The Classical Element in Early New England Almanacs
The classical element in early New England almanacs
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Citation Gummere, Richard M. 1955. The classical element in early New England almanacs. Harvard Library Bulletin IX (2), Spring 1955: 181-196.
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He readr what Aristotle said, Tben calls tbe Cou1ctsto bis aid.
HAT the old chronic]crs used to caHthe l\1atter of Greece
and R 01n c i ,v a.s ob vio u s1y fa 1niliar to the pol iti cal~ rel i- giou s~ and 2.ca dcn1 ic lead crs of th c Puritan CoI on y. It plnyred a part in the culture of the Bay Province second only to the Bible. Even in communities ,vhich concerned thcn1sclvcs mainly ,vith crops and ,veather, it js surprising to uotc ho\v far this c]assical heritage penetrated., often in di]uted forn1 but none the less effective. A ,vhi.ff of ancient history· or n1ythology ,vas ,vclco111c.. There are no statisdcs on literacy hefore the Ccnsu.~ of 1870; and the search for those ,vho did or did not 'n1ake their mark, ,vould be a.111attcr
of gnes~nvork. The altnanac, ho\ve ver 1 \\ 1as an indjspcnsablc 111cdi 11111 of inf orn1ati on. 1 The educ ati on a.l n orn1 \ v2 s high er tl1 rough out the CoIon ial perj o d in J\·1assachusett~Bg-}r than in any other province, unti1 the interchange of persons and idea~ extinguisl1ed sectiona.]ism and prepared the grou11d for federated activity. A recent interpreter of the Nc,v England n1ind has said: 'The proficieucy. of Ne,v England f ann hands in threading the 111rrzcsof free ,vill, foreordination, 2nd fate around the kitchen fire \vas a never-ending source of adn11ration to visitors~1 :! Evide-ncc exists that there ,vas much reading aloucl of calendars and other books in the
1 The \\'I j ter desj res tu express 11j s than ks to the ::10th or j t1es of the A merj can Anti- qua rfo.n Sncicty, ,,rorcester. 1\1;-issachusctts,for the opportunity of examining their un-riv.:tlcd collection of Am~rjc=.;in alnlanacs, cind to tl1ase of the Harvard Co]lege l..ihrar;v for the use of the valuahle H:i.rvard co11ection, togecher ,vith its series of photosta ts and im port:1 nt co 1lateral m::1.tt:! rial. Indebtedness to certain. of his cul- lcagu ~Ii is ackno,.,~Jedged in th csc f ootnotcs. This s ni d r of a lm-an~cs is pa rt of pro j c ct for research in Co loni a I cl~~sica 1 in fl uenc rs. aided ur a grn n t fro rr1the Am cd- ean PJ 1ilo sop hie al Society. Perry j\•EJler~The 1:-.le-wEuglaud Mind.~1"be Sc'l.Jcutce11thCe1uury ( C:lmbridgc. iHass.i J 954), p. 86. For the ed11cst('.d Pudtan~.s interest in general secular literature sec Sa1nuc1 E. 1\1orjsonj Tbe Puritnn Pronaos (Ne,•/ Yorki r936 }, pp. 127-14 7, nnd the same author's Harvard College in tbe ServenteentbCenturj' (Can)bridge. [936 ), It 1:24-13 2, [96-i.oo!" 13 2-13 5\ etc.
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) ,
Harvard Li brar J 1J11Jl etin avcragc Puri tan hon1 e. The aln1 os t ph onc tic n1isspel 1i n g of 'Elick s- san deri and ~zurksscs' in Philip \\ 1alker's CaptainPerre and His Coragios Co111pany( 1676) ,vould indicate this habit. '\\1alkcr This is hazardous guess\vo r k; but the school pro gram;" the first co 11cgc J the activities of the printing press, and the nun1crous bookshops before 1 700 led to a ,vidcspre2d c-a.rry-overof this '?\1attcr of Greece and B... on1c' into quarters ,vhere ra,v inte11igcncc,vas the onl)7 substitute for learning.. Irlere th c aln1an a c, that , vel co me visitor in every· prov·inci a I fa1nii)r-ireigned supren1e. The best e~ited and the most interesting ahnanacs (to ,vhicl1 \Ve sl1~ll devote attention here) are those published durjng the first fifty years and a series ,vhich appeared through the last fifty years of the Bay Colony /i Forty-one out of forty-four Ne,v England issues bcfore 1 687 ,vere edited by I~Iarvard graduates, as a sort of volunteer assignn1cnt~ The outstanding nu1nbers just previous to the Revolution ,vcrc pub- lished by the An1cs farnily of Dcdham1 ,vho planned a combination Eta.ndard sl1itcd to all tJ'pcs of readers. This activity is impressive: -the on 1y other scrj cs ,v h ic h b cgan alrnost con ten1p oran eous ly- 1.vith a prov j n- c ia 1 settle1nent is th-at of the I..,eedsdynasty in the l\1iddle Colonies of '''estJersey and Pennsylvar1ia:t .starting in 1687. !1 J-Jri.ro!dS, Jant7\-in l,Thc First Century of Nc\v F.ngfa11d\Terse/ Proceedtnf,:r of the Auierir.an Antiqu(lrfon Society (hereinafter Proc. A AS}, n. s., Ll 1l ( 194 3 ), :z18- 508. The J)O~Ul1-in nlanus~ript, is in the ]iLrary of the A1ncl'ican Alniquarian Sod~t.y. 4. Ezekiel Chcc\·cr'~ unabrjdgcd A ccide'llce and his Sbort /11troduction to tbe Latin Tongue (Roston, 17n~; copk.s j11 the Harvard College Lihrary) indic~tc cqu~l standr in g \d th the Englfah school re quircln cnts~ F n r th c quality of the g.ra mm1 r-sc hool curriculunl see Kcm1eth B, ~-1urdock._,'The Teaching of Latin and Greek at the Boston L:ttin School in l 712/ Publicationr of tbe Colonial Society of Jl!a!Jacbas-eus ( hcrc~ftcr Puhr. CSAf)~ XXVH ( 1931 ), ? 