Volume 11 — EPISTLE THE THIRD.
Reading edition
TO MY HONOURED FRIEND
DR CHARLETON,
ON HIS
LEARNED AND USEFUL WORKS,
BUT MORE PARTICULARLY HIS TREATISE OF STONEHENGE,
BY HIM RESTORED TO THE TRUE
FOUNDER.
Walter Charleton, M.D. was born in 1619, and educated at Oxford to the profession of physic, in which he became very eminent. During the residence of King Charles I. at Oxford, in the civil wars, Charleton became one of the physicians in ordinary to his majesty. He afterwards settled in London; and, having a strong bent towards philosophical and historical investigation, became intimate with the most learned and liberal of his profession, particularly with Ent and Harvey. He wrote several treatises in the dark period preceding the Restoration, when, the government being in the hands of swordsmen equally ignorant and fanatical, a less ardent mind would have been discouraged from investigations, attended neither by fame nor profit. These essays were upon physical, philosophical, and moral subjects. After the Restoration, Charleton published the work upon which he is here congratulated by our author. Its full title is, "Chorea Gigantum, or the most famous antiquity of Great Britain, Stonehenge, standing on Salisbury Plain, restored to the Danes. By Walter Charleton, M.D., and Physician in Ordinary to his Majesty. London, 1663, 4to." The opinion which Dr Charleton had formed concerning the origin of this stupendous monument is strengthened by the information which he received from the famous northern antiquary, Olaus Wormius. But it is nevertheless hypothetical, and inconsistent with evidence; for Stonehenge is expressly mentioned by Nennius, who wrote two hundred years before the arrival of the Danes in Britain. If it be true, which is alleged by some writers, that it was anciently called Stan-Hengist, or, indeed, whether that be true or no, the monument seems likely to have been a Saxon erection, during their days of paganism; for it is neither mentioned by Cæsar nor Tacitus, who were both likely to have noticed a structure of so remarkable an appearance. Leaving the book to return to the author, I am sorry to add, that this learned man, after being president of the College of Physicians, and thus having attained the highest honours of his profession, in 1691 fell into embarrassed circumstances, which forced him shortly after to take refuge in the island of Jersey. It is uncertain if Dr Charleton ever returned from this sort of exile; but his death took place in 1707, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years.
Dr Charleton's hypothesis concerning Stonehenge was but indifferently received. It was considered as a personal attack on Inigo Jones, who had formed a much more fantastic opinion upon the subject, conceiving the stones to form a temple, dedicated, by the Romans, to the god Cælus, or Cælum. To the disgrace of that great architect's accuracy, it seems probable that he never had seen the monument which he attempts to describe; for he has converted an irregular polygon into a regular hexagon, in order to suit his own system. Dryden sided with Charleton in his theory; and, in the following elegant epistle, compliments him as having discovered the long-forgotten cause of this strange monument. The verses are not only valuable for the poetry and numbers, but for the accurate and interesting account which they present of the learning and philosophers of the age. It was probably written soon before the publication of Charleton's book in 1663. Sir Robert Howard also favoured Dr Charleton with a copy of recommendatory verses. Both poems are prefixed to the second edition of the "Chorea Gigantum," which is the only one I have seen. That of Dryden seems to have been afterwards revised and corrected.
EPISTLE THE THIRD.
T he longest tyranny that ever swayed, Was that wherein our ancestors betrayed Their free-born reason to the Stagyrite, And made his torch their universal light. So truth, while only one supplied the state, Grew scarce, and dear, and yet sophisticate. Still it was[12] bought, like emp'ric wares, or charms, Hard words sealed up with Aristotle's arms. Columbus was the first that shook his throne, And found a temperate in a torrid zone: The feverish air, fanned by a cooling breeze; The fruitful vales, set round with shady trees; And guiltless men, who danced away their time, Fresh as their groves, and happy as their clime. Had we still paid that homage to a name, Which only God and nature justly claim, The western seas had been our utmost bound, Where poets still might dream the sun was drowned; And all the stars, that shine in southern skies, Had been admired by none but savage eyes. Among the assertors of free reason's claim, Our nation's not[13] the least in worth or fame. The world to Bacon[14] does not only owe Its present knowledge, but its future too. Gilbert[15] shall live, till loadstones cease to draw, Or British fleets the boundless ocean awe. And noble Boyle,[16] not less in nature seen, Than his great brother, read in states and men. The circling streams, once thought but pools, of blood, (Whether life's fuel, or the body's food,) From dark oblivion Harvey's[17] name shall save; While Ent keeps all the honour that he gave. Nor are you, learned friend, the least renowned; Whose fame, not circumscribed with English ground, Flies like the nimble journies of the light, And is, like that, unspent too in its flight. Whatever truths have been, by art or chance, Redeemed from error, or from ignorance, Thin in their authors, like rich veins of ore, Your works unite, and still discover more. Such is the healing virtue of your pen, To perfect cures on books, as well as men. Nor is this work the least; you well may give To men new vigour, who make stones to live. Through you, the Danes, their short dominion lost, A longer conquest than the Saxons boast. Stonehenge, once thought a temple, you have found A throne, where kings, our earthly gods, were crowned; Where by their wondering subjects they were seen, Joyed[18] with their stature, and their princely mien. Our sovereign here above the rest might stand, And here be chose again to rule the land. These ruins sheltered once his sacred head, When he from Wor'ster's fatal battle fled; Watched by the genius of this royal place, And mighty visions of the Danish race. His refuge then was for a temple shown; But, he restored, 'tis now become a throne.[19]