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-•<..."	Sfar&art CoHcge J/ibrarg BEtlUEATHED BY	«
•«Mi«	CHARLES DUDLEY MARC	II,
»»,..,	OF GREENLAND, N. H. ^Clui of ilto). Received Sepl. 9. iSSg.	i
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C)

THE RELIQUES

OF

FATHER PR

LATE P. P. OF WATERGRASSHILL,

IN THE COUNTY OF CORK. IRELAND.

COLLECTED AND ARRANGED BY

OLIVER YORKE, Esa (Rev. FRANCIS M AHONY).

ILLL'STKATBU bY

ALFRED CROQUIS, Esa (D. MAGLISE, R.A.).

NEW EDITION

LONDON: BELL & DALDV, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

1873-

zoif.it^'(

March BequeeU

LONDON :

ritlNTED BT WILLIAM CLOWES AND 80X8, dTAUrOllD aTRRBT AKD CHASDfO CKOdd.

PREFACE

TO THE PRESENT EDITION.

Oliver Goldsmith, in hia green youth, aspired to be the rurid pastor of some village Auburn ; and m after-life gave embodiment to his earlier feacies in b Vicar nf Wakefield. But his Dr. Primrose bad iraroense advantages over Dr. Prout. The olire branches that sprang from the vicar's roof-tree, if they divided, certainly enbanced the interest felt iu his character ; while tlie lone incumbent of Watergrasshill was thrown on hie own resources for any chance of enlisting gympathj. The "great defender of monogamy" could buy a wedJiug gown, send his boy Moses to the fair, set out iu pursuit of ilia lost daughter, get into debt and jail ; exploits wbieh the kindly author felt be could have himself achieved. Prout's miaogamy debarred him from these stirring social incidents : he had notbiug left ibr it but to talk and write, and occasionally " intone" a gonial song,

From such utterances the nund and fecilings of the man hare to be distilled. It requires no great palieontoiogifal acumen to perceive that he belonged to o class of mortals, now quite gone out of Irish exialence, like the elk and wolf-dog ; and it has been a main object m this hook out of hia ■ relics ' to ' restore ' him for purposes of comparative inatomjr.

IT PREFACE TO THE PEESERT EDITIOIT.

It will be noticed tint the Father's rambles an tt' limited by any harrier of caste, or coat, or cflterie ; hit KH is multilateral, hia talk multifariouB, yet free, it !■ heaei, from garrulity, and decidedly exempt from credulity. Hi eeems to have had a shrewd eye for Bcanniag Humbug, mi it ia well for him (aud for others) that be has vacateid hit parish iu due courso of nature. He would bare stoutly i» sisted in Ireland the late attempted process of Italian Cii leniKHtion. For though lie patronised the effort of Loi Kingston to naturaliie in Muneter the siJiworni from thi peninsula (see bis version of good Biabop Vida' page 523), mere caterpiUare, snails, and slimy crawlen, would have put his foot on.

From Florence the poet Browning has sent for thia edi- tion some lines lately found in the Euganeian bills, tracdj oil a marble slab that covered the bones of Fietro di Abano^ leld in his old age to be BQ astrologer.

" Btudigndo le mie cifre con rompuaa Kilovo ebo Bari preato BOf t(- tvm ; Percb^ del mio uper si fa gran obiaaeo, E gli ignontnti mi buuia moeeo guorra."

Of whicb epitaph the poet has supplied this deting uerbalim.

" Studying my cyphere with (he compaM, I find I aball be eoon uruter tho daisy i Because of my lore folka maka auch a rumpuB, Thftt erery dull dog ia Ihereat unauy."

Broiming'a attempt suggests a word or two on Proat'

9WU theory of translation, as largely exemplllied it> this to

PItr.FACE TO TIIS PKE3EST EDITION. »

The only perfect reproduction of a couplet in a dif-

; idiuin occurred in a.d. 1170, when thd Arclibisbop of

fork wnt a ealmoa to the chronicler of Malineabnr)', tritli

)quc-st for A receipt iu verse, which was bonded to benrer

II duplicate —

" UlUttur in dUoa mihi pUcu sb archi^nsco- ■Po HIM poaetor niri poliu. Pol '. mihi detur."

I

'^Op, 1> not f ul feiif. ^qaS ! 1)1 sint not tiiirt." Sense, rhythm, point, and even pim are hero roiriiculously Kproduced. Prout did his best to rival him of Mslmesbiirr, but be held that in the clear failure of one language to elicit from ita repertory on eioct equivalent, it becomes not only proper but imperative (on the law principle of Cetini apret in of trtiatB) to fall bnck on an approximate word or iden of kindred import, the interchange in vocabulary showing; Bt times even a balance in favour of the substitute, as hap- pens in the ordinary course of barter on the markets of the world. He quite abhorred the clumsy servility of adliering to the letter while allowing the spirit to evaporate ; a mere verbal echo distorted by natural anfractuosities, gives back neithur the tone nor quality of the original voice ; while tUi? caeo and curious felicity of the primitive utterance is marred by awkwarduess and effort ; spontaneity of song being the quiatcaseuco.

Afodest distrust of his own power to please deterred Prout from obtruding much of hia personal musings ; he preferred clitfwiog the cud of classic fancies, or otherwise approved aod aubstantial stuff; delighting to invest with uew nnd rari<.-«I fonus what had long gained universal recognition.

Tl PBEFACE TO THE PHESENT

He hod strict notions as to what really constitute the Beltet letlrea. Brilliancy of thought, depth gf remark, pathos of sentiment, sprightliness of wit, rigour and aptitude of HtylA, with lome acbolarship, were reijuisites for his notice, or claim to be held in his esteem a literary man. It is useleas to add how much of reeent growth, and how many pre> tenders to that title, he would have eschewed.

A word as to the Etchings of D. Maclise, B. A. This great artist in hjs boyhood knew Prout, and has fijced his true features in enduring copper. The only reliable outline erf Sir Walter Scott, as be ap|x:ared in plain clothes, and with- out ideal halo, may be seen ac page 54, the Blarney Stone" on his visit to Prout in the Bunimer of 1S25. Tom Moore, equally et\ ilethabiUt, can be recogniEed by all who knew him, perpetruting one of his " rogueriea' at page 150. The paintet's own aUin and then youthful figure is doing homage ti> L.E.L. on a moonlit bank ok page 229, while the "garret" of Bi^ranger, page 299, the " night before Larry's execution," page 267, and " Maadj^ fins robing Venus in silk," page 633, are specimens of French, Irish, and Chinese humanity.

But it is hifl great cartoon of writers in Fraser, amia 1935 (/rojit.). that will most interest coming generations. The banquet he has depicted was no fiction, but a frequent fact in Itegent Street, 212. Dr. Magimi in the choir, ad- divsaine the ataS* contributors, has on his right, Bany Cornwall (Procter), Hobert Soutbcy, Pcrcival Bonkes, Thackeray, Churchill. Scijeant Klnrphy, Macnish, Ain^ worth, Coleridge, Ilogg, Gait, Dunlop, and Jerdan. Fraser is croupier, haling on his right Croiton Croker, Lockhort,

PB£fAC£ TO TUE tUESE.fT EDITIO

lUeodore Hook, Sir David Brewster, Dr. Moir (Delta),

bm Carlyle, Count D'Orsay (talking to Allan Cuiming-

m), Sir i^ertoD Brydgea ; Hev. G. H, Gleig, chaplain of

VCbelKs hospital j Eev. F. Maiiony, Rev. Edward Irving (of

I unknown tongues), a froqaent writer in Eraser, and

requenter of bis sanctum, where " oft of a stilly night " he

■tuiired glenJivat with the learned Editor.

Of these twenty.seven, only eight are now living ; Mr.

rocter, lunacy commissioner j Serjeant Murjihy, insolvency

the Author of Vanity Fair ; the vigorous word-

ieldcr, who then was supplying Fraser witli Sartor Ee-

; Ainaworth ; Gleig, the worthy and efEcieut chaplain-

lenenil of Her Majesty's Forces; Sir David, and

FRANK MAHONY.

P*Bi8, A'cp. 20. ia59.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

is much to be regretted tbat our Author should be do ger in the land of the living, to fumiah a general Pre- ble, eiplMiatory of the scope and tendency of Lis nuilti- loua writings. By us, on whom, with the conteuts of hia fer. hath devolved the guardiamthip of bis glory, such iciencT is keenly felt ; having leomt from Epictetua that ay mAitunary thing has two haodlea, (<rai s-fuy/ux iuat u )jt0ai), and from experience that majikind are prone take hold of the wrong one. King Ptolemy, to whom we re Ibe first tranaLation of the Bible into a then vulgar D^e (and cousei^uently a long array of " centenary ceie- xtinriB"), proclaimed, in the pithy inscription pla<^ by 'to order over the entrance of the Alexandrian Library, ttat books were a sort of phyeic. The analogy is jnat, and ^nuing it, we would remark that, like other patent medt- ~"" they should invariably be accompanied with " directions .jc" Such o-joXiyoiiiiKi would we in the present ease he idighted ourselves to supply, but tbat we have profitably Mated the fable of La Fontaine entitled "VAneqmportail fci Sr;.yur#." (liv. v. fab. 14,)

la giving utterance to regret, we do not insinuate that lie present production of the lamented writer is iin- hiihed or abortive : on the contrary, our interest prompts us b proraonnre it complete, as far as it goes. Prout, as an nu- ttor, will be found wlut he was in the desh^" lotus tfret WJw rotundwt." Still a suitable introduction, furnished by a fcrnlfed genius, would in our idea be ornamental. Tlie Fan- won of republican Some, perfect in its simplicity, yet itsind a supplementary grat:e from the portico superadded ^ A^rippiiu Much meditating on the materials that fill " the cheat," id iiily more impressed with the merit of our author, we Kna^ht it a pity that his wiadom should be sutfered to ~ ~ ' ' I magaiine squibs. What impression could, in

rKBTACB TO TUE FIBST EDITION.

Bootb, be made on the public mind by such desultory ex> ploaiouB ? Never on the dense masg of readers can isolatec random shots produce thfi effect of a regulttr/eu de pehtoH For this reaaon we have arranged in one volnme his fi' of mental musketry, to secure a simultaneous diachaKii The hint, perhaps, of right belongs to the ingenious Fiewu (1835).

"We have left prefixed to each paper such iutroductot^ comlnents as at the time we indulged ill, with relerenoe t" contemporary oucurrencea— and, on looking back, we fin we have been on some occaaiona historical, on others pro pheticol, on some perhaps rhapsodical. This latter chiu " we hereby " confess and avoia," pleading the advice ■ example of Pliny the Younger: " Iptd varietale" aie I words, " tentamu9 efficfre vt alia aliia, qaiedam /ortatie a nibus pfaceant." This wouldappear to constitute the wholl theory of miscellaneous Writing

We have hitherto had coDsiderahle difficulty in estatiliah' ing, to the satisfaction of refractory critics, the fact of oi author's death. People absurdly persist in holding him in tl light ofa living writer: hence a saa waste of wholesome advic which, if judiciously expended on some re claimable sinnei would, no doubt, fructify in due season. In his case 'tis i de.ad loss — Prout is a literary mummy ! Folks should look t( this: Lazarus will not come forth to listen to their stria hires ( neither, should they happen to be in a complimentatj; mood, will Samuel arise at the witchery of commenda

Objects of art and virtii lose considerably by not bein viewed in their proper light ; and the common noonday ef gence is not the fittest for the right cont«mplation of cer eapi d' opera. Canova, we know, preferred the midnigb taper. Let, therefore, " «l /maris TeliqniU," {Phasd. lib. i fab. 22.) the dim penumbra of a sepulchral lamp shed i solemn influence over the page of Prout, and alone presidl at its perusal.

Poatbumoua authorsbip posaeases infinite advantages j ani nothing BO truly serves a book as the writer's remova from the sphere or hemisphere of his readers. The "M nioirs of Captain Bock" were rendered doubly interestii by being dated from Sidney Cove. Byron wrote frofll

TO TEE FlBSt EDUIOS

e with increased effect. Nor can we nt all Hympatliiae Kith the exiled Ovid's plnintive utterance, " Sine me, liber, I urbem." His abaence from town, he must bare aiown, was a right good thing for his publisher under e pillars." Hut though distance be useful, death is uq* ut«tioDnblv better. Far off, an author is respected ; dead, e is beliJT^. Brtinetu*. amabitur.

We were strutk with a practical application of thia dw- trine tocoaMnerwal euterprise, when wc last risited Paris. The 2d of Koveiuber, being " All Soula'-daj," hod drawn ■ S oucouxse of melancholy people to Phre la CAaise, Kivea with the rest ; when our eye was arrested, in a k of thftt romantic nccropoha, bj the faint glimmering wf a deliciouB little lamp, a glow-worm of bronie, keeping wilenl and eentJnieQtal vigil under a modest um of black irble, inscribed thua ; —

Ci-un FoFRSisB (Pian* Tiofcr),

Invcntour btifeiS dea Umpea diles luu Sii

BtuIbuI uni: reDtime d'huile i I'lieure.

CoDtmue gon oontmerce, Bne >ui Ours, So, 19.

EUf lait def euTOtB dam Un depATtemeDs.

N^ oe pa* coufondre iTec In boutique en face B.T.i

We had been thinking of purchasing an article of the a our return, we made it a point to pass the rue ', and give our custom to the moimiiul Artemisia. Un entering the shop, a rubicund tradesman accosted ua ; but we intimated our wish to transact businesB with " the widow — hi veuve inconsolable." " BA, pardieu ! e'eat moi ! je euis, moi, Pierre Foumier, inTenteur, &c. : la eeatt We»l qv'ua tyiriMe, un taythe." We admired his ingenuity, and bought his lamp ; by the mild ray of which patent contrivance we have profitably puiBued our editorial laooura.

OLIYEE TOBKE-

		c
	LIST OP ENGRAVINGS
	BY D. 1IACLI3E. B.A
	I. TBB FBASBB1AK8 (COBTEIBUTOBS IS 1835 TO
	riiASKB's MiOAzisE) . Froa	tispieef
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	m. AH APOLOGT FOB tEST ...	Page 9
	IT. PACE ntPLOEA	28
	T. nS WALfEU SCOTT AT TK£ BLARNKT 9T0NB .	34
	TI. Tfll WBACITLOTm BaAUGHT	. 95
	TJl. A TALK OF A CHCKR	129
	Tin. fOBTRAIT OP L. E. L.	. 13S
	n. mBBOaoEBieaorTou vooitK .	ISO
	X. it£:rBT a'BUur	. 162
	XI. lOtTTBS PESBESr BTM A LA PI!> DO HORDE ,	198
	XII. rmw piiimso o» the vrrii m oaot	. 210
	mi. KZSI ME BY MOOaLMHT ALOJtK	229
	XIT. I'il DABTii SON TEBSE	250
	XT. TOE NIOHT BKFOBE L*BET WAa BTBSMHEB .	267
	ITl. DANB US OBKNIKB gc'oK EST BIEN A TIKGI AIM	299
	xTU. TOKiBArt op bbhahoeb ....	313 J
	xrnt. Tint wTKB-cup BE8P0KEK	329 M
	XIX. M DlEtH ASH la CaEBTEI)	347 1
	XX- TSK airr at yesvs .	S65 ■
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** At Covtnt Crarden a 9aered drama, on the story of Jephthoy conveying eolemm impresnonSf is fbohibited as a PBOFAKATIOK of the period of foBting and mortificatioH ! There U no d-oubt where the odium should foe — on the Lord Chamberlain or on the Bishop of Lostdon. Let some inteU ligent Member of Parliament bring the question before the House of Commons."

Times. Feb. 20 and 21, 1834.

E E L I Q U E S

OF

FATHER PEOUT.

PBOUT

OBSEQUIES,

FOEIENT: Hla DEATH, ) AS ELECT.

k

Etendait tea *irbm lou." — Gresssi. nniMu abound — &va1i prraohBM aro sent lu teasau of lait and Borrow ; 0 loan it complete — for file preaphar is — Irtjot, Is hii •ennon De'a apt to horrow."

AtSS. if tht iaie Tom lngold$!,y.

RS bas bei-D thin sciutiu ia town a sad otitcry against Li-nt, For the first week the metropoiia waa ia a complete U|>Ti>ar at the suppression of the oratorio; and no act of authority sinw the fatal ordonnancea of Charlea X. bid fairer to revolutionise a capital than the itjeBsuge »eDt &oni Bishijp Blomfieid to Manager Bunn, That storm has happily blown over. The Cockneys, having fretted their idle hour, and vented their impotent ire through their ' aafely- valve," the press, have resumed their cuatomary tmlm. The dramatic " murder of Jepbtba" is forgotten. In trulJi, after nL, there waa something due to local re- Eainisccncea ; aad when the present tenants of the " Gar-

3 PATUZB PBOUI 8 EELKJnCH.

deo " recollect thut in by-gone days tbeee " deep solituda and avvful cells " were the abode of fanting and austerity they will not grudge the once-hallowed premisee to com niemorate in eober stillneBs the Wednesdays and Fridayi o Lent. But let that rest. An inAHngement on the &%edoD of theatricals, though in itself a grievance, will not, in likelihood, be the immediate cause of a coUTuleion in tl realms ; and it will probably require some more palpabli deprivation to arouse tlie sleeping energies of John BuU and to awake bis dormant anger.

It was characteristic of the degeneracy of the Bomani that while they crouched in prostrate servility to each im? penal monster that awayed their destinies in successioa they never would allow their amusementB to be invaded nor tolerate a cessation of the sports of the amjibitbeatra so that even the despot, white he rivetted their uhaini would pause and ehudacr at the well-)cnowa ferocious c of '■ Panem et CiretRtn .'" Now, food and the drama sta relatively to each cither in very diSerent degrees of i portence in England; and while provisions are plentiful other matters have but a minor influence on the populu sensibilities. The time niaj? come, when, by the bunglioff measures of a Whig administration, brought to their fUlI maturity of mischiel by the studied neglect of the agricul- tural and shipping interests, the general disorganisation of the state-machinery at home, and the natural results ofi their intermeddling abroad, a dearth of the primary artir cles of domestic consumption may bring to the English' man's fireside the broad conviction of a misrule and mia management too long and too sluggishly endured. It maj then be too late to apply remedial measures withefficacyi, and the only resource left, may be, like Caleb Balderstoiw at Wolfs Crag, to proclaim " a general fast." When thai emergency ah^l arise, the quaint and origiuai, n^, son: times luminous and philosopbc, views of Father Front i the fast of Lent, may afford much matter for speculation the British public ; or, as Childe Harold says,

"Much th»t may give ui pause, if pondered flltluglj."

Before we brmg forward father Prout's lucubrations <

' rnn lert. 3

itfl grave subject, it roay be Allowable, by way of pre- ninaiy obaeifation, to remark, that, aa far as Lent is ntuemed. aa well indeed as in all other matters, " they ftDage tfaeee things differently abroad." In foreign mntries a carnival ia the appropriate prelude to abstemi- ~ mess ; and folks get auch a surfeit of amusemeDt during ! aatumalian da^i which precede its observance, that ^y find a grstetul repose in the sedate quietude that lues. Tiic custom is a point of national taste, which 1 ve to its own merits ; but whoever has resided on the lOntinent must have observed that all this bacchanalian ot suddenly terminates on Shrove Tuesday ; the fun and olic expire with the " brouf-gras -," and the shouts of the evellen, eo boisterous and incessant during the preceding eek, on Ash Wednesday are heard no more. A singular iremony in all the churches — that of sprinkling over the ineregatioD on that Wediiesday the pulverised embers of le Doughs of an evergreen (meant, I suppose, as an em- em and record of man's mortality) — appears to have the istantancouB efiect of turning tbeir thoughts into a dif- :«nt channel : the busy hum subsides at oni.« ; and leameU ■amentators have found, in the fourth book of Virgil's }eorgic8, a prophetic allusion to this magit! operation :

The non consumption of butchers' meat, and the substi- Aion of flab diet, is also a prominent feature in the coii- uiatal form of observing Lent ; and on tliis topic Father rout hai) been remarkably discursive, as will be seen on itiiaa\ of the following pages. To explain how I becnuie le depository of the reverend man's notions, and why he d not publish them in his lifetime (for, alas ! he is no ore — peace be to his ashes !) is a dutr which I owe the sder, and from which 1 am far from snriukiug. 1 admit M some apology is required for conveying the lucid and ied ideas of a great and good divine through the opaque : profiine medium that is now employed to bring them ler the public eye ; I account for it accordingly. am a youocer son. I belong to an ancient, but poor , dilapidated house, of which the patrimonial estate was

4 FATHER PBOUT'S BELIQUE8.

barely enough for my elder ; hence, as my share resembled what is scientifically called an evanescent quantity, I was directed to apply to that noble refuge of unprovided genius — ^the bar ! To the bar, with a heavy heart and aching head, I devoted year after year, and was about to become a tolerable proficient in the black letter, when an epistle from Ireland reached me in Furnival's Inn, and altered my prospects materially. This despatch was from an old Ca- tholic aunt whom I had in that country, and whose house I had been sent to, when a child, on the speculation that this visit to my venerable relative, who, to her other good qualities, added that of being a resolute spinster, might determine her, as she was both rich and capricious, to make me her inheritor. The letter urged my immediate presence in the dying chamber of the Lady Cfresswell ; and, as no time was to be lost, I contrived to reach in two days the lonely and desolate mansion on Watergrasshill, in the vici- nity of Cork. As I entered the apartment, by the scanty light of the lamp that glimmered dimly, I recognised, with some difficulty, the emaciated form of my gaunt and withered kinswoman, over whose features, originally thin and wan, the pallid hue of approaching death cast additional ghastli- ness. By the bedside stood the rueful and unearthly form of Father Prout ; and, while the sort of chiaroscuro in which his figure appeared, half shrouded, half revealed, served to impress me with a proper awe for his solemn functions, the scene itself, and the probable consequences to me of this last interview with my aunt, afiected me exceedingly. I invo- luntarily knelt ; and while I felt my hands grasped by the long, cold, and bony fingers of the dying, my whole irame thrflled ; and her words, the last she spoke in this world, fell on my ears with all the effect of a potent witchery, never to be forgotten ! " Frank," said the Lady Cresswell, " my lands and perishable riches I have bequeathed to you, though you hold not the creed of which this is a minister, and I die a worthless but steadfast votary : only promise me and this holy man that, in memory of one to whom your welfare is dear, you will keep the fast of Lent while you live ; and, as I cannot control your inward belief, be at least in this respect a Boman Catholic : I ask no more." How could I have refused so simple an injunction ? and

H AS A70L0QT FOB tJLST. 3

HriiBt junior member of the bar would not hold a good rental Kjr to easy a tenure ? In brief, 1 was pledgpil in tlint aolemti Boar to Father Pruut, anil to mv kiud and simple- hearted Kant, whoBe grave is in Batbcooney. and wUoae aoul is in

W Diiriug niy short stay at Watet^raashill, (n wild and ro- Bnantic distrirt, oF whicli every brake aiid fell, every bog Kod qoagmire, ia well known to Crofton Croker — for it is Hie verr Jreai/ia of hiB fiirtionB), I formed an intiiaaey with Ipiia I'ather Andrew Front, the pastor of the uplivnd, and a Kiftn celebmttrd in the south of Ireland. Ke wna one of tbnt Bftire of pricBts now unfortunately eitinet, or very nearly Kt>. like the old breed of wolf-dogs, in the ieland : 1 allude ^fe those of hJ9 order who were educated abroad, before the B^«neh revolution, and had imbibed, from associating with H^ polisbed and bigii-bom clergy of the old Gidlicmi chureL, M loftier range of thtiught, and a supenor delicaey of eenti- ^bent. Henoe, in his evidence before the House of t.ords, V the elorions Dan " has not concealed the grnd^c he feel» Bcm'ards thoae elergymen, educat«d on the continent, who, Bcving witnessed the doings of the tannculottet in France, Bkve no fancy to a relienrsal of the same in Ireland. Of Kis elasH was Front, P.P. of WatiTgraaehill ; but hia real Kftlue was Terr faintly appreciated by his rudo flock : !ie Hru not underatood by his contemporaries ; his thoughts Hrrre not their thoughts, neither could be commune with ■^dred suula on that wild mountain. Of his genealogy KtOtbiDg was ever known with certainty ; but in this he Knembled UelchizeJeki like Eugene Aram, he had excited ■he moat intense ijiterest in the highest quarters, still did Bb fltudiously court retirement. He was thought by some ma be tkep in alchemy, like Friar Bacon ; but the gangers ■brer even suspected Mm of distilling " potheen." He was ^nowD t« have brought from France a spirit of the must BfcjTaltniia gallantly \ still, like Fi^qi^oq retired from the Hhirt ot Iiouis XIV., he shunned the attractions of the sex, Bbrtbe sake of his pastoral charge: but in the rigour of

bb abstinence, and the frugality of his diet, be resembled

no one, ami none kept Lent so strictly. Of bia gallantry one anecdote will be sufficient. The

bahiunable Mrs. Pepper, with two female compamuus,

6 TATHER PE0UT8 llLLl^Cl-S.

travelling througb the county of Cork, Btopped for Divine service at the chapel of Watergraaahill (whii'n is on the big^ road DU the Dublin line), and entered its rude gate whui Prout was addreaaing bis congregation. His quick eye boO) detected hia fair visitaotB standing behind the motley crowd by whom they were totally unnoticed, so iutent were all oi the diacourae ; when, interrupting the thread of bis bomily; to procure suitable accommodation for the atrangera, " Boys !" cried the old roan, " why don't yo give thre chairs for the ladies ?" " Three cheers for the ladies !" rt echoed at once the parish -clerk. It was what might b termed a clerical, but certainly a yery natural, error ; an ao acceptable a proposal was suitably responded to by tha frieBe-eoated midtitude, whose triple shout shook the Tery cobwebs on the roof of the chapel! — after which slight in- cident, service was quietly resumed.

He was extremely fona of angling ; a recreation which^ while it ministered to hia necessary relaxation from the toili of the misaion, enabled him to observe cheaply the fish die) imperative on fast days. For this, he had established hq residence at the mountain-source of a considerable brook, which, afl«r winding through tho pariah, joins the BUcIt* water at Fermoy ; and on its banks would he be found, armed with hia rod, and wrapt in his strange cassock, fit t« pereonate the river-god or presiding genius of the stream.

His modest parlour would not ill become the hut of on^ of the fishermen of Galilee. A huge net in festoons cur* tained bis casement ; a salmon-spear, sundry rods, and fish'; ing-tackle, hung round the walls and over hia bookcaa^ which latter object was to him the perennial spring o| refined enjoyment. Still be would sigh tor the vast libraries of France, and her well-appointed scientific bolls, where ha had spent his youth, in converse with the firat litenur characters and most learned divines ; and once be directed my attention to what appeared to be a row of folio volumes Bl'the bottom of his collection, but which I found on trial to be ao many large etone-fli^, with parchment backs, bear- ing the appropriate title of Cobnblii X Lapide Opera qy^. extant oniiiiav by which semblance of that old Jeeuit'9 commeutaries he consoled himself for the absence of the' original.

Jjr APOLOQT roB tEST. 7

Hia classic ncquiTcineDts were considerable, aa will appear "7 hiaesasy on Lent; and while tbey made him a, most in-

^— ? eotnpnnioii, hi* unobtrusive merit left the most

>!e impression. The general character of a cbnrcli- 1 is eiognlarly improved by the tributary accomplisL- ^ts of the scholar, and Itt'Cniture is like a pure gram of kraby'a incense in the golden censer of religion. Hia taete vr tbe fine arts was more genuine thanniii^ht be conjectureil roro tlie scanty specimenB that ndomeid hia apartment, though perfectly in keeping with his favourite sport ; for H>pre hung over the mantlepiece a print of Kaphacl'e cartoon the " Miraculous Draught ;" here, " Tobilh rescued by an Aueel from the Fiah ;" and there, " St. Anthony preaching to Ibe Fishes."

With this learned Tbeban I held lon^ find senoua con- ; on the nature of the antiquati^d obserranee I had !p1edge<! myself to keep np ; and oft have we discussed the foatter at'his frugal table, aiding our conferences with a plate of water-cresHcfl and a red herring. I have taken "Tpiooa notes of Father Front's leading topics ; and while I m Touch them as his genuine arguments, I will not be imswerable for the style ; which may poasiblj' be my own, BD<] probnhlv, like tbe subject, exceedingly jejune.

I publish them in pure self-defence. 1 have been eo often ailed on to explain my peculiarities relative to Lent, that I iBust resort to tlie press for a riddance of my perBecutora. Tlie •prine. which exhilarates all nature, is to me but the herald igf tribulation ; for it is acconipanied in tbe Lent season with 1 recurrence of a host of annoyances consequent on the tenure by which 1 hold my aunt's property. 1 have at last TMolvcd to state my case openlv ; and 1 trust that, taking im arms against a aea of troubles, I may by eipoaing end tnem. Po blessing comes unalloyed here below; there ia ' a cankerworm in the roae ; a dactyl is sure to be mixed rilh a spondee in the poetry of life ; and, as Homer tmgs. there stand two urns, or crocks, beside the throne of Jove, from which he doles out alternate good and bad jifts to men, but mostly both together,

1 grsnt, that to rppine at one's share of tbe common allot- Bent would indicate bad taste, and afford evidence of ill- kiunour: but atitl a passing insight into my case will prove

8 FATHEB PBOUT*S BELIQITES.

it one of peculiar hardship. As regularly as dinner is announced, so surely do I know that my hour is come to be stared at as a disciple of Pythagoras, or scrutinised as a follower of the Venetian Comaro. I am "alien" at "feed- ing-time." To tempt me from my allegiance by the proffer of a turkey's wing, to eulogise the sirloin, or dwell on the haut ffoUt of the haunch, are among my friends* (?) practical sources of merriment. To reason with them at such unpro-

Eitious moments, and against such fearful odds, would be a opeless experiment ; and I have learned from Horace and from Father Prout, that there are certain mollia temporoj fandij which should always be attended to : in such cases I chew the cud of my resentment, and eke out my repast on salt-fish in silence. None will be disposed to question mj claim to the merit of fortitude. In vain have I been sum- moned by the prettiest lisp to partake of the most tempting delicacies. I have declined each lady-hostess's hospitable offer, as if, to speak in classic parlance, Canidia tractavit dapes; or, to use the vernacular phraseology of Moore, as if

" The trail of the serpent was over them alL*'

Hence, at the club I am looked on as a sort of rara avis , or, to speak more appropriately, as an odd fish. Some have spread a report that I have a large share in the Hungerford Market ; others, that I am a Saint Simonian. A feUow of the Zoological Society has ascertained, forsooth, from certain maxillary appearances, that I am decidedly of the class of t^duofayotf with a mixture of the herbivorous. When the truth is known, as it will be on the publication of this paper, it will be seen that I am no phenomenon whatever.

My witty cousin, Harriet B., will no longer consider me a fit subject for the exercise of her ingenuity, nor present me a copy of Gray's poems, with the page turned down at "An Elegy on a Cat drowned in a tub of Gold Fishes." She will perhaps, when asked to sing, select some other aria besides that eternal barcarolle,

" O pescator dell' onda, Yieni pescar in quk CoUabellAtuabarcar

and if I happen to approach the loo-table, she will not think

fi

A3 AFOLOOY rOR LENT, 9

Q neceteATV to Liiution the old dowagers to tuke cnre ir/.J. !«• A no* poitiont. When last I gitpped witli Fatlier a the ere of my departure from ^Vatei^nie^iiiU (luid 9 uulr comjtare my reniiulscences of that clussic biwquet "RUOjilioD'a account of the aviuposion of PlaloJ, ■' Toung nan," said he, " vou li&da goodaimt in the Lady Oresawell; ind if you thougiit as we do, that the orisone of kindred and hends caobenelit the dead, you eliould pray for Iter na long 13 yoo lire. But you belong to a different creed— dillif rent, I mean, as to thia particular point ; for, as a whole, your Aurch of England Vars a close resemblance to ours of Kom<'. The daughter will ever inherit the leadin^r I'eaturet £the mother ; and thougli in your eyes the fresh uod un- ^bnvd fa«ciaatioiiit of the new faith may fling into the e the more matronly graces of the old, Homewhat on the acrpte of Horace, 0 inatre pulckrH JiUn puhhrior ! still )ur sncieiit worahip many and potent charms. I could dly dwell on the historic recoUectiona lliat pmblaKon f escutcbeoin, the pomp and pageantry of her gorgeous

1 me, reverend friend, 1 interposed, lest he should Krge. as waa hia habit, into Bome long-winded argument, KiKn to tha topic on which I sought to be informed, — 1 ^not utulervaliie the matronly graces of your venerable : but (pointing to the remnant of what had been a (dberring) let ub tidK of her fish-diet and fiist days, "Aj, you are right there, eliilJ," resumed Prout ; " I per- ■> iihere my panegyric must end —

'Dounit JnjHfmn mulier formoM aupprni? !'

■ will get a famous badgering in town when you are 'id out to have foraworn the flesh-pots ; and Lent wiU be . hI KiuoD for you among the Egyptians. But you need ll be unprovided with plausible reasons for your abstinence, a the sterling considerations of the rental. Notwith- g that it has been said or sung by your Lord Byron,

in P4TIIKK PKOrx's HELIi}CES.

still that noble poet (I speak from tbe record of his life t habits furnished ua by Moore) habitually eschewed aniii food, detested gross feeders, and in hie own case lived niai Irugally, I might even say ascetically ; and this abstemlou ness he practised from a refinement of choice, for ht h registered no tow to heaven, or to a, maiden aunt, 13 observance will no doubt prove a trial of fortitude ; but t your part at the festive board, were you so criminal ai t transgreBS, would not the spectre of the Lady " like the ghost of Banquo. rise to rebuke you ?

''And besides, these days of fasting are of the most n antiquity ; thejf are referred to as being in vogne at the fi. general council that legislated for Christendom at Nice, i Bitbyuia, ad. S25 : and the subsequent aasembly of bisht^ Ht Laodicea ratified the institution &.n. 364. Its disciplu la fuUv developed in the classic pages of the accomplishe Tert,ullian, in the second century (Tract, dej^uniu). I m no more. These are what Edmund Burke would call 'giw and reverend authorities,' and, in the silence of Holy vfa may go aa historic evidence of primitive Christianity ; bi if you press me, I can no more show cause under the prop hand and seul of nn apostle for keeping the fast on " days, than I coo for keeping the Sabbath on Sunday.

" I do not choose to notice that sort of criticism, in i dotage, that would trace the custom to the well-know avocation of the early disciples : though that they y fishermen is most true, and that even after they had b raised to the apostolic dignity, they relapsed occasional into the innocent pursuit of their primeval calling, sti haunted the shores of the accustomed lake, and love to disturb with their nets the crystal surface of Genm aareth.

" Lent is t^n institution which should have been long sii rescued from the cobwebs of theology, and restored to t domain of the political economist, for there is no prasp) of arguing the matter in a ftur spirit among conflictii divines ; and, of all things, polemics are the most stale U unprofitable. Loaves and fishes have, in all ages of tl church, had charms for us of the cloth ; yet how few woul confine their frugal bill of fare to mere loaves and fisha So far Lent may be considered a stumbling-block. ~

AV ArOI.OOI FOB LENT. 11

bere I diRiniaa theology ; nor ehall Z further trespass on your paitienw by angling for arguments in tho muddy stream of church history, as it rolls )ta troubled wntera orer the middltf ttgee.

** Your black-letter acquirements, I doubt not, are cou*

ndnvble ; but have you adverted to a claune iu Queea

Bixabeth'fl en&rtment for the improvement of the shipping

I intereats id the year 15)31 ? You vill, I believe, tiad it to

I ran thus :

"v*«»o So Elii. cap. V. $eet. 11: — 'And for encrease of provision of fishe by the more usual eating thereof, hee it ftirther eoacted, that from the feast of St. Mighell th'arcli- angell, ano. Dui. fiftene liundreth threescore foure, every Wedneedsye in every weeke through the whole yere shal be hereafter observed and kepto as the Saturdays in every wceke be or ought to be ; and that no person shal eat any flcKhe DO more than on the common Saturdays.

Stet. 12. — 'And bee it further enacted by th'auctoritee aforesaid, for the commoditie and beniRt of this realme, as well to growe the navie aa in sparing and encreaae of fleshe rictual, that from and after the feast of Pentecost next coming, yt shall not be lawful for any p'aon to eat any fleshe upon ouy days now usually observed as flsh-dnys; and that any p'eon offending herein sbaL forfeite three powndea for ever? tyme.'

" 1 do not attach so much importance to the act of iier royal successor, James I„ who in IGia issued a proclama- tion, reminding his English subjects of the obligatiiiu of keeping Lent ; because bis Majesty's object is clearly ascer- tained t-o have been to encourage the traffic of his country- miea the Scutch, who had just then embarked largely in the herring trade, and for whom the thrifty Stuart was aniious to secure n monopoly in the British markets.

" But when, in 1627, I find the chivalrous Charles I., your mnrtynid king, sending forth from the banque ting-room of Whitehall his royal decree to the same etfect. I am at a loss tu trace his inotives. It is known that Archbishop Laud's advice went to the effect of reinstating many customa of Cstholicity ; but, from a more diligent consideration of tho uibjcct, I am more inclined to think that the king wished , by thi» display of austere practices, to soothe and

12 TiTnER PEorT'B BELliJClB.

conciliate tbe Puritanical portiuu of lila subjects, whom religioiifl notions were Bupposed (I know not how justly) tl have a tendency to Belf-denial and the mortification of Ifal flesh. Certaui it is, that the Calvinists and Boundimd were greater larouritea at Billingsgate than the high-cburd party ; from which we may conclude that they consume more Hah. A fact corroborated by the contemporary teettr mony of Samuel Butier, who says that, when the great struggle commenced,

' Eneb SBherwomim loclicd her fish up, And trudged abroad lo cry, No BisUop !"

" I will only remark, in furtherance of my own views, thit the king's beefeaters, and the gormandising Cavaliers d that period, could never stand in fair fight against the tere and fasting Cromwelltana.

" It is a vulgar error of your countrymen to con valour with roast beef, or courage with ptum-puddinj There esista no such association ; and I wonder this u&tioni mistake lias not been duly noticed by Jeremy Bcntbam i his ' Book of Fallncies.' As soon might it be presumed thl the pot-bellied Falstaff, faring on venison a.ud sack, routi overcome in prowess Owen Glendower, who, I suppose, let on leeks ; or that the lean and emaciated Cassiue was not i better soldier than a well-known sleek and greasy rogB who fled from the battle of Philippi, and, as he Uimse unblushingly tells the world, left his buckler behind him ' Relictd non bme parmvld.''

" I cannot contain my bile when I witness the mode i which the lower orders in your country abuse the Preocfa for whom they have found nothing in their Anglo-SaxM vocabulary so espressive of contempt as the terra ' frog eater.' A Frenchman is not supposed to be of the 9xan flesh and blood as themselves ; nut, like the water-snokt described in the Georgtcs—

* PiBcibiu atmin, ImprobuB ingluTiom r&uUque ioquocibui Implet.'

Hence it ia carefully instilled into the infant mind (wl the young idea is taught how to shoot), that you won thi victories of Poitiers and Agincourt mainly by the superio rity of your diet. In hewing down the ranks of the foeman,

tat iPOMar ro» lest.

»A of tl»e Englieh army's tiui.-wm is of course attributed the dexterous manaf^ement of l)ieir crass-bills, but eun- JOTabl; more to their bill of tire. If I could reaeon witli ich iimpletooa, 1 would refer ttiem to tlie recordB of the nmiaeariat deimrtment of that day, and open to tLeir lew gSM the folio vii. of Kymer's Failfra, where, in the einii year of Edward III,, i.D. X338, at page 1021, they iu!d find, that preiHouB to the victory of Creasy there were ipped »t Purtsuiuuth, for the use of these gaUunt troops, ly tons of Yarmoulh kernngt. 8uch were the supplies tllitT unusual now ia the cootracts al Somerset House) hich enabled Edward and bin valiant sou to drivt- the hunts France before them, and roll on the tide of war till the *-er8 of Paris yielded to the mighty torrent. After a ■aty rena«t on such simple diet, might the Black Prince tpropnatdy addreas bis girded knights in Shakespearian nue,

The enemy sorely grudged them their supplies. For it ipears by the chromcka of Euguerrand ue Mouptrellet, e continuator of Frotssart, that in 1420, while the English iww besieging Orleana, the Duke of Bedford sent from his id-quartert', Paris, on the Ash Wednesday of that jear, If bundred i-nrts kdeu nitli berringfi, for the use of the np during I«nt, when n party of French noblemen, viz. lititntillr. I.abire, De la Tour de Chavigny, and the Che- ier de Lafayette (ancestor of the revolutionary Tcteran), le a desperate effort to intercept the convoy. But the ^iifih detachment, under whose safeguard was this pre- lUB deposit, fought firo nris et focit in its defence, und the ntibuita were routed with the loss of six score knights and lUch plebeian slaughter. Bead Bapin's occouot of the *" iv, which was thence called ' lajoumte drs hamgt.^ What M-hoolboy is ignorant of the fact, that at the eve the battle of Hastings, which gave to your Norman an- tora tbe conquest of the island, the conduct of theAnelo- itoua was strongly contrasted with that of the invaders m J^Buee ; for while in Harold's eamp the besotted na- w Rpent the night in revelling and gluttony, the Norman

rATUEK PBOUT B RELIQPKS.

cbivalry gave their time to fastiog and devotion. — (Galil' tmil/i, A.D, 1066.)

" It has not escaped the penetrating miud of the sagocioiu BuffoD, in hia views of man aud man's propensities (which^ after all, are the proper study of mankind), that a predilec- tion for light food and epare diet has always been thft characteriatic of the Celtic and Eastern races ; wbile thft Teutonic, the Sclavonian, and Tartar branches of the hmnatt fiiniily betray an aboriginal craving for heavy meat, and an gross feeders. In many countries of Europe there has been a slight amalgamation of blood, and the iuteraatioDsl pedi* gree in parts of the Continent has become perplexed and doubtful : but the most obtuse observer can see that ths phlegmatiu habits of the Prussians and Butch argue & dit ferent genealogical oiigia from that which produced tht lively ^Espositioa of the tribes of southern Europe. Tha best specimens extant of the genuine Celt are the Oreek^ the Arabians, and the Irish, tJl of whom are temperate i Ibeir food. Among European denominations, in proportion as the Celtic infusion predominates, so in a corresponding; ratio is the national character for abstemiousness. Nor would 1 thus dwell on an otherwise uninteresting specula^ tion, were I not about to draw a corollary, and shew hoW these secret influences became apparent at what is called the great epoch of the Beformation. The latent tendencj to escape from feating observances became then reveole^ and what bad lain dormant for ages was at once developed* The Tortar and Sclavonic breed of men flung off the yok^ of Borne; while the Celtic races remained faithful to t' successor of the ' Fishermau,' and kept Lent.

" The Hollanders, the Swedes, the Saxons, the Prusaian^ and in Oermany those circles in which the Gothic blool run heaviest and most stagnant, hailed Luther as a delivered from salt fish. The fatted calf was killed, bumpers cf ale went round, and Popery went to the dogs. Half Kuropo followed the impetus given to free opinions, and the con- genial impulse of the gastric juice ; joining in refomij not because they loved Rome less, but because thev Iotm substantial fare more. Meantime neighbours differed. Tfas Dutch, dull and opaque aa their own Zuidersee, growled de- fiance at the Vatican when tlieir food was to be eoatrolled t

AW APOLOQT FOE LEKT. 15

, being a shade neiLrer to the Celtic fnmiiy, MbauHcd tu the fast. While Hamburg clung to ita iff/, and Westphalia preserved her Aaau, Munich and Bavaria adhered to the Pop^ anil to sour-erout with deBperate lidclitT. As to the CoBBuokB, and nil that set of northern mnrnuderB, thev nerer kept Lent at any time ; uud it nould be amnt folly to expect thiit the boreeinen of the river Don, and the Esqiiininux of the polar latitudes, would think of restricting their ravenous propeuaitieH in a Christian fnshiijQ : the very syatem of cookery adopted by these terrible hordes would,' 1 fear, have given Dr. Kitehiner a fit of cholera. The npparatiia is graphically described by Samnel Butler; I wiif indulge jou with part of the (juo- tstioa;

'For like thtir eounCryinen the Huna, Thejf itew their nie*l Under t

All day ou lionea' bnclis they slraddte, Then ererj man cats up his eaddie !'

A atnuige process, no doubt : but not without some sort of precedeot la cIbmic records ; for the Latin poet introduces voung lulna at a picnic, in the >^eid, eicloiming —

" Tq Kugland. as the inbabitnnts are of a miied descent, and as there has ever been a disrelish for any alteration in the habitfl and fireside traditions of the country, the fish diLvn were remembered long after every Popish observance had become obsolete ; and it was not until 1608 that butchers' loeat finaUv established ita ascendency in Lent, at the arrival of tlie Dutchman. We have seen the exertions of Ihe Tudor dynasty under Elizabeth, and of the house of Stuart under James I. and Charles I., to keep up these liuta. which had flourished in the days of the Flantasenets, which the Heptarchy had revered, which Alfred and Canute bad ecnipulonaly observed, and which had come down poai- tirely recommended by the Venerable Bede. William III. gave ft death-blow to I^ent. Until then it had lingered imopg the threadbare curates of the coiintiy, exlrema ptt

t HwUbru, Cutto a. L 275.

16 lATHEB PBOUT'B EXLlQfTES.

illos excedens terris vestigia fecitf having been long before exiled from the gastronomic hall of both UniTersities. Bui its extinction was complete. Its ghost might still remain, flitting through the land, without corpox^ or ostensible form ; and it vanished totally with the fated^ star of the Pretender. It was William who conferred tlie honour of knighthood on the loin of beef; and such was the progress of disaffection under Queen Anne, that the folks, to mani- fest their disregard for the Pope, agreed that a certain ex- tremity of the goose should be denominated his nose !

''The indomitable spirit of the Celtic Irish preserved Lent in this country unimpaired ; an event of such import- ance to England, that I shall dwell on it by and by m<»e fully. The Spaniards and Portuguese, although GK>thic and Saracen blood has commingled in the pure current of their Phoenician pedigree, clung to Lent with characteristic tenacity. The Gallic race, even in the days of CsBsar, were remarkably temperate, and are so to the present day. The French very justly abhor the gross, carcase-eating propen- sities of John Bull. But as to the keeping of I^nt, in an ecclesiastical point of view, I cannot take on myself to vouch, since the ruffianly revolution, for their orthodoxy in that or any other religious matters. They are sadly defiant therein, though still delicate and refined in their cookeiy, like one of their own artistes, whose epitaph is in Pto la Chaise —

' Ci git qui d^ Vige le plus tendre

Inventa la aauee Robert ; Mais jamais il ne put apprendre Ni son credo ni son pater*

" It was not so of old, when the pious monarchs of France dined publicly in Passion week on fasting fare, in order to recommend by their example the use of fish — when the heir-apparent to the crown delighted to be called a dolphvn — and when one of your own kings, being on a visit to France, got so fond of their lamprey patties, that he died of indigestion on his return.

'' Antiquity has left us no document to prove that the early Spartans kept certain days of abstinence ; but their black broth, of which the ingredients have puzzled the

A5 AFOLOOT TOR LEST. 17

Iranied, must liave been a fitting substitute for the soup- maigrf of our L«Dt, ninee it I'equired a hard run on the Imnltii vf tbe Eurotns tii make it somewhat palatable. At all eriiitB. tlaeir great inwgiver wua nn eminent ascetic, aod apfilieil UimBelf much tu restrict the diet of his hardy couq- trrmeii ; asd if il ia certain that there existed a mystic bond Gf union among the 300 Laced em oniana who etood in the gap of Thennopylw. it aasuredly was not a beef-ateak club n( vrhii'h Lconidaa was president.

"Tbe Athenians were too cultivated n people not to

anpreeiate the value of periodical days of self-denial and

■1>at«Tnioiisnf88. Accordingly, on the eve of i.'ertain fea-

tiTals. they fed esclusively on figs and the honey of Muunt

Hytncttus. Plutarch expressly tella us that a solemn fa^t

jircc*(Jeil the celebration of tlie Tliermophorin ; thence

tcnned itjonia. In Itiokiiig over the works of tbe great

oeographer Strabo (lib. liv.), I find sufGcient erideuce of

BWe respect paid ta^>A by the inhabitants of a distinguished

Bfireek city, in which that erudite author says the arrival of

^mK fishing-smocks in the harbour was announced joyfully

^k aounding the "tocsin;" and that the musicians in the

^■pblic pt»»i were left abruptly by the crowd, whenever the

^ki UtOfd for the tiaJe of tbe herrings : xi^a^cgilAu iviAuxnifiitau

^HatC /tn axftai^ai Tatvai- Hi it a xwJut o xorix ritv t-^^ie^inXiai

^Ht«{iiM larctXprsiTff aTiXitii cm ra o^ot. A custom to which

^Biilnrch also refers in his Symposium of Plato, lib. iv. cap.

HL ^iii c^i i^9-jo<rv>.iaii aittiiiaarai xai rou xwiiarei e^i>i;

B "That practicttfl similar to our I<eat existed among the pBixium*, Buty be gathered from various sources. In OVid'a I /<a«fi (not with si an ding the title) I find notlnug : but from fttfie reU4{uos of old sacerdotal memorials collected by ■KephAno Morcclli, it nppcnrs that Xuma fitted himsf'lf by ^■■tiilg for ail interview with the niysteriouB inmate of ^Eeh«'« grotto. Ltvy tells iis that the decemvirs, on ^K Dceumuce of certain prodigies, wore instrncted by a ^Etf of the Bcmate to consult the Sibylline books; and ^b resolt was the cst.iblishmetit of a fast in honour of ^^ma, to bo obwrred perjietuolly every fi\e years. It is ^Kd to tcU wbether Humee is in joke or lu eanieat V > See TniiLiUlion in Bahu'a Strabo, Vol. iii. p. 37.

18 FATHSB PBOUT'S KELIQUES.

»

when he introduces a vow relative to these days of

penance —

* Frigida si pueruin quartana reliquerit illo Man^ die quo tu mdieii p^unia nudus In Tyberi stabit !' Serm, lib. iL sat 8. T. 290.

But we are left in the dark as to whether they observed their fasts by restricting themselves to lentils and vegetable diet, or whether fish was allowed. On this interesting point we find nothing in the law9 of the twelve tables. HoweTcr, a marked predilection for herbs, and such frugal fiure, was distinctive of the old Eomans, as the very names of the principal families sufficiently indicate. The Eabii, for in> stance, were so called from faha, a bean, on which simple aliment that indefatigable race of heroes subsisted for many generations. The noble line of the Lentuli derive theur patronymic from a favourite kind of lentil, to which they were partial, and from which Lent itself is so called. The aristocratic Pisoes were similarly circumstanced ; for their family appellation will be found to signify a kind of yetches. Scipio was titled from cepe, an onion -^ and we niay trace the surname and hereditary honours of the great Itoman orator to the same horticultural source, for cicer in Latin means a sort of pea ; and so on through the whole nomen- clature.

" Hence the Eoman satirist, ever alive to the follies of his age, can find nothing more ludicrous than the notion of the Egyptians, who entertained a religious repugnance to yege* table fare :

* Porrilun et oepe nefas riolare et frangere monu, O sanctaa gentes !' Jut. Sat. 16.

And as to fish, the fondness of the people of his day for such food can be demonstrated from his fourth satire, where he dwells triumphantly on the capture of a splendid tunny in the waters of the Adriatic, and describes the assembling cl a cabinet council in the ^'Downing Street" of Bome to determine how it should be properly cooked. It must be admitted that, since the Whigs came to office, although they

* Here Prout is in error. Seipio means a **walking-6tick," and com* memorates the filial piety of one of the gtna ConUUa^ who went about constantlj supporting hu tottering aged &ther.<— >0. Y.

AS AKILOQT I

19

hsTe had many a pretty kettle of ftsh to deliberate upon, thej faaT« Bbown uotbuig liolf no digniiied or rational in tbeif

tRioua iu the imperial privy couucil of Domitiati. The nugniliceDce displayed by the moaters of the world ettiugiip fiah-ponda is a fa«t which every aeboothoy has at, aa irell as that occaeioniilly the murana were treated to luxury of a tlave or twu, flung in alive for their nutri- meut. The celebrity which the maritime yillasof Baiffi ob- taioed lor that tashionable watering-place, is a further argu- awat iu jKiint ; and we know that when the reprobate Verres was driven into eiile by the brilliant declamation of Cicero, he cutiaolt-d himself at Marseilles over a local ditth of Anguilla i la MarteiUaiie. " Simplicity and good taste in diet gradually dechning in Up Boninn empire, the ginuitic frame of the colossus itaelf Bfcw hastened to decay. It burst of ita own plethory. The VnUnple of the degenerate court had pervaded the provincea ; *nd looa the whofe bodf politic reeled, aa after a surfeit of ' ■baocherr. Viteliins liad gormaudieed with vulgar glut- 'iit ; the Emperor Maiiminus was a living sepukhre, where 'iinle becatouibs of butchers' meat were dady entombed ;' wd DO R)odem keeper of a tnilt d'kSte could stand a suc- CMsion if such guests aa Heliogaholua. Oibhon, whoae

e^netrattng eye nothing has escaped in the causes of the ecline and Fall, notices tiiia vile propensity to overfeeding ; and shows that, to reconstruct tiie nughty system of ilominioD enlabliebed by the rugg«<d republicans (the Fabii, llie [^ntnli, and tbe Pisoes), nothing but a bond fide return to simplij fare and homely pottnge could be effectual. The ft|nt was duly acted on. Tbe Popes, frugal and abstemious, Bpeende^ the vacant throne of the Caasara. and ordered Lent Hpl^e observd! throughout the eastern and weetem world. fc "The Iheorj- of fasting, and its practical appUcation, did «anil'-T» in that emergency. It renovated the rotten cou- Eliiiiti.in ijf Europe — it tamed the hungry hordes of despe- rate eaiiigL-s that rushed down with a war-whoop on the u«lral« ruina of the empire — it taughf them self-control, i gave them a mosterdom over their barbarous propcnsi- —it did mure, it originated civilisation and commerce. hit i» mhI tlinl in it ein^le da; he could devoor fori; paimda otmMl ■ diinl &a Biciphon of wiuc

20 FATHEB PBOUT*S BELIQVS8.

*' A few straggling fishermen built huts on the flats of the Adriatic, for the convenience of resorting thither in Lent, to procure their annual supply of fish. The demand for that article became so brisk and so extensive through the vast dominions of the Lombards in northern Italy, that from a temporary establishment it became a permanent colony in the lagunea. Working like the coral insect under the seas, with the same unconsciousness of the mighty result of their labours, these industrious men for a century kept on en« largins^ their nest upon the waters, till their enterprise be- came lully developed, and

' Venice Bat in state, throned on a hundred isles.*

" The fasting necessities of France and Spain were minis- tered to by the rising republic of G^enoa, whose origin I delight to trace from a small fishing town to a mighty em- porium of commerce, fit cradle to rock (in the infant Co- lumbus) the destinies of a new world. Few of us have turned our attention to the fact, that our favourite fish, the John Dory, derives its name from the Genoese admiral, Doria, whose seamanship best thrived on meagre diet. Of Anne Chovy, who has given her name to another fish found in the Sardinian waters, no record remains ; but she was doubtless a heroine. Indeed, to revert to the humble her- ring before you, it^ etymology shews it to be well adapted for warlike stomachs, heer (its German root) signifying an army. In England, is not a soldier synonymous with a lobster ?

" In the progress of maritime industry along the shores of southern, and subsequently of northern Europe, we find a love for freedom to grow up with a fondness for fish. Enter- prise and liberty flourished among the islands of the Archi- pelago. And when Naples was to be rescued from thraldom, it was the hardy race of watermen who plied in her beau- teous bay, that rose at Freedom's call to effect her deliverance, when she basked for one short hour in its full sunshine under the gallant Masaniello.

'* As to the commercial grandeur, of which a constant demand for fish was the creating principle, to illustrate its importance, I need only refer to a remarkable expression of

is iP(iLOor FOR LisT, 21

lliat dorp poHlii-iaii, and exceetliiiylj- clever economist,

CharUw Vt wlien, oii a progress tliruugb a part of bis do-

Lminiuna, oo nbii'h the bud at that period never went down,

■ tiB happened to pass througii Amsterdam, in cotnpanj with P tiw Quren of Hungary : on that occaeion, being compli- ' IiU9it«d in the usual form by the burgomasterB of nia faith- ful city, lie asked lo see the mausoleum of John Bachalen, the famuus herring-baireler ; but when told that his grave, Ftmple and unadorned, lay in his native island in the Zuyder- we, ' What!' cried the illustrious visitor, 'ia it thus that Div people of the NetherlanilB shew their gratitude to so grent a man ? Know ye not that the foundiitiona of Amsterdam aie laid on herriug-boDes 't' Their majesties went on a pil- j^nsago to his tomb, na is related by S\r Hugh Wiiloughby in bis •ilistorieof Fishes.'

" It would lie of immense advantage to these countries wtn> i*e to returo unaniuiously to the ancient practiee, and r reitow to the full eitent of their wiae policy the laws of m Htubetfa. The revival of Lent is the sole remedy for tije IvBUional complaints on the decline of the ehippiog interest. K'tbe sole (Tsy to meet the outcry about corn-laws. Inst^iad Kvf Sir, Attwood's project for a change of currency, ilr. ■"Wilmut Hortiiu's panacea of emigration, and Miss Marti- Knesu'i preventive check. rc-ena«t Lent. But mark, I do KMOt go Ml far M to ray that by this means all and every- ■tlling doaitsble can be accomplisbed, nor do I undertake by

■ It to pay off the national debt — though the Lords of the nlVeB>ury miglit learn that, when the disciples were at a Josb P^ c!i«el tiie demand of tai-colle«tora iu their day, they ■MUKbt a tish, and found in its gills sufficient to satisfy the Herroue. (.S7. MaftArw. chap, xrii.)

L " Of all tho varied resources of this great empire, the ^fasat important, in a national point of view, has long been ^Kv portion of capital nQoat in the merchantmen, and ^Bt •trength invested in the navy of Great Britain. True, ^^fe Bnliib thunder has too long slept under a sailur-kiug, ^^M uodi-r K) mauy galling national insults ; and it were ^^ul ttm« to say that it shall no longer sleep' on in the ^Kkve where Sir James Qmbam has laid it. But my xon- ^^kn ia principally for the alarming depression of our oier- ^^BBla' prvipertj in vessels, repeatedly proved in evidence

i

22 FATHEB PBOITT's BELIQFE8.

before your House of Commons. Poulett Thomson is right to call attention to the cries of the shipowners, and to that dismal howling from the harbours, described by the prophet as the forerunner of the fall of Babylon.

" The best remedial measure would be a resumption of Hsh-diet during a portion of the year. Talk not of a resump- tion of cash payments, of opening the trade to China, or of finding a north-west passage to national prosperity. Talk not 01 * calling spirits from the vasty deep,' when yon neg- lect to elicit food and employment for thousands from its, exuberant bosom. Visionary projectors are never withoat some complex system of beneficial improvement ; but I would say of them, in the words of an Irish gentleman who has lately travelled in search of religion,

' They may talk of the nectar that sparkled for Helen — Theirs is a fiction, but this is reality.'

Melodiei,

Demand would create supply. Flotillas would issue from every sea-port in the spring, and ransack the treasures o( the ocean for the periodical market : and the wooden walls of Old England, instead of crumbling into so much rotten timber, would be converted into so many huge wooden spoons to feed the population.

" It has been sweetly sung, as well as wisely said, by a genuine English writer, that

' Full many a gem of purest ray serene

The dark, un&thom*d caves of ocean bear.*

To these undiscovered riches Lent would point the national eye, and direct the national energies. Very absurd would then appear the forebodings of the croakers, who with some plausibility now predict the approach of national bankruptcy and famine. Time enough to think of that remote contin- gency when the sea shall be exhausted of its live bullion, and the abyss shall cry ' Hold, enough !' Time enough to fear a general stoppage, when the run on the Dopger Bank shall have produced a failure— when the shoals of the teem* ing north shall have refused to meet their engagements in the sunny waters of the south, and the dra^s of the net shall have been dishonoured. -^ '< I admire Edmund Burke ; who in his speech on Amen-

COttCiliAtion, haa an argtimentum piscalorium quite to tii; f. Tollt ! itge .'

Ab to the wealtli wbich these colonies liave ilorived torn the e«a b^ their fisheries, you had all that matter fuUr

rued at your bar. Tou surely thought these acquisitioiia iratue ; for they evcu seemed to extite your envy. And : the Bpint witn which that enteqiriiiing employment has m Bxerei*ed ought rather, in my opinion, to have raised ir eotceni and udmiratioii. And pray, sir, vhat in the rid is equal to it ? Look at the manner in which tht- )ple of Sew England have carried on their fishery. Chile ve follow them among the tumbling mountains uf penetrating into the deepest recesses of Hudson's r ; while we «re looking for them beneath the arctic iircle, we hear that they nave pierced into the opposite igtuu uf polar cold. — that tliey are at the antipodes, and Imaged under the froz.eu acrpent of the south. Falkland laud, wliich seemed too remote and romautic an object for e grasp of national ambition, is but a stage aud restmg ■ce in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is be e<]tiinoctiaI beat more discouraging to them than the Drumulfttvtl winter of both the piSes. We know, that rhilc some of tbem draw the line and strike the harpoon n the coast uf .U'rica, others run the longitude, find pursue heir gigantic gnnie along the shores of Brazil ; no sen thnt p tu)t rexed by their fisheries, no climate that is not wiluesit D their toils !' "Such glorious imaginings and beatific dreams would (I esk advisedly) be realised in these countries by Leut'ii igic spell ; and 1 have no doubt that our patriot King, e patruu of .no many very questionable reforms, will see e propriety of restoring the laws of Elizabeth in this ni.il- r. Stanislaus, the late pious king of Lorraine, so endeared dlDself to his subjects in general, and market-gardeners in articobir, by his sumptuiu'y regulations respecting vege- ible diet in Lent, that in the hortut ticeva of Nancy his ' ■ been placed, with an appropriate inscription :—

** A Ktmilar compliment would await his present Majesty

21 FATHEB FBOUia BELII^rES.

Willinm IV. from the Hliipownere and the ' wonhipfi i'lBhrnongerB" Company,' if he should adopt tlie BUggestia thrown out here. He would figure coji^sally in Tratiilgi Square, pointing with hia trident to Hungerford Silarkel The three-pronged iustininient in his hiuid would be a moi appmnriate emblem (nmL-h more 90 than on the pinnacle c Buckingham Palace), Bim;ij it would signify equally well fork with which he fed his people, and the sceptre which he ruled the world.

' Lc trident da IIcpliiriD »t U emptn< ilu monde !'

"Then would be solved tlie grand problem of the Com-Iai. queBtion. Hitherto my Lord FitEwilliam baa taken notliitig by his iiiotionit, But were Lent proclaimed at Charina Cross and Tojnple Bar, and through the market towni m Engloud, u speedy full iu the price of graziug stock, thou^ it might afflict Lord Althorp, would eventually harmonua the jarriiig interests of agriculture and mauufiu'turtng tti^ dustry. The superabundaat populatiou of the farming 6» triotfl would crowd to the coast, and fiud employment in tb< tishenes; while Sovonshire liouse would repudiate for 1 time the huge sirloin, and receiving ae a substitute the p ^^ deraua turbol.Spilallietds would exhibit on her frugal boarj aalt liug flanked vk-ith |)otstoeB. A salutary taste for fia' would oe created iu the inmost recesses ot the island, ■ epoch most beneficial to the country would tuke ilate (iroiB that enactment.

Kar neeil the landlords take alarm. Peoiile would i plough the ground less because they might plough the deef more; and while Bmiiing Ceres would still walk througfi our isle witb her horn of plenty, Thetis would follow train with a rival cornucopia.

"Murk the effects of this obBervnnce in Ireland, il continues in it4 urimitive austerity, uudiuiiuished, uii> •horn of ita beams, I'he Irish may be wrong, but the "■"- sequences to I'rolestaut England are immense. To Tou owe the eonueiion of the two isliiuds; il is the goldcQ link that biuda the two kingdoms together. Abolish Dtatiog,'

AS APOLOOr Tub lbst. 25

•md from that evil liour no beef or pork would bo Buffi-Tx-d

by tbe wild nalifes to go over to your Eo^liah mnrkotH ; and

the export of |>rorisioDs wo\ild be discontiuiied by n people

th&t kad Htdenrned tbe leasona of striirvfition. Adien to

shipments of live Hlot^k aud L-ouBi^iiieiits of biu^on! Were

there not e.-inie potent mysterious spell over this couutrj-,

thiuk you we i^bould allow the fat of the land to be ever-

lattingiy abstracted p Let ua leam that there ia no virtue

ill Cent', and repeal is triumpbnnt to-morrow. We nre in

tnitb n most ribstemioiia race, Ueni^e our great siiiieriority

over our Proteataut fellow-tountrj'ineii in tliu jury-box. It

having been found that they could never holil out against

hunger as we eao, when locked up, and that the verdift was

generally carried by popish obstinacy, former ndmiuistra-

tionB discountenanced our admiHsioti to serve on juries at

nil. By im oTereight of Sergeant LelJv>y, all tin's has escaped

the fnuners of t he new jury bill for Ireland.

■ ~Tt> return to tbe Irish exports. The principid item is

■Ifaat of ptga. The hog is as ensential au Inmate of the Irish

Habiu aa lie Arab steed of the shepherd'B teut on the pluiua

^■f Mecopotamia. Both are lookea on as part of the hoiise-

^Bold; and the affectionate oinnncr in which these dumb

Hbenda of tbe family are treated, here aa well as there, is a

Hb>)t of national resemblance, denoting a common origin.

HWo are quite oriental in most of our peculiarities. The

BjeKrned Vallaneey will have it, that our oonaanguinity is

I witb llie Jews. I might elucidate the colonel's (ilacovery,

Lty shewing how the pig in Ireland plays the part of the

ucape-gont of the laraelitea : he ia a sacred thin^, gets the

B|||Q ot the kitchen, is rarely molested, never killed, but alive

Hfaid baoyaut leaves the cabin when taken off by the land-

Hbrd's drirer for arrears of rent, and is then ahipped clean

^hit of the country, to be heard of no more. Indeed, the

Hngs of Inland bear this notable resemblance to their cou-

Hina of Judea, that nothing can keep them irom the aea, —

^■tendency which atrikea oil travcUers in the interior of the

^■laod whenever they meet our droves of awine [jrecipitatiug

^BKnucWvn towards the uutports for shipment.

^f" Toordinary observers this forbearance of the moat ill-fed

^Beople on the face of the globe towards their pigs would

^fcpcar inexplicable; and if you have read the Ici^eud of

26 atheb fbottt's beliqves.

Saint Anthony and his pig, you widl understand the value of their resistance to temptation.

" They have a great resource in the potato. This capital esculent grows nowhere in such perfection, not even in America, where it is indigenous. But it has often stmck me that a great national delinquency has occurred in the sad neglect of people in this country towards the memoir of the great and good man who conferred on us so valuable a boon, on his return from the expedition to Virginia. To Sir Walter Saleigh no monument has yet been erected, and nothing has been done to repair the injustice of his contem- poraries. His head has rolled from the scaffold on Tower Hill ; and though he has fed with his discovery more fami- lies, and given a greater impulse to population, than any other benefactor of mankind, no testimonial exists to com- memorate his benefaction. Nelson has a pillar in Dublin : — in the city of Limerick a whole column has been devoted to Spring £*ice ! ! and the mighty genius of Baleigh is forgotten. I have seen some animals feed under the majestic oak on the acorns that fell from its spreading branches (jfland€ sues l<Bti), without once looking up to the parent tree that showered down blessings on their ungrateful heads."

Here endeth the " Apology," and so abruptly terminate my notes of Front's Lenten vindicia. But, alas ! still more abrupt was the death of this respectable divine, which oc- curred last month, on Shrove Tuesday. There was a peculiar fitness in the manner of Anacreon*s exit from this life ; but not so in the melancholy termination of Front's abstemious career, an account of which is conveyed to me in a long and pathetic letter from my agent in L*eland. It was well Known that he disliked revelry on all occasions ; but if there was a species of gormandising which he more especially abhorred, it was that practised in the parish on pancake- night, which he frequently endeavoured to discountenance and put down, but unsuccessfully. Oft did he tell his rude auditors (for he was a profound Hellenist) that such orgies had originated with the heathen G-reeks, and had been even among them the source of many evils, as the very name shewed, irav xaxcv ! So it would appear, by Front's etymo- logy of the pancake, that in the English language there

Alt APOI.OOT FOE LEST.

muif terniB wMch anewer the deecHption of Horace, ' Otsco fonte RBdunt pu-ce d«tor1a.'

Contrnry to his own better taste and aounder judgment, ' e was, bowever, on last Shrove Tuesday, at a weadiiig-Jeaflt r some of my tonantrj, indutjed, from complacency to tlie ewly-ioarried couple, to eat of the proi'ane aliment ; and never was the Attic deriTation of the pancake more wofully aec-omplished than in the sad result— for his condescension cost him his life. The indigestible nature of the compost itacir might not have been bo destructiTe in an ordinary Uae ; but it was quite a atrauger and ill at ease in Father Ttiiut's stomach : it eventually provt'd fatal in ita efi'ecte, ■nd buTTJed hira away from this vale of teara, leaving the pariib a widow, and making orphans of all his poriehiouera. Xj agent writes that hia funeral (or bernng, as the Irisb ill it) waa thronged by dense multitudes from the wliolc maty, and was aa well attended as if it were a monster neeting. The whole body of his brother clergy, with tin.- isliop as usuiU in full pontificals, were mourners on tht- Iccasion ; and a Latin elegy was composed by the most tsueA iii the order. Father Ma^rath, one, like Prout, ol « old school, who had studied at Florence, and ia still a Drreapondent of many learned Societies abroad. That elegj- \ have subjoined, as a record of Prout's genuine worth, and .M a specimen of a kind of poetry called Leonine verte, little cultivated at the present day, but greatly in vogue at the revival of letters under Leo X.

nc MOBTSIC TXKE&ABILIS AKSBEX PBOCT, C&BllES.

Quid ju*nt m/iu'eAro Sanctoe dormire lefiuMre!

Optimua uique bonoi naaue maiiFbit Himot f Flrba iawafitiS Putori* condidit oan,

SplSDilida Slid mfri mena petit aitra viri. Fort* p«t«ns nio I voilimi reeeretiir honnto,

Noe >it L Pttra Jusaus abire rrlro. 1o\m. malmn mritm aibi Art viciniB inDr(n»^

1j t pro patfe tbitnl undique nira doimi ; ScH furei gaiidml ; sacaK»aactenhe autltnl

I>t«lurbftni S"!/", nm mage tua ttgn. Audio trnf/tiUiu, rilna, miierosqne tumaltH*,

VX pietu Iw'i Mbrietuque/ivif.

28

PATHEB PBOUT's BELIQUE8.

Naraque furore brevi liquid&que ardentis aqtue vi

Antiquua Nicholas perdidit Offricoiat, Jam patre de/uncio, meliores' flumiue eunei9

Lsetantur pUcet obtinuisse vicet. Exultans almOy Istare sub sequore aalmo !

Corpe, o carpe diea^ nam tibi parta quiet ! Gaiident anguillof^ quia tandem est mortuus Ule,

Presbyter Jndreas, qui capiebat eat. Petro pitcator placuit pius artis amatar,

Cui, propter mores, pandit utrosque/ore*. Cur lacluymd funus justi comitabitur unut T

Flendum est non tali^ sod bene morte mali : Munera nunc Flora spargo. Sic flebile rore

Florescat gramen. Pace qui^cat. Amen.

Sweet upland ! where, like hermit old, in peace sojoum'd

This priest deyout ; Mark where beneath thy Terdant sod lie deep inum'd

The bones of Prout ! Nor deck with monumental shrine or tapering column

His place of rest, Whose soul, above earth's homage, meek yet solemn.

Sits mid the blest. Much was he prized, much loTed ; his stem rebuke

O'erawod sheep-stealers ; And rogues fear'd more the good man's single look

Than forty Peelers. He's gone ; and discord soon I ween will visit

The land with quarrel^ ; And the foul demon vex with stills illicit

The village morals. No fatal chance could happen more to cross

The public wishes ; And all the neighboiu*hood deplore his loss,

Except the fishes ; For he kept Lent most strict, and pickled herring

Preferred to gammon. Grim Deatli has broke liis angling-rod ; his berring

Delights the salmon. No more can he hook up carp, eel, or trout.

For fasting pittance, — Arts which Saint Peter loved, whose gate to Prout

Gave prompt admittance. Mourn not, but verdantly let shamrocks keep

His sainted dust ; The bad man's death it well becomes to weep,—

Not so tlie just.

" Bewkrr, bewaro

or IbH black &iu-. Wliu Bittotli b; Noru^ui nunc :

For lie multcrs hu prater

In the loidiiigbt air, And lu!> mui of the dart that arc gone,"

SmcB tbe public&tion of this wortby mau's " Apology for

Xent," whicli. with same ui^couiit of fiis Intaentea deatti and

vll-atlinided funeral, nppeared in oiir Inst Number, we have

rittea to liia eiet-utors — (one of whom is Father Mat. Hor-

Saa, P. P. of the neighbuuring village of Bkrnev ; and the er, oor elegiac poet, Father Mflgratb) — in the hope of King »b1e to negotiate for the valunblo posthunious eaaaytt wid fneitire pieces which we doubted not had been let^ behind in great abundance by the deoeaiied. These two dis- ntereated divines— fit asaoeiates and bosom -companions of Front during bia lifetime, and whom, fram their joint letters, ire should think eminently qualified to piek up tbe fallen Dnntle of the departed prophet — have, in the most hand- OTtie manner, promised us all the literary and philosophic reutiaes bequeathed to thoin by the late incumbent of VatergrBMhill ; expressing, in the very complimentary not« rhich they have transmitted ua, and which our modesty ireveDts us from inserting, their thanks and that of the rhole parish, for our sympathy and condolence on this metan- ioly bereavement, and iiitimating at the same time their egret at not being able to send us also, for our private emsal. the collection of tlie good father's parochial ser- loos ; the whole of which (a most valuable MS.) had been 1 otf for bis own use by the bishop, whem he had : bia residuary legatee. Tbe«e " sermons" must be

30 PATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQUSS.

doubtless ^ood things in their waj — a theological ft^^a BaufMt — weU adapted to swell the episcopal library; but as we confessedly are, and suspect our readers likewise to be, a very improper multitude amongst whom to scatter such pearls, we shall console ourselves for that sacrifice by plung- ing head and ears into the abundant sources of intellectual re&eshment to which we shall soon have access, and from which Frank Creswell, lucky dog ! has drawn such a draught of inspiration.

*' SacroB auflUB redudere fbntes !**

for assuredly we may defy any one that has perused Prout'a vindication of fish-diet (and who, we ask, has not read it con amore, conning it over with secret glee, and forthwith calling out for a red-herring ?), not to prefer its simple unsophisti- cated eloquence to the oration of Tully pro Bomo sud, or Barclay's " Apology for Quakers." After all, it majr have been but a sprat to catch a whale, and the whole aSair may turn out to be a Popish contrivance ; but if so, we have taken tlie bait ourselves : we have been, like Festuis, '' almost persuaded," and Prout has wrought in us a sort of culinary conversion. Why should we be ashamed to avow that we have been edified by the good man's blunt and straight- forward logic, and drawn from his theories on fish a higher and more moral impression than from the dreamy visions of an " English Opium-eater," or any other " Confessions " of sensualism and gastronomy. If this " black friar " has got smuggled in among our contributors, like King Saul among the regular votaries of the sanctuary, it must be admitted that, like the royal intruder, he has caught the tone and chimed in with the general harmony of our political opinions — no Whigling among true Tories, no goose among swans. Argutos inter strepere anser olores.

How we long to get possession of ** the Prout Papers!" that chest of learned lumber which haunts our nightly visions ! Already, in imagination, it is within our grasp ; our greedy hand biastily its lid

•* Unlocks, And all Arcadia breathes from yonder box l**

In this prolific age, when the most unlettered dolt can find a mare's nest in the domain of philosophy, why should

A fLEA Fens FlI-QBIUAQtS.

also VTj, Eu{ijKa|!K» ! How much of novelty in hia Itow tnnch embryo diBcoverr rnuet not Prout imlbltl ! It were indeed a pity to consiga tee writings of so eminent ~i ttcliuLar to oblivion ; nor ought it be said, in scriptural ibra»e, of him, what is, alas ! a.pplicable to bo many other mrued divines when they are dead, that " their works have ■llowed them." Suvh was the (.-ose of that laborious French iergyjuan, the Abbe Trublet, of whom Voltaire profanely

lich epigram hath n recondita meaning, not obvious to the 'ef on ft first perusal ; and being interpreted into plain ish, fur the use of the Loudon Univervity, it may run

Surh may be the fate of Lardner and of Trublet, such the ultimate destiny tbat awaits their literary labours ; but Dieither men, nor gods, nor our columns (those graceful pil- bin thut support the Muses* temple), shall suffer this old winti U> remain in the unmerited obscurity jrom which Frank Crvaawell fimt essavod to draw him. To that young barrister «e liave written, with a request that he would furnish us with Airther details conei^raing Prout, and, if possible, a few ■dditioDul spei^imena of hie colloquial wisdom ; reminding hjin that modem taate has a decided tendency towards il- lustrious private gosaip, and recommending to him. as a •iiblinic mtMlel of the dramatico-biograpliic style, my Lady EUeftsington's " Conversfttions of Lord Byron," How tat he haa succeeded in following the ignu/atutu of her ladyship's lantern, and how many bo^ he haa got immerged in because

" the dangerous hint, which we eave him in an eiil hour, judieitnis reader will soon find out. Here is the com. '""'*'°''- OLIVEB TOEKE.

U^ 1. 1S».

^2 FATHER PB0UT*8 BELIQUES.

FwnivaV* Inn, April 14.

Acknowledging the receipt of your gracious mandate^ O Queen of Periodicals ! and kissing the top of your ivory sceptre, may I be allowed to express unblamed my utter devotion to your orders, in the language of .£olus, quondam ruler of the winds :

' Tuus, O Kegina, quid optes Explorare labor, inilii jussa capessere hs est!''

without concealing, at the same time, my wonderment, and that of many other sober individuals, at your patronising the advocacy of doctrines and usages belonging exclusively to another and far less reputable Queen (quean ?) whom 1 shall have sufficiently designated when I mention that she sits upon seven hills ! — in stating which singtdar phenomenon con- cerning her, I need not add that her fundamental maxima must be totally different from yours. Many orthodox people cannot understand how you could have reconciled it to your conscience to publish, in its crude state, that Apology for Lent, without adding not« or comment in refutation of such dangerous doctrines ; and are still more amazed that a Popish parish priest, from the wild Irish hills, could have got among your contributors —

'* Claimed kindred there, and have that claim allowed.'*

It will, however, no doubt, give you pleasure to learn, that you have established a lasting popularity among that learned set of men the fishmongers, who are never scaly of their support when deserved ; for, by a unanimous vote of the " worshipful company " last meeting-day, the marble bust of Father Prout, crowned with sea- weeds like a Triton, is to be placed in a conspicuous part of their new hall at London Bridge. But as it is the hardest thing imaginable to please all parties, your triumph is rendered incomplete by the grumbling of another not less respectable portion of the community. By your proposal for the non-consumption of butohers* meat, you have given mortal offence to the dealers in horned cattle, and stirred up a nest of hornets in Smith- field. In your perambulations of the metropolis, go not into the bucolic purlieus of that dangerous district ; beware of the enemy's camp ; tempt not the ire of men armed witli

A PLEA FOK PILORIMi-Oes. BH

cold Rtc«l, el§e the luug-donuaiit fires of that land celebrated m every ace a» a fierra del Javgii may be yet rekimiled, and vmAi: " red with uocomraon wrath," for yoiir eapedal roaat- ing. Lord Althorp is no warm friend of youni ; ami by your mskiug what In; i-alls " a most unprovoked attack ou the gnuiero,'' you Lave not propitiated the winner ot' thu

" Fixnum liabrt in portiii, — huno tu, Bonianc, cnrato !"

la vain would you eeek to t-ajole the worthy chaiifelior of his Majesty's uniortunatc eichequer, by the desirable pro»- [wct of a nti revenue from the ocean : you will make no im- [itpsaioo. His mind is not acceasible to any reaBimiMR im ^nhnt snbjert ; and, like the shield of Telamou. it is wrapt in ^■he iinpeuetrabte folds of seven tough bull-hides. Ht But eliminating at once these insignificaDt topics, anil ^■ettiug aaide all minor things, let me addreas myself to the ^ftnmd subject of my adoption. Verily, since the days of ^^bat unmiiieut of the priesthood and pnde of Venice, Father ^Baul. no diriue has shed such lustre on the Church of liome ^KlFxthcr tVoul. Hie brain was a Htorehouse of inexhaustible VkDowtedge, and )iia memory a haKaar, in which the iiitel- I lectual nclifs of past ages were classified and arranged in ft, aurrellciua and brilliaut assortment. When, by the libe- rnliW of his executor, you shall have been put in possession K ^bu writings and poathumous papers, you will Jind 1 do ■■not eiiiggrrat« ; for though his mere conversation waa Ijl^waTa instructive, still, the pen in his hand, more potent ^ban* the wnnd of Proapero, embellished every subject wil)i ^Ki oJirial chann i and whatever department of literature it ^Btaebed on. it was sure to illuminate and adorn, Irom tlii! ^■ulitest and most ephemeral matters of the day, to the ^|CM>c8tand most abstruse problenisof metaphysical inquiry ; ^Bgorous and philosophical, at the same time that it is minute ^^£l pUyful ; huWne no parallel unless we liken it to the ^^hilKwds of an ele[^ant, that can with equal ease shift an ^beli«k oiiil crack a nut.

^B >'or did he confine himself to prose. lie waa a chosen ^^bourit^ of the nine sinters, and Itirtcd openly with tiieru ^BL his vow of ctlibaey preventiup his formmg a penaajti^ ^Blianctf with iine alone, Uence pastoral poetry, elegy, suu-

ii4 FATHER FBOUT's BILIQUES.

uets, and still grander efiusions in the best style of Bob Montgomery, flowed from his muse in abundance ; but, I must confess, his peculiar forte lay in the Pindaric. Be- sides, he indulged copiously in Greek and Latin versifica- tion, as well as in French, Italian, and High Dutch; of which accomplishments I happen to possess some fine spe- cimens from his pen ; and before I terminate this paper, I mean to introduce them to the benevolent notice of the candid reader. By these vou will find, that the Doric reed of Theocritus was to him but an ordinary sylvan pipe — that the lyre of Anacreon was as familiar to him as the German flute — and that he played as well on the classic chords of the bard of Mantua as on the Cremona fiddle ; at all events, he will prove far superior as a poet to the covey of unfledged rhymers who nestle in annuals and magazines. Sad abor- tions ! on which even you, O Queen, sometimes take com- passion, infusing into them a life

" Which did not you prolong, The world had wanted manj an idle song."

To return to his conversational powers : he did not waste them on the generality of folks, for he despised the vulgar herd of Corkonians with whom it was his lot to mingle; but when he was sure of a friendly circle, he broke out iu resplendent style, often humorous, at times critical, occa- sionally profound, and always interesting. Inexhaustible in his means of illustration, his fancy was an unwasted mine, into which you had but to sink a shaft, and you were sure of eliciting the finest ore, w^hich came forth stamped with the impress of genius, and fit to circulate among the most cultivated auditory : for though the mint of his brain now and then would issue a strange and fantastic coinage, ster- ling sense was sure to give it value, and ready wit to pro- mote its currency. The rubbish and dust of the schools with which his notions were sometimes incrusted did not alter their intrinsic worth ; people only wondered how the diaphanous mind of Prout could be obscured by such com- mon stuflT: its brightness was still undiminisued by the admixture ; and like straws in amber, without deteriorating the substance, these matters only made manifest its trans- paieucy. Whene'er he undertook to illustrate any subject

A PLKA FOR PlLOBIMAdEt!. SS

Korthr of tim, he was nlways felicitous. 1 oliail give jou aa inataQci.-.

Tht-re etaixia on the borders of his pfirisli, near tlie villngi' of Blarnev. an old eAstle of tlie M Carthv fsmilv, ridiui; abruptly from a bold cliff, at the Tout of w'hidi rtllla a not inconsiderable Btrentn — tim fond and frequent witness of I'miifa angling propensities. The well-wooded demesne, dimprisini; an eit*nsive lake, a romantic cavern, and an artificial wilderness of rocks, belnnga to the family of Jef- fewys. which boaala in the Dowajrer Countess Glengall a ini-.'t (iititingiiished scion; her ladyship's mother bay'ng Wn iiiiroortalised under the title of " Lady Jeffers," willi the oiher natural euriositie* produced by this celebrated Bpot. ill that never-suSlciently-to-be-encored soug, the Giovri if Blnrnry. But neither the stream, nor the lake, nor the cajlic. nor tho village (a sad ruin ! which, but for the recent ctlaMi^liment of a spinning-factory by somo patriotic Cork- oTiinn. would be swept away altoeether. op poBsessed by the (iwU 03 a grant from Sultan ifabmoiid) ;— none of thesu [i:itiir<-HijU'; i.hjecta has earned such notoriety for "the Gnivi-s" as a certain stone, of a basaltic kind, ratner unusual in the tiiitrict. placed on the pinnacle of the main tower, and endowed with the jiroperty of communicating to the li.ippv icmgHe that comes in contact with its polished surface ttvc srirt of gentle insinuating speech, with aott talk in all ita nuniticntii'nB, whether employed in vows and promiseB light aa uir. trta m^tira, such na lead captive the female heart ; ur elaliiirate my stiii cation of a grosser grain, such as may do for the House of Commiius ; all summed up and charac- terised by the mysterious term Blarney. •

Front'* theory on tliia subject might have remained dor-

t — r- - " irf lifilong* the meril of eliH^idnting this obscitru

■ ilml iiilG02,wben llie Spaniftrda wero einling

-< lliB Rngliih enthorities, Cormap M'DBrmol

I li.r deiienJimciea, tho cutlo of Blamej, nni) Imtl

.. idi tlu' Iprcl-praideBt, oo condition of mirrmi-

ni^on, Day oftfr lUv did lus lordBliip

, R't i wliile thu Irish Pozio di BorKn,

..Id M Biiii»ia lo relinqui.th tho Dii^

I -uft promian uid dtliuli

iciii li !>.■.,=...■ ;.,;:nliing-stockof Eli»abeth'B

kJ -ii^nrg laLk" iiruyiiliiuL

36

lOrr's iiELiijL'ifs.

maut for ages, aud i)erlia|iB been ultimately Iu«t to IL wurld at large, were it not for an event wliicfi ocvumd i the summer of 1S25, wLiie I (a youuker llien) bappcMd fl be on tUat visit to my aunt at Watergraaalnll which e*e tnally secured nie her inLeritam^e. The occurrpnce 1 ■ about to commemorute was, in truth, one of the firat t iiitude, and well caioulated. from its importance, to forui ■ i-]i()('b in the Annuls of the Parish. It was the arrival i Siu WiLTER Scott at Blarney, towards the end of tl montli of July,

Years have now rolled away, and tlie " AriusUi of tl North" is dead, and our ancient constitution has ■ faltea under the hoofs of the AVbigs; quenched ia maafll bear ou-liglit in church and state — Prout himself is no nuxttJ and plentiful indications tell us we are come upon eril dajlifl but still may I be allowed to feel a pleasurable, tbou^l somewhat saddened emotion, while I revert to that iutcllnn tual meeting, and bid memory go back in '' dream sabHuM to the glorious eibibitioa of Front's mental powers, was. in sootb, a great day for old Ireland; a greater St for Blarney ^ but, greatest of all, it dawned, Prout, on tbo Then it was tliat tby light was taken from under it« aaca dotal bushel, and plarad conspicuously before a man St tO appreciate the effulgence of so brilliant a luwiuarv— » light which 1, who pen these words in sorrow, alasl shall tiCT^ gti/e ou-miire! alight

That day it illuuiiued the "cave," the "sbiidy wnlks." the "sweet roi-k-dose," and sent its glad di-uing bciun ill the gloomiest vaults of tbc ancient fort ; for all thi^ recoi ditc recesses of the castle were explored in succvaaioa I th« distinmiishfd poet and the learned priest, and Pttx held a candle to Scott.

We read with interest, in the historian Folybiiu, tl account of Hannibal's interview with Seipioon the pUii of Zama ; and often have we, in our scliool-hoy dan 1 unsuphislicatcd fecliug, sympathised with Ovid, when t told us that be only got a glimpse of Virgil; but 8oo basked for a whole summer's day in (he hia/c of IVout

A fLtX TOR PILRRIUAOES. 37

wit, and nitnMBcd the coruMations of hi» lesniing. Tlio ^TCat Jlarius is said ne\er to bove appeared f<i sul-Ii advau- ijige aa when eenteil on th? ruias of Cartbaee : with emial dignity Prottt sat on the Blarney atone, amid ruiuB of kin- drtd glory. Zt no taught in the "porch;" Pinto loved to miise aluno on the bold jutting promontory of Cape Suiiium ; Socratea, bent on finding Truth, " in lytvU Aeademi quai -re eiWTiiH," sought her araoug the bowers of AcademuB; Prout oonrted the same coy nynnth, ajid wooed her in the " groves i/f Bianiey."

I aaid tbat it was in the summer of 1825 that Sir Waller Scott, in ihf progreaa of his tour through Ireland, readied L'orfa, and forthwith intimated hia wish to proL-eed at onee oo a visit to Blarney Castle. For him the noble river, Iho maguiliecnt estuary, and unriralled harbour of a city that pwudly bears on her civic escutcheon the well-appIiL-d motto, " Statio bent Jiiia carinU," had but little nttractiun when placi-d in competition with a spot sacred to the Muses, and WkNlded to imniortal verse. Such was the interest which its conueiion with the popular literature and traditionary stories of the country had excited in that master-mind- such the predominance of its local reminiscences — such the transcendent inllHeQce of song! For this did the then '■ Givat Unknown " wend hia way through the purlieus of " Golden Spur." traversing the great manufacturing faux- bourg of " Black Pool," and emerging by the " Hed Forge ;" *o intent OD the classic object of his pursuit, ae to disregard the uupromising aspect of the vestibule by which alone it ia approachable. Many are the splendid mansions and hospi- table halls that stud the suburbs of the "beautiful city," each boasting ita grassy lawn and placid lake, each docked with park and woodland, and each well furnished with that paramount appendage, a Aatterie de euiiine : but all these Mjf/M wen^ passed imhecded by, caren( juioPB/eiaero, G'.tr- Ct-ouM residences, picturesque seats, magnificent villas, they he, uo doubt 1 but unknown to literature, in vain do they {.lame Ihcmaelvefl on their architectural beauty ; in vain do lh«y fpn-ad wide their well-proportioned wi»ff*— they cuniiDt soar a^ift to the regiona of celcDrity-

On ibe eve of that memorable day I wss sitting on a ttool in the priest's parlour, poking the turf fire, whiJe

33 FATHER PBOUT's BELIQUES.

Prout, who had been angling all day, sat nodding over bii " breviary,^* and, according to my calculation, ought to be lit the last psalm of vespers, when a loud official knock, not usual on that bleak hill, bespoke the presence of no ordi- nary personage. Accordingly, the " wicket, opening with a latch," ushered in a messenger clad in the livery of the ancient and loyal corporation of Cork, who announced him- self as tlie bearer of a despatch from the mansion-house to his reverence ; and, handing it with that deferential awe which even his masters felt for the incumbent of Water- grasshill, immediately withdrew. The letter ran thus : —

Council Chamber^ July 24^ 1825.

Very Eeverekd Doctor Prout,

Cork harbours within its walls the illustrious author of Waverley. On receiving the freedom of our ancient city, which we presented to him (as usual towards distinguished strangers) in a box carved out of a chip of the Blarney stone, he expressed his determination to visit the old block itself. As he will, therefore, be in your neighbourhood to- morrow, and as no one is better able to do the honours than you (our burgesses being sadly deficient in learning, as you and I well know), your attendance on the celebrated poet is requested by your old friend and foster-brother,

George Knapp,* Mayor,

* The republic of letters has great reason to complain of Dr. Mfgin"! for his non-fiilfilment of a positive pledge to publish "a great historical work" on the mayors of Cork. Owing to this desideratum in the annals of the empire, I am compelled to bring into notice thus abmptlj the most respectable civic worthy that has worn the cocked bat and chain since the days of John Walters, who boldly proclaimed Perkin Warbeck, in the reign of Henry VII., in the market-place of that beau- tiful city. Knapp's virtues and talents did not, hke those of Donna Ines, deserve to be called

" Claasic all, Nor lay they chiefly in the mathematical,"

for his favourite pursuit during the canicule of 1825, was the extermi- nation of mad dogs ; and so vigorously did he urge the carnage during the summer of his mayoralty, that some thought he wished to eclipse the exploit of St. Patrick in destroying the breed altogether, as the taint did that of toads. A Cork poet, the laureate of the mansion*

A PLKA FUU fILUlllUAOES. 39

XpTer stitJI I forget (be bciim of trium])h tlial )it iiji e old toAu'R features on tlie perusnl of Kna;i|i's pitliy _iamuu9 ; and rislit waimly did he respond to my ci'iigni- llatioDa onitip prospect of thus coining in contact wit)i so itLnguished sm jiuthor. " You arc rigbt, diild !" anid be ; id BS I perririvcd b^ bis manner that be wna about to ^nter ) one of tbose rambling tnuiis uf thought — balf-bomily, llf.Boliloquv— iu wbich bp was wont to indulge. I settled yself by the fire-place, and prepared to go through my

weustomed part of an attentive lislener.

" A grejit mnn, Tronk ! A truly great man ! No token

of ancient dajre escapiw liis eagle glance, no ^eneriible memo- ir of former tiini» his obaen-aat scrutiny ; and still, even B, versed as he is in the monumentary remains of bygoni: s, may yet learn sometlung more, and have no cause to _ret his visit to Blarney. Tes! since our 'groves' are to B^bonoured by the presence of the learned baronet,

' Sjlix tint cDDtulc digue !' I US make them deserving of his attention. He shall fis a intiquarian eye and rivet bis wondering gaze on the lAe basaltic iiiaas that crowns the battlements of the main iwer; for lliougb be miiy have seen the "chair at Scone," btn the Caledirnian kings were crowned ; though be may ■re et&miued that Scotch pebble in Westminster Abbey, hicb the Cockneys, In the eiercise of a delightful credu- y, believe to be " Jacob's pillow- ;" though he may have ■ited the niisbapen pillars on Salisbury plain, and the xk of Ciwhel, and the "Hag's Bed,"' and St. Kevin's trifled mAtelas at Qleudalough. and niony a cromlech of ruidicsl celebrity, — there is ostone yet unexplored, wbitb I atjill contemplate to-morrow, and place on record ainoni; a most profitable days that on wbicti he abali have ptiid it mage:

•, MaOTine, 6ifm numera meliore lopillol'

wild youth I have seen

r-MlebrMad Knspp'i prowtM in a didnctip com

""■■ a f win , in which tlic mnyor U likened

bofovs l>o;, in tbe oprniug of tbc Iliad:

Xriap fiimt rfret if' (a«re itoi iiToe Apjou.

40 PATHEB PROirj's RELIQUES.

of the celebrated writers tbat adorned the decline of the last century, and shed a lustre over France, too soon eclipsed in blood at its sanguinary close. I have conversed with Buffon and with Fontenelle, and held intercourse with Nature's simplest child, Bemardin de St. Pierre, author of * Paul and Virginia ;' Gresset and Marmontel were my college-friends ; and to me, though a fi^uenter of the halls of Sorbonne, the octogenaire of Femey was not unknovm : nor was I unacquainted with the recluse of Ermenonville. But what are the souvenirs of a single period, however bril- liant and interesting, to the recollections of full seven cen- turies of historic glory, all condensed and concentrated in Scott ? What a host of personages does his name conjure up ! what mighty shades mingle in the throng of attendant heroes that wait his bidding, and form his appropriate retinue ! Cromwell, Claverhouse, and Montrose ; Saiadin, Front de Bceuf, and Ca?ur de Lion ; Hob Boy, Bobin Hood, and Marmion ; those who fell at Culloden and Flodden- JField, and those who won the day at Bannockbum, — all start up at the presence of the Enchanter. I speak not of his female forms of surpassing loveliness — his Flora M*Ivor, his Bebecca, his Amy Robsart : these you, Frank, can best admire. But I know not how I shall divest myself of a secret awe when the wizard, with all his spells, shall rise before me. The presence of my old foster-brother, George Kuapp, will doubtless tend to dissipate the illusion ; but if so it will be by personifying the Baillie Nicol Jarvie of Glasgow, his worthy prototype. Nor are Scott's merits those simply of a pleasing novelist or a spirit-stirring poet ; his * Life of Dryden,' his valuable commentaries on Swift, his researches in the dark domain of demonolo^, his bio- grapliy of Napoleon, and the sterling views of European policy developed in 'Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk,* all contribute to enliance his literary pre-eminence. Eightlj has Silius Italicus depicted the Carthaginian hero, sur- rounded even in solitude by a thousand recollections of well- earned renown —

* Nee credis inermem Quem mihi tot cinxere duees : si admoveris ora, Cannae et Trcbiain ante oculos, Komanaque busts, lit Fault stare ingentem xniraberis uiubraxn !'*

t FILGRIJIAOKI.

I '

^BTet, gresUj- ami diwerredly aa be is priced by hid cootempo- I iwies, future &gea will value him c»en more ; nod bis kurt-l, eitr eiteoding iU branches, find growing in Bi-cret like the 'fiuoe of ilarcelkis,' wiU overshadow the earth. Posl*rit^ will canonise his every relic ; &nd hia foirtBteps, even in tbi§ n-mote diBtrict, will he one day traced and sought for by the •dtniren of eeiiitis. For, notwithstaDdiri); the breadth and briUiani^ ofeffi'i-t witb which he wnved the torch of mind «hile living, far jiii^r mid more serene will be the lamp that shall glimmer in !iia tomb and keep vigil over his hal- litved ashes : to that fount of inepiratiou other and minor epirita, eager to career through the same orbit of glory, will recur, antf

' In llirir golilcn um* draw light.' Nor do 1 merply look on bim aa a writer who. by the blan- dishment of bis* narrative and the witchery of his style, haa calmed more sorrow, and caused more happy hours to flow, than any save a higher and a holier page. — a writer who, like the autumnal meteor of his own North, has illumined the dull horiioi] of these latter days with a fancy ever varied and mdinnt with ioyfuhiesB, — one who, for useful purposes, luw interwoven the plain warp of history with the mnny- coloured web of hia own romantic loom ; — but further do I hail in bim the geniua who has rendered good and true •erfit-e to the cause of mankind, by driving forth from the letBjile of Beligion, with sarcasm's knotted laah, that canting puntanic tribe who would obliterate from the book of life cTery earthly enjoyment, and change all its paths of peace uito walks of bitte'meBS. I honour him for hia elVorlH to di^molieh the pestilent influence of a sour and sulky system that would interpose itself between the gospel sun and the world — that retains no beat, imbibes no light, and transmits none ; but flings its broad, cold, and disastrous shadow over the land that is cursed with its visitation.

" The escrraewices and superfcetationa of my own church most freely do I yield up to his eenBure-, for while in his Abbot Boniface, 'bis Friar Tuck, and his intriguing Euah- leigh, he has justly etigmalised mouaatic lazmcsH, and de- nounced ultramontane duplicity, he has not forgotten to eibibit the bright reverse of the Eoman medal, but has done full roeaeure of justice to the noljler inspirations of our

42 FATHER PBOVT*S BELIQUES.

creed, bodied forth in Mary Stuart, Hugo de Lacy, Catbe- rine Seaton, Die Vernon, and Rose de Beranger. Naj, even in bis fictions of cloistered life, among the drones of that ignoble crowd, he ha« drawn minds of another sphere, and spirits whose ingenuous nature and piety unfeigned were not worthy of this world's deceitful intercourse, but fitted them to commune in solitude with Heaven.

" Such are the impressions, and such the mood of mind in which I shall accost the illustrious visitor ; and you, Frank, shall accompany me on this occasion."

Accordingly, the next morning found Prout, punctual to Knapp's summons, at his appointed post on the top of the castle, keeping a keen look-out for the arrival of Sir Walter. He came, at length, up the " laurel avenue," so called from the gigantic laurels that overhang the path,

" Which bowed, As if each brought a new classic wreath to his head ;"

and alighting at the castle-gate, supported by Knapp, he toiled up the winding stairs as well as his lameness would permit, and stood at last, with all his fame around him, in the presence of Prout. The form of mutual introduction was managed by Knapp with his usual tact and urbanity ; and the first interchange of thoughts soon convinced Scott that he had lit on no " clod of the valley " in the priest. The confabulation which ensued may remind you of the ** Tusculanse Quaestiones " of Tully, or the dialogues " De Oratore," or of Home Tooke's " Diversions of Purley," or of all three together. La void.

SCOTT.

I congratulate myself, reverend father, on the prospect of having so experienced a guide in exploring the wonders of this eelebrated spot. Indeed, I am so far a member of your communion, that I take delight in pilgrimages ; and you be- hold in me a pilgrim to the Blarney stone. ^

PEOUT.

I accept the guidance of so sincere a devotee ; nor has a more accomplished palmer ever worn scrip, or staff, or scollop-shell, in my recollection ; nay, more— right honoured flhall the pastor oi the neighbouring upland feel in afibrding

leltcr snd faoxpitnlity, aiioh na every pL^im has cUim la, the peoitent will deigu visit tny liumble duelling.

My vow forbids! I must not tliink of bodily refre^h- ent. DF onr aueli profane aolicitiides, until 1 go through le solemn' rouads of my devotional career— until I kisa ihe stuDe," and ciplore the "cave where no daylight Iters." the " fracture in the battlement." the "lake well with, fishes," and, finally, " the sweet rock-doBe."

All these Bball you duly contemplate when you shall have rested from the fatigue of climbing to thia lofty eminence, wbraoe, eeated on these battlements, you can command a Ikndscapo fit to repay the toil of the most laborious pere- grination ; in frutb, if the ancient observance were not mfficiently vindicated by jour ejample to-day, I should late thought it my duty to take up tie gauntlet for that uch-abuaed set of men, the pilgrims of olden time.

8C0TT.

Jn all cases of initiation to any solemn ritca. such as 1 sni ■out to enter on, it is customary to give an introductory nre to the neophyte ; and se you seem disposed to ighl«n uB with a preamble, you have got, reverend father, ne a most docile auditor,

There is a work, Sir "Walter, with which I presume you

not unac.juainted, which forcibly and beautifully por-

8 the honest fervour of our forefetbers in their untu-

^^^.,d views of Christianity: but if the "Tales of the

irusadnr* " connt among their dramatU pert-ma the mitred

nUte, the cowled hermit, the croiiered abbot, snd the

lllont templar, strange miiture of daring and devotion, —

IT d*> I prefer the sketch of that peculiar creation of Catlio-

city and roraanfe, the penitent under solemn vow, wlin

mea down fnmi Thabor or from Lebanon to embark for

Uropr ; and who in rude garb and witb unahoddeu feet

"U rrtum lo his nattce plains of Languedoc or Lombnrdy,

44 FATHEB PBOUT*B SELIQVEB.

displaying with pride the emblem of Palestine, and realising what Virgil only dreamt of —

" FrimuB Idumsoa referam tibi, MantuB, palnuq^ !**

But I am wrong in saying that pilgrimages belong exclu- sively to our most ancient form of Christianity, or that the patent for this practice appertains to religion at all. It is the simplest dictate of our nature, though piety has conse- crated the practice, and marked it for her own. Patriotism, Eoetry, philanthropy, all the arts, and all the finer feelings, ave their pilgrimages, their hallowed spots of intense in- terest, their haunts of fancy and of inspiration. It is the first impulse of every genuine affection, the tendency of the heart in its fervent youthhood ; and nothing but the cold scepticism of an age which Edmund Burke so truly designated as that of calculators and economists, could scoff at the enthusiasm that feeds on ruins such as these, that visits with emotion the battle-field and the ivied abbey, or Shakespeare's grave, or Galileo's cell, or Bunnymede, or Marathon.

Filial affection has had its pilgrim in Telemachus ; gene- rous and devoted loyalty in Blondel, the best of trouba- dours ; Bruce, Belzoni, and Humboldt, were pilgrims of science ; and John Howard was the sublime pilgrim of philanthropy.

Actuated by a sacred feeling, the son of Ulysses visited every isle and inhospitable shore of the boisterous .£gean, until a father clasped him in his arms ; — propelled by an equally absorbing attachment, the faithful minstrel of Uoeur de Lion sang before every feudal castle in Germany, until at last a dungeon-keep gave back the responsiye echo of " O Richard ! O mon roy /" If Belzoni died toilwom and dissatisfied — if Baron Humboldt is still plodding his course through the South American peninsula, or wsfted on the bosom of the Pacific — it is because the domain of science is infinite, and her votaries must never rest :

" For there are wanderers o'er eternity, Wiose bark goes on and on, and anchor*d ue*er shall beT'

But when Howard explored the secrets of every prison- house in Europe, performing that which Burke classically described as " a circumnavigation of charity •" nay, when.

A rLXA FOB riLaRtMAOEa.

I K fltill holier errand, three pastern sages riune &otn tlie

punilanrs of the earlh lu tin homnge lo a cradle ; tliink ve

Dt that iu tLeir», as iu every pilgrim's progress, a licFit

lo olhers shoue on the path before them? derived

lej- But untiring vigour from the eialt«d nature of their

suit, feit Ihcv Out " a piniun lifting everj" limb i" Siieli

the feelings Vhicli Tiiaso beautifully desoribes wben he

jgs his heroes within view of Sion :

Aita contriliUTi i Di itmoivfo e nTonute nflettu. Omoo BppeiiB d' innnU»r lo Ti»l« VtT U cittl, dj Oriato sIbCTgo clrtto, Dore niort, iloie «epoll« Tue, Doto poi civcstl U luetnbia guo !"

Canto III.

1 need not tell you, Sir Walter, thnt the father of history, revious to taking up the pen of Clio, explored every monu- .Bieut of Upper I^pt ? or tliut Herodotus hnd been pre- <cedi-d by liomer, and followed by Pythngorna, in this pliilo- ■ophii'! pilgrimage; tbat Athens aud Corinth were the Rvourite resorts of the Roman literati, Sylla, Lucullus, and tlecKQaa. when no lunger the seats of empire i aud that iome itself ia. in its turn, become aa well the haunt of tlie ntiquartan as the poet, and the painter, aud the Christian nlgnm ; for dull indeed would tliat man be. duller than tlie tagnant weed that vegetates on Lethe's shore, who again iotild put the exploded interrogatory, once fallen, not la- stly, Irom tbe mouth of a clown—

"Qbc tiuilB fuit Btimani tibi caiua Tiddidi?"

I meftU not to deny that there eiiat vulgar minds and Honk rithout refinenifut, whose perceptions are of that stunted lUlure that thev can aee nothing in the " pass of Thermo- pyW but a gap for eattle ; in the " Forum" but a cow- «rd[ and for w horn St. Helena itself is but a barren rock : lut. thank Heaven ! we are not all yet come to that uuen- iftble stsigeof utilitarian philosophy ; and there is stili some lope left for the Jluses' haunts, when he of Abbotaford 'dbIw* nnt to visit the castle, the stone, aud the groves of l&n)ey.

40 JATHEB PROUT's EELIQUES.

Nor is he unsupported in the indulgence of this classi* fancy ; for there exists another pilgrim, despite of modem cavils, who keeps up the credit of the profession — a way- ward childe, whose restless spirit has long since spurned the solemn dulness of conventional life, preferring to hold intercourse \^ath the mountain-top and the ocean- brink: Ida and Salamis ** are to him companionship ;" and every broken shaft, prostrate capital, and marble fragment of that sunny land, tells its tale of other days to a fitting listener in Harold : for him Etruria is a teeming soil, and the spirit of song haunts Ravenna and Parthenope : for him

" There is a tomb in Arqu^"

which to the stolid peasant that wends his away along the Euganeian hills is mute indeed as the grave, nor breathes the name of its indweller ; but a voice breaks forth from the mausoleum at the passage of Byron, the ashes of Pe- trarch grow warm in their marble bed, and the last wish of the poet in his " Legacy" is accomplished :

" Then if some bard, who roams forsaken, Shall touch on thy cords in passing along, O may one thought of its mastor waxen The swcetrat smile for the Childe qf Song /**

SCOTT.

Proud and flattered as I must feel, O most learned divine ! to be classified with Herodotus, Pythagoras, Bel- zoni, Bruce, and Byron, I fear much that I am but a sorry sort of pilgrim, after all. Indeed, an eminent writer of your church has laid it down as a maxim, which I suspect applies to my case, " Qui multum peregrinantur rar6 soucti- ficantur." Does not Thomas k Kempis say so ?

PROUT.

The doctrine may be sound ; but the book from which you quote is one of those splendid productions of uncertain authorship which we must ascribe to some " great unknown" of the dark ages.

SCOTT.

Be that as it may, I can give you a parallel sentiment from one of your French poets ; for I understand you are

i. FLXA rOR ]

^INvtaal to tlie literature of that in errv nation. Tbe pilgrim's Lvudenngs ore conipareil by this gullii] satirist to the r BieuiderinE! i-oursc of a tirer in Germanv, wiiich, afttr t WKt«riDg the plains uf Prot^shnnl Wirtemberg and Catholic I Austria, enters, bjr way of finale, on the rfomaina of the Gnnd Turk :

" Tai m to Dnniibe incoiuUnt, Qui. tBDiM Calbnllque et laaUt Fraieslnnl^ Bi'rt Rome et Iintlier de son oade -, Mais, eom|itHnL apris pour riMi Romaui et Luthfrjen, Finit so (-aurae TOj^ubonilo

Par n'drrpM m6mo Chretien.

RAninent eo oourant le Dinnde

On derii'Dt haninic do bion !"

By tUe way, bfire you seen Stothard'a capital print, " The Pil^iaiage t<i Canterbury ?"

Such orgies on pioua pretences I cannot but deplore, with Chaocer, Erasmus, Dryocn, and Pope, who were all of my i-Twd, and pointedly oimdemned them, The Papal hierarchy in thia country have repeatedly disco untenanceii such unholy duiuga. Witness their efforts to demolish the cavern of Lougiiderg, called St, Patrick's Purgatory, that has no better claim to antiquity than our Blarney cave, in which ■■ bata and badtjera are forcrer bred." And still, ironceniing this truly Irish curiosity, there is a dociiuient of a droll dl^^l*^iption in Kymcr'a " Fcpdcra," in the 3 2d rear of Ed- ward lit.. A.D. 1858. It is no less tbon a certiBcnte, duly [iiade out by that good-natured monarch, shewing to all men as how a fort-ign nobleman did really visit the Cave of St. Patrick,* and passed a night in its mysterious recesses.

■ Thia is, <m beline, what Prout sUudm to ; siiil we aanfeaB it ia ii lowwiu nlic of oldes nimpliuit;, uid ought to see the light : —

"A.D. 1SSS.S0. 32Edw. in. "Lltl-r--- ■ ■ ' :iii'r4 in S" Pntricii Purjistorio. Hi'i

I] . ; riTMHitos litliirac pcrreiicnnt, salulpin!

"> i'ii» de Armitmio, mUe?, ad pnc4tMttiiiiu

:,-..--■,. -HiOBuit quod ipas uuper k torrjc iubb

i!'..>:-i, r.- '■ ■■! Sancti Fiwrii'ii, infra termin no^tram

EjiKmii coiia'.iliilurii, in i!.iiiU= corporis tui lulwribus pErujjre tisilirat,

48 FA.THEB PB0UT*8 SSLIQVES.

SCOTT.

I was aware of the existence of that document, as also of the remark made by one Erasmus of Eotterdam concerning the said cave: "Non desunt hodi^ qui descendunt, sed prius triduano enecti jejunio ne sano capite ingrediantur." • Erasmus, reverend friend, was an honour to your cloth; but as to Edward III., I am not surprised he should have encouraged such excursions, as he belonged to a family whose patronymic is traceable to a pilgrim's vow. My reverend friend is surely in possession of the historic fact,

ac per integrse diei ac noctis continiiatum spatium, ut est moris, elausus manserat in eodem, nobis cum instantia supplicando, ut in prsmissonun veracius fulcimentum regales nostras litteras inde sibi concedere digoA- remur.

"Nos autem ipsius peregrinationis eoneiderantes periculosa discri- mina, licet tanti nobilis in htLc parte nobis assertio sit aocepta, quia tamen dilecti ac fidelis nostri Almarici de S^ Amando, militis, justiciarii nostri Hybemi«, simul ac Prioris et Conventib loci dioti Purgatorii, et etiam alionim auctoritatis multse virorum litteris, aliisque claris eviden- tiis informamur quod dictus nobilis banc peregrinationem rii^ perfeoerat et etiam animosh,

** Dignum duximus super bis testimonium nostrum favorabiliter ad- bibere, ut sublato cujusris dubitationis involucre, pnemissorum reritas singulis lucidius patcfiat, bas litteras nostras sigillo r^o consignataa illi duximus concedendas.

" Dat' in palatio nostro West', xxiv die Octobris, 1358."

Rymer'a FcederOy by Caley. London, 1826. Vol. iii. pt. i. p. 408.

• Erasmus in Adagia, artic. de antro Tropbonii. See also Camden's account of this cave in Ids Hybeniue Description edition of 1594^ p. 67L It is a singular fact, though little known, that from the risions said to occur in tliis cavern, and bruited abroad by the fraternity of mon1», whoso connexion with Italy was constant and intimate, Dante took the first hint of his Divina Commedia, II Purgalorio. Such was the cele- brity this cave Iiad obtained in Spain, that the great dramatist Calderoo made it the subject of one of his best pieces ; and it was so well known at the court of Ferrara, that Ariosto introduced it into his Orlmub Purioio, canto x. stanza 92.

" Quindi Ruggier, poichb di banda in banda Vide gl' Inglesi, and6 verso 1' Irlanda E vide Ibcmia fetbulosa, dove II santo veechiarel feoe la cava In che tanta meree par che si trove, Che r uom vi ^vtrge^ ogni sua colpa prara I"

^ rL£A FOR PII.UBU(A0E3, 49

wt the nttme of Plantagenet is derived from plante de netl, a sprig of iieaili, wliich the first DiJie of Anjou wore I bU helmet as a si^ of penitential buniiliatioii, nben toot to depart for the holvlimd: though wliv a broom- Wig should iiidi(»t« lawlinesa is not satisfactorily explained.

PEOCT.

The monJcB of that day, who are reputed to have been y ignorant, were perhaps acquainted with the " Georgics" if Vii^U, and rocolleeted the verse —

"Quid majors wquar? Suliirei kumiln^m Gmiitrr."

1 suppose there is some similar reiiondite allnsion in that onsiCcouDtable decoration of every holy trsveller'a occoutre- meoc, the scollop-shell ? or was it merely uaed to quaff the watore of the brook i"

I It was first assumed by the penitents who resorted to the t idirinD of St, Jagp di Cumpoalella, on the west«m coast of ?**' Spain, to be to ben that they had extended their penitential csmirsion so far as that sainted ebore; just as the palni- bnuich WM tiifficient evidence of a visit to Palestine. Did not the soldiers of 3 Koman general fill their belnieta with cockles on the brink of the German Ocean ? By the by, when my Inbnrious and learned friend the renowned AbM Trablet, in vindicating thedelugeagainst Voltaire, instanced the heaps of marine remains and conchylia on the ridge of the Pv reuses, the witty reprobate of Femev ha<l the unblushing effrontery to asMTt that those were shells left behind by the pilgrims of St. Jacques on re-crossing the mountains.

1 muat not, meantime, forget the objects of my devotion ; and with your beniaon, reverend father, shall proceed to "' "stone."

PHODT.

You behold, Sir Walter, in this block the most valuable

50 rjLTHEB PBOUT's BELIQ17E8.

remnant of Ireland's ancient glory, and the most predona lot of her PhoBnician inheritance ! Possessed of thia trea- sure, she may well be designated

** First flower of the earth and first gem of the sea ;**

for neither the musical stone of Memnon, that " so sweetly played in tune," nor the oracular stone at Delphi, nor the lapidary talisman of the Lydian Qyges, nor the colossal granite shaped into a sphinx in Upper Egypt, nor Stone- henge, nor the Pelasgic walls of Italy's PaJs&strina, offer so many attractions. The long-sought lapis philasophorum^ compared with this jewel, dwindles into insignificance ; nay, the savoury fragment which was substituted for the infant Jupiter, when Saturn had the mania of devouring his child- ren ; the Luxor obelisk ; the treaty-stone of Limerick, with all its historic endearments ; the zodiacal monument of Denderach, with all its astronomic importance ; the Elgin marbles with all their sculptured, the Arundelian with all their lettered riches, — cannot for a moment stand in com- petition with the Blarney block. What stone in the world, save this alone, can communicate to the tongue that suavity of speech, and that splendid effrontery, so necessary to get through life ? Without this resource, how could Brougham have managed to delude the English public, or Dan O'Con- nell to gull even his own countrymen? How could St. John Long thrive? or Dicky Sheil prosper? What else could have transmuted my old friend Pat Lardner into a man of letters— LL.D., F.R.S.L. and E., M.R.I.A., F.KA.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.C.P.S., &c. &c. ? What would have be- come of Spring Rice ? and who would have heard of Charley Phillips ? When the good fortune of the above-mentioned individuals can be traced to any other source, save and except the Blarney stone, I am ready to renounce my belief in it altogether.

This palladium of our country was brought hither origi- nally by the Phoenician colony that peopled Ireland, and is the best proof of our eastern parentage. The inhabitants of Tyre and Carthage, who for many years had the Blarney stone in their custody, made great use of the privil^e, as the ^Toyerbs Jtdes Puniea^ Tyriosque bilinguei^ testify. Henoo

A FLEA FOB PlLQRIUAaES. 51

the origin of this wondroue tnlisman ia of the rcmotpBt aiiti<iuitr.

Stnibo. Diodorue, and PUny, meation the arrival of the Tyriona iu Iftlaad about the year 883 before Christ, accord- iug to the chrouology of Sir laaac Newtou, oad the tweoty- fitst year after the wick of Troy.

?iow, to show that in nU their niigrationa they carefidly watched over this treBaun; of eloquence and souriie of dj- plomiury, I need only enter into a few etymological detaila. Carthage, where they settled for many eeuturies, but which turns out to have been only a stage and restiug-place in the ppoifrc«s of iheir westom wanderiugs, bears in its very name the trace of ita haviug had in its poasesBion and cus- tody the filnmey Stone. This city ia called in the Scripture Tariut, or Tarikuh, Bny-fPi whicb in Hebrew mcana a, caUabU ttrme, a ttonf o/pnee, rendered in your authorised ( ?) tmion, where it occurs in the 28th and 39th chapters of EioduB, by the specific terra beri/l, a sort of jewel. In hia r txunmeniariea on this word, an eminent rabbi, Jacob Bodri- I ncs Slorcira. tlie Spanish Jew, ears thnt Carthage ia evi- kdcutly the Tarsiia ot the Bible, and ne reads the word thus — llST^r, Bceoiinting for the termination in uh, by which mOttrtAaffo bc<.'ome« Canhith, ill a very ^ilausible way: " now," ~rjti W, " "ur peoplish have de very great knack of ending " e Torda in i*h ; for if you go on the 'Change, you will t the great man Nicholish lt«trhild calling the English a monuk." — See Jiecturti delirered in tke ITestern Syna- ■.*,byJ.B.M.

'ut, further, doea it not stand to reason that there

C be aome other latent way of accounting for the pur-

t of at much ground a» an irt-liide would cover, besideB

merallv received and moat unautisfactory eipianatiou i*

.tbe Tynans bought as much land as their Blarney,

d require to fix itmelf solidly , —

a qiuDtum paliul ciriiuiniliire terga ;" L^Utt much, by the taliamauic stone they Indei) the aimpte natives, and finally ha- f Airica.

BCOTT.

ytn have thrown a new and unexpected light on

52 ?ATHEIt FBOTJT'S BSLIQUS8.

a most obscure passage in ancient liistoiy; but bow the stone got at last to the county of Cork, appears to me a difficult transition. It must give you great ^uble*

PBOUT.

My dear sir, don't mention it ! It went to Minorca with a chosen body of Carthaginian adventurers, who stole it awav as their Dest safeguard on the expedition. They first settled at Fort Mahon, — a spot so called from tbe clan of the O'Mahonys, a powerful and prolific race still flourishing in this countv ; just as the Nile had been previously so named from tlie tribe of the O'Neils, its aboriginal inhabi- tants. All these matters, and many more curious points, will be one day revealed to the world by my friend Heniy O'Brien, in his work on the Hound Towers of Ireland. Sir, we built the pyramids before we left Egypt ; and all those obelisks, sphinxes, and Memnonic stones, were but emblems of the great relic before you.

Gheorge Knapp, who had looked up to Prout with dumb amazement from the commencement, here pulled out his spectacles, to examine more closely the old block, while Scott shook his head doubtingly.

" I can convince the most obstinate sceptic. Sir "WaltJar," continued the learned doctor, " of the intimate connexion that subsisted between us and those islands which the Bo- mans called insula Baleares, without knowing the significatioil of the words which they thus applied. That they were so called from the Blarney stone, will appear at once to any person accustomed to trace Celtic derivations : the Ulster king of arms, Sir William Betham, has shown it by the fol- lowing scale."

Here Frout traced with his cane on the muddy floor of the castle the words

« BflLtfAR^f fN*ul^=Blanue !"

BCOTT.

Prodigious ! My reverend friend, you have set the point at rest K)r ever — rem acu tetigisti ! Have the goodness to proceed.

X K.IA TOB PHOEIKAGTS.

I Setting Bail from Minorca, the«'ippdition,aft«rencount«r- ; & deoperate storm, cleared the Pillare of Hercules, and ling in the Cove of Cork, deposited their treasure in the mest spot aud the ahadiest groves of thia be&utiful vi-

[litj.

How do you account for their being left by the Cartba- 'a quiet possession of this invaluable deposit?

PKOITT.

They had aoffieient tact (derived from their connexion iriti) the stone) to give out, that in the storm it had been tlirown overboard to relieve the abip, in latitude 36° 14*, gitude 'Zi°. A search was ordered by the senate of Car- luigr, and the Sfcditcrranean was dragged without effect ; pot the morineni of that sea, acoording to Virgil, retained a ^perelitious reverence for every aubtnarine appearance of ketone :

' S&iB rocsnt Itali msdii* qov id ftuctibui! ursB !"

ind Aristotle dint inellysaj-H, in hia treatise "De Mirandis," oted by the erudite Justus Lipsius. that a law was enacted it any further intercourse with Ireland. Hia worda " In man, extra Qerculis Columnas, insulam desertnm ^rrat»m rninse 9>/tt<ii neuioroiam, in quam crebrd Cartho^ni- I commefirint, et aedes etiam nierint : sed veriti ne I m»ceret, et (.'arthago laberetur, edicto cavieee ne a pwoa capitia eOi deinceps navigoret." ^ ITie fact is, Sir Walter, Ireland was always considered a bcky spot, and constantly escited the jealousy of Greeks, ^□una, and [leople of every country. The Athenians bititgtit that the gtiosto of departed heroes vrere transferred o Mir furtunate island, which they call, in the war-song of Barmodins and Aristogitou, the Ituid of O's and Macs :

NxAfi i' (» MAK af flN ei fatM tiMi.

I And tbe" Grovea of Blarney " have been commemorated %if tbe Oroek po«U many centuries before the Christian era.

FATBER I'BDCTfl KELIQlTEa.

iiilv Bor

old song itself ; ana if Pindar had been an Irishman, I Uui he woufd bave celebrated thia favourite haunt in a etjle n rery different fro in MiUi kin's classic rhapsody.

Millikin, the reputed author of that song, iraa but simple translator from the Greek original. Indeed, 1 ' discovered, when abroad, in the library of Cardinal Mob an old Greek manuecript, which, after diligent eiamiiutt I am conrinced must be the oldest and " princeps editio of the song. I begged to be allowed to copy it, m ord that I might compare it n~itli the ancient I>atin or Taiga tmnslation which is preserved in the Brera at Milan ; oi from a strict and minute comparison with that, and with tl Norman- French copy which is appended to DoomBdsV'boo and the Oellic-Iriah fragment preserved by Crofton Crokc (rejecting as spurious the Arabic, Armeoiaa, and Cbaldl BtiuiEna on the same subject, to be found in the colIectiaO' the Koyal Asiatic Society,) 1 have come to the conclusu that the Greeks were the undoubted original contrims > that splendid ode ; though whether we ascribe it to lyrtM or CallimachuB will depend on future eridence ; and j" haps, Sir Walter, you would give me your opinion, aa I hi copies of all the versious I allude to at my dwelling on I hiO.

BCOTT.

1 cannot boast, learned father, of much nv( in Uollimi) matters ; but should tind myself quite at home in the and Norman-French, to iiistii.-et which T shall with accompany you : so here I kiss the stone I

The wondt-rs of " the caialle," tuid " cave," and " were speedily gone over ; and now, according to the i of the dramatist, moiJo Rimut, tnitiid jMHtt Atheai*, tre i tho scene to the tabemncle of Father Prout on Watergnui Itill, vhero, round a small table, sat &;(itt, Knupp. and Pro —a triumvirate of critics never L*i{ualled. The pap<

^H		f^
^^^^		— ^
^"	A PLEA FOB mOBnuOEfl. 55 ■
.fcU into my hmids when the tab	e wag cleared for 1
the flubsi^queut	repast ; and thuB I	am able to submit 1
to the world's	deciaiou what these	three could not de- ■
cide. rie. vAtVA BlarneT." r.S. At then	ia the original veraior	of the " Groves of '■> ■
loraent of eoios to presa with the Doric, ■
the Vulgate, and Gallic teita in juitii-position with the eup- |
K«ed Driginal,	fCon-aRian) a Mh ai	jididate for priority Garibaldi in bivouac
tarts up, the Italic, said to be eimg by
■mid the woods	over Lake Como, May	25, 1859.
	f Bae(I)i Hi Slarnc
bl BUrne' I boMh	Qitci lunglii dunijne	lolomo, psnni.
Iri, baieLi towhj.	Trfigo ; rhioiiquB	Stolpili msTmi
B Tmi TmcW	Vi ton, per fiumi
Tonrdnmlu^	Son cerch' in van,	Stupir anooi' j
	Dentp" una gmUa
ouOOTifrtKhi	Vi-i lier,. lon«	Plutarch' e Ceare
		Con Nobufhneiiere,
Fm gntli »c™n'.	Teocre «i Amor •
Ml fuor <i KTb*	Stan, Poea unics.
^A' e nrmigU,	m mospo ed «rl)»	Qui senla tunics!
Si' (umnn ne nisli	Sedia guprrbrt	Menlre comunics
	Con altra mar'
IwA'CKloraM.	S'el Ugo anguiUe ;
iou^iui|r»M	Poi iiiegi roiUe	M« cL vuol- Pet™™
iSliiSSt	Ii'Bcqup InnquiUo SIbu per onibnir.	Per Is grau caren Di quel Dami.
nudi Gifts	Coa cbeto puio	Bari ben biuso
'S^rifr?	Si ri a ipSBso	Se ollre puao
	Qui, «n che Uuo	Un certo emao
Di rieclii ban,	Si Tiiol Bfder ;	D'ailoralori
	IliriitcDmintc	In BU b rnocin
	FuA leseer Danl« Oil <uroltar o«uti	Di clii la boocia
Cn>Br«)iuinO	Perenne Iraccia
■ mcorm-J^n.	Delln pkier,	Rimaii tulor:
I Un' Croniwtilo	Poi w Id gonna	Quel >i diitingufl
BiM.ru qmdlo	Di gflitil doiini,	Coo uear lingue
Cl>' B mo oilollo		Picn di lb«uighB
. Auoliodid,	VicQ quik pnuBT,	Per inEmnnar:
Itt -luv |HTA		FemofiBpietra!
Ch' Ol,.irro	Noti prt^xb' in Y»no	Min Dmil- Detn
LabrctcitAI	S.Tcbbc Xrimo _	"ZiSX.,

66

rATHEB FBOUT's EILIQUXS.

C|)f &xoUii of Slarnep. Lb Boib db Blabbatb.

I.

The groTos of Blamej, They look so charming, Down bj the purlings Of sweet silent brooks, All docked by posies That spontaneous grow there, Planted in order In the rocky nooks. 'Tis there the daisy, And the sweet camatidn, The blooming pink. And the rose so fiiir ; Likewise the lily, And the daffodilly — All flowers that scent The sweet open air.

II. 'Tis Lady Jeffers Owns this plantation ; Like Alexander, Or hke Helen fair, There's no commander In all the nation, For regulation Can with lier compare. Such walls surround her. That no nine-pounder Could ever plunder Her place of strength ; But Oliver Cromwell, Her he did pommel. And made a breach In her battlement.

L

Chamumi hoeaget I Tout me ravissn, Que d*avantogeM Foua rSunUtet I Rochere iauvaget, Faieibles ruitseaux, Tendree ramagee De gentile oieeatue : Dans ee dowe parage Aimable Nature A fait /ialage jy^temeUe verdure ; Et leejleure^ k meture Qu*eilee eroieeent^ k raieon De la belle eaieon Font brtller lew parurt.

IL

f

(feet Madame de Jefferte^ Femme pleine daddreeee^ Qui eur eee beaux dieerit R^ne en JUre prineeeee. File exerce eee droite Comme dame maitreese, Dane eette fortereeee Que Ik hautje vois. Flue eage millefoia Qu* Hilenh ou ClSopatre, Cromvtl eeul put tabbdtre^ La mettant auM aboie^ Quand, allumant »a mtche^ Point ne tira au hasard^ Maie bien dane eon rempari Fit irrfyarable breclte.

^H^^^^^3
TBE ORtjT	a OF Bnusir. 57
'H'r>.B Bab^xhij.	Mhrneim iV^iw,
TiK B\apriai al Mm	I.
^i^trai. (nXXi^uXXai.	Gnudea ermra tirrtU,
•0^««Tpp.ow.	rumgeras rap«a
nnyo* ^iflfpiiouiiai*	BUra™ sua stupcM !
'BcBvra yifmOiyru	MunDOTB dum (««>
iiivaett tr ajtofifBi"	Qiu. valuti muloi
Edr' irSf' ir^Tt^lkai'y.	Ireperarraputaa.
ittt l*r' orXa.iij.a	MultiiB in hoc lueo
r»iiiB (Bl tfvOiiia.	Kubet imdiqua flm siue fiioo,
!» r' t«i ea\D* Tt	Ac ibi forniosuiD
Bd«iX,rar po^cy re.	Comii nbique roaiun i
Ka. X..pur r. f »>..	BiiBTiter M florea
A-fc^iXi^ rr ;3f.-...,	Mifcent nt unsbia odoresj
Ilavr' arSifi' a KaXf/Kiv	Neo requiem demue,
r.r inluucon"''-	NampUcctomnenemual
('.	II.
Ta.-'.KlE^Ei'F.EiA	Ftrmiim dui homm
RoXij tai japirpion	Rcgiut Jef^Rgas loco rum.
Oc ■».«». «c '■ "■'OS	Paw. virago gmri.,
Tbu A>.^««.ei^'°l.	MurlpqiiB pejor aTii !
*n-i«l{ ><it' araTBii-
Ufvf r" !•■ iraig	Componoret ei Cleopulram,
0»*-.t^ni-t,v>(«.i-o	NecDidoct.D.lare.1
•Ot durp «.;.p.pD.ru.	Non Iiabef. ilLi piu'rtl.
	Turro man wis i^tA
Tn|o. ™«o. ro,.. ?.	NuIU est riolaniia biliati ;
Ain-<tv dft^iarlfovrnt.	Turria erat diria
n.Xjp.V Jt ^.vr.	Hon penetTMido riris ;
MarifK vir ^aXX" ic pjpiui.
	Tainen illic Tecit hiatum.
. Zttftt. K iraaoc	Et ludtxi hero*
	LucttinaroeferwiT ^^^H

58

VATHIB F bout's BELIQUX8.

ni

in.

There ifl a care where No daylight enters, But cats and badgers Are for ever bred ; And mossed bj nature Makes it completer Than a coach-and-six, Or a downy-bed. 'Tis there the lake is Well stored with fishes, And comely eels in The Terdant mud ; Besides the leeches, And groves of beeches, Standing in order To guard the flood.

Ilegt aan» eei vallont Vne tombre eaveme, Ou jamais nous naliom Qu'armh iTune lanienu La mousse en eette gmtU Tapissant ehaque moUe Vbus of re des sofas ; Etlh se trouve urn'e La douce symplumie Des hibouM ei des chats. Tout jfris on voit un lac, Ok lee poissons affluent, Avec asses de sangsues Pour en remplir un sae ; Et tur ces bords ehampitres On a plants det kitres.

IV.

IV.

There gravel walks are For recreation. And meditation In sweet solitude. 'Tis there the lover May hear the dove, or The gentle plover. In the afternoon ; And if a lady Would be so engaging As for to walk in Those shady groves, 'Tis there the courtier Might soon transport her Into some fort, or The " sweet rock-dose."

Jei Vhomme atrabilaire Un sentierpeut ehoisir Pour y smvir a loistr Son rive solitaire^ Quand une nymphs erue^^ L*a mis au dSsespoir, Sans qu'ilpuisse emoun^ L* inexorable belle. Quel dousf reposje ffout^^ Assis sur ee gazon / Du rossignol j* Scouts Le tendre diapason. Ah ! dans eet antre nmi Puisse ma LSonore^ Celle que man cfeur ad(>r'^ Venir furtive au soir i

^^^H TUE	mOVKS OF BLASKET. ^g|^B
^H	^^^1
"<■« atT|Mv ,<TT- »« ;.	Hie tenebroBB (wTMUft ^^^^|
■0]f' 4f>lp- oi.iror- it^f .
H>X<<( Jt. ■„, j„\u, ,y	TAlpl habiUtH pigTD, ^^^^1
AiTfi r^iifavrai uiiv	Ifon nine fulo Digro ; ^^^^^^L
	Muiciu iaere olli ^^^H
Aj>«<c *"«■ iSpi'ov yi	Btrarit toon (egmine molli ^^^^|
-eiiirrvv n J<*P<»o	L«4ictc, ut ^^^H
H (Hriir wvXiH>-	Motlior msQt huBiiu : ^^^H
U»««. r. H".,
A.f.»T| («> I^«pl(^^^	Luleonantgurgilenillli!: ^^^^|
K'TIP^-C *>"»""	Quo DM, BinicB tuti, ^^H
Er .Kvt eaXexpp	Hiislia birudo L-uLi : ^^^^H
BAiXXai T( 1W.V aXXa	OraidB decua piw, ^^^^|
tqT*w " aX<n| mX' <V	FluTii Btaut mgrgiuc fagi ; ^^^|
Xnxi*"' t«< r>ru>r<i<,	Q uodque t^^gunt miDU ^^^H
Alc(«iITt#"Xao^"i.	labile BimieDsmoi ^^H
3.	^^H
<l,fl.r-C / .,.. r,p«oc	Cenii.- hns toUm ^^H
'Bfoo >r.pi>rur,iaiv	Qu& ducunt troiuiw uitlca, ^^^H
Evnuf r< Siini'	HsBC mtmie in sedi^iii ^^H
Kar' fpqfiuu' }Xi>(<i<it-*	Fer medUmte p«4cui, ^^H
Eb-r. <a. .p-arp	Qviequis udes, bvlle ^^^H
Mrf- J«.pa,. pXa.r,	IVuiftiius amorc puollre ^^^|
Aioviti' 1) roi(p»'V' 5	Aul pa true csne ^^^H
&. ^-»« X.y«^.v. t	Temptu iiiBiKl dun.' I ^^^B
E< »c r. «. J..>D...a	Dumqup jacee hurbO, ^^^|
Bill mXi; /ttvaiv^	Turtur llet vow etii>rrb;, ^^^H
AX^«9urviv«"r>
]#H{ 1* tflUtOlTl.	Flct phUomeU «oiia ^^^|
Ttcii^iratT' ■"»'■>	Speluua sppiiret ^^H
Avrif i( uirariHra	QuHiii dui Trojauiu atiiarot, ^^^H
K.C »»pr.v r. q iB-c ....	In umili iiido ^^H
■Ugmrrtoc],!!	Kkin fuit kut Dido. ^^^|

60

FATHSB PBOUT'B BSLIQVXS.

V.

There are stataes gracing This noble place in — All heathen gods, And nymphs so fair ; Bold Neptune, Csesar, And Nebuchadnezzar, All standing naked In tha open air ! There is a boat on The lake to float on, And lots of beauties Which I can't entwine : But were I a preacher, Or a classic teacher, In eyery feature I'd make 'em shine I

Datu ees dattique* Umm Plus dPune statue brille, Et seprismU aum yeum En parfait d^shoHUs ! Lh Neptune on discerns^ Et Jules Cisar en plombf Et Venus, et le trone Du Giniral Eolofeme, Veut-on voffuer au large Sur ee lact un esquif Offre a VamaUwr eraintif Les chances d^un naufrage* Que ne sms-Je fin Eugo^ Ou quelqu^auteur en vogms. En oe genre dSglogue, Je n*aurais pas d'^goux.

VI.

There is a stone there, That whoever kisses. Oh ! he nerer misses To grow eloquent. 'Tis he may clamber To a lady's chamber. Or become a member Of parliament : A clever spouter He'll sure turn out, or An out-and-outer, "To be let alone," Don't hope to hinder him. Or to bewilder him ; Sure he's a pilgrim IVom the Blarney stone !•

* End of Millikin's Trsnalation of t¥« QroTes of BUrney.

VI. Tine pierre s*y reneontre^ Estimable trSsor, Qui vaut s(m poids en or Au guide qui la montre. Qui haise ce monumentt Acquiert la parole Qui doucement cqjolei II devient Sloquent, Au boudoir d*une dame II sera hien re^Uf Et mime h son in»fu Fera naitre unejlamme. Homme a bonnes fortunes^ A lui onpeut sejler Pour mystifier La Chambre des Communes.f

t lel finlBt le Po^me dit le Bofs de BUf^ tuiye, oopU da LiTre de Doomtdftye^ a. m 1069

I^HIHI^^9
Ta« OEOTM or BLAEITEY. 01
,	7.
8.3I.X' ayXailo*™	Plumbca signa Deflm
B»Ti iter mrnv n.	Namna ornflDt, gnuido tropluniml
Tmv ie«<«i- tfHuv r(.	StMibi.Bat-ehetoes!
T-i- Apvae.'f ioXmo' re	Nfw iine frugo Cctm,
U«ri,tur^t, KDH^np	Soptuiiique »Bgo
r .ip.. NB,ixvJ™,«op'	De Oumine turgit imago i
Er aiSpif aitovTac	Joliua luc C«>ar
Ear' ititv yp/ivn-ic ifvoJTot.	Slat, Nabccliud que Neiarl
Bf Xii*"; •«" irXoiav,	NBTieiila meonti
E. fit irXitiv S,Koi ay	Dnt ouiqiifi perii^iiln ponti.
Kai laXd ooo' •>» not	8> quia ejtahi Me cum
Ob (lEviifi' irrtiruooi'	Tult super ire lacum.
AW •• y- t.qi- Xo}r„rrflc.	Canniui huic ter sum
H lilanoXoc oof iotijc,	Canatiu h\c oUdcre yemao i
Tst' r|a][4«rar' Rv ooi	Pauper at ingE^a,
Atifoi^t ro ■j>a>' <Toi.	Pin* niliil intenio !
t	VT.
£iiiXiOov r* (i'pqmic.	Fortunfltam Butem
	Premuenint ojculn coatem
	(FingBrc dCim Conor
r«r.p JCV. rapaxpilia	DBbitUBhuicaic honor):
tVvqno. vu ^«•'gc,	Quam bene tu Dngis
fiiMifi t' tpartiri't.	Qui iBii oraculB lingi*.
tii^rorarf ri XaXHv
Kv jievKf Twv fitr' oXXuv	Quod deditille lapis I
Kai .V ™,t o7..pn««	Oratus homo bollia
■■ K«eoX««-t" fi«°."	Pit uDctis mcUo Inbetlii,
	OrsEua erit populo
Lu )[..p»c «> cfiommi	Oncula daua Bcopulo j
D( <»api j-v ^ly-srv	Fit Bubita orator.
bH^DJOIW* r' apiirr^-	Cniidlque iMjuonte BonaWr.
0 AJec avpnvof^t	Scandcre r'u Kthnun ?
	Hano TonerHTO petram If
	1 E,p11rilh(cC-rm«odB NomwiBIU..
iwLciir""""' ""^
^^^^^^^^^1

62 FATHER PBOUT's BELIQUX8.

leif AQ be leirnf beAijAir aij aic reo Wi*l ceAi)FeA6f)A A]ti pibqA cfne

Cornrv^i leici cum ^niAccATr &' r-j^SAti.

r^ cAirleAQ '9A CTorocToU. i)Aled|:?c pleufttA, 21 bAllATD ceA^A b'AnSMi) 1JA rsitfof ; tlcc Ol]beti Cnon)fMl ; 6*^:^5 50 tax) f.

No. III.

TATHEB PBOUT*S OABOUSAL.

*' He spread his regetable store, And gaily pressed and smiled ; And, skilled in legendary lore. The lingering hours beguiled."

GOLDSKITH.

Befobe we resume the thread (or yam) of Frank CrsBS- well's narrative concerning the memorable occurrences which took place at Blarney, on the remarkable occasion of Sir "Walter Scott's visit to " the groves," we feel it impera- tive on us to set ourselves right with an illustrious corre- spondent, relative to a most important particular. "We have received, through that useful medium of the inter- change of human thought, " the twopenny post," a letter whicn we think of the utmost consequence, inasmuch as it goes to impeach the veracity, not of Father Prout (patrem quis dicere falsum audeat ?), but of the young and somewhat facetious barrister who has been the volunteer chronicler of his life and conversations.

For the better understanding of the thing, as it is likely to become a quastio vexata in other quarters, we may be allowed to bring to recollection that, in enumerating the

* Fragment of a Celtic MS., firom the King's Library, Copenhagen.

IPS

aj eminent men who hod kisaed the Blarney etone during;

ODt's reflidenre in the parisli — au experience exteoduig

elf orer a period of nearly half a fentury — Doctor D.

rdner was triumphantly mentioned by the benevolent and

ipl«-ininded incumbent of Watei^asshill, as a proud and

untostable instance of the virtue and efficacy of the talis-

D, Applied to the moat ordinary materials with the most

raouiouB result. luittead of feeling a lingering remnant

gratitude towards the old pareut-hluck for such super-

inrai interposition on his beb&Lf, and looking back to that

kiaa" with fond and filial recollection — instead of allowing

Ibe etono" to occupy tlio greenest spot in the '^ddemesa

'bia memory — "the stone" that first shariiened his intel-

rt, «Dd oil which ought to be iascribed ihe line of Uorace,

otii, Bcutuin

■9 ipsa secandi"—

iEt<!sd of this praiscwortliy cspreasion of tributaiy acknow- edgmc-nt, the Doctor writes to us denying all obligation in b(^ quarter alluded to, and contrail icting most flatly the m>tt impcai^huieut " of having kissed the stone at all. Hia At« is couchpd in such peevish tonus, and conceived in such wtful mood, that we protest we Ho not recognise the tame D(l usually unexcitcd tracings trf his gentle pen ; but rather upciA he has been induced, by some medieal wag, to use a aill plucked from llic memhrnnous integument ot that cele- rat^ "man-porcupijio" who hus of late cxbibited hia liir- iteueas at ihe Middleson hospital.

" London Unittriily, May 6lh. "SlE,

■' I owe it to the great cause of ' Useful Know- dgr,' to which I linvo dedicated my past labours, to rehut

Tralclv, yet firmly, the assertion rrjiorlfd to have been hj tte bte i{ev. Wr. Prunt (for whom 1 had a high *■ iu conversing with the Lato Sir Walter Scott on the . alluded to in your ephemeral work ; particularly as ■tatnment re-asserted by tliat widely-cireuhited B Morning Herald of yesterday's date. Were rwTerwid dergymaa or the (iistinguished baronet fmng, I would apfwal to their candour, and so shame

64 FATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQUE8.

the inventor of that tale. But as both are withdrawn bj death from the literary world, I call on you, sir, to insert in your next Number this positive denial on my part of having ever kissed that stone ; the supposed properties of which, I am ready to prove, do not bear the test of chymical analysiB. I do recollect having been solicited by the present Lord Chancellor of England (and also of the London University), whom I am proud to call my friend (though you have given him the sobriquet of Bridlegoose, with your accustomed want of deference for great names), to join him, when, many years ago, he privately embarked on board a Westmoreland collier to perform his devotions at Blarney. That circumstance is of old date : it was about the year that Paris was taken by the allies, and certainly previous to the Queen's trial. But I did not accompany the then simple Harry Brougham^ con- tent with what nature had done for me in that particular department.

" You will please insert this disavowal from,

" SlK,

" Tour occasional reader,

"DioNYsius Labdneb, D.D.

" P.S. — If you neglect me, I shall take care to state my own case in the Cyclopaedia. 1*11 prove that the block li Blarney is an ' Aerolitbe,* and that your statement as to iti Phoenician origin is unsupported by historical evidence. Recollect, you have thrown the first stone."

Now, after considering these things, and much pondering on the Doctor's letter, it seemed advisable to refer the matter to our reporter, Prank Cresswell aforesaid, who has given us perfect satisfaction. By him our attention was called, first, to the singular bashfulness of the learned man, in curtailing from his signature the usual appendages that shed such lustre o'er his name. He lies before us in this epistle a simple D.D., whereas he certainly is entitled to write himself P.R.S., M.E.I.A., P.E.A.S., F.L.8., F.Z.S., F.C.P.S., &c. Thus, in his letter, " we saw him," to borrow an illustration from the beautiful episode of James Thomson,

" We saw him clianning ; but we saw not half — Tlie rest his downcast modesty concealed."

THK WATEBGHASBDILL CAJBOPBAt. Gfl

Next as to date* : bow redolent of my TJnde Toby— jbout tlie year Dendennonde was taken by tbe allies." « reroiois<.-eiiL-e was probably one of wliirb he was imcoo- uid we tliLTcJbrf shall uot <mll him a plagiary j hut y, how diabolically does he seek to shift the onuB ij gniFamen of the whole husiBeas on the rickety shoulders Iiis learned friend Bridlegoosel This will not do, O le ThaumaturgM ! By implicating " Bridoison," you shall " Oxtrioat* yourself— ■' ff ritatd tu diynva, el hie;" and ik CrsMwell lion let ua into & secret. Know then, all ». that wnoDft these never-too-aniiously-to-be-looked-out- ' " Proiit Pnners," there ia a positive record of the initio- in both of Heury Brougham and Patrick Lardner to the einaaoory of the Blarney stone ; and, more importaot *". — (0, most rare document !) — there is to be found amtd [rastlmmous trcsHures of Father Prout the originnl pro- of a UtihieTtUy atBlarnty, to be theu and there founded the united efforts of Lardner, Dan O'Connell, and Ton\ and of which the Doctor's "aekolithe" was to » been the corner-stone."

We therefore rely on the forthcoming Prout Papers for a ifinnation of oU we have said ; and here do we cast down glove of defiance to the champion of Stinkomalee, even ;b he come forth armed to the teeth in a panoply, not, »r»e, forged on the classic anvil of the Cyclops, however irioDsly luuiunered in the clumsy arsenal of his own dopedia."

rhtt prDJorlvl ilnii«rsity liu alnce wnimnl Hnother tliipe, anil a _f in Stevm's Orn-u, Dublin, once tlin reaidenpcof "flu<t Wbdlej," VntoiFiB WhaUr^," (lie lisTingwalked there and bacl for* wagarj, kaaa bought bj i>r. Oullon. to whom Mr Di«r»eli will ^nol. a ' r u> put il>>iru Ibe " Quean '« college*." Tbe Blaroof UDiTenitf I hn* cnkllifalnl fun and tbe geoial dereloiinieiil of natiooal MM^ bul tbn CuUbd kSkir can Ebtb naught in oommoa «ith rr.Mwtxuig

"A oivo wlicre np dajligbt eaten, But mU and badgers are for btbt bred !" tHil <i t^incord, nucoar, hopelms gloum. and Deal' tbHtlogj, or luliaa tmiiin, page S5, Iim il, "In qaceU fn^tls Mii intrrrotla Ti e ttn lolta, fra gmtti ttnui "

'iG FATHER PBOUT*B BXLIQUE8.

We know there is another world, where eyerr man will get his due according to his deserts ; but if there be a limbui patruniy or literary purffatory, where the efl5x)nteiy and ingra> titude of folks ostensibly belonging to the republic of letten are to be visited with condign retribution, we think we behold in that future middle state of purification (which, from our friend's real name, we shall call Patrick's Purgatory), Pit Lardner rolling the Blarney stone, h la Suypkus, up the hill of Science.

Kai fifiv '2t(rvpo¥ uttuhoy x^arsp' dkyt* t^J^vra

Aaav jSatrra^oyroe 'jrsXu^tov afi^orf^fiaiVj

Aur/; s^£/ra mdovdi xuXiydtro AAA2 ANAIAHZ!

And now we return to the progress of events on "Water- grasshiU, and to matters more congenial to the taste of our

Be GIN A.

OLIVEE TOEKE.

Reffent Street, Ut June, 1835.

Accept, O Queen ! my compliments congratulatonr on the unanimous and most rapturous welcome with which the whole literary world hath met, on its first entrance into life, that wonderful and more than Siamese bantling your " Polyglot edition" of the " Groves of Blarney." Of course, various are the conjectures of the gossips in Paternoster Row as to the real paternity of that " most delicate mon- ster ;" and some have the unwarrantable hardihood to hint that, like the poetry of Stemhold and Hopkins, your incom- parable lyric must be referred to a joint-stock sort of pa- rentage : but, entre nous, how stupid and malignant are all such insinuations ! How little ao such simpletons suspect or know of the real source from which hath emanated that rare combination of the Teian lyre and the Tipperary btf- pipe— of the Ionian dialect blending harmoniously with the Cork brogue ; an Irish potatoe seasoned with Attic salt, and the humours of Donnybrook wed to the glories of Marathon ! Verily, since the days of the great Complutensian Polyglot (by tne compilation of which the illustrious Cardinal Zi- menes so endeared himself to the bibliomaniacal world), since the appearance of that still grander effort of the " Claren* don " at Oxford, the " Tetrapla," originally compiled by the

THE VATEnouASBiiJiJ. cAAocau,.