1-2:9. -a George E. Littl~fidd, ~Notes on the C'J.lend:J.r JJ.nd the Alman~c,' Proc. AAS, n. s., XXIV ( 19 l4), 11--64, for -a general account; Charles L. Nichols, 'Notes on the A] manacs of 1'-·iassachusetts," Proc. A A S1 n. s •1 XX 1I ( 1 9 l i ) "! 1 5- 1 34; Ch rcncc S. Bdgh-a m, An Account of A 1ueTi can A luunm cs-and Tb eir V alua for Historical Study (Y\'orce.stcr, l\1ass .., 1925; reprinted fron1 1R-cport of Libr~rian; f>roc. AAS', n, :s., XXX"'V19-,.5., ~95-209). Georg~ l ... Kittredge, The Old Faruzcr and I-Iis Aln1a11.1ck, l-n tnnch of ht~tork:;1l iE"lteresc. Al~o1 Chester N. Greenough~ 'Nc,v England A hnanr-i.c:s, 1766--1775, and the American Re,Tolution,' I'tor. A AS 1 n. s., XL V ( 1935 )~ 2.88-316 (rep.rjnted 1 ,vith four plates, \ Vorcc!:itcr., L\1ass.,J 936). Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Tbe ClnrsicalEle1ne11t in Early t-l ew E11glrnzdAlu1a11flcs 18 3 The aln1anacdid not spring l\1incrva-like fron1 the head of sotnc in- dustrious Puritan. Calendars go back to ti1nc in1111c1norial- Bab) 7 lon- ian, Egyptian, Greek., Roman 1 Arabic. The acta diurna of Appius Claudjus, the FnstiA11tiates 1 the Fnstiof Ovid, ,vcrc devised for popu- lar _consumption. Zodiac figures arc co1nparahlc ,vith a Ilon1an far1ncrs' calendar in the Naples l\1useum,sho,ving three Inonths on each of the four sides of a cubct jn Latin, ,vith advice to the planter and tiller: 'Ti1nc to drain the s\vn1npi to cut reeds and \viHo,vs/ 0 Roger BaconJ fa1niliar both ,vith the Arabic and the classica], represents a step in the history of the nln1nnac proper; hut the first rea] exarnple is that of Rcgi om on tan us., ,v ho pu bl isl1 e d the first e ditio n of tl 1c Astron 0111;ca of ManiJius at Nuren1berg in 1472 and an aln1anac in 1476, thus setting the standard and confirming the techniques. The 'J\1an of the Signs,' or the set of Zodiac .symbolsas illustrated by various parts of the human body 1 is older than the descrjption b)7 /\1aniJius. There is plenty of basic Greek and lloman 111atcria1,stcn1- n1ing from Cato 2nd \7arro and l\1anilins,,vhich kept on througl1out the centuries, son1eof ,vhich is current today. The British calendar- aln1anac ,vas in vogue by the seventeenth century. 'Poor Robin' ( J 690) 7 bur]esqued horoscopes as a current fad, offering one for 'l\1r1rch9th, or '-''hen You ,,,nr:in the t,velve corners represented Ly signs of the Zodiac, acco1npanied by n1ysterious symbols., arc the nan1cs of A rjsdppus.,Djogene.s., P]iny., Plato, Aristotle., Socrates, Ana- charsisi llytlu1gorasj Plutarch, Seneca, Solon, and Cato of Utica! One finds cvcry,vhcrc a standard set of Illytho]ogical personifica- tions~ P1uvius bcsto\vs fertilizing sho,vcrs. 1·hc healing Sun, often in the guise of Apollo, ,vcds 'Faire Tell us~; Aco1lls ( blll.stcring l\1arch) is an unsuccessful suitor, ,v hilc '"Titan's rages sc.t her heart on fire ..' s Dcccn1bcr belongs to Boreas~ Sununcr i~ 'Estivall," '.:\'inter '1-IybcrnalL' One of the oldest numbers, edited by Samuel Danforth in 1648, a.long ,vith astronomical symbo]s and ,veathcr predictions., salutes tl1c coining of J\1a.rch in a sryJc ren1iniscent of the Larjn pastoral: A 1\·ake1 ye lVe:st~rnc nyn1phsi arise and sing, And ,\-ith f rcsh tunes salute your "\vek:orne Spring! Ki nred ge1 0 Id Fanne,-, pp. 7S-j9. Th ts j s the fan J ous Ca I enda ri tun Ru rr.ic'lnu Farnes inu1nuT 'i Kittredge, Old -,,.(tnner.,pp.40-41. See 1 e.g., the C:4111hridgc.issues of 1657 1tnd i 660, nnd J~n1es Frnnl.:Hn's Poor llobh: (N e"·pon 1 R. l., 1 7J 2:). " .. + D'4z+E --. .=:Tl W • L IF Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Ii {frvard J... i b r ary BuIt e tin The san1c sort of language is used by Nathaniel Aines the Second in A.pril of 1730., as ad vice ·to s-ailors: Sn1ooth-fa.ccd Thctis bjds you hoist your sails~n A co1nplete package for 1Vlayis offered by-'1 ....S . ., Philomathemat~Jin 1656, cn1bracing the signs of Taurnst Aries, and Gemini, a progress to,vards sumn1er ,vcathcrJ in poetry that n1cans ,veH bnt is clogged by the "~eight of its learned allusions: No,v Soi hath 'sc:apt the Oxeshorn~ The Ra n1 the \V.inds,the storn1 cs and harms; 'fhe ]oving T,vins,. by Lcd1 born, Will entertain hi1n in their arms. The Sµn hitnsclf, in July, n1ust "'be,varcthe ramping Lyon's pa\ves.' Stories as ,vel l as•names of ancient d citics are in sertcd to point a n1ora1~The same .cT.. S.' includes Ovid,.stalc of Phaethon and his tragic attcn1pt to drive the horses of his father the Sun. Even the experienced sire 1nust keep a steady hand: As Ph oebus sea les the 1of tr ski cl 'l'he ~t1UcnCrab's enraged ire Will put hin1 to a stand to spie \\ 7 here he j n safety may reti re~1 c, The Zodiac and the 'I-louses, \Vere con11non property to Ovid and to John Foster, ,vhose Boston issue for 1679 gave a horoscope for Decem- ber, ,vjth a humorous sal1yat the close like the \vhiinsicalitics of Na- thaniel \Vard in Tbe ShJJJJleCobbler of Agrtwa1u: The nvo iVh1ljficksin this month do jarre 1 01d Cbronos Ii.e.i Saturn] and the Heath- en's God of vVar. Sly Ji ennes h~steth to his Ilrotherts aidt Venus and Jove both st-anding stin disn1aid. I kno,v not their 111tenn,:son1e say~t doth sho,v ,v on1cn ,vill be :Silent, \Vhcn they do not kno,v. i' Reuiiniscont of directions in Ovid, Flirti vi. 7 l5-716:: Si qua .fides ve ntis, Zep h yro date . ca rua s.11 nau tac. eras ve n iet vestris il le secund us rt q uis. tr~ nsh tcd hy Sir Jan1es Frazer ( Lo cb Ci=:.ssi cal Li Ln. ry ) : ~uany trust can he put in th c \Vi nds, .spread your can va:; to the , Vest Wind, ye tnarincrs·, to-1110 rrow it ·will h]o"· fair upon yout \\'atcrs.) 