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Journal of A Voyage to Lisbon-Part1_HENRY FIELDING(1707-1754)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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I select, together with one or two numbers of the Covent Garden

Journal. I have not found in this latter anything more



characteristic than Murphy's selection, though Mr. Dobson, with

his unfailing kindness, lent me an original and unusually



complete set of the Journal itself.

It is to the same kindness that I owe the opportunity of



presenting the reader with something indisputably Fielding's and

very characteristic of him, which Murphy did not print, and which



has not, so far as I know, ever appeared either in a collection

or a selection of Fielding's work. After the success of David



Simple, Fielding gave his sister, for whom he had already written

a preface to that novel, another preface for a set of Familiar



Letters between the characters of David Simple and others. This

preface Murphy reprinted; but he either did not notice, or did



not choose to attend to, a note towards the end of the book

attributing certain of the letters to the author of the preface,



the attribution being accompanied by an agreeably warm and

sisterly denunciation of those who ascribed to Fielding matter



unworthy of him. From these the letter which I have chosen,

describing a row on the Thames, seems to me not only



characteristic, but, like all this miscellaneous work,

interesting no less for its weakness than for its strength. In



hardly any other instance known to me can we trace so clearly the

influence of a suitablemedium and form on the genius of the



artist. There are some writers--Dryden is perhaps the greatest

of them--to whom form and medium seem almost indifferent, their



all-round craftsmanship being such that they can turn any kind

and every style to their purpose. There are others, of whom I



think our present author is the chief, who are never really at

home but in one kind. In Fielding's case that kind was narrative



of a peculiar sort, half-sentimental, half-satirical, and almost

wholly sympathetic--narrative which has the singular gift of



portraying the liveliest character and yet of admitting the

widest disgression and soliloquy.



Until comparatively late in his too short life, when he found

this special path of his (and it is impossible to say whether the



actualfinding was in the case of Jonathan or in the case of

Joseph), he did but flounder and slip. When he had found it, and



was content to walk in it, he strode with as sure and steady a

step as any other, even the greatest, of those who carry and hand



on the torch of literature through the ages. But it is

impossible to derive full satisfaction from his feats in this



part of the race without some notion of his performances

elsewhere; and I believe that such a notion will be supplied to



the readers of his novels by the following volumes, in a very

large number of cases, for the first time.



THE JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON

DEDICATION TO THE PUBLIC



Your candor is desired on the perusal of the following sheets, as

they are the product of a genius that has long been your delight



and entertainment. It must be acknowledged that a lamp almost

burnt out does not give so steady and uniform a light as when it



blazes in its full vigor; but yet it is well known that by its

wavering, as if struggling against its own dissolution, it



sometimes darts a ray as bright as ever. In like manner, a

strong and livelygenius will, in its last struggles, sometimes



mount aloft, and throw forth the most striking marks of its

original luster.



Wherever these are to be found, do you, the genuine patrons of

extraordinary capacities, be as liberal in your applauses of him



who is now no more as you were of him whilst he was yet amongst

you. And, on the other hand, if in this little work there should



appear any traces of a weakened and decayed life, let your own

imaginations place before your eyes a true picture in that of a



hand trembling in almost its latest hour, of a body emaciated

with pains, yet struggling for your entertainment; and let this



affecting picture open each tender heart, and call forth a

melting tear, to blot out whatever failings may be found in a



work begun in pain, and finished almost at the same period with

life. It was thought proper by the friends of the deceased that






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