67

ntiwt laborious aod eccentric father of the Cliurch, Origen of Aiesuidriii, nothing has ieaued from the press in a com- pIi'UT form than your improved quadruple veraioa of th» ■' Oroves of Blarney-" The celebrated proverb, lucm d non luertxlo, so oft*n quoted with malicious mBaning aud for inTidiouB purposes, is no longer applicable to your '■ GroveB:" tbi< ({uaint conceit has lost its etiug, atid, to speak in Gully's dhrawoliigj, you liave takeu the *hi»f out of it. What a kalo of glorv. what a flot)d of lustre, will henceforth spread iu>elf over that romantic '' plaJitation [" How oft shidl its echoes retwimd with the voice of song, Oreeik, French, or L«tiu, according to the tnate or huthpTuce of its European viaitont ; all diaruied with its shady bowers, and enraptured wilh it« dulcet melody ! From the dusty purlieus of High Holbom, wher^ I pine in a fcetid atmosphere, my spirit Mwn «&r to that eocbanting scenery, wnfled on the wrnga uf poMj, and transported with the ecatacy of Elysium — " Tiiieor pio*

Emirti per liicos, Bumnie

Quo* (t aqus «ubeiuit et aur»]"

Ulne may be an illusion, a hallucination, an " amaOi/U in- wia," if you will ; but meantime, to find some solace in f nile from the sjiot itself, I cannot avoid poring, with iifK tJisn autii[uariaii relish, over the different tests placed f TDU in such tasteful juita position, anon comparing aud 'lilting each particular version with alteraate guato —

" AnuiDl aJlcma CaiaicniE." w pure and pcllncid the flow of harmony ! bow reaplen- t Uie well-grouj)ed images, shining, as it were, in a aort r milky way, or poetic galaxy, through your glorious co- mns; to which I cannot do better than apply a line of . Gregory (the accomplished Greek father) of Najiiun-

'II nputi frtt/t) ft ^iSyjiaai jiif 1

Diiiiiit«r is said to have envied bis foreign secretary ' ineffable pk-aaure of reading " Don Quixote" in the giaal Spaniab, and it would, no doubt, be a rare sigbt to it s fvp M Lord Poimcrsti^n's French notes to Talleyrand ;

6S FATHER FBOUT*B BELIQITES.

but how I pity the soriy wight who hasn't leamt Greek t What can he know of the recondite meaning of certain passages in the " Groves ?" He is incapacitated from en- lojing the full drift of the ode, and must only take it di- luted, or Felluti-edf in the common English version. N6runt fideleSy as Tom Moore says.

For my part, I would as soon see such a periwig-pated fellow reading your last Number, and fanc3ring himseu ca- pable of understanding the full scope of the poet, as to be- hold a Greenwich pensioner with a wooden leg tiyine to run a race with Atalanta for her golden apple, or a fSiow with a modicum quid of legal knowledge affecting to sit and look big under a chancellor's peruke, like Bridlegoose on the woolsack. In verity, gentlemen of the lower house ought to supplicate Sir Daniel Sandford, of Glasgow, to give them a few lectures on Greek, for the better intelligence of the real Blarney style ; and I doubt not that every member will join in the request, except, perhaps, Joe Hume, who would naturally oppose any attempt to throw light on Greek matters, for reasons too tedious to mention. Verb, Map,

To have collected in his youthful rambles on the conti- nent, and to have diligently copied in the several librariei abroad, these imperishable versions of an immortal song was the pride and consolation of Father Front's old age, and still, by one of those singular aberrations of mind in- cident to all great men, he could never be prevailed on to give further publicity to the result of his labours ; thus sitting down to the banquet of literature with the egotistic feeling of a churl. He would never listen to the many oflTers from interested publishers, who sought for the prize with eager competition ; but kept the song in manuscript on detached leaves, despite of the positive injunction of tne sibyl in the jEneid —

*' Non foliis tu carmina manda, Ne correpta volont rapidis ludibria Tentia !**

I know lull well to what serious imputations I make myieU liable, when I candidly admit that I did not come by the treasure lawfully myself; having, as I boldly stated in the last Number of BeoikAj filched the precious papers, ditfeeh

TKI WATEBORASBHILL CASODSAL. 09

mrmbra poelai, when tlie table was being cleared by Proiit'*

•erTODt maid for tlie HubHequent repast. But there are

certain " pioim frauds" <if which nooe need be oahamed in

the interests of science; and when a great meda] -collector,

(of whom " TViM ffny/anrf" will teU you the partitulara),

^ieing, on his homeward TOjpage from Egypt, hotly piu'sued

f we A^eriueti, swatiowed the golden aeries of the ftole-

B. wbg ever thought of blamiog Mr. Dufbur, as he had

mrchaaed in their human envelope these recondite coins,

T baring applied purgati?eB and emetics, and every pos-

[ble atrvtogeni, to come at the deposit of glory ?

But to describe " the repast" bas now become my solemn

— » task imposed on me by you, O Queen ! to whom

rang relating to Sir Walter Scott, or to Father Front

ttpears to be uninteresting. Ib that I agree with you, for

'' ' g to my mind comes recommended so powerfully as

rfaat hath appertained to these two ereat ornaments of

hbananityi" which term I must be understood to use in its

nible seoee, aa relating to mankind in general, and in par-

r to the Ultra humaniortl, of which you and I are rap'

_. . aiv fonil, us Tcreoce was before we were bom, according

9 the DAcVneyed line —

" SoTOO film :

li nihil 1 me alienum puto !"

That banquet was in sooth no ordinary jollification, no

~ ~ ' bout of sensuality, but a philosophic and rational com-

jling <rf mind, with a pleaaant and succulent addition of

liter — a blending of soul and substance, tj^ified by the

■ JO of Cupid and Psyche — a compound of strange ingre-

itfl, in which a large infusion of what are called (in a

/ Irish -looking phmee) " animal Bpirita" coalesced witb

abundnniv uf distilled ambroeia; not without much eni-

otMiervatiuu, and the interlude of jovial song ; wit con-

'' ' T supremacy with learning, and fully asserting her

predominoDCo like the tints of the rainbow in

fOHf mttmhle, or like the anaile and the tear in Erin's

jre, when that fasciniitine creature has taken " a drop"

mountain dew. But tbougb there were lots of

D «t {*rout'H Uble at nil times, wiiii.'U the lack of \

lUld

iuterferi!

letMjrdiug

with c

way

anotbi particulars

r have

70 TATHSB PEOUT'S BSLIQUXI.

carousal, having learned with indignation that, since tlie ap pearance of the Father's " Apology for Lent," calumny hai Deen busy with his character, and attributed his taste fo meagre met, to a sordid principle of economy. No ! Prou was not a penurious wretch ! And since it has been indus triously circulated in the club-houses at the west- end, thai he never gave a dinner in his life, by the statement of oji* stubborn fact I must silence for ever that '* whisper of i faction."

From the first moment of delight, when the perusal o George Knapp*s letter, (dated July 25, 1825) had apprisec Prout of the visit intended by Sir Walter Scott to tb< Blarney stone, he had predetennined that the Ghieat Un- known should partake of sacerdotal hospitality. I recoiled well on that evening (for you are aware I was then on a vini to my aunt at Watergrasshill, and, as luck would have it, happened to be in the priest's parlour when the news came by express) how often he was heard to mutter to himself, as if resolving the mighty project of a " let out," in that beautiful exclamation borrowed from his favourite Milton—

" What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, Of Attic taste with wine ?"

I then foresaw that there really would be " a dinner" and sure enough there was no mistake, for an entertainment en- sued, such as the refinement of a scholar and the tact of a well-informed and observant traveller naturally and unaffect- edly produced, with the simple but not less acceptable ma- terials which circumstances allowed of and a style as fiur removed from the selfishness of the anchorite as the extra- va^nce of the glutton.

Prout had seen much of mankind ; and in his deportment through life shewed that he was well versed in all those varied arts of easy, but still gradual acquirement, which sin* gularly embellish the intercourse of society : these were the results of his excellent continental education —

But at the head of his own festive board he particularly shone ; for though in his ministerial functions, he was et'

THB WATEBtiBiSaniLL CiBOlSAL. "1

tplarr and admirable, ever meek and tinairefted at ttiir r of bis rustic rhapel, where

" Ilii look> KdontBd the Tenerable place,"

till, siirroonded by a few cboiee friends, the calibre of rlioee geniH* wag in anison with hie own, witli a bottle of is choiw old claret before him, he was truly a paragoni I ly etartt ; for when, in liis youthful career of enrly trnrel, e b«d sojourned at Bourdeauj in 1776, he had formed an tauaiotaiiccflhtp with the then representatives nf the atilJ ourisliing house of Maccarthy and Co. ; and if the prayer* r the old priest are of any avail, that firm will iDng proe- rr in the splendid eapital of Gascony. This lonR-remem- a(.*<|UaiiitanceHhip was periodically refreshed by many quarter cask of cicellcnt medoe, which found its way (no latter how) up the rugged by-roade of Watergrasahill to W Micerdotal cellar.

Nor was the barren upland, of which he wa« the pastor lEid which will one day be as celebrated for baviug been is residence as it is now for water-crfstfi), bo totally itnnged from the wickedness of the world, and so exalted bove the common level of Irish highlands, that no whUhj 'BS to be found there ; for though Prout never openly rantenanced, he atUl tolerated Davy Draddy'a public-bouse t the aign of the " Mallow Cavalry." But there is a spirit, IS evil one), which pays no duty to the King, under pre- jQCe of having paid it to her majesty the Queen (Qod bless BPi) — a spirit which would even tempt you, 0 Keoima! 9 fiirsake tbe even tenour of your ways — a spirit which ^kther Prout could never eifectually chain down m thi; Bed M, where every foul demon ought to lie in durance until ke vials uf wrath are finally poured out on this sinful world -4hat spirit, endowed with a smoky fragrance, as if to ti[init«! ita caligiuous orieia — not a drop of it would be give (r Walter. He woidd have wished, such was his anxiety It protect the mornla of bis parishioners from the baneful Sects of private distillation, that what is called technically moon tain -dew" were never heard of iu the district ; and bat in this respect Watergraaabill hud resembled the moun- UD of Oilboa. in the country of tbe Philistines.

But uf legitimate and eicellent nudt whisky he kept a

72 FATHER PBOTTT*S BSLIQTTE8.

constant supply, through the friendship of Joe Hajee, & capital fellow, who presides, with great credit to hunselfy and to his native city, over the spiritual concerns of the Glin Distillery. Through his intelligent superintendence, he can boast of maintaining an unextinguisnable furnace and a worm that never dies ; and O ! may he in. the next life, through Front's good prayers, escape Doth one and the other. This whisky, the pious offering of Joe Hayes to hia confessor. Father Prout, was carefully removed out of harm's way ; and even I myself was considerably puzzled to find out where the good divine had the habit of conceal- ing it, until I got the secret out of Margaret, his servant- maid, who, being a 'cute girl, had suggested the hiding-place herself. I don't know whether you recollect my description, in your April Number, of the learned Father's booacase and the folio volumes of stone-flag inscribed '^ CoBNELn ▲ Lapide Opera qua ext. omn, ;" well, behind them lay hidden the whisky in a pair of jars —

For buxom Maggy, careful soul.

Had two Btone bottles found. To hold the liquor that Prout loved.

And kept it safe and sound.

Orders had been given to this same Margaret to kill a turkey, in the first impulse of the good old man's mind, " on hospitable thoughts intent :" but, alas ! when the fowl had been slain, in accordance with his hasty injunctions, he bethought himself of the melancholy fact, that, the morrow being Friday, fish diet was imperative, and that the death- warrant of the turkey had been a most premature and ill- considered act of precipitancy. The corpus delicti wna therefore hung up in tne kitchen, to furnish forth the Sunday's dinner next ensuing, and his thoughts of necessity ran into a piscatory channel. He had been angling all day, and happily with considerable success ; so that, what with a large eel he had hooked out of the lake at Blarney, and two or three dozen of capital trout from the stream, he might emulate the exploit of that old Calabrian farmer, who entertained Virgil on the produce of his hives :

" Scrftque revertens Nocte domum, dapibus mensas onerabat inemptiA.'*

TftE W*TEHQHAS8BH.L CJUtOTTSAI,. 73

But whwi Prout did the thin*, he did it respectably : this VBs no ordia&ry occasion — "pot Iul-V woidd not do here. And though he bitterly deplored the imti>ward coincidence of the foat-dny nn the nrrlval of Sir Wiilter, and waa heard to mutter »onietUing from Horace very like an impreention, m, " Ille et nrfaalo fe piiauit tli&, quicumque" &c. &C. ; still it would ill beeoue the author of an *' Apology for Lent" to deepoir of grtting up a good fish dinner.

In this smergenty he giinimoned Tenr CaUaghan, a genius infinitely euperior evMi to the man-ot-&l]-work at Kitvens- worth Castle, the never-to-be-forgotten Caleb Balderatone. Terry Cailaghkn (of whom we BUBpeet we ehail hare, on many a future ocmsion, much to recount, ere the star of Father Prout shall eclipse itselfin the firmament of Kkoina), Terry Callaghau ia a character well known in the Arcadian neignbourhood of WatergmstihiEl, the life and soul of the nlljige itaelf, where he officiates to this day as " pound- keeper," "grave-digger," "notary public," and "pariah piper." In addition to these Bituatioua of trust ancl eraolu- m«Dt, ho occasi'inally stands as deputy at the turnpike on the mail-coach roful. where he was last seen with a short e in hia mouth, and n huge black crape round hia " cau- Hi." being in mourning for the subject of these memoirs. I also is employed on Sundays at the chapel-door to collect • coppers of the faithfid, and, like the dragon of the wperides. keeps watch over the " box " with untameable F'Smocdcm, never hnving allowed arap to be subtracted for \ ■flw O'Connell tribute, or tiny other humlmg. to the great nininiy detriment of the Berrynaue dynasty. In the ; at Ireragh, where a geographical chart is displayed e wall, shewing at a glance the topography of the " and f'lhibitiug all those districts, from Dan to Beer- _, wtere tlie coppcr-minea are most productive, the b of Watergrasshill is marked " all barren ;" Terry very 'y eoneidtring thnt, if there was any surplus in the ix, it could be better placed, without going out of the t« of that wild and impoBerished tract, in the palm of I misery, than in the all-absorbing Charybdis, the ■'pocket of our glorious Dan. Ii WM the ■' Mercury new-lighted on a heaven-kissing o fftiom Prout ddirered his jtroriiional orders for the

74 FATHEB FBOITT's BEUQUBS.

market of Cork ; and early, with a hamper on his back, at tho dawn of that important day which settled into so glori- ous an evening of fun and conviviality, Terry set off to lay the foundation of the whole affair at the fish-stall kept by that celebrated dame de la halle, the widow Desmond. Pur- suant to directions, he bought a turbot, two lobsters, a sal- mon, and a hake, with a hundred of Cork-harbour oysters ; and considering, prudently, that a corpn de reserve might be wanted in the course of tho repast, he added to the afore- said matters, which Prout had himself specified, a h^ d^osurre of his own selection, viz. a keg of cod-sounds ; he having obsen^ed that on all state occasions, when Prout entertained his bishop, he had always, to suit his lordship*8 taste, a plat ohligi of cod- sounds, " by particular desire."

At the same time he was commissioned to deliver sundry notes of invitation to certain choice spirits, who try to keep in wholesome agitation, by the buoyancy of their wit and hilarity, the othen^ise stagnant j)ond of Corkonian society; citizens of varied humour and diversified accomplishments, but of whom the highest praise and the most comprehensive eulogy cannot convey more to the British public than the simple intimation of their having been " the friends of Father Prout :" for while Job's Arabian " friends " will be remem- bered only as objects of abhorrence, Prout's associates wiU be cherished by the latest posterity. These were, Jack Bel- lew, Dan Corbet, Dick Dowden, Bob Olden, and Friar O'lVreara.

Among these illustrious names, to be henceforth embalmed in the choicest perfume of classic recollection, you will find on inquiry, O Queen ! men of all parties and religious pe^ suasions, men of every wav of thinking in politics and po- lemics, but who merged all their individual feelings in the broad expanse of one common philanthropy ; for at Front's table the serene horizon of the festive board ^ftas never clouded by the suftusion of controversy's gloomy vapours, or the mephitic feuds of party condition. And, O most peace-loving Keoina ! should it ever suit your fancy to go on a trip to Ireland, be on your guard against the foul and troublesome nuisance of speech -makers and political oracles, of whatever class, who infest that otherwise happy islahd : betake thyself to the hospitable home of Dan Corbet, or

•ttat WATBBOEiBBUILL

di good and rational fircte of Irish BOciety, where !Ter yrill a single drop of acrirnoDy bo found to mtn!;;le in diaciDboaomiDgs of feuliog and the pereuoial tlow of

Biit, in describing Prout'e giicats, rank and precedency Jong of right to that great modem ruler of innnkind, " the r»a ;" »nd therefore do we first apply ouraelves to the de- L-ation of the merits of Jaek Betlew, its sigiiilicnnt repre- itatit-e — he being the wondroua editor of that nwat aeeoiu- shed newspaper, the '" Cork Chronicle." JackMonleequieuBe!Iew'{j»>,wA(i«ori*Mmrfnomi>io) iraa — My u>a*, for, aiii^ ! he too is no more : Prout's death was loo mch for hiro 'twas a blow from which he never recovered ; then he was visibly so heart-hrokpn at the Ions bis friend, that he did nothing but droop, and soon "what the doctor said wsa a decline;)— Jack was the ery image of his own "Chronicle," and, uc« vrrtd, the CUroQiele " waa the faithfol mirror (f/AwXov. or alter ago) of [k ; both one and the other were the (jiiecrest concemB I the south of Ireland. The post of editor to a country ewHpapcr is one, cenerallj apeaJting, attended with sundry ■ ^^^TOHoles and triliulationa; for even the aimjile departnieat f " deaths, births, and inarriagea," would require a host of ■Itiit and a euijerhuman tact to satisfy the vanity of the nbiKTihera, without making them ridiculous to their next eighboairs. Now Bellew didn't care a jot who earae into H> world or who left it ; and thus he made no enemies by Uw niggardly panegyric of their kindred and deceased riatioiiB. There was an exception, however, in favour of an ' I Bubscriber to the " paper," whoao death was usualJy

> Bow the nimame of the iUmlrious author of the Eipnl de Lcii,

to ba uiwd by th« BeliewB in IreUnd Iim puiilcd tho Heralda'

ge. Indeed, m«ny other Iruh nunes oflVr ■ wide Held for g™™-

■I iaijeirj •. t. g. Sir Utrcubt Liuighridli, Ctnar Olwnj, Eneat Mnc-

M.H. HoMnital riuDketl, Etmnrr Jarti, Jonth Barringlon (tM>

t looki v«r; UkP a whale}. Tliat thu Bellcne dealt largBl; iu tpirili,

r» to be opable of proof i at any nil<3, the™ wu QHTor any pro-

_,J for r«v"' "f" '"*■ whftleror might be \Saii pra-chant roruniaieM

Tit, fi the hmily iDUinoD StMtk an itqatia^ Ajv/Ui^ Uouml Wliliky,

'•mliif Uontr«qiuen.

76 FATHEB PBOUT*S BELIQITES.

commemorated by a rim of mourning at the edces of tho '* Chronicle :" and it was particularly when the suDscription had not been paid (which, indeed, was generally the case) that the emblems of sorrow were conspicuous — so much so, that you could easily guess at the. amount of the arrears actually due, from the proportionate breadth of the black border, which in some instances was prodigious. But Jack's attention was principally turned to the affairs of the Conti- nent, and he kept an eye on Eussia, an eye of vigilant obser- vation, which considerably annoyed the czar. In vain did Fozzo di Borgo endeavour to silence, or purchase, or intimi- date Belle w ; he was to the last an uncompromising op- ponent of the " miscreant of the North." The opening of the trade to China was a favourite measure with our editor ; for he often complained of the bad tea sold at the sign of the " Elephant," on the Parade. He took part with Don Pedro against the Serene Infanta Don Miguel ; but that was attri- buted to a sort of Platonic he felt for the fascinating Donna Maria da Gloria. As to the great question of repale, he was too sharp not to see the full absurdity of that brazen im- posture. He endeavoured, however, to suggest a '^ Juste mil' lieu,^* a " medius terminus" between the politicians of the Chamber of Commerce and the common-sense portion of the Cork community; and his plan was, — to hold an imperial parlia^ mentfor the three kingdoms on the Isle of Man ! But he failed in procuring the adoption of his conciliatory sentiments. Most Irish provincial papers keep a London "private corres- pondent " — some poor devil, who writes from a blind alley in St. Giles's, with the most graphic minuteness, and a truly laughable hatred of mystery, all about matters occurring at the cabinet meetings of Downing Street, or in the most im-

Eenetrable circles of diplomacy. Jack despised such fudge, ecame his own " London private correspondent," and ad- dressed to himself long communications oated from White- hall. The most useful intelligence was generally found in this epistolary form of soliloquy. But in the " fashionable world," and " News from the beaumonde," the " Chronicle" was unrivalled. The latest and most rechercM modes, the newest Parisian fashions, were carefully described; not- withstanding which. Jack himself, like Diogenes or Sir Charles Wetherell, went about in a most ragged habiliment.

TBE W4.TEBaBASBIlILL CABODSAL. 77

o apeak with Sbnkspeure, tbougli not well dre§8eii himBelf- e waa the cause oi (!ress in otliera. His (iuances, ulas ' o olwajTB miaerabl/ low ; no fitting retribution was erer > result of his literary labours; and of htm migbt be tid wbat we read in a spleudid frogmeat of Petrooius Vrbiter,—

Such w» BcUew ; and next to him of political importance 'in public estimation was the celebrated Dick Dowden, the errat inventor of the " pyroligneous acid for curing bacon." Ue WHS nt one time the deservedly popular librarian of the Boyal Cork Institution i but since then be has risen to pmiuence as the greatest soda-water manufacturer in the south of Ireland, and has been unaaimously chosen by the Kober and n;flecting portion of his fellow-citizens to be the pcriielual president of the " Cork Temperance Society." He - -* B Presbyterian— but 1 believe I have already said he waa (obcerned in vinegar.* He is a great admirer of Dr. Bow- >, and of the Kajah Eammohun Soy ; and some think I inrlined to Invour the new TTtilitarian philosophy. But ^hy do 1 speud iiiy time in depicting a man so well known la Diek Dowden ? Who has not heard of Dick Dowden ? I pity tbP wretch to whom bis name and merits are un- blown ; for ht argaes himself a dunce that knows not Dow- Irn, and deserves the anathema pronounced by Goldsmith

" To eat matton cold, and cut blocks vlth s nuor 1"

Talking of raton, the transition to our third guest. Bob

Pldeii is moat smooth and natural — Olden, the great inven-

IT of the wonderful shaving-lather, called by the Greeks bu-

[£tKOOE5BiON {Euxiifoyittiov) ! — Olden, the reproducer of an

ntheDian cosmetic, and the grand discoverer of the patent

pTrrtler-oil," for the growth of the human hair; a dtiien

r iti£mt« worth and practical usefulness ; a high cburch-

a eke waa he, and a Tory ; but his " cnnsen'ative" eiceU

tx was chieRy applicable to the epidennis of the chin,

bicb be effertuuUy presented by the incomparable lather ol

• ■' A Quaker, sly i h Preibyteriiui, M)ur."~PoM

78 FjLTHBB PB0VT*8 beliqueb.

his Euxf /po/f vf/oy ; an inyention that would, to use the words of a Cork poet,

" Bid eren a Jew bid adieu to his beard.^

But Dan Corbet, the third guest, was a real trump, the very quintessence of fun and frolic, and of all Front's mends the one of whom he was most particularly proud. He is the principal dentist of the Munster district — a province where a tooth-ache is much rarer, imfortunately for dentists, than a broken head or a black eye. In Corbet, the kindliest of human beings, and sincerest of Corkonians, the buttermilk of human friendliness was ever found in plentiful exuberance ; while the loud laugh and the Jocund song bespoke the candour of his soul. Never was a professor of odontology less pedantic or less given to quackery. His ante-chamber was always full of patients, awaiting his presence with pleasurable anticipation and some were known to feign a tooth-ache, in order to have a pleasant interview with the dentist. When he made his appearance in his morning gown before the crowd of afflicted visitors, a general titter of cheerfulness enlivened the visages of the sufferers ; and I can only compare the effect proQuced by his presence to the welcome of Scarron on the oanks of the Styx, when that man of wondrous hilarity went down to the region of the ghosts as a dispeller of sorrow :

^ Solvuntur risu moBstisBima turba silentum, Ciim Ycnit ad Stjgias Scarro facetuB aquas.'*

I have only one thing to say against Corbet. At his hos- pitable table, where, without extravagance, every good dish IS to be found, a dessert generally follows remarkable for the quantity and iron-hardness of the walnuts, while not a nut- cracker can be had for love or money from any of the ser- vants. Now this is too bad : for, you must know, that next morning most of the previous yuesU reappear in the charac- ter of patients ; and the nuts (like the dragon-teeth bowdl in a field by Cadmus) produce a harvest of lucrative visitora to the cabinet of the professor. Ought not this system to be abolished, O Queen ! and is it any justification or pallia- tion of such an enormity to know that the bane and anti- dote are both before one P When I spgke of it to Corbet,

THB WATKBaBABsaitt CAROCSAX.

V onJy Btnjled at mjr simplicity', and quoted the pivcedeut 1 Horace, (fur be is a good clnsatc scholar).

"Et DUX ortubat moiuuii, di

3 duplico Don."

^■iHorH

^Knt I itnmediittelf pointed out to bim, that he reversed the ^Bpnetice of the Bomans ; t'ur, tnetend of tbe figs being iu aeuUe ralto to the nuU, it wa« the latter with him that pre- dumiost^ iu uuimtity, besides being pre-eminently hard wlieD siibmitteu to tbo double action of that delicate lever the human jsw. which nature never (except in Bome iu. ■taocn, Anil these more apparent, perhaps, in the coaform< >ti<in nf llin niisc and chin) intended for a out-cracker.

Of Frinr U'Sleam there is little to be said. Prout did not tkiuk much of friara ia general ; indeed, at all times [ the working jparoohia] clergy in Ireland httve looked on them la ft kind of undisciplined Coasacks in the Berrice of tbe iiurch militant, of whom it cimnot tonvonicntty get rid, Ittt who are much better adepts in aliaring the plimder tbau B lalxiurtng to earn it. The good fiitber often explained B me how the matter Bto<jd, and how the bishop wanted to iate these friars, and make tliem work for the iustrue- ion of the ooor, instead of their present la^y life ; but tiiej i*ro a match for hiui at Kome, where none dare whiaper a ■rord against one of the fraternity of the cowl. There are p pnpcm in the Prout collection on this subject, which uu gi-t the chest) will explain all to you. O'Mcara 14 not the " Voice from St. Helena," though he aome- • paased for that gentleman on the Continent) was a int sort of fellow, not very deep in divinity or black- ed knowledge of any kind, but conversable and chatty, iog frcqupnlly ai-comnanied young 'squires, as travelling >r to Itttly, mueh iu the style of those learned functiou- • who lead a dauciug-bear through the market-towns of tgtaud. There waa no dinner within seven miles of Cork nit O'Mears, Full soon would bis keen nostril, ever ptonui), (ns Milton sayeth) into the murky air, have A the vcent of culiuory preparation in the breeze that B from Watergrusshili : therefore it was that Proutsent B s oolc uf tovitatiou, knowing he i " — i. -i--

, whether

80 FATHER PBOUT'b BSLIQUIB.

Such were the guests who, with George Knapp and mj- self, formed the number of the elect to dine with Sir Wal- ter at the father's humble board ; and when the covers were removed (grace having been said by Front in a style that would have rejoiced the sentimental Sterne) a glorious vision of fish was unfolded to the raptured sight ; and I confess I did not much regret the absence of the turkey, whose plump carcass I could ^et an occasional glimpse of, hanging from the roof of the Idtchen. We ate, and confabulated aa fol- lows : —

"I don't approve," said Bob Olden, "of Homer's ideas as to a social entertainment : he does not let his heroes converse rationally until long after they have set down to table, or, as Pope vulgarly translates it,

" Soon aa the rage of hunger is repressed."

Now I think that a very gross way of proceeding."

o'meaba.

In our convent we certainly keep up the observance, such as Pope has it. The repast is divided into three distinct pe- riods ; and in the conventual refectory you can easily oifl- tinguish at what stage of the feeding time the brotherhood are engaged. The first is called, 1*", altum silentium ; then, 2**, clangor dentium ; then, 3** rumor gentium,

COBSET.

I protest against the personal allusion contained in that second item. You are always making mischief, O'Meara.

S£I<I<!BW«

I hope that when the friars talk of the news of the day^ — for such, I suppose, is the meaning of rumor gentium — they previously have read the private London correspond- ence of the " Cork Chronicle."

PBOUT.

Sir Walter, perhaps you would wish te begin with a firesh egg) ^6 ^o^ as Horace recommends; or perhaps you'd

THE WlTEBOHiSSKlLL CABOUSiL. 81

efer the order described by Piiny, in his letter to Septi- 'mMjV. a raditk : 2", Ihrre tnaiU: and 3°, Itoo fggt* Qt <ftten ad tilnlum, as laid down by Macrobius-t

Thssk you, I can manage with thU slice of salmon -trout. [ can rclidh the opinion of that great ornament of your itircb, Thomaa i Kempis, to whose taste nothing woa more lelictoua than a saluioo, always excepting the Ftalma of David.' ti» he properly says, MM Ptaltni Davidici sapiunl talmunet !%

That WM not a bad idea of Tom Eempia. But my fa- vourite author, St. ClirysoStom, surpasses him in wit. When lalkiug of the Bennoo on the Lake of Tiberias, he marveta ■ •t the aineularpoBitionof the auditory relative to the preacher: ^UB words are, imsf itapM, t'l iy_Suti i-^i rri' yK'i "«' o AXuw; K toXarr^ ! Serm. de Nov. el Vet. Test.

That is B capital tnrbot, O Prout ! and. instead of taUt- ^g Greek and quoting old Chrj-eoatom (the eaint with the kolden month), yoii ought to be helping Jack Bellew and

Kti^ KiiApp. — What sauce is that ?

e of Borne decided tbe sauce long ago, by order

fa nin. Ep. ad Septim, where ho acqusints ue vilhtbeproper Wtouaaentxag opAralioni. His words are, " Lautuuu aingutoA, IMMi ot« biua." Our uockle and tbe Frmch word cniOfr, a . . , W derived froni the Latin eothltare ; of wlucli cocktea (a bqbU V uftwinkli) ii Uia root. Thus we rmd iu Martial — •• Snm McUcb lubili«, kA nw nuigis utilia oiu | Suinquld KJ* potiiu cor oocblcore vooer ?" If In the llitrd book of liit " tjalurnali*," Maorobiiie, deacribing tha ~ mti y>j tbe Ftimm LstiIuIhb to tbe Bomao p«)ple on \\U inslol jO ofluc praiiM the ho»l'« gtmerositj, iuaimuvh at be openod tba < liT proTtdingU a whet ^^ottrtaiervdaiiiumlimjmjuevtlltL" Pj'Sw Ok Klienr rditioa of Tham. A Etmpla, In vili, p. 216.

82 FATILEB PBOVT'b BELIQUSS.

of Domitian, as Juvenal might tell you, or eyen the French

translation —

'* Le senat mit aux Toix cette affaire importante^ Et le turbot fiit mis a la sauce piquanie"

KKAPP.

Sir Walter ! as it has been my distinguished lot — ^a ciN cumstance that confers eTerlasting glory on my mayoralty — to have had the honour of presenting you yesterday with the freedom of the corporation of Cork, allow me to pre- sent you with our next best thing, a potato.

SCOTT.

I have received with pride the municipal franchise, and I now accept with equal gratitude the more substantial gift you have handed me, in this capital esculent of your happy country.

PHOXJT.

Our round towers, Sir Walter, came from the east, as will be one day proved ; but our potatoes came firom the west ; Persia sent us the one, and Virginia the other. We are a glorious people ! The two hemispheres minister to our historic recollections ; and if we look back on our anoalB, we get drunk with glory ;

" For when histVy begins to grow dull in the east, Wo may order our wings, and be off to the west."

May I have the pleasure of wine with you ? Q^ntlemen, fill all round.

SCOTT.

1 intend writing a somewhat in which Sir Walter Baleigh shall be a distinguished and prominent character ; and I promise you the potato shall not bo forgotten. The discovery of that root is alone sufficient to immortalize the hero who lost his head so unjustly on Tower Hill.

KNAPP.

Christopher Columbus was equally ill-treated : and uei

^^ktitt

THE WATEBOBASSniLL CABOrBAl.. 89

le aor Baleigh have eren giren their name to tbe ob' lliey discovered. Great men have never obtained IX from their contemporaries. — I'll trouble you for of the fina of that turbot. Front.

Nay, further, ivithout going beyond the circle of this leitivo board, why has not Europe and the world united to confer some signal distiuctioa on the useful inventor of " PyroligneouB Acid ?" Why is not the discoverer of "Trolt«r oil" and " Eukeirogeneion" fittingly rewarded by mankind ? Because men have narrow views, and prefer erecting columna tu Spring Bice, and to Bob Waithman who sold shawls in Fleet Street. — Let me recommend some lobeter-sauce.

CORBET.

Minerva, who first extracted oil from the olive, was deifietl in Greece ; and Olden ia not yet even a member of tJiu dullest scientific body ; while Dr. Lardner belonRs to them all, if I can understand the phalanx of letters that follows his name.

KNAPP.

I have read the utilitarian Doctor's learned treatise on tbe potato — a subject of which he seems to understand the chemical manipulation. He says, very juatly, tliat 'as the niot contains saccbariue matter, fugar may be extracted therffroni ; he is not sure whether It might not be distilled into ahuki/ : but he is certain that it makes capital ttarch, and triutnphantiy shews that the rmd can feed pigs, and the ttaik thatch tlie pigsty. O most wonderi'ul Doctor Ldrdner ! Here's his beidth I Afevunoi ! — not a bad intro- duction to A bumj)er of claret. [Thrte timea tkree.^

I too haTe turned my thoughts into that channel, aud among my papers there is a treatise on " the root," I have prcftjicd to my diastTtation this e}iigMiph from Cicero's 'i " (iro ArchiSi Poctft,'' where the Eoman oratur talis ■ beUfi Uttrei; but 1 apply the words much more - 1 hate metaphor in practical matters such as e 2

84 FATHXs psorr's beliquzb.

these : '' They are the food of our youth, the sustenance of our old age ; they are delightful at home, and by no means in one^s way abnwd ; they cause neither nightmare nor in- digestion, but are capital things on a journey, or to fill the w^et of a pilgrim." '' Adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant ; delectant domi, non impediunt foris ; pemoctant nobiscum, per^rinantur, rusticantur." So much for pota- toes. But there are other excellent natural productions in our island, which are also duly celebrated in my papers, and possibly may be published ; but not till I am gathered to the grave. I hare never forgotten the interests of pos- terity.— Pass that decanter.

SCOTT.

Talking of the productions of the soil, I cannot reconcile the antiquity, the incontestable antiquity, of the lyric ode called the ** Groves of Blarney," of which before dinner we have traced the remote origin, and examined so many varied editions with a book of more modem date, 'cslled ^' C(B8ar*s Commentaries." The beech tree, CsBsar says, does not grow in these islands, or did not in his time : All trees grow there, he asserts, the same as in Gaul, except the lime-tree and the beech — *' Materia fer^ eadem ac in Gallii, pweter /a^um et abietem." (Cos, de Bella GalUcOy lib. v.) r^ow in the song, which is infinitely older than Cesar, we have mention made, '^ besides the leeches," of certain "groves of beeches," — the text is positive.

KNAPP.

That observation escaped me totally ; and still the differ- ent versions all concur in the same assertion. The Latin or Vulgate codex says —

'* Gh-ande decuB pagi «

Fluvii stant nuurgine fagl'*

The Greek or Septuagint version is equally stubborn m making out the case^

*I<frafisvuv xai uXi}

TBZ ITATEBSB&SSHn.L CAEOUBAL. bS

And the French copy, taken from Doomsday Booh, ia con- clusiTe, and a complete poser —

"Sur ee» bords champitres On aplimU dea sitseS."

I aiQ airaid Cffiaar'a reputation for accuracy will bo great!? *Kakeo by this discovery : be is a passable authority in jniii- liry tai-tiL-e, but not in natural history : give me Pliny ! — Tbia trout is excellent I

I think the two great authors at issue on this heerk-trte liuaineea can beconciliated thus; let us aay, tliatby the Greek fiiyan. and the Latia fag\, nothing more is meant than the clan the O'Faoass, who are very thickly planted here- abouts, Tbey are stiU a hungry race, as their name Eagan indicates — sttn nu faj-iit.

FEOUT,

It must have been one of that family who, in the reign ol Aureliiis, distingaiBhed hiniself by his great appetite at the impt-rini court of Eome. Thus Berchoux sings, on the au- Ity of Suetonius :

t^t

" Dugon fiit en » genre no homroe ertrBordinnirp j 11 aTait i'estamar. (gnui'lt Diem '.) d'un drounHlnire i n CuKsit di»])iu«ttre, en sea Tares festins, Wi pBTC, un mngliir, un noutoi, et etnlpaitu 1 1 /"

That's what we at Paris used to call puin i dUcrition. — ^Urgaret, open some oysters, and get the cayenne pepper.

EELLEW.

I protest I don't like to see the O'Fagana run down— my

mnt was an O'Fagan ; and as to deriving the name from the

LOnelc am rw fttyti; I think it a most gratuitous assomption.

I agree with my worthy friend Bellew as to the impro- ■iety of harping upon names. One would think the mayor if Cork ought to obtain some respect, and be spared the ' " !tion of the waggery of bis fellow-townsmen. But no ; I clear the city of mad dogs, and keep hydrophobia

86 FATHEB PB0VT*8 SELIQUE8.

far from our walls, I am called the '* dog- (I had almost said kid-) Knapper /" Now, mj family is of German extraction, and my great-grandfather served under the gallant Dutch- man in his wars with the " Grande Monarque," before he came over with William to deliver this country from slavery and wooden shoes. It was my great-grand-father who in- vented that part of a soldier's accoutrement, called, after him, a " Knapp*s sack."

GOBBET.

I hope, Sir Walter, you will not leave Cork without din- ing at the mansion-house with our worthy mayor. Falstaff himself could not find fault with the excellent flavour of Knapp*s sack.

SCOTT.

I fear I shall not be able to postpone my departure ; but as we are on this subject of names, I have to observe, that it is an old habit of the vulgar to take liberty with the syllables of a great man's patronymic. Melancthon • was forced to clothe his name in Greek to escape their allusions ; Jules de TEchelle changed his into Scaliger ; Pat Lardner has become Dionysius ; and the great author of those im- mortal letters, which he has taken care to tell us will be read when the commentaries of Cornelius k Lapide are forgotten, gave no name at all to the world —

" Stat nominis umbra !"

PBOUT.

Poor Erasmus ! how he used to be badgered about his cognomen —

" Quffritur unde tibi ait nomen, Ebasmts ? — Eras Mub !"

for even so that arch wag, the Chancellor Sir Thomas More, addressed him. But his reply is on record, and his peiUO' meter beats the Chancellor's hexameter —

" Si »um Mu8 ego, tojudice Summus ero!"

* The real name of Melancthon was Philipp Schwartzerd(®d)loar^erb), which means blaci earthy and is most happily rendered into Greek by the term Melancthon, McXoii/ax^wv. Thus sought he to escape the vulgar conundrums which his name in the vernacular Gherman ooold not fail to elicit. A Lapide's name was item

TIIE WATEHOBASSnrLL

be Bple

the punster by dedicjiting lo Sir Tliomaa Erasmus wns a capita] fellow,

Hie glorj of the prie«l!ioocl, and Uie i!

my. Sir Walter, are you any relation of our great irre* ible doctor, Duus Scotus ? He was an ornament of the

■ 0, 1 ha^e not that hoooitr ; but I have rem! what Eras- , Bays of certain membera of your fraternity, iu a dia- le uetween liimeelf and the Ei'Ijo :

•• {EeiBitCB /ajtiifur.) — Quid net sBcerdotJum t (Echo re^io^fi/.)— Otiura !" PBOUT.

That reminilB me of Lardoer'a idea of " otium cum digni- " wbicfa be propoBes to read thus — ottum cam diggin' V / — The sugar and the materialfl here for Mr. Bellew.

COHKET.

B was a witty tbing, anrf a severe thing, said of the K._u. jii family at Kome, when they took the stones of the Djihitheatrum Flavium to build them their palaz^o : ^od non feeerant Barbari, hoc fecerunt Barberini." But jiiuk Jack Bellew, in his " Chronicle," made as poiuted u Biirk on Sir Thomas Deane, knight and builder, who bought B old furniture and gulted the old cnatle of Blarney : Cbe Dana," quotU Jack, "have always been pillaging old

SCOTT.

Wboever connived at or abetted the deBtruetion of that ^^ " m, or took any part in the transaction, had the

il of a Gotb J and the " Chronicle " could not say leas.

COKBBT.

Bellew hna vented bis indignation in a soog, wliich, if

88 FATHEB FBOVT's BEUQUXS.

called on by so distinguished an antiquary, he will, no doubt, sing;. And first let me propose the " Liberty of the Press " and the ''Cork Chronicle," — nine times nine, standing. Hurra!

Sacit Selkio'i^ dong«

AiB— " 0 %oeepfor the hour /"

Oh ! the muse shed a tear

When the cruel auctioneer, With a hammer in his hand, to sweet Blarney came!

Lady Jeffery*8 ghost

Left the Stygian coast, And shriek'd the live-long night for her grandson's shame.

The Vandal's hammer fell,

And we know full well Who bought the castle furniture and fixtures, O !

And took off in a cart

fTwas enough to break one's heart !) All the statues made of lead, and the pictures, O !

Tou'rc the man I mean, hight

Sir Thomas Deane, knight. Whom the people have no reason to thank at all ;

But for you those things so old

Sure would never have been sold. Nor the fox be looking out from the banquet-halL

Oh, ye pull'd at such a rate

At every wainscoting and grate, Determin'd the old house to sack and garble, 01

That you didn't leave a splinter.

To keep out the could winter. Except a limestone chimney-piece of marble, O !

And tlicre the place was lefl

Where bold King Charles the Twelfth Hung, before his portrait went upon a journey, O!

Och! the family's itch

For going to law was sitch, Tliat they bound liim long before to an attorney, O t

But still the magic stone

(Blessings on it !) is not flown. To which a debt of gratitude Pat Lardner owes :

Kiss that block, if you're a dunce.

And you'll emulate at once The genius who to fame by dint of blarney rose.

UKujIj ,. SCOTT,

^A day tQ ,j^ BewBw.

K*« I»S '" '»w in , !'""« in Wi 1.^ "'"I «ftep nJl 1

"»..

. "osbkt

'"VJoro!

;sBn= ,, y^ and B..J.

H^ "^iieut figure of ttie

00 7ATHSB PSOUT*S BELIQUSS.

PBOUT.

Swift says that Jupiter was originally a mere corruption of " Jew Peter" You have given an edition of the Dean, Sir Walter ?

SCOTT.

Yes ; but to return to your Blarney statue : I wonder the peasantry did not rescue, vi et armis, the ornaments of their immortal groves from the grasp of the barbarians. I hap- pened to be in Paris when the allies took away the sculp- tured treasures of the Louvre, and the Venetian horses of the Carrousel ; and I well remember the indignation of the sons of France. Pray what was the connexion between Blarney Castle and Charles XII. of Sweden ?

BELLBW.

One of the Jeffery family served with distinction under the gallant Swede, and had received the royal portrait on his return to his native country, after a successful campaign against the Czar Peter. The picture was swindled out of Blarney by an attorney, to satisfy the costs of a law-suit.

OLDEN.

The Czar Peter was a consummate politician ; but when he chopped off the beards of the Itussians, and /breed his subjects by penal laws to shave their chins, he acted very unwisely; he should have procured a supply of eukeiny- getteiofif and effected his object by smooth means.

GOBBET.

Come, Olden, let us have one of your songs about that wonderful discovery.

OLDEN.

I'll willingly give you an ode in praise of the incomparable lather ; but I think it fair to state that my song, like my eukeirogeneion, is a modern imitation of a Greek original : you shall hear it in both languages.

THE WATEBOBisaa

©nim's J&ong.

""" I'-l to IDK StilTr-

If ihe land o

Or in £roU •ubtaranHi

tlip wave, Ocria,

MtxliUmuieiui, Karayaiois, r ty arniagi

Neu Knu'* big crater, Knntiy r( Miaiiymt/i,

Or nCRMi Uie equator, tlapa taiLirtf Airvoiy

Where, within St. Helena, there IJeth an laiifiipirov irioar n

It, BDm jeu li«ve got to Ito Cnpe of 'O^ev trXtofrti' uncpov,

DomI Ilinw. •■ tiyaO,\wtSotrpoc atpav,

Oood Hc^

Tu BTKEIPOPEKBI

bi^n lo expcrieoi.'e a eitd wont of

Bleu your lot

Oh the ipot, If you clisnpe to lar ejp on A fliuk of Eukcrirogi>ni:ioa i Far Ihm jou may safely rely on

I till* liquid there lies no deception

For CTon old Neptune,

WUose buahy chLu frightens , ,

Tbr grntn ugiuul of Tritons— M<yo( EfBomy

And who turns np the dtiep Aanav i);iiiv ru

With the huge Bowing sweep U ^nttii TpiTw

Of Lis tenglhy and pomwron* bcwd, — "^"i "'^ovti 6a*

Shonld he rub but hii throtOe Oiro«ic i|»wira

With Ihe foam of thia bottle, nuyw^oc (urofl

He'd find, nAa«n/iopc /Joi-,

To his mind, npoowwov (, yt

I a twintiiog tha mop would have uil K«roi>( afpii ti

fl (™Xkc

King Hebuehadnewar, NifiuxaJfa"

"howBBluru'd for Ilia iinstoagraziBi', On BXflpmrin ..^ ■'-■ iv

'or ILbt Hopp' J his aUowancB of praties, " Bcujinf ro oJuXdv

ad made him eat yraes on the banks of O /^apSapoc /i., SnXuv,

Supbntes), MeyoAijv npn.pwv Aiuif

WhOK sUlue Sir Thomna •''" ^A'D""- ^wKa*-.

Took from as ■, ^•" ^ <•«" P'5' Semap.

with tho ima«> of Csour : "t yvoaimi o ♦PAIEAP)

nu r'rank Cret«w<Jl will teil liie wholu ^a Eup np.iFr aval if

«ofT to Pnuer :) ^'V "C""- '"lOfl*'*.

boagh thn Ira him a eapilai ra.or, " 1-^" "" XO'T""'

■ with hi» hur E<'eflp..-oi, wA=.,c »v

DT vwit of Eukeiruguneii:

eqpu

' EVKElI'OrEN'ElOM,

92

TATHXB PSOTTTB BELIQUEP.

PBOTJT.

I don't tlimk it fair that Frank Cresswell should say no- thing all the evening. Up, up, mj hoy ! give us a speech or a stave of some kind or other. Have you never been at school ? Come, let us have '' Norval on the Grampian hills," or something or other.

Thus apostrophized, O Queen ! I put my wits together ; and, anxious to contribute my quota to the common fund of classic enjoyment, I selected the immortal ode of Campbell, and gave a Latin translation in rhyme as well as I could.

C|)e SattU of J^oi^enltnllen* Pralium apud Hohenlinden.

On Linden, yvhea the sun was low, Sol ruit cqbIo minnitque lumen, All bloodless layth* untrodden snow, Kix super terris jacet usquo And dark as winter was the flow munda,

Of Iser rolling rapidly. Et tenebros& fluit Iser undA

Flebile flumen !

But Linden saw another sight, When the drums beat at dead of

night, Commanding fires of death to light The darkness of the scenery.

By torch and trumpet fast array' d. Each horseman drew his battle-blade. And furious every charger neigh'd To join the dreadful rivalry.

Then shook the hills, by thimder

riven; Then rush'd the steed, to battle

driven : And louder than the bolts of heaven Far flashed the red artillery !

The combat thickens ! on, ye brave ! Who rush to glory or the grave. Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave,

Namque noctumus simul arsit ignis. Tympanum rauco sonuit boatu, Dum micant flammis, agitante flatu,

Bura malignim

Jam dedit vocem tuba! fax ru- bentes Ordinat turmis equites, et vltrb Fert equos ardor^ ruftilAnte cultro.

Ire fiirentes.

Tum sono coUes tremuere belli, Tum ruit campo sonipes, et

8Dther Mugit, et rubr& tonitru Tidetnr Aroerevelli!

Ingruit strages ! cit6, ferte gi«e- sum! Quos triumphantem rodhnere pulchro

Lnd «)iarge with aJI thy ahinJrj t Tcmpori linrum yant I aut le-

pwobr

Sure cupreMum !

tew sbttU [wrt where niuiy Hie nbi eampom premuere molti,

BiHel! Trcia quJUii rari potris nde-

fiipw (hall ba their nindkig- bunt I

clievt, Heu •vpulchroli lUTe quot m>-

rtiwj tod benmth their feet nebunt,

Shall be » Mldier'* lepukhre 1 Pol t nee iniilli I

8ucb, 0 Queea! was my feeble effort: tad to your foB- terrag liiaduess 1 commit the luckteea abortion. Hoping ta Ve forgiveD by Tom Campbell for having upset into very in- adequate Laiin hia spirit-stiiriDg poetry. X made amende, towwer, to the jufltly enraged Muse, by eliciting the fol- lowing lUtliyrambic &om Dan Corbet, whom I challenged in aj turn :

San Cotbtt's douf[. The loory Tooth.

Bdiere me, desrProut, Shonir a tooth e'er grow looee in joar head.

Or bU out, AnA perchuice jou'd with one in its ■tend, SoOD jou'd see whiU my Art «iuld conlrKe for je |

When I'd forth wilh produce.

Foe jour rererenee'a use, A cunt beautiful tooth catrrtd from iiorj !

Which, when dinnE^r-tinie nomea.

Would »o well fit your gums,

That to male one aiiperior

'Twould puiilo a iairj, or

An; CDte Lepreo^wn

Hist trip* o'er the lawn.

Or the apirit that dwells

In the looel; harebells. Or ft nit^ from the big lake Ontario I

Twould fit in 10 tight,

So brilliant and bright.

And be niade of audi mpilol atuff.

Hint no food

Huat needs be eacbew'd On account of ita being too tough t

91 TATIUEB PBOVT 8 BBLIQUSB.

*Twould enable a sibyl The hardest sea-biscuit to nibble ; Nay, with such a sharp tusk, and such polished enamel^ Dear Prout, you could eat up a camel !

Aa I know you will judge With eye microscopic What I say on this delicate topic, And I wish to beware of all fudge^ I tell but the bare naked truth. And I hope I don't state what's irrelevant. When I say that this tooth, Brought from Africa, when In the depths of a palm-shaded glen It was captured by men. Then adorned in the full bloom of youth. The jaws of a blood-royal elephant.

We are told. That a surgeon of old — Oh, 'tis he was well skilled in the art of nosology ! For such was his knowledge, he Gould make you a nose bran new ! I scarce can believe it, can you P And still did a public most keen and diBoeming Acknowledge his learning ; Yea, such skill was his, That on any unfortunate phiz. By some luckless chance. In the wars of France, Deprived of its fleshy ridge. He d raise up a nasal bri(^e.

Now my genius is not so precocious As that of Dr. Tagliacotius, For I only profess to be versed in the art of dontciugy % To make you a nose " C'est toute autre chose ;" For at best, my dear Prout, Instead of a human snout.

You'd get but a sorry apology. But let mo alone ^

For stopping a gap, or correcting a flaw In a patient's jaw ; Or making a tooth that, like bone of your bo33^ Will outlive your own. And shine on in the grave when your spirit is flown.

TOE V&TEBOBl.SSUtUi CA&OCSAX.

I know tlieni'a a blorkbcad Thnt will put you ■ trotli np with wires, Ami thru, trhrn tlie clami]' ib ing tires,

Tliii moit inipuJent fetlow

WOl quietljr Wl you To uke it out of its socket, jLid put it bwk into jour waiBtaiat pocket 1

But 'ris not w with mine,

0 most latmed diriDe ! For without uij tporiouB auiiliorj, So flrmlr inOiod iu ;rour deil«r nuuiUarf,

To jour lut djiog itiomaDl 'twill sliiiie, UolesB 'tis knock'd out, In some desperaf* rout, B7 m niddea ducharge of BrtiUury.

Tluu the firmer 'twill grow is the wsui!r grows older. And Ihtai, when in death you sliull moiUJer, Like (hat Greek who had gottiui an ivorf shoulder, The dflight and unaioment of er'r; beholder, Toa'U he lung bj tlie poiMi iu your turn, O ! " Dtnlt PtouI hmtUToque Ftlopt ituv/nii ebamo I

ViBo. G'car;. //.

Come, old Prout, let'a have a stave! >ur beollib, my old oouk I

The excellent old mnn acknowledged tbe toa§t with be- ymnfi dl^niW. and tunefully warbled the Lalitt original of M of " tie Melodies."

^Zt^re Snnt'i jbons- Prout cantal.

K BnD Ninembcr the days of O! atimiui sa.-ios iu« lerua re<;o-

ttrt her (klthlrss sons hetmy'd Antfa qiuLm unti Tincta ded£ra

irfT, pati,

ikoi Ualachi wore the rollar of OEun UJttachu* torqve ut patrio

(olil, defensor hooorquo

Wludi his won from the proud Ibnti emtier^ pigniu abhoata

iaiader ; ten.

96 FATHEB PBOUT'B BELIQ17S8.

When Nial, with standard of green Tempore yezillo Tiridante eqiiit%-

unfurrd, bat in illo

Led the red-branch knighta to Nialue ante truoea ferridoe irs

danger, dnoee.

Ere the emerald gem of the weet- 1^ nee erant annl radiia in frtmta

em world tyranni

Was set in the brow of a stran- Fulgeat ut claria, insula gemma

ger. maru.

On Lough Neagh's banks as the Quando taoet yentua, Keagh« dhm

fisherman strays, margine lentoa

When the cool, cfdm eye*s de- Piscatorradit, Tespownt umbra

dining, cadit,

He sees the round towers of other Contemplans undas, ibi tmres

days rotundas

Beneath the waters shining. Credidit, inque lacika oppida

So shall memory oil, in dream sub- nit aquis.

lime, Sic memori in Bomnia res gesia

Catch a glimpse of the days that reponitur omnis

are over, Histonoosque dies rettulit ahna

And, sighing, look through the qaies,

waves of time, Gloria sublimis se efiert h fluetibus

For the long-feided glories they imis,

cover. Atque apparet ibi patria cara tibi

PBOTTT.

I now call on mj worthy friend Dowden, wHom I am Sony to see indulging in nothing but soda all the evening : come, President of the " Temperance," and ornament of" the Kirk," a song !

9tc& SoiDtlen'i^ dong*

Ais— << /ftf^ Me Maid of Lodi:*

I sing the fount of soda, Kpurrov fitv ro v^wp —

Tlmt sweetly springs for me. So Pindar sang of old.

And I hope to make this ode a Though modem bards — prak f »

Delightful melody ; dor ! —

For if ** Castalian** water Deem water dull and oold ;

Refreshed the tuneful nine. But if at my suggestion

Health to the Muse! IVe brought her Th^*d try the crystal spring,

A bubbling draught of mine. They'd find that, for diction.

Pure element's the thzug.

Vilk aods'i dieerfiil euence

Tb'T'iJ fill Uie brimming glsiti, And ueI thn mild 'ferreaoenue

Of bjdrogpn and nt t Hat qiuff Qencra'* liquor —

Source of ■ thouund illi ! Sot mill the poisonous ichor

Cork (to btr ahune!) diitila.

in i< k Inrkine rip^r,

7^t rtingft tbe nuddcnDd Houl, nd Rmi«i)n j»\i (lie iiiner.

While Folli dn.t<ij> Tlie bowl ; Cd rum, Inldr nf moLuiBl,

lodinrth nun lo ain j nil Car /lOfAnn guqiutei

1^ (loiluil 1)1 giu.

nl parvt air in Gitnre

Farmdcv tli(> ttnia draught, nd torma (lie iilplilikK mixlu Brewed b; our girntli: crnll.

ILL c*80traAL. 97

Nor IS lbs bavaisge injured Wlien UsTOUPod willi a lime ;

Or ir, ■hen sliglitly pngwed, 'Til uraUoved off in liiae.

Far from the t»nt« of foper*

Slcat bo roj lot to dwell, Spoure from interlope™

At jiesoeful "Sundai/'i milt." Free o'er mj luwn to wander.

Amid ivnei Qowers and fruit* ( A iid insj I BliU grow fonder

Of eheDiical punuitx.

Through life with step unnrine

To glide, nor wenlth to board. Content if B red herring

Adorn my frugul bou^ ; Wtiile Mnrlha, mild and pUcid,

Amin}f9 iha bousehold CHreft, A-nd pyroiigneout acid

The juiuy ham prepnres.

That is II capital defence of the Temperance Society, and ' KodAin compounds. Mr. Dowden, and clearly refutes the ■h Mierliou of Horace—

Dick, ycu bare a decided claim fur a aong on any of leata wlioae melodious pipe we have not as yet heard.

I call on O'Meara, whom I have detected watching, with Goretotu eye, somelluDg iu the distant landscape. A song.

1 un free to confess that yonder turkey, of which I can rt a glimpse through the kitchen-door, baa a must tempt-

08

TATHEB FBOUT'S BBLIQUBS.

ing aspect. Would it were spitted l—but, alas! this is Friday. However, there are substitutes even for a turkey, as I shall endeavour to demonstrate in the most elegant style of Franciscan I^atinity ; adding a free translation for the use of the ignorant.

dTnar ©'flJeara'g Song.

Why then, sure it was made hy a learn- ed owl. The " rule" by which I beg, ' Forbidding to eat of the tender fowl That hangs on yonder peg. But^ rot it ! no matter : For here on a platter. Sweet Margaret brings A food fit for kings ; And a meat CUnm and neat — That's an egg !

Sweet maid, She brings me an egg newly laid ! And to fast I need ne'er be afraid. For 'tis Teg That can find me an egg.

Cantilena Omearira.

I.

Nostrft non est regulA

Edenda gallina. Altera sed edula

Splendent in culina : Ora manus sedula

Affert mlhi bi«ia ! Est Margarita^ Quffi facit ita,

Fuellarom regiua !

Three diflfercnt ways there are of eat- ing them ; First boil'd, then fried with salt, — But there's a particular way of treating them. Where many a cook's at iault : For with parsley and flour 'Tia in Margaret's power To make uj) a dish, Keitliejr moat, fowl, nor fish ; But in Paris they call 't A neat Omelette. Sweet girl ! In truth, as in Latin, her name ia ft pearl.

When she gets Me a platter of nice omelettes.

n.

Triplex mos est cdere:

Prim6, genuina ; Dein, certo foMlere

Testa, et salinat Tum, nil herbse Isdere

Po»sunt aut flanna | Est Margarita, QuBB facit ita,

Puellarum reginAl

'. WiTEB0HAS3HU<l CABOfSAL.

tMi! 'til »11 in m^ tjo, uid ajoke, To call fiMlJo; a •orroWful jnku ; tim, of Dutilin-bii}' hurringt a kt'g,

And ui eg^, 1* enmigli for nil d^aiblr futk I %»om^ to Ibe fhiennt turf-»inoko, A mrU round the nui rni the fire ( .Fhifc Uw BWfrt j.;UoB Tolk L Aom Uie *{Eg-alieU> in broke In ibat inn. Who mv, ^It ha hare but the bmrt of a mui, N leal din aaft flaniB of desin^.

it bunu to • diulur the liaaiot

(Uala e nunfow.) Tempns atulta pleba abhorret

QuadrBgesiuiale ; Hideo Bed ai in menai forel, . H« iret non tam male ! Ova dum hue ii;:npha torret In olU cum «ale. Eat liUrgsrita, Qu« hc\t ila, Fuelliuimi Terms. !

I cuiocidr? nitli all that lias been said in praise of eggs ; 1 liATe writt«u a vtiluaibous esanj on the subject ; and as to frriui; them in a pan, it is decidedly the beet method. Tji.iT iiiLiTiious iniiti, CroiVia Crolter, waa the first among -'i.l rdi. V nli-rs on '■ UBcful knowledge" who adorn this utili- Tn- .1.1 I :-icii to discover the si rikt ag reserab lance that exists U'lui'iti iluse two delightful objects in natural history, a •litity and a fritd tgg. Eifga broken into a pan seem enrir- Hed with a whitish border, having a yeilow nucleifB in the crntfp; and the similar appearance of the field-daisy ought t(i have lung since drawn the notice of Wordsworth. Mean- (iiii«, in the matter of firing eggs, care should be taken not to overdo them, as an old pliilotwpher has said — /itXim ro tu*. But let nonp imagine that in all 1 have said I intend to hint, in tbo nsmotcBt manner, any approval of that barbarous and tmtulural eombination — that burrid amalgam, yclept a pameaht, tJmu which nothing can be more detestable.

I Bato 5011 any objectiiTD. learned host, to our hearing n '*0 nutrumcmtal miiaic? Huppoae we got a tune on the e ? I uuiU^nttind your maji, Torry Callaghan, can c Ui« bofc* t^ '>U">o purpose.

11 2

100 rATHBB PB0UT*8 BXLIQ1T£S.

PEOUT.

Terrjr ! come in, and bring your pipes !

Teny, nothing loath, came, though with some diffi and rather unsteadily, from the kitchen ; and having blisbed himself on a three-legged stool (the usual » Fythonic inspiration), ^re, after a short prelude, tfa lowing harmonious strain, with vocal accompaniment 1 the tuneful drone of the bags : in which arrangeme strictly adhered to the Homeric practice ; for we fine the most approved and highly gifted minstrels of the '* sey," (especially that model among the bards of anti Demodocus), owing to their contempt for wind-instrui were enabled to play and sing at the same time ; but n the lyre, the plectrum, the ^op/jkty^, the chelys, the te or the barbiton, afford such facilities for the concom of voice and music as that wondrous engine of harmon; Celtic bagpipe, called " corne muse " by the French, par excellence "comu musa.^* Terry, having exalted his sang thus :

Being a full and true Account of the Storming of Blarney Cast^ the united forces of Cromwell, Ireton, and Fairfax, in 1628

Ant— ''Pm akin to the CaUagham,**

O Blarney Castle, my darlint !

Sure you're nothing at aU but a stone Wrapt m ivy— a nest for all yarmint,

Sinee the ould Lord Clancarty is gone. Och ! 'tis you that was once strong and aincienti

And ye kep all the Sassenachs down, While fighting them battles that aint yet

Forgotten by martial renown.

O Blarney* Castle, &o.

Bad luck to that robber, ould Crommill ! That plundered our beautiful fort ;

We'll never forgive him, though some will- Saxons ! such as G«orge £napp and his soit.

But they t«ll us the day '11 oome, when Dannel Will purge the whole country, and drive

All the Sassenachs into the chMinel, Nor leave a Cromwellian alive.

O Blarney Castle, Ac

TILE W^TEBOAASSHILL CAKOUS&l..

Cnne One day cliussj KoU'i uelj cerpHt,

Clod ID copper, wu aeeo an our plutii j When ha roojed over here lik? a porfioiee,

In two Qr IhrM liuaken from S)iaiD ! And b«kiue that he was h frcctimsan

H» mounted b butlering-run, And into her mouth, full of ttu»on,

Tiretity pound of gimnowder hu'd cram. O Blarney Castle, Ac. So oheD the bnve boja of Cluictrtj

Looked otcr their battle menl-nuU, Thnr uw wicked OliTer'i partj

All & ftedjog on powder mod ball ; jlnd Uul gininl that married hie daughter.

Wid s heap of grape-Bhol in his jaw- That'* bonld Iretoo, to iamoua for ilaughttr—

And he wu his brolhcr-in-law.

O Blame; Cutle, Ac. Ilunr Sred off their boIleK like thunder,

iliat whizied t hrnneb the air like B anatM | And thej mitde the ould castle (no wonder 1)

With all il« foundations to ahakc. While the Irith had nothing to aboot off

But their bows and their orraa, the sowls I WaTpoDt at for the wan of old PtuUrch,

And perhaps mighty ftood for wild fowls, O Blarney Ciulle, te. Och ! 'twu Oromniill then gave the dark l«keli—

For In the block art he ««« deep ; And tho' the ejea of the Irish stood open,

Thi:^ found themselTea all bsl aileepl With his jack- boots he stepped on the water.

And he walked clanu righb over the take i While his sodgers thej all followed oftcr.

As dry as a duck or a drake.

O Bkroey Caslte, Ic. Then the gates he burnt down to a cinder.

And the roof be demolighcd likewise ; 0 1 the rsflfra tbej flamed out hke tinder.

And the buildin'jtarjrf up to the ikics. And he gare the estate to the Jeb'ers,

With the dury, the cow% and the hay i And thpy lieed there in clover like heifers.

As their anc«Con do to this day.

O Blnmuy Castle, Ac

A mw the song of Terry, in the chonis of which ne kided hj the iiympatbetic barytou of Jack Bellew'i

102 7ATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQ1TE8.

voice, never silent when his country's woes are the theme of eloquence or minstrelsy. An incipient Bomnolen<rf^ be- gan, however, to manifest itself in Corbet and Dick J)ow- den ; and I confess I myself can recoUect little else of the occurrences of the evening. Wherefore with this epilogue we conclude our account of the repast on Watergrasshill, ob- serving that Sir Walter Scott was highly pleased with the sacerdotal banquet, and expressed himself so to EInapp ; to whom, on their return in a post-chaise to Cork, ne ex- claimed,

^ Froniis jucund^ coenam produzimuB illam.'* — Hoa.

No. IV.

DEAK swift's MADNESS. A TALE OE A CHUBIT.

dTtem ti)e $reut ^aperitf.

" O thou, whatever title please thine car, Dean, Drapier, Bickerataff, or Gulliver — Whether thou choose Cervantes' serious air, Or laugh and shake in Rab'lais' easy chair, Or praise the court, or magnify mankind. Or thy grieved country's copper chains unbind !"

POPK.

We are perfectly prepared for the overwhelming burst of felicitation which we shall elicit from a sympathizing public, when we announce the glad tidings of the safe amval in London of the Watergrasshill " chest," fraught with trei- Hures such as no Spanish galleon ever wafted from Manilla or Peru into the waters of the Gruadalquiver. From the re- mote Irish highland where Prout wasted so much Athenian suavity on the desert air, unnoticed and unappreciated by the rude tenants of the hamlet, his trunk of posthumouB papers has been brought into our cabinet ; and there it stands before us, like unto the Trojan horse, replete with the armedoffspring ofthe great man's brain,rightwell packed with

BBAK SWiyr'S MADNKMB. 103

Mie stuffing — ay, pregnant with life and glory ! Haply bns Kite decreed llmt it iliould fall into proper hands ano lit- custody ; eliie to wliat vile uaea might not thiti vile boi mmed lumber have been iiriwittiugly converted — we ikuddcr in "pirit at the jJiMhable deMtiny that would have ivaited it. The Caliph Omar wanuod the batli of Alei- indria iirith Ptoiemy'a library ; and the " I'rout Papers " gbt ere unw be lighting tlie pipes uf " the boys " in Blur- j Lane, wliile the chest itaelF might affurd niuteriala (or a Siree-legged etool — '■ Trnnem ficutuiu, mitiUi l^twm .'"

lu verity it oitglit to be tdlowable at times to indulge in jut most pleasing opiate, eelf-applause ; and having made 90 goodly RD acquisition, why Bnould not wo chiiL-kk- in- tnrdly while congratulated from without, ever and anuu glancing an eye of satisfoctioa at the cheat :

" Mllii plaudo ipsD domj, umul bo eontemplor jn nrcA '."

Hewr did that learned ei-Jesuit, AngeloMai, now librarian

of the Vatican, rejoice more over a "palimpsest "MS. of some

cruy old monk, io which liia quick eye fondly bad detected

the long-lost, decade of Livy — never did friend Pettigrew

gloBt over a newly uncolfined mummy — (warranted of the

pv of Scsvstris) — never did (that living mummy) Maurice

de IWleyrand exult over a. fresh bundle of Palmerstonian

Protocols, with more internal complacencjr, — than did we,

obilating over this aacerdota! anthology, this miscellany "in

POftnla," at Isnt tutfely lodged in our poaaegBion.

ApTojmt. We Bhould mention that we had jjreviously the

Hour of ret-eiving from his Eicellency Prince Maurice

foresaid) the following note, to which it grieved ua to

a flat negative. •LePriucede Talleyrand prie Mr. Olivieb Yoeke d'agn^er retpectueux bommogea. Ayauteu I'avantagede eounaitre ' sonellement feu TAob^ de Prout lora de aes t'tudea d la rbonae en 1778, il aerait charm^. sitflt qu'arrivorout lea tiers de ce respectable ecclesioatique. d'osBtater \ I'ouver- du coffre. Cette faveur, qu'il ae flatte d'obtenir de la reconnue de Monsieur Yobee, il sfaura duemeut ipr^cier.

*■ Amhanait tU F/anet. Hatiovre Sf. "«3/"in."

104 rJLTHJBB PSOUT*S BSIiIQirSS.

We suspected at onoe, and our surmise has proTed correet^ that many documents would be found referring to Marie Antoinette's betrayers, and the practices of those three prime intriguers, Mirabeau, Cagliostro, and Prince Maurice; so that we did well in eschewing the honour intended us in overhauling these papers — Xon ** TaJley " auxilio !

We hate a flourish of trumpets ; and though we could justly command all the clarions of renown to usher in these Proiit ¥rritings, let theirown intrinsic worth bethe sole herald of their fame. We are not like the rest of men — ^that

is, such as Lardner and Bob ^Montgomery — obliged to inflate our cheeks with incessant effort to olow our com- modities into notoriety. No ! we are not disciples in the school of Puffendorf : FrouVsJish will be found firesh and substantial — not '' blo¥m," as happens too frequently in the Jiterary market. We have more than once acknowledged the unsought and unpprchased plaudits of our contempora- ries : but it is also to thb imperishable verdict of posterity that we ultimately look for a ratification of modem applause ; with Cicero we exclaim — * MemoriA vestri, Quirites, nostne res vivent, sermonibus crescent, litterarum monumentis veterascent et corroborabuntur!" Yes ! while the epheme- ral writers of the day, mere bubbles on the surface of the flood, will become extinct in succession, — while a few, more lucky than their comrade dunces, may continue for a space to swim with the aid of those vile bladders, news-

Saper puffs, Father Prout will be seen floating triumphantly own the stream of time, secure and buoyant in a genuine " Cork " jacket.

We owe it to the public to account for the delay exp^* enced in the transmission of the *' chest'* from Watergrasshill to oiu* hands. The fact is, that at a meeting of the parishioners held on the subject (Mat Horrogan, of Blarney, in the chair), it was resolved, " That Terry Callaghan, being a tall and trustworthy man, able to do credit to the village in London, and carry eleven stone weight (the precise tariff of the trunk), should be sent at the pubUc expense, rt^ Bristol, with the coffer strapped to his shoulders, and plenty of the wherewithal to procure * refreshment * on the western road, mtil he should deliver the same at Mr. Eraser's, B^ent Street, with the compliments of the parish." Terry, wisely

beat; bwtft's midxesi. 1(J5

cansi<l«riD^. like the CoinniisBiiinera of the Deocan prize- moaiBf, that the occupation vaa too good a thing not to make it lust as lotig lu iKjaaiblu, kept refrcahing himself, at the cost af the pnrochiui committee, on the great weatem ro«d, and only arrived lait weeli lu Eegent Street. Haviiig duly stopped to admire Lady Aldborough'e " round tower, »et up to honour the Duke of York, and elbowed his way through the " Sqitadrint," he at last mode his appearance at our ofiioe ; anil when be had there discharged nie load, went off to take pot-luck with Feargua O'Connor.

Herv, then, we are enabled, no longer Hefemng the pro- mised boon, to lay before the public tho first of the " Ppout Papere ;" breaking bulk, to use a seaman's phrase, and pro- ducing at hazard a specimen of what is contained in the cofier brooght hither on the shoulders of tall and trust- worthy Terry CuUa^'han.

" Pondera rea ail4 Tord et Catigmt merm*."

OLIVER TOEKJS.

(, 1.* July, 1834.

H'alrrs,rauAill, March 1830. Tn a few years, and a full century shall hare elapsed since tho death of Dr. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's. Tea, 0 my friends ! if such I may presume to designate you into I whose haniU, when I am gathered to the silent tomb, these I writinga shall fall, and to whose kindly perusal I commend tbem, bequeathing, at the same time, the posthumous bless- ing of n feeble and toil-worn old man — yes. when a few win- ter* nii'ire shall have added to the accumulated snow of age tiiat Weighs on the hoary head of the pastor of this upland, aud a short period sball have rolled on in the dull monotony of these Intt«r days, the centenary cycle will be fully com- pU-ted, the secular anthem of dirge-like solemnity mav be ■one, since the grave dosed for ever on one whom Britain justly rweres as the most upright, intuitive, and gii^d of IWT ngee ; and whom Ireland, when the fi^euiied hour of ■trite shall have pissed away, and the turbulence of parties riull bare subsided into a national calm, will hail witli t^a

106 TATHEfi FBOUT'b BELIQUXS.

rapture of returning reason, as the first, the best, the mighti- est of her sons. The long arrears of gratitude to the only true disinterested champion of her people will then be paid— the long-deferred apotheosis of the patriot-divine will then take place— the shamefully- forgotten debt of glory which the lustre of his genius shed around his semi-barbarous country- men will be deeply and feelingly remembered ; the old land- mark of genuine worth will be discovered in the ebbing of modem agitation, and due honour will be rendered by a more enlightened age to the keen and scrutinizing philoso-

gher, the scanner of whatever lies hidden in the folds of the uman heart, the prophetic seer of coming things, the un- sparing satirist of contemporary delinquency, the stem Khadamanthus of the political and of the literary world, the star of a benighted land, the lance and the buckler of Israel —

" We no'er shall look upon his like again.'**

And still why must I recall (what I would fain ob- literate) the ever-painful fact, — graven, alas! too inde- libly on the stubborn tablets of his biographers, chronicled in the annals of the country, and, above aU, firmly and fatally established by the monumental record of hia own philanthropic munificence, — the disastrous fact, that ere this brilliant light of our island was quenched in death, to- wards the close of the year 1745 — long before that sad consummation, the fiame had wavered wild and flickered fit- fully in its lamp of clay, casting around shadows of ghastly form, and soon assuming a strange and melancholy hue, that made every well-wisher hail as a blessing the event of iti

• Note in Prout*8 handwriting : " Doyle, of Carlow, fiuntlj resemble* him. Bold, honest, disinterested, an able writer, a scholar, a gentle- man ; a bishop, too, in our church, with none of the shallow pecumtiT, siUj hauteur, aiTant selfishness, and anile dotage, which maj be some- times covered, hut not hidden, under a mitre. Swift demolished, in his day, Woods and his bad half}>cncc ; Doyle denounced Daniel and his box of coppers. A provision for the starving Irish was called for br ' the Dean,' and was sued for by * J. £. L.' Alas ! when will the Gxh ▼emment awaken to the voice of our island's best and most enlightened

Eatriots P Truly, it hath * Moses and the prophets '—doth the Legi^ kture wait until one come from the dead ?"

Doyle IB since dead — but ** defunctus adhuc loquitur T'— O. T.

DEAJI BWIPT'S SliD\E3S. 107

iaal extlnctitm in the coiil and dismal vaults of St. Patrit-k't H In what iiij-§t*rioii8 struggle hia t^ganlic intyllect liad been doven liown, Done could IcU. But the evil genius of in- Woily linil clenrly obtained a mnsterdom over I'aciiltiea the llaoat powerful, tuid cudowments the highest, that haveMl^n to the lot of man.

We are tol J of OL-t-asiooul houra of respite from the fanga i<rf his tormenting tai/tut. — we leam of momenta when the lOB divintor" was snflVred to go loose from its gaoler, to roam back, as it were on "parole," into the dorni- ions uf reasoD, like the ghost of the murdered king, ollow- i to revisit, for a brief space, the glimpses of our glorious ifin&aroeDt. — but such gleams of mental enlightenment were ibut few, and short in their duration. They were like tbe flaah that is seen to illumine the wreck when all hope is SDne, and. Gercelj burating athwart the darkneRS, appears out to seal the doom of the cargo and the mariners— inter- 's of lugubrious transport, described by our native bard »

full rapidly would that once clear and aagnciouaapirit

Iter and relapse into the torpor of idiocy. His large, ei-

— -'ve ^■es, rolling wildly, would at times eihJbit, as it

. the inward working of his reason, essaying ia vain to

off the aiwhtmore that sat triumphant there, impeding

current ol thought, once so brisa and brilliant, ^oble

Bud elaaeie in the very writliinga of delirium, and ofttn

Bublime. he would appear a living image of the sculptured

Xftoeoon. battling with a serpent that had grasped, not the

body, but the mind, in its eutangling folda. Yet must we

xcpest the sad truth, and again record in sorrow, that the

'"rt two or three years of Jonathan Swift presented nothiug

it the eluittered remnants of what bad been a powerfully

tnixed being, to whom it ought to have beeu allotted,

ording to our faint notions, to carry unimpaired and un-

linished into the hands of Him who gave such varied

id formed sui-h a goodlv intellect, the stores of

wisdom and the overflowing measure of talents well

i|dofed : but such was not tbe counsel of an iuscrut&bVe

^08 VATHEB PBOUT's BEUQUES.

providence, whose decree was to be fulfilled in the pros- tration of a mighty understanding —

Aiog d* srsXs/fro jSouXij.

And here let me pause — for a sadlj pleasing remixiiaoenoe steals across my mind, a recollection of youthful days. I love to fix, in its flight, a transitory idea ; and I freely plead the privilege of discursiveness conceded to the garrulity of old age. When my course of early travel led me to wander in search of science, and I sought abroad that scholastic knowledge which was denied to us at home in those evil dajrs ; when, by force of legislation, I became, like others of my clerical brethren, a " peripatetic" philosopher — ^like them compelled to perambulate some part of Europe in quest of professional education, — the sunny provinces of southern France were the regions of my choice ; and my first glean- ings of literature were gathered on the banks of that mighty stream so faithfully characterised by Burdigala's native poet Ausonius, in his classic enumeration :

" Lentut Arar, Bhodanusque eekr^ PLENUBque GABUMzrA."

One day, a goatherd, who fed his shaggy flock along the river, was heard by me, as, seated on the lofty bank, he gazed on the shining flood, to sing a favourite carol of the country. *Twas but a simple ballad ; yet it struck me as a neat illua- tration of the ancient parallel between the flow of human life and the course of the running waters ; and thus it began:

** Saint ! O yieux fleuve, qui coulez par la plainel H^las ! un mdme cours ici baa noiia entraine—

Egal est en tout notre sort : Tons deux nous foumissons la m^me cam^re ; Car un m^me destin nous m^ne, O riyi^ I —

Yous ik la mer I nous & la mortl*

So sang the rustic minstrel. But it has occurred to me, calmly and sorrowfully pondering on the fate of Swift, that although this melancholy resembutnce, so often alluded to in Scriptural allegory, may hold good in the general fortunes of mankind, still has it been denied to some to complete in

^

DEAN swift's UADNESK. 109

their personal history tLe sad similitude ; for not a fev, and thece some of the most exalted of our Hpecies, have been forbidden to glide into the Ocean of Eternity bringing thereunto the fulness of their iife-current with its brim- ming bauke un drained.

Who that has ever gazed on the glorious Bhine, coeval in historic metnoiy with the first Ctpsar, and boftating iiiuch previous traditionary renown, at the spot where it gushes aoia its Alpine source, would not augur to it, with the poet, &u luiinterrupted career, and an ever-growing volume of copious exuberance f

" An pted du Hont Addllc, entre mille roaeaui, I« Khiii Innqoil, H fier du prngr^ de sm eftiuc, AppuTe d'ane roun sur Mm uma peaohaDto, ffendort ui bnut Battaur de son ondc nuiBaiit«."

BonJuiT.

Whence if it is viewed sweeping in brilliant cataracts through , many a mountain glen, and many a woodland scene, until it glides from the realms of romance into the business of life, and forms ihe majestic boundary of two riva) nations, con- ferring benefits on both— reflecting from the broad expanse of its waters anon the mellow vineyards of Johannisberg, anon the boary crags of Drachenfela — who then could venture to foretell that so splendid an alliance of usefulness and gmndeur was destined to be dissolved — that von rich flood would never gaiu that ocean into whose Dosom a thousaud rivulets flow on with unimpeded gravitation, but would disappear in the quagmires of Helvoetsiuys, be lost in the swamps of Eianders, or absorbed in the sands of Holland r

Tet such is the course of the Ehine, and such was the destiny of Swift, — of that man the outpourings of whose ftbundant mind fertilized ^ke the land of his fathers * and the land of his birth : that man the vcr^ overflowings of whose strange genius were looked on by his contemporaries srith delight, and welcomed ns the inundations of the Nile are hajleil by the men of Egypt.

110 TATHEB FBOITT's RSLIQinBS.

A deep and hallowed motive impels me to select that last and dreaiy period of his career for the subject of spedal analysis ; to elucidate its secret history, and to examme it in all its bearings ; eliminating conjecture, and substituting fact ; prepared to demolish the visionary superstructure of hypothesis, and to place the matter on its simple basifl of truth and reality.

It is far from my purpose and far from my heart to tread on such solemn ground save with becoming awe and with feet duly unshodden. If, then, in the foUowing pages, I dare to unseal the long-closed well, think not that I seek to desecrate the fountain : if it devolves on me to lift the veil, fear not that I mean to profane the sanctuary : tarry iintil this paper shall have been perused to its close ; nor will it faU from your grasp without leaving behind it a conviction that its contents were traced by no unfriendly hand, and by no unwarranted biographer : for if a bald spot were to be found on the head of Jonathan Swift, the hand of Andrew Prout should be the first to cover it with laurels.

There is a something sacred about insanity: the traditions of every country agree in flinging a halo of mysterious dis- tinction around the unhappy mortal stricken with so sad and so lonely a visitation. The poet who most studied from nature and least from books, the immortal Shakespeare, has never made our souls thrill with more intense sympathy than when his personages are brought before us bereft of the guidance of reason. The grey hairs of King Lear are silvered over with additional veneration when he raves ; and the wild flower of insanity is the tenderest that decks the pure garland of Ophelia. The story of Orestes has furnished Greek tragedy with its most powerful emotions ; and never did the mighty Talma sway with more irresistible dominion the assembled men of France, than when he personated the fury-driven maniac of Euripides, revived on the French stage by the muse of Voltaire. We know that among rude and untutored nations madness is of rare occurrence, and its in- stances few indeed. But though its frequency in more re- fined and civilised society has taken away much of the deferential homage paid to it in primitive times, still, in the palmiest days of G-reek and Boman illumination, the oracles of Delphi iound their fitting organ in the frenzy of the

HKXS SWIFT S UAUSESa 111

Pytfaonoflg ; and tUrouj;)) bucIi channels doea the Latia iTriet represent the Deity eoramunicfttiiig with uiau ;

ilenUm MCflrdnum inoula Pjlliiiu."

But It-t OB tool( into OUT owo breasts, and acknowledge that, with »Il the fasttdioiis priil*! of fancied superiority, and in the full plenitude of our uudimmed reason, we cinmot tiice the hrfttthijig ruin of a noble iiitellei^t undismajed. Tlie broken rounds, the vague inteusilv of that gaze, those whispt-rings tlutl seem to commune witn the vorld of spirits, the plar uf th^ree fealnres, still iiupresHed with the signet of immortnlity, though illegible to our eje, strike ua ■with that awe which the obelisk uf the desert, with its insculptnred riddles, in- spires into the Arabian shepherd. An oriental opinion makes mcli beings the favourites of Heaven : and tbe strong tinc- ture of ejiatern ideas, so disceruible on many points in Ire- Innd, is here also perceptible ; for a bom idiot among the iilfcpring of an Irish cabin is prized as a family jju/ZarfiHw.

To coutt-mplnte what was once great and resplendent in iLe eyes of man slowly mouldering in decay, has never been an unprofi table eiercise of thought ; and to muse ovei- reason itKlf fallen and prostrate, cannot fail to teach us our com- plt^r deficintcy. If to dwell among ruins aod amid seput- rhm — to Mplore the pillared grandeur of the ttmantless Palmyn. or the crumbling wreck of that Roman amphi- tbestre once manned with applauding thousands and rife with joy. now overgrown with shrubs and haunted by the owl — il'to siililotjuiie in the valley where autumnal leaves are thickly etrewu. ever reminding us by their incessant nuLlr. aa we tread tlie path, " that all that's bright must fade ;" — if these things beget that mood of soul in which tbc suggrstiuns of Heaven find readiest adoption, — how forciblv must tbe wreck uf mind itself, and the mournful iihTrations of that faculty by which most we assimilate to uur Maker, humble our self-sufficiency, and bend down our ■pirit in stioraliun ! It is in truth a. sad bereavement, a dis- •evCTing of ties long cherished, a parting scene melancholy to witness, when the ethereal companion of this clay takea its dcptrl ure, an outcast from the eartlily coil that it once ih intellectual fire, aud wanders astray, cheerless

112 TATHEB PBOVI*a BSLIQUES.

and friendless, beyond the picturings of poetry to describe;- a picture realised in Swift, who, more tnan Adrian, was ei

** Am'nnila yagula, blandula, ** Wee soul, fond mnblor, whither, bkj^ Hospes comesque oorporis, Whither, boon comrade, fleest away? Qu» nunc abibis in loca ? Ill canst thou bear the bitter blasts Pallidula, rigida, nudula. Houseless, unclad, affVight, aghaat ;

Nee, ut soles, dabis jocos !** Jocund no more ! and hushed the mirth

That gladden'd oft the Bons of earth!"

JS'or unloath am I to confess that such contemplations hare won upon me in the decline of years. Youth has its appro- priate pursuits ; and to him who stands on the threshold of me, with all its gaieties and festive hours spread in alluring blandishment before him, such musings may come amiss, and such studies may offer no attraction. We are then eager to mingle in the crowd of active existence, and to mix with those who swarm and jostle each other on the molehill of this world — ^

** Towered cities please us then. And the busy hum of men !"

But to me, numbering fourscore years, and full tired of the frivolities of modem wisdom, metaphysical inquiry returns with all its charms, fresh as when first I coiu*tea, in the halls of Sorbonne, the science of the soul. On this barreii hill where my lot is fallen, in that " sunset of life " which is said to " bring mystical lore," I love to investigate subjects such as these.

*' And may mj lamp, at midnight hour, Be seen in some high, lonelj tower. Seeking, with Plato, to unfold What realms or what vast regions hold Th* immortal soul that hath forsook Its mansion in this fleshy nook ! And may, at length, my weary age Find out some peaceful hermitage. Till old experience doth attain To something like prophetic strain 1"

To fix the precise limits where sober reason*s well-rega* lated dominions end, and at what bourne the wild region of the fanciful commences, extending in many a tract of length- ened wilderness until it joins the remote and volcanic terri«

BtAN BVIFT'3 UAD<CK8B.

toTT of downright insniiit}-, — were a task wliich tlie most Jeeply-pead psyi^hologiat itiiglit utleinpt iu vnin. llijipek-ea would be the endeaTuiir to settle the exact cooHne's ; tVir no- whrre is tliere bo much debat^able groutid, bo nmcU un- marked frtintiep, »ci nm<;li undetermined boundary. The degrees ol* lougitudi? and latitude have never been laid duwu, nor, that 1 learn, ever calculated at all, for wont of a really •enaible eolid man to act the part of a firat meridiaD. Th« •ame remark is applicable to a congenial Bubjcct, vi«. thitt state' of the iiumoji frame akin to iiisanitif, nJid called inlixti. eafioH : fur there nre here alio various de^p^ea of intensity ; and where ou earth (eiceiit perhaps in the person of my friend Dick Dowden.) will yuu find, kito. fpi'a ie«i xara iufttt a ensEit man, according with the description iu a hymn of our church liturgy ?

" Qui piiu, prudco*, hiuniliB, pudloiu,

£r Bjficio Bm. Ham. dr timmwii Con/, non P..nl. ad ..,prr«,.

I remember well, when in 1S15 the present Lord Chan- cellor (then simple Horry Brougham) came to this part of the country (attracted hither by the fame of our IJlamey- etnne), having hod the pleasure of hie society one summer evening in this bumble dwelling, and conversing with him looa; aud loudly on the topic of inebriation. He had certaiiilv taken a drop extra, but perhaps was therefore better quali- fied for debating tlie eutrject, vit. at what firicite point drunk- ainf*t Mil in, atiiitchalu tht exact low icaUr-mark. He firrt idtorated a tlirrf-boUU tyatem, hut enlarged' his view of the

3ijpsiiun as he went on, until he re minded me of those spirita i-m-rilx-d bv Stilton, who sat apart on a hill retired, discusa- ing fretwiu,JixedfaU,foreknowtidge ahtolutf,

" And fuuad do cikI, ia wandering mHies lo«l!"

jf idea of the matter was very eiinple, although 1 had some 'a bringing bioL round to the true understanding 1 for he ia obstinate by nature, and, like the vUlage rter, whom he has sent " abroad,"

■ Et«ii though taiiqiiiibtd, lie can argue Btill."

114 FATHER PBOrx'S RELIQTTES.

I 8lie\ve(l him tliat the poet Lucretius, in his elaborate work *' l)e Natura Reruiii," had long since established a criterion, or standard — a sort of clepsydra, to ascertain the final de- parture of sobriety, — being the well-known phenomenon of reduplication in the visuai orb, that sort of second-sight common among the Scotch :

" Bina lucemarum flagrantia lumina flammis, Et duplies hominum Tultas et corpora bina !**

LucBETius, lib. It. 452.

But, unfortunately, just as I thought I had placed my opinions in their most luminous point of view, I found that poor Harry was completely fuddled, so as to be unconscious of all I could urge during the rest of the evening ; for, as Tom Moore says in * Lalla Eookh,'

" the dedicate chain

Of thought, once tangled, could not clear again.**

It has long ago been laid down as a maxim by Seneca, that •** nullum magnum ingenium sine mixturi insanise." Newton was decidedly mad when he wrote his comment onBevelations; so, I think, was Napier of the logarithms, when he achieved a similar exploit ; Bums was more than once labouring under delirium, of the kind called tremens : Tasso was acquainted with the cells of a madhouse ; Nathaniel Lee,* the dramatist,

• This fact concerning Lee I stumbled on in that olia podrida, the " Curiosities of Literature," of the elder D' Israeli. In hia chapter on the " Medicine of the Mind,*' (vol. i. second series : Murray, 1823), I find a passage which tells for my theory ; and I therefore insert it here, on the principle of je preiida mon bieti pariout okjeU (route : " Plutarch says, in one of his essays, that should the body sue the mind in a court of judicature for damages, it would be found that the mindwould prore to liave been a most ruinous tenant to its landlord.'* This idea seemed to me so ingenious, that I searched for it through all the metaphysical writings of the Bceotian sage ; and I find that Democritus, the laughing philosopher, first made the assertion about the Greek law of landlord and tenant retailed by himof CheronsBa: Otfiai fia\i<rra rovAtifiOKptrov ftircir, wc <( ''0 cotfia SiKa<TaiTo ry ypvxVj KUKtaona^ ovk av avrtiv avo^vytiv. Theophrastus enlarges on the same topic : Bto^patrroc aXtiBtQ eiTtv, iroXv T<it trutfiart rcXciv ivoiKiov tijv yj/vxv^' TlKfiova fitvrog to 9mpm TtiQ ^x^i airoXavu koku, fiti Kara Xoyov avri^ XP^V^^^^Q- See tlM magnificent edition of Plutarch's Moral Treatises, from the Clarendoa pri^s of Oxford, 1795, being HAOYT. TAUOIKA, torn L p. 87&.^

J?EOrT.

fiLAS vwi>'t's madness.

lis

wtien a tennnt of Bedlam, wrote a tragedy twenty-five acts long i and Sophoclps was nccueed before tue tribuuaj of the fparpia., and rmiy uciiuitted of insanity by the recitation of his lEdip. Colon. Paaeal was a miserable hypochondriac; the poet Cowper and the philoaoplier RousBeau were subject to lunacy ; Luis de Camoens died TOYin" in an hospital at Lis- t>on ; and. in an hospital nt Madrid, the same fate, with the same attendant madness, closed the career of tho author of "Don Quisote," the immortal Miguel Cervantes. Shelley «ru mad outright : and Bvron'e blood was deeply tainted with maniacal infusion. His uncle, the eighth lord, had been the homicide of his kindred, and hid nis remorse in the diomal cloisters of Newstead. He himself enumerates three of his maternal ancestors who died by their own hands. Last Frbruaiy (1S30}, Miss Itlitbanke, in the book she has put forth Uj the world, states herbeUef and that of her advisers. that ■' the Lord Byron was actually insane." And in Dr. Millingcn's book (the Surgeon of the Snliote brignde) we find these words attributed to the Childt : " I picture myself ■lowly expiring on a bed of torture, or terminating my days. like Swift, a grinning idiot." — Aniedetm of B^ron't Iltn«»i and OtaUk, iy Jt'Lirs Millikoek, p. 120. — London.

8lraugc to say, few men have been more exempt from t!io

oaual exciting causes of insanity than Swifl^. If ambition,

vanity, avance, intemperance, and the fury of sexual

posRon, be the ordinary determining agents of lunacy, then

abonld he hate proudly defied the approaehes of the evil

spirit, and withstood his attacks. As for ambitious cravings,

~ 't i« Well known that he sought not the smiles of the court,

lor ever sighed for ecclesiastical dignities. Though a church-

lan. ho bad none of the crafty, aspirin?, and intriguing

ktiia of a Wolsey or a MRzoriu. By the Doldnesa and can,

nrof his writings, he efiectuolly put a stop to that eccleai-

■lieal pnffenneut which the low-minded, the cunning, and

te by[>iH!rife', are sure to obtaiu : and of him it might be

ntlj taid, that the doors of cl&ricaJ promotion closed while

^ |{at«a of ^lory opened.

But ert-n fflt^y (mystic word ! ), has it not its fascinations,

Kwrrful at times even for the eagle eye of genius, and

Me of dimming for ever the intellectual orb that gawa

I fixedly 00 ita imdiance ? How often has splendid

IIG FATHER PROUT's RELIQUES.

talent been ita own executioner, and the best p^ift of Heaven supplied the dart that bereft its possessor of all that maketli existence valuable ! The very intensity of those feeling-: which refine and elevate the soul, has it not been found "to operate the work of ruin ?

** Twas thine owii genius gave the final blow,

And help'd to plant the wound tliat laid thee low. So the struck eagle, stretch'd upon the plain. No more through rolling clouds to soar again, Views his own feather on the fatal dart Which wing*d the shaft that quivers in his heart. Keen are his pangs, but keener far to feel lie nursed the pinion that impelled the steel ; While the same plumage that had warm*d his nest Drmks the last life-drop of his blooding breast."

So Byron sings in his happiest mood ; and so had sung be- fore him a young French poet, who died in early life, worn out by his own fervour :

*' Oui, Thomme ici has aux talents condamn^, Sur la t«rre en passant subUme infortune, Ne pent impunement achever une vie Que le Oiel surchargea du fardeau du ^cnie ! Souvent il meurt br^e dc ces celestes feux . , . Tel quelquefois I'oiscau du souverain des dieux, L'aigie, tombe du Iiaut des plaines immort4.*lle«, BHUe dufoudre ardmt qu*il portait tons tet ailet !**

CHSVEDOLLft.

I am fully aware that in Swift's case there was a commoa rumour among his countrymen in Ireland at the time, that over-study and too much learning had disturbed the equi- librium of the doctor's brain, and unsettled the equipoise of his cerebellum. The " most noble " Festus, who was a well- bred Italian gentleman, fell into the same vulgar error long ago with respect to St. Paul, and opined that much literaturo had made ot him a madman ! But surely such a sad con- fusion of materialism and spiritualism as that misconcepticm implies, will not require refutation. The villagers in Gold- smith's beautiful poem may have been excusable for adopt* ing so unscientific a theory ; but beyond the sphere of nuitie sages the hypothesis is intolerable :

** And still they gazed, and still their wonder grew. That one imall head could carry all he knew I**

DKAIT swift's

117

)W can the etliereal and incorporate atores of knowledge

n>me a physical weight, and turn out an incumbTance,

nerciaing undue preBsnre on the human brain ? — how can

sntol acquireineut be described m a body ponderoua P

" X folly to liken the crevioes of the cerebml gland to the

'in in an old bam bursting witb the rieheB of a collected

■i— rupimn< horrea meises—or to tbe crazy bark of

Jyntti when, being only fitted for tbe ligbt waftage of

l^it received tlie bulky personage of the ^npid :

Away with sueb fantaaies ! The more learned we grow, Qie better organised is our mind, the more prejudices we diake off ; and the stupid error which I coaibat is but a pre-^ fext and consolation for ignorance.

The ddiusions of love swayed not the stem mind of the Dean of St. Patrick's, nor could the freniy of passion ever rrerafaadow his clear underHtanding. Like a Dark gliding ^ a beautiful and regular canal, tbe soft hand of woman tOulH, with a single riband, draw him onward in a fair and rell-nrdcred channel ; but to drag him out of hie course into my dcTioua [lath, it was not in nature nor the most potent 'uKioatiou to aceonipliah. Stella, the cherished companion f bis life, his secretly wedded bride, ever exercised a mild ifluence oTer his nflectiona —

it hii Acquaintauceahip upunJy of thatdescriptii:

ith Vanessa (Mrs. Vaohomrigg) Lppoxedtohave been introduced

6y PUlo. For my part, haring eHibraced celibacy, I |Mnhsps little qunii lied for the di

these delicatr ., but 1 candidly confess, that never did Goldsmith opon ray good opinion, by his superior knowledge of revondite touches that ennoble the favourite character reapectsble divine, as when he attributca serere and mpromising trnets of monogamy to Dr. Primrose, vicar 'ueficld: thai being the next best state to the ons

118 FATHER PBOUT'8 BELIQVE8.

which I have adopted myself, in accordance with the Platonic philosophy of Virgil, and the example of Paul ;

" Quiqtte sacerdotes caati^ dum vita manebat ; Quique pii yates, et Phoebo digna locuti ; Omnibus his nivdl cinguntur tempors Yit4 !*'

jSneid. VI.

The covetousness of this world had no place in the breast of Swift, and never, consequently, was his mind liable to be shaken from its basis by the inroads of that overwhelming vice, avarice. Broad lands and manorial possessions he never sighed for; and, as Providence had g^ranted him a competency, he could well adopt the resignation of the poet, and exclaim, " Nil amplius oro." Nothing amused him more than the attempt of his friend Doctor Delany to excite his jealousy by the ostentatious display of his celebrated villa, which, as soon as purchased, he invited the Dean to come and admire. We have the humorous lines of descriptive poetry which were composed by Swift on the occasion, and were well calculated to destroy the doctor's vanity. The estate our satirist represents as liable to suffer *' an eclipse of the sun " wherever " a crow " or other small opaque body should pass between it and that luminary. The plan- tations " might possibly supply a toothpick ;"

*' And the stream that's called ' Meander Might be sucked up by a gander !'*

Such were the sentiments of utter derision with which he contemplated the territorial aggrandisement so dear to the votaries of Mammon ; nor is it foreign from this topic to remark, that the contrary extreme of hopeless poverty not having ever fallen to his lot, one main cause of insamty in high minds was removed. Tasso went mad through sheer distress and its concomitant shame ; the fictions of his ro- mantic love for a princess of the Court of Ferrara are all fuds;e : he had at one time neither fire nor a decent coat to his back ; and he tells us that, having no lamp in his garret, he resorted to his cat to lend him the glare of her eyes :

" Non ayendo candele per iscrivere i luoi versi !"

Intemperance and debauchery never interfered with the

DEAN BWIFT'a UA^OESS. 11 3

oi«t tencmr of the Deaa's doinestii.- habits ; nod hf nee tlie ledioil and constitutional causes of deraugnineut flowing 1 tUtee aouri'M must be coualdered aa mill ia this cast.', ive att4!atively perused the best record extunt of his rivate life — bis own " Journal to Stella," detailing his dJouth in Iiondon ; iind I find his diet to have been aueh as could hare wished.

" London, Oct 1711. — Mra. Vaabomrigg has changed her idgiiiga — I dined with her to-day. I am growing a mighty srer of herring* ; but lliey are nmch gmaller hero than witn u. In the afterDoon 1 visited an old major-general, and } tis. oyitfnr—Lttln- 32, p. 384^ w ScoWm fiilimof Smft. "I was invited to-day to dine with Mrs, Vanhomrigf-, ith Hotne eompany who did not come ; but I ate nothing Bt fc-fToy-"— Sam# Uller, p. 388. " Oct. 23, 1711. I WHB fort-ed to be at the secretary's IBce till four, and lost my dinner. So I went to Mrs. Van's, bdnutde them get me WrM inrm^*, which lam vervfondof. Lnd they area light tiduaU" (tic. in orig .)~LetUr 33, p. 400. He further Bhews the lively interest he always evinced ir fi«h diet by the following passage, whieh occurs in a pub- ntion of his printed in Dublin, 1732, and entitled " An lamination of Certain Abuses, CoTTuptions, and Enormi- n in this City of Dublin. By Dr. Jonathan Swift, D.D," " The aflirmation solemnly made jn the cry of Herrings ! t against aU truth, viz. ' Herrings alive, ho !' The very pro- erb will convince us of this; for what is more frequent in .dinaiy speech than to say of a neighbour for wnom tbe eli tolls. He is dead as a herring ! And pray, bow is it poadble that a herring, which, as philosophers observe, can- ' not live longer than one minute three seconds and a half out of water, should beat a voyage in open boats from Howtb to Dublin, be tossed into twenty hands, and preaerse its life in sieves for several hour« ?"

The sense of loneliness consequent on the loss of friends,

d tlie witbdrawai of those whose companionsbip made life

int, is not unfrequently tbe cause of melaneholy mono-

lUiut ■, but it could not have affected Swift, whose residence

_j Dublin bad estranged him long previously from those

who at that period died awav. Gay, bis bosom friend, had

' *' ' I Deoember, 1732 ; Bolingbroke had retired to Fnno«

120 FATHKB FROUT'S BELIQTTES.

in 1734 ; Pope was become a hypochondriac from bodily in- firmities ; Dr. Arbuthnot was extinct ; and he, the admirer and the admired of Swifb, John of Blenheim, the illustriout Marlborough, had preceded him in a madhouse !

C(

Down Marlborough's cheeks the tears of dotage flow/

A lunatic asylum was the last refuge of the warrior, — if, in- deed, he and his fellows of the conquering fraternity were not candidates for it all along intrinsically and profes- sionally,

** From Macedonian's madman to the Swede."

Tims, although the Dean might have truly felt like one who treads alone some deserted banquet-hall (according to the beautiful simile of the Melodist), still we cannot, with the slightest semblance of probability, trace the outbreak of his madness to any sympathies of severed friendship.

If Swift ever nourished a predominant affection — if he was ever really under the dominion of a ruling passion, it was that of pure and disinterested love of country ; and were he ever liable to be hurried into insane excess by any over- powering enthusiasm, it was the patriot's madness that had the best chance of prostrating his mighty soul. His works are the imperishable proofs of the sincere and enlightened attachment which he bore an island connected with him by no hereditary recollections, but merely by the accident of his birth at Cashel.

We read in the sacred Scriptures (Eccles. Ixxvii.), that " the sense of oppression maketh a man mad ;" and whoso- ever will peruse those splendid effusions of a patriot soul, " the Story of an injured Lady" (Dublin, 1725), " Maxims controlled in Ireland " (Dublin, 1724), " Miserable State of Ireland " (Dublin, 1727), must arise from the perusal im- pressed with the integrity and fervour of the Dean's love of his oppressed country. The " Maxims controlled " develop, according to that highly competent authority, Edmund Burke, the deepest and most stat^smanslike views ever taken ofthe mischievous mismanagement that has constantly marked England's conduct towards her sister island. In the "Miser- able State, &c., we have evidence that the wretched peasantry at that time was at just the same stage 'of civilization and

jmn Bwipr's UAsusBs. 121

eomfort as thej are at the preeeot day ; (or we find tlio Dean tbus depicting a state of tbiiigs which none but aa Irieh Undlord could read withoutblushingforhuraaE nature — "There are thousaiids of poor creaturea who think thomselveB blessed if tliey ciui obtain a hut worse than the squire's dog- kennel, and a piece of ground For potato-plantation. on cou- dition of being as very slaves as any in Ameriiai, standing in the midst of plenty," rurtliur on, he informs lis of a eln- gnlar item of the then traffic of the Irish . — " Our fruudu- Wt trade in wool to France ia the best branch of our eommerce."

And in bie " Proposal forthe Use of Irish Manufactures," whifb was prosecuted by the government of the day, and described by the learned jndge who sent the case to the jury as ft plot to bring in the Pretender! we bare this wool- tralBc aOTiin alluded to: " Our beneficial export of wool to France hua been our only support for several years : we con- vey our woo] there, in spite of all the harpies of the eustom- bouae." In this tract, he introduces the story of Pallas and tbe nymph Arjiohne, whom the godiless, jealous of her spin- ning, changed into a spider ; and beautifully applies tbe all^ory to the commercial restrictions impoEetl by the sister- rouutry on Ireland. " Arachue waa allowed still to spin; but Britain will take our bowels, and convert them into the web and warp of her own eiclubive and intolerant in- rfuitry."

Of tbe " Drapier's Letters," and the signal discomfiture of the biiBe -currency scheme attempted by William Woods, it were aaperfluous to speak. Never was there a more bare- faced attempt to swindle the nativea than the copper impo- sition of that notorious hardwareman ; and the only thmg that in modern times can be placed in juitaposition, is the begging-bot of O'Couneil. O for a Drnpier to espose that seeond and most impudent sehvme for victimising a deluded ■ad atarving peasantry !

rhe Scotch rebellion of 1715 found the Dean an inmate of hi* last md dwelling — his own hospital ; but tbe crisiu awakrned all his energies. And be found an interval to pub- lish tbat address to his fellow-countrymen which some at- tributed tfl the Lord-Lieutenant Chesterfield, but which I intrinaic evidence of his pen. It is printed by Sir

122 TATUEB PBOUT'S BELIQITES.

W. Scott, in the appendix of the " Drapier's Letten." Tliere is a certain chemical preparation called sympatketii ink, which leaves no trace on the paper ; but if applied to the heat of a fire, the characters will become at once legible. Such was the state of Swift's soul — a universal blank ; but when brought near the sacred flame that burnt on the altar of his country, his mind recovered for a time its clearness, and found means to^ communicate its patriotism. Toudi but the interests of Ireland, and the madman was sane again ; such was the mysterious nature of the visitation.

" O Reason ! who shall say what speUs renew, When least we look for it, thy broken clue ; Through what small vistas o'er the darkened brain The intellectual daybeatn bursts again ! Enough to shew the maze in which the sense Wandered about, but not to guide thee hence— Enougli to gUmmer o'er the yawning wave, But not to point the harbour which might save !"

When Eichard CoBur de Lion lay dormant in a dungeon, the voice of a song which he had known in betttir days came upon his ear, and was the means of leading him forth to light and freedom ; but, alas ! Swift was not led forth from his lonely dwelling by the note of long-remembered music, the anthem of fatherland. Gloomy insanity had taken too permanent possession of his mind ; and right well did he know that he should die a maniac. For this, a few years before his death, did he build unto himself an asylum, where his own lunacy might dwell protected from the vulgar gaze of mankind. He felt the approach of madness, and, like CsBsar, when about to fall at the feetof Pompey's statue, he gracefully arranged the folds of his robe, conscious of his own dignity even in that melancholy downfal. The Pharaohs, we are told in Scripture, built unto themselves gorgeous sepulchres : their pyramids still encumber the earth. Sardanapalus erected a pyre of cedar- wood and odoriferous spices when death wm inevitable, and perished in a blaze of voluptuousness. The asylum of Swift will remain a more characteristic memorial than the sepulchres of Egypt, and a more honourable fune- real pyre than that heaped up by the Assyrian king. Ho died mad, among fellow-creatures similarly viaited, but sheltered by his munificence ; and it now deyolyes on

DKAM swift's UADWEfiS. 123

t(i reveal to tlie norlJ tLe unkuown cause of tLat soJ I calamity.

^H 1 bate stated tliat his aSectiona were centered ia that ac- ^Keumplished womnn, the refined and g^oUe Stella, to whom ^V he bad bi<^ii Mtoretly married. The reosoDs for Huch secrecy, ^Btbough [ierl'i.'<^tly familiar to me, maj not be divulged; but ^Bvn«ni»h to know that the Bean acted in tliis matter with his ^^BBuaT ugncity. Aa iofant boh was bom of that marriage ^H^f^r many alengtheued year, aud iu this cbild were con- ^M nentmted all the eoergiea of the £ither'a alTectioii, and all [ the venaibilitiea vf the mother's heart. In him did theDeau fondly hope to live ou when bis aJlotteil days should fail, like unto the Helf-promUed immortality of the bard — " Non omuls tnoriar, multaqtie pars mei vitabit Libitinam !" How vaia are the hopes of muu ! That child most unaccountably, must myetmuutily disappeared ; no traee, no clue, no shadow oC conjetture, could pomt out what had become it* destiny, sad trbn were the contrivers of this sorrowful bereavement. TliDi b&b« wan gone ! and no comfort remained to a despond- fathcir in this moat poignant of human afflictions.

eopy of Vtraa comjiosed on kit own Death, the Dean

« in a humuroua aoticipatioa of the motives that

wauld Dot fail to be ascribed, m determining his mind to

BUiltc tbo eingiikr diapoeal of bis property which (after the

loM <i{ bia omy child) he reaolved on :

"He gsTC Uifl liule wealth lie bad To builil » hoose for people mad, To then, bj one tatinc touob. No nation mnlcd it so mudi"

But thia bitter plensantry only argued the sod inroads which rnef was making iu his neart. The love of oS»pnag, which Una Givcks call ort^yti (and which is said to oe strongest in the stork), was eminently perceptible in the diagnosis at the Dean's conetitution. Sorrow for the loss of his child bowed diwn bis bead eventually to the grave, and unsettled a mind tbe mo*t dear aud well-regulated that philosophy ^nd Cbmliauity could form.

TBESK PAPEM WILL yoT MEET TUB PtTDLlC EYE tWTlI, TOO XU XU H08B - SVl' WilEK TBAT DAI BBAXL COHI—

124 TATHEB PBOTJT's BELIQUES.

WHEK THE PA8T0B OP THIS OBSCVBE UPLAlfD SHALL, Df i GOOD OLD AGE, BE LAID IN THE EABTH^ — WHEN NEITHlB PBIDE OP BIBTH NOB HUMAN APPLAUSE CAN MOTE TB3 COLD EAB OP THE DEAD, THE SECBET OP THAT CHILD*8

HiSTOBT, OP Swift's long-lost child, shall be told ;

AND THE OLD MAN WHO HAS DEPABTED PBOM THIS WOMB OP WOE IN PEACE, WILL BE POUND TO HAVE BEEN THAT LONG-SOUGHT SON, WHOM WiLLIAM "WoODS, IN THE BASE- NESS OF A VILE VINDICTIVENESS, FILCHED FBOM A FATHEE*8 AFFECTIONS.

Baifled in his wicked contrivances by my venerable father, and foiled in every attempt to brazen out his notorious scheme of bad halfpence, this vile tinker, nourishing an implacable resentment in his soul,

* JEiemum Berrans sub pectore Tuhius,"

resolved to wreak his vengeance on the Dean ; and sought out craftily the most sensitive part to inflict the contem- plated wound. In the evening of October, 1741, he kid- napped me. Swift's innocent child, from my nurse at Glen- dalough, and fraudulently hurried off his capture to the extremity of Munster ; where he left me exposed as a foimd- ling on the bleak summit of Watergrasshill. The reader will easily imagine all the hardships I had to encounter in this my first and most awkward introduction to my future parishioners. Oft^n have I told the sorrowful tale to my college companion in France, the kind-hearted and sensi- tive G-resset, who thus alludes to me in the well-known lines of his " Lutrin Vivant :"

'* Et puist d'ailleurs, le petit malheureiix, Ouvrage n^ d'un auteur anonyme, Ne connaUsant parens, ni legitime, N'avait, en tout dans ce sterile lieu. Pour se chauffer que la grace de Dieu !"

Some are born, says the philosophic Goldsmith, with a silver spoon in their mouth, some with a wooden ladle ; but wretched I was not left bv AVoods even that miserable im- plement as a stock-in-trade to begin the world. Moses lay ensconced in a snug cradle of bulrushes when he was sent adrift ; but 1 was cast on the flood of life with no equipage

riFT S UADSESS.

ontRt wbatcrrr; and found iuy.<i4f, to i of nij JLord Bj-ron,

WiUi notMiig but the «l[y for a great cunt."

lut Eton, 1 miatake. I had an appeuduge round uij' neck -a truuiet, which 1 still cheriBh, and by which 1 eveutually tuod a I'lue to my real patranage. It was n small locket r tn; tiiiither Stella's hair, of raven black, (a distinctive poturi- in her beauty, whii'h had especially captivated tiiu tean) ; around thia luoket was a Latin motto of niy gitled Itber'a coiopositioD, three simple words, but beuutilul in beir aiinplicity — "paorx 8tei.L4 EBFULaES !" So that, rhen I waa taken into the " Cork Foundling Hospital," I rw at once christened " Prout," from the adverb that begins hr oeiiti^uce, and which, being the shortest word of the hive, it plea«ed the (.-haplain to make my future patro-

Of aU the singular institutionH in Oreat Britain, pbilan-

bropic-, aatronumic, Hunterian, ophthalmic, obstetric, or

DoIoKical, tho " Royal Cork Foundling Hospital," where I

' tlir honour of matriculating, was then, and ia now, do-

'dljr the oddt^ttt in principle and the most comical in prac-

, Uutil the happy and eventful day when I managed,

motfaer-wit. to accompliah my deliverance from its walls,

iring wcaped in a ehurn, as 1 will recount presently), it

my unhappy lot to witness and to endure all the to-

rietie« of human misery. The prince of Latin song, when

' wishtw lo couvev to his readers an idea of the lower

iona and the abodes of Erebus, begins his alTecting pic*

by placing in the foregroun^l the eouls of infanta taken

the mischievous policy of «uch institutions from tbe

■im'n bn;a«t, and pensliing by myriads under the inflic-

of a miatakeu pbllaothropy :

" In&DluEnque mninuK Spil1«* in lutniiif primo : (JUM Juki* iit« txtoneg, et at vitrv Taylat, AlMtiilil atra dies, ct fUiierc nunit teefoo."

m inimitahle and philosophic Scftrrou's translation of tliia o the jtneid is loo mueh iu my fiither'a own atyb C to give it insertion '

rv.

126 7ATHEB PB0nT*8 BXLIQUBS.

'' Lora il entend, en ce lieu sombre, Les oris aiguR d*enfants aans nombre. Pauvres bainbins ! ils font grand bruit, Et braiUent de jour et de nvit — Peut-^tre faute de nourrice ?'* &c. &c

Eneid irmwmt. 6.

But if I had leisure to dwell on the melancholy" subject, I could a tale unfold that would startle the Legislature, and perhaps arouse the Irish secretary to examine into an evil crying aloud for redress and suppression. Had my perse- cutor, the hard-hearted coppersmith. Woods, had any notion of the sufferings he entailed on Swift's luckless in&nt, he would never have exposed me as an enfant trouvS ; he would have been satisfied with plunging my father into a mad- house, without handing over his child to the mercies of a foundling hospital. Could he but hear my woful story, I would engage to draw " copper" tears down the villain's cheek.

Darkness and mystery have for the last half century hung over this establishment ; and although certain returns have bexjn moved for in the House of Commons, the public* knows as little as ever about the fifteen hundred young foundlings that there nestle until supplanted, as death col- lects them under his wings, by a fresh supply of victims offered to the Moloch of -sj/iu^o-philanthropy. Horace tells us, that certain proceedings are best not exhibited to the general gaze —

" Nee nates coram populo Medea trucidet."

Such would appear to be the policy of these institutions, the onlv provision which the Legislature has made for Lrish pauperism.

Some stops, however, have been taken latterly by Gk)veni- ment ; and from a paper laid before Parliament last month (May 1830), it appears that, in consequence of the act of 1822, the annual admissions in Dublin have fallen from 2000 to 400. But who will restore to society the myriads whom the system has butchered ? who will recall the slain ? When the flower of Roman chivalry, under improvident guidance, fell in the German forests, " Varus, give back my legions !"

VKAir SWIFTS UADNESa. 127

m ibe frsndc cry wrung Erom the bittemesa of pntriotii'

Jlly illustrious fiither has written, among other bitter sar- nums on tlic t-ruel i-ondiict of Government towards the Iriah poor, a treatise, which was printed in 172D. and which he entitled " A Modest Proposal for preventing Poor Chil- dren Irom being & Burden to their Parents." He reeom- mends, iu aohcr sadness, that they should be made into salt prorisiouB for the uavy, the colonies, and tor exportation ; I'T ealc-u freiih and spitted, like roaating-nigs, by ihi- alder- R>en of Cork anil Dublin, at their civic oauijuets. A ^uu. tatioD from that powerful pamphlet may not be unacccpt- ablf lien- :

" Inlonl's flesU ([|uoththe Dean) will be iu season tbrough- i>ut the year, but more plentifully in Marcli, or a little be- fore i for we are told by a grave author, an eminent Pn-ncli physician, thst tish beirtg a prolific diet, there are moi-echil- drra baru in lioman Catholic couotnes about nine niontiia ilter Lent than at any other senaon. Thercfurc. reckoning a Te*r afier Lent, ttie murketB will be more glutted tiiun luiial, bpcauae tlm number of Po]iish infanta ia at least three to unie in the kingdom j and therefore it wiU have one othei ''ollateral advantage, by lessening the numbor of PiipintH

'Hi'-iw linea were clearly penned in the very gail and bit- !-rri'-r- iif hiK Buul ; auil while the Irish peasant ia still con- -hlr r< >l by the iniacreant landlords of the country as leas wjTiiiy of his food than the beasts of the field, and less i ntiil.'d to a legal anpport in the land that bore him; while thr wllwh demagogue of the island joins in the common hfwtililv to the claims of that pauper who makes a stock- puTK^ lor him out of the scrapings of want and penury j thf! proposal of Swift should be reprinted, and a copy sent Iu every callous and ahnllow-pated disciple of modem poli. tirai cvoaotnj. Poor-laws, forsooth, they cannot reccmeile Vclear-aiglitcd views of Irish legislation ; /rtfr in*- ~^ltfaoU they admire ; yrammar-tchimU they will ad- « half-starved urchiuB may drink the physic <ii d forget the cravings of hunger; and they wiJl B the Iwo prtat fnuttdlimg hospitatt a rei^ptaclc for ! iufuuta, who, in those " white-woabcd scpul-

128 FATHEB PB0UT*8 B£LIQ(7£S.

chres/* soon cease to be a burden on the communitj. ILi* great agitator, meantime (Otod wot !) will bring in " a bill ** K)r a grand national cemetery in Dublin :* such is the pro* vision he deigns to seek for bis starving fellow-countrjmen !

" The great have still some favour in reserre — They help to bury whom they help to staire."

The Dublin Hospital being supported out of the consoli- dated fund, has, by the argumentum ad crumenam, at last attracted the suspicions of government, and is placed under a course of gradual reduction ; but the Cork nursery is up- held by a compulsory local tax on coal, amounting to the incredible sum of £6000 a-year, and levied on the unfor- tunate fcorkonians for the support of children brought into their city from Wales, Connaught, and the four winds of heaven ! Three hundred bantlings are thus annually saddled on the beautiful city, with a never-failing succession of con- tinuous supply :

" Miranturque novas firondes, et non sua poma !"

By the Irish act of Parliament, these young settlers are entitled, on coming of age (which few do), to claim as a right the freedom of that ancient and loyal corporation ; so that, although of the great bulk of them it may be said that we had " no hand in their birth," they have the bene- fit of their coming — " a place in the commonwealth" (ita Shakespeare).

My sagacious father used to export his countrymen to bum every article that came from England, except coals ; and in 1729 he addressed to the " Dublin Weekly Journal" a series of letters on the use of Irish coals exclusively. But it strikes me that, as confessedly we cannot do without the English article in the present state of trade and manufac- tures, the most mischievous tax that any Irish seaport could be visited with, would be a tonnage on so vital « commodity to the productive interests of the community. Were thia vile impost withdrawn from Cork, every class of manufac- ture would hail the boon ; the iron foundry would supply us at home with what is now brought across the Channel ; the glassblower^s furnace would glow with inextinguishable fires ; the steam engine, tliat giant power, as yet so feebly

• H'.5iorical fa^. Vide pari proceeding — O. Y.

i 1

fSAjr STVIFT a

Kb

iereXoped tunoag ub. would deligbt to wietd on our belialf, eai:reu!B untetlt?red. and toil unimpeded for the national

irosperity ; new onterprize would inspirit the capitalist ; rliile the humble artiliuer at the forge would learn the 'tidings with BtttiBfiicticin, —

" B«Ui hia ponderaus itrengt.h, and lain to hear."

Something too much ol' this. But I bsve felt it incum- bent on me to pUcu iiu record tay houeat conviction of the impolicy of the tax itself, itnd of the etill greater euorri:ity of the evil which it goes to support. To return to my own htstoi

In this " hospiU," which wa* the firat atma mater of my juvi-nilf days, Igrudiiat^d in all the science of the young gipaim who Bwamied around me. My health, which wna Uftturally robust, bore up at^inst the fearful odds ef mor- tality by which 1 was beaet ; and altLough I should have ultimately, no doubt, pemhcd with the crowd of infant aiil- ffrrrs that shared my evil detttinj, still, like th&t favoured Grecian who won the good gracfls of Polyphemus in hia an-

(thritpoph&gous cavern, a signal privilege would perhaps liave been ^sutcd me: Prout would have beeu the last tu be deroured. But ■ my of light broke into my prison-hoiise. The idea fifMniN:, a bold thought! took poBaesaion of my soul. Yet bow to Aceompliah so daring an enterprise ? how elude the vtgilaDcv of thf> fat door-keeper, and the keen eye of the clt^lah) ? Bight well did they know the muster-roll of their I Kock of nrchinti, itnd often verified the same :

** Uuqiu die nuDuninl unba giwus, ulter st bvdo»."

iHetnin, howirvirr, soon granted what the porter denied. The 1 from Watergraaahill, who brought the supplies IciiTY mam and ere, prided himself pnrtieularlv on the sine I'bwiuly of his chum, — a capacious wooJen recipient Ivhich mr young eye admired with more than superBcial

■ euho«ity. lluving uicidentullv' got on the wagon, and i

■ plorcd tlte caiiaeioiis hollow of (he machine, a nright s whispered in my ear to secrete myself in the cavity. W>; and shortly after, the gnlee of the hospital were 6ung ■ide fur my egress, and i foiuid myself joggiug onward on

I^d

FATIIGH pnouTa

LlQDEf

the bigli road to liglit and freedom I Judge of laf i BatiouB ! Milton uaii aung of one who, '' ionx in popoltH uity pent," make^ a visit to Higfagat«, and, snuffing d rural breeKe, bleaeea the couutrv air: my npture nature that defies deacriptitin. To be siire, it wj the moat boiatoroua days of storm and tempest ttuvt «ti vexed the heavens ; but secure iu the cliura, I chuckled wil joy, and towards evening fell fa«t asleep. In my subwrqiu lil'e 1 have often dwelt with pleasure on that Jdtous cscsl. ajid when iu my couree of studies I met with tiie followii beautiful elegy of Simonides, I could not help applying it I myself, and translated it accordingly. There have been tC sions by Denman, the Qtieek'a solicitor ;• by Elton, by 1 Hay, and by Doctor Jortiu ; but I prefer my own, m no literal and moro couformabte to genuine Qreek aimpljcttf.

C))t lAiutnt of Sfliiat.

By Simmidn. lit rltgmc fort of Cot.

Bf 111,1 TViuv, xinfiuea ri \i/i,ta

^HfUin tii'-nt, tiii' aJlietiirniti

napiaii, ai*fi if nifaii /3aXj

^i^Mt X'ft "'■" "' O ""Sfi

(>/«► i^M -revf av f awriic, ya>Miti"f r'

llnfi xttiaaiit f> artpni tuiutrs^

XoXxioj'e/tf j>r it »uxriX(x/4/ni

Kvctti^ ri itt^ifi- eu i' auaXtai

'T-ri(li riixt M/iair Saliiai

Ittfiorrs: nu/iixrvt tux akiytif,

Ki Ji rm iiiiet reyt bimei tji. Km xsiifiait ftj/i^arut XtTTOu 'T<ni^H ouaf xtXo/Mii, liiit dfi^^Ci Kiiitn ii rtm{, iujfr« a/tirfM luinf, MaraioCeuXfQ it ni patiin, ZiD ^ranf, ut «o' « ri 3n ia.faai.tn Erft(, ivyBibai rixttfi iixat I'm- * Ws iirrcT ootplofod liim. — BaotKi. "Tmt C*ntaa of B

VXAIt SWIFT a U^DNBSS,

Ct)t Saixtnt of dtclU.

By /'afj

r Prml.

While FQund Uie chum, 'mid aleet uid nm,

It blew a psrlecl huiriraae,

Wmpt in alight garment to protect her,

MeUmaghC I Ktw mj luotbar'a »p«rtre.

Who look ber inittDt to ber breut —

11^ the small tenuit of thnt cb«t —

WhDfi thiu lbs lolled her babe : " How cruel

HiTo b«en tbe F«tea to thee, mj jewel !

But, caring iiaug;ht for toe or (cofier,

Hutu alcepot in Ihia milk; co9er.

Cooper'd with brass hoops weether-tigUt,

Lcperrioua to tbe dim moonlight.

Bw •howHT cuinot get in to soak

Thy hair or htUe purple clo*li ;

Beedleu of gloom, in du-k lojoum,

Thj face illuminal«i the rhum !

Saill is thine car, wee babe, tor hearing.

But gnuit my pnyer, yt gods of Erin 1

Ind KUij fblKs find that this joung fellow

Doe* credit to bii mother Sttlla,"

THE BOOITEBUa OF TOU UOOBE.

ffnm t||( Jprout 3papird. ** Orata carpendo thjuu per laborem Phirimum. cim neiutu* uvidiquo Tibnris ripa«, opemia fastub

QccarDg Hoeatius Fliccv*, * Bj (akiDe time, and same adiica &om Pniut, A polish d book of songs I Immtoered out ; Bol still mj Uu», for sho the fact cotdMites, HaunU tiud, sweet hiU, ronown'd for walor-cwsfes."

Tbouis L, Moons.

» &v star of Father Prout (a geniuDe son of tLi^ i

' i. t. Blameuui uemus.

132

FATHES PBOtJT S RELIQUBS.

coinpIiBbed Stella, and in bicnaelf tlic most eccpntric Inni oary that hna of late adorned our planetsiry avstem) 1 rose in the firmameat of literature, it deservedly attiv the gaze of the learned, and riveted the eye uf the sage, know not what may have been the sensation it« app« created in foreign eauntrie§, — at the Observatoire B Paris, in the Val d'Amo. or at Feaok', where, in Milti time, the Hona of Galileo plied the untiring telescope ti si'ry new heavenly plieDomena, " rivera or niountaiiis i shadowy moon," — but we can vouch for the made on the London University ; for all Stiukomuee h been perpleied at the apparition. The learned Chaldt uf Grower Street opine that it forebodei noLhiug good t cause of " useful Knowledge," and they walch the " sit " of Prout, devoutly wishing for hia " exit." With tJ biug anxiety, night after uigbt has Dr. Lardner ganed o siniHter planet, eeekiug, with the aid of Dr. Babbage's c tatiog machine, to sscerta-iD the probable period of ita fi eclipae, and often muttering ita name, " to tell how be b its beama." He hna seen it last April shining c ously in the constellation of PUcn, when he duly coni over the " Apology for Lent," aud the Doctor Lm lo the University Board, that, " advancing with r movement in the xodiac," this disastrouB orb was I perceived m the mi/ki/ way, entering the sign o or "the chum." But w bat do the public care, wliile I general eye is delighted by its irradiauce, that a few tr and dunces are siuirod by its eifulgcncy ? The f Sidua, the Astrium Juliutn, the Soleil d'Auntvrlitc, ^"S »t VauilwU, tlie Nose of Lord Chancellar Vaui,* ■

* Thn roUowin^ Hng wi pnTormar on the maUitck, in llio uMrrnli of bv " &lAt que U liiinitrv Jb oominmiM ms ouriiire

■I ! ' ' r

1 'I ■■.

.ti

■""T S ','" ""■.i of ,i''°"»i«??m/ :?'■■

» Uif ^.r.i' "" from liiVi ^ """« ' '1

IBi TATHSB PBOUT*B BELIQT7X8.

The title of this second paper taken from the Front Col-

Jection is enough to indicate that we are only firing off the

small arms — the pop-guns of this atupendoufi arscuoal, and

that we reserve the heavy metal for a grander occasion, when

the Whig ministry and the dog-days shall be over, and a

merry autumn ana a Wellington administration shall meUow

our October cups. To talk of Tom Moore is but small

talk — " in tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria ;" for Front's

great art is to magnify what is little, and to fling a dash of

the sublime into a two-penny-post communication. To use

Tommy's own phraseology, Front could, with great ease and

comfort to himself,

" Teach an old cow pater-noster, And whistle Moll Boe to a pig."

But we have another reason for selecting this ** Essay on Moore " from the papers of the deceased divine. We have seen with regret an efibrt made to crush and annihilate the young author of a book on the " Ilound Towers of Ireland,** with whom we are not personally acquainted, but whose production gave earnest of an ardent mind bent on abstruse and recondite studies ; and who, leaving the frivolous bou- doir and the drawing-room coterie to lisp their ballads and retail their Epicurean gossip unmolested, trod alone the craggy steeps of venturous discovery in the regions of Ori- ental learning ; whence, returning to the isle of the west, the " iBan of the fire-worshipper, he trimmed his lamp, well fed with the fragrant oil of these sunny lands, and penned a work which will one day rank among the most extraordinair of modem times. The "Edinburgh Review" attempted, long ago, to stifle the unfledged muse of Byron ; these trucu- lent northerns would gladly have bruised in the very shell the young eagle that afterwards tore with his lordly talons both Jeflery and his colleague Moore (of the leadlesa pistol), who were glad to wax subservient slaves, after being impo- tent bullies. The same review undertook to cry down Wordsworth and Coleridge ; they shouted their vulgar "crucifigatur" against Robert Southey ; and seemed to have adopted the motto of the French club of witlingB,

** Nul n*aura de Tesprit que nous et nos amii.**

But in the present case they ^will find themselves equally

TBE BoafEBIES or TOH MUO&E. 135

ipotent for evil t O'Briun may defy tham. He may def? ■ o«ra alma mater, tlie RJleot had unproductive Triu. Coll. )ub. ; bfi may defy the Royal Iriiih Aisideniy, a learned an- bmbly, which, &]aa ! baa neither a body to bo kicked, nor a KMil to be damned ; and may rent eecure of the upplnuB-: ^hich Bterling merit chaUengeH from every freeboru iababi- nt of these islands, —

" S»TB where, from TOnder iTT-mantled tower. The moping owl (toea to the muoa complain Of Ibose wbo, venturing nenr her aiteiit bower, Moleet her Bociini) solilary reign,"

Moore^(we beg hia pardon)— the reviewer, aaserts that 3'Bricn is a plagiary, and pilfered his discovery from " rfim- rod." Now we venture to oiFer a copy of the commentaries of Cornelius a Lapide (which we find in Prout's chest) to Tom, if he will abew ua a single passage in "Nimrod" (which we are confident he never read) warranting his assertion. Bot. apropot of plagiarisms ; let us hear the prophet of ffat«-graaahill, whg enters largely on the subject.

OLIVER yOKKE.

Waleri/Taahill, Fib. 1834.

AT notorious tinker, William Woods, who, aa I have re- among the papers in ray cofl'er somewhere, to spite Vf illuatrious father, kidnapped me in my childhood, little ireamt that the infant Prout would one day emerge from be Eoynl Cork Foundling Hoapital as aafe and unscathed I the children &otu Nebuchadaezzar's furuacCj to hold up *• filbuiy to the execration of mankind ;

" Hon sine IKs aniuiDBiiB iofanB !"

Among the Koroans, whoever atole a child was liable by V to get a sound flogging ; and as jiUiya in Latin means a

^. ■, or lath, kidnappers iu Cicero's time were called pla^i- ii, or eal-o'-ninf-taU-tiUaini. I approve highly of this law

ilka twelve tables ; but perhaps my judgment is biassed,

136 TATHSB PBOVT'B BSLIQUIB.

and I should be an imfair juror to give a verdict in a which comes home to my own feelmga so poignantly. The term plagiary has since been applied metaphorically to lite- rary shop-bfbers and book-robbers, who stuff their page* with other men's goods, and thrive on indiscriminate piiLi^ This is justly considered a high misdemeanour in the republic of letters, and the lash of criticism is unsparingly dealt on pickpockets of this description. Among the Latins, Martial is the only classic author oy whom the term plagi" arius is used in the metaphorical sense, as applied to litera- ture ; but surely it was not because the practice only began in his time that the word had not been used even in the Augustan age of Eome. Be that as it may, we first find the term in MartiaPs Epigrams (lib. i. epigr. 53) : talking of his verses, he says,

'* Dicas esse meos, manoqae liissot : Hoc si terque qusterque clamitdris, Impones plagiario padorem.*'

Cicero himself was accused by the Q-reeks of pilfering whole passages, for his philosophical works, from the scrolls of Athens, and cooking up the fragments and broken meat of G-reek orations to feed the hungry barbarians of the Bomau forum. My authority is that excellent critic St. Jerome, who, in the " Proemium in qu. Heb. lib. Genesis," distinctly says, " Cicero repetundarum accusatur d Graecis," Ac. &c- ; and in the same passage he adds, that Virgil being accused of taking whole similes from Homer, gloried in the theft, exclaiininff, " Think ye it nothing to wrest his club firom Hercules r" (it. ibidem.) Vide S*** Hieronymi Opera, tom. iv. fol. 90. But what shall we say when we find tferome ac- cusing another holy father of plagiarism ? Verily the tempt- ation must have been very great to have shaken the probity of St. Ambrose, when he pillaged his learned brother in the faith, Origan of Alexandria, by wholesale. " Nuper Sanctus Ambrosius Hexaemeron illius compilavit" (S***Hieronymi Opera, tom. iii. fol. 87, in epistold ad Pammaeh), It is well known that Menander and Aristophanes were mercilessly pillaged by Terence and Plautus ; and the Latin freebooter!

TUX ROODEIUBS OT TOU UOOBE. 137

thoDglit nothing of stopping the Thftpian maffffon an the higbwAp of PamMSUS. The French dramatiato are simi- lany waylaid bv our scouts from the green-room, — aud the plunder is awfiil ! What is TalleTranii about, that he can- not protect tlie property of the French ? Perhaps he is better employed ?

I am an old man, and have read a great deal in my time — being of a quiet ditipoBition, and having always had a tastft for books, wbiirh I eonaider a great blessing; but latterly I find that I msiy dispeDse with further perusal of printed volumes, a», unfortunately, memory serves me but too well ; and all I read now strikes me as but a new version of what 1 hftd read somewhere before. Plagiarism is bo barefaced and BO luivereal, that I can't stand it no longer: I have shut up sbop, and won't be taken in no more. Quarr prre- ffrimim ? eiatno. I'm sick of hashed-up works, and loathe the inked meal) of antiquity served in a fricassee. Give me a solid joint, in which no knife has been ever fleshed, and I will abare your intellectual banquet most willingly, were It but a mi>unlain kid, or a limo of Welsh mutton. Alas ! whither shall I turn ? Let me open the reviews, and lo ! the critics are but repeatmg old criticisnis ; let me fly !« the poets, 'tis but the old lyre with catgut strings ; let me hear the orators, — " that's my thunder !" says the ghoat of Sheri- dsn or the spectre of Burke ; let me listen to the savers of eood things, and alas for the injured shade of Joe ililler ! 1 lootild go through the whole range of modern authors (save "outt, and a few of that kidney), and exclaim, with mure nth than the chieftain of the crusaders in Taaso —

"IK ctii cli loi Don CO U patria e '1 laaet Quid tpaiJK tn' i ignOM t c qua) MCtU, Baodi^ per 1 aria nncor aospeHi trerao, Kao Mproi dir «' i FnutRO, o •' t it'Irlsada, E qtulo Bppunto il bncdo & ctii> la amniia ?"

Geruial. Libfr. oonlo x\. St. 18,

'' To state the simple truth, such oa I feel it in my own

tounction, 1 declaro that the whole mass of contemporary

llteribbleioent might be hound up in one tremendous volume,

"'"■Jed " Elegant Extracts ;" for, if you except the form

^tbe varnish aud colour, all the rest is what I have

138 PATHXB FBOUT*B BSLIQinBS.

known in a different shape forty years ago ; and there is more philosophy than meets the vulgar eye in that excellent song on the transmutation of things here below, which per- petually offer the same intrinsic substance, albeit under a different name :

'* Dear Tom, this brown jug, which now foams with mild ale, Was once Toby Fhilpot, a meny old aoul,** &c. Ac

This transmigration of intellect, this metempsychosis of literature, goes on silently reproducing and reconstructing what had gone to pieces. But those whose memory, like mine, is unfortunately over- tenacious of its young impres- sions, cannot enjoy the zest of a twice-told tale, and conse- quently are greatly to be pitied.

It has lately come out that " Childe Harolde " (like other naughty children whom we daily read of as terminating their "life in London " by being sent to the "Euryalus hulk,") was given to picking pockets. Mr. Beckford, the author of " Vathek," and the builder of Eonthill Abbey, has been a serious sufferer by the Childe*s depredations, and is now determined to pub- lish his case in the shape of " Travels, in 1787, through Por- tugal, up the Ehine, and through Italy;" and it also appears that Saml. Eogers, in his " Italy," has learued a thing or two from the " Bandits of Terracina," and has divaliai Mr. Beckford aforesaid on more than one occasion in the Apen- nines. I am not surprised at all this : murder will out ; and a stolen dog will naturally nose out his original and primi- tive master among a thousand on a race course.

These matters may be sometimes exaggerated, and (honour bright !) far be it from me to pull the stool from under every poor devil that sits down to write a book, and sweep away, with unsparing besom, all the cobwebs so industriously wovet* across Paternoster Eow. I don*t wish to imitate Fathei Hardouin, the celebrated Jesuit, who gained great renown among the wits of Louis XIYth*s time by ms paradoxes. A favourite maggot hatched in his prolific brain was, that the Odes of Horace never were written by the friend of Mecaeiias, but were an imposture of some old Benedictine monk of the twelfth century, who, to amuse his cloistered leisure, per- sonated Flaccus, and under his name strung together those lyrical effusions. This is maintained in a large folio, printed

THB auaiTEniEs of Toa hoobe. 199

Amsterdam in 1783, via. " Harduini Opera Varia, -^tutt- ocutiua." One of hia argumeuta ia drawn from the CTtrii- button* which, he asserta. occur bo frequeu^j- in tlie«e '.yratid, the "priiJse of celibacy;"

" PUUnuique Lteteba Sviacit nlmOB i'

Lib- il' ode 15.

Sot the elm-tree used to be marrird to tbi» vine ; not bo the ijmmare, as any one who haa been in Italy must know. The luiuildiug of the temple by Julian the Apostate is, occocd- ing to the Jesuit, thus denounced :

" Sed bellicmui fnta Qniritibus Hie lege dico, nc nimluDi pii, Techi Tclint repsr»re Trojip."

Lib. iii. Ode S.

Again, the aacred mysteries of the Lord's Supper, and the netaUd nature of th« dread that was broken among the pri- itive Cbristiaiis :

" Vetabo, qui CtrrrU lacrum

Tulglril arcane, Bub liaJcm

Sit tribibu*, fragilemFe mecum

SoItbE phaaeJuDi " (■. i. Iht iart a/ PeUr). Lib. iii. odB 2.

Ind the patnarch Joseph, quoth Hardouin, is clearly pointed ^^ot under the strange and un-Eomau name of Proculeiua, of a pagau history says nauglit :

odeS.

ir the rrat of Hardooin's diacoveriea I must refer to the >rk itaelf, aa quoted above ; and I must in fairuesB add. lat hia other literary efforts sod deep erudition reflect the t credit on the celebrated order to which he belonged Jeeuita, and. I may add. the Benedictinea being as _.t and aa superior bodies of monastic men to the re- aine tribes of cowled eteuobitus aa the Brahmins in India to the begging Farias.*

140 PATHEB FBOUT'B SSLIQUXB.

There is among the lyric poems of the lower Irish a yery remarkable ode, the authorship of which has been ascribed to the very Eev. Eobert Burrowes, the mild, tolerant, and exemplary JDean of St. Finbarr's Cathedral, Cork, whom I am proud to call my friend : it refers to the last tragic scene in the comic or melodramatic life of a Dublin gentleman, whom the above-mentioned excellent divine accompanied in his ministerial capacity to the gallows ; and nothing half so characteristic of the genmne Irish recklessness of death was ever penned by any national Labruy^re as that incompar- able elegy, beginning —

" The night before JJarry waa stretched. The boys they all paid him a viait,'* &o.

Now, were not this fact of the clerical authorship of a most sublime Pindaric composition chronicled in these papers, some future Hardouin would arise to unsettle the belief of posterity, and the claim of my friend Dean Burrowes would be overlooked ; while the songster of Turpin the highway- man, the illustrious author of " Bookwood,"* would infal- libly be set down as the writer of " Larry's" last hornpipe. But let me remark, m passant, that in that interesting depart- ment of literature " slang songs," Ireland enjoys a proud and lofty pre-eminence over every European country : her musa pedestris, or '^footpad poetry, ^^ being unrivalled; and,. as it is observed by Tacitus (in his admirable work " De Mori- bus G«rmanorum") of the barbarians on the Bhine — the native Irish find an impulse for valorous deeds, and a com- fort for all their tribulations, in a song.

belonged. His Collection of the Councils ranks among the most ela- borate efforts of theological toil, " Concil. Collect. Regia," 15 vols, folio, Paris, 1715. The best edition extunt of the naturalist Pliny is his {in usum Delphini), and displays a wondrous ranse of reading. He was one of the witty and honest crew of Jesuits who conduct^ that model of periodical criticism, the "Journal de Tr^TOuz." Biahop Atterbury of Rochester has written his epitaph ;

" Hie jacet Petrus Harduinvs, Hominum paradoxotatos, yir summee nwmoruf^

Judicium expectans." Pbovt.

• Prout must hare enjoyed the gift of prophecy, for ** Bookwood' was not published till four months after his death at WatergruahilL Perhaps Mr. Ainsworth submitted \\\& embryo romance to the prieet'a inapeotion when he went to kiss the stone. — O. Y.

Mnny folks like to write anonymously, others posthu- iDUsly, others under on aseiiiued name ; au<l for each ul' thega Btethoda of conveying thought to our fellow-men there may be assigned sundiy solid re-nsons. But a man should never >e asbamed to avow liia writings, if called on by an injured Kirtv, and I, for one, will never shrink from that avowal. :f, as my frietid OBrien of the Bound Towers tells me, Tom Moore tried to run him down in the " Edinburgh H«- »idw," after holding an uneuecessful negotiation with bim far his services in compiling a joint-stock history of Ireland, wbv did not the man of the paper huUH fire a fair shot in "own name, and court the publicity of a. dirty job, which le in the dark can .lose nothing of its infamy r Sr, John- son t«Ua us tliat Bolingbroke wrote in bis old age a work against ChriBtianity, which he hadn't the ctuirage to avow or publish in his lifetime ; but left a sum of money in his will to a hungry Scotchman, Mallet, on condition of print- ing in his own name this precious production. " lie loaded the pistol," Bays the pjoiia and learned lexicographer, "but ■lade Sawney pull the trigger." Such appear to be the 'tactics of Tomniv in the present instance : hut I trust the iftttempt will fail, and that this insidious missile darted icainst the towers of O'Brien will prove a " telum imbelle, — ue ictu."

The two most original writers of the day, and also the 'o most ilUtreated by the prcBs, are decidedly Miss Harriet artineau and Henry O'Brien. Of Miss Martineau I lall say L'ttje. aa she can defend herself against all her ani] give them an efl'ectuitl cheek when hard-pressed in ry encounterB. Her fame can be comprised in one pentajneter, which I would recommend as a motto for le title-page of aU her treatises :

" FomiHB tnctaiit ' propria gun nunbiia.' " nt over Henry O'Brien, as he is young and artless, I must irow the shield of my fostering protection. It is now ime time since he called at Watergraeshill ; it was in the unmer after I had a visit from Sir "Walter Scott. The ■tnme man was then well versed in the Oriental languagea nd the Celtic : he had read the " Coran" and the ■' Paalter of Cnahil," tbo "' Zenduvesta" and the " Ogygia," " Lalla

142 FATHER FBOUT^S BZLIQVSS.

Rookh" and " Eock*B Memoirs/' besides other books tibat treat of Phoenician antiquities. From these authentic sources of Irish and Hindoo mythology he had deriyed much internal comfort and spiritual consolation ; at the same time that he had picked up a rude (and perhaps a crude) notion that the Persians and the boys of Tipperary were first cousins after all. This might seem a startling theory at first sight ; but then the story of the fire-worship- pers in Arabia so corresponded with the exploits of General Decimus Bock in Mononia, and the camel-driver of Mecca was so forcibly associated in his mind with the bog-trotter of Derrynane, both having deluded an untutored tribe of savages, and the flight of the one being as celebrated as the vicarious imprisonment of the other, he was sure he should find some grand feature of this striking consanguinity, some landmark indicative of former relationship :

Joumeymg with that intent, he eyed these TOWSBS ; And, deaven- directed, came this wav to find The noble truth that gilds his humble name.

Being a tolerable Greek scholar (for he is a Kerryman), with Lucian, of course, at his fingers' ends, he probably bethought himself of the two ^reat phallic towers which that author describes as having been long ago erected in the countries of the East,^ (" ante Sjrrise Deas templum stare phaUos duos mirse altitudinis ; sacerdotem per funes asoen- dere, ibi orare, sacra facere, tinnitumque ciere," &c. Ac.) ; a ray of light darted through the diaphanous casement of O'Brien's brain, — 'twas a most eurikish moment, — 'twas a coup de soleil, a manifestation of the spirit, — 'twas a divine particula aura, — twas what a Frenchman would call Theurt du herger ; and on the spot the whole theory of *' Bound Towers" was developed in his mind. The dormant chrysalis burst into a butterfly. And this is the bright thing of sur-

Eassing brilliancy that Tom Moore would extinguish with is flimsy foolscap pages of the " Edinburgh Beview." Forbid it. Heaven ! Though all the mercenary or time- serving scribes of the periodical press should combine to slander and burke thee, O'B. ! though all the world betray thee, one pen at least thy right shaJl guard, and vindicate thy renown : here, on the summit of a bleak Irish hiU—

TOM HOOBE. Li3

I hm, to the child of genius nnd entliuBiaBin my door is etill I open I Mid though the support which 1 can give thee is but I iKutf portion of patroDoge indeed, I give it with good I vHI, and assuredly with good humour. O'Brien ! hiatorian I cf roQod towers, boa boitow thy young daye tiided F

Dora MoDre with hia nold wing withar

Each feeling tliM atiee was dear t Tben, chiid of roiefortimB, oome hither —

m weep with thee tear for tear.

Q O'Brien consulted me as to his future pliuu and ntpecta, and the developmeDt of his theory, in the first e confidentially to Tom Moore, I remember distinctly the course of our conversatiou (over a red herringj, 1 cautioned the young and fervent enthusiast against tim tricks and roguenes of Tommy. No man was better able III give advice on this subject — Moore and I having had many mutual transactionB, the reciprocity of which was all nn one side. We know each other inlui el in cult, as the reader of this posthumous paper will not fail to learn be- fore be has laid down the document ; and if the ballad- monger comes off second best, 1 can't help him. I warned (yS. against confiding his secret to the man of melody, or «l«e he would Burely repent of his simplicity, and to his eoit find himself some day the dupe of his creduJous reli- while be would have the untoward prospect of seeing I ;laa discovery swamped, and of beholding, through the me- LAom of a deep and overwhelming flood of treachery,

r, to illustrate by a practical example the mau's way of

ing business, T gave, as a etrilfliig instance, hia " Travels

b 3e>reh of Religion." Now, sine* my witty father's cele-

fmteil book of '■ Gulliver's Travels," I ask, waa there ever

feinore clever, or ia every way so well got up a performance

■ this Irish gentleman's ■' steeple chase P" But unfortu-

' toly memory supplies me with the fact, that this very same

mtical Tommy, who iu that work quotes the " Fathers "

accurately, and, I ma^ add (without goin^iuto polemics).

I felicitously and triumphantly, has written the most

144 TATHEB PSOUT's REliIQUBS.

abusive, scurrilous, and profane article that erer sullied the pages of the '^ Edinburgh Beview," — the whole scope of which is to cry down the Fathers, and to turn the highest and most cherished ornaments of the primitiye church intc ridicule. See the 24th volume of the "Edinburgh Eeview,"* p. 65, Nov. 1814, where you will learn with amazement that the most accomplished Christian writer of the second century, that most eloquent churchman, Africa's glorious son, was nothing more in Tommy's eye than the " harsh, muddy, and unintelligible Tertullian!" Further on, you will hear this Anacreontic little chap talk of " the pompous rigidity of Chrysostom ;" and soon after you are equally edified by hearing him descant on the " antithetical tnflins of Gregory Nazianzene "—of Q-regory, whose elegant mind was the result and the index of pure unsidlied virtue, ever most attractive when adorned with the graces of scholar- ship— Gregory, the friend of St. Basil, and his schoolfellow at Athens, where those two vigorous champions of Chris- tianity were associated in their youthful studies with that Julian who was afterwards an emperor, a sophist, and an apostate — a disturber of oriental provinces, and a fellow who perished deservedly by the javefin of some young patriot admirer of round towers in Persia. In the article alluded to, this incredulous Thomas goes on to say, that these same Fathers, to whom he afterwards refers his Irish gentleman in the catch-penny travels, are totally ^^ unfit to be gmdu either in faith or morals,^^ (it, ih.) The prurient rogue dares to talk of their ^^ pagan imaginatiam /" and, having turned up his ascetic nose at these saintly men, because, forsooth, they appear to him to be but " indifferent ChristianSy^ he pro- nounces them to be also " elephants in battle," and, chuckling over this old simile, concludes with a complacent smirk quite self-satisfactory. O for the proboscis of the royal animiu in the Surrey Menagerie, to give this poet's carcass a sound drubbing ! O most theological, and zoological, and super- eminently logical Tommy ! 'tis you that are fit to travel in search of religion !