10 Se~ -cspccta 11 y A1e uunar p/Joscs ii. 8 3. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Tbe Classical Ele111entiu Early l\7ew England Alnu1uacs r 8 5 Besidesthese deities, there is frequent appearance of Pon1ona> l\1incrva, Ceres, Phoebe, Chiron the arro\v-shooting Centaur~ and other charac- ters inherited fron1 the Age of Fable. This classicalcn1phasis did not go uncriticized. Just as in the case of \;'\ijnthrop's objection to Nathaniel \'i/-ard's -app]ication of Greek and I{on1an political parallels to the Puritan order of govcrnn1cnt; so there ,vcrc protests fron1 certain of the aln1anac editors against the use of secular tnatcrial. Josiah FI int, ' signs) ,vcrc n1crc fiction. John Tullcy~1 a native of Connecticut ,vho published in Boston~nns\·vcrcd Lodo,vick the follo\ving year, defend- ing astrology in a spirit of reverence. From these debates resu1ted a compromise by 1nany editors, 1.vith a vic,v to the reconciliation of pagan and Christian. Israel Cha1111C}7 in 1664 juxtaposed a 1notto front the fortieth chapter of Isaiah ,vith the of t-1nentioncd G cnesis story· f ron1 Ovid: pronnque cnnl spcctcnt animalia caetcra c1u1cta~ os hotllin i sub] iinc d cd it, Coe] u tn qu e tuer i jussit, ct crectos ad sydera tollerc vultus. A.nd, though a.11other anin1als are prone,· and fix their gaze upon the earth, he 11 A favorite ubject of acadctnic debate. The quae.stio prc-s-cntedby John YVis~ for his masn~r]s degree in 1676 \\\:lS the iffirn1ativc of Au iJnpossibiJe sit 1uundun1 fui5se ab aeterno~ Sec bdo,.,,.., note 4 7. l I { en ry J. Cadbury, ~Christi an Lodo,·vick, Jounu!l of tbe Friends~ Historic t1I Sotiety"J XXXHI (:r936), 20--25; Hnro]d S. Jant7~ 'Christian Lodoivjck of Ne,vport .and l.,cipzjg/ R/Jode ls laud H irtory, III ( 1944)., [05-u 7., and IV ( 1945), 13-2. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) I 86 Hnr-vnrd~ibrary Bidletiu gave to 111:ln~n npEfced face and bade hin1 stand erect and turn his eye.:;;to hcaven. 18 The titne soon approached ,vhen no apologies ,vere necessary~ "'Vi1iliian1 Derha1n's Astro-Tbeology: o-r.,A De111011stratio11of tbe Being and At- tributes of God, ff01 n a Survey of t be Ii ea·ve us ( l..on don~ 1 7 r5) con1- p1ctcl JT healed any brcac h.. This book \Yas C·opernic an, astrono1nical rather than astrological, and inclusive of Scripture, Cicero, and l-Iuy~ gens. Cotton fv12ther,,vho habitually ,valked a difficult but skillful tight- rope bct,veen cfa.s:,if:alscholarship and Scriptoral te.stinlony, bccan1c editor of the Boston Almanac of 1683~ Taking as a motto Ephesians v .. 16~ '"Redeeming the tin1c~ because the days ~re evil/ he added the Latin proverbial jingle: da1nnrr fleo ren1n1, sed plus fl.eo d~mn'9 dicrum: qui ~qu c po test re bus su ccu rrere, ncm o diebus. Posscssjnns d,v~ndle: this I ,veep. Ilut more I ,veep the Joss of Tin1cr For any in an c:.ln s:1vc his pur.sci but none w·in back 1ost l ~in1e. To dri vc his idea ho1nc, he urged, in original ] .....a.tin, that his readers con their Bibles ,vith care: sanctc Libcr! vcncmnde} ,.1iber[Liher optLn1c1nobis: o anin1ac nostrae :Bib]ia di1nidiun1! J\1ather syrnpathized ,vith the adv-iceC?f Thomas Hooker to preach in the plain style; but he inclined n1ore, in line ,vith his classical enthusi- asn1, to the manner recomtnende.d by Charles Chauncy, ,v ho in 165 5 nttac]~ c d th c opponents of -aco Ucge-e d uca tc d 1n in istry, ,vi th an audress entitled 'God's lv1ercy~she,ved to his People in giving them a Faithful l\1ljnistry -and Schooles of Learning for the Continual Supplyes there- of.' 11 Ans,vcring the anti~aca~c1nic DeHt Chauncy· declared {page 3 6) : '\::\1ho can deny but that there are found 111an)T excellent and divine n1ora1ltruths in Plato'}Aristotle, I'lutrrrcb, Seneca, etc. - and to condc1nn alI pcl-n1cl,\Till be nn hard censure, cspecial1J7 to call univer- sities Antichrist, for reading of then1.' President \\Titherspoon of 13 .i\1ctmuorJ,l:J ox-es i. 84-R6 - trans. Frank J. A·iiHer,Loeb Classical Library~ The s,unc Qvjd passage occurs in the almanac of John Foster, Cambridge! 1675. ~-4 0 ri gj nal in the N e,.v York Puhl ic Library~ photosh1 t in the Harvard University Archives. See h-iiller, 'l\1cw England Afj-1Jcl,pp~ 85, 96-991 u :2 Cthe 1nyth of Prome- theus ,;,.vastheir allegory of logic')~ 164t J 781 l97• etc. