The End

I like when a website officially ends, rather than just fading away and leaving any readers to wonder if new content will ever appear.  

And so, I end the Keith Huddleston blog.

Shakespeare's Reputation over time

 Wow, Wikipedia for the win here, big time. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_of_William_Shakespeare: 

Dryden's sentiments about Shakespeare's imagination and capacity for painting "nature" were echoed in the 18th century by, for example, Joseph Addison ("Among the English, Shakespeare has incomparably excelled all others"), Alexander Pope ("every single character in Shakespeare is as much an Individual as those in Life itself"), and Samuel Johnson (who scornfully dismissed Voltaire's and Rhymer's neoclassical Shakespeare criticism as "the petty cavils of petty minds"). The long-lived belief that the Romantics were the first generation to truly appreciate Shakespeare and to prefer him to Ben Jonson is contradicted by praise from writers throughout the 18th century. Ideas about Shakespeare that many people think of as typically post-Romantic were frequently expressed in the 18th and even in the 17th century: he was described as a genius who needed no learning, as deeply original, and as creating uniquely "real" and individual characters (see Timeline of Shakespeare criticism). To compare Shakespeare and his well-educated contemporary Ben Jonson was a popular exercise at this time, a comparison that was invariably complimentary to Shakespeare.

 See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Shakespeare_criticism

Wowie, wowie, such a time to be alive. 

Fake Lao Tzu Quotes

 A website I am glad exists.

https://www.taoistic.com/fake-laotzu-quotes/

Did you know that Alexander Pope . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pope :  

After Shakespeare, Pope is the second-most quoted writer in English, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, some of his verses having become popular in common parlance (e. g., damning with faint praise). He is considered a master of the heroic couplet.

Naturally enough, as far as my studies have gone, Pope was of English Catholic stock.   I believe his Essay on Man will be an interesting enough count-point to the early Enlightenment when I move my studies to 1700-1750. 

Pope was born in that Glorious Year (for Protestants) of 1688. 

Cura > curiosity

 I am reading Philip Ball's book Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. It claims that curious comes from the Latin cura, to care and that earlier uses of the word included working "with diligence and caution." 

I have a conjecture based on this -- one would not be at all surprised is completely wrong -- that as curious take up the usage we currently see it used that the word "care" came in to fill that vacuum.  

I would like this to be true because I have always been a bit confused by the etymology of care, which comes from the old English for sorrow, whereas the was we use the word is important to the way a real artist works.  Using the word care the way we do, it is safe to say that when we look at an artifact we evaluate it by how much care we believe was put into it.  We don't mean sorrow here; we mean something like one of the archaic uses of curiosity.   And we very much need to a word with that meaning, especially those of us who see art as our salvation from the the void.  

Onward Meta-rationality

 I'm glad someone -- here Scott Alexander -- showed me the front door on Dave Chapman's project. 

https://metarationality.com/introduction

Simple Benny Graham

 More for my own bookmarking:

http://www.ndir.com/SI/articles/MS1005.shtml

Simple Benny Graham, for simple people. 

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_St_John,_1st_Viscount_Bolingbroke

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (/ˈsɪndʒɪn ˈbɒlɪŋbrʊk/; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his antireligious views and opposition to theology.  He supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the new king George I. Escaping to France he became foreign minister for the Pretender. He was attainted for treason, but reversed course and was allowed to return to England in 1723. According to Ruth Mack, "Bolingbroke is best known for his party politics, including the ideological history he disseminated in The Craftsman (1726–1735) by adopting the formerly Whig theory of the Ancient Constitution and giving it new life as an anti-Walpole Tory principle."

Hume summing up Charles II

 . . .  and, really, the Stuarts as a whole.  

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19216/19216-h/19216-h.htm : 

The French greatness never, during his whole reign, inspired Charles with any apprehensions; and Clifford, it is said, one of his most favored ministers, went so far as to affirm, that it were better for the king to be viceroy under a great and generous monarch, than a slave to five hundred of his own insolent subjects. 

Threads the needle as a starting point for both Hume's and T.R.'s view of the Stuarts -- as well the wider topic of Parliamentarianism versus Monarchism 

But more on this interesting person of a most interesting time.  