If there is one plain truth that oozes forth from the fecu- lent heap of trash which the reviewer accumulates on the

* The book reviewed by Moore is entitled *' Select Paasages from tha Fathers,'* by Hugh Boyd, Esq. Dublin, 1814.

kiuei Mea

mi: Booi'KiiiEs OP Tou uoobz. I4S

■its of the Fathers, it is the convJctiou ia every obBervant id, lirnwu from the Bunple peru§al of his article, that lie er re«<l tlireo tonaecittive pagt'sof their worku in liis hie. one that ever tlid — no one who hiid batiqiiet«d with the id nisgniliceiit Cbrysostoni, or drained the true «niiui run of Gregory Nazianzene, or dwelt with the luent aod feeliugly ilevout Bernard iu the cloistered of Clairvaux, or mused with the powerful, rich, and itinizing mind of Jerome in hia liennitoge of Palestine, — Id trrite an article bo contemptible, bo low, so little. Ilt> H, Iruty with chnrncteriBtic audacity, that he ha^ mounted mONt Inaccessible shelves of the library iu 'JViu. Coll. i>]ia, Ks if be had wiuled the " heights of Abruhani," to ■ Mi theorifiDal editioua; but believe him not: for the . folioe would have become iiifitiiict with life at the ap- Acb of the dwarf — they would Lave awakened from their Biber at bis touch, and, tumbling their goodly voliimea their diminutive assailant, would have overwhelmed htm, 1 Tarpcin, on the very threshold of his saerilegious iu- ioa.

rowBnbi my young friend O'Brien nf the taicers he acts tlin ■e part, appearing in his favourite character — that of uu ffijmons reviewer, n veiled prophet of Khoraaan. Having It negotiated by lelt«r willi him to extract his brains, and ke utw of him for hJu meditated " History of Ireland " — e citrecpondence lies before me)— he winds up the con- mtial intercourse by an Edinburgh volley of canister shot, oitp in a friendly way." Ue has the ineffable impudence ■ccute O'B. of p'/ajriTun), and to st«te that this grand and Hnlleleddiscot'eryhadbeen previously made by tne author ^Nimrod;"* a book wbicb Tommy read not, neitlier did art. «o he plucked the laurel from the brow of uiorit. Jliit •ccBM a writer of plagiarism, he should be himself irn-

>5bii>a(I. t? the Han. RrginBld H(!rb«rt. 1 vol. Sva. I.CFndan, 18^(1. Ik;, a «<irli of unconuDan erudition; but the IcaJin^ idol uf it,lhiathiiiH- towrTtnerfJIre-allarM. O. B.'b tlipory is nol Iu

■tc Htoniihtd it thp nuhini«a of eifitiK (» Kloore ha» done) ■ idad faolalion from " Afmrurf " wilhout mdii»tiiig ir*(r« i) u hiA with In Iliv volume. — O, T.

FATUEB F BOUT a BELmUES.

inaoulati! ; imd while be dwells in a glass houB^, he ajooi not throw stones at a ninn in a tower.

Tlie Btaj'aey-Btoneiiiniy Detgiibourhoodhnsiittninti-illiitbi tnauy an illuBtrious visitor ; but none has becu so assidunt a pUgrim in my time aa Tom Moore. "While he «aa iti;^iigi in hia hunt und moEt uneiL'ept ion able work on the melodioi ballads of iiis country, he came regularly every suniuier,iil did mo the honour to share my humblo roof repentt-Jly. B knows well how olleu he plaeued me to supply liim wil original songs which I ha^ picked up Ju Franco ami>ne tl merry troubadours njid earol-loving inhabitants uf^ tin «nce happy laud, aud to what extent he has transTcm these foreign inventions into the " Irish JUdodte* Like the robber Cueiis, he generally dragged the pluuck- <-attle by the tail, so as that, moving backwardu iolD cavern of stolen goods, the foot-tracka might not l«ai] rlet«>ction. Some songs he would turn upside dovn. bv tigure in rhetoric called iitrtpati Tftrifm ; others ho would m guise in various shapes; but he would still worry mc I supply him with the productious of the Galho mum.'; '*f< d'ye see, old Prout," lliu rogue would say,

"TlieWilof allw^ji To Icnglbm our layi, li to Ileal > few Ihouglite froiu Ibe Pmioli, ' ii]t iJivr.' ~

Now I would have let him enjoy unnioleated the mMH which these " Melodies " have obtiuned for him ; but h laat treachery to my round-tower friend has niisod my bit and I shall give evidence of the unsuspected robbcrin :

II would be easy to point out detached fragmeDlB sfl ■tray iiietapli<>rs, which he has scattered here and thent I such gs^ cont\iaion that every page has within its limit* maae of felony and plagiariam euSicient to haug btm. Kl instance, 1 need only advert to bis '■ Bard'a Legacy." on his dying bed this " dyin^ '^bard " cannot help uululj^ hia evil pranks; for, in l)c(|ueothinc his " heart" to U "miatreaa dear," and nn'oainmuding uer to "bttrrott"

TB£ BOOUEHtEa or TOU MOOSE.

■Iropa of pnrt wine to bathe the relic, he is all the while rob- bing old Clement Mar6t, who thus disposes of hu remaiub :

" Qnuid je eui> mort, Jc n

I But I wont strain at a gnat, when I can capture a camel — hage dromedary ladeu with pilfered spoil ; for, would yoti diuTe it if you tad never learned it from Prout, the very oing Aud foremost song of the collection,

" Go where glorj waiCa thee,"

rit but u literal and eervite translatiou of an old French I 4itlT, which i» among my papers, and which I betieye to havf 1>rp-D ct>ti)pus<!d by that oeautiful and interesting " ludye," Frutfoine de Foiz, Conitewe de Chateaubriand, bom in liDl, and the favourite of Francis I., who soon abandoned her: indeed, llie lines apptear to anticipate his infidelity. Tliey were written before the battle of Pavia.

Cliantfoit

Com ^oart'0

Tramlnlwn of thu Sofg m Ihl /.

Go wliere glory vniU Uiec ; Bill Blulcliinio daM> Ibee,

Oh, ilill remenibfrr me ! mien UiepruK tlmu iimtnt To thin<! MT ii tweetcvl.

Oil, tlien rmni^inbcr nie ! OUier«™i» in«ir prcBsthec, l>air«r friends mrna thro — All tho jo^i Ihat bl^> (liCd

Deo«r far may Ke ; But vhm firii^iu are drarest, AiiJ •thenJOjs arr nwrMt,

Oh, then mucmbor toe 1

Whai nt CTP thou rowst Ej tlic etu thou lOTMi, Ob, lbcDivinrn,W<..al

lis

Fi^THEB PROUT^a RELIQUES.

Lorjijque cette etoile, Qu'uu beau cicl devoile,

Guidadeux amans! Quand la fleur, sjmbole l)'ete qui s'envole, Penche sa t^te molle,

S'exhalant a Pair, Pense k la guirlande, De ta mie roflfrande—

Don qui fut si cher !

Quand la feuille d*automne Sous tea pas reaonne,

Pense alors k moi ! Quand de la famille L'antique foyer brille,

Pense encore k moi ! Kt 8i de la chanteuse La voix melodieuse Berce ton kme heurcuse

£t ravit tes sens, Pense k I'air que cliante Pour toi ton aniante —

Tant aimes accens !

Think, wlien home returning, Bright weVe seen it burning-*

Oh, then remember me ! Oft as summer closes, Wlien thine eye reposes On its lingering roses,

Once so loved by thee, Think of her who wore thenh— Her who made thee love them :

Oh, then remember me !

When around thee, dying, Autumn leaves are lying.

Oh, then remember me ! And at night, when gazing On the gAj hearth blazing,

Oh, still remember me ! Then, should music, stealing All the soul of feeling. To thy heart appealing.

Draw one tear from thee ; Then let memory bring thee Strains I used to sing thee —

Oh, then rememb^ mel

Auy one who has the slightest tincture of French litera- ture must recognise the simple and unsophisticated style of a genuine love-song in the above, the language being that of the century in which Clement Mar6t and Maitre Adam wrote their incomparable ballads, and containing a kiudlv admixture of gentleness and sentimental delicacy, wbica no one but a ^' ladye" and a lovely heart could infuse into the composition. Moore has not been infelicitous iu ren- dering the charms of the wondrous original into Engli«l» lines adapted to the measure and tune of the French. The air ia plaintive and exquisitely beautiful ; but I recommend it to be tried first on the French words, as it was sung by the charming lips of the Countess of Chateaubriand to the en- raptured ear of the gallant Francis I.

The following pathetic strain is the only literary relic which has been preserved of the unfortunate Marqois de Ciuqmars, who was disappointed in a love affiur, and who, ** to fling forgetfulnesB around him,*' mixed in politics, con- spired against Cardinal Hichelieu, was betrayed by an ac- complice, and perished on the scaffold. Moore has trans-

I

|itaDl«<l it entire ioto his " Nal i-virfiil not to give the Datiou ■

1.1 SRittfuii nt crinqmarfi.

biiku xmgc, Qiu te fut, li^lu '. mi Irop tAt ;

,Kas nil but » dreun at tlifl id itilJ irheD hajipiest, Booneet

Lc dulia (UtruiHi Ion Kvenir? FMil-a i)iu< In roM

fart «Ui qu'U «f [liaise it fl^tnr P 1"U n'M iiut, &u.

aittn, KBur da I'Bmonr trom- e rMuonr I> coupe eueore en-

[ ArmmionUTreanDor'HncdBuri

uecte qui 81a

InluB inutile I VoMjiirtronit foislofrilfltiwu;

VoM pfirtr oent foi» 1 Tti, Mttour enion

The hoeom th&t opoi With earlieit hope* The toonetl Guds those bopea uu-

Lika Howars that first In Bpring-timo burnt, Tbe soonnt vrllhcr too !

Oh, 'twM all hot, ic.

Bj frienddiip we've oft bwn lis-

Aud love, ofun lore, Uio euon u pMlj ButfriendshipwUUtillbebfliei'cil, And tore trusted oa U> llieisBt ( Like the it

Tlie

lider 1

liangsoei

J s the nharin th

Tho' oft w he «

It broke by the breeie,

lie neatca the bright line ngsin! O! tnu nUbut, &<'.

Zvtrf thing was eniiallv at^ueptsble in the waj of b, soug ^lo Tiomiuy ; and pnn-idej 1 brought griat to his mill, he diil " t care where the produce came from — even the wild onts d tbp thistles of native growth on Wntergraashill, all was

■ gmd prnTTuder for his Pegusua. There was an old Latiu

■ Jung of my own, which I made when a boy, smitten with I tlie cbarnu of an Irish milk.maid, who troseed by the Aedge-

f occasionally, and who uecd to distract my attention n " Corderiua" and " Eraam' ^otloquia." I nave often

150

FATHXB PBOUT'S BELIQUX8.

laughed at my juvenile gallantry when my eye haa met copy of versee in overhauling my papers. Tommy sa' grasped it with avidity ; and I mid he haa given it, ^ for word, in an English shape in his " Irish Melodies." the intelligent reader judge if he has done common jui to my young muse.

In puld^ram lactttrram.

Carmen^ Auctore Proui,

Lesbia semper hinc et indi

Oculorum tela movit ; Capiat omnes, sed deind^

Quis ametur nemo norit. Palpebrarum, Nora cara.

Lux tuarum non est foris, Flarama mieat ibi rara,

Sed sineeri lux amoris. Nora Creina sit regina,

Vultu, fn^ssu tarn modcsto ! iriTC. puellas inter bellas.

Jure omnium dux esto !

Lesbia veates auro graves

Fert, et gemmis, juxtanormam; Onitiw sed, eheu ! suaves

Cinotam reliqu^re formam. Norae tunieam pneferres,

Flante zephjro volantem ; Oculis et raptis erres

Contemplando ambulantem ! Vesta Nora tarn decorA

Semper indui memento, Samper purs sic natures

Ems teeta Testimenlo.

Co a ieanttful ff tl6m.

A Melody, by Tkomat Moo

Leslna hath a beamtng ^e. But no one knows for t it beameth; Bight and left its arrows flj, But what thej aim at^ nc dreameth. Sweeter 'tis to gaie apon Mj Nonih*8 Ud, that se rises; Few her looks, bat every one Liie unexpected light sorp O, my Norah Creina dear ! My gentle, bashful Nor^ Ot Beauty lies In loan^ eyes^ But Love's in thine, my S Creina!

Lesbia wears a robe of gold ; But all so tight the nymph laced it, Not a charm of beauty's moo Presumes to stay where m placed it. O, my Norah's gown for me, That floats as wild as moui breezes. Leaving every beauty free

To sink orswellaslfeavenple Yes, my Norah Creina dear ! My simple, gracefiilNorah Ok Nature's drees Is loveliness — The dress you wear, my N' Creina!

^^^^eSlTTBIBS

or TOM ttOOBS.

0>bu aientia piwlort lumen, QuhI mnisciit perlibmtori

(1 qtDI UpWt llOl' OVUIDfll.

"^ ■ '« »eupiiii«» dontur?

, QiumdoH

Aim

11 i»mi|^ III 'i«i criMMB rugs roii*. « bUnilK, lui BmiQila, Eipen UMiur IfncbrBrum, Cii nor tnul«ii per tot linlL'ni Dutes, Uma iUfxbnruia •

.mplingof (hei O. mv Nonh Creina dear !

My mild, inj Brtles* Numb

Wit, thoogli bright,

Hath not Ihe light

Tliat WKrniB jour cjee. my Nor«h

It will be aeen by these specimens that Tom Woore can

Ae out a lolerBbly fair traueilation of anv given ballad ; and

idi^d, to trausUto properly, retaining all tbe Are and spirit

f th*' original, ia a merit not to be sneezed at — it is the

ttxt btwt thing to liavtnt; a genius of one'a own ; for lie

»bo ''ail eiei'iite a clever forgery, and make it pass cmrent,

• aliiioBt aa well off aa tbe capitalist who can draw a sub-

intial rlieck on tlie bank of aterling genius : so, to give

f rfrvil hiB due, I must acknowledge that in terseness.

Biiint, pnthii*, and elegance^ Kloore'n traniilatioaa of these

f rracli and Latin triflea are very near aa good us tbe pri-

Bmry cnmpuBitivus theiiiBelTes. He has not beeu holi' so

' ' "o hitting off AnatTeon; but be k&s a, young man

ad a " wild fellow ;" since which time itis thought

ul be lia* got to that climacteric in life to which few poets

ain, vu. the veors of discretion. A predatory sort of

•, the rart-er of a literary freebooter, has hiid great chamis

r biiti fri)tti bin cradle ; aiid 1 aiu afraid that be will pur-

1 to finn] impenitence. He Beeiiia to care little

biint the rtcm reception he will one day receive from that

tiblc judge, EhadnmautbuEi, who will make him cuufeiia

bin rogueries' — " Castigatque dolos, subigitqiie fateri" —

r bard being of that epicurean and careless turn of mind

O Btnkiitgly eipreseed in these lines of " Lalla Eookb" —

" 0 1 if tWp be nn EIrsium on HUlii, It il this 1 it i> ilui I"

IS2 FATHEK FBOrT & REUQDEt.

W hich verses, bj- tlie hy, are nlone enough to convict k downright plugiarism and robbury ; tor th^y Kre (m Tomn knows right wi>ll) tu be seen written in Itu-fre letters in th Mogul language orer tiie audience- chaniber of tbi; Kiotf 4 Delhi :• in fact, to examine and r>Vorl»aul biH " LaUit KonUl' would be a moet divertiiiE^ task, which 1 mny o dertake. He will be fouuLl to liave been a cluirtcrod pinC in the Peraian Gulf, b6 he was a higbwaymiui in £uni[H~ ''spoliis Onentia onustum."

But the favourite field iu which Tommy biu carried t hia depredations, to an almost incredible exb-nt, is tliat 1 the early French troubadours, whose property he has thongli fairgame, availinnE himself thereof witnout scruple. In his Mi* Huiint '' Irish " Melodies, and indeed in all his cffusiuitB b more refined gallnutry, he lias poured in a large tDfuaion 01 the spirit and the letter of southern Frauce. To be sol he ban mixed up with the pure, simple, and i^nuine insp rations of tbese primitive hearts, wbo loved, iu the olden tim after nature's fashion, much of his own overstnuned liuac strange conceits, and forced metaphors ; but the itiiliati cAn easily distinguish when it is he si)eaketh in jiroprid ft aiind, and when it is that be uses tlie pathetie and sob stirring language of the mfaitlreU of Gaul, those legiUtnai laureates of love. There has been a s<juib lircd off by son wag of the sixteenth century a^inst an old astrologvr, wt practised many rogueries in his generation, and wbtofa think not inapplicable to Moore :

" NaMrH ilamua otun f&Ua damuB, lum (ultDni noatnlin ssti

Et c&ui fiilu danius, non niai Noilra damiu,"

AihI, only it were a profanation to place two sncb pcna

Xin juitnposition, 1 would say that Woore might uae tk ting, the soul-rending appeal of the ill-fated iHmrj 9li art, addressed to that laud of song and civjlisatioa *'' ■he was quitting for ever, when she exclnimeil, as the shorp reei?ded from her view, that " half of her heart wtii still be found on tlie lovt^d plains of i'rance, and e'en iiiher half pined to rejoin it iu its primitive abodes of santOMH and Joy." The song of the unfortunate quceo i

■ See the " Aoistio Journal " tot M>y, IBM, p. &

Tax soorxRtis u? tom hdobk.

163

•'■quiwlcly beantiful not to be given hoi* by me, such aa "•le Miig it oil the <l(i,'k of the vessel tkint wafted lier away ■'tiHi the steuea of her yimth and the bleagingB of frieniisbip, *" »etk the liismal regions of bleak barbaritv and murderous 'uLsticisui, I oIho give it because Tomiuy }u\a inodelled on •^ biif nielodv, " As eJow our ship its foamy trai-'li," aud "jron hia " Kntive land, good night !"

Oh, aim patrie U jiliu dilrie. Qui M nourri nm JEune enlaute — Adieii, Ftmoft : sdieu, mta braui

Id Qvf qui dgoinl mea amoun K'b ici de moi que 1* moitie ;

VoK part te r«te, elle e«t tienne, Je ta fi<^ i ton nmitie—

Va\ir qnc de I'autrc, il tc BouTJenae t"

" Fm-ewell fair Und,

nine hearl'a oounlrie I Wbi?rH Arlhood planned

It> wiid freslcs free. The bark that buan

Ke«p, keep h«T ir

iol"

I niiw coiue to a more Eerious charge. To plunder the Fimch is All right ; but to rob his own conjitrynien is Hbiit the late I>ord Liverpool would call "too bad." I srluiit tlie claims of the poet on the gratitude of the abori- i;iaal Irish ; for gloHoue Dan miglit h&ve exerted his h-atlieru lungs during a century in haraiiEuing the native Mirni evtotiet on this side of the Channel ; but had nob the " 3tcii)dieB " made emancipation paJatable to the think- ing and generous portion of Britain's free-bom sons — hod no! Ilia poetry Ppoten to the hearts of the great and the good, and enlisted the fair daughters of EnglaniC the spoutere wiHild hftTt^ been but objects of scorn and contempt. The •-Melodies" won tho cause silently, imperceptibly, efl'ec- tukllv 1 anil if there be a tribute due from that class of the ootive. it is to the child of song. Poets, however, are always destined tu be poor; and eui-b used to be the en»e with patriots too. until the riiit opened the eyes of the public, and taught them thut even that sacred aud exalted inWMuu. love of country, could resolve itself, through an Irish alembii?, into an ardent love for the copper currency of one's native land. The dagger of Harmodius, whica id to be coui.-ealed under a wreath of myrtle, is now-a-days I Uildea within the cnvity of a church-door begging-box : and I 7o(B Moore can only claim the second part ot the eele-

Ifrl FlTUElt FUOl'TS XELI()CES.

orattd line of Virgil, as the first evidcDtlj- rafcn to Hi O'Connell ;

" ^rr trieni rtroa — Murlcmquc aoooiKterfl otntu.*'

But I am digreBHing from the BeriouB clinrge I nein hriug against the author of that beautiful meloJjr. ** 1 Hluimpock." Does not Tom Moore know tliot tfieno i iiucli a thia^ in France as the Irisli brigade ? and liuea hs Dot foar and tremble lest tlie k^ob** <*' t'""* vnliMil t w'hnm he has rubbed of their due honmirs, should, " in Btilly ni)rht, wlien slumber's chains have bouiid hiiu," ' hia dmall carcass to the Styi. and give him a wcli-mcrita sousing? For why should he exhibit a» his prodoctim Ikrir favourite Bong P and -what inefiable aiidai-ity li pawr off ou modern drawing-rooms as hit own that glurioua cwo which made the tents of Fontenoy ring with its exhilaratta music, and which old General Stack, who lately died i Calais, used to sing bo gallantly ?

It Crtflt t'icUnbt.

L-Aduoo A, la Bngadf, 1748. tTn jour ea Hybernii-, O'AxoiTR \o henu gAiic Kl Ic dieu dc l> Tjutivit Qreal r>ci

Atm 1o "Hth ElPRiT,"

Ce drMv qiii (e rit DatoiitorquiluiTiiml.irBncontn

PkrUrat Ipur pit nteillc*

Vnf herbc k triplo fi>uUle, Qm In unit humc^a de >« ptcur

" Uriodf" nj Tarn i/oDni, Tlimiytb Km.', i.l^

Tiurtt, ffii'His " Pour Crtit oilAl qii'«Ue me

Ion (uparbc.

XUe cnvii liumurtel i ChiMtni iMfuriMnJ iikI

Old Eriu'i iiBti'i> •latiu>)(AI

ii;i pk- TliOH! iMly i^iuii at maminf i" Alia lectio t / -rt««f (nr ■um rwewiU^

TQB RoorEniKS r

Amook lai dit, " Kon, non, C«( moi ifuc le gtxaa HoDon «i DO bijoux qu'il bit

yjtii VttL ESTBIT dirige Sur I'lurrbe i Iripip ^g» 17& aril ol»<«rTBl«ur, 1 Mn tour. " Poorquin," dit-ll, " derairs Vu aaud •! beau, qui aem oa t;|n RspniT, Vai.edb, et

Vito le T«t gMon ! la purie, urrc vhiriu ! t>'«Bihl^H cM hvl i!l Um t

Snjsl

" No, ni

Uy fragranl jtalh adoT^ima.'*

Hut Wit. iK'rwivM

The triplo \fart». And ci'in, " O, do not aerer

Jk ^pe thut lili-iid*

Three godlike frieoda— Wit, Vulour, LoiB, for ererV

O the aliiuunMtk !

Tlie green immortal shunrock I Choeni l«t of burd ruiil chief,

Old Erin's lutlire >h&mratk I

80 finn Ksd fond Maj la*t tbo bond Tliej Kote that luorn lugnther j And ufl*er in^y fikll One drop of gnll 'Qo'* rentour «i gucment rSiFUT On Wit'< relaitial feather '.

Prioni \c GfI qa'il diire Cc Bieuil, c>ii In nature 'ouilr»ilriiiruiir. cIcruelkalliuiCDi Qu- nnl ,n„u j.mai»

Qu* nal I;

Sfny Love, a His Sa«erB 1

elioot id fruit,

rriul«l(IaUHdtlit£I

Vi*aloli«l«l

Vl?o h rat gtton I I U (wtniv IcTTc cberic !

L'mitiliine est bel l'I boo I

Of til

Let Vi

Iliji .lundard roar jtgniiist the caiue o( freedom,

Or of tlic abamrouk,

Tlie gnien immortal ahamroi.'; ! Clios«n l(«f of bard a»d ebief.

Old Erin's iialive ehamruck I

Ualiere haa written a pieasant aud inetructtve corned}' itled thtr Fourberiet de Seapin, which I recoiiiineDd to n'spCTiiml; niid in the " 8[>elliiig-1ji)ak" which I uwd con iner wheu at the hedge-sfhool with my I'ostfr- ther Gi'uri^ Kuapp, who haa since risen to einiuem* na rOr "if Verk.. but with whom I used thfii to slisre the ling of lae ^ Uiiiveraiil !j gelling -Book" (haviu^ but one men «a). thcro ifl (in awl'ul atory about " Tommy iind I»rrv," very ciipahle of ilt-ten-ing youtliful minds from evil

M;tl(«i>, wpei-itillv the hirge wood-cut repreBentiiig a lion

irine tiw »touiacli of tlie luckless wight who led a carew wifikedneM. Had Tommy Moore been brought uji pro*

«1y (uA Koupp and I wen;), he would not have i-onimittcd

156

PATHIB PBOrT B BELIQUXS.

80 many depredations, which he ought to know would be discovered on him at last, and cause him bitterly to lepent his " rogueries."

With all my sense of indignation, unabated and unmiti- gated at the unfairness with which O'Brien ** of the round towers" has been treated, and which has prompted me to make disclosures which would have otherwise slept with me in the grave, I must do Moore the justice to applaud his accurate, spirited, and sometimes exquisite translations from recondite MSS. and other totally unexplored writings of antiquity. I felt it my duty, in the course of these stric- tures, to denounce the version of Anacreon as a total failure, only to be accounted for by the extreme youth and inexpe- rience of the subsequently matured and polished melodist ; but there is an obscure G-reek poet, called 2raxxoc Mo^ihr,;, whose ode on whisky, or negus, composed about the six- teenth olympiad, according to the chronology of Archbishop Usher, he has splendidly and most literally rendered into English Anacreontic verse, thus :

{Stat nominu umltra.)

^ri\l/UtfltV OVV KUTTtWoV

Toif apOi/JLOKTi i//i'x»7C» Totf ipiprarot^ ^ptvtQ y' a 'Hfitv Svvaivr' t0ivptiv, Tavry yap ovpavovct Ty vuKTi Sh irtTdffOaii Tavrifv \iiropTig aiat^. Ki y' OVV £pci/( \a9oiTO 'VoiQ aTififiuTtiXff' h TtpxptQ 'Hfiif fiayng SiSutaiv, Oi/TTw t^oUo^ yevoiTO, *Qc yap iraptaTif oivov, Ba^ijjfiip ecye Kfvrii.

&n Wa^UkjE^ or jftrguif.

By Moore,

Wreathe the bowl With flowers of soul

The brightest wit can find us ; We'll take a flight Towards heaven to-night,

And leave dull earth behind us. Should Love amid The wreath be hid.

That joy th' enchanter brings us ; No aanger fear While wine is near —

We'll drown him if he stings us. Then wreathe the bowl, &c Su

*Qg fioi \f yovffi, viKTap IlaXac itrivov 'llPAl Kac ZHNK2 rih «OIBOI. YXiOTi Kai jipoToiatv

*HfUV TTOUtV TO VlKTap*

flOAifrfov yap <tf^f *

*Twas nectar fed

Of old, 'tis said. Their Junos, Jores, ApoUos ;

And man may brew

His nectar too — The rich receipt's m IbUowi:

ttx'riotr liopptir,

DarfoMtp )t CiXy hit" ^Joi-ifi' p«t9()v Efia-X^Cfuv j" irnipoi

13K BOHDKRIZS OE TOM MOOBC.

167

Take wine like this,

Lc-t liwki nf bli!> ArouiKl il nelt be blendeit i

Then bnng vut's bonni

To Kirm tha stresra — And there's joar uectsr splendid.

Then wreBthe ttie buwl, Jx. Sus,

S«T, why did Time

Hin flus aiiblinie Fiil up witii Miids unfligliaj.

When wine, be knew.

Buna brisker through. And tpftrkk* far mora briglitl; ?

le Eun m two we d grro Mike pleasure glide III double tide. And nil bulh ends for ever.

iwl,Ac.4c.

Such carefully Huislied traaalatiuna tta this from irauMt.

wliich not an idea or beauty of the Oreek is lost in thi; £iu;lish Tcnrion, must net^ssorily do Tommy infinite credit ;

d tlic only drnnback on the abimdant praise which I

:)olii otliiTwifie feel inelined to- bestow ou the Anacreontic tenifit-T. is the fatal neglect, or perhaps wilful treachery, «l:ieh has led him to deny or suppress the Bourcea of his fciapiration, and induned him to appear in the discreditable "anion of an Irish jackdaw in tLe borrowed plumage of a Ircciau peacock. The spleadotir of poeay, like " Malachy's CoUair of gold," is nmnd liis neck ; bwt he won it from a ~* Jiger: the green glories of tbe emerald adorn hia glow- oeat — or, aa Phsdrus saya,

" Kitor •marnijili eollo refulget luo — "

nt if joa raOe hia feathers a little, you will tind that his ttvnry toilette ia composed of what the French cuiffrnr* ^^■11 dn ornemmi postichei ; and that there was never il more ndlt'd-for dedaration than the avowa! which he btmacir > of hia Iklelodies, when, talking of the wild • of thv Irish harp, he admits, he " wat but the vind

158 FATUfiR pBonr's sxt qvbs.

patting ht-illtMl]f over " ita cliorda.and that titc music whI; DO meaoB lib own.

A t>iii)[i!u liiut was sometiniea eiioitgli to tut hitt mvmt t work ; and lie not only was, to my kuuwiislgc, nu adept ij translating accurati^ly, but he coiild ako atriug togctiua nny number of linea in anv given measure, in tmitatio* of ■ BODg or ode which caauall; cnme lu bia way. This is twt such arrant robbtiry aa wb»l I hare previously atigmatiaod} but it is u sort of guiui- pilfering, a kind uf iiflty luveajj not to be eDL'ournged. There is, for iuatimce. liia " NAliutuI Melody," or jingle, called, iu the early edition of Lia pocro^ " Those Evening Bella," a " PettnOuig air," of which 1 <.-ohU unfold the natural hiBtory. It ia this; — In one oi' bi quent visits to Watcrgraeshill, Tommy and 1 spent thp ing in talking of our vontinental travels, and more pailtcu* larly of Pariei imd its miralrdia ; of whii^h he aeeiued quits enamoured, The view from the tower of tlip central chuidt^ Ji&tre Dame, greatly struck his fancy ; and I drew tho voa* veraation to the subject of the simiutnneoua rinsing of aB the bells in all the steeples of that vast metropolis on . feast-day, or public rejoicing. The effect, be agreed me, is most enchanting, and the barmouy moat aurpnnng. At tliat time Victor Hugo hod not vrrittea his glonoua l~ mance, the llunrjihaek Quatimtido ; Mid, coatwqucntly, eould not have read his beautifid deseription: " In an — nary way, the nnist:> issuing frcm Paris iu the day-tit the talking of tlie city ; at night, it is the irealhi'ag «if city ; ia this caso. it is the tmyin^ of the city. Leud j ear to this opera of al«eples. Uiffiise over the whole buzting of hnlf a milliou of human tvings, the eternal mu mur of the river, the infuiite pi|)ing of tlie wind, the grai aud distant quartette of the four forests, jilactid likv hiK raense organs on the four bills of the horizon ; sofWu Aa% as with a denii-tint all tbnt is too shrill tind too harsh in tl central mass of sound, — and say if you know anythhts in tlie world more rieh. more ^laddenin^, tnure diucuing, trao that tumult of bells — than that furimee of musie— those leu thousand brazen tones, breathed all at uuee fruia fiulet uf alone three humlrfi /ret high — than ttiat eily wl ia but one orcbrstra — tbou that symphony, rushing *aSi roaring Uke a tempest." All these malters, we acnvd.

' TOM MOOItE.

loS

' irere wry fine ; l>ut there is nothing, ofWr all, lilte the asso- ~ iaiiona which early inroaioy attaches to the well-knowu and t^raniHinbered chiniiw ot' our owu parish-eteeple : and iiu Ugic can e<\usl the effect »□ our ear ivheQ nitumini; after ing nbernce in fureign, and {«rliaps happier countries. As _t) perfectly coincided in the truth of^this observatiou, I idded, that long ago, while nt Boiue, 1 had throu'[i my ideas into tlie ehape of a song, wliieh I would slug biiu to the e of the " Grovee,"

THE SIIANDOS CELLS.'

S.ibbnU patxQo. JTuntr.i {ilango, Solcmniji (Inngo.

n old n

drtjp iffoollou I Aail itMllrrCinn

t oftm tliink uf ^MM Shwidon bcUs, L Wicac Knuub to wild would, I In dw day* of cliildhood, I Flinf iviiuil tny irnuUo I nuir in«(iio ijiiJls. I On tin* 1 jHinilvr I Whonrar I •H.drr, I, And Uiot gnni fondBT. ' »weftCork. of Ihecj

With llij biJli of Shindon. I TliM (uutid to gnuid 01

But oil their mueie

9poke uftu^liC like thine For memory dwelling Oa ecvli proud iwrllmg Of thebrirr; knrllijig

Ixe bold notes Trtv,

Hie 1.1 Oft

Of^arirt

id tulk diiming IThU bimij ■ dime In, *Teni«n •ablime in Owlicdml ehnnp. L Whil* nt a gliba nXe

b»«f>irv<if ?liiindnii,bui1l oil l.lix ruin* of old eiiniidoii CiiUa ■rwUicti Mv llut pUlM in " Pncnta H jbcrnin"), in a iiraminvut ubjr^-t. «tcr lidB Ihe tiwcUar ipprancbn oar beautiful cny. In j It M ia fact ikap 101110 gcucntiona of the iirit«r'i lulU mid kin,

Tve liFonl ball» laUins Old "Adrian's Mole" iii, Tlicir thunder rolling

From the Faticui, And cTmbajA glorious Swinging upronrioun In th^orgM>u3 tumtii

Of ShVn naxDft 1 But thy ■Ducde wore >we«ler I'hao the domis of Pclrr Flings o'cF tliu Tibur,

FeaJing BoiHiunl; i —

ICO rATHEB sai

O! thebeUiofSluuidon Sound Ear more grand oa XliB pIcMsnt wHtent Of the river Loe.

There's a b«U in Uoocow, While on toirer and kjtwk o I In Saint SopluK

The Turkman geK, And loud in air Calls men to prayer

Uora dear to me, — 'TiB the belb orShandon, That aauDi] h ^rand on Tlie pleaaant watrr*

OllhenverLce.

Shortly aH«rwards, Moore published his " Ereninv BtU a Ptttribitrg air." But any one cau eee that he oa^ rin a few changea oa my Roman ballad, cunningly shifting t ■cene aa far north b* he could, to avoid detection, " * aervea richly to be sent on a hurdle to Siberia.

I Ho not feel bo much hurt at this nrfsriou> "bdW fltrata^em " regnrding me, aa at hia wicki^dricm towuiia t man of the round towere ; and to this niAtter I tiu-n in oa

" O blame not the bard !" Boine folks will no doubt c claim, anJ peHia]i9 think that 1 have been nver-miwn < Tommy, in my vmdicatiDn of O'B. ; I can only aay, that the poet o/all eircU» and Che idol of h'u own, na luion u tl {losthumoua rebuke ahull meet bin eye. begiuH to rrpeut hi of his B-icked attack on my young friend, and, turning ' ' from his evil waya. betakes him to his proper trade of bd mnking, then shall he experience the comfort of living j>eai!e with all mankind, aad old Prout's blewiug ahslt I as a precious ointment on his head. In that cootingen if (a« I understand it to be bis intention) ho shdhld hai ti» publish a/VctA number of hia " Melodies," may it Iw nrntly successful ; and m»y Power of tb« Strand, by mure eterliug sounds than the echoes of fame, be of the power of eong —

My bumble patroiuge, it iei true, cannot do much fur him i| fiuLionable oircJoH ; fur 1 never mixed much ia the I

THE BOauXRlES Of TOM XOOBE. 161

mrnlt ^nt Irxstiu Ireland) during my life-time, and can lie of a •ervu-e of course when I'm dead; nor will hia "Melodiea," fear, tliciagh well adapted to mortal piano-fortes, answer

Surposeo of that (.t^li^gtial eLoir in which I shall then be Bcure but eheerftil yoc.iliat. But aa I have touched D thia grave topic of mortality, let Moore recollect that his Mirae here below, however harmonious in the abstract, iu»t bate a Snale ; and at his last liour let him not treasure p for himself tha unpleasant retrospect of young genius ipped in the bud by the frost of bis criticism, or glad en- busissni's early promise damped by inconsiderate sneers, t'Briern'a book can, and will, no doubt, afford much matter r witticism and merriment to the superficial, the unthink- g, and the profaue; but to the eye of candour it ought to iTe pfL-Beuled a page richly fraught with wondrous research 'fMolent with all the perfumes of ilindostan; its leaves, thvy fnilod to convince, should, like those of the myate- lOfl iohu, have inculcated eilenre ; and if the finger of me- on did not rest on every line, and pause on every pe- id, thf volume, at least, eliould not be indicated to the Igar by the linger of ai^om. Even grajiting that there jit in the book some errors of fancy, of judgment, or of hich of us is without reproach in our juneniU produc- na r and though I myself am old, I am the more inclined (orjritc the iuaccurwuea of youlh. Again, when all is rk. «bit would object tu a ray of light, merely because ot f fjutlty or flickering medium by which it is transmitted? td if llin« round towers have been hitherto a dark puzzle tl ft oijstpry, must we scare away O'Brien because Tie «p- MCJicti witb n rude and unpoliahed but aerviceable lantern ? i; forbid it, Diogenes; and tliough Tommy may attempt pBt his citingiiisher on the tomtrt and their historian, sn is cnoagb of good sense in the British public to make nntun cauw.' with O'Brien the enlighteoer. Moore should MUect. that knowledge conveyed in any shape will ever d a welcome among us ; and th&t, as he himself beautifully aerrra in his " Loves of the Augels"—

I rill,

g Bunshiiie etill."

my Dwi) part, I protest to Heaven, that were I, while

162 FATHER PROtT'B KELlltrES.

wandering in a gloomy foreat, to meet ou my dreary p the Bmall, fnint, glimmering light even of a gloiv-noiiB should aliudder at tbe thought of crusbing with my fuut h dim speek of brilliancy -, and were it only for its Delng i^ to brighter raya, hoDouriog it for its relationship to i stars, 1 woiild not harm the little lamplighter «a I paa along in the woodland shade. <<

If Tommy is rabidly bent on satire, why does he not f foul of Doctor Lardner, who has got the clumsy machinl of a whole Cyclopiedia at work, grinding that nonstl which he calls " Usefiil Knowledge ?" Let the poet mrf his Pegasus, or his Boainonte, and go tilt a lance a the doctor's windmill. It was unworthy of him to ti O'Brien, after the intimacy of private coireapondeuee; i if he was inclined for battle, he might hare found a seeOH foe. Surely my young friend was not the quarry on « the vulture should delight to pounce, when there w many literary reptiles to tempt Iiis beak and glut bie n Heaven knows, there is fair game and plentiful carrion the plains of Bceotia. In the poet's picture of tbe puiwf if a royal bird, we find such sporta aQuded ti

[^Xet Sfoore, then, vent his indignation aud satiate hi* n city on the proper objects of a volatile of prey ; but hej find in his own province of imaginative poetry a ' ' dement, a purer atmosphere, for his winged en Long, long may we behold the gorgeous bird soaring thr the regions of inspiration, distinguished in his Idtier H bis gentler flights, aud combining, bv a singular mindji ornithology, the voice of the turtle-dove, the eagle's ejBij

—wing, with the plumage of tbe " bird of Paradise." '

MZM.— On the 28th of June. 1835, died, at the

Banwell, "Henry O'Brien, author of thu Round TotM

Wlrtland.'" His portrait was hung up in the galler

vXegina on the lat of August following ; and the fimctit^

fcwho eihibits the "Literary Cbontctera" dwelt t'

nesHi o'BBiEir.

** Au tuDquet do ta via, inrortim^ cOnrlTe, J"»ppaniB un jour, at je meurs : Je niBim, ct eur In touibe o^ jiniue eacor, j'u Xul no Tiendra Yuraor de« pjcuri."

163

n thr titlige gntvitjard of Honvell (wl nil. at urie lapiiltw) ileepl

«nic>>ul of jniidor skett'li, and tiie rude forefnthcra or the Smcii'.

_ a oonneulHl lo reuoiro among tbeai the claf of ■ Milcsion

Hut " originttl" w»» no •Irnneer to us. Some lime bsck wo

'leTin^ tJiBt the oil in his flickering lamp of life woiitd soon

U, we irere not jirep&red to liear of his light beiii); thus

5 lUliiguithed. " One mom ws missed him" from the occua-

ublii at the library of the British Mtweuni, where the pnge of

afttiquitj imited liia peitual ; " another oune— nor yet " wu he to bg

•ean bcliind the pile of "Asiatic ItoMBioheB," poring over his fatounte

. Ucro^lus, or deep in the Zendareeta. "The next" brought tidings

^ofhi» death.

His book on "the Boond Towers" hu thrown more li^ht on the cerlj

ImUirj of Ireland, and on the fi'ecnuuonrj of these gigantic puiilea,

than will ercr shiiie from the cracked pitdiers of the "BjjjsI Iriiih

tdmj," or the brthing candle of Tooimj Moure, And it was quite

(iral that he ihonld bkyg received &om tbem, during hia lifeliiue,

,_.h Iflkeos of mahgnant hoatilitja* might Bufflcimtlj '' tell how ihey

^ hatttt hi* bmna." The " Bojiil Irish" twaddlers must surelj feci

e Mtnpunction cow, whea thejr Look back on their palirj tmni-

M in the matter of the " priie-eaaaj ;" and though wb do not cx-

h from "Tom Brown the younger," or "Tom tittle," (he

' (undiy Tomfudgeriea and Tomfooleries, atill it would not

la if be now felt the neceeailj- of atooiog for Ilia individual

uliut bf doing appropriate peunce in a while sheet, or a " blue

1 jallow*' blanket, when next he walks abroad in that rii;kel; go-

Ewt of driTeUing dotage, the " Bdinbtirgh Srview."

V Wliila Cicero was qumtor in Sicil;, ho diseovered in the suburbs of

y BpVfuae the neelecled grare of ArcluEnedea, from the circumalance of

ft q^mbolioal ejlinder indicatiDg the pursuits and favourite theurica of

Um tUoMrioiii dead. Orest was bia joy at the reoognition. No embhmi

will nurk the sequeatered spot nhere lies the (Edipus of llie Bound

Imitr liddlo — no hierogljphu!,

" Save daisies on I he mould. Where children tpall, athwart the cburclijard gate, Hit nanie and hfe's brief date."

r arthitcclural i7lindersi and each, through Ihoi that face the cardinal points, nroclaims to the fou ti, trumjiet-longued, lh« name ol him who solved tli

164 7ATHSB PBOUT'S BSLIQITES.

problem of 8000 jean, and who firat diadoaed the drill of thi ereotione !

Fame, in the Latin poefs celebrated peraonification, ia deaciibed perched

" Sublimi cnlmine tecti, Turribua aut altia."

That of 0*B. LB pre-eminentlj so circumatanced. From these pros pinnacles nothing can dislodge his renown. Moore, in the recent pidii compilation meant for ** a historj," talka of these monuments at ban so many " astronomical indexes." He might aa well have said the were tubes for the purposes of gastronomy. *Tis plain he knew si littJ about their origin as he may be suppos^ to know of the "Hsngioj Tower of Pisa," or the " Torre degU Asinelli," or how the nose of th beloTed resembled tbfe tower of Damascus.

Concerning the subject of this memoir, suffice it to add that be wa bom in the kingdom of lyoragh, graduated in T.C.D. (haTing beei classically " brought up at the feet of " the Ber. Charles Boyton) ; toe fell a victim here to the intense ardour with which he pursued the toti quarian researches that he lored.

" Eerria me genuit ; studia, heu ! rapu^re ; tenet nunc Anglia : sed patriam turrigeram oecinL"

Mf^eni Street, Auguui 1, 1835.

No. VI.

LITERATURE AND THE JESUITS.

dTrom ti)e 9rottt 9apers(.

" Alii spem gentis adidtos £ducunt foetus : alii purissima mella Stipant, et liquido distendunt nectare cellas."

ViRa. Georgic IV.

" Through floweir paths

Skilled to guide youth, in haunts where learning dwells.

They filled with noney*d lore their cloistered cells.*'

Pbout.

The massacre this month by a brutal populace in Madrid of fourteen Jesuits, in the hall of their . college of 8t

I-ITEHATCKE *VD TUB JESUITS.

idnro, hfts dmwn somewhnt of notice, if not of sympathy, ■thia siBgiikr order of liteniti, wlioru we uevt-r fuil, for 8 laat three hundred yean, to &nd mi»e J up with every Eitiral diffturbnnu?. Th«re ia a certain ept-fies of bird a known to omithologista, but better still to inariTierB, uh in Hure to make itd appoarance itt etormy weather — bo WauUy indeed, as to induce HiDong tlie sailors (durum Im) a belief that it is l/ir /mcl that has raised the tem- It. Laaving this knotty point to be settled by Dr. tixter in hia " CycJopKdia," at the artii^le of " Mother tej'a chickens." we cnunot help observing, meantime. It Bnee the days of the French League under Henri it, to the late final eipulsiou of the branche omfe (nn fet vliich has marked the corameacenient of Ueoina's Inrion to the throne of literature), as well ia the revo* imi of Portugal as in the vidBsitudes of Veniee. in the ■Mitioii of the edict of Nants, in the eipuUiou of James tin the severance of the Low Countries from Spain, in tinnsion of Africa by Dou 8ebnstian, in the Scutch re- Kon of '45, in the conquest of China by the Tartars, in t^ Irish rebellions, from Father Salmeron in 1661, and Bier An-her (for whom sec " Facala Hibernia"), to that Mjnwus Jesuit who (according to Sir Hareourt Lees] m fAc hottte at the Lord Lieutenant in the Dubliu Mtre some years ago, — there is always one of this ill- M moety found in the thick of the confusiou —

"And whether for good, or wholhar for iU,

Kat *CiU to the house of Amundeville He ubidrlh night uid ds; )

Wlum an hnr i* bom, lii- » heard to mourn,

And wbfin ought » to befnll Thiit HDcient line, in (he pile mamikme He wslki from hull lo li&U."

BnwBver. notwithstanding the various and manifold com- botit which these Jesuits have confessedly kicked up in [longdoms of Europe and the commonwealth of Christen- k Ve, Oliteb Yorkb, must admit that they have not ■rod ill of the Jiepablic p/ Lttlert ; and therefore du we

16C FATHER PBOUT'8 BEIIQUBB.

decidedly set our face agatnet tbe Madrid process of knock* ing out their braina ; for, in our view of tilings, the pi"i^ gliind and the cerebellum are not kept io such a high gtltfl of cultivation in Spain as to render euperfluous a itv col- leges and professors of the literal htimaniortt. George Kiupp, tbo vigilant mayor of Cork, was, no doubt, greatlj to be ■ applauded for demolishing with hJa civic club the mud do^ which invested his native town; and he vr.'iuld baievoB immortal laurels if he had furthermore cleared that beautifiil city of the idlers, gossips, and cynics, who therein abound;' but it was a great mistAe of the Madrid folks to apply the club to the learned skulls of the few literati they posaeued. We are inclined to think (though full of respect for Kobeti Bouthey's opinion) that, after oil, Boderick was not the IhI of the Oaths in Spain.

When the Cossacks got into Paris in 1814, their tiret ei ploit was to eat up all the tallow candles of the conquert metropolis, and to driok the train oil out of the lamps, I as to leave the "Boulevards" in Cimmerian darkness. B murdering the schoolmasters, it would seem that the pari, sane of Queen Christina would have no great objection I a similar municipal arrangement for Madrid. But all th is a matter of national taste ; and aa our gracious Bsoncik. no party to " the quadruple alliance," ehe has detenniaed I adhere to her fixea system of non-intervention.

Meantime the public will peruse with some curioeitf

[laper from Father Prout, concerning his old mutera ; iterature. "We suspect that on this occasion sentimenf gratitude has begotten a sort of " drop serene" in hia e] for he only winks at the rogueries of tne Jesuits ; nor do he redden for them the gridiron on which he gently rcw Dr. Lerdner and Tom JSIoore. But the great merit of li essay is, that the composer evidently had opportunities of thorough knowledge of his subject — a matter of rare occit renee, and therefore quit-e refreshing. He appears, indee to be fully aware of his vantage-ground : hence the tone < confidence, and the firm, unhesitating tenour of his bbbgi tions. This is what we like to see. A chancellor of Knglaa who rarely got drunk. Sir Thomas More, has left this bit 4 advice to folks in general :

LITXBITURE AXI) THE JEBtTITS.

mix men altoaei	anDt^tc facnliU,
liimi anB mo	B Blmpl. Vitrc
Ltiai 111 bcsi tor s amn	Bbanll) not go small
mhgnxlg	in|)hilo»DpI)i.;
fcl 10 .ppll?	noi Bu^l)! a piDIilac
IB It)< baftinns ^c lan,	bciomt a miGtilac
inD tn no Ueii	in i^talsgtc *
» tnitipiiH

.rting on this principle, how gladly would we open our duinns to a treat j»e by our particular friend, Marie Taglioni, 1 the philosophy of kopi! — how cheeri'uliy would we wel- ime an essay on heavy mel from the pen of Dr. Wade, or ■ Jack Reeve, or any other Himilarly qualified Chevalier I Halte I We abould not object to a tract on gin from liarley Pearson ; nor would we eiclude Lord Althorp's lick notions on " Jtttmrnery," or Lord Brougham's XXX.

I that mild alcohol which, for the soke of

peace a

ietnesR, we shall call " lea." "Who would not listen v,

ition to Irving on a matter of " unknown tongnes," or J'Brien on "Round Towers?" Verily it belongeth to Benjamin Franklin to write scientifically on the paralon- •: and his contemporary, Talleyrand, has a paramount m to lecture on the weather-eoek.

La qui acribitit aiquun

Turning {inaUy to thee, O Front ! truly great waa thy re of frolic, but etill more remarkable thy wisdom. Thou ■rt a moat rare combination of Socrates and Sani^ho Panza, Scnrron and the venerable Bede ! What would we not Tc given to have cracked a bottle with thee in thy hut on 'atergrasshill, partaking of thy hospitable "herring," and ibibing thv deep flood of knowledge with the plenitude of J " Medoc r" Nothing gloomy, narrow, or pharisaical, 'er entered into thy composition — " In wit, a man ; sini- licity, a child." The wrinkled brow of antiquity softened 'o smiles for thee ; and the Muses must have marked tiiee

• S«e this BicaUent didsctic poem printed at lengtli i

-■ e I<> Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. It is enHtled, "

8«fjeuit would Icam to plav j' Frerc ; hy Maiati-T

elaborate rrrie Jent,

168 TATHER PBOUT's BXLIQUS8.

in thy cradle for their own. Such is the perfume Cr breathes from thy chest of posthumous elucubrations, <^< yeying a sweet uragrance to the keen nostrils of criticm^J and recalling the funeral oration of the old woman in "Plu drus oyer her emptied flagon —

** O suayifl anima ! quale te dicam bonnm Anteh^ fuisse, iales cbm. sint reliquue."

OLIVER YORKE.

JRegent Street, 1st Sept, 1834.

WateryrasahUl^ Dee, 1883.

About the middle of the sixteenth century, ai^er the dgorous arm of an Augustinian monk had sounded on the banks of the Rhine that loud tocsin of reform that found «uch responsive echo among the Gothic steeples of Germany, ihere arose in southern Europe, as if to meet tlie exigency of the time, a body of popish men, who have been called (assuredly by no friendly nomenclator) the Janissaries of the Vatican. Professor Robertson, in his admirable " His- tory of Charles V.," introduces a special episode concerning the said '* janissaries ;" and, sinking for a time the affairs of the belligerent continent, turns his grave attention to the operations of the children of Loyola. The essay forms an agreeable interlude in the melodrama of contemporary war- fare, and is exquisitely adapted to the purpose of the pro- fessor ; whose object was, I presume, to furnish his reaaers with a light divertimento. For surely and soberly (pace ianti viri dixerini) he did not expect that his theories on the origin, development, and mysterious organisation of that celebrated society, would pass current with any save the uninitiated and the profane ; nor did he ever contemplate the adoption of his speculations by any but the careless and unreflecting portion of mankind. It was a capital peg on which to hang the flimsy mantle of a superficial philosophy ; it was a pleasant race-ground over which to canter on the gentle back of a metaphysical hobby-horse : but what could a Presbyterian of Edinburgh, even though a pillar of the kirk, know about the inmost and most recondite workings

LlTERATCne AKD THE JKSUIia. 100

Catholic freemuoiir}- ? What could he tell of Jerusalem, ' beiDj; a Sainarititu? Tnily, frieiid Bobcrtson. Fatlier •out would have takea tbe liberty, had he been in the hia- riaJ workdhop wliere tliou didat iiiditu that ilk, of acting

' ■" " part of ■' CjEtliiua" in the eclogue ;

Imdnttil, 'PBiturom, Tityrp, pingues Drtvt uTitf, diiluctum diwre c»rmim.' "

What could have poeisessed the professor ? Did he ever B through the course of " sj/iritval exercises ?" Did he e?er it a twck of tmlt nitb Loyola's intellectual and highly [veipluml sons ? " liud he ever manifealed hit conseienee f" Md his venturouB foot ever cross the threshold of the Jesui- ial aaiictuvy f Was hi; deeply versed in the " ratio tudiomm." Had his car ever d rank the mystic whisperinga r the mtmila lecrela .' No ! Tlien why the deuce did he 1 down to writt^ about the Jesuits? Had he not the It of India at his serviueP Could he not take up 10 denuhee of Peraia t or the bonKca of Japan ? or the hutrious brotherliood of Boheuiiao gipsies F or the " ancient rderof Druids?" or all of them together? But, in the Une of Comeliiis k Lapide, whjr did he undertake to ^^lite Itout the Ji^suils'r'

I am the more surprised at tfae learned historian's thua MJalging in the Homeric luxury of a transient UHp, as he tnrraJly in broad awuke, and ecaus with scrutinising eye w duingi of his fi-llow-nien tlirough several centuries of lUreat. Tu talk about niatlere of which he must necessa- ly be ignorant, never occurs (eicept in this case) to hia nprrhGnsive habit of thought: and it was reserved for >df-m days to product- that school of writers who indus- laly employ their peua on topics the most exalted above r Huge of miiid, and the least adapted to tljoir powera r illustration, Tlie more ignorance, the more audacity. Prince I'nckitT Mufknw" and "Lady Morgan" furnish m bnui idial of this class ofscnbblers. Let them get but I a p«)cp at the "toe of Hercules," and they will produce fortiiwilb an accurate mcEzotiuto drawing of his entire et a footing in nnv country in the intv-fuur houra, aua their volume of

170 FATHER PBOTJT's BELIQTJES.

" France," " England," " Italy," or " Belgium" is ready fof the press.

'* Oh give but a glance^ let a rista but gleam, Of any given country^ and mark how they'll feel!'*

It is not necessary that they should know the commop idiom of the natives, or even their own language grammati- cally ; for Lady Morgan (aforesaid) stands convicted, in her printed rhapsodies, of being very little acquainted with fVench, and not at all with Italian : while her EnglUk^ oi which every one can judge, is poor enough. The Auatnai* authorities shut the gates of Germany against her impo0^ tures, not relishing the idea of such audacious humbug : io truth, what could she have done at Vienna, not knowiag German ; though perhaps her obstetric spouse, Sir Charles* can play on the German flute ?

*' Laseiami por* nella terra 11 piede E vider' questi inconosciuti lidi, Yider' le gente, e il colto di lor fede, E tutto quello onde uom aaggio m* inridi, Quando mi gioverik murrare altrui Le noTitIi vedute, e dire, ' io/ui /* "

Tasso, Oerus. Lib. cant. 15, at 88.

There is in the county of Kildare a veritable Jesuits college (of whose existenfce Sir Harcourt Lees is well safci^^ fied, having often denounced it) : it is called " Clongowc^ Wood;" and even the sacred " Groves of Blarney" do n<p* 80 well deserve the honours of a pilgrimage as this haunt o* classic leisure and studious retirement. Now Lady Morgan wanted to explore the learned cave of thes6 literary ccbhO' bites, and no doubt would have written a book, entitled ** Jesuitism in all its Branches," on her return to Dublin ; but the sons of Loyola smelt a rat, and acted on the prin- ciple inculcated in the legend of St. Senanus (Colgan. Acto SS. Hyb.) :

** Quid foDminiB Commune eet cum monachis ? Nee te neo ullam aliam Admittamus in insulam."

For which Front's blessing on 'em ! Amen.

In glaring contrast and striking opposition to this systen o/* forwardness and ef&ontery practised by the "lady" ^

LITERATCBE ,(SD THE JESUITS, 171

the'' prince." stands tlie exenipkry conduct of Denny Mul- liiu. Denny ia a patriot and a breeches -maker in the town lif Cork, the oracle of the " Chamber of Commerce," and lixikwl np to with great reverence by the radieala and lant nliAtu who Bwarm in tliat beautiful cit^. The excellence "f his leather biuiting unmentionablea ib admitted by the Mm room foi-himters; wliile his leather gaiters and his other ''rtft sre approved -of by John Cotter of the branch bank "f Ireland. But this is a mere parenthesis. Now when the Wysin the Morea were kicking againet the Sublime Porte, lo the great delitrht of .Toe Hume and other Corinthians, "pwid political dinner occurred in the beautiful capita! of KiMter i at which, after the usual flummery about Hara- UiOB and tlie Peloponnesus, the health of Prince Ypsilanti md "Success to the Greeks" was given from the chair. ^ere was a general call for Mullius to speak on this toast ; toough why A* should be selected none could tell, unless for tw fwiou which caused the Athenians to banisb Aristides, "I. tJB being " too honest." Denny rose and rebuked their "•egery by protesting, that, " though he was a plain man, "^tould always give a reason for what lie was about. As 'H the modem Greeks, he would think twice before be either *"««) them or refused thera credit. He knew little about ""iir forefathers, except what be had read in an author *lJed Pope's ' Homer,' who says they were ' well-guitered ;' ^ he had learned to respect tktm. But latterly, to call a Hun a ■ Greek" was, in hia experience of the world, as bad *» to call him ^ajtmit;' though, in both cases, few people nil ever any personal knowledge of a real Jesuit or a lond Grecian." Such was the wisdom of the Aristides of

Nfverthelesi, it is not my intention to enter on the de- Ltahle ground of " the order's" moral or political character. (cruLti, the secretary of Mirabeau {whose funeral oration e was chosen to pronounce in the churcb of St. Eustache, April 4. 1791), has written most eloquently on that topic ; ntd in the whole range of French polemics I know nothing 10 full of manly lo^c and cenuine energy of Bt)-le as his vlebrated "Apologie des JcBuites," (Svo. Soleure. 1778). [e afterwardH conducted, with Babaud St-. Etienne, that irbnind newspaper, "La FeoUle Viilageoiae," in »\i\c\i

172

TAinEE psoVt'b BEi.iqrr.s.

there was rpd-hot enthueinem enoogli to get all tb« rtuHrmum roimd PnriB burnt : but the work of his joutli n-iuaiiia mn impiiriBhable perform ance. My object is Bunjily lu coiuitlpr "tlie JeBHita" in connexion with litrrature. Nonr vuuld 1)C tncre opposed than 1 to the introducliuii nf piil(*mic* into 1 )ie domaiu of the " /lellei Irttret,'" ur to let angry tliaputatton lind its way into the peaceful rale of Tenipii, "Pour phangep t

Tlie precincts of FamBBBUB form a " city of refuge,' where political and religious dilferencfs can Iiuti? no acc«M, where the aapxj passionB Bubside, and the wicked iviuw frun troubling. Wnerefore to the devil, its inventor, 1 bei^nnUli the Qunpowder Plot ; and I ahall not attempt to nike up the bonee ot Guy Fnux, or disturb the ashen of Doctor 'I'ltoa : — not that Titus, " the deliRht of the human rnce," who ron- Bidercd a day as Umt when not sigiialiBed by nuine fieop* fa4:tion ; but Titus Oates, who could not nW\i quiet en bis pillow at night iinleaB lie hail banged a JtiiuiL in thm morning.

I have often in the course of these pnpers intrnducod i)ui>> tations from the works of the Jevuit Gressct, the kind mkI enlightened friend of my early years ; anil to that pure IbuiK tain of the most limpid poetry of France 1 shall ag»iti hvn occasion to return : but nothing more evinces the sterling cicellenee of this illuBtrioue poefa mind Ihnn his coudod towards the " order," of which he hlVd heca an nrnaoMinl until niBtters connected with the press caused his withdrawal from that Bociety. His " Adieux aux Ji^uiles" am au re. cord, and deserve the adniimtion which they cicited at thst period. A single passage will ludicutc the spirit of tkn. celobrRt«d composition:

" Jb doii lou* me* regret* aux riifn i]urj( quiUnI J'rn perAt atve doiileur I'pnlrelirn TcKumiX |

El li daiu Imn fo^en d^muii jo n'lwbrte, Mou cour tu lurTit oupr^ d'eui.

C»r at 1h emu point IcU que I* main dc Ton La {wiiit k df jcul pr^Toiu* :

"' " oiinife que >ur m qu'on paUl*

IbleK

Cdr^ini

	lITKHJlTniE AST) THE JES	uim
•r'>ii»e	•voiles.	e liore's b heartfelt 6re*ell !
•iwa*	bl«ring »	lliin tLeir loved olois	*r»lo	well
Ana	lUT devMt	■ O'ecUalK Bhali dine	■oundc	low
Full glodlv I miied Ib»r bleated <nivl»
Andol	! I>*ed not	Che >vhia|>cr of Eniy'	foult.
Ifi	uu list hut	o her, f ou muet kuow Uieiii	but U

But to come at oDCo to the pith and subBtaace of the

ivwa^ut iin|uify. viz, the influeuce of the Jesuits on the

\etle* Mlrt», It ia oDe of the «trikiDg facts ue meet with

'a tracing ihe history of this " onler,'' aud which D'Israeli

itBT do well to insert m the next edition of hia " Curiosities

f Iiittrmturc," that the founder of the most learned, and

tj far Ibd luuHt distiuguished literary corporation that ever

iroae io the world, «a» an o/d mldier who took Ujp hia " Latin

3nmmar'' when post the age of thirty; at which time of

ife Don Ignacio de LoyoU had hia leg shattered by an

IB-ponnder, while defending the citadel of Pompeluaa against

be Freneh, llie knowleclge of this interesting truth inay

iBCoaragc tlie great captain of the age, whom 1 do not yet

teuMJi' of behuldiug in a new capacity, coTering his laurelled

iroir with a doctor's cap. and fifling tlie chancellur'e chair to

b« great joy of the public and the special delight of Oxford.

[ hate lera more improbable events than tliis take place in

J flxperit.'ni^e of the world. Be that ea it may, tliia lieu-

uant iu the Ca^adorea of bis imperial majesty Charles V.,

called into existence by the vigour of his mind a race of

highly educated followers. He was the parent-stock (or, if

you will, the primitive block) from which so many illustrious

clnp«wer« bevoi during theXVIIth century. If he had

^^"t intcllw^t for his own portion, he most undeniably created

nmuiid liim : hu gathered to his standard men of genius

d ardent spiritH ; he knew how to turn their talents to the

"■, advantage (no ordiuary knowledge), and, like Archi*

'~t at Syracuee, by tlie juxtaposition of reflectors, and

ulful combination of mirrora, so aa to converge into a

:• Mai coiicentmte the borrowed rays of the sun, he cou'

rd to damage the enemy's fleet and fire the galleys of

IfareelluH. Other founders of monastic orders enlisted the

•, the outward senses, and not unfrequently the

Q of mankind : their appeal was to that love for the

u inherent to the human breast^ aud that latent

171

F&TUEB ptEOrt's UtLIttUEI.

pride wbinli lurked lone ago under tlie torn blanket iif Dia genes. aaA whicb would have tempted Aleiaodcrr In art ti| a rival tub. But Loyola's quarry was the cuttieat^ mimii and he Bcomed to work hts purpose by any meaner instriw mentality. When io the romantic hennitage of our Lodv of Montserrat he suspended for ever over tbe altw bis ho! met and hia sword, and in the spirit of most eialted cbiraJr resolved to devote himself to holier pursuita — one eogw glance at the state of Europe, iuat fresh from the peviral o' letters under Leo X., taught Dim Low and with n pons to encounter the rebel Augusttnian monk, and ebedc the progress of disaffection. A abort poem by an o?d adooL- fellow of mine, who entered the order in 17M, and di«d i miscionary in Cochin China, maj' illuatrate thesu views. Tba lAtin shows excellent scholarship ; and my attempt at traa^s lation coo give but a feeble idea of the original.*

aj™ agla

Ih Maria Sacfllo, 1522.

gubi- iMViac

Mile* r»igno. He aora buc-

Mv noD profiini t«»er<i pt^lH

]}epoecit i et sscnu secutus

Aiupibio iDcUors portM,

Voa inderonu tmufuga, florin

Simii relivtii. nil cupientium

Duocedo (MUtrip, jam futunu

SpUndidior tine elude victor.

Son (gn<i(io loyola't Tigit

Intki Chtpflof-mr Udt/ef Ma^tmmt.

When at thy ihrinc!. moitltnl; mail]! ' The Spaniard hung hit toUto blada.

And bsPMl hia liiJiiud brow — L Not that lie reared ■rar'* viaag* I Or Ihat the balllp-fieLd for bim

Und BUght Ui daunt, I Innv i

"OtoTj!" ha cried, "with tin

Fama ! thv bright thfatna I *luaR,

To tread frnh palliiraT) no* i To trnck thy fool*iep«, I^iour t>adl With Ihrabbiag hrarl, irilh fcal «••

Sann) catenia moK^lcit llirono, Bl eunota t^mirum »ubautn Curda Deo daro geacit ardor :

With II

Hear and record m.'j n

Yea, Thou thalt r«iga ! Chaintd

th^ thrune, The mind of man thj »ra; thall ow^

Auil Ui iu conqueror bow, Oeniiu hii Ijre to Thoe (ball lift. And intcUcvl ila i^ioirnl inft

Proudly on Th>« boatow."

• Liku niobt ulhcf "origiiial»,'' tlii» ia Pmul

u-O.T.

I VnMdiltnigvanjsftnlbiuamulia Straight on the marble floor he knelt,

L Xk9pntUkn(£> «temer« ; Hdmagu And in Ilia brciiiC ciultiiig Tdt I XilfuU Imllieri triumplion A Tivid fumwo elow ;

OrbeiiuTg repsrabit lUtor!" Fnrlh to hrs liuk the giant tytd,

^ Eurth shook Bbrood bcnesih hii tresd, ■ Xblliugigiiiitia aentit iter: ijiniil And idaU irere IsiJ low.

Chruti triumjili:

iW Inedioa ttuitare Ouigc

V hemisplier Hhonc m the aiure sky i And, ttom the isles of far Japan To tlie bruid Andca, won d'ht mui A bloodieii victorf !

Professor BobertsoD gravely opines tbnt Ignatiua was a tt)«re funadc, wlio never contemplated the subsequent gioriea •*f hii order ; and that, were be to have revisited tbe earth * wnturj' alter bis deeeaae, when his institute was making *ach « Qciige in the world, be would have started back,

" Scared at the sound himaelf bad nude."

■**»er dill the historian adopt a more egregious blunder. 'Aid lie had leisure or patience to con over the original code, **fei IssTiTOTViit Soc. Jest, he would have tbiind in **tfj pnragrapb of that profound and crafty volume the SwjBi of wondrotia future development ; he would have dis- J^fred the long-hidden but most precii>u8 "soul of the 'ii*ntiate Garriaa" under the inspection that adorns the tillp-jiage. Yes. the mind of Loyola lies embalmed in the Wes of that mystic tome; and the ark of cedar-wood, Wne by the cliildren of Israel along tbe sands of the •It^crt, was not more essential to their happy progress unto tie Wd of promise than that grand depository of the founder's wisdom was to the marcli of intellect among the

Brfore bis death, this old veteran of Charles V., this il- iitt^nit« lieutenant, this crippled bpaniard from the "im- minent and deadly breach" of Fampeluna (for he too waa Imoc. like Tyrta:us. Talleymnd, Lord Byron, Sir W. Scott, L-, uid App'iiis C/om/iiii), had the satiafatlioii t^t

176 FiTDEB pbout'b rei.iqfes.

counting twelve "nrovitiMs" of his order ««tabliahu4 a, Europe, Asia, BrnxilB, and Ethiopia. The nifRibrrH of ita society amounted at tliat epoch {3lst July, 1536), nitfieB years after its foundation, to seven tliousaud educaUMl mt.-a. Upwards of one himdred colleges had been opened. Xaritf hiul blown the trumpet of the Gospel over India -, BobadilW had made a noise in Germuu}' ; tinspar Kunes had gontf Egypt; AliihoiiBO Sulmeron to Ireland. Mpoutime tb» 'boola of the nuw professars were attraeting. in ever; put of eager pnpils : industry and teti ' 'sible progntm of nli

of Europe,

reaping their best reward

as well as literature :

" Ferret opui, redolentqiw At the suppression of the

10 thjmo fngmntia met ', it numbereil within ■ fno- tion of tw-enty thousand well-trained, well discijilined. well- taught members.

There is an instinct in gr^at minds that tells thorn of ti aublime destinies, and gives them secret but certain wan of their ultimate grandeur: like Brutus, they have sre spirit of prophetic import, whether for gixxl or evil, who meet Ihera at Philippi: like Plato, they keep eorreapontk with a familiar tai/^w. Iik.e Napoleon, they read tbeir ridian glories of successful warfare in the morning niu sure as fate, Loyola saw the future laurels of his onW, placed full reliance on the anticipated energy of his followen yet unborn : the same reliance which that giant ftnwl Arabia, the ostrich, must oat«rtaiu, vrlieo, depositing monstrous egg on the sand». it departs for i-rur, leariag the gtid of day the care of hatching iiiti) life ita younR.

Industry, untiring ardour, immortal energy wpit> the o, racteristica of these learned enthusiasts. .Some dnirod iwi the Bctrumiihited rubbish of the friars, their iguonuit f ceeaors; and these were tlie pionnrt of literature, gave editions of the Fathers or the Classics, hitherto p

op in the womb of MS,; these were the aeeourAmrt of kai

ledge. Otiiers, for the usd of schoob, cnrelully fxpurgatod the received autliom of antiquity, and supi)»eased ewrj p rient passage, performing, in u»Hm Driphini, a very nenfav ~ > task. I need not sav to what class of opcVatara

LlTKBATt'llX *Nn Tlli; JESCIT8.

177

mrgery Ihriie wnrtby ffttherB belonged. Some wrote "com-

peuMriea" ou Scripture, which Junius undervalues; but,

h oil hit acquiromonts, I wgiild sooner take the guidance

if Coroctius 4 Lapide in mattere of theology. FiuaJIv, some

note original works ; and the shelves of every Europeou

jr groan uuder the folios of the Jesuits.

sre ia not, perliapa, a more instructive and interesting

:t of inquiry iu the history of the human mind than

e'origin. progress, and workings of what are called moniu-

ie uutitutioai. It is a matter on which 1 knve bestowed not

! thought, and I may one day plunge into the depths

jereof iu a dpet-ial dissertatiou. But I cannot help advert-

g here to some causes that raieed the order of the Jesuits

e (ill the niimerouB and fantastical fraternities to

icfa the middle ngea had previously giveu birth, Loyola

w the vile abuses which had crept int-o these institutions,

I h&d (he sagacity to eschew the blunders of his prede-

Idleness was the most glaring ei-il under which

id friars laboured in those days ; and hence inces-

wity wna the watcbwortl of Am sons. The rules of

Porders" begot a groTelling and vulgar debasement of

and were calculated to mar and cripple the energies of

i», if it ever happened exceptionally to lurk under " the

ncis or of Dominick :" but all the regulations

e Jcsuitf had a tenileney to develop the aspirings of

Btvllrct, and tn ez{miid the scope and widen the career of

~" J systeni of mendicaney adopted by each holy

rotherhuod as the ground-work of its operations, did not

rike I»yola as much calculated to give dignity or manti-

is to the human character; hence he !eil his elder brethren

iiiet poHsession of that intereating department. "Whea

■*, pravinces, or kings founded a Jesuits' college, they

■ BUre of /netting value in return : hence most of their

(Ditegiate halja were trulv magnificent, and they ought to

' i»e been bo, When of old a prince wished to engage Zeno

I latar to his son, and sought to lower the terms of the

|>liilo*opMrr by stating, that with such a sum he could pur-

c)in«e a «!avp, " Do so, by all means, and yon will have a pair

of them," was the pithy reply of the indignant stoic.

I do not undervalue the real services of some " iirders" of r iitttitutioil. I have visited with feelings of deep

178 TATHEB PBOVT's BELIQUXf.

respect the ^rgeous cradle of the Benedictine institute at Monte Cassino ; and no traveller has explored Italy's proud monuments of Boman grandeur with more awe than I did that splendid creation oi laborious and persevering men. I have seen with less pleasure the work of Bruno, ta Grande Chartreuse, near Grenoble ; he excluded leamii^ from the solitude to which he drew his followers : but I have bailed with enthusiasm the sons of Bernard on the Alps ministering to the wants of the pilgrim ; and I knew, that while tkeff prowled with their mountain-dogs in quest of wayworn tra- vellers, their brethren were occupied far off in tlie mines of Mexico and Peru, soothing the toils of the encaverriled slate. But while I acknowledged these benefactions, I could not forget the crowds of lazy drones whom the system has fos- tered in Europe : the humorous lines of Berchoux, in bis clever poem " La Qastronomie," involuntarily crossed my mind:

" Oui, j*avaifl un bon oncle en votre ordre, €ievi D'un mdrite blatant, gastronome aoheve ; SouTent il m*^talait son brillant refectoire, Cetait \k du couTent la v^itable gloire ! GhuTii des biens exquis qu*enfante I'univen, Vins d*un bouquet cdleste, et mets d'un goiit divers !

" Cloitres majestueux ! fortunes monast^res ! Betraite du repos des Tertus solitaires, Jc vous ai Tu tomber, le coeur gros des soupirs ; Mais je vous ai gard^ d'^temels souvenirs ! — Jc s^ais qu'on a prouve que tous aviez grand tort, Mais que ne prouTe-t-on pas quand on est le plus fort f"

This last verse is not a bad hit in its way.

But to return to the Jesuits. Their method of study, or ratio studiorum, compiled by a select quorum of the ordeTt under the guidance of the profound and original Father Maldonatus,* totally broke up the old machinery of tbe schools, and demolished for ever the monkish fooleries d contemporary pedagogues. Before the arrival of the Jesuit! in the neld of collegiate exercises, the only skill applauded or recognised in that department consisted in a minute and servile adherence to the deep-worn tracks left by thepasMge

* See Bayle's Diet., art. Maldonai.

CBE ASD THE JESUITS. 179

of Aristotle's (MimbrouB waggoo over tlie plaine of learning. I Tlie well-known fable of Gay, concerning ^L ** A OncUn joath of Ulents rare,"

^■^KiiD he describes as excelling in the hippodrome of Athens ^piv the fidelity with which he could drive his chariot- wheels ^within nn inch of the exact circle left on the race-couree by those who had preceded, wsa the type and model of acho- laatic eicvlleoce. The Jesuits, in every university to which they could get acceaa, broke new ground. Various ■nd fierce wcrt' the strugjjles against those invaders of the I terntoTj sod privileges of Bteotia; dulnesa opposed his pld bulwark, (he vii inerfim, m vain. Indefatigable iu their uit, the new professors made incessant inroads into the IB of ignorance and sloth ; awfully ludicrous were the J convulsions of the old universitarian system, that ■^tutted like an incubus for so many centuries on ^rne. Alcaltt, Vidladolid. Padua, Cracow, and Coim- ^ hxx. But it was in the halls of their own private college* that they unfolded all their excellence, and toiled unimpeded fur the revival of claaeic studies. " C'oniule tekola* Jetuifa- nod," eiclaiins the Lord Chancellor Bacon, who was neither k quack nor a swiper. but " spoke the words of sobriety and truth." {\iAe Oput dt Dignil. Stirnt. lib. vii.) And Car- dinal Richelieu has left on record, in that celebrated docu- tiipiil* the "Teslament Politique," part i. chap. 2, sect. 10, his admiration of the rivalry in the raw of science which the ordi*r created in France.

Forth from their new college of Lafltehe came their pupil Depcarh's, to disturb the existing theories of astronomy and metaphysics. and start new and unexampled inquiries. Science until then barf wondered a captive iu the labyrinth of the acbixtU -, but the Cartesian Dsdalus fashioned wings for hiBiM^lf and fur her. and boldly soared among the clouds. Tutored in their college of Fayenza (near Rimini), the im- mortal Torrindli reQected honour on his intelligent inatruc- j- the invention of the barometer, A.n. 1U20. Of the of Taaso they may well be proud. Justus Li psi us, i in their earliest academies, did good service to the

180 TATHEB PSOTJT'S BELIQUES.

cause of criticifim, and cleared off the cobwebs of the com* mentators and grammarians. Soon afber, CaBsini roee from the benches of their tuition to preside over the newly estab- lished Ohservatoire in the metropolis of France ; while the illustrious Toumefort issued m)m their halls to carry a searching scrutiny into the department of botanical science, then in its infancy. The Jesuit Kircher* meantime as- tonished his contemporaries by his untiring energy and saga- cious mind, equally conspicuous in its most sublime as in its trifling efforts, whether he predicted with precision the erup- tion of a volcano, or invented that ingenious plaything tbe " Magic Lantern." Father Boscovichf shone subsequently with equal lustre : and it was a novel scene, in 1759, to find a London Eoyal Society preparing to send out a Jesuit to observ'e the transit of Venus in California. His panegyric, from the pen of the great Lalande, fiUs the Journal det Savans, February 1792. To Fathers EiccioH and De Billy science is also deeply indebted.

Forth from their college of Dijon, in Burgundy, came Bossuet to rear his mitred front at the court of a despot, and to fling the bolts of his tremendous oratory among a crowd of elegant voluptuaries. Meantime the tragic muse of Co^ neille was cradled in their college of Eouen ; and, imder to classic guidance of the fathers who taught at the College ^ Clermont f in Paris, Moli^re grew up to be the most exquislta

* Mundus Subt^rraneus, jinut. 1664, 2 vols. foL Chins lUuitnL, ibid. 1667, folio. De Usu Obeliscor. Ronue^ 1666, folio. MuBeumKi^ Cher, ibid. 1709, folio.

t Bom at Bagusa, on the Adriatic ; taught by the Jesuits, in tiitf college in that town ; entered the order at the age of sixteen ; was mdI to Borne, and forthwith was made professor of mathematics in the A^ chigymn. Rom. ; was employed by the papal gOTemment in the measure' ment of the arc of meridian, which he traced firom Borne to Biminii assisted by an English Jesuit, Mayer ; in 17S0, employed by the repub- lic of Lucca in a matter relating to their marshes ; subsequently by tbi Emperor of Austria ; and was elected, in 1760, a fellow of the Londoi Boyal Society, to whom he dedicated his poem on the " Eclipses," i clever manual of astronomy. His grand work on the propertissoi matter (Lex Continuitatis) was printeid at Bome, 4to., 1754. We hsTi also from his pen, Dioptrics, Vind. 1767 ^ Mathesis UniTersa* Taw^ 1757 ; Lens et Telescop., Rom. 1755 ; Theoria Philos. Natur., Fsmm^ 1758. The French goremment invited him to Paris, where he died n 1792, in the sentimexxtB of un£e\g;aed piety which he erer displayed

UTEBiXUIUt AKD THB JESITITS.

ISl

if comic irriten. The \yric poetry of Jean Baptistc EousBeau

I nurtured bv them iii tlieir follf ge of Louia le Grand.

Jill in that college the wonciroiu talent of young " I'ran9oi9

f Arouet"waa also cultivated by these holy men, who little

^ dtvamt to what purpose the subaequent " Voltaire" would

^convert his abilities —

" Son bos qmesitum nDDniu in luut."

^ntta. ly.

yOliret, FoBtenelle, CrebiUon, Le Franc de PompigBan — here ia warcely a name feuown to literature during the scTen- r.toeitth century which does not bear teetiinony to theirprow- In in the province of education — no profeesioD for which they fill not Mapt their Bcholars. I'or tae bar, they tutored the ' rioiis Lomotgnon (the Mtecenas of liacine and Buileaa). B they wbo taught the vigorous ideaa of D'ArgenBon kow to Bhuot ; they who breathed into the young Montep- I bis " Esprit ;" tliey who reared tboae ornaments of ?nch jurisprudence, Kicflai, Moli', Seguier, and Anielot. ' Their disciples could wield tbe aword. Was the great "Toodd deficient in warlike spirit for having studied among bem P w-as Marfchal Villara a discreditable pupil P Need I pTc the list of their other belligerent scholara ? — De Gram- mt, De BoufflerB, De Hohan, De Briasac, De Etrfea, De

■, De Creqiii, De Lusenibourg, — in France alone.

Great names these, no doubt ; but lileratare ia the title cf

' I pR])er, and to that I would principally advert as the

onrilennd peculiar department of their exeellenee. True,

e Sodetv devoted itself moat to church hiatory and eecle-

stioU learuiug, auch being the proper pureuit of a, sacer-

il body ; and bucccts in this, as in every studv, waited on

r industry. The nrclioiologiat is familiar witn the worka

f father PctnriuB, whom Grotius calls hia friend; with the

J of Fathers Sinnood, BoUand, Hardouin, Labbe,

oin, and Toiimeinine. The admirer of polemics (if

e be any each at this time of day) is acquainted with

ifmin. Mcnoehiiie, SuareK, Tolet, Beean, Sheffmaker, and

t, tiiough not least) 0 ! Comeliua 4 Lapide, with thee ?

But in clanii: lore, as well as in legendary, the Jesuits ex-

nllvil. Who can pretend to the character of a literary man

t baa not read Tiraboschi and his " Storia della Lettera-

182 POTHER PaOUT*S BELIQUBS.

tura d* Italia/* Bouhours on the " Mannidre de bien penser,** Brumoy on the " Th^tre des Q-recs," Yayassonr " de LudicrA Dietione," Sapin's poem on the " Art of Gardening** (tbe model of those b^ Dr. Darwin and Abb^ Delille), Yamere*fl •* Praadium Eusticum," Tursellin " de Particulis Latini Se^- monis," and Casimir Sarbievi's Latin Odes, the nearest approach to Horace in modem times ? What shall I saj oi Por^ (Voltaire's master), of Sanadon, of Desbillons, Sidro- nius, Jouvency, and the ''joumalistes de Trevoux?"

They have won in France, Italy, and Spain, the palm ol pulpit eloquence. Lo^ic, reason, wisdom, and piefy, dwelt in the soul of Bourddioue, and flowed copiously m>m hiB lips. Lingendes, Cheminais, De la Bue,' were at the head ot their profession among the French ; while the pathetic and unnvalled Segneri took the lead among the eloquent orators of Italy. In Spain, a Jesuit has done more to pu- rify the pulpit of that &ntastic country than Cervantes to clear the brains of its chivalry ; for the comic romance of "Fray Gteruudio" (Friar G^erund), by the Jesuit l8la,eX' hibiting the ludicrous ranting of the cowled fraternity of that day, has had the effect, if not of giving eloquence to clods of the valley, at least of putting down absurdity aad presumption.

They wooed and won the muse of history, sacred aod profane. Strada* in Flanders, Maffeif at Genoa, Mariaoat in Seville. In France, Maimbourg,§ Daniel,|| Boujeant^l Charlevoix,** Berruyer,tt D'OrleaiiB,JJ Ducerceau,§§ and Du HaldeJl || shed light on the paths of historical mquiiy which they severally trod. I purposely omit the ex-Jesuit Bavnal.

1?hey shone in art as well as in science. Father Pozzi was

* De Bello Belgico. f Berum Indioar. ffift

X Histor. di Espana. De Begis Institutione, Toledo, 1599.

§ Histoire de rArianisme, des loonoclastes, des Croisades, da Gtl* rinism, de la Ligue.

II Hist, de France. De la Milioe Fran^aise.

% Hist, du Traits de Westphalie. Ame des Bdtee, etc

** Hist, du Paraguay, du Japon, de St. Domingiie.

ft Du Peuple de Dieik XX B<^Tolutioiis d*AxigleteKn^

§§ Conjuration de Bienxi, &c. &c.

nil Description GMogr. Histor. Politic, et Physique de la CSuaa LsmI. 1742, 2 vols, folio.

lITEKATrHE AKD 1UF. JESUITS. 183

SOB cf R<nrie'« best psintpra. A Jesuit waa employed m the dninage of tbo Pontine marHhes; another to devise plana for lUttaiuing the dome of St. Peter's, when it threatened to criuh iti moBflive supports. In navut laetiea (a siiLject eg- tnogwl from sucerdotal researehefl) the ewlieat work on the Wntegy proper to ships of tlie line waa written by PiJre le Hoile.kiiowu to middies as "the Jesuits' hook," its French lilie being " Traits des Evolutions Kavales." The first hint mterial navigation came from Padro Laua, in his work de Arte fnrfnnao,)lilan. Newton acknowledges bis debt to lather Griin»ldi, Je Lumine Coioriin* et Iride, Bononis, 16ti5, for his notions on the infleiion of light. TliB best edition of New- ton'* Prixcipia was brought out at Geneva, 1739-60, by the Jauila LcBiieur and Jaguier, in 3 vols. In their miasiona trough Greece, Asia Minor, and the islanda of the Archi- P«l»eo, they were the heat antiquaricB, botanists, and mine- ^dzista. They became watch makers, as well as mands- Wa, in China: they were astronomers on the "plateau" «f Thibet: they taught husbandry and mechanies in uoada: while in their own celebrated and peculiar con-

rt (eiDce hllen into the hauda of Doctor Fran9ia) on _, plaloB of P*KiOCAT, they taught the theory and prac. of civil architecture, civil economy, farming, tailoring, ■11 the trades of civilised life. They played on the e and on the But«, to draw the South American Indiana the foresta into their riliagea : and the story of Tbebea g to the sound of Amphiou's lyre ceased to be a fable. e find them in Europe and at the antipodea, in Siam U St. Omer'a, in 1540 and in 1830— everywhere the ■- lAJnh, preached before the Council of Trent in Kev. Peter Kenney was admired by the North ID Congress not many years ago. TiraDoschi was li. of the Brera in 1750 : Ajigelo Mai (es-Jesuit) is n of the Vatican in 1S33. By the by, they were to capital apothecaries. Who haa not heard of Jesuits' yA, Jesuits* dropt, Jesuits' powders, Jesuita' cuphalie

"QlUftMgio in t«rm noatrj nan pleoa Ubnria?" — jKntid. t. lid, alaa I must I add, who has not beard of the cufis and

184 T-ATnEB FROITTS BELiqCLJI.

Duffetiugs, the kicks and halters, which they hare mrt vith in return :

" QuB caret ora cmore noatro ?" — Bar. lib. iL odo 1.

For, of course, do Bet of men on the face of God'ii eortli have been more abuaed. 'Tia Hie fate of evorv mortal wh» raiseB himself by mother-wit above the common kve] i fooli aad dunces, to be bated by the whole tribe moat cor. dially:

" Cril eoini fiilgore suo," &c.—lliir, lib. ij. ep. I.

The friare were the first to raise a hue and err ■g*"**' the Jesuits, with one Melchior Ciuio, a Domiiiicait, for tlirir trumpeter. Ignatius h&d been taken up by "tbe liiqui«j< tion" three several times. Then came the [fedant* oi tbf unirenity at Paris, whom these new professors threw idm the shade. The " order" was next at loggerheads with thai BuspiciouB f^ag of intriguers, the council aud doge of V^ nice ; the Jesuits were eipelled the republic* 1 wipp W— ^ were eipelled from France, but thrust out of the door tl came back through the window. They eiicount«red, I Paul, " stripes, perils, and prisons," iu Poland, in Oermanv^ in Portugal, and Hungary. They were hanged by doiena in England. Their march for two centuries through Buro|)C was odIj to be coin}mred tu the retreat uf the ten DiouaMid Greeks under Xenophon.

A remarkable euergy, a constant discipline, a steady perseveranije, and a digniGed self-rt-spect, were their chw teristics from tlie befpnning. They did not notice I pasquinades of craiy Pascal.t whose " Provincial LiHlri»,** made up of the raspings of antiquated theology and tlM ■cnpingB of forgotten cnusiBtry, none who know lAm e»e* thought much of. The Hernjons of Bourdaloue wer* the only answer such calumnies required ; and tbe order confined itself to giving a new edition of tbe "Lettrat ^difiantes et curieuses, i^critcs par nos MissionairM dn I«<

t Proul'a rrliali (or gmuine tun i» bars St laolt. — O. T.

LlIEliiTTBE yso IBS JUaUITB. 195

™it,de k Chine, (In Caimda, et in Malabar." "WTien a

flimir BwuBfttion vtua preferred ajjainst him of A&ica,

"Huncqui

Duiit lib e«enil menlum CitrlhiigiiK- uometi,"

^ iflcd in a similar manner, and siienced his miserable idvenarifB.

K tTpr there wag an occosinn on which the pomparative Wfiti of the Jesuits and JauBcnists could be brought to •^"iMt, it waa at the outbreak of the pestUentia! visitation

t Bmote the city of Marseilles; and which history, poetry,

I pietj, will never allow to be forgotten :

"Wbj drew MBrseQlrg' good biibop purer breath, When Bstore (ickened, SDd each gale vae death ?"

Fofe'b £i(sy OH Man, ep. 4.

'fliile the Pbarisees of that achool fled from their cle-

1 functions, and sneaked ofl' under some paltry pretext,

™ /auita fame from the neighbouring town of Aix to

"tnid the eick and the dying ; and, under the orders of

t*t gallant and disintereeted bishop, worked, while life was

J*nA them, in the cause of humanity. Seven of them

Hwhed in tlie exercise of tbia noblest duty, amid the

linaj of their fellow-men. The biahojj hiinBelf, De Bel-

«,1iad not only atudied under the Jeeuits. but hnd been

■tin- o/ tie order during the early part of hia ectlesiaa-

aaeer at Ais, in 1691.

lang ago, that noblert emanation of Christian ehiralry —

l.tMtT in which valorous deeds were familiar as the

latin eong" or the "vesper hymn'— the Templars, fell

ricttcns of calumny, and were immolated amid tlie shouts

t TQlfrar briumph; but history, keen aud scrutiniBing,

"rereiled the true character of the conspiracy by which

Tice« of a few were made to Bwarap and overwhelm, in

public eye, the great mass of virtue and heroism which

Uiluted that refined and gentlemanly association ; and a

Ef jiutice has been rendered to Jacques Molay and his

itnoiu brethren. T]w day may yet come, when isolated

■are* and una u then ticated misdeeds will cease to creato

'Uimutdcd antipathy to a society which will be found.

166 r&TBEB FBOCTS KEUQUBB.

tftking it all in all, to have deserved well of mankind. Tli at least, is Father Prout'» boQest opiuion ; and wh/ aboi J^e hide it under a bushel P

The most couvinciog [iroof of thoir etc-riing virtue u lo found ia the docility and forbearance they evinced promptly submitting to the decree of their auppmaion, atied ix ealheiird bv odc tiuuguuelU, a Frnncisoan friv, w had got euthroDe^ Heaven knows how ! on the nanti ehiiir. In every part of Euroi* tht-y had powerful bicoi and could have " eheivn figiit ' and '' diea gnme," if th respect for tbe successor of " the Bshermim " had not bM all along a distinctive characteristic, even to the death. I Paraguuy they could have decidedly spumed llie of the Escurial, bached by an army of 60,000 Indiui*, voted to their spiritual and temporal benefactora. taught tactics of Europe, and poBsessiug in 1750 a nell-Appointa train of artillery. That portion of South America oMsiiil rrlapBed into horbarism; and the res ulle of their withdrawi from the interior of that vast pejiiiisiila have fully jiutifte the opinion of Muratori, in lua celebrated vfork* on Par"

f;uay, " II Christianeaimo felice." It was a dismal (Ut i iteroture in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, when their m * were shut up ; and in France they alone could h»vo i the avalanche of irreligion ; for, by presenting Chrivtiaai to it« enemies clad in the panoply of Scieuce, thnr * have awed the scotler. and confounded the plulotopne. the Vatican had spoken. They bowed; and quietly ( ixirsing through the cities of the continent, were wfL-nn and admired by every friend of Bcieuot and of pictj, H body did not cease to do (-ood even after its diasolution i 17^, and, like the bones of the prophet, worked tn'raylw 4 usefulness even in the grave.*

Contraxt their eiemplory siihmissiveness with tlic i and violence of their old e'nemie» the Jan ■our and pharisnical sect Pascal was the muatb-|M the celebrated bull Unigenilua waa issued agoiaat ti did those unfortunate wighta, whom the tyrant F*

* " And it eaiae lo pu*, m thtrj wure hurling a m niied ■ bond of robben 1 and tlwj' riwl the inan inio I Kli*lu- uid when thsmm touchnl (ha butiM urkliihklMaj •ad ilood upon hii feet." — X Kingi, chap. liii, Tcr. SI.

LITEKATCKK AlfD 1

a eatdot^ in his brazen cow, rnur an luatily aa the clique of __^>^t Eoral on the oceaaioii alluded to. It was, in fact, a most mclaiicholy eihibition of tlie wildeet ranaticisin,

bond yclept le Diarre Paris, whoae life waa a tissue of r

klity, ana whose remains were said by the Junaenists to

rate wondroua cures in the churchyard of St. Medard.

ijf the fausbouiTjs of the capital. The devotees of

_.t Ruva! flocked to the tomb of fhe deacon, and became

nhwitti kytltrical and iniptred. The wagB of Louis the

Kfteenth's time ealled them " £« Conviihioanairet." Things

~~e tABUch a height of dangerous absurdity at last, that the

rietery was shut up by the police; and a wit had an oii-

TtunitT of writing on the gates of the aforesaid churcn-

d this painted epigram :

I Ajid I here conclude this very inadequate tribute of long- tmenibcrcd gratitude towards the men who took such pains b drill my infant mind, and who formed with plastic power HntevPr good or Toluable quality it may possess. " Si quid est

II me ingenii, judiees (et sentio qukm sit exiguum), si qua> icrcjtatia ab optimarum artium disciplinis profecta. earum

nun fmotum, sibi, huo jure, debent repetere." — (Ciceru V jlrekid poet .) And as for the friend of my youth, the wnplisbed Greeset, whose sincerity and kindness will be r embalmed in my memory, I cannot shew my sense of I Taricd excellencies in a more substantial vay than by iking ftu effort — a feeble one, but the best I can commanil ''a bring him before the English public in his most agree- « production, the best specimen of graccfid and harmless mourin the literature of Fran-ce. I shall upset Fert-ferl a Bnglish verse, for the use of the intelligent inhabitants J then islands ; though 1 mucli fear, that to transplant so *"'' ^« an exotic into this frigid climate may prove an un- ^lU experiment.

188 7ATHEB FBOT7T*8 BZLIQVBl.

VttUVtvt, the 9arrot.

▲ FOXM BT THB JB817IT OBBSSBt.

1$S0 original innocfncc.

AliAB ! what evils I discern in

Too great an aptitude for learning !

And £Eun would all the ills unrayel

That aye ensue from foreign travel ;

Far happier is the man who tarries

Quiet within his household '* Lares :"

Bead, and you'll find how virtue vanishes.

How foreign vice all goodness banishes.

And how abroad young heads will grow diszy.

Proved in the imderwritten Odyssey.

In old Ncvers, so famous for its Dark narrow streets and GK>thic turrets. Close on the brink of Loire's young flood. Flourished a convent sisterhood Of Ursulinei. Now in this order A parrot lived as parlour-boarder ; Brought in his childhood firom the Antitt^i, And sheltered under convent mantles : Ghreen were his feathers, green his pinions, ^

And greener still were his opinions ; For vice had not yet sought to pervert . This bird, who had been christened Vert- Vert ; Nor could the wicked world defile him. Safe from its snares in this asylum. Fresh, in his teens, frank, gay, and mcious. And, to crown all, somewhat loquacious ; If we examine close, not one, or he, Had a vocation for a nunnery.*

The convent's kindness need I mention f ^

Need I detail each fond attention, ^

Or count the tit-bits which in Lent he Swallowed remorseless and in plenty P Plump was his carcass ; no, not higher Fed was their confessor the friar ; And some even say that our young Hector Was far more loved than the " Director.** f Dear to each novice and each nun — He was the life and soul of fun ;

* ^ Par son caquet digne d'etre en ooaTent.* t ** Souvent I'oiseau Temporta sur le Pdre.'*

TEBT-TKRT, TU

.hBOT.

Tboit^h, k) be aore, somp biig>i cenaorioui Would ■ometimea find him too iiproarioua. What did the parrot care for thoae old Dunes, while he lisd for hioi the bouBebold t He hnd not jet made ha " profeBaioDi*' Hot eome to yeairi called " of diaorctioa j" ThBrcCore, unblsiDod, bs ogb<d, Oirted, And romped liko anj anconrened i N«j aomclimea, too, bj the Lord Harrr ! He d pull their cap* and " icspiilarv." But what in all bis tricia aeemnl oddeil, Waa that at times he'd turn so modest, That to all bralandnv tlie night Appmred a Gnished h}pocrit«. lu lu^ccmt be did not rcicmble Kean, thongh he bad the tones of Eemble i But Iain to do the listen' biddinj^, He left the alage to Mrs. Siddone. Foot, hisloriaa, judge, financier, Four problem a at a time bc'd aniirer He hul a bculcj like Csaar'*. Lord Althorp, batlliiig nil his tealert, 0>uld not BurpBM Vert-Vert in pniiling t " Ooodrich" to him was but a gosling,* Placed vben at table nrar some veelat, His (are. be aure, nas of the best aJl, — For WCTj eister would endeaTuur To keep for him aorne sweet Aori ifiriairt. Eindl; at heart, in ajtite of vowa and Cloisters, a nun u •Hor"li a thousand 1 And a^e, if Hoaveu vautd onl? lend her, I'd h«Te a nun for a nurse ten'dcr ! t

Then, vhea the shade' of night would conie i

AndK

Happy tho fevoured one whose grotto Thu tultan of a bird would trot to : Hosth llie joung onea' cells bo lojed in, (Tbe aged siiterhood aroidiug). Burv among all to find kind oUlRes,— Btitt be vas piu-lia! la tlie nuvi'.-ca. And m their celU our anchuritv lloatl; east ancbor for the night ;

80

« period it is roT^otten tliat " FrosjierilT Kobiuaon " J

totnown aa "Ooose Ooodrich," when lubaequeatij vnanoellor ti I

«.— O. T.

■f "Lea petits eoina, lea atleutious fines,

Sont nit, dit on, chei les UrsulinBs."

190 7ATHXB FBOUT'S BSLIQUSS.

Perched on the box that held the reihoti he Slept without notion of indelieacj. Eare was his luck ; nor did be spoil it B^ flying from the morning toilet : Not that I can admit the fitness Of (at the toilet) a male witness ; But that I scruple in this history To shroud a single £sot in mystery.

Quick at all arts, our bird was rich at That best accomplishment, called chit-chat ; For, though brought up within the cloister, His beak was not closea like an oyster. But, trippingly, without a stutter. The longest sentences would utter j Pious withal, and moralising His conTersation was surprising ; None of your equiroques, no slander — To such vile tastes he scorned to pander ; But his tongue ran most smooth and nice on " Deo sit laus" and ** Kyrie eleison j" 100

The maxims he gaye with best emphasis Were Suarez's or Thomas k Kempis's ; In Christmas carols he was famous, " Orate, fratres," and " Oeemus ;" If in good humour, he was wont To give a stave from ** Think wtli onU ;" • Or, by particular desire, he Would chant the hymn of " Dies inc.** Tlien in the choir he would amaze all By copying the tone so nasal 11^

In which the sainted sisters chanted, — (At least that pious nun my aunt did.)

AV0 UxaXX l&fnoiBne.

The public soon began to ferret The hidden nest of so much merit, And, spite of all the nuns* endeavours. The flame of Vert- Vert filled all Nevers ; Nay, from Moidines folks came to stare at The wondrous talent of this parrot ;

And to fresh visitors ad libitum ^

Sister Sophie had to exhibit him. ^

Drest in her tidiest robes, the virgin, Forth from the convent cells emerging,

• «' Pensez-y-bien," or « Think wett onX' as translated bjr th«titi^ bishop, Bichard ChaJoner, is the most generally adopted derotioB*i tract among the Oatholios of these islands. — Pbovt.

TCBT-TEBT, THK PABHOT.

Bring* the bright bird, and for his giluniiiga

Hnt ohaUeiigea unetiutfd liumagei

Then to his eloquence adierte. —

"What preacher's «□ lurpaBa Tert-Tert'if

Tnilj in oratory few mm

Equal thi> learned catecbumra ;

Praiighl with the conTenfs choipe»l Imsodb,

And itulfed with piety's quinteceonce ;

A. bird moat quick of apprehension,

Wilh gifta and gncen hard to mention :

Stj in what pulfjit can jou meet

A ChiTxulom hidf «o diBors«t,

Who'd foUow in hie ghiitlj miaaion

So cloae the * fathen and traditiao f "

Silsnt mcADtime, the feathered hermit

Wails for the sister's gmcioua penuit,

Wlim, at a aigoal from his meiitor,

Quick on a course of speech lie'U enter;

Hot tluthe carei for human glory,

Bent but to sbtc hi> nudilar; ;

Hence he pours forth with eo much onctioa

Ihat all hu hearer? feel c<

Thai for a time did Tert-Tert dwell Ssfe in his holj citadcUe ; Scholared. like any well-bred abbe. And loTed by mauy a cloistenHl Hebe ; Ton'd Bwew that he had crossed the same bridgo As any youth broughl up in Cambridge.* Other moolie stnrre themselres ; but liis i>kin Was sleek hke that of a FnineiacBn, And lar more clean ; for this graTe Solon Bathed erery day in ecu dr Colognt, Ihns he indnlged each gniltleaa gambol, Bhat had be ne'er beon doomed to Run hie !

For in his life there came ■ rrisii Such aa for all great men aritos, — Sudi aa what NiF to Kussia led, •

8nch aa the " fliobt'' of Maliomed -, 0 town of Naiitil yes, lo thy boaoin We M him go, slas '. to hise him

a*»/», O town famed for Still was Tert-Vert'B loes Dark be the day when our From this to a far-diatant Twn worcb comprised tho Words big with lal« and 1

nore proroking I bright Don vent

* Quare — Pons AsiDonun 1

103 * FATUEB PBOUT'ft BSLIQUXa-

Tea, " he shall go ;" but, siBtera! xnoum je The dismal fruits of that sad journey, — His on which Nantz's nuns ne'er reckoned. When for the beauteous bird they beckoned.

Fame, O Vert- Vert ! in evil humour, One day to Nantz had brought the rumour Of thy accomplishments, — ** acumen," '* Nowc," and " etpriiy* quite superhuman : AH these reports but served to enhance Thy merits with the nuns of Nantz. How did a matter so imsuited For convent ears get hither bruited ! Some may inquire. But " nuns are knowing,** And first to h%ar what gotiip^s going.* Forthwith they taxed their wits to elicit From the famed bird a friendly visit. Girls' wishes run in a brisk current, But a nun's fancy is a torrent ;t To get tliis bird they'd pawn the missal ; Quick they indite a long epistle, Careful with softest things to fill it. And then with musk perfume the billet ; Thus, to obtain their darling purpose, Tlioy send a writ of habeat corpus.

Off goes the post. When will the answer Free them from doubt's corroding cancer ? Nothing can equal their anxiety, Except, of course, their well-known piety. Things at Nevers meantime went harder Than well would suit such pious ardour ; It was no easy job to coax This parrot from the Nevers folks. What, take their toy from convent belles ? Make Russia yield the Dardanelles ! Filch his good rifle from a " Suliote," Or drag her "Romeo" from a "Juliet!" Make an attempt to take Gibraltar, Or try the old com laws to alter ! This seemed to them, and eke to us, " Most wasteful and ridiculous." Long did the ** chapter" sit in state. And on this point deliberate ; The junior members of the senate Set Iheir fair faces quite again' it ;

• " Les r^verendes mferes

A tout savoir ne sont pas les derDiere?."

t " Ddsir de fille est un feu qui devorc, Desir de nonne est cent u>is pis (mooie**

le TerdicC of the mitroni, I, I ween, «nd poor tho dinw , g the d<mr bird from NuiU. Hot in niy mirmiM am I &r out, — For bj IMr rote ott goea (ht puTot.

1^0 > (til Vngagt.

En et lemi la, H imnll canal- boat. CiUed by moat irlironicWs ilia "Talbol," (Talbot, h name wvU known in France I) TVarelliid betneen Nerers and JVinlc, Vcrt-Vert took ahippiog in this cnJt,

>crt-Vert took ahipp 'Ti> not uid ithetlici

a book u old w Jtutinger'i We Qiid a tlalement of Ibe passeng Thse were— two OuoaaB uid a pi;

A brao- of ohildrm, and a nune ; But what TU infinitclj worw, A dashing (\prim ; while b; lier Sat ■ tno»t joUj-lookiuglriHr.*

For a poor bird brought up in purilj Twaa a lad augur for futurity la meet, just tree from hi« indraturiv, And in the Gnt of his ulrenturcB, 6u(4i companj at formed his hnniel,^ Tiro roguea ! 1 friar ! \ and a dnrimd '. \ ! Bird* tbe aboie Kere of B f«Iher i But to Vprt-Vert 'I BHB altogatber Socii ■ alnni^e aggregate of svuidols Ai to be met but amoDg Vandals : Buda wu their talk, bereft of polish. And calculated to demolish All the iiiie nottona And cood-breeding Taut^t bj the nuns in Ibrir sweet EdcQ. Ko Bilhngsgate surpassed the nurse^s, And •!! the rest indulged in curses -,

(TAait fchoir eu dignas compagnoos."

Fi.tHSB PB0irr*8 BELIQUIB.

Ear hath not heard sooh vulgar gab in The nautic cell of any cabin. Silent and tad, the penaiye bird, Shocked at their guilt, said not a word.*

Now he " of orden grey,** accosting The parrot green, who seemed quite kwt in The contemplation of man's wickedness, And the bright riyer^s gliding liquidness, *' Tip us a stare (quoth Tuck), my darling, Ayn t you a parrot or a starling ? If you don*t talk, by the holy poker, m give that neck of yours a cnoker !'* Scared by this threat from his propriety, Oiur pilgrim thinking with sobriety. That if he did not speak they'd mi^e him, Answered the friar. Pax sit tbcum ! ]^ere our reporter marks down after Poll's maiden-speech — " loud roars of laughter ;' And sure enough the bird so affable Gould hardly use a phrase more laughable.

Talking of such, there are some rum ones That oft amuse the House of Commons : And since we lost *' Sir Joseph Yorke^* We've got great " Feargut** fresh from Cork,— » A fellow honest, droll, and funny. Who would not sell for love or money His native land : nor, hke vile Daniel, Fawn on Lord Althorp like a spaniel ; Flatter the mob, while the old fox Keeps an ^e to the b^;ging-box. Now 'tis a 'shame that such brave fellows, WHien they blow " agiialiorCt^* bellows. Should only meet with heartless scoffers. While cunning Daniel fills his coffers. But KeiTymen will e'er be apter At the conclusion of the chapter, While others bear the battle's brunt, . To reap the spoil and fob tJte blunt. This is an episode concerning The parrot's want of worldly learning, In squandering his tro])es and figures On a vile crew of heartless niggei-s.

• This canal -boat, it would seem, was not a very re able conveyance: it rather remindeth of Horace's dusium, and of that line so applicable to the parrot's '* Repletum nautis, cauponibus, atque mal

TKBT-TEET, TBB PABEOT.

PoU't bHer address met \oU of uiiiUei* BidgtTwl bj all hia fdliiw-tnvullpra, lie Uint U> mend a apeucb to ooimuUB By itriking up with " Dim Duuixui 1" Bui louder ahouts of Isughkf folliin', — TliLi lul roar beata the fi>nuor boUJif, Auii thum that it wu bail ctxiuoiU]' To giTtf a »[aTe from Duul<atiiioiuj-.

Foted, not abaabed, the bird rcfawd to Indulge a aceiio he wae not used to ; And, pondering on hia atraiijjo rtoeption, " Thisn.- must," be thought, " bv lomu diM.-eptioi In Ihe Quni' Tieva of tilings rhctoriuol. And lister Bose is not an oracle. True iril, perhapa, lies not iu ' mallitu.' Sot u (Atir aciiool a achool of Atbioia."

Thoa in this villanous recqitade The simple bird at oune grevr apeptiuaL Doubta land to hell. The aivh-dccoiter Soon made of Poll an anbr^licTcr j And mixing thna in bad society, He look fVeach lesTe of all his pioly.

His austere maxima soon he moUifled, And all Ilia old opinions qualiGed ; For lie had leunieil tu substitute For piouR lore things more astute ; Mor was his condaet unimpm^bnble, For Totlth, alaa < is bat too teachable ;

And in -

Bneh were hia eunti, such hia evil I>ncltcM, thai no aneient dBiil,t Plungrd to the i^hin whau burning Iiot Into a holy water-pot. Could BO blaspheme, or fire a tDlle; Of oatba so dnar and melancholy.

" Hiitor of PwlisBimt" for this ingenioua penoc'e mnidm I oa Jo* Hume's motion to all<Fr and enkrgo the old Uoute ci( t 01. "Sir, UU Jivmafi (a laugh)— / My lAt Jl^mani (loud F)iwMr<JfmrflWf'ie>Hm-' (martofdilto}. But UeaTen soon j vbal Joe Huuio dMircd, aud the old rookury was hiimt ehorlJy

FATHKK PBOUT S beliqiteb.

Mart the bright hlomoniB, ripe and rudd;. And Iho fair fruits of varjj studj. Thua in their aumnier •auoti croM«d Meot • nod blighl — a lulling frost ! Must thiit tiIb demon, Moloch, oi '

aveo from a joung heart** holocauit f* juiit the eUd hope of life'* youDs proniM Thus in tlie davn of youth ebb fron

h U, abu 1 the sad and latt traphj Of the yooDg rake's supreme oatairtropliE j For of what use are learning's laurels When iL Toung man iiiaitliout morals ! Bereft of tuIuo, and grown hciaoui. What aigniBce a briUiant gcnina ? ' Tis but a Ease for wail and mourning, — 'Tia but a brand fit for the buroing!

Meantime ibe rirer WBft« the barge, fraught with ita miscollnneoua rliarge. Smoothly upon ilB broad cxjianw. Up lo the Teiy quay of Hant« i Fondly witbin the convent bowara The sisters calculate the hours, Chiding the bnteies for thor tardineaa, And, in the height of their fool-hardiDws, Picturing the bmi as fentiy painted — Lovely, reserved, polite, and sainted — Fit "Uriulinc." And Ihit, I trow, Ueitnl Bunched with every endowment! ~ r these nuna anointed

Will find their fency disappointed j When, lo meet all those hoiii " "' ~ They'll find a reguhir DOM J

When, lo meet all those hoiies they drew oq,.X

€lst amfatl Dlstobrrif.

Scarce in the port wb« this amatl PTftfl On its arnrol telegraphed, When, ^m the boat homa to tranafer him Came the nuns' portrees, " sislflr Juromc." Well did the parrot recognise Tlie walk demure and downcast eye* i Kor aught such saintly guidance relished A bird by worldly art* embellished i 8uch was his taste for profane gaiety. He'd rather miich go with the laity.

TIBT-TERT, THE PAEBOT.

Fut to the bni-t he cliuigj but plupked tUence,

He shewed dire ijmptoma of reluctance.

And, MsDdaliaing each beholder.

Bit the nun's cheek, and ete her ■boulder ! ■

Tbut a bloek e>gle onee, 'tis raid,

Bgre off tJie itruegUne Ouiirmede.t

Thus voA Vert- Veit, heart-iiuk and wear;,

Brought U> the heaTerly monattetj.

The bell and tidingi both were tolled.

And tlie nun a cranded, iroung and old.

In feut their eym with jor uncommoa on

This vondrouB talkatiTo pheotunenon.

Bonnd the bright etranger, is Biuaiing And K renownet^ tlie aiiters gating, Pmifed the green glon which ■ warm latitude Oare to his neck, and liked his attitude. Some by his gOTseoua tail are imillen, Some b; hii beak ao beauteous bitten '. And non« e'er dmiut of dole or harm in A bird KO brilliant and flo chjutoing- Shade of Spurabelm ! and Ibgn, LsTater, Or Gall, of " bumpa" the great creator I Can ye eiplain how oiir joung hero, With all the vicea of a Nero, Seemed inch a model of good -breeding. Thus quite aalraj the oonvont leading P Whov on Ail bnul appeared, I uk from je. The " nob" indirstire of blsiphcm; F Uelhink* 'twould niuilo ^oiir abihtj To find Ail organ of •eurnhtj.

Meantime the sbbrai, to " draw Oat" A hinl CO modest and devout. With soothing air and tongue eare«eing Tht " pilirim of the Loire" addressing, Broaehea Ihe most edifjing lupitie. To "start" this nntt'o of the Ij'opiet; When, to their seandnl and amaze, be Broke forlh — "MurtUvl Ihnie nuai tre erasy !" (Shewiug hmr well he learnt bi> task on The paeket-boat from that *ile Onseon !) " Fie ! brother poll !" with seal outburaliog, EicUimed the abbess, dame Augustin i

198 PATHEB FBOVT's BELIQVESk

But all the ladj's sage rebukes

Brief answer got from poll—" Gkidzooks I"

Nay, 'tis supposed, he muttered, too,

A word folks write with W.

Scared at the soimd, — " Sure as a gun,

The bird's a demon l" cried the nun.

** O the Tile wretch ! the naughty dog !

He's surely Lucifer tnco^.

What ! is the reprobate before us

That bird so pious and decorous —

So celebrated ?" — Here the pilgrim,

Hearing sufficient to bewilder him.

Wound up the sermon of the beldame

By a cx)n elusion heard but seldom —

" Ventre Saint Gris!" "Parbleu!" and "Sacre!"

Three oaths ! and erery one a whacker !

Still did the nuns, whose conscience tender Was much shocked at the young offender, Hoping he'd change his tone, and alter, Hang breathless round the sad defaulter : When, wrathful at their importunity. And grown audacious from impunity, He fired a broadside (holy Mary !) Drawn from Hell's own vocabulary ! Forth like a Congreve rocket burst, And stormed and swore, flared up and cursed Stunned at these sounds of import stygian. The pious daughters of religion Fled from a scene so dread, so horrid, But with a cross first signed their forehead. The younger sisters, mild and meek. Thought that the culprit spoke in Ghreek ; But the old matrons and " the bench" Knew every word was genuine French ; And ran in all directions, pell-mell, From a flood fit to overwhelm hell. 'T was by a fall that Mother Ruth* Then lost her last remaining tooth.

" Fine conduct this, and pretty guidance !" Cried one of the most mortified ones ; ^* Pray, is such language and such ritual Among the Nevers nuns habitual ? 'T was in our sisters most improper To teach such curses — such a whopper I

• " Toutes pensent fetre ^ la fin du monde, £t Bur sou nez la m^re Cun^gonde Se laissant cheoir, perd sa demiire dent 1'

i

I

TEBT-rEBT, THE P ABBOT.

E«

by me. for one, be liindeptd From being teat back to hiN kindred I" Thii prompt decreo of PoU'j proioriplion Was signed b; gcaeml lubHTiptioD. Stmight in a cage the niuu inHtrt TliB auUtj penoD of Tert-Vert j Somo youDg one* tranled. to tletnin bim i But the grim portrese Wok " the psjnim" Buk to the boBt, rloso id hu Utter g 1u iiot said IMt time tlut hu HI her.

8oji

Badi to the eonvent of his jouth.

mil,

Sula the grren moneter, sconiMl and haled,

Hu heart nith ticu (totituninatod.

Must I t«!l how, on his return,

He acoiidkliwd hie old aojoum ?

And how tho guardians of his inlanirT

W(pt o'er their quondam child's ddinquuiitj ?

Wbal could bo done ? ihe elders oCtea

Met lo coDBult how best to soften ISO 1

This obdurate and hardened sinner,

f inisb'd in vioe ere ■ beginner i*

Otte mother counselled " to denounce

And let the Inquisilion pounce

On Ihe riio heretic ;" another

Thought "it vaa beat the bird to imolhei I"

Or " send tbe convict for hia feliiniea Back lo hia native land — the colouira." Sut milder -Hews prevailed. Eli seutence

Was, that, until he >hemid repentance, lU ^

"A solemn iiut and frugal diet, fiilenor eurt, and pensive quiet, Should be hia lot ;" and, for a blister, He giM, as gaoler, a laj-siiter, Ugly aa rin, bad-lcmpcred, jaJoni, And in her scruples ovet^»ealou<. AJug of water and a cvrrot Was all the prog the'd give tho pBTTOl i Bui 0TM7 eve when vesper-bell Called sister Rosalie from her eell. She to Vert- Vert would gain admittnnec. And bring of " comfits" s sweet pitlauLi:. V'tM/ tn /enninu. There roust liSTe been a beginning, else how IttJIiUti (see Eani), unlets Ibe proposition of Ocelltis Luoonus )ptcd, ric avaiixw lai orfXiuTuiov r< irav. Qrcsset simpl;

■' n Tut un seJUrat Frofia d'abord, M mh* norioiol.''

PBOCr B BEI-IQUtB.

The Bterneat firtap b thu liulki,

Though cnuaiD«l vith richeat B«Mtinesti,falk*. 'Fnoght bj his gaoler sad s<lTenitf ,

Poll aaw the folly of perrenitj.

And b; degree* hia hoftrt reWted ;

Duly, in floe, " the lad" repeutnl.

HiB Lent patied oa, an-d iiHer Bridget

Coaled the old abbeu to abridge iL The prodigal, reclaimed and &e#,

Bc<rgune again a prodigy,

And gBTe more ju>, bj irorlis and word*.

Than nioctj-niiie canarv-birdB,

Until hi« death. WhiEh latt dieaMcr

(Nothing on earth Dndurea !) came faiwr

Than tfaey imwned. The traniilion

Froni a atarred lo a ttaS'ei coadilioii.

From penitenM lo jolliBcation,

Brought on a fit of ooiutipation.

Some think be wonld be hviog eiiU,

If giien a " Vegetable Pill ;"

But &oin a thort life, and a laetrj.

Foil sailed one do; per Charau'a fmj. Bj toBTB from nuna* Bweet ejeUdi ftpftt^

Happj in dcnth tliia parrot ilept ;

For bim ElfBiiun oped ite portal*,

And there he talks among immortali.

But I hare road, that ainm that happjt daj

(So Ttrilce Comcliiu i Lapide,* ■ Thii author appesrs lo hare been a fWrotirite with I take* erer; opportumt; of recording hii predilection (ride p

181). Had the Ordtr, hooeier, produiwd only iud" — '

Uui, we few there would baie been little mention oonnexion withdlrrnfurt. Qrauet'iopinion on the in an opiBtle to hia c«nfrirf P. Bomeanl, autliOT of tlM,9 treatiM Sur I'Amt dn Btlti (sea p. £96] :—

Mniiii t^nSrvnd qu'iunuhle ptre, Voiv dont I'rapr.t, le caraetere,

Kt lea air*, ne tout point moaUs 8ur la ton wttement auatire

Oe cent triatw palamil^ Qui, manquant da talent de plains

Kt d« touts UeJreti, Four diatimuler la miiire

D'UB eaprit *ani amdiut{,

AfficliAnt la atrerittf '

Que a.

De la griTO Ibi H^tien de h ti

TSE aosoa or rsjjrcx.

Prering, Tri(]i eoromenliiry droll,

The trails migiBtioD of liic soul),

'Ihot still Vert- Vert this earth dolh haunt,

01 cmiTeQt batrera a Tint&nt ;

"I'D <>x.u^jL^ — V.^ X

Ao. VTI.

TQE HON OS OF

PUItOSOPHT,

ChaPTBE I. — WlH» AND WaB,

Virguiibiu puerUque mate."

Uoo. Carmen S^tuleri.

" With roaiiT » foreign author grappling. Thus hsTs'l, Pniut, Ibe Muses' chaijhLin, Trscpd on ReOINa's virgin pagos Songa for 'the bovs' of alWr-ujpM,"

jUr illustrioua utilitarian, Dr. Bowring, the knight-erraut ' e trade, who ia allowed to circulate juet uow without er through the citiea of France, will ho in hig!i glee I October manifestation of Prout'a wisdom. Tho T hath found a kindred bouI in the PrieBt, To pro- ^ ..t the isterehauge of national commodities, to cause a Minding and a chemical luBion of their mutual produce, nnd Mloblish an equilibrium between out uegntive and Ihfir poaitiTe electricity ; such appears to be the sublime aepira- lion of both these learned pundits. But the beneficial re- jnilts attendant on the efforts of each are widely dissimilftr. Both Jrcadians, they are not eqiialjy eucceesful in the rivalry (if gong. We have to record nothing of Dr. Bowring in the M^ of acquirement to this i:oiuitry ; we hare gained nothing

202 FATHEE P&OUT'S BELIQUES.

bj his labours : our cottons, our iron, our woollens, and our coals, are still without a passport to France ; while in oer> tain home-trades, brought b^ his calculations into direct competition with the emancipated French, we have en- countered a loss on our side to the tune of a few millions. Not so with the exertions of Prout : he has enriched Eng- land at the expense of her rival, and engrafted on our litera- ture the choicest productions of Ghdlic culture. Silently and iinostentatiously, on the bleak top of WatergraBshill, he has succeeded in naturalising these foreign vegetables, asso- ciating himself in the gratitude of posteritv vrith thepbmter of the potato. The inhabitants of these islands may now, thanks to Prout ! sing or whistle the " Songs of France," duty free, in their vernacular language ; a vastly important acquisition ! The beautiful tunes of the " Ck ira " and ** Charmante Gabrielle" will become familiarised to our dull ears ; instead of the vulgar " Peas upon a trencher," we shall enjoy that barrel-organ luxury of France, " PartaDt pour la Syrie ;" and for " The Minstrel Boy to the wars is gone," we shall have the original, " Malbroock s'en va-t-en guerre." What can be imagined more calculated to establish an har- m onions understanding between the two nations, than this attempt of a benevolent clergyman to join them in a hearty chorus of common melody ? a grand " duo," composed of bass and tenor, the roaring of (he bull and the croaking of the frog ?

To return to Bowring. Commissions of inquiry are the order of the day ; but some travelling " notes of interroga- tion " are so misshapen and grotesque, that the response or result is but a roar of laughter. This doctor, we perceive, is now the hero of every dinner of every " Chambre de Com- merce ;" his toasts and his speeches in Norman French are, we are told, the ne plus ultra of comic performance, towards the close of each banquet. He is now in Burgundy^ an in- dustrious labourer in the vineyard of his commission ; and enjoys such particular advantages, that Brougham from his woolsack is said to cast a jealous eye on his missionary's de- partment ; " invidift rumpantur ut ilia Codri." The whole affair exhibits that sad mixture of imbecility and oetentt- tion too perceptible in all the doings of Utihtananism. Of

itfioae eommiMtionera Plu&driia has long ugo <jtTea the pru-

Dtvpe ;

"E*! iinlnlinTium qiuedam Bonne oi

Trrpidi coucunaa*, oocup&U in c Qntifl aQliclaAB, tnultQm ogimdoT

^1 The publication of thia Paper on Prench Songs is in-

I teiuled, at this particular eeaflon, to counteract tlie preva-

Intt epidemic, which hurries a,wa.j our population in crowds

to Puis. By furaisbiug them here at home with Gallic

/rieiiuer, we hope to induce some, at least, to remain in the

country, nod forswear emigration. If our "ureventiTe

check ' succeed, we shall have deserved well of our owti

mterins-placcs, which naturally look up to us for protoc-

I' tion Bad patronage. But the girla will never listen to

LpMd advice —

dl DNttjr mini In ber conwicuce tliinXs t)iut nothing on improre I Cnku ihe Hca tJu Tuilcriea, and trips along the Louvre." I JJerer ia the memory of R-EaiifA has Begent Street infiieivd such complete depopulation. It hnth emptied it- ■elf into the " Boulevards." Our city friends will keep an _ * OD thii Alonument, or it may elope from PiiddiDg Lane I ^ tie " Place VendOme :" but as to the Thames flowing to ibe Seine, we cannot vet anticipate so alarming a phe- roe&on. although Juvenal records a eimilar event aa haviuf

"Totui in Tyborim de-Siixit Oronto." Trt there is still balm in Gilead, there is still com in ^grjrt- The " chest" in which old Prout hath left a legacy of boitnlMl wiitdum to the children of men is open to us, for _jBaMEoTt and iniitruction, It is rich in consolation, and fraught b goodly ma^iims adapted to every Btat« and stage of sub- vy vidHitudrt. The treatise of Boclhius, " de Cousola- e Philoaophin-," worked wonders in its day, and assuaged ' tbnlfttions (if the folkaof the dark ages. Tlie sibylline e consulted in all cnaea of emergency. Proui'a I rfttber reeembleth the oracular portfolio of the i it chiefly containetb matters written in u prose it oppeareth poetical. Versified

204 FATHIU ]*ltOtrT*S &ELTQirS8.

apopbihegms are always better attended to tban mere pro- saic crumbs of comfort ; and we trust that the " Songs of France," which we are about to publish for the patriotic purpose above mentioned, may have the desired effl^.

" Carmina Tel codIo possunt deducere lunam ; Carmine Di supen placantur, carmine manes : Duciie ab urbe domum, mea carmina, ducite Daphnim!**

When Saul went mad, the songs of the poet David were the only effectual sedatives ; and in one of that admirable series of homilies on Job, St. Chrysostom, to fix the atten- tion of his auditory, breaks out in ^e style : ^fi ou», aya* cnjrs, TTig Aa^idKtig xida^ag avax^ovffu/Lsv ro '^aT^xov fAsXo;, mi rnv avdPUKrt\>7iv yoovreg raXcuvu^iav ii*X(iifLiv^ xai r. X. (^Serm. Ill- in Job.) These French Canticles are, in Front's manuscript, given with accompaniment of introductory and explanatory observations, in which they swim like water-fowl gn the bosom of a placid and peUucid lake ; and to each song there is underwritten an English translation, like the liquid re- flection of the floating bird in the water beneath, so as to recall the beautiful image of the swan, which, according to the father of " lake poetry,"

" Floats double— swan and shadow."

Vale et fruere !

OLIVER TOEKE

Reffent Street, Itt Oct. 1834.

WatergratthiU, Oct. 1833, I HAVE lived among the French : in the freshest dawn of early youth, in the meridian hour of manhood's maturity, my lot was cast and my lines fell on the pleasant places of that once-happy land. Full gladly have I strayed among her gay hamlets and her hospitable ch&teaux, anon breaking the brown loaf of the peasant, and anon seated at the boara of her noblemen and her pontiffs. I have mixed industri* ously with every rank and every denomination of her people, tracing as I went along the peculiar indications of toe Uelt and the* Frank, the Normand and the Breton, the liinaue d*oui and the langue d*oc ; not at the same time overlooking

THE §ON0S OF FHAnCK. 206

the endemic fuTiturea of unrivnlled Gaspony. Ihe raanufac-

tnnng iudiistrj' of Lyons, the Gothic reminiBcenfeBof Toum,

tfce historiu uwociatioiut of Orl«aae, tbe mercaatiJe ent«r-

ipriae ood opnleDce of Bordeaux, Maraeilles, the emporium

of the LeTU>t, each claimed my wonder in its turu. It n as

goodlr scene ! nnd, L'ompared to tbe ignoble itnd debused

memtion that now usurps the Boil, my recolleclione of

ate-resolutioimry Frauce are like dreams of an anttdilui-ian

rorld. And in those days arose the voice of song. The

karact^riatic cheerfulnesa of the country found n vent lor

te anpcmbundnnt jov in jocund carols, and music woe ut

nee the ofl'i^priug and the parent of gaiety, Sterne, in his

Sentioiental Joiimey," had seen the peaaantry whom he so

nphically describes in that passage concerning a mam'nge-

■st — A grnerous flagon, grace after meat, and a dance on

green turf under the canopy of approving Heaven. Sor

thif Iriah heart of Ooldsmitn (who, like myaelf, rambled

B the banks of tbe Loire and the Garonne with true jiedes-

rian philosophy) fail to enter into the spirit of jovous

lubcrance Which animated the inhabitants of each village

brough which we pssBed. poor and penniless, but a poet ;

nd he himself tellH us that, with his flute in his pocket, he

li^ht not fear to qu.irtpr himself on any district in the

[lulb of France, — auch was the charm of music to the ear

r tbe nativm in those happ^ days. It surely was not of

Vaaue that tbe poetic tounat spoke when he opened hia

TnTeller " by those sweet veraea that tell of a loneliness

le eiperirnced on the banks of the Loire, however felt

jwhere —

"BemoM. utiHrimded, aoliMTy, tlow; Or by UiB 1«bj Schaldl, or iumdanng Po," 4c. r GoMy, the village maiden lit up her brightest smiles \ bim ifae tidv housewife, " on hospitable cares intent," ■ugbt forth tne wheaten loaf and the well-seasoned sau- e : to welcome the foreign troubadour, tbe master of the tage and of the vineynrd produced his best can of wine, rer loath for au excuse to drain a cheerful cup with au wst&Uow; for,

" 8i bmi cofnmeiniiii, cdumb sunt qiiinqtie bibmdi : Hotfiitu adrontui, pr^us hA» Btcjiic fiitiim, Td Tini bonitM — vel quslibel altera cauM."

206 FATHEB PBOUT'b KELI^VSS.

Ail this buoyancy of spirits, all this plentiful glAdnen, found expression and utterance in the national music and songs of that period ; which are animated and liyely to ex- cess, and bear testimony to the brisk current of feelingand the exhilarating influence from which they sprung. Each season of the happy year, each incident of primitive and rural life, each occiurence in village history, was chronicled in uncouth rhythm, and chanted with choral glee. ThebaP* tismal holyday, the marriage epoch, the 8oldier*s return, the " patron saint," the harvest and the vintage, " le jour des rois,'* and " le jour de Noel," each was ushered in with the merry chime of parish bells and the extemporaneouB out- break of the rustic muse. And when mellow autumn gav^ place to hoary winter, the genial source of musical inapira^ tion was not frozen up in the hearts of the young, nor wa* there any lack of traditionary ballads derived from the ox^* mory of the old.

** Ici le chanvre pii^par^ Toume autour du fuseau Gk)thique,

£t 8ur un banc mal assur^

La berg^re la plus antique

Chaute la mort du * Bakfr^ D'uno Yoix plaintive et tragique.*'

" While the merry fireblocks kindle, While the gudewife twirls her spindle, llark the song which, nigh the embers,

Singeth yonder withered crone ; Well I ween that hag remembers Many a war-tale past and gone."

This characteristic of the inhabitants of G«ul, this con- stitutional attachment to music and melody, has been eaAj noticed by the writers of the middle ^es, and remarked on by her historians and philosophers. The eloquent Salvian of Marseilles (a.d. 440), in his book on Providence (**de Q-ubematione Dei"), says that his fellow-countrymen had a habit of drowning care and banishing melancholy with songs : *^ Cantilenis infortunia sua solantur." In the old jurispro- dence of the Gallic code we are told, bv lawyer de Mud)- angy, in his work, " la Gkule Po^tique, that aU the goods and chattels of a debtor could be seized by the ^editor, with the positive exception of any musical instrument, lyrCi

TUB SONOS OF TBANCE.

w (lute, whiuh oapjii-ntid to be in tlie boiiBe of mis- the luH^vera wisely aad huioauely providiuf; a of (WDsoLation for the ptHir devil wben oil was goue. ljf« lumt etill e»me euactments of Charlemagne interwoven in the Ittbyriathineiatricacie^of the capitularian law, havine KfeicDce to tlie minstrels of that penod ; and the bode of Boland, who frdJ at Bou(Xsv»iiz with the ilower of Gmlic ■ ivalry, is rtill sung by the grenadiere of France :

>r, u Sir Walter Scott will have it,

•' O ! for • bl»t of th«t wild hom, Oa FoaUnibii'e i>ch»e9 borne," 3k.

Duiing the crusades, the minstrelay of France attained n bigfa degree of refinement, delicacy, and vigour. Never were iore-odrenturefi, broken hearts, and broken heads, so plenti- ■ftil. The novelty of the acene. the excitement of departure, the lover's farewell, the rapture of return, the pilgrim's tale, tiie jumble of war and devotion, laurels and palni'trces^aJl tiicse matters inflamed the imagination of tne troubadour, ■ad ennobled the effusions of genius. Oriental landscape added a new charm to the creations of poetry, and the bard of t^iivalrouB Europe, transported into the acenes of volup- tuous Asia, acquired a new stock of imagery ; an additional " ' >rd would vibrate on his lyre. Thii^bault, comte de Cham- jne, who swayed the destinies of the kiu^om imder Queen Blanche, while St. Louia was in Palestine, distinguished * Inuelf not only by his patronage of the tuneful tribe, but / hia own original compositions ; many of which I have D<ntrb«ulrd amon^ the USH. of the King's Library, when I wan in Paris. Ilichnrd Cceur de Lion, whose language, liabita, and chamcter, belonged to Normandy, was almost oa de^er at a ballad as at the battle-aie: hia faithful trouba-

, Ulondel, acknowledges Jiis master's comi>e(ency in

•kiagt poetical. But it waa reeerred for the immortal Sent! J'AnjoQ, called by the people of Prorence ie hnn rot/ Rmi, to vonfi-r splendour ami Maf on the gentle craft, during a reign gf singular usefulness and popularity. He was, in kinitb, a nre personage, and well oeserved to leave hia

208 FATHEB PBOUT's BXI.IQUES.

memoiy embalmed in the recollection of his fellow-countrj* men. Afler haying fought in his youth under Joan of Arc, in rescuing the territory of France from the grasp of hep invaders, and subsequently in the wars of Scander J^g and Ferdinand of Arragon, he spent the latter part of his event- ful life in diffusing happiness among his subjects, and making his court the centre of refined and classic enjoyment. Aix in Provence was then the seat of civilisation, and the haunt of the Muses. While to Bene is ascribed the introduction and culture of the mulberry, and the consequent develop- ment of the silk-trade along the Rhone, to his fostering care the poetry of France is indebted for many of her best and simplest productions, the rondeau, the madrigal, the triolein the lay, tne virelai, and other measures equally melodious. His own ditties (chiefly church hymns) are preserved in the Biblioth^ue du Koi, in his own handwriting, adorned bjr his royal pencil with sundry curious enluminations and alle- gorical emblems.

A rival settlement for the " sacred sisters" was established at the neighbouring court of Avignon, where the temporair residence of the popes attracted the learning of Italy and of the ecclesiastical world. The combined talents of church- men and of poets shone with concentrated effulgence in that most picturesque and romantic of cities, fit cradle for the muse of Petrarca, and the appropriate resort of every con- temporary excellence. The pontific presence shed a lu8fa« over this crowd of meritorious men, and excited a spirit of emulation in all the walks of science, unknown in any other European capital : and to Avignon in those days might be applied the observation of a Latin poet concerning that small town of Italy which the residence of a single important pe^ sonage sufficed to illustrate :

" Veios liabitante Camillo, IIHc Boina fiiit." LvciK.

The immortal sonnets of Laura's lover, written in the polished and elegant idiom of Lombardy, had a perceptible effect ia softening what was harsh, and refining what was uncouthr in the love songs of the Troubadors, whose language (oot altogether obsolete in Provence at the present time) betucii

VBE tOsaa ov nisct.

209

f to the Italian. But this " light of song," liow- ^ _ ing to the lover of early literature, was but a sort of civpuBcular brightening, to herald in th>t lull dawn of true tnat« aiid knowledge which broke forth at the appear- ance of Frnneia I. and Leo X- Tlien it waa that Europe's uudtrn minstrela, forming their lyric effusions on the im-

Krisliaidt- models of cJassica] antiquity, produced, for the w^r and the banquet, for the court and the camp, straina <'f unpamlleled eweetnees and power. I have already en- rirhed my papers with a Bpeeimen of the love-dittiee which the amour of Francis and the unfortunate Comtease de Chal<-auhriand gave birth to. The royal lover has himself recorded his chivalrous attachment to that lady in a song whirb ia nrvserred among the MSS. of the Duke of Bucking- ham, ia the Biblioth^ue du Boi. It begins thus:

"Om que je Is tieni w>u> ma I07, • Plui JBTPpie ftmant que roj, AdifU, TJaaget de cour," Ac. &c.

eonga of Henri Quatre, addressed to Gabnelle aid of the ballads of Mary 8tuart, it were almost ,B to say a word ; but in a profeBsed essay on sii resting a subject, it would be an uupardouablc omiasioii to mention two such iliustrious contributors to thi? ftre]sy of France. From trowned heads the tranailion to MaJtre Adam (the c cjwpenter) is rather abrupt ; but he deserves most tooourable rank among the tunefid brotherhood. Without B^fuitting his liumble profession of a joiner, be published u i volume of songs <Eheima, 1650) under the modest title of I " Dry Chips and Oak Shavings from the Workshop of Adam r Billsud." Many of his staves are right well put out of hand. But he had been preceded by Cleiaenl Marfit, a most cultivated poet, who had given the tone to French versifica- tK>n. Mnlnerbe was also a capital lyric writer in the gran- iitme style, and at times pathetic. Then there was Konsard sod Pauard. Jean de Meun, who, with Guillaume de Lorris. ronciucted the '■ Bomsn de la "Hme ;" Villon, Charles d'Or- IruiH. Gringoire, Alain Chartier, Bertaut, and sundry others of the old school, desenedly challenge the antiquary and critic*! comiiieudation. The BUbuiqueiit glories of Voiture,

1

r

210

FATHEB FBOUT's BXLIQUSB.

Scuderi, Dorat, Boufflers, Florian, Bacan, and Chalieu, would claim their due share of notice, if the modem lyrics of Lamartine, Victor Hugo, Andr^ Chenier, Chateaubriand, and Delavigne, like the rod of the prophet, had not Bwallowed up the inferior spells of the magicians who preceded them. But I cannot for a moment longer repress mj enthusiastic admiration of one who has arisen in our days, to strike in Prance, with a master-hand, the lyre of the troubadour, and to fling into the shade all the triumphs of bygone minstrelsr- Need I designate Bcrangcr, who has created tor himself a style of transcendent vigour and originality, and who ha> sung of war, love, and toiney in strains &r excelling those of Blondcl, Tyrta^us, Pindar, or the Teian bard. He is now the genuine representative of Gallic poesy in her amoiml lior amatory, her warlike, and her philosophic mood : and the )>k'nitude of the inspiration that dwelt successively in the souls of all the songsters of ancient France seems to have trausmigrated into Beranger, and found a fit recipient in hii capacious and liberal mind :

" As some bright riTcr, that, from fall to fitU Tn many a maze deficcndiDg, bright in all. Finds 8omo fair region, where, eadi labyrinth past. In one full lake of light it redta at last."— Zoifa JUoUL

Let me open the small volume of his chansons, and take at venture the first that ofiers. Good ! it is about the gnp^- /nVie is the grand topic with all poets (after the ladies) ; hear then his account of the introduction of the grape into Burgundy and Champagne, effected through the instTamen- tality of Brennus.

Ou la Vigne planlee dana lei Gaulet,

Brennus disait aux bons Qaulois,

" Celt^rez un triomphe insignc ! Let* cliamps de Borne ont paj^ mes exploits, Et j'cn rapports un ccp do vigne ; Priv^s oie son jus tout-puisaant,

Ci^e dong of BrcnnnI,

Or the Introthieiion of ike Greqn into France.

TuNB—"The Night before Lanr."

WhenBrcnnua ouno back here from Rome, These words he is said to hare spoken: "We hare conquered, my boyt! and brought home A sprig of the vine for b tokisl

L.

THE SOKG

■ eoteaoi que le pampre m- ■ U rictoirc.

i OF FR^XCB. 211

Cheer, mj hfatiiH I uid welmm* to G&ul Tiiii plant, whidi wb won 6oin the foemaii ; Til enoiigh to rcpaj na G>r all Our trouble in hniing the Bo-

Bles* the godt I uid bad luck to Uie geuse I O t lake core la treat weli the fair guest, f>oin the blasts of tiie north to protect her ; Of jour hiUocko, the Bunnjeat and belt Uake them liers. for the aske of ber nectar. She iltall nurfle jotir joung Gaul* with her JLiieoi aire life to 'the arts' in libs- While joor ahipB round the globe ■ball prounce Her goblet of jo; for all nstioni — B'en the fbeman ihall tael« of our cup. The exile irho Sirs to our hearth 8lie (hall soothe, all bis eorrom redreaeing ; For the Tine is the parent of mirth. And to (it in its ghada it a blen ing." So the soil Brsnnua dug vith hi

'Uid the crowd of Gaul's WM riom and eago ; And our forefatherH pitOf of gaj France

Got a glimpse through the (ista

And it ehutdened the hearts of the Gauli '. hxeh M the classical and genial range of thought in whicli ^F loves to indulge, amid the impretendmg efiuaiooB of » professed drinking song; embodying liie noble and pa- triotic bHpiratJona in the simple form of an historical ftoec- ^le, or » light and fanciful allegory. He abounds in F 2

Qaittanl no« bords litTorisfs, tUk Taisaani iront tai I'oadB ■|£b de «iD> et de llcura pa-

TCbca, tr la joiD aulour du monde.

■tn» I emboUi* n« dcatitu ! In people boapitalier te prie, 'bh prosorit, B«sii it lios

'Wnnt alort bainit le« Cieoi,

Cnusc la tcTTG BTec sa lance,

''Wlc U lignet ot let Gaulois

212

PATH£B PB0UT*8 BSLIQUS8.

philanthropic sentiments and generous outbursts of pfts* sionate eloquence, which come on the feelings unexpedtemji and never mil to produce a corresponding excitement in the heart of the listener. I shall shortly return to his glorious canticles ; but meantime, as we are on the chapter of wine, by way of contrast to the style of B^ranger, 1 may be al- lowed to introduce a drinking ode of a totally different cha- racter, and which, from its odd and original conceptions, and harmless jocularity, I think deserving of notice. It ia. besides, of more ancient date ; and gives an idea of whit songs preceded those of Stranger.

Iza iElosetf lie TlEau.

II pleut ! il pleut enfin !

£t la vigne alt^r^

Va Be voir restaur^ Par un bienfieut divin. De Teau chantons la gloire,

On la meprise en vain, C'est Teau qui nous fait boire

Du vin ! du vin ! du vin !

Cest par Teau, j'en conviens,

Que Dieu fit le deluge ;

Mais ce souTerain Juge Mit le mal pr^ du bien ! Du deluge Tbistoire

Fait naitre le raisin ; Cest I'eau qui nous fait boire

Du vin ! du vin ! du vin !

Ah ! combien je jouis Quand la riviere apporte Des vins de toute sorte

Et de touB les pays !

]^Ia cave est mon arraoire — A Tinstant tout est plein ;

Cest Teau qui nous fiut boire Du vin ! du vin ! da vin !

Mttu ficbtot to Olater.

.« Life let ub cherish."

Bain best doth nourish

Eiui^h's pride, the budding vine ! Grapes best will flourish

On which the dewdrops shine. Then why should water meet with soon,

Or wliy its claim to praise resign? When from that bounteous source is bon

The vine ! the vine ! the vine !

Bain best disposes

Earth for each blossom and each bod; True, we are told by Moses,

Once it brought on " a flood :" But while that flood did all immerse,

All save old Noah*s holy line, Pray read the chapter and the vene—

l^e vine is there ! the vine !

Wine by water-carriage

Bound the globe is best oonvejed; Then why disparage

A path for old Bacchus made? When in our docks the cargo lands

Which foreign merchants hereoonsigni The wine's red empire wide expands—*

The vine ! the vme ! the vine !

Par un terns sec et beau Bain makes the nuller

Le meunier du village. Work his glad wheel the livelong dtj {

Se morfond sans ouvrage, Bain briags the Miller^

Jl nt boit que de Teau ; And drives dull care away :

»n Nntre <1biw la gloire Qiund I'sn rcntre Bu 0eil I'aia qui lui fut boire [ Do vial da Tin! darml Kiiat-il III) trait nournu? Ktt unis, }r U guBiie ; Voyex K U guinguelte Snlnr w poriear d'eui I n* perdlsmimoire

I ^'^ InwKm du uwtin ;

■nO^Mt Ttaa (jui iui fait boire ^H Da Tin '. da Tin ! du Tin '.

»Ofl OF 7BAIfCl. 21''j

For without nin he Wki the sEreom, And fain o'er walcrj cupa muit piiie t

But Then it rnina, he tuarU, I deem, The Tine ! the vine I the Tine I*

Though all good judgea

Water'e worth now uodentand, Uaik jon chiel who drudges

Wita bucketa in eaeh hand ; He toil* with ualff through the town.

Until he apies a certain "sigo," Where entering, all hia labour done^

He draine thj juice, O Tine I

chanter I'mu

Smquci moi Tite one tejip Da ct>u]L JOB du tonneau — ' C« Tin rient de la Loire, _ On birn dnborda du Rhin .

lu qui Doua (ait boire Qi

But pairc water singing

Dries full soon the poet's tongnBi So crown all hj briiieing

A draught drawn &om the bung Of jonder cask, that wine contain a

Of Loire's good vinlage or the Rhine of whose teeming margin reign*

I'

■L^ A " wat^r-poet" is a poor creature in general, and though ^fSmpid and lucid enough, the foregoing ruoH at a ver^ low ~ lerpl. Something more lofty in lyrics and more in the Pin- tlftric vein ought to follow ; for though the old Theban hini- •elf opena by striking a key-note about the excellence of that element, he soon aoara upward far above low-water mark, and ie lost in the clouds —

« Unlta Bin:

n IcTat ai

I jet, in his highest flight, has he ever been wafted on more I duing And vigorous pinions tlian B^rancer ? This ml\ be L at once seen. Search the racing calendar of the Olvrnpio ^touf for u monr olympiads as you please, and in the nnrae- I will find nothing better than the " Cossack'c H to his Charger."

* Thia id(«, containing an apparent paradox, has been froquentlj rted up in the quaint writing of tlie middle ages. There is an old ■tita' riddll^ which 1 learnt among other wiao aawe at their colleKe*) II which it will appear that thii MilUr ia a regular Jei.

Q. "Soale bibo Tiaiun quoties mlhi auppetit jndai Uodaque si dnil, quid bibo f"

S. " Triitis aquam ]"

214 f ATHBB PBOTTT'S BCLIQITBt.

Yiens, mon ooonier, noble ami da Ooflaqui^

Vole au signal dea trompettes da nord; Prompt au pillage, intr^ide k Tattaquo,

Pr6te BOOB moi dea ailea k la mort. L'or n'emrichit ni ton firein ni ta aelle^

Mais attends tout da prix de mes exploits i Hennis d'orgueil, 6 mon ooorsier fid^le^

St foule aax pieds lea peuples et les rois.

La paix qui fuit m'abandonne tea goidea.

La Tieiile Europe a perdu sea remparts ; Yiens de tr^sors combler mes mains avidea,

Yiens reposer dans 1* asile dea arts, Betourne boire k la Seine rebelle,

Oil, tout sanelant, tu t'es lav^ deux fois ; Hennis d'orgueil, 6 mon coursier fidMe,

Et foule aux pieds les peuples et les rois.

Comme en un fort, princes, noblee, et prMreti

Tous assi^g^ par leurs sujets souffirans, Kous ont crie : Yenez, soyez nos maitres —

Nous serons serfs pour demeurer tyrans ! tTai pris ma lanoe, et tous vont derant elle

Humilier, et le soeptre et la croix : Hennis d'orgueil, 6 mon coursier fidMe.

Et foule aux pieds les peuples et les rois.

J*ai d*un g^ant ru le &nt6me xnmiense

Sur nos biTOuacs fixer un osil ardent ; H s'^cria : Mon r^gne recommence ;

Et de sa hache il montrait TOocident j Du roi dee Huns c'^tait I'ombre immortelle i

Fils d'Attila, j*ob^ k sa voix Hennis d'orgueil, 6 mon coursier fiddle,

Et foule aux pieds les peuples et lea roia.

Tout cet ^clat dont FEurope est si fi^re,

Tout oe savoir qui ne la defend pas, S'engloutira dans les flots de poussi^re

Qu'autour de moi vont souleTer tes pas Efface, efface, en la course nouyeUe^

Temples, palais, moeurs, souvenirs, et Ids Hennis d'orgueil, 6 mon coursier fiddle,

Et foule aux pi ads les peuples et lea roia.

Cb* dong of tf)t Coiiack,

l^ae, irouw the* up, my gsllanl horst, »nd bear tbj rider oh [

The commie thou, uid the fnend, I trow, of Uic dwoUer cm Iha

Don. Z^llage and Dcalh hue 8pmd their ning: ! 'tii the liour Ia hir

tliee Ibrtli, ^nd Hiih tliy boob an ecLo vake lo the trumpets of tlje North ! Koi genu nor gold do men behold upon thy eaddle-tref ; ftut earth sffonLi the weallli of lorJs for thy maslrr and for Uiec.

■rrrij neigh, mj rharger grey !^ thy cliost is proud uid

!T the fields o( Franca, ani the pride of her

_iimpe is wmk^he hath gromi old — her hulwarka are laid low ; Bbe is loath to hear the hlait of war — she shrinkf th from a foe I Come, in our turn, let as sigonm in her goodly baiints of joy — Xd the pilliu'd porch lo wave the torch, and her pnlaces deslivy ! 3^ud ai when fint thou alak'dst iJiy thirst in tho flow of conqner'J

An ahalt thou Ibtc, within that ware, thy blood-red flanks aguin. "Aai flercnly neigh, my gallant grey ! — thy chest ia strong and

\j ttoofs aball pranoc o'er the fields of Traace, and the pride of hiT beroca trunple!

Eiut are beJFOgner'd on tlisir thronea by their own vassal crew ; AnifiD their den qualie nohlemen, and priests are bcardM loo ; Attd loud tliey yelp for the Cosaacks' help (o keep their bondsmen

Anil they lliink it meet, while they kiss our feet, to wear ■ tyrant'*

Ithecrots

Tbeo proudly neigh, my gallant grey ! ^ — thy cheat it hj hoofs ahall prwiCB o'er the flelds of France, and the

Xingly hia crest — aad towards the West with bis battle-ue he

pointed t And tlie "Cirm" I saw woi Amu! of this earth the scourge

anoinled.

216 FATHSB PSOUT's KSLIQUES.

From the Cossack's camp let the horseman's tramp the coming

announce ; Let the vulture whet his heak sharp set, on the carrion field to pounce ; And proudly neigh, my charger grey ! — 0 1 thy chest is broad and

ample; Thy hoofs shall prance o*er the fields of France, and the pride of her

heroes trample !

What boots old Europe's boasted fame, on which she builds reliance^ When the Korth shall launch its avaUmche on her works of art and

science ? Hath she not wept her cities swept by our hordes of trampling '

stallions ? And tower and arch crush'd in the march of our barbarous battalions ? * Can we not wield our fathers* shield ? the same war-hatchet handle ? Do our blades want length, or the reapers* strength, for the harrest -

of the Vandal ? Then proudly neigh, my gallant grey, for thy chest is strong and.

ample; And thy hoofs shall prance o*er the fields of France, and the prids

her heroes trample !