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Tbe Classical Elen1eu'tiu Early rle~v Rup)ruul A/n;anacs 1 87 Princeton held the s~u11cyje,v: 'Piety ,vithout litera turc is but little 1 piofitablc, and learning ,vithout piety is pernicious . . ' 1'j Fron1 the Astrouo1nicn of ?vl~niliusthe scho1ar1yeditors of the seven- teenth century drc,v n1nch guidance. Joseph Dud]ey., ,vho outdid his c.:untemporarics jn learned ~Husions.,paralleled ( 1668) the passage from the t,vcnty-cighth chapter of Job~ on 1nanis inadcquac)r to control anJ·- thing bcy·ond p1ain natural proccsscs 1 ,vith the l\1anilian per uririos usus arten1 experientlo fecit cxc1np1o 1nonstr;1nte uiam . .1u Ex:pcdencc through pn1cdce taught the art; The ancient pattern scrttcd to p1ot the chart. In this san1enu,nber Dndley noted the Roman king Nunui.''s addition of t\VO n1onthsto the y·ear, becal!sc of ~bi-faced January·.. t He concludes by posing a problem - that of the Earth entering l...ibra: die quibus in tcn-j~1 ct cri5 n1ih.im~gnus A poUo,17 A passage fro n1 9vid il] u stra tes the .saere d ne.s-sof the search for truth: f c liees -=-.ni m ael qui bus 1rn cc co _gnosccrc pri n1u1n i nque d on1os su peras s ca~1dere cu ra f 11it! 18 I-Iappy the sou]s ,vho first took pains to kno,v The.(;e mystede..~i~ncl scale the heavenly hornel i\1an ilius., the obscure but in fl11 en tial inter prcter of · th c hea v enl y bodies, prohab!y a conte1nporary of ~~ugustos and Tiberius 1 ,vas taken very seriously by the ear1)7 Co]onial editors. I-Jis plea for the use of appro pr iatc astronon1ica l ter,ns, rather than 1nere flo \Ver.s of speech1 occurs sev~rat titnes in these college-supervised ahnanacs: ornarJ res jpsa negat contenta doceri. er~s i qua ex terna ref eren tur no rnin a J ingu t j~ Richard A1. Gummere., ~A Scottish Classicist in Colonial Amerjca/ Pubs. CSil1, XXXV ( 195[ ), J 5lr B i\1uni1ius~ Astro110'1nictti. 61---61 ( ed. Housman. 1903-30). Sherburne ( l675; see he1n\\T-,note 20) translates rather stiffly: . . . each Sj gns proper Force. Experj ence f ram! d th E reof n Art; the \:\ray Sho,,·n by Examp]e ... u \ 7 ergil! Eclogae iii. 104 - a f re(Jt1endy quuted 't~g-/ not on]y in hi.ter alnu:ulacs! such as James Franklin is Poor Robin of 1731-, but in other contexts throughout Co1 on bl history. u F ,nti i 2:97-:i9S. Fro1n Lhc 1663 nu1nbcr 1 edited by lsni:e] Ch,1uncy. F¥4 . q - ..... ff F.WWW Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) 188 flarvard Library B1tlletiu hoc opeds, non uatis erit: non umnia :flccti possunt, ct propria nlcl~us sub uoce notantur. 1 ~ This ,vas statement ,vhich f orn1cd ::1 sort of text or credo, 2nd \Vrts used for 1nany purposes. Applied latcrT by the Fo11nding Fathers) to the ~self-evident' argunlents for Indcpcndcncc 1 the first ]inc bccan1c a national .sl ognn. pj n gre' s French version, published over a cen rur y later than the efforts of these Can1bridgeeditors, js the clearest trans]a- tion of a difficult passage: 'La matierc que je traite n'est pas susceptible dtngre1nens, ·eue nc perrnet (]lle !'instruction. Et si je suis quelquefois oblige d'ernprunter quel(_]uestermes d 1unc langue etrangere.,ce sera la f{lute du .sujet.,et non celle du poete: it est des choses qu"'on ne peut tnieux exprimer qne par Jes tern1es qui leur ont eteprin1itivement a.p- propries~, ~0 The conclusion seerns to be reasonable that these seven- teentl1-century editors could l1::n1dlel\1anilius con1fortably jn the Latin text. It is matter for surprise that l\ 1lanilius is so little kno,vn today. flis ,vork ,vas listed in n1any Colonial libraries. The collection of Ja1ncs Logan ( died 1751), secretary to '''illiam 11enn, a scientist and cl~ssicist ,vho taught Godfrey, the inventor of the n1ariner,squadrant., contained not only three copies of the Scaliger ( 1 590) edition of the Astro110111- •.. ic11hut also the Creech translation of 1697 .i• The edition of 1679, pub- lished 'in usutn Delphini' at Pariil is included in the Harvard CoHege J.. ibr:try printed catalogue of 172 3; and as it ,vas often custon1ary to se11off duplicates \vhcn -a nc,v edition of an author ,l;.,-asacquired, it is like]y that the Scaligcr of 1590 or other earlier editions had at one time been avai]able. The great collection of '''illiam Byrd the Second ( died 1744-) contained a copy of 1'1anilius.~~ John Ada1ns o\vncd the Bipont 1~ Astrono,nicn iii. 39-42 ( {:d.11ousn1ant c903~30). !.':i Artronou1iconm1 libri quinque-9 ed. and tran5. AlexJJ.ndre Guy Pingre (Pari!;, x786 )~ li 133. The English renderings of Sir Ed\vard Sherburne ( TIJc Spberc of Af nrc1H"A{ auilius Afadc ir1J R1iglis}J Poe111,London 1 r 67 5) -and of Thom:1s Creech ( T/Je Five Rookr of 1l1. i\1.aniHus ... Done into English V crs-e, London} 1697) \Vere not ~va il4'hle until -a 1nrr j o rt ty of ti l cs c co 11cgcr inspired alman a cs had been d rcu latc d. S [1erbu rae 's ,vor k i::_;c.::onfi ncd to Book l ; Creech u se-.stwo Engl ish l i r1csfor e ~..-eryo nc of the Lat1 n. Copies o £ both trans 1a tion:s are in the Harvard Col Icgc I~ib r~ry H <llno,v in the Library Co,np;iny of Phihnlclphia - inf or.nation uy councsy of Ed win "\;Volf.,Librarfan. !!!! Clearly indicated on r-1. Hst full of n1isspellings; sec Th~ 1Vritiugs of Colvnd H7 illimn Byrrl, of lVesto1.·eT ln Virgi11in~Esqr, ed. John S. Bassett (1',fow York 1 19o"1)1 P· 443+ Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Tbe ClassicalEle111ent iu Et1rly New England Al1Nanacs 1 89 edition of 1 783 .23 Jefferson's private notebook records the lines: . . . . du m CJua crimu.i:;1 acvu nl p-erdin1us~ct nuHo votorun, fine b~ati, vicruros agj1nus scn1per.~nee vjvjmus unquan1.