If we survey the character of Charles II. in the different lights which it will admit of, it will appear various, and give rise to different and even opposite sentiments. When considered as a companion, he appears the most amiable and engaging of men; and indeed, in this view, his deportment must be allowed altogether unexceptionable. His love of raillery was so tempered with good breeding, that it was never offensive; his propensity to satire was so checked with discretion, that his friends never dreaded their becoming the object of it: his wit, to use the expression of one who knew him well, and who was himself a good judge, could not be said so much to be very refined or elevated, qualities apt to beget jealousy and apprehension in company, as to be a plain, gaining, well-bred, recommending kind of wit. And though, perhaps, he talked more than strict rules of behavior might permit, men were so pleased with the affable communicative deportment of the monarch that they always went away contented both with him and with themselves.

Gallica

 So, I just found out the National Library of France is super psyched about the notion of sharing information with me, ie any random citizen of the world.  

https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/en/content/accueil-en?mode=desktop

Viva free books!

Marin Mersenne

 The book I read described him as a hub in the intellectual internet of his time.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_Mersenne : 

Marin Mersenne (also known as Marinus Mersennus or le Père Mersenne; French: [mɛʀsɛn]; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath, whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for Mersenne prime numbers, those which can be written in the form Mn = 2n − 1 for some integer n. He also developed Mersenne's laws, which describe the harmonics of a vibrating string (such as may be found on guitars and pianos), and his seminal work on music theory, Harmonie universelle, for which he is referred to as the "father of acoustics". Mersenne, an ordained Catholic priest, had many contacts in the scientific world and has been called "the center of the world of science and mathematics during the first half of the 1600s" and, because of his ability to make connections between people and ideas, "the post-box of Europe". He was also a member of the Minim religious order and wrote and lectured on theology and philosophy.

A deeply religious Catholic -- though notably in France not in the Spain of the Inquisition.  

Milton on his Italian visit

From Areopagitica: a speech for the liberty of unlicensed printing. To the Parliament of England via

 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44733/44733-0.txt

I have seen and heard in other countries, where this kind of

     inquisition tyrannizes; when I have sat among their learned

     men, (for that honour I had,) and been counted happy to be

     born in such a place of philosophic freedom, as they supposed

     England was, while themselves did nothing but bemoan the

     servile condition into which learning amongst them was

     brought; that this was it which had damped the glory of

     Italian wits; that nothing had been there written now these

     many years but flattery and fustian. There it was that I found

     and visited the famous Galileo, grown old, a prisoner to the

     Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the

     Franciscan and Dominican licensers thought. And though I knew

     that England then was groaning loudest under the prelatical

     yoke, nevertheless I took it as a pledge of future happiness,

     that other nations were so persuaded of her liberty.

Milton and a love of learning

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44733/44733-0.txt : 

vou are often to me, and

     were yesterday especially, as a good watchman to admonish that

     the hours of the night pass on (for so I call my life, as yet

     obscure and unserviceable to mankind), and that the day with

     me is at hand, wherein Christ commands all to labor, while

     there is light

But if you think, as you said, that too much love of learning

     is in fault, and that I have given up myself to dream away my

     years in the arms of studious retirement . . . yet consider that, if it

     were no more but the mere love of learning, whether it proceed

     from a principle bad, good, or natural, it could not have held

     out thus long against so strong opposition on the other side

     of every kind.

Robert Howard (playwright)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Howard_(playwright)

As the 18-year-old son of a Royalist family, he fought at the battle of Cropredy Bridge and was knighted for the bravery he showed there. In the years after the English Civil War his royalist sympathies led to his imprisonment at Windsor Castle in 1658.

After the Restoration, he quickly rose to prominence in political life, with several appointments to posts which brought him influence and money. He was Member of Parliament for Stockbridge in the Cavalier Parliament (1661 to 1679) and for Castle Rising (1679 to 1681 and 1689 to 1698), and believed in a balance of parliament and monarchy. All his life he continued in a series of powerful positions; in 1671 he became secretary to the Treasury, and in 1673 auditor of the Exchequer. He helped bring William of Orange to the throne and was made a privy councillor in 1689. His interest in financial matters continued, and in later life he subscribed to the newly founded Bank of England while continuing his work on currency reform.

The Meta-politics of John Dryden

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dryden :

Returning to London during the Protectorate, Dryden obtained work with Oliver Cromwell's Secretary of State, John Thurloe. This appointment may have been the result of influence exercised on his behalf by his cousin the Lord Chamberlain, Sir Gilbert Pickering. At Cromwell's funeral on 23 November 1658 Dryden processed with the Puritan poets John Milton and Andrew Marvell. Shortly thereafter he published his first important poem, Heroic Stanzas (1659), a eulogy on Cromwell's death which is cautious and prudent in its emotional display. In 1660 Dryden celebrated the Restoration of the monarchy and the return of Charles II with Astraea Redux, an authentic royalist panegyric. In this work the interregnum is illustrated as a time of chaos, and Charles is seen as the restorer of peace and order.