In the foregoing glorious song of the Cossack to his- Horse, Beranger appears to me to have signally evinced that peculiar talent discoverable in most of his lyrical imperson* ations, which enables him so completely to identify himseir with the character he undertakes to portray, that the poet is lost sight of in the all-absorbing splendour of the theme. Here we have the mind hurried away with irresistible graspy and flung down among the wild scenery of the river D<Hiy amid the tents of the Scythians and an encampment of the North. If we are sufhciently dull to resist the impulse that would transport our rapt soul to the region of the poet's inspiration, still, even on the quiet tympanum of^ our eflfo- minate ear, there cometh the sound oi a barbarian cavalry, heard most fearfully distinct, thundering along the npid and sonorous march of the stanza ; the terrific spectre of the King of the Huns frowns on our startled fancy : and we look on this sudden outpouring of Stranger's tremendoiu poetry with the sensation of Virgil's shepherd, >wed at the torrent that sweeps down from the Apennines, —

'* Stupet inscius alto Accipiens sonitum saxi de yertioe pastorj

»

There is more where that came from. And if^ instead of

IBE SOKOe c

217

rientol imagery and " barbaric pearl and gold." camels, alm-lrees, buibub. houria, I'rankinceiiBe, silver veils, and ther gewgawa with whieli Tom Moore lia.a glutted the iftrket of literature in his " Lalla Eookb," we eould pre- lil OD our poetnetere to use sterner stuff, to dig the iron lines of the North, osd send their PegnsuB to a week's aining ntnosg the Cossacks, rely on it we should have more l^jur and energy in the boue and muscle of the winged EiuuaL Drawing-room poets should partake of the rough let and maaeulme beverage of this hardy tribe, whose >okery has been described in " Hudibras," and of whom )e swan of Maatua gently slngeth with becomiug admir-

"Etlae

m BanguiDD potat equiao."

Lord Byron is never more spirited and vigorous than rhen he recounts the cntostrophe of Maeeppa ; and in the rbole of tlie subtitiie rhapsody of " Childe Harold," there I not a line (whore all breathes the loftiest euthusiaam) to e compared to hia northern slave,

" Butchered to make a Eoniao holydny !" [0 is truly great, when, in the hdnesa of prophetic tnspi- ■tion, he catLs on the Goths to " arise and glut their ire !" lowever. let none woo the muse of the North, without olid capabilities : if Moore wer« to present himself to the ruph's notice, I fear he would catch a Tartar. TSe '• Songs of France," properly so called, exhibit a fund if incihausUble good-humour, at the same time that tbcy sre fraugbt with the most exalted philosophy. Addison hat written a "commentary" on the ballad of "Chevy Ctiaae ;" and the public is indebted to him for having re- ,TBaled the recondite value of that excellent old chant : but is a French lyrical composition coeva! with the En- ballod aforesaid, and containing at least an equal ititjr of contemporary wisdom. The opening verses may a Bpecimen of its ■ - > - > . . ~.,

Uiua:

mderfuJ range of thought. The]

" Lb bon n>j Datfobert Ainit miaaaeillolleil' he ton Saint £lof

218 TATHBB PUOUT's BBLIQ17£8.

Lui dit, 'O mou roj t Voire majesty S'est mal culott^ !'

* £h bien/ dit ce bon roj,

* Je vaifl la remettare ^ Tendroil* ***

I do not, as in other cases, follow up this French qaotft* tion by a literal version of its meaning in English, for several reasons ; of which the principal is, that I intend to rereit to the song itself in my second chapter, when I shall come to treat of " frogs" and " wooden shoes." But it may be well to instruct the superficial reader, that in this apparently simple stanza there is a deep blow aimed at the imbecilitj of the then reigning monarch ; and that under the eulotte there lieth much hidden mystery, explained by one Sartor Resartus, Professor Teufelsdrockh, a (German philosopher.

Confining myself, therefore, for the present, to wime and war, I proceed to give a notable toar-song, of which the tune

* Dagobert II., king of AostralisiA, was conveyed away in his infimcr to Ireland, according to the historians of the country, by ordert of a designing maire du palais^ who wished to get rid of him. fSee Meaeraj, Hist, de Fran. ; the Jesuit Daniel, Hist. Franc. ; and Abb^ Mac G^eogfae- han, Hist. d'Irlandc.) He was educated at the school of Lismofe, so celebrated by the yenerable Bede as a oolite of European reputation. His peculiar manner of wearing his trowsers would seem to ha,Te been learned in Cork. St. Eloi was a brassfounder and a tinker. He is tiie patron of the Dublin corporation guild of smiths, who call him (igno- rantly) St. Loy. This saint was a good Latin poet. The king, one day going into his chariot, a clumsy contriranoe, described by Bouenu—

** Quatre boeufs attel^, d'un pas tranquil et lent» Promenaient dans Paris le monarque indolent** —

was, as usual, attended by his favourite, Eloi, and jokingly asked him to make a couplet extempore before the drive. Eloi stipulated for tiie wages of song ; and having got a promise of the two oxen, laondied out into the following —

** Ascendit Dagobert, veniat bos unus et alter In nostrum stabulum, carpere ibi pabulum !**

King Dagobert was not a bad hand at Latin verses hima^f^^ for he it supposed to have written that exquisite elegy sung at the diige for tbt dead —

" Dies irse, dies ilia Solvet ssDclum in faviM, Teste David cum sibyllA," Ac

iSaa OF FBANCK.

2X9

h well known throughout Europe, but t.he worda and tlie poetry nre on the point of being effaced from the euperficial DK-mory of this fliniBy generiition.. By my recording tbem in these pntjcrB, posterity will not be cfepnved of their racy huiDoiir and eiquiaite na'ioeU : nor shall a future age he re- duced to confeaa writh the interlocutor in the " Ecloguee," " hm- NH-ninJ, n verba tenerem." Wbo has not hummed in bie lifetime the iinmurtal air of Malbbocck F Still, if the beat iutiquory were called on to supply the original poetic com- 'poaition, such as it burst on the world in the decline of the eUomc era of Queen Anne and Louia XIV., I fear he would fe oiuble to gratify the curiosity of an eager public in eo interesting an inquiry. For many reasons, therefore, it is Ughly meet and proper that I should consign it to the ini- .perishable tablets of these written loemorials: and here, then. blloweth the song of the lamentable death of the illustriona 'John Churchill, which did not take place, by Bome mistake, ^Init was nevertheless celebrated aa lullowa :

blbronck i"!!!! Tft-t-en guerre, Malbroucli, the prince of oom-

Bgadl ) [/«-, We feu

[« TriniW «• puui,

Hi TOO ton, Um toD,-mi rt

t> I^iU H pute.

\ sa tour moDte,

on. Ion ton, mi ron bunr,

X^la»h«ulqu' on petit moolsr [Irr.

EO* roit renir nn p«g^

Ki iwm tan, ton ton, mi ron taine,

nu Toit Tenir un page

Anil Eastor is past, nioptWTBP ; And Malbrouck BtUl dclajs.' [tir.

Milttdy in her walch. tower Spendt man J ■ penaiTa hour, Not wsU knowing «hir or how her Dear lord from Engliuidata;t.[rfr.

Wliilo Billing qnilo forlorn in That lower, ihe spiea returning A piiige cUd in deep mourning, With fftinling slepi and ilow. [(w

220

FATHSB PBOTJT'S BELIQI7SS.

Mon pagOi d mon beau page, Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron tainei Mon page, 6 mon beau page, Quelle nouvelle apportei P [l«r.

La nouvelle que j'apporte,

Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine^

La nouTcUe que j'apporte

Vo8 beaux yeux vont pleurer. [ter»

Monsieur Malbrouck est mort, Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine, Monsieur Malbrouck est mort. Est mort et enterr^.* Iter,

Je Tai vu porter en ter^e,

Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine,

Je I'ai vu porter en terre

Pv quatrez' officiers. [ter.

L*un portait son grand sabre, Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine, L'un portait son grand sabre, L' autre son bouclier. [/er.

** O page, pritliee^ oome &ftfr "Wliat news do joa bring of your

master? I fear there is some disaster, if our looks are so foil of woe.** [ter.

*' The newB I bring, &ir hdj^* With sorrowful accent said he^ *' Is one you are not ready So soon, alas I to hear. [ter.

But since to speak Fm hurried," Added this page, quite flunisd, ** Malbrouck isdeadandburiedr*— (And here he shed a tear.) [ter,

** He's dead ! he's dead as a hening! For I beheld his * berrmg,' And four officers transferrins His coipse away from tbefiela.[l0r.

One officer carried his sabre, And he carried it not without la- bour. Much envying his next neighbour, Who only bore a shield. [ter.

The third was helmet-bearer — That helmet which on its wearer Filled all who saw with terror, And covered a hero's brains, [ter.

Now, having got so far, I Find that ^y the Lord Hany !) The fourth is left nothing to carry ; So there the thing remains." [ter.

Le troisi^me son casque, Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine, Le troisieme son casque. Panache renvers^. [ter,

L' autre, jene s^ais pas bien. Mi ron ton, ton ton, mi ron taine, L' autre, je ne s^ais pas bien, Mais je crois qu'il ne portait rien.

[ter.

Such, O phlegmatic inhabitants of these countries ! is the celebrated funeral song of Malbrouck. It is what we would in Ireland call a keen over the dead, with this difference, that the lamented deceased is, among us, generally dead outright, with a hole in his skull ; whereas the subject of the pathetic elegy of " Monsieur" was, at the time of its composition, both alive and kicking all before him. It may not be uninteresting to learn, that both the tune and the words were composed as a " lullaby'* to set the infiint Dau-

• Knrai TlarpoKXof vtKvot ifi afupifiaxovrai

Vvfivov arag ra yi rivx^* (X'^ KopwaioXoQ *E«ra>p.

a to tieep ; and that, hariiig aucceeileil in the object of ioporific efficaoy, the poetesa (for Boine make Madame de levign^ the nuthoreaa of " Malbrouek," ahe beiug a sort of L. ^ L. in ber day) deemed hiatorical accuracy a minor eonsideration. It ia a fact, that this tune is the only one nelished by the South Sea islanders, who find it " most musical, moat melancholy." Chateaubriand, in his l/ineraim it Jtmtalfm, eaya the air was brought from FatcBtiue by (Vtuaders.

! have just given a war^ong, or a luOaby, I shall

luce a difiereot subject, to avoid mondlnny. I shall tberefore give the poet Bfranger's lanious ode to Dr. Lard- nor, concerning his Cyciopiedia. The occasion which gave fiee to thia lyrical effusion was the recent trip of I>ionyeiu9 [lOrdDer to Paris, and hia proposal (conveyed through Dr. Bowring) to Be'ranger, of a handsome remuneration, if the wet would sing or say a good word about his " Cabinet Cyclo- »diii," which Dr. Bowrmg translated as "aon EncyclopSdie bs Cabinets" (iTauanet?) Lardner gave the poet a dinner 1 the strength of the eipected commendntorv poem, when le following song vae composed after the third bottle :

VCftt Ut SamorltS. CI)e Sinntr of fBionpiiat.

t'DsntocieaVept^ mt hien DOnnua. 0! who hsth not heard of theawonl En mige & tablii il m'a seoibU In which old Deiiuis

TOir ! HunB ovpr Ihc head of B Stoic t

menafnnto et And how tho item aage bore ih»t

terrible mmaoo for^nil ik m'lu- WilJi a forlituda not quite he- roic P

fe m'irruii que njon deilin a'a- There's ■ Dennis the "tjrant of ch^Te— CwUjI'" hight,

Igt iMDpe en mnin, am dooi bruit (Most innccrely 1 pity his Isdj,

a» ooacerM, oh !)

rieoi Denia, je me ni de tDn Now tbia Deoni* is doomed for liis gljjVe, aitis to indite

l( boiSi Je chiLDtf, et je sifflo tea A "Cubii^ Cjclopiediit."

Qua da mfprit U hkiiu ■UKoini He prcued me to dine, and li«

lie aauTe !" pUwd on mj head

:I>it oa pMant, qui roiupt un £1 Aaapproprintr 'arlandofpoppioi

■ pr. L. tad then ■ bill before the I/ord« for dirorra from bia Bnt He, Cecilia Flood, pitoa of >h> aelchratiul Iriah orator.

222 FATHBS PBOUT*S BXLIQiniS.

Le fer pesant tombe ear ma tfftte And, lo ! from the oeiUiig then chauTe, hunff hj a thread

J*entendB ces mots, ''Denia s^ait A bale of unsaleable copies.

se vcnger !" •* Puff my writings," he cried, ** or Me YoUk mort et poursuiTant mon your skull shall be crushed I"

r^ve — '* That I cannot," I answered, with La coupe en main, je r^p^te aux honea^ flushed.

enfers, "Be your name Dkmysius or O yieux Denis, je me ris de ton Tfaad^, ah I

glaive, Old Dennis, my boy, though I were Je bois, je chante, et je siffle tes to enjoy

Ten! But one glass and ons song, still

one laugh, loud and long, I should hare at your Cyclopcsdia."

So adieu, Dr. Lardner, for the present, ass in preatnti ; and turn we to other topics of song.

The eye of the connoisseur has no doubt detected sundry latent indications of the poet's consummate drollery ; but it is in ennobling insignificant subjects by reference to his- torical anecdote and classic allegory, th^t the delicate tact and singular ability of Stranger are to be admired. It will be in the recollection of those who have read the accom- plished fabulist of Eome, Phiedrus, that he commends Si- monides of Cos for his stratagem, when hired to sing the praise of some obscure candidate for the honours of the Olympic race- course. The bard, finding no material for verse m the life of his vulgar hero, launched into an enco- mium on Castor and Pollux, twin-brothers of the olden turf. Beranger thus exemplifies his most homely subject by the admixture of Greek and Eoman associations. The original is rather too long to be transcribed here ; and as my trans- lation is not, in this case, a literal version, the less it is oon^ fronted with its prototype the better. The last stanza I do not pretend to understand rightly, so I put it at the bottoim of the page in a note,* supposing that my readers may not be so blind as I confess I am concerning this intricate and enigmatical passage of the ode.

• " Diogene ! sous ton muiteau,

Libre et content, je ris, je bois, sans gfine ;

Libre et content, je roule mon tonneau ! Lauteme en main, dans TAthenes modeme

Chercher un homme est un dessein fort beaut Mais quand le soir voit briller ma lanteme^

C*est aux amours qu*elle sert de flambera.**

jlnerding to Bfmngtr, SmigiUr,

My dwelling is wnplc.

And I're >«t on ciutiple For all lovers of nine to follow

If m; homeyou ihould n»k,

I tiATe drnin d out a ctwV,

And I dwoU ill the frsgrBut holloul

A ditriple am I o( Dioficuw—

0 '. bin tub a tnost olauinJ ludging u !

'Tig & brautif ul olcore for tbinking ;

Tij, besides, b cool grotlo for drinking:

MoreoTer, the piriBh tiiron^iout

You Ban mdilj rail it sbont.

0! the both

For a lover of mirth To rand in jokes, and to lodge in case, Is the claancal tub of Diogenes !

In poLtits Tm no sdepl. And into idj tub when f'Te crept, Thej may huitms in »sb for my voto. For besides, aflcr all the great cry and hubbub, KiroBU gate no " l«u pound franchise" to my tub i

80 yonr " bill" I don I value a groat ! And as for that idol of filth and Tulgarily, Adomod noH-a-days, and yulept Populvity. To mv home

Ind my hogrhead'a bright aperture darken.

Think not to such smnmonB I'd hearken.

So 1 rd say to that ftoule griiu and gaunt,

Tile plumtom, avniint I

Get thee out of mv iigbt ! Fur thy clumsy opacity sliul« out tbe light

Of the gay elonous tun

From my ctasaical tun, Where a hater of cant and a lover of fiiii Rin would revel in mirth, and would lodge iii . j»i»-« The claatical tub of Diogenes '.

In the park of St. Cloud there stares at you A pillar or statue or my litge, the philoaoplitr cyuicol: tbav he itands on a pianaclck

And hi* Uotoni ia plKcd on the ground,

While, with hath eje* llicd vboUj on

The faTOurile hmmt of Nspoloon,

" A KUi I" be exclaims, *' bj Ibe po«sTS, I haT» taoaif But for iDfi, nben vt eie 1 go uuslertiig On tlie boiAerarda of Athene, " Love" rarrw* mj Uiil<fs | Aod. egad I though I walk moat demuralf. For ■ man I'm not looking full lurolyi Naj, I'm louictunea brouglit drunk hamc^ Like hoQot Jack Keeve, or like honest Tom O I the nest For a loTsr of Joat

To nrrc^l in fun, ruid to lo^ in cmo,

la the clwiii^al tub of Diogenoa i

So much for tlie poet's cftpsbilitjr of embellisliiDg i 18 vulgar, by the raagif wnnd of nntique recoUccttona ; prU eoaimunia dieere, ia a secret as rare as ever. Wbei Hercules took a distaff )□ hfinil, he made but a poor HiinoetL

and broke all the threads, to the amuHement of bi« n "'

BerBDger would have gmrefully gone through Mi minor accomplishment, at the same time that the « and the battle-axe lost nothiug of their power when « by hia band. Such ia the versatility of genius !

Con any thing compare with the following ode flf I »ery songster of " the tub." who herein shews etriliuigly witii what facility be can difersi^ his style, vary his U>at{ run " through each mood wf the lyre, a master in all T

Oianmn, 1822. L'ASbrillait..

Chantdit ke divui dana la Qrioe oublija I Koua compariona

Quand un pigeon Tint a'ib«tlr«

C^c Caattt'Dobr o( Sl^tttf

A Dmm, 1821.

&eln> Ml bf m.* DKlf^ mnA I hi

To hpT tip the gsjr cup in i

Franco ll Wbm a bird at our (bot wa ki I ulkod of old r

Swrii diooGTre

1 billet ■>

And bi* wing bore ■ |

n lo portait T Boia Qans nia coupe, 0 caenmftr

""^aoos-iui rite et force rt li-

1 "w«,

"" »filBqn.Bt rempUm le roe»-

*~l-il d'uiiour parler k la

^''^lle il porto Bu Did qui le

f *»ppd]e

"*• dmuera toui d'infurtuaib

** dnu ma coupe, 0 meuiueeF

^ don CD pux <ur le spin de

'U da billet qurlqupi moli me

tanlrroliv Qu'il (•! en Fruioe i dra Gi'oi.-* - >|>l>ort/i

i*} Ticst d'AlliJDiu i il doit puler d<el0ir«i "l*-fcdonc par drotl de pft-

« cat Viini .'" Ami*, quelle DTellcI wdvUvHen tout-t-coup re-

el de

OF fUANCB. 23S

Thou trt tired— real awhile, and

Thira ilialt «oar, with new etiergT thrilling. To the Und ol that tar-otttait unr.-,

ir 91

flllinci

I ful-

But perhape thou dost waft (bu

Of dcvpiir, wrong from ralour and dutj — Then dfink of my cup, tamer-

bird! And t\epp oil

I b09O!

ol

a are from Orre™!

And a Viaiman will brook no reltual. " OreeceU/ret,'" all the godi Lare

To fill up our joy'a brimnjiug

O drink of my C'lp, pnrrisr bird: And Bleep on thi> hosoin of Pleo-

MtHbre! Ab t biiTona & la

la de DOUTesux demi-

n lain, Iremblante de

Il cm atu Js gloriem, lainaueun! AthAne>,tou-

plua rouie >u colto dea

a coupe. 0 mouagrr

Greece is free ! Let uB dnuk lolhnt

To our elders in fame '. Did ye

Thns to Blruggle alone, glorioin

Froui whose aires we our free- dom inherit? The old iilotia, which kiu|;i would desl.roj,

Greece regaini, nerer, never (o

rATtl£H PBOUT B BBUQOSS.

Jlhine fl libre I 0, man) dw Pin- Bopryndi Ion ie«p(tv,et Uljre,

Athiiw est tibre, en Albinf est Itbre.

Buis duiB flilMe Etdgraenpiii

df pit do bar-

ta dopit dc nuf

uo l'uniTer9toujour9,iiiitruitiHr

BelrouTO encore Alb&nes duii Foria—

ooupe, 0 meuager

deNerLs.

Beau TOTAgcuT du pajs dss Hcl-

lin», B£p<w«-t4i I piii* Tole k tea

unoun I Vole, et bientAt, report^ daiit

AtilfalH,

Retieni brsier et tjmns et tiq-

A tanl du roil dont le trAoe cIi&d-

D'un peuple liljro apporte en-

BoiB duu nm coupe, O mstakg-er fidelel

EtdortenptixmrloKiiidsNvri*. After this specimen of Scrangcr's poetic {lower* in BentitneDtal line, I shall lake le&ve of tiini for the mnati of this chapter ; promisine, howeirer, to liniw largvlr oa inexbauBtible exchequer wlien next I levy my cantnhvt no the French. But I cftnnut get out of thin kSdm) delicate mood of auotations without indulgjiie in Iha )ai of oue more ballna, an exquisite one, from toe pen rfa

e of AUiouI Aj \jt% a

GtT« Aiucreau Joj in hi* to^b.

Andgladdm the aiiitt of Phw

Helen! fold that bri^l bM to M

!> drink or mj rup, irinnil gMri And (Imp od tlio boaOBi <

Bill no, ho Diuit hie to hi* .

To the neat when hii In^*

Soon ■«>■» to our diaat

The young gloriea of AU

The bxeiMU of king* lo m To blnih our tila mlv palling !— Then drink of ni; goblal, O dors And tleep on the bnaat * Helen."

favourite

lillev<

i promise, m earl

.ye. Vq rV life :

Poor young fellow I he die* id these are the lut lia

bund tracedon pnper.a few days before he expired : village of Neuilly. near Pans, whither be had b iy tiie pbjaician, in hopea of prolonging, by oountiy ■ me to dear to the Miuea, Listen to the notes uf tbe ■'

o remind Unit

of Ihii wntf &om AoMnoii'i ■. ode 16, U»kU mJ. r»Ut-)—V

TH£ sosoa or teakce.

I pour SSloi. ISomantr.

.V™% Octoire, 1S20.

I> (aiitoira bourgade, Sennt i te» maul trutement,

"K " Qmii <ie U chsoiniSre,

ITumre de la priire,

]t tiutcmcnt aa be&oi ;

'<u fia pTui, prioi ptnii moi I

quind vou* Terra 1> caacsde VoDbragsTdesambreirsmeaux, '«• diret, • Le jeuno mkUde . *« iMIiirt da loue ses m«ul.' ™» ntimM >ur cetle rivt^ '™'>«' U oatqplunto ii»i»e, A fiud tinlcn le bcfrot, ' u ^ priea, pDM poujr EDoi I

By Millecayt, on Jiit Deolh-b,

I At y

milly.

Sileut, remote, this hunlet semiu — Hon hush'd the breeze ! the ere

Light ihrougti mj dying ijiucber

But hope comes not, OOr heal-

Kind rillogere ! Qod ble» jqix*

Hark ! 'tis for prajcr — the even- ing boU— Ob, sU; fuid 1 Moidim, for r

■r mj dinnK t>^- jour roaarj lull !

Wben IcBTCs ahall itrew the wikt«r-

Tho pangs and wo he siUTered

<loi(i[Ntf;ne, ma aeule amie, Mmobjrtd' un constant amou

Ml jeneris qu'uBJour! IW-U, gou de ^a chaumii^, IB. 1 1'beure do la pri^ ^ limdn aou* Ic bcfroi ; u qui priei, priei pour moi!"

Somaj^e «p«ak ofliim that's gone;

But wboQ jour belfrj lolls mj knell, Prajfor the soul of that lost one —

Maiden, tor roe jour rosarj tell !

Oh ! pity htr, in sable robe,

Who to m J grasBj grsve will come: Nor seek aludden wound to probe —

'TwBs but a daj !— God'awQl !-

iple, unstfected. this ia true poetry, and goes to the

One boUod like the foregoing is worth a curt-load 'it

\t elegicB, nionodiea, aoUIoquiea, and " bards' le^-

" Apropos of melodiea, I just now recollect one in

'■ own style, which it wnold be a pity to keep from him

uie tiim tbe troublf of appropriating it J haye done the

«2

228

FATHSB PSOUT'S BSLIQITSt.

job ; and it maj challenge competition with his best eomee and most far-fetched similes. It is from an old troubado called Pierre Eonsard, from whom he has picked up man; pood thing ere now.

le liable.

V^i Aour^latfK.

La poudre qui dans oe cristal Dear Tom, d*ye see the rill Le cours des heuree nous retrace^ Of sand within this phial ?

Lorsque dans un petit canal It runs like in a mill, Souvent elle passe et repasse. And tells time like a diaL

Fut Ronsard,qui, un jour, morbleu! That sand waa once Bonsard, Par les beaux yeuxde saClytandre Till Bessy D*** look*d at hir

Soudain fiit tnmsform^ en feu, Her eye burnt up the bard — £t il n'en reste que la oendre. He*s pulverised ! an atom !

Cendre ! qui ne t'arretes jamais, Tu t^moigneras une chose,

(Test qu'ayant yu de tels attraits, Le ccBur onqu^ ne repose.

Now at this tale so horrid. Pray leam to keep your smile h

For Bessy's zone is " torrid," And fire is in her eyeHd.t

Who, after this sample of French gallantry, wOl refui to that merry nation the sceptre of supremacy in the dt partment of love-songs ? Indeed, the language of polit courtship is so redolent among us of French origin, that tb thing speaks for itself. The servant-maid in the court c Pilate found out Peter to be from Galilee by his accent and so is the dialect of genuine Ghiul ever recognized b the fair. Petits soins — air distinguS^faite au tour — natvet — billet doux — affaire de ccsur — boudoir, &c. &c., and a thou sand other expressions, have crept, in spite of us, into oa

* A gipsy had cautioned M. de la Mothe Yayer against going to near a dyke ; but in defiance of the prophecy he married a dnnouell De la Fosse :

'* In foved qui te moriturum dixit haruspex Non mentitus erat ; conjugis ilia fuit P* 0. T.

t Bonsard has no claim to this ingenious concetto : it is to be foniu among the poems of Jerome Amalthi, who flourished in the 14th century

" Perspicuo in vitro pulvis qui dividit boras,

£t vagus angustum sspe recurrit iter, Olim erat Alcippus, qui, Qallse ut vidit ooellos,

Arsit, et est cssco factus ab igne cinis. Irrequiete cinis ! miserum testobere

More tuo nuM posse quiete froL*'

'■ I

WtT-day uaage.* It was so with the Boiloiib in refereute 9 Ortti, the favourite conversational vehicle of gallantry mong the lonogers along the f'ia Satra .- at least we have to any nothing of Juvenal) the authority of that eicellent ritie, QuintilJau, who informs us that hia coutemporories, Boimeta to the Roman ladies, stuffed their versea with Greek terms. I think hia words are : " Tanto eat ■ermo GrtccuB Latino jucundior, ut noatri poetae, quoties carmen dulce esse voluerunt, iilonim id nominibua eior- Dent." (Quint. lii. cap. 10, sec. 33.) And again, in another paasage, be aap (lib. s. cap. 1), " Ita ut mibi sermo Bo- numna non recipere videatur ilium solia conceasam Atticis Venerem." Thia is the Amxti ^Xstoj, AristophaDeB (Xubet, 176). Addifon, in his "Spectator," complaina of the Tvst number of military terms imported, during the Marl- orough compai^nB, from the fighting dictionary of France : hv infiuz of tbui alang he conaidered oe a great diagrace to is fellow-countrymen, a humiliftting badge oj' foreign con- gest not to be tolerated. Nevertheless, checaux lU fri»» — wrt d» combat — itiiU lie camp — di/M — ttat major^irigade — nd a host uf other locutions, have taken such root iu our oil. Xhnt it were vain to murmur at the circumstance of lieir foreign grovrth. By war of repriaols, since we have inflicted on them our ' ~)t of steamboat and railway nomenclature, I think it but I make some compensation to the French for all the sen- bnentftl niattera derived from their vocabulary ; and I there- 'm conclude this first esaay on their Songs by giving them ■[)«cimen of our own love-ditties, translated as well aa ly old bund can render the voung feelings of ]>a8alouate Ddrnraicnt into appropriate I^'hencb eipreasiou:

HoffiKtns QQaHt. Sbbt Irr prout.

rt me bf Bioonlight ilone. Vii'iia nil boaquct, m aoir, wni

■ '" " ' ' fi^Diotn,

Dnna le volkiD, >u e\aa de In

In (be gnm al tho rod of lluj Ce quo Ton t'j dim n"a beioin nie. Hi dB jour ni d'oraiUe impor-

* la Kinj J«nr* I.'i reign ■ Latin plir, ruacted tX W»tniin<tcr Aool, ha* ID iLe prolot(ui). '' Hi* babcai /michun <]uA iiouii tiuiiTit

Dmnemberlbe For though dntrlj this moon- light I prilu, oare not for >U in th» air. If I w&nt tho awKt light cf thine eyes- Then meet me bj

D«ligh( mi made for the b*7i

For the thoughtlnB, the heui- Isu, the free ; Hilt there'i aomething about tli»

That a desreF to jon, love, and

OhI be >ure to be there ! for I raid

I would ihow to the nlght-

flowerv their queen.

rfar, turn not slide that (weet

head—

"Til the binst tiiat erer waa

7ATREB FROUT'b nRl.lqUKt.

to be there; Mail imrtout rcndi-lj IniUir. C^ la lii<.« a bi«i xa

Que IV DeU

Soil

•□r D'n. i.^a riiij> jiiliir

inguuHiite ]iau|>ii:n'. bc>a<|iiet au catr lit la

Pour lea com aana amour it ^ou luit, Le aoleil auz ftotds pouan pri

M^ ta pal0 clart^ do 1ft Most FaTOHM I'amant (t b giilil»

Let Bean que *on diaqna urfMih Colore, en lo' — — ■ ' '-

oonlight

If on Englieh love-song caji be bo easUy rendered Into tl plastic language of France hj one to whom that flexible m hjumonioue idiom was not naline (though hotpUal must be it« fiLpabilitiea in the iiitnda of those a the Gallic lyre, Victor Hugo, Lnniartinf, Chat«i Oelavigne, and Bi'ranger P To their etTuaiouH I a' dedicate a few mure papers ; Dor oau 1 imagine a

pursuit better calculated to be^uilt Stable bahiun, the winter-eTeninn

ble bahiun, the winter-eTeninga that are approKbing.

«HS SOirSS OS VOANCK.

TB£ 80MGS OF FRAKC

□ ES, PniLOBOPlir,

Chapter 11. — Womex a.nd "Wooden Shoes.

SaUaU

Som.

Cool shade la tiuomer'B haout, flreaide NDTcnilier'i; The red red roee Iheti yields to glowing embera ; Etchings b; Daa MscUm iJien place before ust Dmwinei of Cork ! to aid Prout'i Oallic ahoru*.

* O.T.

« thii gloomy mouth our brethren of the " brond sheet," jl^igiied to the anticipated caaiialtieB of the seaaon, keep W them, ia stereotype, announcements which never fail to * put in requisition ; viz. " Death by Drowning," " Ei- F*ordiiuiry Fog," " Mehincholy Suicide," " Peto de fle," ^ti dolefiil hc.idingB borrowed from Young's " Jiigbt flioughts," Ovid'a " TriBtia," Hervey on Tombs, and Zim- Otmum on Solitude. There is much punctuality in this taiirence of the oationol dismals. Long ago, Guy Faux maidenitely selected the fifth of November for despatch- g the stupid and unreformed senators of Great Britain ; > cold and comfortless a month being the most acceptable, ( thonght. that could he chosen for wurming tLeir ho- Minble house with a few seasonable faggots and barrels ' gunpowder. Philanthropic citizen ! Neither he nor Sir lUiuu Congreve, of rocket celebrity — nor Friar Bacon, « original concocter of "villanous saltpetre" — nor Parson ilJthus, the patentee of the " oreventive check" — nor Eon Swift, the author of " A Modest Propositi for turning to Salt IVovisions the Offspring of the Irish Poor" — nor tougbara, the origioalor of the new ref/irm in the poor

FATBER PBOrX 8 BStlQVES.

oaA thp stanch opponent of any ^ tributariea — will ever meet their reward in this world, oof eveu be appreciated nr understood by their blind tad un- grateful lellow-countrymen. Happily, howpTer. for kmd* of the above-montioned worthiea, there is a warm tmrnrr reaened. if not iu Westminster Abbey, mn*t (.■nrlainljr in "another place-," where alone (God forgive ub!),wq in- cline to think, their inerita caa be suitably acknowledged.

Sorrowful, indeed, would be the condition of maukiod. if, in addition to other sources of aiiblunary desolation OTcr which we have no control, Fathpr Trout were, like tha mo, to obnubUate his disk, and witbdmw the light of hia cuan- tenance from a disconsolate world :

Then, indeed, would unmitigated darhuoss thicken thv al- ready " palpable'' obscure ; dtdness plnce another pMl-" Lock on the human understandiog," and knowledge be at oar grand entrance fairly shut out. But such "disaatroua twiligbt" shall nut befall our planet, as long u there » MS. in " the chest " or shot in the looker. Generatioai

J'et unborn shall walk in the blaze of ProuL'a wiftjutn,uul tlw earned of our own day shall sliil continue to light lb* pipe of knowledge at the focus of this luminary- So eaaetiliAl do we deem tlie continuance of hia essays to the happiiusa of our contempornriea, that were we {juoJ Itria avrrtmt .') to put a atop to our accuHtonied issues of " Prom paper." forgeries would instantly got into circulation : a faUe PAper currency would be att^^-mpted ; there would arisr ^n^ Fronts : but they would dccttive no one, much lens tA< tttet. Farina of Cologne is obliged to caution the public, io tht envelope of bia long buttles, against spurious distUlattniw of his wonderful water: "Rowland," of llatlon Oardfio, finds more than one "Oliver" vending a muutrrfcit "M»- caeaor." We give notice, that no " Proul paper" is tba real thing unless with label signed "Ouveb Youkm." There is a liridgewat«r Treatise in eirculatiou, said to b« from the pen of one Doctor Prout ; tia a •hwr hoax. An arfiil has also taken up the nntne ; but he Diust bo ao in>

THE SONoa OF lEANCE.

■, not known on Watergrasaliill. Owing to the Kaf celibacy, "Ibe Fntiier" I'un liuvu left beliind him c1ii]divn, or posterity wbatever ; therefore, none but himself can hope to be bis parallel. We are perfectly aware that he mnv have "nephewa," and othET collateral descend an te ; , for we admit the truth of that celebrated placard, or lam- I, stuck on PaaqLiin'a statue in the reign of Pope Bor- ^eae (Paul IV,):

" CFtni lactor remin priraret leDiine clerum. In SpitdtiB TOliun tucceuit turb« nepolim !" — i. *, *Of bantlingi vlim our clernrmen were freed from hsring berin, IWe neic bhuo, a crowd ««o«, a maltitude of ngvi'a I"

But should any audacious tbief attempt to palm himeelf

•• a Bun of this venerable pastor, let hitn look sharp! for

T«rry Callagban. who ia now in the London police (through

tbe patronage of Feargua O'Connor), will quickly cflllnr tbe

iffian in the roost inatceflBible gnrret of Grub Street : to

rofaoe 80 respectable a signature, the fellow must be what

_ie(Ty qlUs " a bad miinber intirelv ;" ivhat we English call

li •'jail-bird ;" what the Frencli denominate a " f rai gibier

** grive i" termed in Latin, " eorvus paiiiiuluriai " and by

the Greeks, xxmu xtgaxat xaxat ailt.

Wo have to acknowledge the receipt of a communi cation, rpferrinc to our " Songs of IVance," from the pen of the fateti- ftut kniglit. Sir Charles Wetherell. Great men's peculiarities ■ttnirt no small share of public attention ; thua, rx. gr. Jfa-

Coleco'a method of plunging his fure-finger and thumb into ia waIst<roat pocket, in lieu of a snuff-box, was tbe subject of much European cnmrnenlarr: and one of tbe twelve Cffwn wa« nicknamed Caligula inim a peculiar sort of Wel- lington boi^t which he batipencd to fancy. {Sucl. m cil/l.) ** — e poet has uotaerupled to notice a ftiuture in our learned uidenl'a habiliment, alating hiui lo be

" Much fiuned for length of lound tngacioui tpeedie^, lion alii! for brevitj of bPBceli™ b ^" t nnttrr not (]uil« irrelevaut to the topic on which Sir Cbttrl>« ha* faTOured ub with a line.

■' ^it-la-aapellr, Oclotrr 7. " Dbaa Tobkk,

" I'»e jnat been her« paying my Jevotiona to tbe tonib of Cbarlemngne, and on my return to my hotel 1

?^^1

234 FATHEB PB0IJT*8 SBLIQTTEB.

find your laat number on my table. "What the deuce do you mean by giving a new and unheard-of verBion of the excellent song on " Le bon Eoy Dagobert," who, you say, " avait mis sa culotte d, Venven ;*' whereas all good editions read " de trovers ;" which is quite a different sense, tectio longh emendatior ; for he wore the garment, not inside out, but wronff side foremost. Again, it was not of Australesia that he was lung, but of " Gbdlia braccata." Pray avoid similar blunders. " Yours in haste,

" C. W."

Wishing him a pleasant tour through the Germanic con- federation, and hoping it may be long ere he reach that goal of all human pilgrimage, the diet of Worms, we bow to the baronet's opinion, and stand corrected.

OLIVER YOEKE.

Nov, Itt, 1834.

Watergratthilt^ Nov, 1833.

'' Ille ego qui quondam," is a formula, first used to con- nect the epic coutos of the iEneid with a far more irre- proachable poem, its agricultural predecessor. Virgil (like Lord Althorp when he thinks posterity will fomve his political blunders in consideration of ms breed oi cattle) sought to bolster up the imperfections of his heroic cha- racters by a reference to the unexceptionable Meliboeus, and to that excellent old Cdabrian fisurmer whose bees hummed so tunefuUy under the " lofty towers of (Ebalia.** Now, in referring to a previous paper on the "Songs of France," my object is not similar. Unknown to my con- temporaries, it is when I am mouldering in the quiet tomb where my rustic parishioners shall have laid me, that these papers will start into life, and bask in the blaze of publi- city. Some paternal publisher — perchance some maternal magazine — will perhaps take charge of the deposit, and hatch my eggs with successful incubation. But let thm be care f akeu to keep each batch separate, and each brood dis- tinct. The French heu^s family should not be mixed up with

THE SOKOB OF FBAKCE. 23''!

tbe chickens of the Jtfwcocy rfiicA,- and each series should bo categorically arranged, " Series juncturaque poUet" (Kor.) For instance : the present essay ought to couie aft«r one bearing the date of " October," and containing •ones about " wine ;" such topic being appropriate to that mellow month, which, from time immemorial (no doubt be- cause it rhymes with " sober"), baa been set apart for jolli- fication. The Qermane call it " weinmonath."

These effusions are the offspring of my leisure j nor do I see any cause why such hoars should be refused to the pur- suits of literature. The sonnets of Francis Petrarca were not deemed a high miBdemeanour at the papal court of Arignon, though written by an archdeacon. Nor was Vida s worse bishop in his diocese of Albi, for having sung tbe ntk-worm (" Bombyces," BSle, 1537), and the game of chess (" Schiaccia Ludus," fioraae, 1627). Yet I doubt not that tbere may be found, when I am dead, in some paltry pro- fincial circle, creatures without brains, who will stigmatize

L nv writiDga, aa unbefitting tbe character of an aged priest.

I Tbeir short-sightedness 1 deplore, their rancorous malevo-

■ Iroca I contemplate not in anger, but in sorrow. I divest niyself of all community of feeling with such people. I t them off! When a snake iu the island of Malta en- i itself round the ann of Paul, with intent to sting

e teacher of the Gentiles, he gentlv shook the viper from

l^is irriat; and was not to blame if the reptile fell into tbe

■■Tre.

To rehim to the interesting subject of literary researches.

iTnl] gladly do I resume the pleasant theme, and launch my

Iftmple akiff on the wide expanse of song —

" OucB more upon tliB watera j yofl, once more V

tThe minatreiay of France is happily inexhauBtible, The ■dmirera of what is delicate in thought, or poliahed in ex- prCflsion, will need no apology for drawing their attention to these exquisite trifles : and the student of general litera- ture will acknowledge the connecting-link which uoitea, thongh iinaeeD, the most apparently remote and seemingly (Huimilar departments of humaa knowledge. " Omuea enim artes. qu» ad humanitatem pertinent, habent quoddam

f Knninnne vinculum," saya Cicero. B'lt in tbe present case

286 i'ATHEB PBOUT*S BSLIQITSS.

the link is one of positive consanguinit;^. To what dass of readers, since the conquest of this fair island and its unfor- tunate sister hy the chivalrous Normans, can the songs of that gallant race of noble marauders and glorious pirat^ be without thrilling interest ? Not to relish such specimens of spirit-stirring poesy, the besotted native must be only fit to lierd among swine, with the collar round his neck, like the Saxon serf of Cedric ; or else be a superficial idiot, like " Wamba, the son of Wit-less the jester." Selecting one class of the educated public, by way of exemplification, where all are concerned, — the Bar, — the language of France and her troubadours cometh in the character of a profes- sional requirement. By submitting to their perusal these ballads, I shall, mayhap, reconcile them to the many tedious hours they are doomed to spend in conning over what must otherwise appear the semi-barbarous terms of jurisprudence bequeathed by William le Eoux with the very structure of his Hall, and coeval with its oak roof and its cobwebs. In reference to the Gullic origin of our law and its idiom, it was Juvenal who wrote (Sat. XV, v. 110) —

'* Gallia cauflidioos docuit facunda Britannos :**

furnishing an incontestable proof that poetry akin to pro- phecy, with " eye in a fine frenzy rolling," can discover the most improbable future event in the womb of time.

A knowledge of the ancient vocabulary of France is ad- mitted to be of high importance in the perusal of our early writers on history, as well as on legislation : in poetry and prose, as well as in Chancery and Doctors* Commons. An old son^ has been found of consequence in elucidating a disputed construction ; and, in point of fact, the only title- deed the Grenoese can put forward to claim the invention of the mariners' compass is the lay of a French troubadour.* Few are aware to what extent the volatile literature of our merry neighbours has pervaded the mass of British author- ship, and by what secret influences of imitation and of re- miniscence the spirit of Norman song has flitted through the conquered island of Britain. From GeoflTrey Chaucer to Tom

• A ballad, " La Bible," from the pen of Guyot de Provius, dated A.D. 1190, and commencing, ** De nostre p^re rapostoile." It it a pM* quinade against the court of Borne.

Moore (a ruBt intenal !}, thare is not one, save the immortal Hhiikosp^are perhaps, wLoee writingB do not betray the eerret workiug of thia foreign esecnce, miied up witn the irrude iiiati^riBl of Saion growth, and cauaiog a sort of gentle fermentation. Take Oliver Goldsmith, whom every critic nils an emintntly Bnijlith writer of undoubted originality ; now place in juxtaposition with an old Frejich song bis " Elegj- on a Mad Dog," and the " Panegyric of Mrs. Mary Blaze," and judge for yourself:

3oni«ntiti).

fit la fHonnof r.

Good peojilp nli, of every sort, Mossires, voiu plniiit-il d'olilr,

OiTH ear unto mv song, L'air du fameui La Pnliuc?

An'I if 7011 find it wondroiu ihon, II [lonmi vi

It (nuinot hold )on long. "

In t^inglon thM^ lived a mui, Of vbom the narld might it ■I>i»l >t4[l n godly ™ce he ran " Wlimc'er lie went to pray.

Pourvn qu'il voiiB diYerUifjo. II jtait affiible et doui,

De rimmeur At feu aoD ptrej

Bien iostrait dcs le berceuu, Onques, tHtit ^tsit honntt^,

n ne meltnit son rhspMU, Qu'il ne « courril la l*to.

KDte final catastrc^he, and tbe point wliicb forms the atin(> f the whole " Elegy," is but a literal veraion of a long- st&blialied Gallic epigram, viz. :

■Qnand on i-erpent mordit Aurelp, Sut bood n wondiir cune to light, ifue oroij-tu qu'il eu uriva ? That shewed (he rogues they lied ;

Jn'AuMlfmourQtf— bagBttllo! Ilie won recovered from the W, C« tut U irrpml qui ltcib. Tlic dog it wu that died.

Then astoMra. Blaze; I regret to aay that Afrrirtueaand ^•ccompUahments are all seeond-haod ; the jiaudv fiaery iu 1 wbii^ her poet baa dreased ber out is but the casl-otl I ftippeiy French. Ex. gr. .-

&a\tHm\iii.

Bt la jnaniioft.

..' public bU, of one accord, II brillait eomme un soleil,

' Ijunonl for Mil. BUie; Ba clioveluro *tait hlonijei

VVTho never wanted a good word II n'cut paa eu de paroll,

Vram IboBC wh>9^ke hrr prtUMe. S'il cut Jtc leul *u monds.

288

FATHEB PBOVT's BELIQUSa

Mont^ mr un dheral noir, Les dames le xninaud^raat*

£t o*ett Vk qu*il oe fit Toir, A oeuz qui le regard^reni.

Dans un snperbe toumoi, Prest k foumir sa carr^T«^

Quand il fut derant le roi, Geites il ne fut pas dernbe.

n fut» par un triste sort, Blesa^ d*une main cruelle $

On croit, puisqu'il en est mort, Que la playe €taite morteUe.

At ehuroh, in silks and satins new,

With hoop of monstrous sise, She nerer slumbered in her pew

But when she shut her eyes.

Her loye was sought, I do arer,

B J twenty beaux and more ; The king himself has followed her

When she has walked before.

Let us lament in sorrow sore ;

For Kent street well may say, That, had she lived a tweiTemonth

more. She had not died to-day.*

It is not without a certain degree of concern for the cha- racter of Gk)ld8mith, that I have brought to light this in- stance of petty larceny. Why did he not acquaint us with the source of nis inspiration ? Why smuggle these French wares, when he might have imported them lawfully by pay- ing the customary duty of acknowledgment P The Koman fabulist, Phsedrus, honestly tells the world how he came by his wonderful stock-in-trade :

'* ^sopus auctor quam materiam reperit, Hanc ego polivi versibus senariis.*'

Such is the sign-board he hangs out in the prologue to his book, and no one can complain of unfair dealing. But to return to the connexion between our literature and that of France.

Pope avowedly modelled his style and expression on the writings of Boileau ; and there is perceptible in his didactic essays a most admirable imitation of the lucid, methodical, and elaborate construction of his Gallic origin. Dryden appears to have read with predilection the works of Cor- neiUe and Malherbe : like them, he is forcible, brilliant, but unequal, turgid, and careless. Addison, it is apparent, was intimately conversant with the tasteful and critical writings of the Jesuit Bouhours ; and Sterne is but a ri/a- cimeiito of the Vicar of Meudon, the reckless Babelais.

* This joke is as old as the days of St. Jerome, who applies it to liis old foe, Buffinu3. '*Grunniu8 Coroootta, poroellus, vixit Docooxcix. : qu6d si semis vixisseti M. annos impldsset.**

THE EOKOB OF VSiyCJi. 286

Who will qnestioD the influence eierciaed byMoliSre over out Lvmic wTiterB^Sheridan, FBrijuhar, and C ongreve ? Indeed, our theatre BecoiB to have a prescriptive rif;ht to import ite comedies from Prance, wholepale and duty free. At the brilliant and dazzling torch of La Footoiiie, Qay bumbl; lit his slender taper ; and Fielding would be tbe first to admit his manifold obligations to Le Sage, having drank deep at the fountain of " Gil Bias." Hume the historian is notori- on» for his GalHcismB ; and perhaps it was owing to hie long residence abroad that the pompous period of Gibbon was attuned to the melody of MaesilloQ. If I do not men- tion Milton among our writers who have profited by the perusal of Oalhcan moilejfl, it is because the Italian ^^■chool was that in which ie formed hia taate and harmon- ^■hed hb rbytbrnic period.

^B But, to trace the vestiges of French phraseology to the ^Hery remotest paths of our literary domain, let iia examine ^■tte chronicles of the Plantageneta, and eipbre the writings of the incomparable Froiegart, His works fonn a sort of connecting link between the two countries during the wars of Cressy and Agincourt : he was alternately a page at the coort of BIoiB, a roioBtrel at the court of Winceslaa in Bra- bant, a follower of the French King CharleB, ond a suivant of Queen Pliilippa of Fjiglaud. Though a cierg^'man, be ' was decidedly to be claasified under the genus troubadour, ^npKrtaking more of that character than of any eccleHiastical ^■beculiaritieB. For, lest I should do inJuBtice to his life and ^Bpiniona, I shall let bim draw bis own portrait ;

"Au boire je iirenda grand plaisir, AuBii ftis-je en beau ilntpa Tettir : Oir de ravD^trFl paroUeB, Yeoii dimus et enrolls ;

Tiolettas ea lour uiBon, Et rosea bUnehei et vermeiUe* ;

To;e toloDtien, ear c'eat niaan, Jeu, el duiwB, et longufs Teillea, £t chamtm pUrnei de candtiila !"

Now this jolly dog Froissart was the boon comrade of our excellent Geoflrey Chaucer ; and no doubt the two worthy etfrci cracked many a bottle together, if not in Cbeopside, ~t least on this side of the Channel. How for Geoffrey waa

2-M) FATHSB PSOUT'S BSLIQVES.

indebted to the Frenchman for his anecdotes and storiea, for bis droll style of narrative, and the punsent salt with which he has seasoned that primitive mess of porridge, the "Canterbury Tales," it would be curious to investigate. But it is singular to find the most distinguished of Eraiice, England, and Italy's contemporary authors met shortly after, as if by mutual appointment, in Provence, the land of song. It was on the occasion of a Duke of Clarence's visit to Milan to marry the daughter of G^eas II. ; a ceremony graced by the presence of the Count of Savoy and the King of Cyprus, besides a host of literary celebrities. Thither came Chaucer, Froissart, and Petrarca, by one of those chance dispositions of fortune which seem the result of a most provident foresight, and as if the triple genius of French, English, and Italian literature had presided over their riunion. It was a literary congresn^ of which the con- sequences are felt to the present day, in the common agree- ment of international feeling in the grand federal republic of letters. Of that eventful coUoquy between these most worthy representatives of the three leading literatures of Europe, nothing has transpired but the simple fact of its occurrence. Strll, one thing is certain, viz., that there were then very few features of difference in even the languages of the three nations which have branched off, since that pe- riod, in such wide divergency of idiom :

" When shall we three meet again !"

Chaucer has acknowledged that it was from Petrarch he learned, on that occasion, the story of Q-riselda; which story Petrarch had picked up in Provence, as I shall shew by and by, on producing the original French ballad'. But here is the receipt of Chaucer, duly signed, and most cir- cumstantial :

" I wol you tel a tale, the which that I Lemed at Padowe, of a worthy clerc, As proved by his wordes and nis werk. He is now dead, and nailed in his chest, I pray to GK>d to geve his sowle rest. Frauncis Petrark, the laureat poete, Hight was this clerk, whose rhetoricke so sweta Emumined all Itaille of poetrie.**

Prologue to OrUetidiu in ** Cant. Toict."

THE BOnOS or FE&XCE. 2i\

, "We learn from "Williain of Malmesbury (lib. id.), and 3 contemporary sources, that the inimeiliate huc- lurs of the Conqueror brought over from Normandy mbere of learned men, to fill the eccleeiastical and other »eGcial employments of the country, to the exci'uaion of e native English, who were considered dunces and unfit r office. AJny one who had the least pretension to be lered a sgavant clert, spoke French. In the reign of _■ III. we have Eohert Groasetete, the well-known biahop of Liueoln (who was bom in Suffoli), writing a [work in Frcacb called " I<e Chasteau d' Amour ;" and ano- " I*e Manuel des Pi'chdea," Of this practice Chaucer oomplsjns, somewhat qnaintly, in his " Testament of Love" (ed. 1542) : " Certes there ben some that speke thyr poyay mater in Ffrench, of whyche apecbe the 1' frenchmen have u gude a fantasve as we have in hearing of Ffrencb inennes Englyshe." Tanner, in his " Biblioth. Brit.," hath left us mAny curious testimonies of the feeling which then pre- Tsiled on this subject among the jealous nativea of England. See also the Harteian MS. »860.

Bat the hmguage of the troubadours still remained com- mon to both countries, when, for all the purposes of do- mestic and public life, a new idiom had sprung up in each jate kingdom. Eitraordinary men! These songsters 3 the favourites of ereiy court, and the patroniBed of rerery power. True, their life was generally aisBolute, and

■ tbeir conduct unscrupulous ; but the mnntle of poetic in- I ftpitstion seems to have covered a multitude of^ stns. I

■ fazmot better characterise the men, and the times in which I'fiiey lired, than by introducing a ballad of Beronger — the

" Dauphin :"

Za ^attfdiinci Bu Gaupffin.

I Efjiiffrei que je tous [)nplo. Jndia Bichard, troubadour reuomnie, Amit poor Rof Jmd, Louta, Fbilippe, on Charlu,

Ke M,-au lequ«l, male il en ^t aiiue. D'un eroa dnaphin on fStoit In naiBBanoe j

Kil■haJ^l i Blou f Uil depuia ud jour : n appht \k le bonheur de la France.

Pour Yotre roi clianlei, gu troubadour ! Cliuit«i, cbantfi, jetuio et gai trDubadour :

242 TATHSB PBOVT'S BSLIQU18.

La harpe en main Biohard Tient siir la pbMs

Chaoun lui dit, ** Oiantea notre gai^onf D^TOtement k la Yierge il rend grace,

Puis au dauphin oonsaore one ehanton. On I'applaudit ; rautenr ^tait en yeine : Mainte beaut^ le trouye fidt au tour, Disant tout baa, '*Il doUplmire a la reme /"

Pour Totre roi chantez, gai troubadour! Chantes, ohantez, jeune et gai troubadour

Le chant fini, Biohard court k T^glise ;

Qu'y ya-t-il faire ? H cherche un confessenr. n en trouve un, gros moine k barbe grise, Des mcBurs du terns inflexible censeur. '*Ah, sauyez moi dee flanunee ^temelles !

Mon p^re h^lae ! c*est un yilain s^jour.*' « ^u>atot?ri)ou« fait ?" '* J'ai trop aunh lea beUes r Pour votre roi chantez, gai troubadour 1 Chantez, chantez, jeune et gai troubadour I

cc

Le grand malheur, mon P^re, c'eet qu*on m*aime !** '* ^tfarlc?, mon fils ; txpuoncTstious cnfin.*' " J*ai fait, h^las ! narguant le diadhne,

Un gros p^h^ ! oar j'ai fiut — un dauphin ! !" D*abord le moine a la mine ^ahie :

Mais il reprend, **FoDB«et(S bicn en coitr ? — ^ouTbopc^onou* D'ant ric^c abbapc"

Pour votre roi chantez, gai troubadour! Chantez, chantez, jeune et gai troubadour I

La moine ajoute ; *' Eut-on fiiit k la reine Un prince ou deux, on pent Stre sauy^. Parlez de nous k notre souyeraine :

Allez, mon fils ! vous direz cinq Ave" Biohard absous, gagnant la capitiue,

Au nouTeau-ne voit prodiguer Tamour ; Yiye k jamais notre race royale !

Pour yotre roi chantez, gai troubadour ! Chantez, chantez, jeune et gai troubadour!

Let me sin^ you a song of the good old times,

About Bichard the troubadour, Who was loyed by the king and Uie queen for his rhjmm |

But bj which of our kings I'm not sure.

THE SOSQK OF TBASCE.

mr m diuphm nai bom while the court wm at Bloij,

And all Frwioe felt a gladness pure ;

beart IcBjpl for jojf nlion lie heard 'tiioB a bo;, Sing for TOUT king, joung and gaj trouhadourl Sing well jou maj, troubadanr jaung and gs; I

> tbe Tirvin n hjma of thankigiving ho sung,

For tiie dauphin a new "roiuUlaf.

nd our noble) iiocked round at tbe heart-ttirring eound,

And their damee, digniflod and drmnre,

railed his bold, gaUaat mien, and said " He'tl jiltatt On fHMiif ''

Ittt the aong ii now hnahed, and the crowd ia dicperaad : To the abbe;, lo I Biahard repairs, nd he seek* an old laoxili, in the l^end veQ Teraed, With a lung flowing beard and gre; haira. ad " Oh, iDie aio [" he cries, " half Inlher, from hell ; 'lis a pia« vhich the aoal can't endurel" At BOat ajtdtl uU l^iDtltl;" " J'ai irop mmf let beUti r' Siug for jour king, young and ga; troubadourj Sing neu joii nu;, tronlradour, j'oung and ga; 1

But the wont ia untold I" " %ul(, mg aonnt, anD b( aftiibin ; QtU pa DC qnilt—iis muIis — ^oid pon ainntH, anlj Ijoid dIiiti.'' Oh, mj gtiilt it is greatl— can my no be forgiven — 1\» rttuU, holy monk I la— bIbs, 'tie a DAiTFiriN I" ind the friar grew pale at bo Blartling a tale, But he whiipered. " Jii US, sonnr. nrotnri Bfti sill giant ii, X nan) abbro lanS (lom ib< qnnn."

Sing for your liing, ;outig and gay troubadour ! Sing welt jou ma;, troubadour young and gay 1 ^han the monk laid a prayer, and the sin, light as air.

Flew awa; from the p«uilent'9 aoiil ; Lnd id Pana wtmt Richard to aing forlhe fair, "Virelai." aonnet gay, and " carollE :" lAnd he mingled with joy in the feetivBl there.

Oh ! while beauty and anng can allure. Hay oar old royal race never want for an heir!

°'- — ' king, young and gay troubadour I

rubadour young and gay 1

Sing for TOUT ki Siug woll yoQ m

It does not enter into my plau to eipatiate on the mural contluBion or political Kn/iviim which this ballad ■uggeets, (ud which with sarcaBtic ingenuity is so adroitly

iouated. It is, in End, & lyrical epigram on the adroiren

ir^/

244 FATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQUES.

of hereditary leffislation. To the venerable owls who roost in Heralds' CoUege, this is startling matter : in sooth, it sheds a quiet r^ on the awful sublimities of genealogical investigation. It may serve as a commentary on the well- known passage of Boileau (pilfered unceremoniously by Pope), in which the current of princely blood is said to flow " de Lucr^ce en Lucrfece ;" but we do not expect an edition of the song to be published "in usum Delphini." Vive Henri Cinq ! concerning whose birth the song was written.

On all matters in which the characters of the ladies may be involved, I recommend constant caution and the most scrupulous forbearance to both poets and historians. The model of this delicate attention may be found among the troubadours. I more particularly allude to the Norman school of French poesie ; for I regret to state, that in Pro- vence there was not always the same veneration and myste- rious homage paid to the gentler sex, whose very frailties should be shrouded by the poet, and concealed fix)m the vulgar gaze of the profane. In Normandy and the adjacent provinces, the spirit of chivalry was truly such as described by our hot-headed Irish orator, when, speaking of Marie Antoinette, he fancies ten thousand swords ready to leap from their scabbards at the very suspicion of an insult. The instinctive worship of beauty seems to have accompa- nied that gallant race of noble adventurers from their Scan- dinavian settlements beyond the Elbe and the Rhine ; for we find the sentiment attributed to their ancestors by Taci- tus, in his admirable work " De Moribus Gkrmanorum," where he writes, as well as I can recollect, as follows : " Inesse quinetiam foeminis sanctum aliquid et providum putant." The ballad of " Griselidis," to which I have made allusion in talking of the " Canterbury Tales," and which I then pro- mised to give in its original old Norman simplicity, finely illustrates all that is noble and chivalrous in their respect for female loveliness and purity. My version runs in the old ballad idiom, as nearly as that quaint style can be revived.

IHi: BONOS (

etiStUtis.

YBASCE.

@ristltia.

I m; ballBil, fop twaa mad? ni.

DsniBeis, for joa ; ~ ' ' br (beyond bU lovelincaae)

'IWoutn icv jouTBoeellMs

Beontet vi»rj (lunioiieoiii, ■Vault mieni estrB Ix-db que belle.

Vault mieui eatra \ojtl qno Belter

l**"! LoTiiU

outf iwMO, pBMo jeiin>»iH\ F«dethfairfacB,briehtbcautTbIooiii»

Boiit« reste et gugiic lea ramrB; awliil*,

wo dookeiir et genlillBBie Soon to dcpnrto j

Eaptnea ae chsngcnt en ftenrB. Goodnsts ahydcth ojo ; and gemlo

GainL-lh j« hcarfe.

]MuTTeet (ouffVetouBB, There lived n insideu, beflulifuD but Twnit jiiis Griseledu ; more,

QoitBui champs, Mtoilglanooie, Qfoouinff y* fieldi;

Kloil beau lin, gardoit brebis ; PoorpittBuncefikpphDrd'Bcrooknpon rostoit fjUfi ie hauJt parBge, y' moor,

K"»Toil eomtt nr jotbiu d'or. Or disliiff' jielda 1

UU avoil plui, car catnil Bsge — Tottho' no coatelhora huderer been, MieuInBuItsnyi-sBequolriscr! Jewellj uorgolde,

EindnrgaB slie hsdde and Tirtue ; thjngB, I ween. Belter fowr folde !

tag joaf qu'aai chunpi esl«it One dB)>BenTDlier,SirW(dt^liight,

■eidetle. Travelled that way ; Tinit 1 MMor Sire Ganltier, Nor doggu y" shcpUerdcBaa, nor page n! aana ehien ntoit la piUTrette, y' knight Sua page raloit le cberalier ; Iladde ou that day- Mil co OD liecJe, oil rinoocence But in lliose times of ionocGnce aud JTHMttenundreancundaDgtir, tni(h.

TCdUoit, doiTmoit prndente, Virtue alone

1 n'auriei pa« du Kept vigil in our land ; bright daja.

Whun

Mfi,

■eyegi

qiM aonuaeille la berg^ Long on y< mnidvn, as iha slept, be ott aireeuat le tenia d'admirer, guzed —

(Ua qu'cutT'omriat Ib pau- Oould gale for months I

pirn. But when anitking, two lolt oyelidi

'7nal tbrei de >'m amoun>r i raised,

Salla," dit-il, " ierex ma mie, Luvcd (ler at once !

■S Toiilei renir i ma cour f" " Fair one, a iuiglit'* Irac lore canst Fenny, seigneur, toue r(>mercie, thou despise,

ffoimeur vault bien pbysir With goldim alore F"

d'amourf" " Sir Knight, true love lvalue, bul

Ipriio Honour for mors !"

246

FATHEB P&OUT's BELIQUE8.

" Vertu, dit-il, passe noblesse !

Serez mft femme d^s oe jour — Serez dame, serez comtesse,

Si me jurez, au nom d'amour, De m'obdr quand devrai, mdme

Bien dorement, vous ordon- ner?" ** Sire, obeir k oe qu'on aime

Est bien plus doux que com- mander ?**

" I too prize honour abore hi^ ds* scent And all beside ; Maiden, be mine ! yea, if thou wiJk consent. Be thou my bride ! Swear but to do y* bidding of thy liege Faithful and fond." *<Tell not of oaths. Sir Knightj ii not lo9€^9 pledge A better bond ?"

l^ot for his castel and his broad do- main. Spoke so y« maid. But that she loved y* handsome knight — Love fain Would be obeyed. On y^ same charger with the knight she rodde. So passed along ; Nor blame feared she, for then all hearts were good ; l^one dreamed of wrong.

And they rodde on untill rose on j* sight His castel towers ; And there that maiden lived with that good knight In marriage bowers. Disusing blessings among all who dwelt Within that vale : Goodness abydeth aye— her smile ii felt. The' beauty hH !

Lives there one with soul so dead as not to admire the genuine high-mindedness of these primitive times, expressed in this pleasing record of what was no romance, but matter of frequent occurrence in the days of chivalry ? The ballad has got into many languages, and is interwoven with the traditional recollections of many a noble house ; but the original is undoubtedly the above. Moore has twisted it into a melody, " You remember Ellen, our hamlet's pride ;** and he seeks to connect the story with '* an interesting tale

Ke jura pour estre comtesse,

Mais avoit vu le chevaher ; A I'amour seul fist la promesse :

Puis monta sur son destrier. N'avoit besoin de biens^ances

Le tems heureux dee bonnes mcBurs ; Fausses ^toient les apparances,

loobies et vrays estoient les ccBurs!

Tant chevauch^rent par la plaine

Q,u*arriy^rent & la cit^ ; Griseledis fust souveraine

De ce riche et puissant comt^ ; Chascun Taima ; sous son empire

Chascun ressentit ses bienfaits : Beauts pr^vient, doulceur attire

Bont^ gague et fixe k jamais !

THE B0NQ8 OF rBABCE. 2i7

nid cf a certain noble family in England."* Unfortunately

fttr such attempts, the lays of tlie Norman troubadours, Likti

'" e Government ropee in the dock-yard at Portamouth, Lave

their teitiire a certiun twist by which they are recogniaed

len they get into the poHseBsiou of thieves.

"" we Kormana were a glorious race! No, neither the

>f Greece in their palmiest days of warlike adventure

: A-xam>), nor the children of the Tiber, that miseel-

y of bandits and outlaws (turba Remi), ever displayed

h daring energy aa the tribe of enterprising Korthcma

), in the seventh, eighth, and eubscquent centuries, af-

.. ighted and dazzled the world with the splendour of their

ic&evements. From the peninaula of Jutland, their narrow

i on the Baltic, they went forth to select the choicest

;he fairest provinces of the south for their portion : the

a of the Seiue.t the kingdom of Naples, the island of

', the Morea, Palestine, Constantinople, England, Ire-

—they conquered in Bucceeaion. The proudest names

:h land through which they passed glory in tracing up

<rman origin; and while their descendants form the

t and most honourable aristocracy in Europe, their

B ^ubadours stiD reign paramount, and unaurpaased in every

" md form of the tuneful mystery. Their architectural

ifl are not more picturesque and beautiful than the

I of their ballads and their war-songs ; and Bi--

nnger himself (by-the-hy, a Norman patronymic, and aii

^sri&Dce of the poet's excellent lineage) haa out inherited

e of that celebrated minstrel who is described in a

temporary poem on the conquest of this island :

!r ti muJt hiea cantont, Dim TullTfsr, who tang riebt wsU, IT UDg cheni kj t<wt aUout, Sorne on a goodly luuideUt,

* Mooning, ot eaante, the marringe of Henr^, Enrl of Eietcr, li< b HoggiDi, of the Tillage of Hodnct, in Shropehini, Ort, 3, ITVl. IT nuteriols fur in /ritft melody.

lucb nu tjie terror njtli whidi they iiiBpired tbe natiiea of Frsnee B Duke Botlo'a coDTeraioD to CtmBtiouit;, that there it in the « of tbe Parisian Breriuy s bymn, compoaed about that period, ling a prajcr agaiiut the Nonnane — " Auferte gentem perfidani Credeutium de llDibiu," So:. &e. i in* to this daj a memorial of

248

FATHBB PBOVT'B BBLIQXTXB.

Devant le host allout cantant Pranced in the van and led the trar^ De Karlemain e de Bollant. With songs of Boland and Gharle*

maine.

But I venture to say, that never was Charlemagne sung by his ablest troubadour in loftier strains than those in wnicn B^ranger has chanted the great modem inheritor of his iron crown, anointed like him by a Pope, and like him the sole arbitrator of European kingdoms and destinies.

%ti doubenirs Du ^eupU*

Biranger,

On parlera de sa ^loire Sous le chaume bien long- temps; L*humble toit, dans cinquante ans, Neconnaitra plus d* autre histoire. JA vieiMront les villageois Dire alors k quclque vieillo ; Par des r^cits d'autrefois, Mere, abr^gez notre veillo : Bien, dit-on, qu il nous ait nui, Lo peuple en cor le revere,

Oui, le rev^re. Parlez-nous de lui,grand*m^re! Parlcz-nous de lui !

popular IfleroUecttontf of Suonapartt.

They'll talk of hdi for years to come.

In cottage chronicle and tale ; When for aught else renown is dumb,

His legend shall preyail ! Then in the hamlet's honoured chair

Shall sit some aged dame, Teaching to lowly clown and villager

That narrative of fame. *Tis true, they'll say, his gorgeous throne France bled to raise ; But he was all our own ! Mother ! say something in his praise— O speak of him always !

•* Mes enfans, dans co village, Suivi de rois, il passa, Voilk bien long-temps de ^ : Je venais d'entrer en manage. A pied grimpant lo c6teau. Oil pour voir je m'^tais mise ; n avait petit chapeau, Aveo redingote grise. Prfes de lui je me troublai, II me dit, * Bonjour, ma ch^re !

Bonjour, ma chere !' " H vous a parle, grand'm^re !

II Tous a parle !

" I saw him pass : his was a host : Coimtless beyond your young ima- ginings— My children, he could boast

A train of conquered kings ! And when he came this road,

*Twas on my bridal day. He wore, for near to him I stood.

Cocked hat and surcoat grey. I blushed ; he said, * Be of good cheer ! Courage, my dear !' That was his very word." — Mother ! O then this really oocurredt And yo I his voice could hear 1

A Pktu fuut UQ jour,

Toua loi nBurt ^Uiont cont On mdminut son corttgn, Chuntn dimic, 'Quel be

THE B0S119 OF ERA^tCE. loi piuYre "A year rolled i

It ffotre

Lone woman that I u Bhw him pus b;, Oirt with lu« peers, to kueel ul

I knew by merr^chiinoHnd signal gun, God ermited him a aoDi And O 1 I we|it for joj !

For why not wiwp »•'

'^dil"'

D'uo fita Dieu lo rendait pfre. Who gazed upon that (iglit ao aplen-

Lc rtudait pin! !" — did.

Quel bmii jour pour loua.

Quel beau jour pour tous !

• Slais quand i: pagup

t en proie am jtringors, Lui, braFRnt tous lea daugers, it aeul lenir la campague.

Aud bleat th' imperial boj P Nerer did Dooiidsy eim fliiiie out bo

O what a fight 1" — Mother ! for you tbat muat hare bceii AgloriouBsi^euol

•e Cham- "But when all Europe's gathered atreugtb Bui-at o'er the French Irontier at leoglh, 'Twill scarcely be believed r, tout eomme aiyourd- What wonders, single- handed, he ui, achieved.

Jfentondi tapper i> la porte i Such general ne'er lived ! 1*00178, bon Dieul o'etaIT One evening on my threshold stood

Ln ! A guest— 'twas hb ! Of wBrriors

Siiivi il'nne fiuble eaciort«. few

n a'MMoit oil me voil^ Ho had a lotl-wom retinue.

6'*m»nl ; ' Oh, quelle giwrre ! Ho flung biniiclf inlo this chnji- of

Oh, quell* ruerre !' " — wood,

U a'est SMia A, grand'mtre '. UutlenJig, mctuitinie, with fearful

'Qnttle guerre! oh, gHtlle guerre!"' — Mother 1 aud did our emperor ait there, Cpon tJint very chair?

id, ' Give me some food.'—

liudting Srcblock*

f J'ni tkim,' dil-il ; et bien viti ~ I wn piqnetle et pHiD bia, ii> a tvotie BCa habits ; M • dormir le feu I'invite. Aa rfrell, voyant mes pleura. To dry bit claak with wet bedewed. II medit 1 "Bonne eepcraDCe I Soon by thu boony blaze be slept, Jtf couTB de Ions tes matheurs Ttit'Q waking chid me (for I weptj<; IB Farij vsn^or la France ! 'Coumgv!' he oiied. Til strike far all Uriiler tlie aacred waU Of FroucD'a noble lapit*] I'

r--'

TATHXm FKOrrS KKLIQUZS.

1

words: rTwtrcMurecl

up

T^oos rem CDCor!

With pride thai mum wine-cap ; And for its weight in gold It nerer shall be sold !**— Mother! on that proud relic let ui

that cup ahrays!

' Le Toki. Mais i aa pcfto Le hflPM fbt entzaiiie. Lid, qo*r3 Papi a eomonn^ Est mort dans on ile d^sote. Long-temps aanm ne Fa cm ; On disait : 11 Ta panltre. Psr mer ilest accoura; L^etranser Ta roir son m^tre. Qnand ^ermr on nous tira. Ma dooleor fat bien amere.

Fat bien amenp." — Dien toos benira. grand'mere ;

DieuToos benira!

* Boty through some &tal witchery, He, whom a Pops had crowned and bkst. Perished, my sons ! bj fbolest treach- eiy : Cast on an isle fiur in the lonely West. Long time sad mmoors were afloat~ The fikfcal tidings we would spurn. Still hoping £rom that isle remote

Once more our hero would return. But when the dark announcement drew

Tears from the rirtuous and the brare — When the sad whisperprored too true, A flood of grief I to his memory gare. Peace to the glorious dead !" — Mother ! may Qod his fullest blessing shed Upon your aged head !

Such Bon^ embalm the glories of a conqueror in the hearts of the people, and will do more to endear the memory ot* Napoleon to posterity than all the efforts of the historian. The government of tlie imbecile Charles X. had the folly to pick a personal quarrel with this powerful master of the lyre, and to provoke the wrath of genius, which no one yet aroused and got off unscathed by its lightning. B^ranger was prose- cuted before the cour d^ assizes for a son^ ! And nothing, perhaps, contributed more to the catastrophe that soon over- took the persecutor of the Muses than the disgrace and ridi- cule which covered the royal faction, in consequence of this attack on the freedom of that freest of all trades, the craft of the troubadour. The prophecy contained in the ode was realised to the letter : even Uie allusion to that old Gallic

_■	^■^^_''*L
I	■	|r
1 1	^^^^^^^^ '	|^^H^""M.'< . ^^H
^
5 ^	%
1	■F

r'

^^^^ THE sotta	a OF rttAKCB. 251
emblem the coek, which Louti Philippe made the ornament ol ■
the reatored tricolor, confirme the fact of inBpiration. ■
M.t faitur SraptAu.	Ci)r CijiccfCoIoiirtli jTIflS-
flA--V«-.	(^j.ro.<r«/.J5o»p,)
	OomradEs, around thi. Immble bo»rd.
gloire	Here'« lo our banner'a by-gono
Je tiem de me roir entourt ;	eplendour.
No* »ouTenir> m'ont eni»r*,	There maj bo trouson in that nord—
I* Tin m'a rendu la mimoire.	-ill Europe may Ihe proof afford—
Fier de mes Biploits et des	All France be the oBender i
ku^^	But drink the toaet
J'li moD drepesu dam ma chau-	That gladdesu most,
miiM!-^	Fires the touqc heart and checra lh«
Qkimf ueourai-je la pouinere	old-
Qui' Mmil IM nof^ coi.J»r* .	" May Franet (met mart
	Hfr IrU-ohr
	Bltit «nth KW /I/O beladdr
■ H «t cwh« »ou. rhumbla puUt-	Lilt tfl my secret . That old flw Under mt bed of straw is hidden,
Oil je don, paurre et mutiU.
Lui qui, lAi' de Toincre, a lole	Saored lo glory 1 War-worn rag 1
Tingt uis de baKtUle en batniUe ;	Thee no iu/onHtr thence ehall drag.
cSsrgft de lauriers et de fleurs.
11 brill* iur I'Europe enliirB—	France. I can Tonch,
Qtimnd ncourai-Je la poianirr	Will, from iW couch.
Qni lermt mj »obU» couleu,'i •	The dormant ijmbol jet mifold.
	A^«ax»<m«>»or>
	Her IH-eolor
Ce drapeau paTait ■ la France	For erorr drop of blood we spent.
Tontletangqu'ilQousBFoQU i	Did not that aag giTo value plenty T
8ur U *eiD de la liberty	Were not our children a« Iboy went.
iBToe QL> jooaimt aTeo »» Ian™ :
Qa'ilproure eocorauiopprpa-	Soldiers at ten, heroes at twenty ?
	Fhabob 1 who were then
Oomtoeii la eloire est roturiirc—
	Not Ihey at parchment-muBt and
Oirf lemit <o nb/>b« eoulturs t	mould!
	ShI Ihey mho bore
	Your Iri.color
^^_

Wrr."

252

TiLTHIB PB017T*8 BELIQUEB.

Son atgle est rest^ dans la poudre,

Fatigu6 de lointains eirploits ;

Bendons-lui le cog des Gaulois, n s^ut aussi lancer la foudre.

La France, oubliant sea dou- leurs, Le rebftiira libre et fi^re — Quand secourai-Je la poussih'e

Qui ternU sea noblea coulenra !

Las d'errer avec la victoire,

Des LOIS il d^ricndra Tappui ;

Chaquo soldat fut, grace a lui, CiTOTBN aux bords de la Loire.

Seul il pent voiler nos mal- licurs, Doployons-le sur la frontiere — Q,Hand aecourai-Je la poustiere

Qui ternii sea noblea couleura !

Mais il est la pr^ de mes armes !

Un instant osons I'cntrevoir ;

Viens, mon drapeau! viens, mon espoir ! Cest a toi d'essuyer mes larmes !

D'lin guerrier qui verse des pleurs Le Ciel entcndra la pri^re — Qui^Je aecouerai la pousaiere

Qui ternit aea noblea couleura !

Leipsio hath seen our eagle fiill, Brunk with renown, worn out with glory; But, with the emblem of old Ghral Crowning our standard, we'll recall The brightest days of Valmj/^a story ! With terror pale Shall despots quail. When in their ear the tale is told, 0/ France once more Her tn-color Preparing to ur\fold!

Trust not the lawleaa ruffian chiel.

Worse than the vilest monarch he ! Down with the dungeon and Bastille ! But let our country never kneel To that grim idol. Anarchy ! Strength shall appear On our frontier — France shall be Liberty's strong- hold! Then earth once more The tri-color With blessinga ahaU behold i

O my old flag ! that liest hid.

There where my sword and musket lie- Banner, come forth I for tears unbid Are filling fast a warrior's Ud, Which thou alone canst dry. A soldier's grief Shall find relief; A veteran's heart shall be consoled— France shall once more Her tri-color Tritunpfuintli/ ur^old I

After this glorious dithjrramb, worthy of the days when the chivalry of Frauce took solemnly the oriflame trom. the Abbey of St. Denis, to bear it foremost in the fight, for the defence of their native land, or the conquest of the land of Palestine ; it may be gratifying to produce a specimen of the earlier military songs of that gallant country. I select for that purpose a very striking lyric effusion from the pen of old Mar6t, which is particularly deserving of attention, from its marked coincidence in thought and expression with

THE BONOS OP FMSCE.

253

Qie celebrated SfnnriUaite Ili/mn, composed at the liiHtance rf three centuries ; but it would be hard to say which pro- ,uced on the icuoden-shoed men of France the greater im- ion in its da^.

Slu Due S'Slincon,

Qmmcmdmt tAvant Garde da VArmtc Fran^aiit, 1621. Di yen Ilaiiutult, sur lei Rub ilo chanipBffDe,

£» arHif le bon Due d'AJeoijoa, Aieque bonneur qui U)uJoura i'BOCOtnpagRo

Oomme le sien propre ot tni etuaaon !

U peut OD TBoir but la graado pliiine uuie Do bon« toudftra son mseigrie munie, Prus d'emplo^r leun bras rulminBtoire, A repaosSGr dedans leim Ifrritoire

L'ouTB Hanvier, gent, ruatiquB, et brutelle, Toulsat [QSTcher emu raison pereaiptoiro

Sur lea ctimBta do Fruico □ii.-ident&le. Prenez hnult cceur, donque^ France et Bretagne I

Car «i nt re camp tenei fiere fn^ou, Fondre Teirei dermit voua rAllcmagno,

Comme an M>!ei] bbtnohe uicgc cl gUfOn :

Avrnturiere ! que k pique on muiie Four les choquer et mettre en iUKn»BoIrc, Car d£JB lont au TOjeX poescaaoire :

Maif oomme je croi* deBtiii& fulallo Teult miner leur outragvuae gloiro

Bur lea climata de France ocddent&le.

Donquea pi^tona mareluDS tur la campagne,

Foudrojei lout snna rien prendra a rajnon i Preux clieTBliere, puiaqu'lionneur on y gugne,

Tot ennemiei ]>ouflaci bors do I'bt^od, Tait» rougir du aang de GiarmaDie I«* cisirg ruuMQUi dont la lorre est ggmie i fii uront mis tos hauls noms ea liiBiaiR! ; Frappex doac lou» de main glidinMire,

Qirapr^ leor mort et dediucte totalle Toiu rapportiei la palme de Ticloire

But Ids climat* de France ncddenUle.

Prince t r<qnpli de haul Iob mf ritoire, FliaoiU lei toil*, li vom me Toulez croirc,

AJler liumer leitr cerroise et godalle -.—{j/eod a'f ") CkT de Ota Tina ont ^and deair da boire

Su le* elimata de Franoe ocoideutidc.

't.<

251 TATWEM PSOrT*8

r«d^ Or 2>db ^jilmftm, 1521.

CLEMZST MABOT. Soldien! at leagfh^ thar gathered tticngth our mi^ is doomed to

Spsm and Bnhant eomflhant — ^Bararia and GHtfle.

I^iota, thcT think that Franee will shrink from a foe that mahes on.

Ami terror damp the gallant camp of the hold Duke d' Akn^on !

But wail and wo betide the foe that waits lor our aasault !

Back to hu lair our pikes shall scare the wild boar of Hainaolt.

La Mease shall flood her banks with blood, ere the sons of France resigD

Their ^orioiis fields — the land that yields the <^Te and the line !

Then draw the blade ! be our ranks arrived to the soimd of the martial

fife; In the foeman's ear let the trompeter blow a blast of deadly strife ; And let each knight collect bis might, as if there hung this day The fiftte of France on his single lance in the hour of the coming fray : As melts the snow in summer^s glow, so may our helmets' glare Consume their host ; so folly's boast Tanish in empty air. Fools ! to believe the sword could ghre to the children of the Bhine Our Ghilic fields — the land that yidds the oUto and the vine !

Can G^ermans (ace our Norman race in the conflict's awful shock — Brare the war-cry of " BEiTAiarr I" the shout of ** LAJfOUKDOC !" Dare they confront the battled brunt — the fdl encounter try When dread Bayard leads on his guard of stout gendarmerie ? Strength be the test — then breast to breast, ay, grapple man with man j Strength in the ranks, strength on both flanks, and Tslour in the ran. Let war efface each softer grace ; on stem Bellona's shrine We vow to shield the plains that yield the olire and ihe yine I

Methinks I see bright Victory, in robe of glory drest.

Joyful appear on the French frontier to the clueflain she loves best ;

While grim Defeat, in contrast meet, scowls o'er the foeman's tent^

She on our duke smiles down with look of blythe encouragement.

E'en now, I ween, our foes have seen their hopes of conquest fail ;

Glad to regain their homes again, and quaff their Saxon ale.

So may it be while chivalry and loyal hearts combine

To lift a brand for the bonnie land of the olive and the vine !

And now let us give truce to war, and, turning to calmer

subjects, smoke for awhile the calumet of peace with a poet

of gentler disposition. Poor MfUevoye ! it is with a me-

iancholy pleasure that again I turn to his pure and pathetic

nut he was a fayourite of the Mua^ and, need I add.

THE S0X03 OF FRANCE.

? "WTio can jwruge this simple melody witbout feel- g deeplj intereated in the fate of ita author ?

ta Cf)ul( lite Jftuillt*. Par Militvayi. Da In d^iouille de niw bois L'natomne ■TaJt jonchf U teire, Le bocage £l«jt mm mjBt^ro, lie roBtignol JI*it sans roix- _XluT4} et monmiit ^ AQn (Ltirore, Un jmme maiadc, i pu Icuts, h^i^'uvit uns ^i> moire Le boil cher 1 ie> pninien uii.

CI)t jFall of tt)t i.M&cd.

Autum

had atript the grove, nnd

The Talo Willi laily carpflt o'er— Shorn of its mjaterj ibe wood.

And Philomel bide ling no more — Yet DM rtUI hither comoi to feed

His SBia on childhood's merrj'

For him, a\ak jouth [ poor ioTolid ! Lonel; attrsctiou gtOl it hath.

"I come to bid you fttfewell brief. Here, O mj infnncy's wild hauntl

For death gives in eooh falUng leaf Snd BummonB to jour TuiitAn^

'Tnaa a atcm oracle that told Mj dark decree, ' The tcoodSund

PBoiique j'aime, adieu! js suc- Ton deuil m'aiertiC de mon

Kt dan* obaque feutlle qui tembe Jo toil un preface de mort.

Fatal orach: d'Epidaure, _ Tnm'udit, ' Lti ftuiUet da boia Lrf ta jKKZ Jaunironl eneore, W Mail c'nlpaurladerHitre/oii!"

^XVtemel cyprie !e baUuce ; S^L tor mn t&te en silonce

□ incline s« ranieuii : Ua jeuneaae aera flctrie ATant I'herbe de la prairie,

Araut le pampre des cfiteaai !

jemeoral de leur froide baleina U'ont Umrhi les lombrea au-

wmme une ombre Tsine lir mon bean pRntemB.

. imbet tombe, feaille ipb^iret FoU I fall, O tmnaitorj leafl OoQVTC beta* ! ce Criste ehemin I AndcorerwellthiBpDtliofiorrowi

"" ' u diacepoir ile ma mtro Hide from my mother's searching Ia l^aoe oil Je leroi deniain I grief

The spot nthen Til be laid to-

ler^ thuig

In eilenco o'or mj head. Tells me m; joutli shall wither fast. Ere the grass fiides — yea, ere the last

Stalk &om the Tine is shed.

I die! Yes, with his icy breath, Fixed Fate has frozen up my blood 1

F^^-^

256

FATHER PB0TJT*8 SSLIQfTBS.

Mais si mon amante yoil^e Vient dans la solitaire all^e,

Pleurer a Theure ou le jour fuit ;

Eveille, par un legcr bruit, Mon ombre un instant console !"

n dit. S*^oigne et sans rctour ;

La dcmiere feuille qui tombe A signal^ son dernier jour ;

Sous le ch6ne on creusa sa tombe. Mais son amante no vint pas ; —

£t la p4tro dc la valine Troubla seul du bruit de ses pas

Le silence du mausolee.

But should mj loved one's biij

tread Seek tlie sad dwelling of the dead.

Silent, alone, at ere ; O then with rustling murmur meet The echo of her coming feet.

And sign of welcome give !"

Such was the sick youth's last sad thought : Then slowly firom the grore be moved; Next moon that way a corpse was brought. And buried in the bower he loved. But at his grave no form appeared. No fairy mourner : through the wood The shepherd's treadalone was heard. In the sepulchral solitude.

Attuned to the sad harmony of that closing stanza, and set to the same key-note of impassioned sorrow, are the following lines of Chateaubriand, which I believe have never appeared in print, at least in this country. They were com- posed on the occasion of a young and beautiful girl's pre- mature death, the day her remains were, with the usual ceremony of placing a wreath of white , roses on the bier, consigned to the earth.

Ci^atraubrtanti.

Sur la FilU de mon Amit enterrie hier devant mot au Citnetiere de Pauy.

16 Juin, 1832.

II descend ce cercueil ! et les roses sans taches

Qu'un p^re y deposa, tribut de sa douleur : Terre ! tu les portas ! et maintenant tu caches

Jeune fille et jeun^ fleur ! Ah! ne les rends jamais k ce monde prophane,

A ce monde de douU, d'angoisse, et de malheui* ! Le vent briso et fletrit, le soleil brdle et fane

Jeune fille et jeune fleur ! Tu dors, pauvre Elisa, si legdre d*ann^s !

Tu ne crains plus du jour le poids et la chaleur | EUei ont acheve leurs fraiohes matinees,

Jeune fille et jeune floor t

^^r TttE aoKflS or T&Ascx. 257 E>T tb*t Doffin goei down, let it b«Ar od ita lid Tbe garland of roies Which the band of a hthar, her moumen wnid, In sUence deposes— "Tia the joung mwden's funeral hour ! Ffnoi thy bosom, 0 mrth! sprung that young budding roM And 'tia meet that together thj lap should eituluu The ;ouiig maid and the Bancr ! Kerer. never give bock [he two Bvmbola ao pura Which to thee we couUde j From the breath of this world and its plagui'-B]>ot securs, IM. Ihom alsep side by sido— Thej shall know not iw poitilant power ! Or the fierco uorcliing bud, might parch up aa tliej grew The jDuug maid and the ilower! Poor Elite 1 for thee life's enjojmonta hiiTe fled, But ita pangs loo are flown ! Then go sleep in the griTel in that cold bridal bed Death raav eall thee Ms »»u— Take this handful of ohiy for thj dower ! ^^^M Of ■ texture wert thou &r too geutlu to last t .^^^H 'TwM « moniing thj life 1 now the matins are put .^^^^M For the maid and tlie Qower ^^^^H

No. IX. THE BONQS OF FKASCE. 0!f WISE, WAH, WOMEN. WOOnF.N B11U£8, PUIL03OPIIT, FHOQS iSD FHEE TBADK. ^rom tf|r S?rout ^aptrp. ■Jhapter III. — Pnitoaopnr. "Quando GaUos cantat, PrtruB fl>.i;'-5u'(« K. Fml. JIf-j. "8i de no* ooqs la Toii altiera " If old St. Peter on his roek TronbU I'hiritiar de St. Pierre, WeiitwheQliehe.-irdllieO"llireoek. Grtce aui annates aujourd'hui. Haa not the pood French be (God BRBUiBaB. laud manj as e«g for hit iiiccea. for?" Bkfohk we plunge witli Prout into the deptha of Frfticii PhiloBophy, we must pluci a crow with tbe " Sun." Sot

268 fATUSlt PBOtT'i BILIQUES.

often does it occur to us to notice a newspaper criticism ; nor, indeed, in this case, should we condescend to wax angry at the discharge of the penny-a-liner*s popgun, were it not that an imputation has been cast on the good father's memory, which cannot be overlooked, and must be wiped away. The caitiff who writes in the " Sun" has, at the in- stigation of Satan, thrown out a hint that these songs, and specifically his brilliant translation of " Malbrouck," were written "under vinous inspiration!" A false and atrocious libel. Great mental powers and superior cleverness are too often supposed to derive assistance from the bottle. Thus the virtue of the elder Cato (^prisei Catonis) is most unjus- tifiably ascribed to potations by unreflecting Horace ; and a profane French sophist has attributed Noah's escape from the dood to similar paHiality :

" No^ le pairiarche, ** Td have drown'd an old chap,

Si c^lfebrt par I'arche, Such a friend to *the tap,'

Aima fort le iuB du tonneau ; The flood would haVe felt compunc-

Puisqu'il planta la vigne, tion :

Convenez qu'^tait digne Noah owed his escape

l)e ne point se Aoyer dans l*eau!" To his lore for the grape ;

And liis 'ark^ was an empty pun- cheon."

The illustrious Queen Anne, who, like our own Regina, encouraged literaturb and patronised wit, was thus calum- niated after death, when her statue was put up where it now stands, with its back to Paul's church and its face turned towards that celebrated corner of the churchyard which in those days was a brandy-shop. Nay, was not our late dignified Lord Chancellor equally lampooned, without the slightest colour of a pretext, excepting, perhaps, " be- cause his nose is red." G^ood reason has he to curse his e\ il genius, and to exclaim with Ovid —

" Ingenio perii NiAO poeta meo !**

We were prepared, by our previous knowledge of history, for this outbreak of calumny in Front's case ; we knew, fiy a reference to the biography of Christopher Columbus, of Galileo, and of Dr. Fauatus (the great inventor of the art of printing), that his intellectual superiority would raise up ■ hoai of adversaries prepared to malign him, nay. ii

THE SOnOB OF FltAKCn. 2&8

ccuBe him of witchcmft. The writer in the " Sun"

vet gone quite bo fiir, conteDtiug himBelf lor tlie

■nt with the Basertion, that tlie lather penned " these

inga of France " to the souud of a gurgling flugon —

" Aut doiix gloui gloiu que fait la bouteillu."

1 not new. When Demoathenea ahaied his head,

and spent the winter in a odlur tronacribing the works of

Thiicydidea, 'twas swd of him, on his emerging into the

lij;lit of the ^^/ia, that " hia apeeches smelt of oil." It

was stated of that locomotire knight, t^ir Richard Blacli-

whose epic poem on King Arthiif is now (like Bob

loDtgomerjr's " Omniprtaence ") present nowhere, that he

Wrole to the rumbling of hii ponuh-whwls,"

In allnsion to Byron's Innieness, it was hinted by sonie

Zoiliis that he penned not a few of bis verses slant jifde m

•tiia. Even a miui's gonealogy is not safe from innuendo

and inference; for Sam Bogera having iliacovered, from

" ■ inger's song, " Le Tiiilieur et U i'^e," th.it hia father

a tailor, pronounced his parentage and enrly impressiona

le the rnuae why he was such n cnpital hand at a hem-

ich. If a similar analogy can hold good in Tom Moore's

(whose jiiveuiie associations were of a grocer sort), it

no doubt become obvious why hit compositions are so

.glily spiced," his taste so " liquoFish," and his mtise so

digul of " sugar-candy."

But ia it c^ime to this ? must we needs, at this time of

.y, vindiftttfi the holy man's character ? and arc we driven

itake up the cudgels for his sobriety?— he, wboae frugal life

proverbial, and whose eeal, bucked by personal, example,

all-powerful to win his parishioners from tlie seduction

barleyoom, and reduce them to a habit of temperance,

bonain fragem rediterre .' He, of whom it might be pre-

Icated, that while a good conscience was the_;iiye c

^ bia mind, his corporeal banquet was a perpetual i

Herring ! fFater-ertttei, so abundant on that bleak I

bvere his only luiury; for he belonged to that class of

Pythagorean philosophers of whom Virgil speaks,

ription of the plague :

u pMcnntDr limplicia hwtw." — Ocory. 1

260 FATHSB PBOUT'S RELIQIHES.

Cicero fcells us, in his Tusculan Questions (what he might have read in Xenophon), that water-cresses were a favounte diet in Persia. His words are : '* Pers» nihil ad panem adhibebant prseter nasturtium." (Tusc. Qusest. v. 140). I only make this remark, en passant, as, in comparing Ire* land with what Tom calls

*' that delightful proyinoe of the sun. The land his orient beam first shines upon,**

it would seem that ^' round towers*' and water-cresses are distinctive characteristics of both countries ; a matter some- what singular, since the taste for water-grass is by no means generally diflFiised among European nations. Pliny, indeed (lib. xix. cap. 8), goes so far as to state, that this herb creates an unpleasant titillation in the nose : " Nasturtium nomen accepit -X narium tormento." But Spenser says of the native Irish, that " wherever they found a plot of sham- rocks or water-cresses, there they flocked as to a feast." — State of Ireland, A.D. 1580.

When we assert that Prout was thu§ a model of abste- miousness, we by no means intend to convey the notion that he was inhospitable. Is not his Carousal on record in the pages of Eeoitj a ? and will it not be remembered when the feast of O'Rourke is forgotten ? If a friend chanced to drop into his hut on a frosty night, he felt no more scruple in cracking with his guest a few bottles of Medoc, than George Knapp, the redoubtable Mayor of Cork, in demolishing, with his municipal club, a maa-dog*8 pericranium. Nor were his brother-clergy in that diocese less remarkable for well-ordered conviviality. Horace, in his trip to Brundusium, says, that parish-priests are only bound (on account of their poverty) to supply a stranger with a fire-side of bog- wood, and potatoes and salt —

*^ Suppeditant parochi quod debent liffna salemqus ;**

whereas he foolishly imagines that nothing can surpass a bishop's hospitality —

" Pontificum potiore cosms."

Were the poet now-a-days (a.d. 1830) to make a trip to Cork, he would find matters managed vice versd.

TBX t

ir.8 OP FBAKCE. 261

From ftll we have said on this subject, ond still more from e could add, if iDdiued to be wrathful, Prout's caluin- niatora may leam a leason of forbeBrance tuid decorum. Hi* paths are the paths of pleasantueas tuid peace. But we are determined to protect him from assault. Par be it from ua to throw au &pple of discord ; but Fivut is the apple of our ejre. Let the man in " the Sun" read how Daniel O'Kourke feU from " the moon ;" let bim recollect the Dutch ambasBa- dor'a remark when the grand monorque shewed him hia own ■ifOyal face painted in the diac of an emblematic " Sol t" " Je tou avec ploisir voire majetl^dam te plus grand T}t,a abtres." OLIVES YOKKE. £«. lit, 1834.

WrUrgnunhia. Da. 1833.

PTbb historian of Cborlefl the Fifth, in that chapter wherein

e diBcourseth of the children of Loyola, takes the oppor-

inity of manifeating his astonishment tliat so learned a uody

' tata should never have produced, among crowds of poeta,

riticB, divines, metaphysicians, oratore, and astronomers,

rose single philanopher .'" The remark is not original. The

nious maggot was first generated in the brain of D'Alem-

, himself an undeniable "philosopher." Every one, 1

inagine, knows what guesB-Bort of wiseacre France gave

urtL to in the person of that algebraic personage. 1 say

nuice in general, a -whohmle t«rm, as none ever knew who

a parenta were in detail, he, like myself, having graduated

D a foundling hoapitul. lu the noble seminary dea Enfant

^nmei*, (that metropolitan magazine for anonymouB conlri-

jttititmB,) the future geometer was only known by the name

r "Jean Ic Bond," which he exchanged in after-lile for

^ He more sonorous title of D'Alembert ; not rendering him-

Islf thereby a whit more capable of finding the quadrature

't the circle. To be sure, in the fancy for a high-aounding

e be only imitated his illustrious fellow 'labourer in thi.'

nejard, Franqois Arouet, whom mortals have learnt to call

^Voltaire" by his own pmticular deaire. Now Kobertsou,

Sfi the Kirk of Scotland, ought to have known, wlien he

(dnpted, eecond-band, this absurdity, that by philosopher

" ■ French infidel meant any thing but a well-regulated,

262 Ti.THEB ?B01TT*8 BEIilQUZS.

sound, and sagacious mind, reposing in calm grandeur ou the rock of Bevelation, and looking on >vith scornful pity while modem sophists go through all the drunken capers of emancipated scepticism. Does the historian, grave and thoughtful as he is, mean to countenance such yagaries of human reason P does he deem the wild mazes of the philo- sophic dance, in which Hobbes, Spinoza, Bolingbroke, David Hume, and Monboddo, join with Diderot, Helvetius, and the D'Holbac revellers, worthy of applause and imitation l

** Saltantes satyros imitabitur Alphesiboeus ?*'

If such be the blissful vision of Ai« philosophy, then, indeed, may we exclaim, with the poet of Eton College, " 'Tis folly to be wise !" But if to possess an unrivalled knowledge of human nature — if to ken with intuitive glance all the secrets of men's hearts — if to control the passions — if to gain ascendancy by sheer intellect over mankind — if to civilise the savage — if to furnish zealous and intelligent missionaries to the Indian and American hemisphere, as well as professors to the Universities of Europe, and ** con- fessors" to the court of kings^ — be characteristics of ge- nuine philosophy and mental greatness, allow me to put in a claim tor the Society that is no more ; the downfal of which was the signal for every evil bird of bad omen to flit abroad and pollute the world —

" Obscoenique canes, importtmeque volucres."

And still, though it may sound strange to modem democrats, tlie first treatise on the grand doema of the sovereignty of the people was written and published in Spain by a Jesuit. It was Father Mariana who first, in his book '* De Institu- tione Begis," taught the doctrine, that kings are but trustees for the benefit of the nation, freely developing what was timidly hinted at by Thomas Aquinas. Bayle, whom the professor will admit to the full honours of a philosophic chair of pestilence,* acknowledges, in sundry passages, the supe- rior sagacity of those pious men, under whom, by the way, he himself studied at Toulouse ; and if, by accumulating

* " Cathedra peitiUntia*' is the Tulgate translation of what the ao* thorisod Church-version calls the ** seat of the soomiviL" PtoaliD i. L — O.Y.

doubts and dtu-kneRB on the truths of Cbnetianity, ht hu merited to be ctilied the cloud-compelling Jupiter among philoeophers, msifjiy^tra Ztut, surely aome partideof ^iiVo- MOpkic prnise, etjuivooai ns it ie, might be reeerved for those able masters n-ho stunulated hiB early inquiries, — excited Biid fed his young appetite for erudifion. But they sent fortli from their sc-hools, in Descartes, in Torricelli, and in Bossuet, much sounder specimens of reasoning and wiedoui.

1 hesitate not to aver, as a general propoeition, that the French character iB essentially unphilosophical. Of the Qreeka it baa been said, what 1 would rattier apply to our merry neighbours, that they were " a nation of chOdren," possessing all the Avlicsome wildness, oil the playful attrac- tiTeness of that pleasant epoch in life; but deScient in the graver faeuttiee of diBpasHioDate reflection ; 'EKhrtnt am muift, ytoiin it 'EXXijy ouofij. — (Plato, " Timieua.") In the reign of Louip XIV., P6re Boubours gravely discusBea, in his " Coure de Beliea Lettres," the question, " whether a native of Germany can poBsess wit f " The phlegmatic dwellers on the Danube might retort by proposing as a problem to the University of Gottin^en, " An. datur philosopbus inter GalloB F" Certain it is, and I know thiim well, that the calibre of their mind is better adapted to receive and dis- eharge " small shot" than " heavy metal." That they arc more calculated to Bhioe in the imaginative, the ornamental, the refined and delicate departments of literature, than in the sober, sedate, and profound pursuita of philosophy ; and it is not without reason that history tells of tbetr ancestors, when on the point of taking the capitol, that they were foiled and discomfited by the solemn steadiness of a gooae.

Cirero had a great contempt for the guidance of Greek philosophers in matters appertaining to religion, thinking, with reaBon, that there was in the Uoman gravity a more fitting disposition of mind for such important inquiries : "Ciini de religione agitur,Titum Coruncanium aut Puhlium SoaMTolam, ponlijieet waiimos, non Zeuonem, aut Cleanthum, aut Chrysippum sequor." {De Nalura I)eor.) The terms of insulting depreciation, Griecvlai and Gracia meadax, are familiar to the readers of the Latin classics ; and from Aristophaoes we can learn, that /royi, a talkative, saltatory, And unBubstantial noun of multitude, was then applied to

20i FATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQUES.

Greeks, as now-a-days to [Frenchmen. But of this mora anon, when I come to treat of " frogs and firee-trade." I am now on the chapter of philosophy.

Yague generalities, and sweeping assertions relative to national character, are too much the fashion with writers of the Fuckler Muskaw and Lady Morgan school : wherefore I select at once an individual illustration of mv theory con- cerning the French ; and I hope I shall not he accused of dealing unfairly towards them when I put forward as a sample the Comte de Buffon. Of all the eloquent prose writers of France, none has surpassed in graceful and har- monious diction the great naturalist of Burgundy. His work combines two qualities rarely found in conjunction on the same happy page, viz., accurate technical information and polished elegance of style ; indeed his maxim was " Le style c*est Vhomme :" but when he goes beyond his depth — when, tired of exquisite delineations and graphic depictur- ings, he forsakes the " swan," the " Arabian horse," the " beaver," and the " ostrich," for " Sanconiathon, Berosus, and the cosmogony of the world," what a melancholy exhi- bition does he make of ingenious dotage ! Having prede- termined not to leave Moses a leg to stand on, he sweeps away at one stroke of his pen the foundations of Grenesis, and reconstructs their terraqueous planet on a new patent principle. I have been afc some pains to acquire a com pre* hensive notion of his system, and, aided by an old Jesuit, I have succeeding in condensing the voluminous dissertation iuto a few lines, for the use of those who are dissatisfied with the Mosaic statement, including Dr. Buckland :

1. In the beginning was the sun, from which a splinter was shot oflf by chance, and that fragment was our globe.

2. 9ntr the globe had for its nucleus melted glass, with an envelope of hot water.

3. 9ntf it began to t^irl round, and became somewhat flattened at the poles.

4. ^ob, when the water grew cool, insects began to ap- pear, and shell-fish.

5. Snti from the accumulation of shells, particularly oysters (tom. i., 4to. edit. p. 14), the earth was gradually

nood, with riiiy;e« of mouotainB, on the principle of thL>

'onte Teetucio aX the ^te of Kome.

6. J4ut the melted glass kept warm for a long time, and the arctic climate was as hot in those (Java nn the tropit/a - jw are : witoeBB a froaen rhinoeeroa fouud in Siberia, &e.

c. Ac.

To ah which diBcoveries no one will be bo iUihera] as to fuae the appropriate acclamation of " Very fine oysters !"•

As I have thuH furnished here a compendious substitute r tlie obsolete book of Genesis, I thick it rit;ht also to ipply a few notions on astronomy -, wherefore I subjoin a reach song on one of the moat interestiug phenomena of e Bular system, in which efiuaion of some unonynnous poet ere ia about as much wisdom as in BuHon's cosmogony.

%a Gdcmit Did lEdipdtK. ®n ^oUr ^tlipitt,

(a new TnEOKY.) (Jiifiitir leqailnr.) For fhe tut o/IJie /.om/en Unittrtilg.

jura lo Slyi qui loumoie All heaven, I Bwcar bj SI ji that rolls

Diaa le paj-s dc TarlBra, ilji dark llood roujid (iiu land of

Qu'i "Colm-inulWd" on jouei r«iu! tire

Bort, qu'un Toie Shall pluy tlits day at "Bliiid

b Mrs. luim's buff."

Come, inuke arnuigcmentt on tlie

Prepan) the 'kerchief, dm the lot — So JoTe camnifuids ! Enough I

bon Soleil I'aTWt bieo dit — LotMoQSoi,:(beBtarBwerealruck

Le tort loi fcbut en putago : AC such ui instsnee of ill luck,

tihacun riC ; et tuWknt I'ungc. Tlien Luna forward came,

uaaitAt U Lune t'oUHt And bound wilU gentle, moilcsl

Pour lui Toiler sou beau niagc. band.

O'er hie brifjlit brov Hie mualiii

Hence mortula learned the game.

luld be scandiJous indeed, if the palm of absurdly,

le bronze mednl of impudence in philosophic diaeovery,

to be awarded to Butfon, when Voltaire stands a cnu- -

field of speculutiou. This great man,

soaraing on a similar subject, in bis profound " QueatioDii

Front felt that diiililte of geological induiitioa commoD to old-

churuhmen — O.Y-

2G6 FATHER PROUT^S RSLIQUES.

Encyclopediques," labours to remove the vulgar presumptiou in &vour of a general deluge, derived from certain marine remains and conchylia found on the Alps and Pyrenees. He does not hesitate to trace these shells to the frequency of pilgrims returning with scollops on their hats from St. Jago di Compostello across the mountains. Here are his words, q, e. (art. CoquU.) : " Si nous faisons reflexion k la foule innombrable de p^l^rins qui partent k pied de St. Jaques en Gklice, et de toutes les provinces, pour aller k Home par le Mont Cenis, charges de coquilles d leurs bon- nets," &c. &c. — a deep and original explanation of a very puzzling geological problem.

But let the patriarch of Femey hide his diminished head before a late French/? At /o«opAic writer, citoyen Dupuis, author of that sublime work, "De TOrigine des Cultes." This performance is a manual of deism, and deservedly has been commemorated by a poet from Gascony ; who concludes his complimentary stanzas to the author by telling him that he has at last drawn up Truth from the bottom of the well to which the ancients nad consigned her :

VouB avez bien m^rit^ Truth in a well was said to dwell,

De la patrie, Sire DupuiB : From whence no art could pluck it ;

Yous avez tir^ la verity But now 'tis known, raised by the loan

Du puits ! Of thy philosophic bucket.

Citizen Dupuis has imagined a simple method of explain- ing the rise and origin of Christianity, which he clearly shews to have been nothing at its commencement but an " as- tronomical allegory :" Christ standing for the Sun, the twelve apostles representing the twelve signs of the Zodiac, Peter standing for " Aquarius," and Didymus for one of "the twins," &c. ; just with as much ease as a future histo- rian of these countries may convert our grand Whig cabinet into an allegorical fable, putting Lord Althorp for the sign of Taurus, Palmerston for the Goat, EUice for Ursa Major, and finding in Stanley an undeniable emblem of Scorpio*

Volney, in his " Euines," seems to emulate the bold theo- ries of Dupuis ; and the conclusion at which all arrive, by the devious and labyrinthine paths they severally tread, — whether, with Lamettrie, they adopt plain materialism ; or,

• " Bpar Ellice" and " Scorpion Stanley*' were household words ia 1830, as well as> Lord Althorpe's bucoHc and Palmerston's erotic famb.

^Mj^^
^

TBI SONes OP FBAXCB.

I witl» CnntlillQc, hint nt llie posBibility of malirr lieing cnpiu

I ble or thought ,■ or, witli Diderot, fiu^ no difleronoe between

' adog but tbe clotlieB ("Vie de Stiii^cjue")— is,

I eioaucipalion from all moral tie, and contempt for all eiiat-

ing inslitutions, Tbeir disciples fill the galley§ in France,

1 nud cause our own Botouv Ba)' to present all the agree-

\ able varieties of a philosophical horlus liccat. But Ireland

[ haa produced a grander specimen of philosophy, exemplified

in the calm composure, dignified tranquillity, and instructive

Belf-pOMesBioD, with which death may he encountered after

I B life of usefulness. For the benefit of the Freucb, I have

I taken some paioa to initiate them, through the medium of a

L tranalation, into the worhings of an Irish mind unfettered

[ by conscimtious acruplea on the threshold of eternity.

Ct)i S"lf) ol dotralrd.

Ka^artDtSDnalc.

arrdbiidtFrixit.CurfdaMmt- aiue-CrttioHi, in-h lit Cor*,

BtaU before Lairj km rtwlthed, A U ha Mj* llu7 all {nid liiin a visit ; I AbitmlUeirMtcl(a.too.ttii!yreti:he<l— niejr swenUd their duda till tliej

g"ei _

f For tarry whb nlwayi the Ud,

When a friend kss cundeinn«l to the iqiu-eler,

I Bat he'd pawn all the togs thnt he linil, ' ut to hdp tlie puor hoy lu h

And moil

hiagohTorehedied. dear Lnirj,"

And jmvniM going off lika : ble I" * Uoald four tongue in thot matter,"

lui ^tait bien dd,

De QOmbreui aniie U Fisiti: ;

Cur elutciin x.'aTBit que Lsuient

A w>n lour rendrait la p&reillf,

Cbapcau montre, ot vrate cQ-

gugeant,

Pour que I'atni put boire bou-

Mi faire, i goaier §ec, ie Aaut.

" H'^lai, notrc gar^on '" luidii-jn " CombienjorcgrHtBton iorl I

To TOili fleur, que sur u tige Moiaaoime la cruelle mort I" —

"Au diahW dil-il, "le roi

^a nte fait la raleur d'un bou-

My,

he:

"For llie neckcloth I don't care D

button,

I And bj UuB time lo-moiToir jou'll eee

Yowhtm will bodoadBs mutton ;

AU for irhnt P 'fcase bia coi>ra({c

WM goodl"

2G8

7ATHSB PBOTJT S RELTQVES.

Tlie boys they came crowding in fast ; They drew their stools dose round about him, Six glims round his coffin they

placed — He couldn't be well waked without

'em. I axed if he was fit to die,

Without having duly repented ? Says Larry, ** Thai's aU in my eye, And all by the darffy inyented. To make a fat bit for themselves."

Des amis d6jik la oohorte

Bemplissait son ^troit r^oit ; " Six cnandelles, ho ! qu'on ap- porte, Donnons du lustre k cette nuit ! Alors ie cherchai k oonnaitre S'il s'^tait diiment repenti ? " Bah ! c'est les fourberies des

pr6tree ; Les gredins, ils en ont menti, £t leurs contes d'enfer sont feux!"

Then the cards being called for, they played. Till Larry found one of them cheated; Quick he made a hard rap at his head —

The lad being easily heated. ** So ye chates me bekase I'm in grief! O ! is that, by the Holy, the rason ? Soon I'll give you to know, you d^-d thief. That you're cracking your jokes out of sason, And scuttle your nob with my fist."

L'on demande les cartes. Au jeu Laurent voit un larron qui triche ; D'honneur tout rempli, il prend feu, Et d un bon coup de poign I'affiche. "Ha, coquin! de mon dernier jcur Tu croyais profiter, peut-etn? ; Tu 08C8 me jouer ce tour ! Prends 9a pour ta peine, vil traitre ! Et apprends k te bien con- duire."

Then in came the priest with his book.

He spoke him so smooth and so

civil ;

Larry tipped him a Kilmainham look.

And pitched his big wig to the divil.

Then raising a Uttle his head,

To got a sweep drop of the bottle, And pitiful sighing he said,

" O ! the hemp will be soon round my throttle, And choke my poor windpipe to death !"

Quand nous e^bnes cess^ nos ^bats, Laurent, en ce triste repaire Pour le disposer au tr^pas,

Voitentrer Monsieur leYicaire. Apres un sinistre r^ard,

Le front de sa main il se frotte,

Disant tout haut, " Yenez plus

tard !"

Et tout has, " Vilain' colotte !"

Puis son verre il vida deux

fois.

So mournful these last words he spoke, Lors il parla de I'^hafaud,

We all vented our tears in a shower; • Et de sa derniere cravate ;

For my part, I thought my heart Grands dieux ! que 9a paraissait

broke beau

To see him cut down like a flower I Be la voir mounr en Socrate 1

On hu trvrela ire witched hi'u nc^t Le tnyet en cliantant il fit —

dar. La clian«on point ne tat u

O, the QBiiKiraii 1 thought I could pHSuntc ;

kill him '. Mnis palit im pen quund il vit

Tot one word did our poor Larrr aay, L» itatue da Hoj Oiidlaiinia-

Nor ciiDDged [ill Im came lo "King Lei pcniWds n'aimeiit pi

"Williain ;" ce roi ! Och, in}> dear I then his colour turned »hil« '.

Ho was tucked up lo ocat and bo Le gibet IHit prfit en u

prctt;; MouranC il [oumn lo riiiise

lie nimbler jugged off from his fei-t. Vers In bonne TiUe de DabHn.

And he died nithhia face lotjierilj. II dans* Is eamis|piole,

Se kicked loo, but IhntiraB all pridt', Et mourut commo Ql Ual-

For HK>D jon might tee 'tnaa all brouck ;

OTorj Poie noiia enterrftmei ie drflle

nd as soon as the DiKue was untied, An cimetiire de Donnjbrouk.

Ihen at dnrkef we waked liiui in Queaaniune; aoit en reposl

And aunt him to take b ground-

There hw been an nttcnipt by Vu^tor Hugo to einbod.v juto a book tbe prindpleB of Stoic philoaophy, wjiich Larry lierem propoimifa to Ilia nBaociates ; and the French poet baa spun out into tbe shape of a long yarn, eailed " Le dernier Jour d'un Coudamue," what my friend Ueau Bur- :» bad BO ably condenaed in bis immortal ballad. But apect that Addiaon's tragedy of " Cato" furniahed the original bint, in the aublime soliloquy about suicide —

unless we trace the matter aa far back as Hamlet'a conver- ■BtioQ witii the grave-digger.

The care and attentioa with whicH " tbe boya" paid tlie laat funeral honours to the illuatrioua dead, ansiouS'to tes- tify their adheaion to the doctrinea of the defiinct philo- Mpber by a glorioua " wake," remind me of the pomp and I'eremony with which the saiiii culnllei of Paria conveyed the carcass of Voltiure and the ashea of Jean Jacques to the Pantheon in 179i. The bones of the ciit-throat Marat were mbsequently added to the relics tberein gathered ; and m

270

FATHER Pout's bsuquIeb.

inscription bitterly ironical biased on the front of tho temple's gorgeous portico —

" Aux grands homines la pairie reconnaissante !'*

The " Confessions'* of Eousseau had stamped him a vaga- bond ; the " Pacelle" of Voltaire, by combining an outrage on morals with a sneer at the most exalted instance of ro- mantic patriotism on record in his 'own or any other country, had emmently entitled the writer to be " waked" by the viost ferocious ruffians that ev^r rose from the kenuel to trample on all the decencies of life, and riot in all the beati- tude of democracy. But when I denounce their doings of 1793, there was a man in those days who deserved to live in better times ; tho' carHed away by the frenzy of the season (for "madness ruled the hour"), he voted for the death of Louis XYI. That man was the painter David^ then a mefiAer of the Convention ; subsequently the imperial ar- tist, whose glorious picturings of " The Passage of the Alps by Bonaparte," of "The Spartans at Thermopyl»," and " The Emperor in his Coronation Bobes," shed such radiance on his native laud. The Bourbons had the bad taste not only to enforce the act of proscription in his case while he lived, but to prohibit his dead body from being interred in the French territory. His tomb is in Brussels; but his paintings form the ornament of Louvre and Luxemburg ; while fortunate enough to be sung by B^ranger.

%e ConBoi He BabiH,

Peint¥e de VEmperent^ teX'Membre de la Convention.

Air—'* 0e Roland."

•* NonI nonl vous ne passeret pas!" Crie un soldat Bur la fronti^re, A cetix qui de David, h^las ! Kapportalent ches noiig la poii>(si^re. "Soldat," disentils dans leur detiil, " Proacrit-on aussi sa m^moire? Quoi, vous reponsMS son cercueil! Et vous h^ritez de sa gloire !"

* Non ! non ! vous ne passerez pas I"

Dit le soldat avec fiirie. — "Soldat, ses yenx jusqu'au trtpas So sont tonrn^H vera la patrie ; 11 en soutenait la splendour

Du fond d'un exil qui I'honore ; C^est par lui que notre grandeur Sur la toile respire encore."

" Non I non! vous ne pasMres pas!**

Bedit plus baa la aentinelle.— " Le peintre de L^nidas

Dans la liberty n'a vu qn*eUt : On lui dut le noble appareil

Des Jours de Joie et d'ent^ranee, Oik les beanz arts k lenr r«retl F«taient to r^vell de U Fraaoe.'*

" Non ! non I vous ne pasaeres pas P Di le soldat; " e'est ma covslgoe." " Du plus grand de tous lea sc4dUa II fat le peintre le plus digna A Taspect de I'aigle si tier,

Plein d'Hom^re, et Time ezaltM. David erut peindre Jnpit^r— IHLas ! il pelgnit Prom4tb^"

' ruisoE. 271

■WmiT mm I rmt n( puwrMpMr

'Eb (rin, MUliininni on nna |hii <

L« hum gqt EXTju J> a>ml»in ■till 111 ;>urr ['MM i« Ron.* I

Ex-Ucntbn- <f Ihr Ifattonat CormntioH. :-.-, ''•■j-' ,•_

[MM in burred! "Full l>•I^k !" cut* the giuird ^ "crou sat tha

Franch frontier!"

Hh Aolpmn tread, of the Diiled d«d the flincni] dretr ninr.

■r the aentinelle Imiii coticed niill what no plumo, no ]uU nn biite,

it jFtm h(«r«e eonlain* (he sad rsmaint of a bsniehoil re^cidn!

' pit}? take, for hii glorf's eakp." Hid lus ohilHrnt lo Lhe guarH ;

lis nobis art plead on hi* pun — let a grace be 111* rcwnrd !

' ' t hour of fkiiie, nor tlio aid of liia pi^i'il

be the memorj of the triumph* h* adornml ["

'tis my dulj, all* '■" said the froniiiT rort-

"Oh! givo to France ths inlieritaDro of her ptunt«r'« funeral urn : Hu pm^ traiMd, on the Alpiuo waste of the patlilms Mont Bmnri<, Sapolaoa'i eouna on the »now-whilo horse'— let ojiraM be hin reword! For ha loied thit land — af, bis djing baad to point her fame he'd lend

faert Let hi* jjassporl. bo the memory of hi» nati»e i-oontrj'* BplaiiiJour t"

tAan bedimmed li loriou* enterprise."

~ T« cannot paas," said the guard, "ahis! (for

" Her f»V(iiirile "ras Iioonidas, with his band of Spartan men ; Did not his art to them impart lire's breath, that Franoe might see Wliat a patriot fuw in the gap could do at old ThermoprbB ? Oft bj that sight for the eoming flgUt was the TOUtbful bosom fired : Let lu> paaaport be the memory oE the Talour be inspired !"

" Ya cannot pats." — "Soldirr, alai ! a dismal boon wo ctbvh — Saj. is there not some lonely spot where lib I'rienda may dig.a grnie? Ob I pity lake, fnr that harv's sake wbom lie gloried to portray With orown and palm at Botre Dame on hii coronalioD-daj."

272 FJLTH£B PSOtrx'S RBLIQUZ8.

Amid that band the withered hand of an aged pontiff roee* And blessing shed on the conqueror's head, forgiving his own t. He drew that scene — nor dreamt, I ween, that yet a little while, And the hero's doom would be a tomb far off in a lonely isle I

** I am charged, alas ! not to let you pass,'* said the sorrowing sentinellc ; ** His destiny must also be a foreign grave !" — " 'Tis well ! — Hard is our fate to supplicate for his bones a place of rest, And to bear away his banished clay from the land that he loved besk But let us hence ! — Sad recompense for the lustre that he cast, Blending the rays of modem davs with the glories of the past 1 Our sons will read with shame this deed (umess my mind doth err) $ And a future age make pilgrimage to the painter's sepulchre !"

How poor and pitiful to visit on his cofiBn the error of hia political career ! There is a sympathy in our nature that rises in arms against any act of persecution that vents itself upon the dead ; and genius in exile has ever excited interest and compassion. This feeling has been admirably worked upon by the author of the " Meditations Po^tiques," a poet every way inferior to B^ranger, but who, in the following effusion, has surpassed himself, and given utterance to some of the noblest lines in the French language.

iLa filotre.

A un Pohte Portugais exile, par Alphonse de la Matiime,

G^n^rcux, favjoris des fiUes de memoirs ! Deux scntiers differents devant vous vont s'ouvrir— L'uD conduit au bonheur, I'autre m^ne a la gloire ; Mortels ! il £&ut choisir.

Ton sort, O Manoel ! suivit la loi commune : La muse t'euivra de pr^oces favours ; Tes jours furent tissus de gloire et d'infortui|e, Et tu verses des pleurs !

Kougis, plutdt rougis, d^envier au vulgaire, Le sterile repos dont son cceur est jaloux ; Les dieux out fait pour lui tons lee biens de la terre, Mais la lyre est a nous.

Les siecles sont h toi, le monde est ta patrie ; Quand nous ne sommes plus, notre ombre a dee fMiteli^ Oil le juste avenir prepare k ton g^nie Des honneurs immortels.

A quel prix Tail, rlntoi

TOE SOKeil OF r&JLUCF,.

Ocii, In gloire t'&tUnd ! maia air^te et contempls

luneiuaiae ■ is port« du lemph-, £a garde let digrit.

Id c'eat ee Tieillard que I'lngTBte loiiie A ru de mon ea men promcncr >e» malheun t Areugle, U n^endisit, au prix de son gime, Ud pain mouilU de pleun.

JA le Tuatr, br&l^ d'one flunme fatale, Elpiant dans leg len tt glaiie <A BOii amour, (Juand il Ta recucillir la paline triomphalo, Descend aa noir b^out.

Par-tout des □udheureui, dee proicriti, di's lielmiea, Lnttaut contre le sort, ou oontre les buurrenui i Oq dinit que le Ciel mx caurs plus maguaamies Uisure plus de diduX.

Impose done aileuM aui plaintcB de ta !jni —

Dei eours nea sans vertu I'inforlune eat I'^i^ucil ;

Ibii toi, roi dctrfinf , que ton mallieur t'iiuipice

Un gen Ere in orgueiL

Que t'importe, aprea lout, que cet ordre harbor? ^euduune loin des bonis qui fUrent Ion berc(»ii t Que t'importe en quel lieu la destin lo prepare Dn glorieux tombesu 7

Si Vail vl le fer de c«s tjrBna du Tags N 'dpchaineront Ca gloire bui bords ou tu mourms < Idabonne 1b rf eUmo, et tolli I't jritage Que tu lui laissenui.

Ceux qui I'ont mioonnu pleiireroDt Ic graud botnn* Atlitee k des proscrlW ouTre aoo FantUoiii OorioUn expire, et lee enrans de Borne BevDudiquent son nam.

Aus TiTagea des xnorta avant que de desuendre, Oride Ure au ciel sea smtpUantce nuuna : Am Bannates barbans il a l^ue aa conrtiv. St aa gloire aiii itumaua.

^74 FATHER PBOVT'S BELIQITEB.

Coni^olatton.

Addretted by Lamartme to his friend and brother-poei, MtuwSly ^%\%hci

from FortugtU,

Ifvour bosom beats high, if your pulse quicker grows, When in yisions ye fancy t^e wreath of the Muse, There's the path to renown — there's the path to repose— Ye must choose ! ye must choose !

Manofil, thus the destiny rules t^y career, And thy life's web is woven with gloiy and woe ; Thou wert nursed on the lap of the Muse, and thy tear Shall unceasingly flow.

O, my friend ! do not envy the vulgar their joys, Nor Uie pleasures to which their low nature is prone ; For a nobler ambition our leisure employs— Oh, tlie lyre is our own !

And the future is ours ! for in ages to come, The admirers of genius an altar will raise To the poet ; and Fame, till her trumpet is dumb, Will re-echo our praise.

Poet ! Glory awaits thee ; her temple is thine ; But there's one who keeps vigil, if entrance vou claim *Tis MiBFOBTTTNE ! she sits in the porch of the shrine. The pale portress of Fame !

Saw not Gh*eece an old man, like a pilgrim arrayed. With his tale of old Troy, and a staflf in his hand, Beg his bread at the door of each hut, as he strayed Through his own classic land ?

And because he had loved, though unwisely, yet well ; Mark what was the boon by bright beauty bestowed— Blush, Italy, blush ! for yon maniac's oeU It was Tasso's abode.

Hand in hand Woe and Genius must walk here below. And the chalice of bitterness, mixed for mankind, Must be quaffed by us all ; but its waters o'erflow For the noble of mind.

Then the heave of thy heart's indignation keep down ( Be the voice of lament never wrung from thy pride i Leave to others the weakness of srief; take reuown With endurance aUied.

THE BOKOS OF FBAKCE. 27S

Ii«t thero bSDuh far off uid prmoribB (for tbef eao) SsdilDDed Portagal'a aoa Emin liia dpsp iiiiliiu pUins; !But no (jrant can plsue Ilio tree toiA uudur ban. Or the flpiiib in chiuDa.

Ko ! Ilie {renxy of {action, thouj^ hatciuL though strong, Prom iLe banks of the Taeus can't baniBli I4iy feme : &tUl the hoik) of old Lisbon sball ring with tliv fong And fEBOund with tLj name.

Wlien Dante's attainder bis towasmea repealed — When the sona slamped tht deed of their aim nith abliorfL'nce* They suDimoned reluPUnt Havennn to yield Biwk hit fame to hia Floreace.

And nith both haada uplifted Lore's bard ere he breathed Uia Iwt aigh, isr sway Irvtu Im kiiidml and home : To the Scythiuia hia asliea hath left, but bctjueathed All bit gloi7 U> Borne.

'Sever doea poetry aBsuine a loftier tone than wben it be- comes the vehicle of calm philosophy or geaeroua conilo- lence with bumaa sufierings ; but when honest patriotiain swells the note aud eialta the melody, the effect on a feeling heart is truly delightful. List to B^rauger.

%t 'F'tolon btist.

II dliluwt dsi iDBca (HI - Da piutn ftourilaim.

' ABI>iIrt*l|ull'MatiiiI aitendn

Hem dainai eoaulcat niol'in d'aSiol ;

Eut itriit >ic lr°iil dim rul. Va pnlda diii> iwin Kl<'ln Am ebuti qiiVII- luiui liupinit

• Ktnussr H lengiraltr

«■.'•■..-!!-"».":

276 FATHEB FSOUT'S BSLIQUI8.

Ci^e dhrenci^ JfitMir^H tamentatton.

My poor dos I here ! of jesterdaj's ftistiTal-cake

Eat the poor remains in sorrow ; For when next a repast joa and I shall make, It most be on brown bread, which, for charity's sake^

Tour master must beg or borrow.

Of these strangers the presence and pride in France

Is to me a perfect riddle ; They haye conquered, no doubt, by some &tal chance-* For they haughtUy said, ** Tou mutt play us a danoe !**

I refused — and they broke my fiddle !

Of our yiUage the orchestra, crushed at one stroke*

By that sayage insult perished ! 'Twas then that our pride felt the strangers* yoke. When the insolent hand of a foreigner broke

What our hearts so dearly cherished.

For whenever our youth heard it merrily sound,

A flood of gladness shedding. At the dance on the green they were sure to be found { While its music assembled the neighbours around

To the yiUage maiden's wedding.

By the priest of the parish its note was pronounced

To be innocent " after service ;" And gaily the wooden-shoe'd peasantry bounced On the bright Sabbath-day, as the^ diuiced undenounced

By pope, or bonze, or dems.

How dismally slow will the Sabbath now run.

Without fiddle, or flute, or tabor — How sad is the haxrest when music there's none — How sad is the vintage tans fiddle begun ! — Dismal and tuneless labour !

In that fiddle a solace for grief we had got ;

'Twas of peace the oest preceptor ; For its sound made all quarrels subside on the spot,, And its bow went much farther to soothe our hard lot

Than the crosier or the sceptre.

But a truce to my grief! — for an insult so base A new puise in my heart hath awoken !

That affront I'll revenge on their insolent race ;

Qird a sword on my thigh — let a musket replace The fiddle their buid has broken.

THI KOHBB OP FaASCE. 277

My fruDds, if 1 lall, m; old oorf m in the crowd

Of nlBoghtotwl inartjri viewing. Shall uy, whila thej wmp 1117 cold limbs in a ahroin), *Twafl not Ut fkult if fWM a barbariau allanca

To daoPB in our coontry*i min !"

It would be a pity, while we are in the patriotic strain of sentiment, to allow the feelings to cool ; ho, to use a techni- i-al phrase, we shall keep the »team »p, by flinging into tlie already kindled furnace of generous emotions a truly nati- onal ballad, br Casimir Delavigne, conceroing a well-known anecdote of tke late revolution, July 1830.

It Ciiim Ha loubri. t!ri}t fiog of tf)t Gfjrtt JDaut

Oaiimir DilavtgHt. A SaUad, Siptimbf 1831.

Faoaiil! que ton &ont w dfcoDTre ! With genllo tread, villi uiit:uTrr'o

U pliu d'un bruve eat endomu ! £«d,

De* Aeon pour le mutjr du Loutts, Pus bj' the Lourrp-gBlP,

Un peu de pain pour ion ami ! Whore buriwl lie the " men d

kaH flower* ire flung by thp paisera-by, And tba dog bowls dest'lnte.

Tlmt dog had foiighl.

In the Qerce onalougiit Hid rutlicd with his master on :

And both fought well;

But the rasBter fell— And behold Che BurriTiug nne 1

By hia lifaleaa clay. Shaggy and grey,

Hia (ellow-warrior alood : Nor mored beyond. But mingled, fond,

Big teara with hia mnater'a bluo'i

Tigil he keeps

By those grt«?n lieajia.

That tell where heroea bu ; No pa«Ber-by Can attract hia ey<*,

For be knowa " it ia not at !"

dam vint lea ■(!«□■

Ippelle, et de i

le corpa de eon Mrs d'annes •e conlpr sea groa»ea bumea Aveeaon aang.

k7B

FATHER PBOUT's SSLIQUIS.

Au p jint du jour, Son cell 86 ranime, il se dresse Pour que son maitre le caresse

A son retour.

Aux Tents dee nuits, quand la cou-

ponne Sur la croix du tombeau frlsonne,

Perdant I'espoir, n yeut que son maitre Tentende — II gronde, il pleure, et lui demande

L'adieu du soir.

Si la neige ayec violence

De ses flocons couvre en silence

Le lit de mort, n pousse un cri lugubre et tendre, On s*v couche pour le d^fendre

I)efl vents du nord.

Avant de ferraer la paupi^re, II fait pour soulever la pierre

Un vain effort ; Puis il se dit, comme la veille " II m'appelera s'il s'^veiUe" —

Puis il s'endort.

La nuit il r6ve barricades — Son maitre est sous la fusillade,

Convert de sang ; — n Ten tend qui siffle dans Tombre, Se l^ve, et saute apr^s son ombre

£n gdmissant.

C'est \k qu'il attend d'heure en

heure, Qu'il aime, qu'il souffre, qu'il pleure,

Et qu'il mourra. Quel fut son nom ? C'est un mys-

t^re ; Jamais la voix qui lui fiit ch^re

Ne le dira !

Passant! que ton front se d^ouvre! lA plus d'un brave est endormi ; Pes fleurs pour le martyr du

Louvre, Un peu de pain pour son ami !

That are hung in this place of mourning.

He will start to meet

The coming feet Of HOC whom he dreamt retiiming.

On the grave's wood-cross When the chaplets toss.

By the blasts of midnight shaken. How he howleth ! hark I From that dwelling dark

The slain, he would £un, awaken.

When the snow comes £ut

On the chilly blast. Blanching the bleak chqrchyard.

With limbs outspifead

On the dismal bed Of his liege, he still keeps guard.

Oft in the night,

With main and might. He strives to raise the stone :

Short respite takes —

" If master wakes. He'll call me" — then sleeps on.

Of bayonet-blades,

Of barricades. And guns, he dr^uneth most ;

Starts from his dream,

And then would seem To eye a bleeding ghost.

He'll linger there

In sad despair, And die on his master's grave.

Hjs name ? 'Tis known

To the dead alone — He's the dog of the nameless brave!

GKve a tear to the dead. And give some bread To the dog of the Louvre gate ! '>^ere buried lie the men of July, And flowers are flung by the passers-by. And the dog howls dfiftolate.

^

iSGS OP FBAscE. 279

Wlien Diderot wrote that celebrated sentence, thnt he •an DO diSereoce between himself and a dog but tlie clothes, he, no doubt, imagined he had conferred a compliment on the dumb animul. I rather suspect, knowing the nature of ft thorough-bred French philosopher, that the balance of dimity inclines the other way. Certain I am, that any thing like honest, manly, or allectiouate feeling nefer hau ylace in the breast of this contributor to the "Encyclop^die," imd writer of irreligioua and indecent romances.

There are Hermons in stones, pltiloanphy in a fiddle, and a Jeep nndereurrent of ethical musing runs often beneath apparently shallow eilusions. Yet 1 tear Beranger'a are far from being sacred songs after the manner of Watts' hymns or Poinpignan's Potties Saerie* at wliich Voltaire sneered. " Sacr^es eliea Bont car peraonne n'y louche." Of this class France can show the odea of Jean BaptUte Eousseau, the ehorua hymJis in Esther by Bacine, and the old version of the Paalma with which Clement Marot comforted hia brother Hnnienots.

'file NoeU, or carols for Christmas tide, are also found in the French proTinces, charming in thought and sentiment ; in Brittany especially there are some current under the name of AbeJard (who was a bom Breton), the philosophic tone of which bespeaks a scholastic origin. As I write in December, and that solemn festivity is at band, I do not hesitate to lay before my reader one of them. Oruidical tradition had its stronghold in Bretagne, which accounts for Abelard'fl choice of subject in the following tinel.

Ctit S^iillttot, a toft ot tl]i fecabcitiSom.

I. And a rod from hia roba he drew —

r A prophet Mt by the Temple gale, '^''" " ■"'''"'™d buugl' 'oTO

Aiiihe »piAe ««!h pM8^ by- „ '™8 "B?

I„ thrillii/ToDe-wKr word of ^^T, ,^ hT" iT "'?'' ".^"j

weigSit, "" ™ branch long lorn iliow'd

And a™ in bu roUing eye. „ . . » 7"

•■ /:«« /*^. b,li^Jjm„! Th«t h«d bio..omed the,

__ bud De«

I'aute ihee, bftievmff JfW ! Vnt^lT^rl'Lll^p,md«'& And the bud «-u Ib^ hirtll JJ

280

TATHEB PBOTJT's BBLIQVES.

n.

A priest of Egypt sat meanwhile

Under a lofty palm, And gazing on his nntiye Nile,

As in a mirror cahn, He saw a lowly Lotus plant —

Pale orphan of the flood. Aiid well did th' aged hierophant

Mark the mysterious bud : For he fitly thought, as he saw it float

0*er the waste of waters wild. That the symbol told of the cradle boat

Of the wondrous Hebrew child. Nor was that bark-like Lotus dumb

Of a mightier infant yet to come, Whose graven skiff" in hieroglyph

Marks obelisk and catacomb.

III.

A Greek sat on Colonna's cape,

In liis lofty thoughts alone, And a volume lay on Plato's lap.

For he was that lonely one. And oft as the sage gazed o'er the page

His forehead radiant grew ; For in Wisdom* s womb of the Word to come,

Tlie vision blest his view. He broached that theme in the Academe,

In the teachfid olive grove ; And a chosen few that secret knew

In the Porch's dim alcove.

IV.

A Sybil sat in Cum» s cave — •Twas the hour of infant Borne —

And vigil kept, and warning gave Of the holy one to come.

'Twas she who had culled the hal- lowed branch,

And sat at the filent helm When Mneoa, sire of Bome, would launch His bark o'er Hades' realm. And now she poured her veetal sou] Through many a bright illumined scrolls By priest and sage of an after-age donned in the lofty oapitoL

V.

A Druid stood in the dark oak wood

Of a distant northern land ; And he seemed to hold a sickle of gold In the grasp of his withered hand; And slowly moved around the girth

Of an aeed oak, to see If a bleesea plant of wondrous birtli

Had clung to the old oak tree. And anon he knelt, and from his belt Unloosened his golden blade. Then rose and culled the MisiXB-

TOB

Under the woodland shade.

VI.

O, blessed bough! meet emblem thou

Of all dark Egypt knew, Of all foretold to the wise of old.

To Boman, Gb-eek, and Jew. And lonff €K)d grant, time-honoured plant.

May we behold thee hung In oottage small, as in baron's hall.

Banner and shield amons. Thus fitly rule the mirth of Tide

Aloft in thy plioe of pride ; Still usher forth in each land ofihi north

The solenm Christmaa tide*

^xh was the imaginative theory of the great scholastic Tnth reference to symbolism and the mistletoe. The dual

THE B0S08 OF FRiNCE. 281

'of tbe schools ia Bometiiues diamond dust, and fimej- in often TOiied up vrith metaphyBics. That Abelard'a orLhodosy should be damaged by hia lautoatic faculties was a naturol result ; *s it also may prove in the case of a modem light of the Gallican church, likewise a native of Britttiuy, Abb^ Liim- ,ia. I eeeiahia eloquent "Susaiturfiiii/ijertace enReli- •gtun," the germ of much futiu* aberration, and predict for bim a career like that of the Abb4 Bajnal, wbose " History i<rf European Commerce in the two lidies," full of impas- Aiuned and brilliant passages, is as replete with anti-social •nd antichriHtiaa sentiment as any contemporary declama- tion of D'Holbach or Diderot.

What though the pen of some among those sophists could Dccssionolly trace eloquent words iu the advoeiicy of their diaastrouB theories P— what care I for the

— *' Tcrdant spotfl that bloom

Aroand the crater i biiruing lip«, SweeWtuag the verj edgo of doom," —

if the result be an eruption of all the evil passions of man- luod to desolate the fair face of society,

It is with unaffected sorrow I find the noble faculties of Granger devoted now and then to similar i-illanies ; but in the following he has clothed serene philosophy iu appro- Jtriate diction.

ftte (ftoilttf ^i filtnt.

Sltootiiig Utiles.

" Bergor I tn di« quo notro ftoilp " Shepherd ! they laj th»t a itar pro-

lUgie IKK joura, et brille am Bidet

eieui ?" Orer Ufa f— '"Tia a trulh.iny 50n 1

Oui, mon oofont! mug de son IU eeoretB Irom men the firmiinicnt

Tode hidps,

I*iiuitLid*pobelnoeTeiui." — But tails to aoioc favoured one." —

Barnr 1 sur Eet szur banqiiille " Shepherd \ the; bbj tlial a link un-

Da lire on ie croit le aecret ; broken

|iioUe ret i*tte ftoile qui BIh, Conneota out lute with aome fBVOU-

(Jui il«, file, «t dispart V rite itar ;

What may yon iliooting light be-

Tbn faUi, Ma, Mid ia quenched •lar?"

282 FATHEB PBOUT's BSLIQUES.

** Mon enfant, iin mortel expire ! ** The deatih of a mortal, my son, who

Son ^toile tombe k I'instant ; held

Entre amis que la joie inspire In his banqueting-hall high rerel ;

Celui'ci buvait en chantant. And his music was sweet, and his wine Heureux, il s*endort mimobile exceUed,

Auprds du rin qu*il c^^brait.** Life's path seemed long and lerel : " £ncore une ^toile qui file, Ko sign was given, no word was

Qui file, file, et disparatt ?" spoken.

His pleasure death comes to mar.** " But what does yon milder light be- token. That falls, fiidls, and is quenched afar?"

**Mon enfant ! qu'elle est pure '**Ti8 the knell of beauty!— it marks et beUe ! the close

CestceUed'unobjetcharmant; Of a pure and gentle maiden ; Fille heureuse ! amante fidele ! And her cheek was warm with its On Taccorde au plus tendre bridal rose,

amant : And her brow with its bride- wreath

Des fleurs ceignent son front laden : —

nubile, The thousand hopes young lore had

Et de I'Hymen Tautel est pr^t." woken

'* Encore ime ^toile qui file. Lie crushed, and her dream is past.**

Qui file, file, et disparait ?" " But what can yon rapid light be- token. That fidls, £bJ]b, and is quenched so fast ?"

" Mons fils ! c'est T^toile rapide "*Tis the emblem, my son, of quick D'un tres-grand seigneur nou- decay !

yeau-n^ ; *Tis a rich lord's child newly bom :

TJe berceau qu*il a laiss^ ride The cradle that holds his inanimate

D*or et de pourpre ^tait ome : clay,

Des poisons qu'un flatteur dis- Gold, purple, and silk adorn ;

tille. The panders prepared through li£9 to

C*^tait k qui le nourrirait." haunt him

" Encore une ^toile qui file. Must seek some one else in his

Qui file, file, et disparait P" room."

** Look, now ! what means yon dismal phantom That falls, fidls, and is lost in gloom P"

'* Mon en&nt, quel fclair si- " There, son ! I see the guiltr thought

nistre ! Of a haughty statesman rail,

CT^tait Tastre d*un fiiTori, Who the poor man* 9 condor 4^ ./emig

Qui 9€ eroyait un grand minitire, tought

Quand de not maux ii avaii ri. To plunder or eurtaU.

CmiiiguiBerTainitoedieafn^e His former ijpophauiB hme ourswi Ont d^i each* lOQ portrait." Tbeir iiiol'i buao enJeaTouv," EncOK uno iUale qui Sle, " But witcli tlie light Umt iidit hu

Qui file, file, et diipanat." burst,

Foils, fnlls. Slid is queacbed for

Uoa ISif, ijoels pleon sont le« " What a loss, O my son, wu there !

nfttrw ! Where sbatl hunger nowscfk relief?

D'un rii!he nous perdous Tap- The poor, wbo Are gleaners elsewhere,

pui : Could reap in Ait field full Bhe&t!

L'indigenneglauecheE Inautrei, On the evening he died, his door

Mail elle moissonnait obei lui ! Wu throned with a veering

Oe Boir mSroe, sir d'un asjle, crowd."—

AsontuitlepauTreBcoournit." "Lool.slieplierd! Ihere'sonoslarmoK

Kneore une eioile qui file. That Gdls, and is quenched in k

Qui file, file, et disparatt F" cloud."

mari^li's star ! Do llion pr«-

:, my child 1

m puissant mo- ! gnrde ta can-

6 _

El qnc ton (toile ne marque Par I'fchit ni par la grandeur. to briUai* sans *tre utile, A ton dernier jour on dirsit, )e n'eat qii'unc ftoile qui file. Qui me, file, ct dispaniit I'"

Tliji Nor fro.

Butt Of Iht/ star, if the sterila ray

For no ufeful purpose shono, At thj death, ' See tbat star,' they'd

'It falls! fnltal is past uidgoncT"

The pbiloBOphic humour of the next ballad is not in so magnificent a vein ; but good sense and e.tcellent wisdom it most assuredly contametu, being a comiueDdatory poem on ji much-abused and unjustly depreciated branch of the 'feathered family.

1,(6 <&ita (ISIO).

De» chnnsonniers damoisoaux

iTabandonnc lea Toies ; iQuittaiit boaqnets et rfaeauz, Je obantfl au Uvu des oiseaui —

LvB oiea 1

SoMtgnol, en Tain Q bas

Ton gosier se diploio ;

Valgrt tes brillnnls appas,

Xn brooke tu ne raux paa

9 {lantguric on &stet (1810)

I lialo to sing your haoknej'd birds —

So, dores and iwnns, a truQo 1 Tour ncsls hove bei'ii too often stirreil | jt/ji hero shall be — in a word — A goose ! The nightingale, or else " bulbul,"

By Tommy Moore let loose. Is growii intolerably dull — / from the the feathrred nation l-uII

284

FATHEB PBOUT's BEUQUBB.

Strasbourg tire vaiut^ De 868 p&t^8 de foie ;

Cette Buperbe cit^ Ne doit sa pro8p^rit^

Quaux oies !

On peut faiie un bon repas

D ortolans, de lamproies — Mais Paris n*en produit pas ; II B*j trouve k chaque pas

Des oies!

Les Grecs, d*an commun aveu, 8'ennuyaient derant Troie ; Pour les amuser un peu, XJlysse inventa le jeu

De I'oie.

Sur un aigle, au vol brutal,

Jupiter nous fbudroie : n nous ferait moins de mal S'il choisissait pour cheval

Une oie.

Can roasted Pniiomei n lirer

Fit for a pie produce ? Fat pies that on tno ikuiue's sweet

river Fair Strasburg bakes. Flay who's the giver?

Agoose!

An ortolan is good to eat, A partridge is of use ; But mej are soaroe— whereas you meet At Pans, ay, in erery street,

Agoose!

When tired of war the Ghreeks became.

They pitched Troy to the deuce, Ulysses, then, was not to blame For teaching them the noble " game

Of goose r*

May Jupiter and Buonaparte,

Of thunder less profuse, Suffer their eagles to depart. Encourage peace, and take to heart

Agoose!

Wisdom openeth her mouth in parables; so B^ranger stigmatized the internal administration of France (1810) in his song Le Rot d' Tvetot, The oriental fashion of convey- ing a sober truth by allegorical narrative is occasionally (and gracefully) adopted by the poets of France, one of whom has left us this pretty line, containing in itself the precept and the exemplification :

" L'aUegorie habite un palais diaphane !"

Here is one concerning love and his arch-enemy Time, bj Count de Segur.

Irf Ccmd et rflmour.

A voyager passant sa vie,

Certain vieillard, nomm^ le Terns, Pr^ d'un fleuve arrive, et s*^crie,

** Prenez piti6 de mes vieux ans ! £h, quoi ! soiu* ces bords Ton m'oublie^-

Moi, qui compte tous les instans \ Jeunes bergeres ! je yous prie

TeneSy ?enet, passer le Temi !"

THE BOSOB OF rBASCa.

De I'sutrc cAU, tar 1b plage,

Plua d'uae fiUe rrgardiiil, Et Toulait aider bod piuaugG

Sur ime biirque qu' Amour guidul | Ifaifl I'lme d'eJles, bien plus sage,

Xi^ur rep^tolt era taot* prndens — ** Ah, touTBDt on a fitit imufnigo

En cherchanC L posMr le Terns I" Amour gument pousse au riTBge —

II abin^e toat pr^ du Temi i n loi propose le roja^

L'embBrque, at s Bbkndonne mis Tentia Afitant sei runes l^g^res,

II dit et redit en ses chants — "Toua Tojei, JBUDEB betgSres,

Que rjjnour Mt passer le Teias 1" Mais I'Amour bisntAt se Ibsbd

Cb fiit U toujoun son d£but ; I« Tenis prend la rune & b& pince.

Et dit, " Eh qooi ! quitler aitQC F Purrre enfant, quelle cat ts foiblesse I

Til dors, Ot je ohanle ■ mon tour Of vitax re&ain de U isgeese,

Le Terns &it puaser 1' Amour !"

Cimt anS loiit.

Old Tdo u a pilgrin:

a for 1

It perfon

Behold, a broad river appears 1 " Pais nie over," Time cried ("01 tony not.

For I count each hour witli mj glasa g Yttf whoae akifT is naoored to jon pleaaont apot— ^

Young maidens, old TlUB cotne psasl" Uanf maids si

The old m

w with piij, upon the bonk.

hia glass in eriaf; Their kindlier he said, ho vould erer If thej'd

I batik,

ikiff. While Bomo wanted LovK to unmoor tlie bark,

One iriser in tbouglit sublime i " Oft ahipwrerks ocuur," waa tbe ouiid'e rcniHi t,

" When seeking to pass old TmE !" From the strand tlie small skiff IiOVZ pusLca ailu

He crossed to the pilKrim'a side^ A.id taking old Tins in bis nell-trimmud OOai,

Dipt his oars in the flowing tide.

286

7ATHEB PBOUT'b BEUQUXB.

SweeUy he sung as he worked at the oar.

And thifl was his merry song— » " You see, young maidens who crowd the shoce

How with LoYB Time passes along ?*'

But soon the poor boy of his task grew tired.

As he often had been before ; And faint from his toil, for mercy desired

Father Tike to take up the oar. In his turn grown tunefxu, the pilgrim old

With the paddles resumed the Uy ; But he changed it and sung, ^ Young maids, behold

How with Tike Lotc passes away I"

1 close this paper by an ode on the subject of "time," bj a certain Mr. Thomas. Its author, a contemporary of the philosophic gang alluded to throughout, was frequently the object of their sarcasm, because he kept aloof from their coteries. He is author of a panegyric on Marcus Aurelius, once the talk of all Paris, now forgotten. These are the concluding stanzas of an

i&tit au Cemit.

Si je deyais un jour pour de yiles

richesses Vendre ma Ubert^, descendre ii

des bassesses — Si mon coeur par mes sens devait

Hre amolli — O Tems, je te dirais, h&te ma der-

ni^re heure, H&te-toi que je meure : J*aime mieux n'^tre pas que de

vivre ayilL

Mais si de la yertu les g6n^-

reuses flammes Doivent de mes Merits passer en

quelques Hmes — Si je dois d*un luni consoler les

malheurs — S'il est des malheureux dont Tob-

scure indigence Languisse sans defense, Et dont ma faible main doit es-

suyer les pleurs :—

• Prout alludes to O'Connell's

<@^e to Ctme.

If my mind's independence one day Fm to sell.

If with Vice in her pestilent haunts Fm to dwell — Tlien in mercy, I pray thee, O Tuns!

Ere that day of disgrace and disho- nour comes on.

Let my life be cut short! — better, better be gone Than liye here on the wages of crime!

But if yet Fm to kindle a flame in the

soul Of the noble and free — ^if my voice can

console. In the day of despondency, some — If Tm destined to plead in the poor

man*s defence — If my writingt can force from the im-

tional aente An enactment (if joy for ku

conduct on the Poor Law for Ireliad.