~4 "'hHc ,ve are 5eeking life ,ve are losing it, and ,vithont realiz1ng any of our ,vishes 1 ,ve ah-.;,-'aysact as if ,ve \Vere gojng to lh·c 1 and never do li\·C. It is, furthcrn1orc, a likely,.guess that Turgot's con1p]i1nentary epigran1 on Franklin~ 'Eripuit cac]o fulincn sccptrtunquc tyrannis,' n1ay have been suggested h) 7 the 'Erjpuitgue loui f11Jn1cn'of l\1aniliusl2~ ,vherc he speaks of man's boldness in harnessing the forces of nature. Turgot ,vas a first-class Latinist; he ,vTotc in that language a dissertation {On the Historical Progress of the Human l\1lind., The French of the late eighteenth century \Vere especially interested in science. Pjngrc's translation of l\1ani[ius\Vas published in 1786. The presence of Jeffer- son., the friend of .scientists,in Paris fron1 1784 to 1789 1nay have some relevance. Pictorial rcpres enta tio n of th c Zodiac signs by various par ts of th c human hod y is h-a.hitu a 1, fro rn the b cginn ing to l\1cCa rter' s County Ahnanac of 1834 in South C::1rolina. The basic l\1anilian passage is: accipc diuis9s hominis per sidera partcs singu 1a q u e in prop dis parent• a mcm bra figu rj s, in quis praccipu~s toto de corporc vjres cxerce n t. . . . 2G H. \V. Garrod believes that this (JUaint ~Zodiacal l\1clothesia' ma)T be assigned to the orjginal 'Egyptian Pricst-as~l\1cdicinc-IVlanttand trans~ 1atcs litcraHy: Learn no,v ho,v the parts of the h u n1an body are dis tri bu ted among the signsJ and behold each member plainly allocnted to its: ov:n constellation. In the p::irts of the l~ody sn Jistdbutcc.J the signs exercise the po\\•ers \vhich concern that part, out of the w·hole body~,vhich helnngs to them. CatfllOJ,rlle of tbe } o/Jn A di:1111s1-iln-nr:y iu tlJe Public T...ibrtaryof t/Je City of Boston (Bo.~tor1,1917). ~,Astronon1ica iv. 3-5; ,quoted f ron1 1,be Litcrtfr}' Dible of T/:Jo111ar/eH crson, ed. Gilbert Chinard ( B:ahjmorc, 1918), p. ~.A rtronomica i. to4 ( ed. Hous111an. 1903~30). For some discussion of the circmn- st~nccs sec Tbe lfTritingr of Benjn1ni1,FrauJ.:liu, e(l. All.Jert H. Snlyth (Ne,v York, 19o5-07 ), T! 197- 198. :!,: Artroncnnica ii. 43 3~5 46 ( eel. l-Iousn~an11903-30 ). Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) 1--Jar·vardLibrary Bulletin 1 The lVIonth,the Housc 1 and the J\len1ber ,vould roughly combine as foHo,vs: lvlarchtllan1 1 I-lead; April~ Bull, Neck; i\1ay"'T ,vins"' Shoul- ders; June, Crabt Heart; July, Lion, Breast; A ugusr~, 1irgo, Belly; Septen1ber.,l__,iura"' l(idncys.; October, Scorpion, l...oins; Noy·en1bcr, Arch er, Thighs; De cc111b er, Capricor 11, Knees; January,. Aquarius,. l...1egs;February, 17ish, Fcct.27 These early· N c,v England publications 2re sprink1ed ,vj th J~atin n1ottocs. In the Boston edition of 1681 one notes the oft~recurring \lndergraduatc thesis subject~ Nibil est iu i11tellect11quod non prius iu sensu. Urinn Oakes~later I1rcsidcnt of Harvard, furnishes in 1650 a brief co1npendiu1n of history, begiuning ,vith the ltonu111En1pirc. After conveying inf or,nation, the editor sometimes chal lcngcs the read er ,vi th the I-Ioratia n . . . .si (}uid novj~ti rccti11s isdsj can di dus inlp crti; si noni his 11tcrc n1ccun 1. 2-B rf better 1·eckoning tllan this llc yours, Go generous shares! If notJ abide by mine. An appropriate 111cssagcfor the star-gazer is the distich~ nee frustra signoruJn obin1s specula111uret ortus~ tcn1pori bu 5 l"'he ~ettings and the rtsings of the stars 1 The year~ divinely quartered ..vith it~ seasons. The distinguished Tho1nas Brattlt c.:nthis ,visdon1teeth on the Cam- bridge .J.f\hnan:=tc of 1678, "'1th its fu ndan1enta] defense of the glory of the Universe: Quid p otest esse tan1 ap ertun1, tan1q u c p ers picu u n1, cu tn c :i c1 u 1n s us p cxit nus cac lcstia {p1e coll ten, p 1a ti su rnust qua n1 al i gu od es.se nu n1en pra estan t1ssimae n1entis quo hacc rcgancur? Tul.~ de Nrttura Lib. 1. \:t\/hcn \\'C gaze up\vard to the sky ~nd contetnplate the heavenly bodies:i-\\'hat can b c so o bvi o LlS and so 1n ani [est as that th ere nl u:st exist sonlc po ,ver p ossc.ss- i ng tr~nsc.:-endentintelligence by \Vhich these things arc ruled? ;3o n Astro11ou1icon lib.er 11, ed. ~nd tr;111s. H. ,,~. Ga.rrad (Oxford, 1911 ), pp. 19 and I 09. The T,vcl,·c Sjgns al'e Ested by i\1fo.t1iliusin Astrono~nicrf, i. 160--174. The 1775 A lnrnna c of Na thaniei A mes th c Th; rd t..l bul:1tes this threef ol tl natomica 1 co1nhi n rr- tion. :?:!IHo race 1 E pist u lae i. 6. 6 7-68 ( Jeremi:a h Shepard,~ A 1rnan ac~ l 6 7 i). ~"ii ·vergil] Georgicai i. 257-258. 'l)h.rcrs1s' is a l1cttcr c~t:lh,h:h(',(1 reading than id i\ti ti.is.] ~.-.Ciccroj De 11a turtf d co nu11 jj. 2 - trans. Harr is R ackh·.im I Loeb Classical Lib n1 ry. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) 1,be ClassicalElen1cut in Enrly New E11gla11dAlu1a11acs 191 John Foster ( 1676) also (goes Ciceronian': S\1nt ex terra hon1ines~ non ur lM.bjtatorcs scd spcctatorcs rcrum superarum ct C:l cJC5ti ll TTl, "J'lHT{! are men of the earth ,vho llve not as d,vcllcrs thereon, but ns ohscr,,.crs of things di~~incand heavenlya31 The almanac of 1676, at the troubled period of ](ing Philip's ,,,ar, concludes ,vith the \Tergilian deus dabit his quoquc finc1n- pagan litany of ten used by· the early sett1ers. fvlade-up verses, half-quotations, and 1ncn1ory tags occur. John Shern1an 1ndulgesin a reJic of school rign1arolc in the 1677 nun1bcr: Hl\1orieris.,orieris, erisJ is"- 'Thou .shalt die, thou shalt rise again, thou shalt exist, and thou art on thy ,vay.J 02 l""'hct,vo editors of 1669 and 1684 endeavor to solve tl1e n1ystery of the First Cau~e: · ~stra reg LIn t n1u nd un1, ~td reg it a~tra d ~us. Stars rule the l~/ or]di but God control.