After the Restoration, as Dryden quickly established himself as the leading poet and literary critic of his day, he transferred his allegiances to the new government. Along with Astraea Redux, Dryden welcomed the new regime with two more panegyrics: To His Sacred Majesty: A Panegyric on his Coronation (1662) and To My Lord Chancellor (1662). These poems suggest that Dryden was looking to court a possible patron, but he was to instead make a living in writing for publishers, not for the aristocracy, and thus ultimately for the reading public. 

. . . 

At around 8pm on 18 December 1679, Dryden was attacked in Rose Alley behind the Lamb & Flag pub, near his home in Covent Garden, by thugs hired by the Earl of Rochester,  with whom he had a long-standing conflict.[10] The pub was notorious for staging bare-knuckle prize fights, earning the nickname "The Bucket of Blood." Dryden's poem, "An Essay upon Satire," contained a number of attacks on King Charles II, his mistresses and courtiers, but most pointedly on the Earl of Rochester, a notorious womaniser.  Rochester responded by hiring thugs who attacked Dryden whilst walking back from Will's Coffee House (a popular London coffee house where the Wits gathered to gossip, drink and conduct their business) back to his house on Gerrard Street.  Dryden survived the attack, offering £50 for the identity of the thugs placed in the London Gazette, and a Royal Pardon if one of them would confess. No one claimed the reward.

Nell Gwyn

 Following up from last post.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nell_Gwyn :

Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 – 14 November 1687; also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne) was a prolific celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Praised by Samuel Pepys for her comic performances as one of the first actresses on the English stage, she became best known for being a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England and Scotland. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (1670–1726) and James Beauclerk (1671–1680) (the surname is pronounced boh-clair). Charles was created Earl of Burford and later Duke of St. Albans.

Analysis of Puritan Disdain for Theatre

 https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/culture-magazines/restoration-drama-england : 

Puritan opposition to the theater arose, in part, from an astute understanding of the role that the medieval church had played in the development of drama, and the many figures that attacked the theater in the period realized that the custom of staging plays had arisen from the mystery and morality plays that had been common in the country before the rise of the Reformation. At the same time, Puritans shared an abiding distrust for all ritualized and theatrical displays, and they believed that evil lay at the heart of the pomp and magnificence of the stage as well as in the elaborate rituals of kingship and the Church of England.

And this is another interesting tidbit: 

 Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I had each thrown their support squarely behind the theater and had opposed Puritan efforts to rid the country of drama. As a result, most of London's actors, playwrights, and theater owners had been royalist supporters during the Civil War, and when their side was defeated, many were consequently forced into exile.

My word, Mr. Pepys! 

The English diarist Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) left one of the great records of life in the Restoration age. He attended the theater almost daily and recorded his thoughts about almost every play performed in London during the 1660s.

My word, your majesty! 

The present entry from 20 February 1668, is notable because he remarks how that evening's play was intended to criticize the immorality of King Charles II, who was in attendance. Charles II, though, was fairly tolerant, and what might have caused the government to close a theater in an earlier period was now allowed to proceed relatively unhindered. It is interesting to note that Pepys refers to Nell (Nell Gwyn) speaking the prologue of the offending play, The Duke of Lerma. She herself was soon to become one of the king's mistresses.

3 10 2021

 It was a clear, beautiful night with the temperatures fine for a walk. 

I stopped several times to gaze at the few stars I can see here in town.

Quote on Literature

From the opening essay from a book that excerpts heavily from Milton: 

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44733/44733-0.txt: 

The great function of literature, namely, to bring 

into play the spiritual faculties, is very inadequately recognized, and

the study of English Literature is made too much an objective job—the

fault of teachers, not students. When the literature is studied as a

life-giving power, students are always more interested than when

everything else except the one thing needful receives attention,—the

sources of works of genius, the influences under which they were

produced, their relations to history and to time and place, and whatever

else may be made to engage the minds of students in the absence of the

teacher's ability to bring them into a sympathetic relationship with the

informing life of the works 'studied'—with that which constitutes their

absolute power.

3 8 2021

 I did look at the sunrise today.  It was *almost* nice enough to stay out and watch it develop instead of look at it through a window.  

It was a very pink sunrise, more rosy and wispy and there was a crescent moon visible, making the whole thing a little unworldly.