THE 80Sfl8 Of FBAXCS. 287

O Terns ! nispcndB ton vol I re- Time I Ktanl thT depui ure I anil

■pert* niB Jeimeese ! linmir iwbila —

Que nu m^ loog-tenu, Umnm Let my "loiigB" aiill awnlie of my

de mm leadrraat, mother tbe amilc —

ScfniiB m(« tribuU derecpectat Ofmi iiiterllieJoT,MiheiiDgB.

d'anioar ! Bui, O Ulobt Hud VtBtDEl four

Bl tout, OLOtBil VsftTo! M- canleagaee;

f <Ha inmuirteUra, Wlien I'm old — vhen my head ibsU

Quo T0« brilluilce lilea be ailvcred with nge,

Sur mca chorcui bliuichis »e to- ComBMidehtlleriaybrowwilli

piMcnt nn jour ', your winga I

I

THE HOK08 Or FKiNCE.

PHILOauPHT,

Cbafteb rV. — Fboqs asd Fbee Teaue.

" Boa* T»g*Dlet lib«m paludibus, Clunora magco regem petifnmt i JoTe, Qui diiuluUM morca ri compcsccrct."

PssDBI, Fai. 2,

Eaglaad Tor fbga t the siBtur-iale for bojii ! France ii the land for liberty and frogs ! Angola may Hoep o'er man's fantastic tricka ; But Louia- Philippe laughs at Charli-j Bii. France for King Loggy" now lioa gol " i Mork :" See Phicdni* — also £eop.

(Signed) 0. ToB<e.

Thb more we develop these M8S., and the deeper we plunge into the co^^ty of Prout's wondrous coffer, the fonder

2SB f ATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQrJCB.

we become of the old presbyter, and the more impressed ivith the variety and versatility of his powers. His was a tuneful soul ! In his earthly envelop tnere dwelt a hidden host of melodious numbers ; he was a walking store-house of harmony. The followers of Huss, when they had lost in battle their commander Zisca, had the wit to strip him of his hide ; out of which (when duly tanned) they made unto themselves a drum, to stimulate by its magic sound their reminiscences of so much martial glory: our plan would have been to convert the epidermis of the defunct father into that engine of harmony which, among Celtic nations, is known by the name of the " bagpipe ;" and thus secure to the lovers of song and melody an invaluable relic, an in- strument of music which no Cremona fiddle could rival in execution. But we should not produce it on vulgar occa- sions : the ministerial accession of the Duke (1835), should alone be solemnised by a blast from this musico-cutaneous phenomenon ; aware of the many accidents which might otherwise occur, such as, in the narrative of an Irish wed- ding, has been recorded by the poet, —

" Then the piper, a dacent gossoon. Began to play ' Eileen Aroon ;* Until an arch wag Cut a hole in his bag. Which alas ! put an end to the tune

Too soon ! The music blew up to the moon !*'

Lord Bvron, who had the good taste to make a daret- cup out of a human skull, would no doubt highly applaud our idea of preserving a skinful of Front's immortal essence in the form of such an ^olian bagpipe.

In our last chapter we have given his opinions on the merit of the leading French philosophers — a gang of theo- rists now happily swept off tne face of the earth^ or most miserably supplaiited in France by St. Simonians and Doc- trinaires, and m this ct> jntry by the duller and more plodding generation of " Utilitarians." To Denis Diderot has suc- ceeded Dionysius Lardner, both toiling interminable at their cyclopaBdias, and, like wounded snakes, though trampled on by all who tread the paths of science, still rampant onwards in the dust and slime of elaborate authorship. Truly, since the days of the great St. Denis, who walked deliberatelyi

THE SOKQ« OF FKANCE.

^Hlritb imperturbable cuniposiire, bearin? bie bead in bis as- ^Vfonisbea groap, from Monttnartre to tbe fifth milestone ou the Dorthem road out of Patis ; nay, since tbe still earlier epoch of the Sicilian icboolmast«r, who opened a " univer- a\ty" at Corinth, omitting DionysiUB of Haliearuasaue, and Dennis the critic who fifjiires in tbe " Duncind," never baa the name been borne with greater Mai than by its great tnodero proprietor. His theories, and those of Dr. Bowring, Are glanced at in the fulloving paper, which concludes tbe ' Kx)utean aeries of tbe " Songs of Trance."

Far be it from us to imagine that either of these learned

toctora will turn from their crude speeulations ajiil listen to

Hie voice of the charmer, charm he ever so wieely ; we know

e self-opinionated tribe tao well to timey such n conaum-

lation as tbe result of old Prout's strictures : but, since

Bie late downfal of Wbiggery, we can aHbrd to iaugb at

what must now only appear in the harmless shape of a

lolemn quiz. We would no more quarrel with them for

rging their cberiabed doctrines, than we would find fault

a the Hussites above mentioned ; who, when tbe Jesuit

eter Canisius came to Prague to argue tbem into concilia-

I, inscribed on their banner the following epigrammatic

" Tu prouul BstA ' Canie,' pro nobis eit'ubat ' AVG£R 1'"

term " Huss" being, from the peculiarity of its guttural d, among^Teutonic nations tmBcative of what we call n

OLl\'EE TOKKE.

Watergratthill, Jan. 1. 1832.

k IS with nations as with individuals: the greater is man's terctiunie with bis fellow-mnn in tbe interchange of social Dipanionship, the more enlightened he becomes ; and, in e keen encounter of wit, loses whatever awkwardneas or

idolence of mind may have been his original portion, If e Aggregate wisdom of any country could be for a mo-

290 FATREB FBOUT*S BELIQIHSS.

ment supposed hermetically sealed from the interfuBion of foreign notions, rely on it there would be found a most lamentable poverty of intellect in the land, a sad torpor in the public feelings, and a woful stagnation in the delicate " fluid" called thought. Peru, Mexico, and China — ^the two first at the period of Montezuma and the Incas, the last in our own day — have the degree of mental culture which may be expected from a collective body of men, either studiously or accidentally sequestered from the rest of the species ; I suspect, the original stock of information derived from the first settlers constituted the entire intellectual wealth in these two secluded sections of the globe. On inquiry, it will perhaps be found, that Egypt (which has on all sides been admitted to have been our great-grandmother in art, science, and literature) was evidently but the dowager widow of antediluvian Knowledge ; and that the numerous progeny which has since peopled the universe, all the ofispring of intermarriage and frequent alliance, bears undoubted marks and features of a common origin. The literature of Greece and Rome reflects back the image of Hebrew and Eastern composition ; the Scandinavian poets are not without traces of affinity to their Arabic brethren ; the inspiration of Irish melody is akin to that of Persian song ; and the very diver- sity of detail only strengthens the likeness on the whole :

" Facies non omnibus una, Nee diversa tamen, quails decet esse soronun."

Ovid.

This is shown by the Jesuit Andres, in his " Storia di ogni Letteratura," Parma, 1782.

St. Clirysostom, talking of the link which connects the Mosaic writings with the books of the New Testament, and the common agreement that is found between the thoughts of the prophet of Mount Carmel and those of the sublime solitary of the island of Patmos, introduces a beautiful me- taphor ; as, indeed, he generally does, when he wishes to leave any striking idea impressed on his auditory. " Chris- tianity," quoth he, " struct its roots in the books of the Old Testament; it blossomed in the Gk)spels of the New:" ^fl^tl^udn fJ^iv %v Totg jS/jSXio/g Tcav ir^^riruvy fSXaffrtics dt fv rvic •w«7y«XX/o/g Toiv aTOtfroXwv. — Homil, de Nov. et Vet.Tesi,

THE SO^ICOB OF FRAXCZ.

^H To apply the holy bishop's illitstration, I would say, that ^Bhste &Da re&Dement among modem writers ai-e traceable to ^■il growing acijuaiiitaijiie with tlie ancieot clnsaics ; an inti- ■ tnacy whicb, though not possessed by eoi'b individual member of the great family of aulhora, slill influencea the whole, and pervades the general maaa of our literature. A certain antique Aon ton is ud consciously contracted even by our female eontrihutora to the common fund of literary enjoy- ment ; and I could mentioa one (h. !B. L.) whom I presume imioceat of Greek, but as purely Attic in style as U; instead of Cockney diet, ehe had fed iu infancy on the honey of Mount Hymettua.

The eloquent French lawyer, De Marehangy, in hia "Gaule Politique," attributes— I know not how justly — the first rise of poetic excellence, in Provence, (where taste and Beholarship made their first appearance with the troubu- doan,) to the circumstance ot Marseilles having been a Grecian colony ; and he ascribes the readiness with which the Praven9al genius caught the flame, and kindled it on the fragrant hills of tbat beautiful coast of the Mediterranean. to a certain predisposition iu the blood and constitutional habit of the people, derived from so illustrious a pedigree. "'Twaa a glorious day I" esclaims the poetic attorney-ge- nera], going back in spirit to the epoch of that immigratioa of the Ffaocuins into Gallia Narbonensia — " 'twas a noble spectacle to see those sons of eivihsation and commerce land OD our barbarous hut picturesque and hospitable shore ! to Bee the gallant children of Attica ehaJie from their buskins OD ourterritory the dust of the hippodrome, and entwine the myrtle of Qnidua witli the mistletoe of Gaul ! When their fiaet anchored in our gladdened gulf of Provence, when their voices uttered sounds of cultivated import, when the music of the Lesbian lute and Teian lyre came on the charmed senses of our rude anc«storB, a shout of welcome wsa heard from our lulls ; and our Druids hailed with the hand of fellowship the priests of Jove and of Apollo. Mar- seilles arose to the sound of hamiouious intercourse, and to the eternal triumph of international commingling! Tou wotUd have thought that a floating island of Greece, that one of the Cyclades, or Deloe the wanderer of the Archi- I, bad strayed away and taken root upon our coast, V 2

292 FATHER PBOVT S RELIQUE8.

crowned with its temples, filled with its inhabitantSy its sacred groves, its arts, it laws, its perfume of refinement in love, and its spirit of freedom !"

" Free trade*' in all the emanations of intellect has ever had a purely beneficial effect, blessing him who gave and him who received : it never can injure a nation or an individual to impart knowledge, or exchange ideas. This is admitted. From the sun, who lights up the planets and the " silver moon,*' to the Greenwich pensioner, whose pipe is lit at the focus of a neighbour's calumet, fire, and flame, snd bri^htneesy are of their nature communicable, without loss or dinunution in the slightest way to the communicant. So it is with mind. But how stands the case with matter ? are the same princi- ples applicable, under existing circumstances, to the produc- tions of manual toil and the distribution of employment through the different trades and crafts ? Is it for the interest of the material and grosser world, who eat, drink, are clothed, and surroimded with household necessities — who are con- demned to look for support through the troublesome medium of daily labour — is it fit or judicious, in the complicated state of the social frame now established in Europe, to lay level all the barriers which climate, soil, situation, and industry, have raised for the protection of the productive classes m each country ; and, by the light of the new aurora borealis, which has arisen on our school of political economy, to con- found all the elements of actual life, and try back on all the wisdom of antiquity p As sagacious and consistent would be a proposal to abolish the quarantine laws, that *^ free trade" might be enjoyed by the plague ; to break down the dykes of Holland, that the ocean should be " free ;" to abolish all the copjTight and " patent-laws,'* that " piracy" may be free to the aull and the uninventive ; the " game-laws," that aU may shoot ; " tolls," that all may go where they list unim- peded ; " rent," that all may live scot-free ; and, finally, the laws of property, the laws of marriage, and the laws of God, which are more or less impediments in the way of " free trade."

Fully aware that the advantages of rendering each nation dependent on foreign supply for objects of prime necessity, by establishing a nicely bahmced equipoise in the commerdid relations of every spot in the globe, have been luminonalj

TEB S0K9S OF FKiKCE.

indicated, in many a goodly tome, pamphlet, and lengthy ration; I yet think the best practii^ treatise on the Bub- " ject, and the most forcible recommendation of its benefits to all concenaed, have come irom the philoBophic pen of Bi'ran- ger, who baa embodied the maxima of " free trade," as well [ tte many other current doctrines, in the

l.ts Sof)tmitnS.

nous Tenom P L'on i

■foit rim. Ii'luraadelte, D'oh Toni! Tient-elle ?

]■ pajSi uiu prince, et bodi

Notre Tie Doit jure eoTie, LI p>f >> uns prince, tans lois,

|3oUli(.-il3£cfitiomii of ll^r Sipfltcfi.

To deal with Seloa, Tall OS jour gqbIoids uid yourrulM : ' Wbcnce UBme ye (o this tand of fuoli, On whoin yo fatten ?

I "WhoncBdowecome? WHenceconiei the (waUow P Where doea our borne lie F Ti^tofol-

L The wiH bird's Bigl.l,

Speeding fi-om ninter's rude npproncli t Such home a ours. Who dare en-

Upon our right P

Prince

Kor magistratff i

d bnpoT tvo d. Who'll say tl

«■ indJpanduunouBnaiuoni,

Sana egliie We hare no liturgj baptismal

Qui nou> baptise ! When we nro bom j

iniindfpeDdansnouBnaietom, Save the dance under greennood tree, 1 bruit du lUre et dee clianaoos. And the gind sound of rereby With pipe and bora.

■pu lont digagia mm ce monde Oil rerreur ibonde ; ■ preaiiers paa aont d^ag^B Tionx maillot dea pr^ug^e.

At oar Grst eiitraac« on this globe, Where Falsehood walks in Taned robe.

Caprice, and whims, — Sophist or bigol, heed ye this ! — The Bwathing-bandB of prejudioe

Bound not our limba.

294;

FATHEE PE0UT'*8 BBLIQUES.

Au peuple en but k nos larcins,

Tout grimoire

En peut faire accroire ;

Au peuple en but ^ nos larcins,

n faut des sorciers et des saints.

Pauvree oiseaux que Dieu b^nit, De la ville Qu'on nous exile ; Pauyres oiseaux que Dieu b^nit, Au fond des bois pend notre nid.

Ton ceil ne peut se detacher, Philosophe De mince ^toffe — Ton ceil ne peut se detacher Du vieux coq de ton vieux clocher.

Well do we ken the vulgar minv% Ever to Truth and Candour blind,

But led by Cunning ; What rogue can tolerate a brother P GKpsies contend with priests, each other

In tricks outrunning.

Your ' towered cities* please us not ; But give us some secluded spot,

Far from the millions : Far from the busy haunts of men. Rise for the night, in shady gkn,

Our dark pavilions.

Soon we are off; for we oan see Nor pleasure nor philosophy

In fix^ dwelling. Ours is a life — the life of downs. Or drones who vegetate in towns.

Far, hr excemng I

Voir, c'est avoir ! allons courir ! Paddock and park, fence and endo- Vie errante sure.

Est chose enivrante ; We scale with ease and with compo-

Voir, c'est avoir ! allons courir ! sure :

Car tout voir c'est tout conqu^rir. 'Tis quite delightful I

Such is our empire s mystic chann. We are the owners of each &nn. More than the rightfuL

Mais k Thomme on crie en tout Great is the folly of the wise,

lieu. If on relations he relies, Qu'il s'agite, Or trusts in men ;

Ou croupisse au gite ; * Welcome !* they say, to babes bom Mais a I'homme en crie en tout newly,

lieu, But when vour life is eked out du^, Tu nais, " bonjour !" tu meurs, ' Good evening !* then,

"adieu!"

Quand nous mourons, vieux ou None among us seeks to illude

bambin. By empbr boast of brotherhood, Homme ou femme, Or udse affection ;

A Dieu soit notre &me ; GKve, when we die, our aouls to God,

Quand nous sommes morts, vieux Our body to the grassy sod,

ou bambin. Or * for disMMtion.*

On vend le corps au carabin.

THE 80XG3 OF FHAJ-CE 295

Uti* etojet an natre gticli,

Uftii crojet rti notn gnift^. But nern hen] (htm :

iU ioHAmtr e'tti la Uitrli. Our'a is tbo life o( pelfeot blu»~

Freedom U luau'a Usit joj. uid tlill ~ la p. ■■■

This gipsy code, in wiadom far outahining the " Pandecta," the " Digest," or the " Code Napok'on," ia aubmitted to the disciplea of Jeremy Bentham, as a guide whenever an esperi- ment (» anima v'tli is fairly to be made on the '■ vile body" of existing lawB, by tbe doctors of destruction.

To arrive at this miUennium is not an enay matter, and the chanoes are becoming every day more unfavourable. The relish of mankind for experimental innovatiuu is dull in theae Ifttter daya ; and great are the trials, lamentable tlie dia- appointmenta that await tbe apostles of pn[>iila]* enlighten- ratait. " Co-operative theories" in England have gone to tho grave unwept, unsung ; while in Amenca fiob Owen's music of " New Harmony," instead of developing its notes

has snapped off moat abruptly.

In trance, after yeara of change, and the throes of eon- utaut convulaion, the eariy dream uf young philosophy is still unrealised, and tbe sliade of Anacharsis Clootz wanders throueh tbe ■' Elvsian fielda" dejected and dissatisfied. Tlie Kb pf Egalite fills her throne, and the monarchy Las lost nothing of ils controlling power, whatever it may have ac- quired of homeliness and vulgarity. The vague and confused ravings of 1790, after tliree years' saturnalia, aptly termi- nated in the demoniac rule of, and became incarnate in, Eo. bespierre. The subaeijuent years condensed themselves into the substantive shape of military despotism, with tte re- deeming feature of glory in arms, and "all the walks of war." That too passed away, a lull came o'er the spirit of the demo- cratic dream, while old Louis XVllI. nodded in that elbow- chair which answered all the purposes of a throne ; the im- becile Charles furnished too tempting an opportunity, and it wu seited with the avidity of truant Bchoolbovs who get

296 TATHEB PBOUT'S BSLIQUS8.

up a " barring out ;" but the triumph of the barrieades met dim eclipse and disastrous twilight, the citizen king's opaque form arose between the soleil de JuilUt and the disappointed republicans casting an ominous shade over the land of frogs. Still loud and incessant is the croaking of the dissatisfied tenants of the swamp, little knowing (pauvres grenouillesl) that, did not some such dense body interpose between the scorching luminary of July and their liquid dwelling, they would be parched, burnt up, and annihilated in the glow of republican fervour. Even so Aristophanes pictures Charon and his unruly mob, who refuse to cease their querulous outcry, though threatened with the splashing oar of the ferryman:

B|£xexsxf^, xoa§, xoa^.

Bar^a^. Act i. Scene 5.

** In our own quagmire, 'tia proToking That folks should think to stop our croaking ! Sons of the swamp, with lungs of leather, Now is our time to screech together !"

But I lose time in these extra-parochial discussions ; and therefore, leaving them to chorus it according to their own view of the case, I return to the arbiter of song — B^ranger. None of the heroes who accomplished this last revolution felt their discomfiture more than our poet, whose ideas are cast in the mould of Spartan republicanism. He resigns himself with philosophic patience to the melancholy resmt ; and, indeed, if I may judge from a splendid embodying of his notions concerning Providence and the government of this sublunary world, in an ode, which (though tinged some- what with Deism) contains impassioned poetic feeling, I should think that he still finds comfort in the retrospect of his own individual sincerity and disinterestedness. There is less of the Sybarite, however, in his philosophy than may be found in another "bard" who in

** pleasure's soft dream Haa tried to forget what he never could heaL"

TUB aOHOa OF rBANCE.

Xr Situ Uti bonnrS 3rns.

n Mt an Di«u ; derint lui je m'indinei, Pftavpe et oontenl, fans lui dmnaDdcr rien.

De I'uniTen obacrvant ts DiMhinc,

J'y roil du nnJ, el n'aima qoe le blen ;

H>ii le plusir k ma philoHphie SMtU BMei de ama mt^ligon*.

Le TOTS en mun, gaiem«at je me oonfie

An Dieu de* bonnes gtai !

Dana mon rSdoit oil Ton Toit rindigence

Othm diu unoure bvrei par retpf rtmce,

U'un lit plus dam jo reje le duiat ; Am diem den oours qu'un autre Mcrifie —

Hoi, qui oe oroia qu'i dea diHui indutgenl, Le Terra en main, gaiemeul je me oonfie

Au Dieu dea bonnes gmtl

Va conqufrant, dam ui (artunB ajtiere,

Se fit un jeu dea aceptPM et des roia ; Et de aea piedi I'on peat Toir la poussiire

Empreint^ encor eur le bandeau dea roia i Youa TSmpiez loua, O roie ! qu'on deiBe —

Moi, pour braTW de* maltrea oiigenna, Le Terra en main, gaicment je me conlia

An Dicu dea bonnes gens !

Dans noa palaie, oQ pres de Ih lietoire

BrillaieDt lea arte, doui fruita doa beaux cUmat^

J*!!! ru du nord lea peupladea atna gloire De IniFB manleaux aecouer lea friicBti :

8ur noa di^ris Albion noiu dffie :

Mais la fortune et lea dots aont chnngeans —

Le terre en main, gaiement je me i»>nlie

All Dieu dea bonnes gain

Quelle menace un prGtre lut entendre ?

Koui touchons touA i noa derniers inalana g LVtemiti Ta re fiute comprendre.

Tout T« Bnir runiTem et le tenia : Toiu. ch^uhina, it la face boullie,

Bereillei, done lea morta pen diligens — Le Terre en msiOi faiumeut je me confie

Au Dieu d« bonces ^m

298 FATHER PEOUT*S BELIQITXS.

Mais, quelle en*cur ! non, Dien n'est paa coliuv $

8'il cre-a tout, k tout il sert d'appui. Yins qu'il nous donne, amiti^ tutelaira,

Et yous, amours, qui crees aprds lui, Pretez un charme k ma philosophic,

Pour dissiper des reves afBigeans ! — Le yerre eu main, gaiement je me confic

Au Dieu den bonnes g«Oi.

Ci)e &oti of fitrangcr.

There's a God whom the poet in silence adores,

But molestfl not his throne with importunate prajer ; For he knows that the eyil he sees and abhors.

There is blessing to balance, and balm to repair. But the plan of the Deity beams in the bowl,

And the eyelid of beauty reveals his design : Oh ! the goblet in hand, I abandon my soul

To the G-iver of genius, love, friendship, and wine !

At the door of my dwelling the children of want

Ever find the full welcome its roof can afford ! Wliile the dreams of the rich pain and poverty haunt,

Peace awaits on my pillow, and joy at my board. Let the god of the court other votaries seek —

No ! the idol of sycophants never was mine ; But I worship the God of the lowly and meek.

In the Giver of genius, love, friendship, and wine !

I have seen die a captive, of courtiers bereft:,

EUm, the sound of whose fame through our hemisphero rinn | I have marked both his rise and his fall : he lias left

The imprint of his heel on the forehead of kings. Oh, ye monarchs of Europe ! ye crawled round his throne—

Te, who now claim our homage, then knelt at his shrine ; But I never adored him, but tiuned me alone

To the Giver of genius, love, friendship, and wine !

The Russians have dwelt in the home of the Frank ;

In our halls from their mantles they've shaken the frost ; Of their war-boots our Louvre has echoed the clank,

As they passed, in barbarian astonishment lost. O'er the rums of France, take, O England ! take pride !

Yet a similar downfid, proud land ! may be thine i But the poet of freedom still, sjill will confide.

In the GKver of genius, love, friendship, and wine !

This planet is doomed, by the priesthood's decree, To deserved dissolution one day, O ! my friends i

Lo ! the hurricane gathers ; the bolt is set free ! And the thunder on wings of destruction descends.

[

THX 80SS8 or TUiVCE. 209

Of thr trumpet, srehangel, dilov not tlie Hasl ;

Wake Uio dead in l.iie graTiis wdcre tlif ir bsIim recline : WUIe ihi/ poet, onmOTBii, puts his truat to tbe laft

Id tliB Qiya of genitu, loTe, friendship, and wine I

But iMiij with the niglit-nuire of glDomT forethought .'

Let the goul Supanlition creep back lo iti den ; Oh! Ihi> bir goodlv ^lob«, filled with plentj, was wrought

Bj a booDlifid hand, for llie children of men. L«t me lake the fiiU scape of mj yean oa tbej roll.

Lot mo bask in the eun's pleasimt nvs while tiief shinei Then, with ^blet in huid, I'll abandon 107 soul

To the Chrer of genius, love, fi-iendship, ind wine t

WliateTer may be the failings (md errors of our post, due ) the diBostrnus days on whJeb his youtli haa faUen, there I disL'emible id his writings the predominant character of is mind — frankness, single-lieartedness, and candour. It I impossible not to entertain a friendly feeling towards ich a moil; and I am not surprised to leam that he is berisbed by the French people with a fervency akin to loiatry. He is no tuit-himter, nor Whigling sycophant, or trolGcker in bia mercbandise of eoug. Neither nos he >ught to convert his patriotism into an engine for picking X pockets of the poor. He hiia set up no pretensions to obility ; although, be could no doubt trump up a story of lonnan ancestry, and convert some old farm-house on the 9a-coast into an " abbey." It is not with the affectation r B ewindling demagogue, but with the heartfelt cordiality r one of themaelvea, that be glories in belonging to the tufile. What poet but Bt'ranger ever thought of comme- lorating the garret where be spent his earUer days ?

It &\tn\n tst Qtratigtr. Ciit &axxti of Stratigtr.

> reviena voir I'&sjio aii ma Jeuneese Oh I iC woe here that Love hia De la miiire a subi le» U-cout : gifts bestowed

J^arais Tingt an*, une foUe maltresse, On jouth's wDd age !

De Erance unis, et I'amour des ohaa- OUdly once more I seek m; MKU : youth's shade,

BMTmnt le monde, et lea sota, et les Id pilgrimage :

■ages, HfireTiij jDungmistreaswilli her IB sTHtiir, richc de mon pHnteius, pni^t ilnred

etjoyoui.jeniontaissij Stages — RepLl-?' to Jwell ;

on grenier qu'on est bion i fingt She wns piiteen, I twenty, and

isl

Thu ai

ccelL

800

FATHSB FBOirT*B BBLIQUS8.

Cest on grenier, point ne Teox qu*on rignore : L^ fut mion lit, bien ch^tif et bien dor; lit fut ma table ; et jeretrouTO encore Trois pieda d'un yen charbonn^ 8ur le mur. ApparaisBez, plaisin de mon bel Age, Que d'un coup d*(Bil a fuatigi le terns! Vingt fois pour toub j*ai mis ma mon-

tre en gage — Dans un grenier qu*on est bien h ringt ans!

Lisette ici doit surtout apparattre,

Vive, jolie, avec un frais ohapeau ; jy^jh sa main k T^troite fen^tre Suspend son schale en guise de ri- deau: Sa robe aussi va parer ma couchette — Bespecte, Amour ! ses plis longs et flottans : J*ai su depuis qui payait sa toilette — Dans un grenier qu*on est bien k vingt ans I

A table un jour, jour de grande rich- esse, De mes amis les yoix brillaient en choBur, Quand jusqu'ici monte un cri d*al^ gresse, Q}i*k Marengo Bonaparte est yain- queur ! Le canon gronde — un autre chant commence — Nous c^^brons tant de fiiits^datans ; Les rois jamais n*enyahiront la France — Dans un grenier qu'on est bien k yingt ans!

Quittons ce toit, oil ma raison s'e- nivre — Oh, qu'ils sont loin ces jours si re- grett^s! J*^ohangerai ce qu'il me reste k yiyre Contre un dee jours qu'ici Dieum'a oompt^

Yes, 'twas a ganet! be it known to all. Here was Loye*a shrine : There read, in charcoal traced along the wall, Th' unfiniahed line— Here was the board where kin- dred hearts would blend. The Jew can tell How oft I pawned my watch, to feast a friend Li attic cell !

O ! my Lisette's fadr form could . Irecall With fisdiy wand ! There she womd blind the win- dow with her shawl- Bashful, yet fond ! What though from whom she gut her dress Fye since Learnt but too well. Still in those days I enyied not a prince In attic cell !

Here the glad tidings on our banquet burst. Mid the bright bowla : Yes, it was here Marengo's tri- umph first Kindled our souls ! Bronze cannon roared; France with redoubled might Felt her heart swell ! Proudly we drank our consul's health that night In attic cell !

Dreams of my joyful youth! Fd freely ^ye, Ere niy lifb*8 dose, All the dull days I'm destined yet to liye, For one of those !

Tas aoNoa or isxscz. 301

■r riwtr glOLM, amour, plaisir, folie, Whne shall I now find nptuns Mr w Tie en peu d'in- that were felt,

Jofs that bcfi'tl,

1 long opoir pour la Toir on- Andhopei thatdnwnodHttwcnt}', bellie— when I liwelt

:i grenicT qu'on at biao K lu attic cell ?

Tingt au»l

Kothing can oiler a more ludicrous image to the diapas- nouate obBerrer of pasaing tnuisactions, thaa the aBsump- tion of radical polities by some men whose essential nature IB thoroughly imbued with contempt for the mob, while they are straining every nerve to secure its aweet voices. I could name many who assume such seutiments respecting the distiactiona of hereditary rank in this country, yet would feel very acutely the deprivation of the rank and nune they bear, or an inquiry into the devioua and questi- onable title by which they retain them. The eflbrta they nutke to conceal their private feelings before the multitude

^BVDcall a hint addressed to some " republicans who paraded

Kthe streets of Paris in 1793 :

^H " Mais enfonoei dana vos culottei

^^B ha bout de lings qui pend I

^H On dim que lee pttHotes

^H Out deploj^ le ' drapi-BU blanc.'"

^P Autobiography is the rage, John Gait, the Ettrick Hogg, H^the iWHsb Opium-eater, Sir Egerton Brydges, Jack Ketch, Grant-Thorbum, and sundry other personages, have lately adorned this dejmrtmeut of our literature. In his song, the "Tailor and the Fairy," Stranger has acquitted himself of a task indispensable in modem authors. lie was bom the - le year aa T. Moore, 1780.

%t Cailltur tt la jFtr.

Dana ee Parie, plein d'or et de mia^.

En ran du Christ mil lept cent quatre-viogt,

Ollel on tsillear, mon paurre et vieux grand-pirts Mai nouveau-n£, sachei ce qui m'sdiint.

Keu ne pr£dit la glaire d'un OrphAe

A iQoa beroeau, qui n'ftait ptie de Beun i Uaii mon giand-p^re, accourant k mea pleura,

He troDTe un jour d»n« le» brai i" ""

£t cette tie. a Calmait le i

ode

802 TATHEB PBOTTT'8 BSLIQUES.

** Le bon yiellard lui dit ; L*&me inqui^te !

A oet enfant quel destin est promu ?*' EUe r^pond : " Vols le sous ma baguette,

Gannon d'auberge, imprimeur, et commii ; Un coup de foudre* ajoute k mes pr&age8—

Ton nls atteint, va p^rir consiim^ ;

Dieu le regarde, et t'oiseau ranim6 Vole en chantant braver d'autres orages."

Et puU la fee, arec de gaiB refraiDS, Galmait le cri de mes premien chagrins.

" Tous les plaisirs, sylphes de la jeunesse,

Eveilleront sa Ijre au sein des nuits ; Au toit du pauvre il r^pand Tal^gresse,

A Topuleuce il sauve des ennuis. Mais quel spectacle attriste son langage ?

Tout s*engloutit et gloire et liberte !

Comme un pecheur qui rentre ^pouvant^, II yient au port reconter leur naufrage."

Et puis la fici avec de gais refrains, Calmait le cri de mes premiers cha^int.*

CI;e ^utobtograpi)^ of $. 3. tie Seranger.

Paris ! gorgeous abode of the gay ! Paris ! haunt of despair !

There befell in thy bosom one day an occurrence most yreighty, At the house of a tailor, my grand&ther, under whose care

I was nursed, in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and eighty. By no token, 'tis true, did my cradle announce a young Horace — And the omens were such as might well lead astray the unwary ; But with utter amazement one morning my grandfaUier, Maurice, Saw his grandchild reclining asleep in the arms of a fairy ! And this fairy so handsome Assumed an appearance so striking, And for me seemed to take such a liking, That he knew not what gift he should offer the dame for my nmtoiD.

Had ho previously studied thy Legendi, O rare Croftv Croker !

He*d nave learnt how to act firom thy pages — ('tis there that the charm is !) But my guardian's first impulse was rather to look for the poker,

To rescue his beautiful boy from her hands vi et armu.

* B^ranger tells us in a note, that in early life he had well nigh pe* rished by the electric fluid in a thunder-storm. The same is related of Luther, when at the university. The flash which, in Lather^s caae, changed the student into a monk, in B^ranger's conTerted the tailor*! gooee into a swan. — Psout.

THE

' FBAKL'E.

Ptiit he piuBiid in his plui, aiid udoptod a mililer auggeatioD,

Forber nttitucip, talm anil uoterrifiBd. oindo liini respect lier fo he Uiought it wu best to be oiril, niid fuirly to quoatiua, Conocrniog mj prtxpccW in life, the beneiolmt spectre. 'A^d the lurj, prophrtiml. Bead niT deltin/a book in > minute, With all the particulara in it : I outline >be drew with eisutitude most geometricaL

■er ihili be mingled with plpuuro. tliougli checkered withpnin And •omo brigiit sunny hours ebnll siiceeed to n rigorous winter : ttc him first B ^OTO" it « hoa1eb7— tlieu, with diKdaio

See him spurn that tUe iinlt, and apprentice biniaolf Id a printer. &■ B poor uarfereitj .clerk »iew him oeil at his (leak ; — Mark that Oaah ! — he wili hare a moat narroi* i»eape from llic light-

uiug: it behold after aundrr adrenturea, some bold, aome groteaque, ' The horiion oleara an, and his prospwts appear to be brighteni]i(t." And the foirT, oireesing Tlie infant, iorelald that, ere long. He wDold warble uuriTallcd in song ; All Franpo In the haoiage wliii'b Furie bad paid acquiescing.

' ** Yes, the mtise baa adopted the bo; 1 On bis brow tee the launl I

In hia hand 'tin Anacnson's cup I — with the Oreck be haa dtBDk it. IVark the high-minded tone of bis songi, and their eiquisite moral, Obing joy to the cottage, and heightemng the blaze oEthe banqueL Row the mture grows dark— M'e the ipectade Ftanoe has become I ' IGd the wreck of bis eoimlir, IJio poet, undaunted and proud. Kb the pnblic complsiuta ehall give ulteranee : slaves ma; be dumb, f fiat ni^l] ring in the hearing of despots defiance aloud!" And the fair; addmainB Mv grandfather, aomewbet aBloniahed, So miidlj mj Eunrdiau admoiiiahed, ' wept while he Taiiiahed nwaj with a smile and a bleasing.

Such IB the man whose works wiJl form the moat enduring bfunument of tlie literature of Frnnce during the firBt _qi)art«r of the nineteenth century. It is tlie pride of my old age t« have rcL-orded in these " papers" niy admiration of thiB eitraotdiuarj writer ; and when, at a future period, commentators and entice ahall feed on hia ever- verdant pages, and disport themselves in the leaves of his immortal poelry, it will oe perhaps mentioned by some votary of recondite lore, that an obscure clergyman, uu a barren Irish hill, nutde the first eflbrt to transplant hither some slips of that ^Txuriant tree ; though he fears that, like the " mulberry."

FATHBE FBOVX S BELiqUXB.

it cannot be natiiralized in these islands, and mugt stilt ml tinue to form the esclusive boast aud pride of a happia climate.

Neit to the songster-laureate of France, posterity wii haO in Victor Hugo the undoubted excellence of origian thought, and the gift of glowing eipression. Before tlies two lofty minda the minor poets, Lamartioe and Chatcsa briand, will sink into comparatire insignificance. Buma and Byron will he remembered and read when Bol Montgomery and Haynes Bayly will be swept away witi the coteries who applauded them. " OpinioQum conimenti delet dies," quoth the undying Tully ; " nntune judicia coifc firmat." But, after all, what is fame ? It is a questia that often recurs to me, dwelling frequently, in sober pen siveaess, on the hollow futility of human pursuits, and pom dering on the narrow extent of that cuvle which, Jn it widest possible diffusion, renown can hope to fill here beloW Never has a Pagan writer penned a period more replete witi Christian philosophy than the splendid passage which me niory brings me here in the natural succession of Berioni reflections that crowd on my mind : — " Igitur alt6 apectan si voles, et letemam domum contueri, neque te sermonibtt Tulgi dederia, neoue in prsemiis humanisspem posueiis reruil tuarum. Quid ae te aJii loquantur, ipsi videant ; loquenti tamen. Sermo autem omnia ille et angustiis cingitur i regionum quas vides ; nee unquam de ullo perennis fuit ; i obruitur hominuni interitu ; et oblivione posl«ritatia eitinn guitur !"— Cic. Sam. Stu'p.

To return to Victor Hugo. It would be unpardonable ii me to have written a series of papers on the " Songs o France." and not to have given some specimens of A»> re fined ;uid delicate compositions. Hugo does not addrea himself so much to the popular capacity as his energeti contemporary : he is a scholar, and seeks •' fitting audiencBj though few." The lyrical pieces, however, which I Bub< join, will be felt by lul in their thrilling appeal to our sea sibilities.

Though 1 do not regret the space 1 have devoted to the beauties of Bi'ranger, it is still witli a feeling of embarrass mejit that I briug forward thus late, and towards the cloa of my lucubrations on this interesting subject, so deser\'inj

! BOKOS or FBAKCK.

claimant on the notice of the public. Be that as it may, bere goes ! and, gentle reader, thou hnst hefore thet? two gems of the purest water. The first la an Oriental emerald.

It YeiU. (Slritnlalt.

■• Atu-tdiu bit not prllm n	■«lr,t)M(Uin™.r-aB
ngaidi brtllonl dwu loi reni.	Otilf— praWlm-in'

Jr ^ mW m'9 lufloqaie, Car aur met n-tixTda qui n'^tflign

ton vnllft uti liutut i'Git oiiv«rt. S'^tvud tin vDlta da (rtpKH.

faomm* ftlon panHa^i? hd hodiiaQ «n C^en «4t iia que du moliu to m aftaDTcrlF p«>l

CI)c 'Fril. 9n ®nmUI SiaIo{[ut.

Vietnr Hwjo. -H»Y« you prty'il lo-nlgbt, Df.™j!mi>n.t"-SH»inri.««,

Wliat nfc9 happened, my bpolliere P Your spirit to daj

Some aecrat Borrow linmps ; There's > cloud on Tour brow. Wttnt hu happened F ob, s For your eyeball* glare oul wil.li b siiiiBler rBj,

Like tbe light of funeral luupe. Tlie blades of your poniardc are hslf-uuebeathed

In jrour some — and yo frown ou me ! There's a wiw uutold, Ibere's a pang unbmthed,

In yout boeont, my brathera three!

806 FATHXB PBOUT'b BSLIQUES.

SCDI8T BBOTHXB.

Oulnara, make answer ! Hast thou, since the dawn. To the eye of a stranger thy veil withdrawn ?

THB 8I8TEB.

As I came, O my brothers ! — at noon — irom the bath^*

As I camcr-it was noon — my lords — And your sister had then, as she constantly hatli, Drawn her reil dose around her, aware that the i>ath Is beset by these foreign hordes.

But the weight of the noonday's sultry hour Near the mosque was so oppressive,

That — forgetting a moment the eye of the GKaour— I yielded to heat excessive.

SECOND BBOTHXB.

Chilnara, make answer ! Whom, then, hast thou seen. In a turban of white, and a caftan of green ?

THB BISTEB.

Nay, he might have been there ; but I muffled me so.

He could scarce have seen my figure.

But why to your sister thus dark do you grow f What words to yourselves do you mutter thus low, Of " blood," and " an intriguer P"

Oh ! ye cannot of murder bring down the red guilt On voiu* souls, my brothers, surely !

Though I tear — from your hand that I see on the hilt, And the hints you give obscurely.

THIBD BROTHEB.

Gxdnara ! this evening when sank the red sun,

Hast thou marked how like blood in descending it slionc ?

THE 8I8TEB.

Mercy ! Allah ! three daggers ! have pity ! oh, spare !

See ! I cling to your knees repenting ! Kind brothers, forgive me ! for mercy, forbear ! Be appeased at the voice of a sister's despair,

For your mother's sake relenting.

O Ghod \ must I die P They are deaf to my cries I

Their sister s life-blood shedding : They have stabbed me again — and I hmt — o*er my eves

A Veil of Dei.th is spreading ! —

ELDEST BBOTHBB.

Gulnara, farewell ! take that veil ; 'tis the gift Of thy brothers — a veil thou wilt never lift I

TBI Bones 07 FRANCE.

Hugo, in tliis Eastern scene, aa well as in bis glorious ro-

nance of " Notre Dame de Paris," eeems to take delight it

[ harrowing up our feelings by tbe invariably sad catastrophe

of ail bis love adventures. Tbe chonl of symputbj- for

broken affections and shattered hearts seems to be a favour-

I ite one witb tbis mighty master of tbe Gallic lyre. Ex. gr.

%i ffiaafit Hu CTtmbalitr-

ficlor llui/o.

igneur, le Due de Bretagne, A pour \e» combiM nieatriers, DosToqui^ de N'sQlfl k Mortagnu, Sans 1ft pUine, et eut la campagne, L'uriere-bui de wa gi

Cfii finDt of t||t Cpmbalrir.

A BaUad.

BaronB, vha dwell in dotijon-lieep, I And nuul-i-likd caunt and pe^r, , Whose fief i* ieaaeA with lotti

£t floo pourpoint d'or fctutaat.

[ Dopuis cc joiir Teffroi m'agile; f J'(udit,joigiuuit>Diiaartauniien, I ** Ma patronoe, Sunte Brigilte, L Pour que jamais il ne le quitia, SurreiUei Kn ange gardiea 1"

I 3'ti dit i- notre abbf, " Musire, Prieibieopourtouaaoi ioliiats!'" Et oomme on nfKt. qu'il le d^ire,

B J'u briUi troia deive'i de eire Siu L> cblsM de Saint Qildaa.

KiiiiUe* du rilerin.

Chahing hi> Fjmbala forth he wt^nt. With a bold and gallant bearing g

Sure for a vaplaic he naa meant.

To judge from hia aeroutrauirat, ^d the clolh of gold he'a Hear- ing.

But in mj soul since then I feol A fear, in secret creeping ;

Aad to SaiDt Bridget ofl 1 kneel,

I'o hia guardian aagel's koeptii;!.

Fts begged our abbot, Bemardinr.

' His prayers not to relai ;

And, to procure him aid divinf.

I'tb burnt upon Saint QUda'ssluuir

Three pounds of virgin wai.

Our Ladj of Lorelto knows The pilgrimage 1 TOw'd:

■' To iirnr Me icoliop IprotKit'.

IfhtallS and tuftty from thijoit My Uicrr i* allow'tt."

30S

FATHEB PBOUT S BELIQUES.

n n'a pu, par d'amoureux gages, Absent, consoler mes foyers ; Pour porter les teiidres messages La vassale n'a point de pages, Le vassal n'a point d'^cuyers.

II doit aujourd'hui de la guerre Revenir ayec monseigneur —

Ce n'est plus un amant vnlgaire ;

Je leve un front baiss^ nagu6re, £t mon orgueil est du bonbeur.

Le due triomphaut, nous rapport<e Son drapeau dans les camps froiss(3 ; Venez tons, sous la vieille porte, Voir passer la brillante escorte, Et le prince et mon fiano^ !

Venez voir, pour ce jour de fSte,

Son chcval cai)ara9on6 ; Qui sous son poids hennit, s*arr^te, Et marclie en secouant la t^te,

De plumes rouges couronn^.

Mes soBurs, ii tous parer trop lentes, Venez voir, pr^s, de mon vain- queiir, Ces timbales Itincclantes Qui, sous sa main toujours trem- blantes, Sonnent, et font bondir le ccBur.

Venez surtout le voir lui-merae. Sous le manteau que jai brodd !

Qu'il sera beau! C'est lui que j'aime ;

U porte comme un diad^me Son casque de crins inondds I

L'Egypticnne sacrildge,

M'attirant derridre un pilier, M*a dit bien (Dieu me protege !)

No letter (fond affection's gage I)

From him could I require^ The pain of absence to assuage — A vassal-maid can have no page^ A liegeman has no squiie.

This day will witness, with the duke*s. My cymbaleer's return : GMadness and pride beam in my

looks, Delay my heart impatient brooks. All meaner thoughts I spurn.

Back from the battle field elate. His banner brings each peer ;

Come, let us see, at the ancient gate.

The martial triumph pass in state, And the duke and my cymbaleer.

We'll see foom the rampart- vralls of Nantz What an air his horse assumes ; His proud neck swells, his glad

hoofs prance. And on his head unceasing dance. In a gorgeous tuft, red plumes !

Be quick, my sbters! dress in haste! Come, see him bear the bell. With laurels docked, with true-love

graced ; While in his bold hand, fitly placed. The bounding cymbals swell !

Mark well the mantle that he'll wear. Embroider d by his bride. Admire his bumish'd helmet's

ffkre, 0*ershadow*d by the dark horse- hair That waves in jet folds wide !

Thegipsy (spiteful wench !) foretold With voice like a viper hissing, (Though I had cross'd her p2in with gold).

iMus Of FSAsce.

iAj'bi tont pTi£ que j*«pdre,

P Qua<q<ie,miMDOtitrantde laiDsin

"" Mpulcre, Mm noir rppairc,

viiullc, am rpgardi de vipftro,

'" it ditja rkttmdi lidemun,

[volons ! plua de noiret peoi^ I Ce aont Ira UUDbaum quo J'ira- tend) I

a le» dunes entftsecc* , tentea de pourpre dreesees, Lm fleuTS et Im dnip«Hiii Qotluin! ir deux nogs le cortege ondoie: D'obord, le* piquirsr* aux put

Foil, ions rttmdard qu'on deploic, lies baroiu, en robei de eoie, A.IB1: leun Icqucs do Teloura.

PIToici le» ebiiBubles dee prelreB ; _ I.«eh4r»at«Buriin blanceoureior; utenir de» taictlnt, it I'fcmpon de leura inaitrtB Vaat lur ieai conelet d'acier.

re pray d w

Her yorda mnj proio unlrae 1 Though in her c»ve Ihc hag aci:ur«t Muller'd " /"rtjwn! Ihet fur- lli-

Wiili n bee of ghuttj' liuo.

My jut her spella slikll not preveiil,

Hark : I cnn Itear tlie drume !

And ladies fnir from Bilkoii tent

Pwp forth, aud eveiy eje is bent

Ou llie caTsleade that cuuif? !

Pikenen, dividing on both Ilnnk»,

Op™ the pngesnlry ; Loud, aa Ijie; tread, their anDour

And silk-robed barons lead the auks,

The pink of galUntrj !

Armorial prid« devks tlieir sitire. Worn in remembrance of a sin' Famed for heroic deeds.

a Persanne Fear'd by the Pajnim'a dark divau,

» Templiers, cretDts de Teiifer ; The Templars oeit advance ;

ongue pertuisane. Then the briTe bonmen of Liu-

Lcduco'est pss loin: sesbauniirp

Flottent parmi Ics ohcTaliere ; Quelijues enseignes prieonniinH, " ■ It Us demiires.

Foremost to stsjid in battle's

Against the foes of France.

Neit eomes tlie dtike with rs'

:i lestimbaUersI" Those of the foe. Look, sislera. Now come the cjmbalecrf !" , le dit, et u Toe erraate She spoke — with learching eje sur-

Flonge, h6laa! dans les rengs Tcy'd

810

FATHER PBOUT'S BXLIQUB8.

By way of contrast to the Gk>thic reminisceiiceB of the olden time, and the sentimental delicacy of the foregoing ballad, I subjoin a modem description of Ghillic chivalry, — a poetical sketch of contemporary heroism. Nothing can be more striking than the change which seems to have come over the spirit of the military dreams of the French since the days of Lancelot and Bayard, if we are to adopt this as an authentic record of their present sentiments m mat- ters of gallantry. I cannot tell who the author or authoress of the following^ dithyramb may be ; but I have taken it down as I have heard it sung by a fjEur girl who would some- times condescend to indulge an old eiltbataire with a snatch of merry music.

l,a Carrierf ^ilttatre

En France,

Ah, lebeUtat!

Que r^tat de soldat ! Battre, aimer, chanter, et boire — VoilJi toute notve histoire !

Et, ma foi,

Moi je croLB Que cet 6tat-U Taut bien Gelui de tant de gens qui ne font

rien!

Talnquers, entrons-nous dans une ville? Lea autorit^s et les habitans Mou8 Tiennent, d*une fafon fort civile, Ouvrir lea portes k deux battans : O'est tout au plus s'ils sont oon- tens ; Mais c'est tout de mSme — II faut qu*on nous aime — Kan, tan, plan ! Ou bien qu^on en fasse semblant. Puis quand yient le clair de lune, Chacun choisit sa chacune, En qualite de conqu6rant.

Ban, tan, plan ! Ah, le bel ^tat, etc.

C|)e jKtlttar^ 9toteitfitfton

In France.

Oh, the pleasant life a soldier leads ! Let the lawyer count his fees. Let old women tell their beads. Let each boobj squire breed cattle, if he please. Far better 'tis, I think. To make lore, fight, and drink. Odds boddekin ! Such life makes a man to a god akin.

Do we enter an j town f The portcullis is let down. And the joj-bells are rung by mu* nicipal authority ; The gates are open'd w^de, And the city-keys presented us beside. Merely to recognize our vast supe- riority. The mamed citizens, *tis ten to

one, Would wish us fisirly gone ; But we stay while it suite our good pleasure. Then each eye, at the rising of tho

moon, Thefiddlerstnkesupamenrtiiiia, We meet a buxom partner luilsoon. And we foot it to a military meMiir«.

( OF FB4SCE.

TOle

lUkod noui qoitlons la When oop garriBon at ]htt gtU •• ths

" Eeriens t"eo bien ySto !" Oui ds, ma petite ! Le plus BOaT^iit, I* pins BOUTCnt, Je ne aiiu pu pour le leDtimmt Ran, tan, plan '. TiTC le regiment 1

Who ran adequstelj tell Tlie T^ret of the fair all the cit; througliont, And the tone with vhich the; bii us "/arturU t" Their ti^ara itould make a flood — i perfect rirer : And, to eoothe her despair, Each diioonaolatfi moid entrc

o(

Et puis lonqu'en maraudp,

vhacuD rAcle (deutourj On Ta, te labre a hi main, ea iraude, Fairo ]> cbnaee i la baB«-cour, Faut bien qne c;haque Tictiiufl ait

Poullsa inoocentes I IntermanteB I SaneFctour! unsretourt Bdai! Toili TOtre demier jonr!

Han, tsD. plan t

Cot ! cot ! cot ! la Motinelle

Tous appele I '

ICIIm ptifent la l^le M caqneCant,

"" 'en Tont )> la brocha du rfgi-

> to gire tier, Ere we go. a liuglo lock of our hair. AUb 1 it is not often That my heart can «oflen Be>pauii*e to the fedingi of the fair I [CAorw ^ dnma.

On a march, Trhea our gallant diTi

To Faddv'Biare, "potatoea and

salt.'' Could Bueh beggartj cheer Btbt answer a Fronoh grenadier ? "So '. ne tend a dragoon guard To each neighbouHng farm- jard. To ooUect the choicest pitiiDgi — TurkejA, Bucking-pigB, and duck-

■e nutio rapici

Puis, it notre retour en France, Chaque Tillage, en goguette, en

Kotu rofoit.otDur et tambour bat-

Tic, lac, ran, tan, pUn I En I'honnenr du raiment. Ah, le bcl ^t ! Qiiol'ttat deiohlBt!

For whj should m

Futt«n on Buch til-bid, Bfftter suited to the spits Of our hiuigrj and Talorous bat- talions F

But, oh ! at our return To our dear native France,

Each yillage in ita turn. With music, and wine, and merry

Forth an our jof fill pusage comes ;

And the pulse of each heart beat*

time to Iha drum a.

ICharta itf drumt. Oh, the merrj life a soldier leads I

812 FATHXB PSOUT's BELIQUES.

The military songs of this merry nation are not all, how- ever, of the light texture of the foregoing, in proof of which I subjoin an elegy on Colonel de B^umaaoir, killed in the defence of Pondicherry, when that last stronghold of French power in India was beleagured by our forces under Coote. Beaumanoir belonged to an old family in Brittany, and had levied a regiment of his tenants and dependants to join the unfortunate Lally Tolendal when he sailed for India, in 1749 : one of his retainers must have been the writer of the following lines descriptive of his hasty burial in the north bastion of the fortress where he fell. Nor is it necessary to add any translation of mine, the Bev. Mr. Wolfe having re- produced them on the ocoision of Sir John Moore's faSing at Corunna under siinilar circumstances.

Iti #uneratlU^ lie Scaumanoir.

Commonly known m ** The Burial of Sir John Moore.**

Ni 1e son du tambour ni 1a marche funebre Hi le feu des soldats ne marqua son trepas,

MaiB du brave k la hate k travers lea tenebres Momes nouB port&mes le cadavre au rampart.

Be minuit c'etait Theure et solitaire et sombre

La lune offirait & peine un dubile rayon La lanteme luisait peniblement dans 1 ombre

Quand de la bajonette on creusa le gazon.

D'inutile cercueil ni de drap funeraire,

Nous ne daignAmes point entourer le heros,

n gisait dans les plis du manteau militaire,

Comme ui) guerrier qui dort son heure de repoz*

La priere qu'on fit fut de courte dur^,

Nul ne parla de deuil bien que le oceur fut pleL*:^

Mais on fixait du mort la figure ad^r^

Mais ayec amertimie on songeait an demain.

Au demain quand ici oO sa fosse s* appr^te Oti son bumide lit on dresse ayec 6angIot)>,

L' ennemi orgueilleux pourra fouler sa tdto, £t nous ses yeterans serons loin sur 1m flots.

lis temiront sa gloire ! on pourra les entendre Nommer Tillustre mort d'un ton amer ou fol,

n les laissera dire, eh! qu* importe a sa cendre, Que la main d'un Breton a confiee au sul.

* I

TH5 SOSOa OF FBANCE.

L'ffUVK dnrait enmre qunnd retentjt 1b cloi'lie,

Au aommet du Befroi et Is canon lointiun, Tiri' par inlervttlk' rn ennomant I'approohe,

SignsLiit la Serte de rennami hautsiii. Et duu aafoHe olors \e mloiea lentemenC

Fret du chuDp oil aa sloire * £14 ixuuoiiimie, He miniica > Vendroit □! pierre ni monumcDt,

Le Uisaant aeul b acul arec M renommfe.

But my pAge is filling; fast, Emd ray appointed a

Dearly replenished. Adieu, then, to the " Songs of France !"

BeminiacenceB of my younger life ! traditions of poetic

' Gaul! language of impassioned feeliug! cultivated elegance

of ideas and imagery ! bold, gsy, ftiatastic picturiogg of so-

I cial eiiBtence ! — farewell ! lou have been to me the source

icb enjoyment, much mental luiuiy, much intellectual

revelry,— farewell ! Tet still, like Ovid quitting Eome lor

I 8eythia —

" Srpt tile die .ns, mult6ni aum deinda locuhia, Et quuL diiccdcna osciila summa dedi : Indulgena animo, pea mibi tarduB orat" —

loath to depart, I haye once more opened the volume of the . enchanter, aud must indulge myselt in a lost lingering look

at one— perhaps the loftiest of Beranger's lays. It is ad- I draeeed by him to a fair incognita ; hut in mvVerBion I have [ tulc^i the bberty of giving a more intelligible and. I tear I not to add, more appropriate direction to the splendid I allegory.

ie Teu pour vona prendre on ton rnoina fV

Corimie ! il fut des aiigea rfvoltos . Sieu sur teur front fut lomber ss parole,

Et dana I'abtme ila aont jafeipiUs. Doni, mai* fragile, uc seul dans leur ruine,

Contre *•» maui gnrde un puiiaant uscuu D reflt« arm^ de aa l^re dirine —

Ange aui jeui blcux, protegez-moi tonjt L'cnfer mugit d'un e&ojable rire,

Quand, d/goblJ de I'arguell des in6c)iTiii>, L'bd^, qu- pleura en aocordaot aa Ijro,

Fait ^claler lea remorda et sea chanu.

FATHza psouT a BSLiqtiKa.

Dim d'un regard I'wrMhB BU gouffre iramondpi Maii ici b» Tvut qu'U charme uo* jours i

Li Poena eniTreta le monde —

Ange am jem blwta, pratcgei-moj Utujoor* t

Von iiou« ii Tole, en tecouant •« ailaa,

Comme roistwi que I'orage ■ mouilU ; Snndain la terre entend dn roii nonvrllw,

Hoinl pcuple errant I'arrfle fmerreilU. Tout culle alon u'^Uit que I'hftnDonie —

Am BiBui jamaii Keu ne dit, " Soyei sourda '" L'aotel g'^ure aui parfuma du genie ! —

Ange BUZ jeui bleiu, prot^gez-miu toigour*!

En TBJn Von/er, dra olnmaun de i'enTJe,

Pounuit cet ange, fcJisppe de cte raogi ; lie rhomme inculte il idDDcit la lie,

£t Hjiu le d^fl montTQ au doigt Jra tjraiu. Tandii qu'itout Ba loii prtlaut dm obamiee.

Court Jurqu'au pAle ^vcillpr lea ainoura i Dieu comply au ciel ce qu'il tiche de laraiM ! —

Angc Aux jeiu bleus, prutegei-moi tot^oon !

Qui p«ut me dire oil luiL son aureole t

De aon eiil Dieu I'a-t-il nipp»l£ f Mais TOui rhantei, roais Totre Toil POnaole —

Coriniie, en tou* I'ange I'cat djvoile 1 Totre printeiUB reut dea flenn jtemellea,

Totre beaoU de oSlnles atonn ; Pour un long vol Toui dfeplo^ei to> ailea I —

Angif aux jeui bleus, pn>tegei-m<ri tonjonrtl

Ct)i 9iigtl of Voitrji.

To L. E. L.

MS holier kej alull harmoniae the cliord — n defence Omnipotence dreir an iTCDgiDK raord t

10 bolt had crunhM revoLt, fl

igfilp fair though frail^

WUD'd hii lute, fond attribute 1 to chanu that gloom; vale.

The tjre he kept his irild hand gwciiit ; the music he'd awskei

Would *we«tlj thrill from the lonef; hill where he ut apart tontix^ I fl

There he'd lament 1ii> bauighmmit, hii thoughts to grief Bbaodjam,

And weep hia fuU. 'Twm pitiful to see him weep, £ur Landau 1

lie went hi» fau^t! Hell's gloomy rault grow yooal with htison«; But alt throughout derision's shout burst from Ihe fiuilt; throng i Ood pitjing Tieir'd hit fortitude in that unliaUow'd dan ; Free'd him &om hell, but hade him dwell amid Ihe k *

THE SONGS OF TE.LSCE. 8

ladj t for OS, an exile thus, immortiil Poea; C«iie upon earth, Bud lutes give birth lo ■wpetest cninatPelaj i Aiid poeli wrought their Bpetlvordft, lauglit b; that Hngelic mind. And miuic leat toft hlnnriinhnmnt to faecinite mankiiuL

RvliKinti rote ! rosa gought repose in the Bhadow of her wings i Miuic [or her walked hiirbingor, and Oeniiu touth'd Ilie slririfjg : Tears froin the tree of Anibj aist on her altar burn'd, Bui earth and ware moat fmcrsnce guie where Poetr; sDJaum'd. Vaiul;. with hnte ioteterate, hell labour'd ■□ its rage, To perwwniB that angel's lute, and croas his pilgriiuage i TTnnioT'd and calm, his soogs pour'd balm od sorrow alt (ho while g Vice he unmask'd, but Tirtue bask'd in the radiunce of his smile,

O where, among the fair and voting, or in what kinglj- court, In what mj path where Plessiire bath her faTOurite resort. Where hast Uiou gone, angelic one ? Back to tb; tiatiTe skies? Or dost thou dwell in cloisCsr'd cell, in peosire hermit's guise ? Metliinks I ken a deaiien of 'this our island— nsj, Lm»e me to guess, Cair poetess ! queen of the matchleaa hxj !

*ft*A-Utx\ -'tMXcvota ~\ t-C-t.T,

Chapteb I.

" Laiilis opinione disseminstum est hoc malum : manarit non solimi per Oalliam, sed etiam transcendit Alpes, et obscure serpens mullai Inm prvTincias o'lcupBvit." Cioiao m Catilinam, Or. IT.

Btartjng from Frsnoe, across Mount Cenis, Prout visite Msutua and Tenice i Through many a tuneful proTinco strolls, , "Smit with the loFo" of barcoroUus.

Petrarca's ghost be conjures up, And irith old Dmte qtufis a cup i Nat. from her jar Etruscan, be Uncorks the mitse of Tus.™.t. O, Y.

Tbou the contents of "the chest" hitherto put forth by uu to the gaze of a diacriminBting public, the sagacious glance

FRoOT'a BKLlQliES.

of the critic, unless )iia eye happen to be Bomehow "bj drop sereae or dim suSusioD veiled," must hare sc&mied pretty accurately the peculi&r cast and chumet^r of old Prout'a genius. ITiough somewhat "Protean" and roulti- form, delighting to make his poathumona appearance in a diTersity of fani-'ifiil ahapea, lie is still diseoverable by cer- tain immutable features ; and the identity of mind ana pur-f pose reveals itself throughout this vast variety of mauifeat' ation. An attentive perusal of hia " Papers" (of wbioh we have now drawn forth dtven, hoping next month to envk the latt bottle of the sparkliug dozen) will enable the reader to detect the secret workings of hia spirit, and discover tha " bee'a wing" in the transparent decanter of hia souL Prout's candour and franknesa, his bold, fearless avowal uf each inward conviction, Iiis contempt for qiyicks and pe- dants, his warm admiration of disinterested patriotism and mtellectual originality, cannot but be recognised throughout hia writings : he is equally eathusiastic in bis predilections, and stanch in his antipathies. Of his classical namesake, Proteus, it has been observed by Vir^l, that there was na catching him in any definite or tangible form -, as he cou« st&otly shifted bis poaition, and, with the utmost violation of conaiatency, became at turns " a pig," " a tiger," or " a serpent," to auit the whim of the moment or the scheme t4' the hour :

" Firl enim lubitii »mi homdus, ab-nvo tigris, Sqimim>3Uiive diioo," Gmryic. IF.

Sut in all the impersonations of the deceased P. P. of! Watergrasshill the man is never lost sight of; it ie still he, whether he be viewed ahewing hia tusks to Tommy Moore, or springing like a tiger on Dr. Lardner's wig, or lurking like a bottle-imo in Brougham's brandy-flssk, or coiled np like a rattle-snaKe in the begging-box of O'Connelt.

But still he delights to tread the peaceful paths of lite- rature ; and it is then, indeed, that he appears m his proper element. Of all the departments of that interesting pro- vince, he has selected the field of popular poetry for hit favourite haunt. "Smilltn," like old Milton, "tutlA Ih* love of taerrd song," he lingers with '■ fond, reluctant, a rouB delay," amid the tuneful "grovea." BaUad-aiag'JW

I

TEE BONGS OF ITALT. 31T

im his pradommast passion. la hia youth lie had visited ■Imoet everj part of tne continent ; and tlir>ugh not unob- Bervant ofotht-r mattera, nor unmindful of collateral inquiries, be made the tongt of each country the object of a most di- ligent iuvestigation. Among the tenets of bia peripatetic pniloenphy, he had adapted u aingiJnr theory, viz. that the wue character of a people must be collected fi'om their "■OBga." Impressed with this notion, to iiae the words of 'the immortal Edmund Burke, '' he bos visited all Europe ; not to aurvey the aumptuouaneBS of palaces, or the stateli- nem of temples ; not to make accurate measurement of the retuaios of andent graodeur, nor to form a scale of the eurioeitieB of modem art ; not to collect medals, or to collate HS8. : but to pick up the popular tunes, and make a col- ' lection of song-books ; to cuU from the minstrelBv of the cottKge, and select from the bacchanalian joviality of the rintoge ; to compare and collate the Tipperary bagpipe with the Cremona Mdle; to remember the forgotten and attend to the neglected ballads of forei^ nations ; and to blend in ona harmonious syetem the traditionary songs of all men in All countries. It was a voyage of discovery, a cii'CBmnavi- gation of meiodi- "

Lander and Mungo Park have traced the course of the 'iger : Bruce and Belzoni the aoiu-ces of the Nile j Sterne Joonieyed in pursuit of the lenlitnenlal. Syntax in search of the fheturuque ; Eustace mode a "classical" tour through Italy, Bowring an " utilitarian" excursion through Francei but we greatly miscalculate if the public do not prefer, for ell the practical purposes of life, Prout'a "tuneful" pU- grimage. Any accrasion to the general stock of harmony, Buytbing to break the niouotonous sameness of modern literature, must be hailed with a shout of welcome ; and in Watergrasabill cheiit we possess an engine of melodious ■er, far preferable to tlie nackneyed barrel-organs that and stultify the present generation. The native Irish I at all times 'been remarkable for a keen perception ul' imusical enjoyment, and it therefore is not Bstonishuig that {the eharnis of sweet sound should have so fascinated the youthful mind of onr hero, as to lead him captive from land ~ ' ' -a willing slave, chained to the triumphal chariot

FATHEK r rout's BELIQUES.

of Poljhvmnia, His cose hoa been graphically put by modera writer (not Hogg) —

" Whm I ws« B boy in my fkUuir's mud edifioe, lender and bare ae b pig io & «ty. Out of the door u I looke<I, oith b atcBdr phii, Who but Thndo Murphy the piper weiil by !

'Arrsh, Thsdy ! the droUB ot your pipe ao OOmea otot jno,

H»ked ru wuider wliererer yon goes ; And if my poor porcnlB should want to discornr me.

Sure it woiit be by dewribing my olotliw !' '

" Journeying with this intent," our excellent divine (a may be seen in the last four numbers uf Beqika) hath not been idle in France ; having wreathed a garlimd of eoug culled where those posies grew wild on the boulerarda o Paris, the fields of ^fo^mandy, and the fragrant hilla of Pro vence — land of troubadours. We have aow to follow hia through other scenes : to view hJtn seated in a gondola, a

f tiding under the " Bridge of Sighs ;" or wanaeriug on the anks of the Po; or treading, with pensive step, the ftliltoiu glen of Vallombrosa. 'Each guardiaa spirit ot that hallowei soil, each tutelary geiiiaa loci, the dryaiies of the grove anf the naiades of the Rood, exult at the appniai'h of so worth] a visitant, sent with a special mission on an errand of the loftiest consequences, and gifted with a soul equal to the mighty task ; a modem by birth, but an old Boma sentimeut —

It has been the misfortune of that beautiful peniiu ever since tlie decline and fall of the Boman empire, to h been invaded by a succession of barbarians from the Nor Longobards and Ostrogoths, Aloric and Genseric. Sam Hoj and Frederick Barbarossa, Attila king of the Huns, Leigh Hunt king of the Cockneys, liave already spread hi and consternatiou tiirough that delightful country ; but vilest and most unjustifiable invasion of Italy baa bevn n petmted by Ludv Morgan. We know not to what est impunity mav be claimed by " the sei," for running I.. and playing the devil with olaces and things ronsecmted b

THE SOSOS OF ITA^LT. 819

e recollections of oil that is noble in our onture, aad ei- plted in tlie hietory of maokiiid ; but we suppose timt her "Irish Iftdyship is priviJeged to cairy od her literary orgiea in ' : face of the public, like her fair countirwoman. Lady rrymore, of Bmaahing uotoriety. Heaven knows, she bus foften enough been " pulled up " before the tribunala of criti- OBtn for her miademeanours ; still, we find her repeating her old offent-ea with incorrigible pertinacity .—and Belgium ie now the scene of her pranks. She moreover continues to besprinkle her pages with Italian, of which she knows about *■ • much as of the inngiia^-e of the Celestial Empire ; for, let r take our word for it, that, however acquainted ahe may aibly be with the " Cruiskeen lawn," she has tut a very ight intimacy with the " Vocabulario della Crusca."

OLIVER TOEKE. f Feb. 1, 1635.

KaltrgrasiiUt, Ftb. 1830.

itBiNo these long wintry nights, while the blast howls lismally outside this mountain-shed, and all the boisterous ments of dcBtruction hold a " radical" tneetmg on yonder ;, — seated befOTe a snug turf-Sre, and having duly conned T the day's appointed portion of the Eoraan breviary, I 'love to give free scope to my youthful recollections, and wander back in spirit to those sunny lands where I speat my early vears. Memory is the comforter of old age, ns Hope is the guardian -an gel of youth. To me my past life aeema a placid, a delightful dream ; and I trust that when 1 shall, at no distant moment, hear the voice which will bid me " awake" to tlie consctousnese of enduring realities, and the enjoyment of immortal existence, memory still may remain to enhance, if possible, the Iruition of beatitude.

But a truce to these solemn fancies, which, no doubt, have been suggested to my mind by those homilies of Chrysostoni sod soliloquies of Augustin which I have just now been pe- rusing, in this day's office of our ancient liturgy. And to resume the train of ideas with which I commenced, a few juinutes ago, this paper of "night-thongbts,"—gliidly do 1 IT to the remembrance of that freah and active period of mj

320 F&TUEB FBOtI S BKLIQCES.

lone career, when, buo^aot nith juvenile energy, and flu&ha with life's joyous ftutivipntioDs, 1 paased from the soutii < France iuto the luxuriunt lap of ItAly. Full eitty vears not have elapsed ainee I first (.■roased the Alpine froulier of tbi enchanting provinee of Europe ; but the image of all I b and the impressioa of all I felt, remains indelible iu mi Houl. My recullections of gay France are lively and vivid yet not so deeply imprinted, nor so glowingly distinct, C the picturjngs which au Italian Bojoum baa left on th " tablets of memory." I cheriBli both ; but eaoh has its owi • pGeuliarattributes, features, and physiognomy. The i/itrilueUt Madame de Sevign^ and the iinpaasioned Beatrice Cenci an two very opposite imperaonations of female character, bui they pretty accurately represent the notion I would wisb ti convey of mg Italy and mi/ France. There ia not more differ ence between the " Allegro" and " II Penseroso" of MUtoD. France rises before me in the shape of a merry-andrew jing ling his bells, and exhibiting wondrous feats of agility; Ita^ naaumes the awful shape of the spectre that stood befoPT^ BrutuB in theeamp, ana promised to meet him at Philippi.

In those days a Franciscan friar, called Oangaoell (Clement XIV.), sat in the pontiGc chair ; and, aorrowfbl to tell, being of a cringing, time serving, and worldly-minde ' disposition, did considerable damage to the church on which, in evil hour, he was appointed to preside. Th oaly good act of bis I ain disposed to recognise ia the at dttion to the Vatican gallery, called after him the" Muaeutl Clementinum :" but tbatwaa but a poor compensation for thfl losa which literature and science sustained (through liia ia effable folly) in the unwarrantable destruction of that ui rivalled "order" of literati, the Jesuita,* The sacrifice wi avowedly meant to propitiate the demon of Irreligioo, the first exhibiting hia presence in France ; but, like all sue concessions to an evil spirit, it only provoked further exJ geucies and more imperative demands, until Tallevsahi by proposing in the National Assembly the abolition c church property, effectually demolished the old Oallican

■ A book wai ill circulation culled " QuognTU'lli'i Idlers ;" an iinpoiiitiDD on public credulit^r. to be cinsK-ii in thp anniJJi oflbmf] •iDngaidF of UacphCTsoc'a " Osiiui," ChsLtorUiti'i " Bowley," aacTlhl " OeoroljtU" of Iiidorui Merp»tur. — Pbopt.

THE BOKtiS oP ITALY.

lea of CliriBtifinity. and eitinKuished tne lamp that had it for ages before the altar of our common God, It waa, Ito doubt, an act of forgetfulness in the preceding pope, Proiper Lambertini (Benedict XIV.), to ojwn a correa- pondence with Voltaire, to whom, in return for the dedi- . cation of hia tragedy of " llahomet." lie Boat bis " apostoli- ""' bleMing;" but it was reserved for the friar-pope to ■erable wound on the c.iuae of enlightened ^ion, by his bull of the 2lat of July, 1773. I dwell on this topic eon atnore, because of my perBonol feetingBof attachment to the instructors of my youth; and also because the subject was ofleu the cause of a friendly quarrel between mvaelf and Barry the painter, whom I met at Some, and knew intimately. He was a " wild fellow," and, by some chance, had for me a sort of confiding fondness ; owing, no doubt, to our being both natives of Uork, or, at least, citizens thereof : for / was horti in Dublin, as duly set {Drth in that part of my autobiography called " Dean Swift's f Uadness ; a Ta\e of a Churn." Now Barry was so taken with t OanganelH's addition to the Vatican collection, that he has placed him among the shades of the blessed in his picture of Elysiutn, at the hall of the Adelphi, London ; giving a snug bCTth in " hell" to Pope Adrian IV., who bestowed Ireland ■ on Henry LI. I question not the propriety of this latter anungement ; but I strongly object to the apotheosis of Ganganelli.

Tbia digression, however unconnected with the " Songs of Italy," may serve as a chronological landmark, indicative of the period to which I refer in my observations on the poetry of tnat interesting country. Ameri had not j'et rekmdled the fire of tragic thought ; Manzoni had not fiung into the pages of romantic narrative a pathos and an eloquence un- known to, and lindrearot of, by Boccaccio ; Silvio Pellico had not appalled the world with realities far aurpassing Piudemonte had not restrung the lyre of Filicaia. But Heaven knows there was enough of genius and exalted spiration in the very oldest ornaments of Italian com_ ation, in the ever-glorious founders of the Tmcana favella.

■ not seek to undervalue.

822 FATHER PBOUT'S SELIQTTBa,

Poets have been the earliest writers in every language, and the first elements of recognized speech have invariably been collected, arranged, and systematised by the Muse. The metrical narrative of the Arabian Job, the record of the world's creation as sung by Hesiod, the historical poetry of Ennius, the glorious vision of Dante, the songs of Mar6t and Malherbe, the tales of Chaucer, have each respectively been the earliest acknowledged forms and models on which the Hebrew, the Greek, the Latin, the Italian, the French, and the English idioms were constructed. I have placed these six languages (the noblest and most perfect vehicles of human intercourse that have ever existed) in the rotation of their successive rise and establishment. Taking them chronologically, the Hebraic patent of precedency is un- doubted. The travels of Hesiod, Homer, and Herodotus, through Egypt and Asia Minor, sufficiently explain the subsequent traces of that oriental idiom among the Greeks ; the transmission of ideas and language from Greece to Italy is recorded in set terms by the prince of Latin song, who adopts the Greek hexameter as well as the topics of He- siod:

" Ascrsumque cano Bomana per oppida carmen."

Georgic. II.

The Italians, when Latin ceased to be the European me- dium of international communication, were the first to form out of the ruins of that glorious parlance an idiom, fixed as early as 1330, and perfect in all its modem elegance ; — so per&ct, indeed, as to warrant the application to it of the exclamation of Horace :

" O matre pulchrft filia pulclirior !"

Lib. 1. ode 16.

France followed next in the development of its happy vocabulary, under Francis I. ; and England, under the reign of Queen Anne, finally adopted its modem system of phraseology. The literature of Grermany is of too mo- dern a growth for my notice. It is scarcely seventy yean old : I am older myself.

It is a remarkable fact, but not the less true, that Danfte (who had studied at the university of Paris, where he main-

J

I

TnZ BONOS OF ITALY. 323

ioed with applause a the-BiB, " De odidi Be acibili"), on return to Italy, meditating his graDtl work of the " Di' TUiB Commediii," waa a long time undecided to whut dialect he should commit the otfapring of his prolific mind. Hifl own bias l&y towards the Latin, and be even bad commenced in that tougue the deacription of hell, the opening veree of %hii.'h has been preserved i

But the Irieh monks of Bobbio, having' seen a specimeu of the poem in the popular version, strongTy adviHed the joimg poet to eontinue it id the vernacular tongue ; and that deci- sion influenced the fate of Italian literature.

Petmrca is known to have considerably underrated the of Dante, whose style and manner he could never indeed, no two writere could possibly have adopted more opposite system of composition, and out of the — materials constructed poetry of so distinct a charac- Bude, massive, and somewhat uncouth, the terta n'mu ,e " infernal laureate" resembled the Doric temples Piestum; delicate, refined, and elegant, the sonnets of jttarca aasimilftte in finish to the Ionic structure at dedicated to Dianu. But the eamoni of Laura's T are the most ei(|iusite of his productions, and far sur- in harmony and poetic merit the toHstti. Such is the oi of Muratori, and such also is the verdict of the ions author of the "Secehia liapita." These canxont in fact, the model and the perfection of that species of ^ of which the burden is totie; and though some modern pQet« have gone farther in the eipression of mere animal passion (such as Moore and liyron), never has woman been ikddressed in such aL'coniplished strains of eloquence and sentiment as Donna Laura by the hermit of Vauiduse. ' There may be some partiality teit by me towiuds Pe- rea. He belonged to "roy order;" and though the ion of the priest and the poet (combined in the term 'ATsa) is an old association, the instances in the Ronian CUltolic priesthood have been too rare not to prize tiie soli- tary example of sacerdotal minstrelsy in the arflideacon of JP&nna. Jerooio Vida, the bishop of a small town iu Italy, distinguished as a Lutin poet —

y a

^«ent B Tl

Hnio

BS4 TATHES FBOUl's RELIQUIS.

" Immortal Tida, on itUoaa honour'd brow The critic's bays and pool's ifj grow ;"

(Pope, Euajr on Critieltm.)

ftnd Beveral Jesuits have felt the inspiration of the Muse : but the excolleuce of Petrarca as a poet has caused hii theologieat acqiiirements, which were of the highest order, to be quite forgotten, I was greatly a:n used some days ago, in turning over the volume of Bellarmin, " De Scriptunbiu Ecclesiaahcis," to find at page 227 (4to. Eomie, 1613) tha following notice of the aonnetteer:

" Franciscua Petrarea, archidiaconus Farmenais, lusit elegantisBimis yereibua amorea auos erga Lauram, ut baberct materiam exercendte musie ; sed t«inpus cousumptum in illia cantiunculia deflevjt, et multa opera gravia atquo utilia ecripsit. PiS obiit 137*."

The learned cardinal, no doubt, valued much more thesB ffrave and useful worki, which are doomed to lurk amid' cobwebs in the monastic Ubraries of the coutiaent, than the esmiisite outjioiiringa of soul and harmony which have filled all Europe with rapture.

Long before I bad crossed the Alps I had been an admirer of Petrarea. My residence at Avignon ; my familiar ac- quaintance with the church of St. Clair, where, in his twenty- fifth year (Friday, April 6, 1337), he for the first time saw the Madonna Laura, then aged seventeen ; my frequent ei- cursiona to the source of that limpid torrent, called by Pliny, Vallisclauaa, and by the Freneii.Vaueluao, had drawn my attention to his writings and his charact-er. An entbu- eiaatic love of both waa the natural result ; and I some- times, in the peniaal of his sentiments, would eatch th» contagion of his eiquiaite Platoniam. Yes ! Laura, after the lapse of five centuries, bad made a second conquest !

L."— Dauti*.

It has be«n said, that no poet'a mistress ever attained such celebrity oa the Platonic object of Petrarca'a aSeo* ttons : she has, in fact, taken her place as a fourth maid of honour In the train of " graces" that wait on Venus ; and the romantic source of the Sorga has become the Castaliaa ipring of all who would write on love.

rax soKQB OF i

Montana Iii Valctfiuta.

Sntmu di Franeeieo Ptirarea.

ClutrB, &e9clie, e doici ocque,

Ot« le bvlle membra )W mIbi, che Willi B me par

Ocntil nutio, OTe piacque {Con KHpir mi rimemhra)

lei di lore iJ bel Aanco colouna ; Erbk e flor, chn la gonna

5ttr.ii(n's aiilirtg«

To (At Summer Haunt i/f Laura,

The virgin frcahneag of wlioso crystal

Cod 1 wigelico seno ;

r* amor co" begU oeolii il cor m"

DbW udicnut ineiemo Alio doUnti mie parole estreme.

.fl.luherhourofre

Bone, *haiie earUeat bud

'Iff I

pur mio destino, iela io db a' adopn, lUMl' occhi lagriiDBnd

Qualche grozia il mcsichino

Coipo fr« TOi ricopra i knTii r >bna b1 proprio albergo ignndo. Ia morU Ga men crudn, Be quwU ipeme porto A quel dubbioeo puBO : Che lo tpirito laaso nn pons msi in pill riposato

m 'n piEi (rHnquilla foaM Iggir b came tniFBgliata e 1'

Tempo Terri nncor tone,

Cool grore, aequoeterad grot 1 Here m this lovelj spot I pour my last lad lay, where I her loTB I wooed.

If Boon m J eartlily woea Miut slumber in tlie lomb, Anit if m; life's ud doom

Muit BO in sorrow cloao I Where yonder willow grows,

Close by the margin lay

Seek thou thy natire realm, My eoull sud when the fear Of disEioiution near, And doubts thsJl OTsrwhelm, A ray of comfort round

My dyintf coucb shall hover, If soma kind band will cover ' Hy miserable bones in yonder hal- lowed ground!

But still alive for her Oft mar my aihea greet ■ The sound of comiug feet ! And Laura's tread gladden In; »• puldira'

326

FATUKE l-BOUT'a nELiQirze.

Nil beufdrfto giomo, Volga la vistn dwioea e liala

Coroaiidonii ! ed, o piita! Oil Wrm in fm le pietro

Videndo, smor l inspiri

In guisB, the sospiK 8i doloeineiito, cbe merci m' in

D»' be' rami Mondeis

(Doloe nel[> roemoria.]

TJna pioggia di fior aqyta

grembo ;

Ed ells Bi Bsdea

Umile in tints glorii,

CotertB giik dell' atnoroHi

Ch'o

Erui quel dl a tederl QobI ai pOBSTB in torra, sull' onda;

Qnal «in un viigo errare Girando, varea dir, " Qui r^na

Belcnting, on my gnre.

Mi inistref* maj, pmhrao^ w icli one kind piljing glanes lIoTiour hhe dust of ber deioli 'Xhpa maj ghe inlerceda.

With pntjer and aigh, for ons Who, honM for Bver gonc^ Of raercT ttonds ia Doed ; Aud oliiie for me hor loauj ill lells, Slaj her uplifted ^ea Win pardon from the ikiw. Wliile mageit throngh ber r^ behob the tear tbat iwella I

Tisions of loce [ ye dwell In memory still enBhrinod. — ' Here, as the onr:« re<JiDed.

A abowoT of blosBouu on her boson leU! ^d wbile tb' enamoured trao fVom all it« bnmcbea tbua Rained odorirennu, Bbe Eat, nnconicions, all liotiullty. Uiied nitb ber golden hair, IhoM bloBaoma aweeb Like pearls on amber seemed i-- Some ihoir alldgiance dMuwd to her Qoacbg rob« and lon^

feet:

Otbun, disporting, took Their course adown Ibe brook Others aloft:, wnlled in aiir aponi Soemed to proclaim, "To-ifaj ' ~"

Quanfe voltfi diai' io AUor pien di apaTenIo, "OocUi por fermo nacque i Paradiao ;" o d' obblio.

ndivi

E 1 ToltO, I

Qento,

Dall' imma^ne ren,

Ch' io dii»a aospirando,

"QiU come TBnn' io,oqu«ndo7"

Oredendo esaor in del, noa li,

I'to gaud upon thee, JBv price I TiU from mj inmoet tool This aecrot whisper stole — "Of Garth do child art thon,dBaghM of Faradis« !" Such BWBj Ui; beauty bald O'er the enraptured aaaa And Buch the inUuonro Of ninniiiit *lnile and form u iKtedl

THIS SOSflB OF ITALY. 327

Wsfted by ma^a wand, EaFih'« narrgw joy» beyond?" pice. 0, 1 sliall evur count

Mj hAppiBAt ditjA Rpent biire by this romanUc fount I

In this graceful effueion of tender feelinga, to which a

responsive chord must vibrate in every breoat, and compared

wito which the moat admired of modern love-ditties will

paltry and vulgar, the tenderness, tbo exulted passion,

the fervid glow of a noble heart, and the myaterious work-

_ of a most gifted mind, eihibit themselvea in every stanza. Wbat can be more beautifully descriptive than the

Jning lloes, equalling in melodious cadence the sweetest Horace,

" O fon> BftodiiBiit, iplondidior vitro ;" bnt infinitely superior in delicaey of sentiment and pathetic power! The calm melanciioly of the succeeding strophe tiiLS been often admired, and has, of course, found great brour among the Tom Mooraa of every country.

Tom has given ua Aii last dying-speech in that rigmarole melody,

"Wlitni in (Icatk I shall calm rcolioa i"

tut the legacy of this bard is a sad specimen of mock-turtle pathos, and, with the affectation of tenderest emotion, is, m style and thought, repugnant to all notions of real refine- ment and simplicity. In the last will of Petrarca — a most interesting document— there is a legacy which any one may te pardoned for coveting [ it is the poet's lutf, which he "beiiueaths to a friend, with a most affecting and solemn re- eommendation : " Magistro Thomse de Terrara lego leulum meum bouum, ut eum sonet noa pro vanitate sseculi fugacis, Bed ad laudem Dei tetemi." — (Testament, Petrar.)

As the Hibernian melodist has had his name thus smuggled into my essay on the " Songs of Italy," it may not be irre- levant (aa assuredly it will be edifying) to point out some of his " foi/ueriet" perpetrated in this quarter. Not con- tent with picking the pockets of the Trench, he has ei- . tended bis depredations to the very eitremttv of Calahria. fetr&rca'e case ia one of peculiar hardship. Laura's lover,

328 TATHSB pbout's bsliques.

in the enthusiasm of eloquent passion, takes a wide range in one of his songs, and ransacks the world, east and west, for images drawn from the several phenomena which nature exhibits in each country through which his muse wanders imcontroUed. Among other curious comparisons and happy flights of infancy, he introduces the fountain of the Sun, near the temple of Jupiter Ammon ; and, describing the occasional warmth and successive icy chill which he expe- riences in the presence or absence of his beloved, compares his heart to that mysterious water, which, cold at mid- day, grew warm towards eve. Would the reader wish to see with what effrontery Moore appropriates, without the slightest acknowledgment, the happy idea of Petrarch ? Here are the parallel passages :

Sctrarra* Com jHoore.

" Sorge nel mezzo giomo. "Fly not yet! the fount that play'd,

Una fontana, e tien nome del In days of old, through Amnion's

Sole, shade,

Che per natura suole Though icy cold by day it ran,

Bollir la notte, e'n sul giomo esser Yet still, like souls of mirth, began fredda. To bum wfien night was near*

* * * • And thus should woman's heart and

Cosl ayien a me stesso looks

Che mio sol s' allontana At noon be cold as wintry brooks,

Ardo allor," &c. But kindle when the night's return- Canzoni di Petr. 31, st. 4. ing

Brings the genial hour for burning."

The learned priest had been at the trouble of perusing Quintus Curtius, lib. iv. cap. 7, where he had found : "Eat etiam Ammouis nemus ; in medio habet font^m ; aquam solis vocant; sub lucis ortum tepida manat, medio die frigida eadem fluit, inclinato in vesperam calescit, medid nocte fer- vida exaestuat." He had also, no doubt, read the lines m Silius Italicus, " De Bello P6nico," referring to this same source :

" Qufe nascente die, qu» deficiente tepescit, Quaque rigct medium ciim sol ascendit Olympum."

But his property, in the application of the simile, has been invaded by Tom, who had read nothing of the sort —

** Sic Yos non vobis mellificatis apes !"

After all, I am wasting my time on such minor matters.

TH£ SOK03 OT ITALY. 320

In the celebrated address ftbove quoted of the hermit of 'aucliue to that immortid fouutum, I have givea "what I iqaider a fair Bpeuimen of Italian amatory poesy : but lough the poets of that genial climate are "all Cor loi'e," ill they are also "a little for the hotile." Hence it is hat I consider it my duty, aa an essayist, to bring forward sample of their bacchanalian songa.

donttto Qittramliito.

Claudio TaUnnei,

i doDti, la luiguA, i lubbri, a

TSdd mi ritrar in Id piogfi* ni renlo.

He tola o aleUe per laghezta danni ;

Hon puo "1 Carro o Boole alleero farrDi — Oh' Bltroro i la mis gioia e 'I mio ronteuto.

Fa delle riti ed olte liti uikimo

Pendir" dell" utc, e 1' ure ■tillin riro, Ch' io boTO, e poi dagli occhi ebro distillo j

■nm	ezto	on riwo, OFfF i	bdoor	oadonia.
Coro	K	ch' ftltro lielo	C piCL di	■ino.
	aAmor, Bii«o,'eBatillo!

Cf|i ZQfni'Cup htspokcn.

Qreat Tulcui I ^our dark imokr pslofe.

With theM ingots of »ilcer, 1 soek ; And I beg 7<ni irill mak^ me a cbalice,

Like Che cup joii once forg;ed for the Greek. Let no deeds of Belloiia " the blood;"

EmbUioD tbii goblet of mine ; But B garland of grapes, ripe and ruddj.

In. teulpture around it entwine.

The feitoon (which joaTl gracefiJIr model) la, remember, but pari of tlie whole «

Lest, perohonce, it miglit enter your noddla To diminilh the riM of the bant

830 FATHEB PBOUT'S BSLIQUES.

For though dearlj what *s deem'd ornamental. And of art the bright aymbolB, I prize ;

Still I cling with a fondness parental Bound a cup of the true good old size.

Let me have neither sun, moon, nor planet.

Nor " the Bear," nor " the Twins," nor « the Ooat :' Yet its use to each eye that may scan it,

Let a glance at its emblems denote. Then awaj with Minerva and Venus !

Not a rush for them both do I care ; But let joUy old Father Silenus,

Astride on his jackass, be there !

Let a dance of gay satyrs, in cadence

Disporting, be seen mid the fimit ; And let Pan to a group of young maidens

Teach a new vintage-lay on his flute ; Cupid, too, hand in hand with Bathyllus,

May puiple his feet in the foam : Long may last the red joys they distil us !

Tho' Love spread his winglets to roam !

The songsters of Italy have not confined themselyefl so exclusively to the charms of the ladies and the fascinations of the flask, as not to have felt the noble pulse of patriotic emotion, and sung the anthem of independence. There is a glorious ode of Petrarch to his native land : and here is a well-known poetic outburst from a truly spirited champion of his country's rights, the enthusiastic but graceful and dignified Filicaia.

aila Satria.

Italia ! Italia ! o tu cui feo la sorte Dono infelice di beUezza, ond' hai Funesta dote d* infiniti guai

Che in fronte scritti per gran doglia porte ;

Deh ! fossi tu men bella, o almen piik forte Onde assai piili ti paventasse, o assai T* amasse men chi del tuo bello a* rai

Par ohe si strugga, e pur ti sfida a morta •

Che giu dall' Alpi non redrei lorrBDti

Bcender d' HmiBli. oi di Buigue tini Berer 1' onda ild Po g&Uici armenti ;

Hi I* Tedrei del non tuo ferro cmU

FugDRT col bnccio di alnulere geiiti

Per »erTir HnupfB, a rincilrice o rir

Co pretttutt tulp:

It thon not been too n»tion«' queen, fair Italy 1 though now CtuDce giTce to them tlie diadem Uiat once adamed thy brow ? Too bMUtifol for tyrant's rule, too proud for handniwd'a duty — Would tlion hadst leea of loTelinoBi, or Btronglh ns well aa beftutyl

Hie fttal light of bcBut; bright vith feU Bltnction shone. Fatal to thee, for tyranle be the lovera thou hast won ! That forebesd fair it doom'd Co wenr its shame'e deeding proof. And ■laverT'i print in damning tint atamji'd b; a deepot'a hoof 1

Were ftrenrth and power, ainiden! thy dower, Kum should thftt

robber- band, Th>t prawig unhid thj Tinea amid, Hj icourg'd &om aS that land ; Hot wouldit thou fear yon foreigner, nor be condemned lo ape Drink in tbe flow of <!lBSBic Po barbariui cavalry.

Climito of art I th; sons depnrt to gih! a TnDdal'e throne ; To battle led, their blood is shed in i^onlcsts not Iheir own ;— Kii'd with jou horde, go draw tbj aword, nor aak what enuae 'tia for : — ■" ' ■ ia cast — alaye W the last I oonqucr'd or conqueror I

, Truly IB Italj the " climate of art," as I have designated

' — -" y verBion ; for even the peasantry, admitted aa tJiey

/ are, by the wiae munificence of the reigning ea, to all public collectiooa of sculpture and painting, B aa instinctive admiration of tlie capi d' opera of tbe _^ oat celebrated masters, easily diatinguiahing them from the multitude of inferior productiona with which they are eenerallv surrounded. This itinate perception appeara the birtfarignt of every son of Italy ; and I have often liatened with aurpHse to the observations of tbe artificera of Kome, and the dwellera of the neighbouring hilla, as they atrolled through the Vatican gallery, Tliere is one statue in rather 8n unirequeoted, but vast magnificent church, of the Eter^ ul City, round which I never tailed to meet a group of

882 FATHBB PBOUT's BELIQTJES.

enthusiastic admirers : it is the celebrated Moses ; in whidi Frenchmen have only found matter for vulgar jest, but which the Italians view with becoming venerafcon. One of the best odes in the language has been composed in honour of this glorious effort of Buonarotti's chisel.

II HSLoae tit i^tcf^el 9nsrUi.

Sonetto di Giambattista Ztqtpi.

Chi ^ costui, che in si gran pietra Bcolto

Siede, gi^ante, e le piil illustri e conte

Opre delT arte avanza, e ha yive e pronte Le labbra ai che le parole asoolto ?

Queatd h Mos^ ; ben me *1 dioeva il folto Onor del mento, e '1 doppio raggio in fronte i Questi h Mos^, quando scendea dal monte,

E gran parte del Nume avea nel volto.

Tal era allor, che le sonante e vaste

Acque ei sospese a Be d' intomo ; e tale Quanao il mar chiuse, e ne fe tomba altruL

E vol, sue turbe, im rio vitello alzaste ?

Alzata aveste immago a questa eguale ; Ch' era men fedlo 1* adorar costui.

®^t to t]^e Statue of jHof^rif

At the foot of the Mausoleum qf Pope Julhu IL in the Church qf St. Peter ad Vincula, Rome — the Masterpiece qf Michael Angfclo*

Statue ! whose giant limbs Old Buonarotti plann'd. And Genius carved with meditative hand, — Thy dazzling radiance dims The best and brightest boasts of Sculpture^s favourite land.

What dignity adorns That beard's prodigious sweep I That forehead, awful with mysterious horns And cogitation deep, Of some uncommon mind the rapt beholder warns.

In that proud semblance, well Mv soul can recognise The propnet fresh from converse with the skies | Nor is it hard to tell The liberator's name, — ^the Guide of IsrafiL

Tin soses op itjut. S98

Well might tlie d«y respond Obeditmt to that voiw, Wbtn on the Bed S» ihore ho wnrni his wand. And bade the tribe* njoiw, Sand from the jawniDg gulf and ilia Egjptian'i bond !

Fools ! in Ibe irildemeu YeniKdaaOfof eold! Had je then wonhipped what 1 now behold, Your crime bad been br leas — For je liad beni the knee to one of godULo mould !

There is a Btrikio^ boldness in the concluding stanza, war- I nnt«d however by the awftil majesty of the colossal figure Tlteetf.

Smollett has giTen us a delightful " Ode to Leven Water," in which, with enraptured complacency, he dwells on the varied beauties of tlie Scottish stream, its flowery banks, and ite scaly denizens. By way of contrast, it may not be un- -'-asant to peruse an abusive and angry lyric addressed to ! Tiber bv an Italian poet, who appears to have been isappointeJ in the uncouth appearance of that turbid river ; aving pictured it to his young imagination as an enchant- ' ing silvery flood, The wrath of tins bard is amusing ; hut 's sometimes eloquent in hia ire.

Irintd aDhTctftfrn to tti Citirc.

fil Ztbrn.

Alittandro Gaidi.

Giaier limpide ed amene i E che qid hobtd e lento Stcfae il Tento, E die d' or fotder I' areoe.

Ua *ag6 Inngi dal Tern

n penaiero In fonnar ai bello il Qume ; Or die in nva a lui mi aeg

lo ben tfg^o □ >ao Tolto e il juo cutume.

Hod taught mv mind to think That over aiui^a of gold Tlij hinpid waiers rolled. And ever-vcrilant laurela grew upon Ihj brink.

Bui br in otlier guise The rude reality hath mei mine e^ea. Here, leatBcl on thj bank,

884

FATHXB PBOUT'S SSUQITSB.

Non oon onde liete e ohiare

Oorre al mare; PaMa torbido ed oscuro : I Baoi lidi austro percuote E gli «ouote Freddo turbine d' Arturo.

Quanto h foUe quella nave

Che non pave I suoi Yortici Bdegnosif

£ non Ba ohe (ibntro 1* aoque A lui piacque Di fondar* perigli ascosi.

Suol troTarsi in suo cammino

Quiyi il pino Trik profonde ampie cayeme ; D*improTvi80 ei giunge al lito

Di Cocito A Bolcar quell* onde inferne.

Quando in Sirio il Sol riluce^

£ conduce L' ore fervide inquiete,

Chi conforto al Tebro chiede

Ben* a-' awede Di cercarlo in grembo a Lete.

Ognun sa come spumoso,

Orgoglioso, Sin con mar prende oontesa, Vuol talor passar yeloce

L* alta foce, Quando Teti ^ d* ira aocesBa.

Quindi avrien ch' ei fa ritomo

Pien di Bcomo, £ b' ayyenta alle rapine : Si diyora il bosco, e il boIco, E il bifolco Kuota in cima alle mine.

Fondly I £uicied thine The waye pellucid, and tiie Kaiad*i ahrme, In orjBtal grot below ; But thy tempeBtuous course Buna turbulent and hoarse. And, swelling with wild wrath, thj wintry waters flow.

Upon thy bosom dark Peril awaits the light confiding bark, In eddying yortez swamp*d ; Foul, treacherous, and deep, Thy winding waters sweep, Enyeloping their prey in dismal roin prompt.

Fast in thy bed is sunk The moimtain pine-tree*8 broken trunk, Aimed at the galley's keel ; And well thy waye can waift Upon that broken shaft The barge, whose sunken wreck thy bosom will conceaL

The dog-Btar*8 sultiy power, The summer heat, the noontide's feryid hour, That fires the mantling blood. Yon cautious swain can't urge To tempt thy dangerous surge, Or cool his limbs withm thy dark in- sidious flood.

IVe marked thee in thy pride. When struggle fleroe thy disem- boguing tide With Ocean's monarch held ; But, quickly oyercome By Neptu&e's masterdom. Back thou hast fled as oft, inglorious^ repelled.

Often, athwart the fields A giant's strength thy flood redund- ant wields. Bursting aboye its brims — Strength that no dyke cau (h»ok: Dire is the haryest-wreck ! Buoyant, with lofty horns, th* ai&igfat^ ed bullock swims I

THE SOITQS OF HALT.

n frequeati Uliulri BUari,

Qa^ onori r cui tanto egli si noma Fi™ son d' aiitiohi eroi,

I son doni alQii ili BouuL

But Btill tliT proudest boast, Tiber! and what briuga bonour to Ikee moat, Is, that ihj waters roll Fut hj lb' et«maJ bDme 01 aiory's daughter. RoMSg And that thy billowB bath* 'Jie bbctmI

li fan Dbiaro H gnm tngitto Famed is (hj itream for her,

Dell' inrilU) neliB,thjcurreDt'Btirgln conqueror,

ir di Clelia al ninl Boniano, And lum who stemmed the maKli

E il guerner [the sopra il potite Of Tiueaay's proud host,

■" '"a fronle When, firm at honour's post,

ontro al re Toieauo. Ha wared bii blood-stained blade above the broken arch '.

t

Fu di Bomolo la gente

Che il tridente

Di ReMuno in mnn gli pi

Ebbe allor del mar 1' ii

Edaltero ion&odo intomo eorsii

OFBomulus the sons, To torrid Afriaina, to froten Huns, Have taught thy name, O Hood ! And to tliat utnciost lerge, Wliere radiant Ij emerge Apollo's car of Qnmeand goldon-foot«d

■tud.

oobUa,

I

il cnidel, cbe il t EdMu i spBEur msi sempre il IroDO, Speuo a Boma insutti rende, £d oflcnde L'oinbre auguate oU' ume in

ForK

110)1 glory lent.

I'huu makest foul return ;

Insulting with thj ware

Fscb Boman ]iero's ^rave,

And Sclpio'a dust that fulg yon

Stxrated urn!

Turn we now to Dante. I liave alwajB been of opinion, that the terxa rima in which he wrote was bo peculiar a feattire of the Inneiiage, and a form of verse so exclusively adapted tn the Italian idiom, as to render any attempt to tranalate hJm in the Btttm rhymed measure a dangerous ex- periment. Even Byron, in hia " Prophecy of Dante," Iiaa failed to render it acceptable to our English ear. The *■ Bonnet" is aJso, in my humble judgment, an unnational poetic atructure, and Be little suited to our northern lan- guages ft« the Italian villa-style of Palladio to our climate. Few English sonnets have ever gained celebrity among the masses. There is a lengthened but not unmusical sort of line, in which I think the old Florentine's numbers light sweep along with aomethiag like native dignity.

886 FATHSB FBOUT'S BELIQIISB.

l,a 9otta IKe( infmiQ.

Dante, Cant. III.

** Peb ice si va nella. crrrk. doientb. Per ice si ta kbll' etebno dolobb, Feb he si ta tea la peeduta gekte.

Din AKZI A. MB NOV TUB 008E CBEATE, Se KON ETEBNE ED 10 ETEBNO DUBO,

Lasciate ogni sfebakza yoi oh* intbatb.^

Queste parole, di colore oscurOf

Yid' io 8(nritte al sommo d' una porta Perch* io, "Maestaro! il senso lor m* e dupo."

Ed egli a me come persona acoorta, " Qui 81 convien lasoiar ogni sospetto, Ogni yiltji convien che qui sia morta.

Noi sem yenuti al luogo ov* i* t' o detto^

Che tu vedrai le genti doloroBe, Ch* hanno perduto *1 ben' dell* intellefcto.'*

E poichfe la eua mano alia mia pose, Con heto yolto, ond io mi confortai. Mi mise dentro alle secrete cose $

Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai

Risonayan per 1* aere senza stelle, Perch' io nel cominciar ne lagrimai.

Diverse lingue, orribili favelle, Parole di dolore, accenti d' ira,

Voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elic^

Facevano un tumulto il qual s* aggira

Sempre 'n quell' aria senza tempo tints^ Come 1 arena quando '1 turbo spira.

Ed io, ch' avea d* orror la testa cinta, Dissi, " Maestro, che h quel' ch' i odo ? E che gent' e che par nel duol si vinta ?**

Ed egli a me : " Questo misero modo

Tengon T anime triste di colore, Che visser senza infamia e senxa lodo»

Mischiate sono a quel cattivo ooro Degli angeli che non furon ribeUii ^i fur fideli a Dio ma per a^ foraw

THE BOHOa OF ITALY.

CuKiarli i cid' par nan mmq- men b«lli,

Ke lo pro&Ddo infenio gli riivrE, Cb' rIcuiw gloria i rci avrcbber d' elli,"

Ed io ! " Mieitro, che i t»nto grero A lor che iBminitAr gH fa si forte f" Bispon : " Dicerolti aolto breve.

QuestJ nan huma ■penuiia di mortem

£ la lur decs TitB e taoto buaa Cbe 'DTidiosi bob d' ogni nltn aorte.

Fsms di lor il mondo eater noa luis ; Mian-Lcordia e ([iualiiia |;li adpgna.

l^t IBoxii) of 9dl.

(DohU.)

\ " Sttt p( iln pait) liniili 6pi 1^' tofO'd of ffioB fox aintnll niDnala P

■ Al till ripTobatc iliis is iI)e gali. Ifiiat ate Ibt gloiiini! potials ! B-JoTBinnianS nimt Itom lift bit if) of temt Cug3< Uaa tf)ia fiulii^

■ ]:n((rital

V'Gnatl In all Ikoft on ibis tI)ris|jDlti ftiop! I]'" reigns Otspaii ^ EKinal."

I md viih Uan thcM oharacton — tcora ihed an man'i behalf ; £arh «orii seemed frnugbt ■with painful tliought, tliB losi aoul's epitaph. Torning diBinajed. " 0 Diyatic aliade I" I cri^ " my kindly Mentor, Of comiort, ea;, can no awcet raj thwe dark dominioiu enter P"

" Mj Bon !" replied the gluMll; guide^ " thia ia the dark abode

Of Ibe guilty dud — aliiiie they tread hell'a melancholy road.

Brace up thy nerreal tkia hourdeaeriGt that 3Iind should hsTe rontrol,

Aiid bid avauct fbara that irould haunt the cUj-impriaoned iouL

W'tin be the taak. when Ihoii ahalt ask, each myatery lo aolre ; AnoD loT na dark Erebus bavk il all its gales rciolTe — HeQ shall (lisoloao iti deepest woea, tneh puniahraeut, each pwig. Saint hath rerealedi or eye beheld, or Qame-tongued prophet aung."

Bates were unrolled of iron mould — a dumal dungeon yawntd ! We passed — we stood — 'tiru toll we yiew'd ! — eternity had daimtd I Space oQ our aight burst infinite — echoes were heord remolo j Stuieks loud and drear startled our ear, and stripes inteaaaut suet*.

33S FATHXB FBOTTT*S BSLIQtTSS.

Borne on the blast strange wluspers passed ; and er«r and anon Athwart tlie plain, like hurricane^ God's Tengeanoe would come on !

Then sounds, breathed low, of gentler woe soft on our hearing stole ; Captives so meek fain would I seek to comfort and console : " O let us pause and learn the cause of so much grie^ and why Saddens the air of their despair the unayailing sigh ! *'

" My son ! Heaven grants them utterance in plaintive notes of woe ; In tears their grief mav find relief, but hence they never go. Fools ! they beheved that if they lived blameless and vice eschewed, 6k>d would dispense with excellence, and give beatitude.

They died ! but naught of virtue brought to win their Maker's praise ; No deeds of worth the page set forth Uu&t chronicled their days. Fixed is their doom — eternal gloom ! to mourn for what is past, And weep aloud amid that crowd with whom their lot is cast.

One fate they share with spirits fair, who, when rebellion shook God's holy roof, remained aloof^ nor part whatever took i Drew not the sword against their Lorid, nor yet upheld his throne : Ck>uld Qod for this make perfect bUss theirs when the fight was won P

The world knows not their dreary lot, nor can assuage their pangs. Or cure the curse of fell remorse, or blunt the tiger's fangs. Mercy disdains to loose their chains — the hour of grace has been ! Son ! let that class imheeded pass — unwept, though not unseen.*'

The very singular and striking moral inculcated by Dante in this episode, where he consigns to hopeless misery those " good easy souls'* who lead a worthless career of selnshness, though exempt from crime, is deserving of serious attention.

From Dante's " Hell," the transition to the " Wig of Father Roger Boscovich" may appear abrupt ; but I never terminate a paper in gloomy or doleful humour. Wherefore I wind up by a specimen of jplayftil poetry, taken firom a very scarce work printed at Venice in 180i, and entitled " Le Opere Poetiche dell' Abate Giulio Cesare Cordara," ex- Jesuit and ex-historiographer to the Society, connected by long friendship with his con/r^re, the scientific and accom- plished Boscovich, concerning whom there is a short notice elsewhere,* to which I refer the reader, should he seek to know more about the proprietor of the wig. Nor, perhaps, will a Latin translation of this ^>u d' eitprit be unacceptable.

* See Paper on Literature and the Jesuits.

ruE soBiia OF italy.

AUa Stmicca Dtl |9aDrt Biiggtro Soscobict).

O mne, o cno che <i<i <D foiti etromeata

Di foUi Bmori, e «ol fetmninEa mm. Or Ki del wio Auggor fltruio ornamento ^

Conoaci tu 1' cccelu toa veacnn, B ti sareeti mu imnuigiDato Di bre »1 mondo una ai gran Qgura P

Qnal che si fane il ct

Foaie pur di leg:^

Ceito lion fbsti mai t.

nobtl Tollo,

Di vsgn donuB in Miute eri pi Ma i dl piseari Deghittosi a vifi A im laddo crietallo oguor rivolto.

Sol peiuier tbtu, e astuiie fermainili

Coprifi nllor, e inBidioaa rete Co' tuai formaTi inDuiellUi fili.

Quando coKtretto lo foUi? Kingueta A watir d' un' nm&nh^ rhc delin, Qiuuido smaoie s veder d' ire inquietf .

ForM) Ulor ti ai BTrentd cou irs

A icspigliotti un' invtda nviili!. Come {othuuiu tuol quando a* adira i

Infin, nido di gtilli originale, Tntinionio di &odi o di iDeniognc, T arera fiitta il tuo deetin IktnJs.

Vk i fior Tcrmigli e I' odorate (o^e,

M* la Candida poire, ond' an aapeno, FaDBin eompenao a taute tae Torgogne.

Ha come (atto sei da te diFerao, DaocW iwi™ dalla tiI conice,

Di Qon tuo c«po io crin, fo sti njHTcrei:

Fri tutte le pcrrucche or lei fblifo,

Che aebben' torta, incolla, e msl vfrnte^ta (Come pur troppo immaginar ne lief),

Puoi per6 glorinMi, e fnmp testa Che akra non In gianunai dal ciel elrtto A ricoprir si vouaranda le«ta 1

840 FATUEB PBOUT'B BEUQUSS.

0)le to tfie 8Btg of dTatf^n: l^oicobkhf

THE CELSBBATED A8TB0K01CSB.

With awe I look on that penikei

Where Learning is a lodger, And think, whene er I see that hair Which now you wear, some ladye fair Had worn it once, dear Boger I

On empty skull most beautiful Appeared, no doubt, those locks,

Onoe the bright grace of pretty {fu» ;

Kow far more proud to be allowed To deck thy "knowledge-box."

Condemned to pass before the glass

Whole hours each blessed morning, Twas desperate long, with curling-tong And tortoise-shell, to haye a belle Thee frizzing and adorning.

Blight ringlets set as in a net, To catch us men like fishes ! Your eyery lock concealed a stock Of female wares — ^lore's pensiye cares, Vain dreams, and futile wishes !

Tliat ehevelure has caused, I'm sure.

Full many a loyer^s qiuurrel ; Then it was decked with flowers select And myrtle-sprig : but now a wie, 'Tis circled with a laurel !

Where fresh and new at first they grew,

Of whims, and tricks, and fancies. Those locks at best were but a nest :— Their beine spread on learned head Vastly their worth enhances.

From flowers exempt, uncouth, unkempt-«

Matted, entangled, thick ! Mourn not the loss of curl or gloss— 'Tis i^fra dig, Thou abt THE WIQ Ov BoGEB BoaooYiCH !

Be Seta Coma I&ogert Soi^cobtcfitu

Elegia,

Casaries ! yanum vesani nuper amoris Forsitan illicinm, curaque fosminea.

THE eOKUS OF I

t?t°i

There is eitaot among the poems of Cordftra a fiirther la- mentation on the sale of this wig, affep BoBcorich's denth, to a Jew broker —

ta. o case nerSdo e Tea I

from whom it was purchased bj a farmer, and ultimately fixed on a pole, in a cabbage-garden, to fright the birds, " fitr tpaventaf gli uccelli." — But I feel droway to-night, and cftiiQOt pursue the subject. Molly I bring my night-cap !

842 FA.THEB PBOVT'S BXn^VZt.

No. XII.

THB SOireS OF ITALT.

CHAPTER II.

*' ded neque Medorum, bjIyib ditiflBima, terra, Nee pulcher G^ges, atque auro turbidus Hermus, Laudibus Ttalis oertent ; non Bactra, neque Indi, Totaque thuriferis FanchaXa pingois arenia."

YiBO. Georp. U.

We've met with glees ^fram the Chinete!** translations **from ike

Persian ;" Sanscrit weVe had, fipom Hjdrabad, Sir William Jones's yersion. We've also seen (in a magazine) nice jawbreakers **/rom Sckiller ;" And "tales" by folks, who gives us "jokes," omitting **/rom Joe

Miller.** Of plain broad Scotch a neat hotch-potch Hogg sends us from the

Highlands ; There are songs too **/rom the Hindis,** and "from the Sandwck

Islands." 'Tis deemed most wise to patronise Munchausen, Gk>ethe, Ossian ; To make a stand for ^* fatherland** or some other land of GK)shen. Since wo must laud things from abroad, and smile on foreign capers. The land for me is Italy, with her SONGS ^from the Prout Papers:*

O. Y.

There baa arisen in England a remarkable predilection for tbe literature of tbe continent. Tbe great annual fiair at Leipsic is drawing more and more tbe attention of our book- sellers ; to tbe detriment of " tbe Row." Nor are our lus- torians and poets, our artists in tbe novel-making line (male and female), our bumble cobblers at tbe dramatic buskin, and our industrious bodmen from tbe sister island wbo coo- tribute to build cyclopaedias, tbe only labouring poor tiirown out of employment ; but even our brotbers in poverty and genius, tbe old Englisb ballad-singers, blind-nddlera> and pipers, bave been compelled to give place to tbe barrel- organ, a mere piece of macbinery, wmcb bas superseded

lEE B0K08 OF ITitt.

348

1 talent. The old national tlaimaQta on public sulors with wooden legs aad broken-down ■venders," have giren way to Polish " Couatt" and 1 " broom-girU." Bulwer thougbt himBelf a lucky dog, R few weeks ago, to have got a day'e work on a political pamphlet, — that being part of the ciift which no foreigner has yet monopolised. The job was soon done ; though 'twaa but a sorry hit, after all. Ue is now engaged on a patbetio loraount of real life, the " Laat Daj-s of Grub Street." Matters must have gone bard with Xom Moore, since we im with deep feelings of coiiipaBsion that he is driven to compile a " History of Ireland." Theodore Hook, deter- mined to make hay while the sun shines, has taken the ~ Bull" by the horns ; we are to have three vols. 6vo. of "rost bif."* Theodore ! host thou never ruminated the riom —

" Un diner richaaffi ne Tilut j&mais riec?"

Tom Campbell, hopeless of giving to public taste anv other save a foreign direction, has gone to Algiers, deter- mined on exploring the recondite literature of the Bedouins. He baa made surprising progress in the dialects of FeE, Tunis, and Mauntania; and, like Ovid among the Scy- thians—

" Jum didici Gtetici SarmsCicdque 1i>qui."

He may venture too far into the interior, and some barbarian prince may detMu him as a laureate. We may hear of hia Deing " bound in Morocco."

This taste for foreign betlet letlret is subject to variation and vicissitude. The gorgeous imaginings of Oriental fancy, of which the "Arabian Kights," and the elegant Eclogues of Collins, were the dawn, have bad their day : tlie sun of the East has gone down, in the western tale of the " Fire- worshippers." A surfeit is the moat infallible cure ; we re- collect the voracity with which " Lalla Rookh" was at first devoured, and the subsequent disrelish for that most luaci-

• The prtjccted republication of tinao fucetue hu not tnkm nbw, Ihongh iitinoan«rf *t tlie time in lifo volmne* post 8to. Alb«nv 7(itibliini;TiF Bubaiiquimtlj FEprintf d iiiti iinidiii frcini llie " 'KtamVarr.''

SUl FATHEB PBOUT'a RELIQUE*.

ouB volume. There is an end to tbe popularity once enjoyed by camels, houris, bulbuls, silver bells, silver veils, cinnunoa groves, variegated lamps, and Buch other etoi'k items aa madft up the Oriental (thuw-ooi. Tbis leads to a melaucholy tnun of thought : we deUict ourselves " wandering in dreams " to tbat period of our scbool-daya when Tom was ia bigb feather, —

" And oft when alo[n\ »t the elo«o of tha year. We thiitli,^I« the aighCingale ainging tliere yel f Are the roMS iHll sweet bj tho aalm Bendemeer t"

Ue bas tried his hand at Upper Canada and Lower E^ypt— and speut some " Evenings in Greece ;" but " disastrous twi- light" and the " chain of silence" (wbatever that ornament may be) now hongs over bim.

"HoriB Sinicffi" found favour in the "barbarian Viscount Kingsborough has been smitten with the brunette muses of Meiico. Lord Byron once set up " Hebrevr Melo- dies," and had a season of it ; but Murray nas sooa compelled to bang the noble poet's Jew's-harp on the willows of modem Babylon. We recollect when there was a rage for German and High Dutch poetry. The classics of Greece and Borne, with their legitimate descendants, those of France, Italy, and England, were flung aside for the writers of Scandinavia aud the poets of the Danube. Tired of nectar and ambrosia, my pubfic sat down to a platter of foufifraut with Kaut, Goethe, and Kiopstock. The chimeras of transcendental and transrhenane philosophers found admirers ! — 'twas the reign of the nightmare —

*' OmnigETnflinque DeUni monstra, ct laCrgtor Anubis, Coatja NeptuQuiQ ot Venprem, caatraque Minervam."

jSittid Fill.

But latterly Teutonic authors are at a discount ; and, in spite of the German confederacy of quacks and duncea, common sense boa resumed its empire. ?fot that we object to foreign literature, provided we get productions of genius and taste. The liomana in their palmiest days of conquest gave a place in the Pantheon to the gods of each province they had added to their empire ; but they look caro to select the most graceful and godlike of these foreign ddtiea, eschewing what was too u^y to figure in company with

THE SCmoS OT ITiXT. iU

Apollo. Tura ne dow to Pniut and his gleaninga in thf fertile field of hia sclectiou, " Hcsperi^ m uagod."

OLIVEK TOfiKE.

itartt Ul, 1B35.

WalergraiiMll, Ftb. 1830.

I HKSUME to-night the topic of Italian minBtrelsy, In conning over a paper penned b; me a few eremogB ago, I do not feel satisfied vitb the teuour of my musings. The rtart from the fountain of Vaucluse waa fair ; but after gliding along the claesic Po and the majestic Tiber, it waa an unseemly termination of the essay to engulf itself in the cavity of a bob-wig. An unlucky " cul de sac," into which I must b''ive strolled under sinister guidance. Did Molly put an extra glass into my vesper bowl p

When the frost is abroad and the moon is up, and naught disturbs the serenity of this mountain wilderuesa, and the bright cheerful buruing of the fragrant turf-fire betokeba the salubrity of the circumambient atmospbere, I experi- ence a buoyancy of spirit unknown to the grovelling sen- analjst or the votary of fashion. To them it rarely occurs to know that highest state of enjoyment, expressed with curious felicity in the hemistich ol Juvenal, " Meta tana in carpore $aao." Could they relish with blind old Milton the nocturnal visitings of poesy ; or feel the deep enthusiasm of those ancient hermits who kept the desert awake with canticiea of praise ; or, with the oldest of poets, the Ara- bian Job. commune with heaven, and raise their thoughts to the BeilJ" " w/io gicelh »ong» in the night" (Job iiST. 10), they would acknowledge that mental luxuries are cheaply purchased by the relinquishment of grosser dehghts. A Greek (Eustatbius) gives to Night the epithet of lufooni, or '■ parent of happy thoughts :" and the " Noctes Atticw" of Aulus Qellius ore a noble prototype of numerous lucubrsk- tioua rejoicing in a similar title, — from the " Mille et une Nuits" to the " Notti Eomane al Sepolcro deirii Scipioni," from Young's plaintive " Night Thoughta" to tbe " Ambro-

846 FATHEB PBOUT'S BEUQUES.

Bian" pemoctations called ambrosiana, — all oearing testi- mony to the genial influence of the stilly hour. The oird of Minerva symbolized wisdom, from the circumstance of its contempt for the vulgarities of day ; and Horace sighs with becoming emotion when he calls to his recollection the glorious banquetings of thought and genius of which the sable goddess was the ministiant — O noetes cosnteque DeUm ! TertuUian tells us, in the second chapter of the immortal " Apology," that the early Christians spent the night in pious " melodies," that morning often dawned upon their "songs" — antelueanis horia eanebant. He refers to the tes- timony of Pliny (the Proconsul's letter to Trajan) for the truth of his statement. Yet, with all these matters staring him in the face, Tom Moore, led away by his usual levity, and addressing some foolish girl, thinks nothing of the pro- posal " to steal a few hours from the night, my dear /" — a sacrilege, which, in his eye, no doubt, amounted only to a sort of petty larceny. But Tom Campbell, with that phi- losophic turn of mind for which he is so remarkable, con- nects the idea of inspiration with the period of " sunset :" the evening of life, never failing to bring " mystical lore." Impressed with these convictions, the father of Italian sons, in the romantic dwelling which he had built unto himself on the sloping breast of the Euganeian hills, spent the de- cline of his days in the contemplation of loftiest theories, varying his nocturnal devotions with the sweet sound of the lute, and rapt in the alternate Elysium of piety and poetry. In these ennobling raptures he exhaled the sweet perfume of his mind's immortal essence, which gradually disengaged itself from its vase of clay. " Oblivion stole upon his vestal lamp :" and one morning he was found dead m his library, reclming in an arm-chair, his head resting on a book, 20th July, 1374.

"• vTiether the enviable fate of Petrarea will be mine, I know not. But, like him, I find in literature and the congenial admixture of holier meditations a solace and a comfort in old age. In his writings, in his loves, in his sor- rows, in the sublime aspirations of his soul, I can freely sympathise. Laura is to me the same being of exalted ex- cellence and cherished purity ; and, in echoing from this remote Irish hill the strains of his immortal lyre, I hope to

**

Ore io fuma ue uiquiBlo."

"paptrt" may promote his wishes in this reBpect. Dis- IDgaged from all the ties that bind others to exiBteoce, •oUtarjr, childleBs, what occupatioa more eititsble to mj reamAnt of life could I adopt than the exercise ol' meiaorr and mind of which they are the fruit ? "Wlien I slitiU seek my lonely pillow to-night, after " outwatching the beur," I shall cheerfully eonsign. another document to " the chest," and bid it go join, in that miBcellaneoaa aggregate, the mental progeny of my old age. Thia " rheit" may be the fioffin of my thoughts, or the cradle of my renown. In it r meditations may be matured by some kind editor into pkimate manhood, to walk the world and tell of their po- "nntage; or else it may prove a silent sarcophagus, where ley may moulder iu decay. In either case I am resigned, y I enw not the more fortunate candidates for public favour: I bold enmity to none. For my readers, if I have any, all I (uroect on their part is, that they may eihibit towards a feeble garrulous old man the same disposition he feels for tbem. 'OlTtt biamwi lya biarikio f/aiinoti rrarni iifiai roiRturqf imnXianti /mi <r^n; nuravi ro* ctj'iitta. (^tjfiinfS, n^^i enfiat.')

This exordium of that grand masterpiece, in which the Athenian vindicates bis tiue to a crown of gold presented by hia fellow-citizena, leads me, by a natural transition, to a memorable event iu Petrarca's life, — that ebullition of enthusiasm, when the senators of Home, at the sugges- tion of Bobert, King of Naples, and with the applause and concurrence of all tne free states of Italy, led the poet in triumph to the Capitol, and placed on his venerable head a wnatn of laurel. The coronation of the laureate who first bore the title, is too important to he lightly glanced at. The ingenious Mod. de Stati (who has done more by her "De I'AHemagne" to give vogue to Germanic literature than the whole schiittery of Dutch authorship and thu

848

fAIHER P BOUT a BELI^rES.

lanbtffelgt'nf Teutonic writers), in her roDiance of " Corii na," has aei/ed with avidity on the incident.

Concerning this solemn incoronation, we have from Ih pen of an eye- witness, Giiido d'Arezzo, details, told in etyl most quaint, and with sundry characteristic comments. I those days of primeval simplicity, in the absence of ctct other t«pic of excitement (for tlie crusades had well nig worn themBclves out of popular favour), the icial attendai on this occurrence poBseased a sort of European interest The name of the " Laureate" (now worn by the vcnerftbli dweller of the lakes, the patriarch Southey) was then fij proclaimed, amid the shouts of applauding thousands, . the seven hills of the Eternal City, and echoed back witi enthusiasm from the remotest comers of Christendom. a subsequent a^, when the same honour, with the same ii posing ceremonial, was to be conferred on Tasso, I dontl whether the event would have enlisted to the aa the sympathieB of Europe, or the feelings even of the Ita lian public. It were bootless, however, to dwell on the pre bobiCties of the case ; for Death interposed his veto, an stretched out his bony hand between the laurel wretitli sa the poor maniac's brow, who, on the very eve of the d^ fixed for his ovation, expired on the Janiculum hill, in tb romantic hermitage of St. Onuirio. Oft have I eat undo that same cloister- wall, where he loved to bask in the mO ijay of the setting sun, and there, with Bome's awful volum spread out before me, pondered on the frivolity of fam< The ever-enduring vine, with ita mellow freight dependea from the antique pillars, clustered above mv head ; while a my feet lay the flagstone that once covered his remains ; am " bsSA ToEQUATi Tassi," deep carved on the marble Soot abundantly fed the meditative mind. Petrnrca's grave had previously visited in the mountain hamlet of Arqu]) during my rambles through Lombardy ; and while I sileotlj recalled the inscription thereon, I breathed for both t' prayer that it contains —

J aSQrtESCiT IN ABCE."

VESSXQca JAU t:

" TliB 8eT. Lnwreuoo Steme, in hia vary reputable work •

IDE BONOS OF ITiLT. 349

But a truce to this moralising train of thought, and turn

^me to the gay Bc«ne described 5y Guido d" Arezzo, Be it

I then understood, tliat on the mormng of Easter Sunday,

1. April 15, 1341, a period of the ecdeeiaeticftl year at which

■•erciwda of pil^Jus visited the shrine of the spostlea, and

I Some was tliroDged with the representatives of every Chri»-

Iti&n land, after the performance of a solemn high mass in

B'tbe old Basilica of St. Feter's (for religion in those days

K'ipiixed itself up with every public act, and sanctitit'd every

Kondertaking), the decree ot Eobert, King of Naples, waa

■<t3iily read, setting" forth how, after a diligent eiaminatioD

md tri^ in all the departments of poetry and all the ac*

mplishments of elegant Uterature, in addition to a know*

1^ most extensive of theology and history, Francis Pe-

irca had evinced unparalleled proficiency in all the recog-

led acquirements of scholarship, and given undoubted

■pFOoia ot ability and genius; wherefore, m his favour, it

Keemed fit and becoming that the proudest mark of distinc-

■tiua known among the ancient Romans should be conferred

|;j>ii him, and that all the honours of the classic triumph

ihould be revived on the occasion. It will be seen, how-

iever, from the narrative of Guido, that some slightvarintions

■fif costume and circumstance were introduced in the course

l.of the exhibition, and that the getting up of the affair was

laot altogether in bteral accordance with the rubrics which

ulated such processions in the days of Paulus ^milius,

rben captive kings and the milk-white bulla of ClytumnuB

idomed the pageantry —

" Bamaiias ad templa DeQm duifre triumphoe."

Geary, II.

" They put on his right foot (Guido loquitur) a sandal of d leather, cut in a queer shape, and fastened round the Jtle with purple Ugatures. This is the way tragic poets e shod. His left foot they then inserted into a kind of

B"TriBt™m Sbnndy," bos tlie effVontery to tranBlalfl the rurae of Emcl- phus. Si aalonluli Dti el Firfinii Dei genelriat Maria, " Bj Ilie autho- BtJ' of God ind of the Virgin, mother and f/atronai ot our SiviouT I"

I^UB distorting the orieiDal, to in sinuate prejudice agstnit ■ oLiae of

[ifctlow-airiatians. Objection may be felt to tbo predommuuie of the

B^eliiig iu question, — but fair phiy, Yorick I — Pboot.

8S0 FATHEB FBOTTT'S BSLIQTJES.

buBkin of violet oolour, made fast to the le|^ with blue thongs. This is the emblem worn bj writen in the comic line, and those who compose agreeable and pleasant matters. Violet is the proper colour of love.

'' Over his tunic, which was of grey silk, thej placed a mantle of velvet, lined with green satin, to show that a poet's ideas should always be fresh and new. Bound his neck they hung a chain of diamonds, to signify that his thoughts should be brilliant and clear. There are many mysteries in poetry.

" They then placed on his head a mitre of gold doth, tapering upwards in a conical shape, that the wreaths and garlands might be more easily worn thereon. It had two tails, or skirts, falling behind on the shoulders like the mitre of a bishop. There hung by his side a Ijre (which is the poet's instrument), suspended from a gold chain of inter- woven figures of snakes, to give him to understand that his mind must figuratively change its skin, and constantly re- new its envelope, like the serpent. When they had thus equipped him, they gave him a young maiden to hold up his train, her hair failing loose in ringlets, and her feet naked. She was dressed in the fur of a bear, and held a lighted torch. This is the emblem of folly, and is a constant at- tendant on poets !"

When "the business of day" was over, the modem fashion of winding up such displays was perfectly well un- derstood even at that remote period, and a dinner was given to the lion of the hour in the still-sumptuous hall of the Palazzo Colonna. His " feeding-time" being duly got through, poetry and music closed the eventful evening; ; and Petrarca delighted his noble host and the assembled rank and fashion of Eome by dancing a Moorish pas seut with surprising grace and aguity.

Covered with honours, and flushed with the applause of his fellow-countrymen, the father of Italian song was not insensible to the fascinations of literary renown, nor deaf to the whisperings of glory ; but love, the most exalted and refined, was still the guiding star of his path and the arbiter of his destiny. He has left us the avowal himself, in that beautiful record of his inmost feelings which he has entitled '* Secretum Francisd Petrarch®,*' where, in a £mded dia*

THE SO>'OS OF ITALY.

351

e with the kindred soul of St. Augustin, he poure forth e fulness of hia heart with all the Hincerity of imtiire aud if genius. No two clerical characters seem to have been endowed by nature with more eiquiaite aensibilities than tlie AfricBu bishop and the priest of Provence. In the midst of hia triumph iiia thoughts wandered away to the far- diitant object of his aiTection ; and his mind was at Vau- dose while the giddy throng of his admirers showered g&rlsnds and burnt ineenae around his person. He fondly "ictured to himaelf the secret pride which the ladye of his we would perhaps feel in hearing of hia fame ; and the turel was doubly dear to him, because it recalled her cher- ihed name. The utter bopelessneBs of his passion seemed 0 shed au undefinable hallowedneas over the aensations of B heart ; and it must have been in one of those momenta (f tender melancholy that he penned the following graceful, mt mysteriouB narrative of a supposed or real apparition.

dontUo.

Fni due riciere all' ombrs d' im alloro, Leriuido 1 aole nlln atngion aoeFba. Ei« ill* ii»t« ti ^olce gnportm,

Cb' i' ksciai per aei^rla ogni Uroro i

Come r aTiLTO che 'n cercar tesoro. Con diletto r sfiaiiDO diSBC^erbn. " NEsetrjr xn Tocom," si Ijd ooUo d' inlomo

Si<ritto ncefii di dintiiBDti, e di topnzj ; *' LlSEBA fABio *]. mo Cesabb pabtb."

Ed en '1 aol gi^ rolto al mezio ^orno

Qli oFchi nuei «taiichi di mirar, iion aMi QoBDd' ia oaddi nell' aciiiiB, ed ells gparve.

lE^t Ttdfoii of Sctrarra. m with Kcrot awe — nor ken I what it wbtdb ; r, a jfcnUe doe it seemed with silrer homs.

IB atwid, cloie bj a wood between two running stn»nut

Did brightlj shone the morning sun upon thnt land of droMn* I The p)ctur«t hind fanoj designed glowing nilb lote uid hop*] Onoetul she »tep^ Imt diatant kept, like (ho timid antelope

Plajrfol, yet eoj — with secret joj nor ir

ntlxi^

le Hoft inHue

:cGUed

e of iweet oblivion iloU.

PBOUTB EELIQTEB.

Ootd I beheld and emerald on the coUkr tliat she vore ; Words too — but theirs won) charartBrB of legondii^ lore :

" CKsai'fl "Daut fiaifi macii m> iiic ; ant Ibco' bia col'inn tbarat, Bnlsuiiiil] be mtn o'tr ()ill anD gltn Jr uanlKT b<ri at large"

The «iin had now with radlnnt brow (iimbrd his roeridiau thront^

Yet atill mine eje untiringly gued on that kirelj one.

A Toice WBB heard — quiuk diuppoared m; dream. Tlie apell in

bruki^D. Tlien BuiDB distreis — to the conecioiuneBB of life I had awokml

Still, the soul of Petrarca was ttt time* acceGsible t sterner impreasions. The call of patriotism never failed t lind u reBponBive echo in the hretiat of Italy's most disti» guished son ; and when, at the death of Benedict XIX, whiuh occurred at thia juncture, there arose a faToursble chance of serving his country, by restoring the papal jw sidence to the widowed city of Eome, he eagerly offered himself as one of the deputies to proceed to Avignon f<a the accomjiltshment of this wished- for conaummntioa Whether a secret anxiety to revisit the scetie of his eu-lj affections, and to enjoy once more the presenile »f his mil Ij'esB, may have mixed itself up with the aspirations c patriotiBm, it would not be eaay to decide; but he entere into the project with all the warmth of a devoted lover a Italy. His glorious dithyramb to that delightful, but con quered and divided land, bo often (Quoted, translated, aiM admired, is sufficient evidence of hia sentiments: but bi Laa taben care to put the matter beyond doubt in bis n gorous pamphlet, "Se Libertate capeasendA Exbortatio m JSicolaum Laurentium." This " Nieholaa" waa no other thai the famouB tribune Cola Bienzi, who, mainly excited by tbi proae as well aa the poetry of Petrorcai, raised the ataadan of independence against the petty tyrants of the Et«nui City in 1345, and for a briei' acace reacoed it from thraldoq

Poetry is the nurae of freedom. From Tyrtieua to Bi ranger, the Muse haa befriendeii through every age the cauM of liberty. The pulse of patriotiara never beats with boldd throb than when the sound of martial song swells in the tal chorus of manly voices ; and it was in a great meaaur« thi rude energy of the "Marseillaise" that won for the rogg» and shoeless grenadiers of the Convention the Tictorie« a Talmy and Jemmappe. In our own country, Dibdin^

THE BOTIOS OF ITALY. 353

iutbI odea, fuU of inspiriting thought and suhlime imogeiy, have not a little contributed to our maiataining in perilous times the disputed empire of the ocean against Napoleon. Never was a pension granted with more propriety than the tribute to geoiua voted in this case at the recomnieudation of George 111. ; and I suppose a similar reward has attended the authors of the "Manners of England," and "The Battle of Copenhagen." As we have come inBensihly to the topic of maritime minstrelsy, I imagine that a specimen of the stufl' sung by the Venetian eailors, at the time when that Queen of the Adriatic reigned over the waters, may not be onintereeting. The subject is the naval victory which, at the close of the sixteenth century, broke the colossal power of the Sublime Porte ; for which occurrence, by the by, ~ inly mdebted to the eiertious of Pope Pius V,

Eurooewas and tlie proi shattered in the m^l^.

» Miguel Cervantes, who had a limb

)3aT}rII(lta Ba tantai pir la TtUoria Hi fttpanto.

ti BUegrameDts, CaDtinm pur oUegnunente,

FOrsb, pulti ! alt^Dlameute Come poi ptb deU? centi

.- _ . "li [b rovina No fur prcae wnto ciJ ollanti

« Sarocina E dei morti poi Bosaaala

Dmo Ii« Dio A forlemente. Uila e piil di qualia gante.

ChodBm tntti all^inuiieiite, ." a itwccio ^ Hop dragon'

■ Oqiunnd il fronte si cmdel^ ~ d piii driusri Tele, 1 DUT ais A poesente.

itiktn tutti lUfgnoieQte, Itam, putti ' il ladron d

~ ba I' Aqua-BolsB roesa ao noguo di utrpeiite.

Chntiam, putti 1 aUegniiDeiite, Di tre wi d' otto e di venti OiIeoHe e altri legui f% il tnetMto — o Tiirahi ! Aegm I IM fPSD fnoco otemaicente !

Cantiun tutti aUcgramente { Ma ben duolmi a dir ch' i nMtfi Fur da setle loda od otto Iri morti (.e '1 yet uoto), Combatt«udo audttoemcmte.

Canliiun tutti aUegramente, Dopo qnesti, nltri guerrieri Vendicar coll' anae in mano Quelli e il nom Chriitiaiio, Per Tirlit d' Iddlo elomonte.

Cajiliaui lutti allegrameBtB ; Per colol vittorift e Innia, Doverommo ogni an far frftn, Per cho al mondo altra che qiir-I» Hon ffi mal d' alcuno in mnilo

I FATHEH PnOUT 3 EEtHirzS.

9(i|iular BaUaB on tt)t ISattlt of Irpanta.

Let u» sing how the bout of Ihe Sorocini boat

In the gulf of Lepnnto wu acstlered. When each knight of Ht. John's froru his cannon of bnmM

With grapo-shut their ftreosira bnttcrMl. Oh I we taught the Turks thtm that of Europe the nun

Oould defy eTery inSdel meiuce — And that Stall O'er the main Duat llie gallejB of Spun,

And the red-Lion gtandard of Venioe !

Quiok we made the foe sIcuDc, at we bimed at each bulk,

While the; left as a Bplin[«r to Gre at ; And the rot of them Bw o'er the water*, blood red

With the gore of the Ottoman pirate i And OUT DBTy gave chaao to the infidel race,

Nor allowed them a moment to mil; ; And ve fomed them at length to aokniwledge our (ttnngth

In the trenoh, in the lieid, in the guile; !

Then oor men gare a ahoul, and the ocean tbroughoiit

Heard of Cliristendom's triumph with rapture. Oaleottcs eighty-nine of the enemy's line

To our swUl-sailing ships fell a eapture : And I flnnlj maintain that the number of slun.

To at least sii^ thouiand amounted ; — To be sure 'twas lad work — if the life of a Turk

For a moment were worth being i<ounted.

We may well feel elate ; though I'm sornr to Itate,

That albeit by the myriad we've slain ^pio. Still, the vms of the Cross hare to wwp for the lo«a

Of iii thouiand who fell by the Pnynim. Full atonement was due for each man that they slew^

And a hecatomb paid for eat^h hero : Sut could all that we'd kill give a son to OMtilci.

Or to Malta a brave cavalMro !

Bt. Mark for the slain intercedes not in Tain —

Tliore'a s mass at each altar in Vooice ; And the sninte we implore for the faamier they bore Are Our Lady, SI. Georye, and St. DtKig. For the brato while «o griere, in oar hearts they ahall li»e —

In our mouths BhoJl their praise be inaeatont ; And i^aiu and ugiun we will boaat of tlie nieu

Who haTo humbled the pride of the Crescent.

The VenetiauB have been ever remarkable for nnr-i taste ; and the verv bumbleBt classes of aodetr

THE BO!IOS OF ITALT. 355

them exhibit a fondneas for the great maetera tf their native language, and a. fomiliaj^tr with the glorious efiusioiie of the nationd genius, quite unknown in the coireHponding rank of tradesmen antl artiaans in England. Goldoni, whu nTOte in their own dialect, knew the sort of critics he had to deal with : and it is a fact that the most formidable judges of dramatic eicellence at the theatres of Venice were the gon- doliers. Addtfiou, or rather Isdsc BickerstaH', tells us a droll story about a certain trunkmaher, who stationed him- self in the gallerjr of Drury Lane, and wit!i a whaek of hia oaken cudgel ratified the success or confirmed the dowufol of eofh new tragic performance. I think the author of the " Spectator" must have had the original hint of that anec- dote during hia stay at Venice, where such a verdict from such a quarter was a matter of habitual occurrence. There is great delicacy of feeling and polish of eipresaion in the foUowing ingenious popular barcaroile of Venetian origin. — Hartafollt.

" Prithcp, joung fljhirmim, conm

Oh pescator deU' ooda,

Fidelin, Tiesi peaivr iu qiiA CoUa licllii euu bnri'A. CoUb belln te ne vo,

Fidelin, hn, lA. Cha COM vuol ch' io pes

Fidflin, L'anel che m' c comb, CoUa bells ma bariMi. Colls brJia se no IB, &t. Ti darft cenW MUiii,

Pidelkn, Bta boras ricuna, CsJa bells eiift baroit. Colli belU K ue t>, &e. Kon loelio cenlo aeudi,

rideliu, m boTM ricanm, CoUa b«IlB BUS bore*. Colk bellfl ie ne tt, Sx. Io TO uo biuiii d' Binore,

OiB quel mi paghera. Colls beLlu «ua bocoo.

Hitlier thf light bark bring -,

Bow to lliia baul!, and trv recovn

JUj treaeure — 'tie a ring !"

His bonujboiit >oon brought her. And pramised Far her bi'nutj'a aak? To laaruh beoeatli tliu waler.

" m give Ihce," laid thp ladj-e fair, " One liundred eequini brighl.

If Io mj viUs thou wilt bear, Fialier, thai ring tO'iiight."

"A hundred seqaina I'll refuse

WhtTi I sbtdl come nt cte : But thc^e is sometliing, if ;ou

Lady, that jou can giTc !" Tlie ring was found beneath llui flood 1 Nor need mj lay record — - thai lady's cm •^•■■

19 that youlli'e

358

FATHSB PBOUT's BELIQTTXS.

Ma 86 desperazione Perhaps you are not so besotted

Mai vi togUesse il Imne As to be cutting the " earoiid"-^

H pill yicino flume But there's the horsepond ! — ^there, odd

Potete ritrovar. rot it !

From such an end presenre us!

K this poet Nicodemo be in reality what I siirmise he is, a literary renegade, and a wretch whose yenal lyre gives forth alternate eulogy and abuse, just as the political ther- mometer indicates nse or fall, I should deem him a much fitter candidate for the " horsepond" than either Bony or Joachim. But, alas ! how many sad instances haye we not known of similar tergiversation in the conduct of gent de lettres ! I just mentioned Dryden, commonly denominated " glorious John,'* and what a sad example is there of poli- tical dishonesty ! After flattering in turns Cromwell and Charles IL, King James and King William, he died of a broken heart, deserted by all parties. In his panegyric on canting old Noll, it would seem that the poet was at a loss how to grapple with his mighty subject, could not discover a beginning to his praise : the perfect rotundity of the theme precluding the possibility of finding commencement or end :

"Within a fame so truly eiretiUtr/**

But turning from such conceits, and from courtly writers, to a simpler style of thought, may I think this trifling, but genuine rustic lay worthy of perusal ? —

Can^onetta. Stllage dong.

Son povera ragazza, Husbands, they tell me, gold hath won

E cerco di marito ; More than aught else beside :

Se trove buon partito, Gold I have none ; can I find one

Mi vogHo maritar.

Ma chi sa ?

Chi lo sa ? lo cerco di marito, Se lo posso ritrovar ?

To faccio la sartora, Questo b il mio mestiero; Vi dico 8*1 dawero, E 80 ben travagiiar.

Ma chi sa ?

Chilosa.' To cerco di marito, 6e lo posso ritrovar ?

To take me for his bride ? Yet who knows How the wind blows— Or who can say m not find one to-day ?

I can embroider, I can sew —

A husband I could aid ; I have no dowry to bestow — ► Must I remain a maid ? Yet who knows How the wind blows — Or who can say I'll not find one to-di^ ?

Oik d' onni Tentinnque Hi troro coti sola, Vi giuro e do porola •m »mtQ tl fin manou-.

UiichJtK?

Chibtit?

So I muet be resigned. Yet who knows Hob- tho wijid blows — Or who con aaj I'U not find one to-daj?

I tbe

I Se lo pottt> ritroTsr }

Simplicitj' IB the inseparable companion of the graces;

id the eitreme perfection of art ia to conceal itaelf under

guise of unstudied negligence. This eicellence is only

in,nunable by a few ; and among the writers of ttotiquity is

most remarkabie in the pages of Xenophon, Never will

true ease in writing," which, according to that most

^borate, but still most fluent writer. Pope, " comes trom

. not chance," be acquired otherwise than by a diligent ^ idy of the old claBaita, and in particular of what Horace ;calls the txemplaria Graea. Flaccus himself, tn his urtno j>edeilrit, as well as hiB inimitable lyrics, has given ub beaa- tiAil specimens of what seems the spontaneous flow of im< studied fimcy, but it is in realitr the result of deep thought And of constant limx labor. Menzini, the author of the

lowing sonnet on a vei^ simple subject, must have drunk

iply at the source of Grecian elegance,

il Capro.

Qael capro maledetio ha pmo in mo Oir tri le Tile, e sempre in lor s'impBccia : Deh ! per farlo suordar di eimil traccia,

Tagli d' un eaaeo tra Is Eoma e '1 muBO.

Be Bbcco il guats, ei ■cenderi beo giuso Da quel auo carro, a Eni le tigri allaccia ; PiCi feroce lo adegno oltre si cnotis

Quand' 6 con quel auo vin' misto e conftiso.

Fa di icsccisrla, Ellpin ; la che noQ eteoda Muligno il dente ; e piQ nou roda in relta

L' ure nascDQti, ed il lor nume olTenda.

Di lui BO ben cli' un di 1' alUr 1' aipettA;

Mb Eacira i da temer ohc BOcor non pronda Del capro ioBiemc e del pastor Teudetlo.

860 FATHEB FBOUT*S BELIQTTES.

G|)e IntruTJer.

There's a goat in the yineyard ! an unbidden guest— -

He comes here to derour and to trample ; If he keep not aloof, I must make, I protest,

Of the trespassing rogue an example. Let this stone, whi(m I fling at his ignorant head,

Deep imprest in his skull leave its moral, — That a four-footed beast 'mid the vines should not troad,

Nor attempt with great Bacchus to quarrel.

Should the god on his car, to which tigers are yoked.

Chance to pass and espy such a scandal, Quick he*d mark his displ^wure — most justly provoked

At the sight of this four-footed Yand^ To encounter his wrath, or be found on his path.

In the spring when his godship is sober. Silly goat ! would be rash ; — and you fear not the lash

Of the god in the month of October !

In each bunch, thus profaned by an insolent tooth.

There has perish* d a goblet of nectar ; Fitting vengeance will follow those gambols unco nth.

For the grape has a jealous protector. On the altar of Bacchus a victim must bleed,

To avert a more serious disaster ; Lest the ire of the deity visit the deed

Of the goat on his negligent master.

It is no part of my code of criticism to tolerate, under the plea of simplicity, that maudlin, emasculate style super- induced among the Italians by their language's fatal fertuity in canorous rhymes. The very sweetness and melody of their idiom is thus not unfrequently the bane of original thought and of forcible expression :

Deh ! fosse tu men bella, o almen piii forte !

" Nug(B canora " might form a sort of running marginal com- ment on almost every page of Metastasio ; and few indeed are the passages in the works of some of his more celebrated fellow-countrymen which can bear to be submitted to the test of translation. This experimental process will ever be destructive of whatever relies on mere euphonous phrase- ology for its effect ; and many a favourite Italian effusion has succumbed to the ordeal. I would instance the '' Bacco in Toscana " of Eedi, which the graceful pen of Leigh Hunt

IHE aOHQS OF ITALY,

E. vain to populuriBe in English. So true it is that ■an compensate for a lack of ideas — not even Delia ^rascan parlance iBsning from fl " boeca Rumana." Lord ByroB (" Childe Harold," iv. 38), in vindication ofTasso from the sarcasm of a Prench critic, denounces, perhaps justly, Gallia's

I.

Ffor it is admitted that the metallic strings he thus attributes to the French instrument cannot vie in liquid harmony with the softer eal^ul of its rival. But were bis lordship snffici- eotly courersant with the poets of France, he would perhaps find that tAe^ rarely substitute for rational meaning mare empty sound. It cannot, on the other hand, be denied, that when a language is thoroughly pen'adedwith what the Greeks call ifiMtriXtum, running, in tact, spontaneously into rhyme, ^Xt offers manifold temptations to the inditing of what are ^^Mlled " nonsense verses." Like the beasts of old entering ^^BToah'a Ark tcco and two, the couplets of the Italian vereifier ^Pmir tbemselves of their own accord without the least trouble. But, unfortunately, one of the great recommendations of riijme, as of metrical numbers, to the intellect is, the con- Sdousness involved of a di^cuUij overcome : and hence pre- cisely waa the admiration excited by the inventive lacul^ of the poet early characterised in the words " trouvere" " trouba- dour." from " trouver," to "find." If there be no research reijuiaile — if the exploit be one of obvious facility — the mind takes no interest in the inglorious pursuit, which, under SQcb circum stances, appears flat and unmeaning. A genuine poet, as well as bis reiser, enjoys the mental chase in pro- portion t-o the wild and untameable nature of the game. In s word, Italian " bouU rimi* " are tar too easily bagged: the sportsman's occupation on PamaaBua becomes an effeminate pastime ; 'tis, in iact, mere pigeon-shooting : whereas " optat tgirum" has been always predicated of the classic hunter; 1 Jemmy Thomson very properly observes, that

' Poor is the triuropli o'er the timid haro I"

An ingenious Frenchman (the Chevalier de la Fnye), in " Apology" for the supposed difficulties of rliyme in our

FATHER PBOCT'S SZLiqUES.

Ciaalpm? dialects, maintains the theory I here propound, i eoiue very felicitous lines, where, pointing the attention 0 his countryinen to the numerous jeta d'eau that oraamer the gardeoB of the Tuileries, VersailleB, and St. ClourJ, I Btepa up a striking paraDel, not leea witty than true. Tl atrophe runs thus : —

From Ihe rhynsa's rwtricIiTB rigour

Thought derirea iU impnlM oft, Qcniua draws now itrength ondTigDIII

Fane; spriogB and aboota tian. So, in leaden oonduita pent, Mitimts Use liquid elemDiit,

Bj pressure forced to dimb : And he who feared tlia nile'i rartMi) Finds but a &iendl; miiuitnuiC In Bciuod'b helpmate, RsniK

Db la contmiula rigoureuso OJl roaprit aemble rwerrS, II nnjiuort une fonv bcureUBfl Qui I'^re au pliu haut digri, Telle dsnB dea cniuui prewife Atbo plua do force flanu^, L'onde s'fl&Te dnna Im airs, — El lu r^le qui semble auatbe N'esl igu'uD art plus certain de

iMfpBTBbla lies beam TBI*.

I must add, that long prcviotinly the same doctrine 1 been included by the grammarian Vosaius, in his tract " Yiribus Cantds et Rythmi," where he remarks, "hde ration non ornalui taiiliim, ted el cerl/orum contulilnr copix." Hend it would follow, that far from being n bar to the birth t ' genuine poetry among the Northerns, the difficulties of I ruder idiom only give an impulse to the exertion of tin faculty itself, and a relish to the enjoyment of its produ» tions. It becomes sufficiently obvious, from what we h laid down, that restrictiona and ebackles ore the very eue: of rhythmic writing ; by devoting himself to which, the po«t assumes, of bia own Iree will, the situation, of " ProtnetneQl vinctus ;" and, in a sijirit akin to that of St. Paul, openlj profeases his predUeetion for " these bonds." Proso ma' rejoice in ita Latin designation of aolvla oralio ; but n to luntary thraldom ia the natural condition of poetry, as maj be inferred from the converse term, oralio sfriela. Tlie It** lian poet is distinguishable among bis fellow-captives by light atrial nature of bia fetters ; and t>mi tdolti tai,y bt applied to more than one species of his country'a versincA> tion. This will strike any one who takes up the librtilo ot an opera. Neverthelesa, let us envy not the smooth Sybarite stanza, nor covet the facile and flowing vocabularr,; nor complain of the wild and irregular terminations with which we have to struggle. There ia more dignity

THE BOSOS OP rTALT.