~ the Stars. IJanicl ltussell in 1671 descends to a ,vord-p1ay on 'astris' and 'rastris,' , ?hich n1ay be rendered: I-le ,vho ,vould fron1 the stars their glory take Is fit for naught except to ,vield a rake. The meter js la111c;the pun is 11ntrans]atablc; but there is a clear contrast benvecn the Plough and the St~rs. The science in these early calendars is 111ainlytraditional, re.fleeting the Aristotelianisin of Burgcrsdicius and Charles i\·Iorton. 33 Apart fr~:Jin intelligent diagnoses of the \\'"Cather, the nstrono111yis based on books rather than on observation. Instructionl ho,vcvcr, is the ain1. San1ucl Danforth in 1665 comn1cnts on ~The Late Co1net': 'A Jittle before the Achaic Y,1ar, as Seneca rcpo1·ts, there ~ppearcd a Co111ct fiery an ~c Cicero~ l)e uatur~ deonn11ii. 56~ :i:: Or, .ter-i.d~cs:' fnr ..is'; ,·rhou cxistest 110\V.i s, See llurgcrsdicius:' Collegium pbysicun1 ... tounn u1Hurt"deni pL..,iloJOj)hiaJJJ. cuu1J1endiosej)roponens, 2nd ed. (Leiden, 1642) copy in the I-Iarvird College Libnu:y~ and j\Jorlon's Con1pendir11Jl pbyrir.ac, circulated in manuscdpt Mnong his students at I-Iarvard, and publfahed from sunTiYing nrn.nuscri1)ts in Pubi. CSJ.ft XXXIII ( 19-¼o). Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) r 9 2 H arvnrd Library Bulletin Claudius died.J The Elder Pliny is called 11pon as ,vitness th-at hail 1nelts n1orc quickly than sno\V. The same nncient authority defines Ecnepbias as a \Vind-storrn f ron1 the clouds: it is related to Turbo CT,vister"), and can be stopped by~ generous Bprinkling of vinegar! Nobadi~h Russell ( 1684) produces an essay clearly indicating his jn- dehtcdness to the ancient tradition, narning three types of lightning - the piercing kind,. the' smashing kind, and the hllrning kind~ John TuIJey ( 1690) deals ,v1th the Rainbo,v: ~Pliny saith the llainbo,v is n1ade by the Sun Bean1sstriking upon a hollo,v cloud ,vhcn their edge is repelled and beaten back against the Suu, and thus ariscth variety of co]ors.. " The .same editor in 1693 inserts 'A Brief discourse of the N atura.1Cans es of \:\' atery i\ileteors, as Sn o,v, H-ai 1, Rain t etc.' 34 . Th ere are explanations of the Ro1nan l(n.lcnds, Nones, and Ides. Danforth in 1646 cnHs to n1ind Cacsar~s rcforn1: ~TheRoman en1pcror, by the he}p of Sosigcnes, ord:iinc d that the po Iiti ca 11year consist of 36 5 in ~nt of astro nom )7 : l At lcn gth .Aristarchus of Samos con cci v cd it far n1ore rational to assign uniform 1no ti on to those eel csti al bu dies+1 In other ,vords,. he is described as t~1c first hc]ioccntrist~ The brief survey carries tl1c reader througl1 Pytl1a.gorasiC-..opcrnicns, l{cpler, and others. 'T~ S.,' one of the 1nost scholarly of the editors, de.scribes( 1656) the - prinnnu 111obile1 the concept of the sphcrcst ,vhich even the rough so]dier Captain John S1nith had used as an i1lustration a half-century before.3~ A poen1 by' Josiah Fiint ( 1666) combines the be]icf in a Day of Judgment ,vith the Stoic theory of a periodic \Vorld-confl-a.gration: the forn1er is pictured as (the Lord:s furnace preparing to cast the Hea\ 1ens and Earth -ane,v/ and the latter ,vas a familiar thcrne to coHege n1en~fron1 cl-assesin philosophy ~nd from readings such as the passage in Senec.:a)~J...,,etterS! ' - r • the dissolution of the \VOrld,,vhen the gods arc confounded together and Nature rests for a space f ron1 her \Vork.t :t(i Rer,veen these scholar-edited panlph1ets and the popular publications of the An1csfan1ily~ there is a spate of publication, ,vidcning geographi- cally ,vith the gro,vth of the various provinces. Franklin becornes a .1:; Ji·or various desc:riptio~s of rainl10\vs, con1et&, lightning~ :;1nd so fortht these editors \rere thoroughly f ~•nili~r ,i.ifrh such cbsstcal comment ~s tlrnt found in Plinyi N aturalis Iii sto Tia H. 48; Senccu, N 11.turt1I es q ruwrtio nc s, vii. 1 ; ; 1\·1anil i us, A stron.rnni ca i O 708-9:z.5 T T'nn ..:els ,md TVorkr of Captnbz Jofo1 S11lit!Jted+ E~hvanl A rbcr, rc:-v.Arthur G. Bradley ( l~diohurgh, 1910 ), I, 194. :JJj E pittufoe ix. 1 6"' trans. Rich a rd 1\-1.C u1nnlc.rc~ I ..oc: h Cl .1.ssic-.1.l Li bra ry. