separate authors And is he sustained by
the fact when he gives to Wolf the honor of first shak
ng the popular belief in the genuineness Of the Homeric
poems Is it fair and accurate to say that the Italian
Vice. threw out before him similar conjectures it is
true, but almost at hazard and without sound argu
ments to support them ?" Whether not the Italian
Vico threw out his conectures almost at hazard our
leaders infer for themselves when we inform them
that he devotes whole book (book m of the Scicnza
Nuova treatise the Discovery Of the veritable
Homer" As to the soundness of the arguments with
which he supports his opinions have nothing say
in praise either Of Vico Wo since hold that they
were both in the wrong and alike the victims of their
acuteness for acute mind like sharp razor" often
" works deceitfully."
1t was comparatively easy work for Wolf to write
his Prologomsna the I" "Homeric Lays" for he had
Casaubon and Perizonus Bentley and Hedein, and the
/" Italian Vico to countenance and sustain him in his
onslaught on the old credence. But Vco had backer
in his rash emprise :; he the apant courier Of the
doughty conocass who have since made such sad havoc
the pantheon Of literature, and he smote the venerable
image Of the blind old bard with remorseess gusto
quite akin to the feeling which inspired John Foster to
say that would at any time be great luxury to him
to accompany few athletic with pole-axes among
the in Westminster Abbey to be there vgor