B&rcl) of a manlj' barbarian tban in

Ibp ; and fvith all the cunibroua i

re it but for his very mode of bearing the chains, a Briton 1 be Btiil admired as l)e treads the paths of poetry :

Epod-rii.

I shall Dot be accused of travelling out of the record in touching incidentally on this matter, which, indeed, would jroperiy require a special disaertation. But to return to B>y theme. From among those numerous compoBitions of prbich the "mooa," a "nightingale," a "grove," and a P lady's balcony," form the old established ingredients in all inguages, I shall select the following Italian specimen, """"*'", if it present little novelty of invention, has, m re- f, decidedly the charm of sweetest melody of ex-

L luicmuolotto boIo Ts da]aa Bieiw all' omo

Chaam la siu lidel.

GUu che U eento appcna Oul Tien di frondik m troodi, B p*r ohe gU reaponds Non piangere, boq quL

die Hold nfi'etti, o Irene,

Clie gemiti eon quesCi !

Ah 1 nui tn, oon mpoBti

EUpoDdenni coei.

fl dnrmaHr.

Pale to-night is tho diu of the moon, and of aiuie immiit

Ii the bonn; blue sk; it liee on ; And eilent the etrcaialet, and liiuhed is the lepbjr, and Sxt

Is eat'ti »tar in the calm horiaon ; And ^e hamlet is lulled to repote, and all nature is atill —

How Boft, how mild her alnmberB ! ' naught but the nightingale' a note ia awake, and the thrill

Of h'

Hisi

■t renponsiyc Mithera ! Zadj I li«t to the Tocalist I doat thou not envy bis love 1 And the joya hiB male will grant bim t

Of hifl sweetly plaintive numbers.

864 FATHEB PBOTJT'S BELIQTfXS.

Oh, smile on thy lover to-night 1 let a transient hope

Ease the heart with sorrow laden : From yon balcony ware the fond signal a moment — and ope

Thy casement, fairest maiden !

The author of the above is a eertain Vittorelli, celebrated among the more recent poets of Italy for the smooth ame- nity of his Anacreontics; of which, however, I regret to say that many are of a very washy consistency, generally constituting, when submitted to critical analysis, that sort of chemical residuum which the French would call " de Veau elaire^ An additional sample of his style will convey a sufficient notion of his own and his brethren's capabilities in the sentimental line : but ere we give the Italian original with our " translation,'* it were advisable to attune our ear to the harmony of true " nonsense verse," of which Dean Swift has left mankind so famous a model in the memorable ode—

Fluttering, spread thy purple pinions.

Gentle Cupid ! o'er my heart ; While a slave in thy dominions,

Nature must give way to art.

Mild Arcadians ! ever blooming,

Nightly nodding o'er your flocks. See my weary days consuming,

All beneath your flowery rocks.

Gloomy Pluto, king of terrors !

Arm'd in adamantine chains. Lead me to the crystal mirrors

Watering soft Elysian plains.

Mournful cypress, verdant willow,

Gilding my Aurelia's brows ; Morpheus, hovering o'er my pillow.

Hear me say my dying vows I

Melancholy, smooth meander ?

Sweetly purling in a round ; On thy margin lovers wander,

All with flowery chaplets crowned—

I. e. " all round my hat." Now for Vittorelix.

^ ^1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hlri^^^l
^^^^r THZ BOKOS OF ITAXT. 365 1
»l Bonn Hi Wrotrt.	C^r eift of Vtmi.
Cinta le bionde chiome	With KBBB wr™t!ied around hie ringlets,
Beik uutlercH rasa	Steeped in drops of mntin dew.
Soil' nlba mgiadDBB,	Gliding soft on silken winglets,
	Cupiil to my study flew ;
	On my Ubte a decants-
	Whi^n I had irith the enchflntar
	(Happy biird I) this intOTiew.
B coUs dolM boM*	Sure it was the loveUest Wiion
MidisieiuariiilietB.—	Ever poet gaied upon —
■■Chefugcntilpoola	Kopt in e<'>ita»; ElTsLiin, Or inapired by cruii*™ Imun.
jy Itgaa lodalorP"
	« Foel," Mid the urchin. » (™ an
	So for favoured among men—
	Vi-nu. t«n(ia by me to jou her
Quests nei'OBS peons Di cigno innnucolalc.	"Take lbi< quill— 'tia soft and slendo'.
Bit for BTiting Mkl, ttotw,
Sul desco fortmmto	Fond uvowak, breathings lender,
lo Uacio iu douo n to.	Which Iron^ may peruse.
	'Tit no Tiilgar acquisitioa —
	'Twas from no goose pinion diKtm ;
	Borrowed from her (iTOurite sfiin.
8CTb» U wior, geloM	" Sully nob the lirgio cBudour
Of ito down BO wliite and rare ;
Hon eede il euo candor*	Let it ne'er bo dipp'd in slander.
C^e a quel dells lua &.	'Gainst the witty or the fair.
	Lend it not to that Fatlander
	Denny Lafdner ; nor to Watts
	{Eight 'AJaric Jterandw'),
	Furnish charlatans and aota."
Wliat a difference betw	een the feeble and effeminate tone
of thcBO modem effuBions, and the bold, manly, and fre. ■
quently sublime eoDceptic	ns of the bards who wrote in the fl
golden age of Leo X., m	ader the influence of that magic 1
century which gave birth to Buch a crowd of eminent per- H
Bonagea in all the walka of literature ! The Dame of Michel ■
artist ; but few, perhaps, will be prepared to make his ■
gives me satisfaction to	have it in my power to mtroduce ■
the illustrious Buonarotti	in that imeipected character. 1

806 FATHBB PBOVT's BILIQUXS.

91 CxotiEiMo.

CKunto ^ gUi il corso della vita mia» Per tempestoBO mar con fragil barca, Al oomun porto, ove a render se yarca Conto e ragion d* ogni opra tnste e pia. Ma r alta affettuosa fantasia,

Che r arte mi fece idolo e monarca,

Canosco or ben quanto sia d* error carca^ E quel che mal buo grado ognun desia j Oli amorosi pensier gi^ yam e lieti

Che fien or s* a due morte m* ayyicino ?

D' uno 80 certo, e V altra mi minaocia. N^ pinger ne scolpir fia piti che queti

L' anima yolta a quel amor divino

Che aperse in croce a prender noi le braccia.

jKic^cl angeto'tf dTarebell to dculptuft.

I feel that I am growing old — Mj lamp of clay ! thy flame, behold ! 'Ctins to bum low : and I've unrolled My life's erentftil volume !

The sea has borne my fragile bark Close to the shore — now, rising dark. O'er the subsiding wave I mark

This brief world's final oolumiL

Tis time, my soul, for pensive mood. For holy cabn and solitude ; Then cease henceforward to delude

Thyself with fleeting vanity.

The pride of art, the sculptured thought, Vain idols that my hand hath wrought — To place my trust in such were nought But sheer insanity.

What can the pencil's power achieve ? What can the chisel's triumph give? A name perhaps on earth may Uve, And travel to posterity.

But can proud Rome's Panth^n tell,

If for the soul of Rafiaelle*

Hu glorious obsequies could queU

The Judomskt-Ssat's severity ?

* Hb body was laid out in state in the church of St Mana TMrrwdf

Tet wh; should Chriit'i believer fmr, Wliile gsnng on yon uiia((o ilesr? — Inugii adored, timugrf th« encer

Of miBcrcant bUsplicnicr.

Are not those imna for me outspread ? What nieKU tboie thorns upou thj bead? — And gliHll I, vrpjitliud with laurels, tread

Far from tliy paths, Ksdecmer?

Such was the deeply religious toae of this etninent man's

mind, and auch tlie genuine cuiscSiia. of Micliel iVngelo. An

unfeigned devotedneaa to the doctrines of Christianity, and

ft proud eousciousaees of the dignity which the avowal of

tlioee feelin^B ie calculated to confer in the view of every

rieht-minded person, are traitB of character which we never

iail to meet in all the truly great men of that period. Dant«,

I Leonardo da Vinci, Taaao, EafTaelle, Sannazar, Bembo, Bru-

I seUeschi, and a host of imperisliahle names, bear witness

rtothei correctneas of the remark. Nor is Pctrarca defi-

I dent in this outward manifeatation of inward piety. The

I death of Laura forms a marked epoch in his biography;

f and the tendency of his thoughts, from that date to tne

f liour of Ilia death, appears to hare been decidedly religious :

■ Awl the soft quiet hamlet where he dwvlt

H Wm one of that coinpUiioii wtiich aofmed madii

H For one nho his mortnlitj had felt,

B, Aud souijht s refuge man liis hopes decnfed.

V Chitde Harold, iv. 32.

^Hie recollection of the departed only gave additional inten- ^Bf to the fervour of devotion : and those exquisite sonnets, ^■Ic vhich he has breathed the pious sentiments of bis soul, ^Bfenk among the most finished productions of his muse ; — ^KBtriking exemplification of the incontestable truth, that Hpe poet who would suppress all reference to Christian feel- ^Eig oas votuutarily broken the finest chord of hia lyre. ^UUro, spirituulised into au angelic essence, still visits his r nocturnal visions, to point the way to that heaven of which I ahe is a dweller, and to excite him to deeds worthy of a LliIeaBed immortality. The opening stanza of one ot these

HUe Panthton), whither all Rome flocked to honour the illuslriotis dead. ^Ei lait uid most glorious work, "the TranBitgumtion," was placed ^Bbove his tiier ) irhiJe Ldo'« pontiQcal hand strewed Uamen and burnl ^■MRiaa o'w tlie mid remaiiu of departed ^al\a.—Li/t nf RaffatUt,

868 7ATHEB pbovt'b bsliqitsb.

B0ii£;8, which form the second part of the collection, (thus distinguished from those written during the lifetime of his beloved,) will suffice as a specimen of the tone that per- yades them all.

Canzone tropo (a fHorte tri 9onna Eaura.

Quando il soaye mio fido confoito.

Per dar riposo alia mia vita stanoa,

Ponsi del letto in su la sponda manca G>n quel buo dolce ragionare accorto ; Tutto di pietk e di paura smorto "Dico " Onde vien tu ora, o felloe alma ?" —

Un ramoscel di palma E un di lauro trae del suo bel seno ;

E dice : — " Dal sereno Ciel empireo, e di quelle sante parti. Mi moesi ; e vengo sol per consolarti,*' &c. &o.

Setrarca'tf Bream.

(After the Death of Laura.)

She has not quite forgotten me ; her shade

My pillow still doth haunt, A nightly visitant, To soothe the sorrows that herself had made :

And thus that spirit hlest, Shedding sweet influence o'er my hour of res^ Hath healed my woes, and all my lore repaid.

Last nighty with holy cahn,

She stood before my view,

And from her bosom drew A wreath of laurel and a branch of palm :

And said, ** To comfort thee, O child of Italy ! From my immortal home, Petrarca, 1 am come," &c. Ac.

Towards the close of his career, when the vanity of all earthly affection became still more palpable to his under- standing, there is something like regret expressed for having ever indulged in that most pardonable or all human weak- nesses, the hopeless and disinterested admiration of what was virtuous and lovely, unmixed with the grossn^ss of sensual attachment, and unprofaned by its vulgarities. Still, he felt that there was in the pursuit of that pleasing illusioD

THE SOSGS OF ITA£T. 3(39

ometbing iinwortliy of hia profeasion ; and he has r&;orded is act of ccmtrition in the followiog beautiful lines, witli RrMch I close : —

r TO pisQgendo I miei puwti tempi,

I qu&i poai in umu- coaa mortole

8»au Jerarmi a rolo, aTeud' lo i' tie, Fer dar tone di mo nou liuaei a^rapi.

Tu, ehe xedi i mini mali indegni ed empi,

Ee del ciclo inTuibile, immortHlBi

Soooorri aU' alm& disvista e fnle, E 'I auo difetto di tua paiia udempi i

Si che, e' io riisi in guerra ed in temperts,

Mori iu pace ed ia parCo ; e bb la itaiiia Fu vans, Jiuen eia la parlita oowla.

A quel poco di ricer, die m' arsma Sd al morir degni eaaer tua man presto ;

Cf]( £t(ptntanit of Pttrarca.

Bright daj« of suauj joulh, irrerooible jean Poric>d of roanliood'e prime er thee I ahed >ad but unprofitable teare —

X«apBe of retuml««H time : 1 ! I have east avta;, like ao mucb worthleat drogi. Hours of most precious ore — Bleat hours I could lisTe coined for heaven, jour loia For erer I'U deplore 1

CoDtrila I kneel, O Qod inacrutible, lo thee^

High heaveo'B iounortiLL King! Thou eiiTest me s soul Ibst U> thj bosom free

Might soar on B««ph niug : At; mind «ith gifts and grace th; bounty had endowed

To cherish Thee aJooe — Tlioaa gilta I have abused, this heart I bare oUoircd

lis Maker to disown.

But Irom his wanderings reolaimed, with full, with throbbing heart

Thj' truant has returned ; Oh ! be tlie idol and the hour that led him to depart

From Thee, for ever mourned.

If I hBTe dwelt remote, if I hare loved the tents of guilt —

To th; fond arms restored. Hen let me die t On kIiodi can di; eternal hopes be built,

SiTB fstos Tbieb, 0 LoBn !

370 FATHSB PBOVT'S BJBUQrXS.

Q THE SONGS OF HOBACR

DECADX THB FIBST. ANn TUN nOTAMflN lEPHN XaPOTSI lUFAI.

EUBIFID., AfMltOU

*' Quis sub AitOTO

Rex gelids metuatur oro Quid Tiridatem terreat, unioe SeouruB est qui F0in?iBU8 dttegbib

Qaudet." — Lib. i. ode xxvL*

Deeminff it wasteful and ridiculous

To watcn Don Carlos or Czar l^icholas —

Sick of our statesmen idiotic —

Sick of the knaves who (patriotic)

Serve up to clowns, in want oipratiei,

" Bepale'* and ** broken Limerick traties,**

With whom to grudge their poor a crust ia,

To starving LreLmd " doing justice**—

Sick of the moonshine called *' munieipal^*'

Blamej and Bice« Spain and Mendiz&b&l,

Shiel and shilelahs, '< Dan** and '* Maurice,**

Pbout turns his thoughts to Rome and Hosacs. — O. Y.

** Chassons loin de ches nous tons ces rats du Pamasae, Jouissons, ^crivons, vivons avec Horace.** — ^Yolt., fyiiret.

Fbom the ignoble doings of modem Whiggery, sneaking and dastardly at home, and not very digmned abroad — firom Melboume,t who has flung such unwonted dclat round the premiership of G-reat Britain {addens eornua paupert), and Mulgrave, who has made vulgarity and ruffianiam the sup- porters of a vice-regal chair (Regis Rupilipus atque 9enenwtC)yX

* Russia was already in for war thus earlv.

t Trial, Hon. G^rge Chappie Norton pertut Melbourne.

X Lord Normanby was, at this date (1836), letting loose all the jail* biids and ribbonmen in Ireland. He has since come out in the cha- racter of Polonius at the courts of Florence and Modfloa.

is allowable to tora aside for a transient glimpse at the uguatan age, when the premier was MiecennB, and tlie pro* consul, Agnppa. The poetic seoae, nauseated with the effu. Bions of Lord Lansdowne's tamily-piper, finds relief in com- muning with Horace, the refined and gentlemanly Laureate of Boman Toryism. In hia abhorrence of the "profane Bodicalmob" (lib.iii. ode i.) — in hia commendation of virtue, " refulgent with uncootarainated honour, because derived from a steady refusal to tuke up or lay down tlie emblems of authority at popular dictation " (lib. iii. ode ii.) — in hia por- trutureof the Just Man, undismayed by the frenzied, ardour of those who would force on by clamour depraved measures rtib. iii. ode iii.) need we say how warmly we participate ? That the wits and aagea who shed a lustre on that imperiai court should have merged all their previous theories in a rooted horror of agitators and taiisculottei, was a natural result of the intellectual progress made since the unlettered epoch of &£ariuB and the Gracchi. In the bard of Tivoli, who hkd foueht under the insurrectionary banners of Brutus, up to the day when " the chins of the unshaven demagogues were brought to a level with the dust " (lib. ii. ode vii.) Tory principles obtained a diatinguiahed convert ; nor ia there any |knce of mere aubserviency to the men in power, or any evi- ° nee of insincerity in the record of hia political opinions.

The Georgian era has, in common with the age of Augus- tna, eihibited more than one Btrikin|; example of salutary resipisceuce among those who started in life with erroneous principles. Two eminent instances just now occur to us ; Southey among the puets, Burke among the illustrious in prose ; though, perhaps, the divine gilt of inspiration, av- COmDonied with true poelie feeling, was more largely vouch- safed to the antagonist of the French Bevolution than to the author of Rndtriek, Ihe lait of the Galhs. What can be more apposite to the train of thought in which we ore indulg- ing and to the actual posture of afiaira, than the follow- ing exquisitely conceived passage, in which the sage of Beaconetield contrasts the respective demeanour and re-

rcea of the two parties into which public opinion is

ided ? When I assert any thing concerning the people of Eng-

' I speak from observation, and from the experience [

^p^princij ^Mnce<

^ The

PBOtT a BSlIQUIiB.

L a prclty extensive comiiiuiu cation with tb6 il

if this kingdom, begun jii early lite, And coutinut

i'riim certain publicationa. The vanity, restle. petulance of those who hide their intrinsic w«d(nesa i bualle, and uproar, and puffing, and mutual quotation i each other, make you imagine that the nation'e contemptq oiiB neglect is a mark of acquieacence in their opinions. I?i Hueh thing, I assure you ! Because half-a-dozen gnusliop pera under a fem make the field ring with their iuiportunoti chink, while thousanda of gre«t cattle, reposing uuder tb shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are ailent, pttt do not imagine that those who make the noise ore tb« on^ inhabitants of the 6eld."

It is right, however, in common fairness towards Hana(| to remark, that while fighting in bia juvenile days undM" tbi banners of Brutus, even then he never for a moment con temptated Mob-oscendency in Eome as the ultimate reent of hiB patriotic efforts. Like Cato and TuUy. in the part bl took he merely espoused the cause of the Senate in opp« sition to that of a. frensied rabble, rushing on, with swinid desperation, to political suicide ; for in that, as in every aM the deluded multitude, in bis view, was sure to become M dupe of some designing and knavish demagogue, uiUei rescued, in very despite of itself, br such interposition a the " Sbnatorb " could exercise in Borne ; or, we may add the " Basos's " in England : both the hereditary guardioni of liberty. When the adhesion of the comcript /alkert had sanctioned the protectorate of Augustus, the trauaition tc openly Conservative politics, on the poet's part, was ■ honourable as it was judicious. The contempt he fett| through his whole career, for the practice of propitiating Ibi sweet voices of the populace by a surrender of principtc, ii as plainly discoverable throughout the whole of bis Taria writings as his antipathy to garlic, or his ubhorrieDce a

Uis little volume contains the distilled quinteasenoe Ci Roman life, when at its very acme of retinemeot. It is thd most perfect portraiture (cabinet sine) that remains of thl social habits, domestic elegance, and cultivated intercourM of tbe capital, at the most interesting period of its p

THE 80N0a OF HOBAOE.

873

Tity. But the philosophy it inculcates, and the worldly * n it imfolUs, is applicable to all times aud all countries. Hence, toe cannot sj-mpathiae with the somewhat childish

S3 say the least of it) diataete, or indisposition, evinced by e immortal pilgrim, Harold (canto iy. at. Iiiv.), for those ever-enduring lyrics that formed the nouriahment of our intellect, ''when (Jeorge the Third was king." The very affectation of alluding to the " drilled, dull leBSon. forced downward for word, in his repugnant youth," proves the * of Harrow on the Hill to have reliehed and recol- l the almoat identical lines of the author he feigns to remember — Carmiiia Livi memini flaoosuu miAi parvu fiiiUmra diclare (Epiat. li. 70.) ; and (though Peel may have asBiduoua scholar) we can hardly believe the beauties of Horace to have heen lost on Byron, even in his earliest hours of idleneas. It ia d-propot of Mount Soracfal, on which he Btumbles in the progress of his peregrination, ■ '(bat the nnble poet venta his " fixed inveteracy" of hatred kv^^i"^^ '^ ^o^ which, at the some time, he estola in terma "lot less eloquent thau true :

" ThcTi fnrtwell, HoRacb ! •rhom I hated *o j Not for thy faults, but minel It is a curw

To undentand, Dotjiel, thj Ijrio flow. To coroprBliend, but never love, thy vent, AltJioiigh no deeper moralist nbearie

Our little lifo, nor bard prescribo his art. Nor livelier Bstiriat tbe conscience pierce,

Awakening without wounding the tourlicd heart.

FABEwmu. ! npan SoracU'a ridge wb fabi V

I "We can readily imagine the comic nature of such a • parting-" We picture in our laind'a eye him of Newstead nubey bidding him of the Sabine farm

" Farewell I — a word that fans been, and ahall be i" rhile we fancy we can hear the pithy " Bon voyage, railar," ith which significant formula (m Latin) he is gently dis- limed by the weeping Floccus^aajijuon ytXaifiM. Pbopt was not addicted to this aristocratic propensity for cutting all school-hoy acqunintances. In him was atrikuigly flxempufied the theory which attributes uncommon intonsity id durableoeas to first attachments: it is generally ap-

[

374 fathxb PBorT*s beliqueb.

plied to loTe ; he carried the practice into the liaisoKs of literature. The odes of Horace were his earliest mistresses in poetry ; they took his fancy in youth, their fasdnatioDs haunted his memory in old age—

"l'on ssyiskt toujoubs

J S£8 PBEMliBES AKOTrBS."

Most of the following papers, forming a series of Hon- tian studies, were penned in Italy, often on the yery spots that gaye hirth to the e£Pusions of the witty Boman ; hut it appears to haye afforded the Father considerable satisfaction to DC able, in the quiet hermitage of his hill, to redigestand chew the cud of whateyer might hayebeen crude and unmatured inhis juyenile lucubrations. He seems to haye taken an almost equal interest in the ¥rriters, the glories, and the monuments of Paoak as of Papal Borne : there was in his mental yi- sion a strange but not unpleasant confiision of both ; the Vaticani montis imago (lib. i. 20) forming, in his idea, a sort of bifurcated Parnassus — St. Peter on the one pesic, and Jupiter on the other. Mr. Pojnder has ¥rritten a tract on this supposed " alliance between Popery and Heathenism" which Dr. ^N I3EMAN, in these latter days, has thought worthy of a pamphlet in reply. The grayity of the question deters us from entering on it here ; but, to reconcile the matter, might we not adopt the etymological medius terminHs of Dean Swift, and maintain that Joye — Z«u; ^arri^, or Sospiter — was nothing, after aU, but the Jew Petee ?

We are not without hopes of finding, among Prout's mis- cellanies, an elaborate treatise on this yery topic. Hie French possess a work of infinite erudition, called VHistoire verita- ble des Tems Fabtdeus, in which the Illu) is shewn to be an arrant plagiarism from the three last chapters of the Book of Judges ; the Leyite's wife being the prototype of Helen, and the tribe of Benjamin standing for the Trojans. Wit, says Edmund Burke, is usually displayed by finding points of contact and resemblance; judgmekt, or discriminationy generally manifests itself in the faculty of perceiying the points of disagreement and disconnexion.

But it is high time to resume our editorial seat, and let the Father catch the eye of the reader.

THE BONQS OF HOBACE. 375

* Willi £uns discourse ibe ereniDg ao tbej paue. For that olde man of pleasaunte vtordes hiul itore^

And well could file bit tongue sa smoolhe U gla«e ; He tolde of Minted and popes, and erermore He Btrowed an Avb-MabY after and befure."

Fairy Qimnr, canU] L Blanu 85. At^nif Sirtet, June 2111.

OLIVER TOBKB.

D BAH ATI S PXKSOITiE.

I. Pbou;. H. Aa EUeeir. \2Tho. 111. J Jug of Punch, ito. SoESB . — TFa lergrait/itU. Here's a hei»lth to Hobace! " Vivi la I" Songater of TiTOM, who alone of all the tuneful dead, alone of Greek and Boman wits, may be said to lite. If to be quoted and requoted, until every superficial inch of thy toga ha.9 become (from quotatiou) threadbare, constitute perpetuity of poetical eiiBtence, according to the theory of Etinius {votito vivu'per ora virum.) Buch ilfb has been pre-eminently vouchsafed to tliee. In the cirele of thy comprehensive philoBophy, few thin^ belonging to heaven or earth were unoreamt of; nor did it escape thy instinctive penetration that in yonder brief tome, short, plump, and tidy, like its artificer, thou badst erected a monument more durable than brass, more perma- nent than an Irish " bound towbb," or a pyeamid of King Cheops. It was plain to thy intuitive ken, that, whatever mischance might befidl the beavier and more massive pro- ductions of ancient wisdom, thy lyrics were destined to out- live tbem all. That though the epics of VAKirs might be lost, or the decades of Livr desiderated, remotest posteritj

would possess thee (like the stout of Barclay and Perkins) " BSTiHE"^wou]d enjoy thy book, undocked of its dui portions, uncurtailed of a smgle page — would bask i

rays of thy genius, unshorn of a single beam. As often as the collected works of other classic worthies are ushered into the world, the melancholy appendage on the title-page of

" Omnia qua nlwnl " is sure to meet our eye, reminding us, in tae very announce- ment of the feost of intellect, that there is an amnri aliquid ; Tiz., that much entertaining matter has irretrievably perished.

876 FATHER PROHT'B BZUQCF8.

The lorto of tlie Belvidere is, perhaps, as for bk it goes, BUpa> riortothiiApoHo; but ibe latter is a complete statue: sGreen* wich pensioner with a wooden leg ia though a nsp<M:tat>lo only a truncated copy of humanity. Thy IJSS. have coins down to U8 uamutilated by the [lumice-BtoDe of palinip«e«tie monk, unaiuged by the torch ot Calif Omar, un^Dawpd by the tooth of Time. The perfect preeervation of thy writi] ia only equalled by the universality of their diffuaioa — i point especially dwelt on in that joyously geograpliic rhapBod] of a prophetic soul (lib. ii, ode 20), wherein thou poui fortii thy full anticipation of oecumenic glory- If tbou en hardly be said still to haunt the " shores of the Bospfaorua,'' take " Oxfoed" as a literal substitute ; though disappointed of fame among the " remote Greloni," thou bast an equiy^ lent in the million schoolboys of South Ajuerica. Should' the "learned Iberian" chance to neglect thee amid tht disasters of his country, hangine up thy forsaken tyre on thA willows nf the Guadalquiver — should they " who drink tha Rhone" divide their atfectioas between (thy brother bard) B^rangerond thee, thou mayest still count among " Dacians" of the Danube admirers and commentators. Thoit bast unlooked-for votaries on the Hudson and the St. Law- rence ; and though Bums may triumph on the Tweed, ToiQ Moore can never prevent thee from being paramount oa tin Shannon, nor Tom D'Urfey evict thee from supremacy on" Thames. In accordance with thy fondest aspiration, tl hast been pointed out na the " prime performer on the ] man lyre," by successive centuries as they passed am., (diffito prater eunliuiii) : the dry skeleton of bygone critician hung up in our libraries, so designates thee with ita bonf index : to thee, Pbikci: of Lviiic Poets ! is still directed in these latter days, albeit with occasional aberrations {Jot even the magnetic needle varies under certain influences)) the ever-reverting finger of Fame.

Here, then, I say, is a health to Hoeack '. Tlioueh tbft last cheerful drop m my vesper-bow! to-night be well-nigh drained, and the increasing feebleness of age reminds niS too plainly that the wafers are ebbing fast in my CIcpaydn of bfe, still have I a blessing in reserve — a beuistm to bestow. on the provider of such intellectual enjoyment as y volume has ever afforded me ; nor to the lont shall I dis>

lliitn

sv^vyiay.

In the brief biographic memoir left us by Suetonius, we Bread that the emperor was in the habit of comparing the Fpoet's book, and the poet himaelf, to a flaoon— cum eirevi- ' tUM volumihis nit oyxiaisirrariii, lieut esl veiitrieuli tut. Various and mnltiform ore tbe vitrified vases and terracotta j are dug up at Pompeii, and elsewhere, with eridence of havinB eerved as depositoricH for Bamaii sack ; but the peculiar Horatian shape alluded to by Augustus has not been fixed on bj an- tiquaries. The Florentine academy Delta Cnaca, whose opiu- ioD on this point ought to obtain universal attention, have considered tbemaelves authorised, from the passage in Sue- tODiaa, to trace (as they have done, in their valuable vo- GKbulair) the modem words, rfoecone,_/!o«co (whence our/a»i) to Q. Horat. Flaccts. The origin of the English term btimptr, it is fair to add, has been, with equal sagacity, brought home by Joe Hiller to our " 6on phe," the pope. But conmend me to the German commentators for transcendental ingeoaity in clnasical criticism. Need I more than instance the judicious Milcherhck'a hint, that the birth of our poet most have presented a clear case of luKiit natura; since, in hia ode Jd Jmphorum (jLii. lib. iii.), we hate, from his own 1ms, the portentous fact of his having come into the world _^m company with a bottle," under the consulship of Mun- Kjiiu ? Should the fact of his having had a twin-brother of l^tat description be substantiated, on historical and obstetric Ivrindples, we shall cease, of course, to wonder at the simi- Dtnde discovered by the emperor. Byron maintains, though without any data whatever to warrant bis assertion, that " Happiness was born a twin" (Juan, canto ii. st. 172) ; tbe case was, perhaps, like that imagined by Milcheriick,

My own theory on the subject is not, as yet, sufficiently matured to lay it before the learned of Europe ; but from the natural juxtaposition of the two congenial objects now md the more than chemical affinity with which

878 TATHEB PBOI'T'b UELIHrfa.

I find the contents of the Elzevir to blend in harmotuon mixture with thoee of the jug, I should feet quite safe predicating (if sprightlineBa, vigour, and versatility com tute BufficientW fraternal featureB) that the " Bpint in t leaves" ia hrotlier to the " bottle imp."

" Alterius bio, AIUtb poBciC op«m rc« et coi^urat nmiDJ." Jrl. Poet. 410.

The recondite philosophy of the common < "Amimal Spikits," 1)88 not, that I am aware of, heea t roughly investigated, or its import fully developed, by n dem nietapbyeiciana. How animal matter may become impregnated, or, to use the school term, " compenetnted,' by a spiritual essence, aa to lose its substantive nature ani become a mere adjective, or modification of the aIl-absorbia| vnvitjt, is a "rub" fit to puzKle Hamlet. In my Lon Brougham's Natural Theology, which gives the solution a every known question, this difficulty is unaccountably oa glected. There is not a single word about animated alcohol All ingenious doubt was expressed by eonie great thinka — Jack Heeve, or Doctor Poraou— after a protracted sitting whether, legally, the landlord could remove him o3' the pH misee without a " permit." That was genuine metsphyaia far above all Kant's rubbish. How are we, in fact, to drai the distinction F la there to be one law fur a living vessa" and another for an inert jar P May not the ingredients thi go to fill them be the same ? the quantity identical in bot recipients ? Why, then, should not the Excise anxiousl' tracK the footsteps of so many walking gallons of XXX with the same maternal solicitude she manifests in watchiq the progress and removal of spirit in earthenware ? Ti^ Ct^roraon-sense view of the matter was long ago taken up b Don Quixote, when, acting on the Bug|eBtion of calm logii^^ he gave battle to certain goat-skins, distended with the n cent vintage of Valdepenas. Cervant*s may sneer, bot tb onslaught does not appear to me irriLtianal. Was the knigfa to wait till the same juice should offer itself under the fonr and colour of blood, to be shed from the bodies of bloatw buffoons in buckram P Clearly not !

But to return. If by aihuai, spibitb be meant- tha

THX BOKOa OF HOBACE. 379

I »tate of buoyancy and elevation in whicli the opaqne cor- poreal eaaenee ia lost in the froliceome play of the fancy, and evaporates in ethereal sallies, a coUateral and pamUel proceBB takes place when the imBgioatiTe and rarified facul- tiee of mind are, aa it were, condensed so as to give a preci- pitate, and form a distinct portion of visible and tangible matter. Ton Elzevir ie a case in point. In the small com- s of a duodecimo we hold and manipulate tbe conceu- ' trated feelings and falliea, the "quips and cranks," the wit 1 wisdom, of a period never equalled in the history of ^"^ ' : the current converaatioual tones and topics are ■"iir to us, though the interlocutors have long since in the grave. The true fixebniak wine ripens 1 tbe accustomed slope ; the formiakt coujia e now barren and unprofitable ; but, owiug to the nbove- I mentioned process, we can still relish their bouquet in tbe odes of Horace : we can find the geuume amuck of the Caicu- t ban grape in tbe effusions it inspired.

I recollect Tom Moore once talking to me, after dinner,

I of Campbell's Einle of Erin, and remarking, in bis ordinary

I , eoneetlo style, that tbe aorrowa of Irekud were in that elegy

' CBTSTALLiBED and made immortal. Tommy was right ; and

I he may be proud of having done Bometbiag in that way him-

I Belf: for when the fashion of drinking "gooseberry chnm-

" shall have passed away, future ages will be able to

i, notion of that once celebrated beverage from the

[ peroBal of hu poetry. There it is, crystallised for posterity.

"Horace presents us, in hiB persou, with oa accomplished

I Bpecimen of the ban vioant ,- such as that agreeable variety

I (M the human species waa understood by antiquity. Cheer-

[ fulness and wit, conjointly with worldly wisdom, generally

I insure a long, joUy, and prosperous career to their possessor.

I I just now adverted to the good luck which baa secured

[ fats lorititiffi against accident ; his personal preservation

I through what Mathews would term the " wicisaitudes and

I waccinatioas" of life, appears to have been, from his own

I Kcconnt, fully as miraculous. A somewhat profane French

provOTb aaaerts, qu'il y a une Providence pour lea ivrognet ;

but whatever celestial surveillance watches over the zigzag

progress of a drunkard — whatever privilege may be pleaded

by the plenipotentiary of Bacchus, poetry would seem, in

380 FATHEB PB01}|B'B SXLIQTTXB.

his case, to have had peculiar prerogatives. Sleeping in his childhood on some mountain-top of Apulia, pigeons covered him with leaves, that no " bears" or " snakes" might get at him (lib. iii. ode iv.) ; a circumstance of some importance to infant genius, which, alas ! cannot always escape the ** hug" of the one or the " sting" of the other. Again, at the battle of Philippi, he tells us how he had well nigh perished, had not Mercuby snatched him up from the very thick of the meiSe, fully aware of his value, and unwilling to let him run the risk to which vulgar chair d canon is exposed. Subse- quently, while walking over his grounds at the Sabine farm, the falling trunk of an old tree was within an ace of knock- ing out lus brains, had not Fauk, whom he describes as the guardian-angel of mercurial men — mercurialium cusios viro- rum — interposed at the critical moment. To Mercury he has dedicated many a graceful hymn : more than one modem poet might safely acknowledge certain obligations to the same quarter. But all are not so communicative as Horace of their personal adventures.

What he states in his bantering epistle to Julius Florius cannot be true ; viz., that poverty made a poet of him :

" Pauperiat impulit audas Ut versutfacerem" — Ep. ii. 2, 61.

On the contrary, far from offering any symptoms of jejune inspiration or garret origin, his effusions bear testimony to the pleasant mood of mind in which they were poured forth, and are redolent of the joyousness of happy and convivial hours, Boileau, a capital judge, maintains, that the jovial exhilaration pervading all his poetry betrays the vinous influence imder which he wrote —

'* Horace a bu son saoul quand il voit lei Menadet :"

an observation previously made by a rival satirist of Some—

" Satur est cum dicit Horatius ohb !"

Hints of this kind are sometimes hazarded in reference to very grave writers, but, in the present instance, will be more readily believed than the assertion made by Plutarch, in his 'Su/j/jTofftov, that the gloomy uEschylus ^* was habitually drunk when he wrote his trageilies."

THE aOtTQB <

Rting the poetical profesBion Horace bat followed the 8 nature ; thus, lyrics were the Bpontaueous pro- auce ot bia mind, as fables were of a kindred bouJ, the naif Lttfontaine. " t'oild un figuibb," said the latter one day to Mudflme de la Sahlifere, in the gardens of Versailles ; " et moi,je «HU tin fadlieb." Let us take the oiHeial manifesto with which Horace opens the volume of his odes, and we shail be at once put iu possession of his views of human life, through all its varied vanities ; of which poetry is, after nil, ' _bat one, and not the moti ridiculous.

Ode I. — TO MEca:NA8.

"Meoeermel

[■ ediM regibua," &o.

T nnNV uid fathoic, in whoio Teini runnotli right roja] blood, W*e bat lo some Ihu BlPPODROMX, the cor, Che pnneitig ttud, louds of Olympic duet — Uii-u mark v\\M ccalas; at soul

hair boBOm feels, as the npt wheels glowing hsTs graicd the goal.

Uk not to tfaem of dindem or K«ptre, eave the whip — L branch of palm can niiw them to the oodb' compuiionibip.

d there be tome, my tiead, for whon

Ton homely hind, ealmlj resigned his oarrow farm to plod. It with Asia's w«llh to wean &om hia paternal eod : 'I prevail ! Do TaruUhed tale that Bimrle snain nU] urge, B galley built of Ctpbds oak, to plough th' EflKiM surge.

isnt'marincr, who sighs for lidds and qiuet home, Ihe Dmin \he hurricane howla round his path of foam,

l^ill make, I trow, full manj a tow, the deep for ava t' esthcw.

"« lands — what then F Pelf prompts again — his ship 'a afloat Ui

ft Leiiun] hath ita rotarifs. vhoae blias it

Beligion goards the cradle of the infant rivulet.

382

FATHER PBOUT'S BELIQCTSB.

He for his antler^d foe looks out, or tracks the forest wheooe Broke the wild boar, whose daring tusk lerelled the fragile feoea.

Thzb the pursuits of learning claim — a claim the gods allow } Thine is tne irj coronal that decks the scholar's brow :

Mb in the woods* deep solitudes the Nymphs a dient count. The dancing Faun on the green lawn, the Naiad of the fount. For me her lute (sweet attribute !) let Poltstmitia sweep ; For me, oh ! let the flageolet breathe from Eutebpb's lip ; GiTe but to me of poesy the lyric wreath, and then Th' immortal haUs of bliss won*t hold a prouder denizen.

His political creed is embodied in the succeeding ode ; and never did patriotism, combined (as it not always is) with sound sense, find nobler utterance than in the poet's address to the head of the government. The delicate ingenuity em- ployed in working out his ultimate conclusion, the appa- rently natural progression from so simple a topic as the " state of the weather," even coupled as it may have been with an inundation of the Tiber, to that magnificent dinoue- tnent — the apotheosis of the emperor — has ever been de- servedly admired.

Ode II.

"Jam satis terris nivis atque dirsB Ghrandinis," &c.

Since Jove decreed in storms to

vent The winter of his discontent. Thundering o'er Rome impenitent

With red right hand. The flood-gates of the firmament,

Have drenched the land !

Terror hath seized the minds of men. Who deemed the days had come

again When Pboteus led, up mount and glen. And verdant lawn. Of teeming ocean's darksome den The monstrous spawn.

^len Pyebha saw the ringdove's

nest Harbour a strange unbidden guest,

And, by the deluge dispossest

Of glade and grove Beers down the tide, with antler'd crest, Affrighted drove.

We saw the yellow Tibbb, sped Back to his Tttscan fountain-head, O'erwhelm the sacred and the dead

In one fell doom. And Vesta's pile in ruins spread.

And Nitma's tomb.

Dreaming of days that onoe had

been, He deemed that wild disastrous

scene Might soothe his Iixi, injured

queep.I

TEE BDH&§ OT HQBACE.

And comfort give her, BecHcM though Jon elioold inter-

Diorioui river !

t Ourtonswillaali, whjmeDorRoino kpww Bguust kindred, frioada, and

hrords Ilint n Peraian becBtomb Might best iiiibUD— B, In their Tulhers' Seadi become Foeble and few I

nuntryc&Uinsid? e miut the patriofa tok be

paidP

Willi oriBona ahBlI vntol maid

Fatigue the skim? Or will not Vksta's frown upbraid

' comeat TUOD with Drvad Mabb! oui

•fUd 1

Whoso t Whose w

FOCK'SEar se «o long bade peace ■dogs still for slaughtsr

The tented field thv rhoaen haonl^ Th^ ehild the Roltui,

Fierce tegionsr, whoae visage gaunt Scowls on the foeman.

Or hath young ElEMES, Mjja's

The graoeful guiao and form put on Of thee, AnoceTCB F and begun

(Cele»tinl atranecr!) To wear the name <?luch lUOC haat

" CjESiB'a AtknobbP"

IT AroiMi ! ahall we kocol Blest bo llio doja of thy lojoum, 1^ ran, and for our eommonwed Diitant the hour when HoMB aball l»WHh hombled conKiouBneas ap- iroum

^ periP The fatal light of thy return

Oh, quell the storm I To Heaven again,

t, though a aUver vapoM vwl Forced by a guUty nge to apurn Thy radiant form ! ""if haunU of men.

Rather remain, beloved, adored, e Rome, rehaiit

(Till VEKua froi

AaA to our aucrour hie, with troop

Of laughing Gtticis. ami a group ^^^^ AasTEu'

To thee of Jn.ius haili restored

Of Cupids ri

veriug horde.

a fitting tbat eitrly in tbe eeries of hia lyrics there ibould appear a record of bis warm iutimacj with the bIt Botnan poet of them all, whose genius could justly lium eqnal rank with bis. It ie honourable to the author f tbe ^neid that be feared not. in tlie first inatjince, to in- e at the court of Augustus, where ha own reputation s already eatabliafaed, one who alone of all bis coutempo- r caries could eventually dispute tbe laureateahip, and divide ) the applause of the imperml circlo, with himself. Virgil, kjiowever, though he baa caretiiUy embalmed in bis pastorals 1 ol' Gallue, Asinius Pollio, Vorius, and Ciuna; nay,

884 FATHSB pbout's bxliqves.

though he has wrapt up in the amber of his verse such grubs as Bavius and Maevius, has never once alluded to Horace — at least, in that portion of his poems which has come down to us — while the lyrist commemorates his gifted friend in more than a dozen instances. I should feel loath to attri- bute this apparently studied omission to any discreditable jealousy on the part of the Mantuan ; but it would have been better had he acted otherwise. Concerning the general tenor of the following outburst on the shores of the Adriatic, while Virgil's gaUey sunk below the horizon, it will be seen, that his passionate attachment leads him into an invective against the shipping interest, which I do not seek to justify

Ode III. — TO THE SHIP BEABIKG YIBGIL TO OB££C£.

" Sic te diya potens," &c.

May Love*B own planet guide thee o'er the wave ! Brightly aloft Helen's star-brother's twinkling, And jEolus chain all his children, save A west-wind soft Thy liquid pathway wrinkling, Qalley ! to whom we trust, on thy parole, Our ViBOiL, — mark Thou bear him in thy bosom Safe to the land of Gbi^eob ; for lialf my soul, O gallant bark ! Were lost if I should lose him.

A breast of bronze full sure, and ribs of oak. Where his who first Defied the tempest-demon : Dared in a fragile skiff the blast provoke. And boldly burst Forth on the deep a Seaman ! Whom no conflicting hurricanes could daunt, Nor Boreas chill. Nor weeping Htads sadden. E'en on yon gulf, whose lord, the loud Letaki Can calm at will. Or to wild frenzy madden.

What dismal form must Death put on for hint Whose cold eye mocks The dark deep's huge in dwellers ! Who calm athwart the billows sees the grim Cebaunian rocks. Of wail and woe tale-tellers ! —

lUK aONQS OE 1

IKACE.

Tliough FrDTidenre pound out ita ooean-Dood, Whoae broad eipBiiae Might land from laEd diseeTer, Oareoring o'er lh« wsten, Man nilb»tood JoTe'g ordinnnpe With impiout eDdentdur.

I Ihe hunuLD breut, wihb bold BspiringB fraught, ThrolH thus unancd, nnUnied, and unquieBMnt, ■Sbs from the akies a ton o( Japhct brought. And, fatal fraud ! Made nrth a ^liltj preeBut. Scarce was the spark Buatcli'd from the bright abode, When round ua straight A ghaetly phalanx thickeniMJ, Feter and Paliy : and grhn Death, who strode With tardf gait far off, — hia coming quickened \

Wafted on daring art's flctitioUB plume The Cretan roie. And waved hi* wizard pinioni ; DovnwardB Alvidea pierced the realms of glooni. Where darU; flows Btjx, tliroagh the dead's dominions. Kaught ia beyond our reach, beyond our seope, And besTen's high laws Btill lul U) keep us under \ How CBD our unreposing malice hope Rnpitc or pause From Jore'a areugiiig thnndarP

18 of earthly happiness— the constant ttUuBiona to Death,

L which Btartle ub in his gayest and apparently most careleea

B ■trains, is a reiy distingmehing feature of the poet's mind.

lere is something here beyond what appeere on the sur-

The ekull so ostentatiously displayed at the honqnete

r Egypt had its mystery.

Ode IV.

"Soluitur acria Iijema."

IT Winter mells bfnonlh rine'a grnlal breath, Aiicl Zephyr

Solritur aoria bienu

Onta Tice

Vorit Bt FaToni i

J

886

FATHEB PBOUT'S SELIQXJXB.

Back to the water yields The stranded hark — back to the fields The stabled heifer — And the eaj rural scene The ^cpherd's foot can wean. Forth from his homely hearth, to tread ^-he meadows green.

Now Venus loves to group Her merry troop Of maidens, Who, while the moon peeps out, Dance with the Graces round about Their queen in cadence ; While far, 'mid fire and noise, Vulcan his forge employs, Where Cyclops grim aloft their ponderoui sledges poise.

Now maids, with myrtle-bough, Gkurland their brow — Each forehead Shining with flow'rets deck*d ; While the glad earth, by frost uncheck*d. Buds out all florid ; — Now let the knife devote. In some still grove remote, A victim-lamb to Faun ; or, should he list, a goat

Death, with impartial foot, Knocks at the hut ; The lowly As the most princely gate. O favoured friend ! on life's brief date To count were folly ; Soon shall, in vapours dark, Quenched be thy vital spark. And thou, a silent ghost, for Pluto's land embark ?

Where at no gay repast. By dice's cast King chosen. Wine-laws shalt thou enforce. But weep o'er ioy and love's warm source For ever frozen ; And tender Lydia lost, Of all the town the toast. Who then, when thou art gone, will fire all bosoms most !

Trahnutqae eiccat

Aonecqoe jam stalmlti GhMidet prec1]i^

Aut arator igni ; Nee prati^cania

Albicant proinia.

Jam Cytherea chofot Ducit Venus,

Imminente Luna ; ' JunctsDque Nymphis

GhratiflD decentes Altemo terram Quatiimt pede,

Dum graves Cydopum Vulcanus ardens

Urit officinas.

Nunc deoet aut viridi Nitldum caput

Impedire myrto, Aut fiore, terns

Quern femnt solutsDb Nunc et in umbrosis Fauno decet

Immolare lucis, Seu poscat, agni,

Sive malit, h»do.

Pallida mors squo Pulsat pede

Pauperum tabeivas, Beffumque turres.

ObeateSesti, Vite summa brevis Spem nos vetat

Inchoare longam. Jam te premet nox,

Fabulseque Manes.

Et domus exilis Plutonia : Quo simul means. Nee regna vini

Sortiere talis ; Nee teneram Lydiam Mirabere, QuA calet juventus Nunc omnis, et tunc inoalebit

3 OF HOBACE.

I In the following lines to Pyrrha we have aet before tis a Boman lady's bouUoir. sketched 3 la ff'aC/eau. FemnJe Bckleneas was, among the Greeks, a subject deemed inex- haustible. Horace baa contrived to say much thereanent throughout his volume ; but the matter seems to be as fresh as ever among tbe moderns. — It has, no doubt, gives great adi&eation to Mr. Poyuder to obBerve that the pagan practice alluded to, towards the closing verses, of hanging up what is called an " ex roto" in the temples, still prevails along the aborea of tbe Mediterranean. For that matter, any Coci- aej, by proceeding only as far as Boulogne but Mer, may -find evidence of this classic heatkenitm in' full vogue amoug ' e Gallic fiBhermen.

OCE V. — PYBBHA'B INCONSTiSCy.

Pyrrli». who now. iDayhnp,

PouTB on th^ perfumed lap, tbn>nwr«lh,rBir;oalh,liufoTid*d(li«aiee!

Within thj Dhinaing grot,

For whom, in gsy love-knot, jtaS.j dost thou bind tlij' yellow tresus f

So ■imple in th; neatnOB I

AIiu I that BO much ewMtiieia >nldpreliide provB to diaillusiou painful!

He Bhiill bewail loo lot«

Bis Bsdl; altered fstii, mH bjlhj Diicn, repellent and disdainful.

Who now, to fondnesB prone,

Deeming thee all his own, tds in golden dresuia of bvoure boundlras

8a bright thy beaut; glowe,

Btill fsseinating thoBe lo've ;ct to learn all trust in (hee i> ground-

1 the bilae light forswear, Intenlata nitra I

A «bij>wreck'd mariner. Mo labul& tacer

fao bang* Uie pointed tlorj of his euO'eriug Votivl parieB Aloft o'er Neptune's ehrine ; Indicnt uvida

There BhaU I hang up mine, Suapenilieee polenti

id of laj dripping robe* the votive ofTering \ Tcatimenla maria Deo.

Hie naval reucontrea off Actium, Lepsuto, and Trafalgar,

Qui» midt£ graeilis

To puor in ros4

PerfusuB hquidia

Urget odoribuB

Gralo. rjrrha.iub aiilroF

Cui flavam religu comam.

Simplex munditiia?

Hou ! quotiea fidjBm

MiitatoBque DeoB

Flebit, et acpors

Nigris H>quora venti»

Emimbitur iniolena.

Qui nunc te fruitur Credulus aurcA ;

388 FATHBB PBOtrr'S BXLIQVE8.

offer in Eurapean bistoTj three gigantic *^ water-marks," such as no three Dattle-plains ashore can readily furnish : but ihe very magnitude of each maritime event has probably de- terred slu^wd poets from grappling with what thej despaired to board successfully. Our JJibdm's dithyrambic,

**'Twa8 in Trafalgar bay We taw the Frenchman lay^^ ^c,

as well as the Venetian barcarola,

*' Cantiam iutti allegramente" ^c.,*

were, no doubt, good enough for the watermen of the Thames, and the gondoliers of the Gulf. But when the Soman admiral begged from Horace an ode, emblazoning the defeat of the combined fleets of Antony and Cleopatra, it required much tact and ability to eschew the perilous attempt. The following effort shows how he got out of the scrape. The only parallel instance of clever avoidance we remember, occurred when the great Conde offered a thousand ducats for the best poem on his campaign of Bocroi. A Gascon carried the prize by this audacious outburst :

** Pour c^l^brer tant de hauts faits, Tant de combats, et tant de gloire, Mille ecus ! Parbleu ! Mills bcvs ? Ce n'est qu*un soir par Tictoire."

Ode YI.

" Scriberis Vario," &c.

Agrippa ! seek a loftier bard ; nor ask

Horace to twine in songs The double wreath, due to a Tiotor*s casque From land and ocean : such Homeric task

To Varius belongs.

Our lowly lyre no fitting music hath.

And in despair dismisses The epic splendours of " Achilles* wrath," Or the " dread line of Pelops," or the " path

Of billow-borne Ulysses."

• See "Songs of Italy," apud not.—O. Y

TI1£ SOKQS OF nOBACB.

The reccrrd of tlie deeds at Actium icTouglit

So &r tranBcendR our lalent — V«iD Wire the wish I wild the presimiptuouB thou((ht! To ling how Cesar, how Afi-ipim, fought —

Both foremoat 'tnul the galloDt !

The Coif of War in adHmiintine mail ;

Merian, gaunt and grim ; Pkllaa in aid ; while Trov's bktUlious quail, Sewed W the lauFc of liiomeA . . . miut ful

To figure in our hjmn.

Outs is the banquet -■oug't light-hearlod itnUD,

Boset our odIt laurel. The progress of a lore-suiC o< Out odIj scars the gashes the

When romping lorera quarrel.

J- campaign,

^ the mania for foreign residence, wliic!i hur- led off then ^as it does now) estimable citij^ns from a far e reputable sojouro in tlieir native country -villas, tho "tioet exDorta Plancl's to give up bis project of retiring into Oiwece (from the displeasure of Augostua), to continue in tbe service of the stat«, and, above all, to stick to the bottle.

Ode \'II. — to McifAxirs plancijs.

"Laudabmit alii clarain RhODoS."

PluiiPUs I do blnsta for ever sweep

Athwart the welkin raucoured ?

Frieud 1 do the clouds for ercr

I Shodea, Ephesus, or Mitjlene, 1 Or TheBwJv'* fair tbUbj, I- Or Corinth, placed two gulfs atwecn, D^phi, or Thebes, sugaosC (he sceue Where some would choose to daUf ; r OQian in pmi«e of Athens laouch, I And poets lirio

kOtao^ vith Minerra'a oliTe-branch Their panegyric. b Juno's citj someaould roam — [ Ar^O« — of Sl4vds productJTe ; n rich HjoenK niakc their home, V Snd Idnsia pleasautsome, ■^ " ■ * n seduetivi

•> Titij

1 grot

than all The brook'* bright bosom, id o'er Lmd Anio's wstcrlkll SVai(-tre«s in blossom.

Then cheer thee I and thy sorrows

Drown m a (lowing tankard : Whether "the campl the fleliil the

Be BbU thf molto. Or Tihur to thy choice afford

A iheltereu grotto. When Teucer from his fiitber's

For eiilo parleil, I Wreathing his brow with poplar-

In wine he bade his oomradei

Their woc^ light-hearted ;

890

FATHER PSOUT'S BELIQUEB.

And thuB he oried,Whate*er betide, Hope shftU not leare me :

The home a father hath denied Let Fortune give me !

Who doubts or lead? Hath not ApoUo

dreads if Teucer

A new-found SaUnmh decreed. Old Fatherland shall saperaede ?

Then fearleea follow. Ye who could bear ten jears jour share Of toil and slaughter. Drink ! for our sail to-morrow'sgalt WafU o*er the water.

The old tune of " Peas upon a trencher*' has been adapted to " The time I've lost in wooing," by Tom Moore. Mr. Cazal^, of the AsaemhlSe Nationale, baa given a French version of the immortal original.^ Ex gr. :

" Oar^on, apportez moi, moi, Des pois, des petis pois, pois : All, quel plaisir ! quand je les yois Verts, sur leur plat de bois, hois," &a Ac

I hope there is no profanation in arranging an ode of Horace to the same fascinating tune. — The diary of a Eoman man of fashion can be easily made up from the elements of daily occupation, supplied by the following :

Ode VIII.

" Lydia, die per omnes," &c.

Enchanting Lydia ! prithee, Bj all the gods that see thee.

Pray tell me this : Must Sybaris Perish, enamoured with thee ? Lo ! wrapt as in a trance, he Whose hardy youth could fimcy

Each' manly feat, dreads dust and heat, All through thy necromancy !

^\^ly rides he never, tell us, Accoutred hke his fellows.

For curb and whip, and horsemanship. And martial bearing zealous f "Why hangs he back, demurrent To breast the Tiber's current.

From wrestlers* oil, as from the coU Of poisonous snake, abhorrent F

Ko more with iron rigour Rude armour-marks disfigure His pliant limbs, but languor dims His eye and wastes his rigour.

Lydia, die per omnes Te Deos oro, Sybarim Cur properas amando, Perdere ? cur apricum Oderit campum, Patiens Purreris atque Solis ?

Cur neque militaris Inter eequales EquiUt? Oallica nee lupatis Temperat ora frenis ? Cur timet flarum Tiberim Tangere ? cur olirunt

Sanguine Tiperino Gtiutiua yitak f Neque jam Lirida je.tat armii

And his emlioiTered retreat is

Like where the Son oF Tlielis Liirkfd undivnlged, while he indulged

A motlicr's eoft entmtin,

Bobed as b Grecian girl,

Lert soldier-like appnrel ICffht raiae a lUme, and bis kindling tratc

Through the ranks of tUughter whirl.

BrKchia, ■a'pe disco, Stepe trsDB fineni

Nobilj* eipedito P

Quid Islet, ut mariof

Filium dicunt Thetidis, Sub UdiryiaoMi TtoJeb Funera, ne virilie

Cultus in dEdcm, et

Proriperot catcrraa.

To relish the ninth ode, the reader must fipire to bimeelf

f the hunting-boi of a young Roman, some miles from Rome,

with a distant view ot the Mediterranean in front ; Mount

8oract# far off on the right ; a tall cypress grove on the

left, backed "by the ridge of Apennines.

Ode IX.

" Tide* ot allA alet wtg cuididum

See how the winter blanche*

Soraet^'a giant brow ! Hear how the Ibrest-brtiiichra

Oman for the weight of snow! While the fii'd ice impanels Sl*ers trilhin their ehaonels.

Dul with the (Vo«t ! eipel hor i Pile up the fud-block, r.Asd from thf honrj collnr I ProdiKe B Sabiae crock : I O lilalilirpk ! remember

It count a fourth December.

Qire to the gode the gmdance Of earth's BrrangementB. Lis! pThe blast! at their high biddniice

Vrvta the rei'd deep desiEt. MVor "mid the cTpresi riot i ■.And the old elins are qciet.

Vedi tu di neve in copi»

n Seralle omai canuto Vedi come orolhui gli alberi

Sotto al ]>cBO 1 c '1 ge!o acute Come Bi liunii tril le sponde Fa indurar le hquid' onde.

Sciogli 'I freddo con man prodiga Hifornendo, O Talinroo 1

Legni al foco ; e pi il del solito A Bpillar non esser parco

Da orecohiuto Qvcio Snbina^

Di qunttr' anni '1 ptetto vino.

Sien del reelo i uumi gU arbitn ! Cli' o»« BTran d' Austro o di Bore* Abflltulo ii ferrid impeto

Per la Toato arena cquorea Ke i eipreBBJ urto nemico Sruolera, ne 1' omo antioo.

392

FATHSB FBOTTT'S BZLIQUXB.

Ei\joT, without foreboding, Life as the moments run ;

Away with Care corroding, Youth of my soul ! nor shun

LoTe^ for whose smile thou*rt suited;

And 'mid the dancers foot it.

While youth's hour lasts, beguile it ;

Follow the field, the camp. Each manly sport, till twilight

Brings on the vesper-lamp ; Then let thy loved one lisp ner Fond feelings in a whisper.

Or in a nook liide furtive. Till by her laugh betrayed.

And drawn, with struggle sportive, Forth from her ambuscade ;.

Bracelet or ring th* offender

In forfeit sweet surrender !

db indagar fbggi soUeetto Che awenir doman dovrJi ;

Guigni a lucro il di che reduce La Fortuna a te daik

Ne sprezzar ne' tuoi firesc' anni Le Carole e dold affiumL

Sin che lunga da te vegeto Sta canuta etk importuna

Campi e piasze ti riveggano ; E fidele quando imbruna

T* abbia 1' ora che ti appella

A ronzar con la tua b^la.

Or* ^ oaro quel sorridere Scopritor della femciulla

Che in on angolo intemandosi A oelarsi si trastuUa,

Ed al finto suo ritegno

Trar d' armilla o anello U pegno.

The subsequent morceau is not given in the usual printed editions of oui: poet : even the MSS. omit it, except the Vatican Codex. I myself have no hesitation as to its genu- ineness, though Bums has saved me the trouble of translation.

Ode X.

" Virent arundines." — " GJreen grow the rashes, O !**

There's naught but care on every ban*.

In every hour that passes, O ! What signifies the life of man, An' 'twere not for the lasses, O ! Q^reen grow the rashes, O !

Green grow the rashes, O I The sweetest hours that e*er I spent. Were spent amang the lasses, O !

The warly race may riches chase.

And riches still may flee them, O L And when at last they catch them fast, Then* hearts can ne'er enjoy them, O ! Gh"een grow the rashes, O !

Green grow the rashes, O ! The sweetest hours that e'er I spent, Were spent amang the lasses, O !

CursB corrodunt Urbem, Ru9,

Et sapientiim cellulas. Nee vit4 vellem frui plus* Ni foret ob pueUulas — Virent arundines ! At me tenellulas Tsedet horarum nisi queis Inter f*\\ puellulas !

Divitias avaro dem,

Insudet ami cumulo, Qu»rat quocumque modo rem, Inops abibit tumulo. Virent arundines ! At me tenellulas Tsedet horarum nisi queis Inter fui puellulaa!

• Another MS. reads, "Nee viverem diutius," but the emphasis and accent on the final rhyme is thus impaired, though the idiom if improved.

TBE eOKGS OF HO BACK.

lOJTe me * crinnj hour nt e'en, iSj anus Hbout taj dtttrj, O '. Ehen warij imtes iiiid warljr man I H^ oU gSDg lapwltesiy, O ! OrccD groir the nislieB, O !

Qreen grov the nshet, O The iwertest houre tUst e'pri apent.

Ctm Sol obscnrat epiculii, Slringcntt, lit, BDiieuli, Mi, brschio tujic niito, Benim dulcis oblmo I Virent nnindiim I At mo lenellulBi TiDdet hornniiii nisi queis

Were Bpeut anuuig the Inaaee. 0 1 Inter foi pudliUaB I

IT je Me dooco ye ineer at thL

: T**re iwught but senaelwa tut

She vrisest mui the world e'er *i

He dearlj loved tlio laaaeB, O

Green grow the raiibe*. O !

Grem grow the reahe*, O ! Theeweetust houra that e'er lepent, Were apeut amsag the lasses, O ! Dune H'ahire (weara the lovelj dears

Her Doblett wnrb, ahe ulnaaes, O I

Iter pmitice has' she tried on man,

I And then ehe made the lasseg, O !

Greoi grow llie ruliM, O ]

Oreeii graw the mpbe!, O I The BWMteal hours that e'er I appn t, Were apenl auiniig the Iuks, O !

Sam dJcea contr&F eanumgrei!

An fuit Tir Mgucior Qu^ Salomon? aul unquuB rex In Tirginea ettlncior ? Yireot arundioeB ] At me tcneliula* Tiedel liorarum nisi queit Inter fill poelluUs I

Quag cum do teme thtcoIo Katura fiuit ^liulas,

Tentavit manum mBMulo FormBTit tune puellulaa.

At me tenellulnB, Tmdet horanim nisi qnew Inter fui pueUulu '

Tin: SONGS OF nOEACE.

DECADE THE BECOITD. fiomtiuni in quibuadam nolim m(«rprelari." — Qbtnct. Inili

''Horacio ee de Icdos loa poctas latinoa al mas deficil de mancjar. Doe JlTtEB DE Bfboob, p. 11. Madrid, li " Horace orochelte et fiiretle tout lo magMin dea moie."

Mont Al ONE, Eitait. " Froat'a tnnalationa from HoncB are loo^r-M and easy,"

AthtHOvm, 9M July, t

Joijrf, (p^vnrnoi fo, irpdrtpov

B Moiitaigne, a graTp OaatiUian, Jolmsou, and QidneliUian,

.K\a,,ffart

894 FA.THEB FBOUT'S KELIQ17X8.

Would say, a task, by no fneans hcaief

Had fallen to him of WatergrasshilL

May he, then, claim indulgence for his

Kenewed attempt to render Horace F. • . .

As foryour critic o* th* Asinseum,

We (Yorke), unranooured, hope to see him

Smoking yet many a pipe, an't please ye,

With us at old Prout s '* fbee and bast." — O. Y.

It is fiilly admitted at this time of daj, that endurable translations, in any modem idiom, of the G-reek and Eoman capi cToperOy are lamentably few. Bat if there be a paucity of successful attempts in prose, it must not surprise us that the candidates for renown in the poetical department should be still less fortunate in the efforts thej have made to climb the sacred hill by catching at the skirts of some classic songster. The established and canonised authors of antiquity seem to view with no favourable eve these sur- reptitious endeavours to get at the summit-level of their glorious pre-eminence, and Horace in particular (as Maw- worm, or Mathews, would say) has positively resolved on " wearing a Spenser.** To the luckless and presumptuous wight who would fain foUow him, in the hope of catching at a fold of his impracticable jacket, he tunis round and addresses, in his own peculiar Latin, the maxim which we will content ourselves with giving in the French of Yol- taire :

" Le nombre des elus au Pamasse est complet!*'

" The places are all taken, on the double-peaked mountain of Greek and Eoman poesy the mansions are all tenanted ; the classic Pegasus won't carry double ; there is not the slightest chance here : go elsewhere, friend, and seek out in the regions of the north a Parnassus of your own."

Whereupon we are reminded of an anecdote of the Irish ilebellion of 1798, when the German horse-auxQiaries were routed at Ballynacoppul, in the county Wexford, by the bare-footed heroes of the pike and pitchfork. A victorious Patlander was busily engaged in a field pulling off the boots from a dead trooper, when another repealer, coming up, suggested the propriety of dividing the spoil — half a-pair being, in his opinion, a reasonable allowance for both. "Why, then, aoighbour," quietly observed the operator in reply,

■9, FMs^

XKS aoxea ot mam.

* mit joa b« tmf, ^d go aai kS a B B J wbM praeeas «f -'■^■~*-'— tiaa ite; « now m OBoat iamffi . - '

Certatna k, l&at, Binrv or lev iiiDn Uoxn M, be^'ond aO

rormaDfle of ita kia4 ; not 'tkat it totaaDf //>iuf— a tait farBonwanitelf Kcnapbdwd )i7 ttei Co«-per. in Aa amwafcUe immm — but became thai

endowed mtnd of Pope hiwarif foan got ita _ ._

in ererrthie'iaBd workatlieBiBecalomof Gneoeinthlhll abuodant mouirea of ft*;*"* c^itaL

Dirden'e fomUe aad r^onoa, bat Men fitqueaUy rollickuig and titnbaot, |)iugma through tbe ^mttd, mij Kvhile arrevt attention ; nar, ever aai) anon aome bold pn- eage wQl f icite our vonder, at tbe fetidtow bardStoodof " glorious John :*' but il would be as wrong lo call it Vn- OIii, as to tftke the slapdadt plunginge of a " wild |;o(»e at play " for the gra««ful and majestic motion of the Swan of Mantoa gliding on the smooth Bui&ee of hi« native Itliacio, under a luxuriant canopj of reeds. The Tacitcs of Arthur Murphy 19 not the terse, significant, (.-imdeused, and deep- Beorching conteroporary of Pliny ; no one would feel more pntzled than the Komon to recognise bia own semi-oraeular style in the sonorous phraseology', the ^Hofi-Gibboiuan jieriod, the " long-impedimented march of oratoric pomp " with which the Cofe man has enoumbered him. And yet Murphy tacitly passes for a fit English representative of the lunite AifsixiaT, the seieutiSc analtbeb of imperial Borne. Our Junius alone could have done iusiice to the tnin Latinity of Tacitus. To translate the letters of old " Namiait Hinbra " into Freni'h or Italian, would be as hope- less an experiment ns to try and Anglicise the Hof/" Lnfon- taine, or make Metastosio talk his soft nonsense through ihn medium of onrrugged gutturals. Plutarch was lucky enough to have found long ago, among the French, a kindred mind in old Amyot : the only drawback to which good fortune is, that your modem Gaul requires somebody to trauslale the translator. Abb6 Delille has enridied bis country with au admirable version of the Grorpai but the same omiunental touches which he used so euccesalully in etabeUisbinf^ Vir-

896 FATHSB PBOVT*8 SXLIQ17S8.

gil, have rendered his translatdon of our Milton a model of absurdity.

No one reads Ossian now-a-days hi England ; his poems lie neglected among us — " desolate " as the veir " walls of Balclutha ;" yet in Italy, thanks to Cesarotti, " Fingal " still brandishes his spear ** like an icicle,'* and the stars continue " dimly to twinkle through thy form, ghost of the gallant Oscar !" The affair presents, in truth, a far more ornate and elaborate specimen of the bombast in the to9canafaveUa than it doth in the original Macphersonic ; and Buonaparte, who confessedly modelled the s^le of his " proclamations " on the speeches of these mad Highlanders, derived all his phil-Ossianism from the work of Cesarotti. Of the Paradise Lost there happen to be a couple of excellent Italian versions (with the author of one, the exiled Guide Sorelli, we now and then crack a bottle at Offley's) ; and rEneide of Annibal Caro is nearly unexceptionable. Babelais has met, in our Sir Thomas Urquhart, a congenial spirit; but Don Quixote has never been enabled to cross the Pyrenees, much less the ocean-boundaries of the peninsula. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that Westmmster has lately sent, in Evans, a rival of the woful knight's chivalry to St. Sebastian. To return to the classics : when we have named Dr. Gifford's Juvenal, with the praiseworthy labours of Sotheby and Chap- man, we think we nave exhausted the subject ; for it requires no conjurer to tell us that Tom Moore's Anacreon is sad rubbish, and that, in hundreds of similar cases, the tradot' tore differs from a traditore only by a syllable.

On the theory, as well as the practice of translation, old Prout seems to have bestowed considerable attention; though it would appear, at first, somewhat strange, that so eccentric and self-opiniated a genius as he evidently was, could stoop to the common drudgery of merely trans- ferring the thoughts of another from one idiom into a second or third — nay, occasionally, a fourth one (as in the case of " Les Bois de Blarney "), instead of pouring out on the world his ovra ideas in a copious flood of original compo- sition. Why did he not indite a " poem " of his own ? write a treatise on political economy ? figure as a natural theolo- gian ? turn history into romance for the ladies ? or into an old almanack for the Whigs ? We believe the matter has

Ttis 80!ias or ho&ace. 397

already explained by iia ; but, lest there should be any miatake, we do not core how often we repeat the lather's iavount« assertion, that, in these latter dava, " obioinalitt there can be none." The thing is not to he had. Disguise thyself as thou wilt, Piagiiiriam ! thou art still pereeptihle to the eye of the true bookworm ; and the silent propess of nproduction in the world of ideas ia not more demonstrable to the scientific inquirer than the progressive metempsy- cfaoeia of matter itself, through all its variform molecules. Aa Horace has it :

" MiUta reaaBounlur quie jrun ewidcre."— E/<. erf Piirm., 70.

Or, to quote the more direct evidence o£ honest old Chau- ■lio discovered the incontrovertible fact at the very peep-o'-day of niodi-ru literatuiv:

. . . . " iStut o( olbr fdtiita, as man sairlfi.

CTamiifi all this ntloc rarnt from ■Qtxt la pMtn ; 9ntr out of alQe boHifl, m gaob laillii.

Comitfi all iftia iictiri schiik t^ai mcitiit lurn."

Scarce ia an ancient writer sunk into oblivion, or hia wtirks vcithdruwu Irom general perusal, when aume literary Beau Tibbs starts upon town with the identical cast-off in- tellectual wardrobe, albeit properly "refreshed" so as to ptusKle any mortal eye, save that of a regularly educated Jew ©Id-clothes man. Audisok has hinted, somewbat obscurely,

s belief in the practice here described, when (recording his

idgment allegorically) he aays —

"Svou aa tbc shadcB of uight prcriul, Tlic muon Ink™ up tbe wondroua tolo."

Should any one wish to see tliia truth further developed, let bitn purchase a book called The Woadrmit Tale of Alroy, by ■" ajaniin Disraeli the Younker ; of which, no doubt, a few copies remain on hand.

long ago as the seventy-second Olympiad, an ingenious irriter of Greek songs had already intimated his knowledge of these goings-on in the literary circles, and of the brain- ■uckine system generally, when he moat truly (though enig- matically) represents the "black earth" drinking the rain- wnter, the trees pumping up the moiatuie of t^ soil, the

398 FATHEB PBOUT'S S£LIQVSt.

siin inhaling the ocean vapours and vegetable juices, tin moon living equally on suction —

O 6' jjX/o; SaXarrav

and so on, through a long series of compotations and mutual hobnobbings, to the end of the chapter. Most modern readers are satisfied with moonshine.

Prout had too high a sense of honesty to affect original writing ; hence he openly gave himself out as a simple trans- lator. '^ Non meu8 hie sermo" was his constant avowal, and he sincerely pitied the numerous pretenders to inventive genius with whom the times abound. Smitten with the love of antique excellence, and absorbed in the contemplation of classic beauty, he turned with disdain from books of minor attraction, and had no relish save for the ever-enduring per- fections of the Greek and Boman muse. He delighted in transferring these ancient thoughts to a modem vocabulary, and found solace and enjoyment in the renewed repercussion of remote and bygone "old familiar" sounds.

There is not, in the whole range of pagan mythology, a more graceful impersonation than that of the nymph Echo — the disconsolate maiden, who pined away until nothing remained but the faculty of giving back the voice of her beloved. To the veteran enthusiast of Watergrasshill, little else was left in the decline of his age but a corresponding tendency to translate what in his youth he had admired ; though it must be added, that his echoes were sometimes like the one at Killamey, which, if asked, " How do you do, Paddy Blake .^" will answer, " Pretty wellj I thank you .'"

OLIYEE YORKE.

JUgent Street^ July 26th.

Waiergratthill, half-past eleten.

In the natural progress of things, and following the strict order of succession, I alight on the tenth ode of book the first, whereof the title is " Ad Mebcubium." This per- sonage, called by the Greeks Hebmes, or the inter-" preter," deserves particular notice at my hands in this place ; forai*

.<"

THE 80S03 or BOKACE. 309

t aa, among tiie crowd of attributes ascribed to liim by '' ines. nnd thf vast multiplicity of ocL-upstioiis to is represented aa giving hia attention (such aa per- forming beavenly mesanges, teaching eloquence, guiding gboets, preBiding over highways, patroniarng commerce and robbers), he originated, and may be supposed to preserve a lingering regard for, the art of tramlation. Conveyancing is a science divisible into many deportments, over all which bis influence, no doubt, extends ; nor ia it the least trouble- ■ome province of all aptly to eouvey the meaning of a diffi- cult writer. With OsFitEua, then, may it be allowable to llvddrees him on the threnhold of a task like mine — KXuii liQu Eofttm, ^ii ayy0.t, x. r. K (deed Dean Swifl, lu hia advice to poets, seems to be fully f the importance to be attached to the assistance X so useful and multiform an agent, when he knowingly ined the following recipe for " the machtneri/ " of an epic : "Take of deities, mate and female, as many as you eon K ; separate them into two equal parts, anil keep Jupiter t the middle : let Juno set him in a termeiit, and Venus Ecmember, on all occasions, io mixke ui« of

JDI.AT1I.B MebciTEI."

I The quantity of businesa necessarily transacted by liim I his innumerable capacities, bus furnished that profane T at all established creeds, Lucian, with matter of con- aiderable merriment ; be going so far, in one of his dialogues, ae to hint that, though young in appearance (according to what sculpture andpaiotiug have made of his outward scm- hbtnce), he must fain be as old as Japhet in malice. This degenerate Greek would seem to look on the god of wit, eloquence, commerce, and diplomacy as a sort of pa";an com- pound of Figaro, Bothschild. Dick Turpin, and Talleyrand. It would be naturally expected that our neighbours, the French, should have evinced, from the earliest times, on in- stinctive partiality for so lively an impersonation of their own endemic peculiarities ; and wo therefore feel no surprise in finding that fact recorded by a holy father of the second century (TerluU. ade. Gno*tie. cap, vii.), the same obser- ntion occurring to Cxsar in his Commentarir*, viz. " GaUi t Mereuriumciilunt" Qih.'vi.). Hdet. the illus-

400 FATHEB FR0TJT*8 BELIQIHEB.

tarioos bishop of Avranches, has brought confliderable ability to the identification of Mercury, or Hermes TVumegistus^ with the Hebrew shepherd Moses ; and this, I confess, has been my own system, long ago adopted by me on the perusal of Father Kircher's (Edipus,

The twisted serpents round his magical rod are but slight indications of his connexion with Egypt, compared to the coincidences which might be alleged, were it advisable to enter on the inquiry ; and I merely allude to it here because Horace himself things proper, in the following ode, to call his celestial patron a *^ nephew of Mount Atlas :" setting thus at rest the question of his African pedigree. This odd ex- pression has been re-echoed by an Italian poet of celebrity in some sonorous lines :

** Scendea talor degli inaurati scaimi E risalira alle stellanti rote, Araldo dagli Dei battendo i yanni D*Atlante 11 facondissimo nipote.**

We are told by Apollodorus how the god, walking one day on the banks of trie Nile, after the annual inun£ition had ceased, and the river had £illen back into its accustomed channel, found a dead tortoise lying on its back, all the fleshy parts of which had been dried up by the action of the sun's rays, so intensely powerful in Egypt : but a few of the tougher fibres remained; upon touching which the light- fingered deity found them to emit an agreeable tone. Forth- with was conceived in his inventive brain the idea of a lute. Thus the laws of gravitation are reported to have suggested themselves to Newton, while pondering in his orchard of an afternoon, on seeing a ripe apple fall from its parent branch. The Corinthian capital was the result of a Greek girl having left her clothes-basket, covered over with a tile, on a plant of acanthus. The steam-engine originated in observing* the motion of the lid on a barber's kettle. Whatever grace- fulness and beauty may be found in the three first state- ments (and, surely, they are highly calculated to charm the fancy), the last, I fear (though leading to far more import- ant consequences than all the rest), offers but a meagre subject for painting or poetry.

The Latin name of Mercury is derived, according to a tradition religiously preserved among those hereditary giiar-

THE BONQS OF HORACE. 401

[ diaoB of pnimtive i^orSQCe, the achoolniBstere, from the

I word merx, merchandise. I beg leave to submit (and I am

l-bome out by an old MS. in the King's Library, Paris,

I marked b. ^.), that, though the name of commercial com-

M nodities may have been aptiy taken from the god euppoBcd

Wio preside over their prosperous interchange, he himaeu was

1 BO called from hia functions of messenger between earth and

f faeaven, quati MEDirs cubbens ; an origin of far higher im-

L port, and an allusion to far more sacred doctrines than are

L to be gathered from the ordinary ravings of pagan theology.

Among the Grreeks, he rejoiced in the equally significant

itle of Hermes, or, the "expounder of hidden things."

■And it would appear that he waa a» constantly put in

r requisition by bis classic devotees of old, as St. Antonio

of Padua is at the present day among the vetturini, and

the vulgar generally throughout Italy. It is, however, a

•oraewhat strange contradiction in the Greek system of

divinity, that the god of locomotion and rapidity should

also be the protector of fixtures, mileatonea, land mart*,

monumental erections, and of matters conveying the idea

of permanence and stability. The well-known signet of

Erasmus, which gave rise to sundry malicious, imputations

against that eminent priest, was a statue of the god in the

shape of a terminus, with the motto, " cedo nulli ;" and

everv one knows what odium attached itself to the youth

Alcibiades, when, in a mad frolic, be removed certain figures

of this description, during a night of jollitv, in the streets

of Athens. The author of the Book of Proverbs gives a

caution, which it were well for modem destructives to take

to themselves, entering into the spirit that dictated that

most sensible admonition (Prov. xxii. 28), "Eemove not

the ancient landmarks which tby fathers have set :" " Ne

trajugrtdiaris terminoa anliquoi qiios ptituerunt palrei lui."

0X>E X.— niMS TO MEKCDET.

" Mebcpbi racimde Nepoa AnjirriB."

PerRiiuive Hpnuea ! Alnc'iBon! Mercuri, fBGundeiiepos Atlsatin.

Who— scarce lind human life bdgun — Qui feroa oiiltiis honununi ru-

Amid our rude forefntlier* ihone centum

With arts instructire. Tone formuti catua, el daoom

And man to new refinement wen More palsalrB: I

With grace Kduclite.

402

FATHEB FBOVT'8 BSLIQUEB.

Te oanam, magni Joris et IV

orum Kuntium, correqiie Ijrm parai*

tern Callidum, qnidqaid placuit, jo-

C060

Condeire fmto.

Te, boree olim nin reddidiaaei Per dolum amotaa, puenim mi-

naci y ooe dum tenet, TiduuB pharein Bifiit Apollo.

Quin et Atridas, duoe te^ nLp«^

bo8« Sio dives PriamuB relicto, Thessalosque ignee ei iniqin

Troj«

OttBtra fefellit.

Tu pias Istia animaa veponia Sedibus, virgaqiie lerem ooeroei Aurea tiirbam, superia Deonun Gratua et imia.

Herald ol Jore, and of hia court, Hie lyre's inventor and support, QeniuB ! that can at mil resort

To glorious cunning ; Both gods and men in furtive sport

Aad wit outrunning !

Tov, when a child the woods amid, Apollo's kine drew off and hid ; And when the sod with menace bid

The spoil deliver. Forced him to smile— for, whilehechid,

Tou stole his quiver !

The night old Priam sorrowing went. With gold through many a Qrecian

tent. And many a foeman's watchfire, bent

To ransom Hector, In TOU he found a provident

GKiide and protector.

Where bloom Elysium's groves be*

yond Death's portals and the Sty^^ian pond. You guide the ghosts with golden wand. Whose special charm is That Jove and Pluto both are fond Alike of Hermes !

So much for Mercury. Turn we now to another feature in the planetary system. The rage for astrological pur- suits, and the beUef in a secret influence exercised by the stars over the life and fortune of individuals, seeoui, at certain epochs of the world's history, to have seized on mankind like an epidemic ; but never was the mania so preva* lent as after the death of Julius Caesar. The influx of Asiatic luxury had been accompanied by the arrival at Borne of a num- ber of " wise men from the east," and considerable curiosity had been excited among all classes by the strange novelty of oriental traditions. Among these remnants of original reve- lation, the announcement of a forthcoming Conqueror, to be harbingered and ushered into the possession of empire by a mysterious star,* had fixed the attention of political intri-

* Th) expressions of Propertius are very remarkable :

** Quffritis et ccbIo fhoenicttm ikventa sereno -

Qua sit Stella," &c &c.— Lib. ii. 20, 60.

Knei ■Een< ■ ins

TDB BOKOH OF HORACE.

a fit engine for working on popular creduUty ; and ice the partiaans of young Octaviue were conBtantly ring- the cnangea on " C^aAsia Ahtepm" and "Julium 8iDr8," until they had actuallv forced the populace into a •troug faith in the existence o^ some celeatial pheaomenon connected with the imperial house of Ceeaar. Those who recollect, as I do, how fomously Pa*(Drini'« Propheciex aa- siated the interests of Captain Kock and the Dynasty of Derrynane, will understand the nature of this sort of hum- bug, and will readily imagine how the mob of Itome waa tutored by the aut/urs into a firm reliance on the inter- ference of hearen in the business. Buonaparte was too shrewd a student of human weaknesses, and had read hiatory too carefully to overlook the tendency of the vulgar towariui tbia belief in supernatural apparitions ; hence he got up an ifinU/atuia of his own, which he called the " Soleil n'Aus- TEHLITZ," and out of which he took a particular shine on more than one brilliant occasion. Mauy an old infidel gre- nadier was firmly persuaded, that, better than Joshua the Jew, their leader could command the glorious disc to do his biding ; and eveiy battie-iield, consequeutly, became a " valley of Ajalon," where they smot* the sourcrout children of Germany to their hearts' content. But we are wander- ing from the era of Augustus. By a very natural process, the belief in a ruling star, in connexion with the imperial iamilv, expanded itself from that narrow centre into the broM circumference of every family in the empire; and each individual began to fancy he might discover a small twink- ling shiner, of personal importance to himself, in the wide canopy of heaven. Great, in consequence, waa the profit accruing to any cunning seer from the east, who might hap- pen to set up an observatory on some one of the seven hiLiB for the purpose of allotting to each lady and gentleman their [own particular planet. Nostradamus, Cugliostro, Br. Spurx- meim, and 8t. John Long, had long been anticipated by Eo- BB&n practitioners ; and m the annals of roguery, as well as fnf literature and politics, there is nothing new under the sun. Tn Mr. Ainsworth'a romance of the Admirable Crichlan (which he wisely submitted iu embryo to my perusal), I c&nnot but commend the use he has made uf the Mtrological practices so prevalent under the reign ot

KMi

FATHES PBOUT'S BSLIQ1TB8.

Henry de Yalois, and tn the days oi Catherine de Medicb ; in- deed, I scarcely know any of the so-called historical noveli of this frivolous generation, which has altogether so graphi- cally reproduced the spirit and character of the times, as this dashing and daring portraiture of the young Sootchmau in Paris and his contemporaries.

The mistress of Horace, it would seem, had taken it into her head to go and consult these soothsayers from Ghaldjpa as to the probahle duration of the poet's liie and her own — of course, fancying it needless to inquire aa to the probabiiitj of their amours being quite commensurate with their earthly career ; a matter wMch circumstances, neyertheless, should render somewhat problematical — whereupon her lover chidfiia the propensity, in the following strain of tender and affec- tionate remonstrance :

Ode XI. — AD LSucoNOSifr.

Love, mine ! seek not to grope Tlirough the dark windings of Chaldean witch- ery.

To learn your horoscope,

Or mine, from vile adepts in fraud and treach- ery.

My Leuconoe ! shun Those sons of Babylon.

Tu ne qusesieria.

Scire nefas. Quern mihi, quern tibi, Finem Di dedennt,

Leucono^ Nee Babylonios Tentaris numeros.—

Ut melius.

Far better 'twere to wait. Calmly resigned, the destined hour's

Whether our life's brief date This winter close, or, through a long For us the sea still roar On yon Tyrrenetai shore.

Quidquid erit, pati, maturity, Seu plures hiemes,

Seu tribuit futurity, Jupiter ultimam,

Qu» nunc oppositia DebiHtat

Pumicibus mare

Tyrrhenum !

Let Wisdom fill the cup ; — Vain hopes of lengthened days and years feli- citous

Folly may treasure up ; Ours be the day that passeth — unsolioitous

Of what the next may bring.

Time flieth as we sing !

Sapias, yina liques,

Ft spatio brevi Spem longem reseoes.

Dum loquimur.

Fugerit inrida ^tas. Carpe diem,

Quam minimum

Credula postero.

Horace has been often accused of plundering the Greeks,

THE BOTTQS OF BOSA.CE.

Eransferring eatire odea from their language into tree. The charge is perfectly borne out by conclu- •iva ittcbB, aud I shall have perhaps an opportanitj of re- curring to the evidences, as afforded in the subsequent decades of this series. The opening of the following glori- ous dithyramb ia clearly borrowed from the Ata^ifiafftiyyts 'T/j.iiii of Pindar ; but I venture to say that there is not among the Songs of Horace a more truly Boman, a more intensely notional effusion, than this invocation of divine

i)rotection on the head of the government. The art of yrical progression, the ars celare artrm, is nowhere prac- tised with greater effect ; and the bleading up of all the historical recollections most dear to the country with the proepecta of the newly -established dynasty, the hopes of the young Marcellua, and the preservation of the emperor's life^ IS a masterstroke of the politico-poetical tactician. The very introduction of a word in honour of the republican Cato, by throwing the public off its guard, and by giving . an lur of independent boldnesB to the composition, admirably w &vours the object he has in view. A more august associa- Ltion of ideas, a bolder selection of images, is not to be found twitluD the compaas of any ode, ancient or modem — save, erbaps, in the canticle of Habakkuk, or in the " Persian ■" of Dryden.

I

Ode XII.-

t iroTisTirs.

Aria—" Sublimo w

I thflw

Name Olio, the man ! or the god. . — for whose sake The lyre, or tlie clarion, loud echoei ebHll nuke

On thj fiiToorite hill, or in Helicon's grovtt? ... Whonce foreata haie followed tha wiaird of Thrace, "WTieii riveri enraptured aiupended their raee, Wlim tlip eon were rouchaafMl Co the obdurnle oak, And the blast* of mount H»niu» bowed down to the joke

Of the Diagical minettrel, gmndion of Joie.

Fint to Him raUe the song i wiiose parealal control Hen and gods feel alike ; whom the wbtcs, u Ihey roll —

Whom the earth, and tho itors, and tbe BeasuUB obc;, TTnapproacbpd in his godhead i majestic alone, Sungh Pallai maj itand on Uu ttepi of Ul thrmu^

4i06 7ATHEB PBOUT'8 BELIQUES.

Hiongh huntress Diana may challenge a shrine^ And worship be due to the god of tl^ Tine, And to archer Apollo, bright girer of dajl

Shall we next sing Alcides ? or Leda's twin-lights — Him the Horseman, or him whom the Cestus delights f Both shininff aloft, by the seaman adored ;

gTor he kens tnat their rising the clouds can dispel, ash the foam from the rocl^ and the hurricane queU.)— Of Romulus next shall the claim be allowed P Of Numa the peaceful ? of Tarquin the proud ? Of Cato, whose fall hath ennobled his sword P

Shall Scaurus, shall Eegulus fruitlessly crave Honour due ? shall the Consul, who prodigal gare

His life-blood on CannsB*s disastrous plain ? — Camillus ? or he whom a king could not tempt P Stem Poverty's children, unfashioned, unkempt, — The fiune of Marcellus grows yet in the shade. But the meteor of Julius beams over his head,

Like the moon that outshines all the stars in her train I

Great Deity, guardian of men ! unto whom

We commend, in Augustus, the fortunes of Borne,

REiaN FOB EVEB ! but guard Ait subordinate throne. Be it his — of the Parthian each inroad to check ; Of the Indian, in triumph, to trample the neck ; To rule all the nations of earth ; — be it Jove*s To exterminate guilt from the god*s hallowed groves,

Be the bolt and the chariot of thunder thute own !

Next comes an ode in imitation of Sappho. Who has not read that wondrous woman's eloquent outburst of ecststie passion ? In all antiquity, no love-song obtained such cele- brity as that which has come down to us in the form of a fragment ; but though many attempts have been made to divest it of its Grecian envelope, and robe it in modem costume, I am sorry for the sake of the ladies to be obliged to say, that it never can be presented in any other shape than what it wears in the splendid original. That is toe more to be regretted, as, in a recent volume of very exqui- site poetry, Letitia Landon has devoted six glowing pages* to the development of Sappho's supposed feelings. If kindred eloquence could be taken as a substitute, and if the delicate instinct of a lively and fervent female soul may be ima-

* Yp, 115—121 of the Vow of tkt Peacock, and other PoemM, 1% L, E, L, 1 vol. BmaSii^^o. ^\mdfica and OtUej.

THE 80KGS OF HOBACE. 407

Tguied fully capable of catching tlie very apirit of Greek in-

Siration, then may it be permitted to apply the worda of _ oraee occurring in ajiother place :

" Spirst ndhun amor Timntque commisBi calorM Lalilia HdiboB puell»." — Lib. iv, ade ii.

But, retumiog to the ode before ub. it is oot my province to decide whether the jealousy which our poet here de- ■cribes wm really felt, or only uJfected for poetic purposes. From the notorious unsteadineea of hia attacumeuta, and the multitudinouH list of his loves, including in the catalogue Jjaiagil, Glycera, Leucoao6, Netera, Gloria, Pyrrha, Nenne, Lycs; Phidy]^, Cynaris, Jfco. &c. (by the way, nil Gree/i girls), I should greatly doubt the sincerity of hia ardour for Lydia, It is only necessary, for the explanation of " dente labrit molam," terminating the third stanza, in reference to Boman ideas of proper behaviour towards the ladies, to record what Jlora sajB of her friend Pompey, in Plutarch's life of that filustriouB general : — Mi-ii/ioysuiiB njj w^ot rot rio/Knioi' o/iiXictt •K su;^ i)v txiitifi eutancTauila//,tniii, A^HKTIIS a/ri'khif. FoF 'the right underatandiag of tbat singular phraae in the fourth rtansa, the " quinteaaence," or fifth part, of NECTiK, be it remembered that the aweetnesa of the celeatial beverage so called was supposed to be divided into ten parts, the tenth tythe whereof conatituted what men call honey : To iiifXi, XT-ot Die aifi.&^citiixi lii^K, quoth Ibicus. From wbich it is « plain as Cocker, that Love, being the fifth part, or ;, ' ' 'ee a fractional sweetuesa of much higher power aud iteusity.

&L

Odi

XIII.^THE POBt'

' Quum tu, Lydia. Tele Ceiricem roscain," ■

L^dis. when voa taimtitigl;

Talk of Telephiu. proiiiag liim For his bcautj. Tauntingly

For b^ood me raising him. Si< TQSj Deck, Bnd bitub of alabaileF,

M; rage I scarce am masler !

Quum lu, L^duh Telepbi Cerrioeni roseam, Cerea Telophi

LaiidaebracluaiVHi! meum FerrenB ii^tHi Bile lumcr Jccur.

406

VATHSS PBOITT'S BELIQITSS.

Pale and faint with dizzineis, Tunc nee mem mihi, nte

All my features presently color

Fadnt my soul's uneasiness ; Certi sede manet ;

Tears, big tears, incessantly Humor et in genas Steal down mj cheeks, and tell in what fierce Furtim labitur, arguens

fashion Quam lentis pemtus

My bosom bums with passion. Maoerer ignibus.

'Sdeath ! to trace the evidence Uror, sen tibi candidos

Of your gay deceitfulness, Turpdrunt humeros

Mid tne cup's improvidence, Immodice mero

Mid the feast's forgetfulness, Bix» ; sire puer furens To trace, where lips and ivory shoulders pay Impressit memorem

for it, Dente labris notam. The kiss of your young favourite !

Deem not vainly credulous.

Such wild transports durable^ Or that fond and sedulous Love is thus procurable : Though Venus drencn the kiss with her quin- tessence, Its nectar Time soon lessens.

Non, si me satis audias, Speres perpetuum Ihilcia barbar^

Laedentem oscula, qam Venus Quinti parte sui Nectaris imbuit.

But where meet (thrice fortunate !) Fehces ter, et amplius, Kindred hearts and suitable, Quos irrupta tenet

Strife comes ne'er importunate. Copula ; nee malis

Love remains immutable ; Divulsus querimoniis

On to the dose they elide, mid scenes Elysian, Supremft citius

Through life s delightful vision ! Solvet Amor die !

Quinctilian (lib. viii. 6) gives the following address to the vessel of the state as a specimen of well- sustained aUe- gory. It appears to have been written at the outbreak of the civil war between Octavius and Marc Antony, and of course, as all such compositions ought to do, explams itself. There is, however, a naval manoeuvre hinted at in st. ii. ad- mirably illustrative of a passage in the Acts of the Apostles (cap. xxvii. v. 17), where the mariners are descrioed by St. Luke as " underyirding the ship " that carried Paul. Eopes, it appears, were let down, and drawn under the keel of the vessel to keep all tight : this is what Horace indi- cates by sine funibus carina. I recommend the point to Captain Marryat, should he make St. Paul's shipwreck on tbe isle of Malta the subject of his next nautico-historica]

Q0V91.

THE aoIfBB or HOEACE. 40

|OdE XrV, — TO TAB TSBSEL OF THE BTATE. AK ALLKSOBl

O Bniis. referent Inn;

WLat teeeli perdition nrgee,

Oallfl; t tjiy darkiome track, Once more upon the aurgcB ?

Hie to the haven bnck ! Dotb not the lightning ihow thee Thou hast got none to row thee? Is not thj- mAinmut shattered P

Hoth not the boisleroua smith Thj jotiIb uiii Hgifing ecHttrred?

In diihabiUo uncoutli, Bow CBn»t thou hope lo weather ' Tlieatoniit that round tliee gather? B«nt an the Baihi that deek'd l)iee ;

Deaf are tliy goda became, Tbotigh iiumtDoncd to prolwt thee,

Tliongh iued to sbto thee from The tale thou moat sbhorrcat, , Proud dauijhtar of the foreat !

pictured poop

PiBB-dmberi from the Fontua ;

Fear leat, in one fell bwood,

J Punt, pride, and pinl^troea hollow,

I The Mofflng whirlpool awaJlow !

\ Tte watehed thee, sad and penaive, 1 Source of my recent porea I I Oh, wisely apprehenBire, I Ventura not nnawnres , Wliere Greece apreada oul ha' mm, ■" id with Cyclades !

O quid sgia T Fortiler occupa Portum. Nonne rid» ut Nudum rsmigio Utua

Et malua celeri

SauuiuB Africo

AntenniequB gemant,

Ac !ine funiboa

Til duraro carina

Possint imperioaiuB

^quor ? fTon tibi lUDl

Integra iintea,

Non Di quos itcmm

Preaaa voces malo j Quamvis Pontim pinui. Silvan filia nobilia,

Jaetes et genua et

Nomen inutile.

Nil pictia timidui

Navila puppibua Fidil. Tu, nisi rentia Debes ludibrium, cave.

Curaqne nou levifl InlerfuM nitenfea Titeii aquora Cjcladsa.

The same "interil de eirconilance" which may Imve given "niquancy to the allegory, possibly attached itself ako to tlie ' foUoniiig spirited lines. Antony and Cleopatra must have looked ou tiie aliusion to Paris and Helen as libellous in the citreme. Cousidered merely in the light of a political sqnib, the ode is capital ; but it has higher merit as a finished lyric ; and Tom Campbell evidently found it in tlie aa well aa substance of his popular and spirited effii-

athek PBorT'g seliqcts.

Ude XV, — TUE BEA-aon's wabjuso log

" Pastor cuDi traherrt," 4c,

As the Shepherd of Troj, irii^ing over Ibe deep

8id Perfidy'a freightage, bore Helen along, Old Kereus upros«, hushed the breeies to ■leep,

Ah 1 homeward thou bringeat. irith omm of droid.

One whom Greece will redaim !^for her mllliana hare n

Not to rest till thej tear the lalae bride trom Uij bed. Or till Priam's old throue tliair reienge orertum.

See the struggle ! how foam corcn honemen and M«ed< I See thy Ilian coDsigned to Ihe bloodiest of fieew !

Mark, arrajed in her uelmet, Minerra, who rpeedi To prepare far the battle her car and her cgis !

Too fondly thou deemeet that Tenus will Touch

For a lue which thou epondest in trimming tbj curln.

Or, in timing, rwlincd on an indolent couch, Au cSemiiuite lyre to an audience of girl*.

Though awhile in TolnptuouB pasHmit emplored. Far awa; from the cont«>C, the tninnt of luat

MnjF baffle the bowmen, and Aja* atoid,

Tlij adultemui ringlets are doomed to the duit I

See'et thou him of Ithaca, bcouteb of th; race? * Gallont Teucer of Salami* I ^eBto^ Ihe wise T

How, UTiring hU car on thj cowardl; Iraoo, Swift athcnelus poisei hia lance ai he SioB ?

Swift Sthenelus, Diomed'n brare cliariotccr, ABComplished in combat like Merion llui Cretan, '

Fierce, towering alofl see his matter appear,

Of a breed that in battle has never bean boatcni.

Wbom thou, like a f«wn. when a wolf in the Talle;

The delicate paaturc comjiela liim to leoTe, Wilt ftr, faint and breethless — though flight maj ool bill;

With all thj beloved heard thee l^sat to achieve.

Achillea, retired in lue aiigrj pavilion,

Shall cause a short respilo to Troy and her gomea ;

Yel a few winters more, and the turrets of Ilion Must sinli mid the roar of relributlTC flames '.

Horace first burst on the town u a xttiru^ oat

tiisn one fair dame must have had eauae, like Tyndaria, to ill out with him. There ia a graceful miitiire of playful- ess and remonstrance in the following amende honorabU, in rhich he dwells on the unaeetnlj appearance of resentment od anger in the features of benn^. With reference to tanui v., it would appear that the tragedy of Thyettet, by 'arua, iraa at that moment in a successful run on the Bo- on boards.

Ode XVI.— the batiribt's becastation.

□ TXITDABtDElf.

Cunque lolea modum

Fone« inmbis ; lire Oammi,

Siva mkri libet HadrianD.

If on Dtndjmeiie, non odjtia quattt Mi^ntem BBirerdatmn Ineolii Pjlhiua, Ifon Libt^r squc, noo bcuIa Sic geminsnt Carjbanlet (era.

Trintet utirs; quu h^qd Norn'iu

Deterret ea»iB,

Hec mare naufragiun,

"See esTUB igait, nee trcmendo

Jupiter ipfe rueoa tumultu.

Dt Cfbte'H most aoliinin ritcK, CymbaJs of bnias uid gpelii of

poUo'B prie«t, 'toid Delphic BightB j r Bicclumal, 'mid flerce delighu,

Fnsenlj b scene more tr^o ban Anger, when it rules the eoul.

Nor B» nor sirord cao then sur-

Tor the vei'd olementB control, liough Jote himself, from pols to

pole, Thundenng nuh down to the en-

■ometheiu — farced to ^mft, of old, PerturProroethcDii addere prindpi Upoii our itock a foreign acion, Limo coaelug

il'd np — if WB bo trulj told — " — ^"" ' — ''

bmto particl™, mould — Anger he galhcred jrom the lion.

thorough, Lnd mimy a loftj cilj'e tiaee Cbused B proud foeman to eOace, Plouffaing the site with hoftile

Deieclom, et ii Tim «tomi

Irte Thjeaten eii

UrbibUB ulti

X"

TATHEB

Oh, be appeued ! 'twiu nee, in tooth, Hoctil* ■ratfim 1

Finrlookem; song's miric^tnior; ComjMKV n

In vilj mnd univfloctine joutJi. Mft qiumup pi

d Uif deed uncouth i TenUTit hi duln innati

Ferrur, rt in cvlea is

lady ! I ewmr— mj rec HeoceTorth lo rectify To change mj tones from bUme U)

hijg Miril (urmlfm : ninu* afo mk Miitarv mi^m (naU*

Fix Rvaiil^tia uoics OpprohrlU.

:(

The ijiirjla of ■ sad defaultflr t

Here follows a bilUt-domx, cunreying to tlie bi lady (whose wrath we must euppoae to hftvo r perusal of the foregoing) a gallant invitation to thervil maneion of our author. To ]«reei»e the diflerena: brtWMD a bond fide invite and n mere moonshine propoaal, it is laly uecvBsary to collate this with Tom Moore's

Odk. XVII.— as

TO hokack's tulu.

Oft Tor the hill where nngei

Mj Subine dock, Swjil-foolfi) Faun ciohmgn Arcadia's rock, And, tempering tumnier's ny, Torbidi Defmdit •>>■ Uiitoward rain to harm mj kida. Tsqiw net*

And there in happj Tagraiioe,

Roams the Klie-guat,

Lured b; manlnl rraKranee, (juamiut

Thtouah dell* romote ; Kl thjma

Of each vdd herb and shrub partAkea. Olentia uiona m

Nor fears the ooil of lurking sunkeL Neo rindsf ad

No prowling wotvea alarm her i

ijafe from their grip* Ktfdulna hifiaai

While Faun, itumorlal clivmtf I iricunifur dalr^

Attuii» lus pipe, l^iian. llalBlk

A-id down liie role and o'er tlu hilll Tallos, et Uttic* culiHUii

Ustioa's ever; echo OIU. Lcm panonacn ■

TBE ao^aa of

The Oode, their bard mrcasmg,

With kmdneaa IruBt : ^iBj'vefill'd my house with bleflsing—

lij countTF'Best, re Pleotj yoids her loaded horn, ir I^daris, pnj come odom !

' From Biriua in the lenith, From tumtiwr's glare, Come, whore the vaUey Boreoneth, Come, warblo there KiSongc of the hero, fur vrhoso Lore "" iielop6 and CircS itrove-

[ Hot thmll the cup be mntiug, J So h&nnlHi thou,

I- To grace that hour enchanting Id iliody glen, ir ahall the juiLV our calm disturb, ' aweet emotiona curb t

DI me tuenlur i

Et Riuu cordi est. Hlc tibi rapia Manabit ad pJeaum benigno Biuia boaorum opulentacomu.

Hie in redupld TikUe canicule Vitabis iBstUB, Et flde Ttii Diceg IsboranUu iu uno Penelapen ritreamqae Circen.

Pocula Leibii DuiHS sub umbrt Nee Semeleiu* Cum Marte coufundet Tb jooeun Pnelis; uec meluea proter

[ Fear not, mj fair ona 1 Oyrus

[ Shall nor intrude,

I Kor worry thee dijgiroui

> Of (olitude,

■For rend thy innocmt robe, itor tear

'~ie garland from tliy flowing hair.

SuapecCa Cyruio Ne male diapari lacontinentes

Jek of Alcieus. To the concluding words, " perlueititor _ " I have ventured to attach a meaning whicli the recent Sscoveriea at Pompeii, of drinking uteneihi made of a kind f Bilicious materiai, would Beem fully to justify.

" Nollam, Vare, aacrA vile prius spreria arboroui," Ac. Mqjiv oXXo fvTivafs irportpoc ^ii'^poi' nfiwiX^ «. r. X.

SoUaDi, Yore, sacre rile prius Bevsria arborem Cirut mile lolum Tiburis, et mmiia Catih : Sit-in ontuia naro dura Deae propoeuit ; neqae Mordacee ahtT difl\jgtiint loUicitudines. Quii post TOia gnwem militiam aut paupBrioni orepit f Quia uou le potius, Bacche pal«r, teque, deoena Teniu t Al Do quia modiei liranailiat munera Ijberi, Centuiu-ea mou«t cum Lapithis riia au[i«r mcru

4-4 TATHI2 PEOrr 8 KXLIQrXS.

r'rr>*r.t.'i : —icfrt S.ihwGii* non kris Erius, Vi=;2!i ^ ^-v-^ redu ecfso &ae iibidinam I>wxrx=r; sv^ii. X en eeo te, candide Baasareu, Ixrr^sn z-^as=az=, ; aee Tvixs obsiu frondibus

Sb» xxasa ra^cia. Scrm teat com BavcjnUiio Ccci^ ^T~TME-ii, qos fobaeqiiitiir oecus amor nii, £S MiGeBf TBTcws phif nimio ploria rolioem, fiia prodigB, pcrhiridior Titro.

ft IStwU, Tanu, Trnfre fixed npoo planting So«z=i Tocr TiDa enchanting^ Ofi^ttc&OsV friend: let tfae Tine be the fint

Oft as ether wBdxtwa viU Jore lend To kaep at a dirtanftf and tbe eana that aeeompanj thint.

Sd one talk» aft<r viae abcmt " battles^ or " frmine ;"

Boiy if TovcxaaiiBe, Xbe praam ol' knv and good living are rific;

Tb3cz:b onee d^ Centaim, *midpotationa too «mpk^

Left a tn^ example Of abicqart diihonoared bj bloodahed and

Far z«Di>Tvd be sndi doinga from ns ! Let the IliraciBni*

Asid their Hbationt, Ccefjcssd aH the limits of right and of wrong %

vill join in their orgiea onholj — I :;Vrer will rally TSe rises that to iiinamiued Baoctma belong.

Lee Crt^> sOence her prieffthood, and calm her

Braw crmbals and clamour ; Awar with soch oatborats, nproarions and rain !

Displars often fiDQowed br Insolence mnliah.

And Confidence fo(^h. To be seea through and through, like this glass that I drain.

In the first decade of Hontian songs, it became mj duty to supplv in the ori^:inal Latin, from the Vatican Codex, a loDg4ost effusion of tlie Sabine fiurmer, commencing " Viretd mrtauKmet ;" or. as the Scotch haTe it, '' Ghreen growthe rashes, O !'* I am equaUy happy to be enabled, owing to the late Sir HamphvT Davy's experiments on the calcined Toloines found at Herculaneum, to supply, in concluding this second eMar. mmoiAer lost ode of Horace, which has been imitated

f TEE S0NG3 OF HOEACE,

DECADE THE THIRD.

416 FATHEB PEOUT's BELIQTTEo.

Des sots auteurs heme les vers ineptes, Nous instruiBant par gracieux pr^ceptes, Et par sermons, de joie antidotes." — J. B. Ror88Ei.ir.

Horace, in one small Tolume, shows us what it is

To blend together eyery kind of talent ; — 'Tis a bazaar for all sorts of commodities,

To suit the grave, the sad, the graye, the gallant : He deals in songs and " sermons/' whims and oddities,

By turns is philosophic and pot-yaliant. And not iinfrequently with sarcasm daughters ^he yulgar insolence of coxcomb authors. — O. Y.

The " diffusion'^^ of knowledge is, we suspect, somehow ir- reconcileable with \\x^t<mdensation ; at least, we see no other way of explaining the notorious fact, that one old standard author contains (either in the germ or in full developm^t) more ideas than a whole modem " Cyclopaedia ;" funush- ing more materials for thought and feeling than aie now accumulated during a whole Olympiad in the ware- houses of Paternoster Bow. It is for this reason that we gladly revert with Prout to the small Elzevir which, towards the close of his earthly career, formed the subject of lus vesper meditations, and cheerfully accompany him throng another " decade" of his classic rosary.

We know not how it will be with us next month, or whether we shall be tempted to take up a newspaper id[ter the fatal ides of September 1836.

The removal of the stamp-duty on the 15th, bids fiur to open the floodgates of " dimision,'* so as to swamp us alto- gether. Then will begin the grand millenium of cheap knowledge ; from that auspicious day will be dated the hegira of Hetherington. The conquest of China by the Tartars will find its parallel in the simultaneous rush of writers over the great wall, which the sober wisdom of former reigns had erected to restrain such-like inroads of Calmuc vagrancy. The breaking down of the dykes of Holland, and the letting in of the Zuydersee, is to be re- hearsed in the domains of literature. The Dutchmen wero drowned by a rat — we are to be inundated by Rice.* Soap, it is true, will continue to be as dear as ever, but tiie

* The Bight Hon. Spring B., chancellor of the Excheqiifir, 18S6.

THB SOKOe OF HORACE. 417

' "w»terBof ioBtniction" are to be plentifully supplied tc I the uawasbed,

Hie aqua." — Itrr Brandit.

One cannot help imagining, that a concomitant reduction ■tm the former most useful article would prove aa beneficial tn the Badicals as the cheapening of brimstone (for example) would be to the writers and readers of the Ca/etfonian Mer- cury ; but the WhigB, probably, wish to monopolise yet while the staple manufacture of Windsor, for the eicluaive pose of blowing bubbles to delude the rabble. We ob- re, by a recently discovered process, that /in(i have been Ibund less hard-hearted than tne Chancellor, and actually yield soap from silica.

To the press, as hitherto constituted, we acknowledge

ourselves eiceedingly indebted. On a late occasion,* the

unanimous expreasion of cordial sympathy which burst from

■ferery organ of public opinion, in reprobation of a brutal

^Hkeault, baa been to us consolatory and gratifying. We

^^ftall hazard the charge of vanity, perhaps, but we cannot

^■wlp replying to such testimonies of fellow-feeling to-

' wards ourselves in the language of a gifted Boman : —

" Ett taihijueunda in malis, el ffrala in dolore, ventra erga tne

vobtnlBf : ifd curam de me quaso drpimilr." (Catilinar. iv.)

~le iuteresta of literature are still uppermost in our

ilOUght«. and take precedency of any selfish considerations.

Tfe will be ever found at our post, intrepidly denouncing

'ulgar arrogance of booby scribblers, unsparingly censur-

j the obtrusion into literary circles of silly pretenders

^oTHUt borse'jockies, and brainless bulbes.

We took up a number of the " Carlton C/ironirle " for Inst

|lonth, in which we read with some astonishment the asser-

iOn that Ware Antony " was juatilied " in causijig M. T.

"'eero to be waylaid and butchered in cold blood, as some

mement for his " wounded fet'lings " on reading that

a oration called the Second Paitrppic, Tlie Carlton

jkronieU is conducted by a young barrister of eniinent at-

"'-menta, and we therelore experience some 8\irprise at the

r Boman law, or the laws of civilized society (as

• The brutal BSBSult of Grantlej Berkeley on iJie publielier Fra«er.

418 FAJHER PBOUT's BELIQUES.

contradistinguished from the laws of " Lynch," the Ameri- can Lycurgus) put forth in this startling announcement. Our illustrious namesake, Oliver, was not very serupuloiu in his respect for the " baubles " of legal arrangement ; yet even he took alarm at the title of a pamphlet, CEdled, '* fil- ing no Murder." We are not exactly members of the Inner Temple, but we beg to question the propriety of the above decision,* which we cannot otherwise qualify than as

« A sentiment exceedingly atrodona, Kot to be found (we trust) in Pnffendorff or Gxotiat."

We rejoice, however, at the introduction of TuUy's immor- tal speech, and are thankful for being thus reminded of a classic precedent for intrepidly exposing to the scorn of all rightly thinking men those blunders and follies which force themselves into public notice, and, baboon-like, exhibit their shameful side by a fidse position of (heir own choosing.

Cicero had to replv to an elaborate composition of his stupid adversary, published by Marc Antony himself, at his own expense, at the bookshop of the Boman Bentley of tiie day ; need we add, miserably deficient in literary value, and rich only in absurdities — " hoe ut colUgeres homo amentisoMU tot dies im aliend rii id script it asti T* {Philip, ii.) In that pro- duction the booby had touched upon points which he shoold have been, of all other men, careful to avoid. Mark, we pray you, gentle reader, the words of TuUy : " MaximS wuror wnentionem te heereditatum ausum esse facer e cum ipse hetreS- totem patris non adissesJ*^ — //. ibidem,*

We need not point out the passage, of which this is the exact prototype ; neither is it necessary to indicate where may be found a fac-simile for the subsequent exclamation of the indignant orator — " O misene mmtieris fcecunditatem es- lamitosam .'" (it. ibidem) ; nor the allusion contained in the words by which he reproaches his opponent for the con- firmed stupidity evinced in his literary production, albeit he had enjoyed certain advantages of family wit — ** aiiquidemm milis ab uxore mimd trahere potuisti " (t^ ibid.). The follow- ing picture of his adversary's personal appearance, and the

• This TeCen V> the Wwuitt of the Berkeley iunily.

THE aOSOS OF UOBACe. 419

EsdmiBsion of his eigoal accompliBhmeuta in all the graces of MB prize-fighter, ought not to be forgotten :

bupibu!, iitii Utenbiu, ulA gUtti&torii taliaa corporis finnilalc." — /(. iiubm,

iWe recommend the whole diBcourse (beyond comparison the rst model of classic eloquence in existence, and the most r Iwwerful expoie that folly and brutality ever received) to the Attentire meditation of those concerned.

" Nullo lueC hoc AntODiiu ono'."

In the couree of Prout's youthful mmhles through Italy,

we find that he has recorded the circumstances of a devout

pilgrimage, undertaken by hiin. to the very spot nhere the

lUustrious orator — the terror of oil Eoman ruffians, from

Clodiue to Catiline, from Antony to Verres — was cowardlv

BBUssinated by the hero of the Sfcond Philippic* It is a

green lane. leading off the via Jppia down to the shores of

tfae Mediterranean ; and close by the scene of the disgrace -

fill event stands to the present day, on the ruins of the For-

mian villa which had belonged to the murdered statesman,

an hotel, known by the classic designntion of " Albergo di

Cicerone." The details of that visit, with simdry delectable

Linatters appertaining thereunto, remain in our "chest" for

f jhrther use. when we shall have to entertain our readers

irith other (and collateral) subjects ; wheu from Horace we

■shall pass t<] some of bis contemporaries.

To Horace we now return. In uiii the dunces and fbolliea of Eome found an uncompromising foe — equally for- I'midahle to " Mavius the blockhead " and to " Gorgonius i he-goat," to " the debauchee Nomentanus," and to ** Pantolabus the buffoon." It is. however, aa a lyric poet [that Prout chooses to dwell on his merits ; and in this, as D moat matters, we recognise the professional tendency of hbe father to peacetul topics and inoifeusive disquisitions. OLIVER YOEKE

Kpean to h»ve been in his ila; t.be " Udv's man " — lor* know not, howerer, whether A» wu Fool ^Dough to UJli of le matroiu of Rome iuto the senate-house, like Qranlle;

420 FATHER PBOTt 8 fiELTqCIfl.

Jl'elrrgraiihill, ad 1™ pocHi n

Whes first I took up the Songs of Iloraoe, with s rient U record my imaginings thereanent (for the benefit of nij pi' rishinuers), it occurred to me that something in the shsp of methodical arrangement would not be amias, and thi these miacellaneoua odes would come more acceptable if 01 attempt were mode at closBificatioo. In this aepartmenl the modems have a decided advantage over the writers a antiquitv ; the bump of " ordor," as it relates to section uu subdivision, being of comparatively late derelopement Pagan antiquity had been content, ever since the goddea Flora enamelled the earth with so maay charmiag rarietie of form and colour, to admire them for their very coofusJoil and to revel in the delightful contrasts they anbrdcd; do we learn, from the author of Genesis, that there wm i regular system of botanical science understood by Ev«, a her state of horticultural innocence : it was reserved &tr tli great Dutchman, Limweua, to methodise the beauty and t classify the fragrance of dowers. My old friend and school fellow, I'Abb^ Moutardier, who. since the French cmi^rt tion, resides at Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire (where I' Weld family have gathered round him a small coDg gation), carries the practice of regular claasificatiuu to i great extent in his Anglo-Gallic addreeaes from the r pulpit of the castle-chapel ; ex. yr. " My friuds, the aei of twoday vill be ia/ourpinlg ; after vich, I rill draw fo you a little mor-ale," &c. In pursuance of this praiseworlii] system of orderly arrangement, I had set out by dividinj these songs under sixcompreheuaive heads*; I ° political squibs 2" convivial and bacchanalian; 3° love songs; 4" nbilo Bophical effusions ; 5" theological bymns ; and 6° uiatljj <iertain odes addressed to Virgil, Msceuas, Ac., dictated bj the purest /cieHrf* Alp, and bearing, more than all the pert, U impress of earnestness and sincerity. The eatalogae rntotm made out after this fashion, took ii^ I found, the wholi range of his lyrics ; and, instead of the wild luxuriancy C uncontrolled prodm-tiveness — the very wilderness of ibought and sentiment which the book now presents — reduced tbfl collection to uU the symmetry of a civilized parterre laid out bv Evelyn or Lenfttre.

THK BOKOa OF IIOHACE. 121

Mucli meditating, howerer, on the peculiar genius of the >et, aad fully aware that, with reference to the '' teries meturapie," be practised what he preoelied, I eoucluded tiat, in publishing bis four books of occaeional miustrelsj r in their actual order of succession, totally regardless of *■ the date of each particiUar composition, he must have been guided by some hidden principle of refined taste, appli- cable to the precise consecutive position assigned to every song. Of himself, as well as of the father of poetry, it may be safely predicated, that ni/ molitur ine-plf. Hence, on ma- turer consideration, I shrunk from interrupting the present Ikk of precedence, established by recognised authority ; and I resolved to maictaiu it as steaafastly as if I bad taken a regular ooth not to " weaken or disturb the line of success-

^■ion" in the harmony of Horace I have not vet got

^Hjbrough the first book. If I recollect right, a drinking bout ^Kl'to Vamus" (numbered ode xviii.) wound up the last ^E^per ; a love-song " to Gltceba" (ode xis.) shall, therefore, luber in the essay of to-night.

Horace was not very lucky in his loves. In spite of all

the fervour with which he eslialta the fascinations and chants

^_^he merits of the fair sex— notwithstanding the delicacy with

^KWhioh he could flatter, nod the sprightly ingenuity with which

^Bie could ainuse the ladies of Borne, he appears, from the

^Hfeeponding tenor of his amatory compositions, to have made

^"tut small havoc among the hearts of patrician matrons.

l^ese ditties are mostly attuned to the most plaintive strain,

and are generally indicative of unrequited attachment and

disappointed hopes. He has made Posterity the conJidanU

mt£ niB jealousy regarding "Ptbbua;" "LrniA" forsakes

Ihid for " Tklephub," who was probably a stupid life-guards-

pwn, meflsunng five feet eleven ; " Chlob" runs away from

. B addresses, begging her mother to say she is "jet too

hroung to form an engagement ;" be records the perjured

londuct of " BiRisi" towards him ; laments the inconstancy

"Ne^ba," the hauteur of "LrcE;" makes an abject

jologj- to "Ttkdahib," whose pardon we do not find that

e obtains ; he invites her to his villa ; we don't learn that

e accepted the invitation.

The fact is, be wna in stature a dwarf, with a huge bead,

422 FATHEB PB0T7T*S BELIQUES.

a la Quasimodo ; further endowed with an ungainly promi- nence of abdomen ; eyes which required the constant appli- cation of unguents and coUyria ; was prematurely bald, lika B^ranger —

" Moi, k qui la sagesse A fait tomber touB les chereoz ;"

and, like him, he might break forth into that affecting out- burst of naif despondency derived from the consdousness of a deformed figure :

" Elle est 81 BELLE,

Et moi — et moi— je suia 81 laid !"

By the way, to Beranger's immortal credit be it remarked, that he is the only Frenchman who ever, under any circum- stances of personal ugliness, made a similar admission. " Mons. Mayeux" fancied himself an AnoNis ; so does M. Thiers, though his portraits prove him to be what Theodore Hook has imagined, as the exact symbol, or vera ixuiv, of Tom Moore : viz. " something between a toad and a Cupid."

Still, nothing could keep Horace from trying his fortune among the girls. " His only books were woman's looks ;" though ** folly" (as in Moore's case) was positively all he gathered from the perusal. Though his addresses are repeat- edly rejected, he still perseveres ; and, in spite of his noto- rious scepticism in religious matters, he actually offers up a propitiatory sacrifice to Venus, in the hope ot forwarding, by supernatural agency, the object of his desires. His case, in truth, appears one of peculiar hardship ; and so CTaphic is the picture he draws of his hopeless passion, that Kacine has found nothing more powerml wherewith to represent the frensied feelings of Phaedra, in his wonderful tragedy of that name, than two lines borrowed from the following ode :

" Ce n'est plus une ardeur dans mes Teines cach^, C'est Vejjus toute enti^re k sa proie attach^.'*

Ode XIX.

DE GLTCEaA.

Love's unrelenting Queen, Mater ssra Ciq>idiniui

With Bacchus — Theban maid ! thy wayward ThebansBque jubeC child

THE aOKQS OF BOBACE.

Keddcro unoribuB.

Urit me Glycetw nitor Splendentis Fnrio

Urit grola proterviU*, Et TultUB nimiam Lubricus Bipici.

CVpruin (Itaeruit ; Rec palilur Scythw,

Qlfceni duiling gknce, Tliatiritli voluptuoui light my Tieion dinu —

Tlie ([Tacts that BoKaace The Pariun marble of her BDOW-nhito limbe,

HaTB left mv heart no chanoe ■AgitimlLer trintiiiigirilesaiid playful petuJance.

Say not tlmt 7enu» dwelU In

Id dutimt Cjprua, for she lille my breast.

And from that Bhrine cipeb All other tbumea : my lyre, by lore posBest,

No mon> nith war-notes awells, oquis

Jlor aioga of Farthinn shaft, nor ScTlluan Parthum dicere ; neo

alaughter tella. Quie nihil attinent.

Come liitber, alares I aod pile Ilio viTum mihi ceepi-

in ollar of green turf, and inceme bum ; tcm, hie

Strew magic rortain, while Terbenas, pueri

I pour libationa from a golden urn : Pooite, thuraque.

These riles may reconcilB Bimi num patera men :

Die goddest of Beree lore, who yet may deign llsctatik reuiot

to smile. Lenior hostia.

ow different from this nielanclioly love-lyric, " made to IiiB miatrcBs'B eye-brow,'" is the jovial style which he laaeumes when Miecenaa hiie promised to look in on his rustic dwelling, on his road to some sea-port " A friend »d pitcher" eeem to constitute the native und proper ele- jaent of Horace. Mark how he disports himself in the .eoDtemplation of the prime-miniater of Augustus seated by Lis cheerful hearth, and partaking of Buch homely fare as the Sabine farm could fumish ; insinuating at the same time, without the least appearance of caiolery or toadyism, one of the most ingenious compliments that ever statesman received from dedicatory poet in ancient or modem times. "Uuder preteit of specifying the exact age of some bottled liquor, which he promises shall be forthcoming, he brings up the mention of a fact most gratifying to the feelings of htii exalted patron. As Tasso has it,

" E que! chB eresee sommo prcgio all' opre I.' art* che tutlo^, nulla si scuopre.''

42l! FATHEB PEOITT'b KELIQTJES.

Ode XX. — " pot-ltjck" with hobace.

AD llECENATEH.

Since thou, Msecenas, nothing loth, Yile potabis modicis Sabmura

Under the bard's roof-tr^, Cantharis, Grseca quod effi Canst drink rough wine of Sabine growth, ipse testa

Here standi a jar for thee ! — ConditumleyL,datiisintheatit> The Grecian delf I sealed mjself, Quum tibi plausus,

That year the theatre broke forth.

In tribute to thj sterling worth,

When Bome*s glad shout the welkin rent, CareMsecenasequeSjUtpaterai

Along the Tiber ran, Flominis rips, simul etjooon

And rose again, by Echo sent, Bedderet laudea tibi Yaticaiii

Back from Mount Vatican ; — Montis imago.

When with delight, O Roman knight !

Etruria heard her oldest flood

Do homage to her noblest blood.

Wines of Falemian yintage, friend, GaBCubmn et prdo domitun

Thy princely cellar stock j Caleno

Bethink thee, should' st thou condescend Ta bibes uvam : mea neo Fa- To share a poet's crock, lemie

Its modest shape, Cajeta's grape Temperant rites, neqne For-

Hath never tinged, nor Formia's hill miani

Deigned with a purple flood to fill. Pocula colles.

Folio weth, in due coDsecutive order, one of those per- formances which, in my catalogue above alluded to, I nad set down as one of the " hymns theological." Our poet, besides filling at the court oi Augustus an office similar to the laureateship of old Nahum Tate, of birthday-ode me- mory, seems to have combined with that responsible situa- ation the more sacred functions of Stemhola and Hopkins. The Carmen Saculare was like Southey*s Vision of Judgment — an official effusion of devout loyalty to church and state. This hymn, recommending (very properly) the worship of Diana to the maidens of Kome, while he exhorts the Boman youth to reverence Apollo, must have been composed about the year u.c. 731, when scarcity, combined with the pros- pect of war, threatened the country. That Persia and Great Britain should be made the scapegoats on the occa- sion seems natural enough ; the Jews had similar uncharit- able ideas, as may be gathered from the Psalms of David. (Ixxix. 6, and j7a«5tm).

THE G0NO9 OF HORACE, 125

Ode XX I. — ad pdbem bohakah.

HanuD tenene dirila Tirginei, Toa Temp£ totidimi tollite Inudibua,

Btonaam pueiidicite Cjntliiimi, Nalalemque, m&nw, Uulou ApolloniB,

I«t(jnanique Bupreme Inaiguemqua pliwelrll,

Diloctam penito* Jovi. FraternSque IjunHrrum IjtS.

'm laiUm fluTiifl et ncinoruta Eio belliini InchrTmuaum, hax miie- MID&, ram Cameio,

iquc «nl gelido prominet Pwtonque a popiUo at principe Cw

Tostrl nwtiu agct procc

TO THE SIBIHQ SECrEKATIOM OF BOUE.

Worahip Dinim. joung daughters of lUlj !

Toutiu 1 ling Apollo — both children of Jove . Honour Latono, tlifir mother, who miebtil;

Triumphed of old in the Thunderer's b<e. Muds 1 ling the HunCreiii, whose hauuU are the highlands,

Who trends, in a buabin of silferj ahuen, Each foreat-crowned aununit through Greece and her ulsuda,

From dark Erf Tnonlliua to Cragua the green.

ITrom Tempi's fair xalley, by Phoibua frcqaentcd. To Delos his birthplace — the light quiTer bong

From his alioulden — the Ijre that his brother iuventpd — Bo each ahrine by our youth and each attribute BUng.

Hh jout prajera to the regions of light find admittance

On Casar's bflialfi— and the Deitj urge To drive from our iantl lo the Periiana and Britona,

Of Famine the curse ! of Bellona the scourge '.

That he conBidered himself the object of special solicitude io the gods, is very perceptible in his writinga ; that be ac- tually believed in the existence of these celeettol persooagea . . nevertheless, as uice an historical problem aa the pedigree if Perkin Wnrbeck or the iiiety oi O'Connell. Like Bo- however, be " thrived on his ale."

He kept his skin iutact (4<vte curuM cM(e), his neighbours in good humour, and the table In a roar. One day, baring extended his ramblM beyond the boundary of his

426 FATHER PROUT's RELIQUES.

farm, humming as he went an ode " to Lalag^," which we have unfortunately lost (unless it be the fifth of the second book), behold ! an enormous wolf suddenly stares him in the face, and as precipitately takes to flight, without any apparently efficient ca^se. The do^, according to Shak- speare, barked at Richard ; this wolf may have been, pro- bably, frightened by the poet's ugliness : for, according to his own description, he was a regular scarecrow. Never- theless, mark, reader, how he chooses to account for the miracle. The ode, in a literary point of view, has alwajr* been (and most deservedly) admired: ''Aristius fuBCUs" was, however, a sort of wag, as may be gathered from the satire " Ibam vid sacrd,^* &c. &c.

Ode XXII.

AS> ABISTIXDf FUBCUM.

AristiuB ! if thou canst secure Integer yitcs soelerisque pomi

A conscience calm, with morals pure, Noneget Mauri jacuIi«,neqiiearoa»

Look upwards for defence ! abjure Nee venenatis grayida sagittis,

All meaner craft — Fusee, pharetra ;

The bow and quiver of the Moor,

And poisoned shaft.

Wliat though thj perilous path lie Sire per Sjrtes iter satuoeas,

trac^ Sive facturus per inhospitalem

O'er burning Afric's boundless Caucasiun, Tel quss loca fj^Hikwiff

waste .... Lambit Hjdaspea.

Of rugged Caucasus the guest,

Or doom'd to travel Where fabulous rivers of the East Their course unravel ! . . .

Under my Sabine woodland shade, Namque me ailva lupus in Sabina

Musing upon my Grecian maid, Dum meam canto Lalagen, et ultra

Unconsciously of late I strayed Terminum curia vagor ezpeditis,

Through glen and meadow, Fugit inermem :

When, lo ! a ravenous wolf, afraid,

Fled from my shadow.

No monster of such magnitude Quale portentum neque mHitaria

Lurks in the depth of Daunia'swood, Daunia in latis alit esculstia }

Or roams through Lybia unsubdued Nee Jubes tellns genenty i^^fftgw

The land to curse — Arida nutriz.

Land of a fearful lion-brood

The withered nurse.

me Rwaj to (kserta wild, ne Tegetalion naxer •miled, re eunaliine nmer once beguiled

The dreai7 (lay, winterB upon wintera piled

For ajB delay.

I roe benenth the torrid lone, e Eoaii to dwell wag norer known, (durish etill one thought olonc,

Maid of mj choico ! > smile of thy sweet lip — the tone Of thy iireet voice !

Pone me pigris ubi nulla csmpis Arbor aatiTa rBcreatur aura. Quod latua roundi uebuliB ma- liuque

Jupiter iirget ;

Fone aub cumi ni ninm propin-

Solis, in t«TB domibus negata :

Dulce ridontero LiUageu aiunbo,

Duloe loqueatem.

Here is another love ditty ; and, as usual, it places on record sonie diecomfiture of tiie poet in his attempt to play 'Aooime i bonnet for tvna.

Ode XXIII. — A. KEUOHSTBAITCB TO CHLOE THE BABBFUI..

Whj wilt thou, Chloe, fly me thui ?

The yeorliiig kid li not CDore thy and timorous,

Our woods imid, leking her dam o'er ^len and hill, lite all her &ame Tiiin terrors thj-ill,

fihoulil a green liiard chance to stir

Beueittli the bash — Should Zephyr through the mountain- fir

Diaporling gush — fith anddeti fright behold her start, ^ith trembling lueea and throbbing

Vilas hinnuleo Me siniilii, Chit*.

Monti bus aiiia Matreni, dod sine Tgno Aurarum et ailvie meti

Seu Tiridea rnbuDi DimoTere lacertc, Etcordeotgonibua trei

And canst thou think me, nisideii fair \ Alqtii non rgo ^

A ti^r grim ? Tigris ut aspera,

A Lybian lion, bent to tear Oetulusve leo,

Thea limb bj Umh 7 Frtingere peraequur.

Btill canal thou haunt tiij niolher'i shade, Tandnui deaine mutrem

Bipe for a husband, bluotmug maid? Tempestira sequi viro.

No " elegy," in all antiquity, appears to have given euch ^aeral satiaiaction as that whiuh followed Quinctilius to tbe tomb. History would have taken no notice of his name, but Horace has secured him immortal celebrity, All we know of hiia a contained in the chronide of Euaebius,

428 FATHEB PBOUT*S BSLIQU^S.

quoted bj St. Jerome, and merely refers to the date of hi» death ; nor would the holy father probably have mentioned him at all, but for the eloquent* requiem chanted over hiB grave. It possesses ineffable sweetness in the original ; the tender melancholy diffused throughout the composition is still more saddened by the absence of anything like hope or belief in a future state of existence, which was totally undreamt of in the Horatian system of philosophy. David's elegy over Saul and Jonathan is clouded by the same gloomy misgiving as to the chances of a blessed futurity : yet, what can be more beautiful than the Hebrew poet*fl exclamation —

" Let the dew never fall on the hills where the pride Of thy warriors, O Israel ! Ues slain : They were loTely in life ; and, oh mark ! how the tide Of their hearts' blood hath mingled again P*

Milton's Lycidas ; Bums's splendid effusion over Captain Henderson: Malherbe's

** Bose elle a vecu ee que rivent les roses L'espace d'un matin !"

Pope's " Unfortunate Lady," and Wolfs " Funeral of Sir John Moore," all deserve to be commemorated in connexion with this ode of Horace. Nor should I omit to notice {honoris causd) Q-ray's elaborately mournful Elegy, in which he has gathered into one sepulchral urn the ashea of the human race, and mingled the tears of all mankind iu one grand " lachryinatory."

Ode XXIV.— ad vibqilium. deflet quikctilii mobteh.

Quia desiderio sit pudor aut modus tarn cari capitis ? Prseoipe lugubres Caiitus, Melpomene, cui Uquidam pater vocem cum cithara dedit.

Ergo Quinctiliiim perpetuus sopor urget ! cui Pudor, et Justitis soror, Incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas, quando ullum inrenient parem P

Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit ; nuUi flebilior quam tibi, Virgili ! Tu frustra pius, heu ! non ita creditum poscis Quinctilium Deos.

Quid ! si Threicio blandius Orpheo auditam moderere arboribos fideut, Num Tanae redeat sanguis imagini, quam virga semel horrida,

Non lenis precibus fata recludere nigro compulerit Mercurius gregi ? Dui'um ! sed levius fit patientia ouidquid corrigere est neHeis.

THK SOSOS OF HOKACE,

TO TIBOIl. A COUaOlATOKT ADDBESB.

Why eheci Iho full oulburst of Borrow ? Why bluili

'Xo vevp for tho frietid wo adored ? Baise the roice ot Inmaiit I let the awollen tesr goah ! Branoan thee, Helpomene, loudly 1 nor hueh

The sound of thy lute'i liquid chord !

For low liea Quinctiliue, traoccd in that sleep

That iaguu bath none, nor eeqtwl. Let Candour, with all her white aislerhood, weep — Truth, MeelincBs, and Juslioc, hii memory keep —

For when iliall they Qnd liia equal?

Though the wine and the good may bewail hiiD, yet uon

O'er hii elay shed* the tear mare truly Tbau you, bc-lovcd Virgil! You diajmcd IJm your own "" hi» eompanioniliip. — 'Twaa but s loai

the gods bare withdr

Which the gods bi

thdrawn unduly.

Yet not though Eurvdioe'a lorer had left

Tliee a legacy, Irieud, ot his song 1 Could'it thou woriD the cold iuinge of life-btood bereft, Or force denlh, who robbed tliec, to render the theft,

Or bring bael his shade from the throog,

Which Mercury guidei with imperatiTe wand,

To ths bnnki of the fatal fcrty.— Tie hard to endure ; — but 'lis wrong to despond : For patience may deaden l.he blow, Uiough t«yond

Thy power, my friend, to party.

Flowers have, nt nil timeB, suggested hinte for metaphOT id allegoiy. Poets cannot get on at all without constant ference to botanical matters ; and Flora, by right, should ive been one of the Muaes. A crazy German writer Dtu9 Ludwi^ Tieck) maintnius, that " the man who has no lete for posies cannot have God's grace ;" a sort of parody wmetbing about music in Shakespeare. Another mad itamentaliflt, from the same district, defines woman to be pometliing between a flower and an angel." In fact, the florid style " cannot be well i;ot up without a due adtnii- ire of such fancies, any more than a plum -pud ding without J lums. Aflk Tom Moore, for example, how he could manage, if deprived of these gay and gaudy materials for his con- cetti ? He might, perhaps, tell yon that he still would have ndniawv, ttan, cryslalt, pearli, butterflien, and such other

•floi ■hire

FATHim FlOrT'S XSUQUS8.

bvt, witlMHit Corent GSurden Market, ke wc«Sd soon he si s Ion to cmnj on his busiDefls. £?eii m tkp flo«>er department lie is obliged to borrow. An- ■erg— aad Honce had, hmg ago, both hit on an idea, vWk be kas a^^iropriated, without the slightest scruple or atdafeowiedgment. in a well-known melody, of which he has flK>i&en ibe tone cram the ^ GroTes of Blarney," and, I am w saj, ^uDed it br some outlandish yanationB of bis

Oot XXV.

re

MXCM.

I •• fime tifk fer mg^

L«v. kaVx. ^satm-^t T: pi** tm tike

&TT VK' m *.2.\^r. Smoe Ar Ii,<«ifvj mre

Hum r* v* cai^ft.^.** trf- titiep Aim witk

flondt nltimat Tel Mille mpo' onetaaorociba^ At Bone amicamni oohorti Flarib«ft et aoeiis snpentat !

Kee VBft maasit eoDsda qua

prop* Sufririomm suatC olentiim, Sospiret ultro— quK rnbcati Embeat. pia frona, '

XoD te rplinquam

lagnbre. QussiD^lari ferec^otiEDica! lere donaitftm aodalcs, Tn reliqais oocoes i to-doni !

Spanit anieA sic foliis mum, Fiaire tristes pergo tilri mens; Skcis od<ffatas per bortmo Froodibtu i snperadde frondea.

Etnisitoliin aorieadeia,pccoor! Qoaado sod&lea, quaqoe ni- cantia, Omant anioonim eovooaiB Gemmata, deperevnt— pt* rixel

Amd/i TMtHmk

KtwiAered, Ahrepta fato diaitoelalim mrejtetrm, QoaiMio tot eben ! eorda jaeent imkaHi homi

itmef Qoispoacataanoe* TiUtali*

Noone foret mera soMtndo?

How much more creditable and gentlemanly has been the conduct of an old English song- writer, George Herbert, who having occasion to work out the same thought, sconiB to copy with servile fidelity the Greek or Boman lyric ; but, giving it a new form altogether, makes it, as fiur as possible,

i OF BOBACK, 431

I' his owa property. Here is the canzonet; and any one, L^riio has tne alightest prt^ttueion to a tuste for antique eim- ■*'city, must see Low far superior it is to Moore'a artificial ID position :

" I nude t pone while the dir nu hj~^ Here will 1 amell my ramnaTit out, and tie

M; life vitliiti thia bsnd.

Bat Time did Wkoii to the flower*, and tktj

;1t did iteal uwaj-,

my Land.

Farewell, dear flowers ! (weetlj your time jo ipent ( Fit while ye lired Tor smell or ornameut.

And, &IW death, for eurei. I follow itraight, without complaint or griefj And, if my acent be good. I eare not if

It be 81 shore aa youra."

[ The date of the subsequent ode is clearly fixed, by the

ttluaion it tontaina to the troubles occasioned m the northern

narta of the empire by_ the proceedings of King Tiridates. It is addressed to Lamia, a Roman general, who had distin- guished himself in the peninsular war (6ello Caiila6rko),&ad 8 at that time enjoying his Imlf-pay m or about Tivoli.

ASHO AB V.C. 1T30.

Ail — "Fill llio bumper fiur."

BkdnaM — I who tin' Musis amlcui

Deroted to the Uuses, Trtetitiani I'l

To the wild wind give, Tnidam ]iroi,

To waft where'er it ehoosea ; In itrnra Crf-li

what Mvage chief be choeeu Quia nub nrel

To reigo beneath "tlie Bear." Kvx gvhdir

Ter the ilelda for eier troMo. MeluBlur ore

Lot Tiriitatea rue

The march of Rnman Ugiona, While I luy path pursue

l%tOugb {loeay'a ejilm regions— Bidding (lie Huae, who drinkg

From the founlnina unpolluted. To weave with flowery links

wmti, to yrieadthiii suited.

Quid Tiridatem Terreol, uuiei tiecurufi. O quB Foil li bus iiite^™

432

FATHXB FBOTJT'S BELTQITES.

For gentle Lamia's brow. —

O Muse melodious I sweetly Echo his praise ; for thou

Alone canst praise him fitly. For him thj Lesbian shell

With strings refurnish newly, And let thy sisters swell

The jocund chorus duly.

Sadness — I who lire deroted, &c.

Pimplei dulcii^ Nil sine t« mei Possunt honores ; Hunc fidibuB noris, Hunc Lesbio Sacrare plectro, Teque tuasque Deoet sorores.

Musia amicng, Ac.

Next comes a lively and animated picture of Soman con- viviality. The ode partakes of the oramatic character, and would appear to be extemporaneously poured out by Horace, in his capacity of " wine-king," or " toast-master," at a jovial meeting. The evening is far advanced ; sundry debateable subjects have been started ; the retort uncourteous has been more than once interchanged ; the cup of boisterous hilarity has kindled in its circulation ; of a sudden the guests have started from their couches, in the ardour of discussion, and, heated with wine, are about to come to blows, when the poet rising obtains silence for a song. The ingenuity with which he turns their attention to topics of a less exciting nature, and the gracefully playful style of his address, pre- sent us with a most amiable idea of the poet's disposition, and prove him to have been a man of consummate tact.

Ode XXVII. — ad sodales.

Natis in usum latitise scnrphis Gessat voluntas ? — Non aUa bibam

Pugnare, Thracum est. ToUite bar- Mercede. — Quse te cumque domat

barum Venus,

Morem,YerecundumqueBacchum Non erubescendis admit

Sanguineis prohibete rixis. Ignibus, ingenuoque semper

Vino et lucemis Medus acinaces. Amore peccas ! < Quidquid babes,

Immane quantum discrepat ! Ln- age,

pium Depone tutis auribus. — Ah ! miser

Lenite chimorem, sodales. Quanta laboras in Charybdi,

£t cubito remauete presso. Digne puer meUore flamma I

Vultis severi me quoque sumere

Partem Falemi ? dicat Opimtis

Frater Mcgillce quo beatus

Vulnere, qua pereat sagitta.

Quse saga, quia te solvere Thais alii M^;nus venenis, quis poterit DemF Vix iUigatum te triformi PegaauB ezpediet QiixQjBn.

F

THE S0S03 OF I

i HAltlJUET-aCEyE. TOAST AND HESTISIESI.

To make a weapon of ioy'> cup, my friBnds,

IiaTileThr>u.-uu>cu«limii Shame on such pnu-ticos !— tbej mar the ends Ot calm aud kindl}' Bncchus. Illoodalied tcodt

To aatideD and dia^niHt him.

Here, 'mid the bowle, vliat bnaineta hath (h« sword ?

Come, alieathe Ton Fenjiati dagger ; Let the briglil Luup ahine OD a quii>t Iwiard ; BecliuB in peace— these houn* we ciui't nltord

For brawling, aoacd, a.' d simgger.

Sar, ihaU tout ohnirman fiD hii cup, and drain

Of brimming bowli miother? Thou, firel, n TOABT li» maodule ilioU obtain i He'll kiKiw the njmpli whose >Fitr'i<!rics enchain

Tbe rair Megilla'a brother.

I What! ailent thuB ? Dost feaj' to i imo aloud The girl of th; affection ? ^onth ! let tlij choice be candidlj avowed ; liou hut a delicate taate, and art e'loweJ Some talent for leieetioti.

Tet, if the loud confeagioa thoa wilt ehun.

To my safe car discoTer Thy cherished teoret. - . Ah, tliou art undone 1 Wl'ial ! ihe f How little such a heartleaa one

Dcaerrea m fond a lover I

What flend, what Thracisn witch, deaf lo remorae,

Hatii brewed tlij dire love-potion 1 Smtco could the hero of the wingjtil hone Effeet thy rescue, or— to free theo— foroe

Tliat drugon of the ocean 1

In the iisufll editions of our poet, the twenty-eighth ojle esenta us with a rather stunid "dialogue" fietweeu one P Archytaa aud a Sailor." I nave no hesitation in substi- tuting, I'rom Hardouin's " Y(u8o Horatiiia" (folio. Aiast. 1740), the proper reailing ; which, on einmination, will be found to preserve tiie easeuce of the tnlloquy, while it is much more Horatian in spirit. MareuB Epvio Bibax is a well-knoira character in the auuaU of Home, as oiay be

434

YATKER FmOirT*8 BSUQUX8.

seen in Niebuhr*8 admirable work. His monument (a fini old pTramidal erection) stands at the gate openmg on the Via dstia, and adds a solemn dignity to the adjacent hunai- ground of our countrymen — ^^ II Cimitero degli IngleiU*

Ode XXVin.

When Bibo wfnt down

To the regions below. Where the waters of Stjx

Bound Eternity flow. He awoke with a crj.

That ** he would be brought back ; For his soul it was dij.

And he wanted some sack."

** You were dnmk,** renlied Charon,

" You were drunk when you died ; And Tou felt not the pain

Th«t to death is aUied." ** Take me back f* answered Bibo»

** For I mind not the pain ; Take me back ! take me back !

Let me die once again V*

Meantime the graj ferryman

Ferried him o'er. And the crazr old bark

Touched the Stygian shore : Thenf old Bibo got out,

Quite unable to stand. And he jostled the ghosts

As they crowded the strand.

•Hare a care !" cried out Oiaron ;

" Hare a care ! 'tis not well : For remember you 're dead.

And your soul is in helL**

^fbral.

« Fm in hell," r^hed Bibo ;

" Well I know by the sign : Twas a hell upon earth

To be wanting of wioa.**

Cum Bibax baiiihro

Descenderat imo Qua loca St^ atro

Circumfluit limo, Erigilans, posdt

Num forte Falemi Yas bibere moe sit

Id r^gnis Arerm.

Cui Charon, ** VenUti

Hue graris lageni. Sic funeris tristi

Immunis a pceni.*' — Tum Bibax, ^ Betrorsiim

Due iterum ritff, Ut funeris morsom

Experiar rit^"

Sed interim pigrA

Transvehitur rate, Qu» rip4 mox nigr&

Sistit delicate : In littore statim,

Exoritur soens. Umbras caterratim

Disturbat arenA.

Cui Charon de nsrc : " Hie Orcus est, homo

Ke titubes cave Plutonis in domo.**

I'Snbop.

** Plutonis carema

Parebat rirenti, Siquando taberna

I>eerat sitienti.'*

I

THE SON&S OF HORACE.

DECADE THX FOUKTU.

" Horatii curioaa fdioitM." — PiTBOU. Aebiieb, cap, 118.

Splendido colorir, d' un b1 fecondo Sublime iiQDuigiiisr, d' ana i\ ardita Felieiti eioim Altro mortal dou arrichi nstura."

ABHiTK MiTiaTJBKJ, 0/»ro.tora. lii. Firente, 1819, "Sublime, CimiliCT, »olidp, rajDuj^, tendre, AitS, profond, nait, et fln ; Viv(>, Hornco, avant tout 1 runiYen pour Vontendre Aims i redeTenir Latin." — La Motte, Poii, Ltg. I ■ Wben Alba warred with Home for some disputed frontier Hanni, ' Ilirce Horaccj gained fntherland moeudancy in armnj B A tingle-handed cbnmpiou now amid Ibe Ijnc throng, ^""'K of the muup, BlandB forth loplaim Bupremaoy in song,"

BiHBY CORNWILL.

Fhes the celebrated lame poet, Paddy Kelly, bad the

KiDour of being introduced to (Jeorge the Fourth, on tliat

tmonarcb'B Mttlgraviting visit to Dublin (an honour extended

'■) several other diBtlnguiehed nativea, Bueh as Falvey the

reep, Jack Lawleas the orator, Daniel Donnelly the boxer,

ul another Daitei., who of late years bus practiBed a more

rofitable syrtem of boxing), his majeaty eipressed himself

•irouB of personally witoesBing an eihihitton of the hard's

temporaneouB talent, havir

risouuts of the facility with v

■ Vent itself in unpremeditated verse. The Hibernian impm.

O^niatore forthwith latinehed out into a dithyramb, of which

I the burden appeared to be a paneeyrie on Byron and Scott,

I whose pniiBes be aang in terms of fervid eulogy ; winding

1 up with what certainly seemed to his illuBtrious auditor a

IBoraebow abrupt and startling conclusion, viz. :

1 the honest coiwiction ot tinft \r.^ til

436 TATHEB PBOUT'S BSUQ17X8.

rfaai^odist ; and if so, he had an undeniable right to put bk opinion on record, and publish it to the world. Are ve not, every week, favoured by some hebdomadal LoKeisnjB with ku peculiar and private ideas on the fiiTBLDfi; d which the last new tragedy, or the latest volume of verse (blank or otherwise), is pronounced the finest model ? Whai remedy can the public have against the practice of such im- position ? None whatever, until some scientific man shall achieve for literature what has been done for the dairy, and invent a critical '' lactometer,** bv which the exact density of milk-and-water poetry may be clearly and undeniablj ascertained. At present, indeed, so variable seems the stan* dard of poetical merit, that we begin to believe true what Edmund Burke says of Taste among the modems: that '' its essence is of too ethereal a nature for us ever to hope it ynH submit to bear the chains of definition."

In this vague and unsatisfactory state of things, Prout has, perhaps, " chosen the better part." He would appear to confine the range of his admiration within the happy cutde of recognised, incontestable, and transcendent excellence.