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) The ClassicalEle111eut in Early New Englaud Ahun11acs 193 c]assic, ,v~th much hidden borro\ving fron1 the ancients, n1ostly pro- vcrbi~l. 1""hc\'irginia A]n1anac nin1snt sprightlincsstas in the \\ 7illiams- burg number of 1772, ,vith its 'Ode to Tobacco': i\1ix the cool j 11icc.r;;of the Rhenish vine, Nor envy Ijorace his Fa]ernisn ,vine. Thy \\'Orth in \ 1irgil's sacred page h~d shone, And a fifth Georgie _had been aH thy o,vn. Next to Poor Rjchnrd, the An1es alma.nacs are perhaps the n1ost rc- ,varrling. Astronomy., history., literature., ,veathcr, current events, and a saving humor are characteristic. They offer handy· kno\v]edgc, patriotic inspiration1 plenty of advice, and ,vays to,vards-se]f-help. First c an1 c Captain Nathan icl Atncs, a 1natcnr a stro n 0111er an cl n1a the- n1aticia n, \vho helped his son, Nathaniel Junior, to start the famous Almanac in 172 5 .. Natl1anicl the Third continued his father's publica- tion from 1764 until r 77 s. '''ith a ,vide circuiation these 1ncn raised the standard of reading, and provoked much correspondence on sub- jects of the day ..37 Herc a.re the classics,embedded in a popular n1ediun1 of con1 tn un ica ti on. Th c seconcl Nathaniel , vas inre rested, and the third N athanicl college-trained (Harvard class of r 761) in the ]Jati11 tradition. For their pub]ic, the far1ncr co111csfirst in in1portancc.. In the 1767 number, by 'Nathaniel An1cs, Philo1nath/ \Ve find an extended plea for agriculture as the secret of CoJonial happiness. After urging the n18in- ten2nce of the spirit of Freedon1, An1es, correlating the lessons of ancient Ron1e ,vith the needs of the future United States,.reproduces the famous apostrophe of \ 1crgil to the Italian farn1er: 0 f ortunatos nin1Jun11sua si bona norint I ~8 :agnco" l:1e. . . + aln1osr literally trilnslatcd as ~n introd uctj on to an enco1nillnl on the paradisc of an agrarian sys tcn1: Oh! ye husbandmen~ too happy ,vou]d ye be, did ye kno,\'- your o,vn :1. rough and ignorant peopie 1 by culti'i:'atjng the study and practice of useful arb-i and inanufacn1res~ did e111crgcfro1n obscurity to a state of grandeur ... Samuel Briggs, con1p., The Essnys1 J-,Jtnnor1 and l'oeuzs of l\1tttbaniel A1J1e-si Father aud Son 1 of Ded/Jrr111,Afass-acbnsetts., fro1n TlJeir AlnuaMcksi 1726-1775 (Cievelancl~ Ohioi 1891 ), especially pp. 31. 371 5i1 63, 66, 72, 78, 109, 13 l., 143, 145-146t 173, 134, 161, 313, ;F4, ~46, 381-384, 410 .. 418-419, 458. :38 Georgica ii 458. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) 194 Hnrvard J..,ibraryBulletin The Jife and n1anner.sof young Prince Hcraclius of Georgia sfJ are suggested as 1nodcl for the acquisition of useful culture .. In 17.41 the second An1es is ,vorricd by the Land Bank troubles and the effects of the Great A,va.kening: he regards the Purjran standards ns retrograd- ing, and falls back on a sin1ilar fceJing on the part of the poet Horace; Tj1nc sensib]y a111~hing.~in1pairs; Our Fathers have l)ccn ,vorsc than theiTs, And ,vc than ours; next Age '\'111see A Race 1nore profligate than \\'c. 41} A verse entry (January, 175 2) fron1 Diydcn's Juvenal praises the s1n1plelife~ Of n11the \' 0\\ 1s, the first and c.:h1cfRequest Of each, is to be richer th~n the rest; And yet no Doubts rhe poor i\1::111'sDraught controul, I-le dreads no Poison in his homely Bo,v]. Then fear the clcadJy Drug lvhen Gcrns dh--ine Enc h nse the 01 p, and spad, le in the \"Vine.41 Celebrating Amherst's victory· in 1761, he recalls a Ro1nan parallel: Canad ai ljkc ancient Catt hagc., f c U. In 1 7 72 Am es the Third issues a tru111 pct-ca]1 to freedom, commend- ing and advertising John Dickinson's ~Attic c1oqnence -and Ilornan spirit/ ,vith a cheer for the Letters froni a J?aru,cr iu Pe11Hs-ylvnnia- a book ,vjdely--read before the crjsis of the Revolution. 'fhe second Ames seems to have availed hin1self of Dryden's translations; the grandson, ho,vcver, ,vho frcel)7 uses the odginal L-atin in his private diary, ,vent to the sources for his references and js supposed to have been the co1nposcr, in Latin and F.nglish1 of an inscription for a bust of Pitt, in 1766.4~ An1idthe prc-,var confusion of 1775 Aines h11mor- ousl)r suggests follo,ving the rule of L)rcurgust ,vho ordered that no 00 A so n1e\vhat ,·ague identifies tion: pre.sutna L1 y the Enlpcror J-lcnidi us ( A.D. 5 75-6--1-1 ), ·who conquered the Persia11S,returned the 1,rue Cross to Constantinople, celebrated a triurnph in Roman sty]t.; and ,\-~ascalled the Nc,v Scipio. I-le instituted reforms in the Church :lnd ~dvocated n1any ch-le i1nprovements. Cannin(l iii. 6. 45-48 . .u Saturae x. 13•-z7. •~ll.riggs) 'l'•l ntbatliel A1uesi p. 3 7; Greenough, Proc. AAS, n. s., AL \i! i98, 307, 314. Ames notes. in his dt~ry th::at on 26 Ji'c:hrunry 1767 he 'brought the bust of Pitt for the Pillar of Lihcrg/ and th~t on August 6 he had altered, quite corrccdy! .icrepsit' to 'cvulsit' in the i r1scriptio tt 'La us l }co Regi, et l 1n111uni ta tm au toribus:q. maxim e Pti.trono Pitt., qui Rempuh. rurSlnn c,Tu]sit Faucibn~ Orci!I-; see Proceedi11gs at tbe Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Tbe ClassicalElen1e11t in Early New Eug!and Al11ur11acs195 light should be furnished to those co1ning hon1c fron:1a feast, Jthat the fear of not being gble to get horne n1ighthinder their getting drunk.' 4.s In the same nu1nbcr, a propos of the ,vish of the e1nperor Caligula that all lton1ans had hut one coJlectivc neck, the editor ,vhispcrs darkly: 'Have we not so1ne Caligulas?' The value of astroiogy is bCJ7 ond ques- tion: think ,vhat Caesar might have avoided on the Ides of l\1arch, had he fo1lo,ved Spurinna's advice~ And ,vhat a tempest in a ,vineglass ( 1762) ,vhen the hurried tavern keeper ca~lson Urania and all the Iv111scsto ~chastise the inso]ence of the \Tintncrs,' ,vho do not approve of his ho1nen1ade currant ,vine! "\!\1eather and calendar chgnges arc pleasantly flavored \Vith the custon1ary but:olic or n1ythological al1usions4In January, Saturn and Venus do joyn here \\lith i\1a:rs,,to tncct Hcavcn'-s charioteert and in l\1arch, The Ram that bore fair Heilacn once a,vay Hath n1ade dark night equal to Eghtso1ne day .. v\ 1hen sno,v falls, Horacc,s l\1ount Saracte takes the mantle of Blue Hill: Behold yon l\1ountain's hoary Iieight i\1adc higher ,vith ne,v l\·1ounts of Sno·w·; Again behold the \1/intcr,s ,vcight Oppress the Iab'1·ing\1/oods below'~u l-Iorace a]so stands b)r \Vith an ho11rglass,bidding us enjoy the present \Yhile,ve n1ur1nurhis 'Eheu fugaccs.' In the springtin1c the farmer js treated to some V crgil fron1 Dryd.cn. Just as in Captain John Smith,s papers \Ve find continual aliusion to the bravery· of the Romans/[j s0 7 declares the patriotic Aines of 175 5, ,; ,T,vas Toi] that taught the Ron1ansho,v to conquer: frorn the P]ough they led their legions on to \\ 7 ar.' L.cxington and Con cord ,vcrc not far distant. Celebrntion of tbe T,u,-oH11ndred and f-'if tie th A1n1hiers-aryof tbe Incorporation of tbe Town Gf Ded,1n1u,A-1 assac/Juretts ( Cmnbridge! j\1~ss.,1887) t pp. [ 74-175. '!I Pl u tare h, Ly cut gus xii. A f u Ucr vcr~iun of tl1is re gu1a tion is contain c d iu PJu tarch !s e.ssay The Act ou nt of t f)e Ln-ws-and Ct, st0111 s of t be Llf red ae'IJu1n.ians! irrn.n~lated from the Greek Ly l\1r. John Pulleyn, of Trinity Col1ege jn Catnbridgc/ in rlutarclls A! oralst ed. i\1atthe\,· l\1organ (Londoni 1684---94),.I, roz., Arncs may have o,vne tl this or a later edition. u Horace 1 Car111in~L 9-trans. Dryden. ,.:;Tra'l!e ls and lP' or kt! t :z09. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) Harvard Library 13illletin Profound tnetaphy·sics nnd philosophy arc usua]ly avoided: they· arc left to the college thesi.s-\vriters. But Nathaniel the Second, harking back to the declan1ations,vhich \Vere in circulation, ndds to son1en1oral advice the commonpJace theme: Sublata causa tollitur eff ectus, ,vhich 1ncans 'ltcmovc the cause and )rou ren1ovc the effect." •rn The editor of 17 31 and 1 738 has his doubts about the physical theories of Epicun1s: Stupendous Athcistical Nonsense! That Aton1s floating in a Space ln,mensci Should by the j t1mbling Hand uf Chance he hurl'd Into that order ,vhich conlpo.s'd the \\ 1 orld! Or if the Concave of the va.st Expance \Vas lly the senseless hand of giddy Chance. This ,,.rorld in ,vhich such \, 1isdon1 is displayicl, \Vas hy unguided~ jncrr, Atoms 1nadei As Epicurius and his senseless FoUo\~.rcrssaid. The second An1cs in 1739 appeals_to Aristotle for proof of the in- dcstructibil1ty .. of the universe: cAristotle thought the ,vorld ,vas ab eteruoJ; the universe ~kne\v not old age nor corruption/ and \Vas pos- 4 sessed of ~eternal permanence.' j These selected san1plesof popular reading, especially at the begin- ning and at the close of the Ne,v England Colonial period1 need not be taken as compl~tc proofs of the jntcl1igcncc and the literacy of the Bay con1munity. But it is clear that in this region the inhabitants sup- ported as n1uch education us might be served 11pto thern~ and that culturally the classicsran a rcspectab]e second to the ~criptural influ- ence. The process ,vent on cu1nu latively to the B.. cvolution. John AdanJs'.t,vho sc]don1 gave \Va)r to 3ny enthusiasm~could say in 176 s~ 'l\_ native of An1erica ,vho c~nnot read and ,vrite is as rare an appear- ance as a Jacobite - '~'c arc a11of us la\"\'')7crsi divines, politicians) and p 11i l oso ph crs ..' 4 8 RrctIARD J\-1.Gul\-1 i\·IERR H The 1nodc-rn cdfror transl-ate!> incnrrectly: 'Haughty calrn;;s exalt effects' - ha rely possib]e but not according to the canon; see Briggs.,Nat baniel Atnr?s, pp. 7~\ 8 i. 1 'hat th is verb n1cans 'n~mo\'e I is cJe ad >7proved by an cxa ni ina don of t\vo H -ar- va ul the:&c:sof 1 64 :z. (in J.Trv:Jrd University Archives) . 7 " A r istotl e, De 1;JU nd o 3 9 7A, a d octri nc -1~ Juhn Adams, 'On Canon and Feudal La\.v/ in Tbc- Scleeted lV-ritings of ]o/Jn and Jvbn Quincy Adan1st ed. A Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955) -,....;- ·- List of Contributors HENRYNASH SM1In, Professor of Englisht Univer~ity of California (Ilerkeley)t and Literary Edi tor of the fvlark T,vai n Estate RICHARD M .. Gu1-,,fl\il.ERF.tLecturer on Latin and Chairrn~n of the Com1nittce on Adn1issions (Retired) t Harvard Uni vcrsity · ANnRc,v D. 0 snoRN Assi Stant Librarian of the College I ..ib rary in charge of th c Ca taloguc De pa rtment; H~n.1a rd University· GEmtGE B. '''ATIS., Professor of French, Davidson College Cr.1 FFonn K. SrnFTON t Custodian of the Harvard U nivcrsity Archives, and Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society AnruANA R. SALEJ\f, Paris, France DAVID C. WEBER, Senior Assistant in the Harvard College Library MADISON C. BATES, Professor of Eng lishi En1cri tus, R ntgcrs Uni \'ersity GARRETT Il1RF::HOFF, Professor of l\{athematics, I-Iarv·ard Unh 1 crsity· Ro:i.-:L.i\N JAKonsoN 1 Samuel H azzar Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume IX, Number 2 (Spring 1955)