All this he has found supereminently in the canonised object of these running commentaries. He stands not alone in hailing therein Hobace as prince of all lyric poets of every age and clime. In so doing, he merely bows to the general verdict of mankind; which, when fairly collected and plainly uttered, constitutes a final and irrevocable award, the maxim of Vincent, abbot of Lerins, being, ** Quod SEMPER, quod ubique, quod ab OMifiBUS traditum est.'' Geometry and logarithms may admit of being de- monstrated in the abstract nakedness of their intrinsic e\*idences; but in poetry, as in religion, the experience i)f every day sufficiently shows the proneness of individual judgment to strange and fantastic theories, which can only be rectified by a reference to the universal sentiment — the sensM communis of the human species. Prout alwaya paid deference to time-honoured reputations. Great was, hence, his veneration for the " venerable Bede ;" and, not- withstanding the absence of all tangible evidences, most vicjorouslv did he admire the "admirable Crichton." In Aristotle he persisted to recognise the great master-mind of metaphysics ; he scouted the transcendentalism of Kajrr:

THE BOWOa OF nOBiCE.

icient for him was the coemogony of Moses j he laughed . ncorn the conjectiirea of geology.*

This reminds us of Iho " astoimJiDg discovery" with whicli ir. BncKLAMD is reported to have lately electrified the liatoliana. Ephraim JenkinBon's ghost must have heard ith jealousy, on the banks of the Styx, the ehoutfl of ap- lause whicli echoed the Doctor's assertion on the banks of le Avon, tliat the world had already lasted " miUiooB of irs ;" that a " new version of Genesia" would be shortly [uired, eince a new light " had been thrown on Hebrew lolarthip!" The doctor's declaration is very properly — ibed OS the only " original fact" elicited at the meeting. fun ! to hear a mite in the cavity of a Gloucester se gravely reasoning on the streaks (or strata) of red — vellow, and finally concluding, all things duly consi- erea, that the invoice of the farmer who made it bears a Tong date, and that the process of fabricating the cheese \ question must have been begun as long ago, at least, as he dayg of the heptarchy I

There is often more strict logic, and more downright com- Don BcnHe, in a poet's view of nature and her works, in the gravest and most elaborate mystifications of Bi-duattt philosophy. We shall, therefore, hesitate nut ft place in contraposition to this Biicklandish theory the of Chateaubriand on the subject, leaving to any iBpaaaionate thinker to say on which side reason and lalogy preponderate. "They tell ux," says the author ' the G^nif du Chrittianitme, whose eiLact words we mnot remember at this time of the eveoing, " tbat the irth ia an old toothless hag, bearing in every feature le traces of caducity ; and that six thousand years are rt enough to account for the hidden marks of age dis- Werable to the eyes of Science ; — but has it never occurred > them, that, in producing this globe for the dwelling of Q, it may have suited ftovidence to create all its com- lent parts in the stage of full maturity, just as Adam imself was called into being at the full age of manhood, ithout passing through the preparatory process of infancy,

■ n( Dr. BuckLmd, uubaequentlj deiu of Weitmiiubir.

438 FATHEB PBOUT's BELIQUE8.

boyhood, or youth ? "When Otod planted the soil of Para- dise, think je that the oak of a hundred years' growth was wanting to shed its mighty shadow over our first parents ? or ar^ we to believe that every tree was a mere shrub, Just emer^^ing from the ground ? Was the licit, whom Milton describes so graphicidly as

' Pawing to get finee His hinder parts,*

nothing but a new-bom cub P I do not believe it. I hold that the grove waved its majestic pines, already bearing among their topmost branches the ready-built nest of the rook and the young family of the dove ; that the sheep browsed on the green swaro, with her attendant lamb ; and that the bold rock overhung the running stream, with the mantling ivy already twining through its crevices, and exhi- biting the marks of age on its hoary surface. Did not the Creator understand the effect and the beauty of what we are agreed to call the picturesque ? or, in his Edbn, did Re overlook the graces of landscape ? What a clumsy artificer these men woiild represent their Maker to be ! What a crude and ill-assorted planet would they describe as issuing from the hands of Omnipotence, to require the operation of time and the influence of chemical agents to bring it to perfection ! ' Non ! non ! le jour m^me que I'ocean epandit ses premieres vagues sur nos rives, il baigna, n'en doutons point, des Quells d^ik roughs par les flots, des graves sem^es de debris, de coquiliages, et des caps d^cham^s, qui soute- naient contre les eaux les rivages croiilans de la terre ; sans cette vieillesse originaire, il n*y aurah; eu ni pompe ni ma- iest^ dans Tunivers.' " " The great whales lay

'Floating many a rood*

at the first instant of their creation, and the full-grown elephant roamed in the Indian forest, among gigantic trees coeval with a world of yesterday." So much for Buckland. We feel that we have digressed from the professed object of this paper, by going so far back as the hexemeroHy or six days' work of the Creator. In £acine*s only-begotten comedy of the Pleaders, the judge, anxious to bring an advocate, who had indxil^d in a similar flight, back to the

THE SOKOS OJ UOBICE. 439

Btolen capon, which formed the matter in dispute, geotlr interposes by the celebrated joke, " Passoru au diluge." We ■ball take the hint, and return to Horace.

This decade termioatt's thefint book of the Osxs. Prout has thus furnished the world with a complete translation — ■o far — of the Sabine sougster. Whether we aball be able to fish up any further leaves of the Horatian category from the old trunk la yet a riddle. Sufficient, however, has been done to place the critic of WatergrasshiU on a level with the long-winded Jesuit, Father SaSjLDOK, in the musler-roU of the poet's commentators.

OLIVEE TORKE.

Rtgenl Street, 22d Sfpltmber.

fTaltryraiihiU, al lolilo.

Xhe life of HoBACX, as all the world knows, has beeh ^ito- 'bdaed by Suetonidb, a Eoman biographer, who (so far as ire may judge from the portion of his works we possess) nuBt have entertained peculiar notions as to the relative ..attraction posaessed by the individual aubjects selected for 'his memoirs. In Falstafl's tavem-biU there appeared hut one ha'portli of bread to counterbulance several dozens of Wick ; SL'ETOHina furnishes us with a miscellaneous account of celebrated characters, in which the roles of proportion are just as little attended to— there is but one' poet to twelve " Cmar»."

In this solitary life of on homme de lettrei. which ■eems to have found its wav, through some mistake, into the gorgeous circle of imperial biography, there ia one oc- currence marked down by the courtly chronicler with more tiian usuaJ carefulness ; sparing neither circumstantial nor documentary detail in hia aniiety to put us in full poases- won of the (to bim inexplicable) conduct of the poet on the occasion.

One fine evening, towards the close of autumn, Flaccus was seated, alfresco, under the porch of hia Sabine villa, hia

* Prout seeiTtB to think that tlie fhiginenta reUting to Luran, Termae, ■nd JuTenal kk not to \x SBcnbcql to llji> biogmplier of Horace. Sau- huM hii not decided the qutwtioii. — 0, T.

440 FATHEB PBOUT*8 BELIQUE8.

arms croBsed on his breast in a pensive attitude, a taU Greek jar, filled with home-made wine, standing out in bold relief before him, his eye apparently intent on the long shadow projected by the graceM amphora as it inter- cepted the rays of the setting sun.

He was thinking of Yiboil, who uad just died at Naples, after a long and pain^ illness, and whose loss to literatture and social companionship no one could appreciate more feelingly than Hobace. They had but lately wept in com- mon orer '' Quinctilius ;" and the same reflection whidi had dried up the tear of the mourners then (viz., that ^ there was no help for it"), was probably the only one that pre- sented itself to his mind to mitigate the pangs of this fresh bereavement. A slave was meantime seen approaching in the distant landscape, dressed in the peculiar costume of the labeUarii^ and bearing, in the dust and exhaustion visible throughout his person, evidence of a hurried journey firom the metropolis. On reaching the spot where the poet sat, absorbed and ** gazing on vacancy," the arrival ot one in whom he recognised a familiar servant of Maecenas was suffi- cient to draw him from his reverie ; especially when, on examining the tablets handed to him by the slave, he per- ceived on the seal that closed the silver thread with which the letter was bound up, the impression of a sphynx — a well-known emblem used by his patron. He broke the en- velope at once, and read as follows :

" OcTAVius C-ESAE, Augustus, Princc of the Senate, per- petual Consul, Tribune for life, to C. M^cekas, Elnight, I^refect of Eome, dwelling on the Esquiline, health.

^^ Hitherto I have been able to find time for keeping up a friendly intercourse by letter with my numerous correspondents myself, but the increasing press of business, and my growing infirmities, now put it out of my power. I therefore tcisk to entice our friend Horace from your exclusive circle. Allow him to exchange your hospitable board for a residence at the palace here. He is to act as my private secretary. Farewell,

•* From Mount Palatine, the kalends of October^

Maecenas had transmitted to bis friend and guest the un- * Terbfttim &om Suetonius. See Cuvillicr Fieuiy, B.D. Pans, 189(X

f

TUB BOROB OF nORAlE.

MI

perial epiiitle, without adding a eiogle sylluble of note or comment to what was thus briefly couched in the handwriting of his august cofreBpondeiit. llorace was at first at a loss to Account for this deficiency, but, after a moment's reflec- tion, could not but bestow hia approval on the delicate re- serve, which left him entire liberty to act according to his own unbiassed judgment in a matter bo whoUj personal to himself.

The slave, meantime, stood waiting in respectful silence ; the poet motioned him to follow into the alriutii, where he tTBiced a tew lines for his master, and despatched him back to Borne. That night, at supper, Mtecenas conveyed to Au- gustus the result of his message to the Sabine farm : it waa a refusal to accept the offer of the emperor.

The secret moti?eH which influenced a determination so prompt and decisive on the poet's part, he most probably did not communicate to Mtecenas. It is likelv that he adopted in hia reply the usual plea of "ill health," though hisjollv, piump, and rubicund appearance at their next meet- ing Bumciently gave the lie to any valetudinarian pretences. Perhaps he put forward his predilections for a country life, tnd his fontmesB for rural solitude, of which he bos so often (ironicallv) celebrated the charms ■ such pretext must have smnsed tuose who were best acquainted with his versatile disposition, and knew how little the dull monotony of rusti- cation was suited to his lively humour.

"Anna TVinr anrm; venlatiu Tibure Romam."—'%p, t, 8. 13.

Are we, then, to conjecture that sheer idleness dictated the refusal ? Are we to conclude that the dolee far ntente of a modem lazzarone had been practically anticipated, and ex- emplified in the conduct of an ancient Boman? I shall have a word or two to say hereupon, ere a verdict is given dishonourable to the character of Horace. I merely remark en pauant, that the duties of a private secretary in the pa- lace of Augustus were far from bearing any resemblance to the tedious functions imposed by the prosy and long-HTnded style of correspondence adojited in receut diplomacy : biUet*- iota of old were quite as short as those of Lord Melbourne.* • Ei-r-: " How ve Touf 1 «lml1 ™U at (wo.

(Signed) " SlKi.jioiTE.vs."— 0. Y.

lu Trial of Hon. U. C. Kortou v. MeWjQVjmtt,

442 7ATHSB PB0UT*8 BBIiIQITIS.

There were no foolscap sheets of protocol nonsenfle inteh changed in those days; and the secretaryship on Mouot Palatine woiild have been, as nearly as possible, a luxuriooi sinecure.

But may not he, as an homme de lettres, have looked on tbe mere technical employment of " polite letter- writer " ai something degrading to his genius, and derogatory to tiie high aspirings of intellect ; as clogging the wings of fancj, and impeding the lofty flights of lyricid enthusiasm ? There may be something in this surmise, yet it is far firom affording a satisfactory explanation of the matter. The case, I appie> hend, admits of reasoning drawn from analogy. PiirpiB held some such ministerial appointment at the Sicilian court of HiEBO, yet he soared unshackled into the aerial regions with undiminished buoyancy, fixing on the effulgent source of poetic inspiration an eagle gaze that neyer faltered. Old John Milton was " Latin seeretaty^^ to the copper-noeed usurper at Whitehall, yet what spirit like his could

" Tempt, with wandering feet, \

The dark, uufathomed, infinite abyss ; And through the palpable obscure find out His uncouth way r or waft his airy flight. Upborne on indefifttigable wings ?

Tasso had an epistolary engagement in the household of Este, at Eerrara ; Yida did the duties of a Boman canom* cate, and held a Tusculan prebend at the hands of Leo X Racine occupied the post of " historiographer " to the Grand Monarque; Addison and Prior, Chateaubriand and Petrarch, have been each in his day members of the " eorpi diplomatique,^* without suffering any detriment in their im** ginations and poetic faculties. But of all the of&cial minis- trations which have brought literary men in contact with courts and sovereigns, no two more similar positions could be instanced than those relatively occupied by Voltaire at Pots- dam, and (had he chosen to accept) oy Horace in the palace of Augustus. It is true, that the witty French infidel occa sionally complained of being compelled to revise and retouch the poetic effusions of Frederick — " Je lave le linge sale de sa majestS ;'* and it would appear that the Boman emperor had a similar mania for trying his hand at versification, aa

TUE BONOS OF tlORACE. 413

teventl hesBmeter I'rftginents stiil extant eeem to iadicnte : henco no doubt he intended to avail hiniBelf of our poef a fa- cility and good nature to introduce certain metrical graces I into the dull routine of imperial correspondence. Certain -a, that (anuff, brandy, obscene jokes, and blasphemy, rt) the petiu touper) of Potedam might be not inaptly tnpared to the noetes eamtqur deim enacted of old on Uount Palatine.

But I do not believe that the repugnance of Horace to Bie proposed arrangement had its ongin in any fear of stul- lifyiiig bis inventive powers, or dimming hia poetic percep- aODB m the apprehended drudgery of nn amanuensis. Nei- Ktfaer, as I said liefore, do I concur ia the supposition that L4f>wapigbt indolence — arrant sloth — kept him m such hobi- 'lual thraldom that he could not musl*r energy sufficient for mdertaking the functions of secretary. To vindicate him "im the charge of yielding to imbecile lethargy, of suc- inbing in utter incapability of all strenuous effort, need I »li the historical fact of his hadug been Belected to take __ mmand of a regiment in perilous times, days of iron ^ertion ?

" Cim mlAi parerel tri/iu RomUMi Iriiuno." Sal. L6.

feTeed I iiutaQce the further proof of his business habits and "hrldly capacity, afforded us by the well-authenticated eir- metnnce of his having held, and duly discharged, the mportaat office of commissioner of the public revenue "■ t fmsilorius), somewhat equivalent to tne attributions , in a subsequent age, were deemed the fittest to occupy B abilities of Eobeht Bttrns, " poet and exciseman"- — (not to apeak of one Wordsworth, distributor of etamps in Cum- berland) ? Need 1 observe, in corroboration of all the other evidences which prove his willingness to work, that he nt 1 time of his life went through the moat wearisome anil ■ iBborioUB of all the hard taaks to which flesh ia heir — the f (Towning drudgery of all human toils — that of earning hia ^ 1 by acribblement and veraemongery ?

^' PauperlBB impulit audox Ut Tereus fnccwm." 1, when they hate a man with uncommon abhorrence,

414 TATHSB PBOUT's BSLIQUSS.

are said to driye him to the profession of schoolmaster : but a pedagogue may *' go further" into the depths of miflerj, and *' &re worse," should he be tempted to worry his biaim (rov Mvir) in gathering intellectual samphire-^

" Dreadful trade !"

This is the true reading of a fragmentary passage from Ea- ripides, which is often misquoted :

Orav it Aaifimv avdpi irpotfvvif koku Tov vow itXaypt irp^rov,

Jncertm Trag., publ, by BaskeS.

What our poet endured in passing through that expiatoiy stage of his chequered existence we can only conjecture, ai he barely alludes to it. He had long since arrived at the enjoyment of a moderate competence, and if he still courted the Muses and indulged " in numbers," it was (like Pope)

" Because the numbers came."

Having thus fully acquitted Horace of a propensity to idleness, it is time to state my own view of the cause whicb operated in producing the rejection of so tempting an offer as that conveyed by letter to the poet, " from the highest quarter," through the instrumentality of Maecenas. Fully to understand the delicacy of mind and the sensitive feelings of honour he evinced on this occasion, it is perhaps expe- dient to recapitulate anterior occurrences.

Horace, by the mere circimistance of birth, could scarcely claim admittance into what we call the middle class of so* ciety.* His father was a freedman of Pompet's house, and, on his emancipation from service in that distinguished fiwnily, had set himself up in trade as a crier, or collector, at public auctions : a social position, need I add, far from equalling the splendid rank held in modem times by George Bobins of Covent Garden. He was, however, an old man of considerable sagacity ; and to him, much pondering on the unsettled state of the political horizon, there appeared no reason why he should not look out for the chances of

* He was not ashamed to own it :

^Ego pauperum $angui9 ^ren/um."~ Ode iL 20, 6.

I soyas c

445

tising up hia dynasty in the luidet of the coming coDfuBion.

_ Wherefore to the education of Iiia only son, Flaceus — rather

K nmart buy for his age — he devoted all his earuinga and

nergies, so as to fit him for the very highest fiuictiona of

tbe Btate, should fortune turn favourable. He accordingly

MKnt him to the tip-top school of the day— the Eton or Har.

jwow of Home, kept by one Orbiliua " for a select number of

f the young nobility and gentry." Kor haa Uorai^e omitted

I gratefully to record the pains and trouble which the worthr

Y principal of this academy bestowed on his studies j though

[ ne jocosely applies to him now and then the endearing epi-

I ttet of "plagoaut," and is Huppoaed by the German philolo-

est, Wollf, to have drawn liis portrait in the well-known

jGiies about Death :

ing exhausted, at the age of twenty, ol] the stock of infpnnulion posseBsed by Orliihus, his excellent father, be- grudging no expense, and securely calculating on a full re- turn for the capital invested in so hopeful a son, now sent htm to Athens, where Philosophy still sauntered in the ffhady walks of Acadeiaus, and ^\'iadom yet held forth from the porch of Zeno. Here was congregated all the young blood of £ome ; the promising scions of every noble house were allowed to grow up in the genial sunshine of Greece: Athena was the faahionable univei-sity. The youthful ac- quaintances formed here by Horace were, naturally enough, selected from the partisans and supporters of Pomfet ; silch aa young Plancua, Messala, Varus, fiibulus, Cicero (son of the orator), and all that set. What a delightful and interests ing picture it were to contemplate the development. In these •rdent breasts, of genius, passion, patriotism, and all the workings of the Homan soul ; to not« the aspirings of each gallant spirit ; to watch the kindling of each generous emo- tign, fanned into a blaze by the recollections of Grecian renown and the memorials of bygone glory ! Nor were it a leas curious study to observe tCe contrast of Roman and Athenian mannera in this refined and intellectual city, at once frivolous and profound, si-r vile and enthusiastic; the pvent of Pericles, Phidias, and Phocion, yet nursing numo>

446

FATHER PROITT S RELIQCES.

roua and genuine specimens of the Bycophant &nd the ■ phist, to all appearance equally indigeDuus in ttie ioil with the hero and the eage.

Dwelling with fondneaB on this young eolonv of i Btudente, imagination revels in the vision of their joyous uu animated intercourse ; fancy follows them through their ptu suits of science or of pleasure, tlieir reveries of Stoic 01 Epicurean phUosophy — (for Paul hod not yet astounded tit Areopagus with the ojinoun cement of Sevelation) — ciJa dreams, not unmixed with Kpeciilations on the symptoms a important ehonge, already but too manifest in the politid BVatem of the mother-country. Of a sudden, the news t OiBBar'a murder in the senate-house burst on the quiet lei> sure of these pleasant hours ; and, to add to the eicit«iDso' the arrival at Athena of Brutcs himself, fresh glowing ftoi the deed of antique stoicism, communicated an irreeistihll impulse to the cause, and sent an electric shock through tl veina of each young Pompeias. Loud was the aoclaim, si warm the weleome, with which Horace and his circle hai' the asserter of the rights and priTileges of the Soman a) tocFBcy : for thia, en paiaant, is the true light in which tfa hero of the ides of March should be considered by thai who wish to nnderatand the actuating motivea and politia views of that period. An army waa to be organised i * haste ; and high must have been the opinion of our p personal intrepidity and skill, when Brutus did not hnitst to place him at once at the head of a reoiment : the poi of " military trlhune" being equivalent to the functions 4 colonel in our modem army-lists.

Here, then, we have the pupil of the " polu-flog-boyo Orbi/ius, gallantly aciwutred, unflinchingly erect in the n of a LEGION, forming one of the "sta^' in an army I 100,000 men, who were soon to meet an equal numbtr a the disastrous plains of Philippi. It waa the laat effort ( the expiring constitution ; the last bold stand made by tli confederated nobility, the Cavaliere of Home, af^oinst tb odious idol of Democracy embodied m the Tnumvimtt Several years suhae^juently, in a drinking-song alluding t thia battle, he chargra himsrlf with the baseat cowardice describing his conduct as that of a runaway, who fluq JtmipBaek, be\t, ani ViiicWftt to he foremost iu the fligt

I

THE 80KBS (

I

wiien sauee gu! peti/ was tlie cry. But we may safely look

on t}ie avowal as merely one of moek modesty, mejuit to be

taken rvm i/rano»aU»: especiaUy aa the bacchanalian Bong

in qaeatiou was addreesed to one of the young Pompetb

L {Pomp. Groipk.), before whom he wouJd be loath to stultify

Lor stigmatise himself by such a statement, if intended to be

lUcen Uterolly. We may confidently assert, in the ab»eQce

|f erery other testimony but Lis own, that he behaved with

"roper courage on the occa^don ; and for this reason, tie. no

~ e likes to joke on matters in which he is conscious of defi-

Joe Hume, for instance, never ventures a witticism

n the Greek loon.

[ The results of the campaign are well known. Beutvb »de away with himself with stoic consistency ; but a nura- )f his lieutenants — BiBCtra, his brother-in-law, Mes- ^ Plahccb, and many others, with 14,000 of the troops, Ikpitulated, and made their submission t<i the triumvirs. A few years after, JlesBflla fought at Aetium, under the banner of Octavius, and is reported to have exclaimed in the hearing of Antony's antagonist, " /( ii erer tnt/ dealing lo bear armi at Ike tide on which justice and honour are arrayed." A Baying equally indicative of Messala's free spoken intrepidity, ana the tolerating high-inindednesH of the emperor who could listen without chiding or diapleaeure.

Horace followed the esample of those whom he had known at Athens in the intimacy ot earlv youth, when attachments are strongest, and the ties of indissoluble friendBfaip are moBt effectually formed. But in this tacit adhesion to the new order of things, old feefings and long-cherished opi- nions weJ« not readily got rid of. The Jacobites could not yet divest themselves of a secret antipathy to the house of Hanover. There still eiisted, among most of them, a sort of Bulky reluctance to fraternise with the government, oi' accept its favour, or incur auy obligation irreconcilable with the proud susceptibility of patrician independence.

It becomes obvious, from this brief expoic', that for H-orai'e to accept a situation in the household of Augustus, would be tantamount on his nart to a complete apostacy from oil his old familiar friendship, and a formal renunciation of all Bi-otiaintanceship among the numerous surviving partisans of Pompey. Every one who recollects the abuse ijoured <mt

448 7ATHEB PSOXTT's BELIQTTBB.

on Burke (in his capacity of goyemment-penBioner), from the foul organs of Holland House, i^ill understand the an- nojance to which our poet would have subjected himself had he yielded to the proposal of the emperor. Besides, he possessed a becoming share of national pride ; and was un- willing to barter the &ee sentiments of his mind, and their honest expression, for emoluments and functions which would give to any support his writings might afford the established dynasty a semblance of yemdity, stamping him as a mere mercenary character. The friendBhip of Miecenai had procured for him the restoration of some confiscated property which his father had acquired, but which had be- come forfeited by the part he had taken in the civil war: this was the " Sabine farm *' Presents and yaluable bene- factions had flowed on him from the same munificent source, but perfect equality and reciprocal esteem were the terms on which the patron and poet lived towards each other. No wonder, then, that the letter of Augustus failed to se- duce him from tlie table of Maecenas, on the Esquiline Hill, to a secretary's duties, and accompanying golden shackles, on Mount Palatine.

Such is the simple explanation of an othervnse yery ex- traordinary passage in the life of Horace. Viewed in this light, his reluctance would appear perfectly justifiable, and would seem to evince sound judgment, as well as a delicate sense of honour. I happen to have some very particular reasons, which it is unnecessary to specify, for dwelling on the conduct here described ; and having, I trust, put the matter in its proper light, I now return to my hermeneutic labours.

We are informed by Strabo (lib. xvi.), that in the year 730 U.C., the emperor decided on sending out an army, un- der the command of Gallus, to conquer Arabia Felix, the " land of Hus." This country, by all accounts, sacred and profane (see Isaiah, cap. Ix., et passim), seems to have been celebrated for its treasure and renowned for its luxury, though very little traces remained a few centuries after of either riches or civilization : at the present day it is literally "as poor as Job." Such, however, were the ideas enter- tained at Home of this El Dorado of the East, that thousands enrolled theinaelve^ under e standard of Qallus, in the

f

liopes of making a. rapid fortune from the flpoila of tlie Arabe. Tlie eipeditiou proved a wretdiej failure. One Iccics. however, was among the deluded Bpeculatore, who joined it through aheer eagerneaa for pillage : he §old a cupital iaw-lihrarv, to purchase an outfit and a commission in the newly -raifled reg^iments. Ilia ahandonment of protes- sioDa! pursuits for a militafy engagement was the laughter of all Kome, and Horace heartily eujoyed the geoeral merri- ment. Such was the occasion which provoked the following witty and pohahed remonstrance, addressed to the warlike lawyer :

I

Ode XXIX. — the aiOB tdbred soldibb. Ajb — " One bumpor nf parting."

Tlie trophifa of war, and Ihe plunder, leci, beitii nimc

Have fired s p)iiloBop!ier'« breoBt — Arabum inTides

Bo, IcciUH. 70a march (mid tlie wonder Oaiis, et bcthid

or all) for AnbU the blest. Mibtinm piras

Full iu», whan 'tis told to tbe Penian, Kon ante dliictia

That yuu have abandoned jour home, Sabieffl

He'll foe! the ftill force of eoereion, Eegibui, hor-

And strike lo the baDoetii of Borne '. ribilique Medo

Wh«t ohipf shall Ton ranquieh iind fetti<r? TSecta aaleniig.

What capUie sholl ciall jon hen lord f Ho<T Boon may the rriDJdea fi^rgel her

Betrotli^ benn doitn b; jour «wordP Wlia! striplinit has lanrj appointed,

From oil timt their palaceg hold, To teric jon with ringlets anointed,

And hand joa the goblet of gold ?

His arts to jonr pastime contribute,

His forei^ at^complishmeatH shew, And, taught bir his parent, eiliibit

His dexterous use of the bow. — Wlio doubts that tlie Tiber, in cholvr.

Kaf , bunting all borneri and bars. Plow bock to its BOUTDe, when a aeholar

Decerta to the standard of Mara ?

When yau, the reeevred and the prudtnt,

Wbota Socratofi hoped 'o eugnge. Can merge in the soldier tlie student,

And mar thus an emiryo sage —

virginum,

Barbara serriet 7

Puer quia ex aul3

Capilhs

Ad cjathum

Ststuctur unctis,

DoetUB sagittal Trndcre Sericas Arcu polemo ? Quis ueget arduis ProiioB relabi Poase rivos Uontibus, et Tiborito rirerti,

Quum tu

Utidique I Libroe Panwli

450

7ATHEB PSOUT'B BZLIQUX8.

Bid the Tirioos of soienoe to Taniflh, And barter yon erudite hoard

Of Tohimes from Ghceeoe for a Spaniflh CuiraBB, and the pen for a tword f

Matare knioia Iberia, PoUidtus Melioi% tflodiaF

The '' Spanish** cuiraBS would seem to indicate that the peninsida was, so far back as the Augustan age, renowned for its iron manufactures. The blades of Toledo kept op, during the middle ages, the credit of Spain for industry uid skill in this department. Likewise, in the craft of jAommA- m^, the town of Cordoya shone pre-eminent : nor did the hero of that ilk, GK>nBalve tie Cordoue, confer on it greiter celebrity than its leathern glories; as the English word cwrdwameTy and the French term, cordonnier, still testify. In an old MS. of the Ejng's Library, Paris (marked Q.)} e monkish scholiast has made a marginal observation on this ode to Iccius, which is highly characteristic of cloister cri- ticism : — '' Horatius reprehendit quemdam qui sua CLEBICILU OFFiciA mutat pro ndlitaribus armis :" — a clerk who could sell his " office-book," or breviary ^ for a suit of armour, was as- suredly a fit subject for the poet*s animadversion. It is to be regretted that the same worthy commentator did not continue his glossary throughout ; as, for instance, what might he not discover in the next morceau ?

Ode XXX. — the dedication op olygeba's chapel.

Am—" The Bojne water.**

AD VZKKaiM.

O Venus ! Queen of Cyprus isle,

Of Paphos and of Gnidus, Hie from thy favourite haunte awhile,

And make abode amid ub ; Olyoera's altar for thee smokes.

With frankincense sweet-smelling — Thee, while the charming maid invokes.

Hie to her lovely dwelling !

Let yon bright Boy, whose hand hath grasped

LoTe*8 blazing torch, precede thee, While gliding on, with sone unclasped,

The sister Ghraces lead thee : Nor be thy Nymph-attendants missed :

Nor can it narm thy court, if Hebe the youthful swell thy list,

With Mercury tke sportive.

O Venus I Begins Ghiidi, Paphiqoe Speme diiectam Qrpron, et vocantis Thure te multo Glyoens Deooram Transfer in sdem.

Fervidus tecum Puer, et solutis GratisD sonis Properentoue Nymphc, Et parum comia Sine te JuventM, Merouriuaqiieb

a OF EoaACB.

ist Daeier says, in his own dry way : " On ne doit pas r qu' Horace mette Mercure A la suite de Viniu; cela rpfi^ue aiseviert .'"

bus, in the year u.c. 726, according to Dion (53. 1.), «mple to ApoUo on Mount Palatine, to which be lesed a splendid library, much spoken of under aubee- mt emperors. The ceremony of its consecration appears e called forth as many "addresses" as the re-opening ary Lane Theatre, in the heyday of Horace Smith : i]y has been preserved to posterity. Here is the Eo- I laureate's efiusion, replete vith dignified and philo- C Bentimente, expressed in the noblest language :

I Que XSXt. — the dedication of apollo's tempi-e.

AlB — " Iietbia luth ■ beaming eye."

m the bsrd in wonhip, low Ift bcfbre hid liegv Apollo, le the Ted UtMtions Bow PVom the goblet'* golden hollow, CWn je gniBH hii aruon ?

Qui it be for " gnun" be uketh — Udlow grain, thet in the Btm Cvr SonUnis'i bosom bukcth ?

The fiitlest herd of kjne L Xhat o'er Calabrian pasture ranges — Ib0 wealth of India's richest mine — f Hie Ivory of Ihe distant Qanges? ■o — the»e be not the poet's dronn — [^ Kor acres broad to roam Ht large in,

■e loiy Liris, silent stream, [ Blow undermtnes the meadow'* msj'gin.

M Undlonl of a wide domaia I Hjif gather his Ounptuiiaii rintage, Ba Tentnnnu trader uount his gain — PI omet not his ric4i per eentage ; D for the merobaiidiie he sold la the balance he relied on,

i:ups of gold, le with Xyre sua Sidon V

Tales ? Quid orat,

De patera novum

Pimdea hquorem ?

Nod opimn

Sardiniie

Hon lestuosai Gisla Calahrin Arments., non auruni Aut ebur Indicum, Non rura, qu» Liris quiett

Mordet aquft, Tacibimiu amnie.

Falce, quibus diodit Fortuna, vitem i Dives et aured*

siocet culnllis TinaSyi*

452

7ATHEB PB0UT*8 BELIQUBS.

Each year upon ike watery waste,

Let him proToke the fierce Atlantio Four separate times — ... I hare no taste

For speculation so gigantic. The gods are kind, the gain superb ;

But, haply, I can feast in quiet On salad of some homely herb,

On frugal fruit and ohre diet.

Oh, let Latona's son but please

To guarantee me health's enjoyment ! The goods he gave — the fiiculties

Ofwhich he daims the full employment ; Let me live on to good old age,

No deed of shame my pillow haunting, Calm to the last, the closing stage

Of life : — nor let the lyre be wanting !

IKs cams ipos; Quippe ter et quater Anno reriseiu .£quor Atlanticom Tmpune. Me Pascunt oUtc, Me cichorea Levesque malve.

Fruiparatis

£t Talido mihi,

Latoe, dones ;

At, precor, integri

Cum mente.

Nee turpem senectam

Degere neo Cithar& carentem.

The following stanzas would seem to form a sort of intro- ductory flourish, or preamble ; and, in the opinion of Father Sanadon, were intended as a musicid overture to the Carmen Saculare, In it, Horace calls the lyre a te$tudo ; and tells us that Jupiter never dined without an accompaniment of the kind : ^^Dapibus supremi grata testudo Jovis.** My friend, William Jerdan, thinks, nevertheless, that ^^Jine lively turtle" is of far greater acceptance, on festal occasions, than a mere empty tortoise-shell.

Ode XXXII.

LD LTRAM.

Poscimur...Siquidyacui8ubimibr& Liberum, et Musas, Yeneremqa^ Lusimus tecum, quod et hunc in an> et iUi

num Semper hierentem puerum canebst,

Virat et plures, age, die Latinum, Et Lycam nigris oculis, nigroque Barbitc, carmen, Crine decoram.

Lesbio primum modulate civi ; O decus Phcebi, et dapibus supremi

Qui, ferox belle, tamen inter anna, Gb*ata testudo JoTis ! o laborum

Sire jactatam religarat udo Dulce lenimen, mihi cumque sal^e Litore navim. Rite vocanti !

AX OCCASIONAJi PRELUDE OF THE POET TO HIS 80NG8. AiE — " Dear harp of my coimtry."

They have called for a lay that for ages abiding. Bids Echo it« music through years to prolong ;

Then wake, Latin lyre ! Since my country t^kes pride in Thy wild native harmony, wake to my song.

I

Twaa Alesiu, r miiutTel of Oreece, vho flnt m&rned The toniu of tba voice lo the tlirill of tha chard ;

O'op the wsvea of the sea the lorad sjmbol ho corned, Ncr relinquiihed the tyre tiiough be wielded the eword.

Qaj BoeehuB, the Uo>o>, vitli Cupid he dinnl^ — The boy who accomjuniiu Venus the fnir —

And he told o'or again how for Ljoa he pnmed.

With her bonnj black e;c« and her dork floning hair.

'Tie the pride of Apollo — he glories to rank it. Amid hiB bright attribulea, foremost of all :

'Tia the solooo of life '. Even Jore to his banquet InTitea thee ! — O lyre 1 over wnko lo mj call.

1 do not admit the nest ode to be geDuine. The elegiaw Ifoet, TibiiDuB, to whom it is mBcribed, died very youog I ^twenty-sis) ; and, bosideB, was too great a favourite of the I'ladies to have such lines as these addressed to him:

Albi, nc doleas, Pliu lumic memor JmniitiB Gljcerte, Beu miiBrabileB DecoDte* elegoe, Cur tibi j UDior L»A prceaiteat fldo, Ik.

Be not istonlBhed, dear Tibnllua, ITial Geklo Komen jilt and gull ii« ! Ceaie to write " rltgiti," bsmoaning Qlyoera's falsehood — idlj groaning That thou in her ealeem hast lunl^ or That ehe prefera a roaring yoimker. K. T. X.

I consequently diamias it to its appropriate place amid 1 the Jpocrypka.

It ia a remarkable fact, though overlooked by most bis- toriaiu, that the "Eeformation" originated in a clap of thunder. A German student waa so terrified by the Dolt (which killed his comrade) tbat he turned monk, and, having had originally no vocation for that quiet craft, afterwards

k broke out, naturally enough, into a polemical agitator. Ho- race was nearly converted by the same electric process as Luther. Ex. yr. .■

454

7ATHXB PB0Xnr*8 BXLIQITIS.

Odb XXXIY.-'-thb post's oomrxBsioB.

AD iSIPBinf.

I, whom ihe Gods had found a client, Barely with pious rites oompliant, At Unbelief disposed to nibble, And pleased with every sophist quib- ble— I, whohad deemed great Jore a phantom, Now own my errors, and SBOAirr 'em !

Have I not lived of late to witness, Athwart a sky of passing brightness. The Gk>d, upon his oar of thunder. Cleave the calm elements asunder? And, through the firmament careering. Level his bolts with aim unerring ?

Then tremUed Earth with sudden shiver;

Then quaked with fear each mount and river;

Stunned at the blow, Hell reeled a mi- nute.

With all the darksome caves within it ;

And Atlas seemed as he would totter

Beneath his load of land and water !

Parous Beorum Cultor et infreqiUDS,

Dum si^ientuB Consulttts erro, nunc lutiortuui Vela dare, atqoe itenneiff- sua

Oogor reUotoa. Namque Diespttsr,

Igni oomaoo Kubila dividens Plerumque, per purum t<»aatei Egit equos, volncremqiM currum.

Quo bruta teUus, Et vaga fluminay

Quo Styx^ et invisi Horrida Taenari Sedes, Atlantesque finis Concutitur. Valet ima summis

Yes I of a God I hail the guidance ; Mutara, et insignflm

The proud are humbled at his bid- Attenuat Deus,

Gumoe ; Obscura promena.

Forfime, his handmaid, now uplifting Hinc apicem rmg^K

Monarchs, and now the sceptre shifting, Fortuna cum stridore aew^

With equal proof his power evinces, Sustulit, bio posuisse gao-

WhethcT she raise or ruin Princes. det.

Here is a specimen of the poet's more elevated manner^ a sample of his grander style of composition. He inYokes the smile of Fortune on two impending enterprises of the emperor : one an expedition to Arabia, cooiposed of new recruits (concerning which, see the first ode of^this decade) ; and, secondly, an excursion to Britain. Napoleon would call the first, '' VJrmie de V Orient ;" and the other, '* VArmk (T Angleterre" Both were intended rather to diYertpublic attention from politics than for real conquest. Horaoe^ however, appears quite in earnest.

r

I OS HORACE,

Ode XXXV. — as auukkss to roBTiri

Fortune, whose pillared temple crown

Cape An tiumU jutting din. Whose smiles eoaler euFceaa, nhoae

Can change Our triiimphi briaf I To fiinerali— for life bulii lie at I The mercy of thj BOiereign flnt.

Tbkk, Qoddeu ! ia his fervent prayers, Fondly the &ugal farmer courti ;

The marmpT, before he dores

Umnoor bin bark, (o TUEI resorts —

That th; kind faiour maj continue, — To blflas hia Tojsgfl to Bilhyuia.

||Sude Dacia's clans, wild Sojtliia's hordes —

Abroad— at home — all worship thkbI I And mothers of barbsriaa Lonis,

And piirfJed (jnints, bend Ibo knee before tbj shrine, O Maid ! who wemest "o rule mankind with power supremeat,

c's piUarrd pride t Dash to the dust with scornful foot- it Tumult, bent on re^cide,

it djUBstj uproot ; Hien maddened orowda, with Fiends

O Diva, OrataiD

QuK regis Anlium,

Prtesens Tel imo

Tollrrc de gradu

Mortole corpus, Tel superbo*

Vertere funeribiis triuinphos,

Te pauper ambit Sollieila prece

Burie colonuB ; Te dominam equoris,

aBithyna

Carpathium peiagus ca

Te Dacus BBper,

To profugi 8c;th»,

Purpur

metuunt t jraoni.

oLead'e

Ji thetu

ic at freedom !

lnjuno.o Ne pede proruas

Sfauitem columnam ; Nmi populus frequeuB Ld anna cessantffS ad arma Concitet, imperiumque frwi'

} XoiB item necessity leads on, Loaded with attributes of awe I And graiping, grim automaton,

Brooxe wedgea in liis iron claw, Frqtared with sledge to drive the bolt in. Ana aeal it fast with lead that's molten.

TheeHope adores.- In enow.whit«To*l, Fidelity (though seldom found)

OUngi to her li^e, and loviw him best, Wtien dangers threat and ills sur-

IB liini poor, despoiled, imprinoned, than with gold and gems bedii-

Qestans aena.

Uncus abei

ph

italbo

Bera Fides cc

TeUta panno, Nee comitem abnegat, Uleuuque mutata potentes \t»ie domoB inimica lioquia.

456

FATHER PBOirr'S SBLIQVE8.

Not so the fickle crowd ! — Kot so At mlgus wIMimt

The purohftBed Beautj, sure to fly Et meretnx retro

Where all our boon companions go, Peijura cedit ;

Soon as the cask of joy runs diy : Diffligiunt cadis

Round us the Spring and Summer Cum feoe siccatb amiei,

brought *em — Ferre jugnm pariter ddoa.

They leave ub at the close of Autumn !

C{)f draper.

Gk>ddess ! defend, from dole and harm,

Ceesar, who speeds to Britain's camp!

And waft, of Home's glad youtli, the

swarm

Safe to where first Apollo's lamp

Shines in the East — the brare whose

fate is To war upon thy banks, Euphrates !

Oh ! let our country's tears expunge From history's page those years ab- horr'd, When Roman hands could reckless plunge. Deep in a brother's heart, the sword; When Guilt stalked forth, with aspect

hideous, With erery crime and deed perfidious ;

When Sacrilege and Frenzy urged To violate each hallowed fane. —

Oh ! that our falchions were reforged, And purified from sin and shame ; —

Then— turned against th' Assyrian foe- man —

Baptised in exploits truly Boman !

flntu^tropl^e.

Serves itonmi Cnsarem in ultimot Orbis Britannos, Et juvenum reoeni Examen Eois timendnm Partibus, Ooeanoque rabro.

Eheu! cicatricum Et soeleris pudet

Fratrumque. Quid nos Dura refugunus ^tas ? Quid intactum neCtfti Liquimus ? Unde manum juventuB

Metu Deorum Continuit ? Quibus

Pepercit aris P O utinam nova Incude defingas retusum in Massagetas Arabasque fis^ rum!

The unaffected simplicity of the next song, and the kindlr warmth of affection it bespeaks, are highly creditable to the poet's heart. The " gentle Lamia'* has already figured in

Ode XXXVI. — a welcome to vvuibjl,

AD PLOTHTK KUIODAJC.

Bum frankincense ! blow fife Et thare et fidibus juvaft

A merry note ! — and quick devote Placare. et vituli

A victim to the knife, Sanguine debito

* See last decade.

■CUE SOSOS OF llOBACE. ;

[ To Ihink the gUBrdiiui powers Cualod« Numidee Deoa,

li^ from Sjwn— lioinr oaoe agiiiii> Qui Dunc, Hespuni

ia g&lkat friend of ours. iiaepeg ^b ultiioi,

1^ Dear to u« bU 1 Tctov . IX fairly boiut — his friondship m [ Oh, Ain be doats upon !

Cu-is inului eodulibus, Diiidil OBCulo,

Mulatoqtie aiinu] to^. CfchA ne cartat Pulclira dioB noil ;

Neu promptdF modus smpliorBB,

Sit roquies pedum.

The gentlo Lamia, whom, Longuiedtosbnre — each BthooIdaycai«, He kned ui bojhood'a bloatD.

One da; on both ''onfemd

1 The garb of men — this dnj, again.

Let n " white chalk" record.

^nicn aend the wine-jar round, LnH bhthet; keep— the " Saliau" alop [ With auDjr a mirtliful bound.

lOW come to a political aquib of loud iclnl and daz-

iDg brilliancy. How lie eiulta in the downfall of an an-

tmational confederacy ! How he revels in the dastard An- tony's discomfiture ! The cowardice and effeminacy of the Ifttter ore not poaitively deecribed, but cannot fail to strike UB at once (as they did the contemporary public), by the forcible contrast with Cleopatra's intrepidity. This ill-fated queCD receives due honour from the poet, who shews that he can appreciate a daring spirit even in an enemy. To my

«ion I have annexed Tie/or iftfifo'* celebrated French translation, as sung at the Pnrle SI. Martin with rapturous Kiplatise, in his CUopalre, Traj/ijie, par VAuteur de Marie iWor.

Htw Int Iha jirlgita, idfU °r NaiDi'n rimm,

sptiiii in«iB.-h«Bt.,

1 k»p am iltu bjUiliuilt

458

FATHSB PBOUT'b BSLIQITES.

While EvTpt't qaeen Vcwed to erase (fond womui I)

Rome's walls, and e'en The very name of Homan !

airt with a hand Of craTen-hearted minions.

Her march she planned Through Caasar's broad dominions !

with visions sweet Of coming conquest flattered ;

When, lo ! her fleet Agrippa fired and scattered !

While Ciesar left

Sfor time nor space to rally : Of all bereft

—All, save a single galley- Fain to escape

When fate and mends forsook her. Of Egypt's grape

She quaffed the maddening liquor;

And turned her hack On Italy's fair region ;— -*

When soara the hawk So flies the timid pigeon ;

So flies the hare, Pursned by Scythia's hunter,

O'er fallows bare. Athwart the snows of winter.

The die was cast. And chains she knew t'await her;—

Queen to the last, She spumed the foeman's fetter;

Nor shelter sought In hidden harboura meanly ;—

Nor feared the thought Of death— but met it queenly !

Untaught to bend. Calm 'mid a tottering palace—

'Mid scenes that rend Weak woman's bosom, callous —

Her arm could grasp The writhing snake ; nor waver,

While of the asp It drank the venomed slaver 1

Grim Death unawed She hailed with secret rapture,

Glad to defraud Rome's galleys of a capture I

And, haughty dame. Scorning to live, the agent

Of regal shame, To grace a Roman pageant !

Uegtna Dementes nxinas

Funns et Imperio parabat,

Contaminaio Cum grege tnrpium Morbo Tiromm, Quidlibet impotent Sperare, fortnni- que dulci Ebria. Bed Minuit fiirorem

Viz una soepes Navis ab ignibuK, Mentemque lymphft- tam Mareotico

Redegit in Veros timores

Cassar, ab Italia volantem

Bemis adurgens, Accipiter velut Molles eolumbaa, Aut leporem citns

Venator in Campis nivalis

Homonia, Daret ut catenis

Fatale monstmm ; QuB generosius Perire qunrans Nee muiiebriter Expavit ensem, Neelatentes Classecit4 Reparavit eras.

Ausaetjaoeniem Visere regiam Vnltn sereno, Fortis et asperas Traetare serpentea. Utatrum Gorpore com- biberet venenum,

Deliberati Morte feroeior ; Snvis Libumis Scilicet invidens Private deduci Superbo Non hnmilis Mnlier tiiampha

(M^)

Sane/ au9emt

SeOvn; C/mtr myrmd

A suiurt p-^" Btte^ «M /u]/iBaU

Du9mdeabard$At

Son aUe^emai

Sti prc>u, CiMor, atjcmr

Dejoy SmrToUam

vogwatt {hn*.)

Lots eUe^ part

Pro9erit€, Fbce Knreyari

TaeiU oMF 9(M potgnarif

Slipnltt Tout etpoirdCt- <happ€r. ha)

VoUmiaiihai

Sontr&ne, San* qne k eaa

V (tonne; Sant fme ton bras

Fntonne Unserpent jr

/ (K».)

Btpareawiart

Etqnive lyentrtv an port

Coptim; AimtiU tort

Vomtprwe Romauu/ ^wtfttae riffolt (Wa)

Directions for supper are appropriately given in the con- cluding ode of the book : thev are short and significant. I think I maj now call for a nresh tumbler mjaelf. MoUj ! bring me tne ^^ materiaU !^*

THE SONGB OF HORACE

159

Ode XXSTIII. — last ode of book thi fibst. it> MuttsTBTnt. tintscnosa ton iutpkb.

odi, pncr, appuratui ; St nei« pluIjrB corn-

81**e I for tn;> hait, in humUe grot Let Fereia'a pomp* be all fbrgot i With twiningE ETw-lands worry not

Th; wear; Gagem, Bor heed in what Becludod spot

The kit roBe lingers.

Let but » modeal iriTrtio-wreatb,

Id grawful guiM. our temples eheaihe —

Hot tliOD nor I augbt clue herewith

Displirt

Uitte eectari, roes quo lD«iruni Skts moretur.

Simplici mjrto nihil allabom BeduluHcurv^ neo tenioletruin Dedeoet injrrtug, neque me sub

Vile bibentem.

I

THE SONGS OF HOEACE.

DECADE THE FIFTH.

"BTL ADMIRiRI propo res est una Numioi Sohiqae qiue possit hixre et ■erraro beatum."

Hoa., Hi. /., ^M. VI. "Sot TO Anxnv ii aB Iht art J ItniMii

To nuie men htppy. and to knp IJim so ' —

Plain tmth, drar Murray, needs no Qowers of speech :

So take it in the rcry words of Cbeecb,"

ForE'B ^iillt to Lord MatufiebL

" But, had aona admired. Would Pom hayo sang, or HouiCE been inspired ?... Oad ! I must bbj I ne'er could bm the Tery Qreat A^wnei) of Uits'NIL ABHIBASl'"

Byboh, Juan, Canlo V., st. 100 A 101.

Sj the Bentiment aougbt to be conveyed by the deepest moralist, as well ae the eweetert Bongster of Eome, be cor- rectly given " in the words of Creech," we must confesB our utWr inability to comprehend, and our decided repugnance to adopt it : for, in the catalogue of pleaaiuTible Benaations irhioh help to make li& endurable, we should place in tho

460 TATHEB FBOITT*S B£LIQU£S.

very hi£;be8t rank that delightful and exalted feeling which in psychology is termed admibatton. We hold the legitimate indulgence of that faculty to constitute a most refined species of intellectual enjoyment — ^not the less to be prized, for that the objects which call it forth happen to be scaroe, and that opportunities are seldom afforaed of yielding up the sold to its delightful influence. Other and opposite emotions can be felt at every hand's turn. Take, for ex- « ample, those of pity or coktempt. Fit objects of com- passion abound. Laughteb, also, may be enjoyed at a cheap rate.* " Boz" wields (and long may he nourish it!) an indefatigable pen ; £eeve is come back ; and our old favourite, Brougham, is busy bottling up a rich stock of buffoonery qua mox depromat among the Lords. But admi- BATiOK bides her time : her visits, angelic fashion, are few and far between. Yet is her presence ever sure to be felt while calm philosophy, pellucid reason, and patriot elo- quence, flow from the lips of Lrif dhijbst.

In literature, we are accused of being over-fastidious ; for- asmuch as, perhaps, as we value our admiration too highly to* lavish it on every passing scribbler. The North Amerien Review is here peculiarly amusing. In its October number, just received, and now lying in our waste-paper box, much comical indignation is vented on Oliveb YoBKE,for slighting a poor creature, one " Willis," who some time ago " pendllea his way " among us, and has been since forgotten. Ail tevcan remember about the man was his publishing what he called a poem, " edited " by " Barry Cornwall," a fictitious name, under which one Proctor, a commissioner of lunacy in our courts, thought it part of his official functions to usher him into notice. We did not advert to that circumstance at the time, or we should have taken the hint, and adopted towards him, not the severity of justly provoked criticism, but the mild indulgence suited to his case. For we did not require the evidence of this " reviewer*s " article, to convince us that rational rebuke is wasted when the mind of the recipient is unsound. We are glad, however, of the opportunity af- forded us, by this casual reference to American matters, for placing on record our unfeigned and cordial admiration rf

* Dickens had ]ust begun hit Pickwick Papers.

THE SOTIOa OF HORACE. 461

Edwis Foebest, whom night aSter night we ha^e Been tread our stage after a foehion which noue but the disiugeauuus cnn hesitate to admire and to applaud.

It was observed of Charlemain, that greatness had so mixed itself up with his character, that it eventually corn- penetrated his very name, till magnificence and Charles were blended into the sound of Cablomaone. The sentiment of A]]MTKATio!r has Bimi]iLrly worked itself into individual no- ■neaclature on two occaaians : viz. in the case of St. 0-re- gory, " Thaumalurffe," uod in that of an accomplished cava- lier, who burst on the close of the sixteenth century as " the . admirable Crichton." To the story of that gallant scholar I' wo have, in another port of our current number, taken an ■ Oi>portujii^ of alludmg ; and having therein, aa we think, feirly plucked out the heart of the mjaterv, we shail not here stop to notice a book which will probably be the /tiy* Sau/ta ol the season.

But returning to the " word* of Creech" do they feirly give the meaning of Horace? We don't beliere it. The plain English of the maiim is, " I-et nothing take you by aurprise ;" and its practical efl'ect would merely go to pre- serve the equilibrium of the mind from any sudden or violent uptiet. The translation of Creech afibrds one of the many instances in which to be Uleral is to misinterpret. Old Hoger Bacon attributes the subtle fooleries of scholastic wrangbng which arose in his day to the bad Latin versions of Aristotle. A Greek term was Latinised into one apparently aynonymoua, and the metaphysical niceties of the original vanished in the process. Fulgia aluilenlinm abiNiNat cire& male tantlata are the words in which he of the brazen head ridicules con- temporary disputation. The delicate subtleties of poetical diction are Btifl mure etaneBceut ; and of translations which render with mere eerbai fidelity, it may be Baid, when they appear side by aide with the teit, that, though Vehus may preside overthe graceful original, the lame version hobbles with all the clumsiaess of VctcAu. Such was the idea of a Prench wit, on perusing Abbd Pelcgrin's translation of our

" L'on devniit (soil dit enlrc nous)

A deux divinilis offrir 1m dpu» HoniCES ;

Le tfltin a Teniu la deeie dcs grscfs,

Et le feanfou . . . i boq ^poox." — La Afonnajfc.

462 FATHER PBOUT'8 BXLIQUXf.

In a Venetian folio edition, published by tbe oelebnted Denis Lambinus (whose style oi writing was so tedious, thai '* Idmbiner " became French for *' to loiter^*}^ there are some complimentary yerses addressed to him, which he has taken care to print, and which are too good to be *forgotteiL Therein Horace is represented as coiuultin^ a *oga^ or So- man gipsy, concerning the future fate of his works ; wh^ alluding to the ophthalmic affection under which he is known to haye laboured, the prophetic hag maketh the yatidnalaon following —

JDaliA respondit mot& yates aniu umA — *' Dura parens gennit te lippum, Flaooe ; noreroa '* Durior eripiet mox ffitas lumen utnimqae, " Nee teipsum agnosoes neo oognosoena ab nllo. " A.t tibi Lambini raptum ooUyria lumen ** Inlita restituent : clanuque interprete tanto ** Nee lippuB nee cscus eris sed et integer ore."

Whereupon Denis triumphantly exclaims that what she fore- told has come to pass, since, by the operation of his com- mentaries, such additional perspicuity has been shed oyer tiie text, as to haye materially improyed the poet's eyesight —

" Yerum dixit anuB, — KM sunt oolltsii. chabtjb I'*

The personal infirmity thus alluded to had procured Cor the Latin lyrist a sobriquet well-known among his contempo- raries, yiz., " the weeping Flaccus :" nor can we refuse Ae merit of ingenuity to him who could make so unpoetical an idea the groundwork of so flattering a compliment. It is singular enough that these obscure lines should haye sag- gested a celebrated epigram : for when Lefranc de Pompig- nan, in his Poesies Sacr^s, yersified the Lamentations of Jeremiah, he receiyed a testimonial exceedingly analogous from Voltaire —

Scayez toub pourquoi Jeremie, Knowyewhj Jeremj,thathofyiiiaii, A tant pleurl pendant sa Tie ? Spent all his dajs in lamenta-

tions bitter? (Test qu'en prophete il preroyait, Prophetic soul ! he knew that Fdia* Qu'un jour Lentuic le traduirait. pignan

One day would bring him out ii Gallic metre.

That the labours of the father may call forth a similar

THE HOKQa OF IIOBACE. 463

congratulatory effusion is more than we dare conjecture in these critical times. Yet wo trust tbat, notwitli standing the general depreciation of all sorts of scrip, with eschequer bills at such an alarming discount, Prout paper may be still negociated.

OLITEE TOEKE. Jltgml SIrttt, Not. 20.

WaltTffraakilli a/ler i'etptn.

A TEW yeare prerioua to the outbreak of cii-il war between

OctaviuB and Marc Antony, the poet Horace and a Greek

professor of elocution (HeUodorus) received an intimation

from Miecenns of hia wish to enjoy their company, on a trip

f connected with some diplomatic mission (mini mngnti de

B Tibus) to the port of Benevento. The proposal was readily

■ accepted by these hommea de teltrei, who accordingly started

K from Borne toward the close of autumn, anno v.c. 720.

Their intelligent patron hod appointed to meet them at

AsxuB, a place better known by its more musical name of

TsbHacisa, — (two popular productions contributing to its

celebrity, viz. Horalii Opera, and the opera of Fra Diavolo,) —

whence, haTing received an important accessionto their party,

by the arrival ofViROiL and Vaeies, they proceeded by

easy stages along the whole line of the Fia Appin, to the

utmost terminus of that immortal causeway on the Adriatic.

Such eicursions were frequent enough among the cockneys of Borne; and forming, as these things did, part of the ordi- narr occurrences of common-place life, bad intrinsically little to recommend them to the poet or the historian, ns snbjecta for story or for song. The proverbial difficulty of iBising up such matters to the level of elegant composition — propni eommunia dicere (Ep, ad Piion.') — was here pre-emi- nent. But genius is perhaps as frequently displayed in the aelectioQ of the objects on which to exercise its faculty, us in the working out of its once adopted conceptions ; and mediocrity would no more have first chosen such a theme I for its musings, than tt would have afterwards treated it in K Hm manner it has been executed by Horace.

■* Ch* m ynwi mat duttt tii it\

464 7 ATHSB FBOUT*a BSLIQUZB,

formed the aspiration of Ariosto ; Milton gloried in grap- pling with

cc

Things unattempted jet in proee or ihjme j'

and both exhibited originality, not only in the topics thej fixed upon, but in their method of handling them. The Her Brundusii was without precedent in all the range of pren- ously existing literature : it has remained unriyalled amid all the sketches of a similar kind which have been called into existence by its felicitous example.

There was, doubtless, nothing yery new or wondrous ia the practice of keeping a note-book while on a journey, or in registering duly such triyial incident of roadside experi* ence. But when this ex-colonel of a legion at Philippi, in one of his leisure hours, at the remote outport whither he had accompanied an illustrious friend, conceiyed the idea of embodying the contents of his pugillaria into the graceful shape which they now wear (Lib. I., Sat. V.), giving them a local habitation and a permanency among his works, he did more than merely delight his travelling companions, immor- talise the villages along the route, and electrify by his gra- phic touch the listless idlers of the capital : he positively founded a new sect — he propounded the Koban of a new creed — he established the great school of "peripatetic" writers ; furnishing the precious prototype on which thoo- sands of disciples would, in after time, systematically modd their literary compositions. By thus shewing that the mere personal occurrences and anecdotes of a pleasure-trip were capable of being wrought into so interesting a narrative, he unconsciously opened a new department in the theory of book-making, furnished a new field for the industry of the pen. There is no conjecting how far a simple hint may be unproved on in this quarter. Had not the African enthu- siasm of St. Augustin suggested to that most impassioned of the Fathers the idea of publishing ^w " Confessions," the

Practice of composing personal memoirs, the art of auto- iography, which of late years has taken such wide exten- sion, would, perhaps, have never been attempted. Peter Ab^ lard would not have mustered courage to enlighten the dark ages, as he has done, with a full and true account of his doleful c&taatro)^he C" hUtoria calamitaium suarum ") ; and i

THE 80SGS OF HOEACE.

I later age would not, in all probability, have been favoured

I ■with the confeBsions of tbe maniac EouBseau. May it not

■ be aimilarly predicatei! of this tamous Itinerary, that Lad it

not given tbe fint impulBe, the world hod wanted itiaoy »n

idle " ToTTR."

"Hhymee on the road," " pencillings by the way," "im- pressions," " diariei," " ramblings," " records," " highways," '• byeways," are therefore but a few of the many emanatious from one common soarce : and, in good Booth, all these people ebould unite in some testimonial to Horace. But gr&titude, I fear, is rarely manifested in cneee of thin de- scription. A striking instam-e might be given. " To none, perhaps, are " the eminent modern humourous writers " more indebted than to tbe writings of Joe Miller i yet that author, up to the present day, ia without a monument , his bones lying, as all the world knows, in the churchyard of St. Clement, London, under the back windows of Tom Wood's tavern. 'Tia true that a club was establiehed some

Sears ago, bv the exertions of the two Smiths (Horace and amea), with Hook and Hood, the members of which dine mcmtbiy in the back parlour aforesaid, commanding a full view of the cemetery. They fully agreed to levy a fine of five (hillings on each detected perpetrator of a " Joe," de- voting the proceeds to the purcliase of a grave-Btone. By this t^me a goodly mauBoleum might have been built ; whereas old Molitob is yet without even a modest tablet to mark the spot of his repose. Who is the treasurer ?

Horace ehould not be similarly defrauded of his claim. A moderate per centage on the profits of each professed toarist, with a slight deodand where the book falls still- born, might be appropriately devoted to erecting a terminal statue of the poet in some central part of the " Eow." None ought to plead exemption from this "justice-rent." Inglis. Basil Hnl^ Quin, Barrow, Kitchie, Piickler Muskaii, Emmer- Bon Tennant, Professor Hoppus, Waterton, the wanderer ; Nick Willis, the eavesdropper; Eae Wilson, the booby: all should contribute — except, perhaps, Holnian, the "blind traveller," whose luidertaking vras perfectly original.

To return. 1 have just been reading over, for perhaps the hundredth time, the witty lioman's gay and graceful itine- mry, gathering from its perusal a fresh conviction, tta.t \V * u u

466 TATHEB PBv/uT's SELIQIDBS.

comprises more humour, point, and clever writing, withio the brief range of its one hundred lines, than are to be found in as many hundred octavo volumes of recent manufacture. But let that pass. The obvious beauties which distingmsh these enduring monuments of bygone genius are not the passages which stand most in need of commentary ; and I am just now about to fix myself on a very unimportant expres- sion occurring in the simple course of the poet's narrative ; a most trivial fact in itself, but particularly adapted to my present purpose. Swift*s meditations on a broomstick have long ago proved that the Imagination, like one of TeniefS* witches, will soar aloft on a hobby-horse of her own selectioiL Of late, the habit of indulging in reveries has, I confess, grown on me ; and I feel an increasing tendency to rumi- nate on the veriest trifles. This arises partly, I suppose, from the natural di8Ciu*8ivene88 of memory in old age, partly, I suspect, from the long familiarity of my mind with the great Cornelius a Lapide's elucidations of the prophet Ezekid.

The words on which I would ponder thus, after the most approved method of the great Flemish commentator, are contained in the 48th verse, which runs as follows in all the kno^-n MSS. :

** Xusam it j^^sccnas ; Hormitnm tgo ITtrgiUnsqtK.**

Lib. /., Sat. v., V, 48.

My approved good master, a Lapide, would hereupon, sub- mitting each term to the more than chemical analysis of his scrutiny, first point out to the admiration of all function- aries in the diplomatic line, who happen to be charged with a secret mission, the sagacious conduct of M^cenas. The envoy of Augustus is fully conscious, on his arrival at Capita, that his motions are narrowly watched by the quidnuncs of that vagabond town, and that the probable object of his journey is sure to be discussed by every barber in and about the market-place. How does he act ? While the mules are resting at the " caupona," (for it appears the vetturinpsystem of travel b'ng is of very old date in the Italian peninsula), the charts d'affaires seeks out a certain tennis-court, the most favourite place of public resort, and there mingles in a game with the citizens, as if the impending destinies of the future empire of the world were not a moment in his contemplation, or did not rather engross his whole faculties all the whik.

TaE sosGs OF noBACE. 4ti7

Thie anecdote, I believe, lias not been noticed by Mr. Taylor, iu hia profound book called the Stalemnaa. It is at his serviL-e,

Iieaving Mu^cenua to the enjoyinent of hin game of rackets, let us return to the Capuoa noHtelry, and take cognisance of wliat may be supposed to he then and there going on. Here, then, we are, say, at the sign of " Silenua and the Jai.'kass," in the " fia Nolana," In answer to our in- quiries, it will appear that the author of the Georgia (the infill was yet unpublished) had, as usual with him on the sligiitest emergencies, found his stomach sadly out of order (crut/us) ; while his fellow traveller, the distinguished lyriiit of the day, has sympathetically complained uf the effect pro- duced OQ his tender eyelids (lippaa) oy the clouds of inues- saot dust and the glare of a noonday sun. They have both, therefore, previous to resuming their seats in the clumsy velucles (rhfde) which have conveyed them thus far, decidea on devoting the sultry meridian hour to the refreshing pro- cess of a quiet aieila. The slave within whose attributions thia service is comprised {decario caliicularU) is quickly sum- moned ; and but few minutes have elapsed before the two great ornaments of the Augustan age, toe master spirits of the then intellectual world, are fairly deposited in their re- spective cells, and consigned to the care of tired nature's kind restorer. Whoever has explored the existing remains of similar edifices in the neighbouring town of Pompeii, will probably form a fair estimate of the scale of comfort and style ot accommodation prevalent at the head inn of Capua. Entering by a smoky hall {atrium), the kitchen being on one side and the servants' offices on the other, your traveller proceeded towards the compluvium, or open quad- migular courtyard ; on each side of which, in cloister fashion, were ranged the sleeping apartments, small dark chambers, each some eight or twelve feet square, having, at the height of about ail feet from the mosaic ground-floor, a scanty aperture, furnished with a linen blind ; a crockery lamp, a broBEe tripod and basin (pe/ri»), a mirror of the same mate- rial, forming, with a hard couch (ftragula), the complete in- ventory of the movables within. A knight-templor, or Carthuaiim monk, would feel quite at home in your antique hostelrv.

Ltttfe dreamed, I ween, the attendant slave, nia,^W^ %^

468 FATHER PBOCT 8 EKLIQrZS.

leas the enlightened eaiipo liimseli', of the high hononr cot ferred on Iiis establishment by an hoiir'a occupancy of il chaiiihera on thnt occasion. The very tall gentlemao, witll sn ungainly figure and Bli£;bt etoop in the shoulden, soawlt ward and bashful in hia addrees. and who bad eompbuned a Bui'h bad digestion, beiame, no doubt, the object of a few no orer respeeti'ul remarks among the atrtnurs of tbe bouaehold Nor did tbe short, fat, Sancho-Fanza-looking eort of peno age, forming in every respect so complete a eontrast to I demure and sedate companion, fail to elicit eome curion comments, and some not very complimentary conjecture^ as to what might be hia relative position in society. In wh particular capacity did they both follow the traiu of the ri anight, Mscenas ? This was, no doubt, acutely and di gently canvassed by the gossips of tbe inn. One thing « certain. In humour and disposition, aa well as in pereoul appearance, they were the very antiptodes of each other,— a musing Heraclitus yoked with a laughing Uemocritua} aptly illustrative, the one of r7 penteroto, the other of CaiU gro, Mine host, with the instinctive sagacity of his trib^ at once had set down liorace as a man familiar with tlie nfl tropolis, habituated to town life, and in every respect "fitt travel." It was equally clear »iat the other individual bl longed to the agricultural interest, his manner savonring h much residence in the country ; being, in sooth, not ro»dj rural, but actually rustic. In a word, they were fair Baiii|d n( the rat de ville and tbe rat dea champt. Meantiuie t unconscious objwts of so much keen investigation " alep on ;" and " little they recked " anent what was t bus '■ Iigll^ spoken " concerning them by those who kept the sign C " Sileniis and the Jackass," in the high street at CapoM. " Qormiium igo ITLrgUiautQi." Do I purpose to disturb them in their meridian slumber. — Not I. Yet may the scholar's fancy be allowed to pen tratc each darkened cell, and take a hiuried and furti^ glance at the illustrious sleepers. Fancy aiay be permit) to hovt-r o'er each recumbent form, and contemplate iu sill awe the repose of genius, Fanct, after the faiihioQ of I sister PsrcHE, and at the risk of a similar penalty, may j|UffBcad«giktqAoa,aiLilamQialiaiid,«(r,a^ilc«» tta mi

THE SONaS OF HORACE.

B of her beloved, to survey the features and figure of those B from whom she bath so long derived such exquisite Beofatioui ' <rf intellectual enjoyment.

Plutarch delighted to briug two of his heroes together, and then, in a laboured parallel, illustrate the peculiarities of the one by setting forth the distinctive character! bHcb of the other. This was also done by Dr. Johnson, in his grand juxtaposition of Dryden and Pope, But could a more tempting opportunity ever occur to the great Beotian, or the great lexicographer, for a display of analysts and anti- thesis, than the respective merits and powers of the two great writers here entranced before us ?

The Capuan innkeeper had gone more deeply into the subject than would be at first imagined, when be classified his guests under the heads of " town" and " country." The most elaborately metaphysical essay could not throw greater light on the relative idiosyncrasy of their minds.

Virgil, from his earliest infancy up to the period of con- firmed manhood, had not Sell the banks of the Miscio, or the pliuns of Lombardy. It required the confiscation of his uttle farm, and the transfer of his ancestral acres to a set of quasi CromweUian intruders (Octavius Cffisar's miU- tsiy colonists), to bring him up to Kome in quest of redress. Hb w«a then in his 30th year. Tenderness, sensibility, a Bonl feelingly alive to all the sweet emotions of unvitiated nature, are the natural growth of such happy seclusion from a wicked world. Majestic thoughts are the ofi'spring of so- litude. Plato meditated alone on the promontory of Sunium : Virgil was a Platouiat,

The boyhood and youth of Horace (as I think may be gathered from my last paper) were spent in a totally dif- ferent atmosphere ; and, therefore, no two poets cotdd be nurtured and trained in tchioU of poetry more essentially opposite. The " late " academy is not more different from the gymnasium of the " sUva-fork." Epicurus dwelt among the busy haunts of men : Horace was an Epicurean.

The latter was in every respect, as his outward appear- ance would seem to indicate, "of the town, townly." Mira- beau used to say, whenever be lett Paris, that, on looking through his carriage-windows at the faces along the road, he un to a traction how far he was &om1.\iaca^\'(Alk.

470 JATHEB PBOUT*8 BXLIQUXS.

The men were his inile-stones. Even genius in the proTinoei wears an aspect of simplicity. The Bomans were perfectly Bensible of this difference. Urbamtm sal was a well-known commodity, as easily distinguished by men of taste in the metropolis, as the verbal provinciaUsms which pervade the decades of Livy were quickly detected by the delicate sensi- bility of metropolitan ears.

In society, Horace must have shewn to great advantage, in contrast with the retiring and uncommunicative MiLXTUAV. Acute, brilliant, satirical, his versatile accomplishments fas- cinated at once. Virgil, however, inspired an interest of s different description. Thoughtful and reserved, " the rapt soul sitting in his eyes " gave intimation of a depth of fed- ing and a comprenensiveness of intellect far beyond tiie range of all contemporary minds. Habitually silent ; yet when he spoke, in. the solemn and exquisitely musical ca- dences peculiar to his poetry, it was as if the " spirit of Plato" revealed itself, or the Sibylline books were umolded.

I can't understand that passage in the tenth satire (lib. i.) where the Sabine humourist asserts that the Muses who pa- tronise a country life (gaudentes rure canutnai), havin£ &^ dowed Virgil with a mild and lenient disposition, a deucats sweetness of style, had also bestowed on nim a talent for the facetious (molle . . atque/acetum). There is, assuredly, more fun and legitimate drollery in a page of the said Satires, than in all the Eclogues and Georgics put together. To extract a laugh out of the jEneid, it required the help of

SCARBON.

Horace was the delight of the convivial circle. The flashes of his Bacchanalian minstrelsy brightened the blaze of the banquet ; and his love-songs were the very quintessence of Eoman refinement. Yet never did he achieve such a triumph as is recorded of his gifted friend, when, having consented to gratify the household of Augustus and .the imperial circle by reading a portion of his majestic poem, he selected that famous exposition of Plato's sumblimest theories, the 6th book of his ^neid. The charm of his recitation gave addi- tional dignity to that high argument, so nobly developed in harmonious verse. But when the intellect had feasted its fill — when he suddenly " changed his hand," and appealed to the heart — ^yjheuthfc ^omin^ episode of the young Ma^

elluB came by surpriHe on tbe nsscinbled court, a fainting mpreee, amid the mingled teara and applause of veteran parriore, confessed the sacred supremacy of song, The poetry of Horace is a plensoTit thought ; that of Virgil K delightful dream. The first had mingled iu the world of ■reality ; the latter dwelt in a fanciful and ideal region, from vhich he rarely eame do«'n to the TulgariticB of actual life. !rhe tranquil lake rellecta heaven in its calm bosom i the Dnning brook makes acquaintance with the thousand objects m its varied margin. Wordsworth, Southey, Coleridge, loetbe, Lamartiae, belong to the dreamy race of writers — hey are " children of the mist" — their dwelling is in a land *■ Tiaiona. Byron, Buranger, Bums, Scott, Shakespeare, Ntl with men and things ae tbey have found them, and as hey really ore. The latter class wiU ever be tbe most/w/jw- ar. The acute thinker wOl ever be preferred to the most mchaoting " dreamer of dreams."

In the empire of Auguatus, Virgil saw the realisation of

Dcient oracle* : he viewed as from a distance the mighty

tructure of Koman power, and imaged in bia .^neid the vast

dea of a heaven-descended monarchy. Horace took up his

intern !i la Diogene, and went about eiploring the itttai/t of

be social system, the vices, the follies, the passions of Bo-

nan aodety, Hia poetry was of a more matter-of-fact na-

' : it came home to the bosom of his readers : it was the

4 expression of contemporary joys and sorrows.

The character of each aa a poet may not be inappropriately

ight for in the well-known allegory with which tbe 6th

K of the JEneid doses :

" Smif J«>ti«« »w>iBi^Dr(a" fiwrnm allern /rrlsr Comta f ml rerii /acilit dalur txitai Bmirii,

Sal faUa ad attam mitlunl auanoaa mwi,"

s Dry den lias it —

I leave to my readers the evolving of this complei: idea, le dreamy visions of tbe Platonist may be placed in coa- ut with tbe practical wit and knowledge of the world

DUght iOOK O

472

TATHSB PBOUT*S BELIQITXS.

posseBsed by the shrewd disciples of EDicurufl, the "/".^ tn*omntfl" with the "rtfmiimftm." And herewith I wind up my parallel.

I now open the second book of the odes, and proceed OD my task of metrical exposition.

Lib. II. Ode I. — to pollio on his meditated histobt.

▲D C. ASIKIUK POLLIOKEM.

Tlie story of our civil wars,

Through all the changes that befell ub, To chronicle thy pen prepares,

Dating the record from Metellus ; — Of parties and of chiefs thy page

Will paint tlie leagues, the plans, the forces ; Follow them through each yaried stage,

And trace the warfare to its sources.

And thou wilt tell of swords still wet

With unatoned-for blood ; — historian. Bethink thee of thy risk ! . . . ere yet

Of Clio thou awake the clarion. Think of the tact which Rome requires

In one who would such deeds unfold her ; Know that thy tread is upon fires

Wliich still beneath the ashes smoulder.

Of Tragedy the weeping Muse

Awhile in thee may mourn a tr^nt, Whom varnished fiction vainly woos,

Of stem realities pursuant : But finish thy laborious task,

Our annals write with care and candour ; Then don the buskin and the mask.

And tread through scenes of tragic grandeur !

Star of the stage ! to thee the Law

Looks for her mildest, best expounder — Theo the rapt senate hears with awe.

Wielding the bolts of patriot tiiimder — Thee Glory found beneath the tent,

WTien from a desert wild and horrid, Dalmatia back in triumph sent

Her conqueror, with laurelled forehead !

But, hark ! methinks the martial horn Gives prelude to thy coming story ;

In fancy's ear shrill trumpets warn Of battle-fields, kard fought and ^ry :

Motum 0X MeteDo Consnle ciTiciiiiiy Bellique cauaaa, £t vitia, et modos, Ludumque Fortuns,

Giravesque Principum amintias,

Et arma

Nondom expiatis Uncta cruoribus, PericulossB Plenum opus ale«

Tractas. et Incedis per ignes

Suppositos Cineri doloso.

Paulum severs Musa tragosdiie Desit theatris ; Mox, ubi publicas , Res ordinans, Chrande munus

Cecropio Repetea cothumo.

Insigne mcestis Presidium reis £t consulenti, Pollio, Curia,

Cui laurus JEtemoa honores

Dalmatico Peperit triumpho.

Jam nunc minaci Murmure comaum Perstrinffis aurea ; Jam litiu strepunt i

^^^^DlA
i^^^^^^^^HM^BH
THE BONGS OF HORACE 473
Fancj holh oonjured up the HiBiie,	Jam fulgor armoruin
And phantom wurior* crovd besiile ber —	Fugao.*
The tquBtlroii digbt in dsriling sheen—	Terret rquoB,
The .tartled .t«d-ll.' aflHghled rider 1	Equitunique Tulhia,
Hark to the shouta that echo loud
Wliik' blood and dust each hero shroud,	Jam Tideor duces
Costume of alaughlCT— not unseBnilj :	PulTcre sordidoB,
	Et cuncia tcrrwum
Doomed to see fortune still desert je.	Subacta,
Till all the world lies prostrate, sayfl	Prwter atrocem
Unronquer'd Cato's sayago rirtue!	Animum Calonis.
Juno, who loTeth Afrio most,	Juno, et Dcorum
And eaoh dread tuMlarr godhead.	Quisquis amicior
Wlio euu^s her black barbaric coast.	Airis iuultA
Ljbia with Roman gore ha»e flooded : Wh&e warring thus the sous of those	Ct»»erat mipctens
Tellure,
WhoM pnmefls could of old subject her, Qlntting Ihe grudge of aiieicut foes,	Victorum nepotea
Reltulit inforias
FnU— but to gUd Jugurtha's spectre 1	Jugurtha.
■ -Vbera be tha distent land but dnmk	Quis nan Latino
m Our Latjum'a nobUat blood in torrents ?	Sanguine pinguior
	Campus, scpulchris
' Bw iritness to each foul occurrennt.	■Xif
Bnde barbsrooa tribe* bave loara'd to seolT,
Sure to oiult at our undoing ;—
Pewin hath heard with jo;, far off.
The sound of Bouie's gigantic ruin !	Sonitum ruiOKp ~
■ Joint out the gulf on ocean's icrge—	Qui gurges, aut qua
V Ths atream remote, along whose channels	Fluiiiina limibris
r Hatli not been heard the inoumful dirge	Ignara belli F
	Quod mare Daunuo
Shew me the sea—witbont iia tide	Son dwolor.
Of blood upon the mrfuce blushing—	Bvercendes?
Shew me tbe sbore-wilb blood undjed From Boman veins profuselj gushing.
Cruore nostroF
L But, Mnse ! a truce to themes Ukc these—	Spd ne, reliclis.
■ Let us strike up some jocund carol ; P Itor pipe with old Simonides	Mum proeax, jocis,
Cen retmclca
■ Ihdl aolemo »tt»in«. moroseij moral ;	Munera nenis t
Inch me a new. a li.elier stare-	Mi-cum Diouao
And that we maj the better chaunt it.	Sub antro
Hie with me to the niyslic cave,	Qoarc modes
■ QiDtto of HDg ! bj Bacchus haunted.	Lerioro plectnk ^^^^B

474

FATHSB PBOUT'S BELIQUB8.

It is pleasant to find '' Adam Smith on the Wealth of Na- tions" anticipated, in the following exposi of sound com- mercial principles ; and the foUy of restricting the hank issues made the subject of an ode. It is addressed to Sal- lust, nephew of the historian, who had amassed considerable wealth from the plunder of Africa, during his praetorship in that province ; and had laid out the proceeds, alter the most liberal fashion, in embellishing his most magnificent resi- dence, the Horti Sallustiani, which to this day lorms a splen- did public promenade for your modem Bomans. The libe- rality of Proculeius Murena, who, on the confiscation of his brother's property during the civil war, had made good the loss from his own patrimony, and opened an asylum to his orphaned nephews, was apparently the current subjed of conversation at the time ; as well as the good fortune of Phraates, in recovering the crown of Persia, which bad been jeopardised by some revolutionary proceedings. At this distance of years, both topics appear somewhat stale ; but we must go back in spirit to the days in which such matters possessed interest, and, having thus made ourselves part and parcel of contemporary Eoman society, admire as well a^ we can, the grace and freshness of the allusions.

Lib. II. Ode II. — thoughts ok bulliox axd the

CUBBENCT.

AD CRIBPUM SALLlTSTnnC.

My Sallust, saj, in days of dearth, Wliat ifl the lazy ingot worth, Deep in the bowels of the earth

Allowed to settle, Unless a temperate use send forth

The shining metal ?

Blessings on him whose bounteous hoard A brother's ruined house restored — Spreading anew the orphan's board.

With care paternal ; Murena's fame aloft hath soar'd

On wings eternal !

NuUus argento Color est aTaris Abdito terris Inimioe lamnce Crispe Sallusti, Nisi temperato Splendeat uso.

Vivet extento Proculeius aero, Notus in fratres Animi patemL Ulum aget penoi Metuente soM Fama superftei.

Camt Lhou ooinmuid thf liut for sold F Then ■« thou richer, fncnd, follriolJ, Thia if thr nod the mnrta controlkd

AVliere DhicfeBt trade it— The OirthBge* both "new" and "uld,"

The Nile auti Cadiz.

lUrlj yon hjdropic lufferer, alill Indulging in (Le dranghli Ihat fill Hi* btoMed &ame, — uuatinte, UU

Death «id the lirlil; ; TJnlaas the latent fount of ill

Be dried np quii^klj.

Heed not the vulgar talu tliut mte ^—*^He cOuDta culm hours and hnppj dajB Who from Ilie Ihrorie of Cyrus bwuts

Li by am reiooti* Gailibiu Juiigne, Et utcrqne FcBnUH

CreaoA indnlg^nl Sibi dinia liTdropi, Nee «itim pcllit. Kisi coma morbi FtigeriC Tenia, £t aquoaoa nlbo

Corpore IsnguoA' I Redditum Cjri Solio FhrsKtem, Diesideua plebi Nuniero beotomm,

^ippy alone proclaiiceth them, Who with undiuxlod eje contemn The pile of gold, the glittering gem,

Vooibui ; regnum Et diadems tutiun Dcf^nma uni, Propriamqiie Isurum Quiaquis ingentea Gciila irratorto, Spectdt avcrroa.

Sherlock's famoua volume on deatli has been equally fore- 4t&Ued b^ our Epicurean inoraliBt ; who, whatever he may want in consolatory nrospects of a blessed futurity, eompen- ntea for this otherwise very material omission by an imh- tailed sweetness of versification, and imagery the moat pic- turesque.

Lib. II. Ode III. — a homilt on beatu.

Thee, whether Pun bbsdU

Or PlBMorti pamper,

Delliua — whiche'or prerail —

Keep lhou thj temper ;

Dnwed to boi«teroua jo;*, that ne'e

OkaMve the* from th«aepulahrai

Be1)u* in arduii

Serrare menlem, Hon teouB in boni* Ab inaolenti lemperatam Lctitik, moritun D«UL

476

FATHSB PBOUT*S RILIQTJE9.

Death smites the slave to spleen.

Whose soul repineth, And him who on the green. Calm sage, reclineth, Keeping — from grief's intrusion Blithe holiday with festal jar.

Sea moBstna omni Tempore Tixeris,

Seu te in remoto Ghramine per dies Fettoa reclinatum bearis Interiore nota FalemL

Where giant fir, sunproof^ Qua pinus ingeof

With poplar blendeth, AllMuiue populus

And high o'er head a roof Umbram hoepitalem

Of boughs extendeth ; Consociare amant

WhUe onward runs the crooked rill, Bamis, et obliquo laborat

Brisk fugitive, with murmur shrilL Ljmpha fugax trepidare rifO

Bring wine, here, on the grass ! Himc vina, et unguents,

Bring perfumes hither ! £t nimium breres

Bring roses— which, alas ! Flores amoenoa

Too quickly wither — Ferre jube ros».

Ere of our days the spring-tide ebb, Dum rea, et Ktaa, et sororom

While the dark sisters weave our web. Fila trium patiuntur atn.

Soon — should the fatal shear

Cut life's frail fibre- Broad lands, sweet Villa near The yellow Tiber, With all thy chattels rich and rare, Must travel to a thankless heir.

Be thou the noblv bom,

Spoil'd child of Fortune — Be thou the wretch forlorn, Whom wants importime — By sufierance thou art here at most, Till death shall claim his holocaust.

Cedes coemptis Saltibus, et domo, Villaque, flavus Quam l^beris lavit : Cedes, et exstructis in altum Divitiis potietur heres.

Divesne, priaco Natus ab Inacho, Nil interest, an Pauper et infimft Degente sub dio moreris, '^ctima nil miserantis OrcL

All to the same dark bourne Omnes eodem

Plod on together — Oorimur : omnium

Lots from the same dread urn Versatur ami

Leap forth — and, whether Serius ocius

Our's be the first or last. Hell's wave Sors exitura, et nos in s^temam

Tawns for the exiles of the grave. Exsilium impositura cymbc

I, of course, cannot countenance the tendency of the suc- ceeding morceau. Its apparent purpose is to vindicate what the Germans call " left-handed" alliances between the sexes: but its obvious drift is not such as so generally correct t judge of social order and propriety would be supposed to mistake. The Te«^Q\A\bUitY> however^ be his own.

^^O d«om not Ihj lore for • cBptitc nmid Ne sit nnrilliE tibi «mor pudori,

Dath, Fhooeui, the hcut of a Roman Xanlhin Pkoiwu PriuB maolen-

Like the noble Achillea, 'da gimplv, Sens Bneeia niveo colore

aimpl;, Movit Acliillom i

With s'Sriieu" thou eharest th; bed.

THE HONaa DP BOBACE.

Lib. n, Odx TV. — ctAsaicAL tovB uatches.

" Whm Ihf htart iff ■ nn u ^prturd wj/t cart. The mill a ditprOed if a vaman am-for; Likt Mr Boln of a fiddU. lAi Rainn hit lyiri/i and cAarau

ftltinl

TelAmon d

d the Bome, Horit Ajocem Telnraone lutum

& Fhrjgiui Some ; Forms caplivie rlnmmutn Teo Ilught to ocrnt«mn Done, Sing Aga- mesBiv ;

Arait AtriiJus medio in triumpho n bUtb becunn. Virgiiie rapti.

I Vond ot a

I Sncli mB the rule with the Oreeka of Barbane poitqnom oecidom tiir-

nien the; had conijuer'd the foe's Tliesealo Ticture, et ademptiu stronghold ; Hector

1 gallant Hfclor — Troy'a pro- Trftdidii tnsis leviora loUi lector — I'ergaaia Orsii*.

ing, the kuull of Ilion toll'd.

ni; d»m her orinn Tile and baac? Neeciia an t« gmoram beati

~ It thou her poiSgrec fairlv trace? Fb^llidis Qave decoreot psren- u'd PhjUis, aUve'tho' .he War

be, atill ia Begium eerie genus el penates I Ih« last, perhaps, of a rojal race. M:£ret iniquoa.

I Birth to demeanour will sure respond — Oede non illaoi tibi de acelestS

ia fniUiful, FhtUis U fond: Flebe dileclom.nequeaiL-lidelein,

□not buy her — then wh; denj' Sic lucro avereatii poluiess rabci er Matre pudonjii.

rank the baaelj bora bejond?

i> hslh limba di*inely wrought, Brachia ot yulluni teretctque »U' . I es and figure without a fault ... ra»

f Co not feel j^ous, friend, when a Integer laudo ; fuge auspicari,

[ fellow* Cnju. oeWTuni Irepidant *lai

[iVo'tieth year forbids the thought ! Claudcre luttrum.

In contiBBtiuR VirgQ witb Horace, and in Doticing tlie (pposite lendaiiyieu ot mind atiil disposilion diacciverable iii Vir writings, 1 ahould bavo pointed out tbe very gkrUg

478 valTHEb PBorx's beliqttzs.

difference in their respective views of female character. The mild indulgence of the Epicurean is obviously distinguishable from the severe moroseness of the Platonist. The very foi- bles of the sex find an apologist in Horace : Virgil appears to have been hardly sensible to their highest exceUencies. The heroines of the JEneid are depicted in no very amiable colours ; his Dido is a shrew and a scold : his Trojan women fire the fleet, and run wild like witches in a Sabbat : the " mourning fields" are crowded with ladies of lost reputa- tion : the wife of King Latinus hangs herself: Camilla dies in attempting to grasp a gewgaw : and even the fair Lavinia is so described, as to be hardly worth fighting for. How tolerant, on the contrary, is our songster — how lenient in his sketches of female defects — how impassioned in his com- mendation of female charms ! Playful irony he may occa- sionally emfploy in his addresses to Bom an beauty ; but, in his very invectives, nothing can be clearer than his intense devotion to the whole sex . . . with the exception of " Ca- nidia." Who she was I may take an early opportunity of explaining : it is a very long story, and will make a paper.

The subject of the following ode is Campaspe, the mistress of Apelles. This favourite artist of Alexander the Great woula appear to have be^n, like Salvator Eosa, addicted Xo the kindred pursuits of a poet. Of his paintings nothing has come down to us; but of his poetry I am happy to supply a fragment from the collection of Athseneus. The Greek is clearlv the original. Greorge Herrick has supplied the EngHsh ; the Latin has not been inserted in any edition of .Horace I have seen.

Lib. n. Ode V.^-cupid a gambles.

Nostra Campa^pe leris et Cupido Turn labeUomxn roseos honores

Ale4 nuper statuere ludos, Mox ebur frontis — simul banc sub imo

Merx ut bine illinc foret 08<nilo- Quse mana matris fuerat cayata rum ; — Rimula mento.

Solvit at ille.

Pignorat sorti pbaretraxn, sagit- Solvit . . — at posquam geminos ocelloi

tas, Lusit incassilliD, menet inde cecus.^

Par columbarum, Yenerisque bi- Sic eum si tu spoliaa, pueUa !

gas Quanta ego foiram ?

Passeres ; — ebeu ! puer aleator

SORQS OF HOBACE.

, -Cupid p»ied — He iitake< hts quiver, howc ui]il arrowt'B, HjB moLhei'ii dovBt and tesma of sparroHoi i Ijooms them loo — Ihen downa he throws Ths eoTtH of hit lippe, tiio rose ITppon hjt clieek (but none knows ho*) With these the cryetal of hii browe, And then the djtiiple on hi* chioue — All these did mj CampBSpe wiune. At lut lie eette her both-hig eya ; She ■'ODD : tmd Cupid blind did rise. Oh, Lo*e ! hath she done this to thee ? What, iholl, ahu, become ot me ?

Qtoitas Hebrice.

rBAaUKNT OP THE PAJHTEE AKD 1

, A^PELIBB,

Kafi/Tafra auyxu^fuen Autfr r Ipwc t^Xtifia'

AvuXioii r asvaira' X(f>j>uc Tiins Iff K jo;. Piior n r«» Ta^litiit (nine oun /ill ourij tiSi'),

Tivoli and Tnrentiim n

To> ayJjxo* /tiraranu, Spaayfo/ta XOK yinioij' KO|iMro!o«' aTavT anihiy.

Tu^)j; T ttmu^fr' E^ui E( T-aura o«i /uyigri KaiC nS EjBif rortioi ; 4><u ! cclfXjiurary; ri Mi^Xii t/tai yitittiai ;

two favourite retrents i

whenever be could tear himself from the metropoli». riiP chamis of both are relebrated in the succecdiug com- KMition. It would appear to have been elicited at a ban' net, on SeptimiuB eipressing hiniaetf so devotedly attaebed o our poet, that he would cheerfully accompany tiiin to the utinoBt boundary of the Soman empire.

Lib n. Odr vf.— Tbb iTTHAcnoss

■vrnttCB, plwlfted B-ilh niP lo roam ?hr u the Hereo lasHiAK'e Iiodip, (Fhero men abide not yet o'creomo Bv Konisn lemons. .nil UjlTBrTAJiIiin billoira fonm — BartnHo regions !

pTiBt

t> TiRKfTtnr.

&^ptimi, Oadea Aditnre meonm, et CaiitDhram indoctnm Jugn ferre noiitra, el Barbsnu Sjrtaii, TJbi Msum sempCT

480

TATHBB PB0VT*8 BELIQV£8.

/

Tibub!— Bweet colony of Ghr«eece! — There let my devious wanderingB cease ; — There woula I wait old. age in peace,

There calmly dwellixig, A truce to war ! — a Rmg release

From ** colonelling I"

Whence to go forth should Fate ordain, Ghdesus, gentle flood ! thy plain Speckled with sheep — might yet remain

For heaven to grant us ; Land that once knew the halcyon reign

Of King PhakntuB.

Spot of all earth most dear to me ! Teeming with sweets ! the Attic bee, O'er Mount Hymettus ranging free,

Finds not suwi honey — Nor basks the Capuan olive-tree

In soil more sunny.

There lingering Spring is longest found ; E*en Winter's breath is mild; — and round Delicious Aulon grapes abound,

In mellow cluster ! Such as Falemum's richest ground

C^n rarely muster.

Tibur, Argeo Poeitom oolono Sit mee aedes Utinam senects! Sit modus lasso Maris, et viarum, MilitisBque!

XJnde si Pares Prohibent iniquc, Dulce pellitis Ovibus Galesi Flumen, et regnati Petam Laconi Bura Phalanto.

Hie terrarum Mihi pneter omnes Angulus ridet, Ubi non Hymetto Mella dec«dunt, Viridique oertat Bacca Venafro ;

Ver ubi longmn, Tepidasque prsbet Jupiter brumas, £t amicus Aulon Fertili Baccho Minimum Falemis Invidet uvis.

Romantic towers ! thrice happy scene ! There might our days glide on serene ; Till thou bedew with tears, I ween,

Of love sincerest, Tlie dust of him who once had been

Thy friend, the Lyrist !

nie te mecum Locus et beats Postulant arces ; Ibi tu calentem Debitik sparges Lacrinul fsvillam Yatis amid.

Extemporaneous in its essence, hearty, glowing, and glorious, here foUows an effusion of affectionate welcome to one of the young Pompeys, with whom he had studied at Athens and fought at Philippi. The scene is at the Sa- bine farm. The exile, it will be seen, has only just returned on the general amnesty granted by Augustus.

THE SOXQB OF HOBACE.

Lib. n. OoE TII.-

d of roy Kiul 1 with whom arrajed _ 1 atood in the ranks of peril, ben Brulus st Phtlippi made Th»t effort wild and ilorile . . . Fho balb reopened Borne to thee. Her tetnptea and hrr ii>mm ; kckoning ihe rhild of Ilaljf Back Ut the clime that bore him ?

bon, O iii<r earlieit oomrade ! aay ,

Fompej. WW I llij- tfftcher

g baulk old Time, and drowo the day

I](«p iu a Bowing piti-lier P

tiink of the hours we Lhu9 coniumed.

rith thee I ihared Fhii^iptt rout,

'Itiough I. mcthinka, ran faator; ttving belUnd— 'twai wrong, no doubt—

Hj aBtU.D in the diaaater ; 'en Fortimdo that day broke down ;

And the rude tocman tauglit hrr B hide her brow's diminiihed frown

Lo* amid heap* of slaughter.

nl Mercury, who kindly watched

Ue 'inid I hat >trueg!e deadly.

»oped ffoin a cloud, and quickly snatched

Hia eliciit from the medley, rblie thee, ahu ! the ebbing flood

Of war releiitlwB swallowed, eiilunging tl^ee 'mid aeas of blood ;

And yeara of lempeat followed.

iiKj to Jnie the riotim calf, Due to the God ; — and weary, ader my bower of lanrela qiialT i. wine-cup blithe and merry. !eI"^ wbUo Oiy war-worn iinibs repose, 'Mid peaceful scenes aojourniiig, ftW nol the wiue..'t«Bt kppL.il flows Tft »Bloome Ihj raluniing.

Fompet. meoniin Prime lodalimn,

Sxpe diem m

Ivcvao Philippoi Et celerom fugam Sensi, relic t& Non bene parmuli, Quum fracta virtua, Etminacea

Sedit

Merouriua celer Donso poTontu Suitulit aure : To rumus in bcUun |

Beaorbens Unda fretis

Xuht setuosig.

Ergo obligalam KeddeJoti dapom IiOngAipie feBsum MihtJilatuB Depone sub Lauro miA, dm

libidcatinatia.

482

TATHEB P&0UT*8 RELIQTTES.

Come, with obliyious bowls dispel

Orief, care, and disappointment ! Freely from yon capacious shell

Shed, slied the balmy ointment ! Wlio for the genial banquet weaves

Guy garlands, gathered newly ; Fresh with the garden's greenest leares,

Or twined with myrtle duly P

Whom shall the dice's cast •• wiNE-KHro"

Eloct^ by Venus guided ? Quick, let my roof with wild mirth ring —

Blame not my joy, nor chide it ! Madly each bacchanalian feat

I mean to-day to rival. For, oh ! 'tis sweet thus . . . thitb to obest

So D£AB ▲ FBISND'S AB^LIYAL !

ObliTioflO LeviaMaasko Ciboria ezpte s Funde capacibiii Ungoenta de

Quia ado Deproperare

Apio oonmat

Cnratre myrto ? Quern Venus arbitnim Dioetbiboidi? Non ego sanius Baochabor Edonis :

Beoepto Dolce mihi furere

JSst amioo!

Tlie nursery tradition respecting lies, and their coiwe- quence, may be traced in the opening staiiza of this playful remonstrance with Baring. The image of Cupid at a grmd. ing stone, sharpening his darts, is the subject of a fine an- tique cameo in the Orleans Collection.

Lib. II. Ode VIII. — the booue&ies op BABiifE.

IN BABnrXN.

Barine ! if, for each untruth, Some blemish left a mark uncouth. With loss of beauty and of youth.

Or Heaven should alter The whiteness of a single tooth —

O fair defaulter !

Then might I trust thy words — But thou Dost triumph o'er each broken vow ; Falsehood would seem to give thy brow

Increased effulgence : Men still admire — and gods allow

Thee fi^esh indulgence.

Swear by thy mother*s funeral urn — Swear by the stars that nightly bum (Seeming in silent awe to mourn

O'er such deception) — Swear by each Deity in turn,

From Jove to Neptune :

XJUa si juris Tibi pejerati Pcsna, Baring Nocuisset unquam ; Dente si nigro Fieres vel uno Turpior ungui,

Orederem. Sed tu, Simul obligasti Perfidum votis Caput, enitescis Pulchrior multo, Juvenmnque prodii PubUca cura.

Expedit matris Cineres opertos Fallere, et toto Tacituma noctis Signa cum ooelo, GdidAque Divos Moxte caraates^

THE SABINS FARMEK'S SEUKK41

Tenua wiil all her N'rmphs woulii jet With amilra thy perjury abel — Oupid would uuch^Qo on ! nntl let

Fresh couTBge nerre thee : a hi* bloodstBined wheel he'll wWt

Qin darts to aerve tbea I

K u thej grow, our joathi enohaja,

i*h foUowera in bcautr's trsia :

Ills they who IoT«d th«e Grat would Gun,

Ohannine dectiTer, .thin thy tbrahold itiU rematn,

And loie, Cor erar !

RiiU't hoe, iurjoniu,

Simpliws JJjTDphe. FeruB Ft Cupido, Semper ardealci Acueni (ugittas Goto cruentt

Adda quod pubc» Tihi cr»cit omnu ; Berrilua crescit novs | Neo prioras

Domiiup relinquunt.

bw ton* from thee all mothera hidi^ i n diought of tliDK Item latbiVB diide j kj ihadow hsnnla lh« new-made bride,

And feara dithearttin her, ■t thou tltTMglB from hor Bide

Her liJe'e young partner.

Te auis mntre* HeCuiint juTencu, Te aenea pord, Miaeraqne nuper Tir^inci nuptc, Tua no rclardet

THE 8ABINE FARMEB'S SERENADK

nt tnrlrida noi

Hori aerundl manf ; Quando proruil roi

Carmen in bo« inanf ; Viri miaen ineni

Mrditabatur bjmen, Uinc puellie flen*

Stabat obaiileni limea ;

Bru HBttra L>lao£' ; DvJai Julia dtUAai*.*

An Iriib lad ao tight.

All wind and weather acoming, \ At Jud; Callaghan'e door.

Sitting upon the palinga, ilia icTe'lAle bo did poiu-.

And ihii waa part of liia wailing t~

Yau-U it Mr,. BrBliaghif, ,

Don't tag nay, CharniBig Judy Callahan,

Oh '. lilt to what 1 t»y,

Channa vou'va got like Venui ) Own your loTe yon msT,

There's but the wall between u*

* Callage, matracUo. Tenoa dicitur HaS

4S4

TATHSB FBOUT 8 BELIQITSS.

Toee beitnm he ;

En, dam donnis, Tigilo, Kocte obambnkna hie

Domum phmcta ttridulo.

Lai^oi^;

Est mihi Et

TmiiK

Ad

pcggnanit sua, fltabnhim ; etnu* fMbolum;

^plendido Totdmento, Tunc, bens ! qokm bene te YeheRm in jumento If

Yoa lie &8t saleq),

Snug in bed and snoring

Bound tiie house I cree^ Your hard heart implaring.

Onljf «ay To^U have Mr. BraUag1mn ; •

Dcm^t toy nay, Ckarmmg Judy CaUtyhmu

Tre got a pig and a sow,

Tre got a str to sleep 'em ; A calf and a brindled oow.

And a cabin too, to keep 'em ; Sunday hat and coat.

An old grey mare to ride on ; Saddle and bridle to boot.

Which you may ride astride oa.

Omiytay You^U be Mrs. BraUagkan ;

D<m*t say nay, Ckarmmg Judy CaUagkanl

Fve got an acre of ground, Fve got it set with praties :

Pre got of 'baccy a pound,

Tre got some tea for the Isdiet ;

• 1* in Toce na. Nonne potiiis legendum jta, scilicet, ad raccorm 1 / De hoc /tone apud Sabinos agricolas consule Scry/toret de n rmghed passim. Ita Bemtkms.

Jus imo antiquiseimum, at displicet tox squivoca ; jus etenim c >im ^poiaye aliquando audit, ex. gr.

Omne suum fratri Jwcohjnt rendidit Esau, £t Jacob fntiijnt dedit omne suum.

Itaque, pace Bentleii, stet lectio prior. — Prout.

f rekHernm m jmtmeuto. Curriculo-ne ? an pon^ sedentem in equi dono ? dorsaliter plan^ Quid enim dicit Horatius de uxors sic recti? Konne **/•»/ tfuiiem atdet atra eura /" — Portom,

\ Lac et tmeiia. Metaphoric^ pro tea : muliebris est compotatio GfKcis non ignota, teste Anacreonte, —

6«Xm Xf ycty tTatpm, c. r. X.

Bnmykaim,

§ Baecki meee. Duplex apud poetas antiquiores habebahir hujuMi Bominis numen. Tiucam regebat prius ; po^krius cuidam hobc es*

Erit MM/ns LalaOS' :

Se rectuea <*e, Dmicis Jmlia CaixaoX':

Tis poma teme? sum Uno drresjugere;

Yi5 lac et mella^t <^^ Bacchi sucoo,§ sugere ?

e*ioK prserat quje iokacco audit. Succus utrique optimus. — CoUridgt.

TUB BiBINE FABMBIt'S SEBEKAJ)E.

Via aqiuB-ritiB liiii ? •

Pltmioso soicnum vacoulo? \ib ut panCuB lirii

Tel umulo Tel baculo ?{

Ftp got the ring to wed.

Some "bisk; to make i^ gulj i I've got a feallicr bed.

And a huidsome ncn ihilekgli.

IMtleit Julia CAU.AOE'.

litteria operam due i Lueido fulgeB oeulo %

Dotes iniuper quas

Hammi sunt in loculo.

BOTI quod upla bIb g

Ad procrtwidotii eobolciD I

CoHidM (ncscial quis P)

Srtiul taalum die u Julia CUiu.Sl',

Fdu7J have Afrt. BraBaghtni

Don'l ,ay >,«y, Charming Judy Callaghan,

Tou'Te got a charmmg i^e, [ing | You've got Bonie spelling uid read-

Tou'iB got, aud BO have Ii A ta«le Tor geutevl broeding i

You're rich, and lair, and joung, Ab crarj-bfidj'B knowing j

" ' 3 got n decent tongue ■ i going.

Whene'et

You'll havt Mr. BralUghmf

Don't lay nay, CAarmnm Judy CallagAaii,

iwn tu For « wife till drath

"'EiBrw, Upiduin oor, mil I am wdling to take je!

Bllituia perdimus, heu, Sul, och ! 1 wiute oij brcstb,

Te tapoT urget. Donut ! The devil himBalf can't trake j^

■ Jjmi-Ula Tim, Anolo-Hjbernio*^ " a iimctr of uAiiiey," tO);*Ci J tof licet, vol pcrgriBca.— ^orr.

l" Plumma mbco, Plumarum oongeriei cwt6 ad boiudob invitaiidos ii apta I St mihi per niultos aniios laneiu Ute Bacciis, Ang. waoltaci, K bit apgirim^ ad donnienduDi idoaeiu. Litea eliiun dt land ut aiuni ea- \^wnti4, M>panftiraa per auDoa ui. oiercui. Qiiot ot quom pneolora

-Proul.

Saculo cert£ digniiiim. pontif — Magma.

S Aplatii. Quomodo noTcnt ? Vide Ppoverb. Solomonis, csp, in. T. 19. Niai foraau IuIbb fuorint puellie Sabisoruni quale! impudeiu isle baUtiO Cooneliua caeotitnr eiee Dostratea. — lilomjield.

II laKguam mabittm. PrluB enumerat futareconjugiB bonainmaftinai DOtte* tnnatt nd mobiUa, Anglioe^ ckallel prqitrlf. Pnccktiu ordo ml— Cor. Wellurall.

iS6

FATHSB PB0rT*8 RKUQUSB.

Inffrait imber trax — Jam sab terto pellitur

Is quein crastina lux* Kefisret hiio fideliter.

Semel iantwn die Bria notira Lala.Os' ;

Ne recuiea tie, Duleis Julia Calla.Ox'.

'Tis just beginning to nin, So rU get muW cover ;

To-morrow PU come again. And be your constant iorer.

Ynu'll be Mm, BraUaghan s

Don*i tojf nay, Charming Jwufy CaUaghan^

TO THE HOT WELLS OF CLIFTOJi.

nr FBAI8B OF Bxrx-PinroH. A Triglot Ode, tu.

lo TlivBapov ircpc pivfiaro^ tfiSti,

2* Horatii in fontem Bristolii carmen.

3» ISl lElcUcii (anpublisit^cli) of *' tf^c anfonanatc ^battmsn.

FIVDAB.

MaXXoi/ fv vaXift AafiTTovir' av9i<ri 99¥

2' avrXCt

Pcvfcari iroXX^

Mi(ryii/v

Kac /ieXcro( fcoXv,

Avijp Kfv nf ip^v fiovXfTai ri ftavyv Sot BaKXOv Kavapov Sot ^laxpf^vvvtni

0' aiyiari vafia' UpoBvfMOi: T( Tax ^<f<firai.

'S.i ^Xtyfi' aiOaXotv ^eipiov aoTipoQ ApfioZti irXioTopi' 2v KpvoQ ridvv #v

Stl<TOlQ

AvrtX«rai(Ti

TToatc

K' aiBioirtiv ^vXtp,

HORACE. O fons Bristolii Hoc magis in vitro Dulei d^ne mere Non sine floribus Vas implereris Unda

Mel solvente Caloribus.

Si quia vel yenerem Aut preelia cogitat, Is Bacchi calidos Inficiet tibi Kubro sanguine Rivos,

Fiet protinus Impiger !

Te flagrante bibax Ore canicuU Sugit navita : tu Frigus amabile Fessis vomere Mauris Praebes ac Homini nigro.

CHATTKSIXnr.

S iicn pour lDonb« •* 1^01 iDcUs *' of ^bal bubble fort( IBis clear as rtpstal ; . . . Sn parlour snvg lEH Inisb no botier ^0 mix a (ng ®f l&um ano aSata.

Qotb Xobe, poung tfjkU ^nc's bosom rnEle ? SStonlH anp feel IRfpe far a stnflLc ? t^})t simplest plan ^B ftist to take a 9Blcll sttScncH can ^f oltt 3lamaica.

13ciicatb tbe >one ©rog in a pail or lilum — ^besi alonc^ QcUgbts tbc sailor, ^be can %t sioills 'II lone gibes btgoac In tbe mntillcs ^0 tof^ite or nigger.

* x\llusio ad distichon Maronianum,

** Nocte pluit tota redeuni tfteciacula smdi^. K. r. \»

•t

Prout.

KOLLT CASEW.

487

Effffcai ayXaif

X iV KOlkt^ KVKOKI ^vOffJtytfV ItltQ

Fies nobilium Tu quoque fontium Me dioente ; caTum Bain oalicem reples Umamque Unde loquaces

AaXov «( ov

2oi/ it piVfia KaOaXXtrat, Lymphs

DesiUunt tu».

tE-liiQ tlafmft, ® fount* Scscttic attention • 'lIcnccforlDarli count ^n classic mention. IXtSl^t pleasant stuff tirbinc to l^t Up is. . . . SKc *bc t^aU enough Si Aganippe's.

MOLLY CAEEW.

TO THE HABD-HEABTED MOLLT CABEW, THE LAICXITT OF HEB IBI8H LOTEB.

OcH hone !

Oh! what will I do? Sure my love is all crost, Like k bud in the frost . • .

And there's no use at all In my going to bed ; For 'tis dhrames, and not sleep. That comes into mj head . . .

And 'tis all about you, My sweet Molly Carcw, And indeed 'tis a sin And a shame. —

You're complater than nature In every feature ; The snow can't compare To your forehead so fair ; And I rather would spy Just one blink of your eye Than the purtiest star That shines out of the sky ; Tho'— by this and by that! For the matter o* that — You're more distant by far Than that same.

Och hone, wierasthrew ! I am alone In this world without you \

Och hone!

But why should I speak Of your forehead and eyes. When your nose it dtfiies

▲D MOLLISaiMA^ PTTELLAM S UB- TICA CABUABUH FAHILIA OTI- DIIT8 NA80 LAMENTATUB.

Heu! heu!

Me tssdet, me piget o ! Cor mihi riget o ! Ut flos sub frigido . . .

£t nox ipsa mi turn Cum yado dormitCim. Infaustat insomnis, Transcurritur omnia . . .

Hoc culpi fit tuA M!, mollis Cari^ Sio mihi Uludeus, Nee pudens. —

Prodigium tu, re £s, yerky naturse, Candidior lacte j — Plus fronte cum h&c te, Cum istis ooellis, Plus omnibus stellis Mehercule vellem. — Sed heu, me imbellera ! A me, qui sum fidus* Yel ullimum sidus Non dbtat te magis . . . Quid agLB !

Heu ! heu ! nisi tu Me ames, Pereo! pillaleu!

Heu! heu!

Sed cur sequar laude Ocellos aut frontem Si VASI, cum fraudcs

488

FATHSB FBOUT^S XXLIQUM.

Paddj Blake the echoolmaster

To put it in rhyme P — Though there's one Bubxb, He sajt, Who would call it ^^ni^lune . . .

And then for your cheek, Throth, 'twould take him a week Ita beautiea to tell As he'd rather : —

Then jour Upe, O machree ! In their beautiml glow They a pattern might be For the cherries to grow. — 'Twas an apple that tempted Our mother, we know ; For apples were scarce I suppose long ago : But at this time o'day, 'Pon my oonsdenoe I'U say, Buch cherries might tempt A man*8 father !

Och hone, ¥rierasthrew ! Fm alone In this world without you !

Och hone !

By the man in the moon ! You teaze me all ways That a woman can plaze ;

For YOU dance twice as high With that thief Pat Macgbee As when you take share Of a jig, dear, with me ;

Though the piper I bate, For fear the oidd chate Wouldn't play you your Favourite tune.

And when you're at Mass My devotion you crass. For 'tis thinking of you I am, Molly Carew ; Wliile you wear on purpose A bonnet so deep. That I can't at your sweet Pretty face get a peep. Oh ! lave off that bonnet, Or else I'll lave on it The loss of my wandering

Sown

Pr»tereo pontem P . • • Ast hie ^go miniis

QuiLm ipse LoNonctrs

In Terbis ezprimem

Hunc nasum sublimem • • r De floridA gena

Vulgaris camoena

Cantaret in vanum

Per ^wnnTTi, —

Tum, tibi puella ! Sic tument labella Ut nil plus jucundum Sit, aut rubicundum ; Si primitib homo CoUapsus est pomo. Si dolor et luotus Venerunt per fructus, Proh ! etas nunc serior Ke cadat, vereor, Icta tam hello Labello !

Heu ! heu I nisi tu Me ames, Pereo! pillaleu!

Heu! heu!

Per cornua lunas Perpetu6 tu ne Me vexes impun6 ? . . .

I nunc choro salta (Mac-ghius nam teciim) Plants magis alt4 Qu^ sueveris mecum ! • • •

Tibicinem quando Cogo fustigando Ne falsum det melos, Anhelus. —

A te in sacello Vix mentem revello, Heu ! miser^ scissam Te inter et Missam ; Tu latitas vero Tam stricto galero Ut cemere vultum Desiderem multiim. £t dubites jam, ni^m (Ob anims damnum) > Sit fas huno deberi AuferriP

THl PAIHTICB, BABBT.

489

Oth hone ! like an owl, Day is night, Dear, to me without jou I

Och hone !

Don't proToke me to do it t For there's girb by the score That loves me. and more.

And you'd look very queer. If some morning you'd meet My wedding all marching In pride down the street

Throth you'd open your eyes, And you'd die of surprise To think 'twasn't you Was come to it.

Andfiiith! KattyNaile Ajid her cow, I go bail, Would jump if I'd say, " Eatty Naile, name the day.** Ajid though you're fair and firesh As the blossoms of May, And she's short and dark Like a cowld winter's day. Yet, if you don't repent Before Easter, — when Lent Is over — I'll marry For spite.

Och hone ! and when I Die for you, *Tis my ghost that you'll see every

night !

Hea ! heu ! niai ta Corikm sis Cecufl sim : eleleu !

Heu! heu!

Non me provocato^ Nam vireinum sat, o ! Stant mmi amato . . .

Et stuperes plan^, 8i aliquo mand Me sponsum videres ; Hoc quomodo ferres ?

Quid dioeres, si oum Triumpho per vicum, Maritus it ibi, Non tibi !

Et pol ! Catharinss Cui vaoca, (tu, sine) Si proferem hymen Chrande essct discrimen i Tu quamvis, hlc aio, Sis blandior Maio, Et heeo oalet rariilt Quim Januarius ; Si non mutas brevi, Hanc mihi decrevi (Ut sic ultus forem) fjxorem;

Tum posthlk) diil Me spectrum Terebere tu . . .

Eleleu !

p.

.-,C..

j

Jii

JHE PAINTEE, BAERY.

'; . '■■*-'■- ■■'■' "i?ome. 1769.

" Nothing could have made me more really happy than your very kind letter. It came most opportunely to support my spirits at a time when I was ill of a fever, which I believe was occasioned by a cold caught while working in the Vatican.'*

Jamei Barry (R.A,) to (Sir) Joihua Reynolds,

" Apparet domus intus et atria Ibnga patescunt, Apparent Friami et veterum penetralia regum.** — jEneid //.

His magic wand Front waves again, and opes Those ludlowed halls inhabited by Fopes ; Where (through an odd rencontre that befell) he Enjoys some ** table talk" with Chmganelli.— O. Y.

490 FATHER PB0U1*8 BELIQ17S8.

The historian on whom will devolve the task of tradn^ '^ a la Gibhon,^^ the decline and fall of Engb'sh literatme, must devote an ample chapter to writers of romance. This class has ohtained an undue predominance. A modej and undisciplined horde, emerging from their native haunts ontiie remote houndary of the literary domain, have rushed down with a simultaneous war-whoop on the empire of leaming, and threaten not to leave a vestige of soher knowledge or dassie taste throughout the range of their Vandal incursions ; no memorahle transaction of hvgone centuries is held sacred from the rude inroad and destructive battle-axe of the '' histobical" novelist. The ghost of Froissart revisits nightly the glimpses of the moon to complain of those who molest and torture his simple spirit ; Sapin, Matthew Paris, Hollinshed, De Thou, Hume, Clarendon, and Eobertson, undergo a post mortem persecution, which those chroniclers scarce anticipated as the fruit of their learned labours. The sisterhood of the sacred valley have taken the affair sadly to heart ; and each Muse in her turn sheds a tear of condolence over the disfigured page of Clio.

Nor has individual biography been exempt from devasta- tion. Richelieu, Cromwell, Will. Wallace, Henri Quatre, Cardinal Borromeo, Queen Elizabeth, Brinsley Sheridan, and a host of victims, have been immolated with barbarous rites on the shrine of Colbum and Bentley. After disinter, ring by dozens the memorable dead who fain would sleep in "Westminster Abbey, these goules have traversed the conti- nent, with vampire voracity, in quest of prey ; few are the characters of European celebrity that have not fed their in- discriminate insatiate maw. Nay, as if modem liistory did not afford scope for the exercise of their propensities, they have invaded the privacy of Eoman life, to insult the " lares" to desecrate the household gods of ancient Italy ; and in the Last Days of Pompeii, an attempt is made to impute modern foppery, with all its concomitant peculiarities, to the masters of the world.

'* Et, sous dei nomt Romaitu, faisant notre portrait — Peindre Caton galant, et Brutus dameret.

BoiLEAU, A, p. chant in.

All this is done for the purpose of being read by sentimental

THE PAIVTEB, BAnitT. 10]

spinsters, sehool-govemesaeB, and linendrapere' apprentices, to whom " circ ilating UbrnrieB" look for support nud encou- ragement.

Tbe poet Lucan has a paasiige in hia Pharialia, wlierein he relates that when rude pensants sought to disturb the ■epulchre of Mabius, the old Roman skeleton started up in anger, aod with a posthumous glance scared the saerilegioua wretchea from hia grave.

" Triitia SjUnnJ cednere orscula manes, ToUantemquo caput (jolidas Anienis sd aodaB, A?riuolte fraoto fttiBlDU effiigflre wpulchro," — ^(Lib. i. adfinoA^

Which ihe French profeasor, Laharpe, hoiS so beautifully rendered —

" Du H>c de Ib chomte, on dit, mi'im Inbaareur Entr'ouTrit une tomhe, et »Bi>i d'epouTante Vit M^aiva lerer m tSte uienafautti, Et let (^hi^pui epsTB. \» &odI cicatriif, B'aueoir pale et tremblant lur >oii tombrau brial."

Ouebt not apprehenaion of outbreak from the injured tenants of the tomb to deter those reaurrection-men. from practising their bomd trade on the classic subjects of Greece and feme?

It is unfair to accuse Sir Walter Scott of being the parent ■of this literary monster : it vas fuU grown, or iu its teens, Birhen he adopted it, flinging the mantle of his genius over r its native deformity. Towards the close of the last century, 1 the muse of a French abbe, Mahmontel, brought it forth I In U» Incaa and Belisaire; Floriau stood sponsor to the I imihin in Numa Pompiliua and Goimatce de Cordoue ; Jane I Porter acted the part of wet nurse in Thaddeut of Wartaie. We have been led into these remarks by the circumstance I of meeting among tbe papers of our sacerdotal sage a sin-

EL-ar account of men and of things which now belong to istury — a narratiTe which, did we not deprecate the im- iputation, might be taken for an " historical romance."

■ oli\t:u yobke.

WaltTgrauhUl, .Vareli, 1330.

I have been a sojourner in many lands. Iu youth I felt [ the full value of that vigorous period's imwasted eaergiefl,

492 TATHEB PBOUT's SELIQ17S8.

and took care that my faculties of body and mind shofold nol be sluggishly folded in a napkin, and hidden beneath the clod ot my native isle. Hence, wafted jojfullj o'er the briny barrier that encloses this unfortunate '^ gem of the western world,*' I early landed on the shores of continental Europe, and spent my best and freshest years in yisiting her cities, her coUegiate halls, her historic ruins, her battle fields. Moore and I may say with truth, that

'* We haye roamed through thia worid.**

But my proceedings (unlike Tommy's) bore no resemblance to the conduct of " a child at a feast." It was not in pur- suit of pleasure that / rambled through distant proTinces : neither, like " Childe Harold," did I travd to stifle the voice of remorse — to

" Fling forgetfiiliiees around me.**

I had other views. A transient, but not unobservant pil- grim, I have kept the even tenor of my way thrQugh many a foreign tract of interesting country ; rarely mingliTig in the busy hum of men, though carefully noting down witii meditative mind the discrepancies of national thought and feeling as I went along. Keenly awake to each passing oc- currence in the cities where I dwelt, though, like the stranger at Carthage, myself unperceived :

" Per medioa, miscetque virig neqae cemitor ullL" — {JEneid I.)

But I have paused longest at Eome. Not that other cities were divested of attraction ; but at no inferior thresh- old, at no minor shrine, could I be induced to depose the staff, the scrip, and the scallop shell. Even now, in the de- crepitude of age, the reminiscences of the seven hills, re- freshing the verdant enthusiasm of my boyhood, return sweetly, welcomed like the visits of early friendship ; although I had an opportunity of renewing my acquaintanceship with the cities of France some thirty years ago, at the peace of Amiens, still the recollections of my Eoman sojourn, bearing the remote millessimo of 1769, have kept themselves (to use a consecrated expression) ^^ greener^* in my soul. O Borne! how much better and more profitable do I feel it to dwell in spirit, amid the ruins of thy monumental soil, than ooipo*

IHK FAIHT£a, BaHRT. 493

really to reside in the most brilliant of modem capitals. QuOTiCo minlii eit ckm retiquU veriuri quant tui laeanninie .'

There is a splendid eoug by some English bard, highly ex- pressive of the patriotic attocnment that he luuat have fult for the island of his birth — enhiuiced bv a reference to the proud position it holds among the couutnes of Eurojie iu luios, in arts, in all the comforts of civilisation, commerce, and free- dom ; the soul of the composition is exhaled ia thut brief condensation of impassioned eulogy, '' England, the Home of the World !" w bat this country now is, Borne was. Seneca terms it (in hia treatise De Conso/atioiie, cup. 6) eammunem gentibus patriam ; the idea ia re-echoed by the Daturalist Pliny (lib. 35, cap. 5). The sensitive Mantiinn shepherd dwells on it with complacency.

" Eerum pulcherrinui Rooui ! " Nor less perceptible are Horace's affections, when that g(»- nuine specimen of a Horaan " man on town" slyly ei- borta some friend to try the effects of rustication —

I " Omitle miniri beala

I Fumum et opes Btrupitimiquo Bomie !"

Ovid's case is more peculiarly interesting. He who had

formed the chief ornament of polished society, the sought-

for and the caressed of every Roman boudoir, the arbiter ot

refinement and elegance at the brilliant court of Augustus,

is suddenly banished to Scytbia ; a province much resembling

the bogs of modem Iveragh, or the wilderness of Conne-

mam. Tn bo woful a predicament, is it to be wondered that

he should envy his books, which would go through so many

I editions in the capital, and be banded about in every circle,

I while he himself was pining among the tasteless brutes and

■^ignorant savages of the paludet PropoHt'idU ?

" Parre . . . aine ms liber ibis in Drboin, llui milii, (juo Donimo nan licet ire tuo 1"

1 the decline of the empire, that eminent scholar and ighly-gifled writer. St. Jerome, having, with drawn from the ■feacinations of the Eternii! City to a romantic hermitage in Palestine, compWned sadly that his retirement was invaded, and bis solitude perpetually haunted, by certain fairy visions of Some, as is reconled by Erasmus Id the life of the saint

494 FATHEB PSOUT'S BELIQinSB.

prefixed to the editio princeps.. . {8^ Hierorumd Opera^ t, 1, folio, Banlea, 1526.)

But Borne was not recommended to my affectionB and cherished in my heart merely because of her Pagan exod- lence, her martial glory, her hterary fiune. I aspijned to the Christian priesthood in that city which the code of Justinian, in the absence of mere scriptural warrant, calls the fountain of sacerdotal honour — *^fofu sacerdotii ;** in that city whidi St. Prosper, a graceful poet (a.I). 470), addressed in tenns of veneration and endearment :

" Sedes Boma Petri, qiuB pastoraliB honoris Facta caput mundo quidquid non possidet amiis, Belligione tenet ; "

while a modem French poet, the unfortunate Ghilbert, has characterised that capital as

« Yeitye d'un people roi, mais Bsnni encore da monda T*

I looked on Borne as the cemeteij of the thousand mabttbs whose ashes commingle there with the dust of the Scipios, and whose bones (to use the strange words of the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius) were ground into flour by the lions of the amphitheatre, to become the bread of Christ ; and there- fore I looked on Bome with the eyes of old Chrysostom, whose declaration comes fresh on my memory ; commenting on Paul's epistle to the Bomans, he exclaims : E/w jiat rp Peu/ifiv dta Tovro ^tXa xai fitaxa^i^ea on xai ^uv aurois ftt^ovQ ^9 xai rov l3iov i%u xarikodi, A/o xai tTiffrifi^og ij ^oX/; tmuhv^ n aT§ ruv aWuv a^avruv' xai xa&aTi^ ffu/Jka fitya xcu t^xyS^ o^daXfioug i^it 8uo Xafi/ffovrag^ ruv ayiuv rourAiy rot, eufAara, Exsihv a^dyriffsro IlauXo^, ixsi6tv IliTPOf "Evvoficars n xou ^f^an oiov o-^tro 6%afLa Fcajiifi, to¥ UavXov i^atpvfn avierafjkswv aro rm dfiXTii ixttvrig /isra HiT^ov, xai ai^ofisvov tig aTavrri^iv rov Ku^iov. O/a a'jroffnXkii r^ X^/(rr^ ^cda i} Po/^ij. {Homilia in Epiit Paid, ad Romanos, ad finem.) An effusion, thrilling with enthusiasm, the spirit of which may be recognised in the hymn by St. Prudentius, in the fifth century, for the joint festival of Peter and Paul :

*' O Boma felix, que duorum principmn Es consecrata glorioso sanguine, Horum cruore purpurata cseteras Excellifi orbis una pulchritudinee T'

Ek QtJScto Breviar, Rom, 29 JuniL

THE PAISTES, BABHT. 103

This topic muBt not, however, lead me away from tlie sub- ject matter of to-night'e paper ; an occurrence that befell myself and my old si'hoolfellow, tbe painter Barry, in the capitul of the ChriBtinQ world. In the course of these com- positionB I hare felt cooficioua of over-freely indulging in illuHtration and aoilloquy. I apologiae for trespaaeing, and I do eo without availing msyelf of the excuae an eiratio French poet gives :

It waB towards the close of tbe autumn of 17G9 that I reached the Eternal City. Willi riipturoufl exultation I caught a glimpse, from the heights above the "Pone Mil- viua," of that glorioua landscape of niinn : my mind is still impreased, at thia distance of time, with the solemn stillneaa (.if those seven hills — the deep gliding of the voiceless Tiber — the frequent cypress rising in that suburban solitude — and yon gorgeous dome of the Oulileau lishermiLn swell- ing in triumph over the circus of Nero. I bad alighted from the clumsy vehicle of my Florentine velturino, sure to rojoin him at the traveller's inevitable rewrfeiBoui, theDogana Poutificia : alone and on foot I arrived at the gate of Some, and stood on the Piazzo del Popolo. What was my precise current of cogitation I cannot remember, but I was sud- denly aroused from my reverie by the rough graep of honest and affectionate welcome; mine eye gazed on the well- known countenance of James Baabt. Then and there was 1 des- tined to meet thee, best beloved of my boyhood, and earliest rwsoeiate of my school-days ! with whom I had often played ■' e truant from the hedge-academy of Tim Delany.

" Moorma prime sodaliuni ! Cum ()uo tiioniiitcni stppe diera Ftegi." — Hob. lib. ii. ode 7.

Then and there was it my lot to encounter him. whom I risd remembered a ahoelees, stociingless and reckless urchin, I jet withal the life and soul of fiin in the classic purlieus of

496 FATHER PSOITT^S BSLTQITES.

BlanKfj Lane ; ripe for every miBchief^ but distin^iuBhed among all the pupila of our excellent Didascalua dj the eraphic accuracy with which his embryo genius could traee in chalk on the school-door, or with alate pencil on those tablets sacred to Euclid, the pedant's bespecteeled probosds. A red cow in fresco over MicK Flannagan's public-house, still exists to attest the early development of his pictorial talent ; even then, his passion for the nne arts was aemonatrated by the &ct of his having removed from its pedestal, and con- veyed in the dead of night to his own garret, the woodm effigy of a blackamoor, that adorned the widow Bradj's tobacco-shop. I afterwards lost sight of him when he mi- grated from Cork to the miserable hamlet of Passage on the harbour. His father, who had been a builder while in town, became it appears the owner of a small coaating-craft ; in which, sadly against his inclination, my poor James was doomed to roam the blue deep, untQ he at last rebelled against his maritime destiny, and '* taking up arms against a sea of troubles," determined, in opposition to parental authority, at once to ** end then^." His subsequent fate and fortunes since, he had " cut the painter" I had no means of acertaining. till thus accosted by what seemed, to my startled eye, the most unaccountable of apparitions ; nor was it till I had fairly scanned his outward semblance, and heard the genuine Munster brogue, in its pure, unsophisticated Atti- cism, vibrate on his tongue, that doubt gave place to the delii^ht of mutual recognition. Barry's wonderment at dis- covering his quondam acquaintance in a semi-ecclesiastical garb, was not the least amusing feature in the group we presented under the pedestal of Aurelian's obelisk, that nuug its lengthy shadow across the spacious piazza, as the glorious Italian sun stiU lingered on the verge of the ho- rizon.

An adjourment was voted, by acclamation, to the newest hospitable shed ; which, I remember well, was that most clasJBicallv named establishment, the Osteria delta Syhiihy in the " Corso." There,

** O qui complexus et gaudia quanta fuerunt ! ^Til ego ooutulecim jucundo aauus amico." — fier BrwuhtsiL

THK PAISTEH, BABET. 497

There enauod flaak after flask of sparkling Oroieto and ge- iierous " laehryma ;" nor waa the swelling tear of joyous eDthuBiasia unnoticed by me in the full eye of kindling genius, when we drank to his "art" and hia ''hopes," cou- pled with the health of "Edmdnd Buuee, his noble, hit genero'it protector !"

We parted at a late hour, after collating our autobiogra- pliies, pleased at the coincidence that had reunited ua once more. Barrr bad but to crosa the street to his modest tfanzina, in the " Vicolo del Greco ; " I tarried for the night in the cave of " the sybil," and dreamed over many a frolic of bygone days, over many a deed of Boman heroism ; com- mingling the recollections of Tim Delany with those of Michael Aogelo, and alternately perambulating in spirit the " Via Sacra" and " Blarney Lane."

This renewal of aequaiDtanceship was of advantage to us both, during the period of our residence at Eoiue. Though the path of our respective pursuits was dissimilar, there was on both sides much of acquired information, the inter- change of which was delightful. In all that could illustrate the memorials of Komau story, annals of the republic, tro- pbiee, temples, triumphal arches, deciphering of inscriptions, and such lore as could be gathered from previous perusal of what |iad been written on that exhauatleas topic, Barry found in his friend a cheerful nomenclator — an almanac of relor- ence, especially in the records and proceedings of primitive Christianity ; of which Borne, its catacombs, its churches, its sepulchres, and its MS3., are t)ie richest depositories.* In return for such hints, suggestions, and legends, it waa BaiTj-'a pride to develop the sound principles of taste and criticism — the theory of the art he loved — those views and speculations which he had derived from nature, and from intercourse with the author oi A Treatise oh the Sublime and Beautiful. Commingling our notions, we explored the mo- namental remains strevra in giant fragments over the seven hills, ittna that magnificent relic of imperial grandeur, 'W anfileairo Flatiu," to that utilitarian aepoait of repub- lican glory, the " Cloaca Maxima."

■ There it nn (.'InboruU.- nork, b; FntheF iringhi, bearing the qiuinl Je of Kama S-idl'rrmifa, 2 TOle. folia, Roni. 1663, vlueli embodiM LM'Jek of the infurmntioii here aliuded U>. — Eaoui.

49S FATHEa PBOCT S BELIQCEfl.

Among the attributes anil peculiar) ties of eitraoniinsr

intellect, tliere hns been often niitii^ed oji occasionul jilayfol npBS, a whirnaical boyiBlmeaa, with wLich the tarne pruiltv of medioure talent is rarely chargeable. This ch»ractenBti idiosyncracy was observable in Barry : he bad retained I the maturity of manhood that accompaniment of iabor, genius — the heart of childhood still fresh and Karm ii breuBt. My friend loved a frolic. I know not whetlicr j wRa the irreeistible impulse of achoot-day associations wht my presence communicated; but in the moat solemn local

itics, when the spot would preclude any idea of fun, a si

den whim would take hia tancy— the ^tinguiabed painte would disappear by some enchantment, and leave nnugt behind but the urchin of the Btreets of Cork. In examiuinj the environs of the Capitol, as we looked up with awe at tk Tiiriteian Rock, be auggested that I should climb the rai na<^le, and p!ace myself in the attitude of an auuient cnmini about to take the last fatal step, in suppoHed accurdane with the ttttatiu cojuuUum in such cases made and pn>rid«d I hod scarcely folded my clerical gown into the most as proved fashion of a Boman toga, and assumed a louk c sublime attachment, even in death, to the laws of mv c try, estending my arm to the temple of Jiipiti-r 8tator,-« when a blow of a cabbage-stump, aimed with uaemiig pre cisioo from the kitchen -garden where Barry stood SeW, had well nigh hurled me Irom my eminence. Yaiiily did I claim the protection of canon law, which eKcoiumunicstcr the perpetrator of a similar enormity {Si qaU, tuadente d biilo, eterieum pereuarrit, Ac. canon § de percuttorihut : ee, S, de jaclit caul.) ; lie would urge my own quotation fi^n Horace, authorising poets or nainters to attempt anythinj within the range of human auaacity, — qaidlihel midemlL

We loved, at the solemn hour of sunset, ere twilight gW_ had flung his misty mantle over the scene, to ascend tog6> ther the Janicuium Hill, because of the unrivalled prospect which, from the grand reservoir of the Atqua Paolina, may b» enjoyed in the coot of the evening, commanding the ancieat and modern city, — palacea, domes, and campanilt conlnatii in picturesque confusion with the giant pillars of Trajan oj of Antonine,- — the circumference of its walls, — aqueductt stretching in, WoltBttMnrveancmw the desolate campagmi,-*

THE PAISTEU, BAEHT. 499

tlie silent course of the Tiber winding ita Berpent ]engtb througli the wliole compasB of the horizon, tlie liistant hills of Tivoli and Alba on the verge of the landeeape, lost among the Apennines, — there would we ait and cootemplate awbile the matchlesa vision, with emotions far dee]ier than thoae felt by Martial, whose eye aeauned the same tract of land from the same eminence in olden days.

" Hioo seplflin dominoi vidwo monies, £t lotam licet iPKliinBreBomiuii."

Then anon the sportive spirit would rush upon Barry, and etmngely jarring on the hannonv of local reminiscences, amid the awfulness of historic cogitation, would hurst forth A wild and grotesque song, composed in honour of the mari- time village where he had spent his young days, manifestly . Kn imitation of that unrivalled dithyramb the " Groves of I Blarney," with a little of its humour, and all its absurdity.

t n/ a /aiiianailf Irith lS'aleriiu/-pttKt.

I 'Tie Ibere lUe turf is,

And KituBted

Vpoa thu suT. "H» lists fuiil dscent. And quiLe adj&cent To come from Cork

On ■ Buramer'B dnj ; Time you may elip in

That at Or in a wherry Croa» o'er the ferry To Carrigaloe,

Od the oilier side.

Mud imbinB sKarm in This place to charming, With aailor garmeaU

Hung out to dry ; And eicli abode ta Snug and couiiuodious, 'WitH pig* melodious

In Uieir atraw-built Btj. * The Mtv. TkomoM EnfUmd, 1

And lots ol mnrphiee. Dead sprata and herrings,

And oyetcr ihtJla i Nor an.v lai^k, 0 I Of good tobncco— Tbough ivlml ia smuggled

By lor eiccla.

There aro ships from CsdiK, And from BarbBdues, But the leading Inde is

In whisky -pnimh j And you may go in Whei'e one Molly Bowen Keeps u note hotel

For a quiet lunch. But land or dtuk on. Ton may safciv reckon, WhatsoeTer co'unlrj

Yon ooine hither from. Onai

To a jollifl. With a parish priest

That's called "Father Tom."*

fitatioi

600 PATHEB PBOTJT*B BELIQU£8.

Of ships there's one fist There ** Ssixon" jailon

For lodging oonvicta, Keep brare repallorB,

A floating *' stone Jug" Who soon witJi sailors

Of amazing bulk ; Must anchor weigh

The hake and salmon. From th* em'rald idand,

Playins at bagammon. Ne'er to see drj land,

Swixnror divarsion Until Uiey spy land

All round this "^ hulk ;" In sweet Bot'nj Bay.

Some people will think this conduct of mj departed firiend Teiy drndish, and so it was, doubtless ; but, to quote the language of his patron, Edmund Burke, in one of those im- mortal pamphlets, replete with a wisdom and a philosophy never granted to the soul of an Utilitarian, " Why not gra- tify children ? lawyers, I suppose, were children once. Is Jhe world all grown up ? is childhood dead ? or is there not in the bosoms of the wisest and the best some of the child*s heart left to respond to its earliest enchantments ?" There is a remark by Coleridge relative to this propensity of su- perior mental power to humble itself to the capacity and the pursuits of the infant mind, which, if I recollected bis exact words, I would here record ;• but I have constantly observed, in my own experience of life, and my own range of reading, that such has ever been the tendency of ill gifted men in every age, Inrom Agesilaus to Henri Quatre— from the prophet who adapted himself to the proportions of infancy, '' his eyes upon his eyes, his mouth upon his mouth, kis hand upon his hands" (2 Kings, chap. iv. ver. 34), to our own immortal patriot Grattan, who, in the home a nation gave him, amid the woods of Tinnahinch, played hide-and-seek with his children ; where (as Moore says) he who had guided the councils of the collected wisdom,

** The most wise of the old. Became all that the youngest and simplest hold dear." — Monody, ifc,

** a life" of the celebrated friar, Arthur 0*Leary, chaplain to a dub which Curran, Yelverton, Earls Moira, Charlemon^ &c. &c. established ia 1780, under the designation of " the Monks of the Screw."— O. Y.

* The remark of which Prout only recollects the substance maj be found in Coleridge's Jutobiograph. LUer^ vol- L p. 85, ** 7b carry on the feelings qf childhood into the powen of mmnkood is the primleye (f genius** Ac &c. Pope seems to have had a foretaste of this metapbj* sical discovery when he wrote on his friend Qay —

^^ la w\i «k mou^ «im.^licitY a child.** ^O, Y,

TnE PAtsTBR, BABBT. 501

Some TT^Ifs pasBed on, and I began to see less of Barry. Aniioua to store my mind with whatever kuowledge was to be obtained in the haunts of learning, I epent my days in frequenting the halls of the Univer»ity {arcldgymnaa. rom.), imbibing the wisdom of its professors, To some of these I willingly pay the tribute of acknowledgment ; they were men of acute and quick perception, clear and lucid delivery, easy and affable intercourse; tneir lectures at once animated ana substantial; others (alas!), like our modern Lardners, operate on the crowd of eager students like the reading of the riot act — dull, plodding, pompous, pragmatical, and empty-headed.

wliile 1 was thus engaged in sounding the depths of Tho- mas Aquinas, my countryman was ardently pursuing hi8 favourite vocation, studying the antique ; I was busied with forms of syllogistic disputation, he tracmg graceful shapes of &un and nymph — Psyche and Ganymede ; I wrestled with Duns Scotua and Peter Lombard, be grappled with the dying gladiator, or still-breathing Laocoon ; that block called the Torso was Aii idolatry ; / worshipped an equally pon- derous folio of Cornelius a Lapide.

Months rolled away, in occasional visits from the painter; but I could observe that his brow wore .the mark of a dis- I turbed spirit, and that be laboured under fits of depression, He made nu difficulty of communicating to me the subiect of his tribulations, which had little foundation in reality, but were sufficient to sting to madness an over-sensitive mind, such aa my friend unfortunately possessed. He had persuaded himself that the English artists at Some were in a combination ngainat him, — he was doomed to be ever the victim of jealous envy, — his efforts to gain celebrity would he ever thwarted by preferences bestowed on inferior craft and intriguing dullness. To these troubles of his fancy's crea- tion there was superadded the straitened circumstances in which he was placed — wholly dependent on the small an- nuity which ^mund Burke (by no means wealthy at tlmt period) contrived to bestow on him (50(.)" All these

* But; wm not tho onl; English srtist whonp porrrtj' at Rome vat pPOTerbinl ; the cmininit Inndacaps painter, WUbod, vat ladjj unpro- vided with the precious metule Hhile s iludcnt in that capital. There U AH odd itoiy lold of his dolfitig hii ataX one Bne d&j w «. g^iuB (Jl

502 TATHXIl PBOUrS BSLIQUE8.

■rmptoma of bis intenial argimiBation, which afterwards in London broke out into such fearful manifestations of irrita* bilitTy required mj utmost skill to soothe and to pacify. Poets haTe been termed an angcj, susceptible, and sensitire race — ^prone to take umbrage a£ miaginary slight, and Tiaion- arj wrongs ; Barry belonged to the most exalted ckss of the gemus irritaUU ; and this impatience of mind, denying intensity from constitutional habit, brought on death, ere that plenitude of £une on which he might have counted, could be granted to his too eager imagination. The line of obser- Tstion into which I have been thus led, is the sentiment expressed by le Baron de Fontanes, in his consolatorjr address to Chateaubriand.

** Ainsi les maitres de la lire Long tempe one ombre fugitire

P^rtout exhaknt leor aiagrina, SemUe tromper lear noble or-

Virants la douleur ks dMiire $ goeil ;

£t ces dieux que U terre admire La Gloibx enfin pour eux arnTe^ Ont pen compt^ de joura sereinfl. £t toigoura sa palme tardire

Croit plus belle au pied d'nn

CEBCUEIL.**

Fre marked the jouth with talents His fate had been, with ardent mind

cors'd. To chase the phantom Fame,— to

Fre watched his eje, hope-lit at find

first — His grasp eluded ; — calm, redgn-

Then seen his heart indignant burst ed —

To find his genius scorned ! He knows his fate— he dies !

Soft on lus secret hour I stole, Them comes BSNOWir I /Aen Ctuneap- And saw him scan with anguished pears !

soul Globt proclaims the COTFor hen !

Glory's immortal muster-roll Aye greenest over sepulchres bis name should hare adorned ! Palm-tree and laurel rise I

In the midst of these vexations, arose on the destiny of my friend a guiding star, a mild and holy influence, which, had it not been withdrawn suddenly and for ever, might have rescued Barry from his own unruly imaginings, and linked him to social existence. There is a secret spell by which the gentle voice of beauty's admonition finds access

tennis in the baths of Caracalla (where the English had got up a sort ot ball allej), when, lo ! on his back, by way of lining to his waistcoat, a splendid waterfall, with grotto, &c. &c. became visible : a contrirance, no doubt, of his laundress, to turn his productions to some profitaUs purpose.

THE TAn-TEK, BAfiSY. SOS

to the most Ifotibound and intractable tempers. In hie Tieita to tbe Vatican, Barry had been noticed by tlie oid cuatode who tenanted tbe Torrione dd T'enti at the extreme end of tbe palace. Fabio Centurioni (euch waa tbe ho- noured name of tbia respectable reteron, tbe senior officer of tbe Vatican gallery) waa in himself an object not un- worthy of the antiquarian'H attention. He belonged to a race diatinct in character and feeiings from tbe vulgar crowd who crawl through tbe streets of Eome. Of an old trana. tiberine familv, he claimed with the iraiteverini uucon- ditionated pedigree, ascending through tbe viciaaitudea oi intervening barbarism to tbe ancient masters of the world. Whether he traced the relatiouahip up to Pabiue

" Unus qiii nobis cuoctando restituit rom" {Enniui) —

1 have omitted to ascertain. But if solemn gait, gravity of deportment, absence of unnecessary epeeo in word or gesture, were of genealogical import, his descant on the great Cunclalor waa unquestionable. His affection for young Banr originated in a sort of fancied resemblance to the old Boinan character which he thought he could discover in the foreign artist ; and certainly, as far as energy, rigour, a proud and generous disposition, and an uncompromising dignity, were typical of tbe sons of Komulua, the Irish painter justified the old gentleman's discernment. He en- tertained fur my friend a predilection he took every oppor- , tunity of exhibiting, being heard to declare Barry more of a Boman than the whole tribe of degenerate wretches who dwelt on the right bank of the river. But what set the seal to tlie custoae's approbation, waa the unbounded vene- ration both felt in common for the huge Torao at the es< tremity of the gallery — a colossal fragment, known through- out Europe from the many costs which have been taken therefrom, and which, in shape, size, and wonderful attri- butes, can only be compared to the Blarney stone ; of which, to tbe vulgar, it appears an exact fae-simile. Fabio'a eyn glistened with delight as he watched our enthusiast sketch- ing this glorious block, day after day, in every position and attitude. An invitation to his apartments in the palace was the result ; thus Barry became acquainted with Miireella.

504 PATHXB pbovt'b beuqitss.

Pure, delightful, heavenlj being ! sixty yean baye passed oyer 1117 heaa, and reyolutions haye swept oyer the &oe of Europe, and monarchies haye passed away, and for more than naif a century thy ashes haye slept in the church d Santa Cecilia in traslevere ; but thy ima^ is now before me, loyely and animated as when thy smile cheered the wild Irish artist, whom thou didst unfeignedly loye ! In that church, near the tomb of the martyred saint (thy model and thy patroness), a marble tablet, caryed by the hand of th; heart-broken father, may yet be seen, with the words,—

*' MaBCSLLA CeKTUBIOKI, DI AKKI 18, TBBGIKS BoMAiri,

PACE IHPLOBA." That posco is assuredly thine. Of too gentle a texture wert thou to endure the trials of life and the rude contact of adversity. Hence in mercy wert thou withdrawn from this boisterous world, and receiyed into the harbour of rest. With grief I record thy early fate ; but I sorrow not for thee ! My mind loyes to dwell on the probable destiny of my friend, had Heayen granted him a partner through life, adviser, help, tutelary deity, in her whom he had the misfortune to lose for ever. Of what avail are the fond speculations of friendship ? Both are loug since no more ; and I myself must soon rejoin them in the mysterious region that stretches out beyond the grave. Never shall I forget the Christmas of 1769. In Italy, the annual occurrence of that merry festival is accompanied, in the family circle as well as in the public rejoicings, with certain demonstrations of religious feeling ; it is not merely, as in England., a season of carousing and revelry. The pic- turesque appearance and grotesque costume of the rustic minstrels, who come down from the Apennines, and fill the city with the melody of their bagpipes (not unlike a group of JBethlehem shepherds), is not the least interesting feature in the solemnity. Church ceremonies, appealing to the senses of the people (for, in spite of the march of intellect, there must ever be an outward and visible display of reli- gious worship for the bulk of mankind), kindle in a mar- vellous degree the fervour of these southern votaries, impressing them with sentiments appropriate to the com- memoration of Christ's nativity. It was then that through Barry, who was a constant visitor of I^abio Centurioni, in fact, looked on in the light of an accepted son-in-law, I be*

THE PilKTEE, BAEKT.

SOS

came intimat* with the old eustode's family, nnd mixed with the circle that gathered round his fireside. Countless the hnppr evenings we spent in the society of those good and hospitable people — many the moments of unmised enjoy- rneut. Excellence in music is the birthright of every daughter of Italy ; Mareella's voice thrilled with a delicacy of feeling and depth of expression it has not been my fortune to meet with in any part of the continent. Memory will ■t this distance bring back snatches of that exquisite me- lody : and just now a ballad, replete with graceiiil piety,

Hwbich 1 believe to be of her own composition, presents itself

O my recollection. It is but aftagment; but as I never

^w it in print, I cannot supply the portion deficient to

mplete the poem, which contains a supposed dialogue be-

■een the Virgin Mary, a gipsy, and St. Joseph, in the land

^Of Egypt.

La Zimgartllm.

Aggii qua nnii stKUvUa

1

Con quwto bambino bdlo	Buoiia por 'ela Bomarella j
Che '«Wi con m* innimora i	Psclia B fleno oe ne getlo, Ti b pa tulti lo ricotto.
Dio ti ulvi bella sigaon 1
Siele atanabi e mtwchiiii;	E tu, T««hia™Uo, ««li !
Credo, poTBTi pBllegriui,	Sei nmiilo sempre a piedi j
	Arele fsHo, o bella flglia.
	Da trececlo e tante inigUi.
Alia tua bulla pivsenxa	0 ub- i hello -sto flglianllo
TuHb mi »nitQ rivereniai,	Che par fotlo pon pvnnello.
E ancor (Twlo por wrto
Cbe Tenite dal deaerto.	Bella madre e bello BgUa.
Side lUnohi dclU ria,	Ifon aretd pia paim
Ti oS^ritro la citM mia -,	T' indoTino l" avenlu™,
Betiehe lOua poienrlla.	Hoi aignora ooal aino.
Sod una doom ZiugareDa.	Faedam wmpre 1' indoTino.
Se non k come meriute.	Quel piociolin' mi torils il core
Siguoruccia perdonrtle,
Quent' onor votete famii?	Famnii graiio Btcnnriiia
Queeto pUcer rol.:le dar.ni P	Daimui i|ui lBauBiiiauina,Jlp.i

CI)c jFlig^t inter ^Egyj)!. 9 fialUti.

Thin's a ligind thal'i bild of a i^ftj Adl) >1i« lited In the ityn irhen out L( In the lanil •h«re Ihe l^rtsldi be : On hit n»i<)igi'> iiDinar

■ndhMbfU ' EgrplMllea,

J

506

FAXnSB PROUT'S BELIQUE8.

This Egyptian held ooDverse with magie, methinks, And the future was given to her gace ; For an obeiiiik marked her abode, and a sphinx (m her tbi-eshold kept vigil always. She was pensive and ever alone, nor was seen In the haunts of the dissolute crowd ; But communed with the ghosts of the Pharaohs, I ween. Or with visitors wrapped in a shroud.

And there came an old man from the desert one day, With a mHid on a mule, by that road ; And a child on her bosom reclined— and the way Led them straight to the gipsy's abode : And they seemed to have travelled a wea* ritiome path, From their home many, many a league— From a tyrant's pursuit, from an enemy's wrath. Spent with toil, and o'ereome with fatigue.

And the gipsy came forth from her dwell- ing, and prayed That the pilgrims would rest them awhile ; And she nflfered her couch to that delicate maid, Who had come many many a mile ; And she fondled the babe with affection's csresH, And she begged the old man woald re- pose; Here the stranger, she said, ever finds free access. And tiie wanderer balm for his woes.

Then her guests from the glare of the noonday she led To a seat in her grotto so cool ; Where sli« spread them a lM[nqnet of fruits — and a shed. With a manger, was found for the mule :

With the wine of the pelra-tcee, wifk fki dates newly called. All the toll of the road she begvUed; And with song in a language mysteiloaf she lulled On her boacun the wayfaxing^Ud.

When the gipey anon in her Ethiop had

Placed the infant's diminutive pala, Oh 'twas fearfhl to see how theieatoTM she scanned Of the babe in his alomber so calm 1 Well she notod each mark and each to> row that crosaed O'er the tracings of deatiny'a line : " Whbxcx caxb tb r she cried, hi astoo- ishment loat,

" FOBTHIB OBIU> IB OF LDTBAOB Dmnr*

** From the village of Raaareth* Joseph replied, "Where we dwelt in the landof tke Jew; We have fled firom a tyrant, whoee gir> ment is dyed In the gore of the children be dew: We were told to remain till an angd's command Should appoint us the hoar to rrtuni: But till then we inhabit the for^ignefi land. And in Egypt we make our soJoarD.**

" Then ye tarry with rae P cried the gipif in Joy, ** And ye make of my dwelling joaz home : Many yearn have I prayed that the Is- raelite boy (Blessed hope of the Gentiles!) would come." And she kisned both the feet of the iofkot and knelt. And adored him at once ; — then a smile Lit the face of his mother, who cheerfolly dwelt With her host on the banks of the Nile.

The character and prospects of Barry Dever presented themselves to his frienas under a brighter aspect than dur- ing the period of his intimacy with the amiable indwellers of the Torrione de* Venti in the Vatican gardens. The sooth- ing influence of milder affections became manifest in the quasi filial attention with which he deferred to the counsels of Marcella's father, who having, in virtue of his office, seen many successive generations of young enthusiasts engaged m the same professional walk, was qualified to guide and to advise. The privilege of access to the gallery at hours when,

THE PAIHTEB, BARBT.

B^blished regulations, all otbers were excluded, was _ itft^ whicli Barry kaew how to appreciate ; and lotiee, because it gave occasion to an occurrence I alone witnessed, and which I prtimised during his lifeliniB never to disclose. Since hia death I have no motive for either publishing or concealing this anecdote; to tell the truth, I apprehended that its very singularity would perhaps, in the estimation of many, be a reoeon for refuaing credence to the narrative j but in the eyes of the few, for whom I write {contentuB paucU Uctoriivs), I hope tbe romantic

P«i»hire of the traoaaction will not damage the atatemcnt, or jtidice my veracity ; it being a trite saying, that matters re estraordinary occur in real life than are recorded in ion. 3ftrry loved to study in the Vatican gallery by night ; an indulgence the mildness of the season (it was now the close of May 1770) would allow of. The custom of jvermitting foreigners to eiplore the museum by torchlight, on payment of fees, had not been established; James had no apprehension of intruders on the privacy of his studious hours. There, by the glare of a bronze lamp, he would sit while the city was hushed to repose ; and while the glimmering £ame would cast a shadowy lustre on the contours of some antique group, he would sketch the forms of the mighty dead, drink- ing deep at the fount of &reek inspiration. I have before _adverted to the notion he had imbibed, that the English at Borne were jealously watchful of his studies ; that ought to appropriate the conceptions of bis teeming , , and to rob bim of his originality, Hence to Barry itbe consciousness of being unobserved constituted the charm of these noctiiraal pursuits : none but I had been allowed access to his vigils in the gallery — a mark of friend- ship I have reason to remember. On the evening of the 20th of May we had both been staving up late with the old custode in the Torrione. Barry h.id been rather warmly engaged with his host Jn a controversy respecting the rela- tive merits of the recumbent Cleopatra, and the reclining fignre of a colossal river god, supposed to be the Nile, As I took some interest on behalf of his favourite the Cleo- patra, he oifered to accompany me thither, with the old cus- tode'a permission, and give me ocular demonstration of tba

■•rti Ke: Bbn<

508 PATHSB ^bout's beliqites.

correctnefls of his views. As by this time (it was nesr mid- night) we had demolished not a few flasks of petuano, I felt nothing loath ; so we folded our cloaks about us, and I bore the torch. I question whether Diomed and Ulysses, in thdr night excursion across the plain of Troy, experienced loftier emotions than did we, as with echoing tr^d we paced the solemn halls of the pontifical palace, ^tween ranKs of an- tique statues, confronting us in every possible variety of attitude, — menace, grief, admiration, welcome, or terror. Nothing appeared so illustrative of a visit to tike shades of Erebus, —

** Ibant obscuri boU Bub nocte per ombrmm Ferqae domos Ditb Tacuas et inania r^gna.*' — Mn. vi.

Barry would pause before some marble favourite, introduce me to its individual merits, teach me to throw the light ju- diciously, delivering himself withal of some of those s&iking theories which I loved to trace in his subsequent print^ lectures on the art he adored. But as we slowly approached the sola de Cleopatra, the term of our appointed pilgrim- age, a sudden and unaccountable start on the part of my inend dashed the torch out of my hand — and '' I'll be hanged, Prout !*' cried he, *' if the ruffians dont listen to every word I utter : did you not see that scoundrel NoUe- kens lurking behind the Antinous? — by Gr — d, 'tis he!"— " For shame !" I rejoined ; " can't you keep from cursing at this hour of night, and in the very residence of the eoTe- reign pontiff ?" — " *Tis true, by hell I" cried out my infu- riated friend, reckless of that stem reporter for the celestial press, the recording angel, who no doubt dropped a deter- sive tear on an oath the decided offspring of monomania ; '' but I'll soon teach the rascal to exercise elsewhere his talents as eaves dropper, spy, and plagiarist!" — So saying, he rushed to the spot where he fancied he had seen his foe ; and, spite of the obscurity of the hall, on the floor of which lay the semi-extinguished torch, I could still perceive that lie had in fact grappled not with a mere creation of his trou- bled fancy, but with a bond fide human shape, muffled in the ample folds of a long ecclesiastical robe, and vieldiDg apparently without resistance to the rude energy oi its u- sauant. Barry soon relaxed his grasp, when he had dearly

THE PiixTEn, bakhy.

SOS

Mccrtained that hia prisoner wfts an old prieat and ao Italian; but muttered atill, with indomitable wrath, " You may thank your Btare, my hoy, that you wem't that blackguard Nolle- kena." — "^ Grazie tunle /" waa the ejaculation of the venerahle captive, when he had sufficiently recoyered from his at&ight: "your mistake had well nigh had consequences which none would regret more than yourselvea. You are foreigners, . and, if 1 may judge from yomf idiom, English ; I am a resi- l dent of the palace, ^o doubt a love for the arts has occa- il jour presence bexe at this unusual hour. 'Tia welt. w me towBJ'ds the tola di SanDamaio." There was some- liiing authoritative, ae well as conciliatory, in the tone of )iui new acquaintaDce ; and as I ahewed a disposition to oc- bept the invitation of one whom I guessed to he a dignitary ' the Papal court, Barry did not hesitate to accom- pany me.

We paused not, we spoke not. Onwards we went through the diji'ereut corridors and antechambers that separate theVo- ticou gallery &om that portion of the palace which our guide hadmentioned. Each iuwk, each door,6eemed to recognise the passage of a master, flying open at his touch. At length we entered what appeared to be a study. The walls were bung with riemieh tapestry; and a bronze lamp of antique fashion, dependent from the gilt oak ceiling, faintly illumiaed the Hpartmeut. In the centre, a table inlaid with exquisite mosaic waa strewed with various documents, seemingly of an official charsetrer ; amongst which a single book, though torn and dis6gured, jjuickly attracted my eye. I itnew at a glance the familiar folio. It was a copy of the standard regulations of my old tutors, "Ihstitutcm Societatia Jbsc." We were seated at the Italian prelate's request. A servant in the papal livery waa summoned by a rapid signal from an adjoinmg room ; a brief order to bring vnne and refreshments was delivered, and executed with magic promptitude. Meantime Barry kept bis eye on me to ascer- tain what I thought of our singiilar position. Our host left no spa4!e for reflection, but preaaed us with genuine hospi- tality to partake of what lay before us. Wine is the great disHolvent of distrust, and generator of cordiality Never was tbia more forcibly ezemplihed than in my friend'a case, who, totally oblivious of the late awkvttkrd aculfle between

510 VATHXB PBOT7T*8 BBLIQTJE8.

himself and the most reverend dignitary, launched out into a diversity of topics connected with the fine arts, of which our entertainer appeared to he a sincere and enlightened admirer.

Thinking it high time to mix in the conversation, ^ I am happy to find,'* said I, quaffing a glass of Malaga^ *' that the Jesuits have a friend at the court of Qanganelli."

" Speak you thus, abbatino f " rejoined our host. " Y<m are then an admirer of Loyola's institute. Are there many such in France, where it appears you have studied ?"

I described the G^Uican episcopal body as unanimously adverse to the proposed destruction of that society.

*' The king of France, the kiags of Spain and Portugid, think differently, young man," said the prelate with some warmth, and with a tone that only served to kindle my seal in defence of my old professors.

*' The Due de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour may have persuaded the imbecile Louis XV. to adopt the views of the writers in the EncyclopSdie — ^the minister of his most Catholic Majesty of Spain may fancy the property of the Society, in the mother country, in South .^onerica, and in the East Indies, a fur object of plunder. Marquis de Pom- bal may entertain similar opimons at Lisbon ; but surely the judgment of a knot of courtly conspirators, acting in unhallowed concert, should find its proper weight in the balance of the sanctuary. Catherine of Bussia and the great Frederick of Prussia think differently of these men, and profess their readiness to offer them an asylum. But if it be true (as it is rumoured in the Piazza Colonna) that the restoration of Avignon, estreated by France during the late pontificate, is to be the reward of Qanganelli's subser- viency to the court of Versailles, I must say, and I don't care who hears it, that a more flagrant case of simony and corruption never disgraced the annals of the Vatican. As to the wretched province regained by such means, it may well bear the denomination given of old to the Potter's

field, HAKEL DAMA ! "

A dismal scowl passed over the brow of my interlocutor. " Is it not the first duty of the supreme pastor," he hastily observed, " to conciliate the heads of the Christian flock ? Your own country teaches a lesson on pontifical obstinacy.

THE PAISTEB, BABDY.

611

Had Clement VTI. shewn lesi rigour in refusing to your eighth Harry liia Jemimd, by inaiating on the veir doubtful canon law of the cnse, England would at this Aay be the most valuable ffeoffof St. Peter's domain. In bygone days, the request of Philippe Le Bel, backed by the emperor, the kings of England and Spain, was deemed sufiieieat, in the teeth of evideuL-e, to condemn the noble brotherhood of the Temple. These "ordert" are of human institution; the Jesuits must be yielded up to the exigency of the times. To calm the effervescence of the moment, the Pope majr ■afelv dismiss his ' Janissariee.' "

" Yet the day may come," I replied. " when Christianity may want the aid of acience and of literature — when the paltry defence of ignorant bigotiy will be no longer of any »*ftil — when all the motley host of remaining monks and friars, white, black, and gii^y, will find their inability to fill the space left void by the suppression of that intellectuftl snd redeeming obder which once destroyed can only re appear in a feeble and inefficient imitation."

Two hours had now elapsed since our midnight ndvenlurc ; and the warning chime of the palace belfry gave me an o|]- portnuity, in accordance with Barry's repeated signals, to take leave. The prelate, having carefully ascertained our names and address, placed us under the guidance of the at* tendant in waiting, who led us by the eorlile dn Suitttri to the Seala regia ; and we finally stood in front of St. Peter's Church. We paused there awhile, little dreaming that it was the lost night we should pass in Some. The moon was up, and the giant obelisk of Sesostris, that had measured the sands of Lvbia with its shadow, now cast its gnomon to the verj' foot of that glorious portico. Gushing with peren- nial murmur, the two immense jelt d'eau flung out their cataracte on each side of the sublime monument, and alone broke with monotonous sound the silence of thf^ night.

Poor Marcella ! those two hours had been a space of severe trial and sad suspense for thee ; but we knew not till months had elapsed the fatal consequences that ensued. Barry, when he parted with her father, had promised to re- main but a moment in the gallery ; and old Centurioni bade his daughter wait up for his guests, while he himself sought hia ^uiet pillow. Hours rolled on, and we came nut. The

612 7ATHIB PROUT's BELIQUES.

idea of nocturnal asBassination, imfortonatelj too familiar to the Boman mind, awakened b j the non-appearance of the Irish urtist, took rapid possession of her kindling im^na. tion, as she watched in the Torrione in vain for his return The transition from doubt to the certainty of some indefr nable danger was the work of an instant. Yielding to the bold impulse of hereditary instinct, she seized the bronze lamp that burned on the mantelpiece, misped a Damascus blaae, the weapon of some crusader in olden time, and ghding with the speed of thought, was soon far advanced in her searching progress through the corridors and galleries of the palace. Ilad the statue of Lucretia leaped from its pedestal it might present a similar appearance m gesture and deve-

Sortment. Alas, she was never to re-enter the parental welling ! Ere the morning dawned the romantic girl was a prisoner in the Castle of St. Angelo, under suspicion of bemg employed by the Jesuits to assassinate Gunganelli !

Strange whispers were current at break of day : — " An Irish painter and an Irish priest, both emissaries of ' the Society y* had been detected lurking in the Vatican: an assault had been committed on the sacred person of the pontiff: they had avowed all in a secret interview with his holiness, and had confessed that they were employed by Lawrence Ricci, the general of the order." At the English coffee- house in the Piazza di Spagna, the morning's ^ssip was early circulated in Barry's hearing : the truth flashed on his mind at once. He ran to my apartments. I was thun- derstruck.

Nothing had as yet transpired concerning Marcella's im- prisonment ; and we, unfortunately, resolved on a step which gave a colourable pretext to accusation. In the hurry of our alarm, we agreed on quitting Eome at once. Barry took the road to Bologna ; ana I was by noon in the Pontine marshes, on my way to Naples. Our friends thought us safely immured in those cells which the "holy office" still keeps up at its head-quarters in the Dominican convent, called, inmically enough, " La Minerva"

Old Centurioni was debarred the privilege of seeing his

damrhter ; in silent anguish he mourned over his child, and

bemoaned the fate of the young foreigners, who, he doubted

f% QcyodiULyvii Vm Vsjsnda of '* justice." But the wont

jma« ^^)A9^ «Di9^^ \)KSSi%,^ ^^(^^2M^ To&ooaft. ^;«A too

L SERIES OF MODEHS LATIH POETS.

SIS

\

pure, ond vjoae spirit was too iofty, to endure tbe diegrace tad inf&ray imputed to lier, remained haughtily and indig- nantly passive under the hnrsli and unmerited infliction. She gave no sign. An inflammatory fever, the combined result of her uncertainty concerning the fate of her lover, and irritation at the very thought of such heiooua guilt thua laid Jo her charge, closed in leas tlian a fortnight her krthly career. Her death set the seal to my friend's evil destiny.

1 ■^^{*i.--fy<^. " '-_

'-^T-V^O^;

A SERIES OF MODEEN LATIN POETS. ■" Cbapteb I. — The Silevtobm, a Fobu. By Jerome Vroi.

*' Scfc AlflBBandrO il mio eignor FanU!si; ; O dotta compagniH che oeco rncna ! Bloaio, Pierio, e Vmi OemoneBB D'alU fttcondu inmaicnbil Tens."

AbioStO, Orl. Far. cant. alU, at. liiL

" Immortal TiDi ! oo whote honoured brow The poet'i btys anil critic'i ivy grow."

Pork's awy on CrlUcam.

W tile aouthern extremity of the French metropolis there

lieth an extensive burying- ground, which rejoiceth (if any

each lugubrious concern can be said to rejoice) in the name

o{ " Cimetiire d» Mont ParmiAu." Some Cockney tourists

hare had the curiosity to visit this Parnassian grave-yaru,

under the impression that it waa a kind of Gallican " Poeta'

Corner," or sepulchral "limbo," set apart for the de-

ceaaed children of the muse, in the same national spirit that

..nised the " H6t«l des Invalidea," and inacrihea on the

I efaurch of Ste. Genevieve, or "Pantheon" (where Marat

■ sod Mirabeau and Voltaire were entombed), that lapidary

lampoon, " Aux grands kommet ia patrie reconnaiisonlr." Kw

Boch object, however, appears to have been contemplated by

the monicipal authorities of Paris, when they inclosed the

il fidd thua whiniBcally designated.

514 TATHXIt pbovt's mSUQUXS.

m

A collection of poetical effusiona in any one of the ^si langoagea would, we apprehend, considering the present state and prospects of literature, turn out to be, in the

goomiest sense of the word, a grave undertaking. Hebrew, reek, Latin, and Anglo-Saxon, are truly and really dead, defunct, mute, unspoken.

« Monsieiir Malbrook at mort, est moit et intori.'*

Hebrew is dead, and no mistake! — the Wandering Jew must have found that out long since. We yenture to affirm that Salathiel (who, according to Croly, lurkis about the syna- gogue in St. AIban*8 Place) has often laughed at the tketai of our modem Babbim, and at those pothooks '' with points" which are hawked about among the learned as copies of the original Hebrew Scriptures. As to the idiom of King Alfied, to say nothing of Queen Boadicea, how few of our literati are conversant therein or cognisant thereof! Kemble, Wright, and Lingard (pauci quos aquus amavit Jupiter), enioy an undisturbed monopoly of Anglo-Saxon — Greek exhibits but few symptoms of vitality ; no Barnes, no Porson, no Wolff, grace these degenerate days : nay, the mitre seems to have acted as an extinguisher on the solitary light of Bloomfield. Oxford hath now nothing in common with the Bo^f 000; but the name, and the groves of Cam have ceased to be those of Academus. Things are not much better on the Continent. While Buonaparte from the rock of St. Helena still threatened Europe, we recollect, in a provincial city of France, a candidate for the office of to^^Ti-librarian, who was outvoted by an ignorant competitor, and, on inquiry, found that many of the royalist constitu- ency, hearmg of bis being- an ardent " Hellenist,'' had fancied him a very dangerous character indeed. Latin is still the language of the Bomish liturgy, and consequently may have some claim to rank, if not as a living tongue, at least as one half-alive : " defunctus adhuc loquitur.*' Though, in sober truth, if we are to judge from the quality generally met with in that quarter, we should be inclined to say that the tongue of Cicero had long since gone to the dogs. Weare tempted, however,to try onthese " unknown tongues**

. BEBIES OF MOBEUX LATIIf fOETS. i>l5

the eflVcta of tbat galvajiic process which ia kuown to lie so ailcceseful in the case of u dead frog. We opeu the under- taking with a name that maj give aasurance to our first at- tempt, and preveat uncharitable folka from applpng to our operatioDB the old Burgicnl sarcasm of experimenlum in animd vili. The beautiful poem of Vida ahall fitly introduce our Beries, and usher in tlieae " modem instances " of Lvelv" com- positiou — lively even in a dead language. It will soon Se seen whether Prout can be allowed by the local authorities to cany on the trade of resurrectionist in the Cimetiirt du Mont Par- naue. If the " subjects he has disinterred " be not found iresh enough for the purposes of "critical disBection, still we do not despair; something may be made of the most thin and meagre anatomies, and a good price is occasionally got foraskeletou, Thehermit of Watergrasshill never pretended to enjoy the faculty of old Ei;ekiel — to clothe with substantial flesh the dry frame-wort, the " disjecta memliru" the poetical bones scattered over the vale of Tempt; ; though such mi- raculous gift might find full scope far its exercise in the Golgotha of Parnassus. "And behold, there were very mBoy bones in the open valley, andlol Ikey were ver^ dry." — Ezekiel, xuvii. 2.

We bad first decided on calling this new batch of Prout

Papers a " modern Latin anthology," but, on reflection, we

have discarded that common-place title ; the term anthology

bearing obvious reference to a still blooming flower-garden,

I and being far too fresh aud gay a conceit for our purpose.

r Prefixed to a poetic miscellany in any of the /ii>jn^ tongues,

^ it might pass, and even be deemed suitable ; applied to

Latin or Greek, it would he a palpable misnomer. Dried

plants, preserved specimens, and shrivelled exotics, may

perhaps make up a horlm ttccus ; but not a garland or a

nosegay.

Dead languages have one great advantage, however, over r ■ living. These latter are fickle and perpetually changing r (like the sex), t-arium el mutabile : whereas the former, like old family portraits, are fiied in form, feature, and expression. Flesh and hlood, confessedly, have not the durability of a marble bust ; the pariance of the ancients is effectually petrified. There is nothing " movable " in the " charactera " of Oreek and Latin phraseology: all is Bt«ct!>i-

616 7ATHEB PBOUT'B BELIQITEB.

type. It 18 pleasant to compose in an idiom of which every word is long since canonised, and has taken its allotted pla<» equally beyond the reach of vulgarism and the fear of Yidssi- tude. Poor G^ffirey Chaucer knows to his cost the mise- ries attendant on the use of an obsolete TocabularY. Some modem journeyman has found it expedient to dislocate all his joints, under a pretext that his gait was awkward : to rejuvenate the old feUow, it was thought best to take him to pieces on the plan of those G-reek children, who boiled their grandfather in a magic cauldron, and, as might be expected, found " death in the pot." Who can now relish Sir Walter Baleigh, or sigh with Sir Philip Sidney, or sing the merry ballads of Sir Thomas More, whose popular poems graced the dawn of metrical composition in England P Alas !

" Every wave that we danoed on at morning ebbs firom us, And leayes \xb tit ere on the oold beach alone."

Dr. Maginn, in his younger days, deeply pondering on the fleeting nature of the beauties of modem compositions, and the frail and transitory essence of all living forms of speech, had a notion of rescuing these charming things from inevitable decay, and announced himself to the public as a poetical embalmsb. He printed a proposal for wrapping up in the imperishable folds of Greek and Latin, with sundry spices of his own, the songs and ballads of these islands ; which, in a few centuries, will be unintelligible to posterity. He had already commenced operating on " Black-eyed Susan," and had cleverly disembowelled " Alley Croaker ;" both of which made excellent classic mummies. " Wapping Old Stairs," in his Latin translation, seemed to be the veri- table Gradus ad Pamassum; and his Greek version of "'Twas in Trafalgar Bay " beat all -Sschylus ever sung about Sala- mis. What became of the project, and why the doctor gave it up, we cannot tell : he is an unaccountable cha- racter. But while we regret this embalming plan should have been abandoned, we are fr'ee to confess that, in our opinion, " Old King Cole," in Hebrew, was his best effort. It was equal to Solomon in all his glory.

These prolegomena have led us in a somewhat zigzag path fax away from our starting-point, which, on looking back.

to be Jerome Vida'e poeiu of the " Silkworm." From a niemorandum in the ehest, we learn that Prout wm induced to undertake this translatioQ in the year 1825, when 400,000 mill berry-trees were planted on the Kingston ertates by what was tailed " the Irish Silk Company," with s view to " better the condition of the peasantry in the south of Ireland." That scheme, somewhat Bunilar to the lottery humbug lately got up by Messrs. Bish and O'Con- nell, produced in its day what is sought to be again effect«d by designing ecoundrela now- — it created a temporary mysti- fication, and stayed off the enactiost of poob-i^wb for the seaaoti. Prout early discovered the hollow treaohery of all these projects, and locked up his MS. in disgust. Hu ■eemt, however, to hare reperused the poem shortly before his death ; but the recollection of so many previous attempts at delusion, and the persevering profligacy with which the dismal farce is renewed, seems to have bo strongly roused his indignant energies, that, if we decipher right the cross- inga in red letters on the lost page, tne aged clergyman, deeming it an act of virtue to feel intense hatred for the whole of the selfish crew that thrives on Irish starvation, has laid bis dying curse on the heads, individually and col- lectively, of tord Limerick, Spring Bice, and Daniel O'Con- nell,

OLIVEE TOEKE.

WalcrgTauMU, May 1825.

Whes at the revival of letters the beauties of ancient lite- rature burst on the modem mind, and revealed a new world to the human intellect, the first impulse of all who had the luck to be initiated in the mysteries of classic taste, was to model their thoughts and expressions on these newly-dis- covered originals, and, like Saul among the prophets, to catch with tne very language of inspiration a more exalted range of I'eelinga and a strain of loftier sentiment, The lite- rati of Europe conversed in Latin, and corresponded in Greek. It had not yet entered into their heads, that the rude materials of Italian, French, and English, might be wrought up into foriDa of as eiijuisite perfection as they

513 7ATHEB PBOUT'S BELIQUES.

then possessed in the remnants of classic eloquence and poetry. They despaired of making a silken purse out of i sow's ear. The example of Dante and Petrarch had not emboldened them ; the latter, indeed, always considered bis Latin poem, written on the second Punic war, and entitled " Africa,''* as much more likely to ensure him permanent renown than his sonnets or eanxoni ; and the former had to struggle with his own misgivings long and seriously ere he decided on not trusting his Cammedia to the custody of Latin. Ariosto has left two vcnumes of Latin poetry. It was deemed a hazardous experiment to embark intellectual capital on the mere security of a vulgar tongue ; and to sink the riches of the mind in so depreciated a concern was thought a moet unprofitable investment. Hence genius was expended on what appeared the more solid speculation, and none but Greek and Latin ^cripta were " quoted " in the market of literature. All this " paper " has wofully fallen in value : I see little prospect of its ever again looking up.

Lord Bacon and Leibnitz, Newton, Grotius, and Milton, long after modem languages had become well-estabhshed as vehicles of valuable thought, still adhered to the safer side, and thus secured to their writings European perusal. An Universal Language, a GJeneral Pacification, and a Com- mon Agreement among Christian sects, were three favourite day-dreams of Leibnitz ; but, alas ! each of these projects seems as far as ever removed from any prospect of reali- zation. Latin, however, may, in some sense, be considered the idiom most universally spread throughout the repubUc of letters. The Roman empire and the Eoman church, by a combined effort, have brought this result; and Yirgil seems to have a prophetic vision of both these majestic agents actively engaged in the dissemination of his poetry, when he promises immortality to Nisus and Euryalus :

" Fortunati ambo j si quid mea carmina possunt Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet sto Dum domug yEnea capitoli immobile aaxum Accolet, imperiumque Faier Romanus habebit.**

If by domus JEne<B he mean the dynasty of the Cteears, the Pater Romanus must allude to the popes ; and Leo the Tenth was probably in his mind's eye when he made this vaticvnatioii.

I OF HODESX LA CI

POETB.

519

To excel in Latin poetry was. under that golden pontifi- cate, a favourite accompliehment. Vida and Saimazar, Bembo and Fracoator, cultivated with buccgsb this branch of the humanities in Italy. The reformer Theodore Beza WBB a distinguished Latin poet at Qeneva, thougji, in the eeteetiou of some of his Bubjects, he shews a taste rather Akin to that of our own Theodore Hook than marked bv any evancelical tendency. The Jesuits, while they upheld the papal empire, powerful^ contributed also to enlarge the dominionB of tlie Roman muse ; and Casimir Sarbiewski, Eapin, Vaniere, and Sidronius, were at one time the admiiw ation of all European academies. Buchanan is far better known abroad by his caroiina than by hia Scotch history ; and the Latin poems of Addison, MOton, Famell, with those of that witty Welshman, Owen (not to speak of the numerous Magte Anglieaaa, Muta Eioneaiei,&e. &c.), have ' fully established our character for versification on the conti- nent. It is not sufficiently known that the celebrated poem, De Connubiis Ftorum.whicb gave the hint of the Lovei of the PlanU,* and of Darwin's Botanic Garden, was, in fact, the production of an Irishman, who, imder the name of Deme- trius de la Croix, published it at Paris in 1727. He was from Kerry, and his real patronymic was Diarmid M'Eli- croe if though, like his immortal countryman, DinnitA Ii&rduer, he exchanged that for a more euphonous appella- tion. Scotland's illustrious aon. the " admirable" Cncnton, whose brilliant career and character should, one would imagine, have attracted the notice of Sir Walter Scott, they ' "ng wonderfully suateptibie of historico-romantic deve- lopment.! possessed, among other singular accomplishments, the faculty of exleinporising in Latin Terse ; and on one occasion before the assembled literati of Mantua, having previously dazsiled hia auditory with a display of philosophy, mathematics, divinity, and eloquence, he wound up the day's

* ThcBo. in tbeir turn, produced the "Loves of the Triuglea," in the Jnli'JaeobiH,

t Set Biilanietn Faruienit of I>eTBilluit, edit, by Boerliave, p. 3.

J We arc glad to find that the author of Roukaood liaa taken uplh« cndgela for thii neglect «lii<Mjt. We antioipale a ronumco in the true Ml tpirilo iU\e idreadv ernploved eo fdiuitduaif in "■dminblo" lurpin. Of Uiia more uiou.

G90 TATBXR PBOUT'b BELIQVXS.

by leciidng a whole poem, on a subject fur- nifliied bj bis antagomst, and dismiBsed the astonished crowd in raptmes with his nnpremeditated song. Thomai Dempsteroa, another native of " that ilk," won his laureli in tiiia department of composition ; aa did William Lilly, tlie grunmanan, and Thomas Moms, the chancellor, in Eng- land. In Holland, Jokaa»e9 Seamdms gained renown b j hia ~ m; Hugo, by his Pia Detideria; not to mention I>uuel -^ — HB and BoxhonL In Spain, Arias MtmUums^ so well bj his edition of the Hebrew Bible, was not iuele- nnft as a Latin Yersifier. Cardinal Barberini (afterwards Pope Urban VILL) ranks high among the favoured of the mnae : tlie Oxford edition of his poems (e typis Clarendon. 1726) ties now before me. Ang. Folitian S^iger and Sfoodnt (fie rupim Hekmai) should not be omitted in the Domendatnie of glorj : neither should the Jesuit Maffeus, who recited his daily breyiary in Gh'eek, lest the low lan- guage of our liturgy might corrupt the pure Latinity of his styk ; and who, deeming the epic action of Virgil's poem incoBiplete, has written a thirteenth / canto for the ^tuid. Bat of all who at the restoration of classic learning trod in the footsteps of Horace and Virgil, none carae so close to theaa gMt masters as Jerome Vida; and the encomium wkidi rope takes an opportunity of passing on him is not ondeaerved.

** But s«e ! each muse in Leo*8 golden days $tart5 from her trance and trims her withered bajs, Rome's ancient Oenius o*er the ruinB spread. Shakes off the dust, and rears its rererend head.

Tben Sculpture and her sister arts rerire ; Stones leap to form, and rocks hegin to live ; With sweeter notes each rising temple rung, A Baphael painted, and a Yida sung."

The author of the Essay on Criticism has more than once dwell with evident complacency on the merits of Vida, but It was by largelv borrowing from his writings (as also in the ca^e of Boileau) that he principally manifested hia esteem and predilection. The celebrated lines on adapting the sound to the sense,

** Soft is the strain when tephyr," &c.

A BEBIES OB UODEHN LA.TIS POETB. 521

a nearly literal trnnatntion of a passage in our Italian bishup's poem, De Arte Poetica ; a ta4:t Pope iudiuates in tbe eurly editious :

" Turn ti Itela canunt hilari qiioque carmiDS vultu," &o. — Lib. ill. T. 403.

Pa raore flagrant instance of plftgiarism occurs in the Rape of /Ae £ocA, where curd-playing being introduced (cnnto iii.), not only ia the conduct of the narrative borrowed from Vida's Svhacchia ludus, {" game of chese,") but whole similes are uuliesitatingly appropriated.

"Ctubg, diunondi. beuU, In wild dia- "NonmllI«'c«nplt''f>9Hl«i«iiitriiiqui

Wllb^llHl«^lu^ToodllfcM'tn^lloIlaaT, niMoi, ' " P«-

ThB Brnw Iniulliiai dliuolMd UJ igmcn."

la liupe OD bupi — ous ttu iiwilu thim ^dkudUa, c. I. t. Btt.

Fottka candldlj coufeBsea how he went to work

" Cum Tnu cullis muUris furta poclii Caiitiui ingrt'dere et raplui diemoF occu]*- Mriii, ffrieruM indieiii atque ordine fnlla kgcnt«>."<~Lib. ii

I Like the robber Cacue, in Virgil, who to elude pursuit dragged cattle backward by the tail, tlma interting the foot- tracks, aitif vas

"Cnudi in spcluncam Iraotoi mmitqui ciaiiim Indiciii rajilot sBio (H-cultubiil opai'u."— ^'nriif, lib. i

Vidu wns bom at Cremona, and graduated at tlie utiiver-

mties of Fadim and Bolofrna : at the accession of Leo X. he

r was a resident euuon at the church of St, John Lateruu.

Hie peculiar cicellcuce as a Latin poet pointed him out to

Leo for theesecution of a project which that prelate had

long wished to see realised, vix. a grand epic on the esta-

iTimeut of Christianity. Vidaliud sagacity to perceive

,t it would require a greater genius than the Man-

fiuan hard himself to achieve, witL the severe materials

f tbe Gospel, an imagi native epic such aa the pontilT had in

522 FATHER FBOUT'S BZLIQUEB.

I

contemplation. But the wishes of his illustrious patron could not be disregarded ; especiallj as the request came accompa- nied with the gift of a rich priory (St. SilTOster, at Tuscu- lum). The result of his Tusculsn meditations on the Chnstian epop^ta was not published till after the death of its pontifical projector, and then appeared Chtistiados, iibri XII. ; a poem of merit, but l&r from realisuig the beau idM of a ^' religious epic," that glorious consummation reserved for John Muton. The comparison with the JEneid was fatal to its success.

" Mantua ! ts misene nimiiiin Ticina CremoiUB T'

Clement VIII., however, rewarded the bard with a bi- shopric : Yida was promoted to the see of Alba. To him the inhabitants were indebted, for protection against a French army, and his conduct at that crisis is eulogised b j the histo- rian Paul Jovio. Than Yida no more distinguished prelate sat at the Council of Trent.

Such is the personage from whose poems I select a speci- men, guided in my choice by circumstances of a local nature. The introduction of the mulberry tree into Cork district by the Earl of Kingston (1820), to afford industrious occupa- tion to the Munster peasantry, has engaged my wishes for the success of so philanthropic an experiment ; and I shall feel happy if Yida's poem, De Bombycibus, can be made sub- servient to the purposes of the " Irish Silk Company." I fear the habits of my countrymen (so dissimilar from those of the Italian peasantry who cultivate this delightful branch of iudustrv) will prove an obstacle to its permanent establish- ineut ; \)ut a fair trial ought to be given the worms.

The sun that illumines all creation shines not on the mere Insh ; and alma mater tellus is to them but an injusta nort^rca. But " let that pass." On the subject of poor- laws, and the conduct of those who, for palpable purposes, oppose their enactment, I cannot enter with a steady pulse. Now, to Yida.

JIBOME tida'8 silkworm. 528

C|)e dtlltlDorm. 9 9ocm.

CimO VIB8TL

L

Liet to my laj, daughter of Lombard^

Hope of GK)nzaga'8 house, fair Isabelle ! Graced with thy name, the simplest melodj,

Albeit from rural pipe or rustic shell.

Might all the music of a court excel : Light though the subject of my song may seem,

'Tis one on which thy spirit loves to dwell ; No? on a tiny insect dost thou deem Thy poet's labour lost^ nor frirolous my theme.

IL

For thou dost often meditate how hence

Commerce deriveth aliment ; how Art May minister to native opulence,

The wealth of foreign lands to home impart,

And make of Italy the general mart. These are thy goodly thoughts — how best to raise

Thy country B industry. A patriot heart

Beats in thy gentle breast — no vulgar praise ! Be then this spinner-worm the hero of my lays !

III. Full many a century it crept, the child

Of distant China or the torrid zone ; Wasted its web upon the woodlands wild.

And spun its golden tissue all alone,

Clothmg no reptile's body but its own.* 60 crawled a brother-worm o'er mount and glen.

Uncivilised, uncouth ; till, social grown, He sought the cities and the haunts of men — Science and Art soon tamed the forest denizen.

IV.

Rescued from woods, now imder friendly roof Fostered and fed, and sheltered from the blast.

Full soon the wondrous wealth of warp and woof — Wealth by these puny labourers amassed, Bepaid the hand that spread their green repast :

Bight merrily they plied their jocund toil. And from their mouths* the silken treasures cast.

Twisting their canny thread in many a coil. While men looked on and smiled, and hailed the shining spoiL

* Tenui nee honos nee gloria file !

624 FATHEB PBOUT'S SELIQIHSt.

V.

Sweet IB the poet's miniBtrj to teach

How the wee operatiTee should be fed ; Their wants and changes ; what befitteth eMh | • What mysteries attend the genial bed.

And how successive progenies are bred. Happy if he his countrymen engage

In paths of peace and industry to tread ; Happier the poet still, if o*er his page Fair Ibabklla's een shed radiant patronage !

VT.

Thou, then, who wouldst possess a creeping Bock Of silken sheep, their glossy fleece to shear,

Learn of their days how scanty is the stock : Barely two months of each recurring year Make up the measure of their brief cai^eer ;

They spin their little hour, they weave their ball, Ajid, when their task is done, then disappear

Within that silken dome's sepulchral hall ; And the third moon looks out upon their funeraL

vn.

Theirs is, in truth, a melancholy lot,

Never the offspring of their loves to sec !

The parent of a thousand sons may not Spectator of his children's gambols be, Or hail the birth of his voung figmiily.

From orphan-^gs, fruit of a fond embrace. Spontaneous hatched, an insect tenantry

Creep forth, their sires departed to replace : Tlius, posthumously bom, springs up an aimual raoc^

vm.

Still watchful lest their birth be premature. From the sim's wistful eye remove the seed,

WhUe vet the season wavers insecure,

Whue yet no leaves have budded forth to feed With juicy provender the tender breed ;

Nor usher beings into life so new

Without provision — 'twere a cruel deed !

Ah, such improvidence men often rue ! Tis a sad, wicked thing, — if Malthus telleth tru&

IX.

But when the vernal equinox is passed. And the gay mulberry in gallant trim

Hath robed liimself in verdfuit vest at last ("Tis well to wait until thou seest him

riDAS BILKWOEM.

ftfethmbB that here some gentle maiden begt

To know hon bent this genial deed is done : — Somi; on s nsplin Mrev the little egg>.

And eimpljr halcli their siikwortiiB in (he aun ;

But thcre'd a bettor plan to fii upon. Wrapt ill B mnalin kerchief, pure and wamt,

La; Ihoin within thy boaom aafe ;* nor ahim Nature's kiud office tiU the tin; swarm Begina to creep. Fear not ; thoy uannot do thee han»i.

XI.

Meantime a fitting reeidenoe prepare,

Wherein th; pigmv artisuiB mn; dneU, And fumiah forth their faGt<>ry with aire ;

Of aesion'd timber build the spinner'a cell.

And be it lit and Tentilaled well ; And range them upon insulated t<helTM,

Bising above each other parallel ; There let (hem crawl^there lot the little elres On carpeltiog of leaf gsil; disport thanuelre*.

XTI.

a wicked hen Obtained admittance hj manisuTre hold. Slaughtering the iUBecta in their Uttle den ; If I luid caught her there, — ahe hftd not come again,

XIII.

Stop up each ererice in the ailk worm-houae,

Each gaping orifice be sure to £11 ; For oftcntimCB a aaeril^iouH mouse

Will fatal inroad make, intent on ill,

526 FATHER PS0I}T*8 BXLIQUEt.

And in cold blood the gentle spinnen kilL* Ah, cruel wreteh ! whoee idol is thy b^j.

The blood of innocence why doet thou K>ill f Dost thou not know that »iik is in that jelly ? CK> forth, and seek elsewhere a dish of Tormioelli.

XIV.

When thy young caterpillars 'gin to creep, Spread them with care upon the oaken planks ;

Ana let them learn from infancy to keep Their proper station, and preserre their ranks— Not crawl at random, playing giddy pranks.

Let them be taught their dignity, nor seek, Dress*d in silk gown, to act like mountebanks :

Thus careful to eschew each vulgar freak. Sober they maun grow up, industrious and meek.

XV.

Their minds kind Nature wisely pre-arranged. And of domestic habits made them fondf;

Barely they roam, or wish their dwelling changed. Or from their keeper's rigilance abscond : Pleased with their home, they travel not beyond.

EUe, wo is me ! it were a bitter potion To hunt each truant and each vagabond :

Haply of such attempts they have no notion. Nor on their heads is seen " the bimip of locomotion.**

XVI. The same kind Nature (vrho doth all things right)

Their stomachs hath from infancy imbued Straight with a most tremendous appetite ;

And till the leaf they love b o'er them strew* d.

Their little mouths wax clamorous for food. For their first banquetings this plan adopt —

Cull the most tender leaves in all the wood. And let them, ere upon the worms they're dropp'd. He minced for their young teeth, and diligently chopp'd.

XVII.

Pass'd the first week, an epoch will begin, A crisis which maim all thy care engage ;

For then the Uttle asp will cast his skin.

Such change of raiment marks each separate stage Of childhood, youthhood, manhood, and old age :

A gentle sleep gives token when he means To doff his coat for seemUer equipage ;

Another and another supervenes. And then he is, I trow, no longer in his teens.

* Improbus irreptat tabulis, ssevitque per omnas.

\

xTrn.

Until that pf riod, it importeth raucli, That DO nngentie band, with conlact rodc^

Visit the shelvw. Let the ddlghtrul louoL Of ItUj'» fair daughters— tir and good 1— Administer nlone lo thnt young brood.

Mark bow yon maiden's breast witb pitj jeanu, TendiuE her charge with fond Holicitude, —

HeH be the blrssing she so richij earoa ! BooD may ahe xie bci oim wee brood of bonnj- batru* I

YTT Foliigc, (rash gslher'd for inunedisl« lue,

Bs the green psslure of thr sillen sbeep, For whon fonnenta the Tegatable jnice,

Ther loathe (be leaTes, and from th' iiiit«atea heap

With disnppoiutment languishing] j creep. Hio to the forest, evening, noon, and mom ;

Of bnmmiag baskets quick suucosioD keep i I«l the green grove for them be freel; shorn, Ar.l smiling Flcnl» »oid her well-rep!eniBhcd bom.

Ples»i

: the mur

XX.

Lr of tlicir

louths to benr.

The daint]' leaves deuioUsh'd, disaupeai One after olie. A fresh supply is cast- That, like the former, Tanisheth as fast.

But, caatiauB of TtpUtian («ell jclept The fatal fount of sickness), oeoso at last i

iling no mora food>— theii fodder intercept. And bo it laid aiido, and for their supper kept.

XXI.

To gaze upon the dew-drop's glittering gmi, T' inhalo the moisture of the morning air,

Is pleasantness to us ; — 'tis death to them. Shepherd, of dank humidity beware, Moisture maun viljale the freshest fare j*

Cull not the lcaTe« at the Urst hour of prim^, While jet the sun his arrows through the air

Shoots horiiontal. Tarry till he climb Half bis meridian height : then is thy barreet'time.

■ Jlau bis meriduin

528 FATHER PBOUT'S BELIQUES.

xxn.

Tlicre be two fisters of the mulbeny race,*

One of complexion dark and olire hue ; — Of taller figure and of fairer &oe.

The other wins and captiyates the view,

And to maturity grows quicker too. Oft characters with colour correspond ;

Nathlees the silkworm neither will eschew. He is of both immoderately fond — Still he doth dearly love Uie gently blooming hloiidCi

XXIII. With milder juice and more nutritious mUk

She feedeth him, though delicate and pale ; Nurtured by her he spins a finer silk.

And her young sucVlings, vigorous and hale^

Aye o'er ner sister's progeny prevaiL Her paler charms more appetite beget.

On which the creepers greedily rejgale : She bears the bell in foreign lands ; and yet Our brown Italian maids prefer the dark brunette.t

XXIV. The dark brunette, more boimtiful of leaves.

With less refinement more profusion shews ; But often such redundancy deceives.

What though the ripen*d berry ruddier glows

Upon these tufted branches than on those F Due is the preference to the paler plant :

Then her to rear thy tender nurslings choofe, Her to thy little orphans' wishes grant, Nor use the darker leaves unless the white be scanu

XXV.

Ovid has told a tender tale of THissft,

Who found her lifeless lover lying pale Under a spreading mulberry. Let this be

The merit and the moral of that tale.

Sweet is thy song, in sooth, love's nightingale ! But hadst thou known that, nourish'd nrom that tree,

Love's artisans would spin their tissue frail. Thou never wouldst of so much misery Have laid the scene beneath a spreading mulberry.

* Est bicolor moms, bombyx vescetur utHlque Nigra albensve fuat, &c. &o. The worm will always prefer to nibble the white mulb«rry«tre% and will quit tlie black for it readily.

\ (^\i3ixas\A K.v)AQ)Xk^ \aNx^l\3X uigTH puellii.

JZBOUE TIDA B SILKITOBM.

XXVI. How ehould a fiiilura of llie amibenj crop

Send fiuniiie to Oie threshold of thy door. Do not dpApEiir ; but, cliinbiiig to tho top

or the tall elm, or kindred (jramnrc,

Touug budding ganns with sesrching ejo ei[>!nra. Prai'iKe B pioui iritud upon th; flock,

With bile lupplies and irountorreited ttate ; ThuB for a while their Utile stomachs mook. Until thou canst proiide of leares a gonuiua itook.

xxvn.

But ne'er a timple village maiden Mk

To climb on trece,* — for her waa never meant The rude npoture of auch uncouth task ; Lest while she tries tho periloue ascentl On pure and liospitable thought* inl«at, A wicked Faun, that lurka behind some hush. Peep out with upward eye — rude, itiautuntl Oh, lUe and desperate hardihood 1 But, hiuh I Nor let Buch matters nioia the baaUful Muse Ut bloib. XXV III. The maiden'e ministrf it is to keep

Incesgant vigil o'er the gilktromi fold, Bapplj fresh fodder to Ihe nibbling aheep, CIranae and remove the renmanla of the old. Guard against influence of damp or cold. And ever and anon mlloct them all

In dose divan : and ere their food ia doled, 'Wsah out with wine each stable and each «UU, Lett foul diaeue tlie flock through feculenDO beUL XXIX. Changes will oft come o'er their outward form. And each transition needs th; aniious cares : Four timej tbejCMt their akin. The spinner-worm Four Boft succeeeirc suits of velvet wears ; Naltire ouch pliant envelope prepares. But liow can the.v, in previous clolliing pent, 6el riddance of Ihat shaggy rr>t>e of theirs ? Tliey keep a three.daj«' fast. Vihen bj that Lent Grown lean, their dofl' with ease their old aeooutremeut. ' The good bishop's gallantry is herein displnjed to advanlM Nee robora dur» Aseendat permille in ryVt'is innuba virgo ; Att openim patiena anua, ct cui durior annii Bit cutis (ingrain Aicilis jactura aenectf I), Uunere fuiiKihu' tali. Ne torii quis alii Egrcaaus ajlvl ■atjrorum c gente procaci Boijiicial, teiieneque pudor ootsl ot» ^uoQk.

530 ]rATH£B PB0UT*8 SELIQUBS.

Now are the last important days at hand — The liquid gold within its living mine

Brightens. Nor nourishment they now demand. Nor care for life ; impatient to resign The wealth with which diaphanous tbey shinfe I

Eager they look around — imploring look. For branch or bush, their tissue to entwine ;

Some rudimental threads they seek to hook. And dearly lore to find some hospitable nook.

XXXI.

Anticipate their wishes, gentle maid !

Hie to their help ; the fleeting moment catch. Quick be the shelves with wicker-work o*er>laid ;

Let osier, broom, and furze, their workshop thatch«

With fond solicitude and blithe despatch. So may they quickly, mid the thicket dense.

Find out a spot their purposes to match ; So may they soon their industry commence. And of the round cocoon plan the circumference.

XXXII. Their hour is come. See how the yellow flood

Swells in yon creeping cylinder ! how teema Exuberant the tide of amber blood !

How the recondite gold transparent gleams.

And how pcUucid the bright fluid seems ! Proud of such pregnancy, and duly skill'd

In Dffidalean craft, each insect deems The glorious purposes of life fulfilled, If into shining silk his substance be distilled !

XXXIII. Say, hast thou ever mark'd the clustering grape

SwoU'n to maturity with ripe produce, When the imprisou'd pulp pants to escape,

And longs to joy " emancipated " juice

In the full freedom of the bowl profuse ? So doth the silk that swells their skinny coat

Loathe its confinement, panting to get loose : Such lon^ig for relief their looks denote — Soon in their web they'll find a " bane and antidote.*

XXXIV.

See ! round and round, in many a mirthful maa^ The wily workman weaves his golden gauze ;

And while his throat the twisted thread purrcya^ New hnes with labyrinthine labour drawi, Vlylu^ his pair of operative jaws.

L

From mom to noon, from nonn to Bilent cv*.

He toilelh without interval or pouac,* His inonuriirnlsl tropbj Lo nuliii've. And luB sepulchral sheet of silk niplimdent weave '. XXXT. Apj-'Hiiicli, and yiew thj nrtisana at work ;

At thj woe tpinnen tuke a parting gluoca g Fur soon Meh pun; labourer will lurk Uiiiler his ailkm cunopj's eipuiae — Tutef\il nlcove 1 boudoir of edeguice : There will tba wearj worm in peace repoac, And languid lethargy hit Umbi entnuioe; There his career of usefidneu oill close ; Who would not live the life and die the death of Uioie if SXSVL Mostly tliej spin their aolilory shroud Biusle, apart, like ancient niicliorct ; Te'. oft a loving pair will,I if allow'd, In the same sepolohre of silk well met,' Sestle like Koveo and Jvijbt. From luch commmiing bo thej not debarred,

Minilful of her who ballow'd Parodct ; Even in Iheir silken oenotaph 'twere hard To part a Ezloibb from her lored Aseubd. XXXVII. The taak it done, the work ia now complete ;

A still; silence reigns throughout the room I Sleep on, blest beingsl be your slumbers sweet. And calmly rest within your golden tomb — Best, till restored lo renovated bloom. Bursting the Ijvmmcla of that dark lojount, Forth yc shall issue, and rejoiced, resumi^ A glotified sppearBDce, and return To LTe a wiugSd thing from monumental um.

xxxviir.

Fain would I pause, ond of inj tuneful text Reserve the remnant far a Uttvr time ;

Another song remains. The summit neit or double-peak'd PamasauB when I climb, Onuit me, ye gods ! the radiant wiags of rhyme I

• Query, wilieHl paut t — P. Oefil.

t Millt legunt rel^untquo rliis, atque orhibua oib<« AggloKiumut, don PC kboo ^e rarwre condanl Sliunte euA. Tsnla est eilendi gloria lUi !

] Quia et nonnullB paribus communis i:uria Assacioiit opera, et nebultt clitudautui eAdem.

532 TATHEB PBOVT's BSLIQlTXa.

Thus may I bear me up ih* adTentarous road

That winds aloft— an argument suUimel But of didactic poems *tis the mode, No canto should conclude without an episode.

XXXTX.

Vektb it was who first inyented SILK—

LiNSN had long, bv Ceres patronised. Supplied Olympus : ladies of that ilk

■No better sort of clothing had derised —

Linen alone their garde de robe comprised. Hence at her cambric loom the " suitors" found

PENELOpk, whom hath immortalised The blind man eloquent : nor less renown*d Were " Troy's proud dames," whose robes of lii\en " svrept Utfl ground."

XL.

Thus the first female f&shion was for flax ;

A linen tunic was the garb that graced Exclusiyely the primitive " Almack's."

Simplicity's costume ! too soon effaced

By vain inventions of more modern taste. Tlien was the reign of modesty and sense.

Fair ones were not, I ween, more prude and chaste. Girt in hoop-petticoats* circumference Or stays — Honi 9oi the rogue qui mal y pente.

XLI. Wool, by MnfEEVA manufactured, met

With blithe encouragement and brisk demand } Her loom by constant buyers was beset,

** Orders from foreign houses" kept her hand

Busy supplying many a distant land. She was of woollen stuffs the sole provider,

Till some were introduced by contraband : A female called AsACHNft thus defied her, But soon gave up the ti'ade, being turned into a spider.

XLII. Thus a complete monopoly in wool,

" Almost amounting to a prohibition," Enabled her to satisfy in full

The darling object of her lifers ambition,

And gratify her spiteful disposition. Yenits* she had determined should not be

Suffered to purchase stuffs on no condition g While every naked Kaiad nymph was free To buy her serge, moreen, and woollen drapperie.

* TantilUn nuda Venus mcerebat muneris eipt^rs IglCrt^am o\) Ic^TTSivoi \.<bvtxicv invisa Minen a.

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JZSOHE TID1.S BILE1F0RM. &38

XLnr.

Albeit "irhm unsdomed ndomed the moit,"

Tba goddess could not brook to be outnitUid How QOuld abe bear her riral'i bitt«r bomit, If to thU taunt the quietlj aubmittcd ! OLTlCTlTg (roWleiB oa ahe wu> e)iB quitted. Full; detumimed to bring back ai fins a

Tlren ni waa erer woTen, spun, or knitted ; Europe the searchonj, coneolted the CxiBinA, jlnd, tiding oDod advice, crosa'd o'er " the wall" to Ckika. XL IT. Long before Europeans, thf Chinew

Foueu'd the oompaai, ailkwormi, and gimpoirdw, And tjrpcs, And Ua, uid other nritiei.

China (with gifts since Nature hath endoB-ed hcrj Ii prood; Hliat land hath reason to be prouder? Utr let tbe dull " Barbarian E;e" rmpect,

And be her priiileges all allowed her g She i» the widow (pleaw to recollect) Of ora the Deluge drown' d, Pbimobdul IhtkllbciI XLV. He good inhabitant* of Peeiv, wIicd

The; uw the dame in downriebt dishabille, Were ahocVd. Such light was far beyond the ken Of tlieir COMCCLUI notiona. Full of leal To guard the moralj of lh« commonweal, ThoT itmight deputed Syle, a nmndarin,

Humbl; before the Fisitant to knee! With downciut eye, and offer Beautj's queen A licli neplendent rot>e of gorgeoua bombaiin. XLVL Tmua receiTcd the Tature nothing loath,

And nach ita gloss, its softness much admired, And pnuaed that aperimen of foreign growth. So splendid, and so cheaply loo acquired ! Quiuk in the robe bra- gmccfiil limbs attired, 8he MFks a mirror— there delighted daUies ;

So rich ■ dress nu all could be desiriKt. How she rejoiced to diimppotnt the malice Of her uuf«eling foe, the vile, Tindiclive Pauus 1* XL VII. But while she praised tlie gift aod thank'd tlie girer

Of apinner-worciB the sued for a supply. Forthwith the good Chinese SU'd Cupid's quiror With the cocooiM in which eanh worm doth lie Snug, QDlil cluui^cd into a butlerfl;. The light eocMHt wild Cupid Bhower''d o'er Qraeos)

And o'er tlie ialea, and urer Italj, Into the lap of inihistry and peace ■, AiadUieghtd nalions liail J the long-fcnif\it"Go\ic[\'?\s»M:'\

• Belfidit iiisignea tunicaa, niliil in^^oVwa.

* 0rw(um opua Auaoiuii dum vaWoxvX, IU& v^cAnb.

534 PATHEB PB0UT*8 BELIQIHES.

HODEBir LATIN POETS.

Chap. II. — Casimib Sabbiewski, S. Saknazab, Jebomi

Fbacastob.

*' In omnibus requiem qusesivi et non inyeni nisi in nookivs et in booltins,** (quod Teutonic^ sonat in angulis et libellis). — Thomab a Kbicfib. See Elzevir edition of Imilat. Xti., p. 247, in vitd,

'* I beg to la J particular emphasis On this remark of Thomas k Kempis's." — Pbott.

Surely so gifted a man as the late incumbent of Water- grasshill must have felt himself miserably misplaced in that dull and dreary district. We are informed by Archdeacon Paley, in his Natural Theology ^ that to meet with a stone on a barren heath is a common incident, whereas to find a chronometer in such an out-of-the-way place would imme- diately suggest a bright chain of argument, and lots of con- jectural cogitation. What would Paley have said, had he stumbled on the curiously wrought pericranium of Prout in his rambles over the bogs and potato-fields of the parish, met him on " bottle hill," or found him on the brink of the " brook that flows fast by the" castle of Blarney ? There would seem to be something chronologically wrong in the disposal of so much antique wisdom on a flimsy and a frivolous age. Properly speaking, Prout should have lived at another epoch oi the world for his own sake, not for ours. With a mind habitually recurring to standard models of everlasting elegance, he must have had the disagreeable con- sciousness of being here on earth an incarnate anachronism) an Etruscan vase surrounded by vulgar crockery.

In " happier hours" and a happier climate, Prout would have developed in a grander form. Had he flourished with ViDA at the court of the Medici, like him he would have worn a mitre, and like him would have shed lustre on "his order," instead of deriving /r<wi it, as some do, impor- tance in society. Had he lived at Madrid in the days of Ferdinand and Isabella, he would have been (under Cardinal Ximenes) chief editor of the great Complutensian Polyglott ; and we can fancy him at the court of Louis XIV., indulging at? once his literary and piscatorial propensities by coediting the classics in usum Delphini,

In the vnlderoeBB of WatGi^raseliill he was a mere ^bid)

ilfi/iV, *nd the eiemplarr old paelor'p reeemhlance to the Baptist was further visible in his pecuHarity of diet; for ■mall do we deem the difference between a dried locust and & red herring.

When we Bay he was unappreciated in Ireland during his lifetime, we make one exception in favour of a citizen of Cork, the Boecoo of that seaport, James Boche. It was mid of Boscoe by Washington Irving, that, like Pompey's piUar on the shore of Alexandria, he rose above the com- jnercial vulgarities of Liverpool, and stood forth to the eye of the stranger a eonsDicuous but solitary specimen of an- tiqne and classic grandeur. Such is the eminent scholar to FDom we allude, and of whom Cork may be justly proud.

He detected the merits of the Padre, and urged them on folks until the aged Chryses, chaplain of Apollo, was not more popular in the camp before Troy than Father Prout among the reading public.

AIACI£e«l 8' I

A' 23.

OLI\'EK TOEKE.

fralers""'*'^'' ^fp'- 1S£6.

9t, Gregory of Tours, in his tract Be Giorid Martynan, lib. i. cap, 95, talks of seven youths, who, flying to a moun- tain-cave from the persecution that raged in Ephesus, fell there into a miraculous slumber; whence awaking, after two centuries of balmy rest, they walked abroad, and were ■tartled at the sight of a cross triumphantly emblazoned over the gates of the eity. Still greater was their Burpriee when a baker, to whom they tendered what they considered the cnrrent coin of the empire, eyed them suspiciously, Jtaldng where they had dug up that old medal of the pagan ^persecutor Decius, and hinting, that in the new Tfaeoaosiim code there were certain laws relative to treasure trace, which might possibly concern them. I fear that my appearance in the literary market with ppecimens of antiquated and ex- ploded composition, a coinage of the human brain Jong since gone out of circulation, may subject me to the incou-

536 7ATHSB PB0UT*8 KELI^trXS.

yeniences experienced by the seven sleeperg, and to s Bunilu rebuke £rom the critical j&atemitj. But, nnproyided with the specie that forms the present circulating medium, I muil needs obtrude on the monetary- system of the daj B(«ie rusiy old denarii and sestertia.

I trust, howeyer, that comparing mj operations in this matter to the proceedings recorded in the legend d those " Bleepers,*^ the snatches of Latin poetry I produce may not receiye the equiyocal compliment of the eclogue— yiz :

** Tale taum oarmen nobiB^ divine poetoi Quale Mgwr y"

it being my assiduous care to keep my readers awake during the progress of each paper, preferring to wear occasionaUy the cap and bells of innocent Folly, rather than the cotton nightcap of solemn Dulness.

Casimir Sarbiewski, in his day hailed by all Europe as the Horace of Poland (which I learn from the Cambridge pocket-edition of his poems dow before me), belonged to one of the noblest houses of the kingdom, and was bom in 1596. Initiated among the Jesuits at their college of Wilna, he rose to eminence in that fraternity, and was subsequently induced by Count Nicolai to accompany him on a tour of classic enjojrment to Italy. They were waylaid and robbed in the mountains of the Tyrol ; for, alas ! our Latin poet, not hayine; written in a yuJgar tongue, could not, like Ariosto, oyerawe the brigands by reyealing his name, and claiming the safeg^rd oi the Muse. Nicolai never recoyered from the effects of the adventure, and died on his arrival at Borne ; but Sarbiewski had within him that which consoled the ship- wrecked Simonides, and being enabled to exclaim '* Owmia mea mecum porto,*^ was but Httle affected by his disaster. We find him at Kome, studying archeology and numismatics under the illustrious Donato, and soon attracting, by the sweetness of his poetic talent, the notice of a brother bard, Pope Urban VIII. (Barberini). By orders of the pontiff, he undertook the reyision of the hymns of the Boman bre- yiary ; and to him may be attributed some of the pathetic and classic touches occasionally perceptible among the rude canticles of our liturgy.

Sarbiewski made friends among the dignitaries of the

MOiJEElf LATIN P0ET3.

537

rilomaii purple and the noblee of Italy : but t!ie family of [ Pope Urban, diatiuguialied from the earliest period in arts and arms, enjoyed moet the poet's Botiety. lo his poutifit'al Sliecenaa he Lad addressed many of his odes, and I cull from the number the following gnU'eful speeimen, because of its melodioua tadencee and eniuisite Latinity :

OdiruiQ, Lib. 3, Ode XV. An Apes Babbebinas. Mellru-m venutt Sircalum.

B lepM, Uborloili <|ii1d Ju»t TDlnObiii

pAriiDbulAn DTOilbua,

VlrBlniB

li ll.yii.1

SI Bin

Uniigynl f|»I1I reti und Ddmn,

ilsf thgroMl

Uavtnglloairofj'Utnl -7 plut and Sown jt Uaih in,

Bm lirichL, vhlch [n nnbroldAr, Ue bir knighl kw hr tirtr.

Fulrj Sogers nlghl ■□cl ili^ 1

a.lboBgli plHHd yant fligbt I gue i - "■• ™f.d or UiD BeW,

jTiiuu jDunrtn^flaibUzoa

IS BuberiDi slililil I

' 4 pmitlir rvl^iHtli.

'Drkmvii blltbfl nni brmnla ; lab Roinui Hqueiliict. IrophsctSi rnJ ailing

oiioats having one in his posseasioiij was induced to try

538 TATHEB FBOUT'S BELIQUES.

an experiment as to its migratorr propensities. He accord- ingly set it free, having previouslj attached to its neck a tin collar, or label, on which was inscribed a poetical indication for the use of those whom it might visit, viz. :

" HJEC CICONIA^ EX POLONIA."

The liberated stork flew o'er the Carpathian monntaing, across Tartary ; and having performed the " overland jour- ney to India," was caught by some Jesuit missionaries on the coast of Malabar. The learned fathers, with the saga- city of their order, easily understood the motive which had dictated that inscription ; they therefore substituted for the tin label, one of gold, and the carrier-stork was subse- quently recaptured in Poland, when the lines were found altered thus :

" INDIA CUM DONIS,

ALITEM BEMITTIT POLOKIS."

Such appears to have been the generous conduct of Urban towards Sarbiewski. On his departure for his native land, he loaded him with presents ; and some biographers make especial mention of a ponderous gold medal, valued at one hundred sequins, which the holy father bestowed on the child of song.

On his return to Wilna, appointed professor of rhetoric m the society's college, he for several years poured forth the sunshine of his genius on the heads of his delighted compa- triots. While he taught the young idea how to shoot, he was not unmindful of giving a patriotic direction to the studious exercises over which it was his pleasing duty to preside ; and it is probably about this period that he com- posed many of those inspiriting war-songs which crowd the pages of his book, and bear eWdence of his pride in the military glories of his countrymen. I lay the following before my readers, in the full confidence of their being on its perusal impressed with the vigour of the poet's mind. The victory it commemorates was of immense importance to Europe at that period, the young sultan, Osman II., having advanced to the frontiers of Christendom with an army of four hundred thousand men ; and were it not for the prowess of Poland, placed as it were by Providence at the

MODERN LATIN POETS.

539

post of peril, and shielding the whole family of civilised nations from the inroads of barbaric strength, the Turk would infallibly have overrun our fairest provinces, and spread desolation throughout the whole western continent.

Ode IV., Lib. 4.

In Fotfmorttm etUbrfm de Osmano TViroi- nnn Imp^ratort. Victoriam, A.o. Mbcxxi. SepUmhris Idibua.

Cabimircs Sarbiktius, S. J.

Dives GAleMns. fertilis accols, OaleMQH Ixtri, dum hua Dacicia Fatigat in cnnipiH aratra, £t galeaa clypeosque passim, ae

Magnornm acerros emit Asstam ;

Vergente Keniin sole Rub henpenim FeMBus resedlHse, et soliitos Non solito tenuisse cantu

Fertur jiirencos ; " Carpite dum licet, Dura tiita vobis otia ; carpite

OblitA iHin vobiM vireta,

Emeriti, meacura,tauri I

Victor Poloniis dnra pofliti snper Ke.sptrat hantA. ttic etiam vigil

Snvusque. Proh I quantis, Polone !

Moldavici tegis arva campl

Thraenm ruinlR 1 qnaa ego Bistonam Ilic cemo straf^en! qiixnta per avios

Disjecta late Hcnta cuIleH !

Quie QeticiB vacua arma truncis !

HAc acer Ibat Sarmata (Thraeibiu CaptivuH olim nam meniini puer^ Hie ere sqiialenteH et auro ConcanuH explicuit catervas.

Hea quanta vidi pralia eum feroz Rigeret hastis campus, et horridi Collata terapeMtas Qradivl Amblguis fluitaret armis.

8a«penBa paullum subfitltit alltla Prncella ferri, donee ahenea Hlnc inde nubes Mulpliiirato Flurinia detonulsset Igui.

Ode IV., Book 4.

OdA on thf. aiffnal Dtf^at of the Sultan (V* man, by tht Army of PoUtnd and her AUitn, S^pUmher 16'21.

Casimir Sarbirwski.

Ab Blow the plough the oxen piled, CloHe by the Danulra'H rolling tide. With old Galeslci for their guide^

The Dacian farmer — Ids eye amid the furrows Hpied

Men's bones and arraonr.

The air was calm, the sun was low, Cairo wax the roiKhty river's flow. And silently, with footxteps slow.

Laboured the yoke ; When fervently, with patriot glow,

The veteran spoke :

" Halt ye, my oxen ! Pnune we here Where valour's vextiges appear. And IsIaam'M rclirs far and near

l^urk in tlie soil ; While Poland on victorious spear

Kests from her toil.

Aye ! well she may triumphant rest. Adorn with glory's plume her crest. And wear of victory the vest,

Elate and fluitlied : Oft was the Payuim's pride repressed—

Hkrk it was chushro!

Here the tremendous deed wan done. Here the transcendant tropl»y won, Where frHginents lie of Nword and gun.

And lance and Khield, And Turkey'H giant Mkeleton

Cumbers the field I

Heavens ! I remember well that day, Of warrior men tlie proud dJHplay. Of brass and xteel the dread array —

Van. flank, and rear ; How my young lie«rt thf charger's neigh

Throbbed high to liear I

How gallantly our lancers stood, Of bristling spears an iron wood, Fraught with a desperate hardihood

That naught could daunt, And burning for tlie bloody fend,

Fierce, grim, and gaunt I

Then rose the deadly din of fight;

Then shouting charged, with all his migh^

Of Wilna eHch IVnfonic knight.

And of St. .iohti'H. While ftaMwTVR ovvV. ^txavcv ncntv^^t \a\^\

540

FATHSB FBOTTT'S BSLIQUXS.

Turn vero slgnit Bigna, Tlria Tiri, Dextneque dextris, et pedlbas pede^

Et tela respondere telit

Et olypeif clypei rotQndi«

Non Unta eampos grandtne rcrberat Nivalis AretoB ; non Aragor Alpiom TantuB renltentea ab Imo Choi yiolens aglt AoBter onoa.

Bine quantna, atqne hine Impetus nreo DlfloBUB Imbrl I Mlscet opus frequens, Fnrorque, virtnsque, et perenni Immoritur brevis Ira famn.

jyitk sapreniain nntat In aleam Fortuna belli. Stat numerosior

Hlnc BesBus : bine contra Polonns

Exiguus metaendos alia.

9ed qnid Cydones, aut pavidi Dah«, Mollesque campo cedere Concani ; Quid Seres, averKoque pugnax Paribus equo, Cilicumque turmn.

Contra Beqnacls pectora Sarmate Fossent fugaces ? Mine niit Impiger

POLONUS, illlnC LlTHUANUS ;

Quale duplex nilt axe fulmen.

Pol ! quam tremendns fulminat nneo Bonissus igni I non ego Livonum Pugnaset InconKulta vitas Translerim tua Russx aigna I

Vobis fugaces vidi ego Blstonnm Errare lunaH, signaque barbaria

Direpta vexillis et actani

Retro equltiim peditumque nnbem.

Vlrtute pngnant non nnmero virl, Et una sylvara sajpius emit Bipennis, et pauc« sequuntur Innnmeras aquilao columbas.

Hen quie Jacentnm strata eadavera, Q'lalenique vobis ^donii fugft, Cnnipum refex^rel Hie Polonaic Mordet adhuc Otoxaxvub haatam.

Dire was the atroggla fn tlM raa. Fiercely we grappled man with Till Bo<m tbe Paynim chiela begaa

For breath to gasp ; When Warsaw folded lapaltaa

In deadly graifp.

So might a tempest grasp a pine^

Tall giant of the Apennine,

Whose rankling roots deep nndermfaM

Tbe moantain's bauM : Fitting antagonists to twins

In stem embrace.

Lond rung on helm, and eoat of maU, Of musketry tbe rattling hail ; Of wounded men load rose the wail

In dismal nmt ; And now alternate would prevail

The victor's about.

Txmg Ume amid the vapoan dense The fire of battle raged intenae, While VtCTOBY held in Huapenas

The scales on high : Bat Poland in her Farra's defence

Maun do or die I

Rash was the hope, and poor the dianeS; Of blunting that victorious lance ; Though Turkey from her broad expanaa

Brought all her sons. Swelling with tenfold arrogance.

Hell's myrmidona I

Stoat WBB each Cossack heart and hand. Brave was our Lithuanian iMod, But Gallantry's own native land

Sent forth the Poles; And Valour's flame shone nobly fanned

In patriot souls.

Large be our allies' meed of fame ! Rude RuHsia to the rescue came. From land of f^ost, with brand of

A glorious horde : Huge havoc here these hones proclaim,

Done by her sword.

Pale and aghast the eresoent fled. Joyful we clove each tnrbanned head. Heaping with holocausts of dead

Tbe foeman's camp : Lond echoed o'er their gory bed

Our horsemen's tramps

A hundred trees one hatchet hews ; A hundred doves one hawk pursues; One Polish gauntlet so can bruise

Their miscreant clay : As well the kaliph kens who rues

That f«Ul day.

What though, to meet the tug of war, Osman hsd gathered from afar Arab, and Sheik, and Hospodar,

And Copt, and Gu^bre, Quick yielded Psgan scimitar

To Christian sahre.

MODE EN IATIN 1

& tTTKIIDa. Bp«» nlmUi

Weeper ia bKl»l of'o.UoM ip

UMKhHtn rwlhi.pt

' PriKlplti [ooDeL fcXD Tc

.t-indnlorr'ai

0 exasperated, we may add, were the JaniBsarieB at the untoward result of the campaign, tliat they murdered the voung eultan on his return to C. P. He was the eiiteenth leader of the faithful, counting from Mahomet, hut ih» JirU whose life terminated in that tragical manner; albeit euch im event has since been of common occurrence on the banks of the Boaphorus,

Id the year 1636 a ceremony took place at the university of Wilna. The degree of " doctor" was, with unusual pomp, confenred on the poet, in presence of King Wladislas and thetighest personageH of the realm; bis royal admirer took the ring from bis own finger, and begged it mi^ht be ustrd in the ceremony of wedding the learued bachelor to his , doctorial dignity, Tliat ring ia still preserved at Wilna, And ia used to the present day jn conferring the doctocato ftr annnlum on the students of the university.

The patronage of royalty was now secured to Sarbiewski, and WladiHloB insisted on his B^^companyiug hint even in his hunting excursions. In an epistle of I'linv to Tacitus, the proconsul invites the historian to partake oi the pleasures of

542 TATHEB PROTJT'S BELIQITES.

the chase ; and tells him, that during his visit to the moors he may still prosecute his favourite studies : " Exptrie$ Palladem non minus libenter venari in ^montibus quam Dia- nam" I find mentioned, in the catalogue of his works, poems entitled Silviiudia, referring to the woodland achieve- ments of the northern Nimrod. He also appears to have written an epic poem, on the exploits of some ancient Polish monarch {LechiacfoSy lib. xii.) ; but it may be classed with the Kinp Arthur of Sir Hichard Blackmore, the Colomlnad of Joshua Barlow, the Charlemagne of Lucien Buonaparte, and many other modern epics too tedious to mention. His last occupation was writing a commentary on St. Thomas Aquinas, before the termination of which enterprise he died, A.D. 1640. I intend writing one myself, if I live long enough.

Turn we now to Actius Sincerus d Sto. Nazaro, vidgarlj called (for shortness) Sannazar.. The township forming the family inheritance is situated between the Po and the Tesi- no, but he himself was bom at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, in 1458.

Like Dante, Tasso, and Petrarch, in youth he visited France, where he wrote a book — known by the same name as the work of our own euphuist, Sir Philip Sidney, being entitled Arcadia^ amazingly popular in its day throughout Italy. On his return to Naples in 1492, he appeared in the character of play-writer to the court, which, being prin- cipally composed of Spanish hidalgos (a branch of the Ma- drid family holding at that period the sovereignty), must have been pleased at the subjects selected by him for drama- tic illustration ; viz. the Conquest of Grenada^ and the Fall of the Moors. These comedies, written in the slang of the lazzaroni, though well received on their appearance, have fallen now into oblivion.

He next took to the sword, and joined his royal patron in an inroad it pleased the King of Naples (a vassal of the holy see) to make on the patrimony of St. Peter, then owned by the ruffian Alexander Borgia ; the gallant Ludovico Sforza (aided by the French under Charles VIII.) drove the invaders out, rolled back the tide of war into the enemy's territory, and swept the Spanish dynasty from the thron*. Faithfvd to the fallen prince, Sannazar became the comp v- nion. of hia \)axiis\iai<&u\.,«jsi'^Njt^^O^^^^^

MODERN L4TIS POETa. 543

ind soutbern France. At this time he formed a TrieDdship with tlie I'linious Oonzalvo of Cordovn. Oa the restoration of the piiled house to the throne of Naples, Frederick, who ■ucceeded Ferdinand 11., conferred on hia adherent tlievilln of Margellina., in the vicinity of that dt-tjghtt'ul capital ; in the rural repose of this euhurban retreat he gave bimseif up _ to the cultivation of Latin poetry.

Of his reputation at the revival of claaeic taste throiigh- t Europe, an idea may be collected from the epitaph writ- hifl tomb, close to that of Virgil, by Cardinal Bembo, in the same walk of literature:

K And no two sepulchres could be more appropriately placed in jujtapoBition on the romantic promontory of Pausilippc, The grand poem of Sannazar, De parla Virginit, which occu- pied twenty years of his life, ia replete with evidence of a, fine imagination and an exquisite perception of rhythmic melody, Burpaasing in both these respects Vlda on a similar l.aubject (^Cltnst'uidva, lib. xii.}. Some few lines will warrant F ay jndgmetit. The following extract refers to the arrival of 3(. Joseph and the Virgin at Bethlehem : it is preceded by \ magnificent description of the etmua ordered to be taken Buoughoul the Roman empire by Augustus Ciesar, when ■' ftll went to be taied, every one in bis own city." — LvJce,

Burs Tliabor, ipaFSftinque jugU Simaritido lem Ptdmiferui ; — Solymaa e \a!\lli liquorat ktcds Cum *uqul B [itiuulo muroB et tecti domorum Proapoiil, ]iatricquB ignovit mmnu («rrm ; Conlinoo lachc^mU ucb«Tn venerntur obortia, lolanditqus msnui, eC lb ima peotore &tar.

BelUemiiE tnrm ! et dod olMUura mecrum Ito^a patruin, mBgniijue olim ulreta pennlca I Tuguo 0 Mr™ 1 pirras rogum, yijunique regem

Cm Sol e'- gcmJQi fr — ^ — *" ''■-'

IhlTa iterum ! H'b

florn^iwt ponistquti

Fura loquor ! [iruiiu vBDieut diaiiemsti^ lupplci

111* ]>ot(>n* rciruui Ccrrvruoitjue ini-lytH Ronm,

Atqup (u'bia dviuliiiuu Bubiuitlet ad oacuk frontuui T

S44 TATBEB FB0UT8 SELlQCBt.

Prom the pen ot' Sannazar, beaides tliiti epie, wt books of elegiet two of hiicul ajid sniHcellaDeous the six pUealoritil eclogues ua which lits btop resto. The elegies are addressed to the frivods wl the calm eveaiD^ of bjs days, and fi«qurtit alluaina to the delightful recideoce of the rilla Mof^geUina, tbe gift of lUs royal beneiactot

De FonU 8H. Nat,

nt Fanlaht ^Sl. .Vuw*.

Font (nniMum iirnw llicui, undt Siirliflnf iii> on (w Mri •.■■* amittt.

Gal ftwuWBUiiiilJtJi p"pulU lulurti ■»•••• ™ !»•<■■■■•■_ ■ ^^^«.

Ta puuli* or tb* StJnl'a totenuiioii !

His pastoral poetry boa obtiuned him celebrity ; ifpatlo' ral it may be called, since it chiefly refers to the bay of K&plee, and the mannerfl, customs, aud lovea of the fiahemien. There was novelty in the idea of maritime ecloguei ; the some &eshneas of imagery which gave a sort of vogiie to the Ori- ental pastorals of Collins, rendered attractive iE this case aD otherwise dull and sonrniTerous sort of compoaition. The crook was happily exchanged for \H\q fithing-rod, and well'te- plenished nets were substituted for bleating folds. On look- ing over thoee jiatloraU, I alight on an odd idea, atbi- buted by the poet to a Neapolitan fisherman, respecting the phenomenon of ocean-tides. The Mediterranean being ex- empt from them, the lazarone waterman puts forth the following theory : I "Et qtue canilem pronul aspioit ora Bntiuiiii»

I Qui (niii v&DB Terunt) quolito maris Uuds resedit

, IiidigenD captuit Dudao per littora pisuL'S."

The ebbing and flowing of the tide would, doubtless, have iiimifihed the early Greek, and Boman poets with abundant tntoal and poetiotu allusion, had they such a transition con- stuit^ before their eyes as we have ; and I make no apo- logy for noticing in this place a robbery of Tom Moore, who baa made use of a French autiior's ideas on tills topic, traos- ferring the whole piece into his Meludiea, Ex. ijr. :

rritt writtm ty fontmillt in the JUnm of JVJnaii di I'Bmloi.

Moom'i " [ HW rrom tbe bsuU.' ,b:. in. TOjMndiiriv.Ko, 111 Lotnr dB L'.u- Onin'»ii.nWI«p.lxotUg1n(n.tl™lo,

I^WIUI d<Ulu« par Is Saldt- Lunii

ml* dl) ■!«■: ' Cart I'asqgir dn Qai ma i

b«l»g.,

i1 1v tli'i dnbanJieLir quL Id bcrcn Oi^tD'>

U nil*iii vWili I'tpbiafn doiila I ^ol I'J

546 7ATHXB PSOUT'S BELIQI7E8.

Littile else remainB to be said of Sasmazar, wbo died al the age of 72, on the margin of that delicious baj where he had judiciously pitched his tent towards the close of a long and adventurous career, and where he had surrounded him- self with all that can make existence pleasaiit — ^the charmB of friendship, the pursuits of literature, and the consolations of religion, a.d. 1530.

Jerome Fracastor saw the light at Verona in 1483. He exhibited, on his first appearance in this clamorous world, the anatomical rarity of a mouth so hermetically sealed, hps so perfectly adhering to each other, as to require the sur- geon's bistouri to make an aperture for vocal sounds. Not less extraordinary was a subsequent occurrence in the histoiy of his childhood. One day, while in the arms of his mother, the electric fluid, during a thunder-storm, was pleased to de- prive the parent of life, leaving the infant poet unscathed. At nineteen he was deemed fit to fill the chair of logic at the universiiy of Padua. Having embraced the medical profession, he quickly attained eminence in the healing art ; and such was the splendour of his name throughout Italy, that he was summoned to Borne and invested i^-ith the poit of ap^iar^og, or state-physician to Pope Paul III. In this capacity he attended the Council of Trent, and there, on the appearance in 1547 of certain symptoms of a contagious dis- temper in that neighbourhood, the physician waved his wand, dissolved the meeting of the oecumenical fathers, and ordered them to transfer their labours to the more salubrious city of Bologna ; which mandate was at once obeyed by that as- sembly, duly impressed with the wisdom of Fracastor. He died in 1553, at the advanced age of sevent}' ; beyond which, according to the Psalmist, there is nothing but trouble, dulness, and drivelling. My contemporary", old Talleyrand, w, however, an exception.

To speak of the works of our poet is now the dilBculty ; for his principal claim to renown as a writer is founded on a didactic poem, of which the name cannot be breathed.* We may, however, indicate the subject on which his muse has chosen to expatiate with all the naiveU of unsophisti-

♦ Olvi Prout appears rnther squeamish in this matter : Ladj Bl«»- vingtoti Vvas Vvayd no scruple in dwelling on the praises of Fracastor in her \aat no^d. The Tv>o Fi^endiA'^^^^^^ ^ ^. 210.— O, Y.

MO DEES LATIH POBTB.

Li, by atatiag that it beare aomo analogy to tLe es of Julius Ctesar, De Bella Gallico. Perhaps ^ ^ lines will be more eiplanatory :

" Qui OMUB reruni Tiirii, qua! aamina morbiun Ineurtum neo loneti uUi per Biecula Tisum Atlulcrint g DOetii. qui tempostate per omnom Eun)]>aiu, pnptBmque AsisB, Ijirb^ffique par ujbe«

(BiPTiiti in Latium vero per Cristia belln P Oallonim irnipit, noniflnque a gente recepit ;

I Sine ciujQEV iooipiiim. aatum suavibas horti

' Floribus inTtUtnt et aixumUs mirs Camcsiuel"

The fostidiousneas of modem taste does not allow a cri- tical dissection of this eitraordinaty work, in which there is ■ marvelloua display of inventive ingenuity, of eiuberaiit &iicy, great mpotcid skill, and great maaterdom over the technical terms of the art, so aa to blend them with the Bmooth current of poeay. The episodes are particularly deserving bf commendation, and the whole performance stuops the author as a man of superior accompliahmeuts Uid nigh philoBopby, But the subject is intractable. I He was not the hrst who adopted this metrical method of I eouveying medical theories : the school of Salerno, in the "ieventh century, had clothed their precepts ia verse; and '~e diaticbs of the Schola Satemitana were long quoted with . veienee by the faculty. They are addreaaed to Ilobert of ■ormimdy, who stopped at Salerno, on bis return I'rom the )ly Land, to get bis arm cured of an issue ; and as ho a OD his way to take posseesion of the throne of England, ifl saluted as king in the opeoing of the book, though he L never lived to sway the sceptre of these islands :

"Angloruni regi Bcrtbit Schola tots Salami," &c.

[. Chap. III.— Theodoee Beza, TATHEtt Vasieke, Geobge Bdchakas. " Th» ButuIuBTc fuat niillo diecriniino hafaobo." — ^nrid, lib. i. Je He decide pas entro Qendvo ot Rome." — Hrnriadt, oaat. ii. r. G. I PMnt eoDJurCB up Ihree ghoBls, tn aup to-night on a rad-berring ; ISme ffhoSlIy guesla lie iiitere»l« — on tbi' ort they lored ponfarring; ■ "With a cordial greet the Jenu-it hails the two other gBmnipn —

■"le caniiiB Scot, with the Huguenot from the bordcrsof Lakclif'nan. —

o. y.

iKTAiir crauiological proceediagB are reported to hava

546

TATUER rBons aiLiQcn

lakeo place in Dublin. 'E-vcry one wbo hu rvfld t1 published by U8 in July. 1«34, cnlitM "Swift** ' k Tale of a Chum," diubI Icnuw that Prout'a narrata ■ tlic DfAii and the accutojilishcd StelU. Mr. BuHr, (m Sir Bernard) geoealogjet, aiid Ulstpr king-«t armi, lui mittcd the fact. Now it Appears thnt a " Mrnvlific ciation" (a hIiow got up on the ]trinripl<r of WuBibm trarelling menagerie) bas been Tisiiin^ tbe Irisli nptT and in return fur sundry capers, exhibited J " "" has Teqiiested (out-Bcrixling Uebodias!) that the dralhd Swi Hand Stella should be presented on a chargn-fc s|>eetion. The result of the phrenoU^cal iaqimt m ■ DQunced to be the disi-overy of " Ihr oryas nf e in Prout'H fetber "very large:" that of ~rfnirvr eoually bo, " iril" being at n very low tiiark — **ii tib1e." We cannot let this plies ; we rrprl Uw i sinuation thnt Prout iuberilcd from tbe Dron tlie and dtilruelive bumps aluiig*ilii the" impere of wit which we are willing to admit lell to I formed indeed (with a lock of tJtcUa's hair) bia sole [ mony. MJId and tolerant, ever ready to make alloiianc* fa other people's prtjwtliceB. gympiithisinff with all I there vue not nn ntom of pugnactty tn bit an nulopeia taken ploee at hia death, tb« (^•bla have been found empty. He was particularly that epidemic, which has ever nt|;ed niunnc rivrg petvuasioiie, the scurvy disorder called, by Theoloffieum. This immedicable disIeinM'r lur slightest inroad on his conatitution. To hia bre eloth he recommended the brUtt Ultra an an c' pbylnctie ; one of bia innocent euprratitiooa i raetalinn sprine possefiBcd an efficacy akin tn tl: Tertullian nseribeB to " hoi v water," and tliat, like the'"*) /tttlralit," it could equally "banish ttil spirits, i and vampires, and lay ths ghost of byguntt dtaae ever it was sprinkled.

ilaring thuB disposed of ihr " combative bnmp." «« f to the " destrui-tive" pniluWrauoe which, it is bintcd. Si transferred to his Tenerablo child. Yc gods! l*n»t a « Btruetive! No. no, the jiaiir.' waa no pneatlv sanamlatl and Vinegar llill veM not the muust on which ha pMid I

UOOEBH LATIN FOETB. 549

political adoratioDB. Like Edmund Burkp, tie ^fished to Bee ■■ no min OQ tlic face of the laiiil." His joulhful re- miniaeeneea of the Jacobin Club, of Marat, of Dnnttin, and of Sttiiterre (who, Lke Dan, kept a brewery)i had given n ccfflBervative tone to bis feelinga. As for the lay abbot trf Denynane " Abbey," be had watched bis early proceeding with a certaui degree of interest ; he soon smoked the ehar- tatan, when the accounte of "the Associiition" began to get Bomehow " unaccountably mixed up" with hia own balances in the banker's ledger ; which mistake happened au earlv as 1S27 ; and Prout's prophetic eye foresaw at once the law- yer's bag distending itself into the subsequent dimensions of the beggar's waflet. In one of his sermons to the faith- fnl of Watergraaahill (the MS. is in the chest), !ie employs, as usual when he seeks to illustrate any topic of importance, W B quotation from one of the holy fathers ; and the puBsagt) ^ be setecta is from a homily of St. Angustin, addressed to the people of Hyppo in Africa : — " I'roterbium nutiim eit Punicum quod qutdem Latini vobtt dieam quia I'anici non amnt* nmlit ; KUMUiru qdxbit pebtilentia F Buoa illi sa, £T DUCAT SB !" (Serm. CLXyil. Sti. Aug. Optra, tome V. p. 8M, Benrdktint Ed.) i.e. "There is an old prorerb of jour f FhomicdaQ ancestors which I will mention in Latin, as you I' don't all speak the Funic dialect : ' Dues tue plauoe fct

l<rOBTH ITS HAJin FOBiLLMS? INSTEAD OP A PEKNT QITK TWO, THAT TOP MAT BE UOBE Bl'EEnILT RID OF TUE OSIH

AJPLiCAST.' Now, my good parishioners, this aphorism of our Carthaginian roreialhers (I am sorry we have not bees fevoured by St. Augustin with the onginal Celtic) would hold good if the mendicant only paid us a fortuitous visit , but if he were found to was importunate in proportion to the peace-offering of pence, and if this claimant of elee- mosynary EUd announced to us a perpetual and periodical visitation, we should rather adopt the resolution of one b Jjaurence Sterne (who has written sermons), and, buttoning I up our pocket, stoutly refuse to give a single sou." — Sermon ' /or Tribute Sundai^, in MS.

The lits of periodical sturration to which the ogrii-ultoral labourers throughout Ireland (farmers tliey cannot be colled) are subject — the screwing of reuts up to an ad ti~ iHum pressure by the ownera of tlie soil— the " clearing of

550 7ATHXB PROITT'S SELIQUES.

estates," against wbicb there is no legal remedj, and which can onlj be noticed hj a Bockite hilUt-doux — the alow, wasting process of inanition, which carries off the bulk of the peasantry (for there is a slow-fever of hunger endemic through the land, permanent like the malaria ^ Italy) ; — these, in Front's view of things, are (and have been since the days of Swift) the only r^ grievances of the countrr. The ejected peasant of the Irish hovel Is suffered by law to die in a ditch ; and the gratifying of sectarian vanity, bj what are called liberal measures, G;ave Prout no pleasure while the cottier was allowed to be trampled on by the landlord (Popish or Protestant) with uniform heartlessness and impunity.

" Pellitur in sinu ferens Deos, £t Tir et uxor sordidoBque natos.** — Hob.

As to a provision for the poor, IVfr. O'Connell appears to think that enforced alms are only desirable in his own case.

** Un jour Habpaoov, touchy par le prdne De son Cure, dit : ' Je vaia m'amender ; Bien n'est si beau, si touchani que I'aumdne, £t de ce pas, je rais — la. DE]CAia>EB !' "

Any debt due to him by his co-religionists for oratorical ex- ertions, was, in the fother's estimate, long since discharged. * K'XCLsittTtii 6 ^)cto; ; Prout would ask, in the words of JEs- chines, and with him answer, OO;^ ! a>Xa fLtyray.cf^ (in Ctesiphont.)

These were Prout's politics ; some may prefer his poetry. We like both.

OLIYEK TOEKE.

Watergra$*hiU, OcL 1826.

Besuming to-night the subject of modern attempts at Latin versification, a name suggests itself sufficiently dis- tinguished in the annals of ecclesiastical warfare, but not as familiar as it deserves to be in literary circles. I allude to Beza. Those who imagine that the successor to John Calvin, in that snug little popedom G^eneva, would influence my judgment as to nis poetical merits, don't know my way (d qtyi^g Y^\\»Bfi«&. To tliooe of our doth, the recollectioitt

itmnected with that neighbourboodarenot delectable. Ican- Dt Bay with Byron — "Lake Lemui wooa roe with her crjatal faw."— (Cnato iii, »t. 68.) A strange attraction Beema to have drawn to the borders 'Of this roinautic fishpond Calvin tind Madame de ISto^l. SouBseau and Gibbon, Beza and Sir Egerton Brydges, Vol- taire and SirHumphrej Daiy (or, ne the Italians called him, Zoromfridevi,) John Kemble, St. Francia de Saiea, Monsieur Meeker, Monsieur de Hallcr, and a host of celebrities in re- ligion, politics, and literature.

" Lsumnni; snd Farnej '. je liare been the abodei Of nnines which unto yoa bequailhed > name — MortaJs who nought luid found, b; dangeroue roada, A path to perpetuity of fajue."

Whatever was the fascination of this lake on sensitive ■oule, it eierciaed a wholeaome influence on the bodUv health ot' the denizens on its margin ; for, not to mention tne octo- geoariaa author of the Ilfariade, our Theodore himself eked out a career of almost a, full century, being bom in 1519. And deferring his departure front this lite to the protracted mille*imo of 1605 ! Vezelai, a village of Burgundy, was his cradle i in iulancy he was bTinaferred to the house of an old nude, Mich, de B^ze, a lawyer in Paris, whence, at the age of ten, he vas removed to Orleans, and placed imder the tuition of Melchior Wohnar, a acholnstic luminary of the day : from him the embryo reformer imbibed the first prin- eiplea of free judgment in charch matters. In his last vrill and testament he " thanks God, that at the eorty age of ail- teen he had already, in liis secret aoul, shaken off the tram- mels of popery." This did not prevent him from accepting ■the clerical tonsure and pelil ealUt to qualify for a church living, vii. the priory of Longjiimeau, which he held until the year 1548. He had expectations from an uncle, who would have lel^ him ecclesiastical revenues to the amount of 15,000 livrca : things turned out otherwise. He mixed for jrears in the gaieties of the French capital, publishing in the in- terralB of fun and frolic his Poemala JiweHi/ia j when a serious attachment to a young lady of great mental accomplishmenta, udalfioalit of Bickness, called a cliange to coTiico'erthe spirit ot Mb life's young dream. On recuvery from his illnew,

552 TATHSB FBOVT^S BELIQUSS.

iuring which he had enjoyed the seryioes of a most amiable nurse-tender, he renounced his priory, bade adieu to hii ayuncular prospects, and fled to Geneva, where his acknow- ledged scholarship caused him to be received with acclama- tion. I had forgot to add that Candida, the lady of hia love, was the partner of his flight. If we are to judge of her beauty and sylph-like form by the standard of Beza's glowiop verses, Ad pedem Candida,

** O pes ! quern gemins premunt ooSninnir," &c. Ac.

she must have been a fitting Egeria to supply the new legis- lator of divinity with graceful inspirations. He waa made Greek professor at Lausanne, an occupation to which be devoted ten years ; there he vnrote a Latin tragedy, called the Sacrijice of Abraham, which drew tears from old Pasquier's eyes. At Lausanne he also published a French translation of the New Testament, and carried on a contro- versy against Sebastian Castalio, a brother reformer and rival translator. This f astalio had the impudence to censure Calvin for burning Servetus, and Theodore wrote a book in his master's defence, which was printed by Eobert Etienne (1 vol. 8vo. Paris, 1554), " under the sign of the olive," and entitled De Hareticis a civiii Magistratu puniendis. The doctrine of putting heretics to death is more strenuously enforced in this tract than even in Dens' stupid book of theology. Beza little thought what use might be made of his own doctrines ; that foresight which Horace praises in Segulus did not form part of his character : he did not look to the consequences.

" Hoc carerat mens provida Keguli Dissentientis oonditionibus Sflevis et exempix) trahbxti

P£RNICI£M VENIKNS IN ^TC1€."

Hob., Ode r. lib. iiL

It is right to add, that Melancthon difiered totally from the tenets of his brethren at Geneva on this matter.

The death of Calvin left him the recognised chief of Eu- ropean Protestantism in 1564, previous to which he had ap- peared as the representative of the cause at the famous CoUoque de Poissy ; which, like all such exhibitions of religious wrangling^ ended in each party being aa wise aa

LATIN POETB,

erer. He presided at the synod of Roclielle in 1570, and bis wife, Candida, dying in 1583, he reniiimed a, jouiig spouse, whom he calls tiie " Shimamite :" a, gay thought for a theologinn in hia seveaty-third year. Tliia, however, is no business of ours. I^et us have a stave of his poetry.

Most of Ilia verses are in the heodecasyilabic metre, the choice of which indicates who were his favourite author*

long the poets.

	L	XKS TIT B^
	Si,ft^""d
o	> Hldlar iw aa iDiirt bi	>Uiaainlilaba)uir Irl rlctlini *ihaoa a Iwr hoUMiiali ImhI (Ish nfuM 'K U bl> innaa.
tcisaiir^iiii'aisrF.ii'i'^"
WhMBiftwh	1 HtrlBH aelael,
4'	¥S1	lnk...Ob*piirB'>l< gnjl", yim ■« tor

I' To (Kttt'bl -^MSrt™! Tn fUi mihi " Leablkm" I

or UU, Uir atmiuch iuA bran pulUl

llUl"ol''r""

Quiere, Ilauk, > tome f— JVinler'i D«U,

I PKOCT ■ BE Lt go KB.

I know not whether Southey, whone nuign nf rMiliai tftkea in, like the wliirlpuol of the luilian ocaux. ii,*.«nl and straws, as well aa IVigiitea niid mcrvhaatmen. bu M* found, in this obscure poem of Bexa, the [iroCotfpc id ' ' fanciful lines

"(Ma tt-vrm w t*f fiut." Kiy, (>(b«r BAI (hit titiart. XrBhnlu ; Bm aq

Hill

il>1lto.

II van u n.]r tl.lnr I" M«* il""! ""», Vm Ilit whH. ai^UMI^ WMffc

RncuilT oaf illUilniti IwdutniTMl I II nn * Imi i i iwn«iii|>^« Bflt-tl>»l m ll» ^wsr Df nwrulmnB T- 1* «>k.rMlM iko.: (rfKH^ Ta aind iba rrunn of ■ Mton-iliBll. — ' ■■ . . ._

IU4k NUHn-^MoD [i>M^(%m ar- J'.l'Cu,

iDcriH* nal Uiou the Dtmbitrt btn tha Ar i

GBHlof ■iih'idbMlnKinnih tlH (hrir* <<^

But pethnpB Lafontnine's mt, n intercourse to the henuitoge of a/r real aourw of Souther's iuepiintio:

In an jtber effusion, which he has cnlitled Ad ffif '' fl i am^ Beza's enthuBinsm for the writers of riMsio uilitjuilT bnak* out in fine style ; and as th^ enumemtion of hi* fjiTciurtttC may poase«a some intereat, tiiHomuch a» it afiiinis k d lo !«-, his early course of reading, I insert a tVneiiient uf Ihi* cld> rious nomcndature. 1'he <-iitalogiii- require -- * 1-*; — -

UODEBK LATIN POETS. SuiJ

The lines wliii;h I bare marked iitit&!:^ convey the theory ■ubaequently broat-hed by ProfesBor Wo'iT, and maintaiiiBd with Biii^h prodigious U'aruing ; viz. that llomer was a mere en* rationif, a nominia umbra, repruaenting no individual of the Bpeciea — aiich poet never having eiiated — but that the various rhapsodies forming Iliaif and Odynsfg were collected throughout Greece, and the authorship aaeribed to thiairaa- r gjiary personage about the time of Lycurgus. The seepti- I ciain of BeEa would greatly corroborate rhe Wolthan doc

We have no list of nis favourite autbore among modern F wn^tera, but it would appear that he had a partiality for I fmok Eabeiais, and relished eiceedingiy the learned buf- f foonery of that illustrious Theboa. Witness the following B^distich :

" Qui vio nugatur, tractantem ut urii rinmt. Saris uuni coribcl, die modo qunlii erit?"

Of Beza as a religionist, it does not become me to say a Plrord.

A notice of the Jesuit Jacques Vanifere must Im necessft- riiy brief, as far as biographical detail. His was the quiet, peaceful, but not illiterate life of the cloister ; days of csbn, unimpassioned eiistence, gliding insensibly, but not unpro- fitably, onvrards to the repose of the grave and tho hopes of immortality. He was bom in the south of France, near Montpellier, in 16<)4 ; was enrolled among the Jesuits at the age 01 sixteen ; and died at Toulouse in 1739, at the ad- vanced age of seventy-three.

Schoolboys are not aware that they owe him a debt of gratitude j he being the compiler of that wondrous ladder of Jacob yclept Qradas ad Parmumm.

His great work ia the Pntdium Ruitien.ii juishedby a brilliant iancv, akindly feeling, a (or the pursuits of rural file. Tlie topics -■

fishponds," " poultry," " gardeaiug," ' " sheep-walks ;"

poem distin-

a keen relish

' vineyards,"

game- p reserves,"

do X know any book whu'h conveys

loh a detailed picture of farming operations in France

Tore the Bevolution. Since tbat event, the whole system

666

fatkek pboft's KU-iqDTS.

of landed property hMviae been dashed to pteoM, a totally different atnte of societj- baa aHperrened.

There lire sereral eiogular notions broached in Ibu }>oA: ex. gr. iu deprecating the destructioD of fon:*t», irar yoA points out the value of Jlre-vnod, much lanitaititii; vnn Utt neceBsitj vchich compels the Eaglbh io bum coals, aadtbta reflort to Montpcllier to get cured of aub*M)iieDt

Aspice d QuilD] m

'c<to iti tsbewentibci ipi«

is ojieia Milrrit palmambni itr."

The digging of the canal of Langne'loc, "mmmo fiaim commercia piinto." forms a glorious episode (lib. I.); U alM doefl the memorable plague of Mnr»eilles (lib. iii.), oelebrawd br Pope, and during which our poet 'anin/r^rMdistdipiuialtfd theniBelved b^ their lieroio devoiednenfl. The d«.-acri|itti)ii 4iC a villagf-feetival, iu liouour of the patron-saiot (lib, ni), \iM been dcBervedly admired. and baa bi-en tranAlatrd by VeWt^ The famous year of the hard frost, whicli, lo«ard» the clcac of the reign of Loiiia SIT., destrofrd all the nli*v pi*"*** tiona in the south of Franr«, if also fittingly aung (lib. niL), but comineud nie to a cock-fight (lib. ziL):

"OIU rlgrni hlnuu Jr

The vanoni habits of Ihc swan, the pcarooV, tb* torby, and other feathered suhje^rts, arc capitally [lit olT; vtM in there a mure pathetic puMoge in the SorTDv* ofWrrt^ than the one dest^'riptive ol » ben 'a grief, Ttiia ben ia wiit to " ait" on n batch of duck's eggs, and wbrn the ducUinfl have appforcd she still believra thmn to b" cbickuia. 101 B<-ts aeconliiigly, until, by som« fatal t-hanm, they are l«d la the brink nf a nond -, when lo 1 thr i«cret of their hirtb ia revealed, aud tliey rush instinctively into the drvp. !%•

MOUEBU LATIH 1

passage, however, which 1 have selected for traaislatio ■ higher key.

Fram YlNitEE'B Fradiam SHtlieum. lib. si.

uRncehl Outlulol

ifltHitationS in a VXHiiwCtURx.

Witfdnd llio prupiDK-book. >Dit pitod Niugbt iT

proDdl; down U» c fnfDTe oBCh pipe, d

ED beftts bul kTe h

DUlddg >p.ll

If J-iKihanniMl bii In Ibli Brirf, 10, Cimins- Lai them be Jiill onei ; let Ihe

tEcl^ DiitplTe4>f d^ptitei, UDitI

' 'Twen iKtter that Iliu In » enlnroiuf^E VThtn wmitlliie podmM ■

Bn emiiith not ■ puptt otQur Fim. FoIiod (ho pleulng hmiri (oc nui's nil-

O'sr tnurnulilB priclln* tu bi»o4 Joymeol ucuiU WIlbklhMdnii.'UKli'vrLliaUliido;

AI*lllLcpVoueJ»lm.him(cirii».-o, Dolh ronderouli of BriaounDTroijlno

TH*1>>> >b« Undltfgt iriBpiUilsa Tlwt uiDe pnrei Ui bruUiii vf Bo»-

658

FATHER PBOUT's BXLIQUI8.

Is old Qaeuxka Jealous of the Rhixs f Oaul, or the grape Qermanlc vine- yards grow ? Doth Xbrbs deem bright Lachbtva his foe ? Oo the calm banks that fHnge the bine

MOMKLLB,

On LsMAx's margin, on the plains of Po, Pnre fh>m one common sky these dev- drops fell. Hast thou prenerved the Jaioe in parity f 'Tis weU !

Lessons of love, and light, and liberty,

Lurk in these wooden volumes. Preie-

dom's code

Lies there, and pity's charter. Poetry

And genius make their favourite

abode In double range of goodly puncheons stowed ; Whence welling np freely, as firom a fount, The flood of fancy in all time has flowed, Gushing with more ezubeiance, I count, Than from Pierian spring on Greece's fabled mount.

School of Athenian eloqnence I did not Demosthenes, half-tonsured, love to pass Wintew in such preparatory grot. His topics there in fit array to class. And stores of wit and argument amass? Hath not another Greek of late arisen, Whose eloquence partaketh of the glass, Whose nose and tropes with rival ra« diance glisten, And unto whom the Peers night after night must listen ?

Say not that wine hath bred dissen- sions—wars ; Charge not the grape, calulhnions, with the hlnme Of murdered Clytus. Lapithe, Cen- taurs, Drunkards of every age, will aye

defame The innocent vine to palliate their shame. O Thyrsus, magic wand ! thou mak'st appear

Man in his ovn true eoknn— fki

^rocIaim my — sin its fool flgnre rear. Like the recumbent toad looched hj Ithm- rial's spear I

A savifcfl^ may the glwioos sun rerik,*

And ihoot his arrovs at the god ii

day;

Th* nngratefnl ^thiop on thy banks, 0

Nile!

With barbarous shoat and insult may

repay Apollo for his vivifying rar. Unheeded by the god, whoas iarjr team Prances along the sky's immortal way; While from his brow, flood-liks, the boonteous beam Bursts on the stupid slaves vho gnee- lessly blaspheme.

That savage outcry some attempt to ape. Loading old Baochns with absord abuse; Bat, pitying them, the father of the grape, I And conscious of their intellect ob- tuse. Tells them to go (for answer) to the juice: Meantime the god, whom fools woold faiii annoy. Rides on a cask, and, of his vine pro- fuse, Sends up to earth the flood withoot alloy, Whence round the general globe eirdes the cup of joy.

Hard was thv fate, much-injui'd Ht- LAS I whom The roguish Maiads of the fount ss- trapped; Thine was, in sooth, a melancholy doom — In liquid robes for wint'ry wardrobe

wrapped, And " in Elysium** of spring-water " hipped r Better if hither thoa hadat been ss- tictid, Where casks 'abound and generoos wine is tapped ; Thou would'st not feel, as now, tby limbs all iced.

* " Le Nil a vu sur ses rivages

Les noirs hahitans des deserts

Insulter, par de cris Kauvages, L'astre brillant do Tunivers.

Oris impuifisansl fureors bisarresl

Tandis que ces monstn^s barbares

Poussent d'inutiles clameum, Le Dieu, ponrsuivant sa cafhire^ Verse des torrens de luml^re Sur sea obsours blasph^matenrs."

DHIUlRg tbb OTI of JDJ tbn glDBilM

CKLLAh, thiuf li dark uid dnuj, yat IMpAl uf brlehlut InUlteol [hmi

Of George Buirhanan Scotlaod may be juatly proud ;

'lougti I suspert theje exiata amon^ our northern fnendB a

reater dispoaition to glory in the fame he hiis acquired for

a than an ansiety to read hia worka, of which there was

:r an edition published on the other Fiide of the great

all of Antonine aave one, and that not until the year 1715,

f Buddiman, in 1 vol. folio. The continental editions are

LQUiuerable. The Scotch have been equally unmindful of

rtain earlier celebrities, Bucli aa John Holybnah, known

tbrood by the name of Sacrobosco, who flourished in 1230 ;

" B Scotua, who made their name famouB among the Oen-

in 1300, and concerning wbom a contemporary poet

bought it necessary to observe —

Phen there was John Mair, a professor of Sorbonne, bom mong them in 1446; not to speak of Tom Dempster, pro- r at Bologna, and Andrew Melvin tba poet, on whose Rtymic the follovring execrable pun was perpetrated :

1 to the Admirable CricLton, the pupil of Buchanan, I

n't much blame them for not making a fuas about Aim, as

Qie only copy of his works (in IMS.) is in my possession,

iiscovered by me in an old trunk in Mantua. To return to

Buchanan, he boa taken the precaution of writing bis own

'Quitlcai EC lieu qCi ma rauon ■'eiuTre." — BKRAxaKD.

600 TATHISB PBOUT'S BELIQUES.

life, conscious that if left to some of nature's joomejiDen it would be sadly handled. Bom in 1506, in the shire of Lennox, poor and penniless, he contriTed to get over to Paris, where having narrowly escaped starvation at the uni- versity (the fare must have been very bad on which a Cale- donian could not thrive), he retunied "bock agin," and enlisted at Edinburgh in a cooipany of French auxiliaries, merely, as he says, to learn " military tactics." He spent a winter in hospital, which sickened him of martial pursuits. So to Pans he sped on a second spree, and contrived to get appointed master of grammar at the college of Ste. Barbe. Here a godsend fell in his way in the shape of Kennedy, Earl of Cassilis, who brought nim to Scotland, and intro- duced him at Court. James made him tutor to one of his bastard sons ; another being placed under the care of Eras- mus. These lads were bom with a silver spoon ! Meantime Buchanan's evil star led him to lampoon the Franciscan fiiars, at the request, he says, of the king, who detested the fraternity ; but it cost him dear. Were it not for the kind offices of the young princess Mary (whom he subsequently libelled), it would have gone hard with him. Be that as it may, he contrived to get out of prison, fled from the venge- ance of Cardinal Beaton into England, where Henry was then busy bringing to the stake folks of every persuasion ; wherefore he crossed the Channel, but found Beaton before him at Paris : so he proceeded to Bordeaux, and met a friendly reception from Andre Govea, the Portufi^^uese rector of that Gascon university. While in this city he composed the tragedy of Jepht^, to discourage the foolish melodramea of that period called " mysteries," of which Victor Hugo has given such a'ludicrous specimen in the opening chapters of his Xofre Dame ; he also presented a complimentary ad- dress to Charles V. on his passage from Madrid to Paris. Govea subsequently took him to Coimbra, of which cele- brated academy he thus became one of the early promoters. But the friars, who never yet lost sight of a foe, got him at last here into the clutches of the Inquisition ; and, during a long captivity in Banco St. Dominici, he was at leisure to execute his glorious translation of the psalms into Latin lyrical verse.

From Yort^^Ve T£v«xvMgi^\ft ^aaa.^ in a Turkish vessel

UODEBN LATIN POETS.

5U1

bound for London, and thence repaired to France, for wbieh country he appears to have bnd o peculiitr predilection. He there got ecipioymeut tut tutor in the Marechal Brisaac's family ; and meantime wrote verees is bonotir of every leading contemporaiy event, such ae the raising of the siege of Metz, the taking of VercelleB, and the capture of Calais by the Due de Guise in 1557. This latter occurrence is one of such peculiar interest to an English reader, and gives Buchaaan such an opportunity of eipressing his real senti- ments towards England, that 1 have selected it for transla- tion. It is strange that in his autobiography be abuses the heiro whom he celebrates in his ode, and who was no other tbau the celebrated Guise le BaiafH (so called from a scar on his letl cheek), whose statue may be seen in our own day on the market-place of Calais, and whose military genius and activity much reaembled the rapjd conceptions and brilliant execution of Buonaparte. The allusiou to the prevalent astrological mania at court is quite characteristic of the philosophic poet, ever grave and austere even in the eiercise of fancy ; but the abuse lavished on the ei-emperor Charles V. is not a proof of Buchanan's consistency.

BdchimaS, Scotut.	QaORQK BUCHiBiW.
	Or Stib la hBiTsn'i hlgb UDopr,
ICsniu oylfei noiiorilur orbem.	WiIhra.gitgIO- "*
	ShlniDg DQ id«d'> dKItUt,
gM ar«a. la.rttn. «,«j™ J,H«l,	B.U.t.0klBg!benrW0EDUa
	Of •Tery MHlily f nurprin
	Thsbiddanmorgii
	DwrnooUifLou*™.
	Prompt lo ixDDie the righfi dargoM
[tat a prr<u>Tvie l»t[i<i luporliin,	M*njy tiBtt> m* mMk dliponiw.
	Curb 111* n.d* J>w. or liOgloiU
EtUctiiT"i"liiUi«ltrliuBphIi.	WKhblLidbrtdK.
	And Hoiirge tha cblcl irboM bmskln
	Bum.teiii.idol.
Eun.p1> loKgt » remUiD ; CD T ]u.t
FtKiuiiinf e( f ■.'tw'. quem grsttlo «uo	W1.C. imole lh« mostnh of Midild,
	" Top^w«(Mwellt

662

TATBXR PB0UT*8 SELIQUSS.

Mee ta ■6cniidk>fla]iiIiM qttmn snper Felleitatit Tezerat nqnorm Henrieel Tirtna, — iMMiisti, DmbrilenB frwnltw proceUe.

Sad pertfnaz hnat testos adhne pmnit, DrjcetqiM preMum, et progeniem sui ndodiqae pari tamentem, Clada pari ezagitet PhiUppnm.

Te qui mhiorein te suparit gerit, Ci^pamqae ll«tu dilais agnium, Mitit parens placatus audit, Et Mlitum camnlat faTorem.

Sadintegrmtc nae tiM gratUs Obacura promit aiciia. Sob algldo Nox Caprieorno longa ternm Perpetoia tenebria premebat,

RIgebat anria bnima niralibaii, Amnea acato oonstiteraDt g«Ia, Deformia horror incubatNit Jngeribas Yidais coIodo.

At signa caatris Franctis nt extnlit Dvctorque Franci Guii^ua agminis, ArrUit algenti sub arcto Temperiea melioris anrs.

HTems retaso languida spiculo Vim mitigavit frigoris asperi, Siccis per hybemam serenam Nttbe cavft stetit imber arris.

Ergo nee altls tnta palndibas Tuere rirea moenia Oallicas; Nee arcibas tut« palodea Praeipitem tenners cnnvm.

LoB^KK prlncepa I pmelpao Del Favore feliz, praseipuas Dens Cui tradidit partes, superboe Ut piemeres domitrice dextri.

Unins anni eurrlculo aeqnens Viz oedet ttUa ptomMlUa \&Ml

Tlioa, too, bast Icnown mlsfertOBe's Tempests have bent thj stately masl And nigh upon tbe breakers

Thy gallant ship : Bat nov tbe hnrrieane is

Hashed is the deep.

For Phiup, lord of AKaoov, '

Of haaghtj Chaklks the hanghtr soa, Tbe clouds still gather dark aad dna.

The akr still scovls; And roand his gorgeous gaIMn

Tbe tempest howls.

Thou, when th' Almighty nilar dealt Tbe blows thy kingdom latalT folt. Thy brow anbelued, nnbound thy bdt,

Thy feet ansbod. Humbly before tbe fastener knelt.

And kissed tbe rod.

Pardon and peace thj panaaee boaght; Joyful the seraph Biercy broaght The oliTe-bougb, with blessing ten^t

For thee and France ; — QoD for thy captive kingdom wroaght

Deliverance.

*Twas dark and drear t 'twaa winter's reiga! Grim horror walked the lonesome pl^n; The ice held bound with crystal ehsin

Lake, flood, and riU ; And dinnal piped the hurricane

His music shrill.

But when the gallant Gmss displayed The flag of Fbakcs, and drew the blade. Straight tbe obsequious season bade

Its rigour cease ; And, lowlv crouching, homage paid

The Fleub dx Ltb.

Winter his violence withheld. His progeny of tempeats quelled. His canopy of cloudis dispelled,

Unveil'd the sun — And blithesome days OBparalleled

Began to run.

Twas then beleagaered Calaia found. With swamps ana marshes fenced aroaa^ With counterscarp, and moat, and meond.

And yawning trench, Vainly her hundred bulwarks frowned

To sUy the French.

Guise ! child of glory and Lorraine, Ever thine house hath proved the b. Of France's foes I aye from the chain

Of slavery kept her. And in the teeth of haughty Spain

Upheld her sceptre.

Scarce will a fhtars age believe The deads one year aaw thee aehieva

HODEBK LATIN F0ET3.

CsuHim Htlw nlBguldl. el

Yon Alp>iheirb«n1«r»w lh«liom, Wllb ilper tlliiK,

JBqoor pni«ll!i, um. ptludllrai.

ThTjmiM Hor ton* bec^rc wl

Blgbl jojrul aaw tb

f

Reglni, prnm nascli peTpoll

iiriacli iglUDt iguria.

■I ih; trianplUDl tnad

Every schoolboy knows tbat thia event broke Queen Mary'e Heart, so inconaolable wne bIib I'or the Iobs of those " keys of France" which the monarcha of Eogland, from Edward to the bluff Harry, had gloried in wearing guspended to tbe

tyal girdle.

[ * BuchuioD BppMn to hare the raUowing Terae o[ Hniod in iti

6(}4 FATH£B PBOUT'a BKLlQCia.

Of Buchanan's career od bis returo to rnnduL't as a politician and tourtiM', I shall As a poet, his career terminated when the ^ intrigue were thrown open to him, bo 1 hid hii the threshold. Ilia Maia CaUndie, his death of Johu Calrin," his poem Dt Sfjuerd. from EuripideB, his elegiac poetrj, all hia tii were already won. By the way, John million hu hia tragedy of BaptUlet, if we are to credit Pock. it is that Buchanan's Dr Jart Regni apud Seotot, k wi step in radicalism for that day, waa the prolotypr of 1 Cromwellian secretary's Df/ent,io pro Pitpulo AnfUemmm. appears that Buchanan hnd some ahani in the rducstiDn Michel Montaigne, — agloriuus feather ton was certainly his scholar : and no better proof of iIm can be afforded than the following lyric (from the MS. ia ■ poBBessiou), a copy of which I faucj' gnt abmad in Bum*'

tinii), for he has somehow tninsterred Lhe jser'- *- *

expresses, most lileralty. However, it ia cle«r ton's ckini cannot be invalidated by aaj (V fatt concern. Thu thing epealu for iVuAf.

MODZBK LATUT POSTS.

h» taHBltom, Jun Teleren t«w» Vanun oee nili endTili. nee llbl, f>MIM rel taeBHi', ve[ miiDDi. U.unn|>erp'>u«.ni»»e.	Bill 1 tbiak fa-n •}* the >une to i
Propaga Bobli Ml* pMwiHioi. At tut iD UDbonm ul°i>M> H»»nil »lllorl QuUe ■uiMrvenlt— "	John Adder™ nr Jn, John. Ani7el."y''d7.rJoh"ABd«^ A^r:£,",."i/zn'.*.;.- I'm ninr5GD'Ll ne'er ujnri, TbDugh Iba da7> 'te gua Ihil ye bm
PatrU Toluplu qunti dniaeitlcam IDom eorde miUr pelpiut intimD) D^tTu b"ialll>'u'b*niB! HOTH pumiloai, reddere TnlOhm VnlM^elernDplDfldelee SHHlvt ran. pnxl* Ol jmpoin.	Jobn Andcnon niT jo, Jnhn, Whatplea>mi.ae^ll«Te And^lkS iid uid''u^jDK°'° H*ka perfect hemn^i™ od eutl, jDhnABdenaam^Jii.
Bn 1 III J«DB»i, T.»porl. •lite Fmnl 9»M ™l. qu«^^e boni dies Utnunque fugeranl 1 mpreio* JamqaabnTlpropenliltbDn^ KoniB pnliiiDdll deilen coiOnges Nee ibH ifa meUorlii sri 1	JobnAnde™)iiB,).j8,JabB. Fru yrmt U 7 w we're p»«. Add «»n Ibel Teu niHa »«.•, J«ln - WUIbclngd.UoE.rlut; BdI let not th.1 .(Tri^t d., John, Our haarU were na^er our ftia. While In iDKHient delight w* UTed, John Andec«n mj jo.
M«I«s luani vieimiu mnint,	Jnhn Andemon my Jo, John, We've dambed Ibe bill togllbar. And monle a untie day, lohii.

"Wlien Harrison Ainaworth, then a young writer of pro- mise, took up Jamea Cricbton in place of Dick Turpin, a noble field !ay before him. I aketcHed the plan, and pointed out to him tnat the story, in all biographieB, of Crichton's having been killed in a drunken brawl at Mantua, by Duke Goniaga, on tbe 3rd July, 1583, was manifeatly untrue, as there was, to my knowledge, at Paris, in the Bibliotkequt du Bai, a printed broadsheet of verBes iy him, on tlie death of St. Carlo Eorromeo, who died on the 4th November, ISS-l (a fact ho W8B able to verify bv getting another copy from Milan). IVom other sources I showed thnt there were secret reasons I fijT his reported death, that he lay concwiei ^t'SsmKft w*

5C6 VATHIB PBOVT'B fiXLIQITES.

corrector of the press for Aldus Manutius,* "P ^ 1585, wbi made private secretary at Borne to Pope Peretti when *' Sixtus Quintus*' became monarch in central Italj, and that he was the life and soul of that great man's short reign ; I had proof that he was at Lisbon in 1587, and that, in 1588, he sailed thence with his friend Lope de Vega on board the Invincible Armada, to avenge the death of Mary, Queen of Scots. That his galleon, driven up the German sea and rounding Scotland, was wrecked in the winter of that year on the coast of Ayrshire.

That disgusted with the triumphant reign of Elizabeth, the revolt of the Low Countries from Spain, the edict of Nantes granted to the Huguenots by Henri Quatre, and the general aspect of Europe, he gave up continental affiurs, settled down as a tranquil farmer, married a highland lassie, and lived to a good old age, as evidenced by his well-authen- ticated song of John Anderson my jo.

This startling narrative of what was in some sort the post- humous history of his hero, Ainsworth did not grapple with, but stopped at Pans, making him a kind of fencing-master, rope-dancer, and court dandy, marrying him to some incre- dible princess of the blood, and so K)rth.

That Crichton, during his long life in Ayrshire, under an humbler name, was author of most of the popular songs and tunes that have enriched the Land o' Cakes is known to a few only ; but Eobert Bums was in the secret, as the reader has already discovered.

In 1841, on returning from Hungary and Asia Minor by the south of Prance, I learnt that Ainsworth had left the tale of Crichton half told, and had taken up with Blue- skin and Jack Sheppard, Plitches of Bacon ana Lancashire Witches, and thought such things were " literature." Hence this ballad, in which I have endeavoured to express what I know would have been the sentiments of old Prout, in language as near his own as I can command.

Paris, Nov. 1, 1^69. F. IL

* The presses of Aldus, and Crichton's sharo in their efBdencj, suggest to me the propriety of acknowledging the debt due bj the de- funct Prout to the keen and accurate supervision of Mr. W. S. Bohn while the&e %\iee\A '^ec^ m '^vo^jress. Quick perception, and intimato acquamtatiQe m>i^ V!k^ %)CTCw\.\iaN^\^^Bb >aiK^ \s^ '^vs<s&^ vectified man?

TH£ BBS-BBEAST OF AQDITAITEA.

THE EED-EEEAST OF AQUITANIA.

irrnol Iwn •parrmettiiid/uT afnlhag t i/tl not one of thna il a int srouad v-Uhoul your Fathtr."—Wi. JkUrramv, s. 29. " Oallos sb Aquilaiiu Oarumna flumeti." — Jdlivb C.CS4B. "Sermons in Btonca, bdiI good In BFerjthiug." — SttiBSfSRl. " QoniuB, left to iliiver Oil tlie bulk, 'tis Baid, Died of tbat cold river." — ToK MooBi.

, Oh, "Iwm bittor cold jj; Ai our eteam-bont roU'd ■" k Donti the pnthwa; old ^ ^ Of the deep Qaroau^ — ^J, ' And tlie peaaaot Unk, 'dI ' While Ilia saic* Batik In the BDonr-tlad bank. Saw it roU on, on. L And ba hied bim borne ^' To hie toil dt ehaunt i n^ , And for those wbo roam £^ On the broad bleak flood •" Cored he F Not a thought; For his beldame broogbt His wioB-flflek fraught With tbe inrape B red blood. '•* And the wood-block bUie Pj Fed biB TBcant gaze in

li Aa we trod the maia K'

Of the river down. Jj; Soon wu loft behind ipi

On tbo (roicn wind All farther mind

Of thit vacant clown.

Aa WB jouroej'd on n

■ Down the deep Garonne, " An aocjiuiintanov, Wbiuh we deem'd.'l count.

?»3b» 'TwM a atrangcr drait I oi lUii In n downy tcbI, "'«*■ 'TwBS a wee Ked-breast, "X- C"'^ "• "-^"airoH,") > But ■ wanderer tneek,

Wbo fain would seek O'er the boBom bleak Of that flood to cro»«. '""" And we watcb'd hiin oft uU^ikAshcBOar'daloft jUrXfOnhispinionasoft, ■^ Poor wee weak thing,

And WH soon could mark That be Bought our bark. As a reeling ark

For his woarj wing.

nay aj: And shot for a-beai „ Of the tinj bird. And quicker in the van Bcr swift wheelB ran, Aj the quickening fan Of bia wingtflt« stirr'd. I Vain, rain pursuit! It Toil without fruit! For bis forkid foot

Shall not anclior Ibere, Tlio' tho boat meanwbila Down the stream beguila For a bootlcM mile

'^W ^ODT i^u^ (A wt\

508

VATHEE FSOUT*8 BKUQITSS.

Tls

And 'twas plain at last He was flagging tut, ** ^ That hia hour had past In that effort rain ; Far from either bank, 8mu a saying plank, Slow, slow he sank. Nor uprose again.

?■««•»»• And the cheerless ware Just one ripple gaye As it oped nun a graye

In its bosom cold. And he sank alone. With a feeble moan. In that deep Ghronne,

And then all was told.

And well would it seeia

•rawi«*«»-

That o'

Idfe's dark

Easj' task for Him

In his flight of Fsme, Was the SWward P^ O'er the bOlow's wrsth, That for Genius hath £yer been the same.

And I saw him soar From the morning shore, While hisfresh wings bore

Him athwart the tide, Soon with powers unspent As he forward went, His wings he had beat

On the sought-for side

vwpetii for Wiped a tear awaj ; fa^S^ of In the broad Biscaye BiM.,e. He had lost his boy !

That sight brought back On its furrowed track The remembered wreck Of long periah'd joy !

^"i^ And the tear half hid SSm: Sa In soft Beauty*8 lid Sl/tSSST Stole forth unhid itgfT*. Pop that red -breast

bird; — And the feeling crept» — For a Warrior wept ; And the silence kept Found no fitting word.

tS^Si!^ ^^* while thus he flew, CTcfc tnm Lo ! a yision new Smmi! * Caught his wayward riev With a semblance fair, And that new-found wooer Could, alas ! allure From his pathway sure The bright child of sir.

5JJ!^*«, For he tum'd aside, ikuu cvju And adown the tide For a brief hour plied

His yet unspent force. And to gain that goal C^aye the powers of soul Which, unwasted, whok, Hadachieyed bis courMw

Ittljfc

nliMth anent y binie.

ou.ij.i-. But / muMd alone, ~yt5

■•417 mo- For I thought of one i^V Whom I well had known hambie

In my earlier days. Of a gentle mind. Of a soul refined. Of deserts design'd For the Palm of Praise.

A bright Spirit, young, Unwept, unsung. Sank thus among

The drifts of the streami Not a record left, — Of renown bereft. By tby cruel theft,

O DKLUaiyS DBSAM.

TBI lEQtyS OV A.KXTHrSA. MVOY TO W. H. AINSWORTH, ESQ.

^wtj ^l"" '■"'l? ^ thought nxUibi iB Am that bird unsought iwX>'iu TbereiDembninoe brought — ^- -1, Of thy bright day i And I penn'd fbll aoon Thw Dirge, oliiJe the mixni On tlie broftd Oaranna Shed a wintry roj,

F. M.

THE LEGEND OF ABETHUSA,

IB of AFcodie, In the day! bight olden, 'iTed her wlule flock close Ifl Ihe »M ; 'Twai the age called golden.

That age of gold 1 yet nought STailed

To aaie troai nidenesi. To keep unsullied — anauaiLsd

Such gentle goodneas.

The c^m oomposure of ■ lils

Till then anchequered, VVIiHt rudo sltompt befell? "tii rife

In Ovid's reuord.

Poor (hiinking maid — deapairiDg, left

Without reliance ; Of brother'i, father's aid bereR,

She called on Dian's.

The boon I sik you ! To die—ere I diihonoursd be 1

Speed Ui my reacue."

Sudden beneath her ibolet«p> oped

The daiaied meadow ; Bie paaaionate arms that wildly groped,

Qraiped but a ehndow.

Torth bina the loil where Bank abaorbrd

That rryatal rirgin, Ou*hed a bright hnno^ — par*, iindiaturbeci—

With pebbly margiu

TJLTHSB PBOUT'S BSUQITM.

Aim! onward to the se»-Bhore tped^

Its course fulfilling } Till the ^gean's brin j bed

1^>ok the bright rill in.

When lo ! wss wrought for aje a th«s:*

Of special wonder ; Fresh and untainted ran that stream

Hie salt seas under.

Proof against erery waye's attempt

To interfuse it ; From briny mixture still exempti

It flowed pellucid.

And thus it kept for many a mile

Its pathway single ; Current, in which nor gall nor guib , Could erer mingle.

And all day long with onward mardu

The streamlet glided ; And when night came, Diana's torch

The wanderer guided ;

Till unto thee, sweet Sicily,

From doubt and danger. From land and ocean*s terrors fre^

She led the stranger ;

And there gushed forth, the pride and vaunt

Of Syracusa, The bright, time-honoured, glorious fount

Of .Arethusa.

O hidye, such be thy career,

Such be thy guidance ; From every earthly foe and fear

Such be thj riddance 1

Safe from the tainted eril tongue

Of foes insidious ; Brineless the bitter wares among

Of " friends" perfidious.

Such be thy life— Utc on, lire on I

Nor couldst thou choose a Kame more appropriate than thine own^

Fair Arethusa !

THI LADTE OT LIS — LITE, ▲ BUBBLE.

671

THE LADTE OF LEE.

There's a being bright, whose beams Liffht my days and gild my dreams, Ti& my life all sunshine seems — *tis the ladye of Lee.

Oh ! the joy that Beauty brings, While her meny laughter rings, And her voice of silyer sings — how she loves but me !

There's a grace in every limb,

There's a charm in every whim.

And the diamond cannot dim — the dazzling of her e'o i

But there's a li^ht amid All the lustre oi her Ud, That firom the crowd is hid — and only I can see,

*Tis the glance by which is shown

That she loves but me alone ;

That she is all mine own — this ladye of Lee.

Then say, can it be wrong,

If the burden of my song

Be, how fondly I'll belong to this ladye of Lee f

LIFE, A BUBBLE.— A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW THEREOF.

Lm, plule aa bassin fait des bulles ;

Lea hirondelles Mur le toit Tienneut des conciliabulea

Void rhiverl void le froidl

Ellea s'aaaemblant par centainea. Be concertant pour le depart,

L'un^ dit, Oh que dans Athines II fait bon sur le vieuz rempart.

Toufl lea ans j'y vais, et Je niche Aux metopes du Parthenon ;

Hon nid bouche danH la comiche Le tron d'un boulet de canon.

L'antre. J'ai ma petite ehambre A Smyme au plafond d'un cafif ;

Lea Hac^is comptent leur (prains d'ambre Bar le aeuil d'un rayon chaufle,

CaUe d, J'habite un triglipbe Aa fronton d'un temple a Baalbec,

Je m'j suspends par ma griffe Snr mes petita a large bee.

A la aeconde eataracte.

Dit la derni^re, J'ai mon nid, J*«D ai not^ la place exacte,

Dana le cou d'un roi de granit.

Tbxo. Gaittibb, 19th Sept, Momiemr,

Down comes rain drop, bubble follows On the bonse top one bj one

Flock the synaffogue of awallows. Met to yote that autumn's gone.

There are hundreds of them sitting.

Met to vote in unison ; They resolve on general flitting.

" I'm for Athens ofiT," says one.

" Every year my place is filled in Plintii of pllliu^d Parthenon,

Where a ball has struck the building, Shot from Turk's besieging gOto.'*

" As for me, Tve got my chamber

O'er a Smyrna coffee-ahop. Where his beadroll, made of amber,

Ha^i oounta, and sips a drop."

" I prefer Palmyra's scantlings, Architraves of lone Baalbec,

Perched on which I feed my bantlinga As they ope their bonnie beak."

While the last, to tell her plan, says,

" On the second cataract I've a statue of old Ramsea,

And his neck is nicely enek'd.** 20th Sept, Glob$, r. Bt

INDEX.

knmLAMD, on the mistletoe, S79. Adrian's death-song, new rersion o(^ IIS. Aerolite, the BUtmey Stone an, according

to Lardner, 66. Ainsworth, aathor of " Bookwood,** 408.

519, 669. Anaereon, i86.

Andrea, "Storia di ogni Letteratora,** S90ii Angel (the) of Poetry, to L.E.L., 818. Animal spirits, 378. Anne Chevy a heroine, 80. Anne (Queen) accused of tippling, 868. Armehnd the nymph, Ireland compared to,

121. Ariosto quoted, 48. Aristotle quoted, 63. Aristophanes quoted, 296. Ausonius cited, 106. Autohiography the rage,80t; that of B4-

ranger, ib. Avignon, seat of the muses, 808 ; of the

popedom, ib. ; visited hy Front, 884.

B. Bacon an admirer of Jetralt colleges, 179. Barcarolle. " O pescator," 366. Barry the painter, 821, 4B9, 498. Bellew (Jack), editor of the " Cork Chro- nicle," 76; his song, 88. Bells— the " Shandon Bells," 169; Victor

Hugo on the bells of Paris, 15a Benedict XIV. (Prosper Lambertini)

Voltaire his blessing, 321. Biranger, eulogy of, 210.

Song of Brennus, ib.

Song of the Cossack, 814.

Ode to Lardner, 221.

Song of Diogenes, 223.

Le Pigeon Messager, 224.

The Dauphin's Birth-day, 841.

Recollections of Bonaparte, 248.

The Tri-coloured Flag, 251.

The Painter's Funeral, a F3«m, 870'

Les Etoiles qui filent, 281.

Lea Boh^miens. 293.

Le Dieu des bonnes Qeos, 897.

Le Orenier, 299.

Le TaUWuT et\a?6e,»A.

U Ange exiU, ^V^

Ben, Theodorei SBC; Uaee by, SSk

Black broth, 16.

Black earth, fukatva x#wv (MeUaefhsi^

86. Black Prince, 18. Blarney, Castle of; 86; ploodered br Um

Danes, 87; Bang of Jack Bellew ttier*-

npon,88; stonned by OllTer Cramwdl,

as per song, 100. Blamev, Groves of; in English, FreBdi,

Greek, Latin, and Irish, 56; aeoBtro>

verted point in the song, 84. Blarney Stone, true history of, 60. Blessington (Lady), her " C<mvemti<»6

of Byron," 31. Blindman's bnft; origin of, 865. Blomfield, Bishop, 1. Boethios de Conaolatione Philoaophici,

203. Boileau quoted, 109. Bonaparte. "Popular RecoUeetioiis of,"

248; " FUght of," 356. Boscovich, his works, 180 ; his wig, SS8. Bowring (Dr.), knight-errantry of, 901,

208. Brennus, song of, on planting the vine is

Oaul, 210 ; ancestor of the O'Brennaas,

ib. Brougham, Henry, initiated at Blarney,

66; disputes with Prout on drunken- ness, 113 ; his letter to Lord LyndhuTst^

Nov. 1834, 138 ; his modesty at the Tnl-

leries, 161. Buchanan, George, 661. Buffon, 14 ; cosmc^ony of, 864. Bulwer (E.), takes to pamphleteeilBg,

848. Burke (Edmund), on fisheries, 883; the

" protector^ of^ Barry, 497 ; on chUdren,

600. Byron cited, 8, 9, 29. 361, 873, 877,491;

his Hebrew Melodies, 344.

Cesar's Commentaries, 84 ; his statue, 89.

Callaghan (Terry), his character, 78; his song, 100; brings "the chest" to Lo» y don, 104 ; is made a policeman thnxi^ \ %«Kc^e(».Qr^^vccKsc^>LS.^8SS«

Cuiph*ll. bil -' UnlieDlIlldni" 4

Cmw, U.'itT IA*f 1 1^i, *SI- CuuLTtl nd A>)i WcdoeidtT.*- CnruitaB fouglit ■( Lepanto. 8S3

C:h*l««ii6rlnid (ComlMMiB), Imr mm,

CHPtfl de, ft mum bf , tfifl- Chuser, ud Fniluirt. 33B; ci>p!il IWnn Patnnh. 340i coiuiildiit of, Ml; Orl-

Cl»n),lMliplaKlubt,Ua) qnoWd.aSS, MO, MS, SM. SIfi.

•Mg, "lh» Itott Toolh," M.

CaWiu ■ Lipids, e, ise. iw, itt, isi,

M0,M>1. Ci*si-iU, Fruk, Ui fomid obHTiuice ol

Crtu-ell, IJ^T; *■__

Dinlwrt HUB utiiHit, SlTi ednated ' rreluu), 218.

Dude, UmaDt of. ISt^

Duto d[i««i«* by "h* oi™*» of Bobb frui vrftiii i> Z<u», 3U; bi> "for> oT Ball.' BBS; hi' i*™ rliiH,33fi.

Dmiiiba, Udh od ilia, «T.

Daild lb* Mintir, • regtcldo, «0; Un Iiiuml i^i poem by MnDK>r, ib.

Duna. eiiThoDiu, knight and bulldir B7. W.

Da UVlKm{CMiBilr),h1» "Dog of thi P ThiM DaTir ft billuL :t77.

jlt of Ctaljl. ft long ftboii vr «r, " pyroIIgDeout uid

n.pni., "Origtiie dea abftiirdltj ofj lA.

FBg>,pnl«of,ge.

EI07. 8t,«Unli>ri EpIMami an-'-' '

aplnlDDOti Piitritk'i piitgb •m as bt> nania. 8S; Elt

FftlherTm.dM. Fiddler'a (the Fnub) L

dial "To am

IneiwDca Dt Fnwdi vrlUri an Uia EnglaDd. O, : Bangi of, iOI, Ml, MI ; ftdlan Id lb* Bonn ar, 313. Fna-ITftde, lliaaiT afj ^.

FroliHTt ft pHnt, X» ; akaWh of, K

1IU ■ rogoe,186, 310'. lalnrla*

iha] of lUnngar. H».

.Ddlng Dt IbB I'hoceftDi Id OalHa

'- 'tKolbgd, :ai 1 plftnUngol

574

HTDSX.

Qod (the), of B^rmnger, a deiatical poem, 897.

Ooderieh (Lord), known as a f^ooea, 189.

Qoldcmith in France. SOS; robs a French- man, 287 ; and a French lady, Uadm. Blaise, ib.

Good drr Lodgings, a song by Diogenes, 283.

Griselda, orlfrinal Nonnan ballad of, 8i6.

Guy d'Arexco, his narrative, 848.

Gypsies, political economy of the, a song, by arranger, 293.

H. Haidouin's diseoreries, 186, 189 : fand his

epiteph, 140. Hastings, battle of, IS. Hayes (Joe), master-spirit of the Glen

distillery, 78$ his warm never dies, ib. Herbert, his Nlmrod, 146. Herbert, George, 480. Herrings— ia/oitfii^ de» harengt, 18; sale

of. In Greece, 17; warlike food, 80;

foundation of Amsterdam laid on her-

ring.bones, 21. Homer quoted, 89, 66, 80. 106, 880,847, 868. Horace, Songs of, 870, 393, 415, 436. 469. Horace cited, 9, 12, 18, 63, 79, 97, 102, 126.

131, 139, 184, 801, 318^ 388, 827, 397, 660. Hudibras, 16. Huns, cookery of the, 16 ; king of the, 315,

318. Huss fJohn), anecdote concerning, 289.

I.

Irish erports, their chief item, 25.

Irish namoH, 76.

Italy, Songs of, 315, 342.

J.

James I., a patron of Scotch Herrings. 11.

Jeffers, Lady, 35.

Jerome (St.) quoted, 136. 238.

Oesoits, massacre of, at Madrid, 164 ; ever in hot water, 165; not understood by Robertson, 168; Cerutti's " Apologie,^' 171 ; Gresset's '• Adieuz," 172 ; founded b^ an old soldier, 173 ; InsHtuttum Soe. Jesu. 175; rapid progress of. 176; dis- tinguishable from other monks, \b. ; ratio Mtidicrum, 178; their pupils, 179; their learned men, 180, 182; their ill-treat- ment, 183 ; tlieir missions, ib. ; conduct during the plague at Marseilles, 185: fell like the Templars, 183; defence of, fi(19

Juvenal cited. 18, 203, 236, 845.

K.

Kidnappers, cat-o'-nine-tail-villains, 135. Kingsborough's (Visct) " Mexican Anti

qultles," S44 \ muWMitrj ^VKaVaX^ktm. wn

•state of, 517.

l>

Knapp, mayor of Cork, a foe to aai 88; theknapp*a iaek,86; Prostfs f» terJorother, UB.

Ladies, three chaws for the, 6.

Lake Leman, its attracdona, SSL

LamartiiM, a poem by, oa the edit ef Manoel,878L

Lame heroes and writers, 176u

Landon (Miss), gives her name to tj^mm <eae«^138; lines addressed to, 814.

Lardner (Dr DenisX a compiler, 81 ; a man of letters, 60, 83; never vtstlsi Blarney, 68; his purgatory, 66; hto tract on the potato, 83; ideas on astrs nomy, 132 ; B^rango's Ode to, 88L

Larry, "The night befinre Lany was stretched," a song, 887.

Laura, Front in love with, 34S.

Lee, Nat, the dramatist, 1144

Leipeic, the annual book-fsir of, 848.

Lent, apology for, 9; olda8TertidliaB,10; traced to Lentnlos, 18.

Leonidas, not president of a beef-etesk- club, 17.

Lepanto, song on the battle of, 868.

Literary renegades, punishment for, S6.

Loyola (Don Igna^io de), an old mMitr, has a leg shattered at Pampelona, 178^ his diivalrous vigil at Montserrat,n4* lame heroes. 175.

Lacan {PharaaUa, v. 8SX 206L

Lucretius quoted, 114.

Macrobius quoted. 81.

Madness, thoughts on, 110 ; mad authors.

115. Maginn. Dr., a literary embalmer, 616^ Malbrouck. song of, 219; effects of, oc

South Sea Islanders, 221. Marchangy, *• la Qaule Poetique," 806. Margaret. Front's servant, 72 ; song iz

honour of. 96; makes the punch tM

strong, 345. Marot fCIement). poem by. 258. Marseiilais hymn, original of, fSAJf, Martial quoted, 81.

Martineau, Harriet, able to defsad her- self, 141. Masauiello, 20.

Mazarin, a saying of Cardinal, 887. Medical theories in verse. 546, 517. Melancthon's real name. 86. Monsini's " II Cspro.*' "There's a goat Ic

the vineyard !" 359. Michel Angelo, his "SUtue of Moses."

his ''Farewell to Sculpture,"" •< cr»-

q/bso," 366. Miller (JoeX Josephus Molitor, 818. Millevoye, a true poet, %4 ; " La ChoM

des FeulUes," 256 ; " Priez pour mol,*

a ballad, 227. ^QA«nv Latin poets, 513. ^^ILwswJ^" \itN.^A\vx^xx»»sia«t'QQi^ 4ai^a^

CBrtu (Bmaj), hU tvIiku uquin-

.nwBl^ Ul; hli dttth I'GvmwngvtDarfall

CT.';™;;

IO'U»i>,i»lliie" Voice rnno aLHeJtu -.\ aUwi Ilia pniH) »/<«•, SS.

te«^)

FukditH oCOraxk Drigln. M PhoI'i -liittrei PniTlnclii

hirpsehoodrju, ISS. PuoulBulB, a Bamam, 139. PlIU [he ijreil rUopn off (1

tta* RoUiftDd, BO,

hvmic^lili Hiiireli ODi CO

Wby tboa, nun i[ vu madi by ■Icun-

«{ on) (A'tl. a Lai.\ 88. O, BltneTCutLa.uTilullnt. lOO. AdiifeD*B dAfclh-aiNlff, lift, BI.1I.'. IU..M, ^WWlB r»iid Ul.

cbarB.-l<f'-itA-^.).tai. A CbuDMLtofd MDK (CaUM]. 1S>. OawhaniBlorjlJity. a ffajt), HI, O 'tiTM (il bul 4 drum [Juj, x CaU, ,

149.

MnnBaMArtrCflO.), US-

Kama ia*il.tl Alitl.).^' •■ II pleui, II pleul anaB,"— BMo bam

The Kng of Iba Coiuck <.i»«l. N GaN.)

I-fl bou Roy IHgnbcrt. 317.

L'lpJi da Dunouln — The diBMr m

Clonyain. ( G«U, 1 Ai.il.\ Bl. 11/ dir.lli.iB H Mipla. fdW.

-Ilaw l«ai)liBUB8binirg«4B,"- Pny foi

676

*- L« Mbler— Th« boor^UM, S28. Meet me hy moonlight (AmgL et OaU.},

SS9. Good people ell (Anf^ et OiOL), SS7. The pablic all of one eocord iAa^ «<

FroliMrt'a song (OdOX SS9.

"La NaiBsanoe da Dauphin,** — The Daaphin's birthday, 841.

Ballad of Gri8elda(yonn<M imdBngiitk), 246.

•On parlera de sa gloire,**— They'll talk of HIM for yean to oome, 848.

"Le y^eux drapean,** — The tric(doiir flag, 851.

Clement Marot^i song to the rangoaid of the French {GdU. et Angl.\ 868.

** De la dipouiUe de noa bois,**— Automn had stript the groTe, 866.

" II descend ce eereneil^''— En that cof- fin goen doim, 266.

" No^ le patrUrehe,'' 868. La theorie dee teUpaea," — Blindman's bufE;866.

** La mort de Socrate,**— The night be- fore Larry was stretched. 207.

" Le convoi de David,"— The painter's funeral, 270.

'*G<n4renx, faToris,"— If your bosom beats high, 272.

"Le violon bris4."— The French fid- dler's lament, 276.

" Le ohien du Luurre,"— The dog of the Three days, 277.

The Mistletoe, a type of the Uearen- bom. 279.

" Lea (toiles qui filent," — Shepherd, they say that a star presides, S81.

** Les Dies,'* — A panegyric on geese, _ . " Le Temps et r Amour,"— Old Time is

a pilgrim, 284. "Si je derais un jour,"— If my mind's

independence one day I'm to sell, 286. '' Les Boh6miens," a gypsy song, — Sons

of witchcraft, 293. " Le Dieu des bonnes gens,"— There's a

God whom the poet, 297. " Le grenier,"— The garret of B^ranger,

299. "Le tailleur et la f^e,"— Autobiography

of a poet, 301.

• Le voile : orientale,"— What has hap- pen'd, my brothers ? (Victor HngoX

• Monseigneur le due de Bretagne,**— The bride of the cymbaleer (Victor Hugo), 307.

"Ah, le bel <tatl que I'^tat de eoldat 1" —The French soldier's life, 810.

Les Funerailles de Beaumanoir lO<iU.), 312

• L'ange exiW,"— Lady, for thee (to L. E,L,),313.

Petrarca'a od«,— "^m«ftl tc^nnUlu of

Non mi fiur. O Yoteaa,"— The cap benKAen, 889.

* Italia ! ItaUaT— FilicU'a song. 83ri.

* Chi « ooetal,''— Statue, whose giasi limbs, 888.

* To credea,"— Tiber! my early drsia.

•Per me si Ta," (DanteX— Seek ye yt jpath.886.

• O erine, o erin,**— With awe I look «e that peruke, 380.

" Una Candida oenRa,,"— A iorm I stv with secret awe, 861.

•Cantiam' tntti,"— Song ob the battls of Lepanto, 863.

*0 pescator/*— Fiythee, yeoaf Aiber- man, 866.

« La fbga di Napoleone."— Whca Bo- naparte overcome, 366.

"Son povera ragaaaa," a village sob|(,

• Quel capro maledetto." — There's % goat in the vineyard! 8S9.

" Gnarda che biancha luaa P a serenade,

862. " Fluttering spread thy porple pinions,**

864. •11 dono di Venere," — With roert

wreathed around his ringlets, 366.

• Al crocifisso,"- Michel Angelo's ftrr- well to sculpture, 868.

Petrarch's dream, " Qaando il soave mio fido conforto," — She has not quiu forgotten me, 868.

• r vo piangendo i miei passati tempi." — Bright days of sunny youth ! 369.

The attractions of a fashionable Irisb

watering-place, 499. La. Zingarella — " Ben venuto. vm-

chiarello,"— The flight into Bgypi.

606. "Gives Hymetti,"— Citiaeas of Mount

Uymettus, 637. " Dives Galesus,"— As slow the plouf^h,

638. •Est mihi rivo vitrens peretmi," —

There's a fonnt, 644.

• Je voyais du rivage," 646.

•Si rogat Cererem," — The soldier

soothes, 668. Nay, gather not that fiJbert, 664. Meditations in a wine-cellar, 567. Ode on the taking of Calais (laLd

AngL). 661. The old housewife's address to her gnde-

man (Jjat. el Anal.), 664. The Red-breast of Aquitaaia, 567. The legend of Arethusa, 669. There's a being bright, 671. Life a bubble (Fr. aAn^), A. Poetry, the nurse of fteedom tnewy age,

868. Poets, tiie earliest writem ia •wy Ian guage, 828.

nllwilrr, A ; fond of uiglkiu, fli bit ! flbmiT. a,; dentb ud buiiii. Ti g«- i plan. S3; ^DVwLfKlf^ at the world. TO'

BsfUjTa; hli kinc.M; •Mtaiof fal

binb uid p«nDUgB. 134 ; It kldmpped, B B, ; m lock af hii ■DoUier'i hair, lis ; Rf>7>l Cork roundlliig UMplOI. H---,

Ugatn-. (lUcteil by Itia " Sun*' iv p>pu, SIS; bli fnittl Ufa, MO; tiueAil HnU.asS] bl> iBcoUeellDii lUlT, no; remitiw lo mix bii pHDCbfor Ibfl fumreiSU; bopei ta

Englnd," it "Oltlionu Abbtj'.Yiwk-

Strib^qUKlid, 17, SI.

-' Sun-' nawipiper. qiumi with. U7.

Sv[R. eulogr of, loei; bis mulngai ■ my- Moif, lU ', But ocuiiwiwl br too nncji UuiUdu, US; qor bronnaalCad Iotb,

UtnpanDiiB. IIS^ iH>rluii]rMwd«,tt.; nor tun ol annuy, IM : nolirllluUDt-

I ■ d«>Ui.bbir w the old Oilllun

;h.BW,

Tmk, midiiei

Rh7nn,«n«poLogy for, by UFaya.Ml. BJcbicd Caur de Uia. U, lU, SOT,

Bucfaa [.lima, E>q. of Cotk). ( trlud «l

e>gur. isl .• «!« to Tlnu, by Tbomti,

[SmiidlinrFnitlilibl nf t H.Sf; deKribed br Liu

lilTnloi Rdh, eniitilat fmn, 2 Uriu, or UuwUW, qnoMd,

or d^, aong DD Ihfl, W

Fnttil'A pftiM^Tlc cm, Mi JclHft SerlKne. ITudime. nOd bi bg (1

- VenlcB, origiQ (o, ^

578

OTDEX.

Vidft, Bketob of his Ufe, 613; hia poem

«TheBilkvonn,''68a. yilUffe eong, eoMMietta, 868L yii«a<dtad, U^ 49, 68, eB, 7S. 86^ 117, 118;

10«k 181, 188, S16, 817, 8S2, 842, 844, 849,

60^618. Ylttorelli, " Giuurda ehe bUoea Imutr «

serenade, 868; "II dono di Yeaese,**—

The gift ef Venus, 80S. Volulte, bis opinion of the shells of the

Pyxenaes, SW : his oceopatioa at Pots- dam, 44S.

W.

Watergrmasbill oB temn on the mi^ at DeriTnane, and irhy, 78; why like the mountain of Gilboa? 71; the Arcadia of Crofton Croker, 6.

Wetherell, Sir C, letter from, abo«tEii«

Dagobert, 238. Whalley, Jeraaalem, 66. Wig of Koger Bo«»Tieb, " AlU perraee^'

De ficti eomi, Ac. 839. Wine debtor to water, 212. Woods, Wm., his base-enrrewy tcbeMb

121 ; a kidnapper, 124, 136.

Y.

Yarmonth herrings. 18.

Yorke. OUver, editor of the Reliqiaat

Z.

Zisea, his skin made into a dram, 29&

THC KNO

fiCnXiK: PBOltED

Bt waiuM Gtown